The lids of my eyes jerked open as the train I was on made a sudden turn, before it returned to a gentle rocking motion and my eyes closed again. Unable to fall back asleep, my mind wandered over to the two phone calls I had received that were the cause of my impromptu desire to travel.

"Shirahime, my meetings in Korea got extended, so I won't be able to come to your graduation ceremony."

I let a small smile grace my face, my mother, always direct and straight to the point. My dad on the other hand, had been crying when he left the message on my phone.

"Shi-honey, I'm so sorry, but my business trip is going to take longer than I expected and I won't be able to make it back from the states in time for your graduation. I'm so sorry my little Shi-darling! Take as much money out of our account as you want and go have fun with your friends!"

I hadn't taken his direction, instead I had just withdrawn enough money to buy myself some snacks and a train ticket from Kanagawa to Akita. I had done just that and now here I am, on a train, trying to pass the time of the seven hour train ride. I wasn't disappointed, in fact I was actually relieved. My parents not being able to come was the perfect excuse for me not to go, I mean, I wasn't really into the whole graduation thing. It's not like I didn't want to go because I'd be around Kasamatsu and a certain underclassman with blonde hair would be sticking to him. And it's not like I was trying to avoid that certain blonde as if my life depended on it. That's not the reason why I didn't want to go to graduation. Not at all.

I had shaved off four hours by napping, but due to the sharp turn the train had taken, I was now wide awake. I looked around the train for some form of entertainment given that I only had a bag with some clothes and my phone which didn't have service. It was early in the afternoon, so the train was far from crowded. In fact there was only one other person on the entire train. I sighed and dug around in my bag for a book on Japanese History that Aomine had given me, and upon finding it I tried my best to sit comfortably in the hard seat of the train and cursed my lack of tall muscular teenage boys that could be used as pillows.

I must have been reading only an hour when I felt a presence slowly grow closer to me. I ignored it for the most part until I looked up from the book to rub my eyes and noticed that one other person on the train had moved into the empty seat next to me and was staring at me weirdly. I gave him a glare, suspicious that he was a pervert because of my previous track record with men on trains, "Do you need something?" I asked venomously.

He smiled at me, "That's a good book," he commented, pointing at what I was reading.

"You know it?" I asked.

"It was required reading when I was in college," he said.

"I see," I said looking down at it.

"Which college do you go to?" he asked me.

"I'll be a freshman at Tokyo University next month," I said.

"And you're already reading the required material? You must be committed to your academic career," he said.

I went back to reading and said, "Actually, I don't really give a shit about any other subject other than history, I'm reading this for fun."

The guy smiled, "So I assume that's what you're going to be studying?"

"Yeah," I answered and turned a page.

So it turned out that this guy, who told me his name was Seito, was pretty knowledgable about history. And despite my initial attitude towards him, we actually carried on a pretty nice conversation for the next three hours. I got up and grabbed my bag when the train reached Akita, "Well Seito it's been nice knowing you."

"Aren't you even going to tell me your name?" he asked.

I looked him up and down, "We discussed history, it was cool, don't make it weird," I said to him before getting off the train.

I quickly got something to eat at the station because I was starving and then grabbed a taxi to a quiet suburb and it left me in front of a quiet little house. I set my bag down and knocked on the door, only to be answered by silence. "Oh," I said to myself as I realized that I was here on a weekday, in the afternoon, and on a day when most schools were having their graduation ceremonies.

I ran after and caught the cab that had just left me, and asked him to take me to a different location. And that was how I ended up going to a high school graduation ceremony even when the whole purpose of me taking a long ass train ride here was to avoid one. As I meandered through the campus, the students of Yosen High were giving me weird looks, probably because I wasn't wearing their uniform and was carrying a duffel bag and I just looked shady in general. I didn't really mind because I quickly made my way into the classroom I was looking for and heard a surprised voice when I entered, "Shira!"

"Hey," I said nonchalantly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Do I need an excuse to come see you?" I whined to my brother.

It was then that I noticed the other person in the room and I was shocked I didn't notice him before, given that he was a giant I had previously encountered. "You," I said pointing at him, "You helped me carry the food that one time."

My brother looked at me in confusion, "Shira, you know Atsushi?"

"Yeah, hey isn't your last name really long, like MunchkinSakeBarometer or something?" I asked Atsushi.

My brother gave me a disappointed look, "It's Murasakibara."

"Sounds right," I said.

"Ne, Haizawa sensei, who is this to you?" Murasakibara asked.

"She's my younger sister, Shira," my brother answered.

"I liked Shira-chin before because she gave me candy, but I like her even more now that I know that she's related to Sensei," Murasakibara said.

My head whirled over to my brother and I said dramatically, "Nii-chan, you're not doing anything indece-"

"No," he sternly cut me off, "Atsushi just happens to be one of my best students."

I looked at Murasakibara dubiously as I watched him munch on a pocky stick and wondered if my brother had gone crazy. My brother's craziness was confirmed when I turned back to him and he had sparkles in his eyes, "In a world where most students turn their back on advanced math and science to opt for an easier class load, Atsushi bravely takes a step forward and traverses the complicated theories and formulas involved in this beautiful subject!"

"Mhmm," I hummed sarcastically as I looked back at Atsushi's lazy expression and the box of pocky that had been demolished when I had my back turned.

All of a sudden the door opened and a voice chided, "Atsushi, there you are."

I looked at the doorway, "Emo guy," my mouth said before I could stop myself, not that I cared to because I didn't like him.

He looked at me, "You, you're Kaijo's manager right?"

I straightened out my back in discomfort and said, "Was, I was their manager," with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Himuro nodded and turned to Murasakibara, "We have to go, coach wants us in the gym to say goodbye to the seniors."

Murasakibara stood up, "Okay Muro-chin, bye Shira-chin."

"Bye Atsushi," I mumbled.

"So," I heard my brother stand up from his desk, "Shall we go home?"

"You want to tell me what happened?" My brother asked me.

I was currently full from my brother's cooking, and was attempting to relax on the couch when he asked me that, "What do you mean?" I asked back.

"I called mom and dad to let them know you were here, and they said they got a call from your school saying that you didn't show up to graduation," he explained.

"Because I didn't," I said plainly.

"Why, are you mad that they couldn't make it-" he started.

"No, that's not it," I interjected.

"Then what?" he asked me again.

"I just didn't feel like it," I said and rolled over onto my stomach.

"You seem different," he observed.

"You seem different," I shot back at him.

"Mature Shira, very mature," he chided me.

I rolled over again and said, "I'm sorry, I just don't feel like talking about it tonight."

"Or ever," I added.

My brother sighed, "Okay, how long are you planning on staying?"

"Mmmm, I was thinking...till the end of time?" I said.

He laughed, "You have to move to Tokyo in two weeks."

"Yeah, and that's when I begin the soul sucking journey into adulthood and time stops," I said.

My brother ruffled my hair, "You're weird."

"That's mean," I said, instantly regretting my choice of words because a wave of sadness I was trying to hold back washed over me.

"Shira?" My brother asked.

"Hey Nii-chan, you really need to get a girlfriend or something because it's sort of depressing to think of you living in this house alone," I said to distract him.

He blushed and said, "I do have someone."

"Really? Who?" I asked him.

He turned his head away from me, "Do you remember Masako?"

"Yosen's basketball coach?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

I laughed more than I should have, "Basketball huh, why is it always basketball?"

My brother looked at me with a concerned look, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why?" I asked.

"You look different," he said.

"How so?" I asked.

"It's almost like your love-struck, it's an odd way to see you."

I got up from the couch, "Yeah well, love sucks, I don't know why everyone's in such a hurry to fall in it."

Hey there, I wanted to thank the people that left reviews. To Human Marshmallow, I'm really happy you think this story's good and I'm sorry for the little bit

of feels at the end of last chapter. To both Wolf and amy1945, I have and always have *puts my hand on a bible* sworn that this fic is 40 chapters, so yes,

there is 14 chapters left for me to post currently.