It had been decided: Reita and Kai would adopt.

 

Even though Reita hadn't been the most excited for this new idea, Kai's happiness about the decision made him want to do it, too, and soon they were already buying furniture for their kid's new room. Reita had wanted a boy, but Kai managed to convince him to get a girl - Kai thought they needed a bit of a feminine touch in their house, even though Reita secretly told himself Kai was already womanly enough for them both. But, just in case they would find the perfect boy to adopt, they didn't get too much girly stuff.

 

For one of their spare bedrooms, they got one big bed, a desk, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, a soft cream-colored carpet and plenty of other little things. They weren't getting a TV or a computer yet, but they probably would when they got the child officially adopted.

 

But then, there was a problem. No matter how excited they were - or Kai was - and no matter how good of things they'd bought, Kai couldn't help but feel awkward when walking into each orphanage. Reita was doing plenty of work so that Kai would have time to rummage through every orphanage they could find, so he barely had time for his lover.

 

Whenever Kai walked inside an orphanage and saw some of the kids there, he couldn't help but realize how depressed many of them were - especially the older ones, since they knew they might never get adopted because everyone just wanted cute little toddlers. Kai wanted to adopt all of them, and he would take very good care of them, making them feel like they had a family... But he knew he couldn't. He was in a band; he would already have his hands full with just one.

 

One day he collapsed on the couch, exhausted from his visit to three different orphanages that day. He took his laptop out and surfed on the internet, and somehow managed to find a homepage of an institution he hadn't seen before. Curious, Kai clicked the link, and a nice, neat page opened in front of him. Its title was Heaven's Little Angels. He thought the name was a bit cheesy and cliché, but he liked that kind of stuff anyway, so he didn't mind. He found that this one was actually a lot more luxurious than the places he'd been to before. It was clean, the kids got a proper education, good food and the older ones (12 and older, the site said) even got to go outside when they had free time. At first Kai thought it was a bit careless to let children go outside like that, but then came to notice there were set curfews. From age 12-13 they had to come back by five, 14-16 by eight and 17-18 by ten. On the weekends each curfew was extended by an hour. They also had plenty of fieldtrips as a whole, and boys and girls from the age of 16 and up could go out into the town and get a part-time job - but it had to be a job that the director agreed with - so they could save money to start off their new life with when they turned 18 - or, for some of them, 19, since there were some who weren't able to begin their new life yet.

 

Kai liked Heaven's Little Angels and decided to go there as soon as he could the next day. There was an e-mail address and a phone number of the director so that he could set up an appointment - people couldn't go there without having a set appointment with the director or one of her assistants. He called the director and immediately got a time, but the director said he needed to take Reita with him because they would both be their adoptive daughter's (or son's) possible guardians. Kai promised he could tear Reita away from his work long enough to make this happen.

 

He smiled and put away the laptop. It was already late and Reita would be home soon, so he started cooking dinner. When Reita came home, they ate and Kai told him about Heaven's Little Angels. Reita was happy about it, and when they went to sleep, they had their hopes up and were both sure they would be able to adopt a perfect child.

 

They woke up early since their appointment was at ten thirty that morning. After silencing the alarm, Reita hugged Kai tightly in their bed, smiled softly and whispered into his ear: "It's really gonna happen."

 

"Yeah... I can't believe we've come this far already," Kai answered and snuggled against Reita's neck. The bassist laughed his deep, attractive chuckle and pulled Kai up. They got ready, ate breakfast and were off, since it would be a long ride to the institution - it was on the outskirts of Tokyo.

 

When they arrived, they saw what Kai had already seen in the photos on the website.

 

The building was huge, it had three stories and it was right next to a small town where the teens could go to. It didn't look gloomy at all, and they stepped in with big, hopeful smiles on their lips. An assistant in her twenties led the couple to the third floor into a big office. It had an amazing view of a lake where they sometimes took the children to.

 

"Mr. Suzuki and... Mr. Uke?" the director said and smiled as she looked through some papers Reita and Kai had been told to bring along. They nodded, and secretly held hands without the director seeing as they were sitting on the other side of the wooden desk.

 

"Well... Everything seems to be okay... Except one thing," the director said.

 

Reita's calm expression changed to a worried one as he asked: "What is it?"

 

"It's more than one thing, actually. The smallest problem is probably that both of your parents have divorced. I don't think it will affect anything about your relationship, but it might not be good for a child who wants a perfect family, not just two grandmas and no grandpas at all... But of course, that can easily be passed since it's such a small detail and can be explained to an older child. But then . . . You're in a band." She paused to look at the shocked expressions on the rhythm team's faces.

 

"W- What? How does that have anything to do about this?" Reita asked worriedly.

 

"It's just that the GazettE is a very popular band - you have no idea how much my daughter loves you, by the way - and you have plenty of work and tours, you won't have any time for a child." the director explained, smiling understandingly.

 

"Please, Miss, I'm begging you. I understand the problem, but we want to adopt a teen anyway. I know we wouldn't be able to handle a younger kid, but I doubt she - or he - would complain, I mean, Miyavi has two little daughters and they're happy as fu- duck!" Reita pointed out, quickly catching himself.

 

"But Miyavi has a wife, right? A wife to take care of their children when he’s gone, but you're both in a band... Maybe if you're adopting a teen it would be different since they'll be able to handle themselves for a little while, but not long enough - not as long as a tour lasts." the director informed them, frowning a bit.

 

"But why couldn't we just take him or her to my mother's house for that time, then? She would love to, she's always wanted to become a grandmother," Kai insisted with teary eyes. "And at times where she isn't able to do it, Akira's mom can handle it, or his sisters! Please!"

 

"Well... I suppose, in that case, it'd be fine..." the director muttered, causing Kai to cheer and cling onto Reita's neck tightly. Then the director asked them some questions such as "Have you been involved with drugs?", "How much do you drink?" etc. After that, she asked them to follow her on a little tour so that they could look around and see some girls and boys of Heaven's Little Angels.

 

They realized how massive the place was, and how high quality everything actually was. The second floor was mainly for studying. There were classrooms, a library and such, and it had the staff bedrooms and a staff lounge. The first floor was divided into three parts - one of them was the girls' dormitories, one was the boys' and one was a lounge for all of them to enjoy. The third floor had the cafeteria, lunch room and the kitchen, as well as storages, offices and a gym hall. There weren't that many children in the orphanage, unlike the ones Kai had previously been to - the director said there were just about 250.

 

The building also had a big backyard, which was also divided into three sections. One was a playground for the younger kids, one was a park-kind of area with tables and benches and such, and one was a football field.

 

"The dormitories are also divided into parts. Each has individual sections for toddlers, children, younger teens and older teens. It's a good system, and it always has been." the director explained as they walked across the park-area. They looked around, seeing everyone in little groups talking. Most of the younger kids were at the playground or the football field, so the park mostly consisted of teens.

 

At some point, Kai saw two girls sitting on a nearby bench chatting. It wouldn't had bothered him, he might've not even noticed if he hadn't heard the shorter one tapping her thighs in the rhythm of Silly God Disco - and if he wasn't mistaken, the other one was sketching something that looked suspiciously like Uruha wearing a maid's dress uniform and Aoi smirking next to him, and in his hands was a... Kai wasn't even going to say it. He shivered for a bit at that thought, but then poked Reita's arm and whispered: "I think I saw some fans."

 

And when Reita looked at the direction Kai was pointing at, he did see fans - there was no doubt it was Aoi and Uruha in the sketch, and he sure recognized the drum-beat of one of his favorite songs. The shorter girl, who still looked more mature, had long, silky hair and simple clothes. The one who looked younger had shorter hair, reaching to her shoulders, and big glasses. She wore a pair of ripped jeans and a baggy black shirt - at first sight, she seemed a bit tomboyish, despite the very . . . fangirl-like sketch.

 

The director saw them looking at the girls and told them: "Oh, they are Manami and Aiko. They've been here for a long time now, and I must say, they cannot be separated. Manami doesn't really talk to anyone aside from Aiko, since she's had a rather rough past and doesn't trust people easily. I think it's good that they're so close, since Aiko tends to get in trouble and, if it wasn't for Manami always calming her down, she'd be in a coma by now . . . no one wants to adopt them, though, because they give away a rather cold aura - or at least Manami does - and if someone was to adopt them, they would have to adopt both. The problem is that Manami has only two years left before she turns eighteen, and Aiko is two years younger so she would have to stay here while Manami would leave... I don't think they would manage being separated like that."

 

Kai seemed to have been moved by the woman’s words, so much so that he wanted to take both of them and was about to say something to Reita, but the latter placed his hand on the drummer's shoulder and muttered quietly, "Kai, we can't adopt fans, it would be chaos. You understand that, right?"

 

"But Rei... Didn't you hear what she just said? Besides, Manami is older, and that means Manami will have to leave this place earlier and then Aiko is left all alone! It'd be better if someone adopted them both!" Kai pointed out.

 

"Yeah, it would, but not us," Reita insisted.

 

Kai sobbed and whispered: "Akira... Don't you l- love me?"

 

"O- Of course I do! But we have to think about it, okay? Do you have any idea how awkward and maybe even dangerous it would be to adopt two fan girls?" Reita said quickly.

 

Kai's tears dried immediately. "We can think about it?"

 

"Yeah, but we can't be sure yet, it might not be a good idea." Reita replied, slightly worried. He couldn't say no to Kai... But he couldn't adopt fan girls either - it wouldn't end well, and he knew it.

 

At that point, the girl with the glasses noticed them and her eyes grew wide. She quickly tapped her friend on the shoulder and said something, too quietly for anyone else to hear. Reita knew what was going to happen, so he turned his back to the girls and made Kai do the same without the director noticing. The long-haired girl frowned and looked at their direction, then rolled her eyes and said something. The other one pouted and continued sketching, although something was obviously bugging her now.

 

"Oh my God... That was so close..." Reita muttered.

 

"What does it matter if they recognize us? We're gonna adopt them anyway." Kai pointed out, poking Reita's forehead with his index finger.

 

Reita sighed and corrected: "I said I'm considering it, Yutaka. But seriously, it'll be just troublesome--"

 

Before Reita could finish what he was going to say, Kai walked up to the director and announced: "We've talked, and I think we're gonna adopt Manami and Aiko."

 

"Oh! Really? That is so nice of you! Have you talked to them yet?" she said. She hadn't noticed anything happening since she was talking to another staff member. Reita, who looked like he had just been hit with a hard rock, stayed quiet and stared at Kai in shock.

 

"No, not yet, but we'd like to. Although . . . um, somewhere else. It's kind of chilly here." Kai answered happily.

 

The director opened to say something - probably something about it being a very warm summer day - but then closed it and said: "Go to my office, I'll bring the girls there."

 

"Okay!" Kai replied cheerfully, and dragged Reita away while the director went to talk to the girls.

 

"Kai, what the do you think you're doing?!" Reita hissed, but didn't stop as he and Kai walked back to the building.

 

"I pitied them, I couldn't help it!" Kai whined. Reita sighed, not wanting to discuss this anymore, and they went to the office and sat on the chairs there. Not too long after the director came in with Manami and Aiko. Both of their eyes widened in shock when they saw Reita and Kai up close, but Kai quickly, without the director noticing, motioned them to stay silent.

 

"So, here are Akira and Yutaka, the people interested in adopting you two," the director started as she sat down behind her desk, "and they are very nice. They even belong in a band, isn't that exciting?"

 

The short-haired girl - they still weren't sure whether it was Manami or Aiko - was visibly shaking by now and she couldn't keep her eyes off Kai's soft smile, no matter how much her friend tried calming her down.

 

"Akira, Yutaka, this is Manami," the director introduced and motioned towards the long-haired girl.

 

Kai smiled brightly and said: "Nice to meet you!"

 

"N- Nice to meet you too." Manami muttered and bowed to them both.

 

"And this one right here is Aiko," the director continued, this time waving towards the girl with glasses, who blushed bright red, bowed so deep her face couldn't be seen, and squealed: "It's such a pleasure to meet you!"

 

The director seemed a bit surprised, but didn't say anything about it. "Well... If you four will get to know each other a bit better, I'll go fetch some papers for you to fill out."

 

As soon as the director was gone, the girls dashed to Reita and Kai and started babbling loudly.

 

"Are you really Reita and Kai?"

 

"Of course they are; I’d recognize Kai-sama's smile anywhere!"

 

"Reita-sama, are you two really together? I've heard rumors, but the internet connection here isn't very good..."

 

"Oh my God, that is soooooo cute~!"

 

"Aiko-chan! Stop it!"

 

"Why? It's true; you ship them, don't you?"

 

"No I don't! You're being so rude!" She yelled, a deep blush covering her cheeks.

 

"But it's the only couple you ship--" At this point, Manami had Aiko in a tight grip. She was blushing brightly and her hand was covering her friend's mouth, muffling her voice.

 

Kai laughed nervously and said: "N- Now, now, girls... Don't fight..."

 

"Look, Kai, I'm really not sure about this..." Reita muttered.

 

Kai sighed and answered just as quietly as Reita: "I understand if you don't want to, but if you don't..." He really didn't want to say it, but he knew he didn't have any other choice than to play the most dangerous card that could ruin their relationship forever... "No ."

 

They could hear a muffled squeal, but weren't sure whether it was Manami or Aiko. Reita looked like he would faint at any moment for a while, and then grabbed Kai's shoulders, shook him and yelled: "You can't say that! I need , I need it! I'll do anything!" Another squeal, "Please, anything else! You know how much I love your !" Two synchronized squeals. "I need you, Kai. Do you have any idea what would happen to me if I couldn't you!? I'd die, Kai! I'd die, for God's sake!"

 

"Then you're willing to adopt them?" Kai asked sweetly. Reita - who was on the verge of tears by now - nodded, biting his lip and trying to look cute. Kai smiled widely and hugged Reita, and they heard a faint 'Aww'.

 

And that's how the adventure begins...

_______

Well what did ya think?