Chapter 2

"Ava!" My brother exclaimed before rushing over to the other side of the desk to wrap me in a warm embrace. I closed my eyes and gave him a squeeze with my arms before leaning back at arm's length to get a good look at him.

"You look older." I commented with a teasing smile before completely letting him go.

"So do you, little sister." He replied with a teasing smirk I was all too used to.

"Well it has been a while." I reminded Takashi. He only nodded in response before going back to his side of the desk. It was that moment when Morimoto decided to poke his head round the door.

"I heard the rumours but I didn't believe it at first." Morimoto said in greeting before bounding into the small room, he then proceeded to wrap me into his arms, much like Takashi did earlier.

"Yes, I'm back." I declared with a giant smile beaming from my face. I was so happy to be back in Tokyo, reunited with my family once more. I was sent to Hong Kong to get a better education but I missed everything about Tokyo and I finally managed to successfully beg my uncle to allow me to return.

"It's about time; I've missed your beautiful face." Morimoto said with a wide smile, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me into his chest.

"Hey! Stop flirting with my sister." Takashi said in jest, while pointing a finger at us.

Morimoto just gave me one more squeeze with his arm before letting me go and then proceeded to fall backwards onto the brown leather sofa that Takashi keeps in his office, mainly for Morimoto and other's that like to hang out with him in the office.

"I better get ready for school tomorrow, Goodnight boys." I announced after a few hours of catch up talk between us.

"Goodnight Ava." Takashi and Morimoto replied in unison before I closed the door behind me.

The next day was met with nervous excitement. I would be starting new school and that alone pushed my anxiety up. My only consolation was the fact that I knew Morimoto and Neela, who I have not seen yet since I arrived back. Neela, Takashi, Morimoto and I all grew up together. Takashi's grandparents took in Neela when she was ten after her mother died and Morimoto's grandparents have always been friends with our family. I am different when it came to being accepted into the family. I was adopted by Takashi's parents when I was a baby; from then on, we were inseparable. We didn't see the physical differences that made it impossible for us to be genetically related. I had bright blue eyes and dark brown hair that flowed down to my naval. It was wavy and thick, so unlike Takashi's features.

I met Neela and Morimoto at the front gates of the school, my turquoise blue Mazda RX-8 was parked right opposite the school entrance. A stern looking teacher came up earlier and proceeded to tell me to move my car before I told her my name and she suddenly lost colour in her face before letting me keep it there. My last name carries a lot of weight in Tokyo. I was leaning against my car before I spotted Neela and Morimoto walking with a bunch of people I didn't know. They soon noticed me and quickly said their goodbyes before rushing over to greet me.

I took a drive early this morning to ease some of my nervous excitement before school and that is why I did not travel with them. Also, I detest public transport.

"Ava!" Neela exclaimed as she started to jog over to me, Morimoto following at a slower pace. I smiled brightly; my family is now all complete. I pulled Neela into a tight hug and closed my eyes due to the amount of happiness I was feeling right now. I opened my eyes to see a lot of the other students staring at us and my distinguished car. Before I could pull out of Neela's embrace another set of arms worked themselves around us both in an awkward three-way hug.

"Mori!" I exclaimed in surprise with a laugh as Neela was trying to get Morimoto to release his grip on us.

"My beautiful sister's together again." He said as he pressed a kiss on both of our heads. Neela and I could almost pass off as twins, excluding our eye colour differences. We both shook our heads, finally dislodging his hold on us but he moved his arms so we were both tucked under his arms on each side. We kissed Morimoto's cheek in unison as we revelled at all being reunited again. It was then that I noticed everyone staring at us as if we were aliens or something. I shook it off as we all walked towards the school, the crowds of people parting for us like the red sea.

It was at lunchtime where I heard about another new addition to the student body, an American who did not get a good start to the day. I felt sorry for him in a way, as I too knew what it was like to be in a strange place- Tokyo will always be familiar but I hardly knew any of the people and the people that I have met today only want to be friends with me because of my family. The thing I have always been wary of was fake people with fake agendas. I just chose my lunch and decided to sit by myself, choosing my own company over others; Morimoto and Neela were not here yet. I soon found company though as a dark-skinned boy with a white rag on his head plonked up down next to me.

"Hi, you are Ava, right?" He greeted with a smile that I instantly liked, it wasn't fake like other peoples. I nodded with a small smile as I wondered what he wanted with me.

"I'm Twinkie." He held out his hand to shake and I let out a short chuckle as I proceeded to shake his hand. Kids my age do not normally act like this.

"Twinkie? That's a nickname, right?" I replied with a warm smile.

"Yeah but don't bother asking about my real name, not even my parents call me it anymore." He replied while shoving some rice in his mouth.

"Alright, have you lived in Tokyo long?" I asked, curiously how long this American have lived here,

"Yeah quite a few years now, Army brat." He explained simply around a mouthful of food. I found Twinkie delightful, he seemed to be himself around me and it was a refreshing change.

"You are DK's sister, right? Everyone has been saying that they have never seen you before." He asked curiously, almost hesitantly.

"Yeah, I've been away a long time. I've been living in Hong Kong since I was 11, my uncle wanted me to have a better education after Takashi and I's parents died. I've been away from Tokyo a long time, Takashi used to visit me but his visits had become less frequent as he started working for Uncle Komoto and now I am finally home." I explained with a genuine smile.

"Well welcome home," Twinkie sincerely said.

"You coming to the races tonight?" Twinkie continued to ask. I nodded my confirmation.

"Do you race?" I asked Twinkie curiously. He shook his head in response with a small chuckle.

"Naa, I can't drift, how about you?" He asked in response.

"I can drift but I only race when it's for some importance." I replied while stirring my noodles around in my bowl.

"You remind me of someone I know, well if you ever need any help with fixing up your car or any mechanical issues you can come to Han's garage. Han works with your brother, and me and a couple of other cool people help around the garage." He said while finishing off his food.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." I said as Twinkie began to get up and clear his plate.

"I'll see ya around Ava." Twinkie said in goodbye as he rushed off towards a pale skinned boy on the next table over who was sitting by himself. Morimoto and Neela finally showed up after Twinkie left and pointed out that the boy Twinkie was sitting with is the new kid from America.

Thanks for the reviews! enjoy chapter 2!