Haruka slowly opened her eyes, blinking as sunlight blinded her tired eyes. She scrunched her face, clearly displeased with her interrupted sleep. She groaned, turning over in an attempt to block the sunlight and fall into a much needed sleep again. But the more she tried, the more awake she became. Soon she gave up, sitting up in her bed. She rubbed her eyes, tearing crust from tem as she attempted to get use the the brightness once more. She let her fingers run through her short yet tangled hair, fingers caught immediately in the morning mess.

It soon occurred to her that she was sleeping somewhere familiar and yet not. Looking around she found herself in a traditional Japanese styled room, door cracked slightly open to allow the morning light in. She was sleeping upon a futon in the middle of the room. There were a pile of extra pillows and blankets in the corner in case she needed any more of them. She soon realized that she both knew and didn't know where she was. She knew she had been there before, but it seemed so long ago that she couldn't put her finger on it. On the other hand, she felt strangely comfortable in the room she was lodged in. Her stress eased away and she layed back down, letting out a sigh.

Then, it dawned on her that she had no idea how she had gotten there. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. Thinking back she remembered how everything went wrong after she escaped the property.

~Flash back~

Smiling, Haruka stood back up and began to head away from the property. She knew where she was and where she was supposed to go from there. She pulled out her papers and began to head down the street, heading east like her map instructed. She stared down at it, trying to remember where each street lay and which ones she would head down.

"Okay, head three streets down and turn right onto Heron Holf Way, easy enough." Haruka said, beginning to sprint down the street. She stopped after three streets, quickly turning onto the road. "Then switch to Arondel Dr after three blocks..." Haruka whispered, slowly making her way down the road. She looked around, suddenly entranced with what she saw. Haruka lived in and around her grandmother's mansion most of her life and the world outside of her little hole was strange to her.

The streets were lined with cars and the houses came in all kinds of sizes, shapes, and colors. Some trees were new and scary while others seemed to be almost too healthy and spilling out onto the streets. The driveways were short and could only hold a few cars. The galoshes seemed to be small, maybe able to hold two cars at once. But the size still bewildered her. She had never seen such small and cute houses before. How could people live in them? Surely there would never be enough room.

Haruka couldn't get over how different the houses were compared to the ones she had seen. The yards looked mostly nice, except for the occasional blocks of dirt. Spring was right around the corner, so there was no surprise that the lawns were still mostly brown. But some in particular were especially bleak while some were well cared for and already turning green.

Haruka stared up at one of the houses that still had light on, flashing on and off. They must have been watching tv together, as a family in that house. Haruka frowned. As nice as it way, she felt an odd sense of jealousy over the small families. They're houses were so small that the people inside must get to see each other every day. Eat dinner together, spend time with each other. Haruka grew up without a full family, just her busy grandmother. Sure she had a nice life, but it seemed so empty now, seeing how little family she had. She suddenly longed for her parents, which she hadn't felt in years. She had become so use to their non existence that it was unsettling that she wanted them once more.

Haruka shook her head, turning back to the road. But her thoughts were clouded with sad memories of her loneliness. She had felt lonely for years now without a friend her age in her life and the loss of so many people after her marriage. She wiped her eyes, tears threatening to spill. But she had to keep going. She looked down at her map and to the nearest street sign.

She stopped, breath caught in her throat. She didn't recognize where she was anymore. She must have wandered off of the map. Taking a deep breath, she turned to go back before stopping. Which way had she come from?

~End of Flashback~

From then on it was a blur, panicky running from street to street, desperate to recognize something. She felt tears weld up again just thinking about it and she fought to hold them off. She blinked repeatedly, trying to hold them back, but the soon fell from her eye and she began to pout. She still didn't know how she got here.

"You're awake." A solemn voice stated, causing Haruka to look up. Everything came back to her when she spotted Tokiya's figure in the door. Thats right, he rescued her last night.

"Hijirikawa-san?!" Haruka cried, quickly wiping away her tears.

"Nanami, are you okay?" Otoya asked, pushing past Tokiya and sitting next to her. She nodded, trying her best to hide her red eyes.

"Sorry about the room's condition, we weren't expecting to house someone tonight." Tokiya apologized, moving to stand in front of her.

"O-Oh, it's more than alright, really!" Haruka insisted, waving her hands around, blushing.

"So... why were you outside last night?" Otoya asked quietly, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Otoya!" Tokiya hissed, glaring. "I told you not to ask."

"I-it's fine," Haruka said. "I should at least tell you that much since you housed me." Haruka insisted, looking down. "I-er... don't want to live at Jinguji-san's mansion anymore." She said. Tokiya narrowed his eyes while Otoya jumped slightly.

"What?! Really? How come?" He pried, getting another glare from Tokiya.

"I-I don't like the way I'm treated there- and I'm not going back!" Haruka said, crossing her arms.

"So you ran away." Tokiya summed up, shaking his head. Haruka looked down, ashamed. She knew that a full grown woman like herself should know better than to run away, but she barely felt like she had a choice in the matter.

"Then you can stay here!" Otoya suggested, Tokiya bending down to Haruka and secretly jabbing Otoya in the rips. "OW! I meant-er... something else." Otoya said grumpily, turning away from Tokiya.

"You should at least try to talk to Ren about this." Tokiya suggested, but Haruka violently shook her head.

"No! I don't want to talk to him." Haruka said, throwing a childish tantrum, tears beginning to fall again. Tokiya watched as her chest began to rise and fall quicker and her fistst clenched. Tokiya patted her head, pulling her into a shaky hug.

"A-alright, lets give this some time and then we'll talk again. You're obviously stressed out and need some time to clear your head. You can stay here for a while but I don't know how long Masato will allow you to stay." Tokiya warned. Haruka quickly returned the hug, burying herself into him.

"Thank you." She whispered, her voice a little horse. Tokiya blushed, closing his eyes.

"Anything you need."

I'm back you guys and a bit latter than usual. Sorry about being later and sorry if the chapter is not so good. I just got back from my first day of junior year of high school and are completely exhausted. And I still have more to do as well- go out and get books and binders for class and such. So please don't kill me, I'll do better next time but updating on weekdays will probably be later than during the summer. Oh man, I still can't believe I have to update on the first day of school. But it's not too bad. As my friend put it 'The day that comes to every student and the most tiring of them all- day two'.

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