Nero: Alright!! Thank you for your lovely reviews!! Yeah, pat yourselves on the back for keeping me writing all this time.

Komui had taken the newly formed Innocence to refine it and to fashion a sheath. Gabriel had had an exciting morning, now she was going to have a suspenseful afternoon. Komui informed her that she would get a teacher to tutor her about using her Innocence. One the Order's own exorcists as a matter of fact. Gabriel's head reveled in the possibilities. Lavi would be an awesome teacher. He's fun and has an eye patch, which made him a pirate!! Lenalee would be a patient teacher. She's really pretty. Allen on the other hand wasn't one of her first choices. Gabriel swore that he was plotting something. Neither was Kanda a good choice. He would just call her useless and make her feel bad. What about Krory or Miranda? Split personality or an accident waiting to happened is more like it. A firm knocking pulled Gabriel out of her trance. She slide off her bed and answered the door.

"Hello?"

"Gabbie-chan!!" Lavi caught her in a literally bone crushing hug.

"Hey, how's it? Um, Lavi I can't breath."

"Whoops!! Heh, I forgot you're so tiny!!"

"I'm not that small!!"

"Aw, just like Moyashi-chan. Anyways, I just came to tell you Komui finally has some missions for us exorcists and he told me to come get you."

"Yeah!! Missions!!" Gabriel threw her arms in the air and jumped up and down. When she finished spazzing out, she followed Lavi to their superior's office.

In Komui's office, Lavi and Gabriel were welcomed with a paler that usual Allen and a pissed off Kanda pointing Mugen at the boss. Like really pissed off.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kanda said with a murderous tone.

"W-well, Kanda. You are the only swordsman available-."

"That is no reason to pair me up with the Chibi!!"

Allen broke out of his shocked state and backed Kanda's reasoning. "He's not the only swordsman here, Komui. And if you want Gabriel to live past her teen years, Kanda is not the answer."

Komui slipped past Kanda's sword and moved toward Gabriel and Lavi. "Ah, here is our topic of the day. Gabriel, how do you feel about being Kanda's pupil?"

There was a long pause. Then out of no where, Gabriel broke out in a hysterical round of laughter.

"AHAHA, I thought you said Kanda was my teacher!! Maybe I should get my ears check!!" she gasped between giggles.

"Baka, that's exactly what he said," Kanda growled.

xxx

After begging Komui for hours about changing his decision, Gabriel was dragged against her will to the sparring room by an impatient Kanda. Unfortunately for Gabriel, Allen and Lavi had a mission on their own with Olivia, so it was just Kanda and her.

"If I have to do this with you, I might as well get it over with," Kanda growled. "And why the hell are you complaining so much!?"

"To make you let me go!!" Gabriel shouted her annoyance.

"Or you could just accept your fate and shut the hell up!!"

"Allen, save me!!" Gabriel begged, holding her arms out to him even though he wasn't there. At this point, Kanda had given up dragging her and just threw he over his shoulder like a duffel bag.

"Kanda, if you don't want to train me, then why don't you just wait for Allen or Lavi to get beck!? They can teach me!!" Gabriel reasoned with the samurai.

"Because, if you mess up due to their idiocy, the Order won't be blaming them for your mistakes!! Now, shut up or I'll throw you off the cliff!!"

Gabriel went limp at the threat, not knowing Kanda well enough to know that he wouldn't do that. Plus, heights were not one of her strengths. Kanda took notice of the relaxed girl and noted what threat he used.

The training hall wasn't a training hall at all. In fact, it was a grassy clearing in the middle of the woods located on the Order's estate. Not Kanda's personal training ground, but close enough. He didn't want people to know where he went to train and meditate. Kanda dropped Gabriel with a thump. Gabriel returned the favor by kicking his leg, but missed horribly. Damn Asian reflexes.

"Hmph, seems we have some work to do."

"Blah blah blah. Sorry I don't speak jerk!!"

"As if your brain had the capacity to hold more than one language at a time."

"Did you just call me stupid!?"

"No, I called you a fucking genius!!"

"Well, thank you!! I am a genius, aren't I?"

"Argh, you're just like the Moyashi!! Could my day get any worse!?"

Kanda just had to say that. You never say that. It was some unwritten law of the universe!! They had been all alone in the clearing and the moment Kanda said the Forbbiden Phrase, they were surrounded by Level One Akuma. The new HQ wasn't as remote as the old one and was easier to access. Damn Earl and his devious ways.

"Shit!!" Kanda hissed as he drew Mugen. He turned a sideways glance to see Gabriel trembling on the ground. "Oi, Chibi!! Stop being useless and draw your Innocence!!"

It wasn't any use, Gabriel was terrified. As much as Kanda would have liked to just let her die, he would be in deep shit if the Order found out and that wasn't something he enjoyed. Kanda, with Mugen fully brandished, grabbed his 'pupil' and made a mad dash for the Order's main entrance. The Gatekeeper must have sensed the Akuma already, so heading to the Order was Kanda's best bet of having Gabriel survive.

"Ah ah aaaah, you're not getting away," a hidden threat chuckled.

A Level Three jumped in front of Kanda and forced Kanda into a defensive position.

"Shit shit shit!! Chibi, you have to snap out of it!!" Kanda dropped her on her face.

"Ow!! Fuck!!"

"Finally!! Get up, this is your first lesson!! On three!!"

"Wait!! What do you-?"

"THREE!!"

Kanda lunged at the Level Three with murder on the mind, leaving Gabriel to deal with the dozens of Level Ones.

"K-Kanda!! Don't leave me!!" Gabriel cried, but her 'master' was already engulfed in the joy of bloodshed.

The Level Ones took aim. Gabriel was so not ready for this. This was too soon. What does she have to do, she wailed in her head and for a moment, everything was silent.

'Draw your Innocence. Activate. Fight!! LIVE!!'

A voice repeated this again and again. It was so familiar, but so distant. Where had she heard this before? But Gabriel couldn't ponder the mystery now. Acting as instructed, Gabriel did as instructed.

"Innocence!!" she cried as she drew the silver blade from its sheath. The weapon did nothing special to show it had obeyed, but it vibrated with a power that overwhelmed Gabriel's earlier fears. With the weapon tightly gripped in her hand, Gabriel avoided the poison bullets as best she could. She obviously wasn't very strong, but then again, her Innocence didn't call for strength, it called for speed and flexibility. Dodging between their defenses, Gabriel slashed and stabbed at her opponents, making a speedy retreat after every defeated enemy. Her style was perfect for her size and situation. Find an easily defended spot, one that will funnel her enemies to make their numbers useless. Then attacking with speed and retreating just as quickly.

It seemed like hours had past, but only about fifteen minutes had elapsed and Gabriel couldn't hold out much longer. Yeah, she was fast, but she had zero endurance. She panted heavily, beads of sweat stung her eyes. Cuts and bruises hindered her even more. Then, like a blessing from God himself, the Akuma exploded one after the other. The cavalry had arrived in the form of Arystar Krory the III and Miranda Lotto.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Krory offered a hand to Gabriel.

"Nothing a good meal and a trip to Head Nurse can't fix."

Krory chuckled darkly as his split persona had emerged. "Then let us have a good meal and visit the Head Nurse."

Nero: Finally finished!! Sorry for the wait!! Do you forgive me?