Chapter 2

(Switching to Hana's POV)

Pulling up to the school, I found a parking spot and waited for Yuki. For me, the day was routine, nothing out of the ordinary. I saw the tide of kids emerging from the school start to rise, I tried to pick out Yuki. It had become a bit of a game to see how far from the door she could get before she spotted me.

Oddly, a couple minutes passed and I still didn't see her. She likes to be sneaky with this, but I've learned most of her tricks. Sometimes I would get out of the car to find her hiding behind the bus, or sneaking behind the bushes. It was this playfulness that made me love her.

Finally, I thought I spotted her black hair, and I tracked it until I could see her face-only to see another girl I didn't recognize. Suddenly the passenger door opened, and before I could blink Yuki was sitting beside me with a smile on her face.

"Hi mom!"

"Yuki! How did you get there? I was watching the doors, I never saw you!"

Yuki flashed a smug grin for half a second. "A true magician never tells his secrets."

Well, alright then, I'll just have to look harder next time. How was school?"

"Fine, everything went normally, but in today's assembly, a woman named Ms. Fukui came up!"

"Really, who is this Ms. Fukui?" I asked, pulling out of the parking lot.

Yuki opened her backpack and pulled a folded flyer out. "She's the head of the orphanage in town."

"Orphanage?" I asked. Why would Yuki be interested in an orphanage?

"Yeah, and I thought that maybe we could adopt a little kid! Someone who doesn't have any parents and needs a home! We have enough space and food, especially with Ame gone-" She caught herself, her smile dampening a little. "Oops."

I gripped the wheel a little tighter, then relaxed. I had put Ame's leaving behind me, and for the most part I could talk to Yuki about it with little stress. I still felt sad sometimes, but it was nice to hear his calls from the top of the mountain, where he belonged. "It's alright Yuki," I reassured her. "What where you saying?"

Her face brightened again, and she continued. "Well, Ms. Fukui was talking in assembly and I realized how much I miss having a little brother, or simply a little sibling. And with this orphanage, maybe we could give a little kid missing a family a home."

I thought for a minute, thinking it through. Yuki was right, we had ample space and food for another child. We had enough money; I was still making enough to support 3. And I myself was missing having 2 children to care for, especially a little one.

"Well…" I began.

Yuki looked at me expectantly, anxious to hear an answer.

"I think…. We should go the orphanage."

"Yay!" Yuki hugged me from the other seat. I hadn't seen her excited in a long time. "Let's go!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm. "Alright, calm down! If it's where I think it is, we should be there in about half an hour.