"Mama?" The orange-haired boy came back from his local scavenger hunt, hurrying back to his ill mother. The woman lays defenseless on the newspapers where the two sleep on countless nights. The lingering stench doesn't bother the two, as they're used to their own smell ever since.

"Hello, my sweet child."

The boy kneels right before her, tugging on her clothing for her attention.

"I found something for you." He holds up what appears to be the latest newspaper that was recently thrown out. The mother just smiles. Her voice was weak yet audible.

"That's good Crow. Now, I have something for you too."

She picked up a tuna can from the other side of her and passed it to her son.

"You must be hungry from all that searching. Come on, eat up." Her voice grows quieter within each sentence she makes, clinging onto her stomach in agony. It hurts, but the pain is nothing compare to seeing her own boy getting the necessities he needs for his own survival. The boy hesitates on her offering.

"But mama-"

"This is for you son."

"But when was the last time-"

"Please Crow…"

Her harsh yet fading voice made the boy take the can from her hands, starting eating up the tuna in hesitation. He tries feeding her some, but she rejects, telling him he needs all the food they could get. Crow just then starts feeling guilty upon each bite, watching her resting on the newspaper. She can barely see anymore, her hallucinations blurred her visions, sounds echoing in her head, unable to hear her son. The body feels more in pain, but it's nothing to make a sound about. She steadily got her arm around her boy, smiling upon him as he gets his fill. It's impossible to lift her limbs now, it's no use. The boy puts down the empty can and looked up to smile at her. There was no response from his dear mother however. He looks at her in puzzlement, shaking her and saying mama to her. Her skin is bitter cold to the touch, making the son move back in terror along with confusion. He starts shaking her again.

"Mama….. mama…. ma… ma! Mama…. ma! Mama!"

She didn't respond.

"Mama!"

...nothing. Her yet void eyes stares into space, no ability to move in any direction. She herself stopped moving. No response to the boy's call, as he continued calling out to her, hoping for any sign that she's listening. He doesn't know what to do anymore. Why is she ignoring me? What is she looking at? There's nothing to look at. Is there? He looks at her direction, and there's nothing there. Somehow she feels…. colder. Something's….missing from her now. He couldn't put his finger on it. He doesn't know how to react in this situation. She doesn't seem to be asleep, with her eyes open that is. The boys looks all around her anxiously, fixing his eyes to look for any sign of movement. He starts breathing rapidly, and shakes her again, this time more vigorously.

"MAMA!" He practically screamed, his voice cracking by the lump on his throat, as he slowly starts weeping uncontrollably. Tears came tumbling down to his chin, one by one falling onto the newspapers on the floor, making its way to the mother at rest.

"No, mama please! Wake up! PLEASE MAMA WAKE UP! MAMA! MAMA!" He screams out more. Still no response.

No passerby even bothered with the boy's trouble, he laying on top of his mother in distress, tears streaming down his face endlessly. He felt like he can't talk anymore, only making the noises as sobs over a body that was once awake… just now forever in slumber, in a cold state that can never be warmed. He knows now: He's on his own. There's no one else who can guide him through the difficulty. He wipes the tears away from his eyes, and sniffed. He hears something behind him, and quickly turned around and sees a tall figure just hovering over him. He wears a neat robe, with big sandals on his feet. He appears to be somewhat middle-aged, with some facial hair going on on his chin. His elongated face scared the boy at first, hurriedly cuddling against the body right beside him. Lifting an eyebrow at first, the man grinned in a generous manner and kneeled down with one knee, and looked straight into his eyes. He just smiled at the boy, making Crow flinch in confusion, unsure how to respond. He just chuckled at his cute expression.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt ya." He puts his hand out to the boy. After a while he finally took his hand, and the man got up but squatted so his hand is still holding his, walking together far from his outdoor home where he starts a new path for himself.

"Come on. Let's find something for you to start over with."

A/N: This is... well, something I didn't expect I would write. Anyways the man who found Crow, is supposedly Chojiro (as you may know him in ep. 60). This was inspired by the image I found online (it's the cover image I used for this fanfic). I believe I found the original artist by the source but I couldn't find it even there :/ so yeah pic's not mine!

I'm not really a good writer, am I'm more into drawing but I really felt like doing this. I was hoping to make this where I even made myself cry when writing this. I almost did, yet again I'm kinda sensitive that way ;n;

And because of the image I found I decided to make this a headcanon on what might've happened in Crow's childhood (since I don't believe the Reverse Zero incident happened in Arc-V as I'm aware of). If it did... woops :V

Hope you enjoyed... I guess. Let me know what you think~