3 Prologue - What happened to Mother?

Kaho felt like she didn't exist anymore. She then felt a hand tap her shoulder. She quickly turned and slapped Yuuki's hand away.

Yuuki was shocked. But as Kaho slapped her hand away, Yuuki saw the sadness in Kaho's eyes. Kaho backed away from her and ran out of the reception. Yuuki naturally ran after her.

As both girls made it in the lobby Yuuki had called out to Kaho. "Kaho, Wait! Where are you going?"

Kaho stopped. She then turned around. She remained silent with a shadow looming over her face. Yuuki walked up to Kaho and as she tried to comfort her, Kaho suddenly pushed her. "J-just leave me alone! I don't need anyone else anymore!"

As she ran out of the hotel, she bumped shoulders with a stranger. She didn't apologize. She looked at him and held everything in and simply ran off.

When Kaho was upset, She would always go find a park to sit in because it was quiet and harder for people to find where she hid, since it was an obvious spot and people naturally do not go to the obvious spots.

She ran over to a large park nearby and sat on a bench. She leaned forward and placed both hands on her face and her tears had finally fallen.

She sat all alone in a park and cried for an hour. Some people walked passed but paid no attention to her.

As Kaho stared into the ground, she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hands.

As she turned to face the person, he was sitting right next to her reading away as if she wasn't there. How did he even get here?"Um... why did you tap me for?"

The man without looking at her reached for his pockets and handed a packet of tissues. "Take them."

"T-thank you."

The man put his book down on the bench and looked at her. There was an awkward silence between them.He was like a robot! He had no expression on his face.

Kaho remembered she had just been crying, and he must've seen her horrible makeup and swollen eyes. She quickly turned her face away in embarrassment. She used the pack of tissues and wiped her makeup and tears away.

The man put his book and messenger bag down and walked off. Kaho turned to see that he was walking away. Where was he going and why did he leave his things here? She stayed on the bench and waited for the man to come back.

...

A few minutes later, Kaho watched the children play nearby at a playground. The man came back with a small plastic bag.

Kaho did not notice this because she did not actually watch the children, but in fact, was zoned out. The man stepped in front of her to break off Kaho's focus.

Kaho soon saw a figure blocking her way and looked up. He came back! The man looked at her before rummaging through a plastic bag and handed a can of green tea to Kaho. "Here."

She gave the can a look and hesitated before accepting the can of tea. When she opened the can and took a sip from it, she felt a little warmer. Since it was April, it was spring time in Japan, so it was still a little chilly. "Thank you..."

"mm." The man stared at the playground where Kaho zoned out. It was nice watching the kids play. It reminded him of his childhood.

As they sat in silence, It got a little colder. The silence was interrupted by a small sneeze. Kaho started to shiver and she rubbed her arms. She had completely forgotten to bring a jacket!

Suddenly a black coat covered her shoulders. Kaho was stunned as she turned to look at the man. "Thank you but aren't you cold too?"

"Its fine."

Kaho pouted. I don't know... this air is quite chilly. You'll get a cold."

She intently stared at the man as he watched the sky. As he noticed someone staring at him he turned to Kaho. She was pouting. Her cheeks puffed and her nose and cheeks had a pink tinge from the cold. Her brows furrowed. It was quite cute.

"Pouty."

"What?"

"I'll call you pouty." Then he poked the furrows that formed between her eyebrows.

"Don't furrow your eyebrows so much. You'll get wrinkles."

"O-okay."

Kaho was once again stunned. She wondered why this stranger was spending time with her. He was even handsome. He wore a black suit and his black hair was a little fluffy with bangs covering parts of his forehead. He was very tall and had a slim figure. He could be a model.

And she? She felt like rubbish. And people throw away rubbish like how her boyfriend and her friends threw her out.

This stranger was the only one who sat beside her and she felt relaxed around him. As the two stared into the park, Kaho's phone started ringing. "Sorry just a moment."

"Go ahead."

"Thanks."

Kaho accepted the phone call and held her phone up to her ear. "Hi dad, did you need anything?"

Kaho tried to be cheerful and all of sudden, Her face darkened. She quickly stood up and her face was full of terror. "Okay i'll come right now."

She hung up her phone and turned to the man. "I'm sorry i have to go now. Something has happened to my Mother."

As Kaho was about to start sprinting, the man grabbed her arm. "Wait, i'll take you. State the location."

"It's okay you dont need to do anymore. I'll take a taxi."

"How long will you have to wait until a taxi comes?"

"...Yukira medical group, please."

"Okay lets go."

As they walked towards the road, the man took his phone out and called someone. As they walked towards the parked cars, a black Rolls Royce had pulled up next to them. "Lets go in."

Since they were in a hurry, Kaho did not have time to process what was happening. The stranger next to her was instructing his driver. "Yukira Medical group and hurry."

"Yes, Master."

Master? Who exactly is this person? Why would he comfort me?

"Um... Thank you so much, but why are you so kind to someone like me? Let alone a stranger."

The man turned and said, "I was like you a while back ago. I'm not sure what you went through, but you need to be strong and move forward."

"I'll keep that in mind. If you dont mind, Could... I ask you for your name?"

"Hiro."

"H-hiro? I'm sure there's a reason not to give me your surname but thank you for staying with me this past hour. I feel a little better that someone helped me get back on my feet."

"No problem."

Ten minutes later, the Rolls Royce pulled into the hospital entrance. Kaho climbed out of the car. And turned to face Hiro and his driver and bowed to them."Thank you so much for today. I hope we run into each other next time."

"Pouty. Best wishes for your future."

"Same to you Hiro."

Kaho bowed once again and ran inside. The windows to the black Rolls Royce went up and drove off. Kaho ran towards the surgical waiting room. When she arrived, everyone in her were there anxiously waiting. "Father what happened?"

Makoto stood up and placed his hands on Kaho's shoulders. He gripped them firmly. "You mother has been in a car accident. She was waiting to cross the street and saw a toddler wandering around and saved the child. Kenjiro is trying his best to save her."

"Mother..."

Kaho couldn't do much. All she could do was wait. As she sat in the room, she stared at the clock, watching it tick as time passed by.

An hour seemed to take months. Then the surgery sign light switched off. There was tension in the air. Everyone stood up and looked towards the door.

The double door opened. Kenjiro walked out of the room with his head hanging down. Everyone ran towards him. "How did it go?" Ryutaro asked.

"I really don't want to say this but, i'm sorry. We tried our best but she is brain dead."

"Brain dead?" Grabbed Kenjiro's shoulders and shook him. "What do you mean?"

Kenjiro's eyes flooded with tears. He let Ryutaro shake him with all his strength. Shintaro and his father tried to hold Ryutaro back. They too had tears streaming their faces. Ryutaro was shouting for his mother, his screams were heart breaking.

Kaho stared at everyone in front of her. Everyone was fighting. The family seemed like it was going to tear apart.

Ryutaro finally gave up and hugged Makoto tightly, He cried uncontrollably. Kaho went through so much today and it had gotten worse with her mother's death. It felt like it was truly the end of the world. She stood there watching everyone else cry as she did the same.

They went into the ICU to say goodbyes to their beloved mother, turned off the life support and waited for the funeral home to take her away to get ready for her funeral.

It was not easy for everyone around Aiko. She was well loved and she had changed people's lives.

For her to suddenly leave them was truly heart breaking.

...

It had been a week since Aiko's death. The Yukimura Residence that was once bustling with noise was very quiet. Everyone was grieving and also had to go on with their work. It felt rather cold and lonely.

Kaho was packing her bags because she wanted to leave Japan for a while and complete her internship in America. She felt that if she stayed a little longer, Something even worse would happen.

She didn't want to see the friends that betrayed her. They hurt her a lot. She was even humiliated by her ex-boyfriend and the woman he had claimed as his fiancee.

When Kaho reached the airport, She came in a taxi, as her family was busy going on with their work, so she did not tell anyone that she was leaving.

Before she entered the boarding gates, Kaho looked out of the floor to ceiling window of the airport and looked at the sky. Her eyes were cold and lost.

All her hope had disappeared.