A/N: as always, thanks for reviews! and...wow, i usually have more to say but today i dont think i do...weird...anyways, enjoy!

Tsukasa tried his best to fake sick so that he wouldn't have to go to school today, but Toma didn't buy it for one second

Tsukasa tried his best to fake sick so that he wouldn't have to go to school today, but Toma didn't buy it for one second. She just rolled her eyes at what she called the most "horrid attempt" before handing him his clothes and telling him to get changed quickly or she'd do it for him. So, in a really sour mood, Tsukasa changed and sulked in the car. Why did he have to go to school today? It wasn't like they were doing anything special.

Quickly, once his car pulled up to the school, he jumped out and ran straight to his classroom. He didn't want to talk to anybody today, especially not when everyone else's parents were there. Why did his stupid school need to have a stupid parents' day? Parents weren't needed in a school.

"Tsukasa!" Sojiroh smiled as he came into the classroom followed by a man in one of those yukatas that Sojiroh liked to wear sometimes since they were apparently very comfortable. It was almost shocking how alike the two of them looked.

"Good morning," Tsukasa faked a smile. He then turned towards his friend's father, "Hello Nishikado-san."

"Hello Tsukasa," The man smiled, "Are your parents here yet?"

Tsukasa looked down at his feet, "No, they're in New York."

"That's alright," Sojiroh's dad smiled while grimacing on the inside. Even Akira's dad had made it to a few of the parents' days across the years, but the Domiyouji's hadn't made it even once.

"Hello!" Akira smiled and came up to the group with his mother and father in tow.

Tsukasa frowned and watched as the parents conversed, soon to be joined by Rui's mother who said that his father was running a little late.

Tsukasa's frown didn't last long. No, it soon turned into a glare the more he thought about the topic of his parents. Why did he have to be born into the family he was in? Did he do something seriously wrong in a past life? This was just stupid! He was almost certain he didn't belong in his family, so why was he there? If anything, he knew he didn't deserve this kind of life.

Angry, Tsukasa stormed out of the school and ran for a nearby park. He already knew what would happen today. All the kids, in alphabetical order, would eagerly pull their parents to the front of the room to introduce them. Then, when the teacher got to Domiyouji, she'd look up and see him sitting there lifelessly with his head on the desk and no parents awaiting in the back. Then, all the parents would look at him with pity and all but two kids would be giving him confused looks. Those two who got what was going on a few years ago would always laugh and made comments that he probably didn't have parents and that he was really poor because of it. But he'd just ignore them all and sit lifelessly at his desk.

But this year, things had changed. He grew up a lot since last year, and his emotions had changed as well. Instead of waiting to cry when those two boys made their comments, just thinking about them doing it made him want to hit them just to shut them up. They really shouldn't talk to any one like that, it's just plain mean.

"Tsukasa?" Rui had surprised him after he had taken refuge in one of the tunnels on the playground at the park. "Tsukasa, what's wrong?"

"Go back to school, Rui, you'll get in trouble." Tsukasa demanded and turned his back on Rui.

Rui tilted his head slightly to the left, "But what about you? Won't you get into trouble?"

"Yeah, but that's okay, it'll be fine for me, I get into trouble all the time but you haven't yet. Hurry back."

Even though he didn't want to leave Tsukasa alone, he didn't want to stay behind because if he got into trouble, Tsukasa would feel guilty. In the past, when teachers would get angry with Rui for not paying attention, Tsukasa would do something like knock over a desk or throw his pencils at the teacher so her attention was diverted and she ultimately forgot about Rui until the next time he spaced out in which Tsukasa would repeat the process. Once, in kindergarten, the teacher was thinking about moving Rui to a special class due to signs of autism or something like that, neither boy could remember, but Tsukasa worked hard in doing all of his work and the work Rui couldn't do. He also tried his best every day in class to get Rui's attention down from the clouds when it looked like the teacher was about to ask him a question.

"Okay," Rui sighed and then left Tsukasa all by himself.

Once he was sure that Rui was gone, Tsukasa laid out in the tunnel and sighed. There was just too many thoughts floating about his head and no way to organize them all. As he sat, all alone, he let the tears begin to fall. All he wanted were parents that cared about his well being. Ones that would come to parents' day, hug him, tell him that everything was going to be alright, and most of all, he wished for the kind of parents who say "I love you".

Was that too much to ask for?