Chapter One

An Unexpected Farewell

. . .

You know, this morning had started out completely normal. I woke up at eight in the morning, left a note for my brother, took my Kung Fu lessons with sensei, and came back only to find... this.

"We regret to inform you that, due to your recent lack of payments, you have been evicted as of 12:00 p.m. today, and have up to 48 hours to gather your belongings and evacuate the premises. If you fail to leave within the allotted amount of time, we will be forced to involve the authorities. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Sincerely,

Apartment Landlord and Staff

My heart sank.

I didn't want to believe what I was reading. The more I read it, the more my stomach churned at the thought. I was homeless. My brother was homeless. What were we going to do now?

"Onee-chan! Could you come over here please?" Arashi, my younger brother, called from his room. I quickly folded the note and set it on the coffee table. I'd have to worry about it later.

"Coming!" I called, making my way over to him. When I arrived, I saw my brother looking at an old photo that was in his hand. In front of him, sprawled on his bed was an old box that used to belong to our parents. It contained pictures of them before they died, and many other old memories; even their high school yearbooks.

"Who is she?" my brother asked, pointing at a woman in the picture he was holding. The woman had short shoulder length auburn-colored hair, and an electrifying pair of blue eyes, just like the woman beside her. It was her eyes that gave her away. "Doesn't she look like mom?"

I smiled. "Yeah," I replied, "She really does. She's mom's half-sister, aunt Maia."

The little boy gasped. "We have an aunt Maia?"

I laughed. "Yes, we do. I don't think you've ever met her. I met her when I was five years old, I think, so you weren't even born back then."

"Well, can I meet her now then?" he asked.

I paused. We hardly had the money to go flying all the way to wherever she was, and I could barely remember the last time I had talked to her. Not to mention I didn't know how to even get a hold of her. "Well," I replied, "I don't have her phone number, Arashi, so I can't really call her and ask. I don't think we can."

I expected him to pout at this remark, but instead, he smiled.

"There's no need, Nee-chan. There's a number on the back of this picture."

My eyes widened. Was there really? Could he possibly be that lucky? I realized when he gave me the picture that apparently, he could very well be that lucky. Amazing.

"Okay well, let me call her then," I told him, walking out of his room and into my own. I looked around for my cell phone, and when I found it, dialed the number on the back of the picture, testing my luck. This picture was from around seven years ago from the looks of it, so I suspected the number would've been disconnected.

My brother's luck proved me wrong again, however, when a person picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Oh, um, hello," I replied, slightly shocked. I hadn't expected anyone to answer the phone.

"This is the Yamazaki household, may I ask who's calling?" the person responded.

I paused. "Um... My name is Kizumi, Kiriyuu. I'm calling for Maia-san? Is she there?" I didn't recognize the last name Yamazaki.

"One moment."

And then there was silence. I could hear nothing from the other line, and I had no idea what to expect. It wasn't as if I could ask to live there with her. I barely even knew the woman. So, what could I possibly say to her?

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered the phone this time.

"Oh, um, Maia-san?"

I heard a gasp. "Kiriyuu-chan! It's so good to hear from you! How are you? How have you been? You're so grown up now! I can hardly remember the last time I saw you. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

I didn't know what to say. "Um..." Blank. No words. Silence. Then, as if I light bulb flickered on, words began to flow. "Hi Maia-san. I'm happy I've got the right number. To answer your question, I've been pretty good actually. I wanted to call because my brother, Arashi, wanted to meet you."

"That's right!" she yelled excitedly, "Kat-chan did have a boy a few years back. I have yet to meet him. What exactly brought up this sudden interest, if I may ask?"

"Well," I explained, "He seemed to be going through some of my mother's old albums, and saw you in a few of the pictures. When I told him who you were, he asked me to call and see if I could come visit because he'd really like to meet you. I don't want to impose, though. If you can't, it's fine -"

"No! No, it's perfectly fine! You know you're welcome in my home at any time. When is it you would like to come visit? Tomorrow?"

My eyes widened. "Tomorrow? So soon? I don't think there are any flights available on such short notice."

She laughed. "Oh, don't worry dear, I'll send my jet for you whenever you'd like. How's eight o'clock sound for you?"

My jaw dropped. Jet? Was I missing something?

"That's great," I replied. "I'll make sure to pack as soon as possible."

"Okay then, Darling, it was great talking to you. Hope to see you soon!"

And then the line went dead. I didn't move, though. I was a bit too shocked for my muscles to move. I would be flying to Japan tomorrow, with my brother. But... we wouldn't be coming back. We couldn't. We would have no place to come back to. Which meant only one thing.

Today was my only day for goodbyes.

"Nee-chan! Can we go? Can we? Can we?"

I looked over at my brother and smiled. "Yeah. Go pack everything you want and need, okay? We're gonna be staying in Japan for a while. Make sure not to forget anything."

"Yes!" he exclaimed, obviously overjoyed. He ran back into his bedroom and started doing as he was told. I only had one thing I needed to do before I could be as excited as he was.

I needed to say goodbye to my Sensei.

. . .

About one hour later, I stood on his doorstep, dreading the next few moments. My sensei was my only friend. When I had to drop out of school to take care of my brother, sensei took over the role and kept me up to par with what the students were learning. Since I was five years old, sensei's taught me how to defend myself and when it is right to fight from when it is wrong. Even when my parents died and I was alone, he was there for me, and always has been. It hurt to know that this would be the last time I'd ever see him.

"Come in, Kiri-chan."

I sighed. Of course he could sense me. I walked into his dojo to see him walking towards the door to greet me. He had a smile on his face.

"To what do I owe this visit?" he asked.

I sighed again. Just seeing him; his light blonde hair and his misty blue-gray eyes, made me feel sad. It seems he noticed, too.

"Are you alright?" he asked, the smile being replaced with a worried look.

I nodded and walked up to him, hugging him as tight as I could. Tears were coming to my eyes.

"What's the matter? What's wrong?" he asked, clearly uneasy and trying to make me feel better. But it was no use. He couldn't.

After a few moments, I muttered, "I'm leaving."

Silence followed, and I could feel his body tense at my words. "Leaving where?"

More silence.

"To Japan."

I was completely crying now. I wasn't sobbing, but the tears were like miniature waterfalls cascading down my cheeks and onto his shirt. I didn't want to leave him.

"Why?" he inquired, searching for some logical reason as to why I would be doing this.

I pulled away from him and shrugged, wiping my eyes. "I forgot about the apartment bills and got evicted," I explained, "and Arashi wanted to visit our aunt, so I called her, and she offered to pick us up tomorrow to fly us to Japan, but the eviction note said that we'd only have 48 hours to evacuate or else the police would be involved, so I know that once we leave to Japan, we can't come back here..."

"Kiri-chan."

"Yes?" I asked.

"You know you could always stay here, with me. You know I would never turn you away. You or your brother."

I smiled up at him, my eyes blurring from the oncoming tears. "I know, sensei, I know, but I don't want to be a burden to you. And Arashi really wants to meet our aunt Maia, so..."

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

I hesitated. No. I was not sure about this. Not sure at all. But something was telling me I had to do this. There was a feeling that was saying this was the right thing to do.

"Yes. I'm sure," I lied.

He sighed. When he looked at me, he lifted his hand and stroked my face, wiping a tear that had escaped my eye. He got closer to me, and placed his forehead on top of mine, momentarily closing his eyes. I closed mine too.

A few seconds passed with pure silence. And then... and then...

I felt a pair of smooth warm lips on top of mine.