Saturday, September 19th

When (Y/n) woke up, she found all the joints in her body stiff and aching, a clear sign that she didn't have a comfortable night sleep. When she checked her clock she was surprised to see it was still pretty early in the morning, or, at least, earlier than she had planned on waking up. She checked her phone for any new messages but had none, not even from the twins, 'It's expected, they wouldn't be awake at 8:30 in the morning.' She got up rather lazily and freshened up before deciding to go downstairs to check on Fenrir.

"Hi (Y/n). You've been waking up very early lately, the bed isn't comfortable enough?" Her grandmother questioned with a hint of amusement.

"No, I just want to start my weekend early." The girl went over to get some of the already prepared breakfast her grandmother had made, "Gran, is there any news from mom and dad?" She sat down across the table from her grandmother to eat her meal.

The girl immediately knew that bad news was coming her way by the sympathetic expression on her grandmother's face, and braced herself for the news. "They said that their business will take much longer than expected and then there's the issue of the weather there being unreasonable for them to fly out. So they will stay, maximum one more month, than expected." The elderly woman gave the girl an encouraging look but her attempts were still overshadowed by the news.

Though it didn't really faze the girl, she grew quite accustomed to the absence of her parents over the years and found more comfort in the more solitary times. They both work for the same big company which would usually require both of them to partake in the job and leave the girl alone. But, most of the time it would be her grandmother coming over to look after her until they arrived, however (Y/n) knew this wasn't the case this time. "Does that still mean you'll be leaving next week?"

The woman nodded her head sadly, "I'm sorry dear, but you know your grandfather can't take care of himself for too long. And I don't want to leave you on your own for two whole weeks, but you understand how it is."

"Of course, I don't want grandpa to be left unsupervised so it's ok. Plus, I've been alone for way longer than just a month so it should be nothing for me really." The woman smiled at the teenager as if to say 'thank you for understanding,' and the girl quickly finished up her breakfast and thanked her grandmother. While the elderly lady was distracted with washing the dishes, (Y/n) took the chance to sneak some food that won't be missed, from the fridge for the dog. She quickly entered the back garden and checked if she was being watched by her carer. "Fenrir? Here boy. Come have some breakfast!" It didn't take long for the bouncy and agile animal to appear and begin licking the scraps of meat and leftover bones from past dinners, from the girl's hand.

While the dog was eating, she couldn't help but wonder if she should do something foolish and talk to the creature like a worry doll. She watched him carefully as he quickly finished up the last scraps of his meal. The pup licked his lips and wagged his tail in gratitude of his given goods and happily stared back at the girl. "So...what do you think I should do?" The pup remained none responsive beside the usual animal behaviour. "I bet you're wondering what I'm talking about? You wanna hear what's got my shoulders so heavy?" Despite feeling awkward at the prospect of talking to an animal who most likely wouldn't understand nor answer her, she pushed that feeling aside and turned to him like a small friend that would keep each and every one of her secrets. "Well...yesterday after school I wanted to apologise to my friend Ryo for abandoning him during lunch since something came up. So when I went to this weird room he designed I found him drunk off beer and half asleep on the floor." (Y/n) leaned against the small apple tree that was planted in her garden as the pup scooted closer on her lap to listen to the girl's troubles. "I don't know what had gotten into him...I guess he is pretty unpredictable but I would never have imagined him even a little drunk. Anyway, I tried to sort him out but he wouldn't move so...one thing led to another and he started restraining me to the ground and kissing me." The flashback to the memory sent chills to run down the girl's spine and an uneasy sensation to resonate in her mind.

"So, like the lady I am, I bit him and slapped him and got away. And haven't heard from him since then, unless you can label that silent, mid-night call a conversation..." The pup didn't show any reactions but simply stayed put while the girl petted and rubbed him. "And then I remembered he had invited me to go to his house today and now I don't know what to do...

The thing that encourages me to go is that I can excuse him for his actions since he was quite intoxicated back then so I doubt he knew what he was doing.

But, I'm discouraged over how uncomfortable and awful it felt when he did that to me, for no reason. Plus it would just feel awkward if I see him now and I don't really feel like looking at him...what do you think I should do?" She looked at the animal with a stray sense of hope, getting coughs up in the act that he was a real person. She snickered at her dumb behaviour and the stupid question, wondering when she grew witless. But then the dog bounded over to the side and came back with a small yet ripe, golden apple from the ground. The girl took it and examined the fruit. 'Why is this even fresh and fully developed? It's autumn?' She looked back at the dark dog with intrigue, "Is this supposed to answer my question?" The dog simply stood by her side with a wagging tail. After a few moments of further inspection of the apple, the girl finally came to a conclusion. "Alright then...so it'll be awkward if I make it awkward...? Ok, I'll go." She stood up with a certain new spurt of courage and looked down at the dog. "Want to join me?" After that was said, the dog began making steady strides towards the direction of the house. "You really make me question if you can actually understand me or not."

After successfully hiding and smuggling the animal towards her bedroom, (Y/n) started to change into a more comfortable set of clothes for the upcoming winter and made the excuse to her grandmother that she was leaving to visit the twins. When finally out of any possible trouble, she started to check the address of the house, given to her. With a few disorientations and questioning strangers, she found herself on the right path.

"Ok, so according to the address, the house should be this one-" she cut herself off when her eyes landed on the great building in front of her. The compound seemed to have the width of four houses built up against each other and held a two story height. It was surrounded by a brick wall with only two gates to allow entrance -one for a vehicle and another for a person- and the building itself looked very new and well-kept, with a dozen windows on each side and a modern design that only added to the fancy setting. (Y/n) felt herself slouch and retreat her body inwards at how minuscule she felt compared to the large building and found herself checking the address a number of times to confirm that this was the right house. But no matter what her brain told her, the evidence stacked against her suspicions and thus brought about new questions. "Hhhooolllyy mother of me..." She whispered to herself as she came to the realisation that her friend was practically rich. Fenrir began walking around the area to explore and mark his territory while his owner was still left in the dust by her new discovery. When she finally got her mind in check, (Y/n) began wondering how she should tell the boy that she was here. 'Should I call him or is there some sort of buzzer-'

"(Y/n)?" The girl turned around to her name and found her body frozen in place by the boy she faced. Ryo stood at a distance while clutching a plastic bag that seemed to be filled with groceries, a shocked and astonished expression plastered on his face. (Y/n) stood still, not daring to move a muscle in her body or face, in order to avoid making a wrong expression. Her blood seemed to freeze over, but not because of the chilled weather, and she could feel the vibrations of her beating heart coursing through her body like a shock wave. She gulped as her eyes took a good glance at the slightly bruised lip she had given him the previous day and the memories flooded back.

"So, are you going to invite me in?" Ryo only further seemed confused at her question, with no idea of what she was talking about. "You did want to study on maths with me, right?" (Y/n) gave him a sarcastic smile which jogged the boy's memory and realisation was brought.

"Oh, of course...just hold on." He went over to the smaller gate and pressed a buzzer of which another familiar sounding voice came out to inquire about who it is. "It's me." Another buzz was heard and Ryo proceeded to open up the metallic gate and backed up at a great distance from the girl as she walked into the property and Fenrir followed in pursuit. She waited for the blonde to go in after her and despite some hesitance, he did so without looking (Y/n) in the eyes.

'Damn it, now he's the one making this awkward...' She thought of a quick way in which she could break the tension, "So what do you want to study first? Give me your weaknesses." He remained unresponsive for a while, thinking of how he could answer.

"Well...algebra I guess." He came up to the girl though he still kept a few feet apart from her.

"Alright, we can start with that then. By the way, this is Fenrir, I decided to take him along since he needs some exercise." (Y/n) referred to the dog beside her who was playing and circling around Ryo's feet.

The blond smiled down at the playful pup and knelt to pet him, "He's adorable, where did you get him?"

"He was actually a stray until Alex found him and then I took him in."

Ryo chuckled at the answer, "Sound like him. Alex really loves animals."

"It's sadly ironic he can't have any pets, though." (Y/n) reminded, in a sympathetic manner.

"You think that stops him?" The two students began laughing and imagining how the statement could be acted out, with images of the silent boy breaking into an animal shelter to spend time with the creatures and then disappearing like a phantom in the night. This moment seemed much more normal and natural to (Y/n), there was no longer the awkward wall of tension between the two students and Ryo's character comes out to shine like an undying flame once again.

When they got to the front of the building, all that was left was for Ryo to knock on the door before it was opened by another person. "Hey, Ryo-" as Ren spotted the girl he had to do a retake of her presence to convince himself that she was actually there, and so did the female. "(Y/n)?"

"Ren?" (Y/n) didn't expect the other person that would be in the house to be Ren and to further her confusion, another boy emerged from one of the many rooms connected to the main hallway.

"Ryo, did you bring me my- (Y/n)?!" Bako cocked his head to the side, also quizzical at the girl's presence.

"W-what?" (Y/n) couldn't process fast enough for her brain to catch up and before she could even come close to figuring a conclusion, she found herself once again overwhelmed.

"What's with all this bothersome noise? I'm trying to..." Kaito trailed off in his speech the moment his turquoise eyes locked on to (Y/n)'s (e/c) ones.

While this was going down, Ryo couldn't help but contain a slew of snickers and chuckles due to the confused expressions he was receiving from both sides of the spectrum. When he had composed himself, the boy cleared his throat to direct everyone's attention to him, "I think I have a few things to explain."

Time Skip

"Ok, so you guys have to live under the same roof before graduating so that your parents can trust you with living alone without their help. Is that right?" A few of the boys nodded their heads.

"Pretty much. They drop by every once in a while, but for the most part, it's our bachelor pad." Ryo leaned against the chair in a relaxed manner, feeling at peace in his own surroundings.

"And if we succeed, they will provide us with any house, anywhere we want. As well as the added bonus of them paying the full price of the house. But after that, we're to make our own living." Ren gently smiled while he took a sip from his coffee.

"So you guys are basically rich." (Y/n) became a bit giddy at the prospect of having wealthy friends. Her family had always been well off, only occasionally having troubles with mortgage and debts to pay over. So being close to people of a higher class made her feel quite overwhelmed.

However, a few of the boys felt self-conscious at the statement, "I guess, though I personally don't like that label. Makes me feel like I can't work to earn my own living and depend on my parents' fortune." Bako then quickly came to another realisation: "Now comes the next question. Why is (Y/n) here?" All the boys turned towards Ryo who was innocently sipping on apple juice from a carton. After realising he was the centre of attention, he straightened up to answer his clueless friends.

"That one's easy. I asked dear (Y/n) to tutor me on mathematics, and it was very nice of her to agree." He gave the girl a gratifying smile and turned back to his friends only to see faces filled with envy, spite and vexation. The threatened boy quietly gulped at the glares thrown at him and attempted to cover his worry with a casual smile.

"Hey, where's Alex? Isn't he supposed to be here if you're all living together?" (Y/n) looked around to check if she had missed him somewhere in the large complex.

"He's in the garden with Oberon, my dog." Kaito took a sip from his tea, only slightly regarding (Y/n)'s question.

"Could you get him for me? I'm pretty sure he would like to see Fenrir." She caressed the content-looking pup that sat at her feet.

The boy tusked in clear annoyance, "Do I come off as some sort of metre d', to be assigning seats and places for people based on your whim-?"

"Please?" By this point, (Y/n) had understood that acting angry and annoyed with the boy was counterproductive, so instead she approached him with a gentler and sweeter tone that was immediately caught by his ears.

Feeling himself becoming flustered by the girl's softer vocals, he stood up and began stomping away. "Let it be known that you forced me to do it."

"Sure thing." (Y/n) played along, only adding to the boy's flushed features. When he was out of view, (Y/n) turned towards the other guys, "So Kaito has a dog?"

"Yea, but most of the time Alex hogs him since Oberon is mostly the only contact with an animal he can have. I feel sorry for the guy since his parents won't let him have his own pets." Ryo finished up the last of his juice and threw it away.

"Why doesn't he get one then? Since his parents aren't usually around he can be a bit more relaxed and have a pet."

"It's not as easy as it seems (Y/n). Alex never goes against his parents' wishes and follows their rules like a law. So even from far away they have him pinned down." Ren shook his head in sad sympathy at the boy's cornered predicament.

"That's why he's desperate to pass the 'living alone' test. That way, when he gets a house his parents will grant him more freedom." (Y/n) considered what the artist had said and thought about how important this would be to the animal lover.

"But what if you guys don't pass this test? Your parents can't just kick you out or make you live with them forever." The female was taken aback when she saw the solemn expressions on each of the boys' faces.

"We don't like to talk about that." Ryo slumped up against his chair, appearing deep in thought. "Let's just say, there are more rules and strings tied on this deal than just simply being obedient little boys for 2 more years." (Y/n) was about to question them further but decided to refrain from doing so when she saw the reluctance they showed on this subject and noted to inquire them later down the line.

After a few minutes, Kaito returned calm and collected with Alex following right behind him.

"Hey dude, come and join the party!" Ryo cheered but was instead ignored by the stone-faced boy who was staring intently at the girl.

"Hi, there. Can you look after Fenrir for me while I'm with Ryo, tutoring him? Is that alright?" The boy looked at her with his usually straight face but didn't respond when he took the dog in his arms. "Alright, then. Let's go to your room to study." She turned towards the blond with a prepared look. Ryo smiled at the girl's eagerness, finding it charming and adorable until he began feeling imaginary stabs to the heart from a certain group of boys that grew despising intents.

As he tried to ignore the feeling, he then sensed another presence lingering after him. When the blond turned around, he noticed Alex following them, "Can I help you, dude?"

"I want to keep an eye on (Y/n)." Was his only answer and showed no hints of sarcasm bore reluctance to stray from his word. Ryo frowned at him and tried to make a move to dismiss his friend but got no reaction from Alex.

"Just let him join us, this way I can also supervise Fenrir." The blond was about to object but his heart began to melt when he saw the girl's pleading look.

"F-fine...but only he's allowed." He regarded the rest of the group with a glare which was sent right back at him. As the three teenagers headed upstairs to the boy's bedroom, a few ideas began emerging from the males behind them on how to include themselves in the activity with (Y/n).