Summertime, one of the times she hated the most. The sunlight filtering into the room though the blinds annoyed her as she tried to curl up under her bedsheets to block out the light. But then it was too deathly hot and she had to wriggle out of her tangling sheets, glaring bitterly at the shades that were failing to block the light.

Giving up on trying to make the shades suddenly combust via glare, she turned her head to look at the clock on the beside table. It read 9:42 AM.

Sighing, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, slowly standing up while stretching her arms over her head. A long yawn escaped her. It was too damn early.

She turned and grabbed a corner of the tangled bedsheets, working at getting them all straight and fixed on her bed. After struggling against the sheets and finally suceeding in her goal, she looked at the clock again to find four minutes had gone by.

It just wasn't fair, she decided, that no matter what she did she just couldn't sleep in. Until noon was all she asked for, but the latest she'd slept in was until eleven once.

Her lips quirked downward as she quietly padded over to her dresser, going through the drawers slowly before almost mechanically picking out several things that would fit together in an acceptable outfit.

Satisfied, at least somewhat, at the outfit, she made her way to her bedroom door and opened it, taking a single step into the hallway- only to end up sprawled on the floor, stars in her vision from suddenly slamming into the wall.

Shaking her head to clear it, she looked down to see what had caused her to slip, catching sight of her little brother's skateboard, now somewhere down the hall.

It figures, she thought, I'm not even up ten minutes and he's already ruined my day.

It's not that she hated him, she mused as she opened the bathroom door and went inside, setting her clothes down on the sinktop, looking into the mirror. She reached up and gingerly touched where her head had hit the wall, wincing at the mild pain.

That's going to leave a big lump, I hope dad doesn't ask about it.

she wouldn't comment to her parents though, she'd just tell her brother to be more careful with his toys, as he was still young and therefore likely to forget things like this.

She ran through all the tasks she had to perform to not only get her shower but look 'acceptable' in society. Looking herself over in the mirror once more, she dumped her pjamas into the hamper before slipping out of the bathroom.

A delicious smell was in the air, causing her to sniff at it to try and figure out what her dad was cooking before she smiled widely. Pancakes. Pancakes were always good in the morning.

Feeling like maybe her day wasn't as bad as she had first thought it was, she made her way down the small hallway, then down the stairs, taking a turn to walk into the kitchen where-

Smack!

Her face was met with a flying pancake. With butter, syrup, whipped cream, strawberries, and all. There was a brief burst of laughter from her brother while she slowly twitched, the pancake sliding off her face to plop to the floor.

"Why... are we throwing pancakes?" she asked the now-silent room, trying to keep her anger in check.

"It was an accident!" her brother cried, but the smile he was trying and failing to hide told her it hadn't been one at all.

She glared at him, deciding that yes, her day really was going to be as bad as she'd thought it would be, before turning towards her father who was giving her brother a stern look.

"I think he should have his skateboard taken away, it nearly killed me when I stepped on it in the hallway," she told him, enjoying the striken look on her brother's face.

Sighing, her father turned towards the stove top and poured some pancake batter onto it, ready to make a replacement pancake for the one his son had ruined.

"Tom," he started, "you know we've told you not to leave your skateboard in the hallway."

Her brother puffed out his cheeks and quickly replied, "But dad, I was going to put it up but then you called me in for breakfast and I forgot!"

Seeing that her father was leaning towards listening to the excuse, she quickly said, "That just means that you shouldn't have a skateboard if you can't take care of it properly."

He stuck his tongue out at her but she was more focused on their father.

He nodded slowly before turning his head to look at them both. "Tom, if you can't put up your skateboard them we'll have to take it away."

Her brother looked down into his lap and scowled before muttering a sullen, "Yes dad."

Happy that she'd won and gotten revenge on her brother for ruining her day, she got a few paper towels and first wiped the food off her face and then leant down and picked up the fallen pancake, wiping off the floor and throwing it and hte paper towels into the trash. She scowled at her brother because he was making faces at her.

"Y'know Kokoro, you shouldn't scowl. You look a lot more cute when you smile!"

Blinking at the words that ran through her head, she shook it to try and clear them out of it, confused at where she'd heard them before. No one she knew would call her cute other than her parents, and her parents used her real name. Her real name was Aki Suzume, but she preferred to call herself "Kokoro Aki", as it was translated to "Autum Heart", which sounded romantic in her opinion.

"Are you alright?" her dad asked her, looking over at her in slight concern.

She smiled and nodded to ease his worry, walking over to the kitchen table and sitting down, patiently waiting for her pancake.

She winced as her brother stabbed his fork at his own pancake before gobbling it down, sticky syrup getting on his face.

As her eyes wandered around the kitchen, she wondered if her mom would be off at work right now, like she was usually, and whether her dad would go out to get a job.

Her father placed a plate with her pancake on it in front of her, setting down the syrup bottle next to it.

She smiled at him, knowing she only liked syrup with her pancakes, unlike her brother who loaded tons of junk onto his.

"Thank you dad."

"You're welcome," he said, answering smile just as warm as hers was before he sat down at his own seat.

As she was putting the syrup onto her pancake, her brother watching her like a hawk waiting for the opportune moment to steal away a few morsels, she heard her dad cough lightly.

she looked curiously at him while carefully cutting up her pancake.

He smiled sheepishly and ate a piece of his own pancake before answering her silent question. "Do you think you'll be going to the park today?"

Frowning thoughtfully, she ate a few pieces of her pancake, noting the hopeful look on her brother's face. If she went to the park she'd have to take him as well, and while she normally didn't mind that at all, they had had the skateboard issue just earlier and she didn't know how her brother would act when they were out of their father's sight.

Deciding she'd rather deal with her brother's antics than stay home, she nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'll go to the park. I bet they haven't fed the ducks lately."

She anticipated her brother's yell of "Yes!" in response to her answer, smiling at his happy reaction. If only he could be good all the time instead of just some.

Her father looked relieved at her answer, finishing off the last of his food. "That's good, I needed you two to find something to do while I'm out looking for a job."

Both of them knew what that meant, and even as her brother asked, "Mom has work again?", they knew the answer already.

"Well, yes," their dad admitted, looking away. "But she has to constantly work since I got laid off last month."

She felt proud when her brother said, "It's not either of your fault!" He was truly beginning to grow up.

Their father smiled gratefully at them before standing up and gathering each of their plates up, going over to the sink to wash them off. Aki stood up and went over to help with drying off the plates, Tom gathering up the rest of the breakfast items and putting them away.

"You two kids take care," their father gently said before he hugged each of them, Tom hugging him for longer than Aki, smiling up at him.

"You go knock 'em out and get you that job!" he encouragingly told him.

Grinning, their father ruffled up his hair and nodded in agreement.

"Good luck dad," Aki added in, having gone to get his bag and coat, holding both out for him.

He chuckled at her helpfullness, taking the coat and pulling it on before taking the bag. "You both know my cell, and you know where your mom works."

"And we know the number for emergency services," Tom added in.

"And where all the cops live around here," Aki finished for them.

Chuckling quietly, knowing that both he and their mother told them so much that they had remembered everything.

"Okay, I'm heading out then. I'll see you both later when I get home. Be careful you two."

Having said the ritual, he opened the front door and left, shutting it behind him. Like so many other times, the siblings waited and listened for the sound of the car starting and then for it to pull out and drive away.

Once sure that their father was really gone, Aki turned to her brother and said, "Get everything you want to take with you."

"Yes ma'am," he cried, smiling widely before running off to his room.

She smiled and shook her head before going to her own room to collect what she wanted. Putting her bag on her bed, she placed each item in it before picking the bag up and moving to the kitchen, setting it down on the counter. She picked out a few pieces of bread and put them in a baggie, placing that in the bag as well as grabbing a few bottles of water and a few snacks.

The sound of running footsteps announced that her brother was done, him racing into the kitchen, bag thumping onto the ground when he let go of it.

"Ready to go?" she asked, zipping up her bag and looping the strap over her shoulder.

He nodded enthusiastically and picked up his bag again, running to the front door and opening it quickly, waiting for her. She patted his head as she went outside, waiting for him to look and close the door before she would start for the nearby park.

He walked at her side, the both of them silent on the way, both enjoying the air and the walk. They didn't need to talk really, there was nothing they could really say.

When they got to the park she looked around and then pointed towards the lake to tell him that she would be there. He nodded and pointed in the direction of the skating area before starting off towards it.

She found the ducks in their usual spot by the shore, setting down her bag before kneeling down to unzip it and took out the little baggie with the bread.

Already the ducks were moving over, waiting for her to feed them. Smiling at their eagerness, she opened the bag and took out the bread, breaking it into little pieces before slowly tossing them to the ducks, making sure the bread would last a few minutes.

When the bread was all gone and the ducks had lost interest and wandered off, she lied back on the grass and stared up at the sky before closing her eyes. She was actually rather tired now, and as she closed her eyes she felt herself drifting into sleep.

The grass had become... soft? She frowned and rolled over in her sleep, puzzled as the ground gave into her body and sunk a little. That wasn't natural.

She forced her eyes open and turned onto her back, sitting up and looking around. She was in a room, and on a bed. She most certainly hadn't fallen asleep here.

Feeling slightly worried, she quickly got out of the bed and moved towards the door, opening it and going through it.

She blinked as a large field met her vision, looking around to see that what she had thought was a house was but a small shack.

Taking a few tentative steps into the field, she sniffed the air. It smelt heavenly somehow... She smiled and took a few more steps, looking around and seeing that it seemed to go for miles.

There were a bunch of trees behind the shack, seeming to be a small forest. She watched a tree branch that was shaking a little before a little flying form shot out of the tree and into another.

Curious about what animal it was, she started walking towards the tree it had gone into.

A sudden voice shouting, "Rhydon, no!" had her turning towards where the voice had called from, body freezing and eyes widening in horror at what she saw.

There was a gigantic horned monster charging straight towards her, roaring loudly.