• Chapter 1 •

A faint groan left my lips when the commercial of the prestigious school replayed for the tenth time this day. Getting bored at the recurring commercial, I turned the T.V. off, an annoyed expression on my face.

Why do I need to go to Tokyo anyway?

Flashback

It was seven in the morning when I saw my mom in the living room, talking on the phone. Mom didn't notice that I was there yet, so I sat on the sofa, a novel in hand. After some time, I got tired of reading and decided to just lie on the sofa and do nothing. Well, not until I heard the six most terrible words I ever heard in my life, coming from the mouth of my beloved mother.

"Oh, sure. I'm sending Tsurara there."

At first, I'm fine with it, since I thought Mom's only giving me an errand. Boy, how wrong I was.

After a few more minutes, I heard my mom hang up the phone. I sat up and was about to ask her about the errand when she suddenly sat beside me, her eyes twinkling in delight.

"Tsurara you're going to Tokyo! Like, how awesome is that!?" She cried, an ear-to-ear smile, plastered on her face.

"Oh," then it hit me. "Wait, what!?"

"You're going to Tokyo!" She repeated, this time even louder.

"I heard you, okay? And no way in hell!" I bolted upright with my hands on my hips. My eyes narrowed into tiny slits accompanied by a deep scowl etched on my face.

Seriously? Why do I need to go there? Fine, I dreamed of going to Tokyo ever since I was a toddler. With my mom. I can't leave her here. But that's after I finish high school! Heck, I'm only in junior high!

I gave my Mom a fake laugh, then with a rather harsh tone, said, "Mom, where'd you even get that idea? There is no way in hell I'm going to Tokyo. I'll only go there after I finish high school."

After a while, mom got tired of sitting, with a tch, she stood up. I didn't know if mom will take this as a compliment, but she's only one inch taller than me. Okay, maybe not a compliment, but it is on my side.

"Tsurara, do you even know what you're talking about? In Tokyo, you can have a better life!" She said, exasperated, gesturing her hands wildly.

I rolled my eyes. So what? A better life or not, human will die anyway. I thought negatively.

I bit my tongue to stop myself from talking back. Even though Mom's kind of annoying, she's still my mother and I respect her.

"But Mom, I promised Rinko that we will both graduate high school." I convinced, looking right through her eyes.

Rinko, she's my best friend. She transferred to the same school as me when I was six. Because of her weird fetish towards snakes, she was often teased and bullied, well, not after I defended her. We became instant friends after that fateful day. Rinko stuck with me after that, going to the same grade school and high school I was in. I also often brought her here so Mom knows about her.

Mom scoffed, "What are you two? Twins in a different womb?" Well, yeah, that's half true. "No." I answered truthfully, losing hope of winning this little argument with my mother.

I hunched my back, a pout replacing my scowl, my eyes already back to their huge, round shape.

"Then good, you're going to Tokyo this coming Sunday, no buts!"

End of Flashback

Tomorrow's Sunday. Just great. Mom left to work shortly after our argument, leaving a letter on the table and some leftover food. Mom wouldn't be back until tomorrow morning because of work so she left a letter on the table. She said she would try to escort me to the train station, for we might not see each other in a while.

Key word: Try.

I haven't touched the letter yet due to my rather childish stubborness. I was still mad at mom so I musn't touch it, no less, read it. Yep. That's a musn't.

But really, why do I need to go to Tokyo? And who was mom talking to on the phone?

My forehead creased as I sighed for what seemed like the tenth time that day, completely upset at the sudden (and unwanted) turn of events.

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