Della watched the teacher sort of pace back and forth as he waited for the other exchange students to show up. The flight had felt like forever and she was sort of drained from it all, however the obviously uneasy teacher had insisted in doing the tour at first. He looked a little flustered, like he really wasn't sure how to deal with a girl.

"Excuse me... sensei?" Della said.

The teachers eyes shot up from his cell phone, for the most part he seemed like a pretty nice person to Della, a little scatterbrained but nice for the most part.

"Y..y..yes?", he responded.

"How many other students are we waiting for?", Della asked politely she knew she wouldn't be the only one.

The teacher nodded, shoved one of his hands into his back pocket pulling out a wrinkled piece of paper.

"Here let me see... one...two..., well it looks like there are two other's besides you.. I hope their transport from the airport gets them here soon." he stuck the paper back into his pocket.

Della didn't know what else to say really she just hoped they would get there soon so she could get her things into an apartment instead of just standing there in front of the complex with her stuff sitting on a cart. Not that she really had allot her father had made sure she had some money to pick up things when she got to Japan, so naturally what she had with her was a few suitcases with clothes and other personal things. She sat down on one of her bags with a sigh, she resting her hand just under her chin she watched people walking by on the sidewalk, and then she turned to look at the complex where she would be living. She wondered what type of other people lived there, and what her fellow exchange students would be like.

---

His lips parted wide as a heavy yawn escaped from him. Kenta had been here for five hours already and would still have to endure two more. Working on the weekends always sucks since he worked longer hours than he did during the week. At least he'd rather be here than sitting at school, though. He was currently counting merchandise, something he'd done plenty of times, but yawning made him lose his count for just a second and now he had to start over. Not like he didn't have enough time to do that though. As long as he kept himself busy the time usually went by pretty quickly. He didn't get much sleep earlier though so right now all he could really think about was his bed back at the dorm. Taking overnight shifts on the weekends was normal for him but even he sucked at managing his sleeping schedule with school and work.

He continued to mark down the merchandise as he moved onto the drinks. A convenient store had many different things that the employers had to keep track off. Not to mention the pricing on some of the stuff changed often so they had to make sure the tags were right too. So far he hadn't had another costumer come in for three hours. It was nice having the time to himself without having to deal with anyone. If only he could do his job while sitting at home in his bed with a blanket around him and a bag of chips or pocky to snack on. Even a bowl of ice cream would be great right now. Maybe some sugar would help him stay awake for the next two hours. Thank god he had the rest of the day off to catch up on sleep for school tomorrow.

Come to think of it, his teacher did mention something about the class getting a new student or two. He hadn't really been paying much attention at the time but the entire class hasn't shut up about it since. It was kind of hard not to ignore it when that was all his classmates blabbered about for the past few days. There would be two in his class...wonderful.

Kenta set the last drink on the shelf in the cooler and stood up from where he had been kneeling. He let out a small grunt as he stretched his hands above his head and bent backwards slightly. After his quick stretch he walked back over to the front counter. It was time to count the candy and check more prices. Same ol' same every single day. Man had this grown to be so very boring, but he needed the extra money. It was nice and all that his dorm and other needed essentials were being paid for, but it wasn't exactly fun not having any spending money. How was he supposed to buy the latest video game or gorge himself on ice cream whenever he felt like it? Really, spending money was heaven.

"Ah... how troublesome..." Oliver mumbled to himself as he got on his knees to pick up shards of broken glass. Once again, he had dropped another dish that was supposed to be sent out to a customer. Oliver was currently working as a waiter at a small restaurant a few blocks away from the school, but it was more of a bakery in his opinion. Even so, he still wasn't very good at it either way. The smell of sweets made his stomach grumble and distract him from what he should really be doing, causing him to make many mistakes and... a dramatic downfall in the restaurant's supply of plates.

If you thought he was bad then, look at him now. These last few days have been devastating for the young male. Oliver's nights were full of little sleep due to being homesick, the difficult tasks of school, and the random nightmares that haunted him. For the past few nights, he'd just lay in his bed, tossing and turning as the hours ticked by. The results, he can barely focus on serving a simple meal to a customer. "At this rate, I'm going to get fired..." He mumbled to himself once again as he stood up and walked towards the trashcan to throw away the broken remains of baked goods and plate shards.

Oliver had other things on his mind, too. His classmates have been going on and on about how there are going to be a few new students. Not only that, but from America! Oliver wasn't really one to listen in or make such a big deal of things, but it really was quite interesting. Maybe now he won't be so different from everyone else. The thought of that made him smile.

Demashi Kimiko

As Demashi shuffled through town with the hood on her grey hoody pulled down to hide her face and bleach white hair and the black eye and bruises on the right side of her face, her hands stuffed into her pockets, keeping out of everyone's view the sight of her raw knuckles from having punched the wall in frustration and defeat one two many times, she reflected once again on how easy all their lives were. When you didn't have an older brother just waiting for you to get home so he could release his sober rage on you - well, life must be damn easy.

Not for the first time, the runners on her shoes squeaking with water with every step, she wished she didn't have such an aggressive brother. She tightened her fists, reminding herself that this was for the best; that she had all these bruises so that they wouldn't go instead on her little sister. Demashi closed her eyes. If Inuka were ever to hurt Kaori... Demashi shook her head. She'd never forgive herself if that happened.

For now Kaori was at a friend's house, where Demashi had dropped her off after an early morning trip on the beach - which was the reason her shoes were soaked through. For now Demashi knew that her brother would still be at home, and since she couldn't bear facing him again after his outburst of the previous evening, she'd decided to go the store and get Kaori a treat while she waited until she was sure he was out for work. It wasn't the first time she'd gone there early Sunday morning; it was the one time in the day when she was sure there would be close to no one in the store - no one but the employees. No one else to see her bruises and her shame imprinted onto her skin.

Demashi slipped noiselessly inside the store, her hood still covering her hair and her head dipped into her chin. The usual employee was there; a young man of her age with messy black hair and clear brown eyes who was the one she had to deal with most Sunday mornings and after school. She didn't mind.

Going up against the first few aisle, Demashi grabbed a few candies, taking out a 1,000¥ note, and walked up to the counter, keeping her head dipped as she approached the employee, dropped her various candies on the rack, and handed him her money.

---

---

"You need to get a job." The younger boy said, looking up from his gaming device to scowl at his brother.
Ryou didn't take his eyes off his paper. "Shut up, Ataru." He muttered, reaching for his calculator. He had always hated algebra, and having to do it when it wasn't even a school day made the whole ordeal even worse. Of course, he could have just finished it one Friday when he was supposed to, instead of pushing it to Sunday.
Ataru frowned at him from the couch. "I have a job already." He boasted. "Why don't you?"
"You're eight years old and get paid for doing the dishes. That doesn't count." Ryou snapped, scribbling an answer down on the page. Just... ten more questions left. Terrific.
"At least stop coming over, then. You don't even live here." Ataru said, tossing his game to the floor and sitting upright. "Go back to your own house."
Ryou looked up from his homework page and began tapping his pencil on the counter. He had only started living in his apartment at the beginning of the year. He thought it would have at least taken more than a few months for his family to stop missing him, but apparently not. Lately he was realizing that Ataru wasn't the only one who got over his absence rather quickly. Heck, his own parents made it fairly obvious that they didn't want him in their house. Ouch. What a way to show love, huh?

"Aw come on. You want me to stay, right?" Ryou said loosely, trying not to look like he was inwardly hoping his brother wouldn't
tell him to take a hike. That would be a bit embarrassing.
"Not really." Ataru said flatly.
Ah, well... that settled it. For an eight year old, the kid really had a talent for making others feel terrible.

He tucked his papers back into his binder and dropped it into his school bag. When the bag was zipped up, he slung it over his shoulder and hopped off the dining stool. He glanced over at his brother, and taking in a deep breath he gave it another shot."You sure? We could... play baseball at the park or something."

"I don't like baseball."

You don't like anything. Ryou thought bitterly, walking towards the door. He left the house without another word, but once he was at the bottom of the front steps, he realized that he didn't want to head back to his apartment just yet. The place was a mess at the moment, anyway. If he went there, he knew he'd have to clean it and actually do some laundry and the dishes for once.
With a nod to himself, Ryou decided that much like with his homework he could avoid going home until he really had to.

---

Haruko sat up in bed, grumbling about nothing in particular. He looked over at his clock and almost went into a panic frenzy when he realized what time it was before remembering his mother had told him he didn't need to come work that day. On most weekends he worked for his mom at her little shop but she gave him this weekend off because his younger brother had offered to help out.

Now that he was awake though he rolled out of bed, only slightly less grumpy than before with the realization he didn't have to go work. He went into the little kitchenette of sorts in his apartment and started his coffee maker before going to change into some jeans and a plain graphic t-shirt. He went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror to see his hair was it's usually morning mess, he tried to tame it just a little with a comb before giving up as usual.

He walked back into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of the now finished coffee. He dumped several spoons of sugar in it before taking a sip, burning his mouth like he did practically every morning. He was starting to wake up mow and decided to go see if he could find some breakfast. He tugged on a pair of Converse before heading out of his apartment with his cup of coffee.