Saturday, September 26th

The past 2 days seemed to be a healing time for (Y/n) and found herself spending more occasions with the group of males for comfort, and they seemed more than happy to have the girl alongside them. She continued to visit them ever since her house felt lonely, and simply reminicent of her troubles so even on Saturday she was invited to the large home.

The girl had decided on helping her science partner in the job of clean up his room as a means of distracting herself, and Bako was ecstatic over having her join him. "Bako, where do you want me to put this box again?" The boy looked at her direction and nodded towards three large wardrobes across the room.

"Put them in there. Thanks." The female nodded and walked towards the large closets while the male was distracted with sorting out his drawers. (Y/n) carefully balanced the box and as she approached, she realised she wasn't sure which closet the box would be placed. The female didn't want to disturb the busy boy so she decided to go at random and chose the centred wardrobe. (Y/n) reached out and took the handle, nearly tipping the box over and was required to use her leg as leverage. She took hold of the little nob and just as she began to pull at it, a loud bang resonated as the nob was torn from her grip and the closet door shoved to a close, making the entire frame rattle with the force. This left the girl stunned for a moment at what occured and carefully turned to her side to see the boy was inches away from her, with his hand still tightly pushing against the clothes-cupboard. He had a distressed expression and breathed heavily at the close call.

The two stood in place for what seemed like an eternity until the muscles in the cobalt haired student's body visually relaxed once he was sure his partner would not make a move on opennin it. He turned his head to see the stupefied girl staring at him for the strange scene he made. He quickly pulled back and took the box off the girl's hands. "S-sorry, I have some private stuff in there. I'll take over from here, thank you for your help (Y/n), you can go now." The female showed clear hesitation at the request and was about to ask what the whole ordeal was about when she heard her name being called from downstairs. "They need you, I'll sort it out. Bye" Bako practicaly pushed the girl out of the door and shut it behind her, forcing the female to stay out. The male leaned against the frame and sighed with relief at the near discovery of his secret. "That was too close."

(Y/n) ran to the landing on the stairs and realised it was Ryo who had called her down. "(Y/n), could you be an angel and bring down my pencil case from my room, I'm making a bet with Kaito." (Y/n) could hear the other male making a snarky comment on the boy's words, so she rolled her eyes with amusement and walked over to the blond's own room.

The whole space seemed unnaturally quiet without the presence of the other boys and even her footsteps seemed to make the slightest of sounds. The girl calmly walked towards the boy's sack and began searching through to find the the specified belonging. "Damn it Ryo, it's like you have Mary Poppins' bag." She rummaged through the black hole that was the teenager's belongings until she finally spotted the object she was looking for. After smiling successfully at her findings, she prepared to close up the sack until she noticed a dark object at the very bottom of it. A frown appeared on her features and decided to risk reaching down to check on the article, to have her breath hich at the discovery. Her eyes widened as she scanned the device that was much too similar to her lost phone.

(Y/n) switched on the mobile and swiped over the screen to be opened up to her messages. "What the hell...?" Her whisper was directed to the number of communications she had sent to Kenzan, many of them inclining on her supposed wrongdoing. Confusion spread through her, baffled at what this was supposed to mean. She went through each text, shocked at what each meant, as realisation slowly began to dawn on her. The consideration of Ryo sending these seemed almost alien but the evidence was leading up to a completely different conclusion.

While scanning through the messages, (Y/n) sensed a presence lingering behind her. The girl spun around to see Alex standing at the doorway, carefully gazing towards the device in the girl's hand and understanding what this implied. He switched his attention back to the girl and carefully looked at her frightened (e/c) eyes. They watched each other for an unspecified amount of time, but for them, it seemed like the clock had stopped and stood still to allow for careful thinkinking of their next moves.

(Y/n) gulped and forced a small smile on her lips, "Alex, what are you doing here?" The girl received no response from the boy. "I got Ryo's pencil case, did you need something?" No response. "...I'll go now, so have fun doing whatever." As she approached the boy who was still dead set in the doorway, the ambience became more insufferable, but she knew better than to react or show any sign of distress. As she was about walk past him, he blocked her way through, causing the girl to stagger backward. "A-Alex I need to give this to Ryo, so-" before another word could escape her speech, he snatched the phone from her and didn't have to take long to realise what she had seen. The boy stared at the female before taking steady steps towards her. (Y/n) commenced to instinctively back up at his advance. "A-Alex I need to go so can you please..." But her pleas were ignored as he proceeded to approximate closer. (Y/n) knew she was cornered at that point and was aware the boy wasn't going to fall for her dumb act. So she dropped the facade and glared at the male with affliction. "Why...why would you do this to me? To him." Only when the female was finally cornered to the wall did the boy stop just a few feet away from her. "Tell me." Her request was firm and final, implying that she's had enough of the game they were playing.

"He tried to take you away from me." The boy gazed at the girl longingly, imagining the prospect of losing her presence due to the other boy.

"What? What's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with you?!" Alex slightly flinched at the scornful tone in the girl's voice.

"I can't lose you again. I just found you." (Y/n) couldn't comprehend what the boy was talking about or why he was acting this way.

"What are you talking about?" The male sorrowfully looked at her and tilted his head in inquiry.

"You really don't remember me. You don't remember the promise I made to you?" She could only gave him a thoughtful look and shook her head.

"I don't know what you mean."

Alex took on a distant look as a flood of memories started to emerge into the surface of his consciousness, "It was so long ago. It was summer and I had managed to sneak out of this house."

The small child began to slowly back away as he apprehensively watched the snarling, stout Rottweiler that offensively glared at the 7-year-old. The boy kept his hand in front of him to show the feral creature he had nothing that would cause harm, but the dog seemed disinterested with the whole attempt as he made steady strides at the retreating boy. He knew that running away would only incline on a chase, and the bulk of the dog showed how much advantage he had over the child. As the dog crouched down to prepare a pounce onto his pray, a red-looking object flew past its head, distracting the animal. The creature approached his new focus to discover it was a large piece of raw meat. The dog seemed to completely forget about his previous victim and began enjoying his new meal. The boy stared at the scene in front of him, not knowing what to make of the situation until he felt a brisk tug on his shirt as he began to get dragged away.

"Come on! He'll be ready with that in no time." A panicked, soft voice was heard. The boy and his saviour turned a few corners and crossed streets until the pair came to a stop to intake fresh breaths.

The male was the first to recover his stamina and could finally take a better look at his rescue. It was a girl around his own age who was carrying a small plastic bag, of what seemed like groceries. She took a few extra seconds to regain a proper breathing pattern and, to the boy's surprise began giggling and chortling out of nowhere. "Haha! That was very brave and stupid of you to go and mess with the big guy." The boy wasn't quite sure in what way he should respond to the amused female, he could only stare in confusion at the girl's nonchalant reaction to the whole situation. "You alright? You're lucky I got to you when I did." She tried to pat the boy on the back as congratulations for staying alive, but he flinched away at her touch, treating her contact like an unidentifiable infection. The little girl rose her eyebrow at his retaliation and backed up. "Sorry dude, didn't know you still believe in cooties." The other kid carefully watched the girl until a small, child-like urge began tugging at his subconscious until he built up the courage to extend a hand out to his saviour. The female looked at his open palm, confused as to what he was trying to infer until years of discipline took over. "Oh! Pleasure to meet you, my name is (Y/n)." As she sincerely shook the boy's hand, he had to take a few seconds to register the unfamiliar human contact he had been deprived of.

"A pleasure to acquaint with you. My name is Alexander Danzel." (Y/n) cringed at his words.

"Nope. That's too much of a mouthful, do you mind if I just call you Alex?" The boy blinked a few times, trying to process the request.

"I...guess not." (Y/n) grinned at the permission.

"Hhhmm, you're new here, aren't you? Come, I'll show you the playground!" (Y/n) took the boy by the hand and started a slight jog towards the assigned destination. Alex let himself get dragged along, not knowing how to respond to the alien actions. Before too long, the two were standing in front of a modest little play area containing swings, a sand box and seesaw.

(Y/n) pointed to the grainy pit and ran at the sands to claim a place in the ejected grounds. Alex stared after her, wondering at the peculiar nature the girl was exhibiting and silently followed after her. "Yesterday I made this huge mountain of sand and got to destroy it! Wanna help me make another one? You can ruin it this time, since you're new and all." She expectantly smiled at the confused boy while her processed the request.

He apprehensively sat down in front of the female while she busied herself with spilling sand on one spot. Alex dissected each action and considered the process that was being made on the growing lump of sand. He began copying the female's efforts and was pleasantly surprised to find it somewhat enjoyable. He had never really had any child-like activities in the past so this seemed to be a new concept for him to understand and learn. In his excitement, he began to automatically dig his hands into the sand to only feel a sharp sting spread through his palm. "Ah!" He retracted his hands from the sand and let out a slight yelp at the searing pain, catching the girl's attention.

"What's wrong?" She came to kneel in front of him and noticed a yellow, insect scuttling and struggling in the pit. "Oh no, you got stung!" As the male started scratching his flaming skin the girl quickly separated his hands. "Don't do that! The sting might still be there, hold still!" (Y/n) dusted off her hands and used her small fingers to squeeze at the tough to remove the venom sack while the boy winced at the ache. When (Y/n) was satisfied with ridding the sting she ran to her grocery bag. After a moment of rummaging from her, and confusing stares from the male, she came back with one-half of an onion in her hand. She took the boy's stinging hand and began rubbing the vegetable against the irritated spot, seemingly soothing the whole experience. "Don't know how this works really, but my gran showed it to me when I had bee stings." When the girl finished off her medical attention, she noticed the boy sending pitying glances towards the flinching bug.

"The bee..." He watched the dying insect as it gave its last signs of life and ceased of its twitching. (Y/n) scoffed at his reaction and patted him on the shoulder.

"You get stung and you're worried about a bee, I think you've got your priorities confused." The girl began a slight rhythm of laughter as the boy fascinatingly watched her amused expression. The more he watched, the more he felt an unintentional tugging sensation at the corners of his mouth as a foreign expression made its way on his face.

As a smile came into view he gazed in awe at the female's influence on him. "Thank you." The girl stopped her chuckles and grinned at the boy until she began to worriedly gaze at her grocery bag.

"My mum is gonna kill me when she sees the steak and onion missing." She sighed in agony and approached to pick up her bag. "Hope for the best, expect the worst I guess. But honestly, who buries a bee like that...?" Before she could grip the plastic handles, her bag disappeared with a quick swoop, causing her to spin around to see Alex holding the products.

"Please let me help you." (Y/n) stood speechless for a moment when a glad smile was seen.

"Alright, thanks Alex!" The boy seemed pleased to be called by his new nickname and started walking beside the girl. (Y/n) freely jumped along while the boy watched her glad form, only indulging his fascination. When the girl came to a stop in front of her house she turned towards the boy and took back her belongings. "Thank you for carrying my things, hope it wasn't too heavy for you."

Alex shook his head and disappointedly looked at her, "How can I repay you?" (Y/n) leaned her head to the side at the question. "What can I give you to show my appreciation?"

"I don't really want anything. It's alright." Though this didn't seem to satisfy Alex and shook his head.

"Please, let me do something for you." The little girl could see that he wasn't going to drop the subject until he was given a proper answer as a response.

"Ok, then you can come and play with me tomorrow." The boy nodded gladly, refraining from showing his excitement.

The next day, the boy had afforded the risk of sneaking out again and was reunited with the girl in the same place. The two would enjoy this routine for another week, (Y/n) taking over most of their conversations while Alex silently listened with a contempt smile. He had grown to enjoy the sound of the girl's voice and her mannerisms. The boy had never been accustomed to the company of other individuals, especially ones the same age as him. But he seemed oddly at ease around the female. He wasn't sure what about her seemed to take away the discomfort but neither did he want it to go away. The only thing that remotely came close to bothering him was that he would soon leave and be unable to see her for a long while.

"What's wrong? You're more quieter than usual." The little girl took notice of the distant look in her friend's eyes and poked him a few times to attract his attention. When he turned towards her, he held a sorrowful expression and looked to the ground to hide his rare emotions.

"I don't want to go..." He spoke in a quiet tone that irked the girl to demand a repetition. "I don't want to leave you. I still need to repay you. I still owe you." (Y/n) knew her friend was going to return to his proper home soon and noticed his more than reluctant attitude on departing.

"Alex I told you, you already repaid with more than enough of your company. It's ok." But the boy continued to gently shake his head in denial.

"You've looked after me when you don't even know who I am. You've defended me and helped me out so much. And I didn't even know you..." (Y/n) slanted her head, trying to figure out the comprehending pattern in the boy's head.

"Well, that's what friends are for." She gave him a thumbs up that surprised the male.

"Friend?"

"Yeah, we ａｒｅ friends, aren't we?" This analogy seemed to give a new perspective on the whole situation and Alex discovered an unfamiliar, new feeling that came with this concept.

"Then how do I compensate for that? Let me buy you something, ask for anything, I won't deny you." The little girl gave him a weirded look and snickered quietly.

"Hahaha, that's not how friendships work. Friendship is mostly made of...what's that word? Uncan...- uncun...- uncen-un...-?" The girl struggled to think of the right expression and stuttered out a few more guesses.

"Unconditional?"

"That's the word! Yeah, 'unconditional love'. I remember my grandma telling me how when two people are close and trust each other, they don't ask or expect anything from the other in return for their affe...-ufe...-? Afac...-?"

"Affection...?" (Y/n) clapped her hands to applaud the boy in his correct term usage.

"You're two for two. So you don't need to do anything for me, ok?" (Y/n) dusted off her clothes and stood up to prepare on leaving while Alex showed hesitance for a moment until he shook his head again.

"No, I can't leave you before I compensate for your generosity." He briskly enshrouded the girl's waist in his arms, restricting her movement. (Y/n) sighed and stopped her squirming.

"Alex come on, it's getting late." But the little boy shook his head stubbornly and held tighter, squeezing the breath out of her. "You're not going to let me go unless I ask something from you?" The boy gave her a confirming answer and (Y/n) seemed thoughtful for a moment until she turned back towards the boy. "Alright, how about this. Next time we see each other, you'll be the one looking out for me, ok?" This seemed to trigger the boy out of his melancholic state and gazed up at the person he was now meant to keep safe.

"So, until I repay you I can't leave your side?" He hopefully looked into the female's (e/c) eyes and wordlessly pleaded for a positive answer.

"Uuhhmm...sure I guess. Whatever works with you, as long as you don't ask for anything else." Alex quickly nodded in agreement and a slight hint of a smile could be seen on his featured.

"Then I promise I'll protect you next time." (Y/n) grinned at the boy's tenacity and helped him to stand up.

"Alright, it's a deal! High five!" She threw her hand up in the air which was returned by the dead silence of the clueless boy. (Y/n) huffed and took the male's hand and directed it to her own until they connected with a slight slap. "We'll work on that." (Y/n) cheerfully grinned at him until she noticed a tall figure quickly approaching the pair. The girl discerned it was a fair-looking young woman dressed in respectable attire with her hair neatly combed back without a strand protruding or out of place. She had a very dominating atmosphere with a self-assurance that (Y/n) hadn't come across before. Alex realised the female's distracted gaze and looked back to also spot the older woman and he immediately tensed up at the sight of her. As the adult approached the two kids she glared down at the boy with a distrustful scowl.

Alex clenched his teeth and looked up into the woman's deep magenta eyes, "M-mother...I'm sor-" before he could properly say a word he was quietened as the woman's palm sharply ran across his face.

"Silence! I don't want to hear any excuses from you! You've disappointed me for the last time Alexander, I knew I should have hired the maid to look after you. Have you even been studying as you were supposed to?!" Alex hung his head in shame, the sting of the slap still burning at his skin. As he slowly shook his head, a huff could be heard form the older woman and (Y/n) stood at a distance with astonishment as the scene unravelled. "That's it! We are leaving today! I'll get your father to call up the Mercedes and we are leaving this filthy town!"

However, Alex had the contrasting opinion of this town. This was the place where he met (Y/n) and to him, it was more of a home than any other place that could be offered. He felt any insult directed to the town was directed to his friend, which lead to unintentional words escaping his mouth, "No..."

The mother stared down at him with a mixture of bewilderment and anger. "Excuse me?" Her tone was quiet and warning, seeming to be testing the waters with the delicate innocence laced between the condemnation. The boy gulped as he sensed the dangerous grounds he was treading on.

"I-I...I want to stay a bit longer. Please, mother." The woman got closer to her child's face while he tried not to flinch away, and tilted her head to side with, what a bystander might mistake as, a playful smile.

"Really?" The boy gulped at the undertone of the simple question. "Well, we need to talk about this when we get home then." By now, it was evident the woman was having a difficult time in holding the feigned smile and took the boy's arm with unnecessary force, causing him to wince in agony.

(Y/n) sensed the threatening atmospheres and dared to approach the two, ignoring the disapproving shakes of Alex's head as he tried to keep her away from getting involved with the aggravated woman. "It's not his fault! I made him promise me to keep coming here. So please don't get angry at him when he didn't do anything." The aristocratic lady looked down on the little girl with a dismissive glare.

"Child, I suggest you bite your tongue before spitting out matters that don't involve you." (Y/n) stepped back at the perilous subject she was walking into. Just ask the girl was ready to speak her mind again, Alex tore himself from his mum and ran to (Y/n) to give her a last hug.

He held her close, putting him in a moment of bliss as this was the very first hug he had given to another person. It felt unfamiliar and foreign, but he quickly came to immensely become intrigued with the strange action. "Don't say anything..." With the final request whispered, he was literally wrenched away from the girl.

"What's has gotten into you?! Don't touch such a common snake." The woman started pulling Alex away, while he bit down on his lip to avoid talking back to his mother at the diminishing remark she made towards the little girl.

He turned his head in the direction of the saddened female and as he watched her form get smaller and smaller with each step, he whispered in hopes she would notice, "Goodbye."

(Y/n) could only stand in silence as fragments of her memory began appearing in the once empty canvases in her mind. She looked at the boy in front of her as he held a gentle, and innocent smile to his face. "A-Alex, this...this doesn't explain why you would do this to me and my friends." The boy gave her a disappointed look and moved closer.

"I promised to protect you...I've been waiting so long to find and keep you." With each step he took, (Y/n) continued to back away as if she was facing a predictor. "It's so empty...I feel so empty when you're not here." The girl felt her back pushing against the wall and knew she was cornered like an animal. "I want it to go away...I want this hole to go away but when I see you, I feel so happy. That's why I couldn't let anyone take you away, I need to keep my promise."

"A-Alex, we were children...I-I barely even remember that week, it was so long ago." (Y/n) further squeezed herself against the solid surface as the male was merely 6 feet away.

"You know how to make it go away."

"What?"

"If I keep you safe then I won't have to feel so unfinished. The world is always trying to hurt you, (Y/n). This means I can keep you by my side for as long as I want." Alex readied his hands to take hold of the girl as he made quick approach on her.

"Alex you're scaring me! Stop it!" But instead, he continued to longingly watch her in fascination.

"Now that you know, I won't need to hold back."

"Alex, stay away! I'm not joking!"

"Tell me that you'll stay with me..."

(Y/n) was too paralysed to do anything, her mind had gone completely blank and her breath became shallow and fearful. All she could do in response to his request was shake her head furiously.

"I made a promise to you (Y/n), I can't keep it if you reject my duty."

"Then I take it back, I take it back!" The girl stopped her breath from escaping as she noticed Alex had fully reached her, with his body nearly touching her own.

"But I don't." He slightly knelt down to come face to face with the female. She swallowed air as her throat dried up. As he exhaled, she could feel his breath caressing her skin, giving her a proper perspective of how close he truly was. He was restricting her escaping options, with both of his hands placed on each side of her body. Despite him having minimal to no contact with her, (Y/n) felt intimidated and knew she couldn't get away even if she was able to. "You'll never be hurt again (Y/n). I've waited so long for this moment, and I won't let you go again."

"She doesn't need your help for that." Another voice emerged from the silence and as (Y/n) looked towards who it was, she was left staring down the barrel of a gun.