Shin sat at the desk in his room, finishing up his studies, as he had repeatedly done since the first day of summer vacation. Deciding to take a break, he stretched and noticed it was raining out, moving to the window and peering out of it. The street below was virtually empty, save for one or two passerbys hurrying to get out of the rain. His eyes moved to the house across the street from him, [i]How long ago was it?[/i] he thought, recalling a memory. Sighing, he closed the blinds, he didn't want to think about any of that. He returned to his desk and spotted his Neuro Linker, he had taken it off when he started studying, so he wouldn't get distracted. Picking it up, he put it back on, going through the routine reconnection like usual. He saw a message from his parents, and after reading it, he deleted it. [i]Late again tonight. Figures.[/i] he thought. He began to go through his files from the previous school year, deleting several picture files and a couple of other random files he had kept. He finally came across the Brain Burst program, tempted to delete it as well, though decided against it. Letting out another sigh, he decided he needed to find a way to take his mind off things. After connecting back to the internet, he went to the forum he frequented, reading up on a few posts. Once he was finished there, he moved to a different site, his avatar now connecting.

Once he was in, he began to search around, looking at the different hangouts. None of them seemed particularly interesting, then again, they never did. He continued until he found the one he usually hung out at, connecting to it and being greeted by the usual crowd. The hangout appeared to resemble that of a mix between a weapon shop found in most RPG's and a cafe with an open plateau 'outside' the store. The programming was set up so it was usually sunny, this way people could sit out on the plateau and chat. This was one of his favorite places to go, aside from one other place, but that was in the school network. School. Only a few days until it started back up again, of course, he knew what that meant; the girls would be fawning all over him again. Sighing, he took a seat, [i]Why is life so cruel to me?[/i] he thought. A message appeared in his inbox, [i]"Hey Shin! It's me! I'm having a great time studying in America! Everything's so different here, the people, the food, even the speech! It's all so much to take in! Anyways, had some time to send a message before bed, hope all is well back home! Hope to hear from you soon! -Yuki"[/i] he read. He chuckled a bit, Yuki always had such a positive outlook on life, that's what made her such a great friend. After closing the message and setting it aside, he was approached by several familiar people, whom he motioned for them to join him.

"So, did you watch that anime I suggested to you?" Shin asked the person across from him. Their avatar nodded, "Yes, I did. It really helped me to understand my sister a little better, now I know how to handle her when she acts the way she does." a girl's voice came from the neko. Shin nodded and smiled, "I'm glad. Just, don't be too hard on her, alright?" the avatar nodded. He turned his attention to the large lizard warrior avatar on his left, "What about you, Kai? How's your brother doing? Has he calmed down a bit?" he asked. The lizard avatar nodded, "Ever since you recommended I humor him, I've seen his delusions become less and less frequent. He also seems to listen to our parents more now." he replied. Shin smiled, "That's great news, hopefully things continue to get better for you guys." he said. He turned to the female vampire on his right, "What about you, how are you doing, Ruby?" he asked. There was silence at first, "Not great, my daughter's delusions are getting even more intense." she replied. Shin sighed, "Like I said before, indulge her, it might help. I mean, look at what happened with Kai's brother." he told her, motioning to the lizard. She nodded, "I'll try, thank you Shin." she said. The neko looked over at him, "Hey Shin, you ever interact with someone who has chuunibyo? You seem to know a lot." she asked. Shin shook his head, "No, I've only studied the condition." he said. He didn't want these people to know there was more behind those words, so he said his goodbyes and disconnected.

He sighed and went to the window again, opening the blinds, watching as more people passed. This time he spotted a girl, or as best he could figure was a girl, he couldn't tell because of how wet the person's hair was. They seemed to be using a rolled up magazine to sing, clearly not caring about getting soaked. Another sigh escaped his lips, deciding to grab his umbrella and put his coat on, [i]I swear, some people these days. That kid's gonna get sick.[/i] he thought, putting his boots on. The moment he stepped outside, he heard her singing and dancing, [i]She must really like the rain, she's a strange one, I'll give her that.[/i] he thought, now knowing the person was a girl for a fact. He had to admit, her accent was a little strange, but it wasn't like it bothered him. He walked out of the gate and up to her, opening the umbrella, "You'll catch a cold out here." he said, giving the girl a smile as he held the umbrella over her.
[@GrafRoy Zeppeli]