Alright, so here is the next chapter, I don't believe this is my best chapter, but no matter how many times I rewrote it and edited, this was the best I got. With that said, everything that needs to happen does, and I hope you enjoy. :)

Lenalee stood at the Black Order's docks, waiting for Allen and Kanda to return anxiously. She desperately wanted to return to Katsu's side to offer support while she waited for her friend to wake up. However, she also wanted to make sure that Kanda and Allen had been successful on their mission. Komui had seen them enter the stream from one of the many golems and he had asked Lenalee to go meet them, to give them the news.

She wasn't looking forward to telling Kanda that Katsu had received many unexplainable, nearly fatal wounds while in the comfort of the Order. He was inexplicably protective of the girl, something that gave Lenalee a sense of peace. They had each other to rely on, even when they wouldn't let anyone else in.

Her heart jumped when she caught sight of the boat making it s way through the water, gliding steadily. As it drew closer, she was able to making out the finder guiding the boat, with Kanda hunched over in the middle of the boat. She couldn't catch sight of Allen though, from this angle. She was craning her neck to try and catch sight of the white haired boy with no luck.

Silence hung in the air around the four of them, as the finder docked the boat. He jumped out to tie the boat to the dock. The finder bowed to Lenalee. "Mistress Lenalee, the mission was a success."

Lenalee smiled, even though it felt forced on her lips. "That's good to hear. Why don't you go inside and get some sleep. I'm sure you must be very tired."

The finder nodded, "Thank you." And he made his way up the stairs.

Lenalee returned her attention back onto Kanda who was slowly making his way out of the boat. His arm was wrapped around his torso. Eyes slightly widened, Lenalee noticed the red bandages that decorated his chest.

"Kanda, are you alright?" She rushed over to help the black haired Exorcist.

Kanda grunted, "Fine." However he leaned heavily against Lenalee as he took the final step out of the boat.

"Where's Allen?" Lenalee let go of Kanda, once she was sure he had stable footing. She knew he didn't like to feel coddled.

"'M here, Lenalee." The voice was hoarse as it replied before being cut off by a round of coughing.

Lenalee looked down, her eyes catching sight of Allen. He was lying down at the front of the boat, curled in on himself. His back was to her, as it shook violently with each cough, rocking the boat. She knelt down beside the boat, her heart racing. How badly was Allen injured?

"Can you sit up?" She asked softly, her hand reaching out to gently touch Allen's shoulder.

"Yeah," Allen wheezed, slowly moving into an upright position. He moved to quickly for his body to handle, causing Allen to cough more harshly, doubling in on itself. His hand flew towards his mouth, the other around his torso. Even through the barrier his hand created, Lenalee could still make out the sight of blood.

"We have to get you to the hospital wing." She reached out to help Allen climb out of the boat. "What happened?"

"Moyashi decided he had to be a hero."

Allen took Lenalee's hand with the one that had been wrapped around his middle, accepting her help out of the boat. The process was slow, and Allen had to lean on Lenalee heavily.

"How bad was it?" She asked, as she and Allen shuffled up the stairs.

"I just pushed my Innocence too far," Allen whispered as he struggled to support himself. He didn't want to bother Lenalee. She, however, tightened her grip when he nearly tumbled to the floor.

Kanda snorted, "Baka. You know that isn't the reason."

Confused, Lenalee turned to Allen for an explanation. He shook his head, "I sustained a few injuries as well, but they've healed."

Lenalee shook her head, "Regardless, both of you should go to the hospital wing." She began to lead Allen up the stairs and away from the docks. As she moved, she mulled over the best way to break the news.

Allen noticed the change in her demeanor. "Are you okay, Lenalee? You look ill."

Lenalee sighed. "I'm fine, it's Katsu that I'm worried about."

Kanda's attention quickly focused on the two walking in front of him.

"Is she okay?" Allen asked, through a cough.

"She's stable."

Kanda glowered. "How bad is she?"

"Jerry and the other finders in the cafeteria were the ones who witnessed it. They said that as Katsu was starting to make her way out of the cafeteria when she collapsed. She stood up again, to assure Jerry that she was fine. Jerry said that her eyes were red again..." Lenalee glanced back at Kanda knowingly.

"Was it because she didn't have enough sleep?" Allen asked. It was the only solution he could come up with for Katsu's eyes to be bloodshot and her unsteadiness.

"No, that's not it, nor is it all. She had managed to make her way to the door without another incident. It wasn't before she reached the door that she cried out, falling to the ground again. She didn't stand up again, so Jerry rushed to her side. She had a three large stab wounds in her stomach and three shallower ones on her shoulder. Jerry rushed her to the hospital wing. She's currently stable."

Allen froze, before stumbling due to Lenalee's continued forward momentum. Three stab wounds to the stomach and shoulder, seemingly identical to the ones that he had received and had instantaneously healed.

"Allen, are you alright? We're almost there," Lenalee comforted. However, it fell on deaf ears. He could see Lenalee's lips moving as she stood in front of him, and he could see the worry in her eyes. But his brain didn't comprehend it. All he could think about was the wounds that had healed and Katsu now had.

"I-I'm fine, Lenalee," Allen whispered as he stumbled back into step.

The trio steadily made their way to the hospital wing. Once they arrived, Lenalee opened the door for the other two injured Exorcists to walk in. All chatter within the infirmary paused as all eyes watched the three walk in. Seconds later, they were aided by the nurses to hospital beds where they were laid down.

Amongst the rush, Allen kept his eyes trained on the singular section of the room that had been curtained off. The section where Katsu was no doubt laying. His vision was cut off, when a figure in a white uniform stepped up beside him. Allen glanced up to meet Komui's concerned gaze.

"How bad is it?" Komui asked.

"He appears to have no serious flesh wounds that are causing the coughing..." The Head Nurse reached for the buttons of Allen's Exorcist jacket. "If I may?"

Allen nodded, before quickly covering his mouth to cough again. He groaned. The continuous coughing was making his head, chest and stomach ache. Allen regarded the pain with mild shock. He was actually feeling the pain. Maybe that was why it felt so severe.

Cold fingers gently prodded against the skin of his chest, pausing against his abdomen and shoulder. The nurse met his gaze, "The skin is still tender, as if it has healed recently, though there are no signs of scars."

"Impossible..."Komui muttered, his eyes locked onto the fresh skin tissue that mirror the injuries Katsu now possessed.

"I don't know why my wounds healed. I do know that I hadn't felt any of my own wounds for a good couple years."

"Your coughing couldn't be due to the injury you received then." The head nurse said.

Allen tried to smile reassuringly at the nurse, "I just over worked my anti-akuma weapon. I'm fine."

"Lies." The nurse accused. "Never once has an Exorcist come to me coughing up blood due to over working their Innocence." She stared down at him with a critical eye.

Komui however seemed to have connected the dots. "Allen, can you answer this next question truthfully?" Allen nodded. "Did you receive these wounds while on your mission?"

"Yes." Allen replied shakily. So his presumptions hadn't been far off after all. Guilt tore away in his gut. He never meant to cause harm to Katsu when he received the injuries. They were products of his own stupidity.

"And it is true you never felt the pain of your injuries before either?" Komui continued.

"Not since I became Cross' apprentice." Allen shuddered as some unwanted memories of his time with Cross popped up in his head. Recovering, he added. "You think that Katsu has been on the receiving end of it all this time?"

Komui nodded. "She'd always had unexplainable pain. The only thing I can think of as a possible answer would have to be the Innocence. Hevlaska did mention the two of you were connected through Innocence. Perhaps coming into contact with each other strengthened the tie."

The silence that followed was broken by Allen's harsh coughing.

The head nurse fretted. "I need to stop the coughing before you lose too much blood," she muttered. "What could be the cause of it? If I knew that I could try to stop it." She mumbled to herself, looking Allen over for any possible cause.

"I think the best thing at the moment would be to help Katsu heal. Would it not make sense that for a connection to take place, one both gives and receives? So far, Katsu has been doing all the receiving. There has to be a point where the pain is returned to Allen."

The nurse huffed, "Fine, for now just get some rest." With a final threatening glare Allen's way, the nurse made her way over to Katsu's enclosed corner.

Allen nodded, as he tried to bite back another cough.

A few days later, Katsu was conscious again and Allen had stopped coughing. Allen had been allowed to leave the infirmary with strict rules to take it easy and not go on any missions for a few days. Katsu on the other hand was confined to her bed in the hospital, her wounds still healing. When she had been told this information, there had been a loud bickering match between the Head Nurse and Katsu. The nurse won.

The first day Allen had been permitted to leave his bed, he visited Katsu's little enclosed corner. When he pushed back the curtain to step inside the make shift room, he noticed Kanda leaning against the left wall by Katsu's feet, arms crossed. Despite Kanda's normal standoff attitude, Allen noticed tension in Kanda's shoulders, and a slight frown on his lips as he stared at Katsu. Katsu was returning the stare, though a sense of uncertainty lingered in her eyes.

They both turned in his direction when he stepped into the room however, and both their features turned harsh.

"What are you doing here, Moyashi?" Kanda demanded.

Allen's eye twitched at the nickname. "I came to check on Katsu. Are you alright?" He focused his attention on his sister.

Kanda glared at Allen, before glancing over at Katsu. She nodded towards him and with a quick "Che," he left the small enclosure.

Once Kanda left, Katsu focused on Allen with a fierce glare, her arms crossed over her chest. "Just peachy, thanks for caring. You can leave now."

Allen stood his ground. "Look, I'm sorry for putting you through this. Komui told me of his theory, and if there was any way for me to control it, I would deal with all my injuries and pain. I wouldn't intentionally hurt you."

Katsu scoffed, looking away from him. But Allen caught a brief flicker of an emotion she was trying to hide. Hope. Did Katsu truly think he was intentionally trying to hurt her?

As Katsu stared at the stone wall, she re-crossed her arms. The movement directed Allen's attention to them. He noticed that they were bare due to the hospital garb and lack of bandages covering them. This left the black swirl designs that decorated the entirety of her arms visible for all to see. The patterns also resembled the small cross she had tattooed on her left cheek. Was that her Innocence? Allen remembered the first night he had met Katsu, when she jumped from a ledge of the Black Order. Her skin had been completely black, before it faded away and on the one arm that hadn't been bandaged, revealed designs that she wore now. Though he swore they had only gone up to her elbows on that first night. With a brief glance down, Allen noticed her legs were decorated the same.

"Have your arms and legs always had that many swirls on them?" Allen asked, motioning to her arms.

Katsu's gaze remained firmly on the wall to her side, though one hand rubbed her arm. There was a moment of silence before she spoke. "No." The short reply was met with more uncomfortable silence.

"I'm just trying to make conversation."

Katsu's icy gaze fell on him, "And I'm not. I would appreciate it if you left. Maybe even get Komui to bring me some of Jerry's cooking, if you're so intent on trying to be nice to me."

Allen sighed. He realized he wasn't going to get through to Katsu at the moment. It was going to take some time to work past whatever grudge she had against him for causing her pain. But, he was willing to do it. Perhaps Kanda had been right when he said he still had to live for Katsu. Who knew what would happen if he let himself die. Would Katsu die as well?

With that thought in mind, he silently left the small enclosure to hunt down Komui.

A week later Katsu was permitted to leave the infirmary, and go back to her room with strict orders not to push herself until she was completely healed in another week or so. Unfortunately this meant she couldn't train as hard as she preferred, or with Kanda since they both tended to get rough in their sparring matches. It did give her an out from seeing Allen every day, though. The boy had been persistent, coming to see her every day, at different points during the day.

It annoyed Katsu. Had it been anyone else, she would have welcomed the company. However, being forced to see her own face-though deformed in a different way than hers-and know that it was because of his injuries that she was in the weak state she was in now, just made her blood boil. Not to mention, she hadn't been in the infirmary for an injury this sever since she was first introduced to the Order. That notion only served to give her nightmares.

Now, though, she had learned most of Allen's daily schedules. She planned hers to avoid him. Such as entering the cafeteria ten minutes after he left. And leaving exactly an hour after she entered, so in case he was looking to try and bond with her more, she wouldn't be in one of the first places he was likely to look if his appetite was anything like hers. She then rotated in no particular order to the other rooms, her favourite being the meditation room. She meditated with Kanda on multiple occasions.

Katsu always meant for her meditations to clear her mind and let her focus on relaxing herself when she was particularly stressed. That was something she need at a time like this, but due to her mind being full of so many other things to think about, to worry about, to be angry about, to remember Katsu's meditations were times she tortured herself more than she helped herself. It never deterred her from her relentless efforts to put a stop to all the negative thoughts though.

This was where she was, a week later when Komui's monthly "Let's wreck havoc on the Order" began.

She was able to ignore most of the loud giant like footsteps and alarmed cries for a good while. That was until Allen came running into the room she was meditating in, bringing that horrid robot with him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Katsu demanded, glaring at Allen from her spot at the back of the room.

Allen's wild gaze met hers. "Running for my life from a robot because Komui didn't like the fact it was trying to make Lenalee more manly."

Katsu's lips twitched before letting out a short laugh as she tried to picture Lenalee as "more manly". "Tell me how that goes."

"Aren't you going to help me?"

Katsu raised her brow and scoffed. "No, you've got to learn how to deal with Komui's contraptions on your own. You proclaim you're a big bad Exorcist, don't you? Then deal with it yourself."

The crashing sound drew near which was soon followed by an ear shattering crash and bang. The robot had crashed their little party. And the wall. She was so going to make Komui fix that on his own.

"I must fix Allen Walker's Innocence," The robot droned, its eye scanning the room. The eye flashed red. "There are two Allens. Must fix both of their anti-akuma weapons."

"Damn it Allen." Katsu stood, punching Allen hard in the shoulder, only to roll her own shoulder when she felt the dull ache. "I thought I didn't want to be pulled into your shit."

"Now would be a good time to run," Allen suggested before taking off.

The robot watched Allen leave, but remained in place. "I will fix Allen Two's Innocence before pursuing Allen One."

"My name is Katsu you damn hunk of metal. And my Innocence is fine!" Katsu stomped her foot.

To prove her point, Katsu activated it, her skin becoming as hard as diamond. She was just about to attack it when Komui and a couple of the scientists came running in. Komui began to throw a fit, stamping his feet and throwing his hands in the air.

Katsu had to settle for ignoring it for the time being as the other scientists tried to calm Komui down.

"You can't kill my baby! I put blood sweat and tears into creating Sir Komlin the Second!" Komui cried.

Katsu's expression was hardly sympathetic. "Komui, it seems you have yet to learn the limits of creating your contraptions. When they start to be more harmful than useful, you know you need to destroy it. Now are you going to do the honours or shall I?"

Komui began to whine, shaking his head back and forth.

Reever spoke up however. "What about Allen?"

"He ditched the second the robot thought there were two of us. Really, Komui, you could have at least programmed it to be a little bit smarter." This time when the robot attacked with one of its arms, Katsu hit back, her Innocence cutting through the metal. "How Allen didn't think to do this in the first place is beyond me."

Komui, desperate to save his baby, ran at Katsu, tackling her to the ground. Katsu didn't hesitate to hit Komui back, sending him flying. Without second's pause, Katsu felt a familiar tingle in her wrist and let a shuriken fly through the air and hit the robot in what could be referred to as its shoulder.

Allen decided either it was safe to return, or his guilt gnawed away at him, telling him he had to come back to help. Either way, Allen ran back through the door-or hole would be more accurate.

"Katsu, you're still alive!"

Katsu glared, "Yeah, no thanks to you. Now would you care to give me a hand or would you prefer to stand and watch? If so, get out of the way."

"I'll help!" Allen also activated his Innocence, pointing the silver gun in the direction of the robot. Just as it began to light up to fire, there was a soft, pew sound before Allen collapsed to the ground. "My body...feels like butterflies..." He mumbled almost incoherently.

Katsu immediately turned her attention in Komui's direction as she administered another blow. In his hand was a small blow pipe.

"Komui! You can't just paralyze people!" Katsu exclaimed angrily, while Reever and a couple other scientists tackled Komui to the ground. It was times like these that Katsu appreciated the fact that her Innocence didn't allow anything to pierce through it. Otherwise she'd be sharing the same fate as Allen and they'd all be doomed.

With Komui pinned, Katsu deemed now was as good a time as any to finish off the robot. Jumping up, Katsu climbed the robot, avoiding its arms as it tried to attack her. Once on its head, Katsu didn't waver in administering the killing blow to its head. The robot immediately collapsed to the ground, destroyed.

Katsu jumped off the robot, dusting off her hands.

The scientists-except for Komui-were cheering her name, and Allen groaned in the corner. Katsu nodded to them before making her way out of the once proper meditating room. Now she and Kanda would have to find a supplementary one until they fixed this one. Katsu sighed. What a pain.

As she passed Allen, she only gave him a glance. Whatever Komui injected him with would probably wear off soon and leave few damaging effects. Nothing Allen couldn't deal with on his own. Katsu was simply glad the drugs worked quickly enough to avoid being affected herself. Now to continue avoiding the annoying albino.

A couple months later, the meditation room was once again fixed. Katsu had complained about it taking them so long to fix it, but once it was, she immediately put it to use.

This was the place that Lenalee found her, crossed legged on the floor, eyes closed, hands resting loosely on her knees.

"Katsu," Lenalee called softly, knowing the girl got particularly angry if someone was unnecessarily noisy when she was trying to meditate.

Katsu's eye twitched a sign that she heard Lenalee.

Lenalee spoke again with slightly more volume. "Nii-san wants us down in his office for a mission."

Katsu's ears perked. She had been itching to get out on a mission ever since she had been let out of the infirmary. To get a chance to prove herself again to the finders that were doubtful and resistant to her latest performance. Not to mention it would keep Allen out of her sights for a while.

She stood leisurely, stretching, and popped a few joints. "All right, let's go." With a new spring in her step, Katsu walked with Lenalee down to Komui's office.

Once she opened the doors to the cluttered room, all potential happiness for receiving a mission left her. For a mop of white hair hit her eyes, and with it, the presence of her brother. Katsu shivered. How it sent shivers down her spine to refer to Allen in such a way.

Irritation flared as she slowly made her way to Allen's side, Lenalee in step with her.

"Is it really necessary that he comes on the mission with us?" Katsu snapped, words like knives.

Allen's shoulders slumped in a sigh.

Komui spoke, startling Katsu to his presence. Not only was his voice weak with lack of sleep, he barely seemed to be able to poke his head out from the massive number of books he had on top of him. "I understand that you have some hard feelings towards Allen. However, with the new discoveries, it would be impractical to put the two of you on separate missions. I know that you've dealt with the blindness before, but never to the extent of receiving injuries that may be fatal. And wouldn't you prefer being in a situation where you can have some control in preventing any injuries you receive?"

Katsu grumbled. She couldn't argue with that. Though if it came down to her constantly having to save Allen's butt because he was unable to do so on his own, she would make a serious complaint to Komui to get him retrained. Regardless if he was Cross' apprentice or not.

Komui spoke in a sigh, "Now on this next mission there's likely to be Innocence, more like a maybe. There might be Innocence." Komui's eyes fluttered. He really needs some sleep, Katsu thought as she waited for Komui to get some coherent thoughts through his sleep deprived brain. "How do I say this? There seems to be a town that rewinds, repeating the same day over and over."

"That's got to be incredibly boring, repeating the same day." Katsu remarked.

"It would be horrible if it was a bad day too," Allen added.

Katsu tensed. What if those days kept repeating? What if it never ended? Would that be the literal definition of Hell? Katsu shook her head. No, that's all over now. Those days didn't go on forever. And they won't happen ever again if I have any say in the matter.

The three around Katsu seemed to be particularly perceptive at that moment and they noticed Katsu's reaction to Allen's remark. Katsu regretted ever making that comment. She motioned for Komui to continue, in hopes to make people forget what happened so she wouldn't be questioned on it later.

"Right, well, we have a liquor wholesaler as a witness. He received a call from a bar in the town in question asking for ten barrels of rose wine for before the tenth. He went to deliver them the next day. No matter how many times he went through the gate, the wholesaler returned to the outside of the town. He gave up and returned. He tried to call the bar, but didn't get an answer. Every day since, he's been receiving the same order at the same time. I tried to research it, but like the wholesaler, the finders were unable to enter."

"What makes you think we'll get in then?" Katsu asked.

Komui slowly took some of the books off himself as he elaborated. "That's where my theories come in. If this is an act of Innocence, then all Exorcists should be able to enter, and if the same day is repeating, you might not be able to exit once your inside. Due to the size of the town, it would take too long for one Exorcist on their own to research the whole town on their own. That's why I'm sending the three of you." Komui flicked his hand in a dismissive gesture, "That's all."

With a quick shared glance, the three Exorcists made their way out of the office got ready for their immediate departure.

Feel free to review, I'd love to here your thoughts, especially on this chapter. Also, a side note, my updating may lag a little, seeing as school is starting again and I have some exams to study for. With that said, I will update again though. I love this story too much :D