Around April that year, Makoto started developing a habit of taking some long walks from time to time when he needed some time to himself. His walks led him to many places but there was one road he liked in particular. It led right past the orphanage that Rei and Nagisa had come from. It had a playground where you could often see kids play around. Today was no exception.

It was mid-July and Rei and Nagisa had their summer break. Makoto had sent them off to spend a few days with his parents at some beach.

"You really need a break," Makoto's mother had said.

"No, I'm fine," Makoto insisted. "I started working over two years ago so I've adjusted to it and I'm doing fine. I can manage both, and they're a great help."

Makoto's mother shook her head. "You've got good points, but I did hear your department was low on staff at the moment and you've been taking extra shifts for a while. I'm sure you can make it work but when you come home you need to cook and be an attentive parent. You never really got to just be a working adult without a family," she argued.

Makoto nodded at this. "That's true, but I don't mind being a parent and skipping that kind of stuff. I'm fine with the way things are," he smiled as much as he possibly could while trying to convince his mother that she didn't need to trouble herself over him.

"Their summer break is coming up," she said. "Even with you saying this, would you deny your father and me some time with our grandchildren? Ren and Ran just moved out this spring so it would be fun and refreshing for us to spend some time with Rei and Nagisa," she argued.

Makoto thought that over. He was naïve, but not dumb. He knew it was just her way of phrasing the matter differently, but with this approach, he had much trouble denying it. So he gave up and allowed his parents to have Rei and Nagisa over for ten days.

After this, Ren and Ran both requested to have Rei and Nagisa over for a couple of days, and Makoto had trouble denying this as well because they'd learned from their mother and used the same argument about getting to spend time with the two children. And so it was decided that Nagisa and Rei would spend two weeks of their summer break with their other family members.

Right now, Makoto was on his walk and passing by the playground. He stopped to watch the kids play. A group of kids who were about nine years old were playing tag and running around with bright smiles on their faces. A boy with maroon hair seemed to be it. He ran towards Makoto, and this was when Makoto caught sight of the boy right in front of the fence. He was the one the maroon haired was running to.

The boy was looking out at the streets. There was a distant look in his water-blue eyes. His hair was black and the expression on his face was pretty stoic. Anyone else would consider it the perfect poker face.

"Hey Haru," the maroon haired said. "Why don't you come join us?" he smiled cheerfully. "Aren't you lonely?"

The boy with the stoic face shrugged. "Not really," he said.

The boy with maroon hair got a kinda sad look in his eyes, but his smile stayed on his face. "Just come over if you change your mind. I'm sure the others are fine with you joining, if you want,"

The boy didn't react. He didn't even turn to look when the maroon haired ran back to play tag with the others. There was something about that boy that peaked Makoto's interest. He couldn't put his finger on what that was though. So he decided to figure it out.

He approached the black haired and leaned against the other side of the fence. "You wanna go out of there, don't you?" Makoto asked.

The boy said nothing, but Makoto could tell from the look on the boy's face that he was right.

"What's your name?" Makoto asked.

The boy looked at Makoto with narrowed eyes as if he was saying 'why would I tell you?'

Makoto smiled. "Sorry," he said. "I was just curious," he then turned his back to the boy and went to continue his walk.

Makoto kept on thinking about the boy as he walked on. He especially thought about that longing he thought he had seen in those deep blue eyes. He wondered why the boy seemed to feel like that.

As far as he had understood from Nagisa and Rei, it hadn't been so bad at the orphanage. They were cared for well, considering how many children there were and it didn't seem like they had been lonely. Makoto couldn't think of what else a child would need.

Maybe, once Nagisa and Rei came home, he should ask them about this mysterious blue-eyed boy from the playground. Maybe they knew something about him. But they hadn't been living in the orphanage for nearly three full years, so there was a possibility that they didn't know the boy. At any rate, he couldn't expect them to know who the boy was from a simple description and he had no name on the boy. Giving him a random nickname would be both weird and mean, so Makoto wouldn't do that, besides, it could cause confusion now that he thought about it.

"Rei, Nagisa," Makoto said over the dining table about a week later, on the day when Rei and Nagisa had finally come home. Both children looked up.

"Do you two happen to know a blue-eyed boy with black hair at Iwatobi Adopting Center?" Makoto asked.

Rei and Nagisa exchanged looks while thinking. Nagisa was the first to give his response by shaking his head.

"I don't remember many from there," he answered. "It's all rather faded…" he trailed off. "Sorry, Mako-chan," he finished.

Makoto smiled. "It's fine," he said. Then he looked at Rei.

"There might have been a few of them. I'm not sure… I might remember someone like that, but I'm not sure. It could be I'm mixing things up…"

"Why do you ask?" Nagisa asked before stuffing a mouthful of rice into his face.

Makoto smiled amused at the sight and then answered. "It's just… I've been walking by there a couple of times and happened to catch sight of a black-haired boy with blue eyes on the playground. He… he looked like he didn't want to be there," Makoto answered. "It was a little… how should I put it… weird?" Makoto got a thoughtful look on his face as he said this. He wasn't sure of how to describe this at all, but 'weird' didn't seem like the furthest off word.

"So a weird guy!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Nagisa, it's not nice to call someone weird," Rei corrected him.

"But it's true, Rei-chan. That's what Mako-chan said too," Nagisa answered.

Makoto laughed. "Don't mind it. I was simply asking because I was curious. It's not like it's going to have further influence on you two," he said as he turned back to eating. Rei and Nagisa did the same.

If things like Game of Thrones didn't exist, I'd probably be able to publish on time. Well, it's not as much the book's fault as it is my own forgetfulness. I'm sorry for forgetting yesterday.

Anyways, guess there are two "new" people in this chapter. My favorite characters in the series along with Makoto. Oh, and I'm blabbering again... sorry.

Thanks for reading.

Jackie