Miyuki- Noon, Airport
This was my first time back in Japan for the last five years. My parents decided to send me over to America when I was seven, judging from my poor grades and the miserable times I had, back in elementary school. A couple years back, America seemed like it was so far away. Everyday I spent there for the first few weeks made me drift further and further away from Japan, breaking the connections between me and my family. I had the thoughts that my parents were trying to get rid of me, since I was the only one who couldn't get straight A's. Well it wasn't my fault that my older siblings Yuuta, Syuusuke and Yumiko were prodigies at their own aspect. Although Yuuta and I share a similarity and we're pretty close. Moving to America had been the perfect escape for me.
I looked out of the window from my seat. So this is Japan huh? I was so used to America, that I'd totally forgotten how it felt like in Japan. I was pretty much the last passenger on board, taking one last deep breath on the plane, seemed to cut off the strings that tied me to America, and releasing me to Japan. I grabbed my backpack and tennis bag, and headed off to the door connecting Japan to America.
I walked out to the huge terminal, where all the check-in counters were. Looking around frantically in search of my family, I was engulfed by the tidal wave of other passengers. I stood up again, brushing the dust off my jeans, then tugging my scarf for reassurance, I headed off to look for my targets. I was pretty sure they were here somewhere, maybe they'd forgotten about my arrival date. If that was so, I'd just have to take the train home myself right? I decided to wait a little longer. Stopping in front of the vending machines to buy a can of grape soda, just in case someone did actually remember me and bothered to come pick me up.
Syuusuke- Noon, Airport
Yuuta was tugging onto the shirt I was wearing. He ran off dragging me behind, yelling at me,
"For god's sake, what took you guys so long?"
"Sorry, Mom and Yumiko wanted a toilet break, so we had to wait for them at home." I apologized, though it didn't have much effect at all. Yuuta came over himself, from his boarding school. I bet he came extra early, he and Miyuki were really close, closer to her more than to me.
"Relax, she wouldn't go running around like some baby anymore. Let's just see if her flight has landed yet, then we can go look for her." I tried to calm him down by a suggestion. He raced over to the airplane information board searching for Miyuki's flight. I turned around to see the rest of the family rush over.
"Is she back yet?" My mom asked, she seemed quite worried. Though that was normal for her. She always had some story on airplane accidents or sudden disappearances during plane rides.
"Yuuta's checking." I told her. She let out a sigh. We looked back to the board, Yuuta suddenly colliding into us,
"She's back! The plane' s back!" He didn't stop, but kept on running towards the gate. We followed him slowly, walking over to the gate. As we reached there, a girl about Yuuta's age walked out, wearing a green and blue plaid scarf around her neck, her black cardigan was a little shorter than fully long sleeves, but it looked good on her. Her jeans had a big hole at around the knees, showing off her small kneecaps. Though it wasn't the clothes that made me notice her, it was her resemblance to Yuuta. I knew it was her.
Without thinking, I walked up to the girl. Only five seconds later, a huge crowd of passengers flowing out from the gate kept her hidden. I walked over to her original spot, but the kid was no where to be seen. I supposed she could've wriggled out of there and went somewhere else to cool off and wait for us, though that was highly unlikely. I looked around. Feeling thirsty, I let my feet drift off to the nearby vending machine.
As I got closer to the machine, I spotted the girl again. Calling out to her,
"Miyuki!" Oh shoot. I had no idea if that was really my sister. That sounded weird, not knowing what your sister looks like is just weird. The girl turned around upon hearing her name. She gave me some sort of look.
"You are... Syuusuke?" She asked. I nodded.
"You're Miyuki right?" She nodded.
Miyuki- 7 o'clock in the evening, Home
The guy who yelled my name out loud in the airport turned out to be my brother. I didn't really recognize him, even though I remember that his hairstyle still hasn't changed at all. I supposed they all thought I was a little different. Very different. Dinner was just a whole lot of questions directed towards me. Funny I'd actually managed to answer most of them and finish my dinner.
I took a look at my room just before dinner. It was cool- the bed was low and close to the ground, which was what I liked, due to my childhood phobia of having monsters beneath my bed. The walls of the room were painted a creamy orange, very warm and snugly, also matching the bed sheets and duvet. In front of the window was my desk. It was wooden and painted red. Hanging from the railings, my curtains suited the room colors well. With bright red, orange and green circles sprinkled all over the white fabric. I had a little side table right next to the bed, enough space to hold two photo frames. One of my parents, the other of the four of us kids.
Miyuki- Early in the morning, The Fuji household
"Morning," I mumbled in English, to whoever was listening. There was no reply. "Morning?" I tried again. This time in Japanese,
"Oh, hi Miyuki chan. How's your um... fourth day in Japan?" This was my mom. She's the only one who seems to have noticed my daily greetings.
"I'm fine thanks, I just can't seem to fit in somehow. It's so tiring after that 10 hour flight, even after four days. For god's sake, its so annoying." Its my fourth day in Japan, after five long years in America. My wonderful escape was over, and my days in being the idiot of the family came back. A sudden DOINK came from my head. Syuusuke suddenly placed a fist on my head. His eyes gleamed playfully even though they weren't fully open. I wriggled my head to remove the hulking fist off my perfectly combed hair. He smiled and grabbed his own seat. Yuuta was sitting across the table. He came back from his boarding school in St. Rudolph's, just for my arrival.
I was stuffing up myself with the Japanese breakfast my mom prepared, when Syuusuke suddenly handed my colossal tennis bag over to me. He just sort of dumped it onto my legs, where the bag just squished itself in between my legs and the table.
"Gee, thanks for suddenly putting my bag onto my legs." I said, in my awesome Japanese. So much for not speaking the language for five years.
"We're... I mean you're going for the tennis tryouts today in the girls' team." He replied, not bothering to get my bag off, after what he did to me.
I rolled my eyes. Everyone ignored me. This is what I don't like about for the last four days I've spent here. Nobody gets non-verbal communication. Rolling my eyes would mean nothing but sheer entertainment of showing off my ability to play with my eyes. I shoved the rest of my breakfast into my mouth and sped off to grab my school stuff. I pack pretty last minute. On the morning before my plane ride back, I just began packing up my stuff. I know that is a bit late, but you can't really do much when you're partying the night before huh?
"Miyuki! Hurry up, you're gonna be late." Syuusuke was already at the door. He's just too organized, pretty much in any aspect. You should see his tennis bag, every time he plays, he folds his jersey up. Neat and tidy, no creases whatsoever. Then gently- when I mean gently, its as if his jersey's gonna break any minute, he places the ever-so fragile jersey into the bag of his. I ran down the stairs, nearly tripping on the last step, then shoving my feet into my shoes, and ran to catch up with my brother.
Sakuno- A little while before homeroom, The first year hallway
I sighed to myself. Another school day full of the worst combination of subjects. Lets see, first period; Math. Argh, what a wonderful way to start the day. Second period; Japanese history. This isn't too bad, but its boring to listen to your teacher drone on and on about some random civil war. Just when I was checking for third period, some girl ran right into me.
"Whoa!" I yelled, falling forwards. My schedule, papers, homework, notebook flew out of my hands and fluttered like stripy white butterflies dropping slowly to the ground in the first year hallway.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" For some reason, this girl was speaking in English. Then judging by her action of covering her mouth, I guess she saw my awkward expression, meaning that I didn't understand whatever she just said. "I meant sorry." She spoke in an accented Japanese. My reaction to the incident still hadn't recovered, I just mumbled softly, then bent down to dust my skirt. Her uniform looked new, plus I was pretty sure I've never seen her around here before, coming with the conclusion that this was the new transferee to our class. First year class 2.
She was a little short, but not too much under average, about an inch or two shorter than me. Her eyes were half closed, a little similar to Fuji senpai's. The girl suddenly hopped up, revealing the first time; her bright, sparkling, blue eyes. She opened them so wide, that they almost seemed to spill out of her sockets. Her short, shoulder length brown hair swished around as she jumped up, I knew she was the kind with the wonderful, bubbly personality and easy-going attitude.
"Hi! What's you're name?" She piped up,
"Oh. Um, Sakuno. Ryusaki Sakuno." Dammit, quit the shyness Sakuno! It was useless. I would try to find a fresh start to make myself seem more confident, though the results were always the same. Luckily, the perky atmosphere saved the day.
"Cool. I'll see you sometime at school huh?" She ran off, just like that.
Syuusuke- Morning practice, Tennis courts
"Miyuki," I said to her in my stern voice, "You understand that today is the crucial moment in creating a good impression on your teachers right?"
"Yes mother." She said in her mockery tone, god was this kid annoying. "I've transfered before, I know exactly what to do at precise moments." I nodded, but still worried she might wreak havoc on her first day. We walked over to the tennis courts to meet Ryusaki sensei, our tennis coach. She knew I had a younger sister, unlike the rest of the team apart from Eiji, Inui and Tezuka. She greeted us with a wave and walked over.
"You must be Miyuki. I'm Ryusaki Sumire, or just Ryusaki sensei. How's your first day here?" She asked, in her usual gentle but warm voice.
"I'm fine, it's a little different to America. But I'll get used to it." The kid replied. Good, at least she knows how to impress a teacher.
"Sensei, Miyuki would like to try out for the girls' team, is that possible?" She shot me a glare when I said "Miyuki". I looked back at her and put on my ever so annoying smiles. Ryusaki sensei thought for a while,
"I suppose we could fit in someone else in the ranking tournament, though I have to confirm with the captain first." She said. I nodded to show my agreement, as Miyuki wondered off to watch the morning practice. She stared into court C, where Echizen was playing against Momoshiro.
"That person is so unexpected." She said. Ryusaki sensei looked over,
"What do you mean he's unexpected?" She asked.
"He's a lefty right? But he's playing with his right hand." Ryusaki sensei looked at me, I shook my head as if to say that I didn't tell her about Echizen's dominant hand. She stared interestingly at Miyuki, I was surprised that she knew that. "Oh wait, does he play piano?" She suddenly asked. Ryusaki sensei shook her head,
"That boy isn't very musical, he's too focused on tennis." But a soft "oh" was what Miyuki said. After that, she concentrated on watching the game.
After watching Echizen beat Momo, we ran off to our classes. I just hoped that she was able to find hers.
Miyuki- Just before class, Lost
Um, lets see. I mumbled to myself. It was nearly time for homeroom, and I was lost. I had already managed to find the locker room, my locker and changed my shoes. All that's left was to find my homeroom. I was pretty sure I was in the second class of first year, but I couldn't find the room. I suddenly remembered the girl I had bumped into a while ago, I was pretty sure the sign above one of the doors said "1-2". Running back to the stairs, swept in the flashbacks of how I'd managed to get to the hall, retracing my steps. Finding my classroom.
I reached there just in time. The teacher tapping at her watch impatiently, I bowed and apologized, saying that I was lost finding my way here. She tutted slightly, but spoke;
"I am Shiraki Ai, you may call me Shiraki sensei. Come in when I call for you, alright?" I nodded solemnly, trying to remember what Syuusuke had taught me to say for my introduction to the class. The door slid open, and the teacher glided into the room. I stayed outside waiting to be called in.
"Please come in." Her voice sounded through the thin door. I pulled it open and stepped inside. The room was pretty big. There were seven rows, each row had six tables. Nearly every seat was occupied, except for the seat at the very back, very right of the room, right beside the window. Just what I'd wanted. Shiraki sensei gestured me to introduce myself to the class. I glanced at the board seeing my name written in clear white chalk.
"Good morning, I am Fuji Miyuki, 12 years old." I spoke in a clear voice. There was an awkward silence in the class, but that disappeared as the teacher told me to take my seat at the vacant one beside the window. I nodded obediently and walked over to take my seat. Oh god, this was when the murmuring began. Where everyone was making up some sort of exaggerated story of your background, how you ended up in the school, so and so. I looked up at the teacher standing around eight meters away from me, and smiled. Japan was greater than what I'd expected.
