Lisa isn't a very material person. She doesn't have much she treasures. The few things she do treasure are mostly abstract, hard to describe, and lacking a physical form. So when someone starts messing with her flowers, she notices it in a heartbeat.

A few forget-me-not's are missing, and her violets look like they had been stepped all over on. It makes her mad that they were treated with so much disrespect. But Lisa's not one for confrontation, so she tries to ignore this little mishap. It could be a kid accidentally knocked them over or a stray animal got curious. It takes too much time and effort to investigate this further. Especially with Mother having a string of bad days lately,

So Lisa tries to not concern herself with her flowers' attacker. Still she can't help but notice the way the arrangement she worked so hard on is ruined.

The next morning as she heads out to water her plants, Lisa freezes in shock at what she sees. It's only the back of someone's head, a curly mop of brown hair, but the fact the intruder is picking her prized peony makes her feel like fainting.

"Hey!" She calls out in a burst of courage. However at the word, the intruder dashes off before she can get a glimpse of their face.

For the first time in a long time, Lisa is angry. She's used to being beaten and pushed around, but nobody had ever done the same to her pride and joy. However now someone was ruining everything she enjoyed with one careless motion.

Before she can even register it, Lisa has a pen and a piece of paper in her hand. She scribbles messy characters down in a flash, trying to make sense of what exactly she wanted to tell the intruder. Her hand moves with a mind of its own and soon the note is finished without her having to think very hard.

Dear Intruder,

Why do you bully my flowers like that? I've worked very hard raising them, and what you're doing is rude. Please stop bothering me and simply buy a bouquet.

Sincerely, Lisa Mishima

Before she can think to hard on the words, Lisa notices she's late for school again. After her recent spat of absents, she needs every minute in school to avoid failing.

Then I'd be stuck here forever.

The thought is out before her brain can censor herself.

As she rushes out, she leaves the note next to the pot of lilies without another thought, too preoccupied in the crazy world just ready to eat her up.

The sun is low when Lisa comes back, tired from hours of mind-numbing work. She's so tired she almost forgets about the events of this morning. The key word is "almost" though. She finds her note trapped under the pot of lillies.

With curiosity burning brightly in her eyes, Lisa examines the note to find a message on the back of it. The writing is equally messy as her's, characters hard to make out; however, since Lisa is used to her handwriting she can figure out their meaning easily.

Dear Lisa Mishima,

My apologies for bullying your flowers. I didn't know they meant so much to you. Tomorrow morning I'd like to bring you a gift to show how sorry I am.

Sincerely, Intruder

She can't tell if he's mocking her or not. A part of her still wants to crumple up the note and throw it away, but she has to admit the meeting thing sounds interesting. She didn't catch "Intruder's" face, and she wishes to know what this strange person looks like.

So she tries to get to her room quickly (If she's fast enough she can avoid an encounter with Mother) and set her alarm for 6:00 AM. It might be early for a Saturday morning, but this weird kid is a good enough reason to wake that early.

The next morning, Lisa awakes to the deafining sound of her alarm clock. Quickly she shuts the thing off, but then she's left in her sleepy haze wondering why she set it today. Suddenly the note from yesterday comes back to her, and she peeks out her window to see a familiar mass of brown curls.

She didn't even think of changing out of her penguin pyjamas, choosing instead to race downstairs right away. When she finally reaches the bottom floor and burst through the door, she found Intruder was wearing a strange mask that covered their entire face. For some reason that disappointed her.

"You must be Lisa Mishima," The voice sounds male but is higher than most.

"And... who are you?" She had been looking forword to this since the note, but now her courage is starting to give out.

"I wrote 'Intruder' on the note."

"Yes, but what's your name?" Lisa almost slaps herself for being so embarrassing.

However the mysterious Intruder only laughs as if she's the most charming person in the world. "First time someone's asked that about a dude like me. Call me Twelve," She can hear the smile in his voice.

"Ok," She's still positive he's playing games with her, but she doesn't have the strength to argue. "What do you want?"

"Oh yeah!" Twelves started fishing in his pockets before he pulled out a packet of seeds. "Here you go, sorry." He tosses it to her, and Lisa surprisingly manages to catch it.

"Sunflower seeds?" She reads the packet before giving him a quizzical look. She's not sure she could grow flowers like these in her tiny pots.

"Yeah, I didn't mean to cause trouble, swear it."

"You know I don-don't mind you taking a flower or two," Her mouth is moving on it's own, but she can't stop it. "Flowers should be given to those you love. That's their purpose. If you want I can pick out one for you to take everyday. Then you wouldn't be messing up an arrangement or something."

Even without facial cues, she can tell he's surprised by the news.

"Seems an awful lot of work on your part for a stranger. Especially for free."

He's both perspective and right. But honestly, he's the first person in a long time to show he cares about her. Lisa realizes she's so desperate for a positive influence in her life, she doesn't care if it comes from a strange boy like this.

"I'll leave you a note for tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Alright," With that he gives a silly salute. "See you later, Lisa Mishima."

"See you later, Twelve," She finds herself mirroring him.

Over time, she finds herself leaving conversations in the notes.

Dear Twelve,

Take the yellow tulip today. I have a Pre-Cal test coming up. Wish me luck. I really need to pass it if I don't want to fail.

Sincerely, Lisa Mishima

To her surprise, she finds he starts doing the same.

Dear Lisa Mishima,

Got it. Pre-Cal is easy for me. If you want, leave a problem on the next note, and I can work it out for you.

Sincerely, Twelve.

It's strange that they never meet in person like that again. Yet Lisa finds that his words are enough. Having someone to talk to is a blessing from heaven itself, and soon she finds herself saying more than she should to a stranger.

Dear Twelve,

Those girls from yesterday bothered me again-

Mother is having another bad day-

I had trouble getting out of bed today-

This is stuff that she's been trained to keep to herself, lest she burden anyone else, yet she writes about them to her flower boy. He seems to care about frivolous things no one else would, and always offers a comforting word or two.

Dear Lisa Mishima,

They must be super jealous of you and your pretty voice-

My brother, Nine, sometimes has days like that too-

Do you want me to check up on you? It won't take too long-

It's so alien to her. Still, Lisa finds herself growing attached to a person only composed of letters and ink. She thinks she's finally found a friend in her flower boy. And that thought alone sometimes gets her through the day.

One day in class, Lisa was keeping her head down as usual when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hello, my name is Toji Hisami."

With wide brown eyes she looks up to see her flower boy unmasked. The brown curls are coupled with hazel eyes and a cat-like grin.

"Jambo!" Any doubt she held is erased with that one phrase.

Before she knows it, Twelve is directed to sit behind her, and Lisa's heart comes this close to stopping. She recovers quickly though, wanting to be able to give her ink-friend a smile. However when he passes he grins back, yet there is no sign of recognization in his eyes. In a manner of minutes, he brought her hopes up to the highest, before crashing them onto the rocks below.

She spends the rest of the day without making a peep. After that, she doesn't feel like trying to catch up in her classes. However as she's heading home from school, deft hands grab her. Before she can let out a scream though, she sees brown curls once more.

"Twelve?" She gasps, barely holding back tears.

He simply nods in reply, and she can't help but embrace her flower boy. He doesn't seem to mind though, speaking comforting words to her.

"Sorry I acted cold. I didn't want to give Sakura another thing to bully you about."

"It gave me such a fright."

"I bet," He moved to tilt her head up to face him. "Anyway, you want to see who I've been giving the flowers to?"

"Oh yes!"

"Then follow me!"

Suddenly, Lisa found herself on the back of a motorcycle, clinging to Twelve for dear life. She can barely see anything with the large helmet on, but she still manages to make out Twelve's grin. She can't help but smile as well as the colors of the outside world seem to fade away.

By the time they reach their destination, the sun is already starting to set. In the back of her mind, Lisa starts to grow anxious, but before she says a word, Twelve squeezes her hand.

"Don't worry, I'll get you home before your mom can have another panic attack."

It's not much, still Lisa apprieciates the gesture.

"Anyway, who's the lucky person?" She expected them to arrive at a house, but this place looks dead and deserted.

"Persons," He corrects. "Come on, I'll show you." His grip shifts to her wrist as he leads her to their destination. Once again Lisa can't hold back a smile. The kind of people that could cause Twelve to care so much must be special. They must be-

"Here they are," Twelve's voice grows quiet as they approach a grave. Suddenly the smile that so easily crossed her face is gone. She finds the daisy he took today at the foot of it, erasing any doubt,

"Um, who are they?"

"My family," For the first time she's been around him in person, Twelve grows somber, hazel eyes appearing miles away. "Me and Nine are going to be busy for the next few weeks, so I thought I'd bring you to them before I say goodbye one last time."

Lisa tries to say something, anything, but no words will escape her mouth. A million questions pester her mind, including how his entire family could be wiped out like this, but the most urgent one is how long has he carried this burden alone? Since their first interaction, had he been supporting her, all while facing ghosts like these?

She doesn't know what to do, so she simply hugs her flower boy again. Hoping now she'll be able to repay a fraction of the support he's given her.

A.N. Happy Birthday personwhoeatsthings! I hope you enjoy your gift, I can't believe we've known each other for over a year! I hope you can relax now that school's out!