Hello-! I haven't really uploaded for a long time, but this is a D. Gray-man fic. This a warning, but this story will LONG. Please be patient with it, and I'm pretty sure you will not be disappointed. It is also rated M for violence in later chapters.

IMPORTANT: You may see that in the Chapter headings thing that the chapters are split into Acts or what not, but this is all ONE story, not a series of storys or mini-storys. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man.

Everything in this story is a work of fiction, and so does not have any correlation with real people, places, etc. and if it does or seems like it I assure you it is a coincidence.

"Why did Mama have to die, Mana?" My little brother had asked me then.

"I don't know." I had told him, my mouth set in a firm, thin line.

"Aunty said that God took her away because she was too good for us. Why did God take her away?"

"She was lying. Like when she lied to us about Uncle and she taking good care of us." He had blinked his bruised eyelids, putting a purple finger to his lips.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where you aren't ever going to get hurt by anyone."

"How about Mana?" I remained silent. "Mana?"

"I'm going to stay with you so you don't get hurt." Silence had reigned as the rain had gone pitter-pat upon the pavement.

"Is it going to be rough? Finding the place, I mean? Like those stories Mother used to tell us?" I had smiled sadly at him.

"Yeah." Maybe then it was because of the rain. Without meaning to, tears had just come out. I had not been crying that time, I had not felt sadness; tears just spilled out of my eyes. My brother had watched me then, mystified. "Yeah. 'cept that we'll find a place. And when we do, and everything's over, we can say 'Well done' and be happy." My brother had nodded solemnly.

"Wait, Mana! Mana, wait!" My little brother huffed after me, trying to catch up.

"You idiot! Hurry up already! That guy'll catch up with us any minute!" I yelled over my shoulder at him as I sprinted down the alleyway. Sure enough, when I turned around, our pursuer was only a short distance behind my brother. We had just managed to take what would be our first meal of the day from a street vender. It wasn't stealing, we needed it, and the street vender dropped it anyway. It wasn't wrong in any way possible. But adults are so contradictory. Even though it was his own fault, and even though they were bruised fruit that no one would want to buy, that vendor came after us with the intention to kill us.

"You brats! I'll kill you for trying to steal!" Hah. Hah. I started to pant louder and louder as I tried to run faster and faster. Such a stupid vendor. Another person could be stealing his wares just as he's chasing us right now. Suddenly the world seemed to have turned upside down as I tripped on a rock.

"Mana!" I heard my brother yell. Darnit! The vendor was upon him, his cruel, distorted features leering wickedly at him as he panted from running. I turned back and rammed into the vendor.

"Run!" I yelled, as I tried to scramble up and run again. But I was not so lucky. The vendor grabbed me from the back and flung me down, successfully knocking the breath out of me.

"You …will never…steal from my stall…again!" He grabbed my leg as I was pulled from the ground. Thwack. With his arm he hurled me down to a nearby concrete wall. Dizzy, I tried to get up but this time he grabbed me by the front of my shirt. I looked to see his face, filled with cruelty as his fist smashed into my cheek. Tears started to streak down my face as he slugged me, again and again. Where was my brother? I looked through the punches. The vendor punched me in the stomach, his face a mask of triumph.

"Crying, are we? You should have known that this might happen if you stole, you bastard offspring of some whore!" Thwack. Blood started to stream out of my mouth. Thwack. Thwack. Crack. "AAGH!" I cried out in pain as his punch hit one of my ribs, breaking it. "You're dead! Even your-" Smash. -he flung me towards the wall - "-brother, is it? Even he left you-" –Kick-"You're so pitiful, you should be thankful that I'm gonna kill you-" Kick. I glared at him through my blurry vision in anger. What a coward. The vendor noticed.

"What's with the look in your eyes?" He said, a bead of sweat running down his face. "A cornered rat-" Thwack "-Should act more-"Thwack "-like the miserable scum you are!" Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Punches upon punches rained upon me. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. I saw red, my consciousness starting to become bleak. Did he get away safely?

"Shit." I heard the vendor curse under his breath. Splat. Splat. I felt raindrops, and heard the boots of the vender grind into the ground. My eyes were half open, as if in a daze. My body felt cold.

"Hey! You, sir!" I heard a voice, sounding quite alarmed.

"Why hello, sir. Is there something wrong?" The vendor's voice changed, a peaceful, polite tone. Nothing like the rough, sadistic tone used seconds ago. While the vender looked at this new person, so did I, my eyes roaming in swelled up sockets. Ah. A policeman.

"What happened to that young boy right there? Is he all right?" He came closer, peering into my face. "Is he….dead? What happened?"

"Well…I was selling my wares over there when I heard some shouts, sir, and I came to see what was about, sir, and there were these ruffians, sir, and they were beating him up, sir, I think it was a gang fight or somethin' like that, sir, and when I broke up the fight, he was already like this, sir. I was jus' 'bout to get some help. 'm hoping it's not too late for him." He held his hat in his hands like he was very sorry. Liar. Liar. LIAR. I screamed in my thoughts, although it was more of a whisper than anything else.

"Oh, I see." The policeman looked relieved. "I'll leave it to you then. With so many bad people nowadays, it's rare to see such upstanding people like yourself. Thank you very much." And he turned away as the vender muttered a "Thank you, sir." Are you blind? Can you not see the clots of my blood that is all over that man's hand? Can you not see through the mask he wears to that of the malicious man who would have murdered me? Can you not see the…. My body was so numb from the falling rain, like ice. A stone statue. The vendor turned to me again.

"Ah well. The rain'll finish you off." Crunch. Crunch. The boots filled with the feet of the man who almost killed me walked away. Splish. Splish. Splish. There's the sound of rain washing over me. A light, hazy gray sky is all I see. The rain starts to numb my senses, and my vision becomes fuzzy.

"Brother! Brother!" It's my little brother. Crying, as usual. Darn. And right after I promised that this wouldn't happen again. His face is angry in addition to his usual crying face. "You promised! You promised, Mana!" Yeah. I promised. I promised for what had been the millionth time I wouldn't get hurt. Damn.

"Shut up, just shut up." I told him raspily, dragging myself up. "Calm down. I can still walk. Just shut up for now and let's go. You hid what we got?" He nodded sullenly. "Good. Now let's get some shelter."

"Where are we going to go now?" He asked after a night of sleeping under the bridge we called home. It was still raining the next day when we went outside to scrounge for food. I closed my eyes wearily. Since that incident yesterday there was no way that we could walk around the marketplace unawares. Shit. I have to be careful, in many ways more than one. He had refused to talk to me all of yesterday, and was still giving me the cold shoulder, talking to me as minimally as possible. I sighed.

"We're going to the alley. People throw stuff away sometimes. We'll be able to find some stuff there." This was actually untrue. We were going to a church in the middle of a convent that all rich people flocked to for their lives to be saved. Sometimes there were some old toys strewn about to be carried out for orphanages left outside of the church ready to be delivered, and that should pacify him, if only for this time.

I had not been joking when I had said I was going to stay with him so he didn't get hurt. I will live up to that promise, in addition to the one made to Mother. Even if he forgot, or even if he hated me.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy the rest, if you choose to do so.