I used to say I wanna die before Im old (but because of you I might think twice)

Chapter 3: Emika

Eleven-year-old Emika Mei couldn't sit still after her parents told her the news. She was going to real school next year. She had been homeschooled since her very first 'day' of kindergarten. Her adoptive parents liked to travel. A lot (sometimes for work, sometimes for fun). They say her biological parents were like that too, that they were wilderness explorers who used their quirks to save endangered animals, but they died in a plane crash on the way to their next mission while Emika was safely swaddled up in the arms of her babysitter/now-adoptive mother. Emika did enjoy travelling, she loved the thrill of seeing new places and learning new languages but she always felt a little bit lonely. Even though she had her parents, her little sister and the friendly acquaintances that would come and go every time she moved, Emika longed for a friendship that would last more than the few months they stayed in whatever new place they travelled to.

So, after finally getting the courage to ask, her parents agreed. Emika was thrilled, even more so when they revealed that they would be moving back to Japan, the birthplace of not just herself but also her biological parents, long term.

Since that day, almost a week ago, Emika had been practically buzzing with excitement, and at last, the day had arrived. The small family of four grabbed their luggage and said goodbye to their old small apartment home in Berlin for the last time.

"Hurry! Or we'll miss our flight!" her adopted mother, Aika Mei, quipped. Emika giggled as she and her seven-year-old sister, Mizuki, rushed across the pavement toward the taxi that awaited them. She handed her small suitcase and backpack over to her adopted father, Onishi Mei, handing him Mizuki's things as well, after he placed them in the trunk of the taxi next to his and his wife's luggage. Mizuki jumped straight into the middle seat of the taxi next to her (biological) mother.

"Hurry dad! We absolutely cannot miss our flight!" Emika whined. Onishi laughed.

"Don't worry, Emi. We have plenty of time. Buuuut, if you're so concerned, we should start going now," he playfully ushered Emika toward the taxi where Aika and Mizuki were already waiting for them. "Come on, into the car, you rascal" he let her shuffle her way into the left seat, next to her sister, before taking his place in the passenger seat up front. With that, they set off to the airport.

Just over an hour later, they had arrived at the airport, checked in their bags and were now waiting in the not-so-comfy chairs by the entrance to their gate. Mizuki was curled up in her mother's lap, reading a Safari picture book while Emika sat between them and her father fiddling with an etch-a-sketch. After only a few minutes, Emika began to feel restless, uncomfortable and bored out of her mind. "Daaaaad!" she whined. "You got any games?" He pulled a deck of Italian playing cards from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Always," he smirked, taking the cards out of their box and beginning to shuffle them. He dealt out the first hand for a game of Briscola and placed the rest of the deck on the coffee table in front of them. Emika studied her three cards carefully before deciding to play the five of clubs, worth no points but a safe way to start. Onishi followed it with the ace of clubs, snatching up eleven points.

"Ughhhh! Already!" Emika whined before turning to send Aika, who was seated beside her chuckling in amusement, a mock-offended glare. The game continued like this for a while, the back-and-forth banter increasing with each hand played. In the end, Onishi just barely won with sixty-three points to Emika's fifty-seven. Emika immediately challenged him to a rematch which she won by a landslide of ninety-four to twenty-six (she just got lucky, drawing all the aces and most of threes). Aika joined in on their third and final game (teamed with Mizuki, who was eager to join in despite not really knowing how to play yet), which Onishi won, much to Emika's playful annoyance, before they had to board their flight.

As soon as they heard the first boarding announcement, the cards were quickly packed away before grabbing their carry-ons and boarding the plane. Emika had been on enough planes by this point in her life that she was mostly unbothered by the cramped economy seating and loud, vibrating engines. She settled into her seat, her and Mizuki between their parents, grabbing one of her favourite manga series to read for the first few hours of the flight.

Two stop-overs, many manga, and three card games later, Emika and her family arrived in Shizuoka, Japan. As soon as they were allowed, Emika unbuckled her seatbelt and practically dragged an equally excited Mizuki off the plane by the hand, eager to see Japan again.

"Slow down Emi, we still need to grab our bags," Aika chided, guiding the two kids over to the baggage collection area. The impatient eleven-year-old ran straight over to the conveyor-belt, waiting eagerly for suitcases to start travelling towards them. Onishi stood beside her so he could grab their heavier bags as they passed by. As the suitcases passed by, Emi pointed their ones out to her father before he scooped them up, placing them beside him with Aika and Mizuki.

Luggage acquired, the four of them exited the airport and headed to the taxi stand down the road where their ride to their new home in Musutafu was waiting.

The first thing Emika did upon entering the new house was flop on her new bed in her new mostly-furnished room. "If you're not too tired, you should start unpacking some of your things," Aika spoke as she entered the room, placing Emika's two matching mint-green suitcases beside the bed.

"Okay, okay," Emika hauled herself up from her starfish position on the bed.

"You have the next two weeks to settle in before school starts, so if you want to go exploring the city first, let me know and we'll organise something, yeah?"

"OMG, yes please!" Emika smiled at her mother, unpacking her stuff with renewed vigour.

"Oh, that reminds me, we still need to get you and your sister some supplies before you start school. How does this weekend sound?"

"Great!! I can't wait!"

With that, Aika left Emika to finish unpacking her stuff enthusiastically.