Author's Note: Hello! This is the chapter where Shiori complains a lot.

Shiori: You make me complain.

Me: Uh-huh, blame your faults on others. That's mature.

Shiori: Humph.

Me: So, I was intending to check this chapter over more, but I felt like if I did I'd never get around to uploading it because I'm a horrible procrastinator sometimes. So here we go! Enjoy!

Me: Disclaimer…..I own my two OC's but not anyone else. I own the parts of the plot where I made things up, but that's all. Everything else is property of Katsura Hoshino…and her editors…and such…well, on with the story.
Those who have reviewed so far, thank you very, very much. I love that you review I've gotten into a routine of thinking about this story, its plot, and characters, and what I'll write next, but reviews do help me and make me feel even more pleased about having started writing the story. I'm glad that I am still happily writing it two years later (it feels like a good kind of strange when I remember that I started this story in 2008). Cheers~

Chapter Thirty-Three – Home

With a satisfied sigh, Shiori sank into the chair at her desk and stared out the window. She'd just finished getting all of the furniture, her desk, chair, and bed, situated in her new room and Kisho's room was done now too. It was one room over from hers and she'd put all of his belongings and furniture in his room so whenever he got back it'd be ready for him. It had been a week since all of the exorcists had reached the new Order, and most of them were settled into their new rooms but lots of them were helping to clean the place up and make it look a little nicer since it had been a decrepit old castle. Shiori was healing and Matron had allowed her to leave the Infirmary on the promise that she'd take it easy. She couldn't move around too quickly and when she tried, she doubled over in pain. The spare exorcist uniform she was wearing wasn't helping her heal much quicker. Even though she still wore bandages, her clothes rubbed on the bandages, which made small areas of them sore, so she had developed a habit of walking stiffly so the clothes didn't brush against her skin too much. Lavi and Chaoji had spotted her struggling and had offered to help (though Chaoji and Lavi had handled most of the really heavy stuff, like putting together the bed frames in Shiori and Kisho's rooms).

While Lavi and Chaoji had put the desk in the room, then the bed frame together, Shiori had brought the box with her things in her room (it was not very heavy but she'd had just pushed it with her foot across the floor) so she'd been able to do that on her own with little problem and had put the box with Kisho's clothes in his room and come back to find her room looking more like her old one. She scratched furiously at her neck, where the collar of her shirt was scratching her, and grumbled crossly. "These clothes are nice, and I still like my collar, but they really itch."

"Like a son of a bitch?" Lavi asked.

"Yes!" Shiori agreed emphatically. "I never thought I'd hate wearing clothes this much. It used to be fun…putting on festival clothes, work clothes, and pajamas…" Lavi snorted.

"If you go around naked, we won't mind," he said. Chaoji glared sideways at him.

"Don't put words in my mouth," the man snapped, crossing his arms.

"I was just kidding…." He looked down and muttered under his breath. "Sort of." Lifting his head again he gave a cheerful grin. "Anyway, Shady, are you sure you didn't catch fleas again?" Lavi teased, having figured out (along with everyone else) a long time ago that she'd been beset by parasites during her years as a wolf and now had a penetrating phobia of them.

"No, I do not have fleas," she objected sourly, slumping in the chair. Then her expression changed; she gave Chaoji and Lavi a friendly look. "Thanks for helping me," she said, sitting up straight. "I really needed the help." Lavi shook his head.

"No problem. We usually charge by the hour, though," he said, trying to hide a grin.

Shiori raised her eyebrows. "But you weren't working for a whole hour. You guys finished everything in no time," she said, playing along with a smile.

"Well, we round up…a lot," Lavi said, holding his hand out while Chaoji sighed quietly. Shiori reached a hand in her pocket and nodded.

"Alright, here you go," she agreed, standing and dropping something in Lavi's hand. He took one look at it and gave a startled yell while reflexively jerking his hand away. Chaoji blinked and watched a large black spider scuttling across the floor. Lavi gave Shiori an incredulous, aggravated look.

"You just carry spiders around in your pocket?"

"His name's Frank. Or Fred," Shiori said casually, ignoring the question, but a satisfied smirk was on her face. "And he doesn't like to be tossed around."

Lavi glared at the spider and lifted his foot. "I can think of something else he won't like." Shiori quickly bent and picked the little black creature up before Lavi could step on him.

"Be nice to him or he'll be crawling on your pillow one of these days!" Shiori scolded, but Lavi just snorted and gave her a strange look, as did Chaoji.

"And then I'd just toss him out the window," Lavi said shortly. The female exorcist sighed and abruptly changed the subject.

"I haven't worn clothes in ages," she began complaining again. Lavi tried not to laugh. Shiori pulled at the sleeves of her clothes uncomfortably; her new exorcist uniform was a dark blue blouse under a medium-length black jacket with silver lines on the sleeves, and her black pants also had silver lines, starting at her waist and ending at her ankles. The old brown collar she'd worn during the trip from the old Branch to the new one had been discarded. She was wearing her old black and silver collar from received when she'd first arrived at the Main Branch, the one that had her name on a cross-shaped tag. She had previously tightened it somewhat so that it didn't hang loosely around her neck but now was loosening it so it wouldn't get hot and make a ring of sweat form all the time. "I never knew they itched so much."

"You didn't seem nearly this odd when you were a wolf. You were still odd, don't get me wrong, though," Lavi noted, and Shiori thought for a moment.

"Think of this payback for all the times you played the rice-flea trick on me," she said, then lifted her hand at smiled at the spider dangling from her hand by a thread.

"Payback?" Lavi laughed. "Really? Was that the best you could do?" Shiori looked up slowly and a shadow came over her face.

"The best I could do?" She laughed sinisterly, then held her hand close to a slightly dented brass flowerpot, filled with dark soil, on her windowsill. She'd found the old flowerpot in a pile of other curios outside of an antique shop while on a mission from a while back and upon hearing that it was about to be gotten rid of Shiori had asked if she could have it. The antique shop owner had said no, but once he'd gone back inside, Shiori had surreptitiously picked up the flowerpot. Then as if nothing happened she'd walked away from the shop with it. Miranda had nervously insisted that it was stealing and Allen had commented that Kisho must have learned to be a thief from Shiori, who had retorted she didn't need to hear that from a gambler. She was now looking for something to plant in it, since that was something she liked to do. Back home she and the other families planted lots of things since they were a farming community.

"You don't want to know the best I can do," the female exorcist said in a menacing tone, while Frank (or Fred) the spider crawled over her hand, then her fingers, then finally came to a stop near the flowerpot's rim.

"You saying that just makes me want to know," Lavi said, rolling his eyes, while Chaoji grinned faintly and Shiori laughed.

"So…this is the new country of the Main Branch," Kisho observed, staring out the window at the pine-tree landscape that was swiftly rushing by.

"It looks like we're getting into a more isolated part of the country…that's why Komui picked it. He picked the previous Black Order's location for the same reason. Even if people rely on us to get rid of Akuma…it's best that we're apart from them most of the time…" Allen trailed off.

Allen and Kisho had been discharged the previous day, a week and a few days after they'd arrived at the China Branch. Having recovered enough they were given the all-clear to take a train and start heading home; it was the eighteenth of August, a Monday, and they'd arrived at the Asia Branch on Saturday the ninth of August. They had been travelling for a long time now, but had mostly slept along the way so they didn't know how long they'd been travelling. Kisho was feeling better about getting back in time for Shiori's birthday on the twenty-second but unease about telling her how their mother had died, and because of who, was making him a nervous wreck. He almost got on the wrong train at the station and Allen had found him at the last minute, and they'd had to run to avoid missing the train they were riding now. Then Kisho had tried to drink out of the cup of water that had his goldfish in it (he'd wound up keeping the fish the cook had given him) before stopping himself just in time.

But later Kisho had tried to walk into their compartment, not realizing the door was closed. Allen frequently had to yell to get Kisho's attention when the younger person didn't respond to conversation attempts. The older male had become frustrated, firmly telling Kisho that he couldn't keep having lapses in attention. Allen knew that Kisho was just worried but he sharply told the Finder to stop being a victim and not just think the troubles were all his. Countless people had dealt with-and were dealing with—the loss of their family members because of the Earl. There had been silence for a while after that. Allen was calmer now after angrily reprimanding Kisho, but now remembered that the other male had just stared at him with emotionless eyes, making him wonder if he'd even been listening. But Kisho had not visibly gotten angry, nor had he left the compartment. The younger person was staring out the window now and Allen noticed the blank expression had been replaced by a troubled one, letting him know he had been listening.

The landscape was rushing by—green pine trees, far-off mountains, a lake that was stretching out across the horizon—and Kisho kept staring out the window at it even if he felt a little dizzy watching everything. When upset, he began thinking hard about something else while he sorted out his feelings, so he often went into his own little world….one that had several soundproof barriers around it.

Although Kisho and Allen wanted to see all their friends again and get back into a normal routine they would miss everyone at the Asia Branch, but the plus side was that they were a lot closer to China now and might be able to visit each other more frequently in the future. There was also a chance they might end up doing joint missions. In the week and a half that the exorcist and demoted exorcist were at the Asia Branch, Kisho had overcome some of his clumsiness at writing with his unbroken left hand and soon, Kisho guessed, he might be able to write with his left and right hands. Allen's injuries had started to heal and his ankle was on its way to being completely healed. The cut on his ankle was starting to form scar tissue and it didn't hurt so much anymore. There was still padding on his ankle for the sprain, but Allen had a smaller bandage than before, and he sometimes just hopped around instead of using the crutches Bak had let him keep. The exorcist was even attempting to put his weight on the injured foot again and use it, but often it wouldn't be for very long periods of time before he had to switch weight back to his right foot and either use the crutches or hopping on one foot (which he could do with no problem but tried to avoid since he knew he looked odd). Kisho had remained in the library for most of his remaining time at the Asia Branch being forced to study Chinese with Bak, Fo, Lo Hua, Likei, and Shifu since he had proven that his language skills in the language had gotten rusty. Allen had also been dragged into the language sessions and since he'd never taken Chinese before he often left the lessons a jumbled mess of thoughts and lots of assignments. Kisho and Allen usually met up hastily after the lessons and tried to get their homework load finished together. It seemed that Bak hadn't just given them Chinese language lessons on a whim; he appeared to have a genuine reason for it, maybe because they'd be closer to China now and knowing the language would come in handy.

When Allen and Kisho finished working they'd study the book that had the strange symbol in it. The whole book was in the same language as the symbol, and they didn't know how to read it. They attempted to ask people in the Asia Branch, exorcists and Finders, but they seemed especially busy training and Bak, Likei, Shifu, Lo Hua, and Fo were also busy so they couldn't be approached either. Most of their days were spent working around the Branch and teaching the exorcist and new Finder Chinese on the side. Lots of Finders and a handful of exorcists had learned multiple languages with all the travelling they'd done. Kisho had learned most of his English from Cloud Nyne after becoming her apprentice. Kisho hadn't been all that optimistic about learning English, but Cloud Nyne had proved to be an experienced teacher. He picked up the most basic English in a few months from her and had learned even more at the Asia and Main Branches. Tiedoll had apparently taught Shiori English, too, and like Kisho she'd picked it up at the Main Branch. When the siblings made mistakes when speaking it, other exorcists would point them out.

Neither Kisho nor Allen got much out of the book no matter how long they stared at its pages, and they hadn't found an English or Japanese version of the book. By this time however they had memorized the symbol, and both had it on a piece of paper in their pockets so they could ask Reever about it when they returned because he was good with a lot of languages and they were counting on him to know what the symbol might mean. The symbol Allen had drawn on his paper was slightly different than the one in the book; it was a dot over a closed eye shape, which was over a three shape. The shape missing from his symbol was a curving line coming out from the three, the same symbol on Kisho's paper slip.

Kisho didn't know why Allen wanted to know about the symbol and as of yet hadn't asked; he was too busy with Chinese, and learning about how to be a Finder, and had become focused with thinking about what the symbol meant—too focused to think about asking Allen— so he kept forgetting to bring it up but this was just fine with Allen. If Kanda found out what either of them was doing, well, the results wouldn't be pretty. "How did you get along the first time you came here?" Allen asked on a random thought, and Kisho turned his head away from the train window to look at the exorcist.

"Mm…" Kisho mumbled, thinking for a moment. "It was easier for me to leave home because there wasn't anything or anyone left at that point. And But Shiori was a people person and pretty much knew everyone in the town." He looked at Allen suddenly, an expression of be concern on his face, and the exorcist looked taken aback. "Was she homesick for a while?" He asked. "Or did she stop eating?" Allen scratched his head.

"If she was homesick she didn't show it. But," he said, "I know there was no problem with her appetite. Was she always a heavy eater?" Kisho's forehead puckered in thought.

"Not really. I know she travelled a lot and probably had to just eat whatever she could get—which probably wasn't a lot—and Parasite-type Accommodators need a lot of energy, right?" Allen nodded. Innocence, in Parasite form, took a lot of energy from the Accommodator's body—energy to function and live. "She looks a little skinny now that I think about it. She really must not have been getting enough to eat."

"Maybe that's why her appetite increased so much—she was used to not eating a lot but she needed food and couldn't get it." The exorcist recalled something suddenly. "Actually, I think she didn't eat a lot right after she came. I heard that she did eat a whole bunch at first, but that it made her sick or something, so she didn't eat at all for a few days after that. She eats a little more now." Kisho sighed deeply and leaned against the window.

"Poor Shiori…but she's alright now, so I guess I shouldn't….she'd hit me over the head if she knew I was worrying about her." There was a pause. "She might anyway once I get back."

"I think Lenalee will do the same thing to me…she worries a lot about everyone." Allen slumped his shoulders. "I don't think Komui will be very happy with me either," the exorcist said, wincing slightly as he thought of Komui having a huge tantrum towards him because he made Lenalee upset. Heaven forbid he'd had time to make another Komurin to terrorize him with.

"You're right…we'll have a lot to answer to…from certain others. I'd take being yelled at by my friends any day…rather than them…" Kisho grumbled, looking out the window again.

"You mean," Allen said, his eyes narrowed, "people like Revelier or from the Vatican?"

"Pretty much," Kisho answered without taking his eyes away from the window. "Most people in The Black Order are pretty decent, though, but….well, anyway…." Kisho broke off. "Looks like it'll get pretty cold here in the winter, like where I lived. Shiori and I lived in northern Japan." The teenager shuddered. "We both really hated winter and most of spring. It was always hard, in winter especially, to stay warm." Allen patted Timcampy, who for once was sitting quietly in his lap, instead of on his head eating his hair.

"Maybe Komui and everyone else are working on making baths like in the old headquarters." Kisho looked towards Allen and his expression brightened.

"Maybe there are hot springs so no one will freeze. That's what we did back at home sometimes." Allen looked at Kisho doubtfully.

"You froze to death?" He asked, and Kisho shook his head slowly. Then he understood the ambiguity of his sentence.

"I meant people in the town got in the hot springs that were nearby to keep warm in the winter. Hot spring monkeys do that too." Kisho rubbed his head, looking embarrassed. "I still am pretty bad at English, but Cloud Nyne taught me, and she's good at it. If she wasn't an exorcist, maybe she'd be a teacher." Allen was about to say something back when the train began slowing to a stop. Kisho looked up in surprise. "We're there?" He asked, standing up, and he stumbled forward when the train came to a final sudden halt.

"Must be," Allen said with a look of eagerness as he stood and reached for the compartment door. It slid open and Hyun-Ae stood there. Bak had given her the task of escorting them to the new Main Branch and protecting them while they travelled the last leg of the journey to their final destination. She'd stay for a while at the Main Branch and had permission from Bak and Komui to go on missions there.

"Good! You're ready. Let's get going, then!" She urged the two boys, throwing them canteens of water and a sliced bread bun with dried fish between the halves. "This is for the trip. I bet you guys are a little hungry and you'll need all the energy you can get to make it back." She turned, leaving Allen and Kisho to follow her out of the train and onto the platform where they stood for a moment to get their bearings. Hyun-Ae had a map out and was standing between Allen and Kisho while they all peered at it together. She lifted a finger and pressed it lightly down onto a spot on the map. "This is the train station we're at now, and the Main Branch is about three miles from here. It should take around an hour to get there."

"So it's really close. What if someone finds it?" Kisho asked, frowning slightly. "I know it's just a small town and train station here, but—" Hyun-Ae shushed him and began speaking in a whisper; Allen and Kisho had to lean closer to hear her.

"It's well hidden. Everyone had to go through a thick forest to get there and it's surrounded by trees and mountains on all sides. It is in a clearing just big enough for the castle and there's an empty space behind the castle for a ways before the mountains start. No one would try going through the forest to see if anything's there. I and several others have actually made sure of that. By the time we're done, everyone around here will have spread the rumor that the forest is cursed. They already think that the old castle is haunted and the leader of this town was happy to give the land away. He knows it's being used for something but Komui was careful to make sure that the town leader wouldn't talk about it—and he seemed happy to agree." Hyun-Ae folded the map and slipped it into her backpack. "The castle's kind of a stain on this town. It's a nice place to be, out in the country and all, but when the rumors of a haunted castle started popping up no one wanted to come here anymore. But apparently people—mainly younger people—got interested in exploring, so they started coming back and the town actually grew a little. Everyone is curious about the woods and the castle but no one to my knowledge has gone there since we started spreading the rumors. If they do, though, we have a lot of plans to make them leave. We won't do anything really bad to anyone who explores around here so don't worry."

Kisho and Allen grinned; they wouldn't mind being part of the prank group when they needed to scare curious people away. "People I knew would avoid cursed spots like the plague. Well, except when they left offerings. If there was a 'cursed' spot or a haunted place they'd leave offerings so the spirits would find peace and go away." Hyun-Ae nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said. Allen looked off towards where they'd leave the town and start walking. "Right, well, I can see that you want to get going. If you two ever need to take a rest along the way, be sure to say something. I'll be paying attention to you but I also have to pay attention to the trail." The two young men nodded and then the trio started off for the new Main Branch. On an impulse Kisho glanced around at the town and train station. Their train had left and people were crowding the platform, waiting for the next one. There were a lot of trees and flowers inside and outside the town's borders, and a few people were planting and watering flowers carefully. It was hot out but a nice cool breeze was wafting gently through the town. Something brushed Kisho's shoulder, lightly at first, so he didn't pay attention but it came again and was rougher this time. Turning, Kisho wondered if someone was trying to get his attention, but when he recognized who was standing before him his heart throbbed in panic and began beating faster.

"You're not safe there," Tykki said calmly, "no matter how hard you'll try to keep it protected. We can always find you. There are still traces of that Golem inside you." Kisho curled his hand into a fist and swiped at Tykki, but his fist just went right through him. It seemed that the Tykki in front of him was somehow just an illusion.

"It was destroyed."

"Innocence and Dark Matter usually destroy each other. But sometimes they just repel each other, like opposite ends of a magnet when they touch. For the Golem to completely be destroyed you'd have to have received all of the Heart fragment's power, but you just received a tiny amount so Allen could still get rid of the Fourteenth's memories." The Noah gave a short laugh while Kisho clutched his chest and clenched his jaw; sweat was beading on his face and it made him feel chilled even though the weather was hot. "Do you regret what you did?" Tykki asked softly after a small chuckle. Kisho's expression hardened.

"No." The Noah shrugged.

"Well, the Tease won't kill you as long as you still have part of the Heart's power to slowly get rid of it. Once it's gone, I suppose the Innocence will fill the hole it chewed in your heart. But it doesn't matter that it didn't kill you." Even though Tykki didn't look like he was really there the Noah jabbed a finger into Kisho's chest, right over his heart. "Because we will." There was no threat, no malice, no frustration in Tykki's voice. The Noah had sounded strangely calm when he'd spoken, and his expression detached, as if he had merely stated a fact. Another chill went up Kisho's spine.

"Kisho," Allen said right into his ear, startling Kisho. He jumped away from Allen, still feeling cold. He breathed heavily for a moment, holding his chest, and glanced around in a daze. Hyun-Ae and Allen, as well as a few townspeople, were giving him worried and peculiar glances. The townspeople quickly walked away when they saw Kisho was looking back at them.

"Did you see him? Tykki? He was here." Allen and Hyun-Ae immediately looked around and took off to search for the Noah, but they came back and told Kisho they hadn't found him. Kisho was sitting on a rock near the forest edge and rubbing his chest when they came back.

"Is the heat getting to you, maybe?" Hyun-Ae asked, looking puzzled and wary. "We didn't see him anywhere and if he was here he probably would have started something by now."

"The Earl probably wants all three of us now," Allen agreed, "so he wouldn't just let us get away. But we didn't see him." After a paused Allen asked Kisho, "Do you want to rest here for a bit? Or eat something?" Kisho shook his head and stood up.

"No….let's go. I'll just explain what happened along the way. I made us waste too much time already," he replied, looking troubled, and the two exorcists listened intently as the young teenager told them what he'd seen.

"I don't know what to think….I don't feel like there's anything wrong with me, but everyone just moved to a new place. I can't be the reason they have to keep moving to new locations if the Noah really can find us. Maybe I should leave you guys alone, or something….." Hyun-Ae startled Kisho by snapping suddenly at him.

"There's always been the danger that Noah could find us. Just why were you listening to him, anyway? He's a Noah, plus," Hyun-Ae continued before Kisho could get a word in, "were you sure he was even there? You've been through a lot, you're injured, and it's hot out today." Kisho swallowed.

"So you…think I could have just imagined it."

"I'm pretty sure you just imagined it," Hyun-Ae said derisively, crossing her arms. "Wouldn't be the first time you imagined something, anyway." Kisho stiffened and looked at the ground passing beneath his feet as he walked. Some who knew about his visions about the Heart believed him—mostly his friends—and some didn't; Hyun-Ae was one of those people who thought he'd imagined or made it up, and that he had just happened to find a piece of the Heart. Though some didn't even believe that a Heart fragment had been found, because according to what the Black Order Branches knew so far, the Heart was just one Innocence which if destroyed would cause the destruction of every Innocence throughout the world. "We'll get you checked out back at Headquarters to make sure you're alright, though," Hyun-Ae continued offhandedly, breaking into Kisho's thoughts. "Both of you are going to get checked out anyway." Allen and Kisho groaned quietly. Bak had already given them a medical exam at the Asia Branch; why did they need another one? "And I'll make sure Komui doesn't do anything weird to you guys."

"Thanks a lot," Allen grumbled, an uncomfortable chill going up his spine as he thought about Komui's operations.

"Don't worry about it," Hyun-Ae said with a reassuring smile. "It's not like your Innocence was damaged, so he won't be operating on your arm. He'll just do a routine check-up to make sure you're healing correctly. Well, honestly, Kisho's will be a little more….intense…because of what he just told us. Not that I believe that Tykki was there," she added when Kisho quickly looked up, "but I was a little concerned about you anyway. Hevlaska might be called to look at you." With a sigh Kisho looked ahead and looked down again, paying attention to his walking feet until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Don't do that. You have to learn to pay just as much attention to your surroundings now that you're a Finder." Kisho had swapped out his tattered exorcist uniform at the Asia Branch, first for a red buttoned Chinese shirt and black pants and second for a dusty brown Finder's cloak that Hyun-Ae was carrying in her backpack. He was wearing the short-sleeved red shirt and black pants now and Allen was wearing black pants and a white buttoned shirt with a dark blue tie. Hyun-Ae had a new exorcist uniform for him in her backpack and was wearing a white dress shirt with a black skirt that went just past her calves. "Got it?" The Korean exorcist chided Kisho gently, and he held her gaze for a second before looking straight ahead of him.

"Yeah," he answered, trying to rid himself of the hot, uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Cheer up. We'll be there soon, and then we can do whatever we want…..at least until Komui gives us a mission," Allen said, touching Timcampy on the head lightly and laughing when the Golem snapped at his finger but missed. "Things will probably take some getting used to but I think this new place will be nice. It's easily accessible," the male exorcist commented thoughtfully, looking around at the landscape. "And the location isn't bad either. Lots of fresh air. The trees are really nice and green, too. I think sitting under one at the Main Branch will be nice…at least in the summer."

"In the winter it will be too cold….and most of the trees around here don't look like they change colors in the fall," Kisho said, almost forlornly, since he was thinking of his home as he walked. There didn't seem to be any Japanese maple or cherry trees around here….though there hadn't been in the previous Main Branch, either.

"Tree-lovers," Hyun-Ae laughed. "I understand farm boy's obsession for nature but I didn't know you liked trees so much, Allen."

"…Farm boy….?" Kisho repeated. "Is that bad or something?" Hyun-Ae looked at the sky.

"Oh, no, no, nothing wrong with that," she replied airily.

"I think she's saying you're a bumpkin," Allen said, whispering exaggeratedly, and the he received a confused look.

"Bumpkin?" Kisho looked from Allen to Hyun-Ae. He'd never heard that word before. It sounded like 'pumpkin'…but they couldn't be calling him fat, could they? Not that he would care if they were, since whatever they said wouldn't matter, because he wasn't fat. Kisho was shorter than Shiori, and much shorter than Allen, Kanda, and Lavi. He had a slightly average build, but he'd gotten some muscle from farming and exorcist training.

"A hick, a simpleton, a hayseed, a yokel, someone that comes from a backwater place in the middle of nowhere…" Hyun-Ae continued casually, then looked down at Kisho, who was looking up at her with a puzzled but annoyed look. "You need to expand your dictionary…and your horizons." Allen finally laughed, and Kisho finally understood and gave the exorcists a scornful glare that almost made them believe he was really angry.

"Right….I see." He began speaking derisively. "You both grew up in some nice, big city, didn't you?" Allen shrugged, unable to remember a place where he'd lived the most but Hyun-Ae just kept grinning. "I'd rather be a country guy than some city-wimp," Kisho laughed.

"Don't get your diapers in a bunch, shrimp!" Hyun-Ae exclaimed, covering her mouth with a hand, as if she was surprised by Kisho's jab but anyone could see that she was trying to stifle her laughter. "We didn't mean anything by it."

"I'm sure you didn't," Kisho said, then noticed that they were getting closer to a vast clump of trees. "Is that the forest you were talking about?" Hyun-Ae and Allen looked up, and the female exorcist nodded eagerly.

"Yes, that's it. We're halfway there now. Do you guys need a rest before you enter the cursed woods?" Hyun-Ae asked jokingly while giving the boys a sinister grin.

"If we stop," Allen said, "then it'll just take longer…and we can rest longer at the Main Branch than we can here." Kisho nodded in agreement but Hyun-Ae frowned and gazed left and right along the tree line as they reached the forest.

"There's a path towards the Main Branch in the trees somewhere. It leads straight to the front gate. Komui told me how to find it but I haven't actually seen it so I'm going to go look. I can contact him for directions." Hyun-Ae gazed off to her right, then turned her attention back to her two-person group. "I shouldn't be gone long, but you guys rest here while I'm gone. If anything happens contact me with Timcampy." A black Golem flew from Hyun-Ae's jacket pocket when she tapped it once. "Or run, if it's that bad."

"Alright. Be careful," Allen called as Hyun-Ae and the black Golem left; the female exorcist lifted a hand and waved it to show she'd heard. Sighing, Allen found a rock near the trees and sat on it with his left leg stretched out; with it sprained, it was more comfortable to sit that way. Kisho leaned against a tree and resisted the urge to close his eyes even though they were heavy with fatigue. "It's been too long," Allen said, startling Kisho back to attention. Rubbing his eyes the younger male yawned.

"Since we've been back home?" Kisho was already calling The Main Branch home, even though he still missed his own home, and even though a large expanse of debris marked where his family and neighbors had lived now. Everyone's bodies were probably also buried under the debris….no one would find them or know what happened. "Right…well, our new home."

"Yeah," Allen said, trying not to yawn in response to Kisho's. "It's the closest to a home I've ever had. I travelled a lot." It struck Allen as strange how long ago that had been—much longer than he'd been at The Black Order.

"You did?" Kisho asked, interested, then too late realized he might have been too intrusive in asking. Allen's eyes were narrowed slightly and his mouth was in a tight frown as if he was trying not to smile at something. His arms were also crossed and his fingers were tapping slightly. "Where did you go?" Allen's serious gaze locked with Kisho's, and he swallowed, but Allen lowered his arms to his sides and turned towards Kisho.

"Well, I think I went pretty much everywhere in Europe and Asia….England, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Egypt, Israel, Taiwan, Russia, China, Burma, Korea, Japan….and even some places in North America, I think….Canada….America…" The exorcist ticked off his fingers as he listed countries. "Those are all I can remember….I'm sure there were a lot more." Kisho stared, wide-eyed. He'd never been out of Japan, or even to China or Taiwan—places that were really close. Although he wouldn't have had much to offer as a travel fare, anyway. "My master, General Cross, took me lots of places. I learned lots of things while we travelled around…and some languages."

"Must have never been boring," Kisho remarked, impressed. Allen laughed a little and sighed heavily.

"Take it from me—running from the authorities is never boring…and it shouldn't be considered exciting. It's pretty terrifying." Kisho looked taken aback.

"What did your master do to get the police chasing you?" Again Allen began counting on his fingers.

"Gambling, stealing, starting fights, not paying bills, cheating, gambling, and leaving innocent kids with massive, never-ending debt…." Allen's hand trembled and clenched into a fist. Kisho laughed nervously, noticing that Timcampy's tail was clenched in Allen's palm and the Golem was flapping hard, trying to get free.

"That's fine, sorry I asked. And you might want to let Timcampy go. Just a thought." Allen blinked and unclenched his fist, letting the golden Golem fly free.

"Sorry, Timcampy. I didn't mean it." But Allen still had to dodge Timcampy's teeth and was still leaping around trying to avoid Golem when Hyun-Ae came running up suddenly.

"I found the path. If you're ready, let's get going." Allen came to a halt and Timcampy bumped into his shoulder, then bit, causing him to yelp and grab the Golem angrily. He glared at him before letting him go and walking towards Hyun-Ae with Kisho. "It's sort of overgrown but not too bad since everyone just went through it recently. You might get poison ivy, but hey, that can be taken care of at Headquarters too."

"Poison ivy?" Kisho asked dubiously as he and Allen hesitated at the gap in the trees that their guide was squeezing into.

"You sure are gullible," the female exorcist said, shaking her head, and Allen glanced down at Kisho; he was covering his face with his left hand, more in annoyance than humiliation, though his face was a little red. "Would I have brought you this way if there had been any?" You might have, Kisho thought sourly, looking up.

"Fine, I'll shut up," Hyun-Ae sighed. "Come on. We'll be there in no time." Gingerly, Allen and Kisho stepped into the mass of trees and kept up with their guide as best they could, the thought that the new Headquarters was waiting just beyond the forest.

Finally, the two thought, unaware their thoughts were the same. Almost home.

Shiori can change from wolf to human and vice versa whenever she wants now, but in addition to that, she randomly changes from wolf to human of her Innocence's own volition. So she can be in either form at any time.
And Kisho will be the victim of many more short jokes. The short torch has passed from Allen to him xD But Kanda still calls Allen his nickname Moyashi ('Bean Sprout').
And hope the swearing that shows up periodically doesn't bother anyone too much; sometimes I extensively plan dialogue and sometimes I don't. Usually, when I don't script plan or when people are being funny or are upset about something (Shiori: Huh, really?), there is swearing.