„Foster father?" Haruka echoed. „But...you are female." "Yep." Shane grinned. "I'm female and Kaoris husband." Finally Haruka realized what that meant, and all of a sudden, she brightened up. "You two are a lesbian couple!" Shane chuckled and nodded. "Didn't they tell you?" she then asked. Haruka shook her head. "No. They just said that I would be sent to a new foster family, and Kaori kept talking about her husband, so…I assumed that you are male." Shane just shrugged, smiling, but her smile vanished when Haruka frowned. "What is it, kid?" the spiky haired asked. "Well…how do you want me to call you now? Mister Strife or Mrs. Strife?" Shane just sighed. "Nothing of those two. Call me Shane, Haruka." Haruka smiled and nodded. "Okay, Shane." The two smiled at each other, and Shane pointed towards the stairs. "Let's go down and have dinner, before Kaori gets mad at us." Haruka chuckled and nodded, and the two of them walked down into the dining room.
As soon as they had finished dinner, Shane buzzed out of the room and returned with a stack of brochures. "What's that?" Haruka asked, eyeing the papers curiously. "Those are brochures about the various schools in Tokyo." Kaori explained while she took them from her husbands hands and handed them to Haruka. "You can choose one of them." "Really?" Haruka asked, her eyes lightening up. She started to look through the brochures, but after the second one, her eyebrows went up. "Those are all private schools. Can you afford that?" Shane and Kaori just nodded, much to Harukas delight. Soon, the blonde had chosen a school. "This one." She said, handing the brochure to Shane. She took it, grinning. "Good choice, Haruka. Mugen Gakuen is one of the best schools in Tokyo." Kaori rose from her chair. "I'll call the school and make sure that Haruka can start next week." "Next week?" Haruka repeated. "But, it's Monday today. Why shouldn't I start tomorrow?" "Do you think we are that cruel?" Shane replied, grinning. "You have a whole week to get used to us." Kaori added. "Of course you'll get used to me fast, but it will probably take a while until you're used to that freak here who calls herself my husband." "Hey!" Shane protested, grinning. "I'm not a freak, love." Haruka watched the couple with gaping eyes. "Excuse me, but…" she finally spoke up. Both Shane and Kaori looked at her curiously. "Yes, dear?" Kaori finally asked, smiling. "No offense, but…are you two always like that?" the blonde asked, causing her new foster parents to giggle. "Yes, most of the time. All in good fun, of course." Haruka smiled. "I think I'll like it here." "Well, we hope that you'll like it here. Right, freaky?" Kaori replied, the last two words addressing her husband. Shane just groaned and covered her eyes. "She'll call me freaky until I die. Anyway…I need a cigarette now." Shane noticed Harukas longing look and asked: "Haruka, do you smoke?" The blonde blushed and looked down on her hands. She figured that it would do no good if she lied to her foster parents at her first day, and so she said: "…yes.", pulling her head between her shoulders, fearing that she would get a lecture about smoking now. "Great!" Shane beamed. "That means that I don't have to smoke alone anymore. C'mon, let's go down in the cellar!" Haruka smiled, stood up and left the room with Shane. Kaori stayed behind, shaking her head. "Great. Now I have two smokers in my house."
"Oh. My. God." Haruka breathed while Shane leaned against the wall next to her, grinning. "I guess that means that you like my Lamborghini Diablo, eh?" the spiky haired woman then said. "Like it?" Haruka replied while she put one hand on the roof of the black car. "I love this car! I always wanted to drive one like that…" Suddenly, a small silver object came flying towards her. Out of pure reflex, Harukas hand came up, catching it. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was the key to the Lamborghini. The blonde stared at Shane, shocked. "You can't mean that." She finally said. Shane just grinned. "Do you know how to drive?" the spiky haired then asked. Haruka nodded, dumbfounded. "Well then, let's go." "She can't mean that." Haruka thought to herself. "This has to be some cruel joke…why would she let me drive her Lamborghini, for crying out loud? That car costs millions!" "What are you waiting for?" Shane now called out, who was already sitting on the passenger's seat. Haruka finally climbed into the car and started it while Shane pushed the button of the electric garage opener. Very, very slowly Haruka drove out of the garage and on the street. Kaori stood in the door, smiling and waving. "Take care!" she shouted, causing Shane to grin and nod. Haruka started to drive down the street, still very slow. "Aw, Haruka." Shane now said. "You can push the pedal down a little more. That car has over 200 horse powers." Haruka grinned sheepishly. "I've never driven a car like that before." She then said. "I'm afraid that we might crash." "You want me to drive first?" Shane asked, smiling. Haruka nodded and stopped the car before she changed places with Shane. The spiky haired woman pushed down the gas pedal, the Lamborghini speeding away.
During the following days, Haruka got used to her new foster family. Although she still had her troubles with calling Kaori "Mom" and Shane "Dad" – she just couldn't bring that words over her lips yet – they treated her as if she was their real daughter.
It was Sunday evening. Haruka sat in her room, surfing the internet, when the door opened and both Shane and Kaori poked their heads in. "Hi!" they yelped unison. Haruka turned around in her chair, smiled at her foster parents and replied: "Hi there." "Tomorrow is your first day at school." Kaori informed her daughter. "Shane will drive you over, it's on her way to work." "Cool." Haruka beamed before she looked at Shane with pleading eyes. "Can we take the Lamborghini?" Shane laughed and nodded. "Of course, Haruka. But, don't stay awake to long today. We don't want you to fall asleep on your first day, right?" Haruka nodded, grinning. "Okay. Good night, Shane. Good night, Kaori." "Good night!" the couple replied, left the room and closed the door.