Of Roses and Tea

Chapter One - Back to Japan?

"It's been decided."

My shoulders were sore from hunching over my desk, one arm numb from propping my head up for so long. The books strewn across my best had no order to them and by this point I didn't really care. I'd finished just about all my homework for the day, along with a couple of assignments due in the next couple of weeks.

"Hiromi-tan! Listen when I'm talking to you!"

I tilted my head up, staring blankly at the older woman standing in my doorway. Eriko Aonozuka stood with her hand still tightly gripping the doorknob and a cheerful expression on her pretty face. It was a wonder people didn't mistake her for my older sister. Eriko had the face of a model and the attention span of a three year old.

I let out a long sigh, "Sorry, Okaa-san. It wasn't my intention to ignore you."

"Yes it was, but that's okay! I come bearing good news!"

Oh good lord, what it could it possibly be this time? Last time 'good news' meant a trip to England and the time before that was my grandmother coming to visit. Said visit ended up stretching out to be a yearlong stay. Do you have any idea how hard it is to constantly be smiling around Natsuko Hill? Very hard.

"What's the good news, Okaa-san?" I asked, humouring her.

"I just made an amazing alignment with one of our competitors in Japan!"

I leaned back in my chair, the plush padding cushioning my sore shoulder blades as I pressed into it. Eriko had a look on her face, one that practically screamed 'run-away!', but I never seemed to heed that warning for some reason. Maybe I was a bit of a masochist. I watched her practically skip into my room, her eyes gleaming with something that promised pain and torment for me.

"You know our family is closely related to the Haninozuka Clan, correct?"

"Okaa-san, 'closely related' is a very poor way of saying cousins."

Eriko waved my comment off, her graceful walk bringing her to stop right in front of my desk.

"Closely related, cousins, extended family, it's all the same," she said. "Back to the point of my coming into your lair –"

"Pranced in, actually."

"The point," she repeated, narrowing her eyes at me. "Is that we've been invited to go back to Japan and stay with them."

The gleam in her eyes seemed even more threatening than the mischievous look on her face. That little voice in my head that had been screaming at me to run away, now while I still had the chance, was suddenly ten times louder. Obviously there was more to this story than what Eriko had told me so far. Never one to completely ignore my instincts, I glanced around the room in search of an escape route.

There was always the door. Eriko had moved far enough away from it that I could easily slip through and out to safety. Or there was the window behind me where I could feel a soft breeze dancing its way through. It was a two story jump, but one that I wasn't keen on taking. I didn't really feel like spending months with casts on my arms and legs.

I glanced back at the door again, noting the distance between the edge of my desk and where Eriko was standing.

No, there wasn't enough space for me to avoid her arms.

"What else is there?" I asked slowly. A menacing grin spread across the woman's lips and I swallowed nervously. "O-Okaa-san?"

"We'll be staying with your uncle while you..." She leaned down towards me, her eyes gleaming in the low light. "Get close to your new fiancé."

Oh, right.

Fiancé.

Wait, what?!

My eyes widened and I stood, my chair hitting the wall behind me and I stared at Eriko. I'm sure the horror I was feeling was pretty much written on my face as I stared at the woman who gave birth to me. My mind was blank. Only the word fiancé echoing around in my skull.

"Oh! I surprised Hiromi-tan! I surprised Hiromi-tan!" She sang and spun in a quick circle, laughing merrily while her long skirt twirled around with her.

"You're joking, right?!"

Eriko stopped spinning, the wide and menacing grin still in place. "I'm completely serious, Hiromi! It's about time we got you a man and Lord knows that you're never going to find one with that air of perfection you put on. It scares boys away."

"No, you're joking. This is just another evil plot of yours to get me into Japanese culture."

"Oh no, Hiromi-tan, this is nothing of the sort. Both your father and I feel that it's time for you to grow up and leave behind this fantasy of yours that you will never be married."

I fell back into my chair without another word. If Eiji Aonozuka was being brought into the conversation then I knew that Eriko wasn't joking. She was really sending me back to Japan. I leaned my head back into the cushions of my desk chair and stared up at the ceiling.

Ignoring my slightly melodramatic reaction, Eriko continued ploughing through. "It's been years since you've been in Japan, and even longer since you've seen your cousins. I hear both are growing up to be fine young men. Mitsukuni is on his way to graduating, you'll be there for his last year! And Yasuchika will be going into high school next year, isn't that great? You'll be there for both!"

It wasn't that I disliked my cousins. Not at all, actually. But the last time I'd seen the two boys they'd been so... Intense. It felt like both were drawing away from me and more towards their martial arts. It sucked. Especially since they were the only kids I'd been close too while growing up.

"It's all in the name of fashion!"

My head snapped down, wide eyes taking in Eriko again. She must have been talking more and I'd probably blocked her out.

Nothing new there.

"Fashion," I repeated dully.

She nodded erratically. "You remember our long time rivalry with Yuzuha Hitachiin?" she asked, probably knowing that I'd been ignoring her the first time.

"You mean your long time rivalry with Yuzaha-san."

"Yes, yes. Anyway, the two of us have decided to align our companies."

There was a long pause and I cringed. There was a mischievous aura radiating from Eriko again and I had an intensely bad feeling that this 'alignment' with the Hitachiin Company would involve me.

"We're arranging you and Yuzahas' youngest son to be married."

I leaned forward, pressing my cool fingers against my eyelids. My sharp elbows dug into the muscle of my thighs, not that I was really caring at this point. What were a few bruises compared to my future being ripped away?

"And you did all of this without talking to me about it," I mumbled.

"Speak up, Hiromi-tan. I can't understand you when you're talking so quietly."

"Okaa-san, you can't just talk about my future with a complete stranger without talking to me first."

Eriko's grin shifted into a childish pout, "I thought you'd be pleased Hiromi-tan. You'd be the perfect model for both of our clothing lines."

"Is that all you think about?" I sighed.

"Of course! You're such a pretty girl!"

I pushed my fingers through my hair, sitting up straight again and staring at Eriko. "Otou-san approved of this? Are you sure?"

"Hiromi-tan, does this face lie?" She pointed up at herself, her pout turning into a stern look that didn't suit her at all.

I shrugged. "I was just asking. I know you have a tendency to go behind Otou-sans' back with these things."

The only response I got was a girly giggle from the elder woman.

"So, when are we leaving?"

Eriko squealed, stretching her arms out and twirling. Once she finished her strange little celebration she took a pen from my desk and went over to my calendar. Uncapping the pen, Eriko circled a specific number on the May page in the blue ink.

She capped the pen again and nodded, her smile returning full force. "May fifteenth, you'd better be ready Hiromi-tan!"

Some good news...

Hello there all you lovely ladies and gents who've stumbled across my story.

It's a pleasure to meet you :)

I'm hoping that by this point you're still reading because you've enjoyed this first chapter. Yes? Good! Then maybe you'd be so helpful as to review? Tell me what you think? Tell me what you think needs editing? What you think of Hiromi and Eriko so far?

Well, I'd be very, very happy if you do decide to review or even follow the story. Both would make me smile and type a little faster.

So, I shall see you all in the next chapter!

Sayonara my sweets!