Quick AN up above here, for those who read D. Gray Man and are caught up, as well as those who aren't. Hit will be taking his first test drive of his own Noah ability in this chapter. To my knowledge, Hoshino hasn't stated in either the guides/logs or the series itself what Toraido's Noah ability is just yet. This will be just my fairest guess at what it could be, and I'll run with it from there. If Hoshino tells us what the ability really is in the future and it turns out I have it completely wrong, then oh well. No skin off my back, because I'm not going to change it. Too much work, especially if its radically different from what I'm about to show.

Anyways, on with the chapter!

Noah's Hitman:

Chapter 6: Family Time and Training.

That same day… After dinner…

"Ahh~." The Earl belched in satisfaction, dabbing a napkin upon his freakishly large maw whilst sat down at the head of a rectangular table big enough to fit twelve people at maximum capacity. It came with a fancy white tablecloth on top, along with a few oddly shaped candles placed around it. All of which were dimly lit to provide a serene atmosphere for the room they found themselves in. Numerous paintings dotting the dark bluish-grey walls on either side of him. An empty plate with a small bit of lime and ginger sauce left over just beneath him. "Pardon me. That was scrumptious~."

"Hmm!" Road nodded enthusiastically as she stretched one arm over her head, until she got a satisfying pop! Her lips upturned in a grin as she looked over from across her fancy, but comfy black and red seat on the left side of the table to the one her new little brother sat on closest to the corner, and by extension, the Earl. "How was that, Hit? It was good, right?"

Hit simply nodded his head in agreement, not having much to add on to that, as an Akuma maid stepped forward and picked up his empty plate from the table. As did two others for Road's and The Earl's at the same time.

The food had certainly been of a far higher standard than what he'd been eating whilst living with his parents of this world, for sure. These Akuma weren't just designed for combating and helping them against the side of the exorcists, it seemed. Quite a number of them got trained – or perhaps programmed was the better word – to wait on them hand and foot as well, including cooking high-quality meals that you could only really find elsewhere in four-to-five-star restaurants. He knew this because the only time he'd tasted food this good back in Universe 6 was when he'd taken the time out between contracts to eat at such high-end establishments on other worlds.

"So, anyone ready for Dessert?" The Earl offered, as his own was placed in front of him. An ice-cream sundae filled up over the glass with several cherries dotted around the top, and a dark-chocolate sauce drizzled over it.

Road hummed in delight. "Mhmm! An ice-cream sundae this time! You like ice-cream, Hit?" She asked, gazing over to him again.

Hit just shrugged wordlessly. He was pretty neutral on the frosty treat. He'd had something similar before, and he couldn't really say he liked or disliked it in anyway.

"You have any personal preference? We've got just about every flavour of ice-cream in stock, along with whatever topping you may prefer, so feel free to take your pick~." The Earl told him jovially, as an Akuma brought Road hers, which was the same as his.

"It's fine, Lord Millennium. I don't really mind whatever you give me." Hit replied evenly and politely. He could go without it, if he was being honest. That chicken dinner with whatever that sauce was had filled him up good enough.

"Teehee!" he heard Road giggle sweetly. "If that's the case," And shortly afterward he found a spoonful of ice-cream with liquid chocolate being shoved up near his lips. "say 'aah' Hit~!"

Hit glanced over at Road, who was leaned over the table with an expectant grin, with one of the flattest stares he could muster. "What are you-mmph!?"

"Sharing my ice-cream with you silly~. Duh!" Road giggled again after shoving the spoon into his mouth when she saw her opportunity, pushing her glass of ice-cream across the table so it was in-between them. "Tasty, isn't it?"

Hit went from staring flatly to partially glaring at her, after he'd swallowed the ice-cream and she pulled the spoon out. "I never asked you to do that. Don't ju-mmph!?" He was cut off by yet another spoonful driving its way into his mouth mid-sentence, courtesy of Road.

"Oh, stop complaining and just enjoy it. It's not going to kill you or anything, is it?" She teased.

Hit scoffed at this, glaring a little harder this time as he heard the Earl chuckle heartily next to him. All while Road, without a care in the world, smiling innocently at him like she hadn't just forced it into his mouth without his approval, took the same spoon she'd driven into his mouth twice now and dug it into her sundae for a taste herself.

"Mmm~! This tastes so good, Lord Millennium." She complimented whilst utterly ignoring the light – by Hit's standards – glare that the 'younger' Noah was giving her.

"Hehe, that's good to hear, Road~." The Earl replied happily while taking a spoonful himself into his giant maw. "And how are you finding the dessert, Hit~?"

Taking note that Road wasn't going to try and shove another spoon in his mouth just yet, Hit let out a small sigh, as his glare receded. Though he never took his eyes off the troublesome 'sister' of his. "It's fine, I guess. Though I'd prefer it if I could feed myself rather than being babied."

"Aww, but it's a big sister's duty to feed their baby brother!" Road argued childishly, already scooping up another spoonful, which he had no doubt was intended for him.

"Yeah, when they're a baby." Hit countered back with a flat tone, eyeing her hand holding the spoon like a hawk with one eye, while keeping the other trained on her face. "Do I look like a baby to you?" He scoffed. "What's next? Are you going to make me sit on your lap like a two-year-old?"

It took all of about a second for the once legendary assassin to realize that'd been the wrong thing to ask, as he saw the unnervingly sweet smile that Road gave him. He saw her slide out of her chair, and his eyes narrowed sharply. Alarm bells beginning to ring in his head, as both eyes shot up to her face with a pointed glare. "Don't you dar-mmph!?"

"Teehee! Got ya!" Road giggled with glee after shoving the third spoon into his mouth, cutting him off. From there, in a timeframe so fast you could've blinked and missed it, she managed to somehow hook her arms underneath his own, and before he could react, lift him off the chair without much effort surprisingly. Before the former hitman of the sixth universe could fully regain his bearings, Road had already returned to her own seat, plopping her ass down on it and placing his down on her lap.

Hit didn't even have the chance to spit the spoon out before she retrieved it from his lips at lightning-fast speeds and circled one arm around his waist to keep him locked in place. She even managed to lock down his arms to his sides as well, and he could feel the backs of her legs coiling around his shins to keep them in place too.

The purple-haired Noah boy heard the Earl laughing again at his predicament from the front of the table. He heard Road giggling again as well, this time close to his ear as she propped her chin up on his shoulder. "That was a great idea, baby brother!" She said as though it had been a suggestion to her that she giddily accepted, stressing the word 'baby' there just to emphasise his place to him in her mind. He also got the feeling based off her tone, that she said it that way just to further tease and annoy him. "How does it feel? I'll bet you just love getting to sit on your big sister Road's lap as she feeds you, huh?"

Hit's right eye twitched vigorously as he felt aggravation beginning to bubble within him. His eyes gazing behind him to glare at Road, which clearly had no effect on the girl whatsoever. "Road, let me-mmph!?"

"Shush." Road halted him with another damned spoonful of ice-cream that fell down his throat too quickly for him to spit out. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything, baby brother. I know you love it~." She told him in an almost sing-song like tone what had to be one of the falsest things he'd ever heard. "You're so lucky, you know?" The spoon came out of his mouth, scooping up another bit of the ice-cold, creamy dessert. This time with a cherry to go along with it. "Not everyone gets to have a cool big sister like me, after all. Now open wide, because here comes the train~!"

Hit saw the spoon coming almost like it was something that would burn him. He tried to fidget his way out of Road's damnable iron-like grip to no avail, detesting the situation he was right now with growing passion. He looked towards the Earl, in a somewhat vain hope that the cartoonishly rotund, Victorian caricature would've had his fun by now watching this debacle and help put a stop to this absurd charade.

No such luck for him there. The Earl didn't look in any mood to put a stop to this. If anything, he looked encouraging of it. Like a proud, goofy father watching his children play around. The fat fool even had the nerve to give him a thumbs up!

"Remember to say 'ahh', my boy. It's good table manners~!" The goblin-looking being advised him with his jovial air, which Road hummed into his ear happily in agreement.

"He's right, you know. Remember to say 'ahh', Hit~!" The girl then jabbed two fingers into his side when she was certain he wouldn't open his mouth. Doing it just hard enough to elicit the quick response she was looking for.

"Ahh-mmph!?" A very short gasp of surprise was brought out of him, followed by her shoving the cherry-topped spoonful into his waiting gullet. Road giggled girlishly as she placed the spoon on the table and brought her hand up to his cheeks.

"That's the stuff! Now remember to chew the cherry Hit, because they're juicy and delicious!" As if to add insult to injury, and then proceed to pour salt on said wound, Road grabbed his cheek and chin like he was a small baby still learning how to chew. She then forced his mouth to make chewing motions with her hand to ensure he ate the cherry the way she wanted him to, as if he was incapable of doing it himself.

"There, now wasn't that good?" She asked the instant it was all swallowed down his throat.

Forget aggravated. Hit was silently fuming at this point, especially when Road didn't bother waiting for an answer, and started rubbing his head with her free hand like it was no-one's business. Petting him like he was her own personal property and messing up his purple locks with a level of 'sisterly' possessiveness that nearly made him growl with frustration.

He stayed the urge to however, knowing she'd only find a way to use it as ammo for herself to tease and annoy him further. And have a blast while doing it. Troublesome didn't even begin to describe her at this point. Even his elimination at Jiren's hands during the Tournament of Power hadn't felt this humiliating for him.

Hit instead settled for glaring ferociously at the wall across from him, eyes set with a fire in them that looked like they were trying to bore a hole straight through it.

So, imagine his surprise, when that's exactly what happened not a few seconds later. As the entire section of the wall his eyes had been so focused on glaring into oblivion suddenly broke down before his gaze. Doing so rather unnaturally as the entire section gained a purple hue and formed a large, five-foot wide and six-foot tall hole in the wall. Purple sparks of what he could tell was Dark Matter energy seeming to fly off it as it, making a fairly loud bang sound to go along with it.

The Akuma maids present didn't even react to what'd just happened, remaining on standby. The Earl and Road paused at such an occurrence. With both of them taking a glance over at the massive hole now punctuating the wall, with small bits of debris falling to the floor. However, neither were as taken aback as he was momentarily by such a thing occurring. Though a silence did pervade over the room for a few noticeable seconds.

"Ohoh! Well then," The Earl hooted, drawing Hit's attention right to him. "Looks like you've started to use your power already, Hit. That's splendid~." He praised as his ever-present smile widened jubilantly.

His power? He hadn't even been trying to do anything there, really. How exactly had he just done that?

"Oh wow! This soon?" Road seemed somewhat amazed by this. "It took me at least a day to call upon mine for the first time." She revealed, before snuggling into him excitedly, making Hit both cringe and wince at the same time. He could feel how Road's grip became twice as tight around his waist, constricting around it like some sort of snake. Something that was both painful and making it harder for him to breathe. "That's so cool, baby brother! You're already a natural! Who's a good boy?" She cooed at him proudly like he was a pet that just did a trick for her. "Yes, you are! Yes, you are!" She cooed even more. All while she nuzzled herself into his neck and shoulder without a care for how uncomfortable that may have made him, as she was happy doing it. Using him like he was her own personal body pillow.

That thought alone only made him cringe harder. Had the Grand Priest lied to him all along, and instead of giving him a second chance, they'd decided to be sadistic by sending him to his own personal hell? Because right now, with how much Road was snuggling into him like a teddy bear, it damn sure felt like it!

"Hehe, I know this might seem a little fast Hit," The Earl began, steepling his hands together whilst gazing at the younger Noah. "but given that display you just gave us, what do you say to giving your ability a proper test-drive tomorrow~?" He asked, sounding utterly thrilled at his own idea.

"That'd be fine…" Hit almost wheezed out. Damnit, would this girl just let go of him already? Or at the very least, just loosen her grip? If she held him any harder, he'd most likely start suffocating. "I'd already been thinking of testing out what I could do myself, anyway…"

"Ho? Have you now?" The Earl seemed quite pleased by that response. "Well, I guess that shouldn't be surprising. Given your age, it's understandable you'd want to see all the cool new stuff you can do~." The Earl had no idea how right he was there for the wrong reasons. The patriarch taking it as a childish desire to want to see all the 'cool' new things he'd be capable of. Rather than as a millennium old hitman in the body of a child who was curious to find out what he was now capable of, now that he'd become something more than a simple human. At least in terms of physiology. "In any case, I'm glad to hear it. I'll have Road fetch you in the morning and bring you to one of our specialised rooms for training, then. Say around ten, if that suits~?"

Road caught on immediately that that last part was aimed at her. "Sure thing, Lord Millennium. That sounds perfect, hehe!" She giggled with glee as she started rocking – yes, rocking – back and forth in her large seat whilst still clinging to him. Which meant he was rocking with her as a consequence. "I can't wait to see how you handle yourself tomorrow, Hit. Should be fun to watch!"

"That's nice. Now, could you please let me go?" Hit asked, and he'd almost die before admitting that his voice was a hare's breath away from sounding pleading at this point.

"Hmm… nope!" She declined with a tone sounding all too happy to dash such a hope. "We've still got to finish our ice-cream first, after all~." She reminded him while giggling to herself at his expense. Petting his head once more before reaching out and grabbing the spoon, digging it into the remaining glass of ice-cream. Which still had plenty left to go. "Now get ready to open wide again!"

Another sigh left Hit's lips. A defeated one. "If I eat it with you, will you finally let me go then?"

"Sure. So long as you eat it all up for big sister Road, okay?"

Having decided now that this was a battle he couldn't win, the former legendary assassin relented. And as the spoonful of ice-cream came towards his lips, just this once, Hit chose to begrudgingly swallow his pride and go along with the bluish-purple haired girl's antics. If only so she'd finally let him go. Opening his mouth wide with a far from enthusiastic 'ahh' to go along with it, as Road pushed yet another spoon of ice-cream into his gullet.

The only small upside was, at least it didn't taste bad…

The next day… early morning…

"Wakey, wakey! Rise and shine, Hit!" Road's humoured, annoying voice cut through the silence of Hit's room, as she kicked the door to it open with excitement. The sound it made as it slammed into the wall with a bang echoing around the room, and would've no doubt woke the ex-assassin of the sixth universe up, had he still been sleeping.

Hit, fully awake and already out of bed, garbed in pretty much the same outfit as yesterday, glanced over in annoyance at the short-statured girl for her unnecessary loudness and total lack of subtlety. Garbed in the same outfit she was yesterday, with that same grin plastered over her face from the previous day.

Must she be this much of a pain to deal with… He'd liked to have hoped not, but after yesterday, there was no chance he'd make that mistake. Still can't believe I took her at her word yesterday. He'd been such a fool. He'd made the classic blunder of giving her an inch in the hopes she'd take mercy for his willingness and let him go.

Of course, Road being Road, as he'd found out the hard way, had happily taken that inch and run a bloody mile with it. Asking for both seconds and even thirds when it came to the ice-cream after they'd finished it. All so she could prolong his suffering even more and snuggle into him longer like her personal teddy bear on that blasted seat. 'Bonding time' she'd called it.

And of course, The Earl had fully supported and gone along with it with a hearty laugh. Because why the hell not? Apparently, making him as uncomfortable as possible was a fun thing to do for both of them.

What made it even worse, was that after Road had finally let him go from her 'cuddle', the Earl had called an end to the day, and as he'd promised, let Road be the one to show him around. To start getting him acclimated more to the Ark, his new home, before bringing home back to his room. During that period where she showed him around, she'd 'conveniently' forgotten about him not wanting to hold hands with her and had wilfully ignored all of his protests he'd bothered to make this time. Whether they be silent or vocal, as she dragged him around the ark. Forcing him to play to her own tune whether he liked it or not, as she babbled on about stuff he quite frankly didn't care about. Like her favourite candies and how much of it she loved to eat. All the games she loved playing and why she loved them, including some unpleasantly sadistic ones reserved for the enemy. Her other likes and dislikes whilst asking him his, which he'd had to begrudgingly answer at times to save himself from her incessantly prodding him annoyingly until he replied. And finally, her personal desire to get the 'best' doll she could for her collection, which she'd elaborated would be fashioned out of an exorcist. He almost pitied whoever that might end up being.

This had gone on, for almost three. Whole. Hours.

Sufficed to say, by the time she'd finally led him back to his room, he'd taken it as a blessing that his torture was finally over. Even if just for that day. There was still plenty more to see, according to her. That and she was looking forward to playing some of her favourite games with him in the near future, likely starting today following his training session and before lunch. Hit might've had a mind to ask why there wasn't going to be breakfast, but he was too mentally drained from having to deal with Road to give a damn. The Earl was probably too busy making new Akuma or something. It didn't matter.

"Do you have to be so loud? As you can see, I'm already up…"

"Great!" She exclaimed cheerfully, completely ignoring his initial question as she quickly made her way over and grabbed his hand. "Then let's head out. Wouldn't want to keep Lord Millennium waiting!"

"You know I can follow you just fine, Road. I really don't need you to hold my hand all the way there…"

"But it feels so much better doing it this way." Road replied with an almost hurt pout at his suggestion, making him actively roll his eyes at her for looking at him like he was the bad guy. Her expression changed swiftly though, with a cheeky smile now adorning her features, as she started bringing him out of the room. "Now let's stop wasting time complaining and get the ball rolling, hmm?"

Outside of a small grumble, Hit didn't make much more of a fuss of her holding his hand this time, as she brought him out of his room and through a particular path down the hall. There just wasn't a point. After how mentally taxed he'd been left the other day, he just decided it best not to try and refuse her touchy-feely nonsense. It simply just wasn't worth the hassle once she already had him grabbed.

This girl truly was the definition of insufferable when she got going… And he didn't appreciate the feeling of nostalgia that welled up inside of him from his Noah part at her antics. Then again, as much as he may not like the fact, he'd most likely have to get used to it, as they'd be living with each other from now on. A prospect that back in his Universe 6 days, he would've never even entertained.

A heart-shaped, red and black checkered door appeared seemingly out of nowhere before them. Bursting forth from the ground, whilst not damaging it at the same time, as though it'd come straight out of a portal.

"This is one of my doors, Hit." She explained vaguely, Hit getting that same sense inwardly he knew what she meant by that before she elaborated. "They're what I use to get around using my power of the Dream."

Get around? What did she-

Road kicked the double-doors open, much like she had his bedroom door, and stepped through to the other side with him without wasting another second.

When the duo stepped through to the other side, Hit found himself in the room with the starry night sky and rocky terrain again. Numerous rock formations and cliffs dotted throughout. Not enough for them to act like a maze, but certainly enough to act as cover if needed.

"And here we are." Road said matter-of-factly. "This is where you'll be getting in some practise. Lord Millennium should be here with us shortly."

Hit nodded at this, before turning his head curiously to look at the double-doors behind them. A purple, miasmic-like field covering the opening of the doorway and obscuring what was on the other side from view. A sudden feeling of irritation rising in him as the dots quickly started to connect into his head, as to what she'd meant by 'get around'.

His eyes narrowed sharply. "Road. By getting around using that power of yours…"

"Hmm. Yeah?"

"By any chance, were you referring to dimensional travel?" The answer seemed obvious the more he thought about it.

"Yep!" She acknowledged, looking back at her conjured door and pointing proudly at it. "I can connect my world of the dream to anywhere in the real world, or in one of Noah's dimensions, and easily crossover to wherever I want just like that." He saw her turn to him then, out of the corner of his eye, with an amused smile after clicking her fingers. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Hit paid no mind to the 'world of the dream' portion for now and zoned in entirely on the rest of it. His mood visibly turning a little more sour despite his best efforts to remain stoic. "You mean to tell me you had a way of getting us around quicker this whole time." He turned to look at her fully, his vexation shining through his golden orbs. "And you didn't bother to use it at all yesterday when showing me around, despite how much time you could've saved us?"

Without a hint of shame or remorse in her expression, Road just smiled plainly at him. As though he'd just asked her something silly. "But if I did that, I wouldn't have been able to spend as much time with you, so we could get to know each other better, would I?"

Unbelievable…

That would be her reasoning, wouldn't it? If only she'd actually done so. He'd have taken the monotony of going through door after door and room after room in silence any day over that. "Could you at least use this for us next time?"

"Hmm…" Road looked to be putting some actual thought into that, as she clasped her hands together and placed them behind her head.

"Please…" Hit all but grounded out, his patience having reached its end already, and even his cool was beginning to slip just a little.

"Okay." She finally replied after a moment, gaining a somewhat relieved sigh from the purple-haired man turned child. "But," She continued, an all too happy smile on her lips as she looked at him pause. "To make up for it, we'll have to play one of the games I've been itching to try with you. Sound fair?"

Of course, it wouldn't be that simple… Still, it had to be better than following her along for several hours as she babbled along and forced him to participate in meaningless banter. "Sure, fine. Whatever."

"Great! We'll play hide-and-seek then!" She hollered with joy.

Hide-and-seek, huh? Childish, yes, but that could at least afford him some solitary time to himself, away from her antics.

"And whoever wins, gets to have the other person do a favour for them. No matter what it is!"

Hit's brow immediately furrowed. He didn't like the sound of that one bit…

"So, if I win Hit, how do you feel about joining me for a tea party with my dolls?" She beamed with an all too confident air. Sounding thrilled at the idea alone.

Hit wasn't even going to deign that with a response…

Because it wouldn't be happening. Ever.

"Ahh, good morning, both of you~!" The sound of the Earl's cheery voice drew the attention of the duo as they turned towards the door again, watching as the rotund figure of said individual strolled through the doorway. His pumpkin themed umbrella held in hand and propped lazily on his shoulder. Ever-present grin still fixed in place on his large maw.

"Teehee! And to you as well, Lord Millennium." Road greeted back happily, while Hit simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of his presence.

"So then," He began, turning his full attention to the younger Noah of the two. "I assume you're ready to go, Hit?"

Hit nodded back. Feeling the itch to get used to his new powers rise up. If they were to be the substitute in this world that he had to ki, he may as well get to mastering them as soon as possible. For the first time since he'd been here, though it hardly showed on his face, he felt genuine excitement bubble up.

The Earl must have somehow managed to feel it regardless, because he chuckled down at him. "Heh, I can see that look in your eyes clear as day. You're raring to go. That's good to see~."

Road chose that moment to let go of his hand and step back to watch this all play out, as the Millennium Earl passed by and led Hit further down the rocky terrain away from her. Not too far away that she wouldn't be able to easily see the action, though.

"About here should do~." The Earl said merrily after a few moments, stopping them both a good distance away from Road and her door. "Right then," He turned to Hit. "let's get down to the basics first~."

Basics. It was almost funny, really. For a moment, Hit felt like he was a child back in Universe 6 again about to be taught how to utilize his ki for the first time. He supposed, in a way, this would be a repeat of that to a degree, only with Dark Matter instead of ki.

"You were able to use your ability before, but that was just an accident, I'm sure. We'll get to that in a bit. For now, we'll focus on getting you to harness the Dark Matter inside of you and draw it out~."

Hit nodded. A part of him wondering if what he had to do would be similar to how he harnessed ki. Because if so, then this would go by faster.

"I'll keep this simple. To start, I want you to look inside yourself~." The Earl started by pointing towards his own chest as an example. "Close your eyes if you have to and treat this like a form of meditation. While doing that, I want you to feel out for the Dark Matter within you. You'll know you're feeling it when you are, as the sensation it'll bring you will be hard to miss." He explained, which got another nod from the purple-haired Noah. "Then once you have a feel for it," The Earl's free hand came out, opening wide as if to hold something. From there, a dark purple sphere brimming with dark energy appeared over his palm. No bigger than a small soccer ball, but still full of plenty of destructive potential. "pull it to the surface~!"

Just then, the Millennium Earl launched the orb of energy off into the distance, where it detonated and created a controlled, but potent explosion that disintegrated all in its path. Covering a good few hundred square metres.

His grin managed to widen. "Like so~."

So, it is like ki, then. Was Hit's immediate though as he watched the explosion simmer down and fizzle away. That explanation had sounded so similar to what he'd been told of ki back in the day. Not the exact same, of course, but very close.

Good. That'd make things a lot simpler.

Closing his eyes as he'd done a very long time ago, Hit reached inward. Searching for the feeling of the new energy that was coursing through his very being at this minute. He wasn't at all surprised when it didn't take him long to find it. The sensation it brought, as the Earl had so dutifully said, being hard to miss. It felt like two things simultaneously. One, a white-hot burning force ready to eradicate all that was in its path, and the second, like a comforting blanket to him that felt like it gave an extra layer of warmth and protection. Quite the contrast there, but then again, he'd thought it'd be something like this. It felt wilder than his ki had, but also more alluring. He'd dare say even intoxicating.

Hit clenched a fist by his side, before curling his elbow and bringing his balled hand closer to his face, as a dark-purple light began to emit from it. Before long, the light became more pronounced, as he drew out the Dark Matter from within, and it began to coalesce around his balled fist in an almost translucent sphere of dark energy.

"Ohoh!" The Earl hollered, sounding quite impressed as Hit snapped his eyes open. Showing nothing less than complete control of the dark energy manifesting on and around his fist. "Good! Very good! You pulled that off a lot quicker than I thought you would. You truly are a natural at this, it seems~."

Hit took the compliment for what it was and failed to keep a small smirk from appearing on his lips. As if out of instinct left over from his past days as an assassin, he reared his fist and swerved on his feet, pointing away from The Earl and in the same direction he'd thrown his energy ball earlier. His middle knuckle jutting itself out almost nostalgically, as he thrusted his fist forward.

Instead of the invisible wave of compressed energy he'd grown used to over hundreds of years however, a dark-purple beam of energy shot out of his fist. The energy beam rocketing forth into the distance and cutting its way through any cliffside and rock formation that got in its way like they were made out of warm, melting butter. Lighting up the area it passed in a purplish hue as it eviscerated all in its wake, before slamming into one final rock formation and detonating in identical fashion to the Earl's. With an explosion equally as big being visible far off in the distance, before it too fizzled away.

Road, even from her fair distance away from them, could see it clearly, and gave an impressed whistle as she clasped her hands behind her back and watched on with intrigue.

Meanwhile, flashy was the first thing that came to Hit's mind after his first attack was finished. Too flashy. He'd have to work on that in the future. Call it old habits dying hard, but he preferred something more subtle and focused, while being just as, if not more efficient than that.

"Hehe! Wonderful indeed! We've barely even begun, and you've already showed tremendous progress. Far more so than any other I can recall from recent memory. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were already quite experienced with this sort of thing~." The Earl praised with an ecstatic air, his amber pools behind his glasses shining with amazement. He couldn't even recall any time when an awakened Noah gained a grasp over their Dark Matter this swiftly. He'd seen it being controlled and used within an hour or two before, but within less than a minute? That was absurd! In a good way!

You have no idea… Hit couldn't help but think with no small amount of amusement inwardly, as the Millennium Earl locked his gaze down on him with the sort of pride one would usually reserve for their child.

"Right then, since you seem to have grasped that in record time, I guess we'll just move on to your Noah ability~."

"Right." Hit nodded. More than ready to find out what it could be.

"Your ability, like every other one, is tied to your specific Noah memory." The Earl explained somewhat seriously, though his jovial demeanour remained. "Yours being the memory of the Judge, that gives you the ability to, putting it bluntly, pass judgment on what's around you. Whether that be aspects of the physical world like inanimate objects, places and of course, people." The Earl's grin, again, somehow grew with manic glee.

"Pass judgment?" Hit gave the goblin-looking patriarch a confused look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Tell me, Hit. Are you aware of what a judge does in court?" The rotund head of the clan asked back pointedly, rather than straight up answer the question posed.

Hit decided to humour him still. "They are there to oversee the proceedings and pass down verdicts, whether it be for a civil or criminal case."

"True, but that's not all that they do. A judge can also pass and make, shall we say, amendments to certain laws~." He chuckled with mirth, as though he'd just spouted a funny inside joke.

Hit pondered that particular phrasing for a moment, attempting to decipher what the Earl was getting at with this. He thought back to what he'd done the other day without intending to. Forcing the wall in their dining room to have a sizeable hole bored through it. All just from his glare, and the momentary feeling of wanting to… bore a hole in the wall… due to his frustration with… Road…

The Earl saw Hit's eyes beginning to widen in both shock and realization and couldn't help the laugh that spilled out of him at the child's expression. "I see its beginning to dawn on you now, isn't it~?"

Rather than answer verbally, Hit's head snapped towards another rock formation close by. His gaze zoning in on it as he focused his full attention towards it. His lone thought mirroring the feeling he'd had yesterday, as he made to project his will onto the rock formation.

A split-second later, just as it had happened yesterday with the wall, the centre of the rock formation broke down unnaturally with a purplish hue, as the familiar bang went off with it. Unlike the wall however, the rock formation wasn't wide enough to support the gaping hole that formed on it all of a sudden, and thus collapsed to the ground in a heap of rubble. A number of dark-purple particles of energy rising off it and into the air.

As if not totally convinced, Hit switched his gaze to another formation, locking it with his gaze and attempting to enforce his will upon it. Only this time, he thought of flattening it like a pancake just to see if it would work.

As if responding to him like its verdict was passed down, the entire rock formation gained a purple hue, before being crushed down under an oppressive force. Despite the fact that it should've just shattered under the normal laws of physics, it obeyed his command instead, as though it was beholden to a different physical law than the others of its kind. Flattening out before his and the Earl's eyes to the point where it near perfectly resembled a pancake on the ground.

Getting swept up, Hit decided unnecessarily to test it just a few more times, each with a different thought being enforced into it. From having a cliffside spontaneously combust, to forcing an entire formation to be reshaped into the likeness of a tree, to even having a large rock slab levitate off the ground like it was no one's business. Completely disregarding gravity all-together.

"Having fun~?" The Earl cut in after watching this all patiently with some nostalgia. "Your ability is quite something, isn't it? Even when just focused on a bunch of rocks, the possibilities of what you could make happen are near endless~."

Hit remained silent for a moment as he fully came to terms with what his new ability unique to his Noah memory seemed to be.

"You have the ability to judge all that is around you and enforce your will upon it. Essentially, you could say that all things in the physical world are quite literally part of your own personal playground that you are the sole owner of. Which means, whatever you enforce your will on, you alone decide what law it is beholden to. Whether that be one that already exists, or one of your own making~." The millennium's old entity explained casually with an elated air.

Hit, for the first time in quite possibly his entire existence, felt his jaw become unhinged for a short period. Though not intending to, before the Earl's gaze, he looked every bit the age his current body was with his gobsmacked expression that had the Earl giggling like a fool.

That was his power…? It sounded absurd, even by the standards he was used to, with the kind of versatility that it offered. Not to mention the utterly insane kind of power it leant to him just going off of that description alone. Too much power. There has to be a catch to this. He decided quick, calming himself down rapidly, and snapping his jaw shut again. There's no way an ability like this wouldn't come without some amount of limitations, otherwise it'd be unstoppable and incapable of being bested unless someone had a similar power.

"Of course, your ability isn't completely without boundaries. It does have its limits, just like any other member of the family's own~." The Earl continued, as if reading his mind, confirming his suspicions. "For example, you can only focus in on one thing at a time by yourself. Along with that, certain things within the world are harder to enforce your will on than others and will require more effort and focus on your part to alter. Furthermore, there is one substance that, above all others, is highly resistant against your ability. I'm sure I don't need to tell you what that retched substance is~."

Innocence. The word sprang to mind immediately. Along with a visceral hatred down to his very core. Something that he wasn't used to feeling for anything or anyone. "I assume that means those who wield Innocence will also be much harder to effect with this ability?"

"Yes~." The Earl nodded. "Regardless of what type, provided they have it with them, exorcists will also be far more resistant due to their bond with their Innocence. The higher the bond, the more resistant they'll be. Of course, that doesn't mean it'll be ineffective on them. Goodness no. You'll just have to enforce your will upon them even harder to overpower their resistance, that's all~."

Okay. That made sense. It sort of reminded him of his first time battling Son Goku during the tournament between their universes. How Goku had become more resistant against his time-skip as the battle progressed, and he'd had to enforce it on him even harder, which had led to him improving his time-skip's duration and potency on the fly.

Hit felt a gloved hand on his head the next second, bringing his gaze straight to the Earl, who was now grinning down at him with care and pride. "Feel free to keep experimenting with your new powers for a few hours. There is one final aspect about your ability, but we can get to that tomorrow~."

"Why's that?" Hit felt the need to ask, ignoring the strange feeling of being comfortable with the Earl patting his head, as he shrugged away from his hand.

The Millennium Earl looked a bit disappointed by this, but otherwise paid it no mind. "Better for you to focus on getting used to all of this first, before we get to you using your blade~."

My blade…? He was going to have a blade as well…? For what? What did he need a sword for?

"If you're wondering 'why a sword', don't worry. I'll explain it to you tomorrow in detail. Trust me when I say its better we focus on this today, and that tomorrow~."

"For efficiency's sake, is that it?" Hit guessed. It'd make sense, after all. They were hardly on a timer here, so why not break his practise down into two different sections for different days?

"Well, I guess you could say that's true~." The Earl chuckled, causing him to raise a brow in confusion.

"Are you telling me I'm wrong?" What other reason could there be other than that?

"No, no. What you said is accurate, it just wasn't the main reason~."

"Then what is?"

"Simple. If I just dumped the whole thing on you today, you'd be spending all day at it." Was there meant to be a problem with that? Even if he was in a new body, he'd done day-long training sessions in his old life plenty of times before. It wouldn't be an issue for him to get back into that routine if he had to. "And if that happens, then you wouldn't have any time or energy left to play with Road~."

Hit stared at him flatly. "I fail to see how that'd be an issue, Earl."

"Aww, don't be like that now~." The rotund being chided, going so far as to wag his finger at him like he was being bold. "While training your abilities is important, spending quality time with your new big sister is just as important~."

"Please tell me you're joking…"

"I would never joke about matters regarding our family~."

Hit pinched his eyes shut with his fingers, feeling exasperation starting to claw at him as the Earl laughed on merrily.

He could feel a migraine coming on…

AND CUT!

Well that's the end of this one. There should be more action in the next chapter, since quick spoiler here, Hit and the Earl are gonna have themselves a little spar, so I hope I write that well enough.

Also, just so you're all aware, next chapter will be the longest yet, and will include everything I've set up in this chapter, which will include Road and Hit's little game of hide-and-seek of course, and you'll understand why when it comes out. Including the one after it, there's only two chapters remaining that will have Hit as he is now. Following them, there will be a time-skip(pun absolutely intended) to a much older Hit as we get into other parts of D. Gray Man, like the awakening of a certain number of Noahs and such, so look forward to that.

Please be sure to review if you can. I don't want to sound desperate, but its kind of disheartening when I upload and no one seems to review it, even if its just a sentence.