Disclaimer - I own neither D Gray Man nor Bleach

A/N - this chapter is dedicated to 14th Noah, who was the first one to review the last chapter. And in a side note, I don't care how many times you apologize for the whole memory implanting thing, I'm still NOT forgiving you for it.

Chapter Six - Training for Battle

As sunlight spilled into the room Allen sat up in bed and stretched his arms up over his head. Timcanpy was fluttering around the room as usual and Allen smiled as the little golem came to rest on the top of his head. The weirdness of yesterday was all but forgotten after the night of uninterrupted sleep and Allen gazed around the room through half opened eyes. Looking at the familiar room, where he spent his time when he wasn't away on assignment, it was easy to forget what had happened the previous day however as he climbed out of bed and got dressed the young Exorcist forced himself to remember.

Things had changed and drastically at that.

"But I still have a mission," he muttered as he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Allen took all of half a step outside of his room when he felt something suddenly poke into his ribs. Caught completely off guard Allen screamed and jumped back, losing his balance as he did so and falling in a heap on the floor. Once again dislodged from his perch Timcanpy flew in a circle around Allen's head. The boy was trembling slightly however fear was replaced by annoyance when he saw the white haired youth that was standing in front of his door, sheathed sword in hand.

"TOUSHIROU!" he exclaimed, clambering to his feet and dusting off the back of his coat. "Why did you do that?"

"It's Hitsugaya," the young Shinigami reminded his companion, a smirk on his face. "And I did that to prove a point. You have to keep your guard up at all times."

"But it's safe here at the Order," Allen said in his own defense as he joined Hitsugaya out in the hallway.

"Maybe," Hitsugaya muttered, his gaze shifting around suspiciously. "Maybe not. Regardless, you should never drop your guard." The young Shinigami lowered his voice so that only Allen could hear his next comment. "Just remember that the next time you die, it's for keeps."

"Right," Allen said.

"Allen," a voice called out, interrupting the conversation. "Toushirou."

"Ugh," Hitsugaya groaned as he and Allen turned and watched as Lenalee walked toward them. These people refused to call him by his last name and he was growing weary of correcting them. Perhaps it would be easier if he simply forced himself to answer to his first name.

"Hey Lenalee," Allen said, choosing to ignore the sour look on his companion's face.

"Are you guys on your way to the dining hall?" the young woman asked, offering the two white haired youths a bright smile.

"Yes," Allen replied, not even bothering to consult with Hitsugaya. The fact was that he was absolutely starving and getting something to eat was his number one priority at this moment in time. Everything else could wait but food was of the utmost importance.

Hitsugaya nodded.

"Great," Lenalee said brightly. "I'll walk with you."

And so together the three youths made their way downstairs to the dining room. Allen's face lit up as the aroma of food filled his nostrils and he practically ran over to the cook's window and ordered a tremendous amount of food. Lenalee was just thinking that she had never met anyone who ate as much as Allen when the smaller of the two white haired boys ordered just as much.

The cook, Jerry, beamed in their direction, thoroughly enjoying cooking the large meals.

"I don't believe this," Lenalee thought to herself as the two boys began their meal. The similarities between the two of them were beginning to grow down right eerie. It was true that the younger was a little moody and more serious but other than that. . .

"So what are your plans for today?" Lenalee asked once they had finished their meal in record time.

"We're going to train," Hitsugaya replied, his gaze locking on to Allen who paled considerably. "It's my job to protect him but I want to make sure that the job doesn't turn out to be more than I can handle. It was obvious from the battles that we fought yesterday that Allen has no experience with a sword."

"It's not my fault," Allen muttered in his own defense. "My anti-Akuma weapon isn't even supposed to be a sword."

"No excuses," Hitsugaya said, getting to his feet and indicating that Allen was to follow him. "They don't work in battle and they won't work with me."

"Harsh," Lenalee thought to herself as the two boys left the dining room.

"So," Hitsugaya said, once the two of them were back out in the hallway. "Is there a place in here where we can train or should we go outside?"

"There's a room for that," Allen replied, slightly concerned about what this training was going to entail. He had only known Hitsugaya for a short period of time however he struck him as the type who would be a rough master. "Oh no," he thought to himself, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. "I hope he's not like Master Cross. I can't go through that again! I CAN'T!"

"Yo bean sprout!"

"I told you my name's ALLEN!"

"Wow," Lavi said as he joined the two white haired youths. "I didn't even say which bean sprout that I was talking about."

Hitsugaya sent a death glare in the red haired boy's direction and continued walking.

"So where exactly are the two of you going so early in the morning?" Lavi asked, a curious expression in his one visible green eye as his gaze shifted back and forth between Allen and Hitsugaya.

"We're going to train," Allen replied without much enthusiasm.

"That sounds like fun," Lavi said, deciding to tag along and see just what kind of training the two dead guys had in mind.

Allen led the way to a large room that the Black Order reserved for sparring matches and training exercises and, once the three of them were inside, he made his way to the center of the room and then turned to face Hitsugaya. "Alright, what's first?"

Taking this as his cue Timcanpy left his spot on Allen's head and relocated to the other side of the room.

As though in answer Hitsugaya pulled his sword from the sheath that he was wearing secured across his back. Holding up the blade he pointed the tip toward Allen, a somewhat evil glint hidden in the teal depths of his eyes. Yet another sweat drop appeared on the side of Allen's head as he stared at the tip of the sword, his eyes crossing. "W. . . wait. Y. . . you can't be serious."

"Allen's right," Lavi said, enjoying the look on Allen's face but deciding that he better help the kid before he had a stroke. Wait, could spirits even have a stroke? "Allen's never used a sword before so don't you think that you should. . . I don't know, use a wooden practice sword or something?"

"No," Hitsugaya stated. "He'll learn faster this way."

"Or die again," Lavi said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Allen said, his gaze focused on Hitsugaya. Alright, if the guy wanted to fight for real then he would give him a fight that he wouldn't soon forget. Holding up his left arm he called out, "Innocence Activate!"

Once again Allen's left arm was engulfed in a green light as the sword formed as before. Deciding not to wait for his opponent to make the first move the young Exorcist launched himself forward, swinging his sword as he did so.

A smirk appeared on Hitsugaya's face as he easily dodged the attack. Truth be told it wasn't half bad however it would still have to be a hundred times better if he were to stand a chance against a more powerful opponent than the ones that they had gone up against the day before.

"Wow," Lavi thought to himself as he watched the two of them fight. He'd seen Allen fight hundreds of times however never with a sword and he had to admit that it was impressive. It seemed that with his life in danger Allen's skills grew at a much more rapid pace. "That's hardcore."

Jumping back away from his student Hitsugaya swung Hyourinmaru in an arm out in front of him. Allen anticipated the attack and dodged the blow. Then he leapt back toward his opponent, swinging his own sword with all of the force that he could muster.

Hitsugaya blocked it as though the attack was coming from a toddler.

Eyes wide, Allen jumped back and thought about the situation. Then, deciding upon a strategy, he jumped back into the fight. He may not be used to wielding a sword but he was determined to learn and to learn quickly. This was the form that his Innocence had chosen to take and he would adapt and learn to use it. That was his duty as an Exorcist.

"You shouldn't daydream in the middle of a battle," Lavi called out as he watched Hitsugaya lunge toward Allen. "You'll get yourself killed." "Again," he silently added.

Snapping back to the present, and shaking his head at the irony of Lavi's words, Allen blocked the blow that had been aimed at his head. The sound of their swords clashing together echoed through the room and Allen launched an immediate counter attack, not giving his opponent any time to back away.

"Impressive," Hitsugaya said as he blocked the blow. "If I had a little less training that would have been bad."

Allen stared at his teacher, wondering if that was the kid's version of a compliment.

Hitsugaya realized that his student was preoccupied by his words and he used this to his advantage. Jumping forward quickly the young prodigy swung Hyourinmaru in the direction of Allen's head. The young Exorcist immediately blocked the blow, proving that he had in fact been paying attention to his opponent.

Despite himself Hitsugaya was slightly impressed.

Determined to take the upper hand at least once Allen once again rushed toward Hitsugaya, swinging his sword as soon as he was near enough to strike. Unfortunately Hitsugaya proved to be too good for him and knocked the blade to one side with ease.

Allen sighed.

"I think that's enough for one day," Hitsugaya said, sheathing Hyourinmaru with one fluid motion.

"Already?"

Hitsugaya heard the confusion in Allen's voice. "We've been at it for over an hour."

"Wow," Allen said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. His left arm reverted to normal as he walked over to the spot where Hitsugaya was standing. "Didn't seem like that long. Guess I was too busy fighting for my life to notice how much time passed."

"You weren't in any danger," Hitsugaya stated in a matter of fact voice.

"But. . . but you said. . ."

"I knew that you'd learn faster if you thought that you were in danger," Hitsugaya told him, a smirk on his face. "But my entire mission is to keep you safe so why the hell would I kill you? Seriously use your brain every once in awhile."

"That's so mean," Allen said, his face falling.

"Deal with it," Hitsugaya said without even a trace of sympathy.

And with these words the young Shinigami turned and began walking toward the door. Allen briefly debated murdering his companion but in the end decided that this would probably not be a good idea given his current situation. With a sigh he ran to catch up to the smaller boy, followed closely behind by Lavi, who seemed to enjoy listening to their fights, and Timcanpy.

"This is almost as good as your fights with Yu," Lavi said with a smile.

"I told you not to call me by that name!"

"Damn," Lavi said as he watched the blue haired Exorcist walking toward them. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to train," Kanda replied, his eyes narrowed as he regarded the group for a few seconds. Then, dismissing them all with a shake of his head, he entered the room that they had just left.

"I think we should have stayed longer," Lavi commented as they made their way down a corridor. "It might have been fun to watch Yu and Toushirou go at it."

"Two minutes tops," Hitsugaya mumbled.

"Yea, we should definitely get the two of them together some time soon," Lavi said while Allen nodded. A fight between Kanda and Hitsugaya would definitely be interesting, that was for sure.

"Allen! Toushirou!"

"Hey Reever," Allen said as the man from the Science Division came to a stop in front of them, slightly out of breath from his run. "What's up?"

"I need for the two of you to go to Chief Komui's office immediately," Reever told the two white haired boys. "You have a mission."

Allen and Hitsugaya glanced at each other and nodded.

A/N - And there we have chapter six. Hope that you enjoyed this installment, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. And as always if you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me. The music has ended for now, stay tuned for more.

Kanda: There is absolutely no way that little moyashi would ever be able to beat me.
Toushirou: 'Glares at Kanda and draws Hyourinmaru'
Lavi: Would anyone like to make a bet as to who is going to win? Come on, any takers?
The Musician: I don't know these people.
Allen: Get BACK in your hole!