(soundtrack above to accompany your reading)

Sun-kissed brown locks spilled across my field of vision as it attempted to refocus. The situation at hand was pretty crazy, and honestly I had no idea what was going on.

I reach out for my glasses to the left of what looked like a face, a blurry one at that. Once I feel the familiar frame at my fingertips, I slide on the spectacles, and finally get a clear view.

A pretty girl, pools of honey wide in shock. I suddenly become conscious of the position we are in.

Yo this is hella gay.

"Sorry. This is awkward." I peel myself off of her and then extend my hand for her to take.

"Yes! I agree...that was very much...awkward." She answers in a small, cute voice. Upon taking my hand and standing, her stature seemed very short. I was honestly a little baffled at how small she was.

Damn, she's kinda cute...and I just embarrassed myself in front of her.

"Oh my! I'm sorry. Makoto is always looking down...never looks straight ahead. I knew something like this was bound to happen!" Yori sighs, as she and Kae flock to the young woman, with worried looks on their faces. "Are you alright miss? I'm so sorry about that."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry...I wasn't looking ahead..." I admit bashfully.

Though as much attention as she was getting, she seemed to be distracted by another, much more serious matter.

The young woman inspected the camera that hung from her neck strap thoroughly, whispering to herself frantically,

The three of us stood there just watching her. It's not until a couple of minutes later she finally acknowledges our presence.

She looks up sternly, and in that tiny voice of hers she lectures."Listen kid, you're lucky nothing happened to this camera! Otherwise..."

"I'm really sorry miss!" I apologize again, bowing down low over and over again.

"Okay...you can stop apologizing now. Just be careful from now on. It's dangerous to walk without looking out for where you're headed!"

"Sorry...yeah you're right." I agreed with her obediently.

"Anyways. Though it seems as if there is external damage on it, I'm going to need your phone number, just incase. What if I get back to work and it doesn't charge?" She grabs her chin and nods thoughtfully.

Kaede nudged my arm. "Cough up them digits little Mako!"

I sighed quietly and handed her one of my art business cards, not really thinking much of it.

After these short minutes of conversation...and confrontation, my anxiety was starting to kick in.

Mission abort! We have to get outta here....

If she had been the one not paying attention, i would've pretended it was me who got hurt...maybe I could be sued her... or something.

"Thank you very much! I hope I won't need to contact you. If something came up defective on my camera it would suck for both of us. And I guess, if something does end up coming up later...until then..." She pauses to look down and find my name on my business card. "Mr. Ryusei?"

"Actually- err... you know what?" I pause, feeling too lazy to correct her. "Yes. I guess..I hope I don't need to pay for your repairs...umm...miss..."

"Reika. Reika Sasaki." She smiles sweetly before taking off in a jiffy. "Gotta run! Moments are waiting to be captured!"

We all watch her take off in awe. "Wow. That just happened." Kae comments.

"Yeaah..." I followed up.

We walk into a couple of stores after that, though honestly I wasn't feeling all that energetic. My laziness was starting to kick in from the post, borderline anxiety attack. Plus it was starting to get a little late, and I didn't want Akiyoshi to worry.

"Okay well bitch since you ain't picking nothing, me and Yori going to buy you a little somethin' come on kid!"

I followed closely behind Yori and Kaede who happily walked me over to a small shop with nice looking watches. At first, I was a little worried walking in, as the store looked antique and a little pricey almost. Though, I was pleasantly surprised to find that price ranges were quite broad.

I tried to lay my anxiety at bay, but my heart couldn't help but to have the tiniest bit of worry. Kae usually was easy on the gifts but...Yori? She loved to spoil us. So much so that Kae and I usually refrain from talking about any materialistic wants.

It's not like Yori bought our friendship. It was nothing of that sort, It's just that, according to her, she gets great pleasure from seeing us put to use the things we receive from her.

"PIck one of these out! They're you're style and," She pauses to lean into my ear and whisper with a small chuckle. "It's in our budget."

I laughed as I linked my arm with hers gratefully. I gave a friendly smile to Kae, who then took us all into a big hug...with his small, skinny arms.

My anxiety began to pass, and I began to focus on picking a watch that I would like.

After debating between one that had a miniature sized map of the world inside of it, and another that was a simple, marbled design, I tried both on to make a final verdict.

"I guess...I'll go with this one!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kae dropped me off a couple of minutes away from my house since I didn't want Akiyoshi questioning, as to why I had arrived in a big van with a gyaru boy.

I pictured the scenario for a couple of seconds.

Chaotic....

It was pretty much completely dark, and though I was originally planning on coming home earlier, I was hoping that maybe it wasn't too late for a high schooler to be "coming home".

As I started to come up on the house, I noticed the inside lights were on.

Akiyoshi was home.

I quickly made my way to the entrance, unlock the door and then make my way inside, slipping of my shoes excitedly. As soon as I set foot inside, the scent of food came from the kitchen, making my stomach growl a bit, and my mouth salivate.

Wow...I didn't even realize how hungry I was..

"I'm...home." I called out hesitantly, wondering if it was the right thing to do.

Sure, this place was more or less my home, but at the same time I didn't want to seem as if I was getting too comfortable. It was a silly thought, because I knew that since the very first day that i decided to fool my brother, I was already overstaying my welcome, and as a liar at that.

I looked down at my brand new watch halfway to the kitchen. The marbled pattern of the inside was gorgeous. The gold cracks between the white and grey marble are supposed to be a flaw, yet together they looked beautiful, and most elegant. The golden hands on the watch indicated 8:47.

Though my heart knew that this home was temporary, It secretly yearned for a miracle that would somehow make it so that I could stay forever.

As I approached the kitchen, Akiyoshi greets me with a hesitant smile. He was hovering over the short, beige kitchen counters, stirring what looked like miso soup in a small pot, and frying up some kind of vegetable mix in a frying pan. 

His initial face worried me. What had I done this time? Was I passed curfew? Had he been waiting to serve me dinner for long?

Ever since yesterday, he had been having strange looks on his face that I had a difficult time deciphering.  

"Hey bro. Thanks for making dinner as usual." I grinned cheerfully up at his tall figure.

Akiyoshi turns away from me to turn off the stove before he looks me in the eye sternly. 

"...Is everything okay?" 

Silence.

"Makoto...how old are you?"

--------------------------------

A/N: 

oof sorry the updates are slow but hey hey hey 2 updates in one week amiright haha.....sorry again lol

anyways! Reika Sasaki is from @boosational 's Pictured Frame (in other words i don't own her, she belongs to boo) and I'm planning on incorporating her later on. Reika's a really is a fun character! so if you all ever get a chance send my homegirl Boo some love. 

thanks for reading! please let me know what you thought of the chapter down in the comments and don't forget to leave a vote if you enjoyed!!

P.S.  add this story to your library for notifications on updates!!! (your gonna wanna have that for this next chapter...trust me lol)