Today..*

He fidgeted for a while..watching over his friends until they both appeared to be sleeping. He could never be sure. Mayu kept moving, fixing herself to Katt like another arm. About an hour later, when their breaths matched, he stood..combed his fingers through his hair, and slipped outside the tea shop..leaned into the wall beside the doors, just out of reach of the light pooling from the window. The cold, early morning air wrapped around him, stole the warmth from his body. Soon he couldn't really feel anything but the scratching of bricks against his back.

"Mm..you're entirely like Number forty-six. Attaching yourself to Humans..or those that look like Humans.."

Toby froze. The voice came from a black figure beside him that he was sure wasn't there before. After all..it was standing in the light of the window. What he could see of its face was sharp and paper white..borderline gaunt. His heart started hammering. How..could he not have noticed..?

The figure's head turned in his direction, its chin lifting to reveal a pointed face set in a sneer, eyes hidden by round, black glasses. He..knew this face.. It had said Number forty-six. That meant Lisa.

The figure chuckled. "You've become quite adept at controlling your facial features, but you must work on your eyes. It is your eyes that give you away, every single time." It placed itself right before Toby. He could feel the weight of the figure's eyes on him like bricks. The gaze scraped him slowly. He was being..inspected.

"I must say that my colleague's handiwork, despite his radical ideas and unhinged ways of carrying them out, never ceases to amaze me." The figure reached out for Toby's chest..its hand was thin, white..and steady. Like it felt it had a right to do it. Toby's jaw tightened..he shouldered out of the way, but he didn't get far. The action only put him in the path of the outstretched hand. And the figure, with deceptive strength, pushed him back into the wall. Its hand was cold. Fingers traveled his chest, touched the scars on either side.

"You seem to also be getting the hang of healing yourself as well.. From the looks of these scars, however, it seems that should you be able to-"

"Don't..touch me." Toby brushed the figure's hand away from his chest, threw it off to the side. This man was from the Organization. He knew it, and could almost smell it on him. How many times..had he heard Lisa talk about a figure in black..that came to the cities to collect payments? He must be one of those people. The sneer on the figure's face stretched to almost inhuman proportions.

"You do not possess the authority to give me orders, boy. Perhaps you have been under the influence of Number forty-six too long. Even though she has left you..and has been, and is still under, strict orders to eliminate you on sight. I wonder why she hasn't.."

Toby felt the blood drain away from his face. The figure knew..he had been watching. Something clicked in his mind.

"You're from..the Organization.. I'm supposed to be killed..I'm a.. What are you waiting for?"

The figure chuckled dryly. "My dear boy, if I had wanted your head, it would have already been at my feet. No, the purpose of my visit this morning was of a social nature. I merely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Up until this point, I had thought that you were a mistake, a glitch in our systems. But here you are..alive, learning. It's intriguing, it really is."

Toby scowled. He didn't know..what to make of this. It wasn't the first time..that his sentence hadn't been carried out. The rumors he had heard about the Organization's ruthlessness..the punishments that they exacted..even over their own..were they even true?

"As I am sure you are aware, males don't seem to bear the flesh of a Yoma as well as females do. They seem too eager to awaken. The pleasure, you see..they have no control over themselves.. But you..you are different. Still a monster, make no mistake about that; although barely one."

"Shut up.." Toby said, albeit weakly. The figure laughed again, as if sensing that it had taken several minutes for him to even form those two words.

"There you go again-"

"You've been..watching me, haven't you." He fought to keep the fear from his voice. His whole body was shaking with it. The figure's head tilted in what he figured was a thoughtful manner. "You know..that I don't want to be here.. You know that I've tried..to give myself up. I'm ready..to die." He was lying..wasn't he? He felt like he was jumping between two feelings. He didn't know which one to choose. "I shouldn't..have been allowed to stay alive this long.. I've.." He drew a hand up to his face. He could his wrinkled forehead under his fingers. His eyes were burning and it was making his head ache.

"You are correct, my boy. Technically, you shouldn't have even been able to get as close to one of ours as you have."

"Then..why.. You know where I am.." He hated the tears that crept from under his eyelids. His knees felt weak. "You need to..kill me..please.. Before I-"

The figure laughed again. "And what makes you think the Organization is here to serve you, boy?"

He didn't hear anything else. That didn't..make any sense. He'd been told that he was marked. And now..that he wasn't? Could he trust them? That they were going to leave him alive.. Why?

Punishment..? If that figure had really been watching..then he knew that suicide..wasn't an option.

Toby sat down on the ground, buried his face in his hands. If he couldn't do it himself..and if the Organization was content with just observing him..then what was left?

When he opened his eyes..he was alone. Or he just didn't see anyone.

Eventually..he forced himself to get up, shouldered his way back into the tea shop. The bell jingled loudly over his head. It didn't disturb his friends.

At least now he knew..that he wasn't becoming paranoid for nothing.