Chapter 1.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" their mother asked. "We'll be fine, don't worry. And if something happens we can help each other out, right?" she answered, attempting to calm her parents.

After they let go and drove away, Nozomi felt a weight on her shoulders. Her face softened as she noticed her sisters' teary faces. She put her arms around their shoulders and squeezed very hard. "It's gonna be fine! And we finally have the whole house for ourselves!" A light chuckle could be heard on her right. "Yeah!" Rin laughed. Hold on her left tightened. Nozomi looked down and noticed Umi's worried expression. The oldest sibling's eyes watered as she put a kiss on her sisters' foreheads.

Ever since they were little, they've been moving around the whole country, due to their parents work. Children at new school always were trying to befriend them, at first they were open to new relationships. But after a while, they reduced conversations with others to minimum, because they learned that making friends when you know you're going to move next month brings much more pain than joy.

Because of that they've grown closer to each other. As kids, they did everything together, sleeping, playing, even bathing. They still sleep with each other, though not as often as before.

Girls' parents, tired of seeing them sad all the time, decided to let them live alone when Nozomi enters second year in high school. The siblings had conflicted feelings about it. On the bright side they could settle down, find friends, but on the other side… they didn't want to be separated from their parents.

It was hard, but they decided to live alone after all. Their parents bought a small house, perfect for the siblings, furnished it to match kids' tastes, brought all their things and, after some time, finally moved in. The goodbye was hard, but they promised to call as often as they could.

Nozomi was glad she could cheer them up at least a little, she was very sad herself but she had to be there for her sisters. Rin's still in elementary school and she needed lots of Nozomi's help to get used to the new school. Her not-so-good grades are a problem too. Umi can take care of herself, she's used to middle school by now and her marks are even better than Nozomi's. She still needs the older sister's guidance though; blue haired girl is awkward and often comes off as stiff and too serious.

It's not like I'm better than them Nozomi thought. Her grades were always just enough to pass without much work, she was very awkward around others, but her tarot cards have helped her with social situations. People from school wanted her to read their future, about love life or family matters. She always gained some popularity with these readings.

After they calmed down, girls went inside the house. "Do you want dinner?" Nozomi asked, "I'm not really hungry, I'll eat later" Umi said as she went upstairs to her room. It must be hard for her, huh… Everyone has their own ways of coping with sadness. Rin acted like there's nothing wrong, but at night she always came to Nozomi clung to her all night. Nozomi hid all of these feelings to support her little sisters, though she has breakdowns sometimes. Umi isolates herself. Locking herself in her room, lying there in complete darkness. But like Rin, at night she came to purple haired girl's room and slept with her.

I'll bring her some later Nozomi thought as she prepared the meal. "I'll help you!'" Rin offered. An hour later, they sat down to eat. "Umi-chan's not coming down?" the younger girl asked, chewing on her meal. "She's probably sleeping now, so I'll make something for her later" Nozomi stated. Orange haired girl just hummed in response.

The rest of day was calm. Girls unpacked their personal things and began getting ready for the night. Like she expected, Rin and Umi crawled to her bed in the middle of the night and cuddled with her.

The next day girls decided to go shopping. Since school begins in two days, they needed some textbooks and other supplies.

Rin ran around the shop with excitement visible on her face. "Can we get some sweets? This teddy bear is so cute!" She yelled, jumping around her older sisters. "We can get some ice cream on way back, Rin-chan" Nozomi giggled while looking through her shopping list "Umi-chan can you grab some tea?" Umi just nodded and wandered off.

As soon as they returned, Nozomi and Umi began preparing lunch, Rin watching them, sipping on her juice. I'm glad Umi-chan's feeling better now Nozomi thought. While having a meal, the older siblings listened to orange haired girl talking about the new cartoon she discovered.

For the rest of day the sisters just lazed around, watching TV and reading. The next day was busy because the preparations for new school year. Nozomi and Umi were ironing their school uniforms while Rin was checking on her school supplies.

She growled as loud beeps filled her room. It was 6:30am and the first day of new school year. Nozomi lazily crawled out of her bed, drowsily making her way to the bathroom. After showering and doing her morning routine, she went down to the kitchen. The girl put some bread in toaster and went up to wake up the others. As she expected, Umi was already up, putting on her uniform.

Waking Rin up has always been a challenge. She refused to get up and when she did, it took her a very long time to get ready.

Nozomi went over to her and gently shook her. Younger girl just grumbled something and turned to lie on the other side. The older sibling shook her once more, telling her to get up. No response.

A little frustrated, Nozomi roughly took the blankets off and started tickling her. Rin yelled, surprised by this action "Jeez! What are you doing, Nozomi-chan!" Nozomi smiled mischievously "Since you didn't want to wake up the normal way, I had to use some of my spiritual power".

Rin mumbled something in response "Hmm? Do you want more, Rin-chan?" Nozomi giggled, moving her fingers. "I'm up! I'm up!" orange haired girl said as she stormed out to the bathroom.

When she came back to the kitchen, breakfast was ready. Umi was already eating her portion, looking at her phone. "Nervous?" Nozomi asked, startling her slightly "A little" she answered with trembling voice. "Relax, it's gonna be fine, you'll fit right in!"

"But what if they won't like me? Or will think I'm boring?" Umi looked down at her food. "Even if they won't like you, you'll always have us, right?" Nozomi put her hand on top of other's palm. Blue haired girl smiled "Thank you, I feel slightly better now". Rin came down a moment later and they all ate together.

"Are you ready, girls?" Nozomi turned to them with smile on her face. They nodded happily. "Then, let's go!"