The day was quiet. Birds chirped in the trees, harmonizing with the sounds of laughter coming from the children in the park. They were enjoying an innocent game of kickball, sharing the peaceful day together. Suddenly, one of the children, a young boy, paused, his gaze falling on the road. Other children stopped as well, noticing the whirring of a motor off in the distance. They quickly lost interest, continuing their game. The whirring grew louder and louder, until, finally, a nice, white car appeared over the hill, approaching the park quickly.
The children all stopped this time, following the car with their eyes. A couple of them smiled at the sight of a moving truck following close behind; a new family was joining their community. They all held their breath in joyful hope that the family would have a child close to their age; they loved to make new friends.
"Zakuro, sweety," the woman in the front seat of the car said, turning around in her seat to face her daughter, "please don't be so upset. You'll make plenty of new friends, I promise."
The young, opal-haired girl in the back seat sighed, never looking away from the window. She wanted so badly to turn around and go back to her old house, her old school, and her old friends, but she knew it wasn't possible. Her father had been transferred, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. She would have to, somehow, adjust to this new life.
Her father pulled the car into the driveway of a large, white house. It was a lot smaller than her old home, but she thought it was cute. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Once she set foot out of the car, she knew there was no turning back.
She took a deep breath of the cool morning air, closing her eyes. The smell was so sweet, like flowers blooming and the sweet nectar smell that spring always brought. She opened her eyes, only to find that she was being watched. Across the street, nearly a dozen children were watching her from the park. She held her breath, nervous under their gaze.
"Why don't you go make some new friends?" her mother whispered in her ear, nudging her forward.
Zakuro swallowed, unsure of what to do. She wanted to go, but she was scared. What if they didn't like her?
Suddenly, one of the children smiled, waving at her. Zakuro smiled; her fear was gone. They seemed friendly enough. She skipped over to the park, greeting the children with a smile.
"Hi," she said, surprising herself with her confidence. "My name's Zakuro Fujiwara. My family is just moving in today."
"Hi, Zakuro," one of the children – a girl with short brown hair – greeted. "I'm Hanaka Riyugame. It's nice to meet you."
Each child followed suit, introducing themselves to Zakuro. They all had warm, friendly smiles and talked to her kindly.
"Hey, you said you're last name was Fujiwara right?" one of the boys, Kichi, asked.
Zakuro nodded.
"Are you, by any chance, related to Kichigo Fujiwara?"
Zakuro smiled.
"Yes, she's my mother!" she said proudly.
"That's so cool!" Kichi exclaimed, a huge grin spreading across his face. "My older sister loves her music!"
Zakuro beamed with pride. She loved having a superstar as a mother – she was one of the most famous J-Pop singers in Japan.
"We get to live by a famous person!" one of the little girls yelled, a huge grin on her face.
"Yeah, too bad they live next to them…" one of the boys, Yomatsu, said, motioning towards the house next to Zakuro's.
"Who lives there?" Zakuro asked, cocking her head.
"The Sohmas…" Yomatsu explained. "They're a large family – there's probably about 15 of them. What's weird is that they keep to themselves – they don't hardly even come out of their house and when they do, they don't talk to anybody. My dad says their bad news…"
Zakuro looked at her neighbor's house. It seemed pretty normal, nothing out of the ordinary or strange about it. Could they really be so bad?
"Zakuro! Sweety! You better come unpack and get settled into your room!" Kiichigo called from their front door.
Zakuro nodded, turning back towards the children.
"I gotta go! I'll see you later!" she called, waving at them as she ran towards the house.
….
Zakuro was busy sorting through her box of Barbies, laying each on the floor as she pulled them out of their box, when the doorbell rang. She took no notice, knowing that her mother would get it. She heard her mother speaking to someone downstairs, but she didn't bother to go look. She was too busy humming one of her mother's songs to herself and admiring her doll collection.
"Zakuro! Why don't you come down and meet our new neighbors?" her mother called from downstairs.
"Yes, Mom!" Zakuro replied, setting down the doll she had in hand.
She skipped down the stairs and into the entrance room. Her mother was standing there with three teenage boys.
"Boys, this is my daughter, Zakuro. Zakuro, these are our neighbors," her mother explained.
"Hello, Ms. Zakuro," the first of the boys greeted her.
He was a tall, good looking boy, with neat black hair. He was dressed in a white button up shirt that was tucked into his black dress pants.
"My name is Hatori Sohma. I'm pleased to meet you," he continued.
"And I'm Ayame Sohma!" cut in another of the boys.
This one had long, white hair pulled into a side braid. He was dressed in a long purple cheetah coat.
"And I'm Shigure Sohma!" the last boy said.
He was also tall, with shaggy black hair. He was dressed in a dark green sweatshirt and a pair of faded jeans.
"S…Sohma?" Zakuro stuttered quietly, remembering what the children had said earlier that day.
"Yes, we live next door. And we just wanted to come over and say hello. Who knew we'd meet such an adorable little girl like you?" Shigure smiled.
Zakuro blushed. They couldn't really be that bad, could they? They seemed friendly enough. At that moment, Zakuro decided that she didn't care. She wanted to get to know the Sohmas, no matter what anyone else thought.