A Welcome Home

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Poppy waited by the school's entrance doors for her sibling.

The bell rang and all the children ran out to their parents.

Poppy received some stares and whispers from the parents.

Her body was decorated with bruises, cuts, and bandages.

The children at the school called her the red mummy.

Poppy's arm was always held in a cast; there was never a day when her right arm was released from the cast.

No one knew why, but it was always in a cast. The parents branded her a delinquent who does drugs and gets into gang fights.

"Oneesan!"

Poppy looked up and glanced behind her to see a small boy with a large toothy grin, sparkled eyes, and a beauty mark.

He grinned as he ran to her long legs and hugged them.

He looked up, "Oneesan," and gave her a large smile with a heavy blush. He pulled out a paper from his backpack and showed it to her.

She bent down and examined the paper.

"It's a choir concert! I'm going to be singing. Can you tell mother and father so they can come and see me?"

Poppy's had a blank and distant look in her eyes at the request, but she hummed, "I'll see what I can do, Baki. Just remember... their always busy..."

Baki pouted, "I know... I just thought they might come..."

Poppy stood up and patted his head, "I'll do my best. Let's go home."

Baki nodded with a smile returning to his face.

He held her hand and sang a small song.

The parents' whispers become clearer.

"Look at her. She's a foreigner...."

"She must be a delinquent."

"Bright red hair and red eyes... a demon!"

"I don't want my children anywhere near that boy."

"We should call the police..."

Poppy glanced at them and gave them a fiery glare as the parents shut up and backed away from the glaring teenager.

'So damn nosy...'

"Baki, what do you want to eat for dinner?"

"Can you cook with a broken arm, Oneesan?"

"I can."

"An egg omelet with rice!"

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Poppy sighed as she was on a small plane, heading back to Japan.

She opened a large file with the title written down in front of the folder,

"I T A L Y"

Pictures and information of many women from Italy were shown.

Along with young adult men or teenagers.

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