From now on, I'm just going to write a disclaimer for new things I borrow. The maid outfit that Rose wears for her job is based on the café outfits from Tokyo Mew Mew. Oh, and I used Kurama's step-brother's English name, for those who would be confused otherwise. On with the chapter!

Chapter 16- Daily Life

Sitting down at her desk just as the late bell rang, Rose got ready for her first class. Mr. Mousy stood up from behind his desk, and clapped his hands.

"Alright, class, today we're going to learn about the War of 1812!"

The whole class groaned. Rose put her head down on her desk. "Why did I have to move to Japan the year that they teach American history? I already took this class in 8th grade! I hate Social Studies."

"Oh, come on class, it's not that bad. I'm going to break you up into groups of three, and you'll be responsible for completing an essay and poster on one of the battles." Mr. Mousy looked at his class list.

"Let's see… the first group is Kurama, Riku, and Kairi. You'll be doing the Battle of Lexington and Concord."

"The next group is Rose, Risa, and Kayla. You'll be doing the Battle of New Orleans."

"Oh, great. I get to work with Kayla. It's my lucky day." Rose rolled her eyes.

Despite that, Risa was in the group too. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Rose smiled at Risa, and she smiled back.

"Hey, Rose, you take all of those Art classes with Kurama and Riku, right? Do you want to design the poster?" Risa asked.

"Sure." Rose nodded.

"Ugh. I can't believe I have to work with you." Kayla groaned.

"Geez, Kayla, just shut up and leave Rose alone will you?!" Risa defended.

"It's okay." Rose looked at Kayla. "I know you don't like me, and I have no right to say this, but I'd really like it if we tried to get along. Not right away, but at least think about it?"

Kayla rolled her eyes, but Rose was pretty sure that she heard her mumble a faint, "I'll think about it."

Rose smiled. "Okay, who wants to find information on the generals?"

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After a whole day of school and a load of homework, Rose was exhausted. After she had said goodbye to Kairi, Namine, Roxas and Sora, (everyone else had mysteriously disappeared) Kurama offered to walk her home. Rose became flustered.

"Ah, oh… um, thank you for offering, but ah, um…" Rose stammered.

Kurama smiled. "Don't worry. It's okay if you don't want me to."

Rose mumbled, "… I really am sorry. I couldn't really figure out how to say no nicely."

"I'll se you tomorrow," Kurama gave Rose a hug, "okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Kurama!" Rose waved as they walked away from each other.

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Rose had about a half-hour walk from the school to her apartment. When she got to the building, she waved to the old woman running the administration desk as she trudged up the old beaten-up staircase.

After three flights of stairs and a long walk to the end of the hall, she faced her door. The beat-up brown wood door had three small, faded gold numbers painted on it that read, "112".

Sighing, Rose took out and old silver key and pushed it into the lock. The door wouldn't open.

"Not again." Rose groaned.

After kicking the door a few times and successfully stubbing her toe, the door popped open. Rose slipped the key bag in her schoolbag, stepped inside, and shut the door behind her. She slipped off her black school shoes, and laid them next to the door on top of an old, faded red doormat.

Slipping on her fuzzy pink indoor slipper-shoes, she padded into the kitchen. She tossed her schoolbag on an old worn-out red couch as she passed.

Her "kitchen", which was very, very small, had a faded black linoleum floor. There was small white fridge against the wall, next to a small black counter. A few faded red cabinets were nailed to the walls, and a rickety old red table with two matching chairs sat in the center of the room.

She opened the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of water. Rose took a sip, and then put it back in the fridge. She walked back out to her "living room", and grabbed her schoolbag. She walked back into the kitchen again, sat down at the table, and pulled out her Geometry textbook.

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Kurama walked up the steps to his large house after about a 20- minute walk. He opened the door and called to his mother, "Mother, I'm home!"

"Oh, hello Kurama, dear." Kurama's mother walked out to the landing from the kitchen. She was tall and slender, with long brown hair and kind, dark purple (almost black) eyes. Wiping her flour-covered hands on a blue dishtowel, she asked him,

"How was your day, Kurama?"

Kurama shifted his bag to his other shoulder, and replied, "Good, same as always. Oh, and Rose was back in school today."

His mother smiled. "That's good to hear. She's your new friend who was in the hospital with the flu?"

"You mean his girlfriend, mother!" A brown-haired boy, a few years younger than Kurama, about 13 or 14, appeared out of nowhere behind him.

"Kokoda!" Kurama shouted, surprised.

Kurama's brother smirked. "Oh, so mother doesn't know that little Kurama has a girlfriend." Kokoda laughed maniacally, and ran up the stairs to his room.

"I'll get you later, Kokoda!" Kurama shouted up the stairs angrily.

"Oh, Kurama, so Rose is your girlfriend…?" his mother asked.

"And he's kissed her!" Kokoda peeked his head around the wall at the top of the stairs. After a few seconds of pause, Kokoda ran away again.

Kurama's face was beet red. "I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill him, I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

Kuramas mother smiled warmly. "Oh, that's wonderful, Kurama! I'll bet she's an amazing girl. You've always been… as Kokoda puts it, picky with girls. I've never heard you say that you like a girl before. I'm very happy for you, dear."

Kurama blushed and mumbled, "Thanks…"

"You should invite her over for dinner sometime. I'd like to meet her, and I'm sure Kokoda and your father would like to meet her as well." Kurama's mother dusted some flour off of her light blue sundress.

"Okay. Hopefully Kokoda won't scare her too much." Kurama joked.

"I HEARD THAT!" Kokoda shouted from his room.

Kurama laughed, and then said to his mother, "I'm going up to my room to do my homework."

He slipped off his black school shoes, and trudged up the stairs. He walked to the end of the short hallway, and walked into his room. It was fairly large, with a pale blue carpet and white walls. There was a large bed in one corner, and a dresser by the door.

There was a large window on the right side of the room that took up half of the wall, with large blue curtains hanging in front of it. Right in front of the window, there was a large white desk, with a very new, very expensive laptop computer. Kurama's mother and step-father had given it to him when he got top marks on the school wide exams last year.

Kurama pulled back the curtains of the window to let the sun in, and sighing, sat down at his desk to start his homework.

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About two hours later, Rose wrote the last sentence of her essay on The History of Manga for one of her Art classes, and put her books back in her bag. She walked into her "bedroom" which consisted of a red shag carpet, a small bed with worn-out black sheets, a rickety red dresser, and an old black desk. There was a small window at the very top of one of the walls, letting in only a little bit of sunlight.

She walked over to her dresser, and pulled out the uniform for the café she worked at. It was basically a red maid outfit, with a lot of pink and white lace. There were red and white knee-high socks that went with it, along with pink and red lace ribbons for her hair.

She quickly undressed and pulled the maid outfit over her head. She brushed out her hair, and loosely braided it with a white bow at the top, and a red bow at the bottom of the braid.

Before she left her apartment, she slipped on a pair of red boots that matched her outfit. She opened the door, stepped out, and closed and locked it behind her.

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Wow, I made Kokoda a brat! Ah well, it was fun. Just a warning for everyone, I am temporarily going on hiatus for this story. I am beginning to lose interest in it, and I think a break from it will do me some good. I have a few other fanfictions in mind that I may start soon, so look for those. I will post a notice on my homepage when I start working on this story again. Thanks for reading! Review please!