Chapter 6 (Yata's side story)

Yata's POV

"Here's your room…!" Her voice rang his ears as she opened the door. It looked like a comfortable room really. To him, the whole place looked more like a studio apartment. There were 4 rooms altogether; what he was seeing now was just the living room and it was huge. There was a flat screen television along with a large sofa. Not to mention, they had self-customize wallpapers; which he'll no doubt set to red later. He removed his shoes, just before he went in.

Making his way towards the bedroom, he could only gape at the sight. Right before him was a medium sized bed with white and red bedspread; one that he had always wanted. Next to the bed was a wooden study desk with a matching chair. Lastly, by the door was a simple walnut coloured wardrobe. His face lit up when he saw the kitchen. The fridge was as big as a closet; hell, the food inside was just enough to feed him for a whole month. All of a sudden, something caught his eye, there were like five cartons of milk in there; no soda, no juices. Nothing at all but milk. A scowl left his lips. He soon shrugged it off; that was probably the only minus in this place. Other than that, the whole place was amazing.

"So you like it?" Kukuri asked. She was still waiting for Yata outside.

"It's even better than I thought…! Are all the rooms like this?" Yata asked, still smiling like an idiot.

"Of course not. This is the Deluxe room, the best one! You're so lucky~"

"HUH? Isn't that for Hotels?"

"Well, not in our school. After all this school is the best of the best, right?"

"Uh, right." Yata replied curtly. Taking another glance at the room, he felt the urge to just collapse in bed. It was as if the bed itself was calling out for him. But it was not long after he found himself back in reality. "Kusanagi-san must have paid for the room… Honestly, maybe coming here wasn't so bad, after all." He muttered to himself. "Oh man, how long I have been waiting for a room like this…"

Kukuri merely smiled. "You should unpack your things for today. The class schedule is in your PDA. I'll drop by your room in the morning so I can show you to your classroom. Alright~?"

"I can't thank you enough, Kukuri-chan. You've been so…" Yata's voice trailed off, a loss of words. He could feel himself heating up once more. Hell he couldn't even look at her in the eye. It took him quite a while to recover but he managed to spit it out. "Kukuri-chan, you're so kind…"

He could have sworn seeing her waver. "Ah- It's nothing Yata-sempai…! I don't mind helping nice people- Wait, ha ha…what am I saying? I should go now…! Once again, a pleasure to meet you!" She said with a bow. There was no use in hiding it; the blush she wore was clearly visible to the eye.

"See you tomorrow." Yata said, with a smile.

"Yeah, tomorrow." And with that, she left. Yata could only stare at her fleeting form. Yukizome Kukuri, did she just call him nice? That's a first. Yata snickered to himself. Most people would think of him as a violent, viscous, rude young man. Usually, he would be screaming profanities at others but not her. She looked so innocent. If he screamed at her, she might just break. Hmph…was he going soft already?

Yata shrugged it off. Time to get down to business, he had to call Kusanagi and wait for orders.

Closing the door behind him, he sighed. Scanning the room, he almost forgot how his old home looked like. But that was years ago since he moved. Taking in a deep breath; the whole place smelled like lavender, he was sure of it. He took no interest in flowers, but he could distinguish this scent from the rest of the flowers because his mother used to love those. Everything in the house had lavender fragrances; ranging from shampoos to floors, to clothes. People used to tease him a lot because of this; that his clothes smelled a lot like a girl's. They even called him by his first name; making fun of it. Of all names, his mother would pick Misaki; it was embarrassing, no doubt. But he wasn't the type who would get angry over his mother like this.

He missed her, ever since he left Osaka. He kept a photo of her in his pocket all the time, no joke. That was how badly he wanted to see her now. But he couldn't, at least not now. Things weren't going well with his family…

His mother raised him as a single mom. Though he couldn't say he was poor; they did have a little income coming in from his grandfather's company. However that didn't last long when his fart of a father came back. Yata didn't know how the fuck he did it; father had sold off his house and not a cent went to his mom. Life was hard then, mom had to work day to night just to pay the rent for a new apartment.

He was 14 then and he damn well knew that the bastard had to pay. Things soon gone from bad to worse when that fucker started turning up by the door and scaring the shit out of them. He chased mom out of the house multiple times when Yata was still in school. During those times, Yata refused to go to school just so he could protect his only family; and that bastard wasn't on the list. Next thing he knew, he had a lawyer to sue his mother for custody. Like what the fuck? He wasn't a 5 year old; why should they be bothered with bullshit like these?

"Mom. I'm leaving."

At first I thought she was going to freak out. But she didn't. She was calm. "Misaki…I'm sorry about everything. I never thought things would turn out this way."

She patted on the seat right next to her, motioning him to take a seat.

It took a lot out of him to remain composed. "I'll leave and return when things get better. That's the only way he'll leave you alone."

"What are saying, Misaki? And here I thought you were joking."

"MOM! I'm serious…Hideo—He wants me to live with him." Yata completely blurted it out in front of her. Her expression paled and now he could see tears forming in her eyes. This always happens when he mentions about father. The more he thought about him hurting her, the more he wanted him dead.

"W-What else did he tell y-you?"

Yata found himself frozen. Yata stared down at the floorboards, finding them more interesting now.

"Misaki, please tell me what he said to you." Her voice was stronger now.

What was he supposed to tell her; or how was he going to tell her? The truth might hurt her. But she needed to know, right?

"Mother, I-

When he felt a sudden vibration in his messenger bag, his thoughts dissipated. When he fished out his cell phone, he blankly looked at it. He gave no reaction; as if he was under a spell. The device continues ringing but Yata made no move to answer it. His hands grew shaky and the phone slipped though his grasp.

Not again…This is happening all over…...again and again…

"Misaki, have you missed me? It's me, you're old man..." That voice all too familiar voice echoes in his head. Hideo.

He calls about twice a week, telling him all sorts of things that he hadn't known. Most of them were about his mother. At times like these, he would have screamed into the phone. Still, in the end he found himself listening to every word that bastard needs to say. If he was trying to ruin his life from inside out, he's doing a very good job.

"W-What do you want?" His voice was cold. But father should expect no less coming from him.

"Can't I just talk to my own son? …What's wrong? You seem pretty shaky over there…"He was worried, at least that was what he was trying to SOUND like.

"I'm not your son anymore."

"Don't say that…It just hurts my heart…."

"They you should stop fucking calling me…!"Yata was about to slam down the phone when his father said something.

"Wait! I have something to tell you. I think it's about time you should know about his."

Yata kept quiet, uninterested in speaking to the man any further.

"I know this is sudden but, keep this a secret between both of us. Alright?"

"SPEAK, old man."

The atmosphere was getting heavier and heavier by the minute. Yata could only wait; knowing nothing good would ever come out of him. Yet, Yata very well knew that every single word he had said was the whole damn truth.

"Yata Misaki, my son… That woman you're living with now is NOT YOUR MOTHER."