I can't believe I got this done four days after posting the first chapter. That's probably a record for me.

Anyway, I guess spoilers for my other fic, I'm Not A Monster, are present in this chapter. It's only spoilers 'cause I haven't finished that fic yet. But by he end of a romance fic you expect the couple to be together anyway so... It might not be an important spoiler. I guess?

Well, enjoy.


Ash laid on his bed and stared at his phone lying next to him. He stared at it all night and into the next morning. He couldn't stop thinking of what to text Mahiru to the point that he didn't sleep. Not that that bothered Ash, since he rarely slept anyway. Kuro jumped on his bed and sat in front of his face. Ash didn't pay attention to the cat, only focusing on his phone. Kuro looked irritated and meowed at Ash. His owner still ignored him so Kuro reached a paw out and pressed it on Ash's face. Still nothing. Kuro put a paw over Ash's eye. Still nothing. Either Ash was just really good at ignoring Kuro, or his owner had finally gone catatonic. Getting fed up, Kuro hissed and scratched Ash across the face. Ash only blinked and one of his coattails lifted up to wipe away some blood that was close to getting in his eye. Kuro sighed and his ears drooped down as a sign of defeat. The cat simply watched as the deep scratches on Ash's face quickly healed up and disappeared like they never happened.

Suddenly, Ash sat up and got out of bed. Kuro was glad to finally see his owner up and moving, but was curious about what Ash would do. Ash picked up his phone, checked the time, and put it in his pocket. He wiped away the small amount of blood that was on his face from Kuro's attack, which stained the sleeve of his jacket a bright red. Kuro walked to the edge of the bed and meowed at Ash.

"It's dinner time. I didn't realize how long I was laying in bed. Sorry Kuro, you're probably hungry huh?" Ash said as he stretched his arms outward.

Kuro happily meowed and his tail quickly flicked side to side. He jumped down onto the floor, although it was more of a drop rather than a jump. Ash opened his bedroom door and left his room with Kuro following right beside him. As he closed the door, he noticed All Of Love's bedroom door was open. Deciding not to worry about it, Ash made his way downstairs and across the hall to the main room.

On the living room side, Ash saw Lawless laying on the middle couch with his glasses placed on the coffee table. Old Child was sitting on one of the side couches and watching television. On the kitchen side of the main room, The Mother was standing at the stove and Tsubaki was carrying a pot over to the dining table. World End was already sitting at the table, but he had his head resting on it. He didn't see Doubt Doubt or All Of Love anywhere. The Mother looked over to see who entered the room and seemed pleasantly surprised to see Ash.

"Well, look who's early to dinner for once." The Mother said.

Old Child looked over and upon seeing Ash, his face lit up. He hopped off the couch and ran up to his big brother.

"Aaaash! You're up! Yay!" The boy cheered as he hugged Ash's leg.

Lawless and World End groaned and the blonde rolled over on the couch.

"Please… not so loud…" Lawless grumbled.

The Mother sighed and Tsubaki snickered at his elder brothers' pain.

"Hey kiddo." Ash said and crouched down to ruffle Old Child's hair.

Tsubaki placed down the pot at the table and quickly went back to the kitchen to grab the second pot sitting on the stove. He carried it over to the table, placed it down, and took his seat at the right end of the table. The Mother finished cleaning up in the kitchen and took her seat on one side of the table all the way to the left, across from World End.

"Lawless, come sit at the table." She ordered.

Lawless groaned, but complied with his sister's orders and sat up. He put his glasses on and trudged to the dining table, sitting next to his sister like usual.

"That means you two, too." The Mother said to Ash and Old Child.

With a smile, Old Child sat down in the seat next to Lawless, which always had a small stack of books for him to sit on. Ash stood up and walked into the kitchen to grab a can of cat food from one of the cabinets. Upon seeing the can, Kuro's tail started wagging. Ash walked over to the side of the kitchen island where Kuro's food bowl was and opened the can, dumping the cat food into the bowl. Before all of it was even in the bowl, Kuro started happily digging in.

"There ya go little buddy." Ash said and pet Kuro on the head.

He stood up, threw the empty can in the trash, and finally sat down at the left end of the table. Tsubaki reached a hand out to grab one of the pots so he could start putting food on his plate.

"Old Child, smack Tsubaki's hand for me." The Mother calmly demanded.

Old Child gleefully picked up the spoon laying next to his plate and smacked Tsubaki's hand as hard as he could with it.

"Ow! That was uncalled for!" Tsubaki yelped and yanked his hand back.

Lawless and Wor groaned over Tsubaki's loudness.

"Not all of us are here yet. We're still missing Love and Doubt." The Mother noted.

"Oh yeah. They're always on time." Ash noted.

As if on cue, Doubt walked into the main room. It took everyone a second to realize he was carrying Love piggyback style.

"Sorry we're late… It took a while to get him up." Doubt muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed that everyone was looking at them.

Tsubaki and Old Child snickered at the sight before them. Love was still in his pajamas and his usually well kept hair was quite messy. He didn't have his earrings in either. His arms were draped over Doubt's shoulders and loosely wrapped around his neck. Doubt walked over to the two empty seats at the table and Love dropped down to the floor. The blonde was about to sit down, but instead hugged Doubt.

"Thank you, Doubt." Love grumbled.

Doubt tensed up and froze at the contact from his younger brother. He didn't mind, especially since it was All Of Love, but he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable anyway. All he could think to do was awkwardly pat Love on the back and try to step away. Love let go of him and plopped down in the seat next to Wor. Doubt sat next to him.

"Okay, they're here! Can I eat now!?" Tsubaki frantically asked.

"Yes, Tsubaki. You can eat." The Mother said.

Tsubaki giggled the whole time he was putting food on his plate and Old Child and Ash joined in on getting food, followed by everyone else except World End.

"I think Hell froze over." Ash stated.

"What makes you say that?" Old Child asked.

"Because I came to dinner early, Love is being the lazy one, and I think Wor isn't eating 'cause he's dead." Ash explained and eyed the third youngest, who still had his head down.

Wor lifted his head a bit and looked at Ash, but put his head back down without a word. The Mother reached across the table to pick up his plate and started putting food on it.

"Ehehe… Yeah, sorry I didn't help with dinner today. I slept in so late and I just didn't feel like I could get up." Love apologized.

"It's fine. Turns out Tsubaki's actually a pretty good helper." The Mother said.

Tsubaki laughed for a moment, but then abruptly stopped. "It's a lot more boring than I thought it'd be…" He grumbled.

The Mother placed the full plate in front of World End, hoping that actually having food in front of him would make him feel better. He lifted his head up again and picked up his fork to start eating. Unlike usual, he was very slow about it and only took small bites. Lawless was doing the same, but Love wasn't. Clearly his hangover wasn't as bad as the elder two's were. Dinner was quiet for a few minutes as everyone ate. Kuro finished the food in his bowl so he walked over to Ash's chair and laid down underneath it.

"You text that human back about that date yet, Ash?" Lawless asked, knowing full well what he just started.

Ash dropped his fork on his plate, which made a loud sound that echoed throughout the now dead silent room. Everyone stopped eating except World End. Old Child and Tsubaki stared wide eyed at Ash from across the table. Sleepy Ash looked at Lawless with a death glare while Lawless had the faintest hint of a smug expression on his face.

"Hahahahahaha- Ack!" Tsubaki laughed loudly, but started choking on his food and began coughing instead.

"What is he talking about? Ash, what is talking about?" Old Child questioned, but tried and failed to hide how confused he was.

Doubt stopped caring and went back to eating. So did The Mother, but she was simply pretending that she wasn't disappointed. Ash didn't want to explain anything, in fact he really wanted to die right then and there, but he just sighed and gathered the courage to explain things.

"I… met a human awhile ago and… saw him again yesterday, so… I asked him out. He gave me his number… and I can't think of a place for us to go…" Ash nervously told everyone and looked away from his siblings.

Tsubaki began laughing again, which annoyed Doubt since he was sitting so close to the younger male.

"Haha! Ash is- Ash is interested in a- haha! In a human! Aaahaha!" Tsubaki shouted and pointed a finger at Ash.

Ash scowled at Tsubaki and dropped his head down. "What's so funny about it? Aren't you in a relationship with a human anyway?"

"Beru is not like other lowly humans! He's special! And it's funny because you're the cat obsessed guy that stays in his room all day and plays video games! There's nothing appealing about that! Haha!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

Old Child picked up his spoon again and threw it at Tsubaki, hitting him in the head. He yelped in pain and rubbed his sore head. He looked over to see the kid glaring at him, making Tsubaki flinch out of fear.

"Oh ignore him, Ash. There's plenty of nice things about you." Love said, trying to defend Ash and make him feel better.

The eldest didn't believe that so he slouched down in his chair and put his hands in his pockets. Kuro walked out from under Ash's chair and jumped up to sit in his owner's lap, hoping his presence would help Ash.

"Alright, listen. Let's drop the subject and just finish dinner. And no more throwing spoons." The Mother ordered and eyed Old Child.

Everyone became quiet and dinner went back to normal, except Ash didn't keep eating. Tsubaki finished first so he picked up his plate and silverware and brought it to the sink. He dropped it all in and left the room, heading upstairs. Everyone else finished eating around the same time. The Mother took Wor and Lawless's dirty dishes for them and placed them in the sink while Doubt Doubt did the same for himself, Love, and Old Child.

"Ash, it's your turn to do the dishes." The Mother said.

Ash looked up with a confused expression on his face. "Uh, no. It's Tsubaki's turn."

"You know how rotation works, Ash. Tsubaki helped with dinner so he doesn't have to do dishes. That makes it your turn." She explained.

"Ugh, can't deal… Fine." Ash grumbled.

Lawless and Wor trudged out of the main room together and left in the direction of the den.

"Doubt, can you carry me to my room please?" Love asked and held his arms out.

As Doubt walked back to the table, he sighed and nodded his head. Love stood up and Doubt turned around. The blonde jumped up on his brother's back and Doubt caught his legs. The elder was glad his face wasn't visible otherwise he'd be even more embarrassed than he already was. As the two left the room, Old Child jumped down from his chair. Ash thought it was odd that the boy just left without a word. Usually he would ask Ash if they could do something together, but now he didn't even bother to look in Ash's direction. Sleepy Ash didn't mind that his younger brother wasn't begging for his attention, but it just wasn't normal to him.

"Ash-"

"I know, dishes, I know. Geez." Ash interrupted his sister as he scooted his chair back.

"That's not what I was going to say." The Mother corrected.

As Ash stood up, Kuro climbed his jacket to perch on his shoulder. Ash picked up his half empty plate and walked over to the sink.

"Then lemme guess. Don't go out with a human 'cause you'll only get attached then hurt when they die." Ash said, not really trying to be mean but he just wanted his sister to know he didn't want to hear it.

The Mother simply looked at Ash with a straight face. She sighed and walked out of the main room towards the den. Kuro meowed at Ash, making the hooded man groan.

"Okay, yeah. Maybe that was a little much, but I don't get why everyone's giving me so much crap about this." Ash muttered.

He placed down his plate next to the sink and Kuro hopped off Ash's shoulder to land on the counter. Knowing Ash was more than fine with it, Kuro started eating the leftover food on Ash's plate.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Tsubaki and Lawless have boyfriends and Sis was married a long time ago. Why is everyone complaining about me then?" Ash talked more to himself than Kuro.

He rolled up his sleeves and turned on the sink faucet. He started washing the first plate, making sure it was good enough that his sister wouldn't complain that he did a sloppy job. When he was done with it he placed it off to the side so he could dry all the dishes off when he was finished.

"Need some help?"

Ash flinched and almost dropped the plate he was holding. He looked over his shoulder to see Doubt Doubt standing there, almost looming over him. Ash let out a sigh.

"Yeah. That'd be great. Thanks." The elder brother said.

Doubt rolled up his own sleeves and grabbed a washcloth to start drying off the clean plates. It was quiet between the two for only a few minutes.

"...Tsubaki was a bit right, you know... You spend all day and night in your room, you rarely come out except to eat, and you don't interact with others that much... It's just... unexpected that a guy like… you... would find someone." Doubt said.

Ash sighed again and handed some clean silverware to Doubt.

"I mean, you're not wrong. It's not like I ever imagined I'd get involved in romance, let alone actually come across someone I was interested in. It just… happened." Ash replied.

"Who is this human?" The taller asked as he put the silverware away in their appropriate drawer.

Ash thought it was odd that Doubt was even remotely interested in the subject of Ash's potential love life. Maybe his younger brother was spending too much time around All Of Love and Old Child.

"His name is Mahiru Shirota. I met him when I went out with Sis and Love a while ago. Then I saw him yesterday at the arcade. He really likes Kuro and I guess cats in general. He's… Ah, he's really cute. His smile is just- just perfect. I get that butterfly feeling in my gut whenever I'm near him and it makes me wanna die, but like, in a good way, ya know?" Ash explained.

Doubt simply nodded. He couldn't exactly understand what Ash was referring to since he'd never felt like that himself, but Ash did sound a bit cheerful while talking about Mahiru so Doubt took that as a good thing. The two fell silent again as Ash took the now empty plate from Kuro and began washing it. Ash paused for a moment and just held the plate under the faucet.

"Do you have any humans you get along with?" Ash wondered.

Doubt thought for a moment if he even had an answer to that question.

"I… wouldn't say 'get along', but… there's this human that owns the supply store I go to. He's weird, but we have interesting conversations." Doubt responded.

"Does he know?" The older asked.

Knowing what Ash was referring to, Doubt just shrugged. "I don't know… Sometimes he says things to me that make me think he does… but he's never outright said it… I guess if he does know… it doesn't bother him."

Doubt stepped away to get the pots still sitting on the dining table. He brought them back and set them on the counter. There was still a small amount of food left in them.

"Do you think Wor'll eat the rest of that later?" Ash questioned.

Because of how much World End ate on a regular basis, leftovers were a rare sight in the house. Neither Ash nor Doubt knew what to do about it. Kuro stood up on the counter and started meowing at the two brothers. They looked over at the small cat.

"You sure, Kuro? You've eaten a lot already. I just don't want ya getting sick." Ash said.

Kuro meowed even louder. Ash turned to Doubt and the younger brother nodded, letting Ash know that he was fine with it. Ash got a plastic container from one of the cabinets and used a spoon in the sink to scoop the leftovers out of the pots. He put the food in the container and placed it on the counter in front of Kuro. The happy furball began eating the leftovers. Ash went back to washing the dishes and Doubt went back to drying off and putting away the clean ones.

"You don't happen to know a good date location around town, do you?" Ash half joked as he handed a newly clean plate to Doubt.

"Maybe." Doubt replied.

Ash froze and stared at Doubt Doubt. "Wait, really?"

Doubt shrugged and put the dried off plate in the cabinet. "Sometimes All Of Love drags me out of the house and we go to the park… It's calm there so I don't mind it… I see a lot of couples there."

Ash realized what park Doubt was referring to. It was actually just a forest that had one main road in the middle of it to go to or from the main city into the small town. The forest had a lot of safe trails and nature paths to walk down so it was a common spot for the outdoorsy type to hang out at. Ash thought that since Mahiru didn't care much for video games, maybe he'd prefer something on the other end of the spectrum. Ash himself didn't actually like the idea of going to the park. It was a bit further away than just 'across town' and once he got there he'd have to do even more walking. He really didn't care for the outdoors, but if Mahiru agreed to it then he'd be more than willing to put up with it.

"That actually sounds like a good idea… I hate when you say smart things." Ash said.

"So does everyone else." Doubt stated.

The two brothers got back to focusing on the dishes. Ash scrubbed out the pots and handed them to Doubt who dried them off. Kuro finished the leftovers in the container so Ash washed it off. Ash finally handed the last clean dish to Doubt and turned off the faucet.

"Thanks again for helping. You didn't help just so you get out of doing dishes tomorrow, did you?" The elder wondered.

Doubt shook his head as he put the last plate in the cabinet. "Just helping to be helpful."

Ash stared at his younger brother. Even after spending five centuries in their house together Ash still couldn't understand a single thing about Doubt. There were plenty of times where Ash questioned if they really were related, then again he questioned that about all his siblings. But he and Doubt had very different lives growing up from what he knew, so it was understandable that they'd be different personality wise. All eight of them had drastically different early lives. Except maybe Ash and Old Child since they did grow up together.

"Is it… unexpected of me… to help…?" Doubt wondered, a hint of concern in his voice.

Ash realized he was staring for too long. "Huh? Oh, uh… I don't think so. You just don't participate in much stuff is all."

"Neither do you." Doubt replied.

Ash let out a forced chuckle. "Yeah, if it's not me, it's you. If it's not you, it's me.

Doubt nodded and it was quiet again. He rolled his sleeves back down so they more than covered his hands and left the washcloth on the counter. Ash also unrolled his sleeves and dried off his hands.

"So, uh… Guess I'll just go back to my room then." Ash muttered.

Doubt nodded and started to walk away. If Ash wasn't looking he wouldn't believe Doubt was actually walking away. It was like the man had no footsteps. Or like he floated instead of walked. Considering how long his coat thing was it wasn't that easy to tell. Now alone in the main room, Ash sighed.

"Mreow."

Ash turned around to see Kuro standing close to the edge of the counter. The cat wanted to jump off, but something was stopping him. Ash picked up Kuro and held the cat up.

"Oh yeah, you definitely ate too much today." Ash noted.

Kuro let out a very tired meow.

"Maybe taking you to the park would be a good idea. You can walk off all that food." Ash suggested.

Kuro meowed again, which sounded close to a groan. Ash held the well-fed cat in his arms and left the main room to head upstairs. He entered his room and walked around his bed to place Kuro down in his own little cat bed. Kuro sighed and sprawled out in his bed. Ash sat down on his bed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Sleepy Ash looked at the screen of his phone for a long while. Since he had a good location in mind it would be a good time to text Mahiru, but Ash couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. He pulled up Mahiru's contact and stared at it. There was no picture yet so it didn't feel real that he would actually be talking to Mahiru. He hoped that would be enough to get himself to at least write a text. Ash started typing the first words that came to his mind.

'hey mahiru its ash. u wanna go 2 the park 2moro at like 3ish'

Ash groaned. He couldn't send that. It sounded too casual. He still wasn't exactly friends with Mahiru and he wanted to give off a good impression to Mahiru. He deleted it and tried again.

'Hello Mahiru. This is Sleepy Ash. Would you like to join me at the park tomorrow around three o'clock?'

Ash lazily smacked his phone against his forehead. That was way too formal and didn't sound anything like Ash. Mahiru probably wouldn't even believe it was him. He deleted that one too and started over.

'Hey Mahiru. It's Ash. I finally came up with something. Are you cool with hanging out at the park tomorrow? Maybe at 3 if that works for you.'

Ash liked that one. It was just passive and casual enough that it sounded like Ash but was also written in a way that he felt Mahiru would think positively of him. Satisfied with the text, Ash now had another problem. Gathering enough courage to send it. All he had to do was press one button and yet it felt so impossible to him. Knowing he had to do it now or he'll never do it at all, Ash took a deep breath and exhaled. Granted, he didn't need to breathe, but doing it was working as far as calming his nerves went. He placed his phone down in his lap and closed his eyes. Taking one last breath of air and exhaling, Ash opened his eyes and quickly pressed the send button. Not even giving himself a moment to feel proud of overcoming the intense anxiety, Ash fell on his side and shoved his face into his blanket. Knowing it would muffle him just fine, Ash screamed into the blanket. Kuro lifted his head up at the sound, but otherwise Ash went completely unheard.

"Can't deal! Can't deal, can't deal, can't deal! What if he doesn't wanna go to the park? What if he's busy tomorrow? Or busy at exactly three? What if he gave me a fake number? What if he changed his mind from yesterday and doesn't want anything to do with me!? What if-"

Ash's muffled rant was cut off by the vibration of his phone against his leg. He sat up and nervously looked at his phone. He didn't expect Mahiru to answer so quickly, or even at all. He reached a shaky hand out to his phone and picked it up. Whatever Mahiru texted back would decide a lot to Ash. Probably a lot more than a simple text should. Ash looked down at his phone screen and tried to brace himself for whatever it said.

'Sure, totally! I love going to the park! Can I ask that you bring Kuro too?'

Ash wanted to scream again. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs and let it all out. He wasn't upset, but he had too much built up anxiety that he couldn't feel overjoyed like he wanted too. Knowing that he basically got a yes from Mahiru eased all his initial concerns, but all that anxiety was still inside him and he had to get it out. He leaned back down to his blanket and screamed into it again. This time it ended up turning into a laugh. Ash wasn't one for laughing, but it was simply an involuntary reaction. A small part of him was still in disbelief that Mahiru, let alone anyone, would willingly want to spend time with him. It still confused him as to why Old Child practically clinged to him half the time. Ash's laughter died down and stopped. He finally got it all out and grabbed his phone again to respond to Mahiru.

'Yeah, I can bring Kuro. I'll see you tomorrow then.'

'Okay!'

Ash rolled over on his bed and held his phone close to his chest. The plans were made and there was no more chances to back out without risking the possibility of hurting Mahiru. He had to go to the park tomorrow no matter what.

"Hey, Kuro." Ash whispered.

"Mrrrrreoww…"

"You gotta come with me tomorrow. Mahiru wants you to come." Ash told his cat.

"Mmmmroooow…"

"I know, it sucks but… Whatever it takes to make him happy." Ash mumbled.

He sat up and got off his bed. It wasn't even night out and yet Ash decided it was best to go to sleep. He hadn't slept at all since the day before and even then it was only for a few hours. Sleeping wouldn't do much for him, but it was important that he got as much rest as possible for tomorrow. If he could help it he wanted to be as least tired as possible. Ash took off his jacket, boots, and pants and got back in bed. He didn't care how long it took, he would get at least some sleep before three o'clock tomorrow.

Mahiru sat in his classroom and stared out the window. It wasn't like him to not pay attention in class, but he simply felt too distracted to focus. He was too excited over seeing Kuro again, and Sleepy Ash of course.

"Mahiru! Mahiru!" The teacher called out.

Mahiru finally realized the teacher was calling his name. "Huh? Um, sorry. What?"

"Answer the question please. How many years ago was Ashford founded?" She asked, clearly sounding annoyed.

Mahiru had to think about that for a few moments. "Oh, um… Five hundred… ninety-nine… right?"

"Yes. At least you knew the answer, now pay more attention. I expect better from you than most other students in this class." She said and eyed Sakuya, who was sitting behind Mahiru.

Sakuya just snickered and looked away from their teacher.

"Now I know we only have a few minutes left, but let me finish this last passage before you all pack up. 'Five hundred and ninety-nine years ago, the town of Ashford was first settled on this island by British immigrants. One man originally came to this island because of the numerous rumored sightings of so-called supernatural creatures. He set up camp in the same forest that is now known as Ashford Park. All by himself he camped out in the forest for months. He wrote many reports on the creatures he saw, ranging from fairies to werewolves and everything in between. He sent these reports back to his home and eventually like minded people traveled here to our island to see these creatures themselves. That started the settling of Ashford. The people in the town decided their first mayor would also be their founder. His name was-'"

The teacher was interrupted by the sound of the bell. She groaned and put down the textbook she was holding. All the students quickly shoveled their books and homework into their bags and started to leave.

"Ah! Please finish reading the passage and answering the worksheet questions tonight students!" The teacher told her students while she still slightly had their attention.

"Alright, well, I'm not doing homework." Ryusei muttered as he walked out of the classroom with his friends.

"But Ryu! You'll get a bad grade if you don't!" Koyuki argued.

"I am way too uninterested in the stupidity of our town history to allow my IQ to lower from reading that ridiculousness." Ryusei replied.

Sakuya slung an arm around Ryusei's shoulders and pulled him close. "Hey man! What's so stupid about founding a town for the sake of supernatural research?"

"Oh no, here we go again." Mahiru whispered to Koyuki.

"You don't believe there's monsters hiding all around this town!? It's been in the town history for almost six centuries! You can't deny evidence when it's that plentiful. Who knows, there may be werewolves masquerading as students in this very school! The guy you walked past last week when no one else was around? Ghost! That weird feeling that woke you up in the middle of the night? Demon trying to steal your soul! The employee at the convenience store who you swear makes you pay more than your purchases are actually worth? That's a kitsune!" Sakuya ranted.

Ryusei simply glared at him.

"Alright Sakuya, stop it. You're scaring Koyuki." Mahiru demanded.

Sakuya and Ryusei looked over to see Koyuki clinging to Mahiru's arm and shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, sorry if the truth is difficult to accept. At least one of us has his eyes open." Sakuya remarked.

"I think you're the one that's finding the truth difficult to accept." Ryusei grumbled.

"Okay, drop it. Both of you. School's over so no one needs to talk about it anymore. You're okay, Koyuki. It's just Sakuya and his usual crazy talk." Mahiru said and tried to calm his friend down.

Koyuki nodded and let go of Mahiru's arm. Sakuya and Ryusei became silent as the group walked out of the school building.

"So… it's Ryu's turn to pick where we go for our after school hang out time." Koyuki stated.

"How about lunch?" Ryusei suggested.

"It's always lunch with you." Sakuya said.

"And it's always the arcade with you." Ryusei replied.

"Its okay! Lunch works just fine, right Mahiru?" Koyuki turned to Mahiru.

"Um, yeah. Sure… but, I can't go today." Mahiru responded.

His three friends looked at Mahiru with surprise. Mahiru was never the one to bail on their after school hang out time.

"Well what the hell is so important that ya gotta abandon us?" Sakuya questioned, trying not to sound hurt.

"I'm not abandoning you guys, geez. It's just that… I made plans with Ash last night and I don't want to run the risk of being late. I'd like to go home and change anyway." Mahiru answered.

Koyuki was pleasantly surprised, Ryusei was a bit confused, and Sakuya turned away from Mahiru.

"He got back to you already?" Koyuki asked.

"Yeah. He wants to go to the park at three." Mahiru explained.

"Why don't we all go then?" Ryusei suggested.

"That wouldn't feel right. He's only expecting me and he's sort of a shy guy so having three other people pop up might not be best." Mahiru refused.

"Oh well. As long as Mahiru isn't going to be alone then it's okay, right? There's no problem with it being us three." Koyuki said to Ryusei and Sakuya.

"I don't feel like eating right now." Sakuya said.

He abruptly walked away from his friends and down the street to head home. He left his three friends bewildered at his rude behavior. Koyuki looked a bit hurt.

"Geez, what is up with him lately? It's starting to piss me off." Ryusei grumbled.

"It's okay, Ryu. It can just be the two of us for lunch." Koyuki said in a soft voice and put on a fake smile.

"W-wait! You… and me… alone… having lunch… together… alone!" Ryusei stared at the ground in an attempt to hide the blush forming on his face, but couldn't hide the fact that his voice was cracking as he nervously spoke.

"Yes, alone. Together." Koyuki repeated and grabbed Ryusei's sleeve.

Mahiru chuckled slightly at his friends and pat Koyuki on the back. "You two go have fun with lunch. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Okay, Mahiru. Be sure to tell us how today at the park goes." Koyuki said as he began walking off with Ryusei.

"You got it!" Mahiru waved as he watched his friends leave.

He turned around and headed in the direction of his apartment. While walking he pulled out his phone to check the time. It was almost one o'clock. He didn't live too far from the park, so he was more than good on time, but he wanted to go ahead and get ready so he wouldn't end up rushing himself later.

At the Ash household, a knock on Sleepy Ash's bedroom door woke him up. He turned over in bed and tried to ignore it. Whoever it was knocked again and Ash rubbed his eyes.

"Sleepy Ash! Are you awake? I know you're in there!" By the high pitch voice Ash could tell who it was.

He laid still for a while and almost fell back asleep. He actually would've fallen asleep again if his door didn't burst open. The sound startled Kuro awake.

"Ash! Get up!" Old Child shouted at him.

Ash shoved his face in his pillow and groaned. He would've been pissed if both him and Old Child didn't know that the only one that had permission to enter his bedroom was Old Child himself. The second eldest walked up to Ash's bed and yanked on his blanket. Ash held onto it so Old Child was essentially stuck while pulling on it.

"Ugh, what the hell do you want?" Ash grumbled.

"Aaash! I wanna go to the hot springs with you today!" Old Child shouted and yanked harder on the blanket.

Ash groaned and released the blanket. His little brother fell back and dragged the blanket halfway off the bed with him. He sat up and rubbed his hurt head.

"I can't. I got plans." Ash replied.

Old Child continued to sit on the floor and stared down at the messy carpet.

"You always have plans now. It's not like you." Old Child mumbled.

"Yeah well, this isn't like you either." Ash responded.

"Because you've never had a reason to say no…"

"I know. Look, just because I'm doing stuff without you now doesn't mean it's gonna stay like that. I just happened to find stuff to do lately. Next time we'll do something together, okay?"

Old Child remained silent and Ash groaned. He just woke up so he didn't want to be bothered, but looking at his little brother sitting on the floor and moping wasn't a pretty sight to him. Ash got out of bed and trudged over to Old Child. He crouched down in front of the young boy and ruffled his hair.

"Seriously, I mean it Child. Next time. We could go to the hot springs or do something here, or whatever you want." Ash promised.

Old Child looked up at Ash with big red eyes.

"Really?"

"Really."

Old Child smiled and stood up.

"I gotta get dressed though, sooo…" Ash eyed the door to his room.

"I know, I know." Old Child muttered.

The younger brother walked towards the door and Ash stood up. He walked behind Old Child so he could close the door, but Old Child stopped in the door frame.

"Are your plans with this human you met?" The younger questioned.

"Um, yeah." Ash admitted.

Without a word, Old Child walked across the hall and went into his own bedroom. Ash wasn't able to see his brother's face, so he had no idea what Old Child might've been thinking. Hoping everything was okay, Ash shut his bedroom door. He turned around to see Kuro sitting down in front of his feet.

"I wonder if you have any siblings. Cats are born in litters so you probably do. Do you miss them?" Ash asked.

Kuro meowed at him, but he had no way of knowing what that meant. Ash just sighed and grabbed his white pants from the floor to put them on. Kuro curled up into a ball as he waited for Ash to get dressed. His owner put on his jacket as well and slipped on his boots. Ash shook his hands through his hair to get rid of any knots and flattened it out before pulling his hood up. He found his phone on his bed and checked the time. It was just a bit past one. Putting his phone in his jacket pocket, Ash headed for the door.

"C'mon, Kuro." Ash called out as he walked out of his room.

Kuro got up and jumped up to catch Ash's leg. He climbed up to Ash's shoulder and hung on as Ash shut his door and walked down the stairs. Instead of leaving right away, Ash entered the main room. He walked to the fridge and opened it to grab a soda so he could drink it on the way to the park.

"What are you doing?"

Ash turned around to see The Mother looking at him from the middle couch. He also spotted Lawless who was laying on one of the side couches and texting on his phone.

"Oh, uh, getting a drink before I leave." Ash responded.

"Leave? Where the hell ya goin'?" Lawless asked as he put his phone down.

"To the park to meet Mahiru. Why do you guys care?" The eldest questioned.

The Mother stood up from the couch and walked over to Ash.

"Okay, I'm not going to stop you from meeting him, but I can't let you walk out of the house like… that." The Mother said and looked at her brother from top to bottom.

Ash looked down at his body. "Uuuhh… Like what?"

"Just by looking at you I can see blood on your sleeve and one of your coattails. In fact, there is dirt all over those things. I don't think those pants are even white anymore. There is cat fur just everywhere on you. You look like you rolled out of bed two seconds ago, which I'm sure is true knowing you. That would also mean you haven't showered in… well let's just pretend someone already said the answer to that because I don't want to know the real number." The Mother answered.

Ash stared at her for a moment. "...Oh…"

Lawless started laughing. "Dude! She just tore into you like a rotten piece of meat! Hahaha!"

"Let me add on to that actually. Do you have any clean clothes in your closet? Because you wear the same thing everyday and that's not sanitary, Ash. While I'm on that subject, when was the last time you cleaned your room? Do I have to go up there and throw everything you own out? It's got to be a war zone up there." She added.

Ash dropped his head and blushed out of pure embarrassment.

"Listen, you can't go out and meet someone you want to impress when you can barely manage to take care of yourself." The Mother continued.

"Okay! I get it. I'm a mess… I can't do anything for myself and I have lower standards than a sewer rat…You can stop acting like my mom now." Ash blurted out.

Lawless suddenly didn't find it funny anymore. The Mother sighed and took the soda out of Ash's hand.

"Alright, here's the deal. Go find some clean clothes to wear and take a shower. I'm not letting you leave the house until you do at least that." She said.

Ash was quiet and just nodded his head.

"Oh, hey! You should wear that sixty-nine shirt of yours! That'll send him a subliminal message." Lawless suggested.

Ash glared at Lawless. "It says ninety-six, and that is not the kind of message I want to send the first time we hang out."

"Just a suggestion." Lawless stated and shrugged.

The Mother turned to Lawless. "You, shush." She looked at Ash. "And you, upstairs."

Both of her brothers groaned and Ash left the main room to go back up to his bedroom. Inside his room, Ash took a look around. His carpet had a lot of loose parts pulled up from Kuro digging his nails into it. There were also stains all over it. Most of it was from spilled drinks while a few were from blood. Dirty clothes were thrown around on the floor, his desk, and spilling out of his half open closet. The desk was its own special mess. All sorts of random and pointless stuff was messily stacked on top. Mainly his games and handheld systems, but there were a couple of books too, and lots of loose change. There was a mirror on top leaning against the wall. It was pretty badly cracked and a few tiny shard of glass were probably somewhere on the desk. His ceiling was a five century long story on how it got so many holes and strange marks on it, mostly above his bed. Then there was the bed. His blanket was halfway on the floor and nothing had been washed or cleaned in probably months. It finally dawned on Ash that he had been living in that mess. He sighed and just walked over to his closet. He fully opened the doors and he bent down to push aside the dirty clothes on the floor. Kuro jumped down to sit on the floor. As Ash was moving the pile, something scurried out from under it. A tiny silverfish. Ash flinched and quickly backed away.

"Oh crap! Crap, crap, crap!" He shouted.

Kuro jumped on it and, without hesitation, the cat ate it. He happily wagged his tail and looked up at Ash. Ash let out a sigh of relief and glanced from Kuro to the pile of clothes.

"I don't know whether to be thankful or disgusted." He muttered as he awkwardly pet Kuro on the head.

He continued to scoot the pile away with his foot and Kuro kept a keen eye out for anything else he could eat. Ash quickly grabbed whatever clean stuff he could find and backed away from the closet. He'd have to quarantine the right side of his room now. Ash left his room and Kuro followed him as he walked down the hall to the bathroom.

Mahiru entered his apartment and put his bag down on the couch.

"Uncle! I'm home!" Mahiru announced.

It was silent for a moment as Mahiru waited for a response. Once he realized he wasn't getting one, Mahiru sighed and sat down on the couch. He checked his phone for the time again. It was one-thirty. He decided to spend the next half hour doing his homework so he took his history textbook out of his bag and found the worksheet he needed to finish. He read the chapter for awhile and easily filled out the worksheet. While he didn't necessarily believe everything that was written in the textbook, he realized that the belief in the supernatural was important to the town's history. He did find some of it interesting though. Satisfied with his finished homework, Mahiru put it away and took his bag with him to his room. It was a good time to start getting ready so he grabbed some clothes from his closet so he could change out of his uniform.

Ash sat on a stool in the bathroom, fully dressed with Kuro on his lap. He was roughly drying Kuro off with a towel as the cat looked clearly irritated.

"Mrrroow…"

"Yeah, yeah I know. Just deal with it. If I have to get clean then so do you. Geez, your fur is thick." Ash grumbled.

He finished drying Kuro and grabbed the cat's red collar off of the sink counter. He put it around Kuro's neck and fastened it so it fit properly. Kuro shook, which caused the bell of his collar to jingle like crazy. His fur fluffed up and he jumped off Ash's lap.

"Don't you feel better? I hate to admit it, but I know I do." Ash said.

Kuro meowed and sat near the door. Ash couldn't figure out what Kuro's answer was, so he just left it at that and walked out of the bathroom, his other clothes folded into a ball in his hands. He passed his bedroom and opened the door to toss his clothes on his bed, then shut the door and walked down the stairs. He entered the main room and approached his sister and brother. They turned to look at him. From their expressions, Ash couldn't tell if he did a good job or was just a lost cause. The Mother stood up to get a better look at him.

Ash wore his black jacket that had cat ears as part of the hood. There was a white trim around the edge of the jacket. He wore the red, almost pink colored, shirt with ninety-six on it that Lawless mentioned earlier. He had on normal blue jeans and his usual black boots. His light blue hair had been thoroughly washed and brushed through so it was straight and flat like it was meant to be.

"Well, well, Ash. I must say, you almost look normal." She said, the tone of her voice told Ash that was a compliment.

Lawless stood up too and gave Ash a thumbs up. "Dude! You actually clean up nicely! But, uh, do you have any jackets that don't have cat ears?"

"No, they all do." Ash replied.

Lawless sighed. The Mother suddenly grabbed Ash by the face and pulled him close to her. He groaned about it, but let it happen anyway. The Mother stared intensely at her elder brother's face, which made Ash a bit nervous.

"Is there anything that can be done about those circles under your eyes?" She wondered.

"No, that's just apart of my face now. They've been there since I was, like… thirteen I think." Ash answered.

"You could put makeup on him." Lawless suggested.

The Mother looked like she was actually considering that, making Ash pull away from his sister.

"Please don't do that. Please… Its a part of my character." Ash begged.

"Ugh, fine. You did a good enough job with everything else so we can leave that." The Mother said.

She walked over to the fridge and got out the same soda that Ash was going to take with him. She brought it to him and placed it in his hand. He looked at it for a moment then back to his sister.

"If you don't want me to do this, why are you helping?" Ash questioned.

"It's not that I don't want you to find someone, I just don't want you to get hurt. I know you've never been in love before, Ash. I'm worried that if your first love is a human then you'll be unwilling to find love again after you lose him… Listen, we don't need to be talking about all that before you go. Just go have a nice time with a clear mind and worry about everything later." The Mother replied.

"Yeah! I mean, do you even know if he likes you back?" Lawless inquired.

"Well… He's gotta like me enough to wanna hang out with me at least. So, that's a start." Ash said.

"There you go. Just keep that in mind. Is there a time you have to be there by? I could drive you if want." She offered.

Ash shook his head. "Three. I'd rather walk though. I can make it in time."

Ash's siblings were a bit surprised that he would willingly walk since the park was so far. They weren't about to complain though, since they were sure walking would be better for him. Lawless glanced at his phone when it vibrated in his hand.

"Well, it's just past two so you should probably go now." Lawless stated as he started typing on his phone.

"Don't worry about coming home in time for dinner, okay? Just enjoy yourself." The Mother said.

Ash nodded and opened the soda with a loud pop. He took a sip as he headed out of the room. Lawless sat back down on the couch and looked up from his phone.

"You never complained about me and Angel." He noted.

"Because he's delusional. That makes him perfect for you." The Mother responded.

"Hey!" Lawless complained.

Ash walked out of the house with Kuro right by his feet. It was really starting to set in that he was going to see Mahiru and the extra effort he put in to get ready really created the illusion that it was a date. Ash shook his head. He couldn't think of it like that. It's not what Ash suggested to Mahiru and it's not what Mahiru believed he was going to. It would be wrong of Ash to think of it like a date. The thought actually made Ash feel a little creeped out by himself. He didn't want to end up becoming something like an obsessed stalker to Mahiru. He wanted to get closer to Mahiru, not scare him off.

Ash walked out of the front yard and began his trek down the street. It was awkwardly quiet around him since no other houses or families lived near the Ash household. The south end of town wasn't where most people lived, or wanted to live, in the first place. It took him awhile to actually get into town. The only worry on Ash's mind was about Mahiru, until he started walking past other people. Then he worried about being recognized. There was a group of young women he walked by. They all gasped and scooted a few feet to the side when they saw his face. Ash just kept walking with his head down. After enough years it was just something that he became numb to. That didn't mean he didn't hate it though. A little boy on the sidewalk reached over to pet Kuro, but his mom quickly snatched him away before the boy even got close. Ash stood at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change. Kuro sat down next to him and waited. He could tell that a few people on the other side of the street didn't want to cross after noticing him. The light turned red and Ash and Kuro walked across. Some people walked by without a problem, some quickly hurried past him while keeping their distance, and the rest waited for the next light change just so they wouldn't have to risk being near him. Ash sighed and Kuro looked up at him. Kuro let out a little meow and Ash glanced down.

"I'm fine, boy. I just hope no one calls C3." Ash reassured his cat.

As Ash looked back up and across the street he saw advertisement for the nearby hot springs. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for ignoring Old Child earlier. Ash knew he was one of the few things that were actually important to his little brother, but after spending so much time together, Ash just started feeling suffocated by him. He'd have to make it up to Old Child later on.

He found himself walking past the high school. He didn't bother to look at it since it didn't mean anything to him. He just kept on going. Kuro, though, picked up a familiar smell and he lagged behind a few feet as he sniffed the air. Realizing Ash was leaving him behind, Kuro ran off to catch up.

Ash took a turn so he wasn't following the road that lead out of town. He continued heading north and ended up at the parking lot for the park. There were a few cars, but plenty of empty spaces so there weren't too many people confirmed to be in the park. Of course, that only covered the people that came by car. Most people walked there instead. Ash wondered if Mahiru was already waiting for him. He looked up at the sign for the park entrance.

'Ashford Park'

Ash hated seeing his last name plastered everywhere he went. He just sucked it up and walked into the park, throwing away his soda can as he passed by a trash can.


Soooo... I originally planned for this entire chapter to just be, like, the first quarter of the whole chapter, but I got way too carried away. So the date will take up the next chapter instead.

Also, I did more world building than I wanted to, but what's that matter anyway. This is a Sleepy Ash centric fic so it's a bit justified since most things in this AU actually revolve around him.