MitarashiiDango- I'm sorry you had to wait so long! Yeah, Joe's a girl… which is strange from me, my more permanent OCs are usually male. And what would life be without denial?

Ms Arano- well, a Josephine, actually, but close enough!

InfinityOnTheRun- Yeah, fluff. The cute just jumped out and mugged me. And yay for complications! Who wants a simple life?

CatherineIshida- Not many people did! I'm glad you're aboard! And even more glad to actually hear from you.

xxSnowxxAngelxx- Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying this fic! It always makes me happy to hear from people!

knux33- Yes indeed, I didn't think a girl living alone in the slums of 19th century Paris was the best idea!

Tarshil- I'm so happy to hear you say that! Personally my thoughts follow the same lines as yours, but I try not to antagonise the reviewers by bashing their opinions (though if you wish to do so in my stead, I will weep tears of joy). I absolutely HATE uber-uke Allen who faints all over the place and cries all the time and is essentially useless. He is supposed to be the hero after all, but as you say, even the best of us need someone to lean on from time to time (and if people think Allen's not coping well now, give it a few chapters!)
You seem like a very remarkable person- your first knife fight? LOL, and I thought I led an exciting life!
Personally I love long and interesting reviews! Especially ones that make me really think about my reply, so thank you, and don't feel like you should cut down on what you want to say! I humbly accept a cyber-slap over my head, consider myself suitably chastised and will never apologise for myself again, I promise!!
Anyway, I'm really glad that you liked this chapter, that you like Joe, and that I made you laugh. I like making people laugh, and find that slipping little nuggets of humour in there works better than attempting to swamp the place with giggles and grins.
And as you can see, I don't think there's anything wrong with having a lot to say!!

Myaeve- Well, Joe was always going to be a she, whatever else happened. My little sister demanded it, and I always aim to please (especially when one's little sister is also one's beta reader- you do NOT want to piss her off). LOL, unfortunately I don't think this chapter qualifies as epic- or maybe that's fortunate for you- your eyeballs are safe for now at least!

AnimeFreak4261- I thought it was about time SOME Yullen made an appearance, even if it was short and sweet and you had to squint to see it!

edenforest1- Wow, you knew Joe was going to turn out to be a girl? I know I put a few clues in there (I love testing people to see if they're really paying attention), but you should really do a psychic proficiency test or something, cos that's just creepy! SeikaDragon- Yeah I definitely think Joe being openly female is going to cause a few issues here- after all, Kanda doesn't know that Allen lives on the other side of the rainbow, it'd be natural to assume that the girl was a bigger threat than the boy would have been, no? AlcoholicTree- ha ha ha! SURPRISE! Joe is actually Josephine. Whatever shall happen now? (OMG, I actually don't know….)

a1y-puff- Yeah, I needed a bit of fluff to get me through the chapter. I've slowly lost the will to live lately and I definitely need something to keep me going!

addenza- Yep, Joe's a girl. Nothing like a bit of WTF? to wake people up is there? And I'm sure her presence isn't going to help things between Kanda and Allen (unless she's secretly a yaoi fangirl?)

marufu-chan- thank you very much! Sorry it took so long to come out!

CrimsonKitsune333- I really need those cookies now- I've had a crappy couple of weeks, which is now reflected in a crappy chapter. But I will persevere- hopefully the woeful inadequacy of this chapter is but a minor blip in the grand scale of things!

WrathofMugen- Yep! I did slip a few clues in there, but I was obviously a little too covert about it!

Shinimegami7- Yeah, it's a really slow progression- it's making me crazy, but I thought that just randomly jumping in bed together was a little too OOC!

dragonheart3- *Does a little happy dance* Yay! Your review really made my day! I'm glad you have such a good opinion of my story. Even though I'm just writing for fun it's nice to know that other people like it too! And who knows, if this whole teacher shin-dig thing falls through, I might just go into writing!

xForeverXforgottenx- Allen will get his white hair back one day- after all, he misses it too! I'm pleased that you like the fic, knowing that makes me happy! And I'm sure your wish for drama will be fulfilled soon!

Kawaii no jutsu- well, that IS what makes it a twist! Yah, denial- where would we be without it? Well, I'd be down one literary device anyway! You think this is brilliant? YAY!

MiniBloodyMurder- Yeah, I know- shock horror!

zerokanda- I confess myself confused- you'd rather the OC be a boy than a girl in a yaoi fic?

SingingBlues- I thought that might give a few people a shock, though I'm surprise as many people were surprised by it. Maybe my clues were just too subtle…

eMi to mAo 374- Sorry to have kept you waiting so long! I know it was a bit of a nasty place to leave it, but at least Allen and Kanda are together once again!

XTincampi- I'm really pleased that you're enjoying the story. And yes, shocker- Joe is Josephine!

Doveylove- Since you asked so nicely, have an update on me!

Kayday- You were supposed to think that Joe was all gay for Allen! At least I know that my plan worked! I went through a few names before Joe was thrust upon me by my little sister, who demanded an OC named Joe King (her humour is worse than mine, I swear) be created. Thus Josephine King was born and I too head-desked in shame at the fact that I'd done such a thing. However, since the canon had one "Cloud Nine" I figure I'm safe from too harsh a beating!

XxMissyRandomxX- Yeah, unfortunately, Joe is kinda flat-chested, poor dear, but she also has them bound flat (which I discovered for myself is not at all comfy- though fortunately for Joe, there's a huge difference between squishing her little fried eggs down and what I had to do!) And Joe's shirt was loose and baggy which hid her figure until Kanda got an eyeful of her topless! Though she gave her age as thirteen (and a half) she's actually sixteen and gave a younger age to help with her disguise (since she couldn't really pretend to be a boy of her own age with her high girly voice and short stature- oh wait- Allen is… dammit!)

Gin no Hitomi- Ah, cliché. What would life be without it? Yes, yes, enter the big bad… baddies (?) soon.

Wing012- I have the next chapter here just for you! *cough cough* I'm glad you find Decline interesting, I was worried that since I dropped off the face of the earth my fic had descended into obscurity!

Harmony283- Actually, if you laughed randomly throughout the fic, t means you have the same type of humour as me, as I like to slip little random bits of things that make me smile in there, whether anybody else finds them funny or not! I know there are a few mistakes in here, but my typing skills resemble a possessed spider at times. Luckily though, I'm rechecking everything and hopefully caught them all, and I will be replacing the chapters soon. I'm glad you don't think this is to OOC at the moment. It's hard to do such a pairing without changing some aspects of the characters, if only to make the whole process easier! I hope your exam went well BTW!

Nimadel- I'm glad you like my fic, and yes, it will be continuing, eventually.

lokiwolf14- I'm so pleased you're enjoying the fic. Here is a long awaited update!

Saltyeyes- Thank you very much!

Xenophili- Geez, you get ill for a few weeks and people start threatening to abandon ship! I haven't given up, I'm not going to give up, but in all honesty, my health is more important than my hobby. And soon you'll hate me even more, cos after chapter 13, it'll be a cliffie of doom until after Christmas. Mwahahaha!

Alisa makora- Lol, Yep, Joking. Sometimes I can't help myself! I'm glad you like the story.

Thanks to everyone who had reviewed, it really made me push through with these updates even though all I wanted to do was curl up and die lately, so thank you very, very much for sticking with it! XX

Yeah, it's very, VERY late. I do have an excuse though, since I was in hospital. My body hates me, I swear. So I'm sorry, but not too sorry since there wasn't a lot I could do with a drip in my right arm that squealed noisily if I bend my elbow- typing and writing? Whoosh, out of the window. And news- I, hater of beta's, have got one. LE GASP! Though to be fair, it's my sister, so if she says something I don't like, I can ignore her. Or hit her, whichever. So I guess thanks to Bexii-face for beta-ing and stuff. I blame you for my mistakes from now on.

And not to bore you all, though I'm sure no one is actually reading this, I will take this opportunity to thank you all for sticking with me, but Decline is going on holiday. Real life has really hit hard lately. I've been forced to quit university after four years of struggling through because of my health and to be honest, writing anything has been bottom of my list lately. I've also got to pick up more slack at home while searching for a job in order to pay my way, so free time has been reduced to insignificant quantities. I doubt that there will be any updates until after Christmas, but by the new year I will be hopefully back on track in all aspects of my life. Thanks for your understanding.

0o0o0o0o0

"You… you're a girl?" Allen exclaimed into the stunned silence.

"No" said Joe, covering his… her, chest with the shirt she was still holding, eyes darting around as though looking for an escape route.

"Che" Kanda sniffed, getting to his feet and crossing the intervening space between them and yanking the shirt away. Immediately Joe's hands came up across her chest, but without the loose shirt hiding her figure, even with her breasts bound against her body, the fact that she was very much female was obvious.

Allen swung his legs over the side of the bed and openly gawked. Well, he supposed that explained why Joe had never dressed in front of him, and the rather girly scream he'd heard when they first met. "Why?" he asked, confused and curious.

Kanda turned to Allen and said: "I can't believe you didn't notice! You've been living with the kid and never realised that he had…" he gestured at his own chest "you know?"

"It's not my fault!" Allen snapped back, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. "You thought she was a boy too!"

"Of course I did, I just took your word for it!"

"It's not like I go around groping everyone I meet to make sure they're not cross-dressing!" Allen turned back to the girl, suddenly feeling awkward despite the fact that he'd known her for more than a week, even lived with her, and found that now just talking to her seemed different. "So, Joe… are you really called Joe?"

The girl smiled nervously. "Josephine, actually, but Jo's good too."

"Why are you dressed as a boy?"

"I'm a sixteen year old orphan girl living in one of the roughest areas of Paris. Why do you think?" Jo said shortly, standing straighter as her embarrassment faded. "And tell your friend that I want my shirt back!"

"Kanda, can you give… um… her… back her shirt?" he asked, turning to the older man. Kanda scowled and threw the shirt in the general direction of the girl without even looking to see where it landed.

"Thank you" Jo said sarcastically, picking up the shirt from where it had fallen at her feet and pulling it over her head. The awkward feeling in the room lessened slightly once her body was hidden again.

"You're sixteen?" Allen asked suddenly. "When we met you said you were thirteen."

"And a half" added Jo. "I could hardly dress as a boy and stay my own age, could I? How many male sixteen year olds do you know as short as me with voices as high as mine?"

It was a shame that Kanda couldn't follow the conversation, because Allen felt vindicated by this statement, being sixteen himself and taller, broader and deeper of voice than the girl. 'Ha! See! I'm going through puberty just fine, thank you very much!' he thought smugly, glancing at Kanda briefly as he did so, despite knowing the man hadn't understood a word.

Strangely though, Kanda was wearing a smirk as though he knew exactly what was running through Allen's head at that moment. Shaking off the uneasy feeling that somehow Kanda could read his mind, he turned his attention back to the girl.

"Good point" he conceded. "No wonder you were so keen to move away from that brothel next door."

"Hmm" Jo agreed. "Though I would have had to move on soon anyway- you can't pretend to be one age and not expect people to notice that you don't get any older, so I can't ever stay in one pace too long." She sat in the single rickety chair. So, now you know the truth about me, are you going to come clean too? Your name isn't really William, is it? Who are you really? Is this guy like you? Does he have something like your arm?"

Allen sighed and glanced once at Kanda before passing a hand over his face wearily. He dropped it back into his lap as he began. "My name is Allen Walker…"

Kanda decided that in a past life he had been very, very bad, and that being stuck in the small stuffy room with these two idiots who were gabbling away in French and now completely ignoring him was his punishment for his sins. When he could stand it no longer, he moved abruptly and headed for the door, barely having moved three strides before Allen's voice halted him.

"Kanda, where are you going? Is everything alright?"

Kanda ignored him and continued to the door, his hand barely closing around the handle before a grip on his arm pulled him up short. He turned his head slightly to see Allen watching him with a frown on his tanned face, his hand firmly grasping the material of Kanda's sleeve. "Are you alright?" Allen asked instead when he got no reply, shaking Kanda's arm softly in emphasis. "Something is bothering you." It was a statement, not a question

Kanda's dark eyes flicked back over his shoulder to where Jo was standing looking a little lost, as though she thought that she was intruding on something personal but had nowhere else to go. "I have to go and call Komui" Kanda said evasively, turning the handle beneath his palm and opening the door a few inches. "Stay here."

Allen felt like arguing that Kanda had no authority over him and couldn't order him to stay anywhere, but he could see that something was troubling the older man and though he couldn't for the life of him even begin to wonder what it was that had Kanda acting so… was distant the right word? After all, Kanda had never been forthcoming with anybody (except perhaps Lavi, but everyone knew that if the redhead wanted something, then refusing only prolonged the agony, and they all gave in eventually anyway), and even if Kanda was more open about his feelings, Allen doubted he would ever be in his confidence. Still, there was something more going on that had made the exorcist withdrawn- more than usual- and though Allen might not have a clue as to what it was; he was going to make sure he found out.

He released Kanda's sleeve and allowed the other man to make his escape.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Distance, Kanda decided. That was what he needed. He'd just spent too much time in Allen's presence after weeks apart, and he just had fallen out of the habit of dealing with him. That was all. That was all. There was absolutely nothing else to it.

He exhaled a little heavier than usual, his own version of an exasperated sigh, flicking the end of his ponytail over his shoulder when what he really wanted to do was release his hair from its tie and run his hands through it roughly. Doing that had always comforted him, but he couldn't afford to admit that he needed the familiar gesture and the calm it would bring.

He let his head thud back against the wall he was leaning on outside of Allen's room, needing something to ground him. Kanda had no clue what was going on. When he realised his mission would give him the chance to seek out Allen, he wasted no time in collecting the innocence (which had been helpfully left for him to stumble across) so he could get down to business finding the elusive Moyashi.

Of course, Paris was a big city, and Allen was rather small, so Kanda knew that the chances of actually finding Allen were slim (especially since Allen was in disguise, though Kanda was positive that he'd be able to recognise him no matter how much his appearance had changed) and therefore had not put much thought into what he would actually say if he did happen to trip over Allen as he meandered randomly through the city streets.

He couldn't have been more surprised to find Allen the way he had, though he shouldn't have been- apparently no matter where he went, or who he was pretending to be, Allen Walker always managed to get himself into trouble. Of course, he also usually managed to get himself out of it somehow as well, though whether by luck or skill Kanda never really understood.

This time, well, sure the wound had been deep and had bled like a bitch but hadn't been fatal. Even if Allen had lay in that alley all night, Kanda doubted that he would have died, and he wasn't sure but he suspected that the innocence that was such an integral part of his body would not allow its accommodator to succumb to infection, and intellectually Kanda knew all of this, but something inside him, a knot that grew in his throat and a clench in his chest, came back full force as he recalled the sight of Allen curled on the ground, grasping at the neat slice in his back as though trying to hold the blood inside and biting his lower lip ragged in an attempt to master the pain.

Of course, at first the person before him had been a stranger, a nobody, an unfortunate victim of the rough city he lived in, but then he'd spotted the scars, he'd wrestled the glove from the protesting left hand and he'd felt his heart stop beating for a second as he realised just who this blood splattered person was.

Later, he would firmly deny, even to himself, especially to himself, that any such thing had happened.

He slipped his hand into his pocket, his fingers closing around the innocence cube. Really he should be heading back to headquarters- his mission was complete after all, so why was he still here? There was nothing left for him to do in Paris, he'd done what he came here to do and should be on his way to his next mission by now. He frowned. Since when had missions taken a backseat to everything else that was going on?

Being around the Moyashi and his ridiculous cross-dressing sidekick was infecting him with stupidity. All the more reason to get the hell out of there before he did something he'd regret.

Coming to a decision, and feeling all the better for it, he turned away from the wall and swept down the stairs, his exorcist coat flapping behind him.

0o0o0o0o0

He finally managed to find a phone box that wasn't vandalised beyond use and dug his golem from his pocket and connecting the two communications devices. There was a faint hissing of static as the line cleared and then his ears were assaulted by the sound of whatever chaos that was happening in Komui's office. It appeared that the phone had been knocked off the hook in the mayhem, as he could hear indistinct yelling which he guessed were the overworked scientists shouting at Komui and some squealing which was definitely the supervisor. He hoped that whatever the science department was doing to Komui hurt, because whatever Komui had done was bound to have an effect on every member of the Order.

He was considering smashing the golem against the wall of the phone booth when he heard a voice cut through the screaming.

"Hey look- there's a call!"

'Finally' Kanda thought as he listened to the sound of someone scrambling for the phone.

"Hello?" Reever's voice asked, almost cautiously.

"Che, about time you morons answered."

"Kanda," Reever breathed a sigh of relief. "Is everything OK with your mission? I would have thought you'd have been back here by now."

"I need to speak to the idiot supervisor."

Back in Komui's office, Reever looked at the supervisor who was currently tied to his chair and gagged. "He's a little indisposed" explained the section chief to the exorcist. "Is it important?"

Kanda almost scoffed. Why else would he be calling? It wasn't like he made social calls. "Yes, I need to speak to him. Privately. I've… run into something which has delayed my mission and I need further orders."

Reever sighed. "Very well." There was the muffled sound of Komui being released but before the supervisor could begin his rant on his 'unfair' treatment at the hands of his scientists, Reever thrust the phone into his face. "It's Kanda" he told the Chinese man curtly before leaving the office, ushering the few lingering scientists before him.

"Kanda?" Komui said into the phone, all of a sudden his jovial tone gone. "How is your mission going? Have you not found the innocence yet?"

Kanda shook his head, although Komui could not see him. "I have the innocence" he said, his fingers gripping the cube in his pocket.

"So…" the supervisor prompted, absently toying with the fragments of his pink mug that had been the cause of the earlier chaos.

"I met him."

"Met… him? Oh!" Komui looked around his office as though making sure he was alone. Not that he would be able to tell with a cursory glance- there were several mountains of unfinished paperwork to hide behind. "Well that was lucky. How's he doing?"

"Che" Kanda sniffed. "Trying to get himself killed, just like I said he would."

"What did you do to him?" Komui exclaimed

"Not me you idiot" Kanda snapped. "First he took in a stray street boy, then started a bar fight, ended up getting stabbed and his boy is actually a girl."

"Riiiiight" Komui said. That was probably the longest sentence he'd ever heard the Japanese exorcist say, and he hadn't understood any of it. "He got stabbed in a bar fight and is now a girl?"

Kanda glared at the phone with such venom that back in his office Komui actually flinched. "Never mind" the supervisor said hurriedly. "So, what can I do for you?"

Kanda scowled, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. "I don't trust the boy… girl… whatever," he said, trying to think of a way to phrase his request without it actually sounding like he was making one. Handing Komui material to blackmail him with didn't seem like a good idea.

Fortunately, Komui was way ahead of him. "I see. Well, luckily for you there's been reports of Akuma attacking Beauvais. It's a town about fifty miles north from Paris. I'm assigning it to you to look into," he said, sounding very official, an image that he ruined by adding with an obvious grin in his voice, "take him with you. It'll be just like old times, and he's owed a few meals on the Order's dime."

Kanda grunted, which could have been a yes or no, but Komui took as the former. "Just be careful and try not to get spotted. It's getting somewhat uncomfortable here- Link's fielding as well as he can, but Leverrier's breathing rather closely down our necks. They're trying to find out what exactly happened that night, and my answers aren't satisfying them any more." He paused, thinking carefully. "If you are agreeable, perhaps you should stay away from Headquarters for a while- your name has come up a few times for questioning, but now we've lost Allen I don't think anyone will think too much about you being out in the field so much."

"Fine" Kanda said, trying not to reveal how much Komui's plan appealed to him.

"Alright then. Keep in contact, and keep each other safe."