Reki and the other Haibane—who are all teenage girls and younger children—live in "Old Home," an abandoned school in the country near the town of Glie. As time passes, Rakka learns more about Old Home and the Haibane who live there; about Glie, in which the townspeople are friendly and generous to the Haibane; and about "Abandoned Factory," where a second co-ed group of Haibane lives. The very young children among the Haibane at both locations live at Old Home and are in the care of Reki and a "house mother" from town.