"Can you believe it!?" Aiko shrieked for the umpteenth time today, "after today we'll officially be part of the Suzuki family! Or is it the Uke family? What do you think, Suzuki or Uke? Which one do you like more?" This girl was seriously too excited. "We won't ever have to come back!"

"You don't know that." I mumbled under my breath. As soon as I had said it I wanted to take it back. Hopefully she didn't hear me, but then again I've never had that sort of luck.

"Yes, I do!" Dammit, here we go, "Kai-sama is different from all the others; I know it! He's kind and sweet and--"

"How would you know? We've only ever seen them in magazines." Aish, this girl, seriously...

"I just know! Didn't you see he was willing to adopt 'both' of us?" She screamed indignantly at me while throwing a pillow at my head.

"Did you not see how Reita looked at us?" I countered harshly, "He clearly did 'not' want to adopt us." Seriously, that look on his face said it all. And here I thought he would be nicer in person; that scowling, grimacing look he gave us said otherwise.

"He'll come around; we just have to give him some time. He just needs to get to know us, that's all." Aiko pleaded. She clung onto my arm and refused to let go, "Can't you just give them a chance?" Her eyes started to tear up.

"Fine." I relented. I swear, this girl is going to kill me one day; her and her damn crocodile tears. "Now go to your bed and go to sleep." With that she hopped off my bed and ran to her's.

She grabbed her teddy bear; I think that thing is just as old as she is, seriously. One of its eyes was missing and the other was barely hanging on. I had stitched that thing back up over and over again, but as long as she was happy then I was okay with it. So, if she is willing to give them a try, so will I, if only for her happiness.

She sounded so hopeful, like this was finally it; our true family. Don't get me wrong, I love Kai and Reita for what they do; It's Akira I'm not so sure of. I could see what was going on. This is what Kai wanted, Akira going along with his love.

Remember, I scolded myself, this is for Aiko. I have to try; Maybe I'm just thinking too deeply into this.

But it wasn't going to be easy.

-----

"Morning!" Kai-san greeted us with a bright smile in the lobby. "You guys ready to go?" I nodded slightly while Akio was completely out of it; it was like she was in a trance. What she was thinking about I'd rather not know.

"K-Kai-sama, will we be able to meet the rest of the members?" It was funny 'cause she was still fading in and out of her trance-like state.

"Not today, but you'll meet them, I promise. Here, I'll help you with your bags." Aiko jumped back a little, shocking Kai slightly.

"I-it's fine, I got it." Urrghh, body contact wasn't really our forte.

"Don't worry, this is all we have so it's fine." I reassured him. Well, it was meant to be an apology more than anything, and I wasn't lying 'cause it's true; one suitcase each and a small backpack that we shared.

"Ah, alright." There was a brief awkward silence between us before he spoke again. "Well, let's get going. Reita's waiting in the car. I already spoke with the director and finished the final paperwork." He offered us a smile, reassuring smile. We both nodded and followed after him.

Packing our stuff in the car didn't take long and, before we knew it, we were already on our way.

Reita didn't say anything as the car took off, just offering us a sideways glance and a small smirk. I pretended not to notice while Aiko gushed even more.

"So, Aiko, your 14 right?" Kai asked from the front seat, and she just nods her head, "Ah, then we need to register you in the middle school division, right? 9th grade?"

"Actually, Aiko is a second year in high school." It might've not been my place to say that, but it was true. Aiko was a really smart kid. She might not remember, but when she was brought into the orphanage she had the nicest clothing I had ever seen. She looked like a little doll.

"Wah, really? That's amazing!" He turned to Reita, "Akira, we'll have to make an appointment with the high school near the house. When do you think we should go? School's going to start in a few weeks, right?" Reita nodded, but seemed too focused on getting home safely that he preferred not to respond. "What about you, Manami?" He turned around once again to face us . . . more specifically me.

"I'm a second year." I replied indifferently. He seemed rather confused, like it was odd for me to say that.

"Like Aiko?" Oh, that's what he meant.

'In college." With that, his expression changed completely; he was extremely shocked, or at least that's what it looked like.

"No way . . ." Kai responded, almost inaudibly.

"It's true; she was even accepted to Tokyo Uni. and even got scholarships from other countries, like Seoul University. I heard it was really hard to get into!" Aiko seemed way more excited than I did when I received those acceptance letters and scholarship offers. I was thrilled as well; but, for obvious reasons, I didn't accept. Instead, I ended up going to a rundown community college a few blocks from the orphanage.

"Wah, you two are truly amazing!" He turned to me once more, "We'll get you transferred too." I nodded slightly at him, and with that he turned around and began chatting with Reita.

Okay, not to let my inner fangirl out here,  but they looked so cute together! They seemed so engrossed in their conversation . . . wait, are they . . .

"Oh my god, do you see that?" Aiko whispered at my side, "They're holding hands!" she squealed.

Just then Reita lifted their intertwined hands and kissed the back of Kai's hand and Kai just giggled. They truly seemed like a match made in heaven. Although, that smirk on Reita's lips said it all. He heard us and apparently he couldn't agree more.

They didn't seem so bad together. Kai and Reita... Kai was genuinely a nice guy, with honest intentions. I knew he was going to be good to us; he was just trying to break the tension. Reita seems well too, just too . . . distanced from the matter, from us.

But at least it seemed like he was trying.

Aiko noticed the look in my eyes. "He'll come around." she smiled knowingly at me. I sighed, returning her hopeful gaze with my reassuring one.

Maybe I was just misreading him.

---- 

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