She had never felt like she had been much use to the guardian who took her in. It was a question that she often found her human persona .. and her island persona. A12 had always wondered the seemingly pointless value of her existence. She had nothing special, nothing redeeming .. yet, they must have seen something to take her in. She often wondered if they saw some sort of false image that she had never been able to comprehend.

He picked her up, one night, when she was frantically running from the constant stream of shadows. She was nothing without him. She wasn't much with him either. That night ... why pick up a runaway, landing straight into his chest, interrupting his night with a incomparably gorgeous girl on his arm? Why take her home? Why ask her to live with him? At first mistaking him for a man who leaned that way, she found she had been sorely mistaken. He didn't ask why she wasn't home. Or how. He never did. But that night, she knew. She knew that if she hadn't ran into him, she might not have lived another night. She might have driven herself insane from the paranoia.

The unknown paranoia of something always being there. What was it? Where was it now? What did it want now?

He often worked during the night. She didn't question it, realizing that to question was to pry. He hated that most of all, people prying into his business. He told her often about people who tried to do so, like his past girlfriends or acquaintances. They never lasted long, these girlfriends. She hoped they never would. Because each sought more than he was willing to give. She had come to realize that privacy was one of the greatest aspects and therefore, she respected his.

It was just another night of some sort of business. It happened when she was waiting outside in the car. That was how it always worked. She waited outside, he went inside.

She hated the dark. Her pulse raced madly, her fear was rising and her mind and eyes darting around the car in frantic circles. All the lights in the car had been turned on but outside, there were no stars to light the night tonight. It seemed blacker tonight because the streetlights in this area had been broken, smashed to pieces. Not even one flickered .. The whole area seemed to be empty, devoid of the usual residential houses that often lit up the streets, even without the night lamps. But this area didn't have any. The meeting point, a small lone house, was the only place lit.

Even that was too far for her tastes.

It was j-just like that night. She was going to drive herself insane. Her hands clutched the side of her head tightly, eyes squeezed shut, her knees curled up to bury her head inside of the cloth of her dress. No.

No.

No.

She could feel herself slipping. She didn't want to. She knew she couldn't let herself slip-- but she couldn't call him back. He was busy in a meeting. No matter how badly she needed to have just someone next to her, she couldnt. Her phone had been thrown to the ground of the car, it's batteries long dead. No calls. No light. Not even the comforting sound of her ringtone to alleviate her fears the slightest bit. Curled in the cramped space between the driver's board and front sea, she screamed when she heard the door unlocking.

WHOWASITWERETHEYHERETOGETHER?!

What met her was a manly scream back.

A familiar manly scream.

Wide teary eyes met her guardian's knowing ones, standing there, looking at her with a skeptical gaze.

"Still scared of the dark? My eardrums were about ready to break."

Silence met his answer as the girl didn't move from the cramped square, her hands clutching the drinks section of the front with a grip that could have broke the plastic coating. His posture bent to accommodate the low hood of the car, his hand reached out to cradle her cheek with a gentle brush.

"Come on. I have somebody who has something to tell you." He took her hand, forcing her to stumble from the car. A few seconds passed before she realized, he had company. A stranger behind him. The stranger's face was solemn and his eyes focused solely on her. She was confused. She didn't know him-- She didn't know anyone really. She took a step back, from his searing gaze. But her guardian stopped her with his solid form behind her. His voice was unnaturally low, his other arm wrapped around her shoulder, fingers curling in a firm grip.

"And whatever he says, accept it. When the time comes, choose your answer. For me, it'd better be a 'yes.'"

"Do you understand, Saya?"

"Y-Yes."

A12 then realized that her name was Saya.