Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man

Allen Walker was what you would consider an outcast. His snow white hair, scarred face, and discolored arm were one part, but most of it was his past. And because of the people he knows. And the kind of creatures he's faced. Because of it, he acted differently. He was different because of where he stands now. This was the fourth time he had moved in less than one year. If only his master Cross Marian didn't have so many debts, they could stay in one place for more than six months. Right now, he was unpacking in his new home; London, England. He was going to a new school called Black Order High. And honestly, he wasn't looking for it. It was just another place he could be labeled as the 'freak'. His current condition didn't help either. His master would always have 'friends' over in the middle of the night, keeping him awake. He would often times have to pay off his debts, and was often times left hurt and scared. When his foster father Mana had died, he had spent some time on the streets, trying to earn enough money to buy food. Eventually, Cross had taken him in, but sometimes he wished he had decided to stay on the streets. It was his first day at his new school, and he had not gotten any sleep. He had been playing poker at the bar trying to gain enough money to pay off his master's latest debt. He was extremely tired, and did not want to get out of bed. His alarm clock went off and he grudgingly got out of bed. He trudged through his morning duties, which included cleaning up the mess from last night. His master had had another 'friend' over. By the time he had finished, he had no time to eat breakfast, and went to school on an empty stomach. He hadn't had lunch or dinner the day before, as he had been too busy working to pay off his master's debts.

Allen gulped as he walked through the doors to his new high school. He knew exactly how it would go down. He would go to the office, get his schedule and go to his first class. Then, throughout the day, the teasing would start. It wouldn't stop until someone new came after his master, and then they'd move to a new place, where the teasing would just start again. He walked into the office. "Excuse me? I'm Allen Walker, I'm the new student. I was told to come here to get my class schedule." The woman at the desk looked up at him. She started looking through some files, and pulled out a stack of papers. "There you go son, have a nice day." he smiled at her. "Thanks," he said He looked at his first period: English, with Miss. Lotto. He was already late, so he stuffed everything in his locker and rushed to his class. When he entered the room, everyone's gaze immediately fell on his hair, and his scar. Luckily, his sweatshirt covered up his arm. He felt uncomfortable under their gazes, and quickly walked to the teacher. He just kept his head down, making no eye contact. "Class, we have a new student today. This is Allen Walker. Allen, you can just sit over there by Miss Lenalee." Said Miss. Lotto, pointing to a black haired girl. He walked over and sat down next to her, never looking up from the floor once. As Miss. Lotto began her lecture, Lenalee leaned over and tried to make a conversation with Allen. "Psst, I'm Lenalee. You're names Allen, right?" He just nods. "How long have you been living here?" he looks at her. "Two weeks." He replies she nods and opens her mouth to say something else when Miss. Lotto snaps "Miss Lenalee, Mr. Walker, please be quiet." snickers can be heard all over the classroom and someone throws a note at Allen. He opens it and sees Hey there grandpa, shouldn't you be in the nursing home, or dying in the hospital? It'll probably be for the best. I don't know much about you yet, but I bet the world would be a much better place without you.

Allen sighs, and crumples the note. So it had started. Lenalee looked at him for a second, her eyes moving between his face and the note he held in his hands. "Alright class, to determine who your partner will be you will draw a name out of the hat. Allen, you can go first, if you like." Said Miss. Lotto He nodded in reply and reached his hand in the hat. Pulling out a card, he sees the name Lenalee Lee. Miss. Lotto takes the card from his hand, and looks at Lenalee. "Well, Miss Lee, it seems you'll be working with your new friend here." Allen looks at her, expecting to see a disgusted look on her face, but instead, she nods enthusiastically and smiles at him. He smiles a shy smile back. Maybe this school won't be so bad…

After class, Lenalee catches up with Allen as he's walking out the door. "So, I was thinking we should get going on the project today, you know, get it out of the way. But, we won't be able to come to my house 'cause my brother's working late today. Do you think we can go to your house?" "Umm… I really don't think that would be a good idea. You see-" Allen was cut off by Lenalee. "Please!" she said, giving him a puppy dog look. "Uh… I – I guess I could talk to Cross about it?" he says "Yay!" she says, giving him and peck on the cheek and bounding off to her next class. Allen touched his cheek where she kissed him. What have I gotten myself into? He asks himself, walking to his next class

The rest of the day passes in a blur for Allen. He and Lenalee also have third, fifth, sixth and seventh period together. Throughout the day, Allen had made a few new friends. There was Lavi and Kanda, even though Kanda pointedly tried to ignore everyone. Lenalee walked up to Allen as he was calling Cross on his old cell phone. She stops in her tracks though as she hears the conversation. "Please master? This could be my one chance to make some friends before we have to move again because of your inability to keep track of your money." There's a pause as Allen listens to the person on the other side of the phone. "I know, I'll get it done. I promise, I'll get the money before it turns violent. I'll work even harder. I'll even work double time! I'll skip dinner again. Just, let me have Lenalee over so we can work on the project." He says there's another pause, and then he replies "Just don't come home drunk again. Or with one of your little 'friends'. And yes, I'll clean the house, and I'll work, just say yes!" There's a bit of shouting, and then Allen hangs up the phone and sighs. Lenalee walks up to him. "What was that about?" she asks Allen jumps. "Oh, it was nothing! Just, you know… Anyway, let's get going shall we?" She notices how he changed the subject like that, but didn't push him. He'd open up to her when he was ready.

When they got to Allen's house, Lenalee was completely astonished at how run down it was. "You live here?" she asks "Yeah, it's not much, but it's all we can afford. It's better than our last house though, that's for sure." He laughs nervously, and leads her inside. Lenalee nearly bumps into him when he stops suddenly. She looks around him to see a man with long red hair and a strange mask. "Master! What… what are you doing here? I thought you were out." Allen says "I was, but I had to grab something." He looks at the mess in the living room "Clean this up, right now!" he says "B – but I have to work on my project with Lenalee." Allen splutters "I don't care what you do, just clean it up, you ungrateful brat." Cross says "Y… yes master." "Good. I took you off the streets, you should be grateful." Allen looks up at him. "I… I am grateful." He whispers "Then prove it!" Cross snarls "I need $2000 by tomorrow; I have a debt I need to pay off. Now, when I come home, this house better be clean, you hear me?" "Y – Yes." Allen whispers "Good." He says, sweeping out of the room Allen turns around to see Lenalee staring at him. "What was that about?" she asks "I'd rather not talk about it." Allen says, beginning to pick up the room "I'm sorry you had to see that. He's not normally home at this time. I'm kind of embarrassed, actually. Of course, it could be worse. He could be drunk, or," he shudders "With somebody. You definitely don't want to see that; keeps me up for so long. Anyway, let's get started, shall we?" Lenalee just stares at him. How can he be acting so carefree? Is this an everyday thing for him or something? "Uhh… yeah, sure." She replies Allen smiles, but if Lenalee looked hard enough, she could just see the pain and sorrow behind it. His eyes were expertly wiped of all emotion. It made her wonder if it's something he has to do often. She watched as he took off his jacket, revealing his crippled left arm. She walked over, and took his hand, examining it closely. "What happened?" she asked Allen looked away awkwardly. "Before Cross took me in, I had lived on the streets for a while. This gang had caught me resting in their area and wanted to make me pay for it." Allen gazed off into space as he remembered the events of that day.

A ten year old Allen Walker was lying asleep on a mat when all of a sudden; he was lifted off the ground roughly. He opened his eyes, and looked into those of a twenty something year old man. His arms were covered in tattoos, a sure sign that he was a member of a gang. "Hey kid, you shouldn't be here. This is our territory, and anyone who trespasses on it will be punished." Little Allen widened his eyes, and said "I… I'm sorry! I didn't know. I'll g… g… go right now, and I won't come back ever again." He pleaded "Sorry kid, but you've already trespassed, so now you've got to pay." The man smiled manically and withdrew a knife from his pocket. He shoved him onto the wall, and with careful, precise movements, cut a pattern on the left side of his face. When that was over with, he threw the knife away, and took out a lighter. "Alright, men, let's teach this punk a lesson." Little Allen screamed as they burnt his left arm. The entire arm had almost caught fire when a man appeared out of nowhere. All little Allen could remember as he passed out was that the man with long red hair had saved his life.

"Let's just say they probably would have killed me if Cross hadn't shown up." Lenalee just looked at him wide eyed. Allen was about to say something when she hugged him. "I'm so sorry that happened to you Allen!" she cried, sobbing into his shoulder. He was utterly clueless about what to do. This had never happened to him before. He decided to just put his arms around her and let her sob into his shoulder. Eventually, Lenalee stopped crying, and looked up at him. "Why were you on the streets, anyway Allen?" she asked "Well, well you see… I… I really don't like to talk about it." he said "That's fine; I can see it's a painful subject for you. Just know that if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here." Allen smiled. "Thanks Lenalee."