HELLOOOOOOOO FRIENDS!

Before we get to the story I'd like to mention 5 things:

1. It's my 21st birthday today! At least it is still my birthday in the UK (it's 10:30pm, I was busy during the day. Obvs, it's my 21st) Yes, I am now a complete adult and every British law currently applies to me. To make this day even more special, I decided to put this story up.

2. This is my first story! Ikr? I can't believe it myself. I joined this site when I was 17, and now I'm 21. At that time GA was still an on going manga. But now it's over. *Sigh* How time flies.

3. I've written the summary for this story when I first made an account but I wrote the chapter a year later because of constant exams and assignments. I hadn't put it up because I didn't think I could make the commitment. But now I work! School is over! Childhood is over! And my boring life begins! Hooray...

4. This chapter is fairly boring, so sorry about that. Also, it's my first time writing a story since I was 10, and I've noticed my writing is very awkward and stiff, and hugely lacks fluidity (among other things). So again, my apologies. I'm hoping to improve as I write :)

5. Finally, I don't own GA or it's characters (I don't know why I have to put this up (since this is a fan fic and it's obvious I don't own anything but my plot) but everyone else does so I just follow like sheep, no questions asked XD)

Chapter One

Past – 9 Years Ago

"Natsume!" someone called from behind him.

Taking his attention off the flyer on the wall, Natsume looked over his shoulder and saw Ruka crossing the road to meet him. Natsume nodded in acknowledgement and turned his head back to glance once more at the flyer, before continuing on his walk towards home.

Ruka turned to look at the flyer, curious to see what Natsume was so focused on that he didn't hear him call out his name the first two times.

"Hiring babysitter?" He read aloud. Does Natsume need more money? Ruka frowned and looked back at Natsume's retreating back. And just when he thought things were getting better.

Sighing, he quickly ripped the flyer off the wall, stuffing it in the front pocket of his jeans, before running to catch up with his best friend walking towards their neighbourhood. Once he caught up he was about to question him about the flyer when he noticed Natsume carrying a few grocery bags.

"Are you going to the hospital to see Aunt Kaoru? Is that why you finished your shift early today?" Natsume would never finish his shift, at the convenience store, early for any other reason. So, the food in the bag must be for his mother who was currently being hospitalised. Kaoru hated hospital food and comically always complained about it when Ruka accompanied Natsume on some of his visits.

"Hn, I'm picking up Aoi from my neighbour's house to take her with me. She was whining about how much she wanted to see her."

Ruka chuckled. "Seems like her. Want me to come?"

"No. She'll just bug you about my imaginary girlfriend." He scoffed, rolling his eyes at remembering his mother's antics.

Kaoru Hyuuga was always a handful, sick or not, she never changed. Constantly thinking about her children's happiness and welfare even after the divorce. That meant being both a full time mother and worker, while never compromising the two for fear of them growing up badly if she deprived them of the life they deserved. Why she would ever think that? Natsume would never know.

He'll never admit it out loud but Kaoru is the best mother Natsume could ever have asked for. And seeing her work so hard to provide for them has always made him feel guilty and useless. Especially, now that she's suffering from the consequences for doing so. Consequences she always disregarded, much to Natsume's annoyance.

"Tch. So annoying." He grunted.

Ruka smiled. Being Natsume's best friend since Kindergarten, no one in their school but Ruka knew how much he cared for his family, though he refused to ever show it.

After his parents' divorce, he changed. He promised to provide for his family, if only to lessen the burden Kaoru bears.

Now at age fourteen and his mother's visits to the hospital becoming more frequent, Natsume has taken his self-proclaimed responsibility seriously and ended up taking up a part-time job at the local convenience store. Definitely something he's argued about countless of times with his mother and more recently, with Ruka as well. But seeing how Natsume was at the top of the school in academics and sports, there wasn't a lot they could say to reason with him.

Which reminded him, "Natsume?"

"Hn."

"Are you going to take that babysitting job?" Natsume's eyes widened slightly at his question.

Did he see that? Damn! He should have known Ruka couldn't be fooled; he would have taken the flyer otherwise. But, he knew all too well that if he decided to take the job, it would have elicited another troublesome dispute with Ruka, one which he obviously failed to avoid. He sighed in defeat, waiting for the lecture that was sure to come.

"Look, I know you want to earn more money to help Aunt Kaoru, but seriously Natsume, she didn't work herself to the bone just so you would end up working to pay her hospital bills."

Glancing at Natsume, he continued "If you take this babysitting job, you'll be giving up your friends, your sister, your-"

"I'm not giving up Aoi or my friends." Natsume forcefully denied.

"Yes you are. You'll have no more time for us because you'll be working constantly. Hell, you don't even have much time for us now."

Natsume kept silent. He knew it was true. Even now, working evening shifts straight after school on weekdays, and long shifts on weekends, he didn't have time to hang out with friends or play with his sister much. As he and Ruka don't share any classes at school, they only saw each other during breaks on days where Ruka didn't have Basketball practice, which was only two days out of the five. And regarding his sister, he could only help her with her homework in the morning of his weekend shifts. To say he wouldn't win the Best-Friend or the Best-Brother-of-the-Year-award would be more than an assumption and a pretty safe bet.

It's not like he wanted to spend all his time working. Despite how he acts, his mother and sister are the most important women in his life. The fear of knowing he might lose one of them sooner rather than later was gnawing at him in the middle of the night. Causing him to suffer small bouts of insomnia every now and then. Which is why he constantly slept in class, much to his mother's chagrin. To Natsume, it was completely worth using up his time to help her, even if it made him feel like shit having to neglect everybody he cares about. And nothing Ruka will say will change his mind.

Looking ahead, Ruka noticed they were nearing their destination and so he quickly prodded on, "Come on Natsume, we just started high school, this isn't how you should be living your life. You need to listen to your mum on this; she worked hard to give you and Aoi a happy, trouble-free life. Don't throw that away for a measly below-minimum wage job. Everyone can see how much all the working and worrying you've been doing has taken a toll on you. Maybe you really should think about getting a girlfriend."

Natsume scoffed "Yeah, not gonna happen Ruka."

Chuckling, Ruka conceded "Fine, no girlfriend. Then what about some help?"

Seeing Natsume raise his eyebrows in question, he explained.

"I know whatever I say won't change your mind." Natsume smiled at his spot on observation. "So, I've decided to work at the store with you. Actually, I just came back from an interview with the boss and I got the job. I'm starting on Saturday."

"So that's why you were coming from the same direction as me. I didn't see you at the store though." Natsume stated.

"Yeah, you were busy stacking shelves at the back and I didn't want to interrupt."

"Tch, like I give a damn. You don't need to worry about that or give up your time for me, stupid." He shook his head at his best friend's ridiculous decision, but secretly, he was glad to finally have some company at work for once.

Though Natsume wasn't against his idea right now, he will be at his next words, "Actually I only decided to take the job so I can help you earn money."

"What?" Narrowing his eyes in realisation, Natsume questioned "Are you saying what I think you're saying? Ruka that's cra-"

Ruka cut him off, continuing in a rush, "Hear me out. I'll give my earnings to you so you can quit working after school and just continue working weekends with me. That way you can spend time with your family and friends, while still earning the same amount of money as you would if you still worked on weekdays. It's a win-win situation. We get to hang out more and you'd get a break and still earn enough to help Aunt Kaoru." He finished off eagerly.

Natsume could feel his excitement, and it would help him a lot, he knew. But he would never let Ruka do that for him. It was asking too much.

"No." Natsume stated coldly.

They were finally at his neighbour's house and walking to their front door, meaning this conversation was about to end, and he couldn't have been gladder.

"Please Natsume. Be rational, this would seriously help you out. I know you're thinking that it would be my hard-earned money and that it doesn't belong to you, but I don't need it. I already get a lot of pocket money from my mum and you know it. Look at it this way; you're always working to earn money so I rarely see you. If I work with and for you, you earn a lot and I get to see you often. It's that simple and a really good idea. Don't try to deny it."

They stopped at the door.

He took Natsume's silence as contemplation and could see he was on the verge of convincing him so he pushed on, "Imagine all the hilarious things we could do, like give the out-of-date food to Koko."

Natsume smirked; he would like to see Koko's reaction to that for sure, mainly because Koko constantly asks him for free food from the store every day. There were definitely a lot of perks to this, but still a few issues needed to be addressed.

"What about studying? You need good grades to get into Vet School Ruka."

"I'll study the whole week after school, no problem." He answered breezily.

"What about helping your mum at the Boutique?"

"Please, Natsume, you know as much as I do that I hate working there, especially for free. I've wanted a good excuse to stop having to go there for years now, and finally I do. So it makes this idea even better. And besides, mum will be happy that I'll be helping you. She's worried about you too Natsume."

Natsume sighed. He hated when people were worried for him, it made him feel worse. Still hoping Ruka would take back his crazy idea, he tried asking one last time, "Are you sure? It's asking a lot."

"I'm more than sure. It's only two days, not long at all. And if you still needed more money, you could take the babysitting job, since its part time and pays a higher hourly rate than the convenience store."

Natsume reluctantly relented, "Fine. But, if you want to quit, tell me, I wouldn't mind."

Ruka nodded his head eagerly before the door in front of them was abruptly pulled open by a tall, raven-haired, young man.

See you next week IA!

Pearl

11/05/2016 (I was tempted to write 1995 instead of 2016, force of habit when writing your DOB XD)