She was crying. He couldn't hear it (thankfully) but he noticed it in her body language, the shaking of her shoulders, the way she avoided showing the camera her face when she entered the apartment. She didn't seem to have the energy to walk past the hall as she dropped down next to the door, slowly sliding down until she was firmly seated on the floor.

Seven didn't know what to do. If he could, he would have ran to her, hugged her, asked her what had brought her spirits down and he would've destroyed the unlucky person who dared to hurt his sunshine. But he couldn't. He couldn't leave his bunker, he couldn't go to the apartment. He had promised V and promises with V are final. But his little bit of happiness was crying and he wasn't there.

He grabbed his phone on auto-pilot, worked his way to the speed dial and kept his finger hovering over her name. Would she even appreciate this? Self-doubt slowly made its way back into Seven's mind and he put the phone down. It would be stalkerish, he decided, clicking away at his keyboard, trying to pull up the footage of when she left the house.

This is stalkerish too, he noted idly as he observed her body language. She seemed like herself, maybe a bit more hesitant to leave the apartment, but nothing too different. She had her purse with her, so that ruled out her going to school. She also didn't carry that bright red grocery bag of hers, so grocery shopping was out as well. Seven squinted at the screen, what am I missing?

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and reached for his phone again. He speed-read through the last couple of chats, but couldn't find anything that would indicate what had happened to his favourite person. He found his way back at the contact list and hovered above her name.

He glanced at the security footage and saw she was still sitting on the floor. Her shoulders had stopped shaking, but she was still hiding her face from the security camera.

Get over yourself, you're the Warrior of Justice, the Almighty Hacker God 707!

Seven held his breath as he heard the dial tone. He watched the footage intently and saw her flinch slightly. I'm sorry, the apology didn't leave his lips but he crossed his fingers that she would pick up. He saw her reach for the phone in her purse, her eyes cast downward, her hair obstructing the view on her face. She stared at the caller ID for what felt like ages to both of them, but especially to Seven.

Please pick up..!

Seven heard the click and let out a little sigh when he heard her soft voice, "Hey Seven.''

"Hello~" He cheered happily, letting himself sit a bit more comfortable in his chair, watching her sit down a bit more relaxed as well. "How is our favourite guest coordinator?"

"Favourite?" he heard the amused yet forced giggle. "Since when am I the 'favourite' coordinator?"

"Since I, the almighty 707, said so!" He saw her shoulders relax a little and smiled to himself.

"Well, if it's the almighty 707, I suppose I shouldn't argue." She giggled again, sounding a lot less forced. "So, why are you really calling me, Seven?''

"Um, well..'' Seven hadn't thought it through far enough to realise she would be on to him that quickly.

"Quite convincing.'' Her voice had a playful sarcasm to it as she got up from the ground and pointed at the camera. "You were spying on me!"

"I did not!" Seven surprised himself by how offended he sounded, "It's my job to watch over you!"

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have stayed in the hall if I didn't want you to see that..'' her voice trailed off and Seven waited before talking to her. "Don't worry." She said quickly, smiling at the camera, "I'll be okay!"

It hurt Seven to see how red her eyes were, how puffy the skin around them was, how red her cheeks were. He caressed the image on the screen before realising how creepy that must be and dropped his hand quickly.

"You know,'' he coughed a bit before continuing, his voice losing some of its playfulness, "it's okay if you're not okay, you know?'' He took a sharp breath as he realised the smile was fading of her face. "I-I I mean, it's great if you're okay! It's the best if you're okay!'' Seven took a moment to gather his wits, slightly alarmed when his sunshine kept quiet, ''I just mean, that, you know, you don't have to be okay, you know?''

She was quiet for a bit, closed her eyes and then looked at the camera again. "You know,'' her voice was really soft, filled with cracks and he knew without seeing her expression she was choking back tears, "you know, it's been a really long time since someone told me that..'' and with that he heard her cry, the sound agonising, the sound piercing through his heart.

Seven jumped out of his chair, watching the image with wide eyes of the tears streaming down her already puffy cheeks. She dropped down on her knees again, the phone shaking in her hands.

''Y-Y-you know Seven..'' She stopped to let out a few hiccups and Seven could do nothing but swallow the thick lump in his throat. ''You know, it's difficult.. It's so difficult to make everyone around me happy.. To make people proud..''

Seven noticed the way she started playing with the edges of her hair. ''I went to grab lunch with my father. He had called this morning.'' Seven heard her sigh and watched her sit down on the floor again.

''Oh..'' was all that left his lips and he internally cursed himself for not thinking of something a bit more intelligent to say.

A soft giggle was his response, ''Yeah.. Oh sounds about right.''

''I'm sorry…?'' Seven hated how it came out as a question but he was really struggling.

''Yeah.. thanks.'' He saw her wipe at her eyes. ''He hates me.'' The statement was very objective but Seven could hear the pain, the hurt behind it.

''He's wrong!'' He didn't think, he just yelled it and he saw how her body stiffened.

''I wonder..'' her voice trailed off and Seven held his breath, did I say the wrong thing?

''No, I think he's really wrong. You're unhateable!'' Seven felt himself get agitated.

''Maybe..''

Seven started to hate the apathy that coated his sunshine's voice. He hated the man who made her sound like that, made her think so negatively about herself.

''I don't care what he made you think. We, all of us in the RFA, think you're wonderful. I think you're amazing!'' Seven stared at the camera screen, watching for any form of response.

''You know..'' her voice was wavering and Seven just wanted to hug her, ''I always thought if I just smiled and pretended to be nice, I would be able to get better at life. Get better at keeping others happy.'' She interrupted herself to sniff. ''But it's pretty hard you know? I can't keep doing this. I am still shaking. I hate the influence he has on me. I hate how this is who I really am now, how weak I am-

''You're not weak though.'' Seven surprised himself by how even his voice was. He watched her body stiffen and heard her gasp. He moved the phone away from his ear to take a deep breath and then placed it to his other ear. ''I think that being able to be someone else all the time is strength. To pretend to be happy when you're falling apart inside.''

''You almost sound like you know what it's like..'' Her voice was tinged with suspicion but the phrasing gave him enough room to answer with truths or half-truths.

''I guess?'' Seven shrugged and he realised she deserved three-quarter truths. ''It's just tough sometimes to always smile and be happy and to do what everyone expects of you. That's why it's important you need to remember that sometimes it's okay to not be okay.''

Seven held his breath as he heard her sniff through the phone. He watched her shoulders shake and his heart ached.

''I wish you were here.''

The request was so soft and Seven felt his heart hurt at it. He watched her look up at the camera and smile weakly.

''Me too.'' He confessed, his voice soft and eyes focused on her own.

''Thank you.'' She put her phone down to make a heart with her hands at him. He mimicked the motion before realising that she wasn't able to see it anyway.

''You're welcome.'' Seven smiled and gathered all the bits of courage to add, ''You make me smile a lot, so I wanted to return the favour.''

He saw her gasp and cover her face with her unoccupied hand. ''I-I do?''

Seven hummed in response and sat down more comfortably on his chair. He watched her sit down more relaxed as well and he smiled when he saw her fumble with the edges of her sweater.

''You make me smile too..'' it was a soft whisper but it made Seven's heart do cartwheels. ''You even stayed with me through my crying. Helped me calm down.''

''Of course~'' Seven cheered, happy to see her calmed down and looking a bit more upbeat.

''Can I tell you what happened?''

Seven sat up straight right away. ''Naturally!'' he watched her intently, not going to miss a single bit of body language.

''We went for lunch and he wanted to know what I was doing with my life. I mentioned the RFA but not by name. More like I'm organising a fundraiser for this non-profit company.'' She smiled absentmindedly, ''It makes me proud to be part of you guys, so I let it slip out without thinking. Is that a problem?''

''No of course not.'' Seven bit his lip lightly, ''If you didn't mention the RFA by name, it should be fine.''

''I'm glad.'' She let out a relieved giggle, ''Anyway, I told him and he told me I was wasting your time. If I wasn't ashamed I was bringing you guys down. I let him down so many times, what made me think I wasn't going to let you guys down.''

Seven's fists balled unconsciously as he heard her spill all the insults her fath- no the man who had the privilege to call himself her father- had hurled at her.

''How dare he?!'' Seven was fuming with rage and the bit of sunshine caught on.

''Don't be angry Seven, it's okay.'' She bit her lip, ''It's normal.''

''It's not.'' Seven interrupted angry. ''You don't deserve to hear those things, those lies.''

She got up from the ground and moved closer to the camera. She smiled widely. ''Thank you. I'll be honest, it's difficult to believe. But I'm willing to try to believe you a bit more than my father.''

Seven exhaled slowly, feeling some sense of pride swell in his chest. ''Do you mean that?'' he asked, his voice nothing like his usual 707 persona. He watched his favourite ray of sunshine smile and nod her head to the camera. ''I'm glad. I'm really glad.'' He choked out, feeling slightly overcome with tears himself.

''I'm gonna go take a shower now, and I'll call you after, is that okay?'' Seven got pulled out of his thoughts and nodded.

''Oh yeah, sure! Sure! I'll talk to you real soon.'' He smiled fondly at the screen and watched how she picked up her bag and skipped past the camera to the other parts of the apartment. He waited until she hung up and then allowed himself slouch down into his chair.

Seven soon felt tears well up in his eyes and he cried silently. He clutched his phone to his chest as he cried, not because he was hurt. No, he cried for how strong his sunshine was and how helpless he had felt sitting at the end of the line. How difficult it had been for him to not rush over and give her a hug.

Seven cried for all the hardships he had no idea she was facing on her own while maintaining that sunshine smile that made his heart do cartwheels.