Noise Marie was still standing on the roof, listening to everything around the town, when he heard Kanda approaching him once more.

For the moment he ignored his companion. Kanda was likely to start complaining about whatever happened recently (earlier that morning there was a 'shitty clown' with a smaller 'less shitty clown' with him that was performing the square. Kanda left before he became too irritated with the performers, though the amount of grumbling under his breath that Marie heard suggested he was only a hair's breadth away from cutting someone up).

So maybe Marie wasn't exactly ignoring Kanda and instead tracked his every move around town. But that was just because he was concerned the boy would hurt someone in frustration with this mission. It wouldn't be the first time. Now that the boy was next to him that danger had passed.

For now there wasn't any strange crying that he had heard only two days ago, and then earlier this night. The sound was silenced relatively quickly and sending Kanda to the location proved useless. The person had moved without leaving anything that Kanda was able to track. That was likely what caused the boy to head back in such a fowl mood.

As of yet the exorcists had not run into any akuma in the town, though it was only a matter of time. Krory reported something strange when he returned. Something had activated his innocence, but it didn't cause him to attack.

Marie hadn't been listening for that instance, though in hindsight he should have tracked all of the exorcists within the city to make sure things were going smoothly.

He was able to hear what seemed to be a game of tag finishing up, albeit one that was quite louder than the normal game should be. One of the people (a boy? The voice had a strange tone) was calming down. It seemed as though they had lost the person they were playing with

Their laughter was nice to listen to after the less than pleasant sounds that Marie was forcing his ears to listen to. He didn't always like his innocence despite it's immense helpfulness.

Now that he thought about it, that laugh was at least a little familiar. He heard it around Kanda a few times, though he never met the source of it. There was one person who recently went missing that had been around Kanda before, Allen Walker. While it would be a stretch it was indeed possible that Walker was in the same town.

"Kanda," he started, not entirely sure where to go with his questioning. "Is there someone who laughs around you often? That recently disappeared?" When Kanda growled he knew there some some connection he definitely picked up on. "Who was it?"

"The damned Bookman Junior. The brat was always irritating people and laughing about it," Kanda bit out. His glare turned on Marie. "Do you hear him? He's here?" Marie could see the intelligence behind his eyes working through the possible situations that led to this moment. Junior was traveling with Allen Walker and the group he had formed, something about needing to record history. At least, that was all Marie was able to overhear from Bookman's conversation with higher ups.

It wasn't like he meant to listen in. Like he said, sometimes he doesn't care for his innocence. It was very good for the Order that he had no interest in spreading gossip.

They were technically supposed to bring the boy back to the Order, however Marie could understand the need for some level of freedom, even if it was false. He had been part of the Order and witnessed too much to be oblivious to the needs and history of other exorcists. It was getting late anyway, so it would be best to sleep and convince Kanda to do the same.

"We can find them in the morning. It doesn't sound as though Junior has other people around him at the moment, and I don't believe he will be able to make it back to his group for at least an hour, based on how far he ran until now." Kanda huffed in what Marie interpreted as agreement.

The two started back to the hotel the Order kindly rented a few rooms from. Even though exorcists get paid barely enough for food, the Order at least had to save face by keeping their members off the streets while traveling.

Tomorrow will be busy. Keeping Kanda from killing Walker was a task in itself, and finding the accommodator would be another ordeal entirely. Especially if the police force kept trying to get in their way.

There was also Krory, who Marie went back and forth between trusting. The man was kind enough, and extremely shy, but there was something like a buzzing emanated from him just before his innocence changed his personality. It wasn't a pleasant sound, not like when Kanda unsheathed Mugen, or when Lenalee activated Dark Boots.

He wondered what Walker would sound like, if the boy knew how to activate his innocence again. According to Lenalee the amnesia was pretty intense. He had no idea what innocence was, what his name was, or what the order was. It was possible the boy wouldn't be able to fight back if Kanda decided to rush him.

If that was the case Marie would really, really need to keep the 2nd generation away from the boy before anything bad could happen.

The Next Day

"Well?" Kanda asked. Marie had just woken up and was starting to gather the few things he brought with him. It looked as though Kanda was ready to leave, had been ready to leave for hours, and was not willing to give Marie another second more before he went running after Walker.

It would seem romantic, if only Kanda were capable of such a notion.

"Yes, yes. We can leave now. It seems your friend went in a few different directions after we returned. He spent a while in one location, I assume searching for something, and then headed to the north outside of town. I do not believe he fully left the town yet, but stopped just at the limits. It was in an area with a lot of people so I can not be sure Walker is with him."

"So then let's go already. He might start moving again soon." Mugen was in hand and Kanda was half way out the window already. Marie wouldn't be able to stall for anymore time.

"Sorry, Walker. We're on our way," he whispered to the empty room. Even though others didn't have his hearing it made him feel better to give them a chance. Or at least feel like they had any potential to escape.

Marie followed Kanda and jumped out the window onto the rooftops. He carried their baggage for a few leaps before setting it down and continuing on. No need for the landlords to get upset that they took too long leaving, and people rarely check their roofs for random items.

Right once Kanda began to veer off track Marie called him through their golems and redirected. The younger man was a decent way away. Not far enough that Marie couldn't catch up, but enough that it would take some effort.

Once Marie's ears picked up the sound of a train blaring in the distance he knew what was happening. The vibration of the tracks led exactly through the area young Bookman camped last night. There was movement in his area but there were too many people to tell exactly who he was traveling with or how many.

He let Kanda know the specific location before picking up speed to zoom across the skyline.

The two managed to reach the train station just as people were boarding. Marie kept an eye out for white hair on a short stature, but there were more than a few elderly folk on the platform. Kanda had resorted to pushing through people until someone irritated him and spun them around. None of them were the boy with a curse mark and snow white hair.

There was a kid with bright red hair and a loud voice that Marie was becoming oh so familiar with. He was talking with a tall man with dusty, long cropped hair resting just under his ears. It looked like a child attempted to cut it before giving up and the man never managed to fix it.

That was probably what happened judging by the man's dirty clothes. His pants seemed stitched together and the long jacket was fraying at nearly every edge. His facial hair was patchy like it couldn't figure out how to grow in right and he didn't attempt to shave very often. The scar on his forehead made him look like a criminal, but Marie could tell it was from hard labor. Based on the state of his skin it was likely work in the mines, and a rock crashed down on his head.

Lavi was chatting amicably with the man, so he couldn't be that bad.

Marie moved to place a hand on Lavi's shoulder, but his wrist was twisted from it's landing by the man himself.

"Sorry, but if I can't see you, you probably shouldn't touch me," the redhead turned slowly to look at Marie. "Never can tell if a person is an akuma, right? What can I do for you, Noise Marie?" The man Lavi was talking with stared, eyes blown wide, before turning away and heading onto the train.

"We have been tasked with bringing Allen Walker back to the order, whether he likes it or not. I am sorry, though, that he won't be allowed to escape."

"Ah, I see. You don't need to worry much about him, he can't remember anything of his time there, I don't think he'll fight very hard. I, on the other hand, have been tasked with recording his group. I guess you can count me on his team."

Marie could hear the lie, but he didn't point it out. Whether Walker remembers or not wasn't the point, and even if he can fight there was no way he could escape Kanda. Second generation exorcists are on a different level. It was obvious even with only one surviving.

Soon after Marie thought that there was a yelp and Kanda went flying. The yelp came from a small boy with a mask over his face, and the one who punched was an unassuming man with strange glasses and frizzy hair. The kid must have been knocked down and his angry parent was more than willing to take it out on Kanda.

It was just surprising that a regular-looking person managed to knock down someone like Kanda.

It was a tad less surprising when the white haired kid they were looking for came flying out of nowhere to hit Kanda in the face. Kanda blocked, but he was off balance enough that Walker could keep him in a vulnerable position with each hit after that. The man and child had disappeared into the train car. Marie wouldn't be able to placate them any more than they already were.

That was fine, but he did feel bad for allowing Kanda to act the way he had. It was rude.

By the time Marie started to move and Kanda unsheathed his weapon there were police sirens blaring close enough that even regular people could hear it.

Marie settled for placing a hand on Kanda's shoulder. The man was growling but had learned not to strain against Marie's holds. Not that Marie was literally able to hold him back, but he was willing to harm himself to make sure Kanda didn't do something stupid.

Marie could feel his heart clench in happiness the first time he realized Kanda respected him on any level. This time was no different, at least there weren't tears coming to his eyes this time.

"Hello. We apologize for causing a disterence, however the person we are chasing is a dangerous operative who has managed to escape multiple times. I am afraid I will have to ask you to let us continue to chase him, as is our duty as the Black Order."

"Of course!" One of the officers said. Each city's police office had heard of the Order, hers included. There was a stern command not to interrupt any exorcist business when they were in town. She had heard they dealt with the worst criminals that even the police had no authorization over. Some of the cases she fawned over came from people no one even suspected despite their ease murdering other community members.

Even though the conversation took only a few minutes the train was already leaving the station. Lavi's voice was slowly getting softer, and the sound that Marie had picked out as Walker's was fading away as well.

"I'll send a report to the Order. We won't be able to catch that train without drawing too much attention. We still need to collect the innocence from this town as well. It won't be long until the Earl catches on to our presence here and sends his own forces."

"That fucking cock-sucking bastard!" Allen seethed. Eeez wasn't hurt, at least not badly, but that wasn't the point. The point is, that fucker messed with him. And then drew a bloody sword. And that was after the shit messed with him at the cult!

The others stayed quiet while Allen paced. They had moved into a more empty car and anyone who was in there left once the boy started cursing.

Lavi had managed to make it back to the group and was lounging across one of the bench seats. Lengs were dangling over the edge and his head was thrown backwards over the armrest. "That's just how Yuu acts, don't take it personally. Kid, are you hurt?" Eeez shook his head no. "See? It's fine. You can kill him next time. Just think of it as... payback or something."

"That's not the bloody point, Lavi! BaKanda pushed Eeez. He forced Tyki to fight. Tyki hates fighting! Now they know both of their faces. You can't trust the cult with that type of information. It was bad enough they knew my appearance, but there wasn't much I could do about that, could I?"

"Ah!" Tyki exclaimed. "I totally forgot! On my last trip I ran into a… merchant who had this powder that can dye hair color!" He dug around through a couple of his bags to find the powder. It was inside a tightly woven pouch and sealed with a wire. Tyki opened up the bag and held it out, showing a greenish brown dust inside.

Allen sniffed it. There was something about the powder that reminded him of a place Cross and him must have visited. Something with bad memories associated with it… something about Mina, Narain's sister.

"Mendi? No, henna. Right? That's what you use to make the designs…"

"Wow, I didn't think you would know it! You've traveled before, huh? Yeah, this is from the henna plant. It should dye your hair a reddish brown. At the very least your white hair won't stick out as much. Eeez and I are pretty forgettable, so they shouldn't be able to track us, even if they think we were connected to you." Tyki glanced over to Lavi.

"You, on the other hand, might be a problem. Your appearance is… out there with the eye patch and bright red hair." Lavi grinned and took off his headband.

"Don't worry about that, Bookmen are masters of disguise, I could change any part of myself if I wished. Done it before, after all." He sat up fully and left the train car, presumably to go to the bathroom in the next car over. He was ruffling his hair up, dragging fingers through it in a way Allen hadn't seen before. Lavi never used to touch his hair unless it got in the way of his vision.

"Well, alright then," Tyki said. He let it go pretty quickly, but Allen was curious. No way could that boy disguised himself. "Hopefully that's one more thing changed. Momo, Crack, did you guys do anything that would draw attention?"

"Nah," Momo said. "We just got on the train when it got here, before those guys showed up, ya know? Nothing woulda happened."

"At least that's one good thing. And we managed to get out of there with Timothy and everything!" Tyki paused and looked around. "Right? Is he here?"

"Yeah," Allen spoke up. He pointed to a different train car. "Tim's with 'im. Seemed ta panic 'bout somethin'. Might wanna check on 'im, Tyki. Who knows what's goin' through 'is head."

"Sure, I can do that. Don't scare anyone else while I'm gone." He disappeared through the door as Allen sat down. Eeez came to sit next to him and leaned against his shoulder.

"They were from the cult right?" Eeez asked. He must have been really shaken up if he wanted to talk without being prompted.

"Yeah, they were. And they want me back, for some reason." Allen's voice was soft the way only Eeez was allowed to hear. Momo and Crack looked away for the moment. They pulled cards out of Tyki's bag and started shuffling.

"Will they catch you?" Allen pulled the smaller boy close.

"Nah, they ain't good 'nough. 'Sides, I got you and Tyki to keep me safe, right? Nothin' ta worry 'bout." Allen allowed a bit of his rougher speech pattern to take hold again. That's how he talked when first meeting Eeez, having it a bit heavy might feel reassuring.

It seemed to work. Eeez cuddling in a little closer and was nearly asleep by the time Tyki and Timothy walked back into the car, Tim resting on the young boy's head. Allen pretended not to see the colorful man swipe his hand through Tim. It was no use getting mad at an intangible person.

Tyki went to sit with Crack and Momo to play a round of poker while Allen wasn't able to get up. There were times Tyki refused to play with the white haired kid. Something about it being annoying, despite the man's smiling face and lack of any irritation that Allen could sense.

Lavi walked back out into the car, but looked... strange. His hair was wet and down. Instead of sticking upwards in the way it normally did, it was laying flat on his head. The cloth he normally used to hold it now rests around his neck as a short scarf. The knot was tied at the front in something that could be seen as fashionable, if any of the group knew what that looked like.

Instead of an eyepatch Lavi had bandages wrapped at the eye, similar to what Allen had after hurting his eye. There was also something strange with his torso.

"You're a girl?" Momo asked, confused.

"Currently, sure. They're looking for a man with an eyepatch, not a girl with a hurt eye." Lavi pushed some of the hair behind his ear.

"You seem shorter," Allen stated.

"Yeah, part of that is the hair. If you keep it spiked up, people think you're taller. It tends to work. Also, the shoes that exorcista have to wear have a bit of a heal, so if we got rid of that, I'd seem even shorter."

"You're still too tall for a girl, though," Tyki interjected. Lavi was taller than Allen, even if he wasn't as tall as Tyki.

"Nah, I'm exotic. People aren't used to seeing hair this red, so being tall for a girl won't be too surprising in comparison." Allen tapped at his chin. It made sense. He'd tried that when he was younger, but Cross would always ruin it. Cunt.

"Alright, sure. What should we call you then?"

"Just stick with Lavi. It'll make things easier, since you already know me as that." Allen didn't question the rules of Bookmen. For some reason he felt there was something more there, but he didn't know why.

"Alright then, it's nice to meet you, young lady. You better still be able to get jobs, 'cause we ain't payin' for you."


If anyone wants to chat with me or give ideas, come join /d7nZ3wT (this is new! So it's a tad empty, come talk to me!)