A/N: A big thank you to poisonapplecat, Lena-luvs-cats, Storm VII, and Takei Daloui for reviewing!(: I really appreciate your interest, and I hope not to disappoint! :D

Enjoy!(:

Disclaimer: I totally own this manga! I have a whole bunch of the volumes right there on my bookshelf! :D … Unfortunately, I can't actually claim any rights to it. What a bummer… ._.

Chapter 1

Time Frame — Morning of January 8th, 1896

—3rd Person POV—

~Allen~

Allen wanted to kill himself… and that was putting it mildly. Restraining a sigh, he sunk further into his seat, burying his head between his arms against the desk, before peeking up, arms still covering the lower side of his face and hood pulled over to cover his brilliant white hair, his moonlit eyes the only thing visible at this point. And if he appeared to be acting rude—well, as of now, he was starting to care less and less.

The journey to Rose Cross Academy had taken way longer than it should have—he had accidentally taken a couple of wrong turns—but he had eventually made it to the sprawling grounds of the school at the edge of a large town (according to rumor, the Black Order HQ also resided somewhere nearby). And fortunately for the young teen, it also included room and board. Allen had only just arrived earlier that morning, and he had run into Supervisor Komui of the Black Order. Apparently he'd been in to check on his precious sister, but the jubilant man had been all too happy to help him get registered in before showing him to his room to drop his stuff off (thankfully, his unknown roommate had not been in the room), and finally dropping him off at his second class of the day.

According to his schedule, he had only just missed his Arithmetic class, and was currently suffering in HWA (Holy War Archives), where they not only studied the events of the last war, but focused especially on the opposing side. Mostly conditioning, just in case the tentative truce with the current Earl ever broke. Allen was at least somewhat relieved that Cross had informed him that he went by the name of Neah Walker. Though the curiosity was still killing him, it was better to have found out then, rather than here, surrounded by strangers. Then again, it might have at least broken the monotone. Allen didn't understand why, but the little old man currently teaching them wasn't going over anything he didn't already know.

"Now, who can tell me why Neah Walker turned traitor against the original Millenium Earl, Adam?" his teacher, Bookman, asked.

Bored, silver eyes flitted about the classroom, curious as to which of the Exorcists would answer. Most of them seemed distracted though, messing around or simply falling asleep. It was all very… unimpressive. Only a couple of the girls had raised their hands to answer. But in a surprising show of force, Bookman took a thick tome and tossed it to the ground, the echoing thump startling everyone into attention.

"Glad to see you're all so invested in the lesson," Bookman remarked dryly.

"Aw, come on Gramps!" a tall readhead—the same one that Allen saw blowing spit-wads at the angry Japanese—complained, slouching back and crossing his arms. "Why do we have to run over all of the material again?"

The Bookman swung a wooden stick out of nowhere and hurled it at the loud redhead, who unfortunately, wasn't able to dodge and got smacked across the head. "Damn it, you old geezer!"

Bookman seemed unperturbed. "Maybe if you were to pay closer attention, you'd notice that I was doing so for the sake of the newcomer." At this, everyone curiously glanced around, until their collective gaze finally landed upon Allen's hunched form. He refrained from sighing. "Now, do you know the answer to my question?"

Realizing that the old teacher was staring right at him, Allen straightened up slightly, taking a second to recall the question before quietly responding, "After Neah Walker discovered that the Millenium Earl, who went by the name Adam when human, was in actuality his twin brother Mana, he felt betrayed. In a fit of anger, he slaughtered the whole of the Noah Clan, including the Earl, before taking the position for himself."

Bookman seemed pleasantly surprised by his answer, and prodded, "And why did Neah not continue the war against the Black Order?"

Allen dredged up an answer from old, muddled memories of the stories Cross would tell him as a kid, before replying, "For one, as a human, he was friends with General Cross, giving him ties to the Black Order. He's also uninterested in destroying the human race, and his current plan is to await the next generation of Noah, so that he can take control without another war breaking out. Even then, the truce is quite fragile."

Everyone was gazing at him curiously now, as if slightly confused by some of the revelations. Only Bookman and the redhead seemed unsurprised. "And do you know what the Earl plans on doing once the next generation awakens."

Allen shrugged, slightly stumped. "I don't believe the Earl has elaborated, though that will probably be the turning point; it's when we'll find out whether he means what he says."

"Very good," Bookman nodded. "… And your name was?"

Though Allen was sure that he already knew, he eventually concluded that Bookman was doing it for the benefit of the class. And though he also knew there would be consequences, he eventually resigned to the curious stares and answered, "Allen Walker."

The class broke out into furious whispers, and Allen was pretty sure he heard someone call him the Earl's "love child". He cringed, turning slightly green at the thought, glad that the hood of his new Exorcist coat shadowed most of his face, and then proceeded to ignore the rest of the murmurs. Thankfully, Bookman called the rest of the class to attention and he proceeded to bury his head back into his arms.

A/N: Surprised by the short length? Yeah, I'm trying this thing out where I do extremely short chapters but update either daily or every other day. What do you guys think? Should I just go back to the longer chapters? I just thought it'd be good practice, you know, forcing myself to write at least a thousand words a day rather than four thousand on the weekend.

Review please!(: