You can't ever really feel what it's like to be alone until you're surrounded by everyone else.

Prologue

• • •

After lying for hours wrapped up in bed, I finally brought myself to get up. After placing my feet on the ground, I weakly stood up-now what? A cold, Saturday night in winter, yet here I stand-barely dressed in my robe with all the lights off. After a sigh, I decided to unlock the door.
Nothing-not a single sound, not a single person, but me. I don't know why I expected any change of scenery.
After all, that's how this place always is; just like me, it is
deserted.

• • •

Mom and Dad both work overnight shifts, not because we need the money to get by, but only because they want more. That's how my parents are, they're greedy. They care too much about what other people think; they live to please and for pleasure.
They come home in the early morning, around the time I wake up for school. By then, they would already have retreated to their room, and fortified their walls against any intruders-that includes me.
So that's how it came to be every day. Without them around, I had a lot of time to spare.
And with that time, I grew up independently.

Unfortunately, despite all my freedom that teenagers my age usually rebel for, life sets its limits.
I'm a very weak person, physically and emotionally. Born an asthmatic, I was never allowed to play with kids. Every time I seized the chance to, my mom would come running, with a slap following afterwards.
"What are you doing? I told you that you weren't allowed to go outside!" she would scream.
Mortified, my 5-yearold self learned very quickly that anything outside the front door was considered a bad place.
So set the routine for my daily life, until I was around 13: wake up, go to school, chat amongst the kids I sat next to, come back home as soon as possible, finish homework, sleep.
Growing up this way, I thought this was how every kid my age was raised up too: monotonous and complacent.

After my 12th birthday, things changed. Because my parents wanted to send me to some elite school to satisfy their selfish desires, they decided to take up strenuous overnight shifts. We already had the money, but they wanted extra wealth for luxurious means.
As everyone knows, puberty hits hard. I suddenly felt as if the life I had been previously living was just not good enough.
Teenage angst.
Growing used to being left at home, I finally gathered the courage; one night in the summer going into high school, I slipped out the front door to experience the world as it really is-beautiful.

Living on the edge of a city landlocked by rural lands, it's easy to see nature in its purest form.
This world-for sure-isn't as bad as I had been told.
That night, I put on my glasses so I could see everything in HD. Every single raw detail I had been deprived of for 8 years, I could now see and touch to my heart's content.
"Wow..." I thought to myself, "how could anything so at peace with itself be something evil?"
The weather in this city had always been ideal. Perfect temperatures each season, perfect amount of night, day, and rain. That night had been no exception.
The abundance of trees that dotted the outskirts of town could be heard rustling from the wind a mile away.
The colors of the flowers that accompanied said trees, painted a motion picture so picturesque that even a photograph could not capture.
Then there were the stars. The stars that had always been blurred away now seemed so clear, and they filled the sky as if night hoarded them all to itself.
But the best part, was you.

"It's really great, isn't it?" a male voice said behind me.
Partly scared from being alone for the first time at night, and partly surprised that someone even bothered to speak to me, I hesitated to answer right away.
But he continued cheerily, "the stars especially, they're wonderful!"
Excited by the topic of conversation, I whipped around ecstatically, "They are!"
And then my eyes met yours, you stranger.
Maybe it had been the emotions of a girl who was slowly growing into a woman, or the emotions of a strange person who was just suddenly shown the world; either way, your presence made me blush.
Thankfully, you had been looking up to the sky. "Not many people take the time to look at the things around them, they're too busy for such a thing." you said, then smiled. "It's important to appreciate the little things."
"I didn't know there was someone else out here too, usually I'm alone! My name is Kyou, it's nice to meet you."
"U-uh..." I stammered, "Yes, hi. It's nice to meet you too. I'm Misa," I awkwardly blurted out
Smiling once again, you said, "Well, Misa, do you want me to show you around? Sight-seeing like this is much better when you're not alone. This will be a first for me too."
Well, I had time to spare, and this new world was piquing my interest, I had no reason to refuse. So you took me along, and you showed me all it had to offer.

This was how it was every summer night after that.
I'd escape to the outside realm and you, my shining knight, would take me into your protection.
It turns out you were already attending the school I was going to be placed into. What luck! Our meetings wouldn't only be limited to our nightly rendezvous.
I had gotten a friend, one who I could talk to about everything.
The gentlest person, never quick to anger, always smiling and kind.

After meeting Kyou, my life turned around. No longer was I confined to my lonely two-story home. I was an adventurer, every day was a new journey with Kyou by my side.
We would always hang out at school, and then a little more after, up until night fall.
My special friend and I.

"Kyou, we should find something new to do." I said to him one day, sitting down at the trunk of our favorite tree.
"Really? Like what?"
Closing my eyes, I tried to envision activities for us to do. "I don't know, something amazing, something revolutionary, something that allows us to do what we could never do before!"
"No such thing exists," he shot me, "life has its limits."
"Boo, don't be like that. You're no fun." I pouted. "Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to have powers or anything like that?"
He laughed at my quirkiness, "You mean like in an online game?"
"Why not? They're super popular with people our age for a reason. Definitely, we'll be able to do things that real life could never let us do!"
"Don't you think that would be nice, Kyou?" I turned to him with a beaming face full of expectation.
Our eyes locked, and a moment of silence ensued. He looked at me with such an unmoved expression.
But even that melted into his usual gentleness.
"Especially since you have asthma, you could do so much more and not get sick," he said as he pat my head.
"Exactly! I'm glad you could see things my way." I leaned back against the tree, full of triumph.

"Yeah. You could be a knight or something like that." I said nonchalantly, leading up with a yawn afterwards.
The peacefulness of the scene around us was enveloping my senses; I would soon fall asleep, I knew it.
He didn't say anything after that, obviously deep in thought.
Noticing my drowsiness, he let me lean on him.
The sun's rays danced around us, and the spring breeze came in to say hello.
Comfortable.
Peaceful.
"Sure," he finally replied, scooting closer into me.
Serene.
Bliss.
Heavy eyelids fluttering downward.

Warmth.

"And I will protect you," was the last thing I remember before dozing off.

• • •

Hello, everyone! It's Misa-chi (formerly RxC HxA), I haven't written a story since 2009. So please bear with me! Everything in time will come together. So please don't be too harsh on me ^^. Thank you for reading!