For Kidou Yuuto, this Sunday was just like any other. He woke up, got dressed, and headed down for breakfast with his father. They sat across from each other, ate, and chatted as usual. It was absolutely normal... until his father cleared his throat.

"Yuuto... you had a phone call this morning," he said.

Kidou glanced up from his plate and raised an eyebrow. "Really? From who?" he didn't know who would be calling this morning, with it being Mother's Day and all. Almost everyone he knew was going to be busy with plans that morning... except for him, of course. He hadn't celebrated in years due to the fact that his father was a single man, and his real mother had passed away.

His father wiped his mouth with a napkin before he spoke. "It was your sister, Otonashi."

"Haruna?" Kidou said. He knew for a fact that she should be busy that morning. After all, she was adopted by a couple, so she had a mother to celebrate with.

"Yes, her. She called and asked if you wanted to do something with her today." his father said. "I said you should be available, if that's okay with you."

"Oh, yes, that's more than okay." Kidou smiled. He always loved getting together with his sister. But it did seem odd that she'd want to get together today of all days.

"Well, once you finish up your breakfast you're free to leave." his father said. Kidou bowed his head.

"Thank you," he said. His father just waved a hand.

"You need to get together with her more. You... shouldn't have been separated." his father looked down at his plate. Kidou agreed with that, but he understood that he meant well. Haruna probably wouldn't have been happy living there.

He quickly finished breakfast and got up to leave. "Okay, I'll be going then. I'll see you in a while." he said. His father waved him goodbye, and Kidou was out the door.

-.-.-

"Are you sure it's okay for me to leave?" Haruna asked. She had planned on spending the whole day with her mother, but the night before she had an idea. "I mean... it's a day for you, Mom."

Haruna's mother grabbed her hand and smiled. "Honey, I think I can handle an hour or two on my own for today. Besides, it's a day for her too."

"O-okay..." Haruna said. She looked down at her shoes. "But I'm kind of nervous about going. I haven't been there in a long time..."

"Your brother will be going with you, right?" her mother said. "I think him being there will make it easier. I actually think it is a good idea for you both to go." she said. She walked over to a table and grabbed a small bouquet of flowers. She handed them off to her daughter and smiled. "Here."

Haruna grabbed them and smiled. "I hope she'll like them," she said. Her mother smiled and pulled her in for a hug.

"She'll love them, sweetheart." she said. As if on cue, someone started to knock at the front door. The two pulled away from each other and Haruna's mother looked down at her. "That must be him," she said. She gently pushed her daughter to the door, and Haruna looked back with a worried expression on her face. Her mother nodded for her to go on, and Haruna finally went and opened the door.

"Onii-chan!" she cried. She threw her arms around her brother, and Kidou returned the hug.

"Haruna," he said. He looked over her shoulder and nodded at her mother. "Good morning, Otonashi-san."

Haruna's mother smiled and waved at Kidou. "Good morning. Now, you two be careful when you go out."

Kidou nodded and Haruna turned around and waved at her mother. "I'll see you soon. We shouldn't be out long,"

"Take as much time as you need, honey." she waved back at the siblings by the door. "Now, you two should get going."

Haruna and Kidou waved one more time, and then they were gone. Once they left, Haruna's mother sighed and smiled.

"Those poor kids..."

-.-.-

Once they had left, Kidou let Haruna lead the way. After all, he didn't really know what this was all about. But Haruna had started walking off in one direction, and he decided it was best to follow and ask questions later. They spent most of the walk catching up with each other. Things between them had been much easier thanks to Kidou's transfer to Raimon, but even all the time spent at practice wasn't enough. Kidou's older brother instincts had kicked in, and he found himself asking her how school was going and if she was getting good grades. He had tried asking about boys, but Haruna just laughed and refused to answer (much to Kidou's dismay.).

"So, what are those flowers for?" Kidou asked. They had been walking for quite a while now, and Haruna still hadn't told him where they were going.

She looked down at the flowers in her hands and sighed. "Well..."

"Wait, I have a better question. Where are we going?" Kidou asked. "I mean, I'm going to have to know sooner or later."

Haruna nodded. "Alright. You know today's Mother's Day and all, right?"

Kidou nodded.

Before she continued, Haruna took a deep breath. "Well, I got to thinking last night, and I thought that we should go visit our... our mother today." she held up the flowers. "That's why I have these. I... didn't want to go alone, and I though you'd like to come too."

Kidou looked down at his sister. "Haruna..."

Haruna wiped her eyes and sniffed. "And we haven't been there in a really long time... so she must be lonely."

Kidou stopped Haruna and pulled her into a hug. They stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk, and he let her cry into his chest for a while. She dropped the flowers and hugged him so tightly that Kidou almost found it hard to breathe.

"You know, that's a great idea. Going to visit her and all." Kidou said. He found that his eyes were watering, too, and he fought to hold back tears. "We... we should visit her more."

Haruna pulled away and wiped her eyes. Kidou bent down and picked up the flowers for her, and she smiled when she took them. "Thanks. You know, I... I really miss them sometimes, and I hate how I can't remember them well."

"I feel that way too." Kidou admitted. "I can only remember one or two things about them, to be honest."

"That's a few more than I can recall," Haruna said. She frowned. "It's not fair. Why did it have to be us?" she asked.

Kidou just shook his head. "I don't know, Haruna. I used to wonder that all the time." She was right; it wasn't fair. That accident probably ruined many families, and one of them just happened to be theirs. But dwelling on it wouldn't change anything now. He grabbed Haruna's free hand and nodded in the direction they were going. "Let's go."

-.-.-

When they arrived at the cemetery, Haruna just couldn't make herself walk through the big metal gates leading to it. She had told herself she'd be fine going there, but now that she was actually about to do it...

Haruna shook her head. She could count on one hand how many times she'd been there to see her parents, and the more she thought about that the worse she felt. It was selfish of her, really. This was for her mother... so she needed to do it.

Kidou walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. "You know, if you don't want to go in..."

"It's okay... I think I'm ready." she grabbed her brother's hand and together they entered the gates. Even though she had only been there a few times, she still remembered exactly where her parents were buried. It was towards the middle of the cemetery, right next to a big maple tree. But she let Kidou lead the way. If he didn't, Haruna might have turned back.

After a minute or two, they finally reached their parents' resting place. Under the tree, there was a bench. Kidou went to sit down as Haruna neared the tombstones, flowers in had.

"Um... h-hi Mom..." Haruna said. She ran her hand over the smooth granite, right over her mother's name. "Happy Mother's Day..." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She knelt down and set the bouquet down on the ground. "I'm sorry I don't visit you... It's... just hard, you know?"

From the bench, Kidou watched his sister. She was kneeling there, talking. Kidou wanted to go over there, too, but it didn't feel right to go over yet. Haruna was talking with her mother... and you don't interrupt those conversations.

After a while, Haruna had finished talking and walked over to the bench. She sat next to Kidou and wiped her eyes. She had been crying, but this time she had a smile on her face.

"That felt really good... to you know, just talk with her... Even though she can't respond, it just feels nice. I bet she's listening from wherever she is."

Kidou nodded and put his arm around his sister. "I think she's happy." Haruna nodded, and out of nowhere she started sobbing. She covered her face with her hands and leaned against Kidou, and he pulled her into another hug. "Shh..." he said, trying to calm her down.

"I miss her," she said between sobs. "I hate this. I hate how she's not here. She's supposed to be here. They both are."

"I know, Haruna. I know." Kidou said, and he soon found that he was crying himself. He pushed his goggles to the top of his head and wiped his eyes. He tried so hard to be strong for his sister... but sometimes it was just too hard.

Haruna looked up at Kidou and smiled. She wiped a tear off his cheek. "You should take your goggles off more often. I like your eyes."

Kidou sniffed. "I... I can't. They're my trademark."

"I think the cape's enough," Haruna said. She laughed a little bit, and just hearing that made Kidou feel better. They two sat there, quiet, for a while, until Kidou remembered something.

"You know... I just thought of something." he said. Haruna raised an eyebrow.

"And what's that?" she asked.

Kidou scratched his head. "I was just thinking, and I thought I remembered something. I'll probably get it wrong, but... I think I remember way back when we were really little, before Mom and Dad... you know. We celebrated Mother's Day once."

"Really?" Haruna said. Her eyes were wide, and Kidou could tell she wanted to hear more. He nodded and continued on.

"Mhm. Dad woke us up early that morning, and we tried to make her breakfast in bed. I think we really wanted to make it all ourselves, so he let us..."

Haruna giggled. "This can't turn out well."

"And I don't think it did. I remember a really messy kitchen, and I think you were crying because you thought Mom wouldn't like what we made. But we took it to her and she said that she loved it... So we hopped into her bed and we all ate it together." Kidou finished his story, and Haruna was quiet.

"I did stuff like that with my mom. You know, my adoptive one. And every year I really wished that you did fun things with your new mom... until I found out you didn't have one." Haruna said.

Kidou shrugged. "It wasn't terrible. I mean, I didn't really know what it was like to have a mom around, so it didn't bug me much..."

"I think we should do this every year from now on," Haruna said. "Because you should be able to celebrate... and Mom would like it."

"I think we should too." Kidou said. "It's a promise, then."

They stayed in the cemetery for a long time after that. Once it was finally time to go, the two siblings walked out, hand in hand. And as she left, Haruna found it ridiculous that she hadn't wanted to go... because now she was finding it hard to leave.

She looked up at the sky and smiled. "I think it must be nice to be a mother." she said. "I can't wait until I'm a mom, and then this holiday will be about me, too."

Kidou shook his head. "Yes, you can wait. You're going to wait for a very, very, very long time. Not until you're at least... forty."

Haruna laughed and hit her brother's arm. "Oh Yuuto. Don't worry. It's not going to happen any time soon."

"It had better not." he said. But he smiled and ruffled Haruna's hair. "Let's just be happy for right now. For our mother."

Haruna nodded in agreement. "Yes. For our mother."

-.-.-

AN:

This is sort of a special chapter, because like most places, today's Mother's Day in the States. I know I'm very grateful for my mother and all she's done for me.

Sorry it's kind of sad... I really wanted to do something for today, and it was a tie between Kidou and Haruna, Toramaru, and Gouenji and Yuka. I hope you all enjoyed it!

Icee Suicune