1. Little smiles, big changes.

The car that had picked me up at the hospital drove only a few streets until reaching town. When it finally entered a street I could recognize, I was confused because we were heading towards the Tohno mansion. I thought I was supposed to never go there again.

The driver must have seen my expression, since he explained to me that we had to go get my luggage, which was packed for me in advance.

When we arrived, a maid opened the front gate to let the car inside. As we drove through the large front yard of the mansion, I could see the big European mansion spread before me as big as always.

There, standing in front of the opened mansion doors was my father, Tohno Makihisa. His wide back was straight and his muscular arms where crossed in front of him. The expression on his face said that he wanted to get things over with quickly.

Upon seeing me, he wasted no time with greetings and went straight to explaining my situation.

-Due to a car accident, you have been greatly injured. Someone so weak of health could never become the head of the Tohno family. It is for this reason that starting today; you will leave the mansion and start living with a branch of the family, the Arimas. –Having summarized the course of events, he turned his back to me and started going inside the mansion. He then added: -A maid will bring out your luggage. Wait for her here and then depart. Goodbye.

Parting words said without a hint of worry or paternal love. Like that of someone finally getting rid of a nuisance.

It took a while for the maid to bring my suitcase, so I decided to walk around the front yard for a little. Various memories of me playing here with the other kids came to mind, making me feel a little bit lonely.

Apparently the old man had made sure that Akiha was in one of her lectures under strict surveillance, so that she could not get away to see me. The other girl we played with most must have been in a similar situation.

I finally decided to sit under the shadow of the big tree in the yard, to wait until everything was ready for me to leave. I sat there with my eyes closed until I heard someone talk.

-Shiki-san. –the monotonous yet familiar voice called my name.

I opened my eyes to see a red haired girl in a blue dress; she was just a little shorter than me. At first I thought she was Hisui, the girl Akiha and I play with most of the time. But there was something different.

I soon realized who she was when I met the gaze of the bright amber eyes looking straight at me. It was Kohaku, Hisui's twin sister. But she has never talked to me before; she always watched us play from a window in the second floor. We tried to include her a few times but she would never come.

-Hi, Kohaku-chan. –I said as I stood up, a little confused about her reason for talking to me.

Her gaze was a little unnerving, her face was expressionless, and her eyes seemed devoid of any emotion.

No, that's how she usually seemed when she watched us play from afar, this was a little different. In those Amber eyes, it was small, almost unnoticeable but… was it sadness? Regret? I couldn't tell, but now that I really looked at her she seemed very different from usual.

-I heard Makihisa-sama say that you were going to go live somewhere else. –Behind her unmoving features, I thought I could see her holding back her emotions. Strangely, now her normal face seemed like a mask, as if it was something fake.

-Yeah. He told me that I would go live with some relatives because of my poor health. –I confirmed what she had heard, and tried to keep a conversation, but I couldn't think of anything to say to her.

The silence between us felt really long, but it must not have been more than a couple minutes. She also seemed to be silently looking for something to say, or to organize the words that she wanted to say.

Finally, after a while, she slowly removed the white ribbon tying her hair. She looked at me for a moment before extending her hands for me to take it.

-That one is my favorite ribbon. –She said, but now she wasn't looking directly at me, but rather towards the ground. –I… I am only letting you borrow it –She said with a small tremble in her voice. –Be sure to give it back one day, okay? –she added, closing her eyes as if fearing the answer I would give her.

I was shocked. "Give it back", she said.

"Please, return someday" was the plea hidden in them.

Even now, I think that promise gave me the strength that I needed to look forward. I would someday return it. I would come back to my family, my friends.

The emotions in me raised, and I took the ribbon from her hands. My feeling threatened to break my voice, but I had now found new confidence.

-Yes, I will absolutely give it back to you, some day! –I added, smiling at her.

She raised her head and her expressionless- No- Hard to read face looked to me like it showed a small hint of relief.

After that, the maid with my luggage appeared, and the driver of the car came to look for me. I said my final farewell to Kohaku, and then started my trip away from the Tohno mansion. But this time, I held the hope that I would come back to them one day.

…

As we drove through the city, we were getting further away from the Tohno mansion in what seemed mostly a straight line.

When we arrived at the Arima residence, the only word that I could use to describe my first impression of the house was "smaller".

Now, by no means was this residence tiny, it's just that I had only lived in mansions, not that I enjoyed that particularly. In my mind the big yet mostly empty and lifeless rooms and corridors seemed to reflect the cold and sometimes harsh attitude that the old man had towards life, including us.

Now don't think that I didn't respect my father, even as a kid the fact that Tohno Makihisa was "A man to be feared" was engraved on me. It's just that he wasn't the most fatherly of figures. And from what I saw today, dint really try to be.

Anyway, I suppose the impression I got from the Arima's house was because I didn't really have any other point of comparison.

It was a rather large, Japanese-Styled house, in opposite to the European architecture of the main family's Mansion.

In front of the house, standing near the street was an adult couple. I was told that they were they people that would take care of me, although I had assumed as much.

The car left me in front of them with the little luggage I had: A few changes of clothes, Sensei's Glasses and the ribbon with from that girl.

Not being the first time I've had a drastic change of residence at my short age, I expected the introductions to be distant, or uncomfortable.

What greeted me was, contrary to my expectations, a pair of gentle smiles. The woman introduced to me as Keiko Arima, and said her husband was Fumio Arima.

-Shiki-kun. –Keiko said. –You will be living with us from now on, okay? We hope we can get along a lot. -She said, coming towards me and bending a little so that we were face to face.

-Yeah, thanks for taking care of me.- I said, lowering my head, feeling a little shy at her warm smile.

-It's nothing boy. But you really didn't bring much did you? Is there any luggage that still needs to be brought from the mansion? –Fumio-san added with a little concerned expression.

-No, this is all; I don't have many things… -In that moment I trailed of, as I saw a small figure peeking from behind Keiko-san's dress. It was a small girl from her long hair and dress.

Noticing this, Fumio-san kneeled before the girl and put a hand on her head.

-Hey girl, come out, don't be shy. –He said to her with a soft smile. After a little moment of hesitation the girl came from her hiding spot, and stood in front of me.

She was a lot shorter than me, I thought she was at max 5 years old. She had long curly hair, the same clear brown as her mother, and she had the same emerald eyes as her father. She was a little restless, shyly shooting glances my way like she didn't really know what to do. It was a little cute.

-Shiki-kun, this is our daughter Miyako. We hope you can get along with her and treat her as a little sister. –Keiko-san said with a hopeful expression.

Little sister. The words sent a pang of pain to my heart, remembering my sister Akiha, to whom I couldn't even say goodbye today. And that knowing how strict the old man was before, I doubt I can simply go visit her again.

But no matter what, I must try to look forward. I waved my hand and smiled at her.

-Hello, Miyako-chan. Let's get along.

-Yeah. –she said in a small voice with a cute nod, and then she ran inside the house. I think I saw a smile on her face.

After shaking her head with a smile to his little daughter's actions, Fumio-san called to me.

-Well, let's all come in, and get you installed.

-If you feel like it, you could help me make dinner. –Keiko-san added.

-…Yeah, let's do that. – I said with enthusiasm, after a brief moment of doubt, and we all went inside the house.

There is still pain in my heart, but Tohno Shiki has decided to look to the future and go forward. Even after all the things that have been taken from me, I will make the best that I can with what I've been given, and the best place to start is here, with this people. My new family.

Autor's note:

Hello, demosx again here!

This first chapter felt a little short to me, but i decided to leave it there because it was a good ending for a chapter. And Isn't Miyako just the cutest?

Anyway, see you again another day!