Chapter 1 -

It should be a simple mission, but they should imagine that when it came to innocence, simplicity was not possible, yet Allen remembered Komui's words:

"You go to Russia, apparently in a small village there have been a lot of akumas activities reported by the finders, there is a great possibility there is an innocence there." Komui explained as professionally as possible. "Considering everything that has been going on with the akumas and Noahs, we better not risk sending just one exorcist or two, so I'll send you four, Kanda, Allen, Lenalee and Lavi, but it's a relatively simple mission, just levels two have been recognized by the finders, yet I hope you are careful. "

And that was it, so here they were, a level 4 and countless levels three and two, plus a giant akuma that constantly made the earth tremble at their feet, unbalancing them, causing them to lose attacks, they couldn't give in luxury, akumas injuries were fatal to Link, Lavi and Lenalee. The situation just wasn't worse because there was no Noah, but he didn't want to bet on his luck, that he knew he had none out of the games.

"Pay attention, Moyashi!" Allen heard Kanda scream and avoided being crushed by the giant Akuma's big foot. Beyond Level 4 that was giving them trouble at that time, the giant was the one that worried him the most. There were still people in that village, people who could quickly endanger themselves if they didn't do something, so he decided to act.

"Lenalee, take me upstairs!" He shouted at the girl who had just crushed a level three akuma's skull to the floor, she glanced quickly at him and then pointed, nodding and not waiting a second to hug his friend and jump as high as the new dark boots could carry them, high enough to stand well above the akuma's big disfigured face, releasing Allen and letting him cut the sword-clad Crown Clown mask in half, the akuma falling fast to the ground, the souls of those who came together to create him being quickly exorcised, Lenalee holding the boy and carefully taking him to the ground before he fell the rest of the way.

"Thank you." He thanked her with a gentle smile when they were already on the floor, not even having time to respond when two levels 3 turned toward her, being intercepted by Crow Howard Link's magic feathers and Lavi's circle of fire. Your now updated innocence being strong enough to defeat the strongest akumas.

Allen smiled and was about to say thanks again when his cursed eye reacted violently, level 4 fighting with Kanda, now half stunned kneeling on the floor let out, was right in front of Allen, the boy just having time to extend Crown Clown's cloak to protect himself and his friends before the demon's submachine gun started firing. The akuma stopping when Kanda attacked him again, giving Allen a little moment to recover, one of the bullets had scraped his leg and the poison was rapidly starting to circulate through his veins.

Being a parasitic type, Allen could easily purge the venom from his bloodstream, but it did not prevent the pain and discomfort from spreading in the meantime, slowly causing the pentagrams that appeared on his skin to subside.

"Be careful, I'll help Kanda with level four, break up with the others please."

"You don't even have to ask." Lavi said giving the typical mocking smile extending his hammer and moving away from them, Lenalee jumping to intercept a level two next to Link.

His leg hurt horribly and he suspected the bullet had not only scraped him, but he could do nothing about it for now, seizing his chance while the akuma was distracted with Kanda to swing the sword toward him, the blade succeeding cut one of his arms and slightly penetrate the flesh of his plump belly making him scream, but the skin was too hard, Crown Clown would not come in or out, he was trapped at the mercy, and let out a sigh when the demon looked at him with hate , the transformed arm pointed straight at his face, was that his end, or whatever he thought it was until Kanda cut his member out, staring at him coldly before thrusting his sword with the sole of his boot, releasing it.

Allen was too proud to thank Bakanda. And the samurai just let out an angry 'tsk', with his typical and usual annoyance.

"Damn Exorcists!" The demon screamed his voice reverberating in the space they were in, disrupting their resonance with their innocence and causing them so much pain that they screamed, their ears pounding, destabilizing them so much that even Kanda fell to her knees in a daze.

When the sound stopped, Allen shook his head in spite of the pain, his half-bleared eyes capturing something that made his blood run cold, a level 3 akuma seemed ready to attack Kanda, just as level 4 aimed at him a weapon that came out of his mouth too cannon-like, and before he could properly think his body moved, Crown Clown's cloak covered the swordsman as he tried to stop the level 4 attack with the sword while level 3 also attacked.

After that it was just pain as his body was thrown violently against a brick wall and fell on the sidewalk, he heard a scream but couldn't tell if it was his or any of his friends, but couldn't try to figure out while his body seemed to burn more and more, was he on fire? He couldn't say, but the scream rose again, and he could tell it was his own this time. His body ached and it wasn't just from the blast, but he couldn't figure it out while everything around him went black, and his consciousness was taken from him.

Crown Clown's cloak fell apart and a really pissed Kanda came out of it, Mugen activated, taking advantage of the akumas' surprise to cut the level 4 head, quickly changing the position of his hand to lower the blade and cut it in half.

Lenalee attacking level 3 with his dark boots and preventing him from trying to attack the busy exorcist, but she didn't hit him, the demon jumping away from them and very high in the sky. Her worried expression did not go unnoticed by the swordsman, but she couldn't go to the fallen boy since one in the level 2 akumas swarm began attacking them, Link and Lavi too secluded protecting themselves to go there as well.

Kanda grumbled, 'tsk' was a common sound that came out between his lips, for damn Moyashi, he had no need to protect him and was now out of the fight. Kanda looked where the child had fallen and his heart allowed himself to speed up a little when he saw two levels 2 surrounding him, muttering again as he ran to the white exorcist and destroyed those who threatened him.

His intention was to kick him and see if he woke up, but something prevented him from trying, Moyashi was strange, not that Kanda stopped more than a second to evaluate him, but the small bean seemed even smaller in his eyes now, the uniform of the order engulfing his small body until his hands slipped into his sleeves and his boots fell off without a foot to hold them, the child's own cursed face barely showing at the collar of his coat and Kanda gasped, was that one of Akuma's abilities? That was not right.

"Yuu!" The swordsman heard the rabbit yell from far away annoyingly, but acknowledged that he had been too idle for too long, grumbling again as he grabbed the back of the boy's coat and threw it over his shoulder, weighing less, much less, was he still shrinking?

A few were left, they were grateful that it was over, all exhausted after all, relieved that the greater threat had been dispelled, and no other level 4 seemed close to attacking them.

Kanda felt small hands gripping his coat, and realizing that the boy was once again conscious threw him to the ground, Allen falling on his asphalt as Kanda turned to destroy one of the last demons that surrounded them while waiting for Moyashi's complaints, but all he heard was a sob that made his blood run cold, and then another that forced him to look back, seeing the child sitting there on the floor with thick tears sliding down his red cheek as he sobbed loudly with fear and pain.

"Who are you?" Allen spoke between sniffles and sobs with a heavy British accent that he seemed to have abandoned a bit as he grew older. "Where is the master?"

Kanda was shocked because there was not the normal Moyashi on the floor, it was an even smaller Moyashi, Allen had not shrunk, his body went back in time.

Kanda's mouth was slightly open, ready to ask what the hell was going on when he saw the boy's cursed eye react, Allen cringing as if in pain as he followed the direction his eye was reacting, Kanda doing the same and seeing the level 3 that had attacked them before, ready to fire again, he was slow, his injuries taking too long to heal, level 4 actually managed to make a number on him, before he could react a large fuzzy white cloak wrapped around him for the second time. Once that day, his anger at Moyashi's damn innocence growing even more now, but when he turned to yell at the child he couldn't, he looked surprised, as white as his gray hair, breathing heavily as he looked down at his hands, his hands claws on his left hand had pierced his legs. He shouted, Kanda following him.

"Moyashi idiot! Why did you activate your innocence if you don't know how to control it!?" He said pulling the blades off the boy's leg and making him scream even more, sobbing in pain as tears streamed down his shock-white face.

"I-I didn't want ...!" He tried to explain. "What's t-that? This is not my hand!"

"Course is! It's stuck to your body, isn't it?" Kanda growled, it was a rhetorical question but the boy nodded nonetheless, trying to swallow the cry. "Disable."

"I-I don't know h-how ..." Kanda wasn't either, but he was getting agitated, needed to get out of there, didn't know how the others were doing, and certainly wouldn't know what to do if someone else cringed and lost control of innocence .

"Imagine your arm going back to normal and let's see how it goes." He spoke in a dry, restrained voice, trying not to stress the child anymore, seeing the little bean concentrating, still breathing hard as the Crown Clown cloak began to come back and disappear, just as his hands were starting to return to normal, Kanda already. He was ready for the demon waiting for them, cutting him in half the moment he became visible. The others coming to meet them as soon as Akuma was destroyed.

That was it, Moyashi would return to his normal form, or so he thought until he saw the still young child there, an expression of fear and pain, and then Kanda remembered that he had been injured, grumbling before bending down and taking him in his arms, the little boy's arms curling around his neck as his big curious eyes still red and swollen with small tears stared at everything and everyone.

"What happened? Is Allen-kun all right?" Lenalee asked approaching, Link critically appraising them while Lavi just watched a little scared, Kanda pulled the child from his neck and extended him to the other three under the armpits, watching him cringe against him, scared.

"H-hi ... Do you know where the master is? He ... He left me here?"

"What the...?" Link asked, not understanding, Lavi stepping forward to pull the child into his lap when he saw the small drops of blood falling to the floor.

"You don't know who we are, Allen? How old are you?"

"No ... I don't know, I think I have 12." He answered innocently and the older ones frowned, if they were going to guess, they would kick at least half of that.

"We're exorcists, Allen, you know what this is, right?"

"So you are the same as the master? Did he get tired of me and leave me with you?" He asked tearfully, his silver eyes fluttering with the possible cry, and Lenalee stepped forward.

"General Cross is in order just waiting for you to come back. I think you hit your head really hard, Allen-kun, and you forgot you're already an exorcist."

"I am? But I..."

"The idiot was hurt by his innocence." Kanda spoke harshly and Allen cringed, her cheeks red with embarrassment. "It was out of control for a moment, you better avoid activating. Anyway, the innocence?"

"I caught." Lenalee said vaguely, still worried. What happened? Was that the power of that Akuma? So shouldn't the effect be undone with his death? "Are you hurt? We have to take care of it then."

"I'll take care of Walker." Link warned, extending his arms to Allen who was reluctant, looking shyly at the others, a pleading look being directed at Kanda privately, making the swordsman grumble as he pulled him under his arm.

"What do you think you're doing, Kanda Yuu?"

"We have to watch over Moyashi."

"Yes, I will do that." Link said in a commanding tone, but Kanda wouldn't have that.

"He doesn't want to, I don't think he likes dogs."

"Your..."

"Wait, Link, the situation is delicate, as we can see." Lenalee began, cutting off the possible fight.

"Besides, we have to warn the order and get back as soon as possible, ask the order to activate a gate so we can get back, the science department should look into that as soon as possible." Lavi said at last and the inspector shut up, Bookman was right, there was something very wrong in all this history.

Link nodded and allowed the younger ones to walk away, the one to watch under his arm, listening to the others asking Kanda to carry him right while the swordsman complained that if the little bean wasn't saying anything it was because it didn't bother him. That way they returned to the inn.

"Okay, what's the last thing you remember before you woke up in this big mess?"

"Me, Master and Tim were leaving Mother and Barba's house, he said he was going to train me to become an exorcist, and then ... I woke up here." Allen explained as Lenalee took care of the bruise on her leg, bandaging her injured thigh after putting on the medicine. "Where ... Oh, there you are, Tim."

The yellow golem that watched from afar approached to rest on Allen's shoulder, caressing her chubby cheeks.

"Mom? Barba?" Lavi asked.

"I know them, they're lovely people." Lenalee spoke gently and Allen nodded with a shy smile. "We'll go back to the order, and then you can see General Cross, okay?"

"This is not allowed." Link spoke quickly, straying from the telephone cord connected to the order's golem. "You know Walker can't approach Cross Marian without permission."

"Why?" Allen asked, the small smile they had managed to put on his small face disappearing. "I did something wrong? I'm sorry please..."

Lenalee hugged him suddenly, trying to avoid how the small body stiffened in his grip, as if afraid of his touch. Before she could say anything Lavi began.

"Come on, Link, he's just a kid! You must not even know what a Noah is! There is no point in stopping him from seeing the general." Lavi spoke easily, but the tension in his voice was palpable. Link pursed his lips and returned to the phone.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure Allen-kun." Lenalee answered kindly.

"Why is my arm so strange? It was more ... ugly before. Doesn't scare you?"

"Of course not, Moyashi, you forgot but we're already used to it." Lavi spoke in the same tone as Lenalee

"Why do you call me Moyashi? My name is Allen..."

"You really don't like this?" Lavi asked in the same tone as Lenalee, watching the boy lower his head and shrug, muttering something. "What?"

"I don't like nicknames, I like the name Mana gave me..." Allen said playing with his fingers. The very long sleeves of his uniform were folded tightly until the small hands could appear. Lenalee frowned, and the others seemed to follow her reasoning as well.

"It was Mana who gave you the name Allen? What was your name before?"

"Yes, Mana gave me the name of your friend who died. The circus people called me Red before, but it wasn't my name, I don't know how my name was... "He spoke shyly and Lavi opened his mouth to ask why, but stopped when he felt a particularly painful kick in the shin coming from Lenalee that looked from him to Allen's arm and Lavi opened his mouth in a small understanding 'o'.

"He should love you so much if he gave his name to you, Allen." Lenalee spoke gently caressing the boy's white hair, watching his pale cheeks begin to redden and a subtle smile take over his thin lips. The moment being ruined when Link hung up the phone.

"Let's go, they'll open a gate in the central square in five minutes." Spoke clearly, returning the stiff posture of before, seeing the younger begin to adjust to get out, grabbing their bags, Allen getting up to follow them but unable to support himself on the injured leg almost fell, being prevented from hitting his nose on the floor by Link, who helped him sit back in bed.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome." Answered easily, kneeling in front of the boy, ignoring the others in the room. "Why do not you trust me?"

"You have scary eyes." The child suddenly answered and Kanda who was listening to the conversation laughed, Lavi and Lenalee trying their best not to. Link frowned and Allen realized what he had said, his face returning to that embarrassed shade of red from before. "Oh, I'm sorry, I ..."

"He has scary eyes too, but you go with him." Link pointed to Kanda, who didn't like the comparison at all, holding Mugen tight and angry.

"He helped me, and protected me... He is a little scary, but he seems to be a good person, just like the master." Allen explained shyly, not looking at anything but his hands in his lap, not seeing how Lavi and Lenalee covered their mouths so as not to laugh at the swordsman who had slightly reddened cheeks and furrowed brows, muttering his usual 'tsk' while Link looked at the boy seriously.

"I hope Tim is recording this to show Allen when he gets back to normal. Lavi whispered to her friend who nodded despite everything.

"I understand." Link said after a moment.

"I apologize..."

"Don't apologize for your sincerity." Link spoke sharply making the shy boy jump. "I will try to regain your confidence."

"Don't push yourself hard, dog, that could be impossible." Kanda commented dryly, looking from the blonde to the boy sitting on the bed. "We've lost a lot of time, we have to go."

"Come on, Allen." Link held his hands out to the boy who looked at him shyly, Kanda rolling his eyes.

"He can walk, he's a grown Moyashi already, don't treat him like a baby." The swordsman spoke coldly and Lenalee was ready to scold him when he saw Allen's grateful look, the boy rising somewhat unsteadily and adjusting his foot while holding Kanda's hand surprising him so much that made him jump, looking at up in the older man's eyes as if asking permission to continue like this, hearing him mutter but shake his hand, helping him limp out of the room.

"Kanda Yuu, should I remind you that Walker is my responsibility?" Link spoke following the two. Lavi and Lenalee listening to the swordsman's response from the bedroom.

"Don't complain to me if he doesn't want to go with you!"

The two friends seeing only a very laughing Timcanpy fly softly through the door.

"Are they really fighting for Allen's attention?" Lavi asked, discredited cold sweat running down his forehead.

"I don't think I can blame them, he really is a lovely child." Lenalee answered with amusement. Taking his bag and Allen's in his hand as he left. Lavi who stayed behind shrugged, the friend was right.