Ishimaru woke up with a grunt, he turned to check the digital clock on his neatly organized nightstand, it was 7:30 in the morning of summer. Ishimaru stretched tiredly, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Which failed miserably, as he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep again, but that would be disgraceful, even though it was summer, he had to keep his routine going, or else he would not have the energy to finish his summer homework. And then he would spend the rest of the summer studying. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan to him… He walked tiredly into the bathroom, undressing and folding his white nightwear neatly before placing it on the small bench in the corner of the room. He stepped into the shower, turning the water on and sighing contently as the slowly heating water surrounded him, the small droplets of water washing away the remaining sleep. He grabbed a bottle of liliac scented shampoo and rubbed it thoroughly through his hair, not the manliest shampoo ever, but Ishimaru found the scent relaxing. He washed off and scrubbed his skin clean before washing off once again and stepping out of the shower. Once he had dried off, he found a fresh piece of undergarment and his newly ironed white uniform. He just didn't feel quite right in anything else. He sighed contently once again. He sat down by his desk, and eyed, it. All his pencils were organized by size and type, he picked his nr. 2H, the best pencil to use when doing homework.


He finished the last of the summer's homework in less than an hour, and was now contemplating on whether he should study math or English, his grades were excellent in both, but his English pronunciation did need some working on, and so he sat down and practiced phrases like "I'd like a cup of coffee please!" or "How much is this?" even though he did not drink coffee at all, but it might get useful once. His studies were interrupted by his phone vibrating next to him, frowned slightly, until he saw the caller ID, he happily picked it up "Greetings kyodai!" he grinned widely, Oowada Mondo snickered on the other end of the line "Haha, your weird way of talkin never changes does it?" Ishimaru snickered as well "Neither does your crude way of talking either…" they both laughed a little, having one of those silent 'bro moments' "So, would you like to meet up today?" Mondo said abruptly, "I don't know… I have studying to do…" Ishimaru mumbled absentmindly, dragging his hand through his black spiked hair, tugging at it slightly. "Oh yeah, that's perfect! Because frankly I don't understand shit of the homework and Chi isn't exactly helpin." He sighed. Ishimaru frowned at the cuss "Language kyodai…" he said sternly, earning a chuckle "Yeah, sorry 'bout that bro… But ya gotta help me man!" Ishimaru thought about this for a second, then grinned, he couldn't let his brother down! "Ok, I'll be there in about half an hour or so… Why don't you just invite Fujisaki-san as well? Since she needed help as well?" Ishimaru was already packing his books down into a messenger's bag, together with the necessary stuff like, pencils and such. "Brilliant! I'll call her over now! See ya!" Ishimaru barely managed to reply before Mondo hung up.

Ishimaru headed downstairs, noting that his parents were out, he quickly scribbled down a note, to tell them where he was, in case they got home before him, they were probably at work or part timing, they were kind of poor, but that didn't matter to Ishimaru, he would work hard, to surpass his grandfather, and all the lazy bums that called themselves geniuses. He smiled sadly as the thought of his grandfather's last years of life flashed before his eyes.


A toddler Ishimaru was proudly holding a math book for third graders, his parents had bought it to him so he could occupy himself with it, he was grinning widely, a tooth clearly missing. His parents were proudly gushing over how he had gotten a perfect score on his last test, his red eyes sparkling with happiness. He proudly trotted over to his grandfather, who as usual, was saying naught. Ishimaru proudly presented his results to his grandfather, who simply stared at it, then down at little Ishimaru, that was smiling brightly, his missing tooth making one single hole in the row of perfect teeth. His grandfather simply placed the paper on the table, making little Ishimaru cock his head in confusion. Then little Ishimaru was pulled on top of his lap, a small smile tugging at his lips. And that was the last time his grandfather ever showed any kind of affection for him, Ishimaru had countless of times tried to make his grandfather proud, without success. No matter what he did, his grandfather would ignore him.


Ishimaru stared sadly at a family photo that stood old with dust on the counter. He touched it lightly before shaking his head, he made sure the note was visible and made sure he was smiling as he headed out. Nearly 40 minutes later he arrived at Mondo's house. Ishimaru barely knocked once before the door practically threw itself open and Mondo was grinning widely, pulling the smaller man into the house, slamming the door shut. "Oh thank god! I'm in some serious trouble here bro!" he sounded frantic, as he led Ishimaru into the living room, plopping down on one of the chairs by the kitchen table, books, pens and papers were scattered everywhere, Mondo blew a loose strand of his pompadour out of his face, staring at the study material as if it was Satan himself. "Chi! Ishimaru is here!" he yelled, and soon Chihiro stuck her head out from the kitchen, a cloth tied around her head, to keep the hair out, and a blue apron that was very much too big for her was tied around her neck and waist. Something smelled delicious, and soon Chihiro walked into the living room with a plate of freshly baked chocolate chipped cookies and three cups of tea, Ishimaru thanked her with a small smile and a nod of appreciation. "Now, what is it you find hard?" Ishimaru asked, propping his head on his hands, eying the two closely. Mondo and Chihiro glanced at eachother, both smiling sheepishly. "Well… you see…" Mondo started, rubbing the back of his head "We don't really get anything…" Chihiro finished, looking flustered. It was true she was a master when it came to computers, but math wasn't exactly her strong side. Ishimaru chuckled, figures… Nearly the entire day was spent trying to finish the homework with the two of them, he was close to letting them copy his answers, but there would be no honor in that, but after hours upon hours of hardcore studying and about 8 cups of tea, they had finished everything. "I'm pooped…" Mondo muttered, Chihiro chuckled, but also looked tired. Ishimaru grinned, proud over them both. Then he glanced over at the clock "Oh crap! The clock is 9pm already!? I need to get going!" Mondo got up, about to offer to take him home, but Ishimaru interrupted him "Make sure you take Fujisaki-san home safely… There are many strange people out there!" he gave them a huge smile and headed out of the door and down the street. He didn't notice the person sneaking up behind him, not until a hand was clasped over his mouth, and was dragging him backwards with no effort whatsoever, he kicked and he flailed, throwing muffled insults at his captor, but nothing seemed to make his abductor let go of him.