Chapter 3: Lonely

Miyuki lived alone in a large and modern two-story house. Her parents were never around due to their frequent cases that required them to travel around the country. They were busy most of the time but never forgot to call her everyday to check on her. Her mother liked to worry about her, especially now that her two older brothers had moved to Tokyo. Her father enjoyed sending her gifts from the prefectures and islands he visited, majority of presents being food and sweets. Today, the package was from Kyoto and inside was a small box of tea leaves.

She carefully slid the box out, throwing the wrapper over her shoulder to land in the trash behind her. They gave of a soothing feeling and the blonde quickly moved around the kitchen to pull out the tea pot. Tea always made her feel relax even when she was stuck in stressful situation. The mere thought of sitting down to enjoy a cup of delicious tea was enough to make the girl calm down from anything.

After a couple of minutes of preparation, the tea was finished and she didn't hesitate to pour it into a green circular cup instantly. It smelt amazing. She placed the pot along with her cup onto a small tray and made her way to the lounge, setting it down on the wide glass coffee table. Sitting down on the brown couch, Miyuki turned her attention back on the sheets she was previously working on.

The blonde had created a little study guide for the black haired player. After their encounter at the library, she felt that it was at least what she could do to assist him. He had told her a weakness of his and it was something that could be turned around in her view. History was a subject that required memorization as the main tool but there were only some things that needed to be remembered in order to succeed.

She wrote down a few more sentences before collecting all the pages and fixed them so they were stacked neatly. His test was only a test so Miyuki had predicted it wouldn't be as detailed unlike exams. It was a bit difficult to pin-point what would be in the test since she wasn't a second year. It was true that she had studied ahead of her class and taught herself some of the topics for the next year, but she wasn't taking the classes so guessing the questions took a little more research.

Now, Miyuki only hoped that the points she wrote would be useful. She slid the pages to the side and picked her teacup up, taking a sip of the hot, sweet liquid. The moment she swallowed, Miyuki felt a breath leave her lips as her shoulder fell and her back sink into the back cushion. She didn't even know how tense she was.

Maybe it had to do with her sudden enter of the basketball team? She had heard that their team was strong and with the newly added Murasakibara it was even better then she assumed. Miyuki was never a fan of sports, it was her more of her older brother's hobby. In fairness, she was terrible at any form of athletics so the dislike for it probably stemmed from that.

"Ichi-nii liked playing badminton from what I could remember.'" Miyuki subconsciously held her chin with her hand, "Ah, but he wasn't that good at it."

The memory of her second eldest brother flailing around in order to knock the shuttlecock over took over her mind and she found herself chuckling. Compared to their eldest brother and her, Ichirou was much more flamboyant and ecstatic over just about anything. Miyuki's smile disappeared slowly at the reminder that both her siblings were living in Tokyo.

Her eyes flickered back onto the tray that held the brown teapot and the cup she held on her lap. When was the last time her family were altogether? Her chest tightened a bit at the thought.

It was kind of lonely.

"Himuro-san, here."

The male accepted the pages whole-heartedly, thankful for her help and effort. She told him the day before that she would do her best to help him and the thought itself was very encouraging. Himuro smiled softly at the blonde before she said a polite goodbye. Miyuki walked off towards Murasakibara who had waited for her patiently. Himuro watched amused as she scolded him for yawning loudly as they made their way to their homeroom.

He turned his heel and headed for his own classroom alone. Grey eyes examined the first page in front of him. The writing was neat and the overall layout was clean, not messy. The points didn't carry too much detail but it was enough to understand. Studying was now going to be easier then he initially expected since Miyuki had so kindly outlined what she thought would be on the test.

Himuro carried himself up the stairs and went straight into his homeroom, returning greetings from his classmates as he strode in. His attention was fixed on the pages in his hands even when he maneuvered himself around the room to sit in his seat. Miyuki had written on several sheets and even provided explanations for certain events along with connections as to why it had occurred. It honestly surprised him that she put so much effort in a study guide.

"She must really like studying." He thought with a small grin. The thought of someone enjoying learning such boring topics was quite interesting in a way. Almost every student around him would agree that studying was a present that the devils had given to teenaged humans. Miyuki seemed to think otherwise and encouraged any form of learning.

"Himuro? What is that?" Liu asked, stopping by the teen's desk and eyeing the sheets in his hands. Himuro handed it to the Chinese teen, allowing him to look over the notes as well. "Miyuki-chan gave them to me for the test." He answered, playing with a pencil that was sitting idly on his desk. His teammate read through the sheets in a fast pace, reminding Himuro of the time in the library with Miyuki. Was reading so fast a thing nowadays?

"Japanese history?" Liu moved onto the next page, sliding the other one behind. Himuro nodded, "I'll let you borrow it if you need it." He remembered the teen complaining about how annoyingly difficult Japanese was in general.

Liu shook his head and excused himself before dropping the pages back on his desk, and walking to the back of the room to sit in his seat. Himuro hummed in response and fixed the pile before slipping it in the compartment under his table. He made a mental note to look over it throughout the day and during breaks. If he didn't pass the test he wouldn't be able to participate in practice. Their coach was very firm when she said she would deliver divine punishment to anyone who actually had the guts to fail.

The thought of Araki's bamboo sword knocking his head made him flinch unconsciously, earning a few confused glances from his classmates. He sighed softly and began to fiddle with some of the pages under the surface of his desk.

"If I manage to actually pass then I really owe her…" Imagining her face when he delivered the news that he passed brought a grin to his face. Miyuki looking all happy for something would be a nice sight especially since she her brows were always furrowed, with her face carrying a serious expression all the time. Even when he saw her around breaks she was either scolding Murasakibara or sticking her head in a book.

The teacher walked in and told the students to get to their seats. Himuro sat there and listened as they did the roll call. Miyuki's expression would be something to look forward to alright. It would surely be amusing.

After practice, the players all went their separate ways tiredly, some slumping the shoulders and stretching in order to help ease the muscle pain. Throughout practice, Himuro began to notice that Miyuki had no problem when it came to the rules and strategies about basketball. Murasakibara had informed him that the girl wasn't that big of a fan when it came to sports so it made him curious.

That was why when Murasakibara and Miyuki were about to leave, he joined them and asked the girl his question. "How do you know so much about basketball, Miyuki-chan?"

The blonde looked a bit surprised over the question but answered nonetheless, "I have a relative over in Kanagawa that plays basketball. He told me everything I know."

Murasakibara kept munching on his chips that were kindly rewarded to him by his classmate for working hard during the training. Himuro had no idea she had a cousin who played basketball but in fairness he really didn't know all that much about her except for the fact that she enjoyed studying way too much; but really, anyone could see that.

"A cousin? Is he going to be playing in any of the upcoming tournaments?" Himuro was honestly interested. He wanted to know if any of her relatives acted like her too. He pulled the strap of his bag over his shoulder, fixing the item so it wouldn't slide off as they walked. "Eh~ Naka-chin has a cousin?" Murasakibara lazily joined the conversation a bit too late.

Miyuki nodded, her hands resting inside of the pockets of her blazer. "I think he's going to play. I'm not all too sure since he's kind of pitiful." She replied with a sigh as if she remembered something unpleasant. Himuro saw cringe and couldn't help but wonder who exactly was her cousin. Before he could ask for a name she stopped at the corner of the street and pointed to her left.

"This is the way I'll be going. I'll see you two tomorrow." Miyuki smiled, waving at the two of them as she crossed the road. Murasakibara half-waved before letting the hand drop back into his bag of chips whilst the shooter smiled gentleman-like at her. When she was out of sight, Himuro raised a brow at Murasakibara. "Do you know who her cousin is?" He asked and the teen shook his head.

Murasakibara stuffed a handful into his mouth, "Why do you wanna know Muro-chin?"

Himuro chuckled, "Wouldn't it be funny if they acted the same?"

The first-year shook his head firmly and seriously, even pausing from eating his precious snacks. With another laugh, Himuro agreed with a nod.

A/N: I said I was going to update last week but things got way too busy with the preparation for my mother and brother's birthday party. Uwah, im tired. School is starting next week Monday too and I'll be in year 10. I'm feeling great that I've managed to survive so many years but also terrible that I'll be super busy with stuff like work experience and year 11 preparation.

It's a serious pain. So I was like, 'I should update before school starts~' and here I am. It's a bit short but please do be patient with their lovey-doveyness. Im trying to make this as realistic as possible. at least they're talking, right? Ahahah, and the cousin thing has finally been addressed but it's super vague. I love it really. Please make your guesses as to who it is. xD btw, I hope Miyuki's thingy at the start wasn't too dramatic. Really. All I wanted to do was give a bit of a feel of how it was at home. And there was initially supposed to be a texting thing happening with her cousin but I thought I should be evil and let your minds die from curiosity. this chapter is a bit boring but please bear with me. i have no idea when i'll update next because of school but i am trying for next week. :)

I'm working on a bunch of new series for 2015 along with the plans for 'What A Lucky Strike'. 'Observations' will be rewritten due to the fact I really didn't like how I put my words together, along with some of the earlier chapters of 'What A Lucky Strike'. Currently, in my drafts I have the chapter 1 of a MIYAJIXOC story getting written but I'm currently not too sure about it getting published. Your thoughts about it would be lovely. :)

If you check on my profile there are the plans/drafts that maybe subject to change. I've got things going around my head for making a Katekyo Hitman Reborn fic and yeah. So any story suggestions and ideas would be great so please PM me if you've got any!

Ps. Sorry if there are any small mistakes.

THANKS FOR READING.

REVIEWS ARE SEXY.

LONGER REVIEWS ARE SEXIER.

HAHA. HER COUSIN.