Birth Rights ((BH6 fanfic))

Chapter 1: 11 years later

~about 11 years later~

Tadashi's POV

I sat in the cafe silently. It was slow today so I sat at one of the tables and looked through more pictures. 11 years ago my parents died. We stayed at the orphanage for about a year and then they located Aunt Cass. We had been staying under her care for the past 10 years.

I looked at each picture and then set it down on the table, one at a time. One picture caught my eye. It was a picture of my seventh birthday. I was smiling and next to me was a little girl with wavy, dirty blonde hair and pale skin. She was giggling when this photo was taken. She had her eyes squeezed shut as I was patting her head. I couldn't remember who she was. I racked my brain for even the slightest memory, but all that came to mind was the plane crash. I'd have to look through my old journal to see if I could find out about her.

I continued to look through the photos when Aunt Cass came by and saw the picture of me and the little girl. She smiled.

"Hey, isn't that that your best friend?"
"What?" I asked quietly.
"Yea! I remember picking you up at the orphanage, you wouldn't let go of her. I believe her parents were family friends and they died on the plane crash with..."
"Mom and Dad. So that's where I remember her from. I wonder where she is now."
"Well, you could call the orphanage that you stayed in. Maybe she was picked up."

"I'll call them later ."
"Ok. Well, did you get the lock picked?"
"No."
"Eleven years and you still don't open that box."
"I can't find the key and I don't want to damage it!"
"Tadashi, your twenty years old now. You should be able to open that box by making another key or getting a locksmith to unlock it."
"I want to open it with the original key."
"Then at this rate, you'll never get it open."
"Or maybe I will. I just have to look for the key."
"Well, it's not in the cafe."
"Are you sure?"
"Dashi, your father never gave me anything of value. He helped me start my restaurant and left me to work by myself here in San Fransokyo."

I adjusted my hat, which Aunt Cass had given to me for my thirteenth birthday. Maybe the answers were somewhere in these photos? I looked through them quickly and then flipped back to the one with my 'best friend.' I looked closely at the girl.

She was wearing a necklace. With a key.

Now I really had to find her.

"Aunt Cass, what's the phone number for the orphanage?"