ＴＡＢＯＯ - ＳＰＹ Ｘ ＦＡＭＩＬＹ

CHAPTER 34 - BACKSTORY

WORDS BETWEEN - - MEANS THOUGHTS

POV - SHERWOOD SLYVIA

I stared at the young female in front of me. She was wearing a yellow sundress with a white sweater. 

"Good day, or rather, good evening, Agent Midnight." I said. "Sherwood-san." She greeted me.

"Please report your progress on Operation Strix." I said. I listened carefully to Agent Midnight's words.

She was able to step inside the Desmond estate and was able to have one on one talks with the entire family. 

After ending her report, I smiled and patted her head. 

"Nice work. Operation Strix is moving at a quick pace because of you. When I had a meeting with Agent Twilight yesterday, you know what he told me?" I said.

Midnight shook her head. "'My youngest can jump over 2 vaulting boxes. Also, she can jump rope 5 times in a row.'." I saw the girl in front of me deadpan. 

"No words." She muttered. "I know." I shook my head.

We started to talk about her progress at Eden and after that, it went into comfortable silence.

"You know, today marks your 10 years of being in WISE." I said. I saw her eyes widened. 

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, I remember everything clear as day, when you joined the organization. You were only 2 or 3 and was as thin as a needle. We saw all the bones poking out." I said.

*Flashback to 10 years ago*

That day, I remember walking through the alleyway, still grieving the death of my daughter when I saw a figure land from jumping from the roof. 

Another man came running for the figure which got me curious. I followed the 2 of them discreetly.

"GIVE ME BACK MY CHANGE!" A voice yelled. "P-PLEASE, SIR! I-I NEED IT!" A young voice shouted back.

When I turned the corner, I saw the man cornering the young girl. 

The man then took out a knife from his back pocket and was about to stab the young girl. 

Just as I was able to step in to protect the girl...

I watched the little girl grab her own knife out of the pocket of her worn out hoodie and stab the man first. I widened my eyes. -Oh my...- 

The young girl didn't even look guilty at all. I looked the girl up and down. She looked 2-3 but acted older. 

She wore torn and worn out clothes. Through the holes, I was able to see parts of her body.

She was skinny as a stick with bones on full display. I think she sensed me looking at her as I watched her get into a defensive stance. I was surprised. 

-She could sense me? From where she's standing?- I was standing pretty far away from her. 

"Come on out! I know you could see me!" She yelled.

I raised my hand. "Sorry, sweetie. I just heard some noises and went to check it out." I said softly. She looked at me cautiously. 

"You saw me kill the man, right? What are you going to do now? Turn me to the police or even the SSS?" She asked.

I smiled gently at her to show her that she could trust me.

"I wasn't even thinking that. What are you doing out here? Where's your parents?" I asked as I carefully walked closer to her. 

"My parents abandoned me when I was a baby. I have to fight for me to survive, that's what." She replied.

I smiled sadly at her. "Alright. My name is Sherwood Slyvia." I introduced myself.

The girl dropped her stance when she saw that I was harmless. 

"I... Don't know my name. Or do I remember if I have one." She whispered.

"I see. Well, I work for WISE; Westalian Intelligence. We work to keep peace between the East and West. We're spies basically." I explained.

I held my hand out to the little girl. "We can provide for your needs. The only thing we ask in return is for you to work for us." I said.

The girl hesitated but then held my hand. "Alright." She nodded. I brought her back to HQ and told the director about her.

With enough persuasion, the girl was accepted. I brought her back to my 'house' and got her cleaned up since she was really dirty. 

After getting her cleaned up, it revealed her smooth skin, (H/C) hair, and (E/C) eyes. Though, her eyes looked empty.

-She looks like a living doll.- I gave her food and water and a roof to live under. 

Over the next months, I saw she didn't look malnourished anymore. 

She finally had some flesh on her bones. The clothes she wore were the clothes of my deceased daughter.

When I found the right time, I started to train her. We trained for only a couple hours a day but it ended with training for more than 24 hours. 

The training at first started easy but I could tell that she already knew the basics so I upped her training. 

By the age of 5, I think, I didn't keep track nor did I know her birthday, I let her take her first mission.

She came back in less than half an hour with a completed mission. 

From there on, she gained a lot of respect and a good reputation. 'Agent Midnight' is what everyone calls her now. 

Reasoning was because she liked doing missions during the night and when she does attack, it's hard to see just like the night because of how quick she is.

Despite her not being my biological daughter, she was basically my daughter and I was her mother. 

I couldn't help but sometimes think that she was my other daughter. 

She just acts like her so much. She grew up calling me mother but when she turned 8, she stopped.

*End of flashback*

When I finished telling Midnight her backstory, I felt her hug me. "Sherwood-san..." She called out.

I felt tears slip down my face. "Midnight..." I muttered.

We stayed like that until she felt her phone ring. I glanced at the screen to see it was Agent Twilight calling her.

"He must be wondering where you are. You should head home." I said.

"Alright, have a nice night, Sherwood-san." She replied.

The girl smiled at me as she left, answering the phone. "Yeah, you too." I said.

I watched as she walked away from my sight. -She grown up so fast.-