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Rin sighed loudly as she walked home from the nearby WacDonalds. It was her last day of summer vacation.

Another school year was coming up, her second one at Konahora High, and she was going to be a sophomore. An unwilling sophomore, actually, would be a more precise way to put it.

Honestly, she had never disliked school before, and for some reason, she was always excited to start again after her usual long period of boredom. She always loved the new school materials, the new start on her grades, the new class schedules, and the school shopping (even though they wore uniforms to school, she always loved picking out accessories).

But not this year. Those feelings were always around at the end of summer, but that was before she went to high school. After experiencing the projects, the all-nighters (which she, as a procrastinator, always suffered), and the high school drama, she wasn�t as giddy about the new year as she always was.

It wasn�t that she didn�t like school, because she did, to an extent, but the thought of going back made her groan. She had been lazy most of the summer, and now she had to start her year of stress again. Needless to say, she wasn�t much looking forward to it.

She sighed. This year is going to be completely boring�

At least, that�s what she thought before she turned the corner and saw her house, or at least, what was left of it.

No, her house did not blow up or catch on fire, and it was not damaged in the slightest way, physically. But the house might as well have been destroyed, because as soon as Rin saw the boxes and movers going from her house to the large moving van, she realized that her house wasn�t even her house anymore. Okay, yes, it was still a house, but it wasn�t the same anymore, not without the floral-patterned couch in the front room or the exercise bike in the garage.

A mover in a blue jumpsuit carried a large box without a top, not even realizing how heavy it was, being so used to carrying such loads. Rin�s wide, shocked eyes stared inside the box�s depths, and she saw the TV her mom had bought from their neighbor after he had gone deaf and found no more use of it.

Rin�s mouth began to move, but no words came out, only sputters of disbelief. Surely this had to be some mistake! She tried to cry out to the movers to stop emptying her house and put all those things back where they belonged, inside in their respectable rooms, but her shock had left her speechless.

She saw a box labeled in thick black sharpie: Kaguya�s Clothes. Clothes? These strangers were packing away her mom�s clothes too? What the hell was going on?

Finally, Shikati Kaguya herself came out from the front door, clad in her sophisticated-looking maroon top and long skirt, a decorated and transparent scarf tied around her neck and high-heeled sandals on her feet. Her usually long black hair had recently been cut short stylishly, and at the moment she was smoking, somehow making a normal cigarette look completely fancy.

�Mom�!� Rin finally got out as she sprinted to the posh, young woman on her doorstep. �Mom, what�s going on? Why are these guys getting rid of our stuff?�

�Rin, dear,� Kaguya�s elegant voice rang out in a motherly way, �they aren�t �getting rid of it�. They�re simply putting it in the truck.�

Duh, Rin nearly rolled her eyes, but she found that she couldn�t in her shock. She should�ve known that her mother would be so clueless. Alright, she loved her mom, and despite their different styles, they both respected each other in a mother-daughter way. Still, though, Rin�s panic was getting to her, and questioning Kaguya was getting her nowhere.

She abruptly ran into the house, towards her room upstairs, nearly pushing down one mover who was about to ascend the stairs as well. She couldn�t find herself stringing out an apology, and she burst through her closed door to find all of her things in boxes, but otherwise untouched.

She didn�t know whether to sigh in relief or begin to have a serious panic attack. She did realize, however, that Kaguya had followed her into the room, still smoking her cigarette.

�Mom,� Rin breathed, �what�s going on?�

Kaguya puffed out a burst of smoke. �We�re moving, of course, dear.�

Rin was stunned still. It took her a moment before she was able to react fully. �What do you mean we�re moving?� she exploded. �What�s going on? Tell me! Now!�

Her mother shook her head as though Rin was acting irrationally, which she obviously wasn�t. It wasn�t every day someone moved without even knowing of it until the movers were packing things away. �I�ve simply rented out the house, dear. The tenant has asked us to move out by two, so�� She suddenly shifted into her motherly mode. �I know, I should have told you earlier, but since we don�t see much of each other, I simply haven�t had a moment to chat. You understand.�

Rin�s emotions were so strong they were nearly paralyzed inside of her. �Shouldn�t you have told me before today?� she cried. �And what do you mean �rented out�? Are we broke?�

Kaguya shook her head, a small deep chuckle escaping her, amused that Rin would ever think of her as broke. �Actually, dear, I�ve decided to go to the States.�

�What are you talking about?� Rin�s eyes grew wider. �The US? Like for a big-time vacation or something?�

�No, dear, I don�t plan on coming back for five years. I need to write my novel and study.�

�What are you talking about?� Rin nearly screamed. �Have you gone insane?� She turned her head as the door screeched, three movers coming into the room to get the boxes. �Get away from my stuff!� Rin tried to shoo them, and they nearly listened, although Kaguya immediately ordered them not to.

�Ignore her, gentlemen. And please keep the items in this room separated.�

Rin was too angry and surprised to comment back to the movers, so she picked up her conversation with her mother. �Exactly why did you wait until now to tell me?�

�I had no choice, sweetie,� came the reply. �When I�m home, you�re either sleeping, at school, or with your friends. Besides, you said you didn�t want to study abroad.�

Rin halted again. �Then�what�s going to happen to me?�

Kaguya took her cigarette out of her mouth to speak. �I�ve thought it over. You�ve always wanted the kind of mother other people had, right? An affectionate, thoughtful, and�well�motherly type.�

Rin stared. �What�what do you mean? What are you getting at?�

�Well,� her mom answered, �I�ve recently talked to a friend of mine, Higurashi Mineka, and helped her get that shrine out here. You know the one, just two blocks over? You�ve seen it before, I�m sure, even though it was used mostly for private property rather than an actual shrine. Anyhow, I�ve spoken to her and we�ve organized for you to stay there with her until I�m home or you decide to move out.�

�You�re housing me with strangers?� In a shrine! she mentally cried out.

�Not strangers, dear,� she shook her head. �I�ve known Mineka for a while now, ever since our high school years. She�s a year or two older, though. You�ve never met her, either. She moved farther out to Kyoto right before you were born, in my second year of college.�

Rin brushed the last part off. She heard that story a million times, how her mother was young and pregnant by some guy she never really knew. It didn�t bother her or her mother at all, being so used to knowing what happened. But that was beside the point. Currently, Rin was in a mess, and she still didn�t know where Kaguya was going with all this.

�So I�m going to live with this lady who I don�t even know?�

Kaguya shook her head. �No, dear, you�ll be staying with her family as well.� Rin groaned at her mom�s usual pointless answer. �She lives with her father and child, I believe. You�ll all get along fine.�

Rin narrowed her eyebrows as a mover pushed past her to carry out a box of stuffed toys she had collected over the years. �That doesn�t explain why you�re dumping me to live with some random people. What about school? School starts tomorrow! Will I still be going to Konahora?�

�Yes, dear,� her mother took another drag. �Mineka�s kid will be going there as well, since the old school in Kyoto is obviously much too far.�

Rin shook her head, blinking slowly as her side-ponytail bobbed with the movement. This was the most sudden and random thing that had ever happened to her, and by now it was too late to even protest. The movers were emptying her room out as she spoke with her mother, and it was already planned for her to live with these people she had never ever heard of until now. �I can�t believe this�!�

�Me either, Rin. The States! Isn�t it marvelous?�

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I looked out my bedroom window, watching the shiny, silver coupe drive up in front of our shrine, all the way at the bottom of the countless stairs.

That girl was here now, the girl who�d live with us until further notice. I didn�t know anything about her except the fact that her mom practically dropped her on our doorstep, or at least, she was about to. I never understood how a mother could just leave their kid and forget about them. First me, now that girl who was coming to stay with us.

I watched as the girl and her mom got out of the car. I couldn�t tell from this much of a distance, but the mom looked kind of hip, like those famous girls in the magazines that teenaged girls always read nowadays. She looked so out of place here in the residential area, let alone by a shrine, as though she should be on a red carpet in Hollywood instead of plain old Tokyo.

The girl, though, looked just like any other normal girl around my age. She was bearable, too, at least as far as I could tell. She wasn�t wearing any short skirts or tight pants, just comfortable jeans and a green tee with some kind of logo on the front. Her hair was up too, which practically none of the preppy girls at my old school would even think about doing. All in all, from this bird�s-eye-view, the girl looked alright. Completely normal. That was good.

I turned away from the window before I had to watch them trudge up those countless stairs in the front. If they wanted to sweat at how many there were, I sure as hell wasn�t about to watch them do it. I�d meet those two soon enough anyway, so I planned on just sitting around until I was called downstairs.

That fat cat of mine, Buyou, with all his blubber hanging down, somehow crawled onto my bed, which was covered in blue cotton sheets just right for the current weather. Mom decorated my room in dark colors, of course. That was alright though. I didn�t mind the darkness of it all. It was better than how Mom decorated that girl�s room. Boy, was she in for a heart attack once she saw it�

I pet Buyou for a short while, playfully wagging his tail for him, which he didn�t mind at all. If he were any other cat, I�d already have a dozen band-aids on my face and a fake eye from all the scratches I would get for that tail-pulling. It was pretty beneficial to have a cat who refused to attack because they were too lazy to move their twenty pounds of blubber.

Soon, I heard my mom call for me from the first floor, like I expected.

She called me �Souta� again though, not �Kagome�. I nearly flinched as I felt my eyes began to droop sadly. Honestly, I should be used to this by now.

I sighed, forcing myself to frown and taking the hair tie out of my long black waves to let it down. Mom wouldn�t approve of her �son� putting up �his� hair. It was bad enough that the real Souta had long hair to begin with, but he had always had it like that, ever since before I could remember.

I started to descend the stairs, trying to look as boyish as I possibly could. It wasn�t too hard, with my short eyelashes and baggy clothes (my sweatshirt was extra baggy to cover these big ol� breasts of mine). The skater shoes and pants that were short enough to see the white socks underneath them only passed off the look even more.

�I�ll treat her like my own daughter,� I heard Mom say from downstairs. �My son is only a few years older, so it�ll work out perfectly!�

�I�ll leave everything up to you, Mineka,� I heard a voice I didn�t recognize. It was most likely that girl�s mom, with that classy sound to her voice. �Take good care of my daughter.�

�Oh,� I heard Mom sigh happily, �I�m so happy to be getting a daughter! We can bake cookies, go shopping� Don�t worry about anything. You just go and do what you need to.�

I sighed quietly. I used to do those things with Mom before �the incident�. Our cookies always turned out wrong, either burned, undercooked, or just nasty. We only went shopping once in a while together, back when I was all into it. Ah, well, though. It was in the past.

�This is our Souta!�

I looked up. I guess I made it to the spacious living room a lot faster than I thought I did. No more dozing off for me�

I made eye contact with the girl for a split second. She wasn�t wearing any make-up. Good, so she was normal.

�Souta,� I looked at my mom, wearing a typical housewife outfit, although she really wasn�t one, �this is Rin. As of today, she�ll be part of our family. She goes to the same school you�ll be starting at tomorrow. Isn�t that great?�

It was, actually. At least I wouldn�t be starting off all alone. Sure, Rin was younger than I was, but at least we could possibly walk together or something.

I mentally protested to the idea. Alright, maybe we�d walk together some other time. For a while, I wanted to go to school alone. Rin would understand, right? She seemed nice enough, even if she hadn�t greeted me yet. Then again, neither had I.

Feeling the need to say something, but acting as much like Souta as I could, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my cargo pants and walked by, muttering a hello with a deeper voice than what was mine.

�Hey.�

And I disappeared into the kitchen.

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�That was it?�

�That�s all he said?�

�What a freak!�

Rin just nodded at every word her friends said. She had just told them about that Souta kid she had to live with. Actually, she had just told them the whole story, complete with how her mom just suddenly told her they were moving and how she now had to stay with these strangers.

At the moment, the four were once again at WacDonalds, even though they were all just there a few hours ago for lunch. Rin had called each of them on her cell and told them that she had urgent news that couldn�t wait. So here they were, pigging out and making outbursts at her situation.

�What happened then?� Shippou wondered out loud, his red hair contrasting with his white shirt and baggy jeans. �What about your mom?�

Rin shrugged, drinking her soda through her straw. �She gave me this credit card and split.� She took a gold card from her pocket and flashed it in her friends� faces, bored and uncaring. Her mom was always like this, giving her money to spend when she wasn�t around, which was most of the time. Having so much money, though, Rin had learned to manage it well and spend it wisely. Even now she hadn�t used anything from this card. She was paying for her meal with some leftover allowance.

�Wow!� Koharu gaped, her freckles standing out against her pale skin. �At least you won�t have to worry about money, huh?�

Rin rolled her eyes. Her friends knew her by now, and they were aware of how careful she was with her money.

�How are you going to live?� Kanna said dramatically before shifting back into her more emotionless exterior that she only opened to a select few, mainly her friends, family, and boyfriends when she wasn�t angry with them. �I mean, you don�t get along with guys.�

�Whatever,� Rin shook her head, trying to brush it all off and change the subject. �C�mon, let�s go. I�m done eating.�

After clearing off their trays and exiting the fast food joint, Kanna asked another question. �So, are you going to use that card?�

�No!� Rin exclaimed, her voice unwavering and sure. She was in front of all three of her friends, and turned her head back to look at them, not noticing the person in front of her. �I�m going to get a part-time job and live by myself!�

Before anyone could answer, and right as she began to turn back to the sidewalk, the person before her swung around, startled at her voice, since her presence there was unknown until just then. He had a heavy backpack on one shoulder, and as he turned to Rin, all of its weight slammed into her face.

�Ouch!� she cried, her hands immediately grasping her nose, which began to bleed. She ignored her pounding head and blinked back the tears of pain, only half-listening to the person�s apologies and her friends crying out her name with worry.

�Hey!� the guy in front of her began to apologize. �Are you okay? Sorry, I didn�t know you were so close!� Rin recognized the voice easily, but she was confused. The Kohaku she knew would never apologize. He must�ve not seen her face, since she was covering most of it with her hands.

�Rin!� Kanna ran after her quicker than Shippou and Koharu, immediately checking her over to be sure she was alright. �Rin, are you okay?�

Rin didn�t look up to see if Kohaku looked surprised or not at her identity being revealed. �Yeah,� she assured her, her voice muffled by her hands but quivering slightly, �I�m fine.� Even to herself she didn�t sound convincing.

Shippou was the next to catch up to the group, but since he already heard Kanna asking how Rin felt, he didn�t feel the need to repeat the questions. Instead, he guided her to the side, back towards WacDonalds. �C�mon, Rin,� he frowned, �let�s go get you some ice.�

Rin nodded carefully, still clutching her nose. The two turned around, quickly being followed by Koharu, and they entered the fast food restaurant. They didn�t notice until after they got the ice from the soda machines that Kanna and Kohaku didn�t follow.

�Are you alright?� Shippou continued to worry, even though Rin had a napkin with some ice pressed against her head. Her nose had stopped bleeding and she had already cleaned it up in the bathrooms. �That looked like it hurt.�

�I�m fine,� she said, pretending like it was nothing, although she was obviously still in some pain.

�Well, you got to hand it to Kanna,� Koharu looked out the window by the booth they sat in. �She�s already kicked into flirt gear.� Rin looked up at her, but Koharu didn�t notice, since she was too busy watching her friend outside. �But why Kohaku of all people? I�ve heard rumors that all the thugs in school look up to him.�

Rin finally looked outside, watching as Kanna stood flirtatiously close to Kohaku, who seemed to be paying more attention to her face than to whatever it was she was saying. �Hmm�� she muttered, only half-caring. She was used to Kanna�s Flirting 101 by now, and although she was mostly passive and strange with her pale skin and white hair, the guys seemed to like her when she came out of her shell and flirted a bit.

�You sure you�re alright?� Shippou asked again.

�Yeah,� she nodded, using her hair to cover the slight bruise forming on the corner of her forehead. �Uggh, how embarrassing��

Shippou chuckled a little before looking up. Kanna and Kohaku were coming back already. Rin, Shippou, and Koharu knew what that meant, being so used to Kanna�s procedures.

�Are you okay now, Shikati?� Kohaku slouched, but asked sincerely enough.

�Hey!� Kanna interrupted, �I�ve heard that Kohaku here doesn�t have a girlfriend. What do you think? Should we hook up?�

Rin and Koharu looked at each other warily, knowing that Shippou was probably diverting his eyes now so they needn�t try and make eye contact with him. Kanna didn�t go to Konahora High like the three of them and Kohaku did, wanting to go to a private school rather than the public one her friends and older siblings attended to. Although this was fine with everyone, it also had a problem.

Kanna didn�t know about Rekani Kohaku�s bad reputation. She didn�t know that he was the �bad boy� of the sophomores, practically a thug with his smoking on campus and tough look. According to a few rumors, he didn�t care much about the consequences of stealing, either, and did it whenever he felt like it. His few friends were the only ones not afraid of him, and although it wasn�t official, everyone at school believed the three -- Kohaku, Hiten, and Manten -- to be partt of a gang, whether it was just the three of them or if there were others who didn�t go to Konahora.

Rin was the first to make eye contact with Kanna again, and she shrugged, pretending like dating Kohaku wasn�t a big deal. �Whatever. You two have a blast. We�re leaving, though. I have to get back.�

�Want me to walk you home?� Shippou offered.

�Whatever,� Rin shrugged, getting out of the booth, Shippou and Koharu following her towards the exit. She threw away her soaking napkin, the ice now melted, and made to open the door.

�Hey, Shikati.�

Rin turned back around, immediately noticing a small parcel being thrown straight at her face. Her quick reflexes helped her catch it with one hand, although her heartbeat sped up slightly. She stared at the white tube of ointment curiously before looking up at the person who threw it.

�That�s the best thing for bruises,� Kohaku said monotonously before turning back to Kanna.

�Um�thanks,� Rin said warily before leaving WacDonalds. Her other friends followed her, and the three remained silent until they were farther away from the restaurant.

�Do you think we should tell Kanna?� Koharu asked nervously. �She doesn�t know about Rekani�s rep.�

Rin shook her head, trying to forget about the whole accident. Her day was too eventful, and she was practically falling asleep on the spot. �Nah, don�t worry. Knowing Kanna, the relationship won�t last for more than a week.�

Koharu nodded, easily agreeing. �Yeah, I guess.� She frowned. �It was weird, though. I�ve never seen Rekani so talkative like that, even though he barely said much. Usually at school, he just sits in the back and says, at most, three words to answer every question.�

Shippou shrugged. �Whatever. We haven�t seen the guy since before summer break, and school starts tomorrow. Maybe he�s changed, even just a bit.�

Rin turned her head to look back at the WacDonalds, which was disappearing from view. �Heh, I doubt it.�

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I heard the front door squeak open easily. That Rin girl was home, finally. I don�t think I could�ve stood the dull silence any longer as me, Mom, and Gramps waited for her to return.

We were sitting at the dining table, which looked completely fancy now that Mom got a hold of the box of decorations that, until now, were still in its box from the move.

The fluorescent lights in the room were bright, making the shiny clean silverware sparkle. There were two long candles on the table, complete with candlestick holders, and in between them was a small vase with flowers springing out from it. There was even a bowl of ripe fruit on the table, which was weird, really, since Gramps always thought it should stay in the kitchen and give us more table space to eat.

�You�re home late, Rin,� I heard Mom coo once she came into the house. �Did you eat?�

�Yes, I did.�

�Oh, no!� Here it came, the childish pouting Mom would always do when she wanted something. �I cooked a French dish in celebration of our new family member. We�ve all been waiting.� Way to go, Mom, make the new girl feel guilty.

�I�I�ll eat�� You see? She�s probably stuffed, that Rin girl. I wouldn�t be surprised if she just went out and ate two cheeseburgers and fries, which she probably did with that WacDonalds just a few blocks down.

Gramps sat at the head of the table, like always, with Mom next to him, and Rin next to her. I sat by myself on the other side of Gramps, sipping at the champagne. Honestly, was my mom aware that Rin was only fifteen and had school the next day? Still, though, I understood why she was so giddy, so I brushed it off.

We started to eat, and although the food was slightly cold, it was actually pretty good. Mom was always the best at cooking, a talent which really didn�t pass on to me. That was why I always burned those cookies when we used to make them together. Hell, I even couldn�t make toast correctly, let alone a French meal like this one. Omelette, though, that was the one thing I mastered.

�How�s the food?� Mom talked only to Rin. �Save some room for dessert! It�s my specialty, brandished cheese mousse.� Yum, it really was her specialty. I could live off of that stuff for days.

I snuck a glance at Rin, observing her reactions. She looked a bit overwhelmed, but mostly happy. She probably thought we were all so friendly, but that was just Mom, really. Gramps was alright, but he was quiet most of the time, except when he was going on about all these legends and demon tales. As for me, well, I wasn�t always so quiet, and even now, once I got to school, you couldn�t shut me up. Now, though, things were different at home. I rarely spoke, especially around Mom.

Souta was always such a quiet boy�

At the thought of Souta, my temper began to grow inside of me, my blood boiling with the pain I felt. I couldn�t help but narrow my eyebrows slightly, and when Rin looked up, finally noticing that I was watching her, she seemed taken aback. I must have given her a real dirty look, even though I didn�t mean to. I wasn�t really a mean person, being the miko I am, but sometimes my temper got the best of me. I was slightly ashamed that Rin had to always see me in such a bad mood.

�I know you miss your mom,� I heard my own mom saying. Rin tore her surprised gaze from me to look at her. �Just think of me as your real mom and I�ll treat you like my very own daughter.�

My temper grew even more at this as I felt the need to cry, although I knew I wouldn�t. �The incident� wasn�t anyone�s fault, at least no one in this house�s, but I didn�t feel comfortable sitting around here as Mom kept praising Rin.

��Scuse me,� I muttered, clearing my plates before I trudged up to my room.

�Night, Souta!� Mom called out. �Go to bed. There�s school in the morning.�

School. Finally. Then again, the other students would look at me funny once I stepped into the building. Was there no end to this complication?

I didn�t say goodnight to anyone but Buyou as I set my alarm and climbed into bed. It was early, too early for sleep, but I didn�t mind it.

I had a big day ahead of me tomorrow, and I needed my rest.

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�Your room is here on the second floor, along with Souta�s,� Higurashi Mineka said happily to Rin. �Surprise! I unpacked and organized your room already, except for your desk. I thought you might like to fix that on your own.�

Before Rin opened the door, she hoped to herself that there was a lock on it. The look Souta had given her at dinner freaked her out, and she felt a bit insecure now. She shook her head a bit, not wanting to scare herself right now, and opened the door to her room.

As soon as she saw it, her mouth dropped. It wasn�t necessarily a good thing.

Her room was pink. Pinker than pink. And there was lace.

She liked pink well enough and to an extent, but this looked like Shippou paintballed her room with that color for twenty-four hours straight, and her grandmother got carried away with her doily-making. The room was nice, but Rin nearly went blind with the pink brightness.

The room was rather big with a type of alcove that made another small room at the back of it, a place where her lacy bed and girly vanity table sat by the window, along with the TV in the corner of it, across from the bed. The curtains on the window and outlining the doorway of the alcove-room were light pink and lacier that anything else in the room.

Outside of the alcove was a tall lamp, shining brightly, next to a large bookshelf that went all the way up to the ceiling. All of Rin�s books were already placed on the shelf neatly, just how she liked it, although she was a bit messier than that. On the other side of the room, on the left, was Rin�s desk, ready to be organized.

And right smack in the middle of the room was a round table, covered in a pink tablecloth, a nice flower arrangement on top, matching the flowers on top of the television and windowsills.

Rin blinked at the pink paint as she stared around the room. No fucking way was she sleeping in this�pink-ness! But she couldn�t possibly say anything bad about this room, could she? This must have taken a lot of time to fix up, and she couldn't complain about it.

�What do you think?� Mineka exclaimed happily. �Do you like it? I�ve always wanted to decorate a daughter�s room!�

Uggh, Rin thought, attempting to smile politely in thanks, does this lady have some kind of twisted princess complex, or what?

After Rin thanked Mineka, the woman left, leaving the teenager to begin organizing her desk. It took a lot longer than she thought it would, placing her writing implements, books, and knickknacks around her computer, and as soon as she was done, she dragged herself to bed and fell straight asleep, not even paying attention to the pink lace.

The next morning, her rabbit-shaped alarm clock sung a cute but annoying tune straight in her ear, but Rin didn�t want to get up.

Uggh, I don�t want to go to school� Rin sat up immediately. School! It was the first day of school!

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and jumped out of bed in both excitement and panic, but she noticed the girly pink sheets on her bed and remembered another thing. That�s right, this isn�t my house.

Rin warily moved to the dresser inside the closet by the door, grabbing her underwear and a clean uniform, consisting of a white blouse, green pleated miniskirt, and red sailor tie. So long, free dress, she sighed.

She opened her bedroom door, looking both ways before fully exiting it, making sure that Souta kid wasn�t around. That glare he gave her last night scared the dickens out of her.

I wonder if he�s up yet, she wondered. I�d better hop in the shower first.

Dashing to the bathroom, Rin quickly undressed from her cute pajama pants and oversized shirt, planning on a quick shower so she could get the hell out of there. So this is what it�s like living in someone else�s house�er�shrine. I�m getting nervous just taking a shower�

And she had reason to be, because as soon as she stepped out of the tub, squeaky clean, she realized that the towels were on the other side of the large bathroom. Before she could make her way there, the door swung open.

Rin, horrified and absolutely embarrassed, hugged herself to cover her chest, although it only did so good of a job and did nothing to cover her lower half. I thought I locked that frigging door! How the hell did I forget? In walked Souta, a pair of sophisticated glasses covering his eyes, as he paid no attention to her at all. He instead moved to the sink, picking up a small case of something.

�So this is where I left my contact lenses,� the deep, yet slightly feminine voice mumbled clearly. As soon as he got the lenses, he left the bathroom, leaving the door open.

�What a jerk!� Rin mumbled, her face red and her body still wet. She gasped as Souta�s head popped back into the room.

�Thirty-three A,� he said in his smart-ass tone, stating the exact cup size Rin was before disappearing again.

�Hey!� she cried murderously, her face flaring up even more. How dare he! Couldn�t the pervert keep his eyes and comments to himself? Still�she didn't even think he glanced at her, so how did he know her size anyway? And besides, it wasn�t her fault she was practically flat-chested! Uggh, that jerk!

Rin sulked, still naked, as she slammed the bathroom door, making sure to actually lock it this time.

No way in hell was she walking with him to school!