The train rolled into Iwatobi station and Nagisa and Gou stepped out. It was only a little past noon and they had plenty of time to dig into everything. They had spent some of the time in the train discussing where they would go. They had ended up agreeing on the orphanage where Nagisa was brought.
"Where is it?" Gou asked.
Nagisa looked around. "I'm not sure…" he said. "I think it's this way," they started walking in the direction Nagisa had pointed.
Gou was silent, but Nagisa started humming a song somewhere along the way. Gou recognized the song as one of those new pop-songs playing in the radio. Chigusa had sung it a lot lately. If Gou remembered correctly, she had said it was her favorite song.
"Where do you know that from?" Gou asked.
"The radio, Hana-chan said it was good," Nagisa said. "But I don't remember the lyrics,"
Gou started singing the chorus, the only thing she remembered of the song. Nagisa started laughing as she did so.
"What?" Gou asked as she finished.
"You're really bad at singing, Gou-chan," Nagisa laughed.
"It's Kou, and so what?" Gou asked.
"Gou-chan, so stop singing," Nagisa said.
"Kou, and I can sing if I want," she argued. She started singing loudly as to prove her point.
"Gou-chan, my ears hurt!" Nagisa yelled while covering his ears, slightly overdoing the act.
"It's Kou, Kou, Kou, Kou, Kou…" she continued to sing the melody on her own name while trying to tune out Nagisa's complains about her singing voice.
"Gou, Gou, Gou, Gou, Gou…" Nagisa started singing along with her, causing her to think he wasn't sounding any better than she was. Then what rights did he have to complain?
"Kou, Kou, Kou, Gou, Gou…" she sang.
"See, that's your name," Nagisa said.
Gou snorted at that. He had got her again and she hated it every time he did that. She soon got other stuff to think about though as they reached a crossroad.
"Which way?" she asked.
Nagisa looked thoughtful. "Maybe… left? Or no, maybe it's right?" he said, looking confused to either side.
"Are you lost in your own home town?" Gou asked.
An almost invisible blush from embarrassment could be seen on Nagisa's cheeks as he hesitantly gave the answer. "No…"
Gou sighed. "What's the orphanage called?" she asked.
"Iwatobi Adopting center… I think…" Nagisa said. He was glad Gou wasn't dwelling on the fact that he had gotten them lost.
Gou just nodded and went to ask a woman, who just happened to pass by, for directions. "Excuse me, but which way is the way to Iwatobi Adopting Center?" she asked.
The woman looked at her. "Aren't you in the wrong age to go there?" she asked.
Gou shook her head. "We're doing some digging on my friend's family and if his memory serves, that's where he was adopted from," Gou said.
The woman nodded. "If you go to the left there and then turn right on the second street you should find it. There is a playground next to it. The building is white and about the biggest on the street. You won't miss it," she assured.
"Thank you very much," Gou said as she bowed her head to the woman. Then she led the way to the orphanage with Nagisa in toe.
As they closed in on the orphanage, Nagisa started to get more familiar with the surroundings. They passed by the school Rei had gone to before they moved. Nagisa remembered he had waited there for Rei as often as possible. Sometimes people would come and ask him what he was doing there and offer to take him home, but he would always refuse. "I have to wait for Rei-chan," he had said and they had left him alone.
They passed by the playground as well and Nagisa pointed it out to Gou.
"According to Mako-chan, this is where he saw Haru-chan for the first time. They would always stand here and Mako-chan would try talking to Haru-chan," he said.
"Really?" Gou looked through the fence at the playground. She started thinking about how it had been. There were even some children playing there now.
"Come on, Gou-chan," Nagisa called. He had already gone ahead and was waving at Gou from the entrance. He was grinning widely at her.
Gou hurried to catch up and they walked up to the orphanage together. They eyed each other and realized that they were both extremely nervous about the situation. Nagisa ended up being the one to open the door.
"Excuse us!" Gou called, feeling it was appropriate. "We… We would like to speak to a staff member?" There was nobody in the hall, but she hoped she was heard anyway.
A woman in her 40's came down from upstairs. She was wearing the boring dust-gray staff uniform and wore a strict look. Nagisa didn't recognize her. "What may I help you with?" she asked.
"Do you know anyone who worked here around…" Gou looked at Nagisa for help to get the right amount of years. "How old were you when you were brought here?" she asked.
"About a year," Nagisa said. "16 years ago?" he finished Gou's question.
"In that case… Maruyama-san worked here for about… 25 years? You can talk to her if you want," the woman said.
"Could you take us to her?" Gou asked.
The woman nodded. "Follow me," she said and led the way back upstairs. Nagisa and Gou followed her. She turned left and went down a hallway to the far end before knocking on a door. "Maruyama-san?" she asked. "There is someone here to see you?"
"Let them in," a woman answered from the other side, and Nagisa and Gou were quickly let in. "You two are rather young," Maruyama-san said as the door closed behind them. She had managed to take a good look at them before they could even look at her.
"We didn't come to adopt," Gou said. "We want to know…" she stopped, not really sure of how to continue.
"Maruyama-san, do you remember a boy named Hazuki Nagisa?" Nagisa asked.
Maruyama-san's face was lit up with a smile. "Hazuki Nagisa, a troublesome case, but according to the man who adopted him, nice enough once you got to know him," She looked at Nagisa. "Yes Hazuki-kun, I do remember you," she said. "In fact I was both the one to receive you and send you off to the Tachibana family," she said.
Nagisa nodded. "Then… Why did I end up here and where is my biological family?" he asked.
Maruyama-san thought about that for a while. "I'm sorry, Hazuki-kun," she said. "I'm afraid I can't answer that. You were brought here from the hospital. That's all I know,"
"Where was that hospital?" Gou asked.
"Tottori-shi," Maruyama-san said. "It's their general hospital, I don't know what happened to the rest of the family," she said. "I suggest you stay in Iwatobi today and then go to Tottori-shi tomorrow," she said.
Gou nodded. "We'll do that then," she said. "Thank you for your time,"
Nagisa nodded. "Yes, Thank you, Maruyama-san," he said, and then he and Gou left the orphanage.