Oh darndy buiscuts! I really wanted this in time for Halloween, but I was a few minutes too late (in my time zone)... Even so, I'm glad I updated it a third time in almost a month. I hope I can keep giving chapters out more frequently for this story.

I had a hard time writing it again for some reason, so it might be a bit lack-luster. My apologies for that.

Big thanks to Cutiepie120048 for your review!

Thanks for everyone's favs and follows! I really appreciate them!

Stay shiny! *jazz hands*

-JD

Disclaimer: Nyan. Meow. Gaooo. All of those are Cat-anese for "no."

EDIT: Nov 1: Ah...the thing with the apples. You know how apples start turning a little yellow and brown on the part you bit on when exposed to oxygen? Yeah. That's what's going on. It's not really rotting, it's just...doing general apple things. I wasn't clear with that, my bad.


Allen, for all of his previous nervousness, became closer to Krory just by talking about Innocence. The two sat at the edge of the training room, Marie and Kanda sparring. Allen's little legs hung off of the edge, kicking lightly every once in a while, his attention completely on Krory's stories of his adventures. The vampiric man had to make sure he didn't say too much though, censoring himself every once in a while so he didn't reveal the times he spent with normal Allen.

The little boy was intuitive though. He knew when Krory was hiding something, but the boy saw fit to not address it. If there was something he didn't need to know, he just didn't need to know it.

While Krory was enjoying his time with the boy, he couldn't help but wonder what his stories were now. He'd try to hint at a time for Allen to start talking, but he would always seem to ignore it or talk around it. The most he could really get out of the kid were yes or no questions, and even then, he didn't always answer them, the boy thinking a bit too long or saying that he wasn't sure.

That being said, Allen was perfectly fine talking about his arm. There wasn't much to say about it, but he'd describe a few things that Krory didn't know before.

"I couldn' really move m'arm 'r hand as much as normal 'til it first…activated? Yeah. Then I could mov'it a lot bett'r," Allen rose his still-wrapped arm, bending his fingers around. Strangely enough, it seemed he still didn't have a full range of motion yet.

"Oh really?" Krory asked, deeply interested, "When was that?"

Allen paused for a moment, staring at his fingers. Then he looked back up to the man, his expression a tad pinched, but smiling anyway.

"Ah, a while ago."

Krory nodded in understanding, and Allen relaxed a bit more.

"Oi! Brat!"

Both of them jolted a bit, startled by Kanda's sudden yelling. When they looked over, they saw Marie approach them as he wiped the sweat off of his brow, Kanda glaring directly at Allen.

"You. Get over here."

Krory was sort of expecting Allen to give a bit of a fight at not being called by his name, but he had to remember that this Allen was different from the one he knew. When the boy obeyed Kanda without so much as a glare, he was reminded rather quickly.


Kanda's eyebrow rose lightly as Allen hurried over to him. He was expecting the little shit to be sort of indignant, but Allen was being strange altogether. Maybe it really was as Marie had said when they sparred and he really had lost his memory.

Stupid scientists and their ridiculous inventions.

Either way, if Marie was right, then Allen wouldn't know jack-shit about fighting, and that'd be a problem. He didn't want his workload to get any larger because the little shit got himself killed over not remembering how to get rid of an AKUMA. Little brat or no, he was going to learn something. Hell, Timothy knew how to fight to an extent, so Allen wouldn't be any different.

The short boy stopped in front of Kanda, and for a moment he looked at the ground, but then changed to look him in the eyes, "What iz it…sir?"

Kanda scoffed, glaring down at the boy, "First off, stop with all this 'sir' shit. It's Kanda."

His head tilted lightly, "Ah…'kay, uhm, Kanda."

"Do you know anything about fighting?"

"Umm…sorta? 'M not suppos…I don' fight much."

"Tch, figures," he hissed, turning away from the boy before he addressed him again, "How the hell do you think you'll survive against an AKUMA if you don't know how to fight?"

The boy didn't respond at first, gazing down, but when he could feel Kanda's scowl deepen, he looked back up to him, "Uhm…s—…if ya don't mind…would'ya teach me? Unless ya don' wan'to. I c'n ask Lavi later."

"Whatever, you're already here," Kanda huffed, picking his bamboo sword up, "Just show me what you've got first, brat. Dodge or fight or some shit."

Without much else for a warning, Kanda thrust the sword at Allen's forehead.

Though Krory was very concerned, even calling out to Allen from the sidelines, the boy quickly shifted his head to the side. The look on his face showed how startled he was, but he still avoided being hit. Kanda hummed, twisting his wrist and swinging the sword at Allen's head. The boy ducked under it before he backed away, still confused and out of his element, but participating nonetheless.

He thrust the sword again, though this time at the boy's chest. The boy jumped back quickly, but he wasn't used to the sandy ground and fell back, huffing out at the contact. Kanda wasted no time in angling the sword downward, heading for his legs, but Allen laid completely back onto his back, stretching his legs out to avoid being hit. Then, using the momentum of his movements, he pulled his legs back and over his head, rolling over to land on his feet. He had a look in his eye that was less fearful now, and Kanda couldn't help but smirk.

"Looks like you've got something at least."

Allen had opened his mouth to thank him, but ended up ducking under another swing. The way the boy's mouth pulled into a straight line let him know he wouldn't be speaking again for a while long, something Kanda was sort of grateful for.

It was…something about this Allen pissed him off even more than the older one did.

Sure, there was a weakness that came with being younger that Kanda knew he couldn't help, but it was like there was than then a load of other things about the boy that was suddenly weaker. His will, for one. He was so weak-willed it was ridiculous. Seriously, he couldn't choose where he wanted to go on his own? What the hell was up with that?

Though Allen's bullheadedness always irritated him before, at least he was acting out of his own desires. This kid, on the other hand, wouldn't know what he wanted. He just followed everyone around like he was some thoughtless puppy. Sure, he had some semblance of desire, wanting to go somewhere while Lavi was apparently out for the count, but that's about as far as it went. He was pretty sure he could probably train the little shit to sit and speak and he'd have no qualms about it.

As he swung his bamboo sword at him again, the other thing that irritated him came to light. Sure the kid was doing about half of what he said, and he was proving pretty easily that he'd be at least a hard target to hit—surprising, considering how easily his older self got the most stupid of injuries. But he was only doing half of it.

"Oi, you aren't deaf, so either you're doing this to piss me off, or you're just plain stupid," Kanda growled, kicking a foot out to trip the boy, but he did a backflip and got out of the way…one of those stupid clown tricks, probably.

"W-wha?"

The lil shit already sounded somewhat out of breath, what the hell? Now he has no stamina? Great.

"I said 'dodge or fight or some shit', not 'dodge or some shit'. Fight back," he growled, stabbing the ground right beside Allen before he swung a punch at him from the other side. The little snake slid right between his legs.

Kanda paid no mind to it though, tightening his grasp on the sword as he swung it back, nearly hitting Allen on the forehead had he not bent backwards.

"What do you think the AKUMA will do when you fight them? Tire out?"

The boy didn't answer, backing up carefully as Kanda continued being on offensive in more ways than one.

"You think they'll keep trying to hit you for a while before they give up and leave you alone? Well, I have news for you, dipshit," he punched at the boy again, missing, "They have an infinite amount of energy. There's no 'tiring it out'. I thought you with that shitty curse would at least know that by now."

Allen flinched hard, a strange look crossing his face. He lost his focus long enough for Kanda to get closer than he'd been able to before, and he startled once he stopped panicking long enough to notice. The boy barely moved out of the way of his fist fast enough, and Kanda clenched his teeth.

He moved faster, Allen beginning to have a bit of trouble keeping up with his movements, "They never rest. All they do is kill and evolve, over and over again until one of us kill it. And if you're the only thing around them, they'll target you."

A swipe of his sword nearly hit the boy, "Thing is, most of them have bullets. Sure, you're dodging is alright, but try doing the same against a barrage of bullets. Then again, you're a parasitic type, you probably couldn't care less. It doesn't matter though. There's plenty of other ways to kill a human."

Kanda rushed forward at him once more, Allen just barely backing up in time. It wasn't enough though, as Kanda kicked a foot out, making the boy lose his footing. He fell to the ground with a cry, groaning lightly after being jostled. He seemed to come to himself moments later though, acting quickly.

Allen curled up into a tight ball on his side, covering his stomach and face as he lay still. He didn't look up at Kanda, even as his opponent glared down at him. Kanda tapped the end of the bamboo sword against his thigh and watched with a mix of morbid satisfaction and utter disgust as the boy flinched.

"Or you can just kill yourself by doing this."

When the boy didn't move he scoffed, turning around to head over to the pillar he'd left his clothes and Innocence against, "Come talk to me when you actually want to put up a fight, Moyashi."

He didn't look back to see the boy uncurl from his position on the ground, couldn't see the scared yet disappointed look on Allen's face as he caught his breath. All he knew was that this version of Allen was more likely to get himself killed than the one he originally met. He scowled a little when he heard Krory reassure Allen from a distance that he did alright for his first time, Marie nodding in agreement, but he figured if that got the brat to get his act together, then they could do whatever they wanted.

Back at his supplies, Kanda picked up Mugen up from where he'd had it laying against the pillar. It was sheathed and deactivated, though he could feel it hum right under his hand as he picked it up, almost as if greeting him in his return to its side. He ran a finger along it lightly, mostly absentmindedly.

Suddenly he heard something shift in the air, and felt an energy burst forward at him, Krory and Marie falling silent. He would've activated Mugen had he not already become familiar with the kind of aura the Innocence gave off. He hissed lowly, rolling his eyes. It had always been a rather boisterous thing, Mugen not nearly as loud with its energies as Crown Clown…no, it was Cross again, wasn't it? Whatever, its name didn't particularly matter anyway.

Allen's Innocence was a troublesome, loud one, and Allen was a troublesome child. Seriously, he wouldn't attack the boy with Mugen. The fight was over already. Besides, he knew the kind of damage his Innocence could do, and he didn't want an earful from the Order. He would've thought the idiot would've at least been able to predict that.

Or maybe…did the kid actually have some pride in him? Was he actually upset by his defeat. Kanda felt a bit of satisfaction bubble in him unwillingly. If the kid actually had some beef with him over getting his ass kicked, then that was fine. Kanda could go up against the little runt as long as he provided some form of a challenge.

"No! Stop!"

…What?

Kanda heard a loud clinking sound and turned around. His eyes opened wider than usual, honestly shocked by what he saw.

Allen's Innocence clinked again as its fingers scrapped against each other, the large hand crawling forward in the sand…but it seemed that the boy it was attached to wasn't in for the ride. In fact, Allen looked shocked. Seemingly paying no mind to the boy, the claws of Allen's Innocence dug into the sand as it crawled closer. Allen angled his body back, pulling his weight against his arm, trying to back away from Kanda as sweat beaded at his brow. Krory was standing up on the sidelines, eyes wide as he watched the boy struggle to control his own arm. Marie seemed concerned, but couldn't grasp the whole situation.

"Stop'it…" the boy hissed lowly, his teeth clenched as his human hand held onto his Innocence's shoulder. The hand had the gall to creep even closer, dragging Allen's feet in the sand. If the thing could make any sounds, Kanda was sure it'd be growling.

He'd been expecting a reaction to beating the brat, but this certainly wasn't it. What was the Innocence so pissed off about, pissed off enough to go against its host's wishes? The twit certainly didn't look like he was up for a fight, yet the thing was trying to drag him forward.

What was it even doing?

This only happened after he…

Glaring, Kanda twisted his wrist, letting Mugen gleam a little in the light of the room, "Hey, I'm not going to attack you with this. Are you stupid?"

The boy squinted up at him, his other eye still completely clenched shut with exertion, "W-what're you talkin' about? I know that…" he trailed off for a second, a slight glitter coming to his eye, "…right?"

Kanda stared at the boy for a moment as he got his bearings back, the glitter disappearing as his Innocence tried to force itself forward again, as if trying to charge forward at him. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on at that point.

"…Ah, I see. The Moyashi doesn't remember," Kanda said, staring at the hand as he adjusted Mugen at his side, "But you do."

The hand twitched right at the place where he'd cut it all those months ago. The Japanese man frowned down at it, the thing digging its forefinger into the sand. For some reason, he couldn't tell if it was acting out of concern for its host or for itself. Whether it was protecting Allen the time it activated back then as well.

'Parasitic' Innocence, huh?

"Do you get why your arm's acting up?"

Allen let an irritated expression cross his face for only a moment before he went back to pulling against a part of his own body, "N-no! I…it ain't like you're 'n AKUMA or nothin'…"

"It thinks I'm going to attack you with Mugen," Kanda replied, watching Allen with a bit of curiously at the bit of information.

The boy's eyes opened wide, glittering just slightly before they went back to normal, "W-wha? Ya wouldn' do that…right? Ya said," he grunted with exertion, the hand lurching again, "Y-ya said the fight was over!"

"I already have, brat."

"…Wha?"

"I've already attacked you before. Maybe if you actually use your brain for five seconds, you could recall it," he smirked, "The first time I met you."

Allen's eyes glittered again, "No…th-" he huffed at his arm's force, "This is the first time I've seen ya…"

"Like I said, you cursed idiot, use your fucking brain."

A panicked look came onto his face, "'M only a lil cursed! It's nothin' t—…a…ah…wha…?"

The glitter in his eyes turned into a glow, and his body seized, his face going flat. The entirety of both of his eyes flashed light shades of blue, yellow, and white for a moment, static fazing in them like the fast-forwarding of a video clip. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was very strange to see. In the shock of whatever was going on in the kid's head, green Innocence energy sparked around Allen and the arm deactivated, no longer forcing him to go at Kanda.

Allen fell to his knees, his eyes widening after the ordeal, sweat rolling down from his hairline.

"You got it yet, brat?" he asked, watching the boy shudder as he seemed to settle back into his body.

"I…I don' get it…" he held his human hand to his head, "I…met you before? Wher' was this?"

"At the old Order location, idiot."

Allen's face suddenly scrunched up, "Don' call me an idiot over shit I don' know yet! I'm askin' ya questions, ain't I?! At least explain'it b'fore ya call me stupid!"

Kanda kept the same expression on his face, but inside he felt his mood lighten a bit. So the brat had always had that ridiculous temper, despite this wimpy façade he put on all of the time. Geez, the kid barely changed over the course of…how many years back was he? Four? Five?

Allen's tone didn't stay harsh though, a strange terror creeping up on his face at his outburst. Before he could apologize, Kanda clicked his tongue and walked away, leaving the boy sitting in the sand.

"Try remembering it yourself, Moyashi."

Allen's apple pile sat completely forgotten on the side as Krory rushed forward to help the boy, Marie close behind, the apple he'd been eating turning shades of yellow and brown at the part he'd eaten off of.