After a flight in which included a series of naps, semi-warm instant meals, and those always happy flight attendants, I finally arrived in Japan. There, I took a few buses and asked a few people for directions as to where I was headed. Before I knew it, darkness crept along the city turning the happy sun down to a peaceful nighttime gloom. With just the last glimpse of sunlight, I stood outside my aunt's house. I stumbled to the doorstep, exhausted from a day of flying and from lugging my bags all around Japan. Letting one hand free, praying nothing would fall, I knocked on the door, waiting for a greeting.

The door suddenly flung opened with a happy face smiling at me, and the overwhelming scent of burnt food. My aunt looked basically the same since the last time I saw her. That long, caramel brown hair was thrown back into a messy bun while her bright hazel eyes were excited with adventure. Her face was slightly aging, but was hard to tell behind the natural tan. Her large spread smile was bright as she greeted me.

"August, it is wonderful to see you! You look great! Oh, let me help you with those bags! Come in, come in!" She exclaimed, grabbing a few of the heavy suitcases from my hands. I followed her into her little home. The small house was homey and cute, but the reek of smoke was unwelcoming. I looked around to observe:

The living room was cozy, with white walls and wooden flooring. The middle of the room was covered by a checkered and foreign looking rub. The couches placed on the ground, surrounding a square wooden table caked in open books, magazines, and lots of sweet scented candles. There was a fire place stuck in the corner, which casted a soft glow. And the rest of the room was filled with authentic, foreign knickknacks. To the left was another hallway, which I decided to investigate later. As I traveled closer into the room, I saw the kitchen which was hidden around the corner. The kitchen was filled with appliances, all stuck to the left of the room, which to the right was a small table with two seats.

I dropped my bags down near the doorway while looking around the small but cozy home. I wondered where my aunt had gone to, but wasn't entirely concerned. I walked to the small coffee table and looked at the different magazines spread out. They were all either travel magazines or some with pictures of foreign and tropical places. Some pictures were circled while others were crossed out. I noticed on the wall a giant map of the world, with green and red tacks.

"The green ones are the places I've been, and the red are the ones I want to go to." My aunt said, walking over to join me. I observed the map a bit more closely.

"You've been to Fiji?" I asked a bit flabbergasted with all the places she has been.

"Yeah, it was alright. I enjoyed Jamaica much better though." She said, sounding pleased as if reminiscing. "Anyways, let me bring you to your room." She took my wrist and dragged me down the hallway. At the end, I saw a door stuck to the right and one all the way at the end. Then, hidden in the corner of everything, we traveled up stairs.

"I apologize, but the only room I have available is the attic. I figured you'd like it better than the couch." She said, glancing back at me with a smile. We reached the top, and she flickered on the light switch. "I hope this will do."

The room was large and open with lots of space. The walls were a still unpainted, and the flooring could use a good polish. There was a full sized bed tucked in the corner, next to a window sill with a large full length window. Across from the bed was a small bureau which would hold my clothes. And the rest of the room was large, open, and seemed impossible to fill.

"I figured you could maybe pick out your own colors for the walls, and then we can figure out some type of flooring. We can even go out and pick out some other furniture if you'd like! It's totally up to you!" My aunt said with another big smile. I looked around and smile. This would do just fine.

"It's great, I like it a lot." I told her. "I'll just bring my bags—"

"Nonsense let me get them!" She interrupted, rushing downstairs. I sighed and looked around once more. Peeking out the window, I noticed her failing garden in the backyard. I laid down on the soft bed, curling up in the soft sheets of the bed. The plush blankets felt like a cloud carrying my body into a state of sleepiness. Before I knew it, my eyes were shut and my mind fell into a deep pit of much needed sleep.

We decided a soft yellow would suit the room best. The flooring would remain wooden, but it deserved a well needed polish. We sat on the couch, sipping away at our still cooling strawberry tea. I always thought tea was a boring and flavorless drink that fancy English men and women would drink at balls. But according to my aunt, there was an entire new world of different flavors.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to bed aunt? It's almost passed one in the morning," I told her softly, hoping my kind voice would send her in a sleepy mood and off to bed so I could explore the small house.

"Oh don't worry dear! I'm still not used to Japan's hours; still in the swing of Ireland time!" She said a little too cheerfully. "And please dear, call me Rosy! Aunt sounds much too formal."

I could adapt to calling her Rosaline I suppose. Being sixteen does bring a certain sense of maturity, and therefore, I felt compelled to follow her commands and from now on call her 'Rosy'. It would be weird to adapt to, since all my life I had called her simply aunt because I was too small to actually pronounce and remember her name the last time I had seen her.

"So, are you excited about Ouran Academy? I heard it's a wonderful school filled with… well… smart students, nonetheless." She asked, placing her now empty mug on the table and slouching back in a comfortable position.

"It seems… alright. I'm excited for the education part, but a bit… worried with the whole student body part." I confessed to her. I let my eyes focus on the surreal picture of Hawaii in a spread out magazine lying around on the coffee table.

"Oh don't worry about that! You're a kind and friendly girl! You'll have no problems making friends!" Rosy exclaimed happily, obviously not seeing the changes in my personality since many years ago. I used to be a happy, social butterfly. Now, I guess I was a little more calm, a little more laid back, and definitely not as social able.

"I hope so. It just seems like the school will be filled with spoiled rich students who only care about their social status." I sighed. She gave me a concerned look, but once again, that beaming smile reappeared on her face.

"You can never judge a book by its cover! I know you'll be just fine! Now off to bed with you! School tomorrow! Can't be sleepy for your first day, right?" She rose from the couch to take my still warm mug and place a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight August" She cooed as she skipped to the kitchen. Sighing, I rose from my spot on the couch and shuffled back up to my very plain and very big room.

Falling gracefully on the bed, I said a silent prayer that my first day at Ouran Academy would not be a living hell.