Thank you guys so much for the likes and reviews! I know i said in the authors note last chapter that aki would be 21 in this chapie, but well, my imagination blurted out this instead, i like to think that my subconscious was telling me that more background info was needed, haha. sorry there is only a little asami in this but more soon, i promise! also a bit of screen time for his OC dad hehe. so enjoy this chapter and i hope you stay with me

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Akihito was unsurprisingly traumatized by the events that led to the lose of his parents, but doctors were however surprised with how well Akihito tried to cope through it. He was wary of new staff that came to check him, distancing himself and intently watching their every move until he was sure that they mean him no harm. Loud gunshot like sounds and sirens tend to trigger flashbacks. Akihito would freeze in place, curl into himself as he trembles, mouthing words that only he could hear. Rubbing his back or a steady hand on his head tend to wake him from his torment. When he realized what he had done, he would visibly shake his body as if to expel the burden from his whole being, straighten his back, hold his head high as he glares or more like pout at his helper. He would rub away the tears that pooled at the corners of his eyes and say firmly to the nurse that he was alright.

The doctors were rightfully concerned over his mental health, so they discussed psychological therapy with Akihito's aunt. While also concerned about Akihito's health, his aunt was not keen on paying for treatment. Fortunately for her, Akihito's treatment cost and hospital stay was still under medical insurance issued under his parents. So it was decided that when he was discharged from the hospital and properly settled in the orphanage, he would attend weekly sessions with colleague within that town. One of the social workers on his case received a memo about the cause of death of Akihito's parents. Apparently it was a robbery of sorts gone wrong, he was undecided if it would be in Akihito's best interest if he knew the truth. Discussing the issue with his doctor, he was given the go ahead to tell him. Akihito cried himself to sleep that night, wishing that they had not gone out that day.

Akihito was able to be discharged at noon on the third day of his hospital stay. As Akihito and his aunt rode towards the orphanage in her car, he simply ignored her as he looked through the window thinking of his Ryuichi. He dearly hoped Ryuichi could find him, but moving a town over and changing his name, Akihito knew chances were low. He wondered if he himself could look for Ryuichi, but he knew that he did not know where to begin looking for him. The park maybe? But then he had no chance to go there now. Akihito sighed in disappointment, he wished he was older so he could make decisions for himself.

Once I'm old enough, I'm gonna find you Ryuichi Akihito thought with a determined pout.

==0==

Ryuichi was not happy and each and everyone of his staff knew it, they all felt the aura of irritation and annoyance pouring out of him. Even when he was ensconced within his office, the entire floor felt his irritation. Ryuichi still could not find Akihito, it had been three days and still nothing. Glaring balefully at his paperwork, he thought of what could have happened. With a sudden jolt of realization, he figured how a person can suddenly disappear after such a horrific event.

Witness protection, this complicates things Ryuichi thought. He had no connections there and he loathed to ask his father for help. Even if his father was CEO of the company and had many connection with underground dealings, Ryuichi wanted to search through his own efforts. Sighing to himself and leaning back against his chair, he wondered to himself about why he seemed so attach to the child. Pity maybe? Or having something in common? Ryuichi's mother had also died from an attack leaving him alone with his father at age ten. He did not know exactly, but he was determined to find him.

==0==

Akihito's childhood within the orphanage went surprisingly well. There were a total of fifteen children ranging from 5 to 12 years old, he was the fourth oldest with two 10 year olds in between him and the oldest child. He did not know what to expect there when he arrived and settled, maybe some cold shoulders or a gloomy atmosphere, but he did not expect this cheery ambiance and definitely not quick acceptance. The next day his aunt and a few uncles were able to bring him most of his clothes and toys from his house. Joy but also sorrow ripped through him when he realized that they had also packed his family albums and his parent's diaries. He really didn't know what to feel anymore, but he was glad that he could still see them. On the seventh day of his stay, he was told by one of the social workers on his case that his parents were to be cremated that day but he would not be able to go. With a heavy heart and a numb body, he laid in bed all day, crying silent tears of sorrow and regret.

Weeks passed and Akihito slowly got better, with weekly visit to his therapist and occasional visits from different relatives, he began to feel lighter and a bit brighter. Visits from his relatives were quite weird though, even if they seem to be well meaning. They brought him toys, yummy treats he could share with the orphanage and other things. The sentiments were nice but they seem to smile a bit too much when talking to him, almost like they're making themselves look accepting and nice, that they wanted him to be a part of their family. If they were though, why was Akihito still in that orphanage? Akihito accepted that they were nice to him, but the feeling in his gut told him to be wary of them, so he stayed polite but withdrawn whenever they came to visit.

One sunny day, the motherly matron of the orphanage decided that they should visit the beach and have some fun. Excitement was felt as they all rushed to their rooms to gather swim clothes, overnight clothes and towels. Once everyone was packed and ready, they all climbed into the orphanage's coaster and on they went to the beach.

Akihito was excited to say the least. He hadn't felt this lively for a while and now thinking about it, he realized that although he was no longer crying and feeling sad, he wasn't happy either. It was more like apathy, not really caring much about things but now as they neared the coast line he could say that he was feeling joy and excitement. He wanted to feel more like today, he wanted to feel that surge of emotion that made him giddy, and he realized that he did not like feeling apathetic anymore.

Bouncing lightly in his seat as he looked out the window, Akihito was amazed at the sight of the ocean. The vast openness of it, the beautiful blue color of the water and the sparkling yellow sand on the shore, it was a sight to behold. They filed out of the coaster and walked along the sand until they reached a sizable beach house.

"Gather around over here in the porch dears," the matron said. "This beach house is owned by a friend of mine, so please be careful and don't break anything. We'll leave our bags in the living room for now and later we'll discuss sleeping arrangements. You can change into your swim clothes in the bathroom or in any of the empty rooms inside. Once you're finished, meet back here so we can put on sunblock so none of you will burn. If you younger ones need help, don't be afraid to ask alright?"

With that in mind, the children quickly pulled out their swim clothes and search for a room to change in. Akihito along with a few of the older boys decided to change together in one of the empty rooms. He had not noticed the awed look on the boys faces as he took off his shirt with his back to them. With a quick change into bright yellow swimming trunks he made his way out of the room. When he reached the porch the matron and one of the two caretakers were already applying sunscreen on two younger girls. Seeing that the matron was closer and also finished he made his way toward her with a slight smile.

"Alright Akihito-kun let's do your back first."

With a nod, Akihito turned to his back. An awed gasp was heard and he looked back at the matron curiously.

"Oh my Akihito-kun, you have such a beautiful soul mark on your back!" the marton said smiling down at him.

Akihito face lit up in a bush in realization and smiled shyly at her. He nodded as he said, "Yeah, momma said that they were flowers called hy-dre-dran-gia and gladi-yo-loos."

The matron chuckled softly as Akihito had trouble pronouncing the name of the flowers. "It is called Hydrangea and Gladiolus. How about when we get back home, you research about these two. I heard that they actually have different meanings for each flower."

With a bright smile and a determined nod of the head, Akihito turned back around so the matron could apply the sunscreen. Throughout the day, Akihito was given comments about his soul mark. That it was so pretty and colorful and big that it took up almost of the space in his back. The other children also decided to show off each other's their soul marks. Most of it small or regular sized ones placed in various parts of the body. Some were silly and some were plain while there was also the pretty ones, the child wore bright smile while they simply showed off. Once that was over, it was expected that they went crazy around the beach, building sand castles, swimming and splashing each other and playing ball. The matron and her helpers couldn't help but smile as the children had fun.

Akihito had fun that day, getting closer and bonding with the other children and eating to his fill. He was glad that they went out that day, he needed the change in scenery and the feel of being a worry free kid again.

==0==

At thirteen years old and in junior high, Akihito was still in the orphanage. He liked it there though, the children friendly and cheerful, the matron loving and motherly and the caretakers cheerful and open. Akihito flourished under their care with little help from his relatives, but he did not mind. He also became good friend with his classmates Takato and Kou. When he had free time, they would hang out together and go to the arcade or eat at nearby cafes. He had also read his father and mother's diary that documented their daily lives and looked through binders that held their work before their untimely death. Akihito's therapist suggested to take up a hobby of sorts to distract himself if ever he started to feel sad or agitated after an episode. With that in mind, he decided to start drawing. It was pictures of animals and landscapes at first, but as he looked through his mother's designs of clothes, he wanted to try that instead. Surprisingly, he was very adept at it. The matron encouraged him to expound more, not just for children but for teens too. Aside from designing though, he actually wanted to make these into something real. So with a bright smile, the matron gave Akihito her old sewing machine to practice on.

Weeks pass and Akihito feels that he is finally getting the hang of sewing clothes together. Sure the money to buy fabric comes from his daily allowance but he doesn't need much anyway so to him it was a well spent endeavor. One day his homeroom teacher announced that the school will be joining a regional fashion designing competition and interested students that wanted to join should approach him after school hours. Akihito perked up at the thought of joining and showcasing his designs, it felt like he had to prove something to himself, that he was actually good enough for his personal vague plans for the future.

With a skip to his step, Akihito made his way to sign up that afternoon. He was given the guidelines of the competition and everything else that he needed to enter. I can do this Akihito thought to himself as he read the theme. Recyclables huh? This will be fun. He grinned to himself as he walked back home.

With the help of the matron and her helper with gathering materials for Akihito to use, he was able to finish the outfit a week before the deadline. They were able to send the outfit in a large box to the address indicated in the guidelines. With hope blooming in his chest, Akihito he asked his mother's spirit for luck.

The day of the announcement arrived. Akihito kept on refreshing the website every 2 minutes in his anxiousness. It was lunch time at school and Akihito could not contain himself, at exactly 12:30 PM the results were finally posted and the websites homepage changed to reveal who had won. Akihito was frozen, he could not move, could not blink, could not breathe. Because on the screen was a picture, a picture of a famous singer of a girl rock band, and she was wearing Akihito's outfit. She was wearing his outfit. She was wearing his outfit! She was wearing his outfit!

"i won?" Akihito looked at the name so he could confirm, and there it was right below the picture.

Design Competition Winner: Takeda Akihito

"I WON!" Akihito shrieked in delight as he jumped out of his seat in glee. His classmates that ate in the room startled in shock at the sound, curious at his sudden outburst. Takato and Kou who were eating in front of him jumped in shock feeling the full brunt of the outburst because they were so close to him. Kou was chocking on his rice while Takato dropped his chopsticks. Looking at them Akihito shoved his phone towards them in excitement as he pounded Kou's back without much thought. Takato took the phone from him and read the announcement, grinning brightly up at Akihito he said, " Congrats Aki! Says here, one of the judges was this singer here, and when she saw it, she instantly wanted to wear it."

By then Kou had recovered from his choking and took the phone to read it as well. "Says she liked it so much, she's gonna wear the outfit during their bands tour! Congrats dude! This is so sick man!" he said with a wide smile. "So what's the prize winning? Aside from this that is. Do you get prize money?" Kou smiled mischivously.

Akihito sat back down on his chair. He took back his phone and searched for the prize, " It says that they will be offering workshops during school vacation and afterwards if they think I'm good enough, I'll be able to become an intern when I finish Jr. high. They gave a gift certificate of 100,000 yen for any of their stores and 25,000 yen cash prize."

Akihito leaned back in awe, what an opportunity he thought. Designer workshops were pretty expensive and a potential job too.

"Yay! Aki's gonna treat us! Aki's gonna treat us!" Takato and Kou cheered loudly.

Akihito grinned at the two, "Yes, yes. Now shut up before i change my mind."

Grinning wildly the two quietened down and the three resumed their lunch.

==0==

Everything was going fine for Akihito, he was getting good grades, he was happy with his friends, he won a contest and slowly but surely he no longer felt sorrow when he thought about his parents. He was finally letting go, deciding to think about the good memories they had together instead and move forward. It was not meant to be though, he was looking through his father's diary one day. As he reached the end, he noticed that the back cover was hiding something. The paper was peeling off and what seemed to be a letter was inside. Peeling back the paper carefully he extracted the letter. Opening the letter, a short strip of film fell on his lap, with eyebrows raised he read the letter.

Ryuunosuke,

I think i may be in trouble. I was out photographing landscapes when i came across these. I may have been spotted but I quickly left the place so I do not know. I'm sending the negatives to you just in case. Lets meet later this week to discuss what to do.

Hiroki

Akihito stared at it in shock, he looked at the date to see that it was dated the day before his parents were killed. His father had not yet had the chance to send the letter. Akihito was so confused, hadn't the police say it was a robbery gone wrong, did they lie to him or did they not know. Anger pooled in his stomach as he clutch the letter in his hand, thinking furiously and trying to remember that day more clearly. But he could not. He never saw them, never heard clearly their conversation, had not one clue as to who they were. A frustrated growl left his lips as he looked at the letter. Glancing down at the strip of negatives and picking it up, it looked like Akihito needed to pick up a new hobby. Photography.

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aki will be in high school next chappie, but it will hopefully only be briefly. need to introduce asami's old man soon haha

read and review! see you next chappie

-HaLo