And that's how the day went for awhile.

Sleeping.

Xisuma would sleep even more, and wake up to pain, the stranger there on the times his mom wasn't.

By now, he couldn't tell if the pain was dulling, surpassing, the worst it's been, or if he'd gone numb- But it was still enough to keep his mind fuzzy and confused.

As he slowly blinked away yet again, he found comfort in the actions of the person sitting behind him, in this case it was just messing with his hair.

"Only two days left right....?" He mumbled quietly.

"Yes." Was all he got as a response.

"It hurts... more.. really super more..."

"I know."

The young boy slowly and weakly nodded. "Why do you tell me to trust you....?"

"Because," The stranger breathed out, "You need to."

Xisuma shook his head, but only to catch a glimpse of a blood/maroon red sleeve. But it was still. And stiff. He brought his hand to it and felt that it was also hard, before the stranger retreated his hand and pulled it back.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because."

Xisuma stopped a moment before quietly whispering,

"I trust you though.."

He could practically feel the strangers lips curl into a smile behind him. "You do?"

He nodded. "Can I ask you something..?"

There was a slight hesitation in the response. "..... Depends.."

The child took a breath. "Who... Who are you..?"

It was like the world had frozen. The hand had stopped moving, and the stranger had stopped talking. He couldn't even hear him breathing.

Curiously, Xisuma mustered up all his strength, pushed down the fact his head was killing him, and turned around and looked.

A gloved hand was pushed on his face, covering his vision. "Not yet."

"But I wanna! We're friends." He quietly argued, his pain-induced quiet tone was muffled even more by the pain.

He felt the strangers' hand weaken in the slightest as one of the fingers slipped. He peeked through, only to see the same armor all over his body. He dragged his eyes upward, seeing a white, weak and just beginning smile. He peered closer and saw teeth. Sharp teeth. And- He jumped back and screamed.

Red eyes.

Bright, red eyes. Piercing through a dark grey helmet on his head.

He pressed back into the wall and curled up. "Please don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

The beast sighed and shook his head, "I knew you weren't ready..," He muttered.

Xisuma stared at him, pale and shaking. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don't hurt meeeee!" He closed his eyes.

The man groaned a little and sighed. "Why would I hurt you."

"Your scary!"

"Am I really?"

"YES!" Xisuma yelled back, but it was pretty weak from fear and the headache, which made his head feel like it was throbbing. He couldn't believe that this monster had been right beside him this whole time! "You're- You're gonna hurt me!"

"Have I hurt you before?"

Xisuma waited a moment and shook his head. "No.. But you were the creepy voice at the park!"

"So?"

"Your gonna hurt me!"

Xisuma froze and completely tensed up, feeling the same gloved hand on his forehead.

"Don-" He stopped, feeling the headache subdue slightly. He peeked an eye open at the stranger, who gave him a look.

"Am I hurting you now?"

He said, in the same soft and creepy voice, as always. This time though, it was ten times worse as he was looking at it- But it was also better, he knew where it was coming from.

Xisuma shook his head, "No.." He whispered quietly.

"My eyes scare you, don't they?"

Xisuma rapidly nodded.

The man blinked a couple times, the red glow slowly diminishing to almost nothing.

"That better?"

Xisuma glanced up at him. He couldn't really see them through the helmet. "I can't see.." He muttered. The man nodded and slipped off the helmet, placing it besides his leg.

A white mop of hair fell down, but he quickly brushed the tangled mess away. Xisuma saw that his eyes were now normal, sorta. They were red, with only a faint glow, and his pupils were dark, narrow slits, ones that make you want to stare.

Xisuma looked a moment. "Better.." He mumbled quietly, eyes still focused on the others extraordinary and unusual ones.

The child thought a moment. "Why were you following me... and scaring me..?"

The red-eyed-wonder shrugged. "Because."

"Because why?"

"Because. I did not want to scare you."

Xisuma smiled a little."But you just did.."

The man shrugged again. "Yeah, but you weren't supposed to see me. But you did. Your fault."

Xisuma slowly sat down onto his knees, still wary of the stranger. "But.."

He arched a brow. "But what?" Xisuma shook his head. "I don't know.."

The stranger let out a low, unnerving, soft chuckle. "Exactly."

Xisuma gave him a slightly pouty face, but still kept distance. "But nice people don't scare other people."

The man sat there with his hands folded in his lap. "But friends can scare other friends. Because they trust eachother. And you trust me. Correct?"

Xisuma sat there a moment. "I dunno.." He said quietly.

"Have I given you a reason not to?"

Xisuma shook his head hesitantly. The white haired person looked at him. "So. Do you?"

Xisuma looked at him a moment. The man sighed.

"You've been alone right?"

X nodded.

"But I've stayed with you right?"

X nodded again.

"And I haven't hurt you right?"

Another nod.

"So you have no reason to fear me and distrust me right?"

Xisuma thought a moment before looking at him and nodding slowly. The man smiled. "And before, before you saw me, you said you trusted me right?"

Xisuma nodded along. The man smiled. "So do you? Do you still trust me?"

Xisuma took his time on his response. This was the same person who had scared him and haunted him. The man from the kitchen. The one talking to him at the park. But he also hadn't hurt him.. And had been nice.. And had stayed with him..

He looked up at him. "I... I trust you.." He said quietly.

The man smiled a little. "Friends trust friends." Xisuma looked at him and smiled in the slightest. "Friends trust friends?" The man nodded. "And you trust me right?" X nodded and the friend smiled. "So we're friends?

Xisuma widely smiled, his eyes wide. He had a friend! "Friends!"

The man smiled and they sat there a few minutes, before the older one broke the silence, but in a friendly and softer tone, still creepy-ish, but not as much as the prior times.

"Ex."

Xisuma gave him a confused look. The man sighed again. "You wanted to know who I was. You asked earlier."

Xisuma nodded.

The man lifted the corners of his mouth into smile, his lips noticeably parched and dry, but thankfully, he didn't show teeth.

"My name. Is Ex."

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[Words: About 1,260]

So we've reached a point! I'd like to say the other hermits (who will be introduced I swear) will come, but in later chapters. I still need to build-up some stuff for this to work. But uh, well I'm pretty happy with this chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed! If anything is confusing though, let me know and I'll try to help! (That is as long as I can without spoiling!) Also I'll be on a trip soon so updates may be slower/shorter! Again hope y'all enjoyed!

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