I must have been staring at the floor too intensely or something, because someone was shaking my shoulder. I jolted and looked up, meeting Tohru's eyes. She smiled slightly at me.

"It'll be okay, Kohaku. Shigure's just gonna let him know what happened." She assured me, and for a moment, I wanted to believe her.

But unfortunately, I know better than that.

"...Are you sure it's alright?" I croaked out, barely a whisper.

"Even if it's not, we can't go against Akito." Yuki muttered, turning away. Kyo's face hardened into something akin to anger, and for a second, just a second, it looked like his eyes changed into… something else. I blinked and looked down again.

"Oh. I see." The room was silent for what felt like a lifetime, before Shigure slid the door open and sat back down, picking up his paper again.

"Well?" Kyo and Yuki asked at the same time. They looked at each other, huffed, and looked away.

"Akito said you may never see the light of day again." Shigure stared into my soul as he said this, my heart stopped and I froze up on the spot. What?! Akito's not a great guy, but am I really gonna be locked up?!

The others had frozen up as well, shock painting their faces like a canvas. Shigure gave me one of those low-lidded, devil eyed looks, before laughing and waving his hand.

"Just kidding! Akito said it's alright as long as you don't tell anybody, okay?" As he said this, my heart started to beat again.

"WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT THEN?!" Kyo and Yuki shouted, striking Shigure in the head while Tohru just deflated. Me too, girl… me too.

"I thought it was appropriate for revenge." He smirked at me, and I felt the intense, sudden need to punch him.

"You sly dog." I hissed at him. Shigure, however, just laughed off my death glares.

"Anyway, Kohaku, you probably should get ready for tomorrow."

I blinked out of my mini-ragefest. "Huh?"

He ruffled his paper while the four of us teens looked at him in confusion. "Your first day is tomorrow, or did you forget? Silly child."

I stared at him for another moment before shifting my gaze to the floor.

I completely forgot..! I HAVE SCHOOL. TOMORROW. OH SWEET JESUS ON A CRACKER. I don't think I can do this. Maybe I can just melt into the floor? That'd be nice.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Tohru getting up and extending a hand towards me. "Come on, Kohaku! I'll help you get ready! And tomorrow I can introduce you to Uo, and Hana, and…"

She kept going on about what school was like as she led me upstairs, into the room we shared. We kept talking throughout the evening, preparing me for classes and any questions that her friends would have. Time for dinner came and went, and eventually it was time for bed.

I changed into my pajamas, cleaned up, and all that jazz, and climbed into bed. Tohru was already asleep, and I did my best not to wake her, as per my new usual nightly routine.

As I lay there in the dark, I smiled to myself, although it wasn't a completely happy smile. In the morning, I'd be attending a new high school, making new friends, and new memories. However, the anticipation made my heart ache for everyone I left behind. I missed my teachers, I missed my friends, I missed my family. I missed Riley, my soulmate in everything but romance.

I missed home.

I rolled over toward the window. It wouldn't do me any good to stay up all night feeling sorry for myself, because if I thought about it anymore, I would start crying, and then I'd wake Tohru up and it would all be a big mess.

I shut my eyes and tried my best to not think of home as I drifted off to sleep.

~o0o~

AN: here's a longer chapter for you! My writer's block hasn't gone away, so I was rather surprised I wrote this much for this week's update. I apologize for not updating on a regular basis, but that's life, right?