Eli was far more sociable and popular around the other kids. However, her life wasn't full of sunshine, either. She was still an orphan.

Eli's parents had died in a car accident when she was only seven years of age. What was worse was that she was in the car. She was young, yet had such a traumatizing experience. Having no other family, she was sent to an orphanage with little choice.

There she was able to make friends with the other kids quickly. She had a charismatic personality and she excelled at her studies. Her presence was like royalty, yet she made everybody she met feel special about themselves.

She smiled like nothing was wrong, but that was just a facade. She only smiled to make others think that nothing was wrong, but every night she would cover her face with her blanket to hide her tears. None of the other children were aware of this. Yune was only a bed away, so she had an idea, but she didn't really know what to do about it, so she would just face away.

Yune was around eight years old. While Eli was only seven, having made Yune her senior barely.

While Yune was just standing around in a corner just keeping to herself, Eli was surrounded by other kids both her age and younger. She was like a role model to them.

But when Eli saw Yune's blank stare at the clouds, she was infatuated. They never met before nor did she know anything about her. She didn't know why, but felt the need to introduce herself. Eli politely excused herself from a group of other young kids, so that she could say hi.

While Yune stared into space, Eli came up to her with a kind smile.

"Hi. I'm Eli. What's your name?"

It was such a simple greeting, but it didn't need to be any more complex than that.

Yune slowly replied with a blank face, "Hello. I'm Yune."

They both just looked at each other. Eli put up a fake, but caring smile. Yune had just a blank expression. But this was the beginning of their friendship. Just a simple hello.

A silence took the two. There was a pleasant breeze in the air. The grass danced in the wind. The feeling was serene.

Yune didn't know why Eli had decided to talk to her, but she didn't hate the company.

Over the next days, they would just hang around with each other. Eli would be more talkative, and Yune would try her best to respond. Then, one day, Yune decided to engage first by asking a more personal question.

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She asked Eli, "Your full name is Elizabeth, right? Why do you like to be called Eli? I heard that Liz is the common short-hand term."

It was the first question that Yune was genuinely curious about and Eli was happy to reply.

"Liz sounds too much like 'lizard'. I don't really like that name. Makes me think that I'm like a scaly reptile. Elizabeth is too long a name, so I decided to just go by Eli."

"Interesting. So you prefer Eli over sounding like a lizard. I never thought about it like that. Would it be funny if I called you E-lizard-beth?," Yune said. She wasn't trying to make a joke, but it came across like one.

Eli genuinely laughed. It was her first real laugh in such a long time since her parents died. She began to not need to fake a smile around Yune. She was smiling because she wanted to. When Eli began to laugh hysterically at the thought of being called Elizardbeth, Yune began to smile, too. A genuine smile that turned into a chuckle. She didn't try to be funny, but enjoyed the feeling of making another person have a good time.

As Eli seemed to attract the other kids with her personality, Yune began to create relations with them, too. At the orphanage and at school, those two were As Yune and Eli always seemed to be around each other, the other kids began to notice Yune. They thought of those two as the big sisters of the orphanage.

And when Yune was helping the headmaster, Ms. Singh, Eli would also join in to help. And when both of them helped, the other kids followed their example.

For that year, it felt like the orphanage was one big family.

Then, the years passed. Many couples wanted to adopt Eli. But she wouldn't go to any family unless Yune would be with her. And that usually would break apart any deals. Eli would give up those chances of being in one of those happy families.

The first time a young couple came to adopt Eli, she refused because they only wanted her. She was adamant that if she was adopted, then Yune would have to be with her. But, like many other couples who wanted to adopt, they didn't want to take in both children. They only wanted Eli.

When the first couple drove away in disappointment.

"You could have gone with them. They seemed like a nice couple. Why didn't you go?," Yune asked.

"Because we're family, silly," Eli replied.

Yune frowned and said, "I don't want to hold you back from anything. If you ever feel like wanting to go, I won't stop you. I want you to be happy."

"I am happy. I'm the happiest I could be when I'm with you. You're not stopping me from anything. I want this. This is my choice," Eli replied confidently, "And I'll say the same thing to you. If a family comes and wants to adopt you and only you, and if you feel like you'd be happy, I won't stop you."

Yune nodded her head. She didn't believe that would ever happen to her. Nobody every seemed to want to adopt Yune after all these years. But this didn't bother Yune at all.

But Yune smiled and replied, "Sure. But I doubt I'd leave without you, either."

The two fist-bumped each other and walked away happily side by side.

Other children came and went. Some stayed for longer than others, but what remained consistent was the fact that Yune and Eli stayed together. As long as they were, they felt like they already belonged to a family. Time felt like it passed by them so quickly. Suddenly, they were beginning middle school and another member of their family would soon join. A young girl named Mizuchi.