PROLOGUE OR CHAPTER 1: IT ALL BEGINS AGAIN.
"Hey, Isa." My friend Sergio told me while I walked out of the room where us university girls were changing into our graduation tunics. "Wow, you look astonishing."
"Thanks." I said smiling mildly and holding his hat that had fallen from his hands. "Here, you should take a bit more care about your belongings."
"Hey, I'm really proud of you." He said hitting my cheek softly as playing. "You've done it well. You've changed a lot, really."
"It's been hard." I said sighing. "Anyway, I've not been the best one."
"How the hell is this wore?!" Orion asked going in the room and stopping with the toga tying him up like if he had messed with it.
"Orion, Orion, stop it." I said going to hold him a bit. "You don't have to fight with it, you have to wear it. What a mess you've made out of this…" I said softly and mother-like while I moved his toga to entangle it and then help him wearing it on the right way.
"So?" My friend said while I helped Orion putting on his robes well. "What do you expect to do now?"
"Remember I got in contact with that Japanese guy, Akira?" I asked him.
"Ah, yes." He said.
"Well, Akira seemed to know an old mate of him that it happens to be the new director of a new film that is going to be 'beginners' level so…" I said dropping that part.
"And?" He asked. "Please, please tell me…"
"Yeah, tell us." Another friend said. "Do not leave us with the doubt."
"It seems she is going to be the English teacher for some actors." Orion said. "And I'm going with her to give a hand."
"Wow!" They said. "Congratulations!! A famous mate!!"
"Ok, ok." I said while I heard some girls asking me to get autographs while others tried to bury me with their arms and Orion saw all happen with a smile at his face and his arms crossed over his chest.
It was nearly a year and a half since everything happened, but just Orion and I seem to know or remember about what happened. The rest don't remember Goku was my cousin or that there was once a human Sanzo, Hakkai and Gojyo living with me at my home.
They left and I was really sad, maybe that is the reason why I changed this much; perhaps it was the promises I made before the guys left, maybe it was I finally chose to change something in my life or that I finally found the strength to give the next step.
"Ready for the celebration?" Orion asked me holding my hand tight.
"Hum." I say smiling due to the security that hand is passing me.
That's something that has also changed. Orion and I are now best friends you can ever met. For both it was hard to lose our friends, I suppose I never talked too much about his friend and my classmate Gokijiyou; he also left after Sanzo's party.
What can I say? I suppose it was that what tied us that much, after seeing our friends leave we both looked for some support and help on the other one. That was the reason he began attending lessons more than before and I used to spend my free time with him. We had dinner together and despite we slept on our flat each, it was usual for us to met downstairs and he giving me a lift cause I 'kept on missing the bus', he also waited for me to end up at my part-time-work at the university cantina and we usually had a lot of dinners together, at his place or mine; we exchanged university notes and also housekeeping little tricks.
"Yaw!!" We all shouted in joy when all the celebration was over and the photos taken.
"Are you already leaving?" Our friends asked Orion and I while we said we had to leave.
"Aye, we have to pick our bus for the nearest international airport." I said. "And as soon as we arrive Tokyo we have to spend two days of madness settling there and being explained about our work and…"
"And if you don't stop speaking and move your ass we will be losing the plane." Orion said from the car door standing and speaking across the top of the car with a leg in the car and his arms over the car ceiling. "Your friend was coming to Tokyo's airport to pick us up, remember?"
"Ah, yes." I said. "Well, I will be posting back you guys. We will keep on contact."
"C'mon!" Orion said pushing the horn while our friends, mates and I began hugging each others. "We still have to pick your bags up and Lupus is not going to get in his transporting box so easily!!"
"Coming, coming!" I said complaining. "Bye, Luis."
"Good bye." He said. "Ah, by the way, I've always thought you two did a good couple. You two are so close and get along so well it's really incredible you have still not hooked together."
"Please…" I said joking. "I've never been so for him."
"I wish you can find for the one right for you." He said. "You two are like angels… Take care please, I wish you all the luck possible…" He said hugging me.
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"Isa-chan!!" Suddenly a Japanese guy said shouting and waving at me at the airport. "Isa-chan, it's me, Ayato!!"
Suddenly I felt how a couple of arms surrounded me by the neck hanging from my back and making me nearly fall while another person removed whoever clang on my back from me and both fell over me.
"Oh, my, my…" A soft voice said. "I told you two to behave."
"Ah!!" A little teen voice said scared. "We've smashed her!!"
"Get away, you baka-suro!" A man voice said. "Are you ok, miss?"
"I think…" I said rubbing my forehead as I sat up and then staring at the man outstretching his hand towards me.
It was unmistakable, middle length red hair tied on a short ponytail, pale skin, Latin-lover appearance despite of the cowboy hat… yet his eyes were human brown.
"Sorry Miss…" A teenager human Son Goku told me wearing a worried face. "Didn't mean to fall over you… again."
"Stop bothering her, you morons." A blond man with hard appearance and purplish blue eyes said telling them off on a rough way while a guy with short brown spiky hair wearing glasses and smart robes stood next to them looking at me with a soft look at his face.
"Are you ok, Miss?" That guy asked me.
"Perfect." I recognised half smiling and holding their hands to be pulled up to my feet again.
"My name is Ethan Connelly." The Gojyo guy said. "Er… I have the weird impression I already know you. Like if we already knew each other…"
Then their last words before leaving came back to my mind.
"Isa, please… if we ever came back to life, if we ever met again in this life or the next… please, promise we will be friends again." They asked me.
"Of course." I said smiling. "Same goes for me. If you ever met me on another life, even if we can't remember each other… please, be my friends again."
"No, we don't meet from before." I said smiling mildly. "Isabel, from Spain. Please, take good care of me."
"Isa, are you ok?" Akira asked me while Orion came back with our bags at an airport cart. "Oh, I see you've already met the actors."
"Aye; I'm alright." I said smiling at him. "And aye, I have just met them."
"Isa and his friend Orion are going to be your teachers." Akira explained the quartet. "They are going to be living with us at the same building, so I expect you to treat them well, specially her."
"Sure thing, boss." Gojyo-guy said.
"You may think I'm also crazy, but… do we met from before?" Hakkai said.
"Same goes here." I admitted smiling.
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Later while I was settling at the suit I had for me at building…
"I can't believe they have returned." Orion said.
"No, not returned." I said smiling while I emptied my suitcase. "Reincarnated. They have different names, jobs, identities… they don't remember a thing. Just as they said they would."
"What are you speaking about?" He told me standing up from my bed where he had been lying playing with Lupus and a ball among his hands. "Do you really believe those kindergarten-tales?"
"Well... I want to believe on it, yes." I said. "Hum... I think this is just a bit little..."
"It's just you women always bring a lot of stuff." Orion said. "Whose idea was to bring so many clothing and specially, books and shoes?"
"A lady must always have something to wear fitting the situation." I said.
"And what situation does this fit?" He asked showing me a miniskirt.
"Hand it to me." I said removing it from his hands to hide it. "It's just in case we have chance of going to a disco..." I muttered.
"It must be hard for you." He then said. "Having already got over that chap and then someone as similar as him appears in your..."
I then covered his lips with a finger to make him shut up.
"Don't say anything else." I said smiling mildly. "That guy is not him as we knew him, maybe we should give them a chance."
"You could suffer again, you know?" He asked me then.
"Hum." I nodded. "But now I know I can count on you to be with me, nii-chan."
"Oniisan?" He asked me raising an eyebrow.
"It means 'elder brother' in Japanese." I said smiling and keeping on with unpacking my things.
"Nii-chan..." He muttered to then smile. "How is it said 'little sister'?"
"Don't know." I said.
"Okaasan!!" Goku said running into my bedroom and hiding back me. "Please, help!!"
"You baka-suro!!" Gojyo's clone said arriving bare-chested to my room holding a rolled towel while I saw he had his face awfully made up. "Come here and pay for your nasty tricks!!"
"Ehem." I said looking at him.
"Oh, sorry. I hope I don't… spoiled anything." He said. "I get that silly monkey and I leave."
"What's he done now?" I asked him.
"What?" He asked. "This is what!" He added angry and showing me his face and shirt. "He's played to be the stylist on me while I was taking a nap!"
"Man… I think I'll leave for my bedroom a bit." Orion said. "Move Lupus."
"Kid, mind apologizing to the man here?" I asked Goku at my back.
"I'm not kid, my name is Goku." He said. "Go-ku."
"What a beautiful name, Goku." I said smiling. "Now do you mind apologizing to the young men here for painting him up?"
"Sorry." He said. "I was trying to help."
"See?" I told Gojyo's double. "He already apologized."
"Yeah…" He said sighing. "I wonder how am I supposed to remove all this. I tried rubbing but…"
"Goku, what've you put on him?" I asked him.
"I stole something from the make-up artists." Goku said. "I think they were long-lasting and water proof."
"Ok, I think I can help." I said moving to the second bag I brought with me.
"Sure, you are a lady." Orion said while I opened it to reveal the toilet bag with the basics toiletries and also a lot of make up and de-makeup products. "Now I understand why it was so big and heavy."
"Orion, if you are leaving why don't you take Goku with you?"
"I… sure." He said. "Guy, I'm watching you." He added for Gojyo.
"Yeah, yeah…" He said. "And my name is not Guy, it's Ethan, Ethan Connelly."
"Whatever." Orion said. "Coming Goku?"
"Hum." He said nodding.
"Ok, Mr. Connelly." I said smiling. "Let's go to the mini-sink here so we can water your face."
"That boyfriend of yours is a bit jealous, isn't him?" He said looking to the door for a second after they left.
"Oh, Orion is my best friend, he would do whatever needed for keeping me safe." I said holding a towel for him to dry his face while I went to get the only chair in the room after removing the bags I had placed over that.
"For having that name you seem to speak English really well." I said.
"I'm Japanese and English." He said smiling while I pooled a cotton ball with some de-makeup cream to begin rubbing his face softly trying to remove the make up stains. "Fifty-fifty."
"Ah, a taboo child." I said remembering on his story as Sha Gojyo.
"Yeah!" He said in fun as if he suddenly caught the joke. "Well, you seem to have already studied that freaky film well."
Then someone knocked on the door and I went to open it and discovering Hakkai smiling at me.
"Sorry, may I come in?" He said. "Are you too busy now?"
"Ah, yes." I said. "Sure, come in. I was giving a hand to your mate… Ethan, was it?"
"Aye, Ethan Connelly." Gojyo said still sitting with his eyes closed. "Actor in two third or forth category TV-series."
"Ah, I just came to… well, to introduce myself." Hakkai said. "And to see if you were already settled here."
"Ah, well, I'm still settling." I said. "I was when suddenly the kid, Goku and Ethan burst in my room."
"Man, you surely are a rude guy." He told him. "It's impolite to burst into a lady's room like that."
"I'm pretty used to that." I said smiling and kept on rubbing his face with the products removing the make up little by little. "I used to live with a gang of people for a year. Just a shared flat, nothing more. It was funny, but two were just like Goku and him."
"Well, it seems you are nice." Hakkai said smiling. "I'm happy it is you who is going to be our sensei."
"Well, at least I like oriental culture." I said as I pointed to the only books I had taken out: manga books and a tourist guide book of Japan, especially Tokyo. "Anyway, what about you guys? Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm Dr. Futawa." Hakkai said. "I am a formal doctor and amateur actor. I met the director as one of my patients when I was working and then once when I was performing with an amateur company of my university student times. He said I was perfect for a role on a film he wanted to record and… well, here I am."
"I'm professional actor." Gojyo said. "Yet… well, I've had not much luck, just no-famous-series and soap operas. Yet it seems the director wanted my performance. He told me the same than to Dr." He added wearing a funny face and so managing to eat a bit of the product at his face.
"Do not move or you will keep on eating this." I said pulling from his hair a bit down softly. "You are nearly done. And what about the blond man? What about him?"
"He is not too social." Gojyo said. "Sorry, not to move."
"Well, he is not the kind of outgoing person you would expect from a model." Hakkai said. "But that's what he is; he is called Ivvan Karpovva, and he is a Russian model that came here looking for work, he has had not much success lately; he is with the little kid, Goku-kun. It seems he picked him up some time ago, Goku-kun is a teenager, he will be the forth main actor."
"Four actors, with some problems for English." I said. "Yet you two seem to handle a bit."
"Well, handling is something but now we have to perform, and there are a lot of sentences we can't understand, at least me." Hakkai said smiling and rubbing his head.
"Same goes for me with Japanese." I said smiling. "I can speak three languages more or less well, obviously Japanese is not on that list." I added joking as I ended removing Gojyo's make up. "Ok, Ethan, you are done. Stand up and wash your face at the sink before I keep on doing your de-make-up."
"Well, it happens that Japanese is our mother language." Gojyo said smiling and standing up. "So if you want we could help you with that."
"It's something nice for you guys." I said smiling and replacing the product at it's place and then taking a new one. "A nice offer."
"Well, if you are teaching us English, then we could arrange an exchange, your English lessons for our Japanese ones." Gojyo said drying his face with the towel.
"We'll see." I said in fun as he sat down again so I could keep on de-making him up. "By the way, I was wondering… how do you say 'younger sister'?"
"Younger sister?" Gojyo asked confused.
"It is 'Imouto', miss." Hakkai said. "Imouto-san if it's someone else's sister."
"Imouto…" I said. "Oh, oh… I think I misspelled the terms… I called someone Oniisan."
"Whose elder brother was it?" Hakkai asked me.
"My elder brother, well, not biological brother but… somehow sentimental." I explained making him confused. "Kokoro's brother." I added pointing to my heart.
Then I saw how Gojyo explained it to Hakkai and he laughed.
"Then it could be right like you called him." He said.
"By the way, do you know why did Goku-kun called me Okasan?" I asked them. "If I am not mistaken that means… mother?"
"It seems he has found a mother in you." Hakkai said. "That or maybe he was joking."
"Hum." I said. "I think I'm going to get along well with you guys." I finally said half smiling.
"Sure." Gojyo said holding my hand to stop it and opening his eyes. "After all it seems we are going to stay here caged for a long while."
"I think this is going to be the beginning of a good friendship." Hakkai said.
"Granted on a 100 per cent."