Here we go, hope you all enjoy!

I do not own D. Gray- Man.

Chapter 45:

After the conversation we all went to get lunch. No one talked, we were all mulling over the information we'd just received by ourselves, wondering what we thought about it before we knew what others thought about it.

In the end it was just Allen and I eating. I'd already finished thinking about what Marie said and found that I agreed with him and really didn't care at the same time. If the Earl wanted to destroy us he could, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

I looked at Allen as I cleaned my last plate of Jerry's amazing food. I thought about what Komui and General Winters said about parasitic- type innocence users. I could see why he called us monsters, we weren't exactly human. Me least of all. But we still had souls, dreams, hopes, wills, emotions, could we not be counted as human?

"Want me to wait for you, Allen?" I asked seeing as how he had another tray full of food. I remembered when I was going through my growth spurt, I ate just as much as he did.

"Na, thanks." Allen managed to say around a mouth of food and continued consuming.

We parasite- types must really look like gluttons. Oh, well.

I picked up my trays and bussed them and went out into the hall, I really felt like exercise, maybe there would be someone there too. You never knew- after meals was always a tricky time, no one went regularly after meals to train- it depended on your stomach and mood.

So I walked down the hall when I heard Lavi's voice coming from a side passage up ahead. I looked around it to see him talking to Bookman and quickly sank back to make sure they wouldn't see me.

I was eaves dropping more and more lately- it was a bad habit, I really needed to stop. But I found that I was too curious just to walk away. The bookmen were just enigmas that no one understood- they were absolutely fascinating.

"I wonder if the crystal- type will shorten the user's life span like the parasitic- type does."

"Don't you become a crystal- type Lavi. There's no need to get that close to the innocence."

"Hmm? Yeah…"

"Tell me right away if you see any indications of it. If so, we'll have to leave."

"I know." The job of being a bookman, I thought sarcastically. I was about to leave when Bookman spoke again.

"About what Marie said, the Earl could have crushed a small organization like this a hundred years ago. If the Earl is letting the Order live for a reason…"

"Huh?" I leaned against the wall listening intently. The Earl was letting the Black Order exist? Why? What for?

"It's just a hypothesis, but it's not impossible. Let's just see how things play out a while longer."

I crept away silently. I had no clue what to make of what was just said and I realized, as I continued walking down the hall, that I really didn't want to. That was part of the hidden history and had nothing to do with me, it had no affect on what my job was and what I had to do. My job was to fight the Earl, plain and simple. It didn't matter if the Earl left the Black Order alive- I was in it and I needed to fight him, and if he wanted to wipe us out, I'd fight him and stop him or die trying.

Plain and simple.

I stepped into the training room to find Kanda just getting ready to start training himself. Perfect! Someone I could really train with!

He looked up at me as I entered.

"Mind if I train with you?" He shook his head and unsheathed his sword. I went to stand in front of him.

We bowed to each other.

I ran toward him, he just stood there, waiting.

He swung, I rolled to the side.

I jumped up and punched, he side-stepped.

He pocked, I twirled out of the way.

It was like a dance. One attacked, the other evaded. One evaded, the other attacked. We knew our steps even though we'd never danced them before. We moved in perfect unison, keeping the pace and matching each other.

People seemed to be coming into the training room, but the world seemed to fade into the background. All that was left was Kanda and I and the ring in which we preformed our deadly dance.

We were both hunters and we were both prey. Evenly matched, harmonious, flowing. I could close my eyes and continue in the perfect dance, it was balanced. One attacked and other defended, the other attacked and the one defended. Perfect unison. No one was better than the other.

I knew that neither of us was really fighting, Kanda was better than me and if we were really fighting, I'd be on the defense a lot more.

We were simply dancing. Completing each other's moves in an endless, harmonious cycle.

Kanda stabbed and I jumped onto his sword.

Black eyes met blue eyes.

"Wonderful Hannah! You beat Kanda!" Lavi's voice shattered the glass bubble of this harmonious world. I ground my teeth and turned to glare at him, he took a step back.

I jumped off the sword and Kanda sheathed it.

"We weren't fighting." I stood straight, still glaring at Lavi. "We were training. Kanda's still better than me."

"Now, how would you know that unless you fought him?"

"Warriors can tell the strength of their opponent by simply looking them in the eye. Kanda's still better- and don't think it's easy for me to admit because it isn't. It's just the truth." I felt something trickle down my back and realized that I was sweating. How long had we been training?

I tuned back to Kanda and we bowed at each other.

As we straightened up I made sure not to meet his gaze. I didn't need to see the smirk on his face at my honest answer of him being better than me. I felt another bead of sweat trickle down my back, I really needed a bath.

Yup, a nice, hot, relaxing bath.

I wove in between the gathering of people that was breaking up. Some exorcists going to train, others getting better viewing points, some scientists getting better viewing points, others trying to get out to get back to work. Finders and other Order people doing the same things. It was a mess to say the least, and I didn't really have the presence Kanda had, I was just a little too small to be taken seriously by a lot of people. Not to mention I'd never made it a big deal to have people notice me and get out of my way.

"Hannah." I jumped as the hand grabbed my arm and turned quickly to look at Lavi.

"What?" I gasped, startled.

"Have you talked to Kanda?" I frowned.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"Sorry." He said, letting go of my arm, he turned to face the training grounds. People were still moving all around me. The world suddenly felt like chaos.

"I'm sorry, Lavi." I apologized, he tuned his green eye on me in surprise. "You're just worried about us and I'm being mean, sorry." I hugged him.

"Girl, you need a bath." I smacked him lightly and took a step back.

"Do I smell that bad?"

"No, you're just kinda wet from sweat."

"I'll see you around. Thanks."

"Yup." He turned back and I went to my room.