(AN: Pic isn't mine.)

"Who.... who are you?" I asked him while he helped me up.

The boy let me go as soon as I was standing and turned to brush himself off, looking around at the scene and placing his hands on his hips, nodding. "We should be safe for a while," He stated, acting as if I hadn't said anything at all.

"That's great. It doesn't tell me who you are though-"

"What's your name?!" He interrupted, quickly turning and looking at me, almost sounding eager, which kinda threw me off.

Could he not hear me?

"I...um... I-I'm Blumiere." I stuttered, my voice coming out smaller than I meant for it too.

"Whoa... that's a nice name." He replied, showing that he could in fact hear me, so earlier he was just choosing to ignore me. How nice.

"Thanks... so who-"

"What's your number?" He interrupted yet again.

"M-My number?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side. "I'm sorry... I don't have a phone-"

"No, no, no, not THAT number," He giggled. His laugh was unlike any laugh I had ever heard. It was actually genuine, which was odd. "What's your NUMBER. You know, the one they assigned you at birth," He clarified, causing me to slowly nod, showcasing that I understood.

"O-Oh. S-Six. My number is six-" I replied when he suddenly grabbed my hand and shook it, beaming through his ordinary brown eyes from under the paper bag.

"Well, it's quite a pleasure to meet you, Six!" He chimed, happily shaking my hand as if he had been waiting his whole life to meet me. "That's a pretty low number. You must be mighty strong!"

"Uhh... yeah. W-Who are you?" I asked once again.

This time I could tell he heard me, because he replied, letting go of my hand and grabbing the sides of his long, trenchcoat jacket.

"I have NO idea!" He beamed.

I frowned slightly, cocking my head to the side at the strange boy.

"What do you mean...? Do you have amnesia?" I asked.

"Nope!"

"Well, what's your name at least?" I questioned.

"Pfft, I don't know," He shrugged as if this whole situation was normal.

"Where do you come from?" I asked next.

"No idea!" He beamed.

"You... don't know who you are?" I questioned, getting quieter and quieter.

How awful.

Only, he didn't seem to see it that way.

"Right you are, my friend!" He chimed. "But it doesn't really matter who I am. It's who I'm gonna be, that's important."

"Alright... well, do you know ANYTHING about yourself?" I questioned. "W-What should I call you?"

He seemed to pause, bringing a hand to where his chin would be, had the paper bag not been covering his face, in a thinking manner.

"Hmm... I suppose you could just call me One!" He said with a cheerful tone.

I suddenly tensed up, my eyes going wide. "W-Wait, ONE?!" I stuttered in shock, taking a few steps back.

"Yeah! One!" He beamed. "That's my number! It's the only thing I know about myself!"

Me being me then, I was shocked. He looked and acted HUMAN! Having looked at him I would have guessed he was an eighty-seven or something. Not a ONE! I didn't even know any ones had been born. I was the highest documented number in the system! But if what he said was true, then this random kid outranked ME on the power scale.

I was suddenly much more afraid.

"I-I thought all the ones were... were to be killed at birth..." I trailed off, nervously stepping back.

I don't know why I said that. It was probably offensive to him, and I knew it. But I was an idiotic child, so I had said it anyway.

"Oh. Well... I guess my parents didn't have it in them to kill me, wherever they are. I've kinda been on my own for my whole life," He stated.

"Okay..." I murmured, still afraid. "W-Why do you wear a paper bag on your head?! Are you a monster under there?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no!" He chimed, shrugging. "I just wear it... because... well because the world hates me, and wants me to fail." He stated. Though he didn't sound upset about it. It was like it was a fact that he had just accepted long ago. He came to terms with it.

The boy then reached for the bag and took it off, revealing a completely normal face. It was slightly slender, but he had ordinary dark brown hair, which brushed over the tops of his ordinary brown eyes, revealing an ordinary face. There were a few small cuts and scratches scattered around, but nothing massive that would scar.

He really was just a normal-looking boy. How could THIS KID be a one?! It couldn't be so.

He looked at my shocked expression for a moment, then seemed to roll his eyes, setting the paper bag down on the ground and walking closer to me.

Then, he did something I had never seen anyone do ever before.

He... smiled at me.

"It's okay..." He assured, smiling a comforting smile. "I have no power yet. And when I get my power, I'm not going to hurt anyone with it. I never ever want to hurt anyone." One promised.

He just stayed like that for a moment, the corners of his mouth pointing upwards. I knew what a smile was, but had never actually seen one. Why would someone smile in such an unforgiving world, after all?

"So... where are you heading?" He asked me, reaching behind him and picking up the paper bag, lifting it onto his head and covering his completely average face once again.

"I...uh..." I muttered, nervously looking down at my hands and fidgeting. I hadn't really thought of where I was heading before. The only thing I cared about was escaping that horrible cabin.

"Home," I eventually said. "I-I wanna go home. T-to my dad."

"Oh? You have parents? That's great!" He chimed. "What's that like?"

"W-Well... I only have a dad. I don't see him much... but I want to go back home to him," I squeaked, looking up at the boy with a slightly saddened expression. "I miss him."

"Awesome!" He chimed. "And where would 'home' be...?"

"Ummmmmmmm, I-I don't really know..." I trailed off, swallowing. "My dad... He... he's a part of the Tribe of Darkness."

"Ah! So your father's a tribesman! No wonder your number is so low!" One beamed, snapping his fingers. "They're usually situated on the mainland, so we'd need to travel overseas and get through the city in order to get to them."

"W-We?" I questioned, feeling my eyes brighten up slightly. I didn't smile, but I still almost looked hopeful.

"Well, yeah. We. The city is REALLY dangerous. Especially if you were alone and didn't know your way around. Trust me. It took me forever to get out of there." One explained, his happy tone not faltering for a second. "But, I also know the safest way through, so I can help you get home!"

"R-Really?" I asked. "But... why? Why are you helping me?"

"Because it's what I wanna do!" He beamed, walking behind me and grabbing my shoulders, gesturing to the world around us. "When I grow up, I wanna use my powers to bring the sun back! Permanently! I wanna make this horrid world a better place! And what better way to start than by helping someone in need?"

I furrowed my eyebrows slightly at him. He actually seemed genuine. I wasn't sure if he was either a good liar or an idiot.

But here I was, in the presence of a one, who was not only offering a smile but offering to help escort me home.

How crazy was that?!

"Come on," He breathed, letting go and waving me forward. "Let's get you home. I'll protect you."

And for some reason, I wasn't sure if it was his genuine tone, his comforting brown eyes, or his friendly stance, but I believed him. I felt... like I could maybe start to trust him. I'm not saying that I did completely trust him since I knew better than that, but I felt safe with him. Even if everything I ever grew up learning was telling me to run as far away from him as possible, I felt like he was safe.

I didn't know why I felt this way. In this world, you could never fully trust anyone. The only person I ever truly trusted was my father, and I never even saw him anymore. But this kid... seemed different right off the bat.

I still didn't fully trust him, and if it came down to trusting him with my life, I most definitely wouldn't, but still.

So, we started forward, him in the lead. The forest was lush and quiet. It had always been this way, but this had been the first real chance I had to take a look around. It was almost unsettling. The quiet was comforting, but also somewhat scary. It told me that no one was after us, but I was afraid of the quiet ending.

There were a lot of small cliffs, drop-offs, broken bridges, fallen trees, traps. But One helped me around every single trick and trap, always making sure I got through safely first before himself.

As we tracked through the forest, we came to a small canyon. There was about a ten or fifteen-foot gap, so it wasn't long. If I were to get a running start, I could easily make it.

But One paused. "Uh oh..." He quietly whispered under his breath. He said it so softly, that I almost couldn't hear it.

I think that was his goal. He didn't want to worry me.

"... You're pretty fast." He stated after a long pause, looking up at me. "If you get a running start, do you think you could make it?"

I slowly looked over at the small dropoff. I walked to the edge and looked down. It was rather deep. If I were to miss and fall, I would surely die. But, I thought I could make it.

I could make it.

I slowly turned to One again and hesitantly nodded.

"Okay, so listen carefully, Six. Here's what we're gonna do," He started, grabbing my shoulders and gently bringing me back a few feet so I could get a good enough head start. "You're faster and stronger than me. So, you're going to jump and make it to the other side."

I nodded in understanding.

"Good. Okay, then, you're going to wait on the other side with your hand out. I'm gonna jump, and you're going to catch me."

"Hold up, WHAT?!" I cried, pushing him aside and stepping back, shaking my hands in front of myself. "No, no, no. I can't do that! W-What if I drop you?!"

"You won't." He assured me with a steady tone.

"How do you know?!" I stuttered, shocked by this guy's blind faith in me. "Y-You really just... trust me to catch you?!"

"Yep." He shrugged.

Yeah, this guy wasn't a liar. I could tell by now. He was just unbearably stupid. Already entrusting me with his life?! That was a bit extreme. How was he not dead yet?!

"Hey, you'll catch me," He assured, patting my shoulder. I think he could see the internal panic going on inside my head. "I know you will. I have faith."

He took a few steps back and waved me forward, gesturing for me to go. I hesitantly nodded at him, then looked to the gap.

This was easy, I reminded myself. All I had to do was get across, then not let him fall. No problem. No biggie. I could do this.

I took a deep breath, then sprinted towards the gap, leaping off my right foot. I flew through the air for a moment, then safely landed on the other side, stumbling a few steps forward.

"YES! Way to go Six!" One cheered, pumping his fist into the air excitedly as I made it. It was almost like he was proud of me.

It felt nice.

I turned around to see him standing on the other side, beaming through his big brown eyes. I still couldn't believe the trust he had in me. If I wanted to, I could easily have just left him right there, progressing forward on my own. But, of course, I didn't want to do that. So, I walked over to the edge, kneeled down, and held out my hand.

He nodded, then quickly got a running start. I think out of the two of us, I was far more nervous about this, even though he was the one risking his life.

He quickly ran and jumped, reaching his hand out for mine.

And I caught it.

He started to fall, but I reached down and grabbed ahold of his wrist, preventing him from plummeting to his death.

"Nice catch, six!" He chimed, as I pulled him up, trying to catch my own breath.

"I-I caught you..." I whispered, almost sounding shocked.

I was 99% sure that I was going to drop him.

He slowly stood up, now safe, nodding at me in approval. "See, I knew you could!" He beamed, grabbing my hand and moving forward. "Now come on. We've got to get you home."