Disclaimer - I do not own D Gray Man

Chapter Four - Debt

As the days passed and Allen became accustomed to the personality of his new Master several things became obvious about Cross Marian. The first was the fact that the man had an abrasive personality toward anyone who wasn't beautiful and female. The second was that Cross liked the finer things in life, good food and fine wine. And the third, which was the most important as far as Allen was concerned, was that he didn't like to pay for the finer things in life.

This last lesson had to be learned the hard way of course. As a matter of fact most things concerning his Master had to be learned the hard way, he was coming to realize. He had been sitting in the floor of a room that they were renting, making every effort to sink into the floor, when Master Cross had suddenly turned his attention toward him. "Idiot apprentice."

Allen had glanced up in acknowledgement of the fact that Cross had spoken. He wasn't particularly fond of answering to idiot apprentice but he knew that his Master would get angry if he chose to ignore him and that was far worse than the insult. "Yes Master?"

General Cross had glared down at the boy, peering at the kid over the rim of his little half glasses. There was a gleam in his one visible eye as he focused his attention on Allen for the first time that day. "We need some money to pay for this room so go out and find a job."

Allen's eyes had widened and for a moment he had hesitated, as though certain that his Master was joking. Later he would berate himself for having sought such a thing; he was well aware of the fact that Master Cross didn't have a sense of humor.

Narrowing his eye angrily Cross got to his feet and walked over to the spot where Allen was kneeling. For a brief moment the boy wondered what his Master was going to do but he didn't have to be curious about it for long. Leaning down Cross had seized him by the back of his shirt and, without hesitation, had walked over to the door and tossed him outside.

"You had better have some money when you return idiot apprentice," Cross had warned before slamming the door in his face.

That had been earlier in the morning and Allen was near exhausted from the job that he had found, carrying water for a group of miners. The bucket was heavy and Allen had to use both hands just to carry it. The task wasn't helped by the mitten that he wore to obscure the deformity of his left hand but Allen would rather suffer more and have to work harder than remove it. So far the people here accepted him and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that fragile acceptance.

Even though he was just a kid they had been kind enough to give him a job and his stated wages were fair if not a large amount. It was his job to go around to all of the workers so that they could get a drink if they wanted to without having to stop work long enough to go to the well.

This definately wasn't what he had expected when he had agreed to become Master Cross' apprentice and, not for the first time, the child began to wonder if he'd made a mistake by going with the man. He had yet to learn anything about being an Exorcist. The only things that Master Cross had taught him was what a foul tempered human being he was.

"This is worse than my life before Mana," the child thought to himself as he filled the bucket with cold water from the well. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow before hoisting the bucket and making his way back toward the workers. "At least then I could just run away from the people who were causing me pain."

Allen supposed that he could run away from Master Cross as well but then how would he keep the promise that he had made to Mana? The thoughts of Mana brought a stream of tears to the child's eyes and he thought for the first time that perhaps he deserved the suffering that he was enduring. Maybe this was a fitting punishment for someone who had sinned against God.

"Are you alright kid?" one of the workers asked, having noticed the tears that were flowing from the child's gray eyes.

Realizing that people had stopped their work to stare at him Allen nodded and, placing the bucket on the ground, wiped furiously at his eyes. Once all traces of the tears had been removed the boy picked up his bucket and offered the workers a wide smile.

This was Allen's first lesson on smiling through the pain.

In later years he would perfect the art of putting on a smile and acting happy even when on the inside his heart was breaking. He would practice diligently because he simply didn't like to see other people unhappy and would strive to make other people happy even when he himself was miserable. This was in his personality and it wasn't something that he really wanted to rid himself of. Having suffered more than anyone should ever have to Allen made it a point to keep other people from having to suffer. He wanted people to be happy and he wanted to help them stay that way if it was in his power to do so.

"I can't believe that I actually thought he was joking," Allen thought to himself in disgust as he slowly made his way back to the inn where he and Master Cross were staying. In his hand he clutched a small stack of bills, his wages for the work that he had done that day. He knew that it wouldn't be enough to satisfy Cross but what could he do? "I knew that the jerk didn't have a sense of humor."

A loud growling sound interrupted Allen's complaints and he stopped in his tracks and grabbed his stomach. He suddenly remembered that he hadn't had anything to eat since early that morning and he moaned as though in pain. "So hungry..."

The loud complaints of his stomach served to speed up Allen's progress back to the room and, before long, he arrived at the inn. The child made his way to the room that he was sharing with Master Cross and he opened the door a small degree before he was halted by high pitched laughter.

Allen froze; there was no way that such a noise had came from his Master.

"Idiot!" Cross yelled, walking over to the door and glarng down at the child. He had been enjoying Allen's absense and wasn't happy that the boy had returned at such an inoportune time. He was currently entertaining a very lovely brunette who was fascinated by the fact that he was a General and he wasn't pleased with the interuption.

Completely oblivious to his Master's displeasure Allen held up the small stack of bills.

Cross snatched the money from the child, quickly counted it, and then frowned. "Is this all you got?" The tone of his voice was accusatory, as though he thought that Allen was holding back. The little boy nodded and, after another glare to make sure that his apprentice was telling the truth, Cross abruptly slammed the door in his face.

"Master!" Allen whined pitifully.

"I'm busy right now so make yourself scarce," Cross ordered from inside the room.

"But I'm hungry," Allen complained loudly, his hunger over riding his sense of self preservation.

The door opened and the look on Cross' face promised that if Allen made so much as another sound he would kill him. And judging by the look on the man's face the death would be slow and painful. Allen cringed as his Master reached for something but he was pleasantly surprised when Cross tossed out a large loaf of bread. "There. Now go the hell away brat."

Timcanpy managed to escape the room while Cross had the door open and the little golem settled himself upon Allen's head. Clutching the loaf of bread to his chest as though afraid that his Master might try to take it back the little boy turned and began to walk away.

The door banged shut behind him and the voices of Cross and the woman resumed their laughter.

"I didn't even know he could laugh," Allen thought bitterly as he took a bite of the bread.

Allen had no idea where he was expected to go while his Master entertained the woman so he just wandered around aimlessly for awhile. He and Cross had arrived in this town the day before so he spent some time getting to know the area since Master Cross had hinted that they might spend some time there. The boy didn't know how much time the man meant but decided that he would know when it was time to leave when Cross told him that it was. Until then it wouldn't hurt to know where things were.

A/N - And Allen got his first taste of paying off General Cross' debts in this chapter. Poor kid, I'm amazed that he turned out as nice as he did. Mana must have done something right. Something that not even Cross could undo. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Allen: Agh, the horror! I'm scarred for life!
Cross: Shut up, idiot apprentice. And what are you even doing here?
Allen: Huh?
Cross: You have debts to pay. You should be out working, not here running your mouth.
Allen: 'Falls to the floor and lies in the fetal position, twitching.'
Cross: 'Kicks at the kid with the toe of his boot' Are you dead?