Hey everyone, happy summer!
Thank you so much for reading, I can never say enough to express my gratitude to all you readers!

Here is chapter 10, I hope it was worth the wait!

I cracked my eyes open bright and early in the morning.

My smile stretched from ear to ear, I couldn't contain my smile, my excitement. Today was the day, it was my birthday! I was never this excited, but I think today was going to be really special. I was going to invite all my friends if possible- I stopped myself, isn't that impossible?

I sat up in my bed, and thought about it. It is impossible. There was no way, I can ever invite them all in one place. They will meet in the end at Namimori elementary or even Namimori middle, but if they were coming to a party and actually getting along. I shook my head, I would be completely destroying their character development. There was no way I was going to change that, even if I could stop people bullying Tsuna at a younger age or give Takeshi true friends that care about him.

I groaned in frustration and threw myself on my bed. Such complications...

However it was fun. I rarely had parties, and maybe today I could split my time so I could see everyone.

Closing my eyes, I scrunched my face as I thought. In the morning I could go to Tsuna's, in the afternoon maybe Takeshi's, I know I could see Kyoko and Ryohei later on for another of our boxing sessions. However meeting Kyoya was always at a random time, and at night would be family time. After a few minutes of making a bunch of different combinations, I settled onto one finally. The morning would be with Takeshi, then in the afternoon I would go to Kyoko and Ryohei for the boxing session since it started around one, after that I could go to Tsuna perhaps, maybe meet Kyoya somewhere and finally I would go back home.

However strange the idea is, I think it will work.

I jumped up, grabbed my backpack and flipped it upside down, pouring all of the contents out like a waterfall. Swiftly, I threw in all the necessary items I would need later. A blanket, two of my stuffed animals- a bunny and a cat-. some pencils, a jacket, and a blanket. Fortunately for me, the backpack didn't bulge from its contents. "There should be enough room for a few bottles of water." I muttered to myself, "got to keep hydrated!"

I pushed the backpack in the corner of my room, and walked -correction, skipped- to the kitchen.

"Everyone, good morning!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I already saw Emiko sitting there with a smile as she greeted me happily. She pushed a plate of pancakes towards my direction, but these weren't normal pancakes. No, they were anime pancakes! "H-How?!" I gasped out, awing at the pretty artwork of my food.

Blush dusted Emiko's cheeks as she spoke in a leveled voice, "w-well, I knew how much you love Kuro-tan so I asked Mia-san, okkasan and otousan if they could make it come out right."

I ran towards my sister, and threw my arms around her. "Thank you!"

It was a cheery day. Like one of those cliché birthdays in the movies. Perfect weather, a happy family, and most importantly, a happy birthday girl (or boy). It was a day come true- well expect for the part where I saw some pink streamers and decorations- and I would make sure it would stay that way.

"How about we do some shopping?" Mia suggested at the breakfast table as everyone was digging in. "It's a great time for you to find what you would like to buy.

Danielle cut in with a clap of her hands, "that sounds like a great idea Mia!" She said happily and turned to me with a bright smile, "we'll get whatever you want."

There was no way I could reply, I didn't know what to say anyway.

Never had I ever been in a situation like this. Right now I was given things I wanted on a silver platter. I would have went crazy, and listed a bunch of items. But it was different, I couldn't be greedy even if I was allowed.

I could only smile at their decision.

"Oh I need to go pack for the trip then!" Danielle squealed at the idea, "Mia, do you mind helping me?"

The two women rushed up the stairs.

So much for my plan.

I frowned at the thought. There would be no way I could continue with my own plans. But I expected this to happen. It wouldn't be normal for a six year old girl to walk around town to meet up with her friend when it's her birthday (the fact that they did allow me to do whatever before can be ignored).

Nick chuckled, "well girls, eat up, I guess I'll take the wife job today." He joked with us and I cracked a smile. They were all very...unique to nicely place it. His jokes were cheesy and just really, really, lame. But the effort he placed in them made Emiko and I laugh in the end.

"We should get some Kuro-tan things!" I said to Emiko at the kitchen table.

Nick was busy cleaning up the table to actually pay attention to our childish conversation.

Emiko happily agreed, "yeah we should!" She paused, as if contemplating about agreeing with me on the idea of our shopping.

I cut in before she changed her mind, "I'm going to get some paper and pen. We can write down stuff we may want." I say before rushing into my room. I looked around for the items I needed, found the paper, but where the heck were the pens? Something clicked in my head when I came into relization that I stuffed a bunch of pens in my backpack. I rummaged through the backpack, and took out two black pens. Satisfied, I zipped the bag up again and pushed it closely against the wall.

"Got it!" I hollered to the kitchen.

Emiko was sitting there patiently, and upon hearing my voice she turned to me. "Let's get started!"

We were like two children getting ready to write a list of their presents to Santa Claus. With a pen in hand, I made familiar strokes. Instead of writing hirigana I was trying out my alphabet. I moved the paper close to me, it would be too suspicious to let anyone see me writing in English. I glanced at my paper to see my familiar handwriting. I wrote my name and stroked the letters. How far away.

I wondered why I never tried to practice my English anymore. It must've slipped my mind after being so preoccupied by daily life. Better go find a dictionary later on. I thought to myself. The more I focused on one language, I felt like the other one would start slipping. I slashed through my English words a few times.

Slowly, I wrote down things I may want, but this time in hirigana characters. 1.) Non-pink clothes. I thought about the words I wrote carefully. Maybe that would be too mean. I crossed out the word 'non-pink' and added 'colorful' on top. 2.) a watch, with a watch I can always know what time it was. Usually a phone would be much useful, but I don't expect okkasan or Mia to give a six year old her own cell. I saw kids usually way younger playing with iphones and ipads. But I think having your very own is different.

After a while of thoughtful thinking, I believed my list had considerate items. But then again, looking at Emiko who is furiously writing down whatever, my list was small compared to hers. I took a deep breath and racked through my brain, what items do a six year old want exactly?

"You done with the list?" Emiko questioned me as she placed her pen down. She proudly lifted her piece of paper to show me her messy characters. "I got this really long one."

"So do I!" I smiled in triumph when I showed her my list, front and back. "What do you think?"

Her eyes scanned my list and she laughed, "I know exactly what you want."

I looked at her flabbergasted, "how can you tell?"

Emiko jabbed my paper here and there. Then she told me to turn the paper around where she pointed out a few. "These are all the same things, you keep repeating them." If I wasn't scanning my eyes over every inch of my paper, I would have thought she was joking. I can clearly see the words I wrote a bunch of times. 'Teddy bear'. Yikes, didn't see that coming.

Clack, clack, went the plates that were being placed away. Nick came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands with a baby blue towel embroidered with detailed petals. "What are you girls doing?" He questioned, glancing at the papers filled with our writings. He read the bolded letters of Emiko's, "A list huh?"

"Yeah! We've been working on it together otousan." I say smiling happily as he scanned both our lists and nodded.

"Hotaru! Emiko!" Mia called, "did you two finish eating?" We nodded in reply, "alright, let's get ready to leave now."

Emiko and I went to the front door to wear our shoes. Yet Danielle stopped us right in the middle, "hold on girls. I got these matching bags, aren't they cute?" It was a Kuro-tan shoulder bag. One for me and another for Emiko. Our colors were alternating. Mine had black fur and a white face while Emiko's was white fur with a grey face.

"Don't forget a hat for protection against the heat!" Mia added, whipping out two matching hats.

"And the sunscreen." Nick cut in, holding a tube. He poured some in our hands, and we rubbed it all over our arms and face. I had to get some more so I can also apply it to my legs.

Danielle ran towards us from the kitchen, "I brought a bunch of water bottles." She opened her bag to show us the bottles, "I can't have anyone dehydrated."

I sighed sheepishly at the adult's worry. They were all being extra cautious. I looked to Emiko and can see her fallen expression too. Everyone was now too worried about our safety. Really, what's the worst that can happen?

We hopped into the car, a van this time so we could have more room. I felt like Mia was somewhat expecting us to all have an extreme shopping trip there. See what I did there? Anyway, Emiko, Mia and I sat in the back seat while Nick drove and Danielle sat in the passenger seat. Because Emiko and I were older now, we didn't need those baby chairs. The one that made you seem taller, it was a seat on a seat to simply put it. I strapped on my seatbelt and dangled my feet. Oh how I miss my feet actually planting on the ground.

Just a few more years.

Namimori mall was our main destination. When the building came to view, I gawked at the tall, glass building. It was absolutely gorgeous! Colors flashed on the walls, changing the glass colors into red, orange, yellow, and all the other colors of the rainbow. Surrounding the building at the bottom was a few potted plants and plotted trees; did I say that the parking lot was also gigantic? Either way, it looked really clean and posh. The windows of the car was rolled all the way down so I was able to stick my head out a little and see the world flashing before my eyes. Green, white, blue blurs passed in seconds. Then the pace started to slow, until it became a final stop.

Nick parked the car near the front entrance. He unrolled the window a little to let some air in.

"Wahh..." I made a gasping sound, "this place is amazing!"

"It is! Oh look at that!" Emiko pointed at a large chick with large black eyes and a pink ribbon on top of its head. It was a mascot.

Emiko and I ran to the mascot with the curiosity of a child. We stood in front with giant smiles plastered on our faces. A voice came from the chick, "hello little kids!"

"Hehe, hi!" Emiko said. She turned around to Danielle, "okkasan! Can we take a picture with Miss Chick?"

"Of course!" Danielle giggled, "take your places girls." She lifted the camera in her hands, and made Emiko and I stand on both sides of the chick. She told us to stand closer and counted down from 3. "Ready? 3, 2, 1. Say cheese!" Then there was the flash.

"I hope I didn't blink." I said to Emiko who nodded in agreement.

We all walked inside the mall, holding onto one another.

This time it looks more like they know how to take care of a kid I commented in my head with a smile.

The first stop we made to was the cake shop. There were so many varieties of flavors and themes. From chocolate to green tea and birthdays to graduations. Each cake looked carefully handcrafted. For example, there was this round cake that had a face of a cat. They used chocolate to draw the eyes, nose, and whiskers onto the face. They used another icing to draw the ribbons and everything. The taste may be something different, but they tried to make all cakes look very appealing.

"So what flavor do you like Hotaru?" Danielle asked me as I peered into the glass case that held some examples of the cakes.

Mia was flipping through a cake book, "should we get a character themed one?"

I thought of the flavors that I liked, but I wanted to try something different so I said the first thing that came in mind.

"Pinapple."

"Huh?"

I looked to see Danielle's confused face. "Pineapple flavor." I said, trying to clarify the meaning.

"Oh right."

Danielle smiled at me. She didn't question my choice and that's good. I can't explain to them the reason I chose the fruit was because I remembered someone had a hairstyle exactly like that. Then my mind flashed to hats...hats. That's right!

"Can we have apples too?" I questioned suddenly.

Mia stopped flipping pages and had looked up to our conversation. "Pineapples and apples?" She questioned.

I crossed my fingers, she wouldn't ask why right?

"Yeah!" I shouted with a fake enthusiasm.

Score! They didn't ask and had just accepted the strange flavor combos.

"Miss, have you chosen a flavor?" The cashier asked with a pleasant smile. She saw me standing in the corner and smiled politely.

Danielle nodded, "yes, is there any cakes that are apple and pineapple flavor." The cashier hummed an amused tone as she asked questions from the style and size. "Kuro-tan please, and just a medium sized cake."

"Alright Miss! Everything is done." The cashier grinned and paused for a second as if contemplating to make a comment. "What an interesting flavor choice you have there."

That made Danielle laugh while shaking her head, "oh no, it was my daughter's choice." She turned to me and ushered me to stand closer, "she's a curious one."

The two woman laughed, making small conversation. I just stood there, looking at the cakes in a disinterested mood. I saw Mia standing with Nick and Emiko so I strolled over. They must have heard my footsteps because all three of them started to turn their heads to look in my direction.

"All done with your cake?" Nick asked, ruffling my hair with a smile. I watched his expression turn solemn when Danielle made her way to us. He sighed and muttered something under his breath, "come on Hotaru-chan." He said grabbing onto my hand, "let's take a look around for your gifts."

At the word of gifts, Emiko cheered so I followed her example.

Danielle giggled, "my aren't you two close. I'm glad."

I was somewhat taken aback from that comment. It was true that Emiko and I got along much better than before. It must have been part of hanging out with Ryohei and Kyoko. I have to thank them.

"How about that store?" Mia offered, pointing at a gift store.

We went inside and nothing really caught my attention except for two key chains. They were both kangaroos, a female and a male one. "Perfect for them..." I muttered to myself with a bright smile. "Mia-san? Can I get these two?"

We bought them and I smiled, jingling the chains in the small bags that I received. The store even helped put ribbons on them when Mia said it was going to be a gift.

"Why did you buy two?" Emiko asked looking at the bag, "I know you don't like kangaroos."

I smiled brightly, "I just thought they were cute."

Shop after shop, I didn't think shopping would ever feel this bad. I was starting to get tired from all the traveling. We went to different clothes stores, candy shops, food stands, just name it and we probably went there. After the third shop, I stopped actually shopping for myself. I thought of my friends and decided to buy something for them. Even if it was my birthday, I wanted to remember that it was the people around me that made my life as Nakarui Hotaru a good one.

"Ah, can I get that bat?" It was one of those toy plastic, 'make-it- yourself' kits. There was a bunch of different stickers and a set of markers in the box so you could make a custom made bat by yourself.

"That cake." I pointed at a plushie shaped as a shortcake. We arrived at a kids store. There was a bunch of soft, huggable plushies to buy. I chose certain animals and figures that would be perfect for my friends. I got Kyoya a rabbit, and an orange for Tsuna. For my family, it was hard to choose. I had to make a wild guess on what they preferred. I decided to choose foods to represent them. A parfait for Mia, a cupcake for Emiko, fried chicken for Danielle and tea for Nick.

All these items were dumped into a decorated bag, decorated all over with sparkles. No one asked me why I bought so many different ones, not even Emiko. Although I see her eyeing be with confusion from time to time.

Finally, what seemed like onto 5 minutes had passed and Emiko broke. She couldn't stop her curiosity as she cornered me with questions.

In the vaguest answer, I said, "to my friends."

"Geeze, you're really nice." Emiko said. She flashed me a smile, "that means I get one too...?"

"Of course!" I fished out the cupcake, "there's a string attached, so you can tie it on your backpack."

Emiko took it in her palm and gently pressed it. "Let's get another one." She walked up to Danielle, saying she wanted another cupcake plushie.

We walked back and bought one more then finally left the store.

"What are you doing?" I asked her curiously. Did she by any chance not like the color I chose for her?

"Here."

She handed me the plushie she just bought and place it in my hand."For you, I thought we could match."

I threw my arms around her, "Emiko-neesama, thank you!"

Just a few hours of my birthday had passed, and I already felt like it was the best day of my entire life. It was so exciting and new. Maybe it's because I always felt like they were an enigma. Now I can finally feel closer to them, like they were my true family.

"Hotaru-chan, Emiko-chan, let's go get something to eat alright?" Mia picked up the bags, and walked behind Emiko and I.

Emiko turned around, "why are you standing behind Mia-san? We could walk together."

"It's alright," Mia said waving her hand, "off you two go. I'll watch out for you two."

The day passed fast.

However, I was unable to meet up with anyone.

Wait did they even know it was my birthday!? ARGH!

I couldn't believe I missed such an important detail! I can't just possibly go up to them and say, 'hey it's my birthday'! That sounds so snobbish.

After we ate, we went to an amusement park. I don't know how much fun the adults had, but I sure had fun. I was running around with Emiko without a care in the world. That was the one good thing of being a kid. You can act without a care in the world. People won't give you strange looks, because hey, what do kids know?

There was a bunch of kid games we could play. Going on the Ferris wheel or roller coaster wasn't possible due to our height. Well, not that I wanted to really.

"Ne Hotaru, let's go there!"

I laughed, "I will, I will, stop pulling."

By the time we walked out of the amusement park, the sun was already setting. I was walking holding hands with Emiko and Mia as Danielle and Nick carried the bags to the car. I looked around the area, just trying to intake all the beauty of nature. Then something caught my eyes. I didn't know where it came from, but I suddenly saw flashes of orange. I rubbed my eyes furiously, and looked around again. It was gone.

Whatever it was, I'm sure it was a trick of the light.

"Are you getting tired Hotaru?" Mia asked me. Coincidentally, I yawned. "I'll take that as a yes, come now, I'll carry you." She placed me on her back and she walked a little bit faster.

Emiko was saying how she wanted to have a piggy back ride too. As a result, Nick offered to carry her. She glanced in my direction with a grin, "hehe, on wards!" She shouted, then she mouthed, "we're like princesses."

And off we went.

"Happy Birthday~!"

My family sang the birthday song. We were all around the kitchen table with the cake in the center. They turned off the light so the candle flame could burn more brightly.

"Close your eyes and make a wish." Nick advised me, holding out a camera.

I took a deep breath and blew. I clutched my eyes and made a wish.

I clapped my hands excitedly upon hearing the next words slipping out of Danielle's lips. "We have a surprise for you Hotaru!"

She took out something from her purse, it was a plane ticket. "We're going to move to Italy for a few years!"

I was simply loss for words. It hadn't even been a few minutes and I knew my wish already failed me, 'I wish I have a peaceful life as Hotaru.'