Kasumi pushed her way through the large crowd at Scramble walkway in downtown Tokyo. Many people gave her odd glances but she paid no mind. Kasumi was a young college Indian woman with long, thin black hair, lovely molten chocolate eyes, short and petite. She was embarrassed by how much she stood out. She pulled out her phone and continued to follow the GPS. She still couldn't believe she got into Tokyo U. Back in India , she and her friend applied, figuring that neither of them would get in. Kasumi came home from her school and saw the thick envelope laying on her counter. That night her and her family went out to celebrate , while her friend, sat home and cried..

Kasumi felt bad that her friend didn't get in, but she was also annoyed by how petty the former was being. 'No time to care I gotta get to the dorm.

She took a train and after a long ride, she finally made it. She checked in and hauled her luggage to the room. It was at the far end of the hallway all on its own. She learned she would be bordering on her own and she was glad. She was too shy to make friends. She spent several hours putting all her things in place. It began a steady rain outside . She began to dose while lying in bed. She didn't start school until the day after tomorrow , so she'd just explore Tokyo.

The next day she immediately went out. She rushed over to the Akihabara district and found the store "Animate". She gushed at the countless figures and manga volumes. She had always had money. Her parents owned and ran a high class hotel for tourists in the ritzy neighbourhood. She got to go to a good private school her whole life and never had to worry. She bought 30 volumes of a shoujo series and decided to head back to her dorm to drop it all off.

Sitting on the train, minding her own business, a homeless man approched her. He smelled horrible and was covered in filth. Kasumi covered her nose and glared at him. "please , may I have money?" he asked in a raspy voice. Kasumi became even angry. 'I thought Japan was better than this? Why are there homeless people ? This is reminding me too much of home right now' she thought and remembered the poor areas surrounding her hometown and how the people would sit in their own filth beging for handouts. Though her father inherited the hotel from his father , at least her grandparents got off their ass and built the hotel. They weren't homeless but they still worked for something. "I have no money for you!" Kasumi snapped irradiated. The man kept asking. "here!" kasumi handed him a bill. "but….this isn't Yen…?" the man said violently. Kasumi showed equal anger. "you want me to exchange it for you too?" of course whenever kasumi does something nice people still have problems .

Her parents were like that too. No matter what she did they always had a problem. They were fairly verbally abusive sometimes , but she forgave them. The homeless man grabbed her and began yelling at her. "let go of her!" came a calm but stern voice. Kasumi looked to her left and saw a beautiful young Japanese man. His hair was short and black and he had kind brown eyes. The homeless man left to the next cart.

"thank you so much" kasumi sighed in relief. "no problem. My name is Honda, Kiku." He said with a warm smile. Kasumi bowed and stated her name. "where are you from?" he asked looking too interested. Kasumi blushed and told him "India". "your Japanese is very good. How long have you been speaking it?". "it's not that good. I think I sound terrible. I've only been learning for a few months." Kasumi sighed . "but you sound great and you must be really smart to go to Tokyo U. Don't be overly modest" he smiled. Kasumi blushed again and asked Kiku where he was from. "I am Japan." He stated matter of fact. Kasumi laughed and said "no. Where are you FROM?" "I AM the country japan. These are all my people. I am the physical embodiment of this land, this perfect island.". Kasumi didn't know why, but a wave of truth washed over her and she felt like he was truly telling the truth. "…..how?" she asked after a pause. He sighed and said "that's just how it is. Every country has a physical embodiment. We walk amongst our people everyday. Ever since the beginning. Do you believe me?". Kasumi paused to think again. "well . ..I don't know why….but I DO believe you." "you really are the chosen one." Kiku said, awed. Kasumi stared at him confused. Kiku back tracked, "the great tree said that a new country was living amongst the humans and would developed into a new country once it reached age 20. It would be a heavy influence of Indian and Japanese culture. You are from India and you were meant to come to my home.". Kasumi stood up irrated. "first off, I'm not 20! I'm 18! Second, I'm willing to believe in countries being physical entities, but a prophecy ? ? That's just stupid. You're as crazy as that dumb homeless shlub. This is my stop."

Kasumi stomped onto the platform and ran for the school. She looked crazy running to the dorms but she slammed her door and plopped all the manga on the floor. She sat on her bed, trying to catch her breath. 'what was THAT about?' she thought. She took a shower to get her mind off of everything. When she was done she got on her laptop and saw she got an email from her friend, Pooja, the one that didn't make it to Tokyo U. She talked about how she got into a nice college in Canada. Kasumi rolled her a 20 something white person learns, an Asian learned at 5. Kasumi sent a reply with fake enthusiasm and told her congrats. She shut down the computer and thought of kiku. Was he mad at her? Is she really chose to be a special country? She shut out those thoughts and went to sleep. Tomorrow would be her first day of Japanese college.