Hello once again, lovely readers ^.^ I finally managed to finish this but it's 3 am again -.- I really ought to stop writing when my brain isn't functioning properly - I'm not even sure what happened. Stuff happened. Important stuff happened. Yea. ^.^"

D Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura~

Broken Moonlight

Chapter 5: Reunite

"I brought Kanda!"

One and a half pairs of eyes turned to stare at the sight of Lenalee pushing open the door to the Supervisor's office. One slender arm held Kanda's own arm over her shoulders, while the other was wrapped around his waist to sufficiently support his limp form. Had Kanda been conscious, he would have certainly disapproved of the position that he was currently resigned to.

Lavi pushed himself to his feet from where he had sat on the couch within the office, and quickly strode over to Lenalee. Relieving her of her burden, he carried Kanda over to said article of furniture and laid him down upon it.

"What happened?" Komui questioned, staring down at the raven's unconscious form. Lenalee shook her head.

"I don't know… I didn't find him in his room, so I searched around for a while and I found him like this in the training room," she explained quickly. "His breathing is normal and so is his pulse… I think he may have fainted."

"Yuu? Faint?" Lavi expressed incredulously. The eyepatch-bearing apprentice Bookman found it difficult to believe that someone as obstinate as Kanda would suddenly lose consciousness for no reason. For Kanda to have syncopated was also not very probable, taking into consideration his quick-tempered attitude.

"Probably," Lenalee responded, staring worriedly down upon the pale features of Kanda Yuu.

A sigh passed Komui's lips, a matching frown painting his lips as he eyed the long-haired exorcist. "It's probably a little too early to be sending him on missions then," he decided out loud. "We should have sent him to the infirmary, but he seemed perfectly fine when he returned."

"That's our Yuu," Lavi interjected with a mirthless chuckle.

"Would you take him to the infirmary, Lavi?" Komui requested, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'll brief you on your mission when you return."

With a nod, the redhead leaned down to sling Kanda's arm over his shoulders and support the raven's body at the waist. Unhurriedly, he made his way over to the door, pushing it open with his side and stepping out into the cold hall.

A single green eye trailed over to the form beside him, a frown plastered on his face. How long he had been wearing such a grim expression, he wasn't certain, but the feeling had become normal from where it had previously seemed alien.

The events of the past few days seemed like a fictitious nightmare; with Kanda's apparent death and Allen's desertion. It had been followed by Kanda's return, but the long-haired exorcist seemed more distant than what had been deemed conventional for him, which was definitely saying quite a bit.

For Kanda to unexpectedly pass out should have been expected: after all, he had only just returned to the Headquarters from wherever Allen had sent him prior to his assumed death. Despite his inhuman regenerative ability, it was far too naive a hope for Kanda to be in perfect condition within such a short period of time.

His gaze drifted back to the hall ahead of him as he continued to roam the hall at a painstakingly slow pace.

"...let go of me… usagi…"

He nearly dropped Kanda in surprise at the husky voice that made itself audible as the raven-haired exorcist shifted in his grip.

"Ahh! Yuu-chan, we were so worried!" He exclaimed, a forced grin spreading over his face as he threw his arms comically around Kanda's shoulders. Lavi could almost see the angered tick on Kanda's forehead and promptly dodged the bare fist that directed itself to the place where his face had previously been.

"I told you to never call me that," Kanda hissed, seemingly recovered from his earlier faint. The abrupt movement on the raven's part caused his vision to sway slightly, straightway urging his hand to rest of the wall to steady himself.

"You fainted, Yuu," Lavi continued, babbling. "And Lenalee carried you to the office. Komui was going to give us our mission, but he decided you're probably not fit to go since you just got back and everything so now that you're awake you should go to the infirmary - I'll go ba-"

With the help of his free hand, Kanda muffled the incessant sound that persistently aggravated his ears. A characteristic frown played upon his features as he swiveled in the direction opposite to that in which they had been travelling previously.

"I'll go," he stated simply, his steps headed for the Supervisor's office.

"Wait!" Lavi protested, stumbling after the slightly shorter exorcist. "You can't go on missions like this!"

"Are you saying I'll be a burden?" Kanda stated, his tone icy as he glared over his shoulder at the redhead. Lavi shrank back with a placating grin.

"No - of course not! We're just worried about you, Yuu!"

"Shut up and die."

"You're so cold Yuu…"

Kanda disregarded the complaint of the rabbit. In his mind, they ought to be more worried about a certain white-haired beansprout that could not have willingly left the Order. Allen had promised that he would not allow himself to turn against the Order despite his Noah identity that had grown more evident as of late.

He recalled the moyashi's words stating a request of death, were he ever to become a Noah, and the promise that he would not. Oh, Kanda did despise people that could not keep promises.

"Che…"

Pushing open the door to the Supervisor's office, he stepped into the room. Immediately, the eyes of Komui and Lenalee drifted over to him. The girl stood and stared at him. "Kanda! You shouldn't be walking around like tha-"

"I'll be going," he stated, almost glaring at Komui, but not quite. The elder of the two siblings shook his head fervently.

"I'm sorry, Kanda, but we can't let you go anywhere just yet-"

"I'm going," Kanda repeated monotonously. Behind him, Lavi shrugged helplessly.

Upon scrutinizing him silently for a few long moments, a sigh passed Komui's lips as he nodded.

"All right. Innocence has been discovered nearby in Cornwall, but there has also been a spike in akuma incidents. As you may have guessed, your job is to retrieve the innocence and bring it back to Headquarters."

"Che." Standing abruptly, Kanda made his way toward the door. Lenalee and Lavi exchanged a look before following after him.

"Ah, Lavi?"

The redhead glanced back as his name was uttered from the Supervisor's lips. Komui made a shooing motion with his hand, urging the rabbit toward the door. "Make sure Kanda doesn't do anything reckless."

"Right!" Lavi grinned weakly at him and exited the room, leaving Komui staring at the door.

A shadow of consternated presentiment seemed to suspend itself over the long-haired exorcist as he led the other two through the halls and eventually out of the dark building. A clear distance was being maintained between him and the two, as neither of them desired to face the wrath of Kanda, especially not when the situation was seemingly balanced at the periphery of disaster.

Kanda himself had resolved to accept the mission primarily due to the fact that he never turned down a task, but also because he required an undertaking that entailed the absence of troubling thoughts in favour of directing focus upon something disparate.

The rain had grown considerably heavier, he realized, drenching his hair in mere seconds with ease. Clucking his tongue in mild annoyance, he reached up to brush his fringe from his vision, upon where it had been plastered to his pale skin by the droplets of water. It was in no way a pleasant sensation, but he had little reason to cavil; not when the situation could be much worse.

He contemplated upon if the rain could wash away the bloodstained hands that he and his fellow exorcists possessed. Even if it could not, it was not as though he could hope for redemption initially. Mulling over his existence itself, he deemed his actions not worth absolution.

No doubt Allen must have suffered the austere revelation with more difficulty than he himself, taking into consideration the beansprout's self-proclaimed title of the Destroyer that Saves. In a world as depraved as the one they currently inhabited, the concept of a saviour was near ludicrous.

Without his awareness, his teeth had once again wreaked havoc upon the flesh in the inside of his cheek. When he did come to a realization of his actions, he abruptly terminated the movements of his jaw.

Once again, his thoughts had drifted over to a problematic place. To think of Allen at the current moment was the least of his desires, and the fact that his deliberation somehow ceaselessly led to the white-haired moyashi galled him more than he'd have liked to admit.

Without his perception, they had already left the stretch of forest while he had been preoccupied with his thoughts. Without the substandard canopy of foliage above them, drops of water acquired the freedom to assault the already saturated trio of exorcists relentlessly. A frown, glistering with rain, was present on Kanda's face at the deplorable weather.

"Hey, Yuu! Yuu, I think you need to watch where you're going."

Kanda's head swiveled back to the redhead to fixate him with a piercing glare for the undesired usage of his first name before he caught sight of where he stood. Having deviated unawares from the other two, he had quite literally nearly walked off the island.

The wind whipped at his hair, blowing it to the side of his face as a particularly large wave crashed against the precipice that he had all but plummeted off. Salt water sprayed against his face, which could only be described as blank as he gazed downwards at the dark waters.

Grudgingly, he stepped away from the crag and nodded subtly in silent thanks to the rabbit, despite the disregard for his sensibilities unequivocally expressed in the usage of his first name.`

The sudden thought of his own name precipitated a pang of pain at his chest. Biting at his inner lip, his eyes narrowed at nothing in particular as his footsteps carried him through the small town and for the dock.

Feeling three eyes virtually boring into his back, he turned to stare at Lenalee and Lavi, meeting their gazes. Immediately, the dark-eyed stare of the girl averted itself slightly so as not to encounter his own. The rabbit, on the other hand, merely flashed him one of the most unconvincing grins he'd ever seen. The sight discomfited him somewhat, not that he cared to admit it.

"Hey, Lenalee, how long will it take to get there?" Lavi inquired, his tone emanating the vague implication of the question being more rhetorical and serving the purpose of breaking the delicate silence between them, than him actually desiring to know the answer.

Lenalee's dark purplish eyes lifted to the overcast sky with a thoughtful frown before she responded. "It'll take a few hours at best," she settled. "Unless the wind changes direction - then it'll take longer."

"Or if an akuma attacks the ship again," Lavi added absently. Lenalee slapped his shoulder lightly with a patient sigh.

"Hopefully that won't happen," she deadpanned.

For the duration of the somewhat stilted exchange between the two, Kanda remained in a stony silence, his dark eyes fixated in the distance, staring over the sea as he awaited the next ship to dock.

Opening the window with care, so as not to cause any unnecessary noise, Tyki allowed one of his many teezes to flutter into the room and settle on his hand. Proceeding to shut the window once more, he spared a glance at the younger Noah who remained asleep upon the bed adjacent to his.

Upon registering the information that had been delivered to him by the violet butterfly, he stored the golem back within his body and slipped his partially dried coat onto his body. And here he had well-nigh assumed that this task would run smoothly regardless of exorcists.

Despite the fact that the Earl had requested he take Neah with him, he strongly doubted he could allow the younger Noah to face that troublesome trio, of all the people. It would be a much safer option, were he to complete the mission while Neah slumbered.

Quietly, he slipped out of the room and made his way through the hall of the inn. Exiting the building, he soundlessly stepped through the stone-paved streets, in search of that loathed Innocence.

At the corner of his mind, he doubted it was a wise choice to leave the Noah of destruction alone within that room, but he fought off the perturbing sensation. It was evidently much worse to allow Neah to see those people. Or for those people to see Neah.

Wandering almost aimlessly through the seaside county, Tyki redirected his focus to finding the Innocence before the meddlesome exorcists. From what he was aware of, they had landed only mere minutes ago, which granted him the advantage of energy.

The dreary scenery that surrounded him was beginning to dull his senses, he realized, unsure of just how many times he had rounded the township. He must have passed by the source of the Innocence at some point, albeit he was ignorant of it.

His form shimmered faintly in its transition to his Noah body. Following the action was a wave of animosity that washed over his being. Immediately, he whirled around, amber eyes scanning the rain-soaked scene. Regarding it intently, he allowed his instinct to lead him.

Pulling a standard teez out of his body, he allowed it to flutter around the dismal scene, the only sound being that of the copious amounts of rain that washed over the county. Watching it, he spotted it settle upon an unassuming rock that sat upon the edge of the craggy edge of the county.

Utilizing his ability of Choose, he reached into the solid form, his fingers clasping around the substance that he held with such enmity. Pulling it out, his fingers closed in upon it, prepared to crush it.

"Nigentou!"

The cry reeled him violently from his thoughts and he barely managed to dodge the blades of searing energy as one lacerated his hand, freeing the raw Innocence from his grasp. Jumping back, he regained his composure and stared at the long-haired exorcist, who glared ruthlessly at him. A pleasant smile with an underlay of threat spanned his umber lips.

"Watch how you handle those things; you might hurt someone," he stated easily, despite the fact that his hand now sported a gaping tear.

"Preferably you," Kanda retaliated as Lenalee and Lavi joined him, Innocence activated.

"Now, that isn't very preferable, you see," he countered simply, freeing his teezes from his body. The butterflies surrounded his dark figure, awaiting his command as his smile took on faint hints of a smirk. "You really ought to stay out of our way; it causes us too much trouble when you're here."

"We could say the same for you, Mr. Cheater number two," Lavi blithely responded. Lenalee sighed.

"You're terrible at nicknames, Lavi," she stated calmly. The redhead visibly drooped at the comment.

"Two?" Tyki ventured, his tone faintly taunting. "Then there must be a number one, am I wrong? Allow me to guess…"

"Che. I don't think so," Kanda interjected, leaping at him once again, twin blades whirring within his grip and slicing through the butterfly-like golems in the process.

Easily dodging the obvious attack, a chuckle passed Tyki's lips as he retrieved the Innocence once again thanks to one of the teezes. "You won't allow me to guess? I was about to say the name of someone I believe you know rather well," he continued, the tone in his voice provocative.

"Ozuchi Kozuchi! Man!"

Ducking the second weapon that was wielded against him, Tyki sighed. "This doesn't seem fair," he stated with a frown. "Three against one. It does remind me of a time where this situation was reversed in another game…" he trailed off and smirked as the two weapon-wielding exorcists seemed visibly riled by his words.

It was indeed a feat to anger exorcists while they were focused completely on the battle at hand. It was only when they lost their composure that they would begin to lose the fight as well. Tyki was aware of that fact, and knew perfectly well how to play his cards in this charade.

Keeping a hold on the Innocence, he began to strafe the three exorcists with his teezes, while maintaining a reasonable distance away from the long-haired one's twin energy blades. Oh, he was ever so glad that Neah was not present. This scene would grow far less appealing that it already was, had that been the case.

The sight of the three struggling against his practical hoard of butterflies was almost comical, were it not for the grim reality of the situation. Tyki stared at the innocence within his hand. Perhaps he ought to crush the despicable substance. It would save him all this trouble.

Though that was the case, a small part of him desired to toy with the exorcists for a moments longer, wishing to observe as they struggled to acquire the Innocence only for him to crush it before their faces. The thought of the despair that would cross their faces lit a sadistic flame within his golden eyes.

That hammer was a troublesome thing, however. Unable to completely remove himself from its range, he found himself constantly having to dodge blows from the absurdly large weapon. A sigh of annoyance passed his lips. At least he could evade it with ease, due to its wielder having to fend off his little pets.

He blinked and abruptly flew sideways to elude the slender hands of the girl with the crystal-type Innocence on her legs. He had forgotten about the enhanced strength it granted her legs. Distancing himself from her, he smiled.

"It's refreshing to see a lovely lady after having to deal with brutes," he called out pleasantly. His statement was met with a frown as she launched herself at him in attempts to retrieve the Innocence shard that danced almost mockingly at the tips of his fingers.

Moving towards the hammer and just barely avoiding contact with it, he caused its trajectory to direct towards her, forcing her to dodge. After a few repeats of the tactic. He noted that the hammer had shrunken in size, probably due to the fact that the redhead did not want to involuntarily hurt his comrade.

That left him facing the girl, a faint smirk still dancing upon his features.

"Hakka Tourou!"

The familiar cry caused him to freeze. In those brief moments of immobilization, he knew that he had made a dire mistake. Bracing himself for the agonizing impact, he clenched his hand into a loose fist to preserve the Innocence.

A few short moments passed, but they felt like an eternity. He waited, but nothing seemed to occur. Even the dull thrumming of the rain seemed distant, as though he were listening to it from inside a house instead of experiencing it firsthand.

A pained grunt registered in his mind, but the voice did not belong to him. His muscles abruptly tensed as he whipped around swiftly, releasing the Innocence within his grasp in time to catch Neah and prevent him from falling to the saturated ground.

Time seemed to freeze for all four of them, three from the sight of the familiar yet foreign body within the Noah's arms, one from the shock of what had just occurred.

Crimson began to dye Neah's umber-hued side as the flower shaped laceration began to ooze a profuse amount of blood. Lowering to the ground, Tyki sank to his knees, carefully supporting the shorter male's body as he attempted to close the wound and staunch the blood that flowed from his side.

"You should have remained at the inn," he admonished quietly, the hints of anxiety evident in his voice. "Why did you come here?"

Neah's breaths elicited erratically from his throat due to the shock of the injury he had taken upon himself. His eyes opened to look up at the man whose face was so similar to his own from times past.

"I….couldn't let….you….be hurt…." The younger Noah smiled up at him. "We're….we're family….aren't we….? Don't worry about me….I'll be fine…."

Tyki frowned, pulling off the remains of Neah's shirt and tying it around his waist as a makeshift bandage, completely ignoring the fact that they were both currently vulnerable to any attack courtesy of the three exorcists present.

"I could have taken it," he argued with no bite. "I didn't want you here because of them." He subtly motioned towards the trio.

"...Moya….shi…?"

Oh noes...Kanda finally sees Allen again. But Allen isn't Allen. What next? Ohboy...

Please review and tell me what you think~