An unfamiliar girl stood in the middle of Seigaku's entrance, staring at the school building. Class didn't start for another hour, but students were already coming in, either for morning club activities or to socialize with friends. Many of those students noticed the girl immediately. They have never seen her before, yet she was in their school uniform, so she must be a new student. Some gave her welcoming smiles and some whispered among their friends, wondering what year and class she's in. The girl smiled a bit to herself as they walked past her, deciding the new atmosphere wasn't too bad. Her smile was replaced with a pout when a gust of wind blew her dark, messy bangs into her eyes. It subsided as soon as it came, and once her vision was back, an amused grin crept onto her face.

"Time to explore," she hummed, her dark hair danced behind her as she walked.

She decided to look around inside, and save exploring the outside facilities for later. It would be better to know where her classes and other important rooms are first. During her exploration, she caused many stares again. News about a new student was already circulating, and her presence confirmed it. She didn't mind the stares or whispers. The students weren't rude about it. They were just curious.

Other than sliding doors, she didn't find her new school that much different from her previous one. People acted the same and talked about the same things. They just said everything in Japanese instead of English. One thing she did find weird, was a boy in the hall she was slowly approaching. Even from afar, she could make out his hairstyle. His hair was dark and short, and it was similar to the shape of an egg. The part that made it weird was the two pieces of hair sticking down on his forehead.

"Is this some kind of new style trending in Japan?" She thought to herself. She didn't even realize she was staring until the boy stare back at her, breaking away from the conversation he was having with another guy; a brunette with glasses and a calm, stoic expression. He, too, looked at her when he noticed his friend stopped paying attention to him.

The closer she got to the pair, the more awkward it got, so the girl decided to take the stairs to end the 2v1 staring contest. "Hey Tezuka, doesn't she look like…?" Oishi began once the girl left his sight. Tezuka responded with a nod. A moment of silence passed by for them to wonder, and then they continued their conversation.

After bolting up the stairs and turning a corner, she nearly walked into an upperclassman whose eyes were completely hidden under his glasses.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized while taking a step back.

He held his hand up to signify that is was alright. "So, you're the new student everyone's been talking about." She nodded as he opened a notebook in his hand and held a pen in the other. "Your name, please"

"…Kinomi," the girl pronounced her given name slowly. Kinomi's head tilted to the side with her face twisted in confusion, wondering why this guy was writing it down.

"Ah! Inui!" A redhead appeared next to the guy called Inui, and pointed at him accusingly. "You're already taking data on the new student? You're going to scare her away!"

The redhead boy kept ranting while Inui kept writing and mumbling about it's his job to have information on everyone, and Kinomi was just staring at them with an amused smile, her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels slightly.

"At this point, you're both going to scare her away," a new voice chuckled. A boy with light brown hair and a closed-eye smile joined them. At his comment, the other 2 boys peered down at her.

"Nya, Fujiko-chan, she doesn't look scared at all!" The redhead took a step closer and bent over to get a closer look at Kinomi, while she continued staring with her big hazel eyes. Their staring contest lasted about 5 seconds, before the redhead beamed and squished her cheeks together with his hands. "I'm Kikumaru Eiji! You already met Inui, and this is Fuji!" They all gave their small greetings when Eiji introduced them, and he continued on, "Your name's Kinomi right? Can we know your given name, too?" He let go of her face by then so she could answer.

"My given name?" she wondered, and then she realized her mistake. "Kinomi's my given name," she rubbed the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. "I'm from the U.S so I'm used to being called by first name."

Before the group could ask for her family name, the bell rang and she was off to her first class with a wave goodbye.

"I didn't even get to ask what year she's in," Eiji pouted, turning back to his friends.

"You know," Fuji began. "She looks familiar."

Eiji tilted his head, "Hm? But she's a new student, and from America too. There's no way you could've met her before."

"It's the same for me. I feel like I've seen her face somewhere," Inui closed his notebook.

They shrugged it off and headed to their own classes.

Kinomi stood at the front of class 2-8, playing with the tips of her long, layered hair while her new classmates settle into their seats. Once everyone was in the room, the teacher closed the door and asked her to introduce herself. She gave a bright smile for a good first impression before writing her name on the chalkboard, and turned back to her classmates when she was done.

"My name is Echizen Kinomi," she announced, being careful to say her family name before her given name this time. "I'm from the U.S, but I came to Japan recently to stay with my family. Um…" she poked her chin in thought, not knowing what else she could say about herself.

Students began asking questions, which led to them shouting over each other to be heard. After answering as many as she could, the teacher hushed them and she was then seated between a boy and the window that revealed the hallway.

While the teacher began his daily lecture, she propped open the textbook in front of her as if she was following along, and then let her mind wander. "It's not like teachers will call on the new student anyways," she snickered in her head.

"Psst! Hey!" The boy on he left whispered to her. "Are you a relative of Echizen Ryoma?"

She shook her head no and turned back around. Not long after, she began hearing soft chewing sounds and turned to the source of it. The boy who asked her about Echizen Ryoma had his book in front of his face like she did, and on his desk was a bento box which he was rapidly stuffing his face in. It seemed Kinomi wasn't the only one who heard him. The teacher slammed his own book down and called out to him, "Oi, Momoshiro! Are you eating in class AGAIN?"

The boy called Momoshiro looked up sheepishly with food stuck to his face. "Haha sorry, but I'm a growing boy! And lunch isn't for another 4 hours!"

"You can wait like everyone else!" The teacher turned back to the board while Momoshiro wiped his face and grinned like he wasn't scolded only 2 seconds ago.

Needless to say, Kinomi found her first day interesting. She still wanted to see what clubs the school had, but she found herself extremely tired by the end of the day. The jetlag was finally catching up to her. Even the walk home was tiresome. As soon as she slid the door opened, she kicked off her shoes and curled up on the floor for a nap.

"Ah, I'm glad we don't have practice today!" Momoshiro cheered, unlocking his bike from the school rack. "Hey, Echizen. Wanna go grab some burgers?" He turned to look at his friend, who only looked back with a blank stare.

"Eh? Momo-senpai's always hungry," he stated.

"What? No, I'm not!"

"I heard you got caught eating during class again," Ryoma smirked.

"Tch, you're such a brat. You should respect your senpai more." Momo grabbed his bike and the pair started making their way home. "Speaking of class, there's a new student in mine. I thought she might've been related to you because you had the same name, but she said didn't know who you were when I asked."

Ryoma looked up disinterested, "You know more than one family can have the same name, right?"

"I know, I know, but I really thought you were relatives! She even moved here from America, too."

The two split off in separate directions at a certain street and Ryoma began to make out his home in the distance. As he got closer, he made an annoyed face. "Who left the gate open?"

He closed it properly behind him, unlike the last person, and slid the front door open. "I'm hom-" he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed a girl lying on the floor in front of his feet.

"Welcome home, Ryoma-san," his cousin Nanako came down the stairs with a smile. She noticed his gaze and motioned for him to follow her to the kitchen. "She passed out the moment she walked in, but I didn't want to wake her because she seemed so peaceful. Just let her sleep until dinner."

Ryoma grabbed a Ponta out of the fridge and took a long sip before replying, "But what is she doing here? She's supposed to be in America."

"I don't know all the details, so you'll have to ask her yourself." Nanako then sighed, "I told her to wait a few days to get use to the time zone, but she was persistent in going to school today. If you don't mind, can you move the rest of the boxes to her room? I have to start preparing dinner since oba-san is working late."

Ryoma began moving the boxes from the living room to Kinomi's bedroom like he was asked. Every time he came downstairs for another box, he glanced at his older sister for a few seconds. She looked calm while sleeping, which is a change from her energetic self he remembered. When the family decided to move to Japan 3 years ago, Kinomi refused to leave and stayed in America. She was too young to live by herself, so she moved in with their older brother, Ryoga. After being so reluctant to leave her hometown, Ryoma wondered what made Kinomi change her mind and come to Japan.

Why hello there my little lovelies~

This will now be in Kinomi's point of view

I felt something warm wrapped around my arm and shook me gently. "Ugh no… Ryoga-nii, five more minutes…"

Whoever was trying to get me up, huffed, "I'm not Ryoga, and you have to start sleeping at the right time if you want to get over your jetlag. C'mon, it's time for dinner."

I slowly picked myself up to a standing position and immediately grinned when I saw who woke me up. "Ah, if it isn't my cute little brother," I pulled him into a headlock and ruffled his hair. "It's been a few years. You're almost my height now," I teased.

He struggled in protest before I loosened my grip. "Nee-san, what are you doing in Japan?" Ryoma fixed his hair back, though it didn't look any different to me.

"Your expression looks the same as ever, Ryoma," I commented. "Aren't you glad to see me at all?"

He scowled, "You didn't answer my question."

"Neither did you, you little brat," I crossed my arms, and stuck my tongue at him in a manner that would have people guessing who was the older sibling. "It started getting complicated living with Ryoga-nii. He was always gone and I felt kind of lonely. You know I don't like being by myself for too long."

He settled for that answer and his expressions softened a bit. He'll never admit it, but I know that little punk missed me. We headed to the kitchen where the other three were waiting. Lots of hugs and questions from my cousin and mom, and my dad… well, he hasn't changed at all. He kept accusing me of coming to Japan to have a love affair or something, while looking at his pin-up magazine behind his newspaper at the same time. I glared and swiped the magazine from him and whacked him over the head with it.

"You haven't changed at all, you lecherous old man!"

"Ow! Who taught you to speak to your father that way?"

"You deserved that," Ryoma mumbled in between bites of his food.

"Who the hell raised you kids?!"

"Stop sulking, Ryoma."

My little brother pouted stubbornly, "Why did you make me come out here with you?" He leaned back on the deck of our back porch, using his arms to support himself. His face showed nothing less of complete boredom.

"Because the moon looks so pretty tonight," I sighed happily. Unlike him, I was lying in the grass happily and twirling my hair with my fingers. "I didn't get to do this often when I was in the apartment with Ryoga. I'd have to go all the way to the rooftop and it was constantly noisy. Besides," I rolled over on my stomach and grinned at him, "We need some sibling bonding time."

He sighed. "If you want, I can show you around the city this weekend."

"I'd like that!" I kicked my legs back and forth from excitement. "You can actually be nice sometimes, ototo-chan."

He scowled at the name.

Why hello there. If you would be so kind to read this, I'd appreciate it :)

I'm really excited to get going on this story and I hope I didn't miss any errors/typos on this first chapter. Working with OCs is what I do because I want to see how characters will adapt to them, and as always, I do my best to make sure they don't end up Mary-Sue-ish.

So Echizen Kinomi is my new test subject ;) This first chapter is to introduce her and let you see a glimpse of her personality, but not everything just yet. She's Ryoma's older sister (by a year) and despite her teasing sometimes, she cares for him and the rest of the family, too. I want to see what you think of her interaction with him so far.

Like most writers, I would be very happy if you took the time to give feedback/review and let me know what you think of it so far. Meanwhile, I'll start working on the second chapter :)