Why did Tokyo have to be so big? It was always so hard to find your way around this place. You would think that it would be easy to find just a simple grocery store, but of course with my luck, I could barely even find a fast food place. All I wanted to do was make dinner tonight, since I was sort of a guest. Thomas would get mad at me for it, but he was always getting mad at me for lots of things.

Like not wanting to go to school. He was mad at me for that. He didn't really seem to understand that I lacked some of the skills it took to actually make it in school. I was some sheltered homeschool kid. I would never survive in public school. Though I don't think he would every be able to understand. He was able to graduate at the age of eleven. He never really had to deal with any of the actual hard stuff that came with school.

Suddenly a small white pendant on a chain landed right next to my feet. I picked it up to examine it, but it was completely blank. The chain was broken, like it had been ripped off of something. There seemed to be some commotion coming from up ahead of me. People were looking a bit confused and shocked. My curiosity got the best of me, as I walked towards it.

All I saw was a boy running right towards me. I thought that he was going to run into me, but he stopped just in time before he would have crash landed and sent us both to the ground. He bent down and was panting heavily, and sweat seemed to be falling from his face. His golden brown hair was in his face, keeping me from exactly knowing what he looked like.

"Um..." I said quietly.

He stood up straight and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry." He then paused for a second, seeming to get a good look at me. It was as if he lost his train of thought, before he finally noticed what I had in my hand. "You found my pendant."

"This is yours?" I pushed out of myself. Damn my constant social awkwardness.

"Uh yeah. Some jerks back there pulled it off my neck and threw it. I'm glad that someone found it." He smiled but it was some form of a crooked smile that I could only describe as cocky.

I handed it to him and said, "it landed right in front of me." I made sure that at no point our hands touched, mostly because I didn't really feel the need to make myself more flustered than I already was. That would have only been some sort of death sentence to myself.

"Well thanks for not just throwing it away or anything like that." It must have been some personal gem to him, because there was honestly nothing that special about the thing.

"No problem." I considered my options, and realized that this guy was probably the only chance I had of not getting myself completely lost in this city. "Um since you are here, can you tell me where the nearest grocery store is?"

He looked at me a bit shocked, then laughed. "You must be new in town," he pointed in front of him. "Head down that way and then after three traffic light, turn left and you should find it."

"Um thanks." I started that way, feeling a bit shaken up by the actual human interaction that I had just had.

I really didn't want to go to DATS. It wasn't like I didn't enjoy the people there. Everyone there was very nice, and Yoshi had become a friend of mine the last time I was here, but it had been so long since then. I knew that Yoshi and everyone else would be just as nice as they were the last time I was here, but I also knew that even though I knew that, I would still be some nervous wreck who couldn't make her way through a conversation.

Thomas led me through the halls of DATS over to main room. The whole place was just so familiar to me, but yet so different. I was much shorter the last time I was here. I was probably about six inches shorter, so all of my memories made me think that this place was much bigger than I thought. When I first saw Thomas it shocked me at how much closer I was to his height than before. And Gaomon seemed way too tiny now.

We finally made it to the doors that led to the main room. This was the place that I remembered the most about Japan. I remembered sitting with Yoshi and talking almost all of the time, and the time that Micki and Megumi tried to explain to me how all of their systems worked. I eventually just spaced out but kept a smile on my face like I was actually listening.

I first spotted Yoshi, who right when she saw me yelled, "Merriment," and then ran to me and hugged me almost knocking me over. She had also shrunk since the last time I saw her.

"Yoshi. Hi." I managed to get out, hugging the other girl back.

She then let me go giving me a chance to again know this thing called breathing. "Merri it's so good to see you."

Thomas smiled. "It has been awhile since you've been to DATS, hasn't it Merri?" I nodded. It had been so long that I wasn't used to the members of DATS anymore. I felt that nervous feeling in my stomach as Yoshi grinned at me. Oh man, I really hated this situation that Thomas had placed me in. I knew that he didn't know that I felt completely uncomfortable about coming here, but it really made me a little irritated that he was my brother and he didn't even notice.

"Hey boss isn't that the girl that you said was really pretty!?" I looked over to my left to see the boy from yesterday, wrapping his hand around the mouth of some giant lizard thing.

We both stared at each other for a second, him seeming really freaked out by the whole ordeal. He finally said with a nervous tone, "um, hi."

It took me a second to respond in the same nervous tone as him. "Hi."

Thomas turned his head back and forth from me and the boy. "You two know each other?"

"Not really." The guy said letting his lizard thing go. "She just saved my pendent yesterday."

"Yeah that's right." I said to Thomas, who instantly flared up finally taking in what that lizard thing had said.

"And what's this thing about you thinking she's pretty, Marcus!?"

So this must have been the infamous blockheaded and annoying Marcus Damon. Thomas had told me that he thought way to high of himself and had a major ego, but from what I was seeing right now, he was absolutely terrified of my brother. "What!? It's nothing. Agumon's just fooling around!"

Agumon looked at him confused. "But boss you talked about it all of yesterday."

Thomas got right in his face, and I imagine it looked pretty terrifying in Marcus' eyes. "I'm pretty sure Agumon's not one to lie Marcus! What were you planning on doing with my sister?"

"I wasn't planning on doing anything, I swear!" Marcus held up his hands in the 'I don't have a weapon' sort of way. His face was filled with true fear, a face that you would only see if someone was truly facing death, which was a definite option to my brother. It basically death to anyone who wanted to lay their hands on me.

By this point, I had already had enough of this. "Thomas stop it."

Thomas looked back at me with a very pissed off look, only to find that I had the same exact expression on my face. He must have realized that I was irritated with him, because he backed off of Marcus and stood next to me again. "Sorry I'm just looking out for you."

I simply bit my lip trying my hardest to not go off on my brother. He was always so protective of me, even over the littlest things like this. It was understandable, but it was still extremely irritating. Though by what I had seen over the years, it was normal big brother behavior. I guess it was just some instant requirement to be completely bat-shit crazy.

"Hey Thomas," I turned to Yoshi who seemed to be trying to change the subject, probably because she didn't want Thomas to go to prison for homicide, "is Merri staying for good this time?"

Thomas grinned. "She sure is. Father thought that it would be a good idea to send her over here with me. I'm rather happy about it. It gets lonely having a house all to myself."

"Well that's great." Yoshi turned to me. "I've always enjoyed it when you visited."

I became flustered again. In these situations you always gave some sort of smile, so that's what I at least tried to do. "Thank you Yoshi. I've always enjoyed visiting here too." That seemed good to say. That would probably make her happy.

"So will you be going to school here, or will Thomas be doing your homeschooling?" I wish he was doing my homeschooling.

"She is actually going to public school. Oshinawra Academy. I checked all of the school's stats and it seems to be a very nice place." Thomas answered for me. He was always doing that. He knew that I couldn't answer for myself most of the time, so he just did it for me. It was a nice gesture but you know, he wasn't really helping the whole social anxiety problem.

"Well that's nice. You know Merri high school's gonna be hard at first, but I know you'll get it." Yoshi always seemed too peppy about some things.

"Uh thanks Yoshi." Saying people's names. That was also something that was good when trying to be social. My therapist from a long time ago told me that. That was one of the only things that I remembered from that whole ordeal.

I looked over to Marcus and Agumon and they seemed to be having their own little conversation. That was probably a good thing. Thomas seemed ready to snap his neck. Though Tommy did seem to need an excuse to finally beat that guy to a bloody pulp, just to release some anger that he had for him.

"I'll bring Merri back here tomorrow. She still needs to get settled in. I just wanted to bring her over to say hi." Thomas explained.

Yoshi nodded. "Maybe tomorrow we can go get coffee or something?"

"Uh yeah. Sounds nice." I smiled, trying to look as pleasant and not un-comfortable as possible. That was pretty much what I was always trying to do. Just get through everything by looking pleasant and not like you were dying a little bit inside with every word you spoke.

Thomas and I began making our way out of the building. "All right, see you guys tomorrow." Thomas said. I didn't say anything. I was never really that good with good-byes. I was never really good with greetings either.

I was screwed. I was so freaking screwed. It was my first day and I was going to be late. God why did this school have to be so hard to find. You would think that my genius brother could have given me better directions. Hopefully my first teacher would be understanding. I finally found the classroom, which was like right at the end of the school of course. I opened the door, to find about a whole entire classroom full of kids that were staring right at me.

"Ah Norstein. It's your first day and you decided to be late." The teacher had this sort of 'no excuses' attitude to him. I had heard from an old friend back home that a lot of teachers were like this. Sometimes it wouldn't even matter if you were literally puking up all of your guts, there were no excuses.

I simply brought out the kiss-ass side of me that I probably got from Thomas and said, "Sorry I'm late sir. I had a hard time finding the school."

"Just make sure that it doesn't happen again. Now go and find a seat."

"Yes sir." Jesus get that pole out of your ass.

There were a few empty seats, and I had to quickly figure out which one I would sit in. I hated having everyone stare at me, trying to figure out who I was. I just wanted to find a seat, and fast. I looked over to my right to see Marcus. He waved a hand at me and smiled. Surprisingly he seemed to want to still talk to me. Feeling a little less stressed, I took the seat behind him and sighed.

"Alright class, today we're going to talk about..." I rested my head on my hand as the teacher began talking. So this was my first lecture that was leading up to probably a million other lectures. I tried to listen at first, but it was hard when I could just as easily look outside and daydream for a while. Besides I could simply ask Thomas to explain everything and probably get more information out of it.

Marcus turned around in his seat, having that same crooked smile from two days ago. "So I guess you'll be going to school with me from now on."

I smiled and nodded, not really sure what to do. I really didn't want to get in trouble for talking. Because of course that would lead to everyone staring at you. I really just wanted to stay as invisible as possible. It was better than having everyone notice me.

"Don't try and ask me for help. I'm not really good at this school stuff." I didn't really expect him to be good at this stuff. By what I had heard this guy wasn't really the school type.

"Well I'm new at it, so we'll see how it goes." I whispered, staring out the window seeing the tall buildings in the distance. I wasn't really good at looking people in the eyes. It was like staring into their soul or something.

"Mr. Damon!" The teacher yelled. He threw a piece of chalk right at his forehead, and I had to try my hardest not to laugh. "Pay attention!"

"Yes sir." Marcus managed to get out. Rule number one of school: Don't talk or else have a piece of chalk thrown at you.

School was over after a while, and everyone began shuffling out of the classroom. I gathered my things along with every other kid in the class, and headed out the door. I was extremely happy that this day was over, and was also extremely sad that tomorrow I would have to sit through all of this again. Being stuck in one place with about twenty other kids for about an hour, and having to find my way around this school. Let's just say it wasn't really my cup of tea.

I had to find my locker, so I could put away all of the things that I didn't need to bring home. I thought about all the classes I had today, and the only one that looked remotely promising was first period. Hell Marcus was the only person that actually spoke to me today. Everyone else acted as if I was invisible and continued talking to their group of friends. I didn't like this place. I really wanted to go back to being homeschooled. At least there I got to sleep in and ended up learning a lot more because I was actually awake enough to pay attention.

I turned around only to see Marcus in my line of vision with a group of friends around him. He walked over to me, seeming a little bit too excited by my presence. He had for some reason presumably called me pretty. I was only happy that someone was willing to talk to me. Even though it was what I wanted, I had been ignored so much today, that Marcus was like some god-sent.

"So Merri?" Marcus asked. "Where are you headed after this?"

I smiled. Again being pleasant. "Home of course. Then me and Thomas will head over to DATS."

"Maybe we can walk over to DATS together?"

I sighed as we began to make our way out of the school. Marcus actually didn't seem that bad, but I really didn't want to have some awkward walk to DATS with him. "With Thomas' outburst yesterday, I don't think he would really like that."

"Oh c'mon I saw that look you shot him yesterday. You were able to calm him down in about five seconds. I'm sure that if you just asked him, he wouldn't have a problem." He had more faith in me than he should have.

"You don't really know my brother, do you?"

"Not really. He sort of hates me."

Trust me, I knew that before I even saw you two together. "He told me about you. He said I should stay away or risk losing about half of my brain cells."

Marcus looked at me shocked. "He really said that?"

I nodded. "Yep. He also told me that you were a blockhead and extremely annoying."

He seemed irritated, as one would get when they learn that someone has been calling them blockhead, and asked, "Well what do you think of me?"

"So far you're the only person that's actually tried to talk to me today, so I guess you're okay."

Marcus let out a soft smile. "Good. I really don't want you to hate me."

"Why would I? I barely even know you."

"Well I was worried that you would think that I was some weirdo or something."

"I'm not going to judge you. I'm pretty sure I'm the weirdest one out of the two of us.

A group of big guys then walked up to us, and seemed very angry with Marcus. "So Damon, I see you've found yourself a little girlfriend?" The guy in the front mocked.

Oh man one nerve racking situation after another. School was a horrible, terrible place for an anti-social outcast. Marcus seemed just fine with the comment, with a wide smirk on his face. "It's more than what you'll ever get. I imagine other people's fists are the only physical contact you ever get."

"I'm so tired of your big mouth Damon!" The guy sent a fist right at Marcus. Marcus simply grabbed his arm and flipped him to the ground. Seriously? The guy seemed about twice his weight, but Marcus was able to flip him with no effort.

"Do you really wanna fight me Kogi?" Marcus sent a glare at Kogi's gang, and they ran off. Kogi then got up and ran away himself, like some scared little kid.

I stood there in utter surprise. "Were... were those the guys that threw your pendant?"

"Yep. And I definitely showed them." He grinned. "They didn't even know what was coming."

I was still trying to wake myself up after the shocking display that I had just witnessed. "You definitely showed me too. Thomas said you were pretty tough but you just threw that guy on the ground with no effort whatsoever."

Marcus seemed a little too proud of himself. Like the kind of proud that should get him some ego award. "It wasn't that hard. I've knocked out bigger guys than him. Now are we heading to DATS or what?"

I was still at a loss for words. "Um... yeah let's go."

I swear Thomas was just trying to see how pissed off I could get. I figured it out. This was all some sort of messed up way to test my patience. Marcus and I had already made it to DATS, awkward walk and all, and Thomas still wasn't answering his phone. You would think with how protective he was, he would answer his phone in an instant. "Thomas still won't answer his phone."

Marcus shrugged. "Maybe he forgot it or something."

I sighed. "But if he doesn't know where I am, he's gonna kill me. I really don't feel like having him yell at me."

"Keep trying."

"I will." I brought my phone back to my ear and again, tried to call Thomas.

Marcus' ear piece began to ring and I watched him pull it out of his pocket, seeming to know that some annoying thing was coming. He pressed one the buttons that answered the call, and I heard Yoshi's voice come from out of the piece.

"Marcus where are you?"

"I'm right outside with Merri. She's trying to get ahold of Thomas, but he's not answering his phone."

"What!? You have Merri with you?" Oh man I was screwed. Yep it was official. Worst day ever. I was about to get the scolding of a life time. My children will tell their grand-children about this time for some life lesson about talking to whoever is in charge of you or some shit like that.

"What's the big deal?" Oh Marcus you ignorant fool. If you only knew. I figured at least you would have already picked up on the fact that Thomas is an over-protective little bastard.

"Thomas is here and has been worried sick about where she's been."

"Well if he just answered his phone, there wouldn't be a problem."

"Look just bring her inside so Thomas can stop worrying." Yoshi do you want me to die a horrible and painful death?

Marcus put his ear piece back into his pocket and looked at me. I sighed. "Thomas is going to be pissed."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Don't worry." EASY FOR YOU TO SAY.

The two of us then went inside and the whole way I was preparing myself for the scolding I was about to receive. It was if I was some sort of child to Thomas. Though Thomas always had been a better father than my own. The doors opened to the main room, and I instantly spotted Thomas, who seemed to be freaking out. He was usually so suave and calm, but right when he thought I was in some sort of trouble or I did something he would lose his mind. Like literally lose it. We would probably have to go on some grand adventure, treasure map and everything, to find it. "Merri where were you!? I was worried sick!"

"I was with Marcus! If you answered your phone then maybe you would've known that!" People probably never really saw me as the yelling type, but right when Thomas would start to yell at me that was usually when I went off.

"I forgot it at home! It wasn't my fault! And besides you shouldn't be walking with people you barely know! Especially him!" I moaned out of anger and simply sat down in a chair and began pulling things out of my bag. I laid out my homework in front of me and began to work out of frustration.

I heard Yoshi say, "She... she's doing her homework." Why yes it is a thing that I usually when I'm mad. Keeps my mind off of things.

I began scribbling away at the paper, trying not to look up. I knew that if I didn't look at him, he would eventually feel bad. I knew he couldn't stand it when I was angry with him. He did always go crazy, but he would eventually fall back to earth in a million shattered pieces and realize that I was mad. I honestly think it broke his heart every time. It made me feel bad, but I was too stubborn to ever admit that I did anything wrong, or to apologize first just to stop some fight.

After what seemed like forever, I heard Thomas walk over to me. He held out his hand to me and said, "I'm sorry that I yelled. I realize that you were just walking with a friend. And I shouldn't have left my phone at home."

I took his hand in mine. "I should have talked to you about it in person before I just left. I'm sorry."

We shook hands. That was usually how our fights worked. They were always pretty short, sweet, and to the point. There was never any of the grudges or fist fights like normal siblings had. We would shake hands and make up. Thomas then leaned over me and said, "Now do you need help with your homework?"

"Huh?" I heard Yoshi gasp. "They're already over it?"

"I barely listened and I understand all of this homework. It's mostly things that my old teacher went over." I explained. I even at one point fell asleep in my government class, though I would never actually tell him that.

"Well that's good. So school should be pretty easy for you." Did he even realize that there seemed to be more to school than just the actual work?

I leaned over Thomas to speak to Marcus, trying to see just exactly how smart or dumb this guy really was. "Hey Marcus, do you understand the homework?"

"Huh? Of course I do. I thought it was pretty easy myself." He smirked. He was about to speak some major bullshit.

"Really Marcus? I don't believe you." Yoshi glared at him.

I smiled, listening to Marcus try to prove to them that he understood. All he said was complete bull, but it was very entertaining. I was actually kind of happy about being here, or at least here at DATS. Everyone was so nice here. It was a good change of pace from Austria, where the only person who remotely treated me like a decent human being was Relena and my two friends. And even that still hurt me inside. Either way I was stuck here. Father probably wouldn't let me come back home, and Thomas would be heartbroken if I wanted to leave him. School probably wouldn't be that hard to get through. I just... had to get used to it. Yeah, I just had to get used to it, just like Yoshi said. I had been through much worse things, I could get through this. All I would have to do was pass and then I could quickly get through school with no worries.