"Seriously?"

Okako groaned, letting his head flop back. "Man… I knew this was going to happen," he muttered.

The girl sitting across the desk from him watched him with a bored expression. "Would it help if I told you it wasn't entirely my fault…?" he asked, leaning forwards slightly. She pursed her lips.

"You are considered legally responsible, considering the lease conditions you signed and the fact that the initial violation was your fault, a fact you didn't contest," she said, sounding unenthusiastic, much like she was reading from a script. "So, unfortunately, we must reject your application for a room renewal. We would like to request that you do not consider reapplying for a reasonable period of time."

"What's a reasonable period of time?" he asked.

"Generally, two to four quarters, depending on the level of the violation. In your case…" she said, glancing down at the sheet of paper on the desk in front of her. "I'd say not until next fall quarter at the earliest." She looked back up at him. "Consider yourself lucky. If the explosion had caused damage to anything out of your room chances are you would have been expelled from the hall permanently."

He leaned over, holding his head in his right hand, his elbow resting on his knee. "Dammit."

The girl sighed a little pointedly. "Is that all sir?" she asked.

He looked back up at her, a little annoyed. "Yeah, fine," he said, standing and grabbing his jacket.

"Have a nice day," she said, turning to her computer screen and starting to type.

He shuffled out of her office and through the student services office. He walked out of the building and started across campus, towards where he parked his car. It was just bad luck, the whole explosion, and now he didn't have anywhere to live. No way he could afford an apartment. He went home enough as it is for meals, seeing as he barely had any money for food other then freeze-dried meals and instant noodles. "Ugh!" he groaned, causing a couple girls walking past to glance over at him curiously. "This sucksss…" he mumbled to himself, reaching his car and unlocking it.

"I wonder if I go home… if I'd have to pay rent…"

Meanwhile…

Sakura pushed her pencil away and picked up her physics exam, standing and carrying it up to the teacher's desk. A couple people glanced up from their own exams momentarily as she walked past and set it down on the small pile of already completed finals. "Thank you," the teacher said with a nod.

"Thanks…" she said quietly, walking back to her seat. She put her pencil in her purse and grabbed her coat, walking quietly out of the classroom. She was one of the first to get done with her exam, which was the last of the day for her. Tenten looked up at her as she walked out and Sakura glanced back at her before letting the door close behind her. She started down the deserted hallway as she pulled her coat on, juggling her purse from one arm to another. She tied it closed, walking out into the cold afternoon, bracing herself for the sudden gust of freezing wind. She walked down the front way, towards the bus, before a car pulled up in front of her.

"Hey Sakura, want a ride home?" Okako asked.

She nodded, squinting into the wind as she tossed her bag into the backseat and climbed into the passenger seat. "Thanks," she said, shivering slightly as she closed the door. "You done with finals already?" she asked.

"I was done yesterday," Okako said, driving down the road towards their house.

"Cool," Sakura said, leaning back in the seat. "Why do you sound all depressed?" she asked, making a face at him.

He sighed. "I got kicked out of my dorm," he said, grimacing.

Sakura snorted. "Wow… really? What are you going to do then?"

"Hope mom and dad haven't rented the house out yet," he said, looking nervous.

"I don't think they have," she said. "You want to stay there?"

"Yeahhh…" Okako said. "I kind of… am broke… so I pretty much need to stay there or else I'll be homeless." He glanced over at her sheepishly.

She stared at him blankly. "How are you broke?" she finally asked.

"Long story. Hey, that's a cool car!" he said, pointing out of the window towards nothing in particular.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, as they pulled up at their house. "Mom and dad are home early today to get ready for the move…" she said, sighing slightly. "I guess I should start packing also."

"Hey, why do you not want to go so badly? I bet a lot of people would love to move to London," he said as he turned the car off and climbed out.

"London would be exciting, but I don't want to have to leave my friends halfway through the school year, go somewhere new, and know that if I even manage to make any friends I'll have to leave them in six months. It sounds lonely," Sakura said, reaching back to grab her purse and slamming the car door shut behind her. "I have enough going on without having to go through an emotional "event" like that, let alone two."

"Oh… yeah, that does sound pretty crappy," he said, opening the door to the house.

"Sakura, is that you?" her mother called from the kitchen.

Sakura kicked her shoes off. "Yeah. Okako's here too!" she shouted back.

Her mom poked her head out of the kitchen. "Okako? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Heyyy mom," he said, laughing a little nervously as he walked over to give her a hug.

Their dad also walked out of the kitchen. "What did you do, Okako?" he asked, upon hearing the nervous tone of Okako's voice.

Their mom pulled back, raising an eyebrow. Okako sighed. "Yeah… about that… I sort of, um, can't go back to the dorm next quarter."

"What? Why?" their dad asked.

"Haha!" Okako said. "It's actually a really funny story! Also a long one, so let's just say there was an… accident… and I caused a little bit of damage to the room."

"How much damage?" Their mom asked warily.

Okako coughed. "Enough to get me banned from applying for the rest of the school year," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Their mom started laughing as their dad swore. "Are you serious? Really Okako, really?" she asked.

Sakura walked past them into the kitchen as their dad started to berate Okako. She rustled around in the fridge until she pulled out a cheese stick and started eating it, sitting down on a stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen. She heard their conversation grow slightly quieter as they walked into the living room, until she couldn't hear them anymore. She leaned forwards, chewing on the cheese and pulling a magazine towards her so she could flip through it.

There was an interesting article about compact hiking equipment, an activity Sakura liked to do, so it was nice to read about some more lightweight options. Good to know she didn't have to break her back every time she went climbing around the nearby mountains with her family. Or whatever mountains there are around mountains, she corrected herself. She hadn't noticed when the hushed buzz of conversation stopped, but she did notice when Okako and her parents appeared in the doorway.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up and eating the last bite of her cheese.

"Sakura…" her mom started. "We've been talking, and… and Okako has an idea you may be interested in."

Sakura cupped her chin in her hands, her elbows set firmly on the counter. "What is it?" she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Sooo," Okako started, "I'm going to be staying in the house due to my… um… living situation issues… and mom and dad and I were talking and I mentioned what you told me in the car." Sakura raised an eyebrow slightly.

"We love traveling with you Sakura," her mother said. "But not if there's going to be extra ramifications like the kind you're obviously anticipating. So, because Okako is going to be staying at the house, and is technically a legal adult," she said, throwing a look at Okako, who cowered a little, "we thought you could stay here with him while we're in London."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "W-what?" she asked, in a small voice.

Sakura's dad nodded. "Imagine, getting to spend allll of that time with your beloved brother," he said, chuckling slightly.

Sakura stared at them. "Honey," Sakura's mom said, hugging her around the shoulders. "We know you've been working hard to try and put yourself out there a little more, and we'd hate to have to undermine that because of your dad's job. We'd miss you, but it's only for six months, and we'd be back before summer vacation."

"Thank you!" Sakura exclaimed, flinging her arms around her mom. Her mom laughed slightly. Sakura pulled back a little. "I'll definitely miss you guys though," she said, sounding uncertain.

"We'll miss you too Sakura."

That Night…

Ino bustled around, setting up for the party. People weren't going to be arriving for a little while, so she was getting out the food and drinks and everything. She took a swig of her own drink, leaning up against her kitchen counter and shaking her hair back behind her shoulders. She sighed, glancing around the kitchen to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

She heard a knock on the door and frowned. 'Its way too early for anyone to get here,' she thought, taking another sip of her drink, before going to answer it. "Yea-" she started, the words falling short as she saw who it was. Sakura was standing in her doorway, expressionless. "Sakura…?" Ino asked.

"So… I'm staying. I'm not going to London," Sakura said.

"You're not going to London?" Ino asked, blinking.

"I'm not going to London."