Chapter 1: Entry and Acceptance

A teenage girl with short dark brown hair and vibrant green eyes stands in an alleyway as she gets dressed while an older, graying man in a business suit stares at her tanned body. Light worry stains his face as he occasionally pulls his eyes from any exposed body part of the girl to glance at the alleys entrance. The girl, having been completely nude, just a moment ago doesn't mind. The older man is also the reason she has any clothes at all, "What's your name, little lady?" he asks.

"Sakura." She answers and finishes dressing herself. Now wearing a sleeveless white bra and panties underneath a white sleeveless tank top and dark blue short skirt, she felt rather revealing but no longer sporting her birthday suit which is just asking for more problems. The white stockings and black shoes at least added some semblance of innocence to clash. She appreciated that. While grateful to now be clothed she was suspicious of the older man's motives. She suspects that he didn't purchase the clothing and bring it to her out of the goodness of his heart.

"That isn't your real name, is it?" He asked, sounding rather disappointed. She merely nodded to confirm with him which causes him to smile a bit and beckons for her to follow him out of the alley. Upon stepping out of the alley she's quickly startled by the vibrant neon lights of the storefronts, tall city-like buildings and the bustle of people moving with purpose all over the streets.

"Where is this? I don't recognize this place." She asks, glancing up to the older male when he wraps his right arm around her. Letting it rest on her shoulder and pulling her closer to him she was now certain of his motive.

"You don't? You must've had a really rough night…" He says before giving her shoulder a firm squeeze, "Mitakihara. Do you remember how you got here?" She shook her head and took another look around at the sights to try to memorize the place but only succeeding in looking lost, "That's…well, just so you know I'm not into drugs or anything. Just a good time." She felt him caress her shoulder gently and she nodded, more so to herself, "You look like you could use some help. A place to stay, for a night or two, food…comfort."

She nodded again, already gathering her thoughts on how to avoid any sexual contact, possibly steal all his money and- "Stop right there!" The man flinched and spin around, bringing Sakura to turn with him and see an adult woman with short purple hair and eyes staring harshly at her. Beside the purple haired woman stands a male police officer, "I've been looking all over for you!" She yelled before discreetly winking at Sakura.

Catching the hint and not wanting the discomfort of authority or sexual avoidance, Sakura went along and bowed her head, "I-I'm sorry…"

"We're going to have a long talk about your behavior! Officer, you heard and saw everything, right?" The woman asked without even looking at the officer.

"I heard and saw more than enough but I'll still need your report on this later." The officer stated, "Someone will be down to speak with you. I'll give you a call when they're on their way."

The purple haired woman nodded, took Sakura by the wrist and forcibly pulled her away from the two men. With a quick strut that Sakura nearly stumbled to keep up with, they were quickly around a few corners and the woman let Sakura's wrist go. Sakura glanced behind herself, slowing her pace and realized she hadn't had the time to take in the directions they walked and was quickly lost, "You're not going to run away from me, right?" The woman asked continuing to walk albeit slowly.

Sakura slipped her hands into her skirt pockets and shook her head, "I don't have anywhere to run to."

The woman snapped her head around and looked at Sakura intently, "Going through things with your parents? That why you're doing this?"

"I, uhm, don't have any parents? Or relatives. And this isn't a thing I do. I was planning to escape without making a big scene." Sakura paused and twisted her head to look away from the woman, wondering why she bothered saying so much, "It helps not to draw attention to myself."

The woman suddenly stopped nearly causing Sakura to bump into her, "I don't believe you. Everyone has parents. Just because they aren't the best or don't agree with you doesn't mean they aren't there for you." She said placing her hands on her hips. She was trying to look big and in charge, Sakura noted, "Now, whether you like it or not it's time to make up with them. I'm Kaname Junko. Tell me your name."

"Sakura K-" Sakura snapped her mouth shut before she said her first name and shook her head, "Nng, Sakura. J-Just Sakura. I'm sorry."

Junko raised an eyebrow before shrugging, "Not going to make this easy? Well, I'll find your parents regardless. Come with me." She said before turning back to focus on what was before her and motioned for Sakura to follow, "Don't make this a struggle."

Sakura cursed internally but followed Junko. She was more annoyed at this situation than anything else but Junko meant well, that much she could tell and decided to let this place out, "I won't Kaname-san."

Sakura was surprised that Junko took her to her home rather than a police station. She was busy in the main room speaking with the police about Sakura's history, parents and the event from earlier. Sakura sat in the kitchen and dining area with Junko's husband Tomohisa, her three year old son Tatsuya and her fourteen year old daughter, Madoka. Sakura felt incredibly out of place but accepted their kindness, especially when Tomohisa offered her food, "Please, don't think poorly of Junko. She's just unable to stand-by when there's someone in trouble. Especially a pretty young woman like you"

Sakura shook her head, "I don't. She's really admirable. It takes a strong woman to do this… I think she's pretty amazing."

"I'm amazed by my mom too." Madoka said looking at her intently, "But why won't you tell us your first name?"

"It's not that I-" was all that Sakura could get out before-

"Sakura Kyoko!" Junko screamed as she stepped into the room causing Sakura to jump and stare in shock at her, "…That's…that's really you, isn't it?" Sakura didn't respond and looked away, unsure how to respond to it, "That's…why you said you didn't have…" Junko said before swallowing thickly, "And why you wouldn't tell me…" Sakura didn't raise her head by everyone else looked confused, "I uh, need to speak with Tomohisa. Madoka, could you take Kyoko-chan upstairs?" Madoka didn't say anything but nodded and gently took Sakura's hand. She looked at Sakura softly as she led her upstairs into her room.

Sakura hadn't seen such a girly place before . There were a collection of dolls adorning the borders of the room and the decorations and blankets of her bed screamed girl. She clicked her tongue to calm herself and focus. Placing her hand on the doorknob she gently opened the bedroom door, "Mom and dad wanted their privacy. We should-"

"It involves me, Kaname-chan. I want to know how much your mother's telling him…" Sakura muttered without looking away from the door. Madoka began to protest but decided not to and listened as well.

Junko sat with Tomohisa and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Both parents and her younger sister, Sakura Momo…"

Tomohisa sat beside Junko, his face in deep pain, "Forced suicide? She's the only survivor?" She nodded and shakily placed her hands on the table.

"And here I was spouting all that non-sense about her parents after she told me she had none!" She looked up at him with a defeated look, "What should we do?"

He paused and gathered his thoughts, "…At her age an orphanage wouldn't be any help." He paused again, as if letting his thought hit her telepathically.

"I agree but…" She paused and studied his expression, "…but should we? It's…it's a big deal."

"A big deal to us? Or more so to Kyoko?" He asked, placing his hand on hers. She still seemed hesitant, "We can handle it. It's just a matter of it we want to."

She gazed into his eyes for a long moment before sitting up straight with renewed vigor, "Alright! We can do this! We just need to know how Madoka and Kyoko feels about it."

Sakura heard all she needed and gently closed the door. She was certain Junko and Tomohisa weren't aware of her eavesdropping, so they weren't saying what she merely wanted to hear. She turned to Madoka who was staring right at her, "…Look, Kaname-chan, I'm not-"

"I've always wanted a big sister." Madoka said, interrupting her, "I know I can't replace Momo-chan but…" Madoka gently reached out ot Sakura, being cautious of this emotional scene, "We can't replace your family, but…what do you want?"

Sakura kept shifting between Madoka's eyes unable to answer. Just as she opened her mouth to speak Madoka and her were called downstairs.

Sakura and Madoka sat side by side at the dining table across from both Junko and Tomohisa, "We know this is sudden but we feel that due to the circumstances it needs to be." Junko said before turning to Madoka, "Madoka…how would you feel if Kyoko-chan lived with us?"

Madoka nodded energetically, "I'd love to have a big sister!" Sakura turned to Madoka and stood from her chair.

"No! You can't – I can't-!" Sakura paused at everyone's shocked faces and had to calm herself before continuing, "I'm – we're complete strangers. I haven't even known you all for a day! We can't do this!"

Junko motioned for Sakura to sit back down, "I know after what you've been through it's really hard to trust anyone. I can't even imagine what you've been through in-between, based on how we met – but we're offering you an opportunity. We're not going to force you into this. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

Sakura was now the one with the shocked face and stared at them in disbelief. Just what sort of world did she come to? "But I'm not…" Sakura began and the memories of all she had been through flooded her mind. A torrent of experiences both joyful and terrible coupled with a longing need to belong, "But I…I don't deserve anything like this…"

Tomohisa placed his hand on Junko's to silence her when she moved to respond, "Kyoko-chan, everyone deserves the chance to be happy. Don't ever think you're excluded from that."

Sakura could feel he rlip quiver at those words. Were they real? Was this real? Did people like this really exist? She struggled to respond. She wasn't sure if she should accept this incredible offer. She knew basically nothing of them and if they were really crazy she could escape easily but she got the feeling they were legit. From all her past experiences this sure as hell beat traveling the streets, scrounging for wealth and supplies and dealing with the elements, "I…" She managed out thickly. Her face felt hot and when she blinked a patter of liquid fell onto her hands. She reached up and touched her face in surprise as she discovered there were tears on her face, "I want to but…I don't want you to hate me." She managed out trying to wipe her face.

"Onee-chan…" Madoka said gently squeezing Sakura's hands, "We won't hate you."