I wake up the next morning very anxious about getting an appointment at the orphanage. My mom's train leaves before they are even open, so I can distract myself a little by seeing her off.

Akari and I are in a cab with her on the way to the train station. All three of us are in the back seat with me in the middle. There's still plenty of room because they are both so tiny. Of course, Akari and I aren't exactly taking advantage of the space. She really doesn't seem to mind snuggling in front of my mom or the cab driver. I don't mind either.

My mom really wants to get back to my grandma fast. She will barely have been gone 24 hours when she gets back, and I'm sure she's going straight to the hospital. She basically told us that she feels like she has to make up for my dad not being there, and she does that by pushing herself really hard. She worries me. She isn't so young herself, and while she seems to most to have boundless energy, I know she has limits, especially mentally. But she's not going to listen to me if I raise that concern.

As we get close to the train station my mom puts a hand on my knee. "Let me know how things go at the orphanage."

I nod, "I will. You let me know how things are going with grandma."

As we pull in to drop her off, my mom gives me an awkward car hug, and reaches one arm around to put it on Akari's shoulder.

"Have a good rest of your visit. I love you both."

We return her love and say our goodbyes.

On the ride back to the Yoshida household, I call the orphanage which should be open now. To my surprise, they can see me this afternoon. I have very mixed feelings. I'm nervous and excited, and I still have a little guilty feeling in my gut, even though my mom told me not to worry about that. I'm glad Akari is coming with me.

…

Akari and I are at the orphanage where I spent the first few months of my life. Kind of surreal actually seeing a place I've heard so much about. It looks…more like a modern building than I expected. Maybe it's silly, but in my head this place was a western convent. Or at least a very old building. But nope…looks pretty similar to Yamaku. We are in a waiting area outside the office of the orphanage director. I have to sign some paperwork and then my records will be unsealed. With any luck, we will be able to track my birth mother down. If I decide I want to.

"Nakai, she's ready for you."

We stand up and the receptionist opens the door for us. We walk into a large office well-lit by several windows. There is a small stern-looking woman in her 70s sitting behind the desk. She has thick glasses; her gray hair is in a bun, and she is wearing a purple shawl over her shoulders. Maybe the building isn't what I expected, but she is exactly what I imagined when I heard 'orphanage director.' When we come into the room she looks up over her glasses and smiles at me.

"Nakai?"

"Yes, ma'am. I am here for my appointment. And this is my girlfriend, Akari."

"Yes, please come in and have a seat, both of you."

We sit down and the director studies me for several seconds and then smiles. "As you may have surmised from my advanced age…I was also the director when you were here. It's good to see you back here looking so happy and healthy."

"Thank you, ma'am. And thank you for caring for me for those first few months."

"Of course. That's our job. Your parents were very excited to have you. I'll always remember them…and how they looked at you when they met you. I could tell they were right for you, and you were right for them."

I smile at her, "Yes ma'am, you chose well. I had a great upbringing."

She smiles back, "I'm glad to hear it."

"I'm sorry to push ahead like this, but I'm a little anxious to see whether my birth mother left any contact information…"

She smiles, "Yes of course. Luckily it is very simple. You sign this, then I unseal this folder and hand it to you."

Unsealing records is literal? I had no idea.

She slips the paper over to me, and I sign it. She unseals the folder and hands it to me. I take a deep breath and Akari stands up behind me and puts her hands on my shoulders. Then I open it.

"Her information is here. Her name is Shizuka Tachibana and she lives here in Tokyo..." I look at the director. "Is this contact information from back then? Or is it current?"

She puts on her glasses. "I believe Ms. Tachibana has kept it up to date. If you hand me the folder, I can tell you."

I hand it to her. "Yes, this was her information as of last year."

I raise an eyebrow. "She…kept it updated?"

The director smiles. "Yes, some of the parents do. Just in case this happens. It likely means she is hoping to hear from you sometime."

Hearing these words gives me an awful feeling in my stomach.

Akari squeezes my shoulder and I take the folder back from the director.

"Okay, thank you ma'am."

"No problem, dear. Glad to see you grew up to be so lovely."

We head outside the orphanage and hail a cab. We are silent the whole way home. Akari holds my hand. I'm pretty impressed she can go this long without asking me a bunch of questions. I would definitely not be as patient as she's being. But she knows I need to think. I need to figure out why hearing that my birth mother wants me to contact her gave me such a negative reaction.

When we get back to her house, we get into her bed together and snuggle while I continue to think. After about five minutes, the silence has been too much for her.

"D-do you want to meet her?"

I sigh, "I don't know. That's what I have been thinking about this whole time. It seems so…real now. Especially because I have her current information. I sort of thought I would get her name and have to do a bit of digging…but I have everything I need in that folder…"

"I-isn't it good she kept it updated?"

"Maybe. I think…the fact she is so eager to meet…makes me hesitate. What if she wants to be in my life and act like she's really my mom? What if she's hoping my family can help her with money or something? Can I trust her? I don't know anything about her."

Akari gives me a little squeeze. "Well…those are all f-fair things to ask, but you know how we find out the answer?"

I sigh and smile at my wise girlfriend. "I have to meet her."

She nods, "If it doesn't go well…we can just leave and never see her again. We will do it in p-public so it will be easy to g-get away."

I stroke her hair, "You're right. So, you'll come with me?"

She sits up and puts a hand on my cheek before giving me a long, sweet kiss and then smiling at me.

Damn she's pretty.

"Of course I will."

I smile back at her. "Thank you. You're really good to me. I know this is meeting a stranger and talking to them about…stressful things, so I know it isn't the easiest."

"Y-yeah…it's always easier if you're there and focusing on doing it for you helps me. What did that song say? 'Endure everything' right? I feel like I can for you."

She's so perfect. Maybe a little bad behavior might be okay. Her parents aren't here right now…

No! I can't do it to her parents, I need to respect their rules and stay in their good graces.

"I feel like I could do anything for you too." I frown, "Unfortunately, I think we have to stop snuggling."

She clings tighter to me. "What? Wh-why?"

I laugh, "If we are going to try to meet her while we're here, I should probably get the ball rolling."

She reluctantly loosens her hold on me and nods.

I get out of the bed, grab the folder and sit down at Akari's desk and open it to look at Shizuka Tachibana's contact information.

Akari is sitting up in bed now.

"How are you g-going to do it?"

"Hmm…I don't really want her to have my phone number. So…I guess email?"

"That's a good idea."

I get out my phone and open the email app. I try to think of what to write. I'm starting to feel very flustered. I don't even know where to begin. I look up at Akari.

"Will you help me? I'm kind of freaking out. I'm not even sure how to address her."

Akari gets up and stands behind me. She lightly massages my shoulders while looking at my phone screen.

"Ms. Tachibana is probably g-good. We don't know if she's married, right?"

I nod and type out her name. That was such a small thing, and I couldn't quite do it. But…now that I got past that, I think I'm okay. I type out the rest on my own with Akari nodding and verbally supporting me along the way.

Subject: Would you like to meet?

Ms. Tachibana,

My name is Kayoko Nakai. I'm your biological daughter. I recently had my records unsealed at the orphanage and got your contact information. I see you are in Tokyo, and I am in the city for the next six days. Would you like to meet somewhere for coffee? It would be interesting to get to know you a little.

Sincerely,

Kayoko Nakai.

…

Ms. Tachibana replies to my email that evening.

Re: Would you like to meet your daughter?

Dear Kayoko,

I am very happy to hear from you. Would you be able to meet tomorrow at 3 p.m.? There's a cafe I really like near the university called "Aroma." I will buy you coffee. You will find me on the outdoor patio.

Sincerely,

Shizuka Tachibana

—-

The cafe is conveniently a very short walk from Akari's family home. That probably means that Ms. Tachibana works or lives nearby. Kind of crazy to think that any time we come to Akari's family home, she has been so close. When we get to the cafe and see people sitting out on the patio, I start looking at each table to see if she is already here. Akari finds her first.

She moves her head in the direction of a table and whispers, "That has to b-be her."

I look where she indicated, and I see a woman sitting alone. She's got on a pair of black rimmed glasses, behind which she has hazel eyes. She has dark shoulder-length hair, almost the exact same color as mine. She's wearing jeans and a red floral blouse with a neckline that shows just a hint of her rather ample bosom.

She certainly looks like my relative. But…she seems too young to be my mother. That sense is augmented by the fact that she is playing a game on her phone and seems to be having an animated conversation with herself about it. Her choice of drink also makes her seem very young. She has some giant sugary coffee drink with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle spilling out of the top. Even without the game and her coffee, I would have thought she was 35 at the very oldest. I knew she was young, but I never imagined she was this young. She's probably younger now than my parents were when they adopted me. That's hard to wrap my head around.

Akari and I approach the table and I say, "Excuse me…Ms. Tachibana?" The woman looks up from her game and puts her phone down. She smiles broadly at me and with a strained voice she says, "You…m-must be…Kayoko?" I nod and she stands up. I notice that she's a tall woman, though a little bit shorter than I am.

She takes a step closer to me and then takes a step back. "Is it…okay for us to hug? I won't hurt you, will I?"

It feels odd for a stranger to know about my condition. But this stranger happens to have given birth to me and experienced my condition first-hand. She saw me come out of the womb with dislocations.

I smile, "No…you won't hurt me."

Although I feel a little weird about hugging you. But I guess I can humor you.

She gives me a longer, more intimate hug than I expect. It feels a little awkward at first. But then it feels surprisingly comforting. Almost like we've hugged before. I guess maybe we did when I was a newborn.

After we break our hug, she smiles softly and says, "Happy belated birthday." Her facial expression is the very definition of bittersweet. She's smiling, but there is some very apparent sadness in her eyes.

I thank her, and then as we are both sitting down, I gesture towards Akari to come closer. When she does, I say, "This is my girlfriend, Akari. I hope you don't mind that I brought her along."

"Oh, of course not."

They exchange greetings as Akari sits down. Ms. Tachibana smiles and shakes her head. "It makes me feel a bit old to see that you're a grown woman in a serious relationship."

"How old are you…anyway? You don't look that much older than us, to be honest."

She smiles, "Thank you for the flattery. But I'm quite a bit older than you. I'm 33."

Akari gasps softly and my mouth involuntarily falls open when I hear the number. Normally this kind of simple math is very easy for me, but the number I keep coming up with can't be right. "S-so…you were…"

She frowns, "...15 when I had you, 14 when I got p-pregnant."

"That…must have been hard."

Her frown intensifies, "It…was."

I feel bad dumping this question on her now, but I can't keep my curiosity at bay.

"Who was the father?"

Her frown deepens further still. She starts absentmindedly swirling her straw around in her coffee, jabbing violently every so often. "He was a friend that was two years older. I was in love with him. He…wasn't with me. We never dated. We just had sex once." She stops stirring and her eyes get downcast. "I was going to email him once you contacted me but…I didn't get around to doing it."

"That's okay. It's only been a day. Would you rather we not talk about these…details? I don't want to upset you. We can definitely just talk about our lives now and not the past."

She smiles at me, "No, I think you deserve to know about your past. It is a little painful for me, but…it's the very least that you deserve from me." She locks eyes with me and grabs my hand from its place resting on the table.

She was worried about hugging me, but if she yanked my hand any harder, she might have dislocated my wrist or a finger. No harm done, though.

A torrent of words rapidly come pouring out of her mouth. It sounds like something she has rehearsed. "I want you to know…it isn't that I didn't want you. I did. I just couldn't do it as a 15-year-old…and you had your condition. My family was very poor." She starts to tear up. "I w-wanted to keep you so badly. I had fought my parents about it the whole pregnancy and had finally convinced them I could do it…and then…you were born and you got hurt." Tears start trickling down her face now. I hold her hand a little tighter. "Then they identified your condition…and my parents convinced me we couldn't take good care of you. They were right. B-but it was a very hard decision to make. It…was the hardest day of my life…when I had to let you go..."

She trails off and lets go of my hand. She takes off her glasses, pulls out a handkerchief and wipes her tears. Akari is sniffling too. Somehow, I'm not, but I do really feel for her. She didn't really have a choice.

"I understand why you had to do it. You don't need to feel bad on my account."

She nods and smiles, "Thank you for understanding. You have grown up into such a polite young woman. Beautiful too."

I smile back. "Thank you. I think I have you to thank for the last part."

She laughs softly, "You do look quite a bit like I did at your age. I even used to have long hair like yours. Looks like you got your father's eyes…though…" She trails off and looks wistful.

Akari says, "When we got here and I saw you, I knew you were her m-mom right away."

Ms. Tachibana smiles at Akari and then looks at me. "So…what can you tell me about your parents? I can see they did a great job with you."

"They did. I had a great childhood. They loved me, were good with my condition, and helped me understand the world. I'm thankful for them. My…father passed away a few years ago, but I still have my mom and we are very close."

She frowns, "I'm really sorry you lost your father. But I am glad you had such a good childhood. It's a relief to know everything worked out."

"Yeah. I am lucky. My friends are always jealous that I had such great parents."

Akari laughs, "It's true."

Ms. Tachibana smiles broadly, "That's great."

"Do you have any other kids?"

She shakes her head. "Just you. I'm not married or dating anyone either so it may…always be just you." There is some distinct bitterness in her voice.

"Well, maybe you will find the right person."

She shrugs, "Maybe. To be honest I don't look very hard. I am not exactly a social butterfly.

I don't really like getting close to people." Her eyes get wide, and she blushes. "I…don't know why I just shared that with you. We just met."

I smile at her, "We sort of met almost exactly 18 years ago, right?"

She laughs softly, "That's true. I guess I feel a connection to you that made me feel like I could tell you that. But you probably didn't come here to hear about my intimacy issues."

"I think…I feel a connection to you too, so…I don't mind hearing about it. I want to know who you are. If you don't want to answer this, you don't have to. But…why don't you like getting close?"

She smiles, "I'll answer. Especially because you're part of the story."

"Huh?"

She starts to get choked up again. "I loved you the minute I saw you." A few tears form in the corners of her eyes. "So, it really hurt to realize in that same instant I was going to lose you. Before that…the boy I was in love with, the one who got me pregnant, disappeared from my life too. It all happened in the span of a few months. I haven't ever really recovered…from all that loss. So…rather than have to deal with loss again…I keep mostly to myself."

Akari says, "S-so you're afraid getting close to someone would just mean they would hurt you?"

Ms. Tachibana nods. "It isn't healthy. I know. I am working on it in therapy, but I have a very big fear of loss that…weighs me down. Paralyzes me when it comes to close relationships."

"Maybe…meeting me will help with some of that?"

She laughs, "My therapist thinks it might."

I smile at Ms. Tachibana, "It might help you a little to know that my mom went through the same thing. She lost her dad when she was 11 and never let anyone close for more than two decades. She was older than you when she had her first real boyfriend, who ended up being my dad."

She smiles softly, "That does help a little. Kind of funny both your moms had a similar problem." She gestures towards Akari and back to me. "I can see from how in love the two of you are, that you didn't end up that way. I'm glad."

We both blush. People always seem to say that about us. I wonder if we really are exceptional. I like to think so.

I take Akari's hand and smile at her and she smiles back. I'm so glad she's here.

"I think it helped that by the time I came around…my mom and dad were together and very much in love. I had good role models."

She smiles, "The more you tell me about them…the happier I am about putting you up for adoption."

I smile. "I…don't know if it would be weird…but I think my mom would be happy to talk to you about struggling with loss, if you want someone who has been through it."

"It might be a little weird, but to be honest I have some questions for her anyway. So, if she's willing to talk to me, I am willing to talk to her."

I nod, "Okay, I'll tell her."

The waiter comes and asks, "Excuse me, would you two like anything?"

I look at Ms. Tachibana's drink. If I hadn't seen this thing, I would probably order regular coffee and not act like a child. But it looks pretty good.

"I'll have what she's having."

"A mocha frappuccino?"

I nod, then Akari orders a smoothie.

Ms. Tachibana smiles and says, "You like sugar too, huh?"

I laugh, "Who doesn't?"

Akari giggles, "You do like it more than most. And f-food in general."

Ms. Tachibana giggles. "Yeah, you may have gotten that from me. Sorry. I eat horribly."

I laugh, "Don't be sorry. Enjoying food is one of my favorite things."

She smiles, "Me too. Do you stay in good shape despite not always eating well and rarely exercising?"

Akari giggles and I glare at her playfully, "Yes, I do. I have you to thank for that too?"

She smiles and nods.

"Well, thank you."

"Is there anything else you want to know about me?"

I ask, "What do you do for a living? I am kind of at a crossroads about that, so I'm extra curious."

She smiles, "I'm a teacher."

Akari giggles. Ms. Tachibana turns to her with a confused expression, "That's…funny?"

Akari freezes up a little. I grab her hand and smile at her, and she relaxes some. Then I answer for her.

"She's laughing because my dad was a science teacher, my mom teaches too - she does track club at our school. And right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to be a teacher."

Ms. Tachibana smiles, "Well, three out of three of your parents teach. Maybe it means something."

I laugh, "Maybe. What do you teach?"

She lights up. "High school math. I'm also the video game club adviser." She adjusts her glasses. "I'm…kind of a stereotypical nerd, if you hadn't picked up on that."

That explains the game she was playing. If she is as isolated as she says, games might be for her what manga is for Akari. As young and attractive as she is, there have gotta be a lot of students who love video games that are in love with her.

"Well, that's cool. I want to teach science…or maybe study music. Or maybe…not teach." I sigh. "I don't know. I can't make up my mind, and I am running out of time."

"Well, when I was your age, I was just hoping to graduate. So, you're ahead of me."

I laugh, "That's what my mom says too."

"What kind of science are you interested in?"

"All of it really…but especially genetics."

She raises her eyebrows, "I can see why that would interest you."

"Yeah. Speaking of which…is there anyone else with EDS in the family?"

"Not that I know of. I think it must come from your father's side." She sighs. "Another reason to talk to him, I guess."

"If you give me his name and stuff, we can do that."

She smiles, "You're very considerate." She looks down. "I would…prefer not having to interact with him, if possible."

"Is he…that bad?"

She frowns and looks off to the side. "Not…bad. But…he was a teenage boy, you know? They can be cruel. He…really hurt me, emotionally." She grimaces. "To put it simply, I would rather not talk to him."

I nod, "Then you shouldn't be doing it. We can email him."

She smiles, "Okay. That sounds like a plan. His name is…Yusuke Yamaguchi. If you…Google him, you'll find him…"

"I will? Seems like a common name."

"H-he's the first one you'll find."

"Oh. Okay."

I want to press for more, but the look of discomfort on her face tells me not to.

"A-anyway…he should be able to answer your question about EDS…is your diagnosis still that hypermobile type?"

She remembers exactly what it is. That's a little heartbreaking. But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at this point. She's thought about me a lot over the years. Longed for me, even.

"Yep. That's the same."

"Has that been hard?"

"Not too bad. Physical therapy has helped me cut down on injuries. I get hurt every few months or so. Depending on the injury I have to temporarily use a wheelchair, or a cane, or wear a sling. It's painful and a nuisance, but I get by. I had to have surgery on my elbow recently to clear up arthritis."

"Is it your left elbow?"

"Yeah. But how did you…? …I dislocated it when you were giving birth to me, didn't I?"

She nods and I laugh wryly and look at Akari, "I know I have dislocated it a ton, but there are times that I don't even remember too. Of course, it had arthritis."

She smiles at me, "You seem to handle it really well. I'm thankful for that."

Akari says, "M-me too. She's tough."

Just as I'm about to point out that Akari might be even tougher, the waiter comes with our drinks. I take a drink of mine and it tastes as amazing as it looks. Chocolate and coffee, what could go wrong?

I offer my drink to my girlfriend. "Do you want a sip, Akari?"

She smiles and takes a drink, "Wow that is g-good. Gonna be hard to drink this smoothie now."

Ms. Tachibana laughs, "You can get one too, it's on me."

"Umm…th-thank you, but I shouldn't. Too much caffeine is bad for m-me. S-so I just get tastes of Kayoko's coffee. My smoothie will be really good."

She nods and smiles at Akari before turning to me, "Where do you two live? You said in your email you were just visiting Tokyo." She looks down and quietly says, "If…that's okay for me to ask. Maybe you don't want me to know…"

I trust her. And I don't have any doubts about that trust. Not something I normally feel towards a stranger.

"We live in a town outside Sendai. We go to a boarding school there for disabled students."

She raises her eyebrows and smiles, "That's…gotta be really great. Your parents just…wow. Went to the trouble of finding that place and everything, and I'm sure it isn't cheap…"

Me and Akari both laugh. Ms. Tachibana looks at each of us and smiles softly, "What joke am I missing this time?"

"Well, both of my parents went there when they were students. So, they didn't have to look too hard."

Her eyebrows go up again, "So…your parents are disabled too. Wow."

I giggle, "Doesn't stop there either! Remember how I said they both teach? Well, that's where."

Ms. Tachibana shakes her head in disbelief while smiling broadly, "So…your parents are disabled, which had to help them in raising a child like you…and they work with disabled students for a living." A few tears make an appearance on her cheeks. "There can't have been a better set of parents for you anywhere in Japan."

I laugh, "That's basically what my mom told my dad when convincing him to look into adopting a disabled baby. My mom is also a physical therapist and learned how to realign my joints and everything."

"That's just amazing. I was a little worried…all these years, that you didn't end up with good parents. It's such a relief to hear that they were this amazing."

I smile at her, "Good. I hope it helps a little."

"It does." She looks at her phone and frowns. "Unfortunately, I need to get going." She starts to stand up, so I do too. I initiate a hug this time.

She doesn't really feel like my mom. But I feel kinship with her. Like she's an older sister or cousin. There's a natural connection here. I like her a lot.

I start tearing up. I was wondering when that would happen. "Ms. Tachibana, are you okay with us staying in touch?"

She sniffles and responds, "Yes, I would love that. Not knowing…anything about you these 18 years has been hard. By the way…please just call me Shizuka. Enough of this 'Ms.' stuff."

We break the hug and I laugh, "Okay, Shizuka. Akari's parents live here, and we both hope to get into school at Tokyo, so we'll be around."

"Okay. It would be nice to see you again." She turns to Akari. "I'm sorry we didn't talk much, I want to get to know you too next time, okay?"

Akari nods and smiles, "Y-you saw your daughter for the first time in 18 years, I didn't expect to get m-much attention. I was just here for support."

Shizuka smiles at her. "You're a good girlfriend." She looks at me. "Okay…well…this was really great. Thank you for doing this."

I smile back at her. "I'm glad I did."

After that we exchange numbers and she leaves, Akari and I start the walk back to her parents'.

I take her hand as we walk. "Thanks for getting me to do this. That was great. She wasn't what I expected."

"Yeah, it went b-better than I could have imagined. Wh-what did you think she'd be like?"

"I pictured a cold, pragmatic woman who gave me up because it made financial sense. Somehow I…never really thought about how it must have made her feel."

She frowns. "Y-yeah…I didn't think about it either. She's still so heartbroken about it all."

I smile at her. "I know. But…I wasn't lying that that's how my mom used to be. Both of my parents had a period in their life like the one she is in now. So, she doesn't have to stay that way."

I'm going to try to make sure that she doesn't.

…

Later that night, I'm talking to my mom on the phone.

"How's grandma?"

"She's great. Bored though. You should call her after you get off the phone with me."

"Yeah…good idea. I should be a better granddaughter."

My mom laughs, "You are a good granddaughter, but you had a stressful day I'm sure. So…how was the meeting?"

"Good. I'm divorcing you. I found a new younger mom."

"Hardy har har. I know you aren't serious, but I can't tell if you're being sarcastic and trying to say you didn't like her, or if you're just teasing me."

I laugh, "I'm teasing. I liked her, much more than I expected to. Akari liked her too."

"That's good. How old is she?"

"...younger than you and dad were when you adopted me. Much younger, even. She's 33."

"Wow. She's…your mom, and she's young enough to be my daughter. Your father and I adopted late I suppose but…that's still pretty wild."

I tell my mom Shizuka's whole story. When I'm done, my mom is clearly a little choked up.

"That poor girl…it would be hard not to be afraid of loss after what happened to her." She pauses. "I can relate to her some. How strange."

I laugh, "I know. I told her…you might be willing to talk to her about it. She has a therapist but-"

"I would be happy to talk to her, dear."

"Okay, thanks. I will give her your number. Maybe it's strange because we just met but I… care for her and want to help her."

"Well…me too, from what I know now. It would be hard not to after hearing that story. And well, she is related to us, more or less."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Do you think you'll contact your birth father?"

I sigh, "I don't know. From the little bits I got out of her he sounds like an absolute asshole."

My mom sighs, "It doesn't sound good, that's for sure."

I laugh, "I think I'm going to put that on the backburner for a while. I think I need to hear…the other parts of Shizuka's story before I can decide about it. If it's bad…I don't really have any desire to be around him. And I don't want to bother her about that right now. Just meeting me was enough for now. I think once I get to know her a little better…I'll ask her."

"That sounds like a good idea. Well…I'm glad you did this, sweetie."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks for convincing me to do it."

After I get off the phone with my mom, I look for Akari, and find her in the living room with her mom. They are watching a British soap opera. They look like they are enjoying it together, so I won't bother them. My English isn't good enough to follow along, especially if I start in the middle. Something my mom said on the phone made me realize I still hadn't done something important. I was going to get Akari for when I do it, but I can fill her in later.

I go back to Akari's room and lay in her bed with my phone. I type in 'Yusuke Yamaguchi' in the search bar. She said he would be the first one I found.

The first result is a news story from about two years ago. The headline is "Yusuke Yamaguchi becomes the Youngest Company President in Japan." When I read the story, I learn that he runs a family company that specializes in importing and exporting. The company is worth 100 billion yen.