Before long the group was on their way back to their respective houses. They dropped Yukiko off first, which she soon learned was because Hoshi and Kenji were neighbors, living right next door to each other. Kenji gave her directions to his own house, which she silently nodded her understanding of before turning and walking into her home. It was already late and her parents were asleep; she made her way up the stairs quietly and slowly, though it wasn't for their sake. She just didn't feel like going anywhere fast at the time. She didn't even realize that she forgot to bring all of her equipment back until she was in her room, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. She could always get it back later. Without even changing her clothes, Yukiko fell backwards onto her bed, gazing at her ceiling blankly. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.<br/><br/>**********************************************<br/><br/>It was early in the morning when she awoke. Judging by the cold sweat covering her body and the panic with which she sat up, her dream had not been a pleasant one. She sat in bed for a time, trying to catch her breath and focus her eyes, but more importantly trying to forget the nightmare. It was proving more difficult than she wanted it to be, the images didn't want to go away. Then again, they never had before, so why would they choose to leave her be now?<br/><br/>After a good 10 minutes of wasted effort, Yukiko dragged herself out of bed. She almost didn't feel like it, but going another day in those dirty clothes didn't sound like a fantastic idea, so she threw them off into the corner and stepped over to her closet. After getting a new set of lingerie (white instead of the black one she wore yesterday,) she picked out a white t-shirt, a loose-fitting light blue sweater with a zipper in the front that was partially undone, a pair of blue jeans, and some sandals. Before leaving her room, she stepped into the bathroom and tied her hair up into a low ponytail, leaving a few strands free which hung down on either side of her face. Whether this was an intentional style or purely the fact that she didn't care enough to gather them was anybody's guess.<br/><br/>After getting herself ready, she made her way downstairs, still moving at a relatively slow pace. "I'm going out," she called softly to her parents, unsure if they even heard her or not; she didn't stop to find out, though. She stepped out the door and walked to the end of her driveway before stopping, and considering what it was exactly that she was trying to do. She could go to Kenji's house.. But being around someone who treated her differently would only make her feel worse right now. Her head sunk and she stared at the sidewalk as she started moving again.<br/><br/>She was practically directionless, as her focus was on her thoughts instead of where she was going, though she payed enough attention to at least stay where it was safe to walk. Subconsciously she started drifting towards more populated parts of the city, which in turn led to her being just another part of the crowd, someone that nobody would notice. It was a feeling she had experienced precious few times in her life. Hours passed as she aimlessly wandered, eventually leaving the crowded area for a more rural one. There were very few people nearby, and even fewer houses.<br/><br/>She recognized this area. It was the road that led to the highway her family had driven along to get into town. It was a very natural area, with beautiful scenery and wide, rolling plains and hills in abundance. It was at the top of one of these large hills that she found herself, overlooking the area. The road was still visible, though she was a ways away from it, and the ocean to the northeast of the town was just visible on the horizon. The breeze played freely with her ponytail as she sat down, bringing her knees to her chest before wrapping her arms around and burying her face in them.