Mysteries of Life

Lily sat on the chair, feeling rather uncomfortable.

She looked around, but could not see anything unusual. Yet, why did it feel like she was on display or something?

She gulped, clutching the bag in her hand tightly and fiercely berating herself for doing this.

It had only been three days.

Zero said he was busy and could not come to pick up the shirt, but would let her know when he could. She knew that.

So why was she here again?

She bit her lower lips in anxiety and took several deep breaths.

It was too late to turn back now.

They said that they had informed him and he was on his way down, so how could she just run off?

She clutched the bag tighter.

She wasn't doing anything wrong.

No.

Nope.

Not a bit.

"Lily?"

Lily jumped, her arms flung out. If it wasn't for the fact that she had been holding the bag in a death grip, she would have thrown the bag away.

"Gosh, Zero, don't do that!" Lily said, her heart pumping hard in fright.

Yes, it was fright, okay and NOT because she finally got to see that face again after three days. It certainly wasn't because she was nervous and giddy.

Nope.

[Yeah, Yeah. Lily. We believe you. Really]

Lily started hitting him on the chest, saying, "You're so mean! Scaring me like that!!"

Lily was so engrossed in hitting Zero out of sheer embarrassment that she did not notice the very unusual silence around. If this was a manga, one would see that every single employee there had white faces, their foreheads dark and some would have a huge drop of sweat near the forehead.

It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Nearby higher level MIB agents were on alert, ready in case the Sleeping Volcano erupted.

The Diamond Team was watching the scene with their eyes wide - and mouth - wide open.

Then ...

Zero gave a small smile.

The Diamond Team fell down in shock.

"That looks like Zero. It sounds like Zero," mumbled Edward, putting his hands below as he leaned forward, staring at the figure in front of them.

"It's Zero," Lucka verified, his chin on the palm of his hand as he looked ahead.

"It can't be," Akira said, his face showing intense concentration, leaning nonchalantly on his side and on someone's shoulder, "Zero ... Zero doesn't smile."

"As interesting as that may be," came Yume's muffled voice from below, "Can you guys please get the fuck off me first?!"

Yume, the poor soul, was crushed underneath the rest. He was spread-eagled on the floor while Edward and Lucka were lying on top of him (both partially on top of him) while Akira was leaning on Lucka's shoulder.

They got up while Yume groaned and slowly rose up as well. Luckily, everyone was also reeling in shock at the sight in front of them that him being flattened by his own team wasn't as newsworthy.

It wasn't to say that they were not seen, but rather, that was not as interesting as seeing Zero looking human.

Even with Lianne, he was still rather stoic and looked detached - though granted, he did appear doting towards Lianne at times. Lianne was equally expressionless most of the time, so there wasn't much of a difference when they were together.

Of course, no one knew how Lianne and Zero truly were with each other when they were alone.

They weren't expressionless.

They were just very comfortable with each other and words weren't really needed most of the time. Also, Lianne could know how Zero felt (and vice versa) even though they didn't show it on their faces.

With Lily, however, things were different.

Zero felt a warmth from her and naturally, he reacted to that without him even realising it. She was just so bright, cheerful, and full of life that it invoked expressions from him that he never knew he was making.

"Sorry," Zero said, tilting his head.

Lily pouted and shoved the bag in her hands to him, "I know you're busy, but …"

Lily hesitated, aghast at the thought that she almost told him her true thoughts.

She had been worried that he might not be eating properly or that he went into some sugar withdrawal or something, so she had impulsively come with some food to give him.

But if she was to say that, wouldn't he know that she had feelings for him?

"... I … I was hoping you could help me with this," Lily said weakly, mentally hitting herself on the head.

Zero tilted his head and took the bag, "What is it?"

Lily bit her lower lip, looking very worried, "Well, I was trying out some healthy recipes and came up with this. If you could tell me if it tastes good or not, I'd really appreciate it. If you enjoy them, then it means it's on the right track. You can be honest with me, it's fine. I need to improve on it if there is something lacking."

"Erm, and well, to say 'thank you', I also made lunch for you. It's nothing fancy and it's not some special healthy thing like dessert is. I don't know what you like so I just made something I thought would be good for you as it's light and very nutritious to replenish your energy. It's only fish and I hope that's fine," Lily continued without pausing.

"Don't worry. There is no fishy smell as I had already prepared the fish beforehand. It's steamed with some ginger and a little rice wine. It's not too much, so you won't get drunk or anything cuz it's just in the cooking and the alcohol will evaporate. It won't disturb your work at all and I … er … I'll stop talking now," Lily said suddenly, her eyes wide open.

Lily put her face in her hands, totally embarrassed because she was so nervous that she just kept on talking that in the end, she was just babbling whatever came into her mind.

<Oh gosh, Zero must think I'm so stupid!> Lily wailed internally.

Zero chuckled, and his smile got a little wider as he thanked her.

"Okay, I'll be going now. Bye!" Lily said hurriedly then turned and ran off before Zero could say another word.

Well, she didn't literally run off but she was walking so fast that it was practically a 'slow run' sort of thing. Zero just watched her go, holding the lunch bag and went back up.

"It's not fair," sniffed Edward, "Out of all the people in the world, how come HE gets to have a nice girl giving him food?"

Everyone turned to face Akira, who raised his hands up in surrender, "Don't look at me. How would I know?"

"You're the one who has so many girlfriends, how can you not know?" Yume pointed out.

Akira shrugged, "I don't have girlfriends. I have flings. There's a difference. And the lady that just left? She's girlfriend material, not fling material."

Yume couldn't help but snort, "Maybe she's a sucker for punishment? I mean, come on. Even I say Zero is good looking but he's just too dead, you know? Cold? What woman would like a dead fish like that?"

They looked at each other.

Mysteries of Life.