As soon as she was torn from her dreams full of warmth and shining blue skies, a wave of pain scoured her pale figure. It was as if her whole body was set ablaze. The young lady opened her mouth to release a pained groan, pulling out her arm from underneath her. She was always known for sleeping in awkward positions, even when she fell asleep at her desk. Her pale caramel eyes slowly opened, flickering towards the window. Another sound of discontent escaped from her lips as she noted that it was cloudy. Cloudy on a summer weekend, with the smell of rain on the wind.

Then again, this was Goldcrest, and it was always cloudy or raining in the small town. What did she expect, sunny days and warm breezes? Such a day only occurred once or twice in England's history...

Whitney dragged herself out of bed, licking her dry lips and running her hand through her matted hair. Her gaze drifted towards the clock at her bedside, and noted that it was about noon. Her heart nearly stopped; it was only when she realized that it was a week into summer vacation that she calmed down. A relieved sigh escaped her as she made her way to the restroom. She would just brush her teeth and shower before her snarky brother could get a hold of her.

A short while after, Whitney left the bathroom, clad in her electric blue robe and her dark brown tendrils of hair falling down to her chest. The sixteen year old really didn't feel like going out, but she felt like she deserved some space. And if she was going to go out, she should at least make an attempt to look nice... She quickly grabbed a striped green and white tank top and white shorts and slipped into them as quietly as she could. Bounding her damp hair into a loose ponytail with some pieces of hair slipping out of the bright green scrunchie and falling into her face, the young lady crept out of her room and made her way downstairs to the living room.

She paused at the bottom of the staircase and peered around a corner. No one was in the living room... so she would probably be able to get out of the house without anyone bothering her. Whitney allowed a grin to come across her lips; finally, she would have a day to just hang about around town! She cackled as she inched her way towards the door, grabbing the doorknob and yanking it open. Unfortunately for her, someone was at the door, and she almost ran into them in her hurry. She almost cried out in shock as the six foot tall male glowered down at her.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Whitney?" the man growled, furrowing his dark brow down at her as he crossed his thick arms.

Oh crap. "O-oh... hey, big bro!" Whitney laughed nervously, raising a hand to wave at her elder sibling. She really didn't want to see Garrett right now... "Thought you were at work!"

Garrett gave her an annoyed look. "That doesn't answer my question. Where are you going?"

"Uhm... I'm just going to go to the library!" she answered quickly. He couldn't be angry with her if he thought she was going to a place like the library, right?

"Library?" Garrett echoed, leaning towards her with an inquisitive yet aggressive look in his eye. When Whitney didn't falter in his presence, he straightened his back and sighed. "Fine. Get back quick. You have to clean the house with Hazel when you come back."

Whitney nodded rapidly, maintaining her crooked grin on her lips until Garrett stepped around her. When her brother closed the door behind him, she darted down the pathway to her home and sprinted towards the town square. She didn't know that she could run so quick under stress... but, then again, she wanted to get as far as way from her home as fast as she could. A day away from her family was a day in heaven, at least for her.

She was almost out of breath when she made it to the center of Goldcrest, where most of the businesses and grocery markets were. There were even vendors on the side of the streets. The different environment brought a smile to her lips. It was always nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of life every so often. Whitney walked to the stone wall of a deli and leaned against it, a sign of relief escaping her once more. It was finally time to relax. Maybe she could even hang out with a few people, if she spotted them. It was the weekend, so they were bound to be out and about.

Papers stuck to his face as he rose from the desk. The sun, even if it was the usual England weather, was always bright enough to rouse Aiden from sleep. With slothlike reaction time, he realized that the paper that had just fallen from his face was an essay for a class. A quick inspection revealed that it was semi-readable for a first draft and he placed it back on the desk. What day was it again?

Aiden decided it felt like a saturday. If he was wrong his mother would correct him soon enough by asking why he wasn't at school. Either way, it didn't matter, because every day he was a step closer to the Vongola and finally getting power enough to not need anyone to defend him. Today felt different, too. Something in the air had changed, and he hoped that meant today would be different from all the previous days.

Aiden realized that he hadn't changed before falling asleep and his clothes were wrinkled and messy. If today was different, then he'd at the very least get dressed into something clean. He pulled a shirt from his messy dresser and wrestled for clean pants before getting dressed. Well, he could say they were clean but the only thing he knew for sure was that they passed the sniff test. Which for him was good as clean. He didn't have time to worry about these sorts of things when he had to devote himself to getting strong enough for the Vongola to notice him.

"Aiden! Get up! Your Dad called!" the yelling from the kitchen had Aiden moving towards the voice.

"What time is it?" Aiden asked, half in Japanese due to his lack of consciousness, just about slamming into the chair because he was already set to sit down again.

"Nine. Though, you look as though you haven't slept at all. I thought you went to bed at midnight?" She replied as she flipped the omelette.

"That's when I went into my room. I don't think I could say when exactly I went to sleep," Aiden explained. He sounded a little bored, but if he had energy for emotion he would have used it to keep himself from falling asleep at the table.

His mother shook her light brown haired head. She'd learned that there was no changing his mind a long time ago, but that didn't mean that she was giving up either. "Aiden, I need you to run groceries for me while I meet up with a friend. Your dad might show up later on in the week if work goes well, so I'd prefer to be stocked up on food for when he visits."

"But-"

"You can invite Kevin if you want, or I could call him. I'm sure he'd be enthused to hang out with you." Her smile was warm, but to Aiden he could see the truth behind the mask. This was her way of getting him to do things. Aiden wanted Kevin at a distance. Kevin wanted to hang out all the time.

"That's not necessary! I'll do it. But if he comes by I swear that if you tell him where I am I'll never come home again," Aiden said, knowing full well that she'd tell Kevin anyway, but it was a hope.

"Aiden, I said I'd be out meeting a friend of my own. If he comes here, nobody will be home."

"Oh yeah."

"Honestly, you need to sleep more than you need to go out buying weapons or whatever it is that you do," his mother said as she set the plate in front of Aiden. "Also, you need a shower before you go out, your hair looks like it hasn't even seen water in a week. Which is a feat given that's it's rained off and on for the last few days."

Thus the breakfast passed and Aiden went to the market after a quick shower. He felt fancy, for some reason. Even though his shirt said 'Full Time Beach Hunk' and his jeans looked like he walked on the hems of the legs all day. It didn't take all that much time to reach the center of Goldcrest, where he'd find most if not all the grocery list. The list was three pages, but he figured that he could pay for it all and they'd be fine.

The groups of people and change of atmosphere always pissed Aiden off. What was so great about standing around in groups? They just took up space and blocked the way for other people to get what they needed. He noted a girl leaning on a wall alone and realized that he didn't know where to find half of the list. Mother's trying to make me have friends again... he thought as he glared at the list. In order to find it all he'd have to ask around.

His mother was an evil genius.

1:59 p.m.

That was the tenth time Miya had stared at the bistro's large clock in the last hour. A sigh of relief escaped her when the clock struck 2 p.m. With her shift finally ending, she wasted no time in removing her apron and flinging it over one of the hooks in the employee's room. She put back her daily belongings in the duffel bag she brought to work everyday before taking out her phone.Miya then swiped quickly across its lock screen. She didnt have a passcode on her phone-not like anyone could dare to mess with her things anyway.She then started composing a message to her aunt.

"Done w/ work
Hdng out 2 stores rite nw
Is spghtti 4 dnnr ok?"

Without caring to check her message , she hit send. Afterall, her aunt was used to deciphering her messages by now. Not waiting for the reply, she slid the phone in her pocket of her jeans.

"And I'm freeeeeeee!"
She shouted as she stood in the centre of the room with her fists up in the air.

Some of the workers jumped at her sudden exclamation while others rolled their eyes at her.

"Must you be so dramatic every single day?"
One of them called out as Miya headed for the door.

"Later." Miya replied with a smug look on her face, flicking her short hair with one hand as she did so.

Miya then reached the marketplace where she was to get her groceries from. She took out a folded piece of paper from her bag which happened to be her shopping list. She knew most of the things she needed to get, but she scanned it anyway. She hated making multiple trips to the store in one day, so she was going to make sure she got everything in one go. The list was written in permanent marker on the blank side of one of the menus from her bistro. The thick black marker made her handwriting look awful, especially since everything was written in capital letters.

As she entered the store, she noticed that there were quite a lot of people there already. A few of them were older than her, people who were probably also returning from their shifts. The majority, however, seemd to be groups of teenagers. She stared at them as though they had intruded her terrritory and were at fault for being at the store.
Why are there so many of them here? Dont they have school or something?

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the alert tone of a message on her phone.

"Ok(✿ฺ◡ฺ‿ฺ◡ฺ)
Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ Spaghetti sounds good!! o((*^▽^*))o
Take care!。（＞ω＜。）

Was all it read.While Miya used almost no smileys in her message, her aunt decorated all of her messages with a tonne of emoticons.
Glad to know you like spaghetti, Miya thought sarcastically as she stared at the excited emoticon.

As she went to the dairy products section, she realized why so many teenagers were at the place. It was summer after all.
Her stare subconsciously changed to a softer gaze as she observed the groups and what they were wearing, before getting some yoghurt as well.
With her list almost done, Miya pushed her trolley towards the check out line. She found the outfits adorned by some of the teenagers ridiculous and even felt like snorting at one or two.With the line infront of her budging only barely, she checked her list to see if she had forgotten anything.

"PASTA" the list seemed to scream at her.

Groaning, she turned her trolley around.

With mellow steps, Kevin Sinnet made his way around the bustling throng of the town square, his warm eyes glistening with interest and curiosity. Even with the brooding weather above them, the people of Goldcrest still managed to have some sort of excitement for the their first weeks of early Summer. Side vendors were out and about in full force along the winding sidewalks that criss-crossed through the heart of the square shouting out fun advertisements that directed the attention of passerbys to their overloaded carts that ranged from delicious cuisine to several knick knacks made out of mystery and wonder. Shop owners had the doors to their establishments wide open as if giving out invitations to guests so that they may join them in a warm gathering of good food and greater friends. Grocery stores had racks of umbrellas right outside of their entrances so that people may find some sort of refuge from the impending afternoon rainfall while they go about their daily chores.

It was quite an invigorating view, seeing his small town being so alive and healthy.

The tall boy took in a deep breath, flashing the world his crooked grin as he continued his leisurely pace through the square. One hand was in the pockets of his dark-grey jeans, while the other was idly tossing a bright red apple into the air and catching it after every few steps. He had on a high-collared navy-blue hoodie this afternoon, with the hood hanging on the back half of his head in a lazy but charming manner and his sleeves rolled up just below his elbows. On his feet were a pair of white Chuck Taylors that padded the ground rhythmically with each step.

Now where was it that he was suppose to go? Kevin stopped suddenly, his head slightly cocked to the side. He was so distracted by the business of his surroundings that he forgot what he was doing. The young man pursed his lips as he twirled on his heels, eyeing the congregated crowds of people to jog his memory.

Suddenly, in the distance, he could make out the faint outlines of his friend Aiden.

Well, the term friend is used loosely here. Kevin certainly viewed his schoolmate as such, but it seemed like Aiden does not agree with how their relationship stands. They even shared a pretty aggressive fight together and the younger boy still gave Kevin the cold shoulder. Still, Aiden's mother did grow fond of Kevin after learning about how the two met, and if that's not enough to be friends, then the young man didn't know what would be.

So with a mischievous grin that crinkled his golden-brown eyes, Kevin tossed his apple once more into the air, caught it, and took a big bite out of it as he made his way towards Aiden.

"Heyo! You look lost, little lamb!" Kevin shouted out from across the street. Needless to say, his booming voice turned the heads of curious passerbys, who watched him wave vigorously to Aiden. They chuckled as they walked by, some shaking their heads with a smile as they envied for their own youthful days and camaraderie.

In a span of a few seconds, Kevin jogged towards him. Eying the list that was in Aiden's hand, he teased, "Grocery shopping, huh? No wonder Sayo called for me. With all the socializing that you refuse to do, you'd be stranded here all night." His eyes glinted with a boyish humor.

"So. Shall we get started?" Kevin grinned as he took another bite of his fresh apple.

The weather was disgusting.

Three days into his first week after arriving in England, and Yang Sada hated living there. The sultry atmosphere of America was what summer truly was, and he was having difficulty adjusting to the gloomy environment. Even though he experienced numerous different climates and changes in his surroundings back in America, there was something about flying to the other half of the world that bothered him. Not only that, but his respectable sleep schedule had been thrown out of proportion.

"You'll get used to it, Yang," his mother would say, rubbing his shoulder.

The boy was not particularly interested in getting out of bed; Yang had slept in, once more. Rubbing his temples, he reached for the end of his bed and patted around until his fingers laced along the exterior of his cell phone. He raised it above his face and shielded his eyes from the villainous light with his other hand, peering through the crevices. The clock read 1:53 in the afternoon, followed by two missed conference messages from his mother. Yawning, he tapped the side to raise the volume, and played the first one.

The screen of his phone extended a display before him, legions of data instantaneously assembling into a hologram that consisted of an image of his mother's head, just above her collarbones. Color filled the picture soon after, detailing every little feature of his mother's face as her smile began to move.

"Your dad and I have some business to do for the day; I need you to run to the market, and buy some snacks for our visitors tonight," she stopped briefly, a laughing expression on her face as her eyes moved back to him. "I left a list and some money on your table. Thank you so much! I'll see you tonight."

Sighing, Yang closed the message and scrolled to the second one, sitting upright to stretch.

"Oh! I almost forgot," his mom smiled widely, her hand coming into the hologram as her fingers showed a "victory" sign. "I love you, honey! Be safe!"

Yang's lips curled up slightly as the message closed. Even though his parents were always busy and not around as much as he would have liked, he knew that they cared for him dearly. When he was young, he remembered when they told him that the reason he was their only son was so that they didn't have to love anybody else except for him. Feeling warm on the inside, he took a breath and rose from the bed, a small smile on his face.

---

People did not look at Yang as he sifted through the crowds, and that was how he preferred it to be. With his hands in his pockets, his eyes remained glued downward with the occasional glance upward to make sure he was headed in the right direction. Yang's parents had taken him on a walk around Goldcrest on their first day, and it was his job to familiarize himself with the neighborhood. As the market boomed around him, he stopped momentarily to peer at the list he was given.

"Okay..." Yang mumbled as he got a basic understanding of the list, but as he put it back into his pocket, he felt his body fall forward as a man shuffled past him. He grumbled as he fell to the ground and the man continued without a notice, puffing his cheeks and exhaling loudly to vent his frustration.

Just as Aiden was getting his bearings, someone came up behind him, calling him a lamb and making people stare. There was only one person he'd allow to call him lamb without getting a punch on the mouth, and that was Kevin Sinnet. The crowd giggled at the scene, and Aiden wanted to hurt them. It wasn't funny, he's intolerable!

"Grocery shopping, huh? No wonder Sayo called for me. With all the socializing that you refuse to do, you'd be stranded here all night."

Kevin didn't get it, his mother didn't get it, and it seemed like no one understood why Aiden refused to make friends or socialize. It was for their safety, more than his. Aiden could survive being alone if that meant no one else got hurt. However, he wanted to be friends with Kevin. Kevin was nice and polite to Aiden, no matter what Aiden said to him. So, for the sake of getting the task done and over with, he would coperate with Kevin.

"Fine. But once I'm done you have to go do something else. I'm not hanging around you all day," Aiden said. Today was different, and the last few times he'd felt a day was different it ended up with his friend being dead. If he could keep his distance from Kevin, then Kevin would be okay. "The first thing on the list is sakana." Aiden said, then corrected himself. Er, fish."

@tatszico