Kira Sakano was never an average girl. Kira, not paying attention in class again today, looked out the window. She never payed attention because she was such a rebel. Kira always did what she wanted to, never doing something she didn't want to do. Her parents always hated this 'quality' of hers.

Eventhough her parents didn't like her, she never thought that they would lie to her. You see, Kira used to have an older brother named Danny. According to her parents, Danny ran away from home because he didn't like the rules of the house. They also said that they had stayed in contact for a while, but, the contact had stopped after they got pregnant with Kira. Therefore, he doesn't know about having a little sister. Kira never doubted this story, that is, until she noticed that whenever she asked people in the community about it, they would tell the same story but would never look her in the eye.

As time went on, Kira got much more curious about this so called 'History' of her big brother. She looked through many photo books, but, couldn't find any pictures of her brother. Her parents said, "There was a fire in the house and the album that his pictures were in got burnt." Kira didn't believe this one at all.

Her curiousity got so intense that she started badgering her parents to tell her stories about Danny. Unfortunately, they never said anything that interested Kira for everything they said sounded like a lie to her. Again, everyone said the same thing, but, refused to look her in the eye as they said it to the young girl.

~`~`!`~`~


Kira couldn't understand why they refused to tell her. One day, while she was at school celebrating her 9th birthday with the rest of the class having a great time, a large twister had gone through the town. Most of the people were alright, but, she seemed to be one of the unluckiest. Not because she was hurt, but because she had lost all of her home and the family that she loved.

After the twister, the town started to be rebuilt. Kira was taken in by foster parents whom she was very gratful to, but, knew that she would never find out about her brother this way. She went to her house that was still in pieces. Kira entered and automatically noticed a book behind the book shelf.

Kira opened the strange book. All of the pages were full of things about her brother, Danny. It was his baby book. She thought it was strange because there were no pictures in it, only diary entries written by Karol and Don, their mother and father. She took the book back to her foster family's home. There, she read the book. After reading it, she wanted to meet this mysterious brother of hers even more.

~`~`!`~`~

Eventhough Kira had felt discouraged after her real parents not telling her anything, she wouldn't give up, yet. She faught with her 'new parents' about searching for her brother. They refused to let her look for him. Kira had eventually lost all confidence in meeting Danny. She sat in her room every day and envied all of the families with such Happy Go Lucky lives-- the kind that she had never felt before.

Kira looked in the mirror. What am I doing? I don't understand what's the right choice; Ignoring my foster family and looking for the rest of my real family, or listening to my foster parents, never meeting my brother, and always feeling envious about other families and bad about the decision? she thought to herself as she stared deeply at her reflection. What was right? She knew that she had to eventually make a decision.

Days went by. She still couldn't choose. Kira refused to let her 'new family' her confused and undecided face. If I choose this, this might happen, but, that might happen too... She kept thinking very hard about it. 6 months had almost passed since the twister.

"I... I think I finally know what's right..." Kira said to herself as she woke up. She got up, took a shower, got dressed, brushed her teeth and hair, you know, the usual routine in the morning. She wouldn't let anyone see through her that morning. Kira had made her decision.

She took out most of her clothing, some food, the strange book, and some money as she got ready for school. Kira put the clothing in her book bag and said the food was for a party and the book was a text book for school. The money was stuffed in her backpack and pockets. She had tried so hard and had no success before. But this time-- she was going to defy her parents and find Mr. Mystery.

~`~`!`~`~


Kira left for what her foster parents though was school but was actually her old house. She searched for clues to where her brother might be. Because she couldn't find any clues, Kira moved on intuition.

Kira's foster family was extremely worried about her. They called the police and sent out a search party, but, no one could find Kira anywhere. Mean while, Kira was going from town to town trying to find her brother, Danny. She tried so hard, but, had no luck.

~`~`!`~`~


Once Kira had almost given up, she came upon a beautiful abandoned village. There were vines, roses and butterflies all over the place. Pft, it's obvious that he's not here! she though to herself. Kira had gone through so much, but, had come up with nothing. As she passed something that seemed to be an old garden, she noticed something at the other end of it.

Kira jumped over the ancient wooden fence. She ran to the other end. Kira closed her eyes and panted because she was out of breath. "What a huge garden..." she said to herself. As she opened her eyes, she fell on her back side. Kira looked up at the object she had seen before. It was a gravestone.

She couldn't believe what she was staring at. Kira began to read the stone to see if it was who's she thought it was. The stone said


grave stone
R.I.P.
In loving memory of Daniel Sakano
Born on August 15th, 1987
Found dead on January 27th, 2001

This 14 year old boy was found dead by Mr. Jenka, the gardener who used to tend to this garden. His family, the Sakano's, refused to believe their son was dead. Therefore, Mr. Jenka made this grave using information from the police. If you are one of the Sakano's, please give your prayers to this grave in the palce of those who did not.


Kira couldn't believe it. "H-he was dead... after all this time..." she said in disbelief to herself. She kept sitting there. The words on the grave ran through her mind. A single tear dropped down her face as she got on her knees and prayed. All of this work only to find a grave, the grave of the mysterious man I had always wished to meet. I really... I-I really didn't want to meet him this way!! she thought as tears began to flow down her face.

She stood there on her knees, her face with a blank expression of disbelief. There were so many tears... so many that you would have though "Is there going to be a flood?" As she cried, Mr. and Mrs. Vaniel, her foster parents, kept the search going. They began to search with the police. Again, they went from town to town, still finding nothing. One of the officials said, "There's no way we're going to find her. I say, that girl's become a ghost already!" The Valniels disgareed and kept the search going. All of them eventually came to the same abandoned town.

"K-Kira! Are you here?!" Mrs. Vaniel shouted. There was no answer. Her foster parents came upon a garden. They heard crying. It was Kira's crying. Everyone went over to the garden and opened the fence. They walked over to the other end, only to find Kira and a grave stone.

"Kira... are you okay?" Ran Vaniel, her foster mother, and Jack Vaniel, her foster father, asked. Kira kept crying. The Vaniels picked her up. They brought her home. The finding of her made every one happy. Unfortunately, it didn't make her feel any better. She told everyone what had happened and what she had found. They decided to hold a proper funeral for Danny. Kira has never truly smiled since.

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