I awoke the next morning to Yukio's laughter shaking the bed. I groaned, readjusting myself and trying to grab onto the blankets. My hands were left empty and I searched around for warmth. My fingers found a sleeping Kuro and I pulled him to my chest, curling into a ball in the process as my tail wrapped around him. He let out a content sigh and I relaxed into the mattress. After a few moments, my familiar started to purr softly. His warmth soaking through my shirt as he nuzzled against my chest. A small smile pulled at my lips and I hummed.

I didn't know how long afterward, but at some point Yukio woke me up. I yawned and stretched, the black feline next to me doing the same. I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed, peering through my sleepy eyes at my twin. He had a playful grin on his face and my eyes wandered over to Bon. They were both dressed for the day. I checked the alarm clock and realized with a groan that it was after noon. With another yawn, I pushed myself off the bed and walked toward the closet. I pulled out some casual attire and started to change. It was a bit awkward to change in front of Suguro. Even in gym class I still preferred to disrobe in solitude. Not that it truly mattered, he knew what laid underneath the fabric, I just wasn't comfortable showing my scars.

Once changed I turned back to our small group. Bon was sitting lazily on Yukio's bed, and said brother was sitting on the desk chair. They were discussing what the plans were today. Since Suguro-san had been a huge help to Yukio by spending the night with me, he offered to buy him lunch. Bon said he didn't have any preferences and two pairs of eyes went to me. I shrugged, about to mention a cheap fast food place down the road when my ears twitched. My brows furrowed and I concentrated on the sound. Footsteps were approaching us, and at a high pace. Soon after, the bedroom door swung open.

Pink hair flashed into the room. My twin shot up to stand before Shima, grabbing his shoulders and asking him to calm down. Brown eyes flashed to me and I saw panic in his expression. He pulled away from my brother's grasp and took a step toward me. He bent forward, bowing as he gasped to regain his breath. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Shock and confusion spanned my features and I shook my head. "What are you going on about? What are you sorry for?"

He lifted his head and guilt laced his words as he met my eyes. "I'm so sorry, Okumura-san." I bit my tongue, now was not the time to tell him to drop the honorifics. "I was going to send the picture to Shiemi, but I accidentally sent it to someone else."

I felt utterly lost and I glanced around at the others to hopefully fill me in. They looked just as fearful as Shima, however, and didn't seem too keen on getting me up to speed. I sighed, exasperated, "sent what to who?"

"I sent that photo of you to someone from my day classes!" He was so anxious, he appeared to be on the brink of a panic attack. I ground my teeth together. Okay, so there's one half of the question answered. But just what photo was he talking about? Why was he so upset? I got a gnawing feeling in my chest and I turned to my twin. He sighed and took a few steps toward me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen," I nodded - I'd been doing nothing but listen, but Shima seemed useless at answering my questions. "Earlier, Suguro-san took a picture of us together. It wasn't supposed to be mean, or be used as blackmail or anything. I've seen it, it's a good photo." He was stalling for time, and he brought his free hand up to rub his chin. "He actually sent it to me, too. It'll be a good memory."

"Just tell me, already." I ground out and he sighed, deflating slightly. He dropped his hand from my shoulder and grabbed my bare arm, holding it up in front of me. I stared down at my arm, the gears turning in my head. Suddenly, it clicked and my eyes snapped up to his, then Bon's and finally over to where Shima stood. He flinched under my gaze and gave me an apologetic look. This photo that Bon took, with me in it, bare arms... Shima has it, he meant to send it to Shiemi, but miss-clicked. My anxiety spiked and my eyes flickered across everyone in the group. "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me that he-" I thrust my finger toward Renzo-san, "just sent of photo of me to someone not in cram school?" I settled my wide eyes on the boy in question. "Who the hell did you send it to?!"

He swallowed audibly, "Tanaka Shinako."

My heart dropped and the air escaped my lungs. "Shinako... the student council president?" My voice wavered but it grew in volume. "The girl who can't keep her goddamn mouth shut?!" My heartbeat picked up its pace as I thought of what this meant. "Oh god, my life is ruined." I took a few steps over to my bed and sat down, holding my head in my hands. Anxiety crawled under my skin and I swallowed, feeling nausea settle in my stomach.

I lifted my head just as Bon stood, he marched over to Shima and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "This is your fault, you fix it." The pink haired boy nodded vehemently. "Call Tanaka-san and tell her to keep her mouth shut. Better yet: lie. Say you photoshopped it as a prank or something. I don't know, you figure it out." Bon dropped his grip on the smaller teen and Shima fished out his phone.

He typed a bit on the screen, his brown eyes moving over to me. Remorse flashed inside before he looked away, pressing the phone to his ear and walking toward the open doorway. He leaned against the doorframe and there were a few tense moments before the line must've picked up. "Hey, Shinako-chan!" He switched his tune, portraying himself as chipper. "Listen, I sent you a message by mistake... Yeah, that one! Listen... No, no, it's not real. I, uh, I asked them to pose for my photography project." He walked out into the hallway, his hand running through his hair as he paced. "Yeah, those were... they're meant to, um, symbolize how family can rekindle after trauma... No, of course not! Okumura-san is perfectly fine! It was a combination of special effect paint and some editing... I know right, I think I did a really good job, too." I breathed a sigh of relief, it sounds like she believed him. "Yeah, it has a super deep message. But hey, I didn't mean to send that to you. I meant to send it to my girlfriend. I didn't give much context because she knows about the project and that it's all staged. So don't share this with anyone okay...? What do you mean?" My eyes snapped over to Yukio, and he did the same. "Oh... that's not good."

Yukio took a step toward me, kneeling down and resting his hands on my knees. He saw my rising panic and rushed to calm me down. "Listen, Rin. It'll be okay. No matter what anyone else thinks, you still have me. You have us," He gestured to Bon and the teen out in the hall. "You have the cram school kids on your side. We're here for you." He gently squeezed my knees, trying to comfort me. However, I knew this situation was far worse than he dared to convey.

Just then, Shima walked back into the room, his cellphone in his palm. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "She said that she sent it to her friends before I called. She can't guarantee that she will be able to reach out to them before they've sent it any further." He dropped his hand and shoved it into his pocket, along with his phone. "She says she believes me, but the photoshopping looks so real, so she doubts I'll be able to convince anyone else." He closed his eyes briefly before meeting my own, deeply rooted regret shining through. "I am so sorry."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and sighed, "it's okay." I lied. "It was a mistake, it happens."

.oOo.

"Why'd we have to come here, dude. I swear we were just here last week." Bon complained from the other booth. He picked up his burger and took a bite, dissatisfied to be eating the same meal so soon.

Renzo-san shrugged from beside him, "I had to fight tooth and nail against Okumura-sensei to pay for this. I even asked you where you wanted to go, and no one answered, so I just chose the most convenient." The pink haired teen grabbed a fry and popped it into his mouth, chewing a bit before continuing. "Or would you rather we went to McDonald's? Remember the last time we went?" Bon grunted, and I was mildly curious what fiasco could have happened at the Golden Arches to provoke that kind of response.

My twin hummed and picked up his own burger, readjusting it in his hands as he gave Shima a sideways glance. "By the way, you don't have to call me Sensei outside of class. I am in the same grade as you."

"Yeah, but it's weird going back and forth like that." Shima remarked, taking a bite of his burger.

I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed my soda, "I do it all the time. He's Okumura-sensei in class and Yukio at all other times."

My twin nodded, "Same here. Rin is Okumura-san or Okumura-kun in class, but I call him Nii-san when we don't have to be professional. It's quite normal to switch titles while in different settings."

Bon and Shima shared a glance, and then Shima snickered. "Well, the Okumura twins have never been normal, so I don't know if we can align with that ideology."

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my drink, my eyes wandering over the near empty dining area. I caught sight of someone and I nearly spit out my drink. "Shit, isn't that the captain of the math club?" I held my hand over my mouth, wiping off some spilled soda.

Yukio followed my gaze and sighed, giving me a irked look. "No, that's a college student." I reassessed the person in question, realizing that he was right. "Calm down, Nii-san, no one is going to hunt you down over some trivial gossip at school." I sighed and nodded, taking a bite of food. The conversation continued on and I found myself becoming wrapped inside. We discussed the latest news about a new video game. It was an action, street fighting game. Yukio had laughed and said that I probably wouldn't like it. The duo across from us questioned him and my twin elaborated. "Rin used to get into street fights before we came to the academy. The amount of times I had to patch him up after he came home... I swear my hair will turn gray before I graduate." The duo had laughed, stating that they could see it happening. Apparently, I was light on my feet and knew how to handle larger opponents. I'd blushed, feeling embarrassed by their assumptions. Just because they were right didn't mean that I liked them knowing. I spent the rest of our meal trying to defend myself, failing miserably in the process.

I was currently several minutes into my futile defense. We had pitched the last of our food and were walking through the city. We passed the library and Shima cut in, "Oh crap, I forgot. I need to pick up a book for our literature class."

"I actually needed to stop here, as well," my twin chimed in. "I had planned on stopping here tomorrow, but since we are already here..." I waved them off and the two of them made their way inside the double doors. Bon and I treaded over to a nearby bench. The taller boy crossed his ankles and put his hands behind his head, leaning back.

"So, Okumura-san," he started out. I finally snapped at him, telling him to drop those damn honorifics. He laughed, "anyway, Rin, I don't know much about you, and we got time to kill. So spill the beans; tell me your favorite color, band, movie, whatever you want."