The light filtering through Kaoru's window woke him up before his alarm and he stared blearily from under his heavy comforter of the picture of his family which he had hung on the blank wall by his dresser. He was content, lying there, waiting for the few minutes he had to tick by. Finally his alarm rang loudly, enough to startle him, and he quickly slammed his hand down to silence it.

He readied leisurely, taking a longer shower than usual. Kaoru was a bit worried. Would Ryota be different today? Would he find Emi with another wound on her forehead? Would he get breakfast when he went downstairs or would he be chased out again?

These thoughts nagged at his mind when he stood at the top of the stairs, looking down in the foyer. The crackle and aroma of bacon lifted up from down below and it scared him. Kaoru clamped his hand down on the staircase railing to steady his shaking limbs. Then he descended, trailing his fingers across the smooth wood, rounded the foyer and paced into the kitchen quietly.

Ryota had his back to Kaoru, doing something at the stove. Kaoru looked around but did not spot Emi; he breathed shakily. "Where's Emi?" he asked quietly.

Ryota jumped just slightly before turning to him with a frown, holding a spatula. Kaoru unconsciously scratched his healing burns beneath his long-sleeve shirt. "She went to work early and I don't work today."

Kaoru stared. "You don't?"

Ryota stared back. "No, I only work a series of days on the construction site and then I have a few days off in a row."

"You work construction?"

"Yeah, I guess I didn't tell you what I do." Ryota smiled and it was genuine. Kaoru's eyes widened shock. Ryota gestured to the stool at the edge of the counter. "Take a seat, I'll grab you breakfast."

Kaoru went to it and sat down. He felt numb, shocked, and completely surprised. Ryota seemed to have changed overnight. Kaoru watched Ryota dish up a plate of bacon, eggs, and hash browns and he placed it in front of Kaoru with a glass of orange juice. Slowly, Kaoru began eating his food while Ryota cleaned up, not bothering to eat anything himself. That was another thing that surprised Kaoru.

"What does Emi do?"

"Real estate. She even picked out this house for us when we got married." Ryota smiled fondly.

Kaoru narrowed his eyes at the man, trying to figure him out. Where was the violence? The instability? He looked away and slowly raked his fork through the eggs.

"Not hungry?" Ryota asked suddenly, snapping Kaoru out of his daze.

He shook his head. No, he wasn't hungry anymore. Kaoru was only sick with suspicion. Ryota reached for Kaoru's plate and Kaoru flinched away violently, dropping his fork with a clatter. Ryota froze with his hand on the edge of Kaoru's plate for just a second before dragging the plate away and he turned to scrape the food into the trash. Kaoru felt his face heat and stared down at the counter, letting his hair cover his face.

"Come on. Let me drive you to school," Ryota said, not looking at Kaoru. "Meet me out in the car. And don't forget the check for soccer." Then he left, leaving Kaoru sitting alone at the counter, and closed the front door softly.

Kaoru didn't know why Ryota wanted to drive him to school, but he stood warily and went to the other side of the counter to grab his bag that was lying there. He picked it up and stared. It was made out to his school, eighty dollars, from Ryota's account. Kaoru slipped it into his pocket, grabbed his bag in the foyer, and rushed out the door.

"Go, go, go!" Coach called as they went through their practice. They were working on the passes and Kaoru ran hard to keep up with his teammates and kicked hard, flinging the ball to Tamaki at the opposite side of the field. Tamaki took the ball in stride and brought it around to the middle, kicking it to another teammate. The pass was fluid.

"Bring it home, Kaoru!" coach called.

Kaoru launched himself forward, his vision tunneling onto the ball as his teammate passed it to him and he tore at it, slamming the ball towards the goal. It hurtled hard, whipping it into net. Kaoru smiled as coach hollered, "Alright that's it! Great job everyone!"

Kaoru jogged over to his brother and Tamaki who were pacing towards the locker room. "That was great, Kaoru!" Hikaru congratulated.

"You seemed extra energetic today," Tamaki said. "What got you in such high spirits?"

Kaoru smiled. "Things are going my way today." And it was. Ryota had taken him to school, they had talked civilly, and Ryota had even promised to pick him up after practice. They pushed into the locker room and Kaoru turned to Hikaru as they approached their lockers. "Do you remember that picture Dad took for their store?"

Hikaru looked up in surprise. "Oh yeah, that's on the-"

"Website, yeah," Kaoru said happily. "I printed it out."

Hikaru looked thoughtful. "Man, I should too. I didn't even know a picture of the four of us even still existed."

Kaoru threw off his shirt and dropped it into his bag before pulling on a new one. When he began changing his shorts, Hikaru spoke again, "Do you need a ride home? Haruhi had yearbook and-"

"Nope, Ryota is picking me up today."

Hikaru smiled in approval and Kaoru had to look away. He suspected that Hikaru was worried about him when there was no reason to be.

When they were dressed, they left the locker room and Tamaki immediately departed, heading towards his junky old car. Hikaru looked up at the clouds. "Looks like it's going to rain."

Kaoru watched the curb, searching for Ryota's blue car. He wasn't there yet. "So are we hanging out this weekend?"

Hikaru looked at him oddly. "What?"

Kaoru looked down. "Oh I thought Rika said… Never mind."

"Oh!" Hikaru exclaimed, slapping a hand over his forehead. "Oh, I totally forgot. Yeah, you definitely need to come over! I'll ask Rika about it again." A black car rolled to the curb. "That's me. I'll let you know about this weekend, Kaoru, and please, get your phone fixed, okay? Sometimes I need to talk to my brother, you know?"

Kaoru watched him leave, stood contently, and leaned against the wall of the school, watching the curb for his adoptive father. But time ticked by. It was ten minutes when Kaoru heard thunder overhead, twenty minutes when it began to rain and thirty when it began to pour.

Sniffing, Kaoru wiped a hand across his soaked face. His orange hair was plastered to his face and he was sure his backpack was soaked through. He just hoped it didn't ruin his papers inside. Kaoru sighed, throwing the backpack over his shoulder and began walking against the harsh winds.

Of course Ryota would forget! Of course! Why did Kaoru even bother? Why, why, WHY?

He trailed down the road in the direction of his house. God, how far was it? A little over a mile or so? Kaoru could make that, definitely, but he was just… really cold. He wrapped his arms around himself and pushed onward.

Suddenly a car rolled slowly past him and stopped. "Kaoru!" Emi's voice called in a panic.

Kaoru turned in surprise, still being pelted by the rain, and stared over at the blue car. The window was down and Emi was hanging out of the passenger window with Ryota in the driver's side. She waved him over. "I'm so sorry, Kaoru!" she cried as he walked over slowly. Once he was reach, she pulled Kaoru into a hug and he was pressed to the cold metal of the car. "This is entirely my fault. I was a little late getting off from work and Ryota had to wait for me and then we rushed over as fast as we could to pick you up but… I'm so sorry."

He allowed himself to be hugged for a second longer before removing his self from the window. "Can I just get in the car?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah of course!" she exclaimed, unlocking the car.

Kaoru slumped down into the back seat and slammed the door shut. He was soppy wet, cold, and definitely in a bad mood. He threw his bag down onto the floor.

"I really am sorry," Emi said sadly as they turned away from the curb.

Kaoru looked up and caught Ryota's glance in the rear-view mirror. "It's okay," Kaoru mumbled as they continued to drive. "It's okay." He didn't want to be on Ryota's bad side…

"We are really sorry," Ryota said suddenly.

Kaoru looked up in surprise but Ryota was no longer looking at him. In fact, he was frowning. Kaoru supposed it took a lot for Ryota to apologize. "And when we get home," Emi said, "I'll make you your favorite food and any desserts you want!"

A small fond smile grew on his face. He guessed, maybe, they hadn't forgotten about him.

Oh man I feel terrible for not updating in quite a while. But I did have two huge tests, a creative writing project, and slight writer's block... But guess what! My semester is over officially on May 10th and my summer will begin! I will try to update within the next three days! Okay? Also, the next chapter or so will be a little happier... But only for a little while. BWAHHAHA!