"Hate"

I do not own -man
A/N will be at the end of the story.
Enjoy.

A small squeak resonated through the night, scaring away a few stray cats and dogs. The people, however, were left unimpressed by the sound and chose to ignore it while continuing their New Year's celebrations.

In the back alley of a renowned restaurant, a small albino child stared angrily yet scared at the men in front of him. The two reeked of alcohol and wore an expression chillingly familiar to the little boy; eyes that confessed of the terrible things they were considering doing to him and smirks that confirmed they would not back down.

"Come 'ere kid!" One of the men said as he stretched his arm towards said child. "Yeah! We'll treat ya to some candy!" the other reasoned as he too moved closer. None, however, got near him as the boy skillfully dodge right between them, darting towards the main street, hoping to lose them I the crowd. Unfortunately, the two drunks followed suit. Even worse, one of them had very good speed, as he was mere centimeters away from the child.

The crowded street was just a few feet away, when a massive hand grabbed the albino by the collar of his jacket, jerking him back and cutting his breath a few seconds. After coughing his lungs back into action, the boy glared up at the two men now holding him still on the cold and snowy street, lustful expressions plastered on their aged faces. "Where you runnin' to kid? Won't ya play with us for a bit?" The child struggled to release himself, but only managed to anger his attackers more "Ey! Stop yer moving!" But he did no such thing; on the contrary, he twisted around harder "I told you to quit it!" And this time he did stop, but not because of the yelling, no; but because of the punch he received that almost left him unconscious.

One of the men smirked at his pained face, while the other moved his hands over his jacket. "Yer in pain there, aren't ya? See? You should just b'have like a good little kid!" The child, however, didn't register what the man had said. He was too preoccupied watching in horror as the other was slowly unbuttoning his jacket. "Stop it…!" The two looked at him in surprise before smirking "No way, right?" And with that, the las button was freed. "Stop it! Let me go! Master!?"

"Wow, yer suddenly so talkative, huh?" one said with a dumb smile all over his face. The other wasn't as amused "Quit yer chit-chatter, will ya!?" "Let me go! Master!?" "In the name of God, kid, will ya just shu-" the man was suddenly cut off by a round golden ball that smashed into his face, knocking him out cold. "What the?!" The child quickly took advantage of the other's confusion, got up, and kicked him square in the jaw. He then grabbed his golden hero and sprinted into the main street, not throwing even a side glance back.

As soon as he was far out into the street and past the crowd, he released the little creature that opened its wings and flew around the boy, inspecting him, before taking its place on top of his head. Meanwhile, the child quickly buttoned back his jacked, then wiping away the few tears that escaped his eyes. No way would he allow himself to be seen crying by his master. A light hit on the back by the golden creature's tail reminded the boy to start walking again and head towards the inn he and his master were currently residing at.

When he got closer to the building, the albino lifted the golden ball from his head and brought it to his face "Timcampy, you won't tell Master Cross about that just now, right?" The response was a slap with the tail over his cheek, a definitive no. "Come on, Tim, please? If Master finds out, he'll get angry again and start shouting and throwing stuff around or maybe even worse… You can't show him…" Even though the little creature wanted to protest again, he couldn't refuse those big and watery eyes the small child was currently displaying.

Inside the inn, everyone was dancing, drinking, singing and celebrating, excitingly waiting for the official New Year that was about to begin in just a few minutes. Taking advantage of the lack of attention, the boy quickly ran past the adults and up the stairs, planning to head straight into his room and finally relax. Unfortunately, as soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he ran into someone and was about to fall back down the stairs had the man not grab hold of him. "Oh, um, I'm sorry…" As soon as he looked up, a chill ran down his spine, for in front of him was none other than his Master.

"What happened? Where the hell have you been…?" Surprised by Cross's sudden show of concern, the boy was unable to properly answer, mumbling and whispering random words. "Speak up, damn it! If you want to say something, you had better God damn say it. If not, then stop blabbering like a broken monkey!" The child instantly stopped "I'm sorry…" "Whatever…stupid apprentice"

The general started descending the stairs, going back to the party when he turned around to see if Tim wanted to come with him or stay with his apprentice, just to see Allen slowly walking to his room, shaking and whipping his eyes. At that instant, Cross couldn't help but freeze. He knew, of course, that the boy was constantly going through a hard time, he had no childhood and a whole load of crap happened to him, but never had he seen him cry like that, except for that time with Mana.

He was brought back to reality by the loud cheering from downstairs. Looking at the time, there were just two minutes until the New Year. The general mentally swore at nobody in particular before climbing back up the stairs and heading to his apprentice's room.

Allen almost yelled in surprise when the door busted open, revealing his Master, one foot slightly lifted. The man entered the room, closing the door behind with a loud thud. He moved his gaze over to the far corner of the bed, where Allen was holding Timcampy, red eyes visible under the pure white hair. The child quickly shifted his gaze, not wanting to show that he cried, even thought he was sure he had already noticed.

Cross sighted, and then took a seat next to Allen, on the bed. He pulled out a cigarette, trying to ignore the slightly tense atmosphere. "Master, why are you not downstairs?" The general leaned forward and eyed the boy who immediately got uncomfortable. "Come here a sec" Reluctantly, the boy complied. As soon as he got near him, Cross lifted his hand and smacked the child over the head. Confused and clearly angry, the albino glared at his Master while rubbing his new injury. "Why did you do that!?" "Oh…?"

The very second Cross raised an eyebrow at his apprentices sudden yelling, the boy covered his mouth, realizing that he almost lost his cool, he almost started screaming at his Master! Thinking he might have insulted the man, he said no more, just quietly waited for a second punch or something. "What…was that it?" Allen looked up in surprise "Huh…?" "You little imbecile" There was that punch "What good is it to just hold in all that hatred of yours if you don't occasionally let it out, huh!?"

Allen looked bewilder at his Master, wondering what exactly it was he was asking him to do. Did he want him to lose his temper and scream, yell, throw a fit? Did he want him to curse all those people that did horrible things to him in the past? The people from today who almost… The demons he had to fight, his innocence which was the cause of all this?

Unknowingly to the child, as soon as those questions arose inside his head, another few silent tears fell down. When he realized he had started crying, the boy tried to wipe them away and stop, but for some reason, he couldn't. Meanwhile, Cross put his cigarette away and slapped the back of Allen's head. "Don't try to stop, you idiot! A release is necessary every now and then…"

Without another word, the boy stopped moving just as the first firework lit up the night sky.

Cross was outside the room, watching Timcampy's record of what happened in the alley just under an hour before. Allen, in the meanwhile, was inside his room, dreaming of God knows what. After crying all his frustrations out, he became exhausted and promptly fell asleep.

In the end, the New Year started well, with Cross shooting at two men for a few hours and Allen starting the day with a bright smile and a few bumps on his head.

A/N: Well, hi there, I hope you liked it! I haven't written anything in a while so I apologize if it doesn't sound wright. I hope you guys are having a good time!
Thank you for taking the time to read this!