"Have fun you two," Naomi said and waved at Mikan and Kenji. The two waved back and started walking.

While they were on their way, Mikan was leaping for joy as she still couldn't get over the fact that she was called senpai by Naomi. It was the first time she called her that. She managed Naomi's brother to call her senpai, Atsushi and Kenji too. Kenji looked at her and couldn't help but asked why she was really cheerful today.

"Nao-chan called me senpai~ So happy~ So, so happy~ I finally made her call me senpai~" Mikan expressed herself happily and almost danced. This made Kenji chuckled at her antics. To be honest, this was completely normal for everyone in the agency when someone call her senpai. Everyone got used to it.

"City people are really interesting."

Mikan smiled and looked at Kenji. She was actually thankful that Kenji was with her because the orphanage she always go to was far away. The first time she met him, he was a complete mystery to her, but he soon became a close friend to her because of the long walks to the orphanage. She looked at the box he was carrying and realized that she really had to make it up to him.

After the friendly talks and catching up to each other's lives, they finally reached the orphanage. They decided to go to uncrowded areas so that they could get to the orphanage early. The first person they saw was the friend Mikan made the first time she got there. A girl in brown hair and amber eyes was about to enter the orphanage while holding a basket of strawberries but suddenly stopped when she noticed them.

"Tsutsu, we're heeeeeeere!" Mikan happily called out as they were approaching her. The girl smiled and responded with a short wave.

"Good afternoon, Tsukamoto-san," Kenji greeted the girl, known as Tsukamoto Fumi, with a smile. Tsukamoto politely bowed to them and greeted, "Good afternoon, Kenji-san and Tsubaki-san."

Mikan childishly and puffed her cheeks. She crossed her arms which called Tsukamoto's attention. As Tsukamoto was about to ask what was wrong, Mikan interrupted her.

"You have to call me senpai, Tsutsu. It's not that hard. Come on now. Senpai, senpai, senpai~"

The girl in ankle-length skirt and long-sleeved blouse suddenly turned red as Mikan repeatedly chanted the word 'senpai' to her. Mikan had always assumed that Tsukamoto's a few years younger than her, what with the youthful face that Tsukamoto still has and despite the height difference between her and Mikan. The brunette took a deep breath and made an attempt to call Mikan senpai.

"Ts...Tsu… Tsubaki-s…"

Kenji's eyes widened as he was surprised that Tsukamoto would finally call Mikan 'senpai'. Mikan smiled and excitedly said, "You're almost there, Tsutsu. Only two syllables left!"

"...Tsubaki-seeeeaaaaan!"

Mikan and Kenji sweatdropped knowing Tsukamoto couldn't really do it. They really thought that Tsukamoto would finally have a successful attempt. Well, given the fact that the shy girl easily gets flustered, they already knew she couldn't do it but Mikan was still hoping.

"...Tsubaki-san."

There was silence. It took Mikan a few seconds before she dramatically sighed and patted the other girl's shoulder. Never in her two years of stay here in Yokohama she managed to make Tsukamoto call her senpai. Tsukamoto would always get flustered then she would stutter and fail in her attempts. Mikan really appreciated her attempts though, but she often wonders if Tsukamoto understood that she was just joking around.

"Anyway, here are the donations from the agency," Mikan pointed at the box Kenji was carrying as she didn't want to worsen her friend's discomfort. The girl was too reserved and Mikan wanted her to open up a little more. Tsukamoto finally recovered from the embarrassment and led them inside the orphanage.

"Y-You can put the box here while I call the children," the brunette told them with a smile as Kenji placed the box down and Mika checked out the wall filled with the children's drawings. The blond then went beside her to see what she was looking at.

"These drawings are really nice," Kenji stated with a smile as Mikan noticed the drawing in the far right. A drawing of them riding a sleigh while wearing santa hats. She was really touched by the drawing. She was happy that the children really like the gifts they were bringing to them. As she was about to show Kenji the drawing, she felt someone hugging her from behind.

"Kenji-san! Tsubaki-san!" the children happily called out as they turned around and greeted them back. The children pulled them to the mini-farm behind the orphanage so that they could play with them.

"Kenji-san, play tag with us!" the children requested as little girls sat beside Mikan so that they could play dolls.

"Tsubaki-san, you have pretty hair," one of the little girls told her as she let the children braid her hair. She had a very soft spot towards children and she wanted to make them happy. She understood the feeling of being lonely because of not having parents.

She could still recall how she stubbornly believed that her real parents were still alive to the point that she was expecting the Clemm family to give up on her, but she was actually thankful that they were really patient towards her. Once her cousin Neilson allow her to go back to her family, she would really make sure to spend time with them.

"Virginia, my dear," a voice called out to her from the other side of the door. She ignored the voice and just continued crying alone in her dark room. Virginia wanted to be with her parents and still refused to believe that they were gone.

"Can I please come in, my love?"

She didn't respond. She was hugging her knees as tears were falling down. She actually understood that she won't be seeing her real parents anymore especially when she saw them spurting out the crimson fluid of life and the townspeople beating and tying them up.

The door slowly opened and she was lifted to someone's lap. She could hear the lady humming a lullaby to comfort her and it was really calming. As the crying died down, she could hear the lady's stable heartbeat and it slowly made her sleepy.

"Whatever happens, we are also your family. Please never forget that, my child."

Mikan's fingers were combing a little girl's hair in a comforting manner. The children eventually got tired and some fell asleep beside her. She softly smiled upon seeing their peaceful faces.

"A-ah! Tsubaki-san, you could have called for me when they were already tired," Tsukamoto shyly stated as she slowly took the little girl from the ravenette's arms making sure the little girl wouldn't wake up. Mikan just chuckled as she helped her friend bringing the children to bed.

"The children always look forward to see the two of you," Tsukamoto said softly as she placed the blanket on the last kid she put to bed. Mikan looked at her and noticed the soft smile on her face.

"I know the struggles of raising lots of children at the same time. There are times that children don't get enough affection so they demand attention," Mikan replied as they went to the dining area and she continued while taking a seat, "Children are gifts that was given to us by the heavens and they needed people to take care of them. They are the future anyway."

Tsukamoto placed the freshly picked strawberries on the table and offered it to the black-eyed girl. Mikan's eyes lit up and tasted one.

"These strawberries are delicious, Tsutsu," she voiced out in amazement. She took another bite and told her friend, "Sometimes I wonder why you remain single. You are really pretty and you are good with children."

Tsukamoto blushed hard and Mikan just sweatdropped wondering if she said something wrong. The amber-eyed girl was a mystery to her even though she had been friends with her for two years now. She watched Tsukamoto fidgeting and looking away as if she wanted to tell her something.

"You're seeing someone, aren't you?" Mikan blankly asked which made her friend's face redder. Silence occurred between the two and Mikan was just staring at Tsukamoto because she was observing her movements to see if she was right.

"A-ah… Y-yes," Tsukamoto stuttered and Mikan nodded as she leaned back and looked at the ceiling because she knew how uncomfortable it was when someone was looking at you while you were blushing hard.

"I won't going to ask who it is, but I just want to hear how you will describe him," she spoke with curiosity as she slowly found the ceiling really entertaining to look at. She couldn't help but notice the food stain on the ceiling. Probably, there was a food fight that happened and no one noticed that stain.

Mikan held onto the ring that was made into a necklace. She had been keeping it for a while now. She told herself that the reason she was keeping it was the monetary value and she could just sell it if she needed the money, but she really couldn't bring herself to do it. She, then, began to wonder how was that man, who gave her the ring, doing back where she came from. Was he doing well? Was he happy? Did he noticed her leave? How was he and his wife? Her cousin Neilson told her that he attended the man's wedding. Yeah, sure, it broke her heart because she loved him but she was also happy that he was being loved by someone who deserved him better than her.

At least when she comes back, she would get to see him smiling in the arms of someone who loved him like she did.

"There is this boy I really cherish," Tsukamoto started as Mikan looked at her silently telling her that she was listening.

"He's a very good friend of mine. On our first meeting, I was scared of him and we eventually hated each other," the brunette softly spoke as she leaned on her elbows. Mikan took note of Tsukamoto's gaze and noticed that familiar look of being in love.

"But when we were forced to work together, I found out that he's not that mean. He saved my life on multiple occassions and he showed me the true meaning of friendship." Tsukamoto unwarily held the silver necklace she was wearing and continued, "He's the one who brought me here after I almost went insane, too. I really owe him my life and I'd like to repay him someday."

Mikan couldn't help but smile. Tsukamoto reminded her of herself when she was still Virginia. That dreamy look Tsukamoto was showing was also what she was showing when she was talking about the man she loved before.

"A-ah! I'm so sorry you had to hear my rambling, Tsubaki-san," Tsukamoto nervously said as she apologetically bowed while Mikn just chuckled in reply.

"No need to apologize," Mikan replied while leaning her head on the palm of her hand as if she was daydreaming and continued, "It has been a while since I hear such sweet words of a person in love."

"Have you ever been in love, Tsubaki-san?"

Mikan dreamily sighed and answered, "I have, but I was too afraid so I ran away. The moment I got here, I heard that he was wed to someone else."

Tsukamoto went silent and just watched Mikan's dreamy look turned into a gloomy one. Mikan noticed this and faked a chuckle in order to lighten up the atmosphere and said, "That boy better treat you right because if he breaks your heart, I will have to make him pay for it. I am not one who will let a friend get hurt especially when it comes to relationships."

"Tsukamoto-san, I already harvested all of the ripe strawberries," Kenji entered the room and brought the baskets. Tsukamoto suddenly get all flustered once again and instead of speaking, she made hand signals in which made Kenji confused.

"She said that you didn't have to do that because you already did so much help to the orphanage," Mikan spoke which made Kenji looked at her silently asking how she knew. She just answered with, "I learned how to read and spell because my brother taught me sign language when I was little. With it, I managed to translate braille into latin alphabet too."

Kenji understood then faced Tsukamoto again. He just smiled and said, "It is not a big deal, Tsukamoto-san. In fact, it is actually the least I could do to help."

After the friendly chats, Mikan and Kenji bid farewell to Tsukamoto. Tsukamoto told them to bring a basket of strawberries as the orphanage's form of saying thanks to the agency.

As they were walking back, Mikan stopped and faced the blond.

"Kenji-san," she called out. She really needed to make it up to him because he really did a lot to the orphanage.

"Hmm?"

"Let's go eat wherever you want. My treat."