Author's Note: I'll be completely honest and say that the plot is still a little hazy at this point and it's a little slow in this chapter, but I didn't want to post this before I had at least one more chapter finished, so rest assured that I'll follow through :D

There are quite a few references pulled randomly from various episodes of the show because...I'm just obsessed like that I guess. But don't worry, you don't need to have watched everything to read this :)

I also just thought I'd mention that I know sectors V and W can't be more than a few years apart, but here there's at least a nine-year difference, just so we're clear :)

I hope you enjoy this! Brownie points if you remember which episode the quote from the summary came from ;)

Seven

I was only seven, but there are some things I know to be true.

It takes exactly twenty-seven steps to get from the kitchen to my room. Fifteen if you take big steps.

My bedroom door creaks. It will give you away, no matter how hard you try to stay quiet.

The real monsters don't hide in my closet, or under my bed. They live with us, in plain sight.

Chapter 1

It wasn't fair to play favourites; even as a child, Kuki would make sure that each and every one of her countless Rainbow Monkeys received equal amounts of love and attention.

And yet, when she was surrounded by the loud, pushy first-graders in their miniature classroom as they clamoured for her attention, pulling at her hair and tugging on her sweater, she couldn't help but fall for the sandy-haired girl who always sat quietly to one side, next to the window, where she would stare vacantly into space as if the real world couldn't possibly be as interesting as whatever was happening inside her head.

Sometimes, Kuki wished she could jump right in there with her, just to see what she was thinking about.

Kuki could still remember how, at the start of the semester, she had leaned down to look into the girl's bright brown eyes and asked her to introduce herself.

"I'm Sonya," the girl had murmured in the breathy, high-pitched voice that little girls managed so well. "And I'm seven years old."

She had been wearing a fairy pink sweater over a white blouse with the collar neatly turned out, a red pleated skirt and purple Mary Janes. Her blonde hair was in bunches that stuck straight out of her head, and the purple bangles on her arms clacked together when she moved. She was absolutely adorable, and Kuki, who was naturally drawn to all things cute and cuddly, had to squelch the urge to give her a big hug right there and then in case she scared her. Maybe later, she thought, when she gets to know me better.

She couldn't have known however, that little Sonya barely spoke another word for the rest of the school year.

.

It had been chilly when Kuki first started her tutorial classes, though "babysitting" would be infinitely more accurate to describe how she spent her afternoons after school watching over the first-graders as they got started on their homework, waiting for their parents to pick them up. She had smelled the faint scent of apples and rotting leaves when a breeze came through the open windows, a hint that autumn was on its way.

Now it was almost summer, and it was finally the last day of school. The air was heavy with humidity and anticipation, and the windows were closed to allow air-conditioning. Kuki kept sneaking peeks at the Rainbow Monkey watch on her wrist, willing its arms to go a bit faster. She liked her job; the hours weren't horrible and the pay wasn't too bad. And while she didn't get the teaching experience she was hoping to get - she should have known that children would never willingly sit through two more hours of school, even if she was only trying to help with their homework - at least she liked kids, and they liked her back.

Today though, Kuki's boyfriend would be waiting for her when she was done, and they would go get ice cream and plan out their week of free time before she started her summer job, though she was pretty sure she would be spending most of her time at the beach. She would definitely be needing a new bathing suit, and probably a new pair of sunglasses...and maybe some new flip flops, the glittery ones with the flowery straps she saw in the shops the other day would be perfect...

"MISS SANBAN!" A shrill cry cut her imaginary shopping trip short, and her eyes widened in alarm at the sight of the wailing redheaded boy standing in front of her.

"What is it, Shaunie? What's the matter?!" Kuki quickly got up from where she had zoned out in the teacher's chair and hurried around the desk to kneel in front of him, turning him this way and that to check for bruises and open cuts. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Shaunie shook his head and gave an exaggerated sniff. "No, but Margie said I draw like a boy and broke all my crayons!" He burst into a fresh wave of tears.

"But Miss Sanban," he gulped. "I am a boy!"

Kuki sighed inwardly as she patted him on the back and led him back to his desk, which was covered in pieces of coloured wax and crayon wrappers. And to think she would have it easy today. Yes, it wasn't fair to play favourites, but even the most accommodating person in the world would have a hard time tolerating Margie, an obnoxious six-year-old who looked like a grasshopper with her high ponytail and huge glasses, and for whatever reason seemed to have a set agenda against all boys, and was forever trying to coerce her fellow girls into doing the same.

Kuki picked up a crayon the colour of the sunset that had luckily escaped Margie's hands and handed it to Shaunie, whose face was still glistening with tears. "Here buddy, draw me something nice while I go talk to Margie, okay?"

She waited till he gave another noisy sniff and had his head bent over a fresh piece of paper before she walked over to Margie who was by the window, trying to get Sonya's attention.

"But Sonya, you can't play with Lee, he's a BOY!" Margie's whiny voice could be heard halfway across the classroom.

Kuki was secretly pleased to see that Sonya made no indication that she had heard her at all; her head was turned away.

"But SONYA-" Kuki swiftly covered the last few steps and caught Margie's hand as it went sailing down toward Sonya's shoulder. In a flash of determination, Kuki decided that she was not going to let Margie disturb the quiet, resolute profile of the little creature staring out the window.

"Margie," Kuki tried sounding authorative as she looked down at Margie's beady eyes, which had been comically enlarged by her glasses. Pulling her away from Sonya, she said, "I want to talk to you please."

She felt Margie's damp hand twist from her grasp, and the girl turned to face her, furiously blinking those freakishly big eyes.

Kuki sighed audibly this time, and bent down until she was level-headed with Margie. All things considered, she was only being a kid. She hoped.

"Margie," Kuki softened her tone. "You can't go around breaking people's crayons because they're boys. That's wrong."

"But Miss Sanban, you're a girl too!" Margie's hands curled into fists at her side, her feet stamped the floor. "Why are you helping boys?! Why do we even need boys anyway?!"

"Umm..." At this, Kuki had to backtrack a little. Somehow, saying that we would need boys to repopulate the earth in case it was taken over by a maniacal, boy-hating tyrant like you just wouldn't make the right impression.

"Erm..." Fortunately Kuki was saved by a sharp rap on the door, followed by the gruff mumble of the school janitor.

"'Rents are 'ere kids. Now scram so I can get a-cleanin'!"

Kuki's stammers were drowned out by a unanimous "YAYYY!" as everyone shoved their things into their backpacks and rushed towards the door. Margie had already forgotten their hanging conversation and even Shaunie had abandoned his masterpiece, a bright orange flower half-heartedly blooming on his desk.

As Kuki straightened her legs and went to get her duffel bag, she looked around to make sure no one left anything behind and realized that the classroom wasn't nearly as empty as she thought.

"Sonya! What are you still doing here?! Aren't your parents here to pick you up?"

Sonya's pigtails bobbed as she dragged her gaze away from the window. She looked surprised to see that she was the only one left in the room. When her brown eyes focused on Kuki, she gave her a shy smile that would melt even the crabby janitor's stony heart.

"No, numb-, I mean, Miss Sanban," Sonya whispered, blushing. "My mom has to work. Numbuh 84's parents will take care of me until they're back."

It took Kuki a minute to recognize who Sonya was referring to. She knew some kids in the class were playing this operatives game, and would refer to each other as "numbuhs". Numbuh 84, or Lee, to Kuki, was a little boy from the next class who seemed to have a yo-yo permanently attached to his arm, and a woolly ear hat that was just as permanently attached to his head.

Kuki liked to think he found it in his mom's attic somewhere, tried it on, and refused to take it off. It was too big and fell down to his nose; she still had no idea what colour his eyes were, but what she found most curious was how a boy like him could so effortlessly forge a friendship with Sonya in a way that she never could. He was always waiting for her when class ended, and they played together during recess.

She often wondered how adorable it would be if Sonya and Lee ended up dating when they grew up.

As if she had summoned him, Lee's furry head appeared around the door. Kuki could hear the whirring of a swishing yo-yo.

"Numbuh 83, c'mon!"

"Coming, numbuh 84!" It was the loudest Kuki has ever heard her say anything. Grabbing her bag, Sonya ran towards the door.

As the bouncing yellow pigtails rushed away from her, Kuki was overcome with the strangest sense of nostalgia and cried out before she could stop herself. "Sonya, wait!"

Sonya's purple shoes stopped at the threshold, and she turned to look expectantly at Kuki. "Yes, numb-Miss Sanban?"

"Ahh…" Kuki stared back blankly. Now what was that for? It wasn't like they were friends; she could count on one hand the number of conversations they had all year.

After a few awkward seconds, Kuki stooped down and folded Sonya into a hug. She was even tinier than she expected.

"Have a great summer, Sonya," she said softly. She didn't wait until Sonya reacted before she released her and stepped back.

"Erm…you too, numb-, I mean, Miss Sanban," Sonya looked startled, and then, like lightning, a huge grin spread across her face. She opened her mouth, and for a moment it looked like she was going to say something more, but then she spun on her heels and ran after Lee.

"Bye numbuh 3!" Kuki heard Lee's drawl ringing down the corridor, and was almost tempted to see who he was yelling at. For a kids' game, this was actually pretty interesting.

Kuki turned to survey the classroom one last time for memory's sake – who knew if she would be back next year? - when she felt something soft and fluffy slam into her legs from behind. A thin pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"I miss you, numbuh 3," Kuki could hear Sonya's muffled voice from where her head was buried in her sweater.

And then the weight lifted, and Sonya was gone.

.

It could practically be summer already; even in the late afternoon Kuki could still feel the heat of the sun beating down on her shoulders as she strode through the school's parking lot to the specially reserved parking spot for her boyfriend's plane. The Kid, or Ace, as she was finally allowed to call him after a year of dating, didn't drive; he flew. After all this time, Kuki still felt a thrill of excitement course through her every time she stepped into his flying machine.

As she walked, she contemplated Sonya's unusual choice of words. She was oddly delighted at the fact that they had included her in their game; she couldn't stop thinking about who else they had "numbuhed", and why she was given "3", of all numbers. But something else stuck out: Sonya had said she misses her, in the present tense, like she had been away all this time and had returned at last. But except for a few sick days, she had practically been here all year; where could she have gone?

Kuki shook her head. It probably didn't mean anything. Sonya probably wasn't even aware of it herself. It had to be the picky academic inside her that always had to be right about such things.

She was so lost in thought she didn't even realize she had walked past the designated meeting spot until she was standing right in the middle of it. No plane, and certainly no Ace.

Really? Kuki felt a stab of annoyance; she had been looking forward to this. Things have been…distant between them recently, and now that school was over she was more than ready to do whatever it took to get this relationship back on track.

Pulling out her cellphone, she was about to call him when she noticed a text message that she must have missed when her phone was switched to silent for the classroom:

Sorry babe, can't get you today. Busy.

Well. That was obvious.

Clearly it slipped his mind that she would have left her bike home today, and would have to find some way of getting home, unless she wanted to walk half an hour in this heat. Not to mention, everyone would be off celebrating the end of school at this late hour, and who could possibly be bothered to come back to get her?

She wasn't going to call Ace to give him the satisfaction of hearing her in distress, that's for sure.

Simmering, she flipped through her contacts. Abby, her best friend, would come, but she must be packing for the road trip she had been planning for the past three months, and it didn't feel right to bother her. Fanny…nah, she would make sure Kuki never forgot this favour she asked of her, and come up with some ridiculous chore that she had to do to "even things out". No, absolutely not worth the fuss.

She sped through her contact list, and was saddened to find that it was so short. Strangely enough, she vaguely remembered having lots of friends when she was younger, but they all sort of drifted off when she turned thirteen; she couldn't even recall their names anymore.

She could call her mom, though by the time her mom was able to drag herself away from her office she would probably have already made it home on foot. There was no one else; her dad was on a business trip, and her little sister Mushi, wherever she was, couldn't, and wouldn't be of much help anyway.

As her thumb hovered over her mom's number, she thought she heard a faint cry echo across the empty parking lot.

"Numbuh 3!"

Wait, what?

"Sonya?!" Was it possible that Lee's parents hadn't left yet? Maybe she wouldn't need to call her mom after all.

"Numbuh 3!" There it was again. If she wasn't mistaken, it was actually getting louder. She put her phone back into her bag and turned to find the source of the caller, only to be blinded by the late afternoon sun hanging at the edge of the horizon.

"Agh!" She couldn't see. Stumbling forward, she reasoned that as long as she was moving, and Sonya was moving, they were bound to bump into each other at some point. "Sonya! Over here!"

"Hey, you!" Okay, that didn't sound right.

Kuki abruptly stopped in her tracks and shook her head frantically, trying to clear the misty white haze that had pasted itself over her eyes. Deep, masculine, and was that an Australian accent?

She heard footsteps. Pounding footsteps that seemed to reverberate through the asphalt and shook the very ground beneath her feet.

Whoever it was that was calling her, if it was calling her at all, was definitely not Sonya.

Shielding her eyes, Kuki squinted and made out a dark shape that was getting bigger and bigger every second. Deliberately or not, the caller had aligned himself with the blinding sunlight and there was no way she could make out a face.

She was going to get mugged. Obviously the best way to conclude a disappointing afternoon.

Kuki closed her eyes and braced for impact.

.

It didn't come.

Kuki allowed herself a peek and saw that sneakered-feet had stopped two paces in front of her. Their owner was panting; she could feel the air moving in sync with his breaths.

She didn't dare move. For all she knew, the mugger was taking his sweet time.

Eventually, she heard his breathing slow, and it fell quiet.

A beat, two.

And then a tentative voice asked, "Kuki?"

Her eyes burst open.

As the sun slipped into the horizon, and her vision returned, she was finally able to take in the sight of the boy standing in front of her. He was taller than her, and seemed to be around her age.

She had no idea who he was.

Before she could formulate a response, his lips twitched up in a smile that looked almost sad.

"So it's true what they said then," he said vaguely, his Aussie accent clear and prominent. He stuck his hands in his pockets.

Kuki couldn't see his eyes; they were obscured by his thick, blonde bangs. Somehow though, she knew his words were meant for her.

"You're not numbuh 3 anymore."