'You like this Ryou, huh?' Haru signed to Kohana.
'Huh?' Kohana innocently signed.
'Don't play dumb. I see how you look at him; it's written all over your face.' Haru signed back, causing Kohana to blush.
'I uhh… I don't know…' Kohana slowly signed, blushing furiously.
'It's ok. You like him. I heard it's normal for a younger sibling to like their older sibling's friends. But you never had a chance to be a typical sibling; you don't know your brother's best friend. You could've met Ryou and not known he was your brother's best friend and still like him like you do. Just go slow, take your time, and things will turn out how they're supposed to. Now, for that brother of yours.' Haru calmly signed.
'What about him?' Kohana asked, signing in confusion.
'He's kind of good-looking.' Haru signed, causing Kohana to just stare at her.
'I can't help how I feel just as much as you can't. But don't worry; it won't change who I am in any way. And I promise not to pursue him.' Haru signed.
'Why? If you want to, you should. You should be happy.' Kohana signed back.
'You really are sweet. We'll play it day by day and see what happens.' Haru signed with a smile.
'Ok.' Kohana signed with a smile.
"Ok, we're at our first destination. Are you girls ready?" Keiichiro informed the girls and then asked, pulling into a parking lot before looking back at Kohana, Haru, Ichigo, and Pudding.
"Yep." Everyone answered.
"Kohana—I know you're trying, but maybe until we figure out what's up with your throat, you should just keep signing for now." Keiichiro suggested, looking at Kohana.
'Ok.' Kohana signed.
"What are we doing at a furniture store?" Haru asked, confused.
"Beds." Keiichiro and Ryou answered.
'But I thought we had beds already.' Kohana signed, looking at Haru.
"That's what I thought." Haru answered.
"We talked and decided that it was time to get new beds—for everyone. The old beds are still good; we can donate them—or use them in the lab for something." Keiichiro calmly answered.
"Don't worry about it. This way you can both figure out what kind of comfort you like." Ryou insisted with a smile as they started walking to the store.
"It's quiet in here." Ichigo noted, looking around once they walked in.
"Kohana—are you alright?" Keiichiro asked, concerned looking at his sister; she was quickly looking all over the place.
'Yeah…' Kohana nervously signed, looking around.
"Ok. Stay close—both of you." Keiichiro ordered, sensing Kohana's—and Haru's nervousness.
"Hello. Welcome to Snooze Cabin—home of the softest beds in all of Japan. Is there anything I can help you with?" An incredibly peppy lady greeted with a smile, popping out of nowhere, causing Kohana and Haru to jump.
"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you." The lady apologized, noticing Kohana and Haru.
"Thank you… I am fine…" Haru breathed, looking away—making faces.
"Hey, Haru! How are you doing?!" Chihiro exclaimed in Haru's ear after tapping her on the shoulder.
"Chihiro… What are you doing here?" Haru growled through gritted teeth—trying to remain calm.
"Oh, wow… You didn't snap at me like you normally do." Chihiro noted, shocked, looking at Haru.
"We're in a public place. I do my best to remain as calm as possible. What are you doing here? Oh, and it looks like your mom's looking for you." Haru stated, looking past Chihiro.
"Oh, come on…" Chihiro mumbled, hiding her face in her hands.
"There you are. Don't you run off on me like that again. Oh, it's you two again." Chihiro's mother, a posh-looking woman, spoke, looking at Keiichiro and Ryou.
"Yes. I'm Keiichiro and this is my younger sister, Kohana and her friend, Haru; they are two of the girls who were with your daughter. These are two of our other workers at Ryou's café; they are helping rearrange the apartment-like area above the café, so the girls have their own rooms." Keiichiro explained, trying to figure out exactly what to say.
"Girls?" Chihiro's mom asked, confused.
"Long story short? My family didn't care or want me anymore. So, Mr. Akasaka and Mr. Shirogane here are allowing me to stay with them until I decide to move out—or something like that." Haru answered, thinking about it and everything.
"Oh, you poor thing! Every child deserves to be loved and have a home! And just look at you! You're one of the cutest things I've ever seen! Chihiro, just look at Kohana; you could pick up some fashion tips from her!" Chihiro's mom happily exclaimed, causing Kohana to blush like crazy and Chihiro to whine.
"Those aren't designer clothes or anything like that; they're just something Stella picked out." Chihiro mumbled.
"Because it is something Kohana will wear. To be fair, Stella did pick out outfits that we'd be comfortable wearing. As long as we didn't look like sluts, got into some kind of fights, or like we were rolling around in dirt, she didn't really care what we were wearing." Haru spoke up; she could tell exactly what type of person Chihiro's mom was.
"Why didn't you ask for something cute? Why are both of their hair long? Did you do something to make them mad enough for them to cut your hair off? How could they do something like that?" Chihiro's mom asked, having a panic attack.
'But Chihiro chose to cut her hair, didn't she?" Kohana asked Haru, confused.
'Oh, yeah—she did. But that's Chihiro's business.' Haru signed back.
"You chose to cut your hair off?!" Chihiro's mom screeched.
"Oh… Who would've thought she'd know sign language?" Haru asked, stunned.
"How could you cut your beautiful hair off?" Chihiro's mom cried, sitting in a corner.
"I didn't like my hair long… And I don't care for dresses—or tea parties. What is it, Kohana?" Chihiro started but was stopped by Kohana.
'Maybe you don't change who you are—and what you like. But, maybe once or twice a week, you could do something nice for your mom. She missed you for a long time—and didn't get to do things normal moms and daughters get to do together. Maybe for a little bit—until things calm down, you can spend a day or two doing something she wants to do. And then, on a different day or two, you could do something you like to do. Then after a few months you could come to a C-O-M-P-R-O-M-I-S-E and figure things out.' Kohana signed.
"She has a point…" Haru agreed with a sigh.
"Right… But I want my room how I want it…" Chihiro sighed, frustrated.
"She's not only adorable; she's wise!" Chihiro's mother happily exclaimed before hugging the life out of Kohana.
"Mom—please don't crush her." Chihiro moaned, embarrassed, trying to pull her mother off of Kohana.
"But of course, not! Come, Chihiro; let's find your bed, dresser, desk, and everything! Pretty pink here we come!" Chihiro's mom happily exclaimed, taking the lead.
'Kill me now…' Chihiro mouthed to Haru and Kohana.
"Good luck with that." Haru teased Chihiro, trying not to laugh out loud.
"Thanks… Mom! Mom, no, not pink! Anything but pink!" Chihiro called, chasing after her mother.
Haru just lost it and started laughing.
Meanwhile, the greetings lady was standing there—with two others—staring in disbelief.
"Anyway…" Ryou started, looking at everyone.
"Right. We should go find beds, dresses, etc. Stay close." Keiichiro calmly instructed, leading the way.
"That was certainly fun." Ichigo sighed as they walked to the beds.
"Yep. It's never a dull moment, is it?" Ryou asked, looking at the ceiling, taking glances at Kohana. She was sticking close to Keiichiro—either right behind him or next to him.
"That's what makes life interesting. But moving on… Ichigo, take the girls and find what they want; we'll meet you in the dressers. If you're not in the dressers, we'll come find you. Don't worry; Ichigo and Pudding will keep you two safe." Keiichiro calmly instructed and then insisted, after seeing Kohana start to shake a little.
"Ok." Everyone replied before going their separate ways.
"Do you think they'll be ok?" Ryou asked as he and Keiichiro watched the girls walked away.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. Haru seems like a fighter—and has said she'd keep Kohana safe. Even if she weren't a fighter—they have Ichigo and Pudding; I would trust all three of those girls to keep an eye on Kohana." Keiichiro seriously replied as they walked to a different area of the store.
"At least you're not turning into one of those helicopter parents/siblings or whatever. No offence to Chihiro's parents—because I get it, I really do. I'm actually kind of surprised you're not hovering—in a way." Ryou told Keiichiro, placing his arms behind his head.
"Well—I know she has not only me, but also you, the girls, and both Haru and Chihiro. I know I'm not alone in taking care of her—in making sure she's safe. I can't tell someone how to take care of their child—especially in this situation. If someone is deprived of their family member for several years for the reason we did; it's up to them how they want to care for their child/sibling. I don't want to hover over Kohana because I don't want to push her away. I lost twelve years with my sister—and I don't wanna lose anymore because I hover too much. I don't know what she went through. I know that, thanks to Haru and Chihiro, Kohana knows who she is; they made sure she never forgot who she was. And I'm sure she helped them as well. And I'll thank God every day for then and that. I don't know about the other girls who were there—but those three looked out for each other. Maybe more them to her than her to them—but I'm sure she looked out for them as well."
"But now that I got off track… They had a horrible deal—but they did live that way; they had to live that way to survive. From watching all those real-life crime shows—I've seen scenarios where the parents/siblings hovering and not giving their child/sibling any type of space or trust, ended up getting pushed away. I don't want that. However, it's not my place to say or judge how someone else in this situation handles it. Again, I lost twelve years with Kohana—I don't plan on losing anymore." Keiichiro thoughtfully explained.
"Good way of looking at it." Ryou replied with a smile.
Neither of them realized that Chihiro and her mother had heard them:
· Chihiro was stunned—too stunned to say anything or even move.
· Chihiro's mother was an emotional wreck; tears were just pouring down her face.
"Oh, shoot…" Keiichiro huffed, looking at a mattress.
"What is it?" Ryou asked, looking around.
"We never discussed price." Keiichiro sighed, smacking his head.
"Don't stress over it. I'll text Ichigo and let her know nothing over $1,000.00. Don't worry about it. Ultimately, I only need a new mattress." Ryou assured Keiichiro, pulling out his phone.
To: Ichigo
~Nothing over $1,000 for one single thing~
"There we go." Ryou calmly noted, putting his phone back.
"Do you think they'll need phones?" Keiichiro asked, slightly conflicted, sitting down.
"Keiichiro calm down. If you think they'll need a cellphone of some sort, we'll get them a flip phone. Then—for all the apps and such, we'll get them an iPod or iPad or whatever. For all I care, we could get them a laptop. Keiichiro: this is your younger sister; you have been looking for her for twelve years. If you think she absolutely needs something, we'll take care of it. Or if you don't want them having their own laptops yet, we can get one for the lab—and they can share it. Everything is going to be fine. Don't overthink this. And just remember: you're not alone." Ryou thoughtfully told Keiichiro, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry—I don't know what came over me." Keiichiro sighed, running his hand through his hair again.
"You're stressed. This is your little sister—who you've been looking for, for the past twelve years. You want to make her happy—but at the same time, you don't want to spoil her—or whatever. This is all new to you. And again—just remember you're not alone; I'll be here every step of the way." Ryou calmly repeated with a smile.
"You're extremely lucky I know you better to know you're not just saying this to get into her pants." Keiichiro stated with a smile.
"And you're lucky you know that I know that you're just joking and not a dick." Ryou replied, looking at Keiichiro with that sarcastic smile.
"Ok. Let's find our mattresses and then the girls. And again—you can date Kohana if you both want to; she seems interested in you. At least with you, I know you won't hurt her. Also, I don't have to play the whole meet and interrogate the boyfriend thing. I already know you." Keiichiro calmly but seriously told Ryou with a smile.
"No Comment." Ryou simply replied with a smile as they looked around.
The truth? Ryou really did want to get to know and date Kohana. He thought she was cute and had a good personality. However, because she was his best friend's younger sister, Ryou would back away if Keiichiro told him to.
Keiichiro knows all this; he can read it all over Ryou's face—and he knows him well enough. It's one of the big reasons he won't tell Ryou to back down. Another reason is that he can tell Kohana likes Ryou as well.
Ryou is probably the only guy Keiichiro would truly trust with Kohana. But it would also have to be up to her. He's known Ryou for the last eleven and a half years; he trusts him with his life. He knows he can trust him with his younger sister. Ryou is and will always be like a younger brother to him.
With The Girls:
The girls were walking around when Ichigo got a text.
From: Ryou
~ Nothing over $1,000 for one single thing ~
"What the hell was that?" Haru asked, looking around when she heard, "Boss-Man Texting! Boss-Man Texting!"
"Ryou's texting." Ichigo sighed, pulling her phone out.
'Texting?' Kohana asked, confused, looking at Haru.
"I don't know." Haru shrugged.
"Sorry about that. Ryou was just texting me to let us know not to spend $1,000 on a single item." Ichigo apologized with a sigh.
"What's texting?" Haru questioned, getting looks from people walking past.
"I suppose you wouldn't know—having been abducted and locked away from society for years." Ichigo told Haru and Kohana—and the nosey people around them.
All who were gawking, quickly walked away after that, some embarrassed and some annoyed.
"Anyway, texting is where you type to another person over the phone. Usually it's a short message—but sometimes people send longer messages—or even paragraphs. Here—let me show you." Ichigo explained before opening her phone; she then showed the girls.
'So talking without talking?' Kohana signed, looking at the phone.
"Mmmhmm." Ichigo and Pudding hummed their answer with smiles.
"So—shall we find you some beds? Na no da!" Pudding excitedly asked.
"Yeah." Haru calmly responded while Kohana nodded.
Fifteen Minutes Later:
"Have you girls still not found something?" Keiichiro and Ryou asked, walking over.
"I found something a little bit ago." Haru answered.
"Kohana?" Keiichiro asked, looking at Kohana. She sat on a full-sized bed with teal-colored foot and headboards with blue and red roses, and butterflies etched and painted in.
'I'm ok with the beds back at home.' Kohana slowly signed.
"What's going on?" Keiichiro asked, kneeling in front of her.
'I…' Kohana started but stopped, looking down.
"What's wrong?" Keiichiro asked again, placing his hands on hers and made her look him in the eyes.
'Beds and dressers are expensive.' Kohana signed.
"Don't worry about all that. Beds, dressers, desks—whatever along these lines are important. Ultimately, these beds and such won't arrive for another day or two—and you'll have to use the beds back home. But you and Haru will be able to have your own beds—and how you like them. Now, the rooms themselves aren't that big—so, you won't be able to have king-sized beds—or anything like that. I suppose we could talk about a queen-sized bed…" Keiichiro started explaining but was interrupted.
"What are you crazy? I mean no disrespect or anything, but these full-sized beds or whatever the hell they are, are big enough." Haru shot right away.
'She's not wrong.' Kohana signed.
"This is what you want?" Keiichiro asked, looking at the bed Kohana was sitting on.
Kohana looked from the bed to Keiichiro and slowly nodded her head.
"And the frames?" Ryou asked, looking at Kohana; she shyly nodded her head.
"Well, there we go. And what of you?" Ryou declared and then asked Haru, ripping the price tags off.
"Umm… I can just get my tags." Haru started, turning red in the face.
"Haru likes dragons and fairies." Chihiro popped up out of nowhere and told everyone with a cheeky smile.
"Chihiro, Baby—there you are! Mommy and Daddy want to take you clothes shopping now!" Chihiro's mom happily—and loudly exclaimed.
"Maaoommm…" Chihiro whined, embarrassed.
"Come on, Deary." Chihiro's mom instructed with a smile.
"Serves her right." Haru mumbled, annoyed.
After beds were picked out, they went and picked out dressers: Kohana got a pink and teal dresser while Haru got a dark, blood-red, and camo green dresser. They each got a dark blue desk because that's all they had—that, black or brown.
After all that was taken care of, they went to a Wally-World—where Kohana had a panic attack; she had tears running down her cheeks, and she couldn't breathe.
It took ten minutes in the van before they got out and went into the store.
Right now, they were in the entryway of the store, and Kohana was by all the carts—on her knees, trying to calm down.
"Well—at least you didn't go to the mall." The annoying voice of Masaya coldly spoke, walking by.
"Great…" Everyone but Keiichiro and Kohana sighed, annoyed.
"What do you want, Pencil Dick?" Haru asked, annoyed, looking at Masaya.
"I was just doing some shopping for my parents when… … Wait, what did you just call me?" Masaya started explaining before finally realizing what Haru called him.
"Just called you what you are." Haru answered, standing up.
'Haru, please don't…' Kohana signed—pleading with Haru.
"Fine… Where are we going to first?" Haru begrudgingly agreed before asking as calmly as she could, glaring at Masaya.
"Well, you can each get your own cart—we'll start in clothes." Keiichiro answered, finally getting Kohana to stand up and hold onto a cart.
"Ichigo—I don't know what you saw in this asshole; he's not even that good looking or anything. You truly do deserve better." Haru told Ichigo, grabbing a cart.
"You don't even know me." Masaya argued, offended.
"Amen to that. Lead the way." Haru repeated what she said earlier before looking at Ichigo, Pudding, and the guys.
"Follow me." Ichigo calmly instructed, leading the way, along with Pudding. Haru and Kohana were between them and the guys, who were keeping a close eye on the girls—and their surroundings.
"Ichigo, we need to talk!" Masaya yelled, chasing after her.
"No, we don't!" Ichigo called back.
"I demand we talk right this instance!" Masaya furiously yelled, getting looks from other shoppers.
"Ichigo, get back here! Stop ignoring me!" Masaya yelled, running after her.
"I believe she told you to leave her alone." Kish told Masaya, appearing out of nowhere with Pie and Tart.
"Back off! You three aren't wanted here. Lettuce isn't here; I don't think she's even near here." Masaya demanded, annoyed, looking at the three.
"I want Tart here! Na no da!" Pudding happily exclaimed, glomping Tart.
"I'd rather Kish over you any day. Masaya, I don't want you here; I don't want anything to do with you anymore. You're the one who cheated on me with my supposed best friend. So just go away." Ichigo coldly told Masaya before walking back to Kohana and Haru.
Masaya just glared at Ichigo for a few minutes—not leaving. Nope. Instead, he started walking towards her.
"Ok—I've had enough of this shit." Haru grumbled, leaving the cart.
"I'm not afraid of you. Give me a few minutes, and I'll have you and your little friends eating out of the palm of my hands. The three of you will be kissing my feet and other parts in no time." Masaya informed Haru, utterly full of himself, placing a hand on her shoulder and chin.
Right after Masaya said what he said, Keiichiro immediately pulled Kohana to him, and Ryou stood in front of them.
At the same time, Kish and Pie watched from the sidelines with a crowd of other people. Tart was on the ground under Pudding as she tightly hugged him.
"So—I know I may not know a lot about a lot of things now adays—seeing as I was locked in an underground bunker. However, I do believe it is still immorally wrong to touch a female without her permission. Then you add what you just said… I think I'll call sexual abuse if you don't get your filthy hands off of me." Haru angrily informed Masaya, looking directly into his eyes.
'This is not going to end well for him.' Kohana signed, looking at Keiichiro, Ryou, and Ichigo.
"She's giving him fair warning." Ryou sighed, watching them.
"What are you going to do about it? That's right—nothing. You can't do anything; you're not strong enough to take me on. You're just a little girl who thinks she's tough because she was held captive." Masaya cynically whispered into Haru's ear.
Haru just smiled and chuckled a little before she grabbed Masaya by the arm, went down, and knocked him off his feet before flipping him over her shoulders.
Surprisingly enough, she earned claps and "woots" from several other women around them.
"One: don't touch me. Two: stay away from Kohana and Chihiro. Three: Ichigo doesn't want anything to do with your dirty, cheating ass anymore; so stay away from her as well. Four: don't you ever tell me that I can't do anything—because eight times out of ten, I can—and will. I don't appreciate the sexual harassment." Haru growled, dead serious, keeping Masaya pinned down by her knee with his arm twisted behind his back.
As soon as she let him go, security and police escorted him out.
'Who are your friends?' Kohana asked, looking at Kish, Pie, and Tart.
"What are your friends?" Haru asked, looking at the trio as they started walking.
"Girls: these are Pie, Kish, and Tart; they are aliens. They used to be an enemy, but they have since come around to our side. Guys: this is my younger sister, Kohana, and her friend Haru. They along with another girl, named Chihiro, were kidnapped when they were younger and held captive until a little bit ago. They are now part of the team—and work at the café. Haru and Chihiro have the same job as Ichigo and the other girls, while Kohana has the same job as Ryou." Keiichiro calmly explained without giving too many details.
"Ah…" Pie, Kish, Tart, and Haru replied, understanding while Kohana nodded.
"She can't talk?" Pie inquired, interested.
"No—she can. Her throat was damaged, and it hurts her to talk." Keiichiro explained with a sigh.
"Well—looking at the damage…" Pie started, stepping in front of Kohana and lifted her chin.
"There are three options—starting with there's nothing your Earth/human doctors can do for her. So… One: you can leave it how it is. Two: I can do a complete fix. As the name states, a complete fix will fix her throat completely. However, the catch is that her throat will burn for up to a week afterwards. Three: I can do up to three quick fixes. Despite the name, quick fixes are anything but—that's why I'd have to do up to three times. The name "quick fix" comes from the fact that first fix makes it so the healing process starts and makes it so she can kind of talk; she'll just stutter decently—but less than I'm guessing she already does." Pie explained.
"Why three?" Ryou questioned as they looked through clothes.
"The first quick fix finds all the dead tissues and all that—and removes it. She'll be able to breathe a little easier—granted most of that seems to be in her lungs. But she'll be able to breathe easier, which will help decrease the stutter. The second quick fix—which will happen two months from the first one, will start to grow back anything that was dead, helping decrease stuttering even more. Then the final quick fix will happen four months after the second one. It takes longer for new tissue and all that to grow than it does for the dead stuff to be removed. That's why the distance between the second and the third fixes are longer than the first and the second. Now, after the third fix, her throat won't hurt, and she won't have to struggle to swallow after she speaks. However, I can't promise she won't stutter. No, she won't stutter horribly—but it seems that she had a preexisting condition—or something. And that something might have to do with her weak lungs. Was she sick a lot as a child?" Pie explained and then asked, looking at Keiichiro.
"She was born three and a half weeks early—but doctors said she was healthy enough. Then if I remember correctly, she had pneumonia often." Keiichiro answered, thinking about it as they watched the girls pick out clothes.
"That makes sense… She'll probably continue to get pneumonia often—especially with all the dust and mold plastered on her lungs—which are slightly smaller than a normal person's. The other girl—she also has dust and mold plastered on her lungs. It does look like a doctor had tried to remove the dust and mold but were unable to remove it all—or something." Pie explained.
"That's fantastic…" Keiichiro sighed, looking up at the ceiling.
"I can make a concoction to remove all the dust and mold…" Pie started.
"But?" Keiichiro and Ryou asked, knowing there'd be a "but;" there's always a "but."
"But it would make them incredibly sick for a few days—they'd be throwing up for about three to five days depending on how much is stuck to their lungs. No, they wouldn't be throwing up straight through per se; they would just be throwing up every few hours for a good fifteen-twenty minutes. They would have to be drinking a lot of water—and only water. Anything else would make the mold stickier. As long as it's warm, any type of food would be fine." Pie explained.
"I suppose we'd have to talk to the girls." Keiichiro sighed.
"Not only that—but what about Chihiro? She'll probably have mold and dust-filled lungs. And I don't think her parents are going to let her just drink some kind of weird concoction." Ryou stated, looking at Keiichiro.
"This is true as well." Keiichiro sighed.
"You could always mix it in with something she drinks, can't you?" Haru asked, hearing everything.
"Just how are we going to do that? She comes to work at the café and then gets sick after drinking something there—I don't think her parents would let her near us again." Ryou stated, looking at Haru.
"That's easy. We just need to know where to locate her; we can secretly put the stuff in her water or whatever she's drinking." Kish mischievously suggested with an eerie smile.
"I like that idea. What? Chihiro is a pain in my ass. And as long as this don't kill her, I'm all for it." Haru went for it right away and then explained, defending her reasoning after everyone gave her a look.
"What do you two want to do?" Keiichiro asked, looking at Kohana and Haru.
"I'll gladly do it." Haru accepted right away.
"It wouldn't be right away; I need time to make it." Pie informed, seeing Kohana's nervousness.
"You'd probably get sick less. And you wouldn't be alone; I'll be right there with you." Haru told Kohana, placing an arm around her shoulders.
"No matter what you decide, Ryou and I will be there." Keiichiro sincerely told Kohana.
'Ok.' Kohana nervously signed.
"Let's get finished and we'll get pizza or something for dinner." Keiichiro suggested, pulling Kohana into a reassuring hug.
"Sounds like a plan. I haven't had pizza in ages." Haru excitedly exclaimed.
"First, we have to finish here. Finish finding your clothes, then we'll get everything and anything else you may need or want. Certain things, Keiichiro has to approve of." Ryou stated, pulling Haru back to reality…