Human One

21. Frenemies?

I have to jog to catch up to Aella, she walks so fast, and I remain a few steps behind her, not taking my eyes off her back and the very deadly-looking weapon that's strapped there.

I'm really not sure how to feel about Aella....or how she feels about me.

Does she hold a grudge? I did reveal her identity back at the Villa after all. Or maybe she's not angry about that, but the fact that I stole her fiancee away.

Suddenly she stops and I freeze, inhaling sharply and on full alert.

She turns to me, waving a hand. "If a Lyncher appears, I can't move quickly enough to stop it if you're in back of me."

I exhale the breath I'd held, walking forward until I've passed her. 

She starts walking again, her long legs allowing her to catch up until she's only half-a-step behind me, making me feel very awkward since we're basically walking side by side.

Up ahead I can see Zero's back, not once this whole time has he turned his head to look back at me.

I glance sideways at Aella, and find her entirely focused, not paying me a speck of attention.

This may be a valuable chance to get information, I can't possibly let this pass up....but then again looking at how things are right now I doubt it'll be easy getting details out of either of them.

"Why did you save me?" I finally speak up, deciding to slowly ease into the information-gathering.

Aella glances at me, before going back to look straight ahead. My shoulders slump, as I picture her not responding and just ignoring me the entire time, but I'm surprised when I hear her speak after another second.

"We were nearby." Is all she says, which isn't really an answer but I won't push. I'm just lucky they saved me.

"And.....Zero......was this his idea?" I ask, wincing at how conspicuous I made that sound.

She gives me another look, this one lingering with her brow furrowing, lips twitching down.

"I don't understand why you call him 'Zero'." She says his name forcefully, not hiding her thoughts about the name in the tone of her voice.

"Yeah well....it's a long story." Is the best answer I can up with at the moment.

And then something hits me.

Not literally, because thoughts and ideas can't cause damage, but the impact of this particular thought is so powerful i wouldn't be surprised if it actually knocked me off my feet.

"Um, Aella?" I ask, coughing to clear my hoarse throat which had suddenly dried up. "What is Zero's real name....just out of curiosity?"

I'm scared to look at Aella, already thinking of the judgmental glare she must have pinned on me, her eyes asking, 'you've known him for this long and still don't know his real name?'.

I couldn't agree with her more. It is super odd that I never even bothered to look into finding out his real name, but then again, Zero never complained about being Zero.

He went along with it happily enough, and I guess that just kind of made me want to go along with it.

Zero is Zero after all. I can't imagine him being anything else.

However, when I do finally muster up the courage to look at Aella, she doesn't have a judgmental expression or even the cool, calm, and collected one she always wears.