Author's Note: Profanity is more than welcome here. The saintly (and/or innocent) should stay away from this page; otherwise be in danger of damaging their fragile minds and continue reading.

You have been warned.

"Just get me the fuckin' beer, you damn_!"

"C-coming, sir!"

"How long do you plan to keep me waiting for that cigarette?"

"But, sir, I_"

"Allen! Get your ass over here!"

"Y-yes?"

Allen was literally spinning on his heels at the amount of errands from his several masters. Apparently, he had been pulled into a mess involving the yakuza and was forced to work under the most influential gang in the city… as an all-around helper.

And obviously, it had something to do with Cross Marian's debts.

A remarkable pentagram-like scar ran above his left eye, extending into a thin line that lightly traced his eyelid, all the way down his pale cheek. His hair was dyed an unusual white and his eyes a rare glint of gray, making him stand out more than he deems necessary.

He was sure he didn't look human. Otherwise, people wouldn't have called him 'cursed'.

Allen sighed.

He then hurriedly went on to finish his tasks.

Luckily, the boss allowed him to go home and even attend school during the day. But still, Allen had to rush to their place right after classes, and stay until he is finally allowed to leave at some time past midnight. It was hectic, he admitted, but he had experienced worse before.

He was privileged of such encounters, courtesy of Cross and his goddamn debts—again.

"I'm home…"Allen wearily announced upon entering his apartment, greeted by the comforting silence of the room. There, he at least got to relax his shoulders a bit and loosen up, he thought.

He closed the door behind him, careful as to not make any noise that could be of nuisance to his next door neighbour Kanda.

Allen remembered how rough it went the last time he accidentally woke up the sensitive bastard: when he engaged in a heated argument with him in the middle of the night and ended up waking the entire neighbourhood, Kanda managing to sneak into his own room peacefully before the land lady arrived and severely berated poor Allen, who was later forced to apologize to the other residents.

Allen and Kanda have harboured a mutual resentment for each other since that fateful incident, either of the two occasionally dropping offensive words against the other and starting a fight. Not that they were in good terms beforehand, anyway. Besides, Allen was not exactly in the mood to argue right now.

The fifteen year-old shrugged, veering his thoughts away from the matter before he could begin recollecting more unpleasant memories. He then slid his feet into a pair of faded green slippers before finally stepping further inside.

He lived in a low-class medium rise apartment building somewhere in the city's suburbs and owned the cheapest available unit located at the furthest left of the third floor. It was the best he could afford at the moment—given that he still has debts and other financial concerns regarding Cross to deal with—but he saw to it that he had the interior well-maintained and neatly kept.

"I'm dead tired,"Allen's voice was hoarse. Not long after, he threw himself unceremoniously into the couch, as if to prove his point. Feeling uneasy, he shifted to his side and nearly fell asleep, if not for his grumbling, empty stomach. He hadn't really gotten anything to eat after lunch and by the time he had finished his work, practically every convenience store in the area was already closed.

Unfortunately, he was poor and there were literally no supplies left inside the mini ref he had. Wait, he didn't even have a refrigerator in the first place. He sold it to a second-hand thrift store a few days ago, Allen just recalled.

Propping himself up with an elbow, he glanced at the alarm clock placed on a small table beside the sofa. 3:45am, it read.

Great, he was starving to the point that even his memory was malfunctioning and school was to start in a few hours.

Now, he could feel pain throbbing violently in his head.

"Allen, keep walking. We're almost there."

But the little boy was already tired and cold and hungry. He could barely keep up with Mana, who steadily paced along the frozen streets of the city.

The surroundings were entirely foreign to Allen, but he didn't mind. He had been constantly moving to different places with Mana ever since he was adopted by the man, after all.

But Mana had already stopped working as a clown for a travelling circus a year ago, so the boy could not understand why they still had to move all the time.

Mana wouldn't tell him the reason why, either. Not that he needed to know anyway.

As long as he and Mana were together, nothing else really mattered to him. Well, nothing else but the rest that he badly needed right now— and food — mattered to him, at the very least.

"M-mana… Mana, wait for me!"

The boy cried, clumsily dragging his feet towards the tall figure in a top hat that was just a few meters ahead of him.

Strangely though, Mana simply ignored him and continued walking deeper into the crowd until he finally disappeared from the young Allen's sight.

"Mana, where are you going? Don't leave me alone!"

Allen could not figure out Mana's odd behaviour but he clearly understood that Mana was about ready to leave him behind.

He was going to be alone again. Allen didn't want to be alone.

"Mana, don't leave me alone… d-dad!"

"Ugh, my head hurts like hell."

Damn it. Scratch that last comment. He ached all over, his skin felt sore and tingling.

Allen stirred, mumbling sleepily before he finally opened his eyes. But dazzled by the sudden brightness of the room, he immediately retreated to his sleep. What a weird dream, he thought, and who on earth was that Mana?

"Stupid apprentice, what are you still lazing around for?"

Now, he was hearing voices. What next?

"Get your fuckin' ass off that couch and fix me something to eat, will you?"

How funny, it actually sounded too real. Wait. That voice… Wasn't that_

"If you don't get up in three seconds, I swear I'm making you pay double the usual bills until next year."

…his master, Cross'?

"That settles it. I'll see to it that you will be working your ass off, big time."

Allen jolted up, momentarily forgetting about his headache.

He had to stare for quite a while before finally getting a good focus of the apartment and still couldn't believe that his master was actually there, standing inside the room: trademark hat, weird half-mask, messy red-hair, cigarette, expensive-looking coat and all.

"I'm leaving. Take care, baka deshi! And I'm making it triple, by the way."

"M-master, wait_"

THUD! Cross slammed the door shut after opening it, but remained inside.

Startled though, Allen crashed into the cold stone floor when he tried to stand up; incidentally tripping on the blanket that had loosely hung over him.

It was 10:47am (he missed school) and his master, who was gone for the past few months, was back (but he certainly did not miss Cross).

He sighed. Then he wondered.

Where did that blanket come from anyway? He doesn't remember taking one out from the drawers.

'Don't tell me…'

He shifted his gaze to Cross, who was apparently peeping at some girl outside through the now slightly open door. The man even whistled, his perverted thoughts clearly written all over his face.

Allen shivered. Not Cross, no way, don't even think about it.

Author's Note (again): That's it for the first chapter of my first fanfic, yay! Well, there won't really be any pairing in this story. If that disappointed you, I'm sorry. I'm not really good at writing romance so.. yeah.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate a review (you're welcome to criticize my work; if you find it worthy of such, that is), or even just a simple comment to motivate (me) :3

Thanks for reading!

P.S. This is called 'fan fiction' for a reason. Meaning, the author of this story does not claim to own any of the characters or whatever copyrighted material related to the original work of the original author. It is written for entertainment (and sometimes tribute) purposes only. Please forgive me for stating the obvious, I just had to OTL