Allen met Bookman a couple hours later, once the elderly man had finished Lenalee's acupuncture. While the man appeared friendly, Allen couldn't help but get the feeling he was being inspected. He received a similar feeling with Lavi-his one eye felt like it was staring right through Allen-but wasn't to the same unnerving extent. Perhaps it was Bookman's serious, unwavering expression. Or the way that Bookman had greeted him, by calling him the "Destroyer of Time, brother to the Savior" like Hevlaska had on his first day at the Order. Regardless, Allen suppressed the feeling to the best of his abilities and let Bookman inspect his injured left eye.

"It's regenerating on its own. My needles are unnecessary." He replaced the bandage on the hurt eye. "You won't be able to see out of it for the time being, but at this rate it should be fully healed in 3 or 4 days." Bookman's eyes focused hard on Allen's covered eye. "That is definitely a cursed eye."

Allen nodded, confirming Bookman's statement. "I received it when I turned my father into an akuma."

Bookman simply nodded, as he put away his needles. "You may go visit Lenalee and Katsu now if you wish, though neither are awake."

Allen smiled, standing up. "Thank you."

Upon entering the room that Lenalee and Katsu were being housed in, the first thing Allen saw was not either of the two girls. Instead it was piles upon piles of books. It was amazing that the two girls weren't crushed beneath the sea of papers. Treading warily, Allen was practically doing acrobatics around the stacks, not wanting to knock any of them over in fear of the papers and books falling onto Lenalee or Katsu.

Once he was in the center of the room, Allen could make out two beds, a figure on each and one sleeping between the two on a make shift bed of books. Coming closer, Allen recognized Komui.

"Komui..." Allen called, trying to wake the sleeping scientist. He didn't even stir. "Komui," Allen tried again, but louder. Nothing. Allen sighed. "Lenalee's going to get married." Allen had only had to whisper the simple sentence in the scientist's ear to have the man standing up in an instant, drill in hand. Allen jumped back, hands in the air to avoid being hit, with one thought going through his mind, where the hell did Komui get his drill from? Surely he hadn't been sleeping with it.

"Who dares to try and taint my sweet sister's innocence?" Komui cried.

"Uh, Komui?"

"Oh, Allen. It's you, what is it?" Komui hid his drill amongst a couple large stacks of books, having calmed down from his protective brother mode. I so hope I don't end up like that with Katsu...

"I came to check up on Lenalee and Katsu." Allen said, moving closer to Komui and the beds once he was sure that Komui wasn't going to drill him to death.

"Right, well, they're both still asleep. Lenalee is in the bed on your left, Katsu the right." Komui motioned to each bed.

Allen checked on Lenalee first. Had he not know she had been injured, he would have thought she had been in a deep slumber. It comforted Allen to know that she didn't appear to be in too much pain, and that she was on her way to recovering. Having that in mind, Allen moved over to Katsu's bed. He immediately kneeled beside her, when he took in her almost completely bandaged state. Unlike Lenalee, Katsu didn't appear to be in a peaceful slumber. Each and every one of her muscles were tense, her hands clenched into fists. Beneath her lids, her eyes were moving back and forth wildly. Allen couldn't even begin to imagine the horrendous dream she must have been going through.

With a slight hesitation, Allen gently took Katsu's clenched fist in both of his hands, hoping to provide some sort of comfort. It was the least he could do, for causing her so much pain.

"She received my wounds as well, didn't she?" Allen asked, his eyes focusing in on her left arm that was bandaged more thoroughly than the rest of her body.

"Yes," Komui replied. "Though, as you know not the injury you received to your eye. The only explanation we can come with is that your curse interfered with the bond that is connecting the two of you, leaving that singular injury your own."

Allen rested his head against Katsu's bed, his hands still holding hers. "I wish she didn't have to put up with it. I don't know what she went through before, with the Noah, but I'm sure it's enough of a pain that she doesn't need to deal with my problems as well."

"We'll search for an answer Allen. But we can't do anything about it now but wait for Katsu to heal."

Allen nodded. Raising his head, but not letting go of her hand, Allen spoke, "This has been bothering me for a while but, why did you come all the way out here when you have so much work to do. It couldn't be because of the three of us." There was a pause. "Is it because of the Noah Clan?"

Komui opened his mouth, about to answer when he was interrupted by a redhead popping up from behind a stack of papers. Allen jumped, not expecting the arrival of someone so suddenly.

"He came to ask me and the old panda about the Noahs." Lavi smiled, either completely unaware of the other two's shock or enjoying it. Either way, he continued. "They're only ever mentioned in rumors as a groundless family that is run by a nameless Earl. That's the reason Komui came to ask us. Bookmen are the only ones that know anything about the unrecorded hisroreee-" Lavi barely got the chance to finish his sentence before Bookman's foot came out of nowhere and hit Lavi right across the face, sending him flying into multiple stacks of papers and books. They all came crashing down on Lavi. In response to the loud sound of the crash, Allen felt the fist in his grasp shake and a small whimper registered within his brain. His attention immediately turned to Katsu.

Not much was different about her muscles being tense, other than the fact that they were trembling with strain. Her face was scrunched up, her jaw clenched, but she was still unconscious.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to talk so much?" Bookman demanded. "Only Bookman can reveal secrets about Bookman."

Glancing back at the ruckus behind him, Allen caught sight of Lavi staring in his direction, even from under the mounds of books. No, he was staring at Katsu. He had noticed a change too. By the time Allen blinked, Lavi was staring ahead again, answering Bookman cheekily. "What's the big deal? I'm going to be taking over for you soon anyway."

"I won't let an idiot like you take over for me any time soon."

"Koala face," Lavi retorted childishly.

Bookman glared down at his apprentice once before standing straight and turning to Allen. "Allen, please rest for now. There isn't much to be done until Katsu and Lenalee awaken. Take it easy." With those final words, both he and Lavi were quickly ushered out of the room, the door locking behind them.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Allen and Lavi stood in the hallway staring at each other.

"Let's go outsi-!"

For the second time in the hour Lavi was interrupted. This time however because of a large crash from the room they were just kicked out of. There were two shouts that followed, one from Komui, the other Bookman. Allen and Lavi turned back to the door trying to open it again, fighting against the lock. Allen was about to slam against it when Komui unlocked it. He faced the other two, stricken.

"Komui, what's wrong?" Allen asked. "Is everyone okay?"

"Katsu's awake." Komui answered, strain evident in his voice.

That's when Allen noticed the open window...no the broken window. "What happened?" He demanded.

"Katsu ran off, didn't she?" Lavi supplied, serious. For the first time that Allen could tell.

Komui nodded. "It's as we feared. She's not mentally stable at the moment. For whatever reason, she woke up, took one look around the room and jumped out the window."

"This is a third story window!" Allen exclaimed. Katsu was already seriously injured. Jumping from such a height would most definitely kill her, if not incapacitate her.

"She activated her Innocence as she fell. She received no physical damage. She ran off after landing." Komui explained.

"I'll go after her and bring her back!" Allen declared, turning to leave the building himself.

Lavi held out his arm stopping him. "Not so fast. You haven't seen Katsu in a state like this. You won't be able to coerce her to come back with you that easily. She's in survival mode no doubt. She'll attack anyone that comes too close."

"We have to go help her though. We can't just let her run off like this, she'll hurt herself more."

"That's why I'm coming with you. Hopefully the two of us can talk some sense into her." Despite sounding hopeful, Allen could see the doubt in his eyes. Was Katsu truly too far gone?

Lavi led the way out of the hospital, speeding off in an obvious rush. Allen hated to admit it, but he was almost running in attempt to keep up with Lavi. Damn his short legs.

Once outside, Lavi headed straight to the side of the building in which Katsu's room had been and stared down at the broken glass. Allen stood next to him, inspecting it as well.

"All there is some torn fabric." Lavi bent down to pick it up. "This is where Katsu's Innocence becomes inconvenient. At the very least if she cut her foot, we'd have trail of blood to follow." Lavi sighed standing looking at his surroundings. The left led out into a busier street of town, while to the right, where they came from it was a little less crowded. Lavi frowned. She could have taken either route. The left to lose any followers she knew she would have or the right for a quick getaway and avoid unwanted eyes.

"Allen, go left, I'll go right."

Allen nodded, running off in the direction Lavi instructed. Upon breaking through the alley, he was immediately faced with a large crowd of people, forcing him to slow down. He took the moment, to inspect the crowd, looking for any sight of where Katsu could have gone.

It was ultimately futile. There were too many people to see around.

Ah hah! Allen thought, the people. Surely some of them would have had to notice Katsu.

Casually turning to the right, as to not attract anymore unwanted attention than he already had, Allen walked up to the closest two people, who were currently in a conversation.

"Ah, excuse me." The two women turned in his direction. Allen bowed slightly. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm looking for my sister and I don't know where she went. Have you seen her? She has hair like mine and is dressed in black."

"I don't think we saw a girl? Did we Agatha?" The one woman replied, turning to the other.

"No, no girl. Though we did see a white haired boy that fits the description." Agatha replied. "Couldn't really miss him. Running like a bat out of Hell with eyes to match. Kept bumping into other people he did."

Two thoughts immediately swam into Allen's head. Firstly, others perceived Katsu to be a boy? To Allen she looked very much like a girl. Personally he thought her face shape gave away her gender. But then again, there were still some people that mistaken him for a girl due his lack of going through puberty. Second was how Agatha mentioned Katsu's eyes. "Eyes like hell, ma'am?"

"Yes, yes. The iris were blood red they were. Any normal person would think he were possessed by a demon they would." Agatha confirmed. Was Katsu blind again? He couldn't really think of another reason why her eyes would change colour, but his own eye wasn't activated and he was sure hers activated with his.

"Perhaps you could point me in the direction he ran?"

"That way," The first woman said, pointing behind her. "Out of town. God help his soul."

"Thank you," Allen bowed again before leaving the women and starting off in the direction of the town's gate and forest.

Once the crowd thinned out closer to the gate, Allen broke into a run. Who knew how much of a head start Katsu had, and where she would run off to. Allen couldn't even begin to guess what was going through her mind right now other than to simply get away. To his luck though, as he got further out of town, the ground also grew damp and muddy. The perfect consistency to leave footsteps. Despite there being many of them from all the travelers and the townsfolk who left and entered the town, there was a single pair of footsteps that branched off from the normal path, to the left. Taking his chances, Allen followed them deep into the forest.

As he traveled further, he kept an ear and eye out for any sign of Katsu, or a threat if he should encounter one.

Slowly, the ground underfoot grew dense with grass and bushes, hindering Allen's ability to follow the footsteps. He allowed himself a single moment of panic, looking around wildly, hoping to catch sight of Katsu. He didn't see her, so much as he heard her. Coming from the general direction in front of him, Allen could make out the soft sounds of sobbing.

He approached the sound silently, taking his time, not wanting to startle the person he hoped was Katsu. As he broke through the cover of trees, he entered a small meadow, no bigger than three lengths of him, head to foot if he were lying down. In the center sat a crouched black and white figure, frame shaking with the force of her sobs.

Taking another hesitant step forward, Allen winced when he carelessly stepped on a twig, snapping it. Katsu's back tensed, and her sobs stopped. The silence enveloped them in a way that made the situation appear more threatening than it would have been had Katsu immediately started yelling and screaming.

"You won't take me back. I won't let you. No more games."

Allen winced at Katsu's scratchy, harsh tone. He had been used to getting the cold shoulder from the girl, but never this. Never the broken, scratchy, hopelessness that painted her tone. It actually hurt him to think that such a strong Exorcist was feeling so helpless.

"I-" Allen began.

"Where's the other?" Katsu snorted a laugh filled with mirth. "What am I saying? You're never without the other." Katsu sat for a moment longer before she stood, fists clenched. "I won't let you take me back. You'll have to kill me first. Not that you won't find that fun anyway."

"Katsu, I'm not-"

Katsu spun around, red eyes glaring. "Don't try to trick me with his voice! You won't trick me into coming with you peacefully!"

She really can't see me right now, Allen thought. But why would she think I was trying to trick her?

Allen tried again. "Katsu I'm not tricking you to believe any-"

"Shut up!" Katsu yelled, as she jumped to attack. Her arms blurred as they lashed out at him, causing Allen to barely be able to dodge them. What made it worse was the attacks weren't normal punches. They were precise, practiced movements of someone who trained for many years. They were complicated sequences in a style he'd seen preformed once before, back when he was in the circus with Mana. The circus had a martial artist then, a master in fact. How was it that Katsu had such experienced moves with such deadly grace when she couldn't even see him?

Allen tried to at least adjust himself to Katsu's pace to hold her off long enough to try and talk some sense into her.

"Katsu, listen. I'm not whoever you think I am. It's Allen. You need to come back with me so Komui can help you," Allen tried, in the most calming voice he could muster without sounding too condescending.

Katsu bared her teeth at him. "Don't lie to me Jasdero. I know what you're doing and it won't work. I'll kill you if I have to, you bastard. Maybe I'll cut all your hair off first." Katsu's leg hit home, knocking Allen's legs from beneath him, sending him to the floor. Allen gasped as the landing knocked all the breath out of him.

Katsu was on him in an instant, sitting on his stomach fist raised. Allen was about to push her off (she was lighter than him) but her fist struck his-injured-face almost on his eye. Katsu grunted as she pulled her arm away, ready to hit again. Allen desperately grabbed for her wrists to stop another attack. By the colour of the bruise that was slowly painting her cheek, Allen didn't want her to continue to indirectly hurt herself.

"Katsu, listen to me. I am not Jasdero. I am Allen. I want to help you."

Katsu snarled down at him. "Lies." She jerked her arm free of Allen's grasp, raising it to strike again.

"Katsu, stop!"

Katsu froze and Allen turned in the direction of the new voice to see Lavi's bright red hair approach them, running. Katsu's head soon snapped around like Allen's, though her blood coloured eyes were still glaring daggers.

"Devit," She hissed, climbing off Allen to stalk in Lavi's direction, clearly finding Lavi to be the bigger threat.

Lavi didn't try to correct her, to calm her down. Instead, he ducked when her arm swung out at him. He continued to dodge her attacks with a speed and accuracy that made Allen slightly jealous. How could he keep up with her so easily?

Lavi let out a small laugh after a while of nonstop attacks. Not once during that time had Lavi attacked back. "Just like old times. Ne, Katsu?"

"Shut up, you Noah scum." Finally, a fist hit Lavi in the gut. He grunted but otherwise recovered quickly. Now he countered with his own attacks, though it could be seen that Lavi wasn't fighting with the intention to harm. Each strike with his hands was with an open palm and he tried to grab onto one of her limbs. Each strike of his leg was an attempt to knock her to the ground. Eventually, Lavi sighed, clenching his hand into a fist, lashing out over one of Katsu's attacks. He twisted his hand slightly allowing his knuckles to hit her neck.

The strike was so precise that Katsu's counter attack was merely millimeters away from its target. But it didn't get its chance to connect. Before it could, Katsu sank to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Allen watched, slightly mesmerised from his spot on the ground. He had contemplated on helping on multiple occasions but figured he'd only end up getting in the way. He was right.

"What did you do to her?" Allen asked, his voice coming out more demanding and protective than he intended.

Lavi's lip twitched slightly, noticing this. "Don't worry, I merely hit a pressure point to knock her out. We wouldn't be able to get her back otherwise without either one of us getting hurt further." He bent down by Katsu's body, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.

Allen stood as well, dusting himself off. "You look like you've done that before."

Lavi laughed once without humor, starting back the way they came. "Yeah, you might not believe it, but Katsu hated me when she first arrived at the Order. It was just a couple months ago that she started being civil towards me. She's made better progress than Yuu-chan."

"Yuu-chan?" Allen asked, following.

Lavi looked over at Allen, humor in his eye. "Didn't you know? That's Kanda's first name. You should try calling him that next time. You'll probably get a funny reaction."

He'll probably try to kill me, Allen supplied instead. Out loud, he spoke, "Why did she hate you?"

Lavi's smile faltered. "Said I reminded her of someone she hates."

"The Devit guy she mentioned?"

Lavi nodded, "Most likely. She never told me who it was exactly. Said that he was always cheerful and loved games. Especially the sadistic kind." Lavi sighed. "She was making such progress too. To think, the past year and a half was for nothing..."

Allen frowned, guilt eating away at him again. Had he only tried harder...

"It's not your fault Allen. Katsu's been battling with this longer than she's been in the Order. You can't blame yourself for her relapse."

Allen looked up. "How...?"

"It's written all over your face." Lavi smiled slightly. "Why don't you try focusing the self-hate into Noah hate? We'll learn more about them and beat them within an inch of their life when we defeat the Earl. 'Kay?" Lavi's smile turned encouraging as he shifted Katsu around on his shoulder so she was in a more comfortable position.

It amazed Allen slightly how carefree Lavi was in light of what just happened. How could he remain so joking when Katsu's mental health was questionable? Always had been questionable. Why didn't he know this about her? He was her brother, he should have known so he could have helped her, helped prevent it happening again. All the bad things always seemed to happen to Katsu, and Allen wanted to do his part to take the load off.

In a way though, he could hardly blame her. Their whole connection was completely unfair. He never got hurt yet she received every scratch. He had even fatally injured her on his second day at the Order. Not to mention all the other injuries she received on his behalf because of Master Cross' training. He could understand where all the resentment came from. But he had shown adequate signs of wanting to get to know her better, to show her that he didn't like what was happening to her, right? Apparently, he hadn't.

Allen sighed. Ever since he found out Katsu was his sister, and had come to terms with it-it hadn't been too hard when she looked almost exactly like him-he knew deep down, he didn't want to lose her. The only family, real family he had. Of course Mana was his father, forever would be, but it wasn't the same as knowing he actually had a blood relative. In the past couple of months though, he had only been let down.

When they arrived back to the hospital, Allen held the door open for Lavi as he carried Katsu back through the building and into her original room. Komui greeted them eagerly, his face still sober. When he caught sight of Katsu, it darkened even more, though he didn't ask questions. "We should find her a room with out a window," Komui suggested instead.

With a nod from Lavi he followed Komui through the halls until they reached a fairly isolated hall with only a few doors. He opened the first one, revealing a room that had seen better days. Other than a small, wire bed with a thin mattress that hardly look comfortable, a singular lantern hanging from a wire was the only thing that decorated the room. Due to the dim lighting, the corners of the room were shadowed and slightly ominous looking and the walls and floors a decaying white.

"Are you sure we should keep her here?" Allen asked, skeptical.

"She can't see at the moment any way," Lavi supplied. "Having a room with as little in it as possible is better. Though I will admit it does look creepy." However, he followed Komui into the room, resting Katsu on the bed at the side.

"Bookman and I shall keep a close eye on her. In the meantime," Komui turned to Allen. "It appears we will wait for Lenalee to wake up and she will accompany you on the mission. I'm sure Kanda can wait another day or two."