Disclaimer: D. Gray Man is H. Katsura's property.
Chapter 21 - Mnemosyne
Since the last incident with Daisya's shikigami, things were getting worse and worse for Allen. The whole next day passed with people openly pointing at him and saying out loud that he was the cause of Uro's death. Incomprehension was filling the atmosphere inside the Temple as most students couldn't fathom why Allen was still allowed to move freely along with his shikigami. Another rumour had also started spreading: that Kanda wasn't actually a true shikigami, but an ancient demon which had come to wreck havoc among humans and youkai, and it didn't make things easier for Allen. He had no idea where that rumour came from though he couldn't help but suspect a few teachers of having investigated about him.
And rumours were as rampant as wild and uncontrolled fire. Allen's daily life was getting less and less bearable, not because of the people who were avoiding him like the plague – those were a majority and didn't really bother him – but because of the few reckless ones who kept finding every opportunity to irritate him. Like on the previous day, when he had found the white Exorcist robe he had put to wash in tatters. Or during meal time, when he was about to help himself with his favourite food only to find out that some students – who usually never ate those kind of food – had been quicker than him, leaving empty dishes behind them.
And Kanda didn't really help Allen. The one time when the boy came back to his room, hair and costume drenched by the grace of a bucket discharged on him , the youkai merely snorted in disdain, though Allen couldn't tell if the feeling was directed at him or at those who had done this to him.
Humiliation. Frustration. He held great powers in him, yet he wasn't allowed to use them to teach those stupid humans a lesson. Sometimes, he would punch the wooden wall of his room out of anger, silently cursing those who dared look down on him, and the next second, he would be shocked at himself for bearing thoughts that were unpleasantly similar to Kanda's. To a demon's.
Allen shook his head, trying to forget even momentarily all the repressed anger that was building up within him. Right now, he was heading for Tiedoll's office because the old man had called him there for some reason. As he knocked on the door, a quick glance on the side showed him that a few students were hidden behind a corner, observing him – or rather, spying on him. It was pissing him off. 'A bunch of idiots.' he thought. He glared at them, satisfied as they quickly ran off, confused at being found out so easily. Allen was showing less and less signs of patience; instead he didn't hesitate to show anyone who annoyed him that he was ready to pick a fight at any time; but usually, a mere glare was enough.
"Come in." Allen heard Tiedoll's voice on the other side of the panel and went in. "Ah! Allen-kun, I'm glad to see you." he greeted with his usual kind smile.
For an unknown reason, Tiedoll was about the only one with Nine not to give a damn about all the spreading rumours.
"What did you call me here for, Professor?" Allen asked politely as he sat down in front of his teacher.
"I'd like to talk to you about something that's been bothering me for a while now. You told us that some of Kanda's energy was accidentally mixed with yours, is that correct?" Tiedoll asked bluntly.
"It is, Professor."
"Apart from that incident, did anything else happen to you during any of your requests? I mean, something abnormal."
Allen could tell that Tiedoll was trying his best not to sound inquisitive, and the worried traits on the old man's face strengthened Allen's belief that Tiedoll was on his side.
"No, I don't think so, Professor." Allen replied truthfully after a few seconds of reflexion.
"Is that so?" Tiedoll said, slightly disappointed. "Are you sure that nothing happened that could have had some effects on your energy?"
The young Exorcist frowned, trying to remember each of his requests, but nothing came to him. He shook his head.
"No, Professor. I can't recall anything that could be qualified as abnormal. May I know if there's something wrong with my energy?"
Tiedoll seemed to hesitate a bit, then spoke:
"Actually, back at the palace, I detected traces of Kanda's energy in yours, but I also sensed something else that I believe do not belong to your energy."
"What is that something? Someone else's energy?" Allen asked, confused.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to identify its nature. I'm not even sure that it's a normal spiritual energy but I may have been mistaken back then. Don't worry Allen, this is only a minor detail, and I certainly do not believe that you have any connection with what's happening right now." Tiedoll said reassuringly. "However, I can't do much about those who think otherwise. The only thing I can do is to tell you to ignore them as much as you can. And if you have any problem, you can come and find me."
"Thank you, Professor."
"You may leave now, Allen-kun."
As Allen left the room, questions started running through his mind. What was all of this about? What was it that Tiedoll felt in his energy if it wasn't Kanda's? He then shook his head, deciding that he was fed up trying to find answers to questions that concerned him. There were more urgent matters to deal with.
"What kind of request is that?" Kanda asked sullenly.
"I don't know, it's the first time I'm sent into the forest to deal with a youkai." Allen replied while re-reading the scroll for the fourth time, slightly frowning. "When I asked Komui about it, he said that it was a hunter who found traces of an unknown youkai in the forest, and it worried him because that part of the forest is pretty near the city, so I have to go check this."
"Che, maybe they are sending you hoping that you'd be killed by whatever the youkai is." Kanda said with a strong hint of sarcasm.
"That wouldn't be very convenient for you, I reckon." Allen commented absently.
"Che. Let's go and finish this crap before nightfall."
After a quarter of an hour walking in the forest, Allen stopped and gave a look around him, frowning.
"I think it's somewhere around here, but I didn't see anything suspicious so far." he said.
"Che, you 'think' it's somewhere around here." Kanda repeated. "Then obviously you're lost."
"Well, sorry for not being good with directions." Allen snapped back. "And Komui said the hunter didn't want to come back here before the youkai is taken care of."
"Humans are as useless as always."
"Let's move a bit farther." Allen said, ignoring Kanda's comment. "If the youkai is strong, then I should be able to sense it."
And indeed, it didn't take the silver-haired Exorcist much more time to feel a hostile energy coming near. As he headed for the direction it was coming from, he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him.
"Wait." Kanda said.
"What is it?" Allen looked at his shikigami who was frowning as he looked in front of him.
"I know this energy. It's a spirit of memories."
Allen opened his eyes wide.
"A... spirit of memories? You mean the same spirit that is supposed to live only in mountains, is very rare and difficult to find?" As Kanda nodded, he went on: "But we're in a forest!"
"No kidding."
"It can't be a spirit of memories."
"And I'm telling you it is." Kanda repeated, annoyed.
"How in heaven can such a youkai be here?" Allen retorted.
"Why are you asking me? Feel free not to believe me, but I think my sensing skills are slightly above yours." Now faint irritation could be heard in his tone.
"Wait, wait, wait. Let's presume you're right. I was taught that the only way to get rid of a spirit of memories is to feed it with someone's memories. Kanda, please tell me you can defeat it."
"Che, no." Kanda replied, shrugging.
For several seconds, Allen merely stared at his shikigami with obvious disbelief in his eyes.
"What do you mean, 'no'? My teachers told me that no spells can affect spirits of memories, which means that I'll be useless against it!" Allen's temper started rising.
"You're always useless." was Kanda's reply.
"This isn't the time for that kind of comments. What will happen if we simply let the spirit go freely?"
"See by yourself. It's coming."
Allen turned round and narrowed his eyes in an attempt at making out the blurry shape coming to them. As it came closer, Allen clearly saw the spirit floating in the air and slowly moving forward, exactly like the descriptions in his books. It looked like a huge jellyfish but with no tentacles, moving gracefully by swaying its transparent membrane. It suddenly stopped in front of a tree and landed on its trunk, pressing itself against it and started glowing. A few seconds later, the glow stopped and the spirit detached itself from the trunk.
To Allen's horror, the area of the tree where the spirit had stuck itself was no more. Instead, there was a plain hole. The tree, with part of its trunk removed, couldn't bear its own weight and started bending on one side until it completely collapsed on the ground with a loud thump, making the ground shake.
"When the target bears no memories, it simply vanishes." Kanda merely commented.
Allen was pallid. He gulped, then clenched his fists.
"We have to get rid of it somehow." he stated firmly. "Kanda, are you sure there isn't any way for you to kill it?"
"There is. Just go find someone and bring them here so the spirit can feed on their memories. End of the story." Kanda sneered.
"Kanda! I'm being serious here!"
"So am I."
Irritated by Kanda's behaviour, Allen traced a five-branch star in the air and uttered an incantation. Immediately, a cube-shaped barrier appeared around the spirit, enclosing it inside; but it took no effort for the latter to fly through it as if it was nonexistent.
"Damn it!" Allen cursed out loud.
Kanda glanced at him, seeing the boy bit his lip and frown, obviously desperately trying to find a solution to get rid of the youkai. He, however, had something else bothering him deeply: how the hell did a spirit of memories managed to get to that place? Those kinds of spirits weren't usually inclined to travel too far from their mountains, which meant that the probability of it getting lost was very low.
However, the idea that someone had brought it there was even less conceivable since it was impossible to touch the spirit without losing one's memories. Then how? And above all, who? And what for? All those questions without answers only raised Kanda's suspicions that nothing good would come of it; and the next events proved him right.
"Kanda, did you hear that?" Allen abruptly interrupted his thoughts.
"Hear what?"
"I think I heard voices! Gods, it's dangerous for them to be here!" the Exorcists frantically looked around him in search for potential strollers.
Indeed, childlike voices could be heard very close to them, and soon after, three boys appeared, playing and laughing, completely unaware of the unsafe situation until they saw the scene in front of their eyes. They stopped dead, staring with disbelief at the sight of a boy wearing the costume of an Exorcist, a frightening-looking man all dressed in black and... something flaccid they failed at identifying.
"Don't stay here!" Allen ordered them. "Get out of here immediately!"
But the three children were merely standing there, fascinated by the strange and white floating thing that was slowly flying to them. Exasperated, Allen ran to them, urging them to quickly leave the place and tell anyone in the area not to go back.
"Sir, are you an Exorcist?" one of the boy asked, absolutely ignoring Allen's warnings.
"Is that a youkai?"
"Are you trying to exorcise it?"
"Why does it look so weird?"
"Are you playing with it?"
"It looks funny! Can we play with you too?"
"Yeah! Yeah! We want to play too! Let us play with the youkai!"
Allen was at loss for words. Saying that he was irritated was beyond a euphemism; he purely and simply wanted to slap those three carefree children and knock some reason into their heads. Next to him, Kanda wasn't paying attention to the scene; his eyes were still following the slow movements of the youkai, trying to guess what its next target was.
Meanwhile, one of the boys had already started running to the spirit of memories and the two others were about to follow when Allen managed to grab the first one by the collar and violently pulled him back.
"Idiots! Get out of here!!" he shouted at them as he shoved the boy he had caught towards his two comrades. "This isn't the time to be playing! It's dangerous here!"
"But... but..." the first boy started whining while the two others glared at Allen.
"You're a bad Exorcist!"
"You don't like children! I'm gonna tell my dad!"
It was at that moment that Allen's last remains of control snapped.
"Shut up and leave immediately before I turn you into cockroaches!" he ordered, his temper completely lost.
The three kids froze on the spot, one hiccupping, another one on the verge of crying and the last one with tears already beading at the corner of his eyes. The harshness of the words surprised Allen himself, but at that moment, his only priority was to have the boys leave the spot before something irreversible happened.
"Didn't you hear me?" he asked icily. "Get out o..."
"Moyashi! You get out of here!" Kanda suddenly interrupted him, and the next second, Allen felt something violently pushing him on the side, making him hit against a tree.
During the few seconds he was busy dealing with the kids, he hadn't noticed the spirit flying near him and if it hadn't been for Kanda, his memories would have been eaten away by it.
"Th-thanks, Kanda." Allen said while rubbing his head and wincing at the faint pain.
"Don't stay there, its next target is you!" Kanda warned him.
Indeed, the spirit was now heading for Allen who made a new attempt at sealing it in a barrier, with the same result as previously.
"Damn it!" Kanda cursed under his breath. Then he glanced at the boys who still hadn't moved from their spot and grabbed the wrist of one of them. "Come here!" he called the spirit. "I have a better prey for you!" he added as he pushed the terrified boy towards the youkai.
The latter immediately stopped before momentarily floating on its spot, then changed its direction to head for its target which was too stunned to move even a single finger. Behind him, his friends' faces were pallid and their whole bodies were trembling in fear, not understanding what was happening.
"Kanda, you can't!" Allen said, panicked.
Everything happened in a flash of time. A second before the spirit touched the boy, Allen jumped in between the two, pushing the boy aside. Next thing he knew, his whole body was enclosed by a gelatinous substance in which he was floating, and the substance started glowing under the kids' mesmerized eyes and Kanda's look of disbelief.
The spirit glowed, emitting a pulsing and gentle light that partly hid Allen from the others' eyes, it glowed during half a minute while Kanda could only watch, powerless, fists clenched and gritting his teeth. If he tried to slash it directly with Mugen, the sword would simply vanish since it didn't bear any memory.
"It's so pretty..." one of the boys said shyly.
Those mere words were enough to unleash Kanda's fury. He turned to the three boys and released a powerful wave of energy, making them scream and huddle up under the shock, then glared at them with blazing eyes which reflected nothing but contempt and anger.
"Out of my sight. Or I'll make sure you will never be able to go back home anymore." he declared without raising his tone, but the murderous aura enveloping him was speaking enough for him.
The boys were sprawled on the ground, as if they were pinned by Kanda's overwhelming energy, but fear lent them wings and after almost miraculously managing to stand up, they took to their heels and disappeared in a blink of an eye, crying and calling for their parents.
With a disdainful 'che', Kanda turned back to a more urgent priority: Allen. Despite the almost dazzling glow, his silhouette could be made out inside the spirit's body. Kanda summoned Mugen and activated its power; the blade was now wrapped in a bright blue aura, and as its wielder slashed the air, a discharge of power was released, aiming straight at the spirit.
Though Kanda had purposely avoided hitting Allen, the attack simply went through the liquid body, making the shikigami curse profusely even if he knew perfectly well by experience that no spell, no curse or no magic could have any effect on a spirit of memories. However, it seemed that the gelatinous youkai noticed that something had happened, for it suddenly stopped glowing and released Allen who fell on the ground, his body as limp as a boneless corpse. Long and white filaments were linking the boy's head to the spirit, floating like spider threads, and Kanda immediately guessed what they were: Allen's memories.
The filaments were slowly being absorbed by the youkai, filling its transparent body with the white material and melting inside. Without wasting another second, Kanda rushed to the spirit and severed the threads as close to its envelope as possible, then quickly stepped back to avoid any contact with it.
Next to him, Kanda could see the threads that were still linked to Allen gradually being absorbed back inside of him. His focus went back to the spirit.
The latter remained in the air during a few seconds, then started swirling graciously and to Kanda's relief, it rose through the thick foliage of the trees and disappeared, visibly sated.
After making sure the spirit wasn't coming back, the black-haired youkai walked to the lying body of the young Exorcist and knelt down. He slipped a hand under the boy's nape and made him sit up, then called him:
"Moyashi. Oi, wake up!" In a way, Kanda was apprehensive about Allen waking up, for he was very well aware of what kind of bad surprise was awaiting him. Still, maybe there was a chance that the worst hadn't occurred, maybe Allen would still be the same as ever, maybe nothing would have changed... Maybe.
"Che, damn brat, as useless as ever."
......
Blackness.
A flash of light here.
Someone, running away, far, far away. Who was that?
Another flash over there.
Laughter, words, voices. Who are they?
Why are they all running away from me?
Emptiness.
I'm feeling drained.
A void here. Had it always been void?
Another flash of light.
Was that a forest I saw?
Countless colourful images streaming past, mixing and merging together.
Then a sudden darkness.
Had it always been dark?
Stop taking from me... I'm feeling tired.
A voice? Who is it?
My eyes won't open.
Let me sleep...
Please, stop speaking so loudly, I only wish to sleep.
Won't the voice stop? It's annoying.
What is it saying?
Moy... what?... Moyashi?
Weird.
The voice won't stop.
A glimpse of light.
......
Allen blinked once, then twice, then fully opened his grey eyes to reality. Kanda, who had the boy leant against his arm, saw him rub his eyelids then glance around him.
"Moyashi." he called.
The boy jumped and quickly turned his head to the side, facing Kanda. And it was at that moment that the youkai knew that it was pointless to hope for a miracle.
Allen was staring at him the same way he had stared at him on their first encounter, and it wasn't hard to read the same puzzlement and the same surprise as the first time they had met. Kanda bit his lip, visibly irritated, and stood up abruptly. Not expecting it, Allen almost fell backwards but managed to avoid it by supporting himself with one arm, then raised questioning eyes to Kanda who wasn't even looking at him anymore.
Kanda couldn't believe it. That idiotic Exorcist who was supposed to be his master had chosen to get caught by the spirit instead of those annoying and whiny brats! The mere thought of it stirred a desire to kill within him, but what drove him to the epitome of exasperation was when Allen finally opened his mouth.
"Hm, excuse me Sir, but who are you and where are we?" he asked a bit hesitantly. The second after, he hunched up as Kanda turned to him and glared at him icily. "I-I'm sorry!" Allen apologized immediately.
And back to square one. At that moment, Kanda couldn't tell what the worst was between his curse and having to endure a spineless master again. As he looked at the frightened boy who didn't even dare moving, a sigh escaped his lips and he eventually said:
"Let's go. And don't lag behind." he ordered as he started walking back to the Temple.
Sitting behind the low table and almost buried under the impressive mountains of scrolls and papers, Komui looked like a house of cards about to collapse as a new card was added, the said card being Kanda's piece of news about Allen's state. The Chinese man pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously too tired by the countless problems that kept piling up a bit more every day, and let out a loud sigh.
"Nothing?" he asked the clueless boy who was standing in front of him, visibly scared and lost. "Absolutely nothing? You don't have a single memory of your past three years at the Temple?"
"N-no, Sir." Allen lowered his head, letting silver strands of hair hiding his face. Kanda was standing next to him, arms crossed and a very pissed off look on his face.
"What's the last thing you have recollection of?" Komui asked again.
"I-I... was playing in the street with my friends, and then..." Allen shook his head in distraught. "I don't remember what happened afterwards! Why do you say I spent three years at the temple? Which temple? I have to go back home otherwise Nara will be worried. Please let me go! I didn't do anything bad, I swear!" his tone started rising with a hint of panic in it.
Noticing it, Komui stood up and walked round the table to Allen, then gently put a hand on the boy's shoulder – making him stiffen at the touch – , and gave him a small smile:
"Allen, please calm down. I understand that you may be very confused, but you have no reason to be scared here." he said as reassuringly as he could. "Now, let me ask you another question: how old are you?"
"I'm twelve, Sir." Allen replied shyly.
Komui bit his lip, frowning.
"I see." he made a short pause before resuming: "Listen to me carefully, Allen. And you have to believe what I'm going to tell you. Your memories have been erased by a spirit of memories, though I have absolutely no idea how it managed to reach this place. According to what you told me, it seems you were lucky enough to have "only" three years of your memories removed."
"Only?" Kanda interrupted abruptly. "It was more than enough to turn the stupid kid back to a scaredy cat."
The harsh tone made Allen jump slightly, and it was obvious his only wish at that moment was to get as far from Kanda as possible. Komui sighed again:
"Kanda, I guess it must be hard on you but please try not to scare Allen more than what he is right now. And it could have been worse, he could have lost his complete memory. It's fortunate that you managed to stop the spirit."
"Che. Whatever." the black-haired youkai shrugged then started heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Komui stopped him.
"Do something about the kid instead of asking pointless questions." Kanda snapped back as he exited the room.
As he left, Komui merely shook his head, then turned back to Allen who hadn't dared move a single finger meanwhile.
"Don't worry, he's always like that, but it seemed you two managed to get along, more or less." he said with a smile.
"Get along with him?" Allen asked, eyes widened in surprise. "But who is he?"
Komui raised an eyebrow before remembering that the boy still didn't know anything about being an Exorcist.
"He's your shikigami." he replied.
Three seconds passed before Allen finally reacted.
"My what?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Allen was, to say the least, completely lost. And confused. From the moment he found himself in the forest to the moment Komui told him he was an Exorcist, there was nothing but sheer blackness in his mind. How did it happen? He was playing in the streets with his friends in front of Nara's house, and suddenly, he was in the middle of an unknown forest, dressed with clothes that looked too much like an Exorcist costume, with a man he had never seen before and who seemed to hold a grudge against him, though he didn't know why.
Then the same man had dragged him almost forcefully to this place, the temple, which he had absolutely no idea what kind of temple it was. And then, he was told that absurdity which he refused to give any credit to. His memories had been stolen by a youkai as he was on a request. An Exorcist. He was now fifteen. Like he'd buy something like that. Obviously, the disbelief on his face had shown too much for the man named 'Komui' had offered to bring him to a certain 'Professor Tiedoll' who would allegedly be able to help him somehow.
And now, here he was, in an unknown room, standing in front of another unknown face and starting to get seriously worried about his current situation. He only wanted to go back home where Nara and the others were certainly waiting for him, wondering about his whereabouts.
"Komui, Allen! To what do I owe the honour of your visit?" the man asked, and Allen had to admit – though reluctantly – that he looked rather kind, like a caring grandfather.
"Actually" Komui started, "We have a slight problem."
Someone who'd have slid the panel open and taken a look inside would have thought it was a statue that was lying on the futon.
Allen was immobile, empty eyes gazing at the ceiling without really seeing it, his body as limp as a corpse. This was crazy. Completely crazy. Inwardly, he was wondering if he wasn't the insane one in the whole matter. Komui and Tiedoll had spent two whole hours with him trying to tell him about his three supposedly missing years of memories; from the moment he had joined the temple to now.
They had told him about his training with various teachers, about his 'friends' – what were their names? Lenalee and Lavi, weren't they? – about his shikigami – a shikigami, for heaven's sake! – and about details that were too numerous for him to remember. But the most striking point for him was that shikigami. Kanda was his – no, its name. It required a lot of effort from Allen not to mistake it for a human, given its appearance, and he was often finding himself lost in deep thoughts about that fascinating youkai. He hadn't got to see Kanda that much, but it had been enough to carve that severe face into his mind, and that pair of onyx eyes glaring at him with enough power to stun him on the spot...
Something else seemed strange since the moment he had woken up in the forest. He had suddenly started noticing a warm feeling spreading through his limbs and even now, he was still feeling it. He had no clue what it was though it felt like it was someone else's presence he was sensing, and it disturbed him all the more as he couldn't understand where the feeling came from.
However, the most troubling part was when he had requested them to let him go back to Nara. Both of them had remained silent for a second before Komui offered to show him his room so he could have some rest, then they'd talk again later. Why had he eluded the question?
A shiver ran down his spine. He wrapped himself up in the blanket but it didn't warm him up at all. This foreign room wasn't his and there was no way it could feel as warm as his actual room at Nara's house.
His eyes closed in spite of himself, and tiredness soon took over him, leading him to a dreamless world of blankness.
Three days passed, during which the Temple seemed to be carried away by a sudden overflow of requests – more than usual – and could barely cope with it. Allen rarely went out of his room and the visits he received were even scarcer. As a result, he was often left alone to brood all day long.
Well, there was still Kanda, but saying that he was scared of that demon was an understatement. The silent presence of his supposed shikigami disturbed him and intimidated him at the same time; it required a lot of efforts for him not to constantly stare at the handsome creature, though he couldn't help but glance every once in a while at the youkai.
On that day, he found himself brave enough to start a conversation with Kanda and it was with a slightly trembling voice that he spoke:
"Hm, excuse me Sir... I..."
"Che, I'm your shikigami, you stupid brat, and my name is Kanda." the youkai cut Allen sharply. The boy flinched.
"I-I'm not really used to it..." he apologized.
"Whatever. What do you want?"
"Well I-I thought we could... talk a bit and-and see if I can remember something." Allen stuttered. "But if you don't want to, then it's fine with me!" he added hurriedly, visibly afraid to upset Kanda. But the answer he was given wasn't exactly what he had expected.
"You don't even believe that you have a memory loss." Kanda replied.
"Well it's not that I... well... it's hard for me to believe everything I was told so..."
"So there's no point in us talking. It's no use telling you things you'll refuse to hear. Make up your mind, and then we'll see." Kanda finished for him before walking out of the room, leaving an utterly bemused Allen behind him.
Kanda was fulminating inwardly. Right when Allen had finally started becoming a master worthy of his interest, that had to happen. What irritated him the most was that he didn't have a single clue on how to give Allen's memories back. And to top it all, if the boy were to face the Earl or even one of his followers, he'd be as defenceless as a newly-born. The situation was getting dangerously critical. There was no telling what the idiotic kid could do now that he had no recollection of anything that was Earl-related; the best solution for now was to keep Allen at the Temple under close surveillance until a way was found to make him recover his memories – if such a way existed.
Naturally, Kanda could still feel Allen's presence for the bond between them hadn't been erased, but it was less powerful, as if Allen had unconsciously which was already a good start; still, it wasn't in his plans to babysit a kid who was unable to defend himself. What was in his plans, however, was to go look for the Earl and eliminate him as quickly as possible.
That's what he should have done a long time ago.
The red-haired man crossed the gate of the Temple, a faint smirk on his lips as he looked around him at the familiar surroundings. He walked confidently through the place, ignoring the questioning looks on the few people's faces he crossed, and soon stopped in front of a door. He knocked.
"Come in." a voice answered immediately.
The man slid the panel and stepped in, his gaze directed at the other man who was sitting behind an overloaded low table and scribbling on a scroll. The latter raised his eyes at the newcomer and opened them wide as he recognized the one standing in front of him. He put his brush down and stood up before walking round the table.
"Cross? You finally came back?" he asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"Well, it seems so, my dear Komui. Glad to see me?" the said Cross replied, amused.
"Where were you during all those months? What brought you back here?" Komui inquired hastily.
"Hey, hey, calm down there. First, I want a cup of tea and some rest, then we'll talk."
Komui looked surprised at first, then sighed, a faint smile on his lips.
"Sure. You must have had a tough travel." he replied.
Half an hour later, both men were sitting in the reception room and drinking tea served with a plate of biscuits. Komui was just done summarizing all the recent events that had occurred during Cross's absence and was now observing the man's thoughtful expression.
"I see..." he muttered after a moment, more to himself than for Komui to hear him. He scratched his chin adorned with a small, russet beard then raised his eyes to Komui: "And you say the youkai attacks haven't decreased at all, right? Well, it's no wonder."
"What do you mean?" Komui inquired, frowning. Cross kept silent during several seconds before replying:
"I'll tell you, but for now, I also have a question: where's the Walker brat?"
The Chinese man cocked an eyebrow, clearly not expecting the question.
"Allen? Why do you ask?"
"I want to talk to him too. He needs to hear what I have to say." Cross replied on his most serious tone, which only served to increase Komui's curiosity. He sighed loudly.
"Well, you see... To tell the truth, there's a slight problem with Allen..." he started.
Kanda's eyes widened. He was aware of the fact that the energy bond he shared with Allen had weakened, yet he hadn't suspected the Exorcist's presence to abruptly disappear without any warning. There was only one explanation: usually the more distance there was between them, the less he could feel Allen's energy, which meant...
The youkai cursed profusely at his own lack of attention.
Cross slowly put his cup down, his face displaying a dangerously calm expression.
"Memory loss?" he asked, his voice still cool though a faint trembling could be detected, showing that he was displaying great self-control in order not to snap. "That's pretty inconvenient." he added.
"We don't know how a spirit of memories managed to get to this area. If we can determine that, maybe it'll give us a clue to retrieve Allen's memories." Komui said with not much conviction.
"Someone who got their memories stolen cannot retrieve them." Cross retorted darkly as he stood up. "I must say I didn't expect such a turn of event. And I thought I had made myself clear when I told you to take care of the brat three years ago."
"I know." Komui replied, sighing. He looked suddenly weary as he went on: "I'm the one at fault. I suppose I relied too much on Kanda to protect him." he added to himself.
"Kanda, huh? Where's he, anyway?" Cross asked abruptly, surprising Komui once more.
"You know about Kanda? How come?" the Chinese man asked, frowning.
"It doesn't matter how. There's a more urgent problem to deal with. Memory loss or no, I need to see both the brat and his shikigami.."
This time, Komui didn't even bother to ask how the other knew about Kanda being Allen's shikigami. The man had always been a mystery to him, and that fact wouldn't change.
"Well, Allen should be in his room. Let's go s..."
At that moment, the door of the reception room was violently opened, and the grim face of Cloud Nine made Komui fear that something had happened again. The blonde woman barely looked surprised at the sight of Cross – or maybe she simply ignored him – as she addressed Komui:
"We have a problem. It seems the young Allen Walker disappeared."
He was running, running, running. Where to? He had no idea, yet he kept running. Trees flashed by the edge of his field of sight as he was sinking deeper and deeper into the forest, not stopping even one second to catch his breath. For some reason, he couldn't stand staying among those people, no matter how nice they looked; he felt like a stranger there. What he only wanted was to go back to Nara and retrieve the reassuring feeling of a warm and welcoming house.
That's why he kept running. And as he did, he noticed the warm sensation in his body slowly vanishing. Allen shook his head. He didn't have time to bother about such petty details. If he was lucky, then he'd manage to get out of the forest and find a way back to Nara.
"Well, well. Aren't we in a hurry?" a voice suddenly echoed around him, making him stop on the spot.
Allen looked frantically around him, trying to locate the origin of the voice but saw nothing at first. Until a silhouette slowly appeared from behind a tree, walking to him with no haste and a smirk on their lips. Allen gasped as he saw who it was.
"K-Kanda?" he asked hesitantly.
The smirk widened as the one whom Allen had called brushed his ponytail with his fingers.
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Ok, here's another chapter for those who have been waiting. I hope the plot is fine to you so far, and I want to thank all those of you who're still supporting this story.
Oh, and you can go check TheSilentDream's fanart she kindly made for me in my profile!