A/N: Woo! So this be my first story up on and well…gah, why am I always so nervous about doing this. Oh, well. So yeah, this is a high school story that I got inspired to write after I read the translated little mini comic that comes with the art book I believe. First off I'm going to say that yes, some of the families may seem strange and that you probably can't understand why I grouped them the way I did, but it's my story and I thought it would be more interesting that way. Second, there are spoilers in here, mostly mild ones because I don't want to give away too much, but sometimes it can't be helped. So for those of you who don't read these things and just toodle on to the story I'll put it in big letters so it will maybe catch your attention. THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, DON'T READ! Oh, two more quick things. You might notice that some things in the story are almost identical to the actual story and that's because I'm trying to keep it as close to the original story. I'm going by the manga by the way since I haven't had a chance to watch the anime yet. The last thing is that there is some foul language in here, but if you've read the manga it's no worse than what appears in there.

Disclaimer: …Do I look like Akimine Kamijyo to you? No. Good. That means I don't own nothing that involves Samurai Deeper.

Now! Enough rambling and on to the story!

For most people, mornings were the most horrible part of the day. Not only did it disrupt what may have been the most wonderful dreams ever dreamt in the history of main, they also signalled the slow start of the widely looked down upon thinking process. Some people merely need a few shots of liquid caffeine, also known as coffee, and they were ready to go in the morning, while others needed to down the entire contents of the pot before they could even form an intelligent word let alone even the tiniest of thought processes. Of course we are excluding those very few who roll out of their bed and are ready to greet the world with a smile and kind word, those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed people mainly due to the fact that they tend to irritate the rest who do firmly believe that it is highly illegal to be that chipper in the morning for no other reason than that they are awake.

Depending on how a person wakes up in the morning usually has a great impact on how they great the world. If the gentle callings of a loved one, the smell of a good breakfast or even the soft sounds of a favourite song, rouse one from their slumber that one tends to have a better out look on the day. However, the opposite is also very true in that if the sharp rings of an overly annoying alarm clock, the screaming of underfed teenagers downstairs fighting over the last pop tart or harsh blaring of speakers from the next room is what awakes one from their sleep you can expect that one to be overly grumpy and treat the day as if it were an all around bad omen.

In this world, there are many ways that each person greets the morning and the day that follows it. Isn't it funny that on one small stretch of street all of the above occurs in the single hour between waking up and getting to that overly credited institution commonly referred to as school?

Yawning as she stretched her arms above her head, the blonde girl blinked wearily as she stared up at the ceiling of her room. She could hear the sounds of water running for the shower and the gentle clacking of dishes downstairs, signalling that both of her family members were up and about. Pushing herself up, she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and swung her feet back and forth lazily, staring out the window at what looked like it was going to be a gorgeous day.

Hopping off the bed, she shuffled over to the doorway, grabbing a house coat as she went. Absently slinging it on as she trudged down the hall, her nose picked up the delicious aromas of what smelt like a waffle breakfast. Moving down the stairs at a pace that probably would have scared her if she had been more awake to realise it, she headed straight for the kitchen and grinned as she saw that her nose had not led her wrong.

"Good morning, Yuya!" the young woman making the waffles said with a grin for the other. "Sit right down and I'll have these all ready for you!"

Green eyes warily considered the other girl. "Uh, I thought nii-sama was in charge of making breakfast," she said slowly.

Chocolate eyes sparkled at her as the cooking girl said, "I wanted to do it today so he said I could! He mentioned something about keeping the fire extinguisher close by but I don't really know what he was talking about."

Yuya stared at her in shock before yelping as a small flame leapt to life in waffle maker. Both girls sprang for the waffle maker and Yuya finally put it out by grabbing the aforementioned fire extinguisher. Both green and brown eyes stared at the mess, one in annoyance and one in shock at what had happened. Grumbling to herself at the loss of what looked like a good breakfast, Yuya dumped the contents of the waffle iron into the garbage.

"Did you start another fire, Sakuya?" an amused voice asked from the doorway.

Both girls turned to find a grinning man standing there, dressed in a business suit with a towel draped over his wet hair. "Nozomu, I didn't do it on purpose and Yuya helped me put it out so it's okay, isn't it?" Sakuya said quickly, glancing between her two siblings.

The man chuckled slightly as he looked over at Yuya. "Don't look so grumpy, Yuya-chan," he said, his grin growing. "There's still time for me to make some more."

Yuya's lips twitched in a smile. "Really?"

"Yes. Go have your shower and they'll be ready when you get back down. Sakuya-chan, why don't you get the table set up and maybe make some tea?"

"Alright, Nozomu!"

Yuya glanced at the overly chipper girl who had almost burnt the kitchen down and shook her head. Walking out of the kitchen again, she silently wondered how her adopted sister could be so happy after incidents like that, but she finally figured that since they happened so often to Sakuya the other girl just wrote them off as being normal.

Trudging back up the stairs, the young woman sighed as she made her way to the hallway bathroom. Closing the door behind her with a sigh, she shuffled over to the shower stall and hesitantly turned it on, dodging the first spray of cold water. Closing the door as she waited for the water to warm up, she moved over to the window and, after a moment's thought, peaked through the curtains covering the glass at the house next door. Green eyes narrowed slightly as she saw that there seemed to be no one near any of the windows of the other house, but she had learned from personal experience that just because it did not look like anyone was there did not mean that it was true.

Her eyes narrowed fully when she saw someone walk by the window, but her face scrunched up in disgust when she saw that said person did not seem to be wearing anything. Moving away from the window, she turned to the shower stall and shrugged out of her house coat. Pulling off the t-shirt she had slept in, the young woman slipped into the shower and shivered as the warm water slid over her skin.

Wasting no time enjoying the warmth, Yuya quickly rushed through her morning routine, her mind focused on the breakfast that her older brother had promised her. Wrapping a towel around her as she stepped out of the shower, her eyes once again flew to the window to see if the curtains had moved and her face relaxed when she saw that the window was still covered. Scooping her discarded clothing up off the floor, she hurried across the hallway into her room, tossing her clothing into the waste basket on the far side of the room.

Pulling her uniform from her dresser, she hurriedly dried herself off before whipping the towel in the direction her clothes had gone. Tugging her shirt on, she growled at herself as she realised that she had forgotten to put on a bra, but shrugged it off as she shimmied into her underwear and skirt. Hopping around her room as she tried to put on her socks, her stomach growled angrily as her nose once again picked up the delicious aroma of waffles wafting upstairs from the kitchen.

Shaking out her hair, she drug a brush through it before tying it back with a single white ribbon at the base of her neck. Looking at herself briefly in the mirror, she nodded to herself with a smile and ran out of the room. She squeaked sharply when she stepped out of her room and almost ran right into Sakuya. The two girls swayed slightly, Sakuya falling against the wall and Yuya stumbling back against the door frame.

"Sakuya!" Yuya wailed slightly. "You have to make more noise than that!"

"I'm sorry, Yuya, but Nozomu wanted me to tell you that the waffles and tea are ready."

Green eyes lit up and Yuya brushed aside her earlier ire. "Well, that's good! Let's go!"

Sakuya squeaked herself as the younger girl tugged on her arm, dragging her down the hallway back towards the kitchen. "Yuya, I have to get ready!"

"But what about waffles?"

"I'll eat them after I'm ready."

Yuya looked at her and shrugged as she let go of her sister's arm. "Fine, but they won't be as good if you don't eat them when they're warm," she said as she ran down the hallway to the stairs.

She got a laugh from Nozomu when she bounded into the kitchen, heading straight to the table that had a stack of waffles set on a plate sitting at her spot.

"Yuya-chan, you are rare indeed," he said with a fond smile as the girl attacked the breakfast. "All it takes is a breakfast and your day suddenly got that much better."

Yuya nodded, but did not say anything as she kept eating.

Sipping at his tea, Nozomu continued to smile behind the rim of his cup. Life in the Shiina house was always interesting, between Sakuya's clumsiness and Yuya's mood swings there was never a dull moment at the residence. Watching the girl eat, he felt his heart jump slightly in his chest as he remembered the day he first saw his youngest sister and the vow he had made to himself to never stop protecting his younger sisters. He knew that even if he did nothing else in his life, but keep them safe it would be enough.

Yuya paused as she felt eyes on her and she looked up to blink at her brother. "Nozomu, is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "No, Yuya-chan," he murmured, his voice fond. "Eat your waffles."

She looked at him for a moment longer before her eyes fell back to her plate to finish eating. She barely looked up as Sakuya came into the kitchen and a small giggle left her as her older sister almost missed her chair as she sat down. "You feeling alright, Sakuya?" she asked around her waffles, looking at her sister with dancing eyes. "You thinking about those Mibu twins again?"

A soft blush covered the older girl's cheek and she shook her head. "I'm not thinking about both of them, Yuya," she said quietly, her soft voice embarrassed. "I was thinking about Kyoshiro."

Yuya's lips pursed at that and she glanced at her brother to find him shaking his head slowly. "So does that mean that you're going out with Kyoshiro?" she asked slowly, treading carefully on the latest hot topic of the house.

Sakuya played with the strawberries on her waffles, the blush on her cheeks slowly matching the colour of the fruit.

"Sakuya?"

"Yes," she said softly.

"Well, it's nice to see you finally made a choice," Nozomu said as he placed his tea cup down on the counter near the sink. "Now I won't have to put up with the fights between those boys."

Sakuya's blush deepened while Yuya's face grew clouded as she too began to toy with her breakfast.

"Are you two going to be alright if I leave? There's a new trial coming up and I wanted to get there early."

"Go ahead," Yuya chirped, pasting her grin back on her face.

Sakuya nodded with a smile and a wave as Nozomu left the room.

The two girls fell into silence as they waited for the front door to open and close signalling their brother's departure. When the click came, Yuya slammed her fork down, startling her sister.

"Yuya, is something wrong?"

Pointing her finger at Sakuya who flinched at the motion, Yuya slowly said, "You've spent the past two years going out on dates with the two of them and you honestly expect me to believe that you chose Kyoshiro when you always talked about how fun and exciting your dates with Kyo were?"

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, it's true."

Green eyes were dubious. "Why Kyoshiro?" she asked finally. "Like I said, you always seemed to come home happier after dates with Kyo."

Sakuya absently spun her tea cup in her hands, staring down into the steaming liquid. "I asked myself the same question and I'm still asking myself that question," she said quietly. "When I'm with Kyoshiro, I have fun, I laugh, I feel safe and loved. When I'm with Kyo, it's a constant change, I never know what's going to happen next, I don't know what he's thinking or if he even feels anything truly for me. I started thinking about the differences between the two of them and while there are similarities, they are as different as night and day. I love the feeling of protection I get from Kyoshiro, but at the same time I adore the fact that Kyo lets me fend for myself. What it really comes down to, why I chose Kyoshiro, is that I don't have to truly worry about what Kyoshiro's doing. With Kyo, there's all the things he might be involved in, but I don't know because he never tells me and I don't know if I can handle not knowing what's going on with the other half of my relationship."

"So you went for stable instead of fun?"

"Kyoshiro's fun!" Sakuya protested sharply.

"Uh huh, so why haven't you given up on Kyo then?"

"I just can't," she sighed. "I've tried to forget him, but I can't help wondering what he's doing, if he's thinking about me, if he's mad at Kyoshiro and me."

Green eyes rolled on a huffed laugh. "Mad? I hate to be the one to break this to you, Sakuya, but Kyo's just one walking ball of rage. He's mad at everything."

Sakuya shook her head slowly. "No, he's not," she mumbled, "but he never lets anyone know that."

Standing up with a groan, Yuya missed the soft comment as she headed for the sink to deposit her plate. "So are you ready for another day of fun and excitement at that big scary building we have to go to all the time?" she asked dryly, turning back as her sister brought her dishes as well.

"It's not that bad, Yuya," Sakuya scolded, her lips twitching upwards despite herself.

"Says you."

"I'm going to walk with Kyoshiro this morning. Is Mahiro going to walk with you?"

"Probably," Yuya said as she moved out of the kitchen. "She and Tokito said they'd stop by before they went to school."

"Alright, well I'll see you later then!" Sakuya said with a wave.

Yuya paused slightly as she picked up her bag and glanced back at the kitchen. "Uh, Sakuya, what are you doing?" she called.

"I was going to do the dishes before we left."

Her mind coming up with every possible thing that could go wrong, Yuya hurried back to the kitchen's entrance and shook her head at her sister. "Don't worry about it. I'll come home at lunch and do it," she said quickly when she got a funny look.

"Oh, it's really no problem, Yuya! I'll get them done!"

Chewing on her lower lip, Yuya slowly made her way back to the door, her body tensed and ready to spring back to the kitchen at the slightest sound of something going wrong. When no noise came, she sighed to herself and opened the front door. Three startled noises escaped Yuya and the two on the other side of the door.

"Yeesh, Yuya," the dark haired one said with a shake of her head. "Give us some warning will you?"

"How was I supposed to know you were there! I can't see through wood!"

The paler girl smirked at that and skipped down the steps. "I could have told you it was going to happen if you'd listened to me this morning," she crooned as she started down the walkway towards the sidewalk.

"Ugh, here we go again! Tokito, you can't really tell the future with those cards!"

"Yes, I can, Mahiro. You just don't like it because nothing good ever happens to you!" the other called back.

"And I bet that's because you're in charge of the cards and you won't be happy unless I'm miserable," Mahiro muttered as Yuya closed the door.

The blond girl laughed at that and shook her head. "Oh, leave her be, Mahiro. Where's the harm in her thinking that they actually do work?"

Dark eyes looked at her friend and she dryly said, "What about when she does a reading and then goes on and on to the whole class about how this person's going to die a most tragic death?"

Yuya blinked. "She did that?"

"Mmm, terrorized the poor kid. I don't think he's been back to school and she did that so called reading three weeks ago."

"Oh dear," Yuya muttered, looking ahead to where Tokito was happily walking a large distance away from them. "Has she done anything like that since?"

Mahiro shook her head. "No, not really. Mother told her that it wasn't nice to do that to people and then ruined it all by saying even if it is true. I have got to be born into the weirdest family on this stupid street!"

"I don't know about that, Mahiro," Yuya said dubiously. "I mean look at the Sanada family or even that group that dorms together."

"That last group isn't family though," Mahiro pointed out. "They just live together to save money on the bills."

"Well, they're still weirder than your family."

Rolling her eyes, Mahiro gave her friend a push before looking up at her sister and groaning. "Oh great," she growled. "Tokito has found her newest little subject to torture."

"Oh, poor Akira," Yuya murmured, watching the young man turn a cold shoulder to Tokito who was busily telling him about the latest reading she had done for him. "I don't understand how he can stand it. She never leaves him alone when she sees him and it's got to get annoying."

"Hn, sounds like someone I know."

Both girls jumped and looked over at the speaker. Yuya huffed in annoyance, her hands landing on her hips. "Mibu Kyo, you have got to be the most insufferable person on this planet!"

A black brow lifted in slight amusement, but nothing showed in his crimson eyes. "I don't think so, dog face," he corrected as he walked by the girls. "You have the honour of holding that title," he called over his shoulder.

Yuya clenched both teeth and fists. "Oh, I'd like to beat him senseless," she growled under her breath.

"Uh huh," Mahiro said dryly. "You're going to take out Kyo, who happens to be a good eight inches taller than you, has practised martial arts since he was little and says shit like that for no other reason than to get you mad?"

Green eyes flicked to her before moving onto the back of Kyo as he walked past Akira and Tokito, causing Akira to pick up his pace to walk with his adored older brother. "Pff, just you wait," she promised Mahiro. "I'll show him before he graduates."

"Don't mind me if I don't hold my breath. Oh, why do all these weird people live on this street!" Mahiro moaned as she saw a large group of teenagers on the far side of the street.

Yuya smiled to herself and looked over at the group. Mahiro was right though. There were a lot of strange people living on this street, but since they were all weird they seemed to get along, for the most part. There was the odd disturbance every now and then, but those were usually sibling rivalries that just spilled out of the house and onto the street.

The street itself was simple enough, a dead end street that had a park at the end of it which was frequently used over the summer for the various birthday parties and anniversaries that occurred within the families. Ten houses lined the street, five on either side and not one of them was similar to any of the others. The same went for the front yards in front of each house, each reflecting the mind set of the people who lived in the house just behind. Most of the parents on the street had grown up together or knew each other from high school and the children often wondered if they had forced the previous owners off of the street so that they could all live near each other once again.

Shaking her head as she heard the argument coming from across the street, Yuya sighed as she watched a pale haired boy shout at a darker haired one who did not look like he was truly listen to the tirade.

"Looks like Shinrei got up on the wrong side of bed again," Mahiro muttered.

"Mmm, maybe Hotaru woke him up again. It can't be fun having someone try to light your hair on fire if you don't get up before him."

Mahiro snickered, saying, "I'm sure there's a better reason for why Hotaru does that, Yuya."

Yuya's expression was sceptical. "I don't know, Mahiro. I mean, it is Hotaru we're talking about here."

Mahiro made a face before laughing. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," she said as they spotted Hotaru leaning against the fence around his front yard. Grabbing Yuya's hand, she started running across the street towards the blond, dragging her friend with her.

"Mahiro! You don't have to yank my arm off!" Yuya protested as the girl slowed.

"Hush. Morning, Hotaru!"

Gold eyes lifted to blink at her.

Jerking her head over her shoulder, Mahiro asked, "Did you finally get him?"

Hotaru's lips twitched as he shook his head. "I almost did," he said slowly, "but he woke up faster than I thought."

Both girls looked over at Shinrei and started searching his pale hair for singe marks.

"I can't wait until it actually works," Yuya muttered as they turned back to Hotaru, who was once again staring off into space.

Mahiro grinned. "Can you imagine if he did it before grad? Shinrei would freak…well, even more so than usual. Honestly, Hotaru, I don't know how you can stand having him for a brother."

Shoulders encased in the black jacket of the school uniform lifted and fell in a shrug. "You learn to ignore it," he said as he pushed away from the fence. Looking at the girls, he asked, "Are you walking with me?"

The two looked at each other before shrugging. "Sure," they both said, each one moving to one side of Hotaru.

"Keikoku! Where are you going!"

The trio stopped to look back at the person who had shouted at them.

Hotaru shrugged again. "School?"

"I wasn't done with you before that Sanada brat showed up!"

Rolling her eyes, Mahiro planted her hands on her hips and glared at the speaker. "Give it a rest, Shinrei. So he tried to light your hair on fire. How many times have you tried to drown him and you don't see him yelling at you about it."

Shinrei's gold eyes grew irritated before smug. "Need the girls to protect you, eh, Keikoku?" he sneered.

Hotaru glanced at the two girls and shook his head after a moment. "No, not really," he said absently. "I know where you sleep so it doesn't really matter."

Yuya and Mahiro both bit down on a laugh as Shinrei flushed in anger and they each grabbed one of Hotaru's arms as they tugged him away from his explosive older brother. They finally laughed when they heard an aggravated noise come from behind them, Hotaru even smirking at the sound.

"I don't understand how anyone can be so grumpy in the morning," Mahiro murmured as she looped her arm through Hotaru's. "I mean even on the days where you don't try to turn him into a human flame thrower he's still all pissy."

"He's been like that for as long as I can remember."

Yuya shook her head, also looping her arm through Hotaru's. "I think it's this street. It does something to people."

"Pff, yeah right, Yuya," Mahiro said with a laugh.

"I think Yuya's right. Everyone on this street's messed up."

Poking his side, Yuya laughed when he flinched away from her. "And you know from experience, eh, Hotaru?"

He looked down at her before shrugging again. "Sure. I live on the street don't I?"

The girls shared a look before rolling there eyes. Discussions with Hotaru were always like this. Both girls were positive that somewhere, deep within the mess of his mind, there was an intelligence that would startle most people, but they never pushed to find it, knowing that Hotaru had never really been the same since his mother had died.

"Hotaru! What are you doing with my girl!"

A groan left Yuya as the voice washed over them. Looking over her shoulder at the speaker, she called, "I am not your girl, Tora! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"You shouldn't say things like that, Yuya. People might start to think that you're serious."

Rolling her eyes, Yuya turned to look where they were going, pointedly ignoring the gushy words coming out of the mouth of the idiot behind her.

"I could get rid of him if you wanted me to," Hotaru said softly, jerking his head back at Tora when Yuya looked up at him.

"Aw, that's sweet, Hotaru, but I don't want you to get in more trouble for doing something stupid like that."

Hotaru stared at her for a moment longer before he blinked and looked away. "If you say so," he mumbled.

"Besides," Yuya said slyly, "Mahiro wouldn't like it if we got rid of him."

Mahiro gasped and glared at her friend after she had gotten over her shock. "Yuya, you promised!"

"Did I?" Yuya said innocently.

"If you bring it up one more time, I'll get Kyo to make your life a living hell!"

"Hey! You leave your cousin out of this! I have enough problems with that family as it is! I don't need you stirring the pot anymore than it already is!"

Wincing slightly as the two girls on either side of him continued to argue, Hotaru slipped his arms out of theirs and covered their mouths. "You're too loud," he said simply when they both looked at him.

They stared at him for a moment before laughing and moving his hands. They all froze slightly when they heard a bell ring and, with a few soft curses, the girls tightened their grips on Hotaru's hands before bolting for the school.

A/N: Well, that's it for now and I won't say much down here since I took up so much space at the beginning. I hope you enjoyed and please leave reviews! Oh and if you want to know how I've divided up the families just say so and I'll take the time to explain it.