(I return with a very weird fic. Whether or not it's interesting is up to you, but it feels different to me. This was incredibly difficult to write in-character and seeing as that's one of my biggest pet peeves besides basic grammar, I do hope I did these guys right. The only exception is Zukin... while she needs to be in-character... I know I write her oddly different whenever she comes up. And she needs a personality anyway... she's the weirdest to write, I don't know. xP Enjoy~)


He was lucky and yet he wasn't.

Zero had been in this town for about a month at that point, and he met some... interesting people, as well as interesting who-knows-whats. He even met Alice, whom he'd been a fan of for a while beforehand. He assumed she was a fake celebrity, and certainly didn't expect her to be a sweet, caring person.

Which was unlucky for him.

The silver haired man prided himself on his coolness, and his distance from others. Had Alice been a strong, outgoing woman, he would've gotten through to her more easily. But even if he did have the heart to give her a hard time like he did everyone else, she would only become more distant to him. And so he had to ask himself... how does someone like him become closer to someone like her?

"I can help you."

Zero gasped out of his thoughts. He was above a rooftop gazing over the city when that voice came from his left. He glanced over, turning his head only minimally, to see an odd bat girl sitting on the ledge, with a blank expression that rivaled his own lack of enthusiasm.

"What are you talking about?" he mumbled calmly.

"You and Alice," Devil Zukin said, "could be together. You love her, don't you?"

"I wouldn't say that," Zero replied, annoyed. "What gives you that idea?"

"I have seen you with her. Though you spend little time with each other, your anger fades when you are with her, or even when you see her. You almost lose your hostility."

He wasn't sure how to take that. But he wasn't sure he wanted or needed her help. If he and Alice were meant to be together... no, meant to be friends... surely it would happen on its own.

"Alice is a good person," Devil Zukin commented randomly. "I am surprised she has only found one love."

"She what?" Zero asked impulsively.

"Her love," Zukin continued, "was back in Japan. Or... perhaps they weren't in love. He surely seemed to like her, and she was kind to him. Is that not love?"

Zero didn't want to believe it. This girl wasn't making much sense, anyway. "They may have been friends. Stop fooling around with the word 'love.'"

"Forgive me," Zukin mumbled, somewhat insincerely.

"Why would you want to help me, anyway?" Zero asked, ignoring her feelings.

Zukin thought about that. "I want to see what a relationship is like. I want to watch one form between two people... neither of which am I attached to."

"In short, you want to stalk us?" Zero spat.

She shrugged. "You asked what my motivations were and I answered." Zukin looked outward thoughtfully. "Besides, you now know that I watch you already."

Zero turned to the doorway to go back inside. He was about halfway there when Zukin called to him.

"So do you want my advice?"

He stopped.

"... I'll take it."


(For the record, Alice's "friend" could refer to whoever you want that isn't in X, but I used to pair her up with some ITG guy in fan art and that's the specific person I meant.

This is, in fact, a chapterficlolwut. Yes, I'm writing another one. Dun worry, I'm proofing the future chapters and it's practically done so it won't be ditched this time. xP Reviews are lovely, although I'd understand none cause nothing's really happened yet. ;P)