Author's Notes:

University started again, which means I won't have as much time for writing as I had during the holidays. I will still try to update once a week, but maybe I'll hit a writer's block thanks to assignments. -.-

This chapter is back to normal lenght. Nobody has complained yet, so I guess it's okay the way it is.

Anyway; second day of training with Kanda. Enjoy

Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino

Kapitel 5 - Second Lesson: Overexertion

When the sun rose the next morning, Ellen was already up and wandering the corridors of her floor. She wouldn't have believed it that she could be this excited about physical exercise since her mother had taught her that girls do NOT participate in physical activities (at least not in those her mother did not approve of). Spending time with Mana clearly broke her mother's laws. Mana had taken her everywhere; to every corner of Britain, to every boxing ring, every street performing attraction, every circus and every party which had crossed their way. Once he even got permission to take the girl to far away British India for a nice little summer holiday. For educational purposes and to broaden her horizon, he had told his sister. For the fun and exotic experience he had told Ellen. Ellen did like to be an aristocratic girl because it was nice and proper and she shared her mother's views about how a lady should behave. But she also took a liking to Mana's ways of cheerful experience making. Which really did prove to be more useful than studying French or German; Mana had taught her everything she eventually needed to get this far. She was sure that, if Mana hadn't been there to make her know how to run, to climb and to box among many other things, she wouldn't be able to follow the path she was forced to walk. And she wouldn't be as excited about the upcoming training with her senior exorcist Kanda as she was right now.

Yesterday, right after their dessert, she had gone to the washroom, to get her clothes clean of all the sweat. She didn't use the public bathing space to wash, because she was not used to display her body so freely, and had asked someone to carry a small bathtub and some hot water up into the empty room next to hers.

She was clean today and wearing fresh clothes and felt much better than before. But she was a bit disappointed that she didn't have special clothes for training as she didn't like to be stuck in boy's clothes forever. She wanted people to know that she was a girl, but found it inappropriate to announce it to everyone who passed her way. And she also found it indecent to walk around in a dress with ugly shoes. Thus, Ellen was still stuck with her trousers, the heavy shoes, the white shirt and the vest, which she came to call the "Cross Uniform". But to make it complete on thing was missing; Sir Tim, who had magically disappeared after she had arrived at the order. But she didn't think much about it, he would eventually find her, there was no need to go looking for him.

As she heard the loud clock-tower announcing that it was half past five, she started heading towards the training ground, which she assumed to be the room they had visited last evening. Linali had shown her a big training hall on the day she arrived, but as Kanda had led her to another, more secluded one, she thought it to be right to go there. Eventually she reached the dark wooden doors and pushed them open. Kanda was already there, sitting on the bench, sword in his lap. Ellen came in wordlessly and closed the door behind her. There were no other people here beside the two young exorcists and the narrow windows let in the first rays of the morning sun.

"Good Morning Kanda", Ellen greeted and went to where Kanda was sitting. He just grunted, not raising his head, but put the sword away and got up on his feet.

"You're early"

"I did not want to make you wait", she explained and smiled at him. Kanda didn't say anything, but went past her into the middle of the room.

"Let's waste no time. Raise your fists, we're boxing", he announced. Ellen smiled and stood in front of him, hands raised in front of her chest.

"I am looking forward to it", she announced.

"Don't just block. Attack. Keep sure to use your left arm". Ellen raised her eyebrows quizzically, but Kanda didn't give her time to ask any questions and just started attacking. Ellen was prepared this time and was able to block his attacks more successfully than the previous evening. Kanda took notice of her fast learning ability; if she was able to make progress swiftly he didn't need to be responsible for the beansprout for much longer.

"Didn't you listen to me? Attack, you idiot!", Kanda ordered.

"But Kanda…", she started to protest, but realised that she didn't have any reason to; it was not proper for a girl to attack a man, but they were fighting. She wouldn't get very far in this strange war if she wasn't able to attack an enemy just because of her morale. "Very well". He clenched her fists and aimed for Kanda's left upper arm, but he caught her hand effortlessly.

"You're too slow. And I told you to use your left hand!", he let go of her hand again and punched her shoulder. Ellen huffed but nodded. While Kanda mostly reduced his attacks to give Ellen enough time to make some attacks of her own, she still could not hit him. Kanda didn't expect Ellen to because he was more advanced than her and it would have been a blow to his pride if she would have been able to knock him down.

By the time Kanda decided to end their boxing session Ellen only got close to hit him one single time.

"Evading attacks doesn't seem to be a problem to you, but you're too cowardly to throw a punch at me when you've go the chance", he told her while she was sitting on the floor, breathing heavily.

"You are just too fast for me", she told him between gasps for air.

"Nonsense!", he barked and she looked up at him. "You hit me once, right in my face! So don't give me some stupid excuses!" Ellen flushed and got up on her feet again.

"You did not expect me to", she defended herself still blushing.

"Show some backbone, you idiot! You did it once, you will be able to do it again. Until you are too afraid to attack me with all you've got we can't go on fighting with our weapons". Ellen widened her eyes, it was clear to Kanda that she would try to avoid doing that. "This is what we exorcists do. And it would be better for you if you'd know how to use your arm to fight before you are in a real fight", he told her, "you can't rely on your Innocence all the time, if you do it will control you again"

"I… do not want that to happen", Ellen whispered and Kanda sighed.

"Then don't be such a coward. In war, you need to have control of the situation or you'll be doomed. Understood, beansprout?" She nodded.

"But why do you need to call me that? I am Ellen", she asked with a frown.

"Because you're short, you idiot. Seems you're not that bright either", he answered with a smirk.

"I am smart enough to know that there is no sense in arguing with you, you are quite thick headed yourself, Kanda", she retorted with an indignant huff.

"Just shut up and go on training", he told her, bringing his hand down on her head and pushed, so that she had to bend over slightly.

"If you would let go of me I would be happy to oblige", she told him and kicked his leg in a very unladylike fashion. He did let go of her, took a few steps back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine. I'm waiting. Invocate". She glared at him, then caught herself behaving like a small child and readied herself. She raised her left hand and closed her eyes.

"Innocence! Activate!", at once she felt the Innocence responding to her, forming the white claw, its power at her command. "I have become readier to invocate", she told Kanda, who just remained silent. Hesitatingly she opened her eyes. "It is ugly… And frightening… But the electrifying power running through me is not painful"

"Painful?", she heard Kanda say and turned her head in his direction.

"Yes", she answered, "sometimes it was. I assume it is connected to the appearance of Akuma. If I leave the weapon in its dormant state it becomes very painful…", she raised her hand and was able to touch the ceiling. "I have had many hardships in the past because I was born with this hand…" She heard Kanda going to the back of the room and then coming back to her. "Every Sunday my Mother would take me to the Church. They locked me into a room, washed me with holy water and… other things…", she told him and he just stood in front of her, his sword in his hand. "But… I am sure you understand…", she whispered as she saw his face; it was cold and uncaring as always, but his eyes were shining, shining as if he had so many things to say but daren't. She knew that men were like this, but she would have liked to hear Kanda speak about his experience with his Innocence.

"You talk too much, idiot!", he told her grimly, then raised his sword, its tip pointing at her throat. "Try to block".

"But that is a sharp sword, Kanda…", the girl said with an uncertain look on her face.

"And your arm is an Anti-Akuma weapon", he retorted, "so stop whining and do what you're told". He raised his sword just above his head and brought it down, not as fast as he could have done and with nearly no force. Ellen raised her hand and caught the sword between the fingers of her claw. She widened her eyes in surprise.

"You will learn your Innocence's abilities by using it. Surely it is useful for shielding against the Akuma's bullets and you will probably be able to cut through their steel with those claws, they look sharp enough. But no one can teach you what the Innocence is able to do but the Innocence itself"

"But if I do not fight against Akuma I will not find out, right?", she asked and let go of the sword again.

"Why shouldn't you?", Kanda asked.

"Because you are no Akuma and I will not be required to fight against you as I would have to against a real enemy".

"I told you", he started with an annoyed scowl on his face.

"I refuse", Ellen interrupted, "This Innocence is uncontrollable and I do not want to unleash its power onto you if I do not know what harm it could possibly do. I am sorry if this is an inconvenience, but I would rather suffer injuries than injure those who are not deserving of such an offence". Kanda just remained silent, but sheathed his sword.

"You are an idiot. But suit yourself. I will not be responsible for you as soon as you leave the order", he said coldly, then pointed to the ground. "Down. I want you to do push-ups or you will never get strength into these arms of yours". Ellen made a face, but lowered herself down on the dusty ground.

"I have never done this before", she told him and with an annoyed groan Kanda got to the floor himself. He showed her a few push-ups, which she observed quite attentively, then sat back on his heels.

"There", he said raising his hand and pointing to the floor, "now do it". Ellen nodded, put her hand and feet on the ground and tried. "Ridiculous… A guy who can't do push-ups!", he said with a mocking smirk as he saw how the simple exercise troubled Ellen.

"Stop mocking me. I try my best!", Ellen answered, pushing herself up from the ground on shaking arms. Kanda just silently observed her trying for about five more minutes until he knew she was completely exhausted.

"That's enough. We're having breakfast", he announced and walked towards the door. But Ellen was just lying on the floor, panting. "Hurry up, beansprout!!". He saw her shake her head.

"Go without me… I will stay here and explore my Innocence", she whispered.

"If you overdo it, the Innocence will backfire", he advised, then he turned back to the door, "do what you want". With this he left the training room and Ellen. The girl heard the door shutting and pushed herself up on her knees. It's not as if she wasn't hungry, but lately she felt rather embarrassed under his scrutinizing gaze. She knew it was not really her fault that she was not capable of performing such things as push-ups and that she did not care about the competitive and challenging nature Kanda had, because, quite frankly, she was just a girl. But Kanda did not know this. And telling him now would sound like some pathetic excuse for not being able to live up to his expectations. Not that he was expecting anything from a 'beansprout', Ellen was quite sure about that. Still… She had pride too…

When Kanda returned to the training room about an hour later he found Ellen lying on the ground.

"Che. Didn't move a bit", he hissed disapprovingly. "Hey, beansprout!", he shouted while walking to her. As she didn't move he nudged her with his food and because he still didn't receive a reaction he was starting to be intrigued. So he kneeled down and turned her around. Her face was ghostly pale, a layer of cold sweat covered her face and her breathing was irregular. Her left hand was trembling. He guessed that she didn't heed his warning and overexerted her Innocence. He looked around him and saw holes and long thin cuts in the stone floor and ceiling, surely done by the claw-like Innocence. He groaned and decided to get her to Komui. He debated whether to order a finder to get her there - so he wouldn't be reprimanded for not "taking care" of her - or to get her there himself. While the first one sounded better to him, he knew that it wouldn't please Komui much if he didn't even take responsibility. So he lifted her up to carry her to Komui's office. She was a lot lighter than he would have imagined her to be and her face looked too soft.

"Idiot. He's not even cut out to be a guy. Weakling!", he cursed under his breath and barged into Komui's office without knocking.

"Oh! Kanda!", he exclaimed, appearing behind a stack of paper, then his gaze settled on the younger exorcist, "oh my. What have you done to him, Kanda?!". Said boy just rolled his eyes and put Ellen down onto the Sofa. But he didn't need to explain anything as Ellen's eyes fluttered open just this moment.

"Oh… Where…?" She sat up and looked around. "Is this Mister Li's office…?", she asked and spotted the scientist as he approached her.

"My, my… Allen, don't give us such a scare! You passed out!", he told her good naturally, "or so I guess, Kanda didn't explain anything".

"Because I didn't do anything", Kanda retorted with a snort.

"No, he did not… I was practising my claw and suddenly I started to tremble and all my energy left me…", she told them, "oh I hope I am not sick! What would my poor mother say?", she said hands on the sides of her face. Kanda was again thinking that she was "dumb" and that "something must be wrong with that guy", while Komui just laughed.

"Don't worry Allen! You're fine! It seems that you used up your energy! A good meal and you'll be alright!!", he told her and Ellen looked relieved at once. "By the way, how's training going?"

"He's able to invocate without problems. Seems he also tried out the Innocence's abilities. He just needs to build up some muscle and stamina… I can't teach him how to use his Innocence in battle without actually being in a battle", Kanda told him, "but that's not my responsibility".

"Yes yes…. That's good to hear. This will take less time than expected! Sometimes new exorcists need weeks or months to invocate their Innocence correctly. I'm proud!". Ellen's face lighted up instantly.

"Proud..? You are?!", she asked excitedly and Komui smiled.

"Of course. And now go to the dining hall. And get some rest, will you? No more training until tomorrow!". Ellen smiled at him and tried to get up. She was shaking too much to do it on her own and as Kanda did no move to help her even as she had looked up at him expectantly (how could she forget! He was no gentleman at all!) she just grabbed his arm and pulled herself up.

"Hey! Stand on your own, you idiot!", he protested at once, while she was trying to get steady on her two feet.

"I am, I just need a little help", she told him and looked at his face, "did you never need help when you were still learning?", she asked him. Komui was trying to hold back his laughter as he saw Kanda's indignant face.

"Stop asking stupid questions!", Kanda shouted and turned to Komui. "I'm leaving!"

"Well, take him with you", the scientist said and went back to his desk. Kanda groaned and left the room. Ellen was still holding on to his arm until she caught up with him. As she stood next to him, she just slipped her arm around his and walked next to him as if they were a couple on a nice stroll.

"Do you want me to kill you?", was the only thing Kanda managed to say through gritted teeth while he tried to push her away.

"Do you feel offended?", she asked and they reached the dining hall. She let go of his arm again, her hand now on the wall. "I was just taking your arm because you did not offer assistance on your own accord…"

"Assistance?! Are you crazy?!", he shouted and Ellen frowned.

"It would have been proper. Do you have no knowledge of customs?"

"If those are your customs I don't want to know any of them, you idiot!", Kanda yelled and stalked off, leaving her standing at the door. Ellen wanted to be mad at him, but as she thought about it she only got mad at herself.

"He does not know that I am a girl! Why did I not take this into consideration? It is not his fault, it is mine! I cannot expect him to be chivalrous if he thinks I am a boy. It must have been strange for him to be escorting a boy the way I made him do". Her cheeks heated up as a blush was forming on her face. "Oh no, what if he thinks I am perverted? I did not want to offend him!", she worried, but went into the dining hall as her hunger was getting stronger, "I must apologize… And tell him the truth, or he might not trust me in the future…"

Kanda indeed doubted Ellen very much. He had retreated to his own room to brood over the last two days. Having to take care of the new exorcist was very tedious as he was not that good at dealing with people to begin with. He didn't want to be, because he couldn't be bothered. He was not here at the Black Order for fun and making friends, but because they were preparing for battles. They were soldiers and sometimes comrades, but not friends. And there was no need to be. When this was all over and if he survived it all, which he didn't bet on, he would never see those people again. Rabi maybe, because he would try to contact him every now and then to bother him, but even they would get out of touch eventually and forget about all the stuff which had happened here.

And just looking at the Beansprout told him that he would not survive long enough for Kanda to warm up to him. It's not as if he despised people to begin with, he just took a very long time to start being able to deal with people's faults and character traits. They all had faults and he was not willing to put up with those if the people where not worth it. And this Allen most certainly was not worth the time he spent on trying to train him.

"He's just not able to become a warrior. He's too weak and cowardly and impulsive. He has too many annoying characteristics that it's not worth even counting on him as an exorcist. He will just mess up his very first mission and die". Kanda sighed and pulled off the exorcist's coat. "He annoys me. He behaves like a girl, he must have been extremely spoilt as a child", he concluded. He groaned and got up again to do some exercising. "Useless brat", he muttered and left his room.

To be continued...

Notes:

Poor Kanda. X3 I know I might be exaggerating with Ellen's "fine-lady" behaviour. And excuse my lame attempt at explaining why Kanda's the callous jerk he is. XD (Callous is a strange word... I prefer "kaltschnäuzig" giggle)

Uh. Yes, no idea when I'll update, I still have enough reserves, but I can't just throw the whole story at you. Gotta make you wait a little bit, right? lol Bad thing I love updating... snort

Anyway. Reviews would be nice. :3