Exams. Prom. Classes. Everything was going on still, and everything was moving...so quickly. Junko finally had a moment of peace to lay around doing nothing but sit on her bed with her back against the wall and her two foxes draped over her lap, Aoi curled up on her feet. But things weren't exactly...peaceful with Junko. Normally this was something cute, something happy. Seiji even had a candidly taken photograph of her doing something like this with his own ofuda scareon, Hikari. No, instead Junko was frowning and...crying. Vacation was coming up. An entire break away from school. This was something students should look forward to, right? This was something fun. Something awesome. Weeks and weeks away from school! No teachers, no classes! Nothing but fun, fun, fun! But it meant..going home.

Junko didn't want to go home.

It wasn't that she didn't love her parents. Junko did love her parents, she just didn't want to be around them right now. She couldn't bear herself to be near them. Not right now. Not after everything she'd been through. She'd come into this school year a nobody, someone who was too shy to socialize, someone who was afraid of herself and of her second mouth. Someone who couldn't even make her hair twitch without feeling extreme emotion. And she meant extreme. But now? Things were different. Junko was happy. She was smiling more, she had made friends, people she loved and cared about; people she would possibly even give her life for. She loved each and every one of them. She couldn't bear to lose them. She couldn't. She and The Mistress were even fighting less! She still got picked on, but it was more affectionate than it had been in the past; She interfered less in Junko's life, and She was almost..friendly. Almost. It was still a work in progress. Her hair even moved because of her now. No longer did the emotions have to be strong and powerful. Just the slightest moodswing set it into motion.

Everything was perfect.

Home? Not so much. Home was depressing. Her parents, they cared about her, but not in a way that would keep her happy. Her father was a neglectful, selfish moneygrubber who spent most of his time locked in his study counting money. They didn't have a lot of money, and he couldn't stand to spend it even on the necessities. Her mother was a true futakuchi-onna, but she had succumbed to her second mouth shortly after Junko's birth from the pumpkin patch. The Empress has broken her, using Junko as her ammo. Did her mother hate her? No...but The Empress did. She whimpered and closed her eyes, rubbing at her face with the heels of her hands. Why? Why couldn't she go back to them? They were her parents! It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair! Everyone else was going to go back to their happy, loving homes. If Junko went back she'd surely lose whatever progress she had made this year!

"Then don't go back." Junko hiccupped, her hands lowering enough for her to turn her eyes toward Her. What? "Don't go back to them if you're so worried."

"But...but where will I go? I can't stay here..." Two sections of Junko's hair bent and lifted in a shrugging motion.

"Hell if I know. But anywhere is better than back there, right?"

"But they're expecting me.." Junko frowned again. They were expecting her. She couldn't just...not show up. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes again, tilting her head back to rest it against the wall and stare up at the ceiling. What was she going to do? Stay on the streets? She couldn't possibly do that. The Mistress groaned with frustration and Junko pouted. "What?"

"You have friends idiot! I'm sure one of them will let you stay with them for vacation! Sin, Shehk, Riley, Tomoko, Jove...Hell! Seiji? Nukpana?! I'm sure any of them would be happy to take in your freeloading a**." Seiji...she..she could spend an entire break with Seiji? Or Nukpana? Or Tomoko or Riley? For once She made a good point! Junko did have friend! She sat up again with a thoughtful hum, glancing back toward Her with the smallest smile. "You know I'm right."

"You don't want to go back either." Her hair stiffened and bristled.

"What?" Junko's smile grew.

"You. You don't want to go back there either. If you did you'd be fighting tooth and nail to convince me to go home, the way you did to keep me from coming here...but no...you're encouraging me."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She huffed. Junko giggled. "Stop that. It isn't funny."

"You're happy like this too, huh?" No answer. Junko smiled anyway and leaned back again with a soft sigh, folding her arms behind her head. She nearly rolled over, only stopping herself when she remembered she had two foxes on her lap and a grumpy foxsquirrel on her feet. "I still can't just not show up. And what if none of my friends can let me stay with them?"

"You're cute. I'm sure with a little pouting you can win even Red over." Junko snorted. Yeah, right. Like she was going to spend an entire school break with Red. But she had lots of friends. Surely one of them could take her in. As for not showing up? Well, she couldn't call them seeing how her house had no phone, but she could certainly write a letter! She slowly slid her feet out from underneath Aoi and moved her foxes off her lap so she could climb off the bed and across the room, grabbing a snakepen and a piece of paper. Okay. Letter time...

...Letter...time...

...Um...

How was she going to start this? Junko frowned down at the blank paper. Maybe she'd just start the simple way.

Quote:
Dear Mother and Father,
_______I took my exams recently! I passed! It was challenging, and involved slingshots, possessed boats and...rubber ducks...but I passed! I was even given the professor's PIN! Her emblem! It was great! I'm going to be an official Knob when the new school year starts. Which I will be attending. We've been fighting less, The Mistress and I, ever since our incident on our last field trip. I didn't tell you about it, and I don't think I ever will. I'd rather not speak of it. Ever.

I've told you about my friends, about my boilfriend. Well um..I've decided I don't want to lose them. If I return home, I know for sure that I will.


Junko frowned and crossed out that last line. No. She couldn't say that to them. But now the letter was ruined! Great! She'd have to write it all over again. She crumpled up the letter and tossed it away, getting a new blank sheet.

Quote:
Dear Mother and Father,
_______I took my exams recently! I passed! It was challenging, and involved slingshots, possessed boats and...rubber ducks...but I passed! I was even given the professor's PIN! Her emblem! It was great! I'm going to be an official Knob when the new school year starts. Which I will be attending. We've been fighting less, The Mistress and I, ever since our incident on our last field trip. I didn't tell you about it, and I don't think I ever will. I'd rather not speak of it. Ever.

I've told you about my friends, about my boilfriend. I've worked very hard to gain the friends I have. These experiences are things I never want to give up, I never want to miss, I never want to pass up. Because of this, I have decided I will not be returning home for break.

I understand you are both expecting me, but I just cannot do it. I cannot allow myself to part with them for so long.

I don't know where I go. I don't know who I'll stay with. I may stay at a friend's house, I may stay at Seiji's house, I may sleep in a tree or a bench or, heck, the pumpkin patch. The point is, I will not be staying at home. I will come visit you, I will say hello, spend a day...but I will not be staying.

I love you both, and I thank you for allowing me to come here.

Love always,
_______Junko


"That letter is so rushed."

"Shut up." Junko mumbled quietly, sniffling and wiping at the corner of her eyes as She set about taking the letter Herself. The paper was carefully folded, tucked into an envelope that matched the stationary, and addressed. The snakepen didn't appreciate being manhandled by Junko's hair, but tough luck. "Do you think they'll be mad?"

"Hard to say. Do you care?"

Junko paused. "...Not really..."

"You're a good ghoul, Junko. I don't think they'll be mad. Now clean yourself up, we should send this letter." Junko turned her head as if doing so would allow her to see Her, a small frown settled on her face. This was weird. "What?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" The Mistress frowned. What? What the hell was she talking about? She..She wasn't being nice! Not at all! She just couldn't stand to see the little brat cry! No one could make her cry but Her! Not Mei-Xiu, not Sarias, not even her parents, not even herself. Only She could do this. But She was finding less joy in seeing the ghoul cry little by little. A bit of hair moved to nudge against the corner of Junko's eye, and she sniffled as it wiped away a few tears. See? She was being nice to he-- "OW! OWOWOW! OWWWWWWW!" The hair had slipped down to hook around the corner of Junko's mouth and tugged.

"Listen here, you little brat! Don't think for even a second that I'm 'being nice' to you! I will break you! I will make you into a proper futakuchi-onna." She released Junko's mouth to wrap her hair around her face. "And I will not allow anyone but myself to make you cry. Even you." She then released the ghoul, holding the letter out for her to take. "Now go send the damn letter." Junko wasn't sure how to feel about this. She was acting weird. She was being nice, but wouldn't admit to it..

She could only hope She behaved around whoever's parents gave her permission to stay.