Before I start this I think I should make an important announcement. So far I've been updating on a biweekly basis, once every two weeks. The next update will probably see some slow down as I am going to be having a procedure done to fix my eye sight. My cornea's are cone shaped, making it hard for me to see. Actually I'm legally blind in one eye. And this procedure is to save the one good eye I have left. I'll probably be down for a bit while recovering. Not sure how long, but I hope to be back and writing quickly.

Once again IIonezerozero thank you for betaing this chapter, you have been awesome and deserve so much more attention on this site than you actually get. I hope my readers will take the time to at least check out your stories.


Life at the Shinozaki's

Chapter Four:

Plugging in his cheap ear buds Yoshiki powered on his Playstation Portable. After viewing the usual start up sequence he browsed the playlist before choosing a song at random. The strum of guitar riffs filtered into his ears and the blonde found himself nodding approvingly as the song was to his liking. Lowering himself to the floor he stretched out his legs and rested the back of his head against the bed.

It was Sunday morning and he didn't have a whole lot to do at the moment. Judging by the clock on his PSP it was just a little after nine-thirty. Breakfast had finished moments ago and now Ayumi and her dad were left with the dishes while Asuka had opted to watch some TV. Yoshiki, not feeling comfortable enough to lounge in the living room had retreated to his temporary room. He absent mindedly rubbed his stomach, Asuka had once again proven her culinary talents. It was nice to be able to eat homemade food more than one day a week.

Shutting his eyes Yoshiki inhaled before letting out a breath as he allowed himself to relax. Yesterday had been his first full day at the Shinozaki's, and for the most part it had gone off well. The blonde couldn't resist the urge to smile as he realized that the majority of his day had been spent with Ayumi. It was a nice change from them never spending time one on one outside of school. Save for the incident where he had entered her room unannounced while she had been getting dressed things had been going well between them. A mild frown graced his features as he reminded himself to stop thinking about it. They had agreed to put it behind them.

So far his stay at the Shinozaki residence had been smooth sailing. Ayumi and he were getting along well enough, better than usual in fact. It was kind of nice to be getting along with his crush. Ayumi's mother had also been nothing but a ray of sunshine in his situation, every time Asuka saw him she made sure to fix him with a warm smile. Hell she had even been kind enough to make him a lunch for work. The only member of the Shinozaki family that Yoshiki hadn't seen much of was Ayato. The blonde had a feeling that Ayumi's father just wasn't much of a people person.

Considering him and the older man hadn't exchanged any words since the day he came to stay with them that wasn't unsurprising. 'Hell I don't think Shinozaki even talks to him much.' Yoshiki mused to himself as he tried to recall a moment he had seen the father and daughter talk to one another. When the blonde thought about it he found himself a little shocked to find that Ayumi didn't seem to talk to either of her parents very much. 'Almost like my family...' The thought filled him with a slight bit of unease as he remembered how interactions in his family played out before being disowned.

His father would never utter a word at the dinner table and neither did Yoshiki. Miki would sit awkwardly watching as her dad and brother pretended the other didn't exist. All the while his mother would attempt to fill the deafening silence with uncomfortable chatter. His bangs swayed slightly as he shook his head to clear away with the memories. 'Shinozaki's relationship with her parents might not be perfect, but it's way better than mine was with my parents.' Yoshiki told himself confidently.

*Vibrate, vibrate, vibrate*

The buzzing of his cell phone against his left leg broke him out of his thoughts. Pulling out one of his ear buds he dropped it to the floor. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and answered without looking at the caller ID. "Hello," He greeted, having a decent idea of who would be calling him right now.

Miki's cheerful voice greeted him. "Good morning, Onii-chan." Allowing herself a slight pause before continuing. "So what time did you want to meet up today?" She asked him.

Scratching his cheek Yoshiki looked up at the ceiling in thought. What would be a good meet up time? According to the nearest clock it was just a little after nine-thirty. 'Maybe an hour or so.' He concluded before answering Miki's question. "In a little bit, how's ten-thirty or eleven sound?" He then added as an afterthought. "Where should we meet up at?" He asked since he knew that his sister had no idea where Ayumi lived.

"Eleven will work for me." Miki said as she nodded in agreement. At his next question she took a second to think before just shrugging. "Why not just meet in front of your old place?" That would be a good spot to meet up considering it was familiar to the both of them.

Yoshiki smiled slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, sounds good. I'll see you then." He told her before the two siblings hung up. Putting his phone back into his pocket Yoshiki breathed out a small sigh while running a hand through his hair. 'An hour and a half huh? What to do?' He asked himself before mindlessly scanning the room. So far he had spent two nights in here, but he had refrained from touching anything, per Ayumi's orders. And he didn't have a whole lot to occupy him...

'Oh right...' The blonde thought in annoyance as he caught sight of his dirty clothes that he still needed to wash. He always did wait till the last minute to do his laundry, old habits die hard. 'Might as well get it out of the way, I've got the time.' The blonde urged himself before rising to his feet. "But I probably should ask Asuka-san if I can use the washing machine." He muttered as he exited the room.

Coming into the living room he passed by Ayumi who had just finished washing the dishes. The twin tailed girl seemed to be in a bit of a rush as she made a beeline for her room, quickly closing the door behind her. 'What is she in such a hurry for?' The blonde thought to himself as he remembered the look of anticipation he had seen in her eyes. Ignoring his curiousness regarding his crush's actions he turned to Asuka who was seated on the couch. Next to her was Ayato, who was leaning back in his seat with a mug filled with steaming coffee in hand. "Excuse me Asuka-san?" Yoshiki called out tentatively to get her attention. "I have some laundry I need to do, would it be okay if I used your washing machine?"

Asuka looked at him in slight befuddlement before nodding. "Of course, Kishinuma-kun. You don't need to ask." She told him kindly before pointing behind him. "The laundry room is on the second floor, first door on your right." The brown haired woman informed him before returning her attention to the television she and her husband were watching.

Yoshiki nodded his thanks. "Thank you, Asuka-san." He told her before quickly returning to his temporary room to get his dirty clothes. Wrapping them in a makeshift bundle he left the room before going up the stairs. Upon arriving on the second floor, his first time being up here in the two days he had been staying at the Shinozaki's, he entered the first door to his right. He was pleased to see the washer and dryer were both unattended.

After dumping his load of dirty clothes into the washer and adding some detergent Yoshiki activated the machine. Whirring to life the washer begun to fill with water. The ex-delinquent breathed out a relieved sigh, happy that the task was complete, before heading back to Hinoe's room. As he closed the door behind him he felt his phone buzzing yet again. Fishing out his phone he flipped it open to see that he had received a response from Satoshi.

{Well even so, it's still somewhat shocking that you actually managed to finish all that classwork yesterday. Did Shinozaki help you out or something?}

Yoshiki frowned lightly at his best friend's message before typing his own reply. Throughout the morning he and Satoshi had texted back and forth a little. It was mostly the brown haired boy expressing mild shock at the blonde finishing all of his assignments quickly for once. 'Satoshi really hit the nail on the head.' He thought to himself as he reflected on the brown haired teen's closing remark he had just read. Ayumi really did help him, in more ways than one. "Of course I can't tell him that." Satoshi's surprise wasn't really uncalled for, since Yoshiki typically dragged his feet a little when it came to homework on the weekends.

Sunday was the day he tended to plow through his remaining assignments since he always had that day off. He couldn't tell Satoshi the actual reason he had finished his homework so promptly was due to his temporary living conditions. Yoshiki was certain that Ayumi wouldn't like it if the boy she fancied knew that she had him staying at her house. So he would do his best to keep from letting Satoshi or anyone else in on that detail. 'Though I might want to tell Shinozaki that my sister knows where I'm at.' He idly considered before returning his attention to his phone. Finishing his response he read it back to himself.

{Eh, don't act too surprised. I just felt like getting that crap out of the way. And yeah Shinozaki was helpful, she lent me her notes.}

After reading the message Yoshiki nodded to himself, finding it to be acceptable, as he pushed send. Satoshi wouldn't suspect anything regarding his living condition, it wasn't too out of left field for Yoshiki to plow through something just for the sake of getting it over with. And everyone knew how helpful the class rep of 2-9 was, so it made perfect sense for her to help him however she could.

Suddenly Yoshiki felt his foot get caught on something mid-step. "Huh? Whoa!" The blonde yelped as he fell to the floor. Thankfully he had been quick enough and managed to put his hands out to take the brunt of the impact. "Damn it!" He cried out as he smacked into to the ground. "What the hell did I trip on?" Yoshiki grunted as he turned himself over so that he was sitting up. Looking down at his left foot he saw that one of the straps to the duffle bag he had tossed to the side was tangled around his ankle. Heh, he had forgotten about that. 'I really should return that...' The blonde thought as he blindly reached for his phone that he had dropped. Pocketing it he untangled the strap from his foot.

'Also I need to give her charger back.' The blonde remembered as he stood up and unplugged the item from the wall. Charger and bag in hand he left the room and made for Ayumi's, pausing as his hand hovered over the handle. 'Remember, knock.' He told himself before stepping back slightly and tapping on the door a couple times.


Ayumi's face brightened considerably as her sister appeared on the computer screen. About five minutes ago she had finished cleaning up after breakfast and had rushed to her room. Sure it was a little early but she wanted as much time as she could get to talk to her sister. And now that, that time had come she was ecstatic. "It's so good to finally see you Onee-chan." The dark haired greeted happily. "It feels like it's been forever."

Hinoe happily returned her younger sister's smile. "It's good to see you too, Ayumi-chan. I've missed you, how have you been?" The twenty-seven year old inquired warmly. Just as the twin tailed girl was about to answer a loud thump and yell sounded out. Blinking in confusion she shared the look with her younger sister. "What was that?" She inquired curiously.

Ayumi's lips dipped into a frown as she turned to face where the noise had originated. 'That sounded like it came from Onee-chan's room...Kishinuma-kun better not have broken anything.' She thought to herself as her eyes narrowed. A few moments later she heard the sound of knocking on her door. Ayumi would be very displeased if this was Yoshiki coming to tell her that he did in fact break something. "It's open." She announced in a neutral tone. When the head of blonde hair popped she felt her annoyance surface slightly. 'At least he knocked this time...'

Yoshiki paused slightly at the annoyed look on his crush's face. She didn't look very pleased at his intrusion, offering a sheepish smile he got straight to the point. "Sorry Shinozaki, I was just returning your bag and charger." He told her while presenting the mentioned items.

Ayumi's expression relaxed slightly as her mild irritation faded. Pointing over to the bed she directed him. "Just drop them over there," The twin tailed girl ordered before turning back in her chair to face her sister who had a pensive look on her face.

Before her little sister could say anything Hinoe beat her to the punch. "Is that the friend you mentioned yesterday, Ayumi-chan?" The brown haired woman inquired, her voice laced with curiosity at the young man her sister had taken in. Ayumi often mentioned her friends in their usual chats, the one she talked about most being Mochida Satoshi. But even before recent events she had heard mentions of the ex-delinquent, mostly complaints about how she had to nag him to get stuff done. But from what recent information she had gotten regarding his situation she was curious to see what sort of person he was. Even if he was someone who annoyed her sister this Yoshiki person had to be a good guy if Ayumi was willing to bring him to her house in order to keep him off the streets.

Yoshiki glanced over his shoulder after placing the items on the bed. He did a double take of the woman on his crush's computer monitor. 'This is Shinozaki's older sister...' He thought to himself as he compared her current image to the one he had seen upon entering Ayumi's house. She looked mostly as she did in the photo he had seen, just with longer hair and not in a school uniform. From what he could currently see she seemed to be wearing a yellow blouse and a shirt underneath. When his eyes met hers she offered him a warm smile that felt similar to the one Asuka usually gave him.

Raising his hand in greeting Yoshiki offered a nervous smile of his own. "Uh, hi." He mentally slapped himself as Ayumi glared at him. Flinching slightly he cleared his throat and made another go at it. "I mean, I'm Kishinuma Yoshiki. Nice to meet you." He got out with as much politeness as he could muster. He was a little nervous meeting Ayumi's elder sister. 'Understandable since I'm currently using her room...' Of course that was the main reason. But from what little he had managed to pick up he had been able to glean that his crush held her sister in high regards. So he wanted to make a good impression on her.

Hinoe's blue eyes took in every detail they could of the young man. His blonde hair and sharp eyes would put some at edge but not her. She was more fixated on his body language, especially how aware of Ayumi he seemed to be. The long haired woman could easily discern that Yoshiki held more than friendly feelings for her, little sister, it was kind of sweet how much effect she had on him. Just from a simple glare he had quickly straightened out and tried to make a better greeting. She felt the impulse to softly pat his head, but since she wasn't physically there it was easy to ignore it.

Almost immediately Hinoe could say she had the feeling that she'd like Yoshiki. "Nice to meet you Kishinuma-kun, I'm Shinozaki Hinoe. You can call me Hinoe if you'd like." She told him before glancing at her little sister with a slightly mischievous look in her eye before looking back at the blonde. "Or Onee-san would be fine as well." She told him with a smile as Ayumi's face flushed lightly at her older sister's teasing.

If it were anyone else Ayumi would have been pretty annoyed at the teasing. But the twin tailed girl could never find it in herself to think negatively of her older sister. Sighing she bit back the embarrassment. "Geez Onee-chan..." She whispered under her breath before realizing that her blonde classmate had yet to respond to her older sister. Snapping her head up to look at him the blue haired girl shot him a glare, as if daring him to be impolite to her big sister.

Yoshiki could feel her sharp gaze on him, trying to appear calm he shoved his left hand into his pocket. "It's nice to meet you, Hinoe-san." He told her as politely as he could manage. "But I really should get going. I've got some stuff I need to do today." He informed the older woman before backing off. While he still had well over an hour till he needed to meet with his sister he felt that Ayumi would prefer it if he leave her be for now. She'd obviously like to talk to her sister alone, so he'd oblige. "Later." He said before closing the door behind him, effectively making his exit. Breathing a sigh of relief he leaned against the door as the nervousness faded.

"Oh, Kishinuma-kun I was looking for you." Asuka's voice caught his attention. Turning to face where she had sounded from Yoshiki saw the brown haired woman standing just outside the door to his room. Walking over to him she held up a piece of paper. "If you're not doing anything right now would you be willing to run down to the supermarket to pick up a few things for me?" She inquired with a warm smile.

Mildly surprised at the request the blonde stalled before nodding mutely. Accepting the piece of paper he noted that it was a shopping list. There wasn't a whole lot on it, milk, eggs, sugar, and a few other items. Looking up from the list he nodded again. "Sure, I don't mind." He told her. She and her family were putting a roof over his head, it was the least he could do.

A thankful expression crossed over the older woman's features. "Thank you, Kishinuma-kun." Asuka thanked him before reaching into her pocket to pull out a couple bills. "This should cover it." She told him while pushing the money into his hand.

The gray eyed boy nodded in thanks before pocketing the money and list. "Thanks, I'll be sure to give you your change." He promised before quickly stalking over to the front door, slipping into his shoes, and exiting the house. Checking his phone for the time he pocketed before breaking into a light jog towards the market.


Ayumi found herself sighing at her blonde classmate's abrupt exit. Looking back to her elder sister she offered a apologetic smile. "Sorry about that Onee-chan, Kishinuma-kun's a little...dense." For lack of a better word.

Hinoe turned her attention to her younger sister as the door closed behind Yoshiki. Chuckling lightly at Ayumi's ironic description the older woman smiled. "It's no problem Ayumi-chan, Kishinuma-kun seems like a nice boy." Sure she hadn't been able to observe him much, but from what little she did pick up she knew that she liked him. It was kind of adorable how aware of her little sister Yoshiki was.

The dark haired girl sighed at her sister's quick assessment of her friend. Sure she liked Yoshiki, he was her friend, but he got on her nerves more times than not. Up until recently he had still been smoking, and while he had improved his attendance record he still found it in him to skip at least one day a week. Not to mention that he never thought before acting. "Kishinuma-kun isn't all that reliable." Ayumi told her sister as her mind momentarily flashed to the incident that had happen yesterday. Her cheeks flashed red as she remembered the mortification of it, but she quickly fought the feeling away. 'We agreed that it was an accident and to forget about it!' The twin tailed girl reminded herself.

Hinoe tilted her head in curiosity as she wondered what could have made her little sister's face turn that shade of red. "What makes you say that?" The twenty-seven year old inquired.

The twin tailed girl paused as she deliberated on whether to share yesterday's events with Hinoe. After a minute or so Ayumi decided that she might as well. Considering she told her sister about everything it wouldn't hurt to tell her about this. From across the hall she could make out the distinct sound of her mother starting up the vacuum. Groaning to herself in irritation she reached over to her right and grabbed a pair of headphones before plugging them into her computer. Once she was certain that they were working she returned her attention on her sister. "Well yesterday-." Ayumi started out before falling into a bit of a rant of the previous day.

Hinoe had to bite back a chuckle as her little sister described the events of yesterday. To her it sounded like the most clichéd event from a number of anime shows that her sister had watched. She found herself surprised though that mid-rant Ayumi did stick up for Yoshiki by claiming that she knew he wasn't the type to peek in on girls, but still! Hinoe smiled lightly as she gained a tiny bit more understanding of the relationship between her sister and the blonde boy. Hinoe smiled lightly as her sister finished nearly talking her ear off about Yoshiki walking in on her. 'Even if Ayumi-chan said she's forgiven him, it's probably best that she vented a little.' The older woman told herself as their conversation shifted into everyday things.

After a random comment about her studies Ayumi informed her sister that midterms were coming up. "Exams are next month." The twin tailed girl mentioned to Hinoe as she shifted slightly in her seat. How long had they been talking? Looking at the clock on her computer she saw that they had been going at it for a little over an hour. Despite her stiff back it felt like almost no time had really passed by.

The brown haired woman felt a tiny bit of nostalgia. "Is it that time of year again?" She inquired. "Even though I graduated from Kisaragi Academy ten years ago it feels like it was only yesterday."

Ayumi smirked lightly at her older sister before speaking. "Onee-chan you should be careful, if you keep talking like that I might start mistaking you for an old woman." She teased before breaking into a light chuckle that was shared by her sister. Once the two stopped laughing Ayumi spoke up again. "My friend Nakashima-san suggested that we have a study group at her house to help each other with subjects that we're not too confident with."

"That sounds like fun."

Ayumi nodded with a light smile as she pictured how the day may go. "I'm sure it will be." A smirk appeared on her face before revealing her plan. "I actually have a little ghost story in mind, it's been a little too long since I last gave Mochida-kun a good scare."

Chuckling at the mention of scaring her little sister's crush Hinoe couldn't help but smile in amusement. "What story are you planning this time, Ayumi-chan?" She asked curiously.

Ayumi's smirk widened as she prepared to give her older sister a sample of her story. "Oh it's a good one, it's about a-" But before she could finish speaking she was cut off by the sound of a cell phone ringing.

Hinoe looked away from her monitor as her phone lit up. She felt as annoyed as her little sister looked, but she had to keep her composure. Reluctantly she held up a single finger to tell Ayumi 'one moment' before reaching for her phone and flipped it open. "Hello?" She asked politely.

The twin tailed girl watched with nervous eyes as her sister nodded and gave short simple answers to the unknown caller. In the pit of her stomach she knew that their time to talk had been cut short. 'It's not fair...' She thought to herself wanting more time for her and Hinoe to talk. In her sixteen, almost seventeen years, of living she had never spent more than maybe a couple days away from her older sister. But she hadn't seen her in the last two weeks, and they had only been communicating through email which just wasn't as good as actually talking.

Once she hung up Hinoe looked at her little sister with regretful eyes. "Sorry Ayumi-chan, but I have to go now. I promise to email you sometime tonight." The older woman told her.

Ayumi's shoulder's drooped in disappointment as her fears were confirmed. Even if she wished they could keep talking she knew that just wasn't possible right now. Nodding in acceptance Ayumi put on her best fake smile. "It's okay Onee-chan, I hope the rest of your trip goes well." The twin tailed girl managed to keep her sadness at bay as Hinoe also smiled sadly.

Once the connection was cut Ayumi sighed sadly as she stared at the blank monitor for a few moments. Sighing again she turned off her computer and unplugged her headphones before standing up. Walking over to her window she closed the curtains before dragging her feet over to her bed and plopping down face first in an ungraceful manner. While she was happy that she and her sister had been allowed a little over an hour to talk uninterrupted it just wasn't enough. Ayumi felt like a kid who had been given a delicious dessert only to have it taken away after getting only a couple bites in. 'Nee-chan...' She missed having her sister be within walking distance.

Shutting her eyes she allowed her body to relax. At the very least she had finished her homework yesterday so she could laze about all she wanted for now. Even if she did have things to do Ayumi wouldn't feel like doing them right now. Breathing in and out she allowed mind to drift before being enveloped by sleep. She'd feel better after a nice nap.


Yoshiki closed the door behind him with one hand as he kept his grip on the bags in his other. "I'm back." He announced before taking his shoes off and walking further into the house. Coming into the living room he was surprised to see no one there, the TV wasn't even on. He briefly wondered where Ayumi's parents were, their shoes were still near the front entrance. Deciding that it didn't matter all that much he went over to the kitchen and went about putting the groceries away. After finishing with that he pulled the receipt from his pocket and placed it on the counter along with the change he had been given back.

"10:39." Yoshiki murmured under his breath before pocketing his phone. 'I should probably get going if I'm going to make it on time.' He decided as he exited the kitchen. As he entered the hallway his eyes glanced up the stairs. "I might want to check on my laundry though." With that in mind Yoshiki headed up the stairs and peeked into the laundry room. The machine was no longer on, signaling that it was finished cleaning his clothes.

Quickly he took the now clean clothes out of the washer and threw them into the dryer. Turning it on he nodded approvingly. 'Alright, lets get going.' He urged himself before exiting the laundry room. As he came out he nearly bumped into Asuka. "Whoa," He called out as he stopped himself from colliding into the brown haired woman. "Sorry about that, Asuka-san." He apologized sincerely.

Asuka took a step back just in time to avoid the blonde. Offering him a smile she shrugged off the almost accident. "It's find Kishinuma-kun, I guess you got the groceries?"

Yoshiki nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, I put them away. The receipt's on the table, so is your change." He informed the older woman before moving to go around her. "Anyways sorry to come and go like this, but I told my sister that I'd meet her at eleven so I best get going."

Asuka nodded understandingly. "Of course, have fun." She told him before moving to get out of his way.

"Bye." Yoshiki offered as he quickly went back down the stairs. Checking his phone he saw that he had a little less than twenty minutes to get to the park before the meeting time. If he left now he'd probably get there just on time, provided traffic not being too heavy. The ex-delinquent slipped his shoes on again and exited the house before heading off in the direction of his old apartment.


Kishinuma Miki allowed a soft sigh to slip out as she checked her phone for the third time in the last ten minutes. 'Ten after eleven.' The dark haired girl thought to herself before glancing around the park yet again for any sign of her older brother. 'He's late.' The park wasn't all that big, there were a plentiful number of trees that offered shade and a couple benches for sitting on. Glancing over at a large oak tree the girl narrowed her eyes as she remembered that being the tree her older brother had camped out under after being disowned. As much as she honestly loved her father Miki couldn't help but resent him for forcing her brother onto the streets.

After Yoshiki was kicked out her relationship between her and her parents had soured slightly. Every time she came home she'd just lock herself in her room, only coming out to share meals with them. The only time she ever spent with her folks was at the kitchen table or when her mom managed to talk her into the occasional shopping trip on the weekend. Honestly she did love her parents, but she couldn't help but feel some disdain for them. Her dad for kicking Yoshiki out and her mom for not having the backbone to ever disagree with him.

"Hey Miki!" The familiar voice of her brother pierced her thoughts. Looking up Miki smiled as she caught sight of her brother's mop of blonde hair. Her smile was returned as the older teen walked up to her. Miki was the same age as Satoshi's sister, they had even gone to the same elementary school together. She had dark hair that was just past shoulder length and her eyes were the exact same shade as her brother's. Today she was dressed in a light blue blouse with a white shirt underneath and a pair of old dark blue jeans. When he stopped in front of her he offered a sheepish look. "Sorry I'm late, the streets were a bit more packed than I had thought they would be."

Miki's expression softened before she nodded in understanding. "It's okay Onii-chan, though it wouldn't have hurt to text me." She told him before standing up from the bench she had been seated on. Stretching her arms she fought off the urge to let loose a groan. "So..." She started out with a teasing smile. "How has your stay at the Shinozaki hotel been?" At her brother's pink cheeks she snickered lightly.

Rolling his eyes Yoshiki shoved his hand into his pocket and did his best to brush off his sister's teasing. "It's been nice, they even have a continental breakfast." His sarcasm was met with more giggling. "Come on Miki, can't you give me a break for today?" He asked in a wry tone.

Miki allowed herself to get all the laughing out before nodding. "Okay, okay Onii-chan. I'll lay off for now. But you can't blame me for not getting at least one remark in, can you?" The gray eyed girl inquired with an easy going smile.

Yoshiki shook his head lightly, a small smirk at his sister's playfulness in place. "Not really, but you've already got your remark in. So let's get down to business. The sooner I can find a new apartment the sooner I can stop mooching off Shinozaki's family." The blonde told his sister as he led them out of the park, further away from his old apartment.

Miki quirked an eyebrow at her brother's ending comment. "You don't like it there?" She queried curious as to how her brother's stay at his crush's house had been so far.

Yoshiki shook his head. "Actually the exact opposite. It's nice there, but I don't want to take any more from them than what's necessary. So it's best I find a new place quick." The blonde explained as he glanced up at the street signs. Pulling out a piece of paper he had scribbled on he took note of the first address he had jotted down. That morning he had asked Ayato if he could borrow the paper to look at local listings for apartments. At the unexpected favor Ayato had nodded approvingly and handed the classifieds to him. Yoshiki had circled and written down the ones that were within his price range and that were near Kisaragi.

Miki furrowed her brow at her older brother's explanation, at least he seemed to be doing alright over there. "I see. Though I'm sure they don't expect you to find a place immediately. So it should be alright if we're unable to find anything today." The younger girl tried to assure her brother as she knew the chances of finding a new apartment on the first try would be unlikely. It had taken Yoshiki a couple weeks of camping in the park before he managed to land his old home.

Yoshiki offered a silent nod to his sister's words. Sure he knew that the chances of finding anything acceptable today would be unlikely, in fact he was certain that they wouldn't. 'But Shinozaki did say I was a hard worker.' And he'd be damned if he made a liar out of her. Taking another glance at the paper he committed the address to memory and continued leading his sister towards where he knew the complex would be.


Miki scowled as she and her brother ascended the stairs of the first place she and her brother were checking out. They had yet to see the inside of the apartment but she was one hundred percent certain that she wouldn't like this place. The complex was even more run down than Yoshiki's old place. The railing leading up to the second floor was coated in rust and had a few missing segments. Plus some of the windows to other apartments were broken and covered with plywood or even thick walls of duct tape. 'What a crap hole!' The fourteen year old thought to herself. There was no way she'd allow her brother to stay here.

Finally they came to a stop in front of the vacant room. The man who had been leading them, the building manager, was a short balding man with a greasy face. He opened the door and walked in. "It's not much, but it's very affordable for someone on a part-timer's salary.' He told them.

Almost immediately the two teens felt the urge to retch as a horrible smell assaulted their nasal passages. 'What the hell is that?!' Yoshiki screamed in his thought at the smell of something that had spoiled forever ago came to him. The blonde was confident enough to consider himself flexible when it came to discomfort, but this was just too much, even for him.

Her hand shot up to cover her nose. "Gah! What the hell is that stench?" His appalled sister cried out loud as she smelled the putrid scent. 'It's like something died in there!'

The building manager glanced back to the two teens with a curious expression. He didn't smell anything out of the ordinary. "What's wrong?" He inquired as he waited for the two teens to follow him in.

Yoshiki looked at the bald man as though he were insane. "You don't smell anything?" He questioned in bewilderment. 'Well the guy does live in this building, maybe he's become desensitized or something.' The blonde told himself, though that wasn't a good thing. How the hell had this complex not been condemned?!

The place was awful, inside it appeared as bad as it stunk. The tatami mats were rotted beyond belief, the Kishinuma siblings even caught sight of a few mushrooms sprouting out of them. Upon opening the fridge they found the source of the smell, some sort of spoiled meat dish that had been left behind by the room's previous tenant. "Hehheh, how long has that been in there?" The landlord wondered with a sheepish laugh as he tried to think of a way to actually convince the youths to take the apartment.

When they looked into the bathroom and caught sight of numerous cockroaches scurrying away from the source of light Yoshiki had seen enough. "What kind of shit hole are you running?! How are you even allowed to try and rent this place out to people?!" Letting his anger take control he yelled in the man's face before rearing back as if to strike him.

Miki quickly intervened, stepping in between the two men and placing her hand gently on her brother's chest. Turning to the building manager who was cowering in fear at the blonde teen's explosive reaction she offered a weak smile. "Thank you for this...interesting experience, but there are still many other places for us to check. We'll keep you in mind..." She told him before quickly dragging her brother by his wrist to the entrance before he could get anymore fired up.

Once they were away from the building Miki breathed out in relief before looking at her older brother in slight annoyance. "Geez Onii-chan, I thought you were going to deck him." The younger girl uttered to her brother as they walked side by side. 'That place was beyond awful, but an assault charge is just not worth it.' She thought worriedly for her brother.

Trying to shake off his frustration with what just happened the blonde grunted. "I would have, but you got in the way." He told her before separating her hand from his wrist. "I still think you should have let me hit him." Yoshiki muttered before bringing out his list of possible prospects. Mentally crossing the first address of the top of the list he read the second one. It should only be a few blocks away. "Let's just hope that the next place isn't as bad." He commented before shoving the piece of paper into his pocket.

The next apartment they saw was much in much better condition than the first one. It was a little dingy, but it wasn't much worse than Yoshiki's old one. At least it didn't make the pair want to gag upon stepping foot in. Sure the carpet had a couple stains here and there plus the front door needed a new lock, but to Yoshiki it was livable. Sadly the manager just wanted too much for it, the man was charging nearly double price he had paid at his old apartment. Yoshiki told him that he just couldn't afford the place. It wasn't worth it.


"Ahhh..." The ex-delinquent breathed out as he slumped in his seat across form Miki. The pair of siblings had decided to take a break and get something to eat. The fast food place wasn't all that good, but it was adequate, and besides Yoshiki wasn't picky when it came to food. For two years he had to eat cheap if he wanted to survive. "The last place wasn't too bad, but the asking price was just ridiculous." Plus even when they tried to talk the manager down to a more agreeable price he had been obtuse in his refusal to compromise.

The blonde sighed as he fingered the lighter in his pocket. Usually when he was stressed he felt the need to smoke. After dealing with those last two places he felt like he usually did when he wanted to smoke, but he couldn't do that anymore. He didn't want to break Ayumi's trust. So, despite the minor headache, he ignored it as he started eating the greasy burger that had been placed before him. Thankfully he had already been on the path of giving it up, so the headache wasn't as bad the first time he tried quitting. "It's okay, Onii-chan." His sister's voice caught his attention. "You'll find something. You've only just started looking today, these things take time." She told him encouragingly. "How long are you allowed to stay at Shinozaki's place?" The gray eyed girl inquired.

His headache pushed to the back burner for the moment Yoshiki finished chewing before giving her an answer. "I have till the start of summer vacation, so six weeks. After that whether or not I've found something isn't Shinozaki's father's problem." The blonde said as he recalled the older man's words to him.

Miki narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Then what are you in such a rush for? Onii-chan, you have a month and a half, that's more than enough time to find something. I'll even check a few things out online when I get home tonight." She told him before promising to email her findings to him. 'What would you do without me Nii-san?' She thought to herself with a small smile.

Yoshiki nodded slowly before looking down in thought. 'Guess I'll have to ask Shinozaki if I can use her laptop.' He didn't have a computer anymore, so he had no feasible means to access the internet. Deciding to push his worries to the side he continued to eat his food.

Once the two teens finished their lunch they left the restaurant and made their way to the final address Yoshiki had jotted down. It was a bit further from Yoshiki's old residence than the other two had been, but it was within the same walking distance from Kisaragi, just on the other side. Upon finding the apartment Yoshiki released a whistle. "Yeah, there's no way I'll be able to afford this..." He said under his breath as they went into the complex.

But still he was curious to see what it would actually cost, so they went and met the landlord looking to fill the vacancy. As soon as they went into the apartment Yoshiki knew without a doubt that he wouldn't be staying here. He waited for the guy detailing all of the apartment's key features to stop talking before he asked. "How much?" He said shortly. At hearing the price his eyes widened at the actual price, he wouldn't be able to afford a place like this unless his boss gave him one hell of a raise. "Thank you for your time, but I can't afford that." The building manager offered a tight smile but nodded nonetheless.

Yoshiki sighed tiredly as he looked at the time on his phone. It had just turned 3:00 PM and he and Miki had been wandering around for the last half hour since looking at the last prospect that had turned out to be a bust. "Well that's all I've got." He told her as they came to a stop. The blonde fought the urge to groan as he recalled each place they had seen.

The first apartment they had gone to had been such a crap hole, Yoshiki was still wondering how the building was allowed to remain standing. On second thought maybe it was better he didn't know. The next place had been a little more up his alley, being somewhat below standard but more than livable, sadly the price was just a complete rip off for what it was. 'And the last place was just way too expensive...' The blonde said in thought as he shoved his hands into his pocket.

Miki looked down at her feet, she wished they could have found a place but she wasn't too surprise. "Well it's a start Onii-chan, we just have to keep looking." She told him optimistically. "Don't worry, you have six weeks, I know you'll have a place before that." The gray eyed girl said, hoping that she could assure her brother.

His expression softened somewhat at his sister's optimistic approach. Deciding she was right he allowed himself to relax a little. "Yeah, you're right Miki. I still have time, I'm going to keep on the lookout for ads. I should start asking Shinozaki's dad for the paper every day and find the ones I can."

Miki nodded in agreement. "And like I said earlier I'll start checking local listings online for you. Don't worry Onii-chan, things will work out." His little sister said optimistically.

With that the two teens went on their way to walk home, Yoshiki bringing his sister most of the way to her house. When they parted ways he told her, "Wednesday is my next day off, so after school I'll see about checking more places out."

The fourteen year old nodded, her mood cheerful. "Sounds good, see you later." With that the two siblings went their separate ways.


Asuka was seated on the sofa when she heard the door open. Looking up from her book she glanced around the room, Ayato was currently napping on the couch, his expression peaceful. Looking towards the entrance she waited for the blonde to show up. Offering him a kind smile at his entrance she inquired how successful he had been. "So, how'd the search go?" She asked remembering that the blonde had planned on looking at apartments while he was out with his sister.

The blonde looked slightly deflated before shrugging it off. "Eh, nothing promising, places were either too run down or way above my budget. But I'm not giving up." He told her with a smile of his own. Talking to Asuka always seemed to be a pleasant occurrence. It definitely helped him forget the feeling of not accomplishing anything with his search.

Asuka frowned lightly before smiling. She wasn't at all surprised that he didn't find anything, actually she didn't mind having him here the full six weeks. So far he had proven to be a respectful house guest, plus she had been enjoying his reactions to her teasing. "Well that's too bad. But you'll find something." She told him simply as he entered the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

Yoshiki allowed himself to accept the words of encouragement. "Thanks Asuka-san." The blonde said as he took a sip of his drink before glancing off to the side as he allowed his mind to wander slightly.

Asuka smiled warmly before remembering something. "Oh yes, I almost forgot, your laundry should be finished by now. Why don't you go get it? Ayumi still needs to start on hers." The older woman informed him before rising to her feet. 'Speaking of which I should go check up on her. She hasn't left her room since eating breakfast.' The older woman thought to herself as she remarked how quiet her daughter had been during the day.

The blonde haired teen nodded as he remembered that he still had clothes in the dryer and that he best not leave them there. Chugging down the rest of his drink he placed the glass in the sink, he'd wash it later, and bounded up the stairs while catching sight of Asuka knocking on her daughter's door in his peripheral vision.

Ayumi stirred slightly at the sound of someone knocking on her door. Moaning lightly the dark haired girl turned as her fog filled mind registered her mother's voice. Stifling a yawn she looked over at the clock on her night stand. It was four-thirty. When Ayumi didn't prove quick enough to answer her mother said woman opened the door and peeked in. "Ayumi, are you awake?" She called out to her youngest daughter as she opened the door a little more.

The blue haired girl slid off her bed and nodded groggily. "Yes Okaa-san, I'm up." She told her mother.

Seeing that her daughter had just woken up Asuka entered the room fully and turned on the lights. Ayumi found herself shielding her eyes at the initial stinging sensation, even though it wasn't night her curtains had been drawn, making the room pretty dark. Her eyes required a few moments to adjust to the brightness. "Kishinuma-kun's finishing up his laundry. You have school tomorrow, so you should get yours in the wash." Asuka recommended as she pointed at the hamper in her daughter's room.

Her eyes having adjusted slightly the twin tailed girl nodded mutely as she lowered her arms. She looked at the hamper, on the very top was her Kisaragi uniform, and saw that it was full. "Alright, Okaa-san." Ayumi responded as she obediently grabbed the hamper and moved to head to the laundry room.

"...Hold on, Ayumi." Ayumi froze on the spot at her mother's unnaturally serious voice. It was enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention, this was the voice Asuka used when her someone was in trouble. Upon turning around to see what her mom wanted Ayumi felt all the color drain from her face at the offending item in her mother's hand. "What are these?" Asuka asked in a tone that showed how serious she was.

'I forgot about those!' Ayumi shouted in thought as she eyed the pack of cigarettes in her mom's hand. Her breathing became slightly shallow as she tried to think up a reasonable explanation as to why she had those. She could tell the truth, but that would be akin to throwing Yoshiki under the bus especially when it was her fault that this had happened. She cursed herself for being so careless! Her breathing became even worse as she still tried to wrack her mind together as to what to tell her mother.

But before she could come up with anything else another voice pierced through the deafening silence that Ayumi's mother had created. "Those are mine." The ex-delinquent claimed as he placed his bundle of clothes on the floor and entered the bedroom.

Having quickly gathered his clothes Yoshiki made his way to Hinoe's room but stopped short when he came upon an eerily familiar scene. A parent waving a pack of cigarettes in their child's face, demanding to know where they came from. He still remembered the day he had been kicked out with clear vividness. He had skipped his last period and after milling around a bit walked his little sister home after she got out of school.


It had been the last day of school before summer so the Kishinuma siblings had settled in and started playing some games on the old Nintendo 64 in Miki's room. It wasn't until about seven in the evening that his father's angry voice rung out.

"YOSHIKI!" The house all but trembled at the enraged voice.

The fifteen year old scowled at his father's voice. Pausing the game as his sister was about to KO his character he dropped the controller and raced to where he had heard his father shouting. Upon going into his room he saw his dad holding a pack of cigarettes and from there the argument broke out. It started with his father shouting at him for being an ungrateful son who's going to wind up a failure. Before almost instantly the teenager biting back with his own venomous words, calling the bastard a piss poor father.

More insults were traded until finally, red in the face, his father grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the front door. Yanking it open he tossed Yoshiki out like a rag doll and screamed. "And get the fuck out of my house!" Followed by the slam of a door being shut.

As Yoshiki attempted to peel himself from the ground, which was a little muddy from the earlier sprinkle, he heard the sound of the door open before being slammed shut. Obviously his sister coming see if he was okay before being denied by their father.


Returning to the present Yoshiki cleared his throat before speaking again. "Those are mine." He repeated to Asuka who had turned her sharp eyes on him. Yoshiki nearly choked on his own saliva at the expression on the older woman's face, it was a little more like the look he saw on Ayumi's face whenever he pissed her off but worse.

Asuka's frown deepened. "These are yours?" She asked in a clipped tone while presenting the pack towards him. "Would you mind explaining why I found them in my daughter's room?" She asked in a razor sharp tone.

On the outside Yoshiki was the picture of calm, but on the inside he couldn't help but be a little fearful. A few minutes ago he and Ayumi's mother had been talking under friendly terms. But now the possibility of her kicking him out wasn't unlikely. Heh, he figured that if someone here did kick him out it'd be Ayumi's dad. Clearing his throat he pushed down his fear and began to explain. "When Shinozaki brought me here she told me that you guys wouldn't tolerate me smoking. So I agreed to kick the habit and she had me give her my last pack so she could get rid of them." He told the brown haired woman, his voice hesitant and awkward. He felt like was on the thinnest of thin ice at the moment.

Asuka looked back and forth between her daughter's guilt ridden face and the blonde who, despite his obvious nervousness, was standing firm. Even if she was steamed about this she still liked Yoshiki, he came off as a sweet boy in her opinion. This wasn't something she'd get over in a day or two. But... "Kishinuma-kun, you're lucky Ayato wasn't the one to find these, he'd kick you out in a second." The older woman told him bluntly before pocketing the pack. "I won't let Ayato know about this, but if I find any more cigarettes in my house he will find out about this. And then I'll let him decide what to do." The brunette told him as she quickly exited the room and made for the kitchen. On the inside Asuka was still sore about this, she needed something to do to occupy her mind, perhaps she'd get an early start on dinner.

Yoshiki released a breath of air that he didn't even know that he had been holding. Despite his sadness that Ayumi's mother was mad at him he was amazed that he hadn't just gotten kicked out. He'd almost call it a miracle. 'That could have gone so much worse.' The blonde teen thought to himself as he scratched his head. Sneaking a peek at his twin tailed crush his expression deflated slightly at her watery eyes. When he looked into them they said 'sorry.'

Biting her lip Ayumi broke their gaze and the silence. "I'm sorry, Kishinuma-kun. This was my fault..." She muttered, mentally berating herself for letting this come to pass. How could she forget to throw away the one thing that could have gotten her friend thrown out?! The blue haired girl continued to ream into herself at how she had nearly messed things up for her friend.

Yoshiki frowned as he saw Ayumi's expression. "No Shinozaki, it's not your fault. This one's on me. I'm the one who bought them." He told her. "Don't take responsibility for my mistakes." The blonde bluntly told her as he silently promised that after this he'd never touch another cigarette again, they were just too much trouble. The only good smoking had ever done him was that day when he got caught in the bathroom by that stupid gym teacher and Ayumi came to his rescue. Though that fact did make him wonder, would Ayumi's and his paths have crossed had he never smoked to begin with? Shaking the thought away he decided that it didn't matter.

Despite her friend's words Ayumi couldn't help but still feel guilty. Yoshiki could pin all the blame he wanted to on himself for smoking in the first place. And while he was right that it was his own mistake, this one was on her. It could have all been avoided if she had simply not forgotten to dispose of the pack. But that didn't matter now, she couldn't change what had happened. 'Okaa-san's going to be pretty cold to him for awhile...' The twin tailed girl thought to herself, feeling the guilt claw at her. As irritating as it was to watch Yoshiki and her mom get along so well she couldn't help but feel bad that her thoughtlessness had smudged the relationship between them. 'I wish I could fix this somehow...' The dark haired girl thought to herself as she thought about how her mother would be with Yoshiki for awhile.

Usually her mother was friendly and kind to all those around her. But if you really rubbed her the wrong way she'd be pretty cold to you. Ayumi still remembered an incident when her father did something that made her mother really mad...she didn't talk to him for a week. 'Okaa-san's a master at the silent treatment...' The twin tailed girl thought to herself wishing that her friend wouldn't have to deal with this.

"Hey, Shinozaki!" Yoshiki's rough voice snapped her out of her musings. Looking at him she saw that he had narrowed his eyes. "I already told you that this isn't your fault, so cut it out with that look." He told her before adding in gentler tone. "Don't blame yourself..."

Ayumi averted her eyes with a pensive expression on her face. Despite wishing she could comply with his wish to not blame herself she couldn't help how she felt. Because this incident had been caused by her carelessness it was indeed her fault. But she would at the very least try to ease his concern, since it was the least she could do for him for taking the fall with this from her mother. Nodding she tried to come off as natural. "Alright Kishinuma-kun, I'm sorry." She told him, her words holding a double meaning.

The blonde relaxed a little as she seemed to be hearing him. A part of him wasn't completely sure if she still blamed herself or not for this, but he couldn't force her to let him accept the blame. But he'd keep an eye on her. "Good, that's good..." He muttered a little awkwardly, unsure of what else to say. Glancing around he caught sight of his laundry, seeking an out the blonde hastily scooped up his clothes before turning to his crush. Offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile he made his exit. "Later, Shinozaki." He bid her before returning to his temporary room.

Once she was by herself Ayumi let a pent up breath go. She suddenly felt very drained from what had just occurred. 'I'm sorry, Kishinuma-kun...' She uttered in thought before glaring at the floor. She felt bad but she couldn't just wallow in pity about this, she had to do something. 'Like I said I'll just have to help him best I can.' The twin tailed girl reaffirmed as she moved back to the hamper she had dropped upon seeing her mom with Yoshiki's cigarettes. Picking up the basket she quickly left her room and tossed the clothes into the washer before turning the machine on and returning to her room. Closing the door behind her she stalked over to her laptop and powered it on.

Dear Onee-chan

Ayumi's blue eyes remained glued to the screen as she typed out her letter to Hinoe.

I made a stupid mistake today. Kishinuma-kun use to smoke, I've mentioned this before, how I convinced him to give me his last pack of cigarettes. The problem is I forgot to throw them out and Okaa-san found them. I'm just thankful that she didn't kick him out.

Ayumi's fingers paused in typing as she momentarily considered what would have happened had her dad been the one to find them. When her mind entered a place she didn't like she cut those thoughts off and continued typing.

Before this Okaa-san was very friendly with Kishinuma-kun, she even made him a lunch for work yesterday. But we both know how Okaa-san can get when she's been crossed. When she found the pack I just completely locked up, I don't think I've ever seen her eyes get that hard, not even when she sided with Otou-san when I told them about my dream. I want to make this up to Kishinuma-kun somehow. Regardless of what he says it is my fault that she found them. But I'm not all that sure what I can do to make things easier for him. Help.

Love, Ayumi.

Blue eyes peered over the letter for any mistakes. Rereading it to herself a couple times Ayumi decided that it was good enough and sent the email. Closing her computer the twin tailed girl leaned back in her seat and sighed tiredly.


Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, bet you guys didn't see this turn of events coming? Or did you? A review is always appreciated.