Chapter One: 100 years later.

A petite teenager stood, her face hidden by her cloak's hood, next to a grave. The writing on the grave was faded and smooth, a hundred years after it had first been made, but still legible.

"Hey, Mana. It's been a while, hasn't it? A year?" and a hundred years today since you died, she added silently.

Placing flowers on the grave, Rins began tidying up Mana's grave, returning it to the condition it had been years ago. Tears flowing down her face, she placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the headstone. Her grief had not truly dulled in the time since Mana's death, but she only let it show the one day a year she went to visit his final resting place.

The day seemed serene, with a clear blue sky and bright sunshine, but to Rins, she thought it should be stormy and grey, with thunder and lightning, rain and hail, to convey her grief to the world. But the sky stayed clear, and the sun remained bright.

A hundred and nine years since Mana had found Rins in an abandoned alleyway, she could still remember his words and his kindness.

(FLASHBACK)

"Hey, kid. Kid, wake up." A six year old Rins cracked open an eye to see a man in a top hat standing before her.

He had a kindly face with dark brown hair and brown eyes; he was dressed in a suit of some sort, but didn't look wealthy.

"What are you doing in this alley?" he asked her.

"S'where I live." She whispered.

"You live in this alley? Where are your parents?"

"They left. Said they didn't want the freak." Tears forming in her eyes.

A flash of anger appeared in the man's eyes, but was gone in an instant. "What's your name?"

"Rinsetta."

"Well Rins, how would you feel about coming with me? I could use the company."

Rins eyed him suspiciously, before asking, "What's your name?"

"Mana Walker."

"Alright. If you need a friend I guess it's all right."

Mana held out his hand a kind smile on his face. "Come on, then."

And slowly, Rinsetta warily placed her small hand in his, allowing him to pull her up from the cold, hard ground. He saw her left arm and didn't care. That was one of the many things Rins loved about Mana. He told her that everyone was unique, but some more so than others. It was his kindness that allowed her to grow, turning Rinsetta, the freak, into Rinsetta Walker, Rins for short.

(FLASHBACK END)

With a small smile upon her face, Rins stood up from beside Mana's grave. Mana had been the first turning point in her life. Without him, she surely would have died on the streets, starving and alone. But Mana had come and changed her life for the better, making her into Rinsetta Walker, daughter of Mana Walker, someone he could be proud of.

But still, she was lonely. She couldn't stay in any specific place longer than a few years before people noticed that she never aged. She longed for companionship, someone she could talk to. But she accepted that as impossibility. She was immortal, and so she performed her task of ridding the world of Akuma and setting the trapped souls free.

A sandy haired man with pleasant blue eyes approached her and asked, "Relative of yours?"

"Yes." She looked at the man, really looked, and what she saw was bad. She activated her arm and slashed through the man's body. It exploded, revealing that the man had been an akuma in disguise.

Though she didn't notice him, a middle aged man was watching her from the forest that stood next to the cemetery. He had been about to charge after her and kill her after she tore the man apart, but had changed his mind when the 'man' had exploded. Only akuma explode.

Some how, the person (AN: He couldn't tell if they were male or female under the hooded cloak) had been able to tell that a seemingly normal human was an akuma. This person was an enigma, something new and interesting. This person was unique.

General Cross of the Black Order was curious. Who was this person? How could they tell who was human and who was Akuma?

Meandering over to the grave the person had been standing by he read:

Mana Walker

December 1698-July 1, 1721

Beloved Father to Rinsetta Walker

The date today was July 1 1821. Why had the person been visiting a hundred year old grave? The mysteries kept growing and growing.

Turning to a golden golem, he said: "Timcampy, Follow!"

There was someone following her. She could feel their eyes on her back. They were quite persistent, this stalker, she thought. They weren't Akuma that much she knew, but she had absolutely no idea why they were stalking her. It wasn't as if they could see her from under here cloak, so it probably wasn't some perverted old man. Then again, she could be wrong.

Two hours later, feed up with some guy following her, she turned on her heel and started to rant.

"WILL YOU STOP FOLLOWING ME! ARE YOU A PERVERT OR SOMETHING? 'CAUSE IF YOU ARE, SO HELP ME GOD! I WILL DESTROY YOU! YOU AND YOUR DICK WILL BE A GREASY SMEAR ON THE GROUND ONCE I'M DONE WITH YOU! SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The stalker walked out from behind a tree. He was middle aged, with longish red hair, and an odd mask that covered half his face. He wore a black coat lined with gold and a symbol on the left side of it. It was the symbol of the Black Order, an order of exorcists. The gold meant he was a general, the highest rank an exorcist could get.

"Well, what does a perverted old exorcist want with me?" she asked angrily.

He held up his hands to show he meant no harm before saying, "I'm General Cross, kid. Not some pervert. I was following you so I could talk with you about becoming my apprentice. How did you know that man from the grave yard was an akuma?"

"Simple. I looked at him."

"So did I, but all I saw was some boring guy."

"I looked at him with my eye."

"How else would you look at him?" asked Cross, starting to get annoyed.

"With my feet. My eye is cursed to see akuma, dumb ass."

"Ah. That explains it. So, are you a boy or a girl?"

"I KNEW YOU WERE A PERVERT!"

"No! That's not what I meant!"

"PERVERT!"

"Shut up, brat! I'm not a pervert! I just wanted to know! Now, what do you say about becoming my apprentice?"

"."

"What?"

"As long as you don't touch me inappropriately, old man!"

"I'm not old!"

And so began the apprenticeship of the 115 year old girl, to the 45 year old man. Despite what he said to the contrary, General Cross seemed to be a total pervert, and also getting into debt at gambling dens/brothels/and bars. He forced Rins to pay off all his debts, which were numerous, using whatever money she managed to make for his own vices.

All in all, General Cross made her life hell on earth.