Shiharu had ran for a few streets before she was out of breath because of her sobbing. It was so hard to comprehend, all those times she felt alone and different because she didn't have a family could have been prevented. If Johnson Midori had found out about her existence a few years earlier, her whole life could have been different.

Out of breath and sobbing she stood on the sidewalk. It was cold but Shiharu didn't want to return to Matsunaga's house, because that would mean facing Midori and that was the last thing she wanted right now.

"Onee-chan? Are you alright?" someone behind her suddenly asked. Shiharu turned around swiftly, realising she was standing outside Kyo's garden. She sniffled a little and tried to wipe away the tears, but she couldn't really stop sobbing yet.

"Oh sweetheart, come on inside, it's freezing, you'll catch a cold," Kyo rambled, ushering the shivering teen inside.

Kyo led Shiharu to her small kitchen, and put her down on a kitchen chair at a big cherry wooden table. The old lady rubbed Shiharu's shoulders in a comforting gesture before bustling around the kitchen, putting a box of tissues in front of Shiharu and returning to the counter to prepare some hot chocolate. Shiharu understood Kyo did this to give her some time to compose herself, and she accepted the gesture gratefully. When Kyo turned back to the table with two steaming mugs of coco, Shiharu had wiped away most of the tears and somehow managed to calm her breathing.

"So, can you tell me what happened?" Kyo asked after sitting down on the chair opposite Shiharu. After a few seconds Shiharu started her story, while Kyo listened intently. After hesitating slightly, the teen voiced the thoughts that had plagued her most after her conversation with Midori, and Kyo listened to her without interrupting.

"I could have grown up with a loving family." Shiharu whispered, concluding her story, her voice still shaking slightly. She looked down at her mug and occasionally took a sip. Kyo thought about that for a while, before replying:

"That may be true Shiharu, but is that really what you would have wanted?"

The teen looked up from her mug in surprise. "What do you mean? I've always wanted a family," she answered.

"If you had grown up in Midori's family, you would have never met the twins right?"

"I-I hadn't thought about that," Shiharu confessed, feeling ashamed of her victimised way of thinking.

"Oh don't be like that dear, I just want you to look at the situation from another side. There may have been situations that made you feel scared and lonely because you are an orphan, but you have a lot of siblings in the sunflower house right? And you got to meet the twins and Sei-tan, the man you like." Kyo explained.

"You are right," Shiharu whispered, deliberately ignoring Kyo's remark about Matsunaga-san.

Suddenly something shot through her mind.

"Oh no! I left the twins alone," she squeaked out horrified. Worry and fear clouded her thoughts and new tears spilled over her cheeks.

"I need to get back," she frantically muttered to herself, knocking the half empty mug of hot chocolate over in her haste to get up. Kyo stood up and gently took hold of the girl's wrist.

"Easy there, how late was Matsunaga-san supposed to get home?" she asked, gently pulling on Shiharu's wrist to get the girl to face her.

"S-seven o'clock," Shiharu said.

"It's half past seven now, and you've been here for a bout twenty-five minutes," Kiyo started, gesturing at the large standing clock in the corner. "I live about ten minutes away from Takeru, so you probably left Matsunaga-san's house around five minutes to seven. The twins can't have been alone for more than a couple of minutes." Kiyo reasoned.

The old woman picked up a dishcloth from the counter and started cleaning up the spilled chocolate.

"We can't change our past, so it's best not to dwell on it too much." She told the teen.

Shiharu just nodded in response, wiping away the few stray tears on her cheeks.

"Do you have your mobile phone with you? We should call Matsunaga-san." Kyo said. Shiharu padded her pockets before shaking her head.

"It's still in Matsunaga-san's house."

"Oh well, I'll call Takeru-kun instead, he can give me Matsunaga-san's number. You should clean yourself up a bit, the washing room is the second door on the left." Kyo said, gently urging Shiharu towards the hall. Shiharu nodded and disappeared into the washing room.

After wringing out the dishcloth, Kyo walked into her living room and picked up her house telephone.

She dialled Takeru's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Takeru-kun?" She started, but Takeru interrupted her quickly.

"Hello, Kyo-chan? I'm sorry, I don't have time to chat right now."

"That's okay, I just wanted to say Shiharu is with me." Kyo said.

"Ah, Thank goodness." Takeru sighed.

"I'd like to have Matsunaga-san's phone number, could you give it to me?" Kyo asked, glancing around to find a pen and some paper.

"Yes, or I can put you on speaker." Takeru replied the same moment as Kyo had found writing material.

"Oh, he's there with you? Well, the two of you should come over here then, no need to put me on speaker." Kyo said, dropping the pencil.

"No? Alright then, we're coming right now." Takeru said.

"Hurry up then, Shiharu's had a lot of stress today."

"Yeah, thank you. Bye Kyo-chan."

Kyo had just put the phone down when Shiharu walked out of the washing room. Her eyes were still a little bit puffy, and her bangs were a bit damp, but she looked a lot better, a bit more calmed down.

The two of them sat on the couch together for a while, just talking about trivial things like school and Shiharu's part time job.

By the time the doorbell rang, Shiharu had calmed down completely, although the thought of facing Matsunaga after running out on the twins obviously scared her.

"I'll let them in, and then Takeru and I will give the two of you some privacy alright?" Kyo asked as she got up. Shiharu nodded, looking at her hands, which she had clenched stiffly in her lap.

Kyo gently patted Shiharu's shoulder before walking to the door.

A/N: Well, I was supposed to be studying, but I really couldn't leave this story alone, you know? I like the way it's going, but I'm always curious about your thoughts too, so please leave a review, or send me a PM, if you leave a message when logged in, I'll reply!