Disclaimer: Don't own D.Gray-man, in any way.

Allen Walker sighed as she slumped beside her bed. She had made her first step towards fulfilling her promise to Mana. Trying to take her mind off such a serious matter, she sniggered as she wondered how the rest of the Order would react should they realise who she really was. After making sure that the door was locked tightly, she took off her shirt. Master had always joked that her chest was small; she only got an idea of how small they were when she saw Lenalee. She couldn't believe that the girl was just one year older than her. Then again, she had been raised as a boy for as long as she could remember...

Somehow, Mana treated her like a son. She didn't know why, but it served her well after she was picked up by her master. In fact, when she was much older, Cross told her that he, too, thought her to be a boy. He refused to say how he found out the truth, but Allen didn't mind. What she minded, was the things Cross taught her to observe, on top of his habits of womanising and pushing his debts to her. 'Firstly, never allow anyone to touch you there,' he had said, while pointing at her crotch. Again, he refused to elaborate further. Allen winced as she remembered how her master's companions tried to educate her on how to be more "lady-like". To be fair to Cross, the General did not approve of such stuff, but he had a practical problem: how do you explain personal hygiene matters which were uniquely female to a girl who thinks she's a boy? So, with her low gender awareness, she had fooled everyone who didn't know her well.

She looked at her Innocence arm. That guy named Kanda sure took her to be a man, after what he did. Then again, with no curves to speak of (unless one stared really hard), not to mention the fact that she was in men's garb, only a moron would think that she's a girl. Allen doubted that her identity would be exposed, unless she was the one who spoke of it. Maybe...

There was a knock on the door. Allen quickly put on her shirt and unlocked the door.

"Come in." It was Lenalee.

"So, how's everything so far," asked the girl as she stepped into the room. Allen smiled thinly.

"Apart from that scare at the beginning, I guess everything's fine," came the reply, as Lenalee sat on the bed.

"Good. Kanda's like that. So, try to ignore him if he gets on your nerves." Lenalee shrugged her shoulders, while Allen sat next to her.

"Is he so unfriendly even to you," asked Allen. In her mind, she expected that there would be differences as to how the samurai treated men and women.

"Well...he does try not to get physical with me when we argued. Trust me: he literally gives guys the proverbial kick in the groin if they rubbed him off the wrong way."

"Hmmm... I wonder what he'll say if I tell him I'm a girl?" Lenalee stared at the 'boy'.

"Allen, what did you say?"

"I guess you really didn't know then. Lenalee, I'm a girl." Despite the casualness of Allen's tone, Lenalee thought that she was able to faint.

"You... are a GIRL?" Lenalee resisted the urge to shout at the top of her voice. Allen casually (again) guided the lady's hand to her chest. Once Lenalee had felt it, there was no mistake. For good measure, she withdrew her hand quickly.

"Allen, why..."

"I was brought up like that. Master thought that it would be more convinent for me to go around as a boy." By now, Allen could guess what was Lenalee's second question.

"Oh, if you feel like telling others, you may do so. I'm really fine with it." Lenalee shook her head.

"No way! Truth be told, you're one of the few female Exorcists here. It's hard to stay sane with so many men around, especially my brother." The lady shook her head as she remembered THOSE times.

"I must warn you: I don't know what girls should be talking about." It has been a while since Allen have had any conversations on topics concerning women, and quite frankly, she had little stomach for them.

"Whatever. Your secret's safe with me, that's for sure. Well, I should leave you to your rest now. Kanda gave you a hard time just now." With that, she got up from the bed.

"Allen, could you do me a favour?"

"What is it?"

"Make sure you show these men how good we women can be as Exorcists."

"I'll try to keep that in mind. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" With that, Allen was again left alone in her room. Looking at her arm again, she knew that she would prove herself, if only because of Mana. She thought about Kanda, and Lenalee's warning. Looks like I'll have to be careful around him, she thought...

Afterthoughts

-Hope you guys enjoyed it. This takes place at the end of episode 3 in the anime. I would be following anime canon, for I feel some of the fillers were good.

-I wrote Allen as a girl who is not too worried about her gender issues, kinda like Haruhi from Ouran.