Twenty-eight years old and single. That was Kaito's life in a nutshell. He held a job as a computer programmer for whoever hired him. It was a job he could easily do from his computer at home, but he would often go out to visit the companies that hired him. He lived in a rather modest apartment, with two bed rooms and one bathroom, a kitchen and living area, along with a little space that served as a dining room, even though he never ate there without guests over. Since he lived alone, he had no use for the extra bedroom other than to store some stuff. There was a bed in there, but that was just in case someone needed to spend the night.
Being entirely honest, Kaito would probably say he was a bit on the lonely side. He never thought that he would be nearing thirty years old and still be alone. He didn't have a girlfriend, and had never been able to hold one down for more than three years or so. Growing up he had always thought about getting married in his mid-twenties, having some kids, the normal dream for just about everyone. That's what led him where he was now.
Kaito had contemplated adoption before. But he hadn't really known where to go with the idea. He'd gone online and looked at websites for different adoption agencies and foster care programs, but he was rather nervous about the idea. Foster parenting sounded nice in the sense that he would be able to take care of a kid who had been moved from place to place, and hopefully give them a long-term home, but he knew that foster parenting would only last a few years. As far as adoption went, he didn't know if he was willing to permanently commit himself to a child. But he knew that he would have had a child by now if he had gotten married, so he had a feeling that was just a natural response to parenthood. It was an old friend from collage that had actually given him the link to this particular adoption agency. It was called 'Tortured Soul' and it was filled with kids who had been taken away from abusive parents and foster homes. The name kind of freaked him out a bit, and had nearly made him steer away entirely, but after reading over some of the information on the website, Kaito couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart. So many kids had been so terribly hurt and he felt like a wanted to do something. No, he felt like he needed to. Something inside of him told him it was a stretch, but with any luck this might be it.
Currently, Kaito sat inside of a cramped office, waiting to be interviewed. He wasn't used to dressing up nicely, but he had managed to make himself presentable by dressing in a nice button-down shirt, nice pants and a tie. He had made sure that his deep blue hair wasn't a mess like it usually was in the mornings before coming to the central location of 'Tortured Souls'. It was a long drive, but it wasn't too bad, especially since it was the middle of the day on a Tuesday.
Suddenly a woman with long blonde hair entered the office. She sat down at the desk, across from where Kaito was sitting, and placed a folder on top of the wooden furniture. "Thank you so much for coming here Mr. Shion." She reached her hand out to shake his.
"Just Kaito is fine." The blue haired boy said. After shaking the woman's hand.
"Then please call me Lily." The blonde haired girl introduced herself. "I want to thank you for considering adopting one of these children. But we need to ask you a few questions before we proceed."
"No worries. I understand." Kaito had had a feeling something like this would happen. Before he could even come here, he had to send in a copy of his medical records and any other form of documentation that may be needed for this kind of thing. He knew exactly what he was getting into.
"Then let's begin." Lily opened up the folder in front of her and took out some papers, probably the same ones Kaito had submitted earlier. "Could you please tell me about your job?"
"Well, I'm a computer programmer." He began. "I do a lot of website programming and software updates for different companies and businesses."
"And are the hours reasonable for taking care for a child?"
"Yes. I'm able to warp my schedule however a like and it's extremely flexible." Kaito watched as Lily scribbled notes down on a pad of paper, wondering what exactly she was writing.
"And you bring in a large enough income?" The blonde woman looked over some of the papers she had taken out. It seemed as if she was looking for something in particular, but at the same time was just trying to look impressive.
"I would say so." Kaito sort of felt like the question was a bit vague, but he wasn't about to say anything. He didn't really know how to define 'large enough'. "I also have a huge savings fund, so money wouldn't be an issue."
Lily continued asking questions. Living conditions, possible health risks, nearby school systems, relatives and close friends. There were some questions that Kaito actually felt a bit uncomfortable answering. But he understood all of the precautions that came with this kind of thing. The adoption process is tedious to begin with, add in the fact that the child may be traumatized and it becomes just that much worse.
"It says here that you are unmarried." Lily noted.
"That's true." Kaito nodded with a slightly nervous smile.
"And are you currently seeing anyone?"
"Well, no. I'm not." The blue haired man admitted. "But is that an important factor?"
"Yes." Lily nodded. "We usually prefer those who are married because it generally brings in a larger income and is more able to provide for the child. However, if you are unmarried, then it is best that you aren't in an intimate relationship with anyone."
"Because it would be distracting?" It was just a guess, but he had a feeling he was right.
"That's partially it." The woman nodded. "But it's mostly because it's not fair for the child to suddenly be put into a race for the one parent's affection."
"I get it." Kaito nodded. He was a bit surprised by that. For once not being able to hold down a girlfriend seemed to be helping him out.
"And with that we are done." Lily began packing all of her notes and papers into the folder. When she was done, she flashed him a smile. "I'm glad to say that you have been approved."
"Thank you." Kaito was excited. He was actually being given the chance to look at the kids. Due to many circumstances that he didn't quite comprehend, no information about the children currently being held by 'Tortured Souls' was posted on the web site. No pictures, no names, not even a girl-boy gender ration. In order to find out anything about the children, you would have to pass this interview.
Soon Lily began leading Kaito through the building. The two soon came across a large courtyard, several children were playing in it. Kaito looked over the railing of the balcony-like area where he was able to look over all of the children .
"Feel free to go down and interact with all of them." Lily informed him. "If there is anyone in particular that interests you, we can answer any questions you might have about them.
Kaito nodded his thanks before going back to looking over the balcony once again. There were about 12 or so children there, none of which played like how you would expect a child to. Some just sat down against the walls that surrounded the yard, while there were a few who passed a ball between each other.
"Who's the boy with the pink hair? The one with the ball?" Kaito asked.
"Yuuma. He's twelve years old. His mother was an alcoholic and his father was unemployed. After neighbors reported his parents to the police for beating him, he was taken here." The blonde explained. "As far as personality goes, he's rather stubborn and has tantrums every now and again, and becomes rather competitive when it comes to receiving attention, but he's smart and one of the most athletic of the bunch."
"Who's the most athletic?"
"That would be Miki. She's the one with the long red hair. She's 9 years old. She was actually taken from her father when she was only 2 years old and has gone from foster home to foster home until about a year ago when she came here. Unfortunately, she didn't have the best of luck with foster homes and was beaten in several of the homes she went into. She enjoys running, but tends to break down and cry if she's left alone for too long. She also seems to prefer women."
"I'm aloud to go down there right?" Kaito asked, just to double check.
"Please do." Lily smiled at him, clearly please that he wanted to interact with the children.
Kaito seemed to have attracted the children's attention as he went down the stairs and entered to courtyard, although some of them didn't even look up at him so he wasn't too sure. He was quickly approached by young boy with green hair that couldn't have been more than 4 years old. The second he smiled at the boy, the child ran off, a fearful look in his eyes. Kaito wasn't too sure how to approach these children, so he settled for sitting on the bench off to the side and just observing once again. If a child came up to him while he was there then maybe that would mean something. Although it just seemed as if most of the kids were scared or just uninterested. But that didn't matter too much to him. He just sat and watched at the children's odd attempt at playing. Then a pair caught his attention.
He wasn't sure what he noticed first, the blonde hair, the distant stared, or maybe the fact that the two looked like exact copies of each other, but something about this pair intrigued him. The two kids sat in a corner on the other side of the yard. They were so close to each other, they were practically sitting on one another. Their skin was pale, and might as well have been white. And something about the way their golden locks looked in comparison to their near white skin made them just that much more interesting.
Kaito walked back over to Lily, feeling as if he needed to find out more about these two. "Who are the two blondes in the corner?" He asked.
"Rin and Len." Lily had a sad expression on her face. "Their fraternal twins, but they look so much alike, you would never guess it. Their father was arrested after killing their mother and nearly killing them through starvation. When they were found, they were locked in a dog cage. They were only five years old then, and it's been a little over two years since."
"Thanks." Kaito said before walking across the courtyard over to Rin and Len. When he reached them, he squatted down to be closer to their level. "Hello."
Navy blue eyes met crystal blue ones as both twins raised their head to look at Kaito. The blue haired male felt like someone had just stabbed him a hundred times over. Their faces were so innocent and so pure, yet they had gone through enough to get them here.
"My name is Kaito. I hear you're Rin and Len." Kaito said calmly. "Although you look so alike, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference." The twins didn't respond, they just looked up at the blue haired man who had just approached them. But while they didn't do anything to welcome him, they didn't do anything to push him away or show any sort of discomfort. "Can I tell you something? I'm actually looking for child to bring home and take care of." Kaito saw their expressions shift from being blank to a mixture of thankfulness and sadness. He knew with an intense pang in his chest that these two could never be separated. Not after all they had been through. He took a moment to think. How should he do this? What should he do? After letting out a deep breath, he turned his attention back to the twins. "But you know, I wouldn't mind having two children."
The look of sadness in their eyes disappeared as Kaito said this. It was instead replaced with a glint of utter hope and desperation. Kaito smiled at the two before standing up and making his way back to Lily, who had been observing from afar. She looked a little down in seeing he had turned back so quickly.
"I would like to adopt both of the twins." He whispered, careful that none of the other children heard, just in case it caused any problems. The blonde woman's face lit up and with a smile she lead Kaito back up the stairs. Once the two were back at the top of the balcony.
"Are you sure?" She asked him. "Many find just one of these children to be a handful."
"Any child would be considered a handful." Kaito joked. "But I could never separate those two. In just one look anyone could see that they need each other."
"If you're certain, then shall we go fill out the paper work? I'll have someone make sure they're packed." Lily asked. Kaito smiled and nodded before following Lily back to her office. There was a very obvious skip in her step, clearly happy that the twins were going to a home. She told one of the others who had been watching over the children, who then went off to where Kaito believed was the children's bedrooms.
Kaito sat in the small office once again, but this time filling out paperwork. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he signed signature after signature. He was really doing it. Those two little blondes were going to become his children. One last signature and it was finalized. After getting a overjoyed 'congratulations' from Lily, he was once again lead to a main entrance. He saw Both Rin and Len sitting on the wooden bench, holding each other's hand, a single suitcase sat on the floor by their feet. Kaito watched as Lily rushed over to the two, giving both of them hugs, clearly saying her last good byes to the kids she had watched over for two years.
After letting those good byes be finished, Kaito walked up to the pair and kneeled down to be at their level. He was once again mat with those brilliant blue eyes that seemed to look straight through him. Now that they were out of that corner, he was able to see them better. While reading the paperwork he had found that Len was the boy and Rin was the girl, and seeing them standing made it easier to distinguish that. Of course the fact that Rin was wearing a dress did help.
"Hello." Kaito said simply. He didn't really know what kind of thing you were supposed to say in this situation. "I'm going to be your father from now on, so I'll be taking care of you." He looked at his new children for a sign of recognition. He took the glint in their eyes as an agreement and stood up. After saying 'thank you's and 'good bye's, Kaito picked up the suits case, and reached down to take Len's hand in his own. The small boy looked at the hand then up at Kaito. His expression didn't change, but he pulled Rin closer to him, as if telling her that it was ok for her to come too.
Kaito walked the twins out to his car. He opened the back seat door for them, then found that he needed to pick them each up individually in order to get them in. He decided to put Rin into the car first, figuring that Len would follow in easily once his sister was strapped in, which was thankfully the case. Once both twins where strapped into the back seats, Kaito placed their suitcase in passenger seat and got into the driver's seat. He had just enough time to wave out the window before driving back towards his apartment. He constantly looked into the rear-view mirror to check up on Rin and Len, who quietly sat, still holding hands. Kaito smiled at the sight. He was having a hard time processing it through his head. He was a officially a dad.