"Daichi! You are going to be late for school!"

                Daichi turns off the alarm in his small room and notices that it is already 5:30 in the morning. He slowly sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. Still tired from the sleepless night, he stops and lies back down.

"I'm not going today Ms. Ebby."

                Looking confused and distraught, the orphanage caretaker decides that Daichi has earned at least one day of rest as she continues back to her room to finish making herself pretty once more. The first day back from a short break and Daichi has already missed a day. Without him, class will still go on and by now, the teacher is finishing attendance.

"Akahana!"

"Here."

"Rei!"

"Here."

"Daichi! ... Daichi? Has anyone seen Daichi this morning? No? Alright."

                The class is surprised to see the straight a student missing from class. Some students even begin to whisper to each other...

"Psssst, Akahana."

"What is it Hamako?"

"Is Daichi sick?"

"How should I know?"

"Well you are the class rep; I thought you would have heard something. In any case you should visit him after school to make sure he is okay."

"I don't even know where he lives."

"He lives in Ms. Ebby's orphanage since he doesn't have any relatives to take care of him."

                The teacher keeps talking but has noticed that the students are not paying attention.

"Akahana!"

"Yes?"

"What is the answer to this equation?"

"Oh, umm...”

                School has ended and Eri still looks for work. While walking through the streets of poorly maintained buildings and run-down businesses, Eri overhears a man talking on his phone in the alleyway.

"I hired somebody to capture him. Dead or alive."

Eri leans on the adjacent building and listens carefully.

"Yes I already paid her, it should be done soon. What do you want me to do with his sister?"

Eri runs to the orphanage in hopes that the man was not talking about Daichi.

"Akahana, where are you going?"

"Aren't you the one that told me to visit Daichi?

“Oh, you’re actually going?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to karaoke tonight.”

“Sure.”

“Great! Be at my house at seven.”

“Okay.”

                Akahana walks past the homes for wealthy families and into the lower income part of the city. Being from a wealthy family herself, Akahana rarely goes to this part of Nagai and her father would go crazy if he knew that she was going to visit a boy. This part is not like where she lives, there are few stores and trash litters the streets. At least the area around the orphanage is clean. She opens and closes the front gate and rings the doorbell.

“Hello?”

“Are you Ms. Ebby?”

“Yes and who might you be?”

“I’m Akahana Chie from class 2-C, the same as Daichi.”

“Are you here to visit him?”

“Yes, is he here?”

“He has not left all day; I will take you to his room.”

“Thank you.”

                Akahana dodges the large amount of young orphans playing inside the house as she follows Ms. Ebby up to the second floor and to the end of the hall. Ms. Ebby knocks on the door and tells Daichi that a visitor has arrived and Akahana enters his room.

“Hello Daichi.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Akahana Chie; we are in the same class.”

“Why are you here?”

“Well you didn’t come to the school today and as the class rep, I decided to make sure that you were okay.”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

                They continue to talk about school and Akahana lends Daichi her notes as Eri arrives at the orphanage. Eri bursts open the door and yells for Ms. Ebby.

“Ms. Ebby! Is Daichi here?”

“Yes, a girl came to visit him-“

“Shit!”

                Eri runs up the stairs and down the hall; doors on either side of the hall open and concerned children exit their rooms. Gasping for air, he quickly opens Daichi’s door only to see confused faces.

“Daichi!”

“Eri what’s wrong?”

“Who is this girl?”

“My class rep.”

“Ah… Oh.”

“So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”