Hi everyone!

So, I know this is off to a slow start, but bare with me. I do have a reason for things being so slow.

I promise that the real action will start in a couple chapters. I just need to establish the newer characters to avoid any annoying 'Mary Jane' scenarios.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. There are no real warnings just yet, but there will be a few more serious moments here and there.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and will leave me some love at the bottom.

The Manor

2nd floor

Katsume stood in front of the mirror in his room inspecting his reflection. In the weeks since he came here, he'd begun to look healthier and the dark circles under his eyes were almost gone. He looked down at his wrists and saw that even the scars on his wrists were fading. The raised skin was still visible, but the scars weren't an angry red anymore; now they were a light pink against his olive skin.

He looked in the mirror and his eyes zeroed in on the tattooed outline of the angel wings that curled around his right shoulder. It was the one thing he regretted about leaving the shelter; he'd had to leave without the tattoo being finished.

No one knew about his time with the amateur tattoo artist at the shelter. What he'd done was against the rules, but when Francine had mentioned that she was looking for a human canvas, he couldn't resist. The lines of the tattoo were clean, and no one could mistake what the design was supposed to be, but they were only an outline; nothing had been shaded in. Sadly, about a week before he'd left, she'd been busted, and her equipment had been confiscated.

Maybe one day, I'll have the money to get it finished.

"It's not a bad design, who did that for you?" Trent asked as he stopped in the doorway.

Katsume spun around to see his guardian looking at him with his head cocked to the side. The young teen had no idea what to say.

"You're not in trouble, you don't have to hide anything from me."

"A friend from the shelter, I know I'm not supposed to have any ink until I'm 18…" He trailed off as Trent nodded.

"Wait, you're not going to lecture me about this?"

Trent huffed as he asked for permission to walk in the door. When Katsume nodded 'yes', Trent walked up to him and motioned for him to lift his arm, so he could inspect the work.

"No, I'm not that type of guardian. The only thing I'm concerned about is whether or not the artist who did this used contaminated needles. Did they at least sterilize the needles and clean the tattoo gun?"

"Yeah, she used rubbing alcohol and she used a lighter to sterilize the needle. The doctor at the hospital ran blood work on me."

Trent nodded and then knelt, getting a closer look at his rib cage where a few more feathers were visible.

"I can't believe you're not mad about these."

A smile ghosted across Trent's face as he stood back up. "I've got no room to judge, really. I've done a few things in my time that I'm not proud of. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to be your guardian and if you mess up bad enough, I'll discipline you accordingly. But this happened before you were under my care."

He paused and gave Katsume a calculating look. "I'll make a deal with you. Keep your grades up, stay out of trouble and when you're 18, I'll take you to a professional and we'll get the design finished."

"Really?" The teen asked in surprise.

Trent nodded and cracked a smile. "No one wants to go through life with a half-finished tattoo. Now, when you're done getting dressed, come downstairs. The meeting with Ms Anderson is in an hour and a half. If you want to get some breakfast, then we should leave soon."

Katsume couldn't keep the grin off his face as he walked over to the bed and picked up his shirt. Trent chuckled and walked out of the room.

Maybe he really could do this whole parenting thing.

Angel Grove High School

Ms. Anderson's office

"Come in, Mr. Fernandez."

Trent walked into the office with Katsume following behind him and sat down behind the desk. The walls of the room were painted just like one would expect in a school, but the pictures on the wall were not what one would expect. They were of her in her GI and in one snapshot in particular, she was standing a little bruised and cut up with a referee holding her gloved hand up in victory.

There were a number of trophies decorating her office, but a minute later, his eyes were drawn to a shadow box in the corner. In it was a polaroid of two little girls. One of them was obviously a younger 10-year-old version of the woman watching him and the second was a young girl with brown hair and glasses. Alongside it was an old worn friendship bracelet along with a catholic rosary necklace.

"That's my childhood friend, Mae. We were thick as thieves when she was alive."

Trent looked at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. This is…not what I expected."

Gabriella nodded. "Well, we don't all sit at home crocheting tea cozies and watching Martha Stewart."

Trent cracked a smile. "Duly noted." A moment later, he sat down in front of the desk with an amused Katsume next to him.

"Now, that we don't have the distractions from the mall, we can get down to business." Miss Anderson started off. Today she was wearing a blue button-down blouse with a pair of flared out jeans. A pair of black studs adorned her ears and a matching choker was around her neck. Her blonde hair was braided in the French style and she wore just enough makeup to bring out her features.

"My name is Gabriela Anderson and I moved here from stone canyon with my son last year after the school board started rooting out the bad seeds. You'll find when the school starts next week, that many of the staff has been replaced. We're all hoping for a fresh start without much more than first day jitters."

"As you've seen from my pictures, along with a degree in child psychology, I'm also a semi professional MMA fighter with two championships under my belt. I had to fight hard to achieve all this while raising a son. I know it's got nothing to do with being a school counselor, but I hope that it will encourage students to come to me if they're experiencing trouble and need someone to talk to."

Trent was blown away; not only was she beautiful, but she could kick ass too. He mentally shook himself and responded.

"I'm Trent Fernandez and I recently moved here from Reefside and I'm the recently appointed guardian to Kastume along with being his benefactor. I've been doing Martial Arts since I was 8 and was adopted by my father, Anton Mercer."

Gabrielle nodded and then looked at Katsume. "Your turn. What are your hobbies?"

The young man nodded. I used to live at the Los Angel's children's shelter and in my spare time, I volunteered at the Animal Shelter helping dogs and cats to get adopted. After Trent and his friends rescued me from my old probation officer, I came home with them to Angel Grove and have a room of my own in their manor."

"Wait, you live at Pebble Brook Manor?" Asked Gabriella. "Isn't that…"

Trent nodded. "I don't like to talk about it, but yes. That's where it happened…at least part of it. Two of the sweetest pit bulls I've ever met are buried there. I know I'm sugar coating things, but it's all too awful to speak of, and I want to keep things positive for right now."

Gabriella nodded. "Very well." She looked back at Katsume. "Now, you didn't tell me what you do for your hobbies. We have a few extra curricular classes you might interested in as well as some school clubs you could join. If you should want to go to college after you graduate, being involved in school clubs would look great on your college applications."

Saying this, she pulled out a paper and presented it to them both.

Katusme gave it a quiet look and then looked at Trent. The young adult shrugged. "It's all up to you. I don't really need to work except for helping out at the dojo. I have no problem picking you up after school if that's what you're worried about."

Katsume nodded and then looked up at the councilor. "I draw, and I like art. At the shelter, I never considered to anything beyond that."

"That's a very good place to start." Gabrielle said approvingly. "We do have an art club here and that could expand to other clubs. Feel free to get involved in whatever club interests you; just make sure that your grades come first and don't get involved in so many that you collapse from exhaustion. It has happened before, and I don't want to see it happen again."

She paused and looked at his file again. "Now, I've seen the transcripts from your last school and I noticed you didn't do well in Math or Home Economics. Is there any particular reason why?"

Katsume shrugged. "I lived at the shelter, we didn't have anywhere to practice cooking since everything was given to us. The math teacher scared me and was constantly picking on me. I knew the answers, but if I didn't do it the way she wanted, then I got zeroes and low test scores. After a while, I just gave up."

Gabriella gave him a compassionate look. "Well, let's hope that doesn't happen here. I like seeing kids succeeding, so if you have those kinds of problems, come see me and I'll do what I can to help you out. I'm sure Trent will say the same thing to you when you leave, but know that my door is open to you."

The counselor paused and pulled out a manilla folder.

"Now, this is usually done at the start of the school year, but I can just hand your locker number now and the combination along with the basic red planner. I'm also assuming that you've gotten your school supplies already?"

Katsume nodded.

"Very good, now all we need to do is go by the secretary office and get your school ID and then you should be ready when school starts next week."

After they were done, and Katsume had his brand new school ID, they left the school and got back into the car.

"So, how do you think the meeting went?" Trent asked his ward. "That was a lot to take in."

"I'm good. It shouldn't be any different than my last school."

"I know home economics is a challenging class. If it's cooking that you're struggling with, ask Rocky or Kyle. They are masters when it comes to food."

"Did you struggle with cooking?"

Trent nodded. "Yeah, I did at first. At home, we had staff to cook our food. But, that all changed when I started working at Haley's Cyber Café. I became really good at making smoothies. Once in a while I worked the fryer and grill, but it was my crash course in the kitchen. I'll probably never become an expert in making crème brulee or Baked Alaska, but I can at least make fried food and milkshakes."

Katsume grinned. "Then we both suck in the kitchen. I feel better now."

Trent laughed at him. "Yeah, we do."

They both sat in comfortable silence as Trent pulled out of the parking lot and turned on the main road.

"So, where are we going now?" Katsume asked.

"Well, first, I'm taking you back to the manor, I know you guys have plans to spend the last week of vacation together so I'm not gonna delay you any longer than I have to. As for me, I'm going to go settle into the new town house. I got a text earlier today that it's ready for move in and I'm going to go get the keys."

"Does it really bother you to live in the manor that much?" Katsume asked in a soft voice.

Trent exhaled softly. "Yeah. It's nothing you've done, but I'm dealing with some personal stuff and I need to be alone to do that. I'm still going to be in touch with you and I'll come if I'm needed, but I just need to be alone right now."

Katsume wanted to know more, but the uncomfortable silence was enough to stop him from asking further questions. "I'm sorry for prying."

Trent shook his head. "It's ok. I know it will take a long time to get used to our relationship. You're free to ask questions and I'm sure I'll be asking you loads of questions too."

"I'll keep that in mind." The boy replied as he looked out the window.

The Manor

Ok, so whenever you and your friends decide what to do for fun, let me know and I'll pay for your half of it. You still have the card and I'll just transfer whatever you need or have Rocky or Adam call me. I'll settle up with them."

"Got it." Katsume said with a grin as he exited the car and ran up the stairs.

When he was in the door, and Trent was alone in the drive way, the veteran ranger sighed and rested his head against the back of his seat.

It was time to take a break from being a guardian. Trent was ready to go to his new house and eat hot wings, drink some beer, and sit around in nothing but his boxers while watching violent movies. Anything to get Ms. Anderson out of his mind.

He was so glad that his ward hadn't picked up on how attracted he was to the pretty councilor. Thankfully, the moment he started to feel anything for her, he stopped himself and put up his barriers. He was not ready for a relationship and the beautiful strong woman deserved better than to be used as a rebound girlfriend.

Trent opened his eyes and after taking a deep cleansing breath, he pulled out of the driveway, turned on a rock station and headed for the new townhouse.

The moment he walked into the house, Katsume was swamped by the dogs…even Junior was there to greet him. At first he'd felt overwhelmed, but now, he knew what to expect and he knelt down before them and let it happen. He'd never felt so loved in his life.

"Okay, okay, guys. I missed you to, but if you could let me come up for air, that'd be awesome." He said trying to push the dogs away.

Finally, he heard Conner's voice. "Alright you mutts, let him up!"

Instantly the dogs backed up and sat on their behinds with their tails wagging excitedly. Katsume grinned up at Conner who was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. "Go lay down, you crazy pups."

They all yipped at him and trotted all out of the room, except for Beatrice who licked Katsume's face one last time before following her pack out of the room.

When they were gone, Conner shook his head unable to fight he grin on his face. He walked over and held out his hand, helping the young teenager onto his feet. "Come eat with us, we've been waiting for you!"

When Katsume walked into the kitchen, he was hit with the smell of hot pizza and breadsticks. He inhaled the delicious scent and grinned. Fresh hot pizza was something that he hadn't smelled in a long time. The mall's pizza was okay, but delivery pizza was something else entirely.

"Hey, don't just stand there sniffing this gooey goodness!" Kyle said with a grin. "Grab a soda and come join us!"

With a grin, he eagerly complied.

Once he was seated, he took a couple slices from the box and took a few glorious bites. When he'd chased it down with a sip of this drink. He asked what the special occasion was.

"We're having a debate about where to spend out last week of freedom." Autumn said with a grin. "Every year, the week before school starts we have one last fun fest. Before, it was just me and Kyle, but this year, we're going to have some real fun!"

The Asian teenager nodded and then asked. "And the destination is up for debate?"

"Yep," Ranook confirmed "And we were waiting for you to get here to get your input."

"I get a vote?" Katsume asked in surprise. "That's never happened before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Aisha said with a grin. "Is there any place other than Disney Land that you've wanted to go?"

At his confused look, Aisha added. "We promised both Kayla and Fabian to not go there without them. They'd be devastated if we didn't let them come with us."

"We've already suggested, Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags, Great Wolf Lodge." Here Klyle paused with a mischievous grin. "And Las Vegas."

"No, I said Las Vegas is out." Rocky interrupted. "Nice try, Son."

Kyle smirked at his dad. "It was worth another shot."

"Yeah, Son. Still, no chance of going there."

Sapphire shook her head. "We were leaning towards Universal Studios, but we didn't think you wanted to go back to where you had all that trouble."

Katsume shook his head. "No, it's okay. Don't need to cater to me. If you guys want to go there, then I'm good with that. Besides, we're not going anywhere close to my old stomping grounds."

Rocky shook his head. "No, we're not. We'd be keeping to the hotel or the park; nowhere in between and Aisha and I are going to be shadowing you guys at all times."

Katsume thought hard. "Okay, my vote is for Universal Studios."

It ended up being a unanimous decision and Rocky nodded. "We figured as much." He rubbed his hands together. "Okay, so if that's the case, then we all need to get to bed as soon as you pack. We're taking the RV because there's so many of us. Be up by 6AM and out the door by 7. I'm not about to do a Home Alone and leave anyone behind."

"Home alone?" Kastume asked. "I don't know what that is."

Rocky groaned. "Okay, and while we're at it, a 90's movie marathon."

Kyle grinned. "This is going to be fun!" Then he paused and looked at Conner. "Are you guys going?"

Conner shook his head. "Nah, it wouldn't be very fun with Kira unable to ride the rides. We're going to stay here and help run the Dojo. Maybe after the baby is born."

With the promise of fun awaiting them in the morning, it didn't take long to get finished with dinner. By 10:00 the kids were fast asleep.

What did you guys think? Feel free to hit that review button and leave me your thoughts and theories.

Up next, the kids have a final few days of fun before the drama starts. See you then!