Around seven-thirty at night, the town gets bathed in the orange glow from the sunset. This town looked like any other normal town, but there was something vaguely different about it. If you looked around during the day, you wouldn't notice anything different. But if you go out at night, you would notice. Small, simple things that normally wouldn't catch your attention during the day. Small children, some as young as what appeared to be nine years old, walk the streets. You would see teenagers walking around half clothed and clinging onto old men and drunk women. You would see beggars, sitting on corners waiting for the business men to walk buy and provide them with the last bit of change they needed in order to eat that night. But what you would notice the most would be a small, white haired person. This person would either be sitting on the bench in front of an expensive resteraunt, or standing in front of a hotel. You would sometimes see him walk into the resteraunt with a man, or go into the hotel with a business man. Fairly often though, you would see him with a red haired male. Not the same one, but usually different ones. Sometimes you would see him with one man for several nights a week, usually one with flame-like red hair past his shoulders and a partial mask on the right half of his face.

This man is actually this white haired person's owner. Owner you say? That's right. Upon looking closer, you would see that this person is a S.H.E.M., but you don't really know what that is, do you? Let me tell you. An S.H.E.M. is a half human, half animal being that resulted from the N.O.A.H. Research Facility. Our dear S.H.E.M. happens to be one of the younger subjects. It is in fact a male, and as you look even closer, you can see small cat ears that are pulled back as if trying to hide in the boy's hair.

i!i!**!i!i

"GOOD MORNING NUTENBURG! Today is Tuesday October 18th, and this is Kida Schoff with today's headlines."

"Ugggggghhhhhhh... wha'timeisit...stop liccccckkkkkking mee Axellllllllll..." I rolled over and glanced at my alarm clock. After clicking it off, I looked at my dog. "Ugh...gawd, Axel, why did you wake me up? It's only 7:02. I don't have to be up until eight..." Axel replied to this by licking the side of my face and whining in my ear. "Fine, fine, I'm up. Now get off of me girl." I watched as my border-collie mix jumped off my bed and then proceeded to stare up at me. I lazily sat up and decided to take a shower. I sluggishly got up and walked into the conjoined bathroom. After I got in I turned on the waterproof radio I had placed on the sink.

"-almost three years after the explosion of the NOAH Research facility, the scientists behind the experiments have finally been caught. There are believed to be over two hundred researchers involved, but Berlin authorities have caught the majority of them. The researchers are set to go on trial next month, and police forces are asking that anyone who knows anything about these researchers to come forward-"

"What the hell? They just now found those bastards?" Seems they took their sweet time finding them. I glanced into my mirror. One side of my hair was stuck flat to the side of my face, and the other half was sticking up directly into the air as if defying gravity. It was also showing off my ear. Wonderful. I grabbed my brush off of the counter and began to brush out my hair. After that I went and turned on the water in the shower. I waited a couple minutes before undressing and then stepped into the warm spray. Ah, it felt good to have a shower this early. As the warm water ran over me, I thought back to the white haired boy I had seen last night. He looked so familiar. Almost like...no, I shouldn't think of him. It'll just get my memories going again. I decided that I should hurry and wash my hair. I grabbed my shampoo and poured some into my hand. After thoroughly lathering, I rinsed my hair and started to wash my body. I began remembering him, and how the last time we had seen each other we had been taking a bath. We were almost done when suddenly...

BOOM! The walls around the two young boys began to shake and crumble. Tiles were falling from the ceiling and the water abruptly cut off. The younger of the two who had brown hair clung to the other boy, a red-head with hair the color of cherries.

"Vi-chan, what's going on?" The smaller one asked.

"I'm not sure, Al, but I'm sure it was just some experiment gone wrong." As soon as the red head finished his sentence, an alarm started going off and a red light began to flash. The younger boy clung to the red-head and started to whimper. The red-head coaxed the younger boy back into the dressing room and helped him redress, but as he himself was putting his clothes back on, the roof started to fall in and he started to smell smoke. He could tell that something was seriously wrong, seeing as how no guards had come to retrieve them. Grabbing the smaller boy by the hand, the red-head started walking towards the door to the bathing room and was shocked when he tried opening the door.

'Drats! Locked!' The red-head had to find another way out. Looking around the room, he saw there was a small window. He went over to it and tried to open it, but it too was locked. Looking around again, the boy saw a fire extinguisher behind a glass case. He broke open the case with his shoe and then took it over to break open the window. After clearing away the extra shards of glass, the red-head lifted the younger boy onto his shoulders and told him to get out and run.

"I'll meet you outside. Go hide in a tree. I'll come for you, Al."

"No! I don't wanna go without you!" The younger boy clung to the red-head.

"Listen, I'm not small enough to fit through this window. You have to go." The boys flinched when another piece of the roof fell in, this time with fire coming in after it.

"Vi-chan, what's going on?" The young boy cried.

"Listen, you have to go, NOW." As he was pushing the younger boy out the window, he heard voices shouting for anyone who was still in the building. He looked at the young boy in front of him.

"Goodbye...I love you, Allen." The younger boy was then pushed the rest of the way out of the window. After pushing the boy out, he turned around and waited for the voices to get closer. Another segment of the roof fell, and this time it trapped the red-head under it. With flames licking at his back, the boy screamed for help. When he realized no one was coming, he frantically tried to get out from under the piece of tile. Out of nowhere, a hot piece of pipe flew towards him, lodging itself in his right eye. He let out a scream of pain before passing out.

I shook my head. No, this is no time to be remembering that day. I rinsed off what little soap was still on my body and decided that I would leave early to get some breakfast. I turned off the shower and grabbed a towel from the rack beside my shower to dry off with. After drying my hair some and drying off my body, I grabbed for some clean boxers, only to realize that in my half-asleep state, I had forgotten to grab a clean pair. I sighed before wrapping my towel around my waste and heading out of the bathroom and into my room. Axel was sitting patiently by my dresser with a pair of my green and black striped boxers hanging from her mouth.

"Axelll..." She started wagging her tail and walked over to me, placing my boxers in my hand. I patted her head and then pulled on my boxers. Looking around, I found my work pants and a black button up shirt. The good thing about the hotel where I work, it doesn't matter what shirt you wear so long as it's plain and the pants you wear are black slacks. I looked at the clock beside my bed, noting that I had unintentionally spent forty-five minutes in the bathroom. Oh well, at least I have time to go get some food and still be early. I grabbed my keys from the bowl on my dresser and walked out of my room and into the kitchen. I saw that Gramps had stopped by and left my monthly allowance on the fridge. I grabbed that too, along with my checkbook and wallet which were sitting on the counter. I walked to the door and grabbed my coat. I had already put my eye-patch on, so instead of grabbing that, I instead grabbed my cell phone, which had been charging by the door, and put it in my coat pocket. I could feel it vibrating, signifying that I had new messages, but I decided to ignore them for now. I pulled on my boots and flicked the light switch off, heading out the door. I locked the door after closing it and started walking down the hallway. As I rounded the corner to the elevators, I saw a glimpse of silver hair as the doors were closing. I noticed that the elevator was going up, so instead of frantically trying to get to that one, I just pressed the down button on the other elevator. After going down into the lobby, I waved to the secretary sitting at the front desk.

"Good morning, Lena~!" I said as I bounced over to where the girl was sitting. This girl, Lenalee Lee, had been a friend of mine during high school. Her brother owned the apartment building I lived in.

After chatting with her for a few moments, I left and walked to a little corner restaurant that was open for breakfast. I walked in and was greeted by a cute girl welcoming me back. I chose a corner table and ordered a cup of coffee. I sat for a few minutes while waiting on my coffee to arrive. Shortly after I received it, I heard the bell on the door jingle and a short boy with silver hair came in the door. He was wearing a short half-shirt and a pair of overly baggy TRIPP pants with many, many bracelets on his wrists. On his left arm, he had white bandages wrapped all the way up to his armpit. I wonder what that's for...? He looked like he was looking for someone. He looked over at me and smiled, then waved. I was a bit confused, but I waved back. I must have been staring at him. After turning away from me, he walked over to a table where a girl with pink hair was sitting. She looked up at him with a pissed off look, but then it looked like he was explaining something to her and she ruffled his hair. He looked excited over something. When the waitress came over to my table, I hardly paid any attention to her other than ordering my breakfast and kept staring at the young boy. I saw him get up and excuse himself, probably to go to the bathroom. I looked up when I heard the door open and watched him. On his way back to the girl, he flicked his hair out of his eyes and I saw something red. He took a clip out of his pocket and pinned his hair back and I saw what the red thing was.

It was a scar, and deep one by the looks of it. It went from above his eye in an upside down pentagram shape and down past his eye, continuing down his cheek. On his cheek bone there was another part of the scar crossing over his cheek. I must have been staring at him, for he put his hand up to cover the scar until he sat back down. I pulled out my phone, deciding that I had gawked enough. I noticed that my food had arrived and was already starting to get cold, so I started to eat while checking my messages. Three from Facebook; One from my boss, asking if I could come in early; And one from my friend Kanda Yuu. I also had a voicemail, but I ignored that for the moment. After finishing my omelet, I got up and paid my bill, then walked on to work.

i!i!i**i!i!i

Okay, so you'd think that Master would let me have peace for one day, right?

Wrong.

I woke up early this morning, hoping to get some time to myself before he woke up, but I guess he beat me to it. Not only did he throw me out for the day, but he told me to get a job since he had acquired more debts. AGAIN. After throwing me out in nothing but my boxers, I tried to get back inside, but to no avail. The door was locked and I didn't have my key. Great. And I don't have any clothes either. Luckily I have a friend who lives three floors above me. I peeked down the hall and seeing as how there was nobody there, I darted for the elevators. I got in the first open one and clicked the button for the 16th floor. Right as the doors were closing, a red head walked around the corner. Thankfully he didn't see me. I don't care so much that I'm almost naked, I'm just glad he didn't see my arm. That would have been bad. After a few seconds of going up, the elevator stopped and I walked out. I turned the corner and walked down to P38 where my friends Johnny and Tap live. I knocked on the door and waited until I heard Johnny knock over something on his way to the door. I heard something knock over, but I don't think it was Johnny. I waited patiently until I heard the door unlock and saw Lou Fa's head peep around the door.

"G-g-good M-m-morning, Mr. Walker. Pl-please, come i-in." She seemed a bit flustered.

"Sorry Miss Lou Fa. I'm not exactly decent right now." I said, scratching the back of my head nervously. I walked past her and walked into the kitchen where I saw Johnny and Tap drinking coffee. They looked at me and sighed. I shrugged and took a seat next to Tap. Johnny looked at Lou Fa and told her to try and find something for me to wear. I told her that I would explain later, after I was wearing clothes. It was obvious she had a crush on me. Too bad I've already got someone in my sight. I looked up from the spot on the table that I was staring at and was greeted by the confused looks of my friends. I gave them a quizzical look.

"Allen, where are your cat ears? And tail?" Johnny asked.

"Oh...uhmm..." I laughed nervously. I had become so used to hiding them that I forgot and just did it naturally. I sighed and release my ears from the side of my head and let them twirl around freely. I also uncurled my tail from around my hips and let it swing freely back and forth.

"Ah, there they are." Tap said. My ears twitched as he talked. I heard Lou Fa rustling about in her room. A few minutes later she came back out holding a pair of black and red pants and a shirt. I excused myself from the room after she handed them to me and headed to the bathroom to change. Not like it really mattered. As I was pulling on the pants, I realized they were, for starters, way too big. They fell off if I didn't hold them up. Thankfully, Lou Fa had given me a belt. I fastened the belt on the tightest notch. After securing the pants, I pulled on the shirt, which turned out to be a half shirt. I felt kind of exposed, but that's alright. I've worn this outfit before, just the pants were a bit less baggy that time. I finished adjusting the clothes and then returned to the table. I found that master knew I had come here and came to drop off my cell phone. At least I had it now. I checked the messages and saw one from Fo, asking-or rather, telling- me to come to the little cafe on the corner of the street that we always met up at. I quickly typed a reply and told Johnny and the others that I had to go. I bounded out the door and went back down to the elevators. I had to hold my pants up a little, but once I was in the elevator I tightened my belt some more so that they wouldn't fall down. After I got to the bottom floor I walked out towards the lobby and waved to the receptionist. She smiled and waved as I walked out the doors. I walked along the edge of the sidewalk and after a few minutes I found myself standing outside of the little cafe that Fo wanted to meet me at. I figured she had already gone inside and ordered, so I walked in. I stood in the doorway for a minute and looked around for her. I didn't see her right away, but instead I saw a bright head of flaming red hair. I looked at him for a minute and smiled. I also waived since he seemed like a nice person. He smiled and waived back. He looked a bit confused, but I can understand that. I looked to the other end of the building and saw Fo sitting by the window. She was staring intently at a box in front ofer her. I started to walk over towards her when she looked up and saw me. She waved, and I went and sat down.

"You're late, Walker." Fo said as she ruffled my hair.

"Stop that!" I said and pushed her hand away. "What's in the box?"

"Oh, just something. You'll see, Allen. Now, why were you so late?" She glared at me.

"I had to get some clothes from Miss Lou Fa again. Master Cross kicked me out early this morning without any clothes nor my cell phone." I sat back in my chair and huffed. Seems like everytime I have to meet someone somewhere public, Cross kicks me out with no clothes. But oh well. At least I don't have to deal with him all day. Afer explaining the rest of my morning I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. Very Badly. I excused myself from Fo and walked towards the bathroom. I could feel eyes on me but I didn't want to look back. Before walking in the bathroom, I knocked on the door. After hearing no answer, I assumed it was safe to go in. I opened the door and flipped the light switch on, seeing that the small bathroom had been freshly cleaned and restocked pretty recently. After doing my business and washing my hands, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My white cat ears glared back at me, followed by my grey-blue eyes and lastly, my bright red scar. Most of the time, this scar was hidden by my hair; However I just recently got a haircaut and it was now mostly visible. I decided I had done enough gawking and wanted to get some food. I opened the door to the bathroom and immediatly found bright green eyes staring at me from across the cafe. It was the red-head from before. I could feel my face heat up a little, so I stared down at the ground while I walked back to my table. On the way to the table, my bangs were getting on my nerves, so I pulled a bobby pin from the pocket of Lou Fa's jeans (She always leaves them in there) and pinned them back. I went and sat down across from Fo again and she resumed complaining about Cross. After a while I excused myself, saying that I had to go apply for some jobs in order to pay off my debts. I didn't think anyone would hire me like I'm dressed now, but perhaps i'll get lucky?

About an hour after I left the cafe, I had applued to almost every place I could think of working...with no luck. Most people looked hesitant to take my application, and I had even seen a few people throw it away after they thought I had left. Now I'm standing outside a hotel, debating on going in to see if they need any help.

"Hey, Kid! Yeah you!"

I looked over and saw a guy with blonde hair coming towards me. I don't recognize him though...should I be worried?

"Do you need a job? Yes? Good! I have the perfect one for you! And no, it's not what you're thinking! I promise!"

i looked around worriedly and was dragged into the hotel lobby. The blonde guy dragging me looked at the lady behind the desk and said some words to her, but I couldn't hear them. After they exchanged some words, the blonde guy took me to the elevator and swiped a key card. He pressed a small, round black button and looked over at me.

"Don't worry, it's not some weird job. I'm just taking you to see the manager. He'll like you, I'm sure of it."

How could I not worry? I'm being practically forced down into an office with some guy I don't know, and I'll be getting some weird job! Who wouldn't be slightly worried? Then again I have done some weird things to pay off Master's debts. But those are usually prearranged and with people I know or have been briefed about... After going down in the elevator for a little while, The doors opened and we walked into a very...dark hall. It was mostly black but had red, orange, and purple accents. there were a few potted plants here and there. There were also a couple paintings. As we walked down the hall I felt an impending sense of doom. Not only did the hall seem to go on forever, there was less and less lighting. The farther we went the darker it was. Right as I was about to turn and run the opposite direction, the blonde man came to a halt. We turned and looked at a huge door. It had intricate carvings and two lions were the main center of interest. They drew my eyes in and I couldn't believe that something like this existed down here of all places. The blonde man pressed a button near the door and I heard a beeping sound. The doors opened suddenly and I was greeted by bright lights and horribly tacky decorating.

"Lavi, I have brought someone who I think would fit the description!"

"Oh have you now?" I heard from somewhere out of my range of vision. "Short, curious looking, innocent face?"

"Yepp! Sure have! And here he is!" Suddenly I was shoved forward. I lost my balance a little and once I regained it...

"You!"