Disclaimer - I do not own D Gray Man or Bleach

A/N - this chapter is dedicated to mysticwolf1896 who was the first one to review the last chapter. Thanks for all of the reviews, I truly appreciate everyone who reads this story.

Chapter Eight - Forgotten Memories

A thorough search of Vienna revealed no trace of the Innocence and Allen was forced to conclude that the strange occurrences that had been reported to the Black Order were the result of the Millennium Earl's presence here and not caused by Innocence. This was a depressing discover however as he and his partner prepared to return to the Order's headquarters the young Exorcist was already thinking about what they should do next.

Hitsugaya, on the other hand, was still caught up in the flashes of memory that he had seen when confronted by the Millennium Earl. He was positive that he had heard the man's voice before, and it brought a chilling feeling to him, but he couldn't place when the two of them had met.

The brief flashes of memories weren't anything that was familiar to him and he was certain that he had never met the Earl and yet the fact remained that he recognized the man's voice.

None of it made any sense.

"What is up with you Toushirou?" Allen asked as the two of them boarded yet another train. The trip back to the Order wasn't any longer than the trip to Vienna had been of course however Allen found that he was preoccupied by Hitsugaya's sudden melancholy mood and couldn't sleep. That made the trip almost unbearable. "You've been moping about ever since we fought that Akuma."

"It's Hitsugaya," the young Shinigami corrected, not even bothering to glance up at his companion.

"Fine then," Allen said. "So what's your problem Hitsugaya?"

"It's nothing," Hitsugaya said, not willing to tell Allen about the memories that the meeting with the Millennium Earl had awakened. This wasn't a part of his mission and he fully intended to keep it a secret. It was something that he simply had to work out on his own.

His partner was a terrible liar but Allen decided to let the matter drop, even though he could tell that Hitsugaya was hiding something. His mood had been dark, okay so even darker than usual, since their battle with the Akuma and the subsequent meeting with the Millennium Earl and to be quite honest Allen was worried about him.

However it didn't appear that Hitsugaya wanted to talk about his problems so Allen had no choice except to let the matter drop. Leaning back in the plush lined seat he shifted his gaze to the scenery that was passing by the window at a rapid pace.

"When will the battles be over?" the youth thought to himself.

The return trip to the headquarters of the Black Order was just as uneventful as the trip to Vienna and the two young Exorcists arrived without a problem. It was true that Hitsugaya still looked somewhat preoccupied but other than that everything was back to normal.

The minute that Allen and Hitsugaya entered headquarters they came face to face with Lenalee, who was carrying a tray of coffee mugs. "So how was your mission?" she asked the white haired duo.

"We didn't find any Innocence," Allen told her as the trio made their way down the corridor to the dining hall. "And we encountered the Millennium Earl. I believe that the strange occurrences in that region were due to his presence and not the presence of Innocence as we first believed."

Lenalee nodded. "I'll inform my brother for you. Why don't the two of you go and get something to eat?"

Allen's face lit up. "That's a wonderful idea. We'll see you later Lenalee!"

"Bye," Lenalee said, a smile appearing on her face as she watched the two boys continue walking down the corridor. She hoped that the cook had stocked up during their absence because those two ate more than the rest of the Order put together.

Allen and Hitsugaya made their way to the dining hall where Allen proceeded to order enough food to feed a small army. Then, once Allen had completed his order, Jerry turned expectantly to Hitsugaya however the boy shook his head.

"Nothing for me thanks," he said in a quiet voice before walking over to a table and sitting down.

"Is the little cutie alright?" Jerry asked, a concerned expression on his face as he gazed over at the table where Hitsugaya was sitting.

Allen shook his head. "I'm not really sure what's wrong with him. He's been acting weird ever since our encounter with the Millennium Earl but nothing really happened between the two of them to cause this sudden change in behavior."

"Hmm."

Allen joined his comrade at the table where Hitsugaya had chosen to sit and, once he had finished his meal, he turned questioning gray eyes toward the other boy. "Are you sure that everything's alright Hitsugaya? You've been moody since Vienna."

"I'm fine," Hitsugaya snapped, regaining some of his normal personality as his gaze shifted to the young Exorcist. "Are you finished?"

Allen nodded.

"Then let's go train," Hitsugaya said, getting to his feet and gazing down at his partner.

"Right." Allen knew that there was something bothering his partner but it was becoming painfully obvious that Hitsugaya had absolutely no intention of telling him what the problem was. Oh well, if training would make him feel better then that was what they would do even though all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep for about twenty-four hours. Getting to his feet Allen fell into step behind his partner, who led the way to the facility where they had first sparred.

When the two arrived at the training facility Allen wasted no time activating his Anti-Akuma weapon. The last training session with Hitsugaya had taught him not to fool around, if it had taught him nothing else. Hitsugaya nodded in Allen's direction as he drew Hyourinmaru from it's sheath.

And thus the match commenced.

The sounds of screaming could be heard echoing down the corridor that led to the training facility and Lavi smiled as he listened. "I'd know those screams anywhere. Sounds like Allen and Toushirou are back from their mission."

Watching their last sparring match had been beyond entertaining and Lavi decided that he'd like to see an encore performance. Grinning ear to ear the red haired Exorcist made his way down the corridor. The door leading into the training facility was closed however as Lavi turned the knob he found that it was unlocked. There was nothing to stop him from entering the room and enjoying the show. "Awesome!"

Lavi stepped into the room and immediately had to dive to the floor to avoid being sliced in half.

"Lavi!" Allen exclaimed, watching as Hitsugaya's blade came within inches of his friend.

Jumping back Hitsugaya shot a glaring look in Lavi's direction before he once again turned to attack Allen.

"That was close," Lavi choked out as he leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath and to calm his racing heart. A second later and he would have been turned into minced meat at the hands of that temperamental white haired kid. That didn't factor into his plans for the future in any way, shape, or form and he resolved to be more careful in the future.

Allen blocked the attack that Hitsugaya aimed at him, grateful that Lavi had good reflexes. A second slower and his friend would have been the first casualty of these training sessions. "Someone is going to end up dead," he thought to himself as he dashed about, dodging a barrage of blows from his opponent. "I just know it."

Hitsugaya fought to maintain his level of concentration while working with Allen on his sword technique but it was hard and took every ounce of willpower that he possessed. He was still haunted by those strange memories and couldn't get them out of his mind.

It was as though he had met the Millennium Earl before.

Was that even possible? He had been dead and residing in Soul Society for years, exactly how many he wasn't sure but it had been a while, so could he possibly know someone from this world?

"The voice seems so familiar," the boy mused to himself as he blocked a couple of well placed blows from Allen. "And it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up." That alone was enough to annoy the youth. "Why?"

The fact that the Earl's voice elicited a slight tinge of fear angered the young Shinigami. Why was he scared of someone that he didn't even know? Was it possible that this guy just reminded him of someone from his past? Had he encountered someone like the Earl and just not remember it?

Hitsugaya was brought back to the present by the sound of something hitting the floor and his gaze shifted downward. It appeared that Allen had blocked a particularly fierce blow and had been knocked on his backside. Hitsugaya blinked. He hadn't meant to strike so hard.

"Whoa!" Lavi said, whistling softly as he ran over to the spot where Allen was sitting. There was a stunned expression on Allen's face and Lavi was somewhat concerned about him. He looked as though he were on the verge of having a complete nervous breakdown. "He just attacked you like a man possessed. Are you alright Allen?"

"I'm okay," Allen said in a somewhat shaky voice, accepting the hand that Lavi offered to him and allowing his friend to help him to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Hitsugaya muttered, walking over to stand beside Allen. Hitsugaya kept his teal eyed gaze downcast as though he were afraid to look at Allen. "I think we should call it quits for today." And without so much as another word to either Allen or Lavi the young Shinigami sheathed his sword and left the training facility.

"Damn," Lavi said once the smaller boy had left the training facility. "Did you see the look in his eyes before that last attack? He looked deranged."

Allen nodded. For the briefest of moments the gleam in Hitsugaya's teal eyes had looked almost evil and Allen had been amazed at the force he had placed in that last attack. It was as though he were going up against an actual enemy instead of engaged in a training match. That last attack had been meant to cause damage and Allen considered himself lucky that he'd escaped with only a few mental scars and nothing more serious.

"Good thing you blocked it or you would have been toast," Lavi said.

"I know," Allen said, his face paling as he remembered the way that his arms had trembled as he fought to brace his sword against Hitsugaya's attack. Shaking his head and watching as his arm reverted to it's normal form Allen said, "I wonder what's bothering him? He refuses to admit that there's a problem but it's obvious that there is."

"Well maybe he'll talk about it later," Lavi said with a shrug. "But probably not. He seems like the type of guy that preferres to keep his problems to himself."

Allen nodded.

"Well come on," Lavi said, slapping Allen on the shoulders. "You should probably go and rest. I know you must be tired, first a mission and then a sparring match. Get some rest and I'll see you later."

"Alright," Allen said, deciding that getting some rest was a good idea. He had been fatigued before the sparring match but now he was completely exhausted. The young Exorcist hoped that he would grow stronger so that these little matches with Hitsugaya would become easier. "But then he's probably going easy on me so when I get better he'll just use more of his skills."

"I can't believe I lost control like that," Hitsugaya growled, angry over the fact that he'd spaced out during training. If Allen hadn't blocked that attack then he would have been severely injured if not killed. The young captain vowed to deal with these memories before something bad happened because of them.

"Enough."

A/N - Chapter Eight complete and Hitsugaya almost killed the person he was charged with protecting. That would have been hard to explain to Ukitake. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.

The Musician: Well this all seems somewhat suspicious.
Allen: Hey! Who let you out?
The Musician: .......
Toushirou: 'Rolls eyes' I'm surrounded by idiots.
The Musician: Careful what you say, it could come back to haunt you later.
Toushirou: Tch