Author's note: Writing had never been my strong suit. However, one day I just got struck by a lighting flash of inspiration and the story just… came to me I guess. This will be a story that I am determined to see through to the end.

Scientists in starch white coats scribbled on their clipboards furiously and murmured to their coworkers. They were studying a small figure through the tinted windows that encompassed a large room. Inside, a young boy with chocolate hair was closing his eyes and concentrating intensely. In front of him was a small orange pot with a sapling - its emerald leaves writhing and twisting as the plant slowly grew taller and taller before his outstretched arms. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead and slid its way down his cheek before dropping onto the white patient gown.

Please, please grow. The boy silently begged. The plant complied as its trunk became thicker and its leaves more plentiful and vibrant. The small pot was unable to contain this growth and abruptly shattered into pieces. It was not long until a scientist on the other side of the glass turned on the microphone and told the boy to stop.

Exhausted, the boy collapsed on the ground. Before him was a towering oak tree with branches that brushed the ceiling and scraped the windows. Its roots burrowed into the grey linoleum floor and anchored itself firmly in the center of the room.

A burly man whistled behind one of the windows."It's going to take a while to cut that down," he laughed. "Aren't you proud, Shiori? Subject 001 is improving."

A slim woman with a brown ponytail glared at him. "He is not just a test subject Brutus," she snapped.

"Oh yes… It had a name right?" Brutus mockingly put a finger on his chin. "Hmm, what was it -" he appeared to think before snapping his fingers. "Ah, I remember now! Misaki!"

Shiori seemed to stare daggers at the man as he flexed his muscles and whistled - ignorant of her hatred.

A tall scientist approached Shiori from behind and hugged her waist. "Shiori, just forget about him," he consoled her.

Shiori took deep breaths. "Thanks, Yori," she muttered.

"No probs dear," he grinned.

Shiori smiled endearingly at him before angrily turning to Brutus. "If you'll excuse us, we're going to see Misaki."

Brutus crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah… Just remember not to get too attached to it, ok?" he warned.

Shiori didn't reply as she dragged her husband with her into the room.

Misaki was curled up on the floor, breathing heavily. His gown was drenched with sweat and his brown hair was plastered to his face. His eyes were closed and his brows were furrowed from the strain.

"Misaki!" Shiori cried. She rushed to cradle the child's head in her arms.

"M...mom?" Misaki murmured weakly. He turned to the voice and looked at the speaker, revealing his two bright, green eyes.

"Yes, it's me Misaki," Shiori crooned. "Are you feeling ok?" She carefully brushed his hair away from his face.

"Yup. I'm just a little… tired."

"Don't forget about me!" Yori complained behind her. He was promptly pushed away and forgotten by Shiori when she ran to Misaki's side.

"Hi… dad," Misaki croaked. He felt lightheaded and lethargic. He widened his eyes when he saw the tree and smiled widely. "Wow, I- I did it! Did you see that Mom, Dad?"

"Yes, we saw you," Shiori replied softly.

"Haha, I-I actually did it. I..." Misaki trailed off. His head drooped to one side as he drifted into a deep sleep. The two adults smiled as Misaki breathed softly.

"Let me take it from here Shiori," Yori offered as he opened his arms.

"No, no, I can do it," Shiori grunted. She attempted to lift Misaki but failed to do so as she struggled.

"Shiori, I don't think you can lift a seven-year-old child like that."

"B-but-"

"Shiori."

"...ugh. Fine. Can you help me dear?"

"With pleasure. ...Haha, you're so cute when you're embarrassed."

"..."

"OW! No need to punch me."

"...hmph."

Yori lifted Misaki easily in his arms and walked out of the room with Shiori following close beside him. They went down a hallway to where Misaki's room was located. After Shiori opened the door, Yori went in and gently placed the boy on the bed.

The bed was in the corner of the spacious room. The room itself lacked furnishing but there was a small table with chairs as well as little toys scattered about. A camera was placed in one of the corners on the ceiling with its red light blinking ominously. There was a light switch, but Shiori didn't turn it on so as to not wake Misaki.

Taking a towel from her coat pocket Shiori meticulously wiped the sweat off of Misaki. Meanwhile the boy slumbered peacefully as if he wasn't disturbed. The pair look at the sleeping figure for a while before tucking him in the sheets. Once they went out to the hallway and heard the click of the door behind them, Shiori covered her mouth to stifle a sob.

"How long do we have to do this, Yori?" she whispered. Tears were spilling out of her brown eyes. "Forcing children to do these inhumane tests…"

"Hush, dear," her husband demanded softly. "We are not alone here." Yori looked around furtively, but was reassured when he saw no one.

"We can't do anything… anything to help!" Shiori cried.

"...we can."

"How?"

Yori opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it tightly.

"What's the matter?"

Yori put a finger to his lips.

Shiori blinked in surprise. Tacit understanding passed between the two of them and Shiori hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes, smiling as she did so. They walked through the hallway hand in hand.

Misaki opened his bleary eyes to find that he was in his bed. He sat up and squinted at the clock hanging on the wall to find that it was only 6:30. He recalled yesterday's training with the tree and smiled at the memory.

I did it! Misaki cheered silently.

He always did his best in all the tests, exerting himself until he was on the verge of fainting. He always believed that as long as he did well, his parents would be proud. However, he remembered their pained smiles after each test - how they looked almost heartbroken as they see him collapse on the ground each time.

Why did they look so sad? Misaki wondered. He thought for a moment then shrugged. Guess I'll have to try even harder on the next test.

Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Misaki placed the other on the bed. However, instead of feeling the smooth cotton sheets, Misaki felt… hair.

Looking down beside him, Misaki saw a mass of blonde curls. The hair shook as its owner snuggled in the sheets, muttering incoherently. Misaki brightened up and shook the boy awake.

"Wake up Noah! It's… 6:32!"

"Whuh? Whazzat?" Noah mumbled. "Lemme sleep…" He burrowed his head under the blanket.

Misaki shook his friend even harder. "Wake. Up."

Noah refused to budge. Misaki grinned mischievously as a plan formed in his mind. Slowly he rose until he was standing on the bed. The lumpy mass under the blankets was oblivious to what was happening. Bending his legs like springs, Misaki was getting ready to strike.

3...2...1 ...Jump!

"Ack!" Noah yelped as he was suddenly squished by a force from above.

Misaki laughed gleefully as the blankets squirmed beneath him.

"Are you awake now?" he teased.

"Oh you-"

Noah burst from the blankets and playfully grappled with his friend, who was giggling and fighting back. They wrestled until they both plopped backwards on the mattress in exhaustion.

"How was training yesterday?" Noah asked nonchalantly.

"Haha, it was amazing! I was able to grow a really tall tree this time!"

"Wow! I remember how hard it was for you to even grow a shrub."

"..." Misaki frowned in annoyance at his remark. "How about you then?"

Noah smiled proudly. He stood up on the bed with both hands on his waist.

"I can control a mouse for thirty minutes now!"

Misaki clapped his hands. Noah smiled and fell back down on the bed.

"They said that I would able to control even large animals in the future!" he continued.

"That sounds so cool!" Misaki exclaimed. "...Um, how does your power work again?"

"Huh? I didn't tell you?"

Noah swiftly held Misaki's face with his hands, moving it until they were face to face. Noah's light grey eyes were staring intensely at Misaki's green orbs, which were opened wide with surprise. Noah's brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to evoke some sort of reaction. Misaki fidgeted uncomfortably as he waited… but nothing happened. Seconds passed before Noah eventually released his hold and fell back on the bed, breathing heavily.

"...Noah? Are- are you ok?" Misaki asked worriedly.

"Yeah… just taking a break…" Noah huffed.

"I think it doesn't work on people then."

"I guess. I mean, I only tried it on animals so far."

"What was supposed to happen?"

"Hmm. Well, I can't really explain. There's like this whoosh feeling then it feels like you're in another place and then that's when I know that it worked."

The two lied in silence on the bed. Then, there was knocking on the door and the two boys were instantly alert - sitting up on the bed and tensed up, ready for action.

The door opened and Shiori and Yori entered in, smiling and holding breakfast trays with bread and milk.

"Hey Misaki!" Yori chirruped. He saw Noah sitting on the bed. "Hullo to you too Noah!"

"Mom! Dad!"

Misaki scrambled down the bed and hugged Shiori. Noah stayed on the bed and watched as Misaki practically glued himself to Yori's leg. Shiori noticed Noah sitting awkwardly and smiled as she placed the tray on the table.

"Noah, you have your own room," Shiori chided. "Yet why do I always find you here in the morning?"

Noah got off the bed and looked down sheepishly while scratching his head.

"I don't know… I can't fall asleep unless it's with Misaki."

Misaki released his hold on Yori's leg to stand next to his friend.

"Mom, I let Noah sleep in my room because I can't sleep well by myself. Please don't get mad at him."

Shiori looked at Misaki, who was giving her a pleading puppy look, before giving a little chuckle. She went over to ruffle Misaki's hair before hugging the two boys. Noah immediately stiffened.

"Why would I be mad?" she smiled. "I'm happy that you two are friends."

Shiori released them and gestured to the table. Two breakfast trays were there, with steam still rising from the freshly baked bread.

"Misaki… your parents are so nice," Noah murmured enviously.

Misaki smiled at him brightly. "Yup! They're the best in the world!"

Misaki and Noah walked to the table and began to eat. Misaki noticed that only they were eating and the two adults were standing by the side, watching them.

"Mom, Dad, you're not going to eat?" Misaki asked. "I can give you some of my bread."

"No, we already ate," Yori explained. "Thank you though."

Misaki and Noah ate ravenously and finished their plates. Misaki was licking the crumbs off his fingers when Yori said that it was time to go. The boys left their trays on the table, as they followed the adults down the hallway to where the testing rooms were located.

"Misaki, you'll need to use a different room since the one you used yesterday is still being repaired," Shiori said.

"That's the one with the big tree right?" whispered Noah to Misaki.

"Yeah." Misaki nodded.

The adults stopped before a large shutter door with the words "Test Room 003" and turned to look at Misaki.

"Misaki dear, we're going to have to take Noah to his testing room," Yori said. "You'll be using this room for today."

"Don't worry," Shiori reassured Misaki. "It's just going to be the same exercise as yesterday. We'll see you soon, ok?" She kissed Misaki's head.

"Ok mom. Bye Noah! I'll see you during lunch!" Misaki waved his hands.

"Yeah. See you later." Noah turned to follow Yori and Shiori further down the hall.

Misaki took a deep breath as the shutter doors opened. Misaki went inside and the shutters fell behind him. The room was bare except for the pot that was in the center. The boy waited expectantly for instructions, confident that he can make the tree grow even faster than before.

"Subject 001, go to the center of the room" ordered a voice from the ceiling. It was gruff, unlike the voice from yesterday. Misaki obeyed and walked to the middle of the room. He smiled as he prepared himself, stretching his arms out in front of him.

"Now use the sapling to defend yourself." the voice instructed.

Misaki froze.

Defend myself? He wondered confusedly.

Suddenly, the sides of the wall opened to reveal turrets that were aimed toward the center.

Misaki was stiff. He didn't know what was going on. This was not what he did yesterday. He stood dumbly, staring up at the tinted glass.

"What are you waiting for Subject 001? We will commence shooting in five minutes."

Misaki was still dazed, his feet anchored to the floor.

Bang!

Misaki jumped at the sound. On the floor was an indentation and smoke from a bullet shot by one of the turrets. The blood drained from the his face.

"This was a warning Subject 001. Defend yourself for ten minutes and the exercise will end."

Misaki collapsed onto the floor, his legs shaking uncontrollably.

"Mom… Dad…" he cried out, his voice shaking.

Bang!

Misaki felt a searing pain on his cheek. He slowly raised his hand to his face and then looked at it to see crimson blood running down his fingers.

"This is your last warning, Subject 001. We will commence shooting if you don't act now."

Misaki curled himself into a ball on the floor and covered his head. He trembled in fear as his tears fell onto the linoleum floor.

Mom… Dad… He cried again. Help me...

The plant in front of him shook.

A haggard scientist observed Misaki shivering from the other side of the window before turning toward a muscular man. He was sitting in a chair, holding the mic and looking down at the scene in annoyance.

"Brutus, Subject 001 doesn't seem to want to comply," the scientist stated.

"Well he's going to have to if he wants to be in one piece," Brutus growled.

"Subject 001 is to be kept alive."

"And it will be. A few scars won't kill anybody."

"...I'm afraid you don't understand. The subject is not to be harmed. Turn off the turrets before it's too late."

Brutus huffed in anger. He reached for a switch before something caught his eye. He abruptly stood from his chair while smirking in glee.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he yelled.

In the center of the testing room was a wooden dome that pulsated as more and more bark was layered on top of each other. The branches protectively arched around the wood as the leaves covered the dome until it was a green mass.

Brutus looked at his watch. About three minutes passed. He shrugged.

"Eh, that was enough time. Now let's test this thing out!" he laughed maniacally.

He pressed a red button and all the turrets fired, raining bullets on the dome. The wood broke apart under the impact, but was replaced almost instantaneously. The dome grew larger and thicker. Meanwhile, the branches were slithering like snakes, stretching out slowly in the direction of the bullets. This continued for several minutes. Suddenly, the branches shot out at all the turrets, tangling and tearing them apart into pieces. The rain of bullets stopped. The dome looked unscathed, but it still pulsated as it shifted bark around and around. The branches were moving about the room as if it had a mind of its own, swishing this way and that. Gradually, the dome stopped pulsating and the branches became still.

Brutus whistled. "It never ceases to amaze me," he laughed. "Just imagine what it can do in front of an army! Why, this is like a tank - no, this is even better!"

As he said this the door to the observation deck slammed open. Brutus looked behind him to see Shiori breathing heavily, her hair in disarray. Yori was right behind her as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Shiori ran to one of the tinted windows and looked down. She gasped in horror.

"Brutus… what the hell did you do?"

Yori also saw the dome and the destroyed turrets. He clenched his fists until they were white.

"I was just testing the next step," Brutus replied casually. "We were going to do this anyways, so I thought that we should get a head start."

"Y-you…" Shiori stuttered. She had tears at the corners of her eyes.

"And look at the results!" Brutus continued, gesturing to the dome. "Subject 001 exceeded our expectations."

Yori yelled and swung his fist at Brutus, hitting him squarely on the cheek. Brutus smiled as he took the blow, appearing to be unaffected.

"You'll regret doing that," he threatened. He lifted his thick arm with a clenched fist.

Shiori quickly stepped in between the two, acting as a barrier. Her back was to Yori as she glared with intense hatred at the man in front of her.

"Brutus, you were not authorized to carry out this… this experiment," she said through gritted teeth. "With my authority, I can remove you permanently from this facility."

"Oh yeah?" Brutus replied nonchalantly. "But what if I got permission from the director?"

Shiori stepped back, bumping into Yori. She trembled as her face paled. Yori gripped her shoulders firmly.

"No… The director allowed you to do this without telling us?" Yori asked.

"Do I look like I'm lying?"

Shiori fell to her knees. Yori moved quickly to support her.

"Dear, Misaki need us right now," Yori urged her.

His words shook Shiori from her trance. She looked to give Brutus one last hateful glare before she and Yori left the observation deck. Brutus looked at their retreating figures and then shifted his gaze to the other scientists in the room- who flinched and turned away. Turning his gaze to the window, Brutus grinned. The dome was silent, but he remembered the intensity it showed just a few minutes ago - destroying everything in its path.

"Let's see how long you last," he whispered while stroking the glass.

Shiori stormed down to the lower levels where the testing rooms were. She stomped to the front of the closed shutters. She took out an earpiece from her coat pocket, pressed a small button, and put it on.

"Control, this is Shiori. Open TR shutter 003" she commanded.

"Shiori, this is Control, TR shutter 003 opening."

The shutter door rattled as it was lifted. Shiori saw the dome in the center and the branches which were sprawled everywhere. She was about to take a step inside before her arm was caught. She looked back to see Yori, who was huffing from running after her.

"Shiori… it's not good to rush in blindly," he breathed.

"I know, but I need to let Misaki know that everything is ok." She tugged on her arm but his grip didn't loosen.

"He just had a traumatic experience," Yori explained. "If you go in, he might mistake you for an enemy and…" He looked at the dismantled turrets on the ground. Shiori understood his fear. She raised her hand to cup his cheek.

"It's great that you're worried for me," Shiori smiled. "But think about how scared Misaki is right now. He needs us."

Yori took a deep breath and nodded his head. He let go of her arm.

"Well, I guess I can be your meat shield if it comes down to it," he said lightheartedly.

Shiori kissed his cheek before they entered into the room together.

The moment they entered it was as if a switch was flipped. The branches that were still suddenly flew into a frenzy. The dome jumped into action, pulsating wildly like before. The sound of muffled sobbing was heard from inside the dome. Shiori took a step forward.

"Stay away from me!" Misaki cried out. The branches responded to his anguish and came down like whips. Yori hugged Shiori - shielding her from the lashing - and yelled in pain as the branches scraped his back.

Shiori took another step closer to the dome - it was only a few more paces until she reached it.

"Misaki!" Shiori shouted, "It's me!"

The branches stopped momentarily before it continued to lash out even harder than before.

"No! You… you lied to me!" cried the voice in the dome. "Where were you?! When I was hurt, you weren't there! I called for you again and again..."

Shiori's heart broke to see Misaki in such anguish. Tears dropped from her eyes as she could imagine how frightened he was.

"Misaki, we're sorry!" Yori shouted. "We should've saved you. We shouldn't have left you here to deal with this alone."

Shiori took another step, and another. She continued to walk towards the center of the room.

"Don't come over here!" Misaki screamed. A thin branch hit Shiori's cheek, causing blood to make a trail down her face. She kept walking as if undeterred.

"Misaki, can you please forgive me?" Shiori pleaded. She took another step and she was directly in front of the dome, which shifted around agitatedly.

"No! I hate this! I hate you!"

More wounds opened up on Shiori. Although Yori did his best to take the brunt of the attack, some branches made it past. Shiori gritted her teeth in pain, but she kept her ground.

"Misaki, this will never happen again," Shiori promised. She knelt and touched the dome. The wood panels moved away from her hand as if it were repelled.

"..."

The branches gradually slowed down until it lay motionless on the ground once more. The wood kept shifting around the dome, but it shifted away from Shiori's hand - creating a small hole to the inside. The hole grew wider until Shiori saw Misaki's chocolate hair and reddened eyes. She reached in and pulled him gently out. As soon as he left the dome, Misaki dug his hands into her coat and cried. He cried but there were no tears. Shiori hugged the boy tightly and patted his head. She was crying too, water falling from her eyes and on Misaki's head. Yori wiped away his tears before hugging them both in one big bear hug. They stayed like this until Misaki stopped sniffling. He still had his head burrowed in the white fabric.

"Mom… Dad... promise that you'll always be with me," Misaki begged. "Don't leave me alone."

Yori and Shiori looked at each other.

"I promise."