In case you didn't notice beforehand, yes, I did turn Kaito into a girl for this story. This is due to my Yuri obsession—wait. You guys didn't know that? Well now you do. I actually ship Yuri more than Het pairings tbh. Even though my OTP is not a Yuri coupling.

Anyway, this is a highschool AU, and I'll have a special announcement at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

Note: Italics in quotes is Japanese unless stated otherwise.

I was beyond angry. Furious, maybe, could describe how I felt right now. Stepping inside our new home, I glanced around at the architecture, wishing it were all gone and burnt into a crisp. I didn't want to be here in the least bit, especially with my father. Dropping my luggage onto the plastic-covered sofa, I huffed before travelling to the kitchen. There was nothing worse than a home that didn't feel like a home. My mother and little brother needed to be here; otherwise I wouldn't be able to settle into this ugly, filthy place. Well, the only thing I was grateful for was the size; a simple two-story house, with basement two basement rooms, three rooms upstairs, and three bathrooms. A large assortment for just two people and our pet parakeet named Galaxy. The living room wasn't all that bad either; a couple of couches (still covered in dusty plastic from being shipped here a couple weeks ago), connected to a simple kitchen of pink and white. Color-wise… could be better.

I would've actually been happy with this house if it weren't for the circumstances that had sent me here.

"Kai, can you please put Galaxy in your room?" I heard my father call from the kitchen, in Japanese; he was busy setting up the fridge so we could have some fresh food tonight. "He's being rather annoying."

I rolled my eyes. "He's not annoying, dad," I replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Not as annoying as you, anyways." Before he could yell at me for disrespecting him like that, I went over to my bird's cage and lifted it off the coffee table, centered between the couches. We didn't have a TV; upsetting if you're a sixteen-year-old like me. Galaxy picked up on my bad mood towards not having said technology and squawked like he was apologizing. I smiled at him as I climbed the stairs.

The bedroom to the end was mine, with its own bathroom attached to it. At least I got a larger room with this new house, but it's not like I was settling in. It was just a place to live in until I turned eighteen and was considered an adult by American standards. I gazed around the room as I slipped inside with Galaxy still clinging to the outside of his cage. The walls were a light blue, a queen sized bed shoved up against the wall, and the floor was a dark mahogany wood. Or at least, I think that's what the floorboards are made out of. A dresser, needing to be cleaned, was opposite the bed, next to a closet with sliding doors. I set Galaxy's cage on top of the dresser, coaxing him onto my arm, before going to the window and looking out over the driveway.

California. United States of America. Not the kind of place I want to be in. I missed my mother and brother, back in Japan, back in Tokyo. Curse my father for having to split us up like this—especially the way he had executed it.

Not something I want to get into, that's for sure.

Galaxy squawked again. I glanced at him. He was a white budgerigar, a parakeet with white feathers and a light blue underbelly. I've had him for a couple of years; he's been my buddy and quite the adorable one if I may add. I went back over to the dresser and slipped him back into his cage, but as I did so, I caught my reflection in the mirror above the piece of furniture. My blonde hair, having originally been pulled up with a few quarts of hair gel, was in a simple low ponytail and my teal bangs were hanging loosely in front of my eyes, fading slowly back to blonde. I sighed; looks like it's back to the hair store for me once I get some allowance.

For sixteen though, I had to admit that I was rather small, and that was something I hated. Of course, my oversized hoodie did nothing to hide the fact that I had no chest whatsoever, and less than desirable curves. My father insulted my appearance on a daily basis, so I was used to comments made about me, but still. I didn't like the way I looked on top of all the other issues I had to deal with in my life.

Sighing, I went back down to the first floor to continue unpacking the rest of my belongings.

….

After spending the entire weekend unpacking, I was ready to just sleep for the rest of the month. Yes, I hadn't brought much with me, but it took a large amount of effort to reorganize all my belongings into their correct spots. Galaxy, who had watched me clean up the room and customize it to my liking, now had his cage hanging from a hook on the ceiling. He flapped in his cage every now and again, trying to capture my attention. I just stared at him from where I lay on my bed, splayed out and too tired to really respond to whatever he wanted.

At least today my dad was giving me a break. He was out looking for work and a school for me to go in to. He had the easy tasks: with him being a scientist, he'd easily find work at the unique power plant a few cities away, and the high school in this neighborhood would probably accept me, even if my English was a little rusty.

The consequences of his search would then be left to me. Since he would be working as many hours as humanly possible, he would be out almost all the time, leaving me to provide for myself as long as he kept sending me monthly checks. It wouldn't be all that bad; the less time around him, the better. But then, considering my strangled English and antisocial attitude, I knew I was going to get hit with even more criticism from people. And apparently Americans, from what little I had seen and read about on the internet, were notorious for bullying outsiders.

Oh well. Not like I can change this whole situation until I get enough money and turn eighteen to go back to Japan.

Turning on my side, I grabbed my phone from the sheets and looked at the time. It was almost five PM; time to hunt down any food in the fridge. Before I could yank myself off the mattress, however, my phone's background image caught my eye. The picture was the last photograph I had taken of my mother, my brother, and I before this whole situation had started. My heart ached at the sight of my little brother, Haruto, who was smiling beside me and holding his chopsticks with a bit of rice in them up in the air, caught off guard but happy nonetheless. He was my shining star, the one person who could make me laugh in any situation. And now that he was gone…

I slapped my phone shut and tossed it onto the floor, which caused the back and battery to scatter onto the wood along with the now-lifeless device. Hurriedly I fled my room, forcing my emotions back down as I slipped into the kitchen. I approached the fridge, noticing the note pasted onto the freezer door with clear tape.

Go get the items on the list that is sitting on the table beside the money envelope I prepared for you. And if you can, go and look for job openings within the city.

-Faker

I blinked, yanking the note off the fridge and turning around to gaze at the small wooden table that sat in front of the sliding glass doors to the porch. That sounded just like my dad, being so professional even to his own family. Maybe that's why my mother divorced him; even in Japan, he'd never been home, and that seemed to be the key aspect of why they hated each other so much. I don't know much and I rather not think about the times that they fought.

I snatched the list from the table, collected my purse, keys, and wallet, and strode outside. At least the store wasn't very far from the house, but it was still cool. I rubbed my hands over my arms, despite wearing a thick hoodie with the hood up. Well, my short, green, pleated skirt didn't help conserve body heat in the least. Shivering, I fell into step on the sidewalk, hoping to get back in time to catch the live-blog of my favorite blogger.

Going into the city was a big shock to me. The buildings were aged in this part of California, since we had come to a rather old part of the state. The grocery store, named Dilly's Smart Shop, was small, but looked big enough to support the town. I shrugged, not exactly willing to see if there were any other stores in the area, and went inside.

Since it was a Monday afternoon, nobody was really here save the high school students (I think) that worked here, along with the older staff. The guy at the register (or girl—he had long blonde hair styled into a ponytail so I wasn't exactly sure on which) gave me a look that I couldn't figure out as I went grabbed a cart and started hunting down items.

…So yeah, I'm short. Really short. I didn't realize how short I was until I tried reaching for my favorite cereal—Cocoa Puffs—which was on the top shelf. Here I was, with a cart that came up to my chest full of various containers of food, swiping at the top shelf to see if any wind gusts I created would tilt the box over and into my waiting arms. Unfortunately, it wasn't working, so I just huffed and stood there, crossing my arms and cursing my genes for making me so vertically challenged.

"Here." A girl, looking a little older than me, came over and grabbed the box from the top shelf, bringing it down for me. She was wearing the uniform that was required for employees of the store, her black hair pulled into a small ponytail and violet bangs clipped up. She was definitely taller than me, but not by much.

"Thank you," I replied, taking the box and setting it in the cart. "Sorry for…inconveniencing you." Praying that I didn't sound to foreign in accent, I nearly sighed in relief when she simply smiled.

"Nah, it's fine." She walked alongside me as I went about the aisles. I didn't mind the new company, really; at least she was okay with hanging around. "You look new. Did you just move here?"

"In a way, yes." Biting my lip, I grabbed some pickles—this time they were on the bottom shelf—and tossed them in with all the other stuff. She nodded in response, smiling just slightly as I glanced at her.

"Cool. Maybe I'll see you around town sometime." She winked at me and I couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. She left me after that, and I hurried through the store, probably missing a few items but not caring because I really needed to get out of that building that moment.

The guy/girl/person at the register winked at me as he popped his gum, and I pretended not to notice as I strode into the parking lot with a million bags on my arms. It hurt to lug all of them home on my own, but since I had no car, I didn't have a choice. I ended up nearly tripping up the steps to the house once I had gotten there, barely managing to squeeze through the doorframe.

I knew it was useless to call out. My father wouldn't be home until midnight at the earliest. So I was stuck with putting the groceries away, eating ramen noodles out of a Styrofoam cup, and wondering if my father had signed me up for school yet.

What was American high school like, I wonder? Gazing at Galaxy, who was sleeping on one of his plastic perches, I pondered the atmosphere of such a school. I was used to the Japanese education system, and as far as I knew, I would probably go into grade 12, or whatever they called the senior student body here. Sure, I was sixteen and all, but I had skipped first grade back in Japan, when I had actually cared about education.

Sighing, I snuggled into my thick comforter, kicking my writing utensils onto the floor in the process, and passed out.

Guess what today is. It's November 1st. What starts today, hm?

Yes, that's right. NaNoWriMo starts today.

So what's this got to do with this story? Take a wild guess. XD

Anyway, the cover photo will remain as my profile picture for a couple of days, until I can create a cover for this story.

I'm sorry if my writing skills are kinda off. I haven't been writing as much lately and first-person POV is kind of the only way I'm going to be able to write until I have enough time to get my bearings back.

Review, please! And any help, constructive criticism, beta things, will be accepted, because I honestly want to win this year's NaNoWriMo!