Well! I'm getting excited about getting to mess with life down at the Order; especially Kanda's! ^^ So I hope you enjoy the first chapter, and before you ask, yes; it will be a hell of a lot longer than the prologue. I can't remember the last time I wrote something that short...

Anyways, on to the story!

Loving The Quiet

Chapter One

At The Starting Line

- Eleven Months Earlier

Kanda sat in his seat across from Allen; awaiting for the train to reach their destination. He couldn't believe that he was partnering up with the albino, but Komui gave him little option. The assignment the pair were now on was of up most importance and required their fastest as well as some of their strongest to get to work, immediately. That, and the fact was that if he didn't go with the bean sprout, he'd have to go with the rabbit; obviously, he settled for the least annoying of the two.

They had to pick up an accommodator that had been last seen traveling through northeastern Spain, running from Akuma. Several finders had been keeping an eye on the person, however, with how many enemies they've run into, they've been losing more and more by the day, and to top it all, they were barely able to track down the accommodator. All they knew was that he or she was traveling at a fast pace with no intention on stopping for the enemy.

It was good to know that the person was being smart about the enemy, but with how hard it's been to track him or her down, it was safe to say that this would take a few days in order to finish. That was the part that annoyed Kanda the most, simply because he didn't want to stick around the albino for too long. But, if that meant getting another exorcist on their side, he assumed that he could bare with it for a little while. Just as long as this didn't take more than a week.

Once the train stopped, a familiar voice spoke from behind the door. "Sir Kanda, Sir Walker! We've reached our stop." The pair exited the cart, following Toma out of the train. "The accommodator was reported leaving this town only a couple hours ago; hopefully we aren't far behind him." He informed the pair. They nodded; allowing the finder lead them through the village.

"Was he spotted by anybody?" Allen asked as they made their way through the town. As annoying as it was to hear his voice, this was probably one of few occasions where the male didn't ask a dumb question. At least, that's what the older exorcist made of it.

Toma replied solemnly: "Yes, a restaurant owner, I believe. From what we've gathered from him, the accommodator was searching through his trash, so he doesn't appear to have any money of his own. The owner thought that he was a homeless junky and tried to scare him off into the forest outside of town; that's what he thought the person was, anyways."

"What do you mean, Toma?" Kanda asked him seriously.

The finder chuckled nervously. "Well, he reported the accommodator carrying a blade strapped to his waist, and from the reports, it seems as though we're dealing with an equipment-type-weapon." He answered the male, honestly, not knowing what else to say.

"Do we know what type of blade; this guy isn't going to cooperate if he believes he's being pursued by another enemy." Allen stated.

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Thanks for stating the obvious, Moyashi."

"It's Allen!" The younger exorcist snapped at the samurai, making the latter roll his eyes; not like he's ever cared before.

Toma cleared his throat before the tension between the two got too bad; it wasn't something they needed, especially if there was someone out in the forest being hunted by Akuma. "Well, seeing as how the person seems to travel through forest and jungle, it's safe to assume that he's using a machete." He stated, hoping to clear the tension between the twosome.

Succeeding just barely...

The three made their way to the forest, beginning their search for the person in question. It wasn't exactly easy; according to the information given, the person they were looking for cut through the woods with ease, however, rarely used the weapon at his side. It seemed as though he knew how to travel through tough terrain since he didn't leave a lot of bread crumbs to follow. It was also stated that the cloak he wore was green like much of the vegetation, so he wasn't going to be noticed easily.

After surveying the landscape for a few minutes, Kanda found himself staring down at a small, busted stick and a partial imprint of a left boot. He let out a sharp whistle, getting the others attention. "This way." He said, nodding off in the direction the person went.

"How do you know?" Allen asked him as he made his way towards the elder exorcist.

The swordsman simply pointed down at his finding, not feeling like giving much of an explanation. "Footprint's pointing southeast; we start by going that way." He stated, beginning his way through the forestation; the pair behind him following in suit.

The team made their way through by following what little was left behind by the person. It took a few minutes to notice what there was; if not for the fact that Kanda knew how to track, they'd probably would have gotten lost. Even still, the person didn't make it easy to follow him, which really tested Kanda's skills. He or she was trained, that much was obvious. But he was too, so he made sure to use the best of his abilities to find the person.

Half the day already went by, and the sun was beginning to makes its dip into the horizon. Allen and Toma were sincerely exhausted from moving around the landscape so much, but the dark-haired male ahead of them refused to stop. "But, Kanda," Allen started, "it's late in the day, we've been tracking the guy all day; can't we just stop for a few minutes, at the very least?" Allen begged, not knowing how much further he could go.

Despite the fact this was one of few moments through their search that the albino had talked to him, Kanda couldn't help but feel irritated. "No," he stated once again, "we're dealing with a person with a large amount of tracking, hunting and survival knowledge; this means that he's not gonna stop until he's found good shelter, and once morning hits, he's gonna continue going; we need to get as close as we can before thinking about stopping." He explained to the youngest male, turning his head forward and continuing to lead the group.

"You'd think that this person would need to stop at some point; they can't possibly burn all this energy without getting food and water." Allen stated aloud, having a good few nights in the forest himself while he was training. They weren't any good memories, but he was still taught the necessities you needed to survive the terrain. Food and water being on the top of the list.

"He didn't." They looked up, noticing Kanda had stopped at the edge of a stream. The two moved towards him, looking down at the water beneath them; it didn't look exactly clean, but they knew that the person stopped here in order to at least collect water so he or she could decontaminate it with a fire. This in mind, they knew they were getting close. "Take your break, you two." Kanda instructed, kneeling down in front of the stream whilst splashing water into his face. "We leave in five minutes, so hop to it! The accommodator's knowledge would make him stay close to the water; that means he's traveling along the edge of the stream, going that way." Kanda stated, pointing to his left. Nodding the two went to rest for a bit.

A few minutes later, they got up and began to walk alongside the stream. They were quiet through the whole way; not wanting to spook the person, should they get close. Kanda scanned the area with his eyes; a person like this was being extra careful, but with the probability of being ambushed increasing for the accommodator as of late, he or she would be smart enough to leave the area for a good hiding place, and probably take a different route in order to remain hidden. This made the samurai keep his eyes open for any signs that the person turned in a different direction.

About a half hour later, Kanda stopped; noticing something that he knew from the small outline that it didn't belong in a forest. "What is it?" Allen asked as the long-haired male made his way towards a tree nearby. He removed an object from small broken branch, finding himself staring at green cloth. Strange; the person was way too careful; something must have alerted him in order to get him running and to make a mistake so as to leave evidence behind.

Before he had a chance to blink, he was forced to the ground by a deformed hand as its owner screamed: "Get down!" A bang coming within the seconds afterwords. Looking up, several level one Akuma came into Kanda's view; yeah, they were getting close, and these guys were here to slow them down.

As expected.

The ebony took out the katana strapped to his back; quickly getting to his feet in order to attack the enemy. "Mugen, unsheathe." He commanded, trailing his fingers along the black blade and creating a metal sheen. "Innocence invocation."

Allen and Kanda both went through the akuma at a fast rate; they were close, they knew it, Kanda especially. Due to the fact they were level one, they got through them quickly, however, not quick enough for the ebony's liking. "Let's go!" He said, rushing back to the path he was heading in; they were just getting close, and the akuma were closer. If they didn't get to the accommodator fast, he was certain to die.

It didn't take as long as it had in the beginning; explosions could be heard not too far ahead of them, informing them that the akuma were trying to make due with him. Kanda picked up the pace; he'd be damned before allowing the mission go south. That led to a massively bad mood and (albeit he'd never admit it) left a large irk on his conscience.

The pair noticed a level two commanding the other Akuma, pointing all of their ammunition at the movement seen at the other end of the landscape. It was obviously a person; someone cloaked in all green and who was clearly running for his life.

Allen went after the level two; this time with less of an initiative like he did with the one in Mater; that and the fact he knew that Kanda could get the accommodator out easier than he could. He could only hope that things would be easier than said first mission, otherwise, he didn't want to imagine how things would go.

Said swordsman used his Mugen on the level ones that were around; trying to maneuver his way to the person hopping around. It wasn't easy keeping up now that he was using the machete to cut through every obstacle while being followed, although it did help him keep a better eye on her movements. Unfortunately, it also aided the akuma in the same wake.

Blasts fired at the accommodator until a bullet landed beneath his feet, sending him backwards and hitting directly into the hard bark of the surrounding trees before colliding with the forest floor. Quicker than he thought possible, Kanda raced forward and sliced through the machines; landing gracefully on his feet as the explosions followed.

He advanced towards the accommodator; kneeling down and looking on him before saying: "It's alright; you're safe now," in his usual calm manner. The person shifted a bit before looking up at him; making the samurai's eyes widen ever so slightly.

cliffhanger! sorry guys. I hope you enjoyed the first chap and no worries; ill try to get chapter three up sooner.