After Professor Scid dismissed them for the day, Sora couldn't exit the class fast enough. She left the classroom with everyone else and headed down the stairs. She paused on the first floor when she realized the door to Katie's classroom was still closed. We are probably the only ones leaving early, she thought, and she immediately felt sorry for her friend.

"I heard the Hell Hound is in charge of their classroom," she heard a murmur behind her. Sora turned and saw a petite girl with blonde pigtails.

The Hell Hound was their science professor last year and the title was well earned and right to the point. Sora smiled at the girl. "We are so lucky to have Scid," she commented as they trudged down the rest of the stairs.

"Will you wait for Katie?" the other girl asked as she peered at Sora with big eyes behind even bigger glasses.

Every girl in her class literally looked up to Sora. She was the tallest girl in the school, and she was still growing. The irony that the tiniest girl in the entire school ended up being her best friend was not lost on her.

Sora shook her head. "I am going to practice for a little while. Will you be in the newspaper room?"

"Yes, Mo has us working our butts off."

Sora forced a smile at the comment and turned to the exit, but before she left she yelled, "Alicia, can you give these to Katie?" Before the other girl could even nod, Sora tossed something to her.

Alicia's hand reflexively shot up and caught a key, when she turned to reply, Sora was already gone.

***

After her training, which consisted of some laps around the field and a few frustrated kicks of the ball, Sora took a quick shower and left the school. It was almost noon by the time she found her feet trudging on the familiar road she had walked every day during her summer vacations.

She was headed to the center of her little town, where most of the shops and restaurants were, far away from the hill where the Academy was situated at. The day was warm but a few clouds were dashed across the sky. It wouldn't be long before the next rain.

Sora stopped in front of a store with a Shōji, a Japanese sliding door, that had glass instead of paper framed in the little screens. She pushed it open and entered her grandparents' restaurant. Stepping inside was like stepping into another era.

"Ohayō," she shouted the word with excitement.

The small head of an old Asian woman popped out from behind the kitchen door. Seeing Sora brought a wide smile to her small face, scrunching her tiny eyes behind laugh lines and care worn wrinkles.

"Good morning to you, too," she said, still smiling.

An elderly Asian man carrying a paper origami crane in his hand, hurried to greet Sora. He gently dropped the paper bird onto the wooden counter and then threw his arms around his granddaughter. She smiled and hugged him back. "Hey, Ojīsan," she said when he let her go.

Sora turned and glanced at the paper crane on the counter. "Another one for my collection," her grandfather said following her gaze. "This is number 946."

Sora could see the number written on one of the crane's paper wings. She shrugged and sighed. Ever since she started living with her grandparents, her mother's adoptive parents, she had been completely immersed in Japanese culture. Sora felt a strong connection with everything Japanese, especially the two kindly elderly people who had taken her in and loved her as their own, and Sora loved them back with every fiber of her being.

"You are getting closer," she said, and her grandfather nodded while a proud smile lit up his face.

There was an ancient Japanese legend that stated: whoever made a thousand paper cranes would be granted one wish from a crane. Her grandfather had been diligently and patiently folding paper cranes for years, hoping to finally reach one thousand.

"One thousand cranes are nothing for a wish," her grandmother stated. She stepped up and placed a box of wooden chopsticks in front of Sora. "Now, enough of the legends, get to work young lady."

Sora smiled at her and grabbed a few chopsticks. "You know it's my last working day, right? You might want to savor this moment," she said, while setting pairs of chopsticks on all the tables. Her grandmother muttered something in Japanese that Sora didn't quite catch, as she scurried back to the kitchen.

Sora grinned and let her mind drift to thoughts of one thousand cranes and her own wishes. She started thinking about all the nights she had spent wishing her parents would magically return to her.

Wishes don't just come true. You have to fight for them, Sora thought letting out a heavy breath, and sometimes no matter how hard you try some things are just not meant to be.

***

She left the restaurant a few hours later, telling her grandparents that Katie would likely be waiting for her at home. When she finally arrived on her street, she noticed a moving van parked in front of the house next door. When Sora reached her door, she realized she didn't have her keys. "Alicia," she murmured slapping her forehead. "I gave her my keys." She shook her head while knocking on her own door. She could only hope that Katie was already there, otherwise she had some serious breaking and entering to do. As she planned her way into her home, she heard a key turning.

"Sometimes I wonder how you would get inside if I wasn't here to unlock the door for you," Katie said.

Sora just shrugged and headed inside. She dropped a paper bag on the big wooden kitchen table. "I brought food." They both dug in and ate without another word.

After they were done, Katie fell back in her chair with her hands resting on her now full stomach. "It was awesome," she said and took a big breath. Sora agreed with a contented nod. "You have to stop giving Alicia your key," Katie said changing the subject so suddenly that Sora jerked upright in her chair. She reached in her bag and tossed Sora's key across the table.

Sora caught it easily. "Why? I don't mind," she frowned playing with the key, moving it deftly between her fingers.

"One day, she might decide not to give it to me." Katie motioned to the single key in Sora's hand. "That little thing is her way into your home. You know how nosy she can be."

"Not any more than I am." Sora understood what her friend was saying, but she couldn't really picture the blond girl with the pigtails and huge glasses breaking into her house. "You've got to stop watching these C.S.I. shows," she finally said, laughing.

"No, you need to start watching them," Katie said mimicking her tone.

Sora raised her eyebrows and then both of them burst into laughter.

"It's time for Kiba's walk. Do you want to join us?" Sora asked after they regained their composure.

"No, my mom is waiting for me. I have to babysit my little brother. But I want to see my little furry buddy before I leave."

They both walked out the back door and found Kiba waiting for them. When he saw the two girls, he started waving his tail and barking, then he rushed toward Katie completely ignoring Sora and raised his front paws so that he could reach her shoulders. He started licking her face and Katie started giggling.

"I missed you too, honey," she said between licks.

"Kiba, down." Sora's voice was soft but firm and the dog immediately obeyed. She patted him on the head once and waved goodbye to Katie, but her friend had turned her attention elsewhere.

"Someone's moving in next door," she noticed staring at the moving van Sora had seen earlier. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned to Sora with a huge smile on her face. "I bet it's a hot guy."

Sora laughed. "Yeah, like I could be so lucky." She stood next to her friend and peered at the house next door. "I bet it's an old lady with ten cats or even worse a family with a passel of crying babies," she commented, but deep inside an irrational hope flared that it would indeed be a hot guy.

"Please, with your luck it's going to be the hottest boy ever," Katie replied as she started toward home, but then thought better of it and paused to add while giving Sora a studious look, "He might even be 'The One'."

***

Sora's walk with Kiba was long and by the time they finished, Sora was sweating and Kiba was panting heavily, his big tongue lolling out his mouth. Sora gave him some food and water and then went inside to take a shower.

Thirty minutes later, Sora was busy at her desk reviewing her schedule for the year when a loud noise from downstairs startled her. Alarmed, she glanced at her clock. Her grandparents weren't due home for another hour, and they rarely left the restaurant early.

Another loud sound pierced the silence. Terrified, she jumped from her desk and grabbed an empty vase before heading to the stairs. It was flimsy protection but it would have to do in a pinch.

Halfway down the stairs, she heard Kiba's bark and her heart started beating normally again. She exhaled. She relaxed a bit and tried to soothe her jangled nerves. I must have left the door open, she thought and cursed herself for being such a scaredy cat.

And then she heard him.

She wasn't sure she was hearing correctly until she moved a few steps down, and then she could very clearly make out a deep male voice. "Easy," she heard a man saying, probably to her dog.

Without even thinking, she clutched the vase even tighter and ran towards the kitchen. She knew a stranger was in the house and her precious Kiba was with him, knowing her dog was in danger was enough to get her to charge down the stairs and attack this strange man, or at least try to. Once she moved closer to the end of the stairs she saw he was on his knees with his back to her, patting Kiba on the head. When he heard her approach, he rose to his feet slowly and turned to greet her. "Sorry for the disturbance. I saw the back door wide open and the dog was barking. I was worried someone might be trying to break in," he said.

A familiar feeling of uneasiness bordering on paranoia, swelled inside her. She knew that feeling all too well.

"We just moved in next door," he said as his piercing gaze met hers. Sora's heart shuddered once she saw a pair of black eyes staring back at her.