Shinji and Mana were still unable to establish contact with their parents, but they didn't give up on the hope that they'd eventually succeed. Mana especially refused to accept a fact like that, so she spent a lot of time trying to figure out her parent's whereabouts.

It didn't help a lot of people were panicking, complicating such efforts in the whole country.

Shinji figured out the girl couldn't speak any language, so he decided to teacher her a bit of Japanese for her own good. He discovered the girl didn't know what home meant either, but he still wondered why she was in the streets collapsed knee-deep in rain.

As time passed however, the girl learnt quickly, eventually learning a few phrases and mannerisms. Shinji then finally decided to take her outside with him on a walk to a store so she could get used to outside the house, which she refused to leave up until now.

***

Shinji walked into Mana's room. She was on the computer, browsing through the news.

"Any luck?" asked Shinji.

"No... Too many people are missing, it's impossible to anything or anyone like this."

"You should take a break, Mana. They won't return faster the more time you spend searching."

"I'll take a break after I'm done," said Mana before turning to face Shinji.

"And do you not care? They're your parents too."

"Of course I care about them deeply, but I care about you too. You need to relax and stop straining yourself like this," said Shinji. Mana then turned back to face the screen.

"I'll try," responded Mana.

Shinji left the room to go downstairs where the girl he rescued was. She turned to face him.

"Morning," said the girl. Her voice was soft and calming, while not being too quiet.

"Good morning," responded Shinji.

"You're learning Japanese like a natural."

The girl smiled.

"Thanks. You are a natural too."

Shinji giggled when Mana almost repeated after him.

"I had an idea on mind. How about we go outside today?" asked Shinji. The girl was once again not so willing.

"Why? Outside is bad. I like it here more," said the girl, nervous.

"I understand, but you can't not go outside ever. Besides, the weather's nice today. You'll like it," said Shinji. The girl was sceptical, but trusted Shinji.

"Okay... If you say so," said the girl, giving up on protesting. Shinji smiled and helped her prepare. He gave her some of his own and some of Mana's clothes to wear. As he did so, he remembered to thank Mana again later for lending them.

He waited for Mana by the entrance, eventually meeting her eye. Since the day he found her, she looked enormously better. She was wearing a light sweater with a zipper, a pink shirt, and shorts. Her long hair was tied with a ribbon at the end, forming one large strand. Accompanied with her warm smile, Shinji couldn't help but be mesmerized. She looked like a different person.

"You rock that look," said Shinji. The girl was glad.

"Thank you."

"I already told Mana we would go for a walk. Ready?"

The girl took a stand to appear bold.

"Yes!" said the girl.

"Then let's go," said Shinji, before they both left the house.

The atmosphere was like when Shinji and Mana had lunch on the rooftop of school, with blue skies revealing the warm, bright Sun. The birds were singing, bees buzzing, and flowers blooming.

"No rain? No clouds? It's not the same...?" said the girl, surprised as she walked out into the sunlight, only feeling the warm sunray's landing on her.

"It's not so bad all the time. Sometimes the weather is nice like this," responded Shinji.

"What is that?" asked the girl, pointing at the sky.

"That? That's the Sun. It emanates light just like it does now."

"It's so warm. Why wasn't it there before?"

"Huh. I don't know. I'd like to know that myself," said Shinji, he too pondering.

"What matters is that it's here now, and that's when we revel in it."

"Revel? What is that?"

"Basically, make sure it's not put to waste. Things are different during Winter, it's super cold."

"Oh, then I agree, Shinji," said the girl, again smiling. Shinji wasn't used to hearing his name besides from his sister, so his face became a bit flushed. The girl didn't seem to mind, nor did she look scared of the outside anymore.

"Shall we go to the store now?" asked Shinji. The girl stood ready at moment's notice.

"Okay! Let's go!"

***

The two of them walked thorough the neighbourhood, with Shinji patiently explaining what everything was to the girl and answering all her questions. They passed along very few people, as many were ruled by fear of Spacequakes. And even when they passed by someone, the girl didn't seem to pay them much heed.

"So, where did you come from?" asked Shinji. The girl appeared a little sad.

"I don't know. I don't remember..."

"Woah, it's okay. Do you remember anything at least?"

"I only remember waking up to a man trying to touch me, and then... The next thing I remember is waking again up in your bed," said Mana. Shinji was not happy.

"A man tried to what? Did he do something to you?"

"No, or at least I don't think so. I think I fled, but..."

"That's enough. You don't have to continue. We're here to enjoy ourselves, I shouldn't be interrogating you."

"Shinji..."

"Besides, you're safe now. And look, the store's right there!" pointed out Shinji.

"Let's buy something for Mana!" said the girl enthusiastically. Shinji was surprised she mentioned her.

"True, she could use a cold drink," agreed Shinji.

The two of them went in together, greeting the cashier. The store was quite small, but Mana was nonetheless amazed at all the different items it had. For the majority of their visit, Mana was basically leading Shinji around.

"Look! Ice-cream! It looks tasty..." said the girl, almost fawning over them.

"Which flavour do you like?" asked Shinji.

"Hmm... Vanilla!" responded the girl.

"That's a funny coincidence, I like vanilla ice-cream too. And so does Mana, actually."

"Let's take three of them, then!" said the girl.

"We can get two, but the third one would melt before we could give it to my sister."

"It needs to be kept frozen?"

"If you intend to give it to someone else later, then yeah."

"I'll try my best to keep it frozen then!" said Mana, as if facing a challenge. Shinji was about to explain how that would be impossible to accomplish, but he decided to let the girl find out that some things just aren't meant to be.

"All right, we'll buy three ice-creams. I got the rest of groceries, so let's go pay."

"Pay?" halted the girl in curiousness.

"Yeah, we must pay for what we take. Don't worry, I'll pay."

"Okay," responded the girl with an understanding smile.

The two of them proceeded to check out for the items, with Shinji covering the bill. Upon leaving the story, Mana delved into her ice-cream, with Shinji taking it slow. As he expected, the girl didn't seem too comfortable.

"Ouch—It's so cold..."

"You shouldn't bite it or eat it so fast. Let it melt a bit first."

"Okay, will do!"

Following Shinji's instructions, the girl enjoyed her ice-cream while holding Mana's in her other hand. Shinji was already expecting it to melt any moment, but it wasn't melting. He waited longer, but it still wouldn't melt. Finally, he just had to ask.

"Um, Mana? Do you see Mana's ice-cream?"

"Yeah! I'm still holding onto it, don't worry."

"That's not the issue, but how is it not melting?"

"I told you I'd keep it from melting, didn't I?" said the girl while smiling at Shinji.

He was confused about how to laws of nature allowed something like that but decided to let it go. Eventually, they made it home. The girl went ahead to give Mana her ice-cream, with Shinji following her. Mana was still in her room on her computer.

"Mana! We got you ice-cream!"

The words seemed to interest Mana enough to distract her from whatever she was doing, turning over to Mana. When she saw the vanilla ice-cream, she was surprised the same way Shinji was.

"Where did you get the ice-cream?" asked Mana.

"At the store we used to go often..." muttered Shinji, embarrassed at the situation. Mana was sceptical, but the girl's smile was something her blizzard ravaged heart couldn't resist. She reached for the ice-cream.

"Here you go," said the girl before handing it over to Mana. Her surprise was confirmed, as it was still cold to the touch. She looked at Shinji, and instantly knew he too pondered why it didn't melt but decided to let it go as well.

"Thank you. That's kind of you guys," said Mana, faintly smiling for the first time since the disaster.

"No problem! Everyone should smile occasionally," said the girl. Mana didn't hear those words in a long time, but they touched her.

"Um, can I—" tried to say Mana before being interrupted by the girl who wrapped her arms around her.

"Beat you to it!" said the girl. Mana soon reciprocated, wrapping her arms around her too.

Shinji couldn't help but smile as well, being happy to see Mana happy. What initially they both thought as weird and even a little daunting, now became someone who broke both out from their bubble of sadness and nothingness. The girl that initially couldn't understand anything, now being able to speak good Japanese in an extremely short amount of time and feel close to both.

***

The day was ending, with all three deciding to watch the sunset together. What many would consider boring, they genuinely seemed to enjoy. The girl didn't want to interrupt the silence, but she had a question for the siblings.

"Um, guys? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead," responded Shinji. Mana turned her head over as well.

"I was wondering, since I call you Shinji and Mana... could I have a name too? Even though I don't remember my name, it would make me happy if you gave me one."

Shinji and Mana looked at each other, both trying to come up with a name for her.

"How about Mio..." started Shinji.

"...Takamiya," finished Mana. The girl looked overjoyed at the mention of the name.

"Really? Can that be my name?" asked the girl with anticipation. Both Shinji and Mana nodded and smiled.

"Th-Thank you..." uttered the girl, tears leaving her eyes for the first time. This time it was both Shinji and Mana who hugged the girl, now Mio, as the Sun was setting.

***

The very next dawn, Mio decided to aid Shinji and Mana in their effort to locate their parents. She didn't know how she would go about helping them, but she was determined to do her best. Even after all this time, all schools were also still closed, as the populace still feared for their lives. Mio still slept on Shinji's bed, since he basically forced himself on the couch, even though Mio offered to sleep there instead.

When she made up her mind, she got up from bed and walked downstairs over to where Shinji was.

"Oh, hey..." said Shinji half asleep when he saw Mio approach.

"I'm going to help you find your parents," said Mio firmly. Shinji appeared confused.

"Am I dreaming? What do you mean by that..."

"I don't know how, but I'll try to be of help," said Mio, calmer. Shinji was still confused.

"There's nothing we can do. You're already helping enough...," said Shinji. Mio refused to give up.

"I promise I'll help you find them!" said Mio. Shinji finally got up and faced Mio.

"Please don't burden yourself like Mana has before. If she couldn't find anything, I doubt anyone will."

"But you both said you care deeply about them, right?"

"Of course we do! Look, I appreciate the sympathy, but even I must concede there's almost nothing we can do," said Shinji. Mio thought to herself for a moment.

"Someone must know something. We just need to find the right person," said Mio with belief. Shinji didn't wish to see her obsess with something beyond her control like Mana, but he decided he might as well give it a shot.

"Saying no to you is tough. But who do we ask?" said Shinji. Mio wasn't sure.

"How about the neighbours? Maybe they knew where they were going."

"I think Mana already asked them, but I suppose it can't hurt to ask again. Do you want to pay them a visit?"

"Sure. There's no reason not to."

"All right, just don't get your expectations too high."

Without waking Mana up, Shinji and Mio went to pay their neighbours a visit. One of their neighbours was a married old couple, and the other was a widow. They visited the married couple first. After they rang the bell, the man came out.

"Hello? Who is this?" asked the man.

"Hello. My name is Shinji, and—"

"Ah, Shinji!" the man opened the door.

"I haven't seen you and your sister in a while, what brings you here?" asked the man.

Shinji was surprised to learn Mana didn't visit their neighbours, but this only gave him cause to ask himself.

"Have you talked to my parents before the Spacequake occurred?"

"Of course. We talk a lot. Where are they now anyway?"

"That's what I was hoping you'd be able to tell me. They went on a business trip right before the Spacequake, and now we can't establish any contact with them."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. That Spacequake was terrifying... But no, they haven't told us anything like that. Sorry."

"It's okay, thank you anyway," said Shinji, defeated. They then went to visit their other neighbour, the windowed woman. She was watering her garden. Shinji rang the bell, and she soon came over.

"Ah, good morning, Mr Takamiya. And good morning, young lady."

"Name's Mio. Pleasure to meet you."

"What brings you two here?"

"Do you know where my parents are?" asked Shinji. The woman shrug her shoulders.

"I'm afraid I don't. Did something happen?"

"The Spacequake. We lost contact with them and can't reach them."

"Then I'm sorry I can't be of any help, but I hope they're found or safe."

"Thank you. Goodbye...," said Shinji. Mio told the woman farewell as well and they went back to their house.

When they returned, Mana was already eating breakfast.

"Hey you two. Where have you been?" asked Mana.

"We tried to ask the neighbours about mom and dad, but we didn't learn anything," responded Shinji.

"Of course you wouldn't. Our parents would never our neighbours where they'd be going. They didn't even tell us the specific location."

"If they're alive, there's gotta be a way to find them. Have we truly hit a dead end?" asked Mio. Mana grinned.

"I don't think so. The government has set up camps around the area where the Spacequake hit. Since they haven't come back by now, there's a good chance we'd find them in one of them."

"Unless they're really..."

"Have some faith, Shinji. Mio has shown me that miracles can happen. It's time we stop waiting for them to come to us and we come to them instead. Isn't that right, Mio?"

"You're right. I believe everything will turn out well in the end," said Mio with belief.

"So what's the plan?" asked Shinji.

"We pack up and go find our parents. No matter what happens, we'll resolve this. After all, we're Takamiya's, aren't we?"

Shinji and Mio agreed. They started preparing shortly after, as their venture could be extended drastically depending how soon they find what they were looking for.

The next morning they left their house and were headed for the train station which would be the start of their trip. Will they find their guide that will lead them to their parents, and if they do, will they be happy with what they see? This, alongside Isaac's own goals, only time will tell.

***

End of chapter.