First chapter is pretty short and uneventful. Still, hope you enjoy reading it, please review!

CHAPTER ONE - HOME

Mimi stood and stared in awe at the sight before her. When her father had told her that he had bought her a place to live for when she arrived back in Japan, she had expected a small apartment. The house in front of her was big and although it had certain Japanese accents, it looked highly westernised, almost like a slightly smaller version of the house she and her father had lived in back in New York, and she couldn't be quite certain that she had arrived at the right address. Surely not, she thought. Still, she walked up to the door and tried the key she had been given. The door opened and she stepped inside. Her heels clicked on the wood floor and the sound echoed back at her. She spotted a small table behind the door with a lamp and what looked like a letter on it. Mimi tentatively opened the envelope and pulled out a small piece of paper.

Welcome home, princess. I have had several items from NY shipped over to you, like your pink shower curtain, vanity table, the photograph of you and your brother, and a small surprise in the kitchen, to make you feel more at home.

I hope you will be very happy in your new home, and I promise to visit as often as I can.

Your mother would be so proud of you.

Love you always sweetheart,

Daddy.

Mimi smiled sadly. She missed her father already, and she hoped what he had said about her mother being proud of her was true. She had passed away four years previously, and it had been the darkest time in Mimi's life. Her mother had been her mom, sister and best friend, all wrapped up into one amazing person.

Placing the note in the back pocket of her jeans, Mimi suddenly realised that she was alone. For the first time in her life, she had no family around her, no one to look out for her. Her father and younger brother were a gazillion miles away in the States, and now she had to live in this big beautiful house by herself, doing proper grown up things, like chores and paying bills. Her adult life up til now had mostly consisted of college and many photoshoots, travelling around America and building her reputation as a hugely sought-after model, modelling clothes, cosmetics and hair products, always having people bustling around her, fussing over her, never having to do things for herself. She shivered. She had been waiting for the independence she would gain by coming back to Japan with great anticipation, but now she felt like a child in a secluded forest. Lost, lonely, and a little frightened. Attempting to shake off her anxiety, Mimi straightened her posture and decided to go and see what the 'small surprise in the kitchen' was.

She let out a quiet giggle when she stepped into the kitchen. Her 'surprise' consisted of four hot pink barstools around an island. Mimi had spotted them while out shopping with her mother one day and persuaded her to buy six after falling in love with them. Upon seeing the bright pink seats in their otherwise stark, monochrome kitchen, her father had been less than impressed and informed the Tachikawa girls that they were 'outrageous'. Mimi and her mother had agreed wholeheartedly, but maintained that that was the reason they loved them. It was also the reason they stayed right where they were, until now. There was another note on one of the stools. It read:

To remind you of home. I kept two to keep you and your mother close to me always.

She smiled in the realisation that her daddy loved and missed her and her mama very much, no matter how much time he spent away on business trips, no matter how rare it was that they spent any time together. She perched on one of the stools and started to reminisce her childhood and teen years, her eyes brimming with tears of both sadness and happiness as she recalled the memories of the life they had together, Mimi, her wonderful, kind, generous parents, and her brother, who, although he was three years younger, was her protector. She was still deep in thought when a flashing light caught the corner of her eye and snapped her out of it. She walked over to the phone on the kitchen counter. One new voicemail. She pressed a button and listened closely to the fast talking voice.

'Hey Meems, it's me. I know your modelling and travelling and whatever has made it difficult to find time to chat recently, so your dad emailed me with your new address and phone number and since it's been TEN years, we just gotta hang out soon! I'm free this Saturday, so put on your hottest LBD 'cuz we're hitting the town!'

Mimi grinned as she felt her feelings of loneliness fade. Her anxiety and sense of isolation were slowly replaced by the excitement of seeing her childhood friends again.

'Kay, I gotta go, but I'll show you a good time this weekend, promise! Love ya!'

Beeeep.

'Good old Sora,' Mimi whispered through her smile, realising that she might not be alone for long after all.