Byakuya Togami had received a call at around 8:30 that morning. An urgent one, apparently, which addressed issues that his parents needed to speak with him about as soon as possible.

And what possibly could have been so urgent for them that they just had to call right away, while he was busy with his own things?

They had gone broke.

According to his father, their debt had reached an all-time high over the years due to a fault in staff (someone in charge of paying off other companies hadn't been doing so) and so the government had sapped the funds from their bank accounts. They barely had ten dollars left.

While clothes and other gadgets might have not been an issue, the house and food to eat definitely was. Without any money, they couldn't stay in their current house anymore, and food would be scarce. Ten dollars couldn't support much.

He had contacted a few people before, but...Makoto Naegi—the closest person of whom he could call a friend—was busy, and most of his relatives were disgusted that his family was 'so unfocused that they'd let a bug slip in' that they wouldn't let him stay with them. He, honestly, was more angry at them than his own parents. Sure, being broke was definitely something he would never get used to, but he couldn't blame his parents for that. The guy must've been very sly to have gotten past their security and/or been overlooked for so long.

"Huuuuh? You...want to stay with me?" Hiyoko Saionji, Byakuya's last resort, snickered mockingly. "What, so you're the peasant now? Living off of merely ten dollars? Why should I let you stay?"

Byakuya grit his teeth to restrain himself from saying anything unnecessary; habit was hard to overcome, but he had no other options. "I know you owe me nothing, but I have no where else to go. I'm begging you, Hiyoko."

The blonde girl scoffed at his pathetic display; she disliked him normally, but she disliked him begging even more. "Fine, fine. Don't ever say that again, though. You'll have to work for me in some way to pay off...rent!" She nodded.

"Work...? For you?" He raised a brow. He barely had any experience in physical labor besides power walking (when he would get really serious doing paperwork or other things), so doing any kind of housework for her would prove difficult. Especially when he associated such things with the lower class, anyway.

Hiyoko placed a hand on her hip, leaning forward with an intimidating expression that seemed to sap the life out of her eyes. "Whaaat? That too hard for mister spoiled prince? I guess living on the streets with no food or shelter would be easier?"

The brunet winced; he would certainly rather work than starve and freeze to death. "Don't talk down to me," he grumbled, still holding onto bits of his pride. "I may have lost my wealth, but I'm not some mannerless fool, either."

"When did you ever have any in the first place...?" Hiyoko asked, mocking him with fake-confusion. She crossed her arms, clicking her tongue softly. "I'll get you the stuff you're gonna need. You should clean out the attic first." The blonde girl pointed a finger up towards the ceiling, grinning.

Byakuya didn't like that look at all; he could sense that whatever horrible thing she had just assigned him to do was going to kill him, one way or another. "And...how filthy is your attic, exactly?"

The blonde flinched and puffed out her cheeks. "Rude! It's not that bad! Ugh." She waved him off, then turned; she was gone for a moment, leaving him there in confusion, only to return with an extension duster as well as a cardboard box. "Here. You'll be dusting and sorting. This is for trash, and trash only. Don't you dare throw away anything that isn't specifically trash!"

"Hah? Knowing you, it's all probably trash up there," he muttered, shaking his head. Byakuya noticed Hiyoko's expression grow dark for a moment, but it was gone as quick as it came. He took the duster from her, a bit disgusted at the thought of having to clean for himself, but let her carry the box for now.

"Here, follow me." Hiyoko gestured for him to follow her as she headed up the stairs; it was narrow and hard to notice due to such, located in the far corner as not to bother the rest of the room. She pulled herself up the last step, where a small latter was placed so they could get up, and set the cardboard box aside.

Sunlight poured in through a small window near the opposite side of the room, but it wasn't much because a pile of boxes was covering one side of the glass. Particles of dust were seen more easily in the air where the sun hit than where it didn't; Byakuya was even more grossed out, wishing he didn't have to clean the mess himself, yet he also was a bit relieved at it being cleaned up at all (even if he was the one doing so).

"This is everything. I'll be downstairs. I'll make lemonade, so you can come grab some when you want a break." She waved a bit and then trotted back down the stairs, leaving him alone.

He sure had his work cut out for him.

Unhappily, Byakuya began to work. First he sorted out the boxes. There weren't too many of them, but it wasn't going to be quick and easy either. He pulled the top boxes down and sorted them by size; largest boxes on the left and smaller boxes on the right.

Once that was finished, he began to sort through them. The brunet managed to find all sorts of random knickknacks: old keychains, popular trends from years ago, and even some wigs that had gotten so old that the hair felt dry and cracked. He tossed them out without a second thought.

Soon enough, most of the boxes had been sorted neatly and placed in organized rows. Sweat had begun to build up on Byakuya's brow a while ago, so he figured taking a break now wouldn't be so bad. Hiyoko did say she made lemonade, didn't she?

He headed down the narrow staircase, carefully, and glanced around. It was quiet; she hadn't left him, had she? He would definitely get Hiyoko back if she left him there.

The brunet headed to the kitchen, where he found a note on the refrigerator. Normally he wouldn't take the time to read such things, but this one addressed him on the top of it.

"Byakubitch,"

Hiyoko definitely wrote that.

"I'll be in the backyard; I've been working on gardening for a while now. Don't you dare laugh at me."

Byakuya couldn't help letting out a snicker; her, gardening? That was hilarious.

...Ah, she got him.

"There's a pitcher of lemonade inside for you. Make sure not to touch anything else without asking, but you can have as much of the lemonade as you'd like."

There was nothing else written. He stood there for a moment, thinking. The brunet really wanted to see that bitch doing something as odd as gardening, despite her being the exact opposite of a person who would ever do something like that.

Fuck it.

Byakuya found the back door pretty easily, cracking it open; so she hadn't lied. The blonde girl was further back, hunched over near an area that already had a few flowers planted.

He decided to walk closer to her, hands in his pockets as if he were taking a leisurely stroll. He was certainly mocking her again.

"So you actually were gardening," Byakuya muttered, catching Hiyoko's attention.

She let out a sound similar to a squeal, clearly startled. Her face flushed to a light pink, embarrassment showing prominently in her cheeks. "W-wha—?!" It took her a moment to go from embarrassed to angry, but she had already managed to catch the brunet off-guard. "I-I told you to stay inside! You laughed at me too, didn't you?! Asshole!" She stood up quickly and waved her arm, pointing the spade she held towards him while scolding.

Byakuya blinked, barely listening. For some reason he could hear his heartbeat. Wait...did he just think she looked cute all embarrassed like that?

"Whatever," he snapped back, the reply not correlating to anything she had said at all. "There's no way you're cute at all! I'm taking my break inside." Without another word, he headed off.

No way, no way, no way. She couldn't handle being with him for any longer after that; she was too embarrassed, angry, and what else? Just what was happening to her?

"Wh-what?!" Hiyoko exclaimed, this time turning redder than a tomato. She clenched her fists tightly and looked down, before shouting to his backside: "T-that's it! Y-you son of a bitch! I-I'll work you extra hard tomorrow...!"

Huffing, Hiyoko turned and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. Cute, huh...? She smiled, just a little bit.

Byakuya wasn't going to stay long, was he? In that case, she would make the most of it while she still had an excuse to be with him.