I sighed, slamming my arithmetic book closed. Why was homework so damn hard? I leaned my chair back and stared at the ceiling, balancing it on its back legs. To be honest, I would probably have been able to figure out my homework if I hadn't been so distracted by the argument that I'd had with Yukio earlier. I was still surprised and pained by his words.

"I can't believe Rin has managed to stay in this school for so long," Yukio fumed. I heard Shura sigh. I was standing outside the door of  Yukio's class, listening to their conversation. I had gone there in the first place to ask for extra credit, but my curiosity had gotten the better of me when I heard Yukio mention me."He has been here for a year and a half, and managed to sleep through at least half of it. He's failing all  of his classes. He's seventeen, and still gets in fights every day. You'd think he would grow up, get over it. I... I just don't know what to do with him."

"I don't know, maybe make him do his work? Personally, if I had to live with him, I would've beaten his ass by now." Shura sighed. "His sword techniques are still slightly sloppy, but he's still improved a lot."

"That... That's the only thing he has improved in. That's what's pissing me off! He never tries! We may as well just turn him in to the Grigori." With that, I heard footsteps approaching the door I was standing in front of. Fuck. What was I supposed to do now? Frozen in place, my panic built as Yukio opened the door. When Yukio saw me, he looked furious. I tried desperately to cover up that I was eavesdropping.

"I was wondering if I could get extra credit because you know? My grade?" It ended up coming out as a question, and that seemed to only make Yukio angrier.

"No," he snarled. "Why were you listening in to our conversation?"

"Well it was about me, wasn't it?" I glared right back at him, anger bubbling up to the surface.

Yukio stared at me silently, fury evident on his face.

"And it's not that I don't try in school. If I didn't, I would have left by now!" I started to shout. "Who cares that I get into fights? It's not like I have to worry about getting into college. Trust me, the Vatican would shoot me the second I even tried to get into one. Can't have the son of Satan getting smart enough to realize that the Vatican is just going to use him and then throw him away like a broken toy." Then, all of a sudden, I felt something hard and cold hit me across the face. Yukio had hit me with the barrel of one of his guns. Finally, his anger exploded.

"You idiotic bastard! Maybe you should consider that they will kill you for getting into fights! Did you think for a second that it could make them view you as a threat?" He paused for a moment. "Actually, go right ahead. Get yourself killed. It's your choice. I would have a lot less problems if you were dead." Yukio turned his back to me coldly, and walked away. What? He would have a lot less problems? Is that really all he sees in me? A mistake, there to cause him little inconveniences?

"Yukio... Yukio! I..." I watched as he walked away, tears forming in my eyes. I ran to our dorm, slammed the door, and cried.

I closed my eyes, drifting into my thoughts. Right before I fell asleep, however, someone knocked on the door to the dorm room. It startled me so much that I tipped backwards and fell.

"Aah!" I toppled out of the chair, and landed headfirst on the ground.

"Rin? Sorry about earlier. Could you unlock the door? I lost my key." Ah, Yukio was finally home.

"Eh, sure." I picked myself up from the ground, and unlocked the door.

"What was that noise? When I knocked, I could've sworn that I heard something fall over in here..."

"Ah, that was... That was nothing. Right, Kuro?" I looked at the small feline that was sitting on Yukio's bed, looking fairly sleepy.

'Rin fell out of his chair again.'

"K-Kuro! I thought you were on my side!" Glancing at Yukio, I remembered that he couldn't hear the small feline. "I mean, uh, yeah! I didn't fall out of my chair or anything..." I scratched the back of my head nervously. Yukio just smiled and shook his head, and started pulling a book out of his bag. I looked over his shoulder at the homework in front of him. "Chemistry? Man, that sucks. I hate it. Well, I'm gonna go to the store for some rice. We ran out last night. D'you have any money I could use? I spent mine on those manga." I pointed to the small pile of them by my bed. He sighed, and handed me two thousand yen.

"Give me the extra, okay? And don't buy any more manga. I get that you're want to buy the whole series, but we can't do that with the money we have right now."

"Okay. See you later!" I called as I left. The smile faded from my face as soon as I closed the door. I walked to the nearest shop, hoping that I wouldn't run into anyone from cram school on the way. As I walked, the only thing playing through my mind was Yukio's words: 'Get yourself killed. It's your choice. I would have a lot less problems if you were dead. ' Maybe he was right. Maybe it would be better if... I shook my head. No. I needed to stay positive. Lost in my thoughts, I ran into someone.

"Watch where you're going, Okumura." I looked up, and saw Suguro towering over me. Everyone in the cram school had gotten much taller since I had first met them. Suguro had to be at least six feet tall. Everyone else had grown similarly, but there I was, a short five-foot-six. I was now one of the shorter ones in the cram school class.

Suguro looked at me more closely. "Oi, what's wrong?"

"Mm?" I gave him a smile. "Nothing, I'm just going to the store."

He stared at me. "You sure? Looked pretty upset by something."

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay. Well, see you later." Giving me one final look, he walked away.

After a bit of wandering, I found my way to the store. Of all the things they could run out of, they had no rice. I sighed, and started to make my way across the town to the nearest supermarket. As I walked past an alley, I heard quick footsteps approaching. Before I even had the chance to turn, I felt something hit the back of my head. Spots filled my vision, and everything went black.