Present Time...

"Ugh, I'm soo bored!" I proclaim, to no one in particular. My name's Raven Mayonaka, a broke high school graduate living in a cheap apartment in New York.

And, yes, I did just introduce myself; got a problem with that?

I blow a stray strand of white hair out of my face before standing up. I walk over to the small kitchen counter and just stand there, still a little dazed. I glance at a broken but still functional wall clock.

Damn, it's already four-thirty… Guess I should go get ready.

I take a fresh towel from the old wardrobe, and head into the tiny cramped space; aka, the toilet.

After about half an hour in the shower, I hear someone knocking. "Oi, oi! Anyone 'ome?" An irritatingly loud accented voice yells, followed by more impatient pounding. I sigh, wraping a towel around my waist and head out. Opening the door, I glare at the male angrily.

"What are you trying to do, huh? Break my door?" I ask with a huff, but I signal for the guy to come in nonetheless. Meet my annoyingly handsome best friend, Howard Maxwell Stone—or just Max. We met in middle school and really hit it off.

Or rather, Maxwell, for some reason, stubbornly wanted to be my friend. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful he did but— 

"Sorry, bud. Just thought you were snoozin' or somethin'," he says breezily, breaking my train of thought as he carelessly plops himself on my bed. I roll my eyes at him, then take out a few articles of clothing.

"Aww, you're gonna put on some clothes now?" Max mumbles with a pout. I raise a brow at him. "C'mon! It's not every day I get to see your hot bod," the blond snickers.

Oh yeah, did I mention Max is a shameless flirt? There isn't someone under 40 he hasn't tried flirting with—thankfully, it's usually mild. That doesn't make it less aggravatingly annoying though.

"Yeah, yeah." I wave him off dismissively. I put on my shirt and pants then my jacket. Me and Max have always been casual with each other—it's not the first time he's seen me naked or me dressing in front of him, and vice versa. I guess that's why people think we're brothers, or a couple; though the former isn't entirely inaccurate. We both have, in his words, a brotherly bond. Well, enough about this. I have more pressing matters to take care of. I take out a comb from the drawer.

Max plucks the plastic comb out my hands and—without prompting—starts brushing my hair. Lots of people wouldn't have even thought about it, but Max is actually kinda feminine—he says it's probably because he has four sisters. I close my eyes as his skilled hands play and brush my white locks.

"How is your hair silkier than Emily's? And that's saying something," the male chuckles, referring to his older sister. I just shrug. I could feel his hands gently braiding my white locks into a few small braids.

"You're braiding my hair again," I glance at him, my sentence more of a statement than a question. He smirks, shrugging before focusing back on my hair. I stand up abruptly—ignoring Max's irritated voice—and look in the mirror. Sure enough, I notice the three thin braids in my hair. Other than that, my hair looks pretty nice.

"...thanks," I mutter.

He grins at me, flashing a thumbs-up. The annoyance from earlier evaporated. "Alright! Let's go," he chirps and skips out. I couldn't help but chuckle at his childishness. I pocket my phone and wallet, then grab the keys and lock the door.

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"Hey, guys! Over here~," a cheerful voice calls out, the girl waving her arm frantically. Jennifer Emily Stone, Max's second oldest sister. Besides her is Mei Su Lee, Emily's former classmate, now staff. Oh, almost forgot; Mei is Jennifer's ex. Though, apparently, it was never serious.

Personally, I don't really care.

Max waves back with an equal amount of cheer, before grabbing my wrist and dragging me to them. As soon as we're standing close enough to the girls, I snap my hand away.

"Hey, Mayo-san!" Emily giggles. I purse my lips but nod in acknowledgement. Most people like to call me Mayo, because of my cream white hair—and the fact that my last name is Mayonaka doesn't help. Though I don't really mind the nickname–most of the time anyways.

"Ay," I give a short wave in acknowledgement. Mei nods in greeting but says not one word. She raises her hands and starts moving them animatedly.

"Okay, he's here; let's go," she signs. Mei is selectively mute; at least, that's what she tells—I mean, signs to us.

Mei spins on her heel and walks to whatever surprise destination they had chosen without waiting for a response. Emily quickly jogs up to join her while me and Max saunter behind them. I nudge Max lightly, who turns a curious look to me.

"Where are we going anyways? Remember I have work in like, an hour," I remind him. Max smirks, a knowing glint in his heterochromia eyes. The type of glint you get when your teacher gives out a trivia quiz on your favourite topic while everyone thinks the topic is ridiculous or 'who in the world would know about this c***?'
Answer: you.

"You keep smiling like that, I'm gonna slap it right off," I mutter to him, narrowing my eyes. Max's smile disappears, while his eyes lock with mine. He completely stops and, just stares at me.

Okay, I've known this boy for like a decade—give or take—and by now, I'm still spooked by his silent staring episodes.

For some weird reason, Max would just go as still and silent as a statue, then stare at something owlishly for a few minutes.

I've asked him about it a few times—even his sisters asked him before—but he never really answers; always excusing himself, ignoring the question or saying he doesn't remember. Well, that's a load of stinkin' week-old baloney. He obviously remembers, he just wants to keep his trap shut.

For once, surprisingly enough.

But, if he doesn't want to tell us, fine. Who knows? Maybe one day he'll tell us, or maybe he never will. That decision is completely up to him; and I do and will respect it, no matter what.

Or at least, I try to.

"Hey, you two! Hurry up," Emily yells, a hint of annoyance in her voice. I look over my shoulder at them, only to notice that both were already a large distance away. I wave to them in recognition. Thankfully, when I glance towards Max, he had already snapped back to reality.

"Horse hockey! How the heck are they so ahead of us?" Max blanches, scratching his hair in puzzlement. I decide not to point out that he had gone into some sort of trance.

Nor do I comment on his alternative curse.

"C'mon, let's go before we get left behind," I tell him, tugging on his jacket. "Again," I mumble the last part to myself. We both hurry to catch up with the girls.

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"So..." I start, rubbing my temples, "this, is where you guys want to hang out?" I ask for clarification, gazing at the three. They share a quick glance, before nodding. I exhale heavily. Of all the places they could go, they chose my workplace–granted, it is a café and I don't have to worry about being late; but still.

Why?

"If you guys chose this place for the stupid reason of wanting a discount, then forget it," I tell them, gesturing to my manager's door. "Unless you're direct family, you don't get discounts." I sigh. Emily pouts and Mei pats the former's back.

"I'll have a mocha latte—with extra cream," Max smiles, undisturbed by the reveal. The Stone family is pretty well-off. Max could easily afford things that if I wanted, I'd have to skip at least two full meals. I give him a nod, then look at the girls expectantly.

"I want an iced chocolate with extra milk," Emily says after a moment. I nod, my eyes slowly observing Mei. She kept quiet, the thinking kind of quiet, before finally looking at me.

"Tea. Decaf," she says promptly, her voice hoarse from unuse. I nod and head to make their drinks.

After a moment, I come back and hand them their drinks. They mutter a quick thanks before diving into whatever work they're doing—college assignments for Max and some financing stuff for the girls. Probably.

Honestly, I couldn't be bothered to ask them what it was exactly—it's none of my business anyway.

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I breathe out a tired exhale as I finish wiping down tables and all the other 'closing up' stuff. My other co-workers had already left; in fact, they left as soon as possible—typical. Mei and Emily also left, saying something about some kind of membership problems.

So now, it's just me and myself. Oh, and Max too.

"You don't have to wait up for me, you know?" I tell him, taking off my apron. The manager is still here so he'll lock the doors and all the other little things.

"I know, I know; I don't have to, I just want to." His smile is so dazzlingly bright, I have to squint my eyes. I mumble something indistinctly and hurriedly grab my stuff. Without looking back, I gesture for him to follow.

As we exit, I exhale when I hear footsteps behind me. I take out my phone and start scrolling through my messages.

But then I pause. Max had been eerily quiet, and his footsteps were heavy and abrupt; kind of like a soldier's. I look over my shoulder in concern. The guy was in a trance again, walking-—marching would be more apt—stiffly. His eyes were pinned on me—no, not me; something behind me.

I quickly look ahead. When I did, my eyes caught sight of something black but I almost instantly lose sight of whatever it was. I blink and shake my head.

I flinch when I notice Max is now standing by my side. I gently touch his shoulder, no reaction; I call out his name, no reaction. So, I tried a different approach.

"Howard Maxwell Stone!" I proclaim, making sure my voice is stern and imposing. Almost immediately, Max snaps his head to look at me, hand instictively raising in a salute but stops halfway when he registers who I am.

"W-what is it?" he stutters, a nervous grin on his face. He's definitely stunned by my use of his full name; since people usually just call him Max. But it is effective when you're trying to get his full attention—like just now. Though I still don’t get why his first reaction is to salute. Maybe it’s because of his eldest sister? She has always been a… strict woman.

"What were you staring at?" I raise a brow at him. His eyes widen momentarily in surprise, before looking away.

"Nothing..." he mumbles, half shrugging. I purse my lips, narrowing my eyes at him. I know I said I didn't really care and that he can tell me when he feels like it, but I'm still not a fan of being kept in the dark.

Then, something else dawns on me.

"Wait, why are you following me anyway?" I question. Max rubs the back of his neck, still not making eye contact. I cross my arms, unamused. Taking a deep breath, he finally looks me in the eye.

"I was hoping... I could sleep over? At your place?" he says tentatively. "Just for tonight, mind you," he adds hurriedly. My eyes soften as I uncross my arms.

"...you got into a fight with her, didn't you?" I ask, careful of the sensitive topic. Max thins his lips into a line and looks away, guilt written all over his face. He doesn't answer my question, but he doesn't need to; his silence is a reply all on its own.

As I said before, Max has four sisters—two pairs of twins. The third daughter, Princess Rosette Stone, never liked him. I would go as far as to say she despises him, but Max doesn't share the animosity. He loves all his sisters regardless. Shame there's no vice versa.

"Alright," I nod in consent. Max's face lights up, another shining grin on his face. Once again, I have to look away. I'm honestly shocked I haven't gone blind from his smiles by now. We both make our way to my apartment (it's technically a flat, but—according to a certain someone—apartment sounds cooler)

I slowly blink open my eyes. I fell asleep earlier than Raven. The boy was curled up beside me, his features softened by sleep.

What? It's not the first time we've slept together!

...that sounded better in my head. Let me rephrase that; it's not the first time we've slept together, chastely.

I sit up, and head to the washroom—as silently as my huge frame could do. Okay, not necessarily huge, but my body is definitely more built than Raven's. I splash cold water on my face then simply wipe it off with my sleeve. When I step outside of the washroom, I glance at the surprisingly still functional wall clock.

Woah, it's a quarter to two already!

Before I collapse on the bed, I notice something out of the corner of my eye. Suddenly, I feel a magnetic pull, and I'm powerless to resist. Next thing I know, I'm standing in front of the window. I squint my eyes, peering through the darkness. The street lamps barely illuminate anything as they flicker on and off.

Then, I see it. On one of the branches, a small black figure. I zero in on it. Slowly, my eyes adjust to the bad lighting. It was... a cat? A black one at that. If it was right in front of me, I would've hugged it by now. It looked so fluffy!

But… why was it staring at me?

It had icy blue eyes, staring straight at me—or at least in my direction. And did I mention it had thick, puffy fur? It's so lovely. I place my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter as I realise something.

Heh, even after all these years, the cat looks exactly the same. That's a small comfort, in a creepy kinda way.

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Note; Max uses British English while Raven uses American.