Holding Hana in my arms like this, makes me think that she's a frail girl. But she's actually not. In fact, she's the exact opposite of frail. But right now, it's Hana's moment. The pain and suffering she endured through the years has now exploded. I can't blame her, hell, I won't blame her. It's not her fault. It's her parent's. It's because of her parents that she almost took her own life, just to end it all.

Hana snuggled closer and looked at me.

"Shiro, you know, I'm really happy to hear that you feel the same for me. The main reason I went here last night was to confess, but when we were in the park, I realized that the timing was off."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. I wasn't thinking clearly."

She smiled.

"Don't worry, it's already over… Besides, it worked out in the end."

"Wooo. Too much cheese!"

"Mom?! But, I thought you'd be in your room!"

Mom's sudden entrance caught us off guard. I released Hana from my arms and we both sat straight… awkwardly. Seeing this, Mom laughed.

"Oh, no need to act embarrassed now."

Hana and I looked at each other and our cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

"Anyway, enough teasing. I'm sorry to eavesdrop but there's something that caught my interest."

Mom looked at Hana. The air around the room grew tense.

"Hana, what you said about your parents. Is that really true?"

Mom's tone turned serious and her eyes are set upon Hana's. Her eyes filled with anger, no, pain.

"Yes. It's true."

Hana said quietly while looking down.

"Since when?"

Mom continued her interrogation.

"Since middle school."

The air around us grew heavier to the point that it's suffocating. Mom stood up and sat between Hana and I.

"Hana."

Mom called out her name. Hana responded by looking into Mom's eyes. Mom's expression softened and in one quick action, she hugged Hana.

"Uhh, Ma'am?"

Hana, surprised by the action, couldn't help but get surprised.

"You've been through so much. It's fine, you can let it all out."

Mom's hug grew tighter. I stood up and went to the kitchen to get water for us. When I got back to the living room, there's a crying session going on. So I just put the glasses on the coffee table and sat at the sofa adjacent to the sofa they're sitting on, and facing the TV.

Being like this every once in a while is not bad at all. It's better to let it all out than keep it all inside. People who keep it inside eventually explode with anger and sometimes they undergo drastic personality changes. Sometimes, they go insane.

A few minutes has passed. Mom wiped her tears, stood up and looked at us.

"I've decided! Hana is going to live with us!"

"Ehh?!"

Surprised by what Mom said, Hana and I let out words of disbelief. I stood up.

"Mom, you can't just decide for Hana!"

Mom and I both looked at Hana. Hana stood up.

"Please take care of me!"

"What!?"

I couldn't help myself from reacting that way, I mean, everything happened so fast.

"You don't want me to?"

Hana looked at me with puppy eyes.

"I-it's not like I don't want you to. Everything just happened so fast. What about your clothes? Toiletries?"

Mom gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"You worry too much, I have old clothes that I don't use anymore, and she can just buy the others at the convenience store near us."

I put my hands on Hana's shoulder.

"Are you sure about this?"

Her response was almost instant.

"Yes."

I remove my hands from Hana's shoulder and faced Mom.

"Where is she going to sleep?"

"The room beside yours is empty, right? She'll sleep th-"

Mom stopped for a bit, then she shot me a mischievous gaze.

"Were you perhaps suggesting that she sle-"

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

I rushed to cover Mom's mouth. I looked at Hana. She's blushing.

"Shiro, I know how you feel, but our relationship is sti-"

"Gaaaaaaaah!"

Both of them looked at each other and laughed.

"Fine, you guys win. I lose."

I let out a sigh of defeat.

"Haha, alright. Shiro, you can go upstairs and sleep now. I'll help Hana set her futon. Oh, and we're also going shopping tomorrow and you're coming with us."

"Shopping?"

"Yeah, for Hana's stuff."

"Oh, okay. But wouldn't it be better if-"

Mom grabbed my wrist and smiled.

"You're. Coming. With. Us."

"O-okay.."

"Good."

Terrified by her expression, I can only manage a quiet reply. Mom started talking to Hana and I went upstairs. I open the door leading to my room. This small room is my safe haven. It's where I'm probably the most comfortable in. It's a typical gamer room. A PC in the corner and in front of it is my bed, a TV beside the PC and a coffee table in front of the TV. My closet is near the door and that's probably it.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"I guess I'll sleep now."

I jumped into the bed and put myself in a comfortable position and then closed my eyes.

The next morning, I woke up because of a poking sensation.

"Shiro, wake up~"

I let out an inaudible groan and rolled over the opposite direction. But the poking didn't stop.

"Shiro~"

I opened my eyes and pulled myself up.

"Oh, you're up."

Hana said while still poking my cheeks with her index finger.

"Uhh, yeah. You can stop poking now."

She moves her hand to her side.

"Oh, Aunt told me to wake you up for breakfast."

"Aunt?"

"Yeah, your Mom. She told me to just call her Aunt."

I see. Mom is definitely attached to Hana now, huh. I looked at my alarm clock. 9:00 am.

Hana lets out a small laugh.

"Shiro, you have amazing bed hair. Here, let me fix it."

Hana sat behind me and started fixing my hair.

"Ooh, I guess they just look spiky huh."

I just sat down and stayed quiet. Hearing Hana humming as well calms my mind. It's like last night's discussion about her parents didn't happen. The weather outside is clear as well. Perfect time to go out.

"There, much better."

"Ah, thanks."

I stood up and went to the mirror. Hmm, looks good.

"Let's go?"

I asked Hana.

Hana got up from the bed and grabbed my hand.

"Yeah, sure."

The moment I stepped out of my room, I can already smell the fried eggs. A standard breakfast.

"Oh, you're here. Take a seat, I'll just finish these."

Mom said while holding a pan on her left hand and a spatula on the other.

I sat down and Hana sat down beside me. The TV is already open and is in the morning news program. According to the weather report, there should be no rain today. But lately, the forecast's accuracy has dropped. Last week, they said that it'd be rainy in the afternoon so my classmates brought their umbrellas but when it was time to go home, the sun was trying it's best to fry us. So yeah, I doubt it. It's best to bring an umbrella just in case.

The weather forecast segment ended and the transition screen showed up. I guess it's general news now.

"Here you go."

Mom put the fried eggs down the plate and sat on the seat opposite of us.

We did the 'thank you for the food' thing and started eating. Hana and Mom talked about the things Hana needs. While I munch my food quietly.

"How about you, Shiro? You gonna buy something?"

Mom pointed at me with her spoon. Mom, that's bad manners.

"Hmm, I guess I'll just look at the usual stores."

"Usual stores?"

Hana tilted her head and shot me a questioning gaze.

"The game store. Sometimes I also go to the Bookstore and buy light novels or regular novels. Sometimes manga, anything I find interesting, really."

Hana let out a quiet 'Ah, I see' and continued her girl talk with Mom. I can't believe how fast these two clicked. I finished my food and put my plate in the kitchen sink. I told Mom that I'll go and prepare now and she just nodded.

Hana just smiled, so I smiled back at her.

I went to my room, got my towel and started taking a shower in the restroom upstairs.

I'm really happy for Hana, because of how she adapted fast into our family (even if my father and sister isn't here. But that's not the point.) and it's also the first time I saw Mom this gung-ho about something.

I turn off the shower and stepped out of the restroom. I head straight to my room as it is my safe haven in this cold, harsh world. Nah, just kidding. I'm still talking about something cold and harsh, but it's not the world, it's the weather. Even if it's sunny outside, it's still winter and it's pretty cold.

I picked a gray and black long sleeve shirt and pants from my closet and wore them. I went downstairs to the living room but no one's there. I guess they're preparing, so I went back to my room, lied down in my bed and played games in my phone to distract myself.

Huh, this just crossed into my mind, but are people who 'play' others just super hardcore gamers? I mean, they stepped out of the digital world and are now 'playing' with people. Then people say that 'People who stay in their rooms and play games will cause our society to fall' etc. But aren't the people who're 'playing' other people the real cause of society's downfall? Yeah, take that, society.

Well, that's just an argument made after making huge logic leaps. I don't really care if you ask me. I'd know if someone's playing me immediately.

"Ehh, so you play games like that?"

Hana sat beside me.

"Uh, yeah."

I mean, is there something wrong with playing a turn-based RPG in this year?

"So you probably played Final Fantasy, then?"

"Of course, it's a classic. I can't afford to miss it."

Hana showed me her purse with Vivi from Final Fantasy 9 keychain.

"Wha- Where did you buy this?!"

Hana smiled.

"I got it from a crane game in the game center."

Crane game that has keychains as prizes?! What kind of hardcore crane game is that? And Hana got one?! Is Hana a hardcore gamer than me?! Countless questions flow out of my head.

Hana put her purse back into her pocket and as if reading my mind, said:

"I think I just got lucky and yeah, it's also near the mall where we're shopping so we can try and get one."

All I could do was stare at her with amazement.

Mom called us downstairs and we started our journey to the mall. Well, it won't be hard since we're gonna use the car.

After half an hour we arrived at our destination. Quite fast if you ask me. We usually take an hour but since there's not much traffic for whatever reason, it took us half an hour instead.

Mom and Hana did not waste any second and dashed into the mall while grabbing my hand. There's a lot of people inside the mall and there are shops everywhere. Ranging from clothing lines to hobby shops. 4 floors of just pure shopping goodness.

So, I just noticed that I'm getting dragged or grabbed around lately.

"So, where do you want to go first?"

Mom asked Hana.

"I guess I'll buy some house clothes first."

"How about you, Shiro?"

"I'm going to the game store."

"Alright, then. I'll just text you where we'll meet for lunch."

And so, we part ways. Temporarily.

I find myself in the middle of the multitude of people in the mall. Trying to find my way into the game store I always go to. It didn't take long, before I knew it, I was in front of the store.

The automatic door opens and I went inside. I headed for the PC Games corner to look for RPG games. There's not much RPG like Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger these days. Yeah, there's the new one I am Setsuna sold as the 'spiritual successor' to Chrono Trigger. I played it, and yeah, I had fun.

Anyways, the market is being dominated by MOBAs like League and DotA and FPS giants like Overwatch and CS:GO. I don't have a problem with them, but please, please make more RPGs, Squeenix, anyone!

As I pass by the shelves, I see nothing new. Well, that's a waste of time. I guess I'm spending my time walking around. Not that I have a choice. I'll just wander around.

But not long after that, I find myself in front of a stuffed toy store.

"Hmm, I guess it wouldn't hurt to buy her a teddy bear for her room, right?"

I think to myself.

I went inside and walked around, trying to find a stuffed toy that Hana would probably like. From the corner of my eye, I saw a cat plushie. I like cats, probably Hana too, I don't know anyone who doesn't like cats.

The cat plushie is a white colored one with a small touch of black on the face. I check the tag and found out that it's a Himalayan Cat breed. I like how the color of its eyes are grayish-blue. It gives it a mystical look.

I guess I'm buying this one.

After buying the plushie I received a text from Mom telling me to go to a family restaurant just near the mall.

So I did.

After a couple of minutes, I arrived in front of the family restaurant Mom told me to go to. I have never seen this one around, so I guess it's new. There's not much people inside but the facade of the restaurant is quite good. Painted with brown and touched with blue on some places, it gave it a fresh look.

I see Mom sitting inside with Hana on the opposite couch. Shopping bags sitting as well beside Mom.

"Heya."

I said as I sit beside Hana.

"Oh? You bought something?"

Mom looked at the shopping bag I'm holding.

"Ah, yeah. A little something for Hana."

"Ohh, what is it? Although I can pretty much guess just from the bag."

"Yeah, it's a plushie."

Hana looked at me and said:

"Oh, can I see?"

"Of course, why not, besides, it's yours anyway."

I said with a smile, while handing the bag to her.

"Yay! Thanks!"

Hana opens the bag and takes out the cat plushie. Her eyes widened.

"A himalayan cat plushie?! What?!"

Hana's confusion only amplified my own.

"Is it that rare?"

"Not really, but it's the first time I saw one and they're my favorite!"

"Oh, I'm glad that I chose that one then."

Our eyes met and we both smiled.

"Woo. Such love, very romantic. Anyway, we're just waiting for your order, Shiro."

I just ignored the first sentence and ordered the restaurant's specialty carbonara. The waiter said that it's really tasty and that's it's the tastiest carbonara he had ever tasted. Now, I know that it's just an exaggeration but I'm really craving for pasta right now, for some reason.

Hana and Mom started thinking about what to have for dinner. I mean, are you guys some kind of glutton or something? We're here for lunch and you're already talking about dinner. Of course, I can't say this to them because I'll definitely get slaughtered on the spot.

The waiter arrived, our food in his tray. He put the plates down, told us to enjoy our meals and left. We thanked for the food and started eating.

Now, let me just comment about this carbonara they're serving. To be honest, I'm into creamy carbonara, you know, the type where there's a lot of sauce? Yeah, I like those. The carbonaras they serve just have a lot of sauce, and I love it. But what in the world did they do to this sauce that even if there's a large quantity of it, it still lacks flavor.

Just... How?

We finished our food and prepared to leave.

"I can't wait to wear some of the housewear I got when we get home."

Hana stood up.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?"

Mom tilted her head

"Huh? aren't we going home?"

"I am going home, not you two. You guys are staying here."

I almost spit my drink in disbelief. I chimed in the conversation.

"Hold on, we're staying here?"

"Yeah."

"What are we going to do in here?"

"You figure that out, I'm going now, be back before dinner!"

And so, Hana and I find ourselves in an impromptu date.