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Subject: Placement Opportunity – Kaito Renjiro Takahashi (Profile Attached)
From: Sandra Marquez [email protected]
To: Victor Nikiforov & Yuuri Katsuki [email protected], [email protected]
Date: March 24, 2025
Dear Victor and Yuuri,
Thank you again for taking the time to speak with me last week. After our conversation—and after reviewing your home study and caregiver strengths—I truly believe there is a young child who may be a wonderful match for your family.
Attached, you’ll find the confidential placement profile for Kaito Renjiro Takahashi , who goes by Ren .
Ren is a gentle, highly observant six-year-old currently residing at Maplewood Children’s Group Home under temporary long-term pod care. While his early life has been marked by instability, he has shown remarkable resilience and sensitivity. He responds to calm environments, soft voices, and emotionally attuned adults. He is artistic, quietly funny, and deeply kind when he feels safe.
He’s also a little boy who loves to draw, clouds, and miso soup.
Once, he told me, “If you love someone, they should know you’re not leaving.”
That’s what safety means to him.
He’s not looking for perfection—just presence.
And from everything I’ve seen in you both… I believe you can give him that.
Please take your time reviewing the profile. If you would like to proceed, I would be happy to schedule an introductory visit for next weekend at Maplewood. Ren does best in familiar spaces, so we’ll meet in the playroom , where he spends most of his afternoons drawing or quietly observing circle time.
Let me know if you have any questions. I’m here for all of it—the logistics, the nerves, the heart stuff.
Warmly,
Sandra Marquez, MSW
Family Services – Toronto Region
T: 416-555-0197
E: [email protected]
Attachment: “Placement_Profile_KaitoRenjiroTakahashi.pdf”
*clicks attachment*
📄 CONFIDENTIAL PLACEMENT PROFILE
Prepared By: Sandra Marquez, MSW – Family Services Worker
For Review By: Katsuki-Nikiforov Household
Date: March 24, 2025 (updated)
👤 Child Information
Legal Name: Kaito Renjiro Takahashi
Preferred Name: Ren
Date of Birth: August 20, 2018
Age: 6 years old
Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario
Citizenship: Canadian
Cultural Background: East Asia (Japanese)
Suspected Heritage: Possibly mixed-race (Japanese/Caucasian – paternal identity unconfirmed)
🧠 Developmental & Family History
Ren was born to Sayaka Takahashi , a single Japanese mother living with untreated bipolar II and anxiety. He experienced frequent disruptions in care between ages 2–5. In October 2023 , Sayaka voluntarily surrendered her rights following psychiatric hospitalization.
Ren’s father is unknown.
🏡 Placement History (All Verified)
1️⃣ Miss Abel (October 2023)
- Condo placement. Caregiver’s boyfriend was rough and loud.
- Incident where Ren was carried "like a football" caused major distress.
- Placement ended after 11 days.
2️⃣ Vasile Family (late October – early November 2023)
- Busy household with older foster children.
- Ren emotionally shut down.
- Disrupted after 2 weeks.
3️⃣ Maplewood Receiving Group Home (Nov 2023 – Aug 2024)
- Emergency placement; rotating staff, shared rooms.
- Ren showed high distress but eventually adapted to solitude.
- Often spent hours alone with Kumo (white seal plush).
- Night terrors began. Staff described him as “quiet and ghost-like.”
- Sandra’s visits increased.
4️⃣ Maplewood Children’s Centre – Long-Term Pod (Aug 2024 – Present)
- Transferred to quieter, child-centered care wing.
- Assigned volunteer caregiver: Mrs. Liu
- Stabilized significantly: increased verbalization, drawing, interest in music and languages
- Spent 6th birthday in this unit. Received a cupcake, but refused to eat it.
- Formed trusting bonds with Sandra and Mrs. Liu. Playroom became safe space.
Worker’s Note:
“This is where he learned that not everyone leaves.”
🩺 Health & Medical Summary
- Mild, seasonal asthma (uses inhaler occasionally)
- No allergies
- Night terrors (decreasing since Jan 2025)
- No developmental delays
- Sensory: sensitive to sound, sudden touch
- Vision/hearing tested: normal range
🧠 Cognitive & Social Development
- Above-average vocabulary and reading skills
- Advanced emotional observation
-
Demonstrates strong language acquisition skills; easily repeats and retains new words in multiple languages.
- Communicates through metaphor and art
- Struggles with eye contact and self-advocacy under stress
- Engages more with gentle, 1-on-1 adult attention
🧸 Personality & Preferences
- Soft-spoken, watchful, deeply kind
- Loves animals, especially seals and dogs
- Favorite items:
- Kumo – white seal plush
- Cloud-pattern blanket
- Favorite colors: Yellow and soft blue
- Favorite activities: Drawing, baking, cloud-gazing
- Favorite foods: Miso soup, tofu, noodles, honey bread, butter and pasta
- Recently fascinated by clouds, stars and the sky
🧾 Emotional Needs & Support Plan
- Needs permission-based physical contact
- Prefers gentle tones, patient guidance
- Comforted by routine, quiet repetition, and soft sensory textures
- Opens up best through drawing or quiet play
- Strong emotional response to music, warm food, and kindness shown to animals
💌 Worker’s Recommendation
Ren is ready for permanent placement. He requires emotionally attuned caregivers who offer calm consistency, safety, and open-heartedness. The Katsuki-Nikiforov household demonstrates all key factors needed to support Ren’s long-term healing and growth.
“He doesn’t need to be rescued. He just needs someone to stay.”
Sandra set the manila folder on the small table and looked up at them with warm, steady eyes.
“I know you’ve read the profile,” she said, voice soft but sure, “but I want you to hear this from someone who’s known him longer than a page.”
Yuuri nodded, hands folded in his lap. Victor leaned forward slightly, listening with his whole body.
“Ren is six. He’s been in the system for two years—after three temporary placements, he was brought back into our direct care. He’s been here with us in the long-term pod for the past eight months.”
She paused. “It’s been the most stable care he’s had. We’ve done a lot to help him feel safe again.”
Victor’s throat tightened. “Has he had... any recent placement attempts?”
Sandra shook her head. “Not recently, but in his files, his placements bore no successful matches.”
Yuuri frowned slightly. “Why?”
“Because Ren doesn’t fit the picture some people come in with,” she said gently. “He doesn’t smile on command. Doesn’t chat with strangers. Doesn’t call people ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ by day two.”
Her tone didn’t carry judgment—just truth.
“He’s creative. Loves to draw. Folds paper when he’s nervous. Doesn’t like loud voices or sudden movements. But he’s gentle. So gentle.”
She looked between them again. “You don’t need to win him over. Just be still. Be present. Let him lead.”
Victor reached over and took Yuuri’s hand. “We understand.”
Sandra’s voice softened. “Alright then. He’s waiting.”
[The playroom]
The room smelled like hand sanitizer and crayons.
Yuuri sat with his hands clasped between his knees, suit jacket buttoned too tightly over his chest. Victor was beside him, fidgeting with the edge of his coat sleeve.
Down the hallway, a paper sun peeled slightly from the wall.
The door to the playroom creaked open.
The first thing they saw was a soft blue carpet.
Then a low table scattered with blocks.
A shelf with puzzles.
And in the corner—
A little boy.
He sat cross-legged on a beanbag, small hands tucked into the sleeves of a pale yellow hoodie. His dark hair was longer than in the profile photo. His shoes were too big. There was a folded piece of paper in his lap—creased, refolded, loved.
He looked up when the door opened.
No expression. No alarm. Just... waiting.
Victor blinked. Yuuri didn’t breathe.
The boy’s fingers curled tighter around the paper star.
Sandra crouched beside him gently. “Ren? These are the visitors we talked about.”
He didn’t speak.
Victor knelt down slowly, careful not to startle him. “Hi, sweetheart. I’m Victor.”
Yuuri joined him. “And I’m Yuuri. It’s... really nice to meet you.”
Ren didn’t reply. But he didn’t look away.
Victor smiled softly. “Is that your star?”
Still no answer. But Ren’s fingers loosened.
Yuuri reached into his coat pocket and pulled out something he’d made that morning—another folded paper star. Clumsy. Slightly wrinkled.
He held it out.
Ren stared.
Then—carefully, slowly—he reached out and tapped it. Just once. Like checking if it was real.
Victor’s voice was soft. “We saw a picture of you holding a star once. That’s how we found you.”
Ren looked up at that.
Just for a second. Then he looked back down.
Yuuri didn’t move, just said, “Would it be okay if we sat with you for a while?”
Ren gave the smallest nod.
They sat on the carpet, knees bent, hearts thudding.
Victor noticed it then—how Ren’s hand mirrored his own, tugging the sleeve down over his palm, like a quiet echo.
Yuuri shifted slightly to take off his coat, and Ren’s eyes flicked to the door.
Not scared. Just… watching. Like he was used to things ending.
“This place has lots of toys,” Victor offered gently. “Do you have a favorite?”
Ren’s hand twitched toward the floor.
He pulled out a small, well-loved plush seal. One flipper was bent at an odd angle. He placed it on the floor between them like an offering.
Yuuri’s heart cracked clean open.
Victor, with all the reverence of someone handed a sacred object, said, “What’s their name?”
Ren hesitated. Then whispered,
“Kumo.”
Yuuri smiled. “Cloud?”
Ren nodded.
Victor’s eyes were already shimmering. “That’s a perfect name.”
They stayed like that for twenty minutes.
Sometimes they talked. Mostly they just sat. Ren said maybe five words. Victor said too many. Yuuri kept holding that little star like it meant something holy.
At one point, Ren reached forward and carefully placed his star beside Yuuri’s.
Yuuri swallowed hard.
Victor’s hand was shaking.
Victor picked up Kumo carefully and tilted him toward his own ear. “What’s that, Kumo?” he whispered. “You think Ren is very brave? I agree.”
Ren blinked. And for the briefest second… the corner of his mouth twitched.
Not a smile. But maybe the ghost of one.
Yuuri looked at the boy—small, quiet, whole—and thought:
He’s not ready to be held.
But he’s letting us stay.
And that, in itself, felt like a miracle.
Yuuri reached toward the floor and pointed at the two stars sitting side by side.
“Do you know how to say ‘star’ in Japanese?” he asked gently.
Ren blinked.
Yuuri smiled softly. “ Hoshi. ”
Victor added, “In Russian, it’s zvezda. ”
Ren looked between them. Eyes wide. Listening.
Then, barely above a whisper—he repeated, “...hoshi.”
Victor’s breath hitched.
Yuuri just about melted into the carpet.
Ren’s fingers brushed both stars at once. His voice came even softer this time. “...Zvezda.”
Victor laughed—wet, quiet. “He’s a genius. Obviously.”
Sandra peeked in quietly. “You doing okay in here?”
Ren didn’t look up, but after a moment, he whispered something.
Victor leaned closer. “What was that, Ren?”
Ren’s fingers curled into his sleeves, taps the stars. “...Twinkle.”
Yuuri blinked. “Like the song?”
Ren nodded. Voice barely audible.
“Twinkle... twinkle...”
Victor was already crying.
Later, in Victor's journal:
“He didn’t smile. Not yet.
But he placed his star next to ours.
And I think that’s what love looks like when it’s still learning the words.”
“His name is Ren.
He’s soft-spoken. He folds paper when he’s nervous.
He carries a toy seal named Kumo.”
Cloud, in Japanese. It suits him.
“And I think he’s the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
Yuuri held it together until we got in the car.
And then we cried together.
Quietly.
The kind of crying that comes when something important starts.
I told him, “I think he’s already ours.”
He whispered, “I hope so. I really do.”
Later that night - Ren's POV
He doesn’t know how long he sits in the playroom after they leave.
Kumo is curled up beside his sketchpad, one flipper flopped over the corner of the page like he’s keeping it warm. The room is dim now—just the soft glow from the nightlight in the corner, shaped like a little moon.
He’s the only one left.
Mrs. Liu knocks gently on the doorframe before stepping in. “Hey, sweetheart. It’s dinner time.”
Ren shakes his head. “Not hungry.”
She nods, like she understands. “Okay. Do you want to bring your sketchbook upstairs?”
He nods again, just once.
Mrs. Liu peeks at the page. Kumo. Two stars. A small figure in a hoodie. She doesn’t say anything, but her smile is soft.
“Did they seem nice?” she asks.
Ren shrugs.
“Did you feel safe?”
A pause. Then—another small nod.
She rests her hand lightly on his back. “It’s okay if you’re not sure yet.”
Ren looks down at the page again. Slowly, carefully, he presses the pencil to the paper and writes a single word beneath his drawing:
maybe.
Mrs. Liu helps him gather his things—sketchpad, pencil, Kumo. As they leave, she glances back at the table and quietly gathers the two paper stars.
Ren doesn’t say anything.
But he notices.
He carries everything carefully, like it might fall apart if held too tight.
As they leave the room, he glances back once.
The paper stars are gone.
But he remembers them.
He remembers the one with silver hair who talked a lot—
but not loud.
That surprised Ren.
And the one with soft eyes.
The one who looked a little like him.
Neither of them left until he was ready.
—
Upstairs, in his bed, Ren pulls the blanket up to his chin and places Kumo beside him.
Mrs. Liu tucks the sketchbook into the bin at the foot of the bed.
But Ren keeps the pencil on the nightstand.
He might draw more tomorrow.
He closes his eyes, and remembers.
The silver-haired one talked a lot.
But not in a way that hurt.
The other one listened—really listened.
And… he kind of looked like Ren.
That still surprised him.
He thinks about their stars.
And the one he drew last.
A third star—tiny, off to the side.
Just in case.