Disclaimer - I do not own D Gray Man or Bleach

A/N - this chapter is dedicated to Aoi Faith, the first person to review the last chapter. Thanks so much for all of the reviews that have been given. You guys give me encouragement to keep writing and for that I am grateful. An extra special thank you goes out to Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky for bringing the reviews to this story into the triple digits! I'm so happy.

Chapter Nine - Mission Objective: Find General Cross

A couple of days had passed since Allen and Hitsugaya returned from their mission in Vienna and Hitsugaya had returned to his normal, albeit moody, self. Allen was pleased that his partner had seemed to have resolved whatever it was that had been plaguing him and even his moodiness was better than the way he had been before.

The two youths had been training twice daily, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, and Allen found that his skills were slowly but surely improving. Of course Hitsugaya always emerged victorious but at least his margin of victory was growing smaller.

"One of these days I'm going to win," Allen vowed as his arm reverted to it's normal form. This marked his eighth straight loss and he was beginning to grow frustrated with the situation. He was aware of the fact that he wasn't the best fighter in the world but had always thought of himself as adequate at the very least. Unfortunately when fighting with Hitsugaya all he felt was inferior.

"Keep dreaming," Hitsugaya said as he sheathed Hyourinmaru.

"So now what's on our agenda?" Allen asked as he and his by now constant companion left the training facility and began walking down the corridor that led out into the main hallway.

Hitsugaya shrugged. "You can go and do whatever you want. I'm going to go outside and contact Soul Society and see if they have any new information for me."

"Alright," Allen said with a nod.

So the two white haired youths parted ways with Allen making his way back to his room while Hitsugaya went outside. Once outside Hitsugaya used his flash-step to make his way to a spot where he was certain that no one would over hear his conversation and, when he was sure that he was alone, the young prodigy pulled his communicator from the inside pocket of the strange coat that he was forced to wear.

After pressing a few buttons Hitsugaya was soon in contact with Ukitake.

"Toushirou-kun," the voice of the Head Captain said through the speaker. "It's good to hear from you. So how is your mission going?"

"It's progressing very slowly," Hitsugaya replied honestly, with just a hint of frustration audible in his voice. "We came into contact with the man who controls the Akuma, the Millennium Earl, once however we weren't able to engage him in battle. Other than that we've been mainly training and fighting low level Akuma."

"I see."

"Ukitake. . ."

"What is it Toushirou-kun?"

Hitsugaya paused, unsure about how to proceed. He wanted to ask the Head Captain about the strange memories that he had been experiencing since his encounter with the Millennium Earl but was unsure how exactly to go about asking the question. "How long does it normally take before a soul begins to forget the life that they led while in the world of the living?"

"It varies with each individual soul," Ukitake replied, after having given the question some thought. "But as a general rule normal souls retain their memories better and longer if there was some pressing unresolved issues in their life at the time when they died. On the opposite end of the spectrum are those who suffered a great trauma and choose to forget. They lose their memories quickly because they want to."

"Was that what happened to me?" Hitsugaya thought to himself. "Is that why I can't remember my life as a human? Did I choose to forget?

After the pause during which Hitsugaya was lost in his thoughts Ukitake spoke up again. "Why do you ask? Is Allen-kun beginning to forget?"

"No," Hitsugaya replied quickly, not wanting his superior to know the true reason why he'd asked the question. "I just wanted to know if that was something that I needed to be concerned about."

"No. It should be okay. I would assume that it would take a measure of time before he begins to forget. After all, he has something extremely pressing keeping his memories with him. The outcome of this war is very important to him."

"Thank you Head Captain. I'll be in touch if anything happens."

"Right. Good luck Toushirou-kun and be careful."

"Yes sir."

The talk with Head Captain Ukitake did nothing to help Hitsugaya's problem, not that he had really expected it to. He had known that it would be a long shot when he'd asked the question but despite that prior knowledge he couldn't deny the fact that he was disappointed.

"Guess I'll have to figure it out for myself," he muttered to himself as he placed the communicator back in the pocket of his coat. The young Shinigami Exorcist made his way back to the front entrance and, after a brief pause, the Gatekeeper allowed him entrance.

"There you are Toushirou," Lenalee said, running up to Hitsugaya and seizing him by the hand. "My brother has a mission for you. Come on."

Hitsugaya wasn't used to being manhandled in such a manner however he allowed himself to be pulled along by the young girl and soon he and Lenalee were standing outside Komui's office in the Science Division. Hitsugaya had grown to loathe this part of headquarters and he felt a sense of dread as Lenalee opened the door and shoved him inside.

Allen was seated on the sofa and Hitsugaya quickly joined him there. This was what was expected of him and the boy knew that it would speed things along if he just did what they wanted. For the sake of his mission he would play nice with these guys.

"Welcome Toushirou," Komui called out, taking a sip from the coffee mug that he held in his hand.

Hitsugaya turned to Allen. "Is that a pink rabbit on his cup?"

Allen nodded, a drop of sweat appearing on the side of his forehead.

"I'm slightly disturbed by that," Hitsugaya muttered.

Ignoring the fact that the two boys were talking about his coffee mug Komui handed each of them a black folder which contained the details of their next mission. "The war with the Millennium Earl is growing in intensity since he's now targeting generals. The remaining generals must be protected at all costs and that's where the two of you. . ."

Komui never got the chance to finish that statement.

Opening the folder that he had been given upon entering the office Allen caught a glimpse of a picture and went totally ballistic. The young Exorcist jumped up from his spot on the couch and dashed toward the door, without so much as saying a word to anyone. Apparently Komui had been anticipating this reaction from the boy because two of the members of the Science Division were there to intercept him and prevent his escape.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not!"

"What the hell is the matter with him?" Hitsugaya asked as he watched Allen struggle against the two guys who were forcing him to remain in the office. Allen seemed completely intent on escaping and the two men, both of whom were larger than the scrawny kid, and as a result the scientists seemed to be having a difficult time holding him back.

Komui took another sip of coffee. The Chief of the Science Division was completely calm, as though one of his subordinates wasn't currently trying to escape. "The man that you're being sent to search for is Allen's master, General Cross Marian."

"I refuse! You can't make me!"

"From what we've been able to gather Allen's time with General Cross was. . . difficult," Komui explained, still ignoring the boy who was fighting for freedom on the other side of the office. "However there isn't anyone who knows the general as well as he does so there really isn't anyone else that we can send."

"I see," Hitsugaya muttered, more to himself than to Chief Komui.

"But I don't wanna see Master!"

"Walker!" Hitsugaya snapped, instantly gaining Allen's attention. This was the first time that Hitsugaya had ever called him by his last name and the commanding tone of his voice made the young Exorcist take notice.

Allen stopped fighting against Reever and Russell and gazed over at Hitsugaya. There was an intense expression in the young Shinigami's teal eyes and Allen nodded, catching the unspoken meaning. If he wanted to defeat the Millennium Earl and protect his friends then he had no choice but to track down his master. No matter how much he hated the thought of seeing him again.

"Right," he said as he walked back over to the sofa.

It was obvious, from the look on his face, that Komui was shocked by this exchange between the two boys but he played it off. "You leave in the morning so I would advise the two of you to get a good night's sleep. Oh and Allen. . ."

"Yes?"

"I've informed the Gatekeeper that you're not allowed to leave the premises until morning," Komui said, a gleam in his eyes. "And the guards at the underground tunnel have been given the same set of instructions. So don't even try to run away."

"Right," Allen muttered, his gray eyes downcast.

Together Allen and Hitsugaya left the Science Division and made their way to the dining hall. It seemed to Hitsugaya that they spent a large amount of time there when they were at the Order. Allen seemed to be a bottomless pit and he never got enough food.

"Shinigami for sure," the young captain muttered to himself.

Once the two boys were seated, as far away from anyone else as the room allowed, Hitsugaya turned his attention to Allen once more. "So tell me about your master."

That request served to make Allen almost, and I repeat almost, lose his appetite. As it was he slowed dramatically as he thought back to those hellish years that he had spent under the tutelage of General Cross Marian. "Master is. . . master is different."

"Different?" Hitsugaya repeated, a confused expression in his teal eyes.

Allen nodded. "He drinks a lot, hangs out with a lot of women, and racks up massive debts that he never pays." Allen shivered involuntarily as he thought back to his days with Cross. "I was the one who was always accosted by the debt collectors and I had to learn to gamble in order to pay off his debts."

This man Cross sounded a lot like a certain captain that Hitsugaya knew back in Soul Society and he found himself sympathizing with the young Exorcist. It was obvious that he was somewhat haunted by those days of training and now he was going to have to track down his master and possibly relive them.

And what was worse was the fact that Hitsugaya had to go with him.

"Why is it always me?" he thought to himself, shaking his head. Seriously he always got the assignments that no one else wanted to accept.

"The problem is that I have no idea where to even begin looking for Master," Allen said as he finished off the last morsel of food. "The last time I saw him was in India but I seriously doubt that he's still there. He likes to keep moving so that the people he owes money to have a harder time tracking him down. It works but it's going to make our lives more difficult."

"It can't be helped," Hitsugaya said with a shrug, running a hand through his unruly white hair. "If we're lucky we'll run into the Millennium Earl while we're searching for General Cross and then we can end this once and for all."

"Maybe," Allen said although he didn't sound convinced. That would be way to easy and in his experience dealing with the Earl was never that simple. No, their search was going to be a long one and the battle was going to be fierce. It wasn't that he thought they couldn't win the war it was just that he knew it wouldn't be easy.

"Well we should probably get some rest," Hitsugaya suggested as he got to his feet. "If this is going to be as difficult as you think then we'll definitely need it."

Allen nodded. "Good idea."

"Hey bean sprout!"

"Don't call me that!" Allen and Hitsugaya shouted in unison.

Lavi held up his hands in surrender. He really should know not to say things like that in front of the white haired wonders but for some reason he just couldn't help himself. It was just too easy to pick on the two of them and he couldn't resist. "I just heard from Lenalee that you guys are leaving on a mission tomorrow."

Allen nodded, looking defeated.

"Well good luck," Lavi said in a cheerful voice. "And don't let General Cross get you down."

All Allen could do was shake his head as Lavi messed up Hitsugaya's hair and then fled the scene before the young Shinigami had the chance to strike. Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes in irritation but made no move to give chase. Instead he turned to Allen. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Right."

And with these words the two youths parted ways, hoping to get a good night's rest before they had to set off in search of General Cross Marian. The mission would more than likely be rough but they were determined to be prepared for whatever came up.

The mission objective was to find General Cross Marian.

A/N - and there's the end of another chapter and poor Allen has been assigned to track down his master. Will the two boys be able to find the general and what will they discover when and if they do? To find out the answers stay tuned. Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. The Musician wants to know.

Allen: I really don't wanna find Master.
Toushirou: I really don't wanna find him either.
The Musician: I really don't blame you.
Allen: HEY!