Chapter 1

The cab was waiting outside of her house when she opened the door. She had never been in a cab before; there was no need to when everything in her town was so close if she ever had to go pick something up on those rare occasions she was "asked" to, so she was a tad nervous about it. The driver was leaning against the side of the vehicle with his arms crossed and his head down, almost as if he was sleeping. Nervous and excited, the blond girl held her head high as she made her way across the front lawn.

She stopped when she was only a foot or two away from the driver. She cleared her throat in an attempt to get his attention. He didn't move, so in her quiet, high-pitched almost child-like voice she said, "Excuse me."

He looked up then, seemingly surprised by the sight of the five foot eight inch girl standing in front of him. She wasn't surprised; most people were confused by her appearance after hearing her voice and vice versa. "Ready to go?" He asked finally. She nodded and handed him her suitcases as he reached for them to put in the trunk.

She climbed into the back of the cab and crossed her legs as she leaned back against the pleather covered seat. She didn't really know where she was going, didn't really care either. All she hoped was that it was nicer than the home she had known for her entire life. Not that there was anything wrong with the house, but that house was nothing like a home should be. Maybe it'll be warm there? She mused as the cab pulled away from her parents' house.

Looking out the window, she hoped that she'd never have to see the constant snow that plagued the town she knew. It snowed and was cold three-fourths of the year due to the fact that the town was situated in the northern mountains. "Have you ever been to Tokyo before?" She was startled by the sound of his voice, but answered with a shake of her head. She was afraid to ask him what it was like; she wasn't usually allowed to ask questions.

"Never? It's a busy place, full of people," he said. She nodded as she closed her eyes and tried to picture it. She felt claustrophobic just thinking about it. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else though." That made her smile as the image in her head changed from noisy and chaotic to noisy, chaotic, and somehow peaceful.

She opened her eyes slowly. "Does it snow there?" She sounded like a child asking something in a way where they wanted to hear a yes, she didn't want to hear a yes though.

He shook his head, "Not really, sorry."

She smiled for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime to her. "Don't be sorry," she said. "Snow is overrated anyway." The cab driver looked at her through the rearview mirror and let out a soft chuckle.

"It does seem as though you've seen enough of it," he said in a lighthearted tone. Her smile dropped slightly as she nodded. "You're a quiet girl, aren't you?"

She shrugged, but nodded once again. It was safer when she was quiet, that way she never had to worry about saying the wrong thing to anyone and she wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt. She rubbed her upper arm through her light blue hoodie where a bruise had shown up from her mother the other night. She had been surprised that the little bruise was all that had shown.

"You can call me Kinji, by the way. We are going to be stuck here together for the next hour." An hour? I'm assuming we're going to Tokyo since he asked if I had ever been there, but I thought it was further than only one hour.

"Isn't Tokyo further than that?" She asked as she stared out of the window at the passing cars and landscape. He made a sound that she took as a sound of confirmation.

"I'm only taking you to the airport. It'd be easier for you that way," he said. She pulled her eyes away from the sights that were beyond the thin piece of glass, to the reflected brown eye of the driver.

She was confused. "But I don't have a ticket." It was out of character for her to say anything that could begin anything close to an argument. Quickly, she averted her eyes to her hands that were folded in her lap.

"Don't worry, it's already bought and waiting for you at the gate," he said cheerfully. She didn't know why, but she liked Kinji. It had been so long since there was a person that she felt she truly liked.

After the hour long drive, Kinji helped her with her bags and showed her where the gate was. She thanked him and they parted ways. If she had thought she was nervous about riding in a cab, she was nearly petrified by the thought of being high up in the air with nothing to catch her if she fell. However, with a deep breath she boarded the flight and was on her way to Tokyo.

She was amazed by everything and everyone that was on the plane with her. They all looked so different and yet so similar in her eyes. There was a woman with her hair tied back and her wire framed glasses perched precariously on her nose as she typed something on her laptop; a man with black hair was reading over papers that were spread out on the tray table in front of him; another man was sleeping in what looked to be an expensive business suit. The nappy haired blond felt out of place amongst the busy and richly dressed people around her, she assumed it was because she was in first class. Even she was well aware that she didn't belong with them, but whoever it was that had paid for all of this apparently thought she did.

That made her wonder even more about where she was going. Why would someone pay so much just for me? Even I know that I am nothing special. She leaned her head back against the head rest and closed her eyes.

She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until something next to her jostled her arm. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open and glanced at the person next to her. He had been there before she fell asleep, but she hadn't paid any attention to the raven-haired male that sat there with his laptop. "I didn't mean to wake you," he said in a level voice. She nodded though he wasn't looking at her. Oh well, I'm awake now, right?

"Do you happen to know when we'll land?" She asked as she averted her eyes away from him. She heard him move something before answering.

"About another hour," he answered. She nodded. She wasn't tired anymore and she didn't have anything to do for the remainder of the flight. She didn't want to talk to him and she didn't want to look out the window (she was sitting at the window seat). Instead of talking, she just let her mind wander as she imagined what her new home was going to look like. Now she knew it was in Tokyo, but she didn't know which part nor did she really know what Tokyo was like. Her curiosity finally got the better of her.

She looked back at the guy next to her, suddenly realizing that he couldn't have been much older than she was. "Have you been to Tokyo before?"

He raised a question brow, but didn't look at her. "Yes," he said with a slight nod.

"What's it like?" She asked. He merely glanced at her as he let out a slow breath.

"It's a difficult thing to explain. You'll just have to see for yourself." With that, she didn't even bother to ask him another question fearing that she was making him mad. She didn't mean to, she was just curious. For the remainder of the flight, she merely listened to the sounds around her; snoring from the man sleeping in front of her, a few hushed voices, and the clacking of keyboard keys from just about everyone around her.

People were getting off the plane and she felt as if she was just getting swept along as the other people rushed to get on with their busy lives. Without even a word of warning, she found herself and the baggage claim frantically searching for her four dark purple suitcases. She had seen the same pink one go by three times, but hers weren't there and she started panicking.

A hand went on her shoulder and she stood perfectly still though she was panicking even more than she had been when she just couldn't find her bag. "Are you having trouble?" A female's voice asked. The blond turned her head to see a woman with light brown hair smiling down at her. Slowly she nodded her head and the older woman dropped her hand from her shoulder.

"I can't find my bags… there are four of them, all dark purple," she stated. The woman smiled even more if that were possible.

"I have them. Yumi Yamahata, yes?" The brunette asked. Yumi nodded and followed the woman to where her bags sat piled up on themselves. "I'm here to take you to your new home Yumi."

Yumi smiled and attempted to pick up all of her bags, only to have the woman stop her and take two of them herself. "Thank you," Yumi said shyly.

"Call me Rae," the woman said kindly. "I'm also going to be watching over you while you're here to make sure you don't get into too much trouble," she added with a wink. Yumi cringed slightly; she had to be extra careful. I wouldn't doubt that Rae could do ten times more damage than Mother and Father combined if she felt a need to.

Yumi nodded and followed behind Rae as she was led to a limo. She had never even seen a limo before let alone been in one, so when Rae held the door open for her, she hesitated before climbing in. This has definitely been a day of firsts… she thought as she looked around at everything in the limo.

It was warm, even though the air conditioning was on in the limo. She wasn't used to it being so warm, so she pulled off her light blue hoodie revealing not only her yellow t-shirt, but also the new huge bruise on her arm and others that were beginning to fade. She glanced at them, but didn't do much else. They were what she saw every day, there was nothing interesting or shocking about them anymore.

Yumi looked out the darkened window at the darkening scenery around her. It was so different from the little town she had known. She leaned her head against the cool window and watched as everything went by, blurring as they did so. She Yumi closed her eyes and didn't open them until she felt the limo stop. "Here we are!" Rae sing-songed and stepped out to open the door for Yumi.

She stepped out as she wrapped her hoodie over her arms (to hide the bruises from view) and her jaw nearly dropped to the ground when she saw the place they had stopped in front of. "This is it?" She asked in disbelief. Rae smiled and nodded.

"Yes, you will be staying with the Morinozuka family. They have also contributed to funding your flight and your school expenses." Yumi didn't know what to say. She had never even met these people and now she would be living with them and they lived in a mansion! Rae told her to go ahead and go in and that she would have her bas brought in. Yumi nodded and took a small tentative step toward the house.

Rae gave the girl a gentle push closer to the house; Yumi looked over her shoulder at the smiling woman and with a sigh continued on the rest of the way to the door. She went to place her hand on the doorknob only to have it open before her skin connected with the metal. One door closed to find another door open, she thought to herself optimistically.

So, I have really no idea where this story will eventually end up, but I have a very vague idea and it excites me xD Please review and tell me what you think or whatever you want to say.

Megan (MoonDragonLove)