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This chapter is dedicated to KnowledgeandImagination who was the first to review chapter three!
Chapter Four - Shinigami Innocence
The remains of the defeated Akuma lay scattered throughout the meadow where Hitsugaya and Allen had arrived in the world of the living and, once all of the enemies had been defeated, the taller of the two youths turned to the other, a confused expression in his gray eyes. "What the heck just happened? First you could see the soul that was trapped within the Akuma and then you were able to destroy them with ease."
Hitsugaya's teal eyes shifted to the blade of Hyourinmaru, which was still glowing an eerie blue color. "I can more than likely see the soul because I'm a Shinigami and therefore in soul form myself however as for my sword I have no idea. Hyourinmaru's never done this before."
"You must be an Accommodator."
"I'm a what?" Hitsugaya arched one eyebrow as he stared at his companion. The more time that the young captain spent with Allen the stranger the other youth seemed to become.
"An Accommodator of Innocence," Allen repeated, his gaze locked on to the blade of Hitsugaya's zanpaktou. "In short you're one of the chosen and a candidate to become an Exorcist. Way to go Toushirou, this means that you can fight too."
Hitsugaya clenched his free hand into a fist, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at Allen. "Okay let's get one thing straight. It's Hitsugaya, not Toushirou."
Allen's thoughts shifted to another sword wielding man who didn't like to be addressed by his first name and he had to hide the smile that appeared on his face behind one hand. "Sorry. I'll try to keep that in mind." He gazed around at the remains of the Akuma for a few seconds, a thoughtful expression on his face. "So what do we do now?"
"We search for more of those things," Hitsugaya replied as he sheathed his sword in one fluid motion. The light dissipated as the blade entered the sheath and the young captain turned to Allen. "Is there any way to track these things?"
Allen shook his head. "Unfortunately not. I'm sorry."
"It can't be helped," Hitsugaya said in a gruff voice as he once again merged with his artificial body. "We'll just have to travel around and destroy them as they appear."
Allen nodded, gazing at his companion with a look of admiration in his gray eyes. "Well at least you can see the souls trapped inside them as well. That will definitely make things easier since both of us will be able to tell who is human and who is an Akuma."
"Hmm," Hitsugaya said, a thoughtful expression in his teal eyes. Hitsugaya was more than ready to battle more Akuma since the sooner they destroyed all of them then the sooner he could return to Soul Society however he decided that he should send some intel back to the Seireitei before he and Allen proceeded any further with their mission. The young captain pulled a small device from the fold of his shihakusho and hastily punched a series of buttons.
While the young prodigy was sending his message Allen gazed at him in confusion. He had never seen a device like the one that Hitsugaya was using and he was intrigued. "What are you doing Toushirou?"
"Hitsugaya," the young captain snapped as he continued to push buttons. "And I'm sending a message to Soul Society, explaining what happened here. Perhaps Captain Urahara can shed some light on the subject. At the very least they need to know what happened."
"Right," Allen said, making a mental note not to call his companion by his first name. Much like Kanda, the Shinigami captain didn't like it.
Once Hitsugaya completed his message to Soul Society he and Allen began to walk along the lonely stretch of road. The two youths remained silent as they searched for Akuma however Allen let out a surprised gasp as a blur of gold flew toward him.
"What the hell?" Hitsugaya exclaimed, quickly using his Gikongan to once again emerge from his gigai and partially pulling Hyourinmaru from the sheath.
"Wait!" Allen screamed, afraid that his companion was going to cut the little golden golem in half. The little winged creature landed on Allen's head and the Exorcist raised a hand to touch him and make sure that he was real and not a figment of his imagination. "Is it really you Tim?"
As though in answer to the boy's question Timcanpy swatted him in the head with one of his little golden wings.
"Okay," Allen said with a laugh. "It really is you."
"Okay," Hitsugaya said, his gaze focused on the strange little creature that was now resting on Allen's head. "What the hell is going on? What is that thing?"
"This is Timcanpy," Allen replied, choosing to ignore Hitsugaya's foul mood. "He's a golem. The Black Order uses them to send messages back and forth and this one belongs to my Master, General Cross."
"Alright," Hitsugaya said, sliding Hyourinmaru back into the sheath and once again merging with his gigai. He wasn't really interested in any of the fine details, as long as the little creature wasn't a threat. And judging by the delighted expression on Allen's face it definitely wasn't a threat.
"Hey guys," Komui called out in a subdued voice as he and the others prepared to depart the doctor's house with Allen's body. "Has anyone seen Timcanpy?"
"Not since we. . ." Lenalee choked on the words, thinking back to the battle that had cost Allen his life.
Seeing her distress Lavi took over the explanation. "The last time we saw him was when we followed him to the site of the battle."
"Someone will have to track him down," Komui said. The last time that he himself had seen the golem had been when he was attempting to contact the Black Order so that he could inform them of Allen's death. Unfortunately Timcanpy had proven to be less than cooperative and had remained just out of reach.
Allen was leading the way down the road, followed closely behind by Hitsugaya, however the young Exorcist made a quick attempt to hide behind his companion as a horse drawn wagon came into view. A very familiar red head was sitting next to the driver and Allen didn't think that he should allow himself to be seen.
"What the hell is your problem?" Hitsugaya demanded as he glanced back at Allen, his eyes narrowed in irritation.
"T. . . those guys are my friends," Allen muttered, avoiding making eye contact with his irritated companion. "And since they were with me at the time I'm pretty sure that they're gonna know I'm dead."
"Great," Hitsugaya muttered.
His first instinct was to use his flash-step and escape with Allen in tow however there obviously wasn't time judging by the fact that the guy in the wagon, the one with the red hair, was already pointing in their direction. "You may as well stop trying to hide," Hitsugaya grumbled, sighing in resignation. "I'm not tall enough to hide you anyway."
As the two travelers came into full view Lavi gasped in shock and ceased his waving. He had thought that they were merely two travelers and had sought to ask if they had seen a little golden golem flying around but as soon as the wagon grew close he felt his blood run cold. There was simply no way that this was possible and yet he knew that his eye wasn't deceiving him. Allen was standing on the side of the road, in the company of another strange youth with white hair and weird clothes.
"What the. . ." Lavi exclaimed. "Hey Komui, Kanda, Lenalee. . . You're all gonna want to see this."
Three heads immediately popped up behind Lavi and the driver and they all gasped as their gazes simultaneously fell upon Allen and his companion. Komui instinctively gazed down at the black draped coffin that was in the back of the wagon, wondering when the body had been moved.
And who had been approached by the Millennium Earl.
"We've been spotted," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice as the red haired man leapt from the wagon.
"Oh no," Allen thought to himself as he watched Lavi pull out his hammer. He knew what his friends must be thinking and honestly he couldn't blame them for their assumption but this situation was about to be really bad for him and Hitsugaya. "Lavi. . ."
"What is going on?" Lavi demanded as he landed a few feet from the spot where Allen and Hitsugaya were standing, holding a miniature mallet in his hand. "I would think that you were an Akuma if not for the fact that none of us left your side since the moment that we discovered you were dead. For that very reason."
"Well. . ." Allen began, rubbing the back of his head as he thought about how best to explain the situation.
"He was recruited by Soul Society after death," Hitsugaya spoke up, surprising both of the Exorcists. "And has now returned to continue his fight against the Akuma." Since Allen's friends already knew about his death the young captain decided that it would be better for him to tell the truth.
"And you are?" Lavi demanded.
"A Shinigami," Hitsugaya replied, an icy look in his teal eyes as he regarded the Exorcist. "Captain of Squad Ten, Toushirou Hitsugaya."
"So you're a Shinigami huh bean sprout?" a new voice asked, joining the conversation.
Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed in anger as his gaze shifted to the newcomer, a slightly taller boy with blue hair and piercing eyes. "What did you just call me?"
"Calm down Hitsugaya," Allen said, sensing trouble. Tremendous auras were growing around both Hitsugaya and Kanda and Allen really didn't want to find out which of them was stronger. At least not right now. Although later it could be fun. "Kanda, quit it."
"Yes I'm a Shinigami," Hitsugaya said in a deadly tone of voice, as though daring this newcomer to disagree.
"Prove it," Kanda said, a sneer on his face as he regarded the boy who was even shorter than Allen.
For a moment Allen thought that Hitsugaya was going to refuse or say that there wasn't any way to prove it however, without so much as another word to any of them, the young captain pulled his Gikongan from his pocket and popped the little green pill in his mouth.
In a flash Hitsugaya emerged from his gigai and, shaking his head at the absurdity of this situation, walked over and grabbed the man named Kanda by the arm. The blue haired man's eyes widened as he saw Hitsugaya standing next to him and he gazed back and forth from the young captain to his gigai, which was still standing beside Allen.
"So now are you convinced?" Hitsugaya asked in a menacing voice.
Kanda nodded although he still looked irritated.
Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and returned to his gigai, annoyed over the situation.
"It's alright guys," Lavi called out to the rest of the group. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure what was going on but was fairly confident that the boy in front of him was really Allen.
Allen and Hitsugaya were immediately surrounded by the others and the group of Exorcists began demanding an explanation of the situation. And although it took quite a bit of time, as well as a little help from a reluctant Hitsugaya, Allen did manage to finally explain everything to his friends.
"And that's how it is," Allen said once the story was complete. "And now Hitsugaya and I are searching for the Millennium Earl and fighting Akuma that cross our paths. And get this guys, he actually has Innocence, it's in his sword just like Kanda's."
Komui's eyes widened in surprise and he gazed about in search of the sword.
"I only have it when I'm in soul form," Hitsugaya said gruffly. "And don't you ever even attempt to touch it."
"Right," Komui said, sounding somewhat disappointed.
"I'm sorry about everything," Allen said in a quiet voice.
"You don't have to be sorry," Komui said, a strange glimmer appearing in his eyes as his gaze shifted back and forth between the two white haired youths. "Cause I haven't sent word to the order about your death. I needed a golem in order to contact them and for some strange reason all of ours have disappeared. And Timcanpy absolutely refused to cooperate. He wouldn't let me anywhere near him. So all we have to do is cremate your body and you can return to the Order as though nothing ever happened."
A smile appeared on Allen's face however it fell as he remembered his companion.
Komui followed Allen's gaze. "And your friend can come along as well since you say that his sword contains Innocence."
Hitsugaya didn't look exactly thrilled with the idea however he nodded his head ever so slightly. He had been assigned to protect Allen Walker and it was obvious that the white haired Exorcist really wanted to return to this Black Order so he would go along with it despite any misgivings that he may have.
Maybe it would prove useful for their mission.
TBC. . .
A/N - and the plot thickens. I wasn't sure about having the others find out about Allen but then I decided that it would be easier this way and now we can have more character interaction. Hope you enjoy and if anyone has any suggestions feel free to tell me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.