Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man (c) Katsura Hoshino. The Old Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway. The Fisher King written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam (TriStar Pictures, Inc.). All other recognizable elements are probably not mine too.

Chapter 1

Definition of INNOCENCE:

a) freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil, blamelessness;

b) chastity;

c) freedom from legal guilt of a particular crime or offense;

d) (1): freedom from guile or cunning, simplicity;

(2): lack of worldly experience or sophistication;

e) lack of knowledge, ignorance;

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Allen woke up dizzy and disoriented, dull pain stirring somewhere inside his chest. He felt familiar presence behind him: warm body pressed against his back, soft even breath and prickly buzzing of magic. '…Kanda,' he thought and snuggled closer to his companion. 'I'm… still alive.'

"Stop fidgeting," muttered Kanda tightening his embrace.

"Are you all right?"

"Hn."

"Where are we?"

"Rabbit's place."

"Rabbit? Ah, I do remember some guy. Why are we here?"

"Healing. Stupid Rabbit can do magic."

"Oh? It's unexpected. How long I was out?"

"Two days."

"Are we leaving?"

"No."

Allen opened his eyes and turned around to face his friend. "You should give more detailed answers, idiot."

Kanda growled and roughly pushed Allen's head into the pillow. "Rest. Now."

"But I am hungry," whined younger boy.

"That's it." Kanda kicked Allen out of the bed. "Bad Beansprout. Go find your food yourself. Master sleeps."

Horrible memories resurfacing, Allen shivered. "You are not my Master-"

"Might as well be."

"-And the name is Allen."

"You sure have a loud voice for such a small sprout."

"Grrrr. Where can I find food?"

"Go hunt or something. There are rabbits out there." Kanda completely hid underneath blankets. "Don't bother me. Go away."

Allen stretched yawning. "You are terribly rude this morning, Kanda. But wait! It's your normal state!"

"Shoo."

Allen stood up and sniffed the air – omelet, and fresh bread, and bacon, and… Kanda already forgotten, Allen was slowly drifting to the origin of this heavenly smell.

Lavi had been sitting on the kitchen counter and sipping his morning coffee, when his white-haired guest came in. He appeared to be even shorter, than Lavi thought at first, hair messy after the long sleep, grey eyes unfocused and… was that a drool?

"Eh…"

"Good morning, Sleeping Princess! How do you feel? Don't be shy, you can tell me anything – patient confidentiality and all that jazz."

Despite the string of exuberant silliness, redhead's single eye was very sharp and calculating, sparks of detached amusement showing beneath the friendly façade. This guy was too clever for his own good, Allen decided, it could become a problem later.

"Good morning," he politely smiled and added sheepishly, "I'm hungry and a bit confused. Kanda said you were the one who healed me, so thank you very much," he bowed a little.

"Aaa," Lavi slightly blushed; the kid was too cute for his own good. "You are welcome. By the way, I suppose your name is not 'Stupid Beansprout?'"

Allen scowled in annoyance. "And I suppose your name is not 'Stupid Rabbit?' Kanda is extremely vulgar, illiterate and unimaginative. I am Allen Walker, pleased to meet you."

"The name is Lavi, the pleasure is mine. Yes, dear Yuu certainly is awkward at naming. Well, sit at the table I'll reheat your breakfast, little Beansprout."

"Did you just call me 'Beansprout?' As if stupid Kanda is not enough," Allen grimaced. "Please stop calling me that, I'm still growing, you know."

"When I'll see it with my own eyes," Lavi grinned. "Wait a minute, 'stupid' Kanda? Could it be that 'stupid' is endearment for your couple? Should I feel flattered?" He put food on the table.

"No way," said Allen happily digging in.

"You're such a tiny thing," Lavi pinched and stretched the boy's cheeks, "too skinny to be healthy. As a doctor I recommend you to eat more."

"Yes," Allen swatted redhead's hands away. "For a long time I have been saying that I need to eat more, but no one has listened to me. It is frustrating how some people do not understand such a simple concept." Lavi stared in morbid fascination, as the boy inhaled the fourth bowl of soup; almost all other food had already disappeared. Meanwhile Allen continued, "Could you make me a written reference or some kind of health certificate, please? With your advice I mean. It will help a lot."

"I'll think what can be done," Lavi said weakly. He could not help asking, "Where has all the food gone? There is no way it could fit in such small body."

"His stomach is connected straight to the void of universe," stated Kanda walking in and snatching last sandwich from the plate, "because Beansprout is a weird scientific experiment. They tried to make him able to open gates into other dimensions, but get only this useless, always hungry abomination."

"It definitely is not true. You shouldn't spout such a nonsense in front of other people, moron. They'll think you are dumb."

"There is no other explanation of why you are such a bottomless beansprout-sized pit. You'll eat Rabbit out of the house and bring him to ruin. Not that I care."

"I'm not useless like some people and quite capable of earning my own money," Allen snapped. "And I've told you countless times, it's Allen."

"Yuu, my friend! Good morning to you, too!" Lavi, who was watching interaction with delight, decided to interfere before blood was shed. He had just healed them after all, it would be counterproductive.

"Don't call me by my first name. And I'm not your friend," Kanda unsheathed his sword, which he – Lavi had noticed – took everywhere. It even had a nice stylish name Mugen – Six Illusions. Redhead wondered what it meant; he felt some kind of dark power silently sleeping inside the black blade.

"You wound my heart! I thought these two days brought us together. Do you remember how tenderly I squeezed your hand, how soothing were my words, when we sat near Allen's sick-bed? In those harsh times we became best friends, best of all best friends… But worry not, tiny Beansprout, don't be jealous! I won't steal your precious boyfriend, for our love was not meant to be…"

Kanda's eyebrow twitched. Lavi gulped.

"Lavi, could you pass me an apple, please," calmly said Allen. "Kanda, I think we should kill him and dump the body in the sewer."

After the disastrous end of the breakfast, when Kanda had somewhat calmed, he announced that he was going to meditate and promised to "fucking slice any of you, assholes, who dare to disturb me." In the meanwhile Lavi took Allen into the living room to examine his wounds.

Lavi knew he had a talent for healing magic but looking at the boy, who was almost dead two days ago, he was not sure how to explain such a fast recovery.

He lightly traced a long pink scar on Allen's chest with fingertips. "Your wounds closed very quickly, and it's not only because I'm an amazing doctor. How do you do it? By concentrating your magic? Is it even possible?"

"Oh, I just have a built-in healing factor, not as awesome as Kanda's though, but I still heal faster than average human."

"Cool. I wish I could do it. Maybe than I'd have two eyes instead of one," Lavi pointed on his eye patch.

"I regrew my left eye once, after it had been pierced with a candle. Hurt like a hell, too. Good thing, the eye regenerated by itself."

Lavi winced; he did not even wanted to think about circumstances that led to such gruesome injury. "Are you even a human?"

"Of course I am. You do not believe Kanda's idiotic theory about man-made abomination, do you?"

"Not really, but if you were, you'd be a cute little monster, who'd prey on sweets and live in a cupboard. I'd scratch your ears and play fetch with you in the yard."

"You describe a dog, not a monster. And I believe there was another one of your height jokes. Somehow I am not amused," Allen grimaced. "But I do like sweets," he amended. "Blame my harsh childhood."

"Oh, do tell, do tell," Lavi was all ears.

Allen dropped his smile; his mood darkened. "No way. Too many memories," he said flatly.

"So traumatic, huh?" Lavi paused. "Is there a point of asking you about circumstances that brought us together? Not that I mind, you guys are fantastic!"

"Well thank you," the boy beamed. Then he narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Do you want to hear a secret? Curiosity killed the cat after all."

"And satisfaction brought it back," Lavi nodded. "Of course I want to hear it, I thrive on secrets! They are an essential component of my daily diet."

The boy chuckled, "They say, that 'a cat has nine lives, yet care would wear them all out'. How many lives do you have left, Lavi?"

"This one is my forty-ninth," he grinned. "I can spare another one."

"Ho… Well then, listen carefully. Kanda is an artificial human," Allen said and lowered his voice. "He was made to be an ultimate soldier of great endurance, almost immortal. I've heard they made him from a discharged body parts and inserted brain of the some dead general inside. Basically, he is a walking talking sewn-together battle zombie fueled by soba."

Lavi stopped grinning and made a face, "Is it your revenge for the 'weird scientific experiment?' Is not it too much?"

"I wonder. At least you should admit that I have better imagination."

Lavi was not so sure, if he should.

It was an early afternoon, so Lavi had at least half a day for research. Two days with tight-lipped Kanda and the morning with slippery Allen left him frustrated. Who could have thought that little Beansprout was so good at dodging questions. Lavi believed it was unfair. Such a cute guy was not supposed to be so sly; appearances certainly could be deceiving. Then there was a current problem. Lavi felt as if he was standing at the edge of a metaphorical cliff. He could see the mystery, smell it, even touch it a little, but he still was out there, and his new friends were not in a hurry to let him in. Therefore the only way to get inside was by himself. Maybe it was not sensible thing to do: guns Allen and Kanda carried were frightfully real, and Mugen was not just a normal albeit extremely sharp sword. Nevertheless Lavi was the type of person who could not leave puzzle unsolved; nothing in the world would stop him now.

Despite his talkative and a bit foolish behavior Lavi was very intelligent person. He settled with analyzing his guests: their appearances, actions, words. He found them almost dead in a nearby alley, but injuries that, as all his medical experience told him, should be fatal, completely healed in a course of two days. Taking in account their heavy weaponry and constant alertness, it was apparent they were on the run, but from whom Lavi had no idea.

Both Kanda and Allen appeared to be unnaturally beautiful and extremely fit with graceful and precise movements, not unlike wild animals. Lavi, who was not a slouch himself, knew that it could not be just a good genetics. Long-haired samurai was rude, blunt and protective of his younger companion; he did not like personal interactions and valued Mugen above all. Allen was talkative enough (though he had never said anything essential), sensitive about his height and always hungry. Another thing Lavi noted, Allen's smiles were too bright and polite to be real.

In addition, there was a strong closeness between these two; they did not mind to share a bed and had silly pet names for each other. Both of them neither denied, nor confirmed any of Lavi's suggestions about the nature of their relationship, and it was aggravating.

On the other note, conversations with his guests gave Lavi plenty to think about. Interesting enough, it was Kanda who unknowingly supplied the most helpful bit of information: "Innocence." It was a strange substance that resided inside Allen's (and maybe Kanda's) chest in place of a heart. Was it a crystal of some sort or something entirely else? As he said to Kanda, it had evaded Lavi's probing magic, but he still had felt something familiar about it – and not in a good sense.

"…Innocence is not pure so much as pleased," he quoted aloud, "always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed. Heh. Are you pleased, little Beansprout?"

"Eh?" asked Allen from the couch, where he was reading some book from Lavi's vast collection.

"It's nothing, my vertically-challenged friend. I'm going to the library to do some studying and all that fun stuff all students need to do. Do you need something from the outside world?"

"You sound as if we are in prison," frowned Allen. "But I'd like some mitarashi dango, if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all! Well, I'll be going! See you later!" Lavi grabbed his coat and turned to the door.

"Take care!"

The library was a spacious building with white walls, high ceilings, and large windows; there always was comfortable silence interrupted only by rustling of paper and low whispers. Lavi waved at some people he knew, but strode further, where tall bookshelves stood.

As the wise man once said, "the beginning is the most important part of the work" and, in Lavi's humble opinion, the most difficult.

Being an avid and inquisitive reader, he was no stranger to a meticulous work with different literary resources. Thus Lavi took a few books that, he thought, might have some information on topic he was interested in and settled in a quiet corner in a comfortable armchair near the low table.

After an hour of fruitless search he moved another stack of books to the side and stood up to stretch his legs. "How do you suppose to find something that should not exist or is so dark it's completely forbidden? Is it not a fine challenge worthy of my talent, my dear boys?"

"If the others heard you talking out loud, they would think that you are crazy."

"But since I am not crazy, I do not care." Lavi turned around and embraced small black-haired girl. "Lenalee! I have not seen you since forever!"

"Hello, Lavi. We were in the same class yesterday," she fidgeted a little trying to free herself.

"It feels like forever. An eternity in a few hours," he sniffled. "I missed you so much, you cruel cold-hearted girl."

"There, there," Lenalee gently patted his shoulder and smiled. "You are just striving for affection. Do you want some coffee? You look distressed."

"No, thanks," Lavi shook his head and paused. He was not sure, if it was wise to involve anyone else, but Lenalee was one of the most intelligent people he was acquainted with. Moreover, she knew library like the back of her hand, because she was raised there.

Lenalee Lee was younger sister of Komui Lee, who was Supervisor of the Magical Research Division of the State University and had a tremendous sister-complex. Despite the fact that he was one of the head magicians of the country, Komui firmly believed in scientific progress and miracles of the robotics. His love for anything mechanical led to disasters caused by humongous robots, affectionately called Komurins. Komui was extremely protective of his inventions, and only Lenalee was allowed to destroy them. It was rather annoying, in Lavi's opinion.

"Lenalee, do you know anything about Innocence?" he said hesitantly.

She flatly looked at him. "You are aware that your question was just wrong? If my brother heard it he would use you in some of his experiments."

"No! I did not mean it like that!" Lavi frantically waved his hands and dropped on his knees. "Oh the flower of my heart!" he cried tragically. "Spare me, please!"

"Of course," the girl giggled. "Then, did you mean 'innocence' as in 'lack of guilt,' or as in 'lack of experience?'"

"N-no… More like it's some kind of an object, a magical substance that you can call Innocence. A stone maybe?" he said uncertainly.

"An object? Ah, something like the Holy Grail? It supposed to be found only by pure-hearted after all, though I'm not sure if you can call it innocent, more like miraculous."

"Holy Grail? So obvious…" Lavi groaned closing his eye. "I'm such a fool. I guess idiocy is contagious; I was hanging with those guys far too long. Gah. Lenalee, it is the best idea I have. I think I'm in love with you!" he took her hands. "Will you marry me? You are wonderful, wonderful woman!"

"Stop saying such nonsense, fool, or Komui will hear you, and then I won't be responsible for consequences," Lenalee smiled shaking his hands off. "But I'm glad I was of any help. Tell me about that Innocence of yours later, it sounds interesting." She swiftly lifted her hand up, when Lavi opened his mouth. "Not a word. Well, I need get back, or brother will organize a searching party, it would be too embarrassing. It was nice meeting you."

"Same here."

Long time ago Lavi learned a legend about the Fisher King and, as all other things he had learned in his life, remembered it with amazing clarity. There were the wounded King, and the Fool, and the Holy Grail, of course. The King couldn't love or feel loved. He was sick with experience. He began to die. One day a fool wandered into the castle and found the king alone. And being a fool, he was simple minded, he didn't see a king. He only saw a man alone and in pain. And he did not see the Holy Grail; he just wanted to help a thirsty friend.

"This is not helpful," muttered Lavi re-reading the same legend over and over, trying to find something that could be applied to Allen's condition. "If we presume, that the Holy Grail is the Innocence," he continued, "and if we make an assumption, that it is something tangible albeit magical – and if I felt it correctly, rather dark – then it would be logical to think that all information about it would be hidden from common folk. But! There should be some kind of document, or story or something considered useless – or simply forgotten. Otherwise I won't be able to do anything. At least by myself," he amended. "And that would be terribly unfair."

Lavi glanced on the table: different versions of the story – tens of them – were lying before him. He spent enough time looking through dusty books with no result to feel exhausted, but when he already prepared to give up and go home, he found a thin book, literally stack of papers, with yellowed fragile pages.

It turned out to be a report of some sort, an official document long lost among thousands and thousands of books in the Great State Library.

The Holy Grail of the Combat Magic: The Origins of Innocence

recorded by junior inspector of special combat division of Noah Ark Research Center execution squad Howard Link.

August 14, [XXXX].

'Noah Ark Research Center?' Lavi mused. 'I've never heard about such organization. This stuff was written almost fifty years ago, so what had happened?'

A story of an old fisherman Santiago as told by his grandson Manolin, also a fisherman, whom I met at … while investigating rumors about strange phenomena occurred in local waters. The old fisherman had died from unexplained illness. Symptoms of disease, as confirmed by witnesses, resemble Innocence Rejection, as theorized by Dr. Adam … The story was written exactly as I was told, word by word, in order not to miss any details for subsequent interpretation…

The book was old, hand-written and, in addition, incomplete – some pages were missing; letters had faded with the time, so writing was almost incomprehensible. Lavi strained his eye trying to make sense out of it. He could read only tiny bits here and there; nothing was adding up.

…he rowed over the part of the ocean that the fishermen called the great well because there was a sudden deep of seven hundred fathoms where all sorts of fish congregated because of the swirl the current made against the steep walls of the floor of the ocean...

Was it about the place, where the old man found Innocence? Was it about Innocence at all? It should be, if he believed this Howard Link. Lavi scowled in frustration. The language was odd, words blurring and melting into each other.

…purple, formalized, iridescent, gelatinous bladder … floating close beside the boat. It turned on its side and then righted itself. It floated cheerfully as a bubble with its long deadly purple filaments trailing a yard behind it in the water… he looked down … and saw the tiny fish that … were immune to its poison. But men were not and when same of the filaments would catch on a line and rest there slimy and purple … these poisonings from the … came quickly and struck like a whiplash. The iridescent bubbles were beautiful. But they were the falsest thing in the sea…

This seemed like Innocence. At least, it was close to the feeling Lavi had had when he had been treating Allen – beautiful but false. And what was it about poison? Allen appeared alive enough, so did Kanda. Were their silly stories not just a teasing but a well-hidden truth? Lavi did not know for certain.

…he said aloud. "I wish it were a dream and that I had never hooked… I'm sorry about it … It makes everything wrong. … I shouldn't have gone out so far … Neither for you nor for me. I'm sorry…

What did it mean? What had he hooked? It was obvious that man had caught something he should not, or at least he thought so. Did it mean that human hands had never supposed to get hold of Innocence?

"They beat me, Manolin," he said. "They truly beat me."

"He didn't beat you. Not …

"No. Truly. It was afterwards."…

...

"I want it," the boy said. "Now we must make our plans about the other things."…

...

"The ocean is very big and a skiff is small and hard to see," the old man said. He noticed how pleasant it was to have someone to talk to instead of speaking only to himself and to the sea. "I missed you," he said…

...

"Now we go together again."

"No. I am not lucky. I am not lucky anymore."

"The hell with luck," the boy said. "I'll bring the luck with me."

"What will your family say?"

"I do not care. I caught two yesterday. But we will … together now for I still have much to learn."…

...

"…I spat something strange and felt something in my chest was broken."

Last pages of the report had been lost, but Lavi got enough information to think about. 'Noah Ark Research Center,' 'Howard Link,' 'Dr. Adam' – he tried to find anything about them, but his search in library archives did not bring results.

Lavi was tired and drained, when he walked out of the library onto the cold evening street. 'Maybe I should ask Old Panda,' he thought miserably. 'He would know, I'm sure, but it won't be so fun later, and he will call me a "useless fool" for all eternity.' He sighed, 'I'd better be going, or my newly acquired friends will chew all my shoes up... Come to think of it, I should get them some treats; mitarashi dango for Beansprout and as for Yuu… I wonder if they produce soba-flavored bones...'

Much to Lavi's surprise his apartment and even his shoes were still intact, when he returned home.

"Daddy's back~! Were you good children?" he greeted cheerfully.

His guests looked at him from the couch they were napping on – Kanda with a disgruntled expression, Allen with a polite smile.

"Welcome back, Lavi. Was your studying productive?"

"Who cares? No need to be so loud, shitty Rabbit."

"Now, now, Yuu, no need to be rude to a man who brought you presents. Thank you, Allen. I found something interesting," Lavi went to the kitchen and began unloading his bags.

"Is it dango?"

"Who needs your presents?"

"And here I thought, we'll have a nice family dinner," Lavi sighed mockingly. "I even went to that little Eastern restaurant and bought some soba for you."

"Tch."

They just had started eating, when the doorbell rang.

Lavi opened the door; his guests – already near the entrance – tensed, reading their weapons.

"You should not be so jumpy, it only my grandfather," he muttered surly. "Yo, Gramps!"

Small, almost bald man with dark circles around his eyes entered the room intricate ponytail swaying above his head. He fixed cold unreadable eyes on Kanda and Allen, then turned around and promptly sent Lavi straight into the wall with a splendid flying kick.

"You, fool! I thought I taught you better than that! Brainless child! You should not mingle with the likes of them!"

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

"I cannot always clean up your mess! I knew you're an idiot, but this time your stupidity surpassed itself!"

"Hey, you should not insult your cute grandson! I have feelings, too!" Lavi wailed in mock despair. "By the way, what are you talking about?" he added calmly.

His grandfather sighed and opened his mouth when he was interrupted.

"What are you doing here, Bookman?" growled Kanda; Allen had already aimed at the short man. "How do you found us?"

"You know my Gramps, Yuu?" exclaimed Lavi and Kanda twitched. "And, Allen, I thought in your family Kanda is the trigger-happy one. Stop scaring my only relative. And stop smiling this creepy smile, pretty please."

No one paid attention to his words.

"Yuu Kanda. So you went with him. Don't glare at me, boy! I didn't know you were here. I really came to visit my stupid grandson," Bookman sighed. "I want you to leave. Do not draw us into your wretched affairs."

Kanda glanced at Allen and moved closer to him. "We will leave."

"Hel-lo~!" Lavi called. "Does anyone care what the host wants? You know, I do not like to be out of the loop! Gramps, explain me everything! Little Beansprout! Yuu! Anybody! Gah, it's so frustrating!"

"Shut. Up!" Kanda and Bookman cried in unison and looked at each other in surprise and disdain.

"What are you going to do, Bookman?" softly said Allen. Lavi blinked. The sight before his eyes was rather disturbing and eerie: no one should be able to smile so gently while aiming a gun at another human being, yet here was Allen, who was pointing a Glock at Lavi's own grandfather and looking like some kind of a Messiah.

Kanda tensed. "Do not do anything stupid, Beansprout," he warned. Lavi blankly looked at the older man. Did it mean that situation really was dangerous?

"Allen Walker," slowly said Bookman his gaze hard and scrutinizing. "Your Master is trying to find you. And I've heard he is not the only one."

"Master…"

"Hey, Old Panda! What do you know about Allen?" Lavi asked impatiently.

"Shut up, useless fool. Don't you dare to stick your nose somewhere it does not belong. Walker, what are you going to do?"

"I… we…" Allen slightly lowered his gun and questioningly looked at Kanda

"Why should we tell you, old man? I told you, we'll leave. You have no need to know anything else." Trust Kanda to be rude.

"I'm information dealer, brat. I can help you for the right price."

"You can help someone else, too."

"Stop it! Stop! Stop! Timeout!" Lavi waved his hands. "I want answers. Immediately. As in 'right now.' Straightaway. Or I'll die. Explode. Ka-boom and all that stuff. I'm serious, guys, I need information."

"Idiot," Bookman wearily shook his head. "What you do not know cannot hurt you."

Lavi's eye glinted as he asked, "Is it about Innocence incidentally?" All stared at him in disbelief. "Or is it about the Noah Ark?"

Allen fired.

Dear Diary,

I think one of the strays, I found yesterday, has rabies. Should I get a shot?

Sincerely yours, Lavi.

Author Note (rather long and boring, feel free to skip):

First of all, thank you for reading, reviewing, alerting, and adding to favorites.

Confessions of text-snatcher: Lavi remembered the legend about Holy Grail, it is from The Fisher King; Link's report almost entirely composed from the fragments of The Old Man and the Sea (I'm ashamed of myself for this blasphemy, I really like Hemingway's novels and have no excuse for what I've done with the text).

Another faux pas I made: I somewhat edited Prologue (I should have done it before posting), nothing major though, just a few bits of dialogue here and there and some general corrections to help the story flow. Now it is more consistent, I think. Well, I tried to improve.

About Kanda/Allen positions: While I'm a strong believer in equality in relationship (though it would be nice if women have more rights and less obligations), I still prefer Kanda on top and Allen on bottom (because he is flexible like this :) ). Then again, I do not think, it is important, unless one is describing sexual intercourse, and I have no intention to do it. The point of my rambling: yes, Kanda is seme.

On another note: the best form of education is self-education, don't you agree?