Mrs Kanzaki dug into her coat pocket for her keys. She heard a familiar jingle and brought them out. She plunged them into the lock of the house door only to find out that it didn't need unlocking. Hitomi, you need to remember to lock the door after you… Sighing, she stepped into her home and placed her purse on the oak table against the entranceway wall.

"Hitomi, Seth…I'm home!" She walked into the kitchen to find Van sipping on a pop, his music blaring.

"Why hello Van. I'm surprised to see you here." She looked inside the fridge see what she needed to buy for supper. It's Friday isn't it? Glancing at the calendar, she nodded to herself.

"Van dear, don't you normally go to your friend's place on Friday?"

Van looked up and took his head phones off. "Hey Mrs Kanzaki, can I stay for supper?" he asked, oblivious to her question.

"Of course. You're always welcome here, but why are you here? Normally you're at Gaddess' house on Friday." She took a seat at the table across from the youth.

"Well, Gaddess has other plans. Mom is visiting Folken, and my Dad's out-of-town on a business trip so I thought I could crash here for the night. Mom will be back tomorrow evening. Is it alright if I stay?"

Mrs Kanzaki smiled "That's fine, Van. Merle's already staying here for today. It won't hurt if one more stays."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Mrs Kanzaki got up to fix herself a cup of tea. It had been a long day at the office for her, she needed to regroup before preparing supper. She glanced at Van. He seemed lost, staring off into space, expression blank

"Is everything alright, Van?" she asked, her face the picture of motherly concern.

Van snapped back to reality. He blinked in her direction in slight surprise. " Yes," he replied carefully. " Why do you ask?" His shoulders became tense and he found himself on the edge of nervousness.

Mrs Kanzaki smiled on of those polite cheerful smiles. "Oh, it's nothing dear…" But on the contrary, she suspected something was very much amiss. Mrs Fanel had told her that everything had been arranged for Van to stay over at Gaddess' house for the night. What is be bothering him? Van's eyes followed her warily as she made her way towards the living room entrance.

"There you are Hitomi, did you have a good day at school?"

Hitomi ripped her attention away from the TV. "Hey mom. School was same as usual. Although we are supposed to be having a new student coming next week. So, what's for supper?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that. What should we have?" She meandered back into the kitchen to look around some more. She pulled out some pasta, meat, cheese, and various veggies and herbs out of the cupboard. She opened one last drawer and closed it with disapointment. Tapping her lip, she took a moment to think. Van remained slumped in one of the kitchen chairs, listening to his music again with his eyes closed.

"Well I was thinking about making some spaghetti, but I'm going to need a few more things. Would you run over to the store and get them for me?" she asked her daughter.

"Sure. What do you need me to get?" Hitomi inquired as she got off the couch.

"I need you to buy a can of tomato paste, a cucumber, some celery, orange juice, and some salad dressing. Here I'll make a list." Grabbing a post it note from the fridge, she scribbled the items down in her flowery hand.

"Is there anything else you need?" Hitomi strolled into the kitchen lazily.

"I don't think so dear…" Mrs Kanzaki's eyes travelled to the shaggy black-haired youth. Her mouth curved into a small secretive smile.

"Why don't you take Van along with you, Hitomi?"

Upon hearing his name Van perked up and shut his music off.

"Huh?" they responded unintelligently together. Hitomi was surprised that her mom suggested taking Van with her. And Van well, he simply missed the conversation.

"Take Van with you. It'll give you two something to do together without fighting." She chuckled softly.

"Sure, I've got nothing else better to do." Van shrugged.

"No. No way. I'm not going with you. I can manage this on my own, thank-you very much." Hitomi folded her arms, ready to ignore Van.

"Hitomi, take him with you. It won't do any harm," her mother replied tiredly, annoyed at her daughter's childish behaviour. Channelling her inner saint, she herded Hitomi to the front door. Van silently followed their example.

"Have a safe trip." Mrs Kanzaki put on a pleasantly cheerful grin as she handed Hitomi some money and the grocery list. Hitomi rolled her eyes, a sigh escaping her. She accepted the money and grocery list from her mother and stuffed it into the pocket of her coat. Gloomily she slipped her coat on and waited by the door for Van.

"Didn't you bring a jacket, Van?" Mrs Kanzaki pointed at his red hoodie.

Van looked down at his baggy hoodie, inky hair spilling over his features. He shook his head.

"But aren't you going to be cold?"

He looked down at his hoodie again.

"No"

Hitomi sighed again. "He'll be fine mom. Can we go now?" She tapped her foot with impatience. Hitomi wanted to get the trip done and over with.

"Alright you two, off you go then." She shook her head in dismay. Teenagers

They stepped outside into the nippy October wind. It always amazed Hitomi how warm and welcoming the warm colour of Autumn leaves were in comparison to the chilly weather. With no time to lose, Hitomi took her normal quick strides down the street. Van stumbled after her.

"Hitomi…?" Van smiled sheepishly

"Yeah, what is it now?"

"Where are we going?"

Hitomi laughed despite her attempts to keep a straight face. "We're going to the store Van. Where did you think we were going?" Her eyes glittered with amusement. Van found himself drinking them in with a dumbfounded expression.

"Oh," he stammered and quickly averted his gaze. "Oh, I thought she wanted to get us out of the house or something." Van chuckled. Hitomi rolled her big emerald eyes at him.

"Get you out of the house more likely. You're the little hell raiser after-all." She grinned, forgetting that she was slightly mad at him.

"I am not," he protested.

"Oh please Van, spare me the innocent act. Who convinced Merle to fish out my goldfish out of my aquarium? Who recently put coloured chalk into my laundry? Who rolled toilet paper down our halls to see how far they'd go? Who fed Merle and Seth an insane amount of sugar before going to the library? Well Van?" She smirked and smugly waited for a reply.

"Well, um- yeah. You do have a point there." Van grinned from ear to ear.

Hitomi gave him a playful shove. "Why are you smiling like that?" She half-laughed.

"Oh nothing. I was thinking…" Van shoved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.

"About what?" She gave him another shove. "Tell me."

"You don't stay mad at me long, do you? I always do something that pisses you off but you never stay mad." A grin curved his mouth and he waited for another shove from Hitomi.

"Yeah, I guess so. You've got your mom to thank for that." She continued to smile with amusement.

Van blinked. "Um yeah. I guess I do." He rubbed the back of his head

They continued to walk in realtive silence, their destination around the corner. Hitomi allowed her eyes to wander to the not so green scenery. Fanalia was home to a seemingly endless supply of trees. At this time of year they were all shedding their bright lively colourful leaves. She loved autumn, but not as much as she loved winter.

Hitomi waltzed into the store, aprasing the long line of aisles.

"You might as well make yourself useful." She ignored Van's bored stare and handed him a shopping basket. Producing the shopping list from her jacket pocket, she led the way towards the produce section. Van shuffled his feet after her.

After what felt like an eternity to Van, he filed a complaint. "Hitomi, aren't we done yet? What else do we need to get?" he huffed with a pout.

"I need to get one more thing." She led him down a new aisle.

"Here let me see the list." He wanted insurance that his boredom wouldn't last long.

"Fine, whatever." She tossed the list into his shopping basket and continued her quick pace. Van walked blindly after her, reading the list. After doing that, he checked the basket. He came to a startling conclusion.

"But Hitomi, we already have everything on the list," he exclaimed as he looked up.

Hitomi stopped, eyes trailng down the shelves.

"Well then why are we still here? We have everything," he grumbled to himself. Why has she stopped? Van turned slowly to see what Hitomi was looking at.

His mouth dropped in pure horror. He tried to say something- anything but it only came out as inaudible squeaks. Van was mortified. Any boy his age would be. Tampons, pads, and other feminine products stared at him menacingly from the shelves across from him. Hitomi calmly bent down and picked up a box of tampons. Oblivious, she dropped the box into the shopping basket. Van looked down at the horrible box with dread.

"Okay Van, we can go now. Van?" He stood there in awkward silence.

"We can go now. Why are you so pale?"

Van looked up with a drained face."It's nothing," he squeaked out hoarsely.

Hitomi shrugged. "Alright then, let's go." Van held the basket as far away from himself as possible and followed Hitomi to the check-out line. Why me? Why didn't I go to Gaddess' house? Dealing with Allen doesn't look so bad now…

He gulped and helped Hitomi put their things on the conveyer belt with a careful hand. Heaven forbid his hand touch that horrible box...