."So..about Kise," Sakura began.

I sighed loudly and said, "I don't want to talk about it; I really just want this weekend to be Kise free, which shouldn't be hard because he's still not talking to me."

"I'm on your side senpai, I just thought that now that we both hate him again we could talk about how horrible he is," Sakura said excitedly.

I gave her an apathetic look, "I'd rather not discuss it at all, this weekend is supposed to be fun, and my current situation with Kise is anything but fun."

"Ok I get it, touchy subject," Sakura said and looked around, 'It sure is crowded on here today."

"It's a Friday and it's rush hour, so it's bound to be crowded," I responded.

"Sorry, it'd be less packed if you didn't have to wait for me while I was in art club and we could've left earlier," Sakura said.

"No problem, most of these people will get off by the time we get out of Kanagawa," I replied.

Sakura turned around and looked out the window, "How long does it take to get to Shizuoka again? It's been a long time since I've been there with you."

"About an hour and a half," I answered.

Sakura patted her hair, "Do I look okay? I mean, do I have any paint on me or anything?"

I gave her a smile and said, "You look fine Sakura, even if you didn't Shougo would still find you attractive. Anything remotely female is his type."

Sakura immediately blushed, "Senpai, what are you even saying? I don't care what Haizaki thinks of me!"
"Mmhmm," I mumbled sarcastically.

Sakura looked at me out of the corner of her eye, "Not that I care or anything, but does Haizaki like it when girls wear their hair up or down?"

I looked at the girl, who had her hair tied in her usual pigtails, "Like I stated before, as long as you're a girl he'll be attracted to you, and we all know you're a girl due to your drunken nakedness the last time we visited."

Sakura's face went red again and she put her head down, "Senpai..please don't mention that."

"I can bet you that Shougo's gonna mention it, in fact he'll probably suggest as soon as we get there that you strip and jump in the pool," I teased her.

Sakura laughed, "You're so cruel senpai."

I laughed back, "What can I say? My sarcastic wit knows no bounds."

Sakura smiled and fiddled with her hands the rest of the train ride. When we reached Shizuoka, we walked a familiar path to a familiar house, only this time I didn't have to kick the door open because Haizaki-nii answered it the first time. "Hey Shira," he said smiling at me and then looked at Sakura who had hid behind my back, "It's nice to see you again Sakura."

Sakura nodded saying, "It's nice to see you again too."

"So where's my little ball of sunshine?" I asked sarcastically.

"He's upstairs, probably watching porn and completely unaware of what we're subjecting him to this year," Haizaki-nii answered me.

I rubbed my hands together and laughed evilly, "Just how I like em', unguarded and vulnerable."

I headed up the stairs saying, "Sakura, you stay down here while I go get your boy toy."

"H-e's n-n-ot my boy toy," she squeaked and then looked at Haizaki-nii like a nervous puppy.

I chuckled as I walked down the hall, if anyone was going to be intimidated by one of the Haizaki brothers, it would have to be Shougo doing the intimidating, I mean, Haizaki-nii was one of the most princely people I had ever met besides Kise who I thought was Sakura's type until recently. Oh well, she might've just gotten a bad taste in her mouth for the princely type after her experience with Kise, lord knows I have. I opened Shougo's door to find that Haizaki-nii was wrong, Shougo was actually brushing up on his literature. He was reading porn not watching it. I jumped on his bed, "Hey there."

He looked up from his magazine and asked lazily, "What are you doing here?"

I rubbed his head, "To wish you a happy birthday silly."

He gave me a blank stare, "My birthday's in November."

"I know that, but I didn't get to celebrate it with you last year, for the first time ever I might add," I responded.

"You sent me a stripper gram, that was enough, and you know I had like ten birthdays before I even met you," he said smirking.

"I know, but this is the last one before…" I mumbled.

"Before what?" Shougo asked mildly concerned.

"I was going to wait and tell you later, but as you know my grades pretty much suck, so I only got accepted into one college," I started to explain.

"What college," Shougo asked, probably already knowing what I was going to have to tell him.

"Tokyo University," I said.

Shougo started laughing uncontrollably, and I didn't blame him, that had been my reaction when I first heard the news, "So let me get this straight, you only got accepted into one college because you have bad grades, and that college just so happens to be a major university?" he asked, still laughing.

"Yep, mostly because the admissions lady said she liked my attitude and my Japanese History teacher pulled some strings because he knows someone who works there," I said laughing with him.

Shougo's laughs faded and he slowly stopped smiling, "And your parents don't want you to commute from Kanagawa or have you in the dorms, so they're getting you a place in Tokyo."

I nodded, "And Tokyo's over two hours from here," he stated.

I nodded again and nudged his shoulder, "I don't know what I'm gonna do without you, I barely made it through this year with you not near me. I don't know what's gonna happen when I'm even farther away from you."

Shougo slumped back into his bed, "I don't feel like doing anything Shi."

I stood up from his bed, "Come on, it's our last hurrah, plus, it's not nice to keep a lady waiting you know Sho."

He scoffed, "I don't see any lady around here."

"I wasn't talking about me," I said smiling.

He got up slightly, "Another stripper?" he asked.

I punched him in the shoulder, "No, I invited Sakura."

"Why?' he asked.

"Because you liiiiiike her," I sang in his ear.

"She's pretty hot," Shougo replied, getting up.

"No, I mean you like her," I said with a smile.

He snorted, "No I don't."

I smirked, "Your mouth says that you don't, but your burning cheeks say differently."

"Shut up," he said.

I rolled up the magazine that was now lying on his bed and swatted his butt with it saying, "Get a move on, I left her downstairs with your brother and she seems oddly frightened by him."

"She should be, the guy's a douche," Shougo said.

I hit him again, "You shouldn't say things like that about your older brother, you should admire him in every way and do your best to impress him."

He laughed, "No way am I developing a brother complex like you."

"Walk," I said, forcing him out of the bedroom door.

When we finally made it down the stairs Sakura and Haizaki-nii were waiting for us with big smiles, "So where are we going?" Haizaki-nii asked.

Shougo looked at me, "He's not going is he?"

Haizaki-nii threw his arm around Shougo's neck, "Of course I am, dear brother."

"I hate you," Shougo said.

"Now brother dear, I know you don't mean that," Haizaki-nii said in a mocking tone before bending down slightly and giving him an eskimo kiss.

I laughed as Shougo jerked away from him and took safety next to Sakura's form, "Hey," he said to her.

"Hey," she said, blushing and turning her head away from him.

I chuckled as Shougo blushed in response to her blush and turned to Haizaki-nii, "I was thinking we'd just walk around town and see where the night takes us."

"That sounds good, I'll pay for dinner," Haizaki-nii said to me.

"Always such a gentleman," I said as I followed him out the door, with Haizaki and Sakura trailing behind us.

We walked around until the sun went down and our stomachs started to growl, "Hungry," I whined.

Haizaki-nii laughed at me and Sakura pointed to a place saying, "The only thing around here other than shops is this bar, do you think they have food?"

I looked where she was pointing and internally groaned, she just had to see that place didn't she. It was a hole in the wall joint, so easy to miss, but keen Sakura had spotted it easily enough. I looked at Haizaki, who had stiffened, "We should find an actual restaurant," I began to say.

"This place has food," Haizaki said abruptly and headed in.

I glanced at Haizaki-nii as Sakura followed Shougo, "This is not going to end well," I mumbled.

"It's been years, let's hope for the best," Haizaki-nii said smiling at me.

"Mmhmm, you do that, I'll be laughing at you from the sidelines when this shit blows over," I said walking into the bar.

The instant I walked in there was a sense of nostalgia, my eyes adjusted to the light like I hadn't been away for years and they instantly wandered to hidden corners and crevices that I had frequented as a kid. I went over to Sakura and Haizaki, who had inhabited a table across from the bar and sat down. Haizaki-nii kept standing and said, "I'm going to order, are burgers okay for everyone?"

We all nodded and I watched as Haizaki-nii went over to the bartender, who was eyeing us, but from the dark aura surrounding Shougo I assumed that we weren't going up there anytime soon. Haizaki-nii came back to us and sat down, "They should be ready soon."

I nodded, "I've never been to a place like this before," Sakura said as her head and eyes whirled around the bar.

I laughed, "You're so cute Sakura."

"Senpai," Sakura whined.

"How's school Shira?" Haizaki-nii asked me.

"Same old same old," I said.

"Made any plans for college yet?" he asked me.

Locking eyes with Shougo I answered, "I'm going to school in Tokyo."

Haizaki-nii's eyes lit up and he smiled saying, "That's great! We can spend a lot more time together that way, I barely ever get to see you anymore."

"Yeah," I said.

"Senpai, that's so far," Sakura pouted.

"You're only one year away from college yourself fluffy girl," I said.

Sakura smiled, "And then I'll follow you wherever you go."

"Sakura," I said sympathetically.

"What?" she asked defensively, "I am your fan club president after all."

Haizaki-nii looked at me questioningly, "Don't ask, I choose to ignore it because it scares me," I said to him.

Haizaki-nii was about to say something when the bartender interrupted us with our food, he set down the burgers and a round of beer, "Guy over at the bar sent those over," he explained gruffly.

I looked over to the man he was pointing at, some skeezy slimeball who was missing half his teeth and winked at us. "Sir, you are aware we're minors," Sakura said to him in almost a whisper.

We all laughed, "Yeah, he knows," I said to her.

"Haven't seen you around these parts," the bartender said to me.

"Moved up to Kanagawa," I said standing up.

He gave me a hug and I felt his white stubble scrape against my forehead, "It's real nice to see you Shira," he said.

I hugged him back tightly, "It's nice to see you too Sanji."

I sat back down and Sakura asked me, "Do you know that guy?"

"Yeah," I said, and to lighten the mood I snatched the bottle of beer in front of her saying, "And none for you, we learned last time that your tolerance to alcohol is shit."

Shougo busted out laughing as Sakura turned red, "Do I even want to know?" Haizaki-nii asked me.

"Let's just say it involved skinny dipping, soap operas, and snuggling," I said to him.

Both Haizaki and Sakura were red by the time I finished saying that and I chuckled evilly. The next hour or so went well despite my initial feeling of doom when we had walked into the bar, it was when we left the bar and attempted to go home that we ran into problems. Skeezy guy with the dental issues was hanging around outside, drunk, and incredibly stupid. "Hey there cutie pie, wanna come home with me?" he slurred at Sakura.

"No thank you," Sakura squeaked and tried to move away, only to be stopped by skeezy, who grabbed her by the elbow.

That was what set him off, I was waiting for it all night and it had happened. I jerked my head over to Shougo, who I could tell had insurmountable rage built up inside of him from this whole ordeal. His eyes glowed and before I could blink, he had skeezy pressed up against the wall and was choking him. I made a move towards Shougo, who looked as if he was foaming at the mouth, but Sakura made it to him before me and managed to drag him away. I went to follow them, but was stopped by skeezy, "You bitch," he growled at me.

I sighed in an annoyed manner and punched him in the gut saying, "I would clock you in the mouth except for the fact if you lost any more teeth, you'd be a nuisance to anyone who was able to see your disgusting face."

I retracted my fist and walked after Shougo and Sakura, with Haizaki-nii by my side. His hand reached for mine and his fingers brushed across my knuckles, "You make me worry about you so much," he said with a concerned face.

I smiled, "I punched him in the stomach. Stomachs are soft and won't bruise my knuckles so don't worry."

"Punching Sakura in the mouth was a hell of a lot more painful," I added on.

"You punched Sakura?" Haizaki-nii asked.

"You know that's how I make friends," I said.

Haizaki-nii laughed, "Her and Shougo seem to get along."

"They better be, this whole trip was to get them together," I said.

Haizaki-nii looked at me curiously, "It's not like you to set Shougo up."

"I thought someone deserved to be happy this year," I said.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" he asked me.

"Nowhere," I said.

"Did you want to talk about it?" he asked tentatively.

"Maybe some other time," I said.

He shook his head at me, "You're acting different."

"That's probably just cause I'm tired, let me get some sleep tonight and I'll be better in the morning," I responded.

I woke up before anyone else, but that was because I went to bed before everyone else. The sky was just starting to get light and I quietly walked around the house to get to Shougo's room. I opened up his door to see that he wasn't there, but I wasn't really expecting him to be. With a sigh I got dressed quickly, grabbed an umbrella, and quietly left the house. I walked into town and stopped by the bakery and the flower shop. Armed with a doughnut which was currently dangling from my mouth and a bunch of hydrangeas, I made my way to one of the farthest edges of the town. I opened the umbrella when it started raining, I had taken it just in case because it was April.

The place that I entered was green all around, marred with stone. 48 up, 23 to the left, they were directions embedded in my brain and when I followed them, I came upon a crouching Shougo. I held the umbrella over him, set the flowers down, and kneeled next to him, "I knew you'd be here."

"Yeah, I guess I'm just that predictable," he said in a monotone voice.

The name that was engraved on the headstone we were crouched down to read Saji Eto. Saji Eto was 6"1, had short black hair, joyful brown eyes, a wiry build, his occupation was a bartender, he was supposed to be named after his father but his mother was so exhausted after she had him, she filled out his name wrong on the birth certificate. I suppose they could've changed it, but I think they already knew the type of person he was going to be. Someone who turned every single misfortune into something good; someone who laughed at everyone and everything; someone who took in stray delinquent children and taught them how to be themselves.

It all started when my mom needed someone to babysit me when I was younger. There was no one better she thought, than ex gang member Saji Eto, who had left the life to work at his father's bar. His father's bar that used to be filled with life and excitement when he was behind the bar, not anything like the shell it was now. As soon as I met Saji, I was endeared by him and his jovial ways, so when Shougo and I became friends, I of course had to take him to the bar and have him meet Saji.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit jealous when the two clicked and hit it off as much as they did, or that Shougo liked to spend all of his free time there, and that he went so far as calling Saji Pops. I didn't mind that part though, because Saji was the closest thing he had to a father, I was told expressedly by Shougo that they didn't talk about the "sperm donor" as they called him, most in part because they felt anyone who walked out on their family never to be seen again when Shougo could barely crawl didn't have the right to be called dad.

It had been a couple years after that, when Saji Eto's past caught up with him, and two guys from a rival gang killed him on his way home from work. To say there was a change in Shougo was an understatement, I went with him when he decided that revenge was the best way to honor Saji. I helped him beat two guys until they started to choke on their own blood because he was my best friend, and I guess part of me felt it was the right thing to do too. I watched as Shougo left that alley, and left any innocence in him behind. So, if anyone ever asked me why Shougo was the way he was, and if I ever felt compelled to tell them the truth, I would just say that life simply hit him earlier and harder than the rest of us. There was nothing more to it. "You know what you said about Kise at the Winter Cup?" I said to suddenly.

He looked at me confused, "You know, about him not being able to understand our way of life?" I explained.

"Yeah," he replied lowly.

"It may be true that a guy with a perfectly normal family, good looks, money, and no social awkwardness at all may never understand where we're coming from, but it's not so bad to have those people around Sho. If everyone in the world were like us, it would be a pretty cynical place, it's good to have those happy optimistic idiots in our lives," I said.

"I guess you're right," he said sadly.

I stood up, "Let's go home Shougo."

Hi again! Thank you to the lovely beings that leave reviews, so to Human Marshmallow, Kise and Shira are eventually going to make up because it is a KisexOC fic,

it's just going to take a long time so be warned. Thank you Amethyst for your review, and if Kise wasn't so busy feeling sorry for himself I think he would've freaked

out about Kagami and Shira being alone wolf, there will be this chapter and next chapter that are without Kise, but last chapter was really just to show

how the aftermath affected Shira, so there wasn't much plot. Sorry to disappoint, but I hope this chapter was slightly better, and there's 15 chapters left of this fic, so

you're stuck with me for another two months so don't be sad. To amy1945, thank you for commenting on Kise's immaturity because he's way too childish to be an

adult and make up with Shira in an easy manner, and thanks for calling my writing brilliant because that does so much for my little author heart, you don't even know.