When they made it upon the shore, Mono carefully climbed off onto the beach, pulling her hand along. The sand on her feet felt nice, and was very cool, probably from the lack of sun and the cloudy sky. They both pulled the door up onto the beach, so that if they needed, they could use it later.

"Six?"

She looked at him, not really sure what she was feeling at the moment. She could feel a gentle fondness radiating from him.

"Can we be friends?"

She just…stared at him. She wasn't really sure what he even meant. She had heard that word only a few times before. All these times she had heard it used she had never once gotten to use it for herself.

It's not like Six had never wanted a friend. She desired a friendship with the Raincoat Girl, however they never actually got to spend any real time together before she…

Six couldn't help but grimace at thinking about her. It was an awful feeling, seeing her fall, reaching her hand up in desire to be saved. She wished she could have taken her hand, wished she could have been in reach. Despite their few interactions being not very personal, the girl had still taken time to help Six, and that meant enough to her at the time.

Six looked back at Mono, who was patiently standing and waiting for an answer. He was hopeful, but she could tell he wasn't really expecting her to give him a positive response. She held his hand, rubbing her thumb over small scars he must have gotten over time. Since she couldn't see his face, she wanted to see something of him that could give away how he was feeling, and his hands seemed to be the perfect option.

His hands were shaking a bit in anxiety at her answer, and were a bit sweaty, but that didn't really bother her. The softness of his hands sent a small chill down her spine, and she closed her eyes a bit, whispering a quiet response.

"…okay."

'I hope I don't end up regretting this…'

Before she even knew it, he had embraced her, hugging her softly in his arms. She could feel the nome-hat brushing against her face and was unsure how to respond. She gently gave his back some small pats- she wasn't used to affection like this.

After a minute or two, he was satisfied, took her hand again, and continued onward. He had no comment on her response. Her guess was that he didn't want to overwhelm her, as he could see she wasn't a very talkative person and was very new to company. Mono didn't seem new to company- if she had to guess, he likely had several survival partners in the past.

As they walked on the beach, six stopped and tugged at Mono's hand a bit.

"What's wrong?"

"…Can we stay for a bit...?"

She wasn't sure why the desire to sit on the beach with him was there. She was feeling a bit tired, and she had no idea if he had rested, so maybe it was that. Or maybe it was just that she hadn't had a chance to have some peace in who knows how long. Or maybe it was because she felt such a strong connection to him, one that made her very uncomfortable since she didn't understand it.

Mono nodded a little. They both sat by the shore, still holding hands silently. Mono turned his head away, taking out the paper bag from within his coat, and taking the nome-hat off his head. Six couldn't help but look at what little she could see of his head- his hair was a dark luscious brown, almost black, and was very messy, cutting off around chin length. She had a strange desire to touch it, or to see his face, however she said nothing as he put on his paper bag and tucked the nome-hat in his jacket. She understood he didn't want to show his face, and she wouldn't push it.

She quietly rested her head on Mono's shoulder and stared out at the foggy water, resting her feet in the water. The water felt good on her feet, since her feet were sore and dirty. The salty water stung all cuts on her feet, but she didn't mind.

'He's very comfortable.'

Having her head on his shoulder wasn't an act of intentional affection- it was more of that she hadn't had anything nice to rest her head on in a long time, and his shoulder was a lot softer than the ground.

They sat there for around twenty minutes, resting by the water, letting their feet be brushed by the lukewarm waves. For whatever reason, Six and Mono just seemed to know when to get up, as if their minds were on the same train of thought. It was oddly very coordinated, without a word needing to be said, or a tug needing to be had. It was such a synchronized action that Six wondered if this connection she felt to him had a deeper meaning.

They both held hands as they walked onwards towards the nearby building. Six couldn't help her mind wandering.

'What happens if we do make it out together? Where do we go? What will we do? Will we stay together?'

Togetherness. That thought in her mind made her chest ache. The idea of being with someone for a long period of time made her feel warm. It was hard when she felt alone. But with someone else, she felt like maybe she had a better chance. After all, it's someone who'd come for you if you need help. It's someone who would share food with you, who you could take turns keeping watch with at nighttime. It was someone who you could love…

The two kids entered a large room that had holes and wooden chunks missing. Hanging from the ceiling there was a broken TV with a full suit of clothes just…dangling from it. It made her thoroughly uncomfortable. Mono just continued forward, holding her hand as they jumped and climbed through a hole in the wall.

They ended up in a long alleyway, one with broken and turned off TVs going far out of sight. Six felt shivers run up and down her arms, and Mono paused to stare at the TVs in intrigue. He gently rubbed Six's palm with his thumb, and she felt herself relax just a bit.

They climbed in through a window of a building, landing in an empty diner. Six couldn't help the small noise that came from her stomach- just the thought of being hungry could induce real hunger into her. It was annoying, but true.

Mono, somehow, noticed and turned to look at her. She almost wanted to groan with the fact that he noticed but bit her lip and nodded at him. Mono began searching the diner while Six sat on the floor, fiddling with her hands. After quite a while of waiting, Mono returned with what appeared to be an assortment of nuts.

"I hope you aren't allergic to nuts."

"…I don't think I am…"

He nodded and sat down with the nuts, sitting with her on a small piece of cloth that was on the floor. It was just big enough for them both to fit on when sitting shoulder-to-shoulder. They quietly ate together, and although it wasn't meat, it was still satisfying to fill her stomach.

Once they were finished eating, Mono took her hand and pulled her onward through the building. She was actually enjoying his company, despite how uncomfortable he could (unintentionally) make her feel.

They went into a room with stacked TVs. One was connected to a rope that went up towards the high ceiling, and she didn't really question it too much. After all, what kind of thoughts do the monsters who set these things up have anyways? Probably not very intricate thoughts.

There was a small window to the next room out of their reach, so she lifted Mono up and tossed him over to let him figure out what to do. She walked over to the piles of TVs and sat on one, contemplating on those two boys who she had seen catching fish. They were older than her, but still, love…wasn't a common thing in a world like this. Romance, intimacy, passionate connections…they seemed so odd to her. It made her almost desire that for herself- after all, a young girl could dream, couldn't she? But she shook off the thought, because she figured she was too young to really understand it.

'How do I know Mono is a boy?"

That thought hit her out of nowhere. Did she actually know? She had never asked, and their conversations were very brief. Mono's voice was very light, since he was a young child, so its not like she could even tell his sex, let alone his gender. And his body was covered by those shaggy clothes, that long coat, and his hats. Its not like anything about him was obvious- besides- Six knew little to nothing about biological sex. Not like she had anyone to teach her. She wouldn't be able to recognize male vs female very easily because of that.

'I should probably ask when Mono comes back.'

She heard a lot of smacking and noise coming from the other room, and wondered what Mono was even doing. It wasn't until she heard him walking on the second floor that she realized he must have found a way up.

"Hey! Mono!" she called from where she was at. Her voice echoed in the empty warehouse. Soon, Mono came into sight, and waved at her from a ledge on the second floor.

"Hey! Stand on the TV tied to the rope and hold on tight! I'm going to get you up here!"

She complied- although she was a bit hesitant and worried about it. She gripped the rough rope around her small hands, her legs shaking a little. From stress or discomfort, she wasn't too sure.

Mono pushed another TV tied to the same rope off a ledge and the weight of that TV falling pulled her TV up. She felt the air around her rush by, her body bouncing with the force, and her heart beating out of her chest. She didn't wait to compose herself, just jumped right on off and landed on the floor above Mono's floor. At least she could see stairs nearby and knew she could get to him through there.

She went to the stairs- realizing they were broken- and leaned down to offer Mono a hand. She knew he would have to jump anyways. He did and she, of course, caught him and pulled him up with all her strength. As the two of them stood up and continued walking, she managed to just barely get out a single questioning word.

"…Boy?"

Mono seemed a bit confused and looked at her. She just pointed at him and waited for it to click. It took at least ten seconds before it did.

"Oh- oh! Yes. Boy. I'm a boy."

Six felt relief but also confusion. She really didn't know why she immediately assumed he was a boy- after all, there was no telling features from what she knew. It's more like she just instinctually knew- which made her uncomfortable, because it again suggested that she had met him before or knew him somehow.

"Are you a girl?"

She seemed a bit confused at why he asked, but she nodded. She thought it was obvious that she's a girl. He noticed her confusion and added on.

"I don't want to assume wrong and make you upset."

She understood that response. Even though she didn't know anything about sex or gender except for how people usually look, she did know one thing- assuming something big about someone can cause issues. Even if she thought someone is or isn't something, she shouldn't just go off those thoughts alone.

Last time she'd assumed something like that, she caused a lot of aggression from those people. It was specifically these three kids she had met a few years back. Six had thought none of them were related, and when she said that, all three of them got mad at her. The reason she had assumed that was because none of them shared any physical traits.

Even though the three were related by blood, they still took that day she to educate (more like lecture) her on adoption and families and how people don't have to look alike to be family. To be fair, Six was only seven years old, so their angry responses were a bit uncalled for, but it still taught her about respect and assumptions in the long run.

Six and Mono continued onward, jumping across a small broken plank of wood, and walked through the next door. From the ceiling, there was a noose just barely holding on to these loose clothes, as if someone used to be hanging there. It made Six and Mono alike thoroughly uncomfortable.

They tried their best to ignore it and began climbing through a small crack in a closed door. Mono went through first, and Six immediately heard a strange noise and static, like a TV sending out a wave. It made her head hurt, and it made her feel like something or someone was coming for her.

Flashes of images went through her mind. Images of running with Mono through places she had never seen, images of holding him over an edge to a dark abyss, this quiet noise of disturbed and reverbed music in her head, the sound of Mono's voice all echoing and disturbed, like it was broken... Six knew something wasn't right about that TV and she felt an overwhelming urge to destroy it.

Six climbed through after Mono. She saw him growing closer to the TV that was making that noise, and felt growing fear swell in her chest. As soon as Mono put his hands on the screen and began somehow tuning the signal, it made Six feel sick to her stomach and she forced herself forward. She could see him beginning to get sucked into the TV, almost glitching out of reality, and in her panic, she used all her strength to push the TV over.

Mono was startled and stumbled backwards as the TV smashed against the floor, the glass cracking against the wood. He was lucky that the angle it fell didn't smash his feet or his head. He looked at Six after a moment of being disoriented, like he was ready to speak, but Six beat him to it.

"…why…why would you…?"

Six wanted to cry. She wasn't going to, but she certainly wanted to. She was unsure why that was such a horrifying experience for her, however she did know she never wanted to experience it again.

"…h-huh…?"

Six sat down by him and held his hand. She didn't know what else to do. She just felt beyond shaken and needed his warmth as comfort. She was trying to rationalize her thoughts, rationalize those images and sounds that flashed through her head over the last few days. What did it all mean? None of it made any sense.

She looked at Mono with a shaken but stern expression and she could tell he got the message, despite how disoriented he was.

'If you try that again, I will smash the next TV, and possibly smash your head along with it.'

Both sat there in tense silence for a minute before Mono murmured a small apology. Even he didn't seem to know why she was this upset, but she could tell that he also felt like something was wrong. Six didn't respond to his apology as she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Words really weren't her strong suit.

They both got up and looked out of the nearby window. Although the silence between them was tense, they both knew that staying in one spot was never really a smart idea. When they noticed the garbage below the window, they jumped out and landed in it before they approached the large fence to the schoolyard ahead of them…