CHAPTER - 2
PROLOGUE - II

KAZUKE - HOUSEHOLD (12th DECEMBER)

"rrrr-r-r-r-r-ringg."the Alarm clock was continously ringing aloud to wake up its owner from its slumber. Suddenly Kazuke Aoi's loud yell "When are u going to wake-up. Its already 10. Atleast shut up that damn clock. Its frustrating. " made his daughter fall on floor with a aloud thud.

Lazily getting up and fixing her hair, Kazuke Lavenya wore her woolen jacket lying on the floor. She opened the door of her room to go outside towards the kitchen, when a strong cold wind hit her face. She shivered and froze at the spot for a second. Soon realization hit her that it was snowing outside & she is in Osaka at her traditional house or home. "Damn it. Why doesn't dad change its architecture already. Its open on all four sides. Wind blows here like its his own house." cursing and walking towards the kitchen. Aoi asked "What are you blabbering about in the morning?" waiting patiently for his daughter, asked Aoi.

" How could you sleep this long, on your first day of vacation? I was die..ng.."Aoi was cut-off by his daughter halh-way " Dad ,I am still tired. I came back to osaka so late. You didn't come to pick me up at the station. Taxi were charging too much & I had to walk all by myself. Beside its vacations, right dad." said Lavenya, while roaming inside the kitchen.

" What have u cooked ?" asked Lavenya. " Ne give me some to eat. Did anybody called? " asked Lavenya again.
"We have omelet for breakfast. Samy called an hour ago, to check whether u have arrived in Osaka or not." answered Aoi.

Lavenya hurried back to her room after eating breakfast ,to get ready to meet her friends. It took her an hour to get ready. She hurriedly tied her shoe laces And was about to leave when her father called her name with too much melodious voice. "Sonaa...".

She knew he wanted her to do something,' That damn nickname, what the f- he still calls me that' that is whenever he uses his melodious tone & that nickname 'sonaa'or 'sonuu' . She bit her lip and turned around to see her father in front of her.

Aoi continued saying "sonuu...Be back by 4 o'clock. Honeyyy. We are going to have guests today. My Bestfirend and his wife are coming
to meet us. Ahh...You have to bring groceries from the market while coming back. Ok." while handing her some cash and a list of items.

She hurried out of the house murmuring under her breath "It has been so long. I wonder what might she be doing ? I hope everyone is doing well ." Soon she reached an old familiar house reading ' Hiyoba House'.This brought back many memories of her childhood friend , Hiyoba Saemi.

It was her first day of freshmen year at shitenhouji Jr. High, when Saemi rushed and glomped her from behind welcoming her " Oi , freshmen .How dare u leave ur beloved senpai at home. Not telling me. And coming over all by yourself to the school. Don't u have any manners."

" Oye ! Sam leave our kohai . You are frightening her. We still need her alive." retorted back Shiraishi and Oshitari playfully, from behind. While Lavenya was smiling gracefully at the antics of her longtime childhood friends and now sempai.
"Neither of you can frighten or kill me. Afterall i am ur lifeline for the nationals . haha ..ha. You people don't have the balls to get there all by yourself " replied Lavenya .While she ran away saying that.
" Oye!Oye!.. Don't get cocky. You Brat." shouted all of them while chasing her.

Someone screamed at her "Lola-chan", jolting her up from her fondful memories. "Are u going to come in or not?" shouted Saemi from her bedroom's window.

"Y-Yeah" replied back Lavenya. She hesitantly entered her friend's house , slowly taking in the features. It was still the same, same interiors, same decorations, everything was the same. She greeted the Hiyoba couple sitting in the living room. "Long time no see. How are u doing ,Dear?" greeted Hiyoba Setsuka, Saemi's mother. All cheery and happy , still the same. "I 'm doing fine, aunty."replied Lavenya.

"How about you and uncle? You seem all cheery like old times .Nothing has changed." she added .

"Well, we're doing fine like always .What about you? Which High School are u going to attend now? " asked uncle Hayaki. " We certainly miss you dear. Sam doesn't bring any friends home now , or when she entered high-school." said aunt Setsuka ,cutting-off her husband in between.

"I am thinking of joining Shitenhouji High, this year. I too miss everybody here ,in tokyo" answered Lavenya.

"Well thats a shame. Tokyo school which you attended in middle school ,does have good reput..." suddenly uncle Hayaki got cut-off by aunt Setsuka "What are you saying? She misses us so much and a girl has to live by herself in big tokyo city. That's brave and dangerous too." said aunt a little angry " Beside it'll be good to see our Lola-chan everyday now."

"Lola-chan. You 're joining shitenhouji high. Really!Really!...na."screamed excitedly Sam. And hugged her. Sam dragged Lavenya to her room for a little more chatting while getting dressed. Then both of them bid farewell to Hiyoba couple , left the house to meet others.

Entering the familiar cafe with Sam, she saw rest of her friends making frenzy at the table, their antics were still the same. "LOOK ! Who's here today."shouted Sam , gaining all their attention towards us. Everyone was surprised to see Lavenya .Everyone was transfixed to their places.

"When did u come? Weren't you going to come next week." asked everyone synchronously and hugged her.

"Yeah. Its the best surprise for you. isn't it.?" said Lavenya." And you know what, she is going to join Shitenhouji High next year" stated Sam ,excitedly. " REALLY " chorused everyone. Everyone ordered and started chatting, catching up they had missed all year round. They ushered her to sit with them,cooped up in small corner of the cafe. Everyone shared their lives or incidents which they have had missed , being apart.

'Its really nice to have friends , I did miss all of them in tokyo. I did make a right decision to start my High school here. After all i do want to play tennis with them ' thought Lavenya, while smilling at her friends. By the time she noticed ,a lot of time had passed by. Then suddenly someones phone went off and she remembered what her father had told. Gasping a little bit, she noticed the time in Shairishi's wrist watch to see it was already 4'o clock in the evening.

Noticing the the time ,she said "Ne, Everyone, I have to go home ,someone is coming over. Before that i have to go shop for groceries."

"Its okay.I am leaving too. I will help you on the way." told Shiraishi. "Yup, me too." answered Sam & Ishida.

Everyone looked at the four,and sighed. So in the end everyone decided to accompany Lavenya to help her shop. They walked through the market towards the grocery shop. Once in a while stopping in between to chit chat with the acquantances from long before. Lavenya knew these streets very well and was familiar with the shopkeepers, since she always used to come around to buy groceries (sometimes with her father or mother or grandfather) .

Lavenya was awakened from her revrie by the sudden *HONK* of the car, behind her. She and her friends walked to the side path to let the car through. But suddenly the car stopped by their side, and rolled down its side glass beside the driver's seat. A lady ,probably in her forties was sitting with a smiling face. "Ne, Can you help me find this address"asked the lady in sweet tone, gaining the teens attention. Lavenya was standing the nearest ,moved forward to help her. she was mesmerised by her sweet tone, it sounded melodious to her ears. After seeing the address in the lady's hand, she smiled inwardly , because it was her own address. She pinpointed the directions and route.

"Thankyou, Ja ne"answered the lady in consideration and told to drove the car to the pointed direction." See u again,soon"said Lavenya, confusing the lady, while the car drove off.

"Ne, I think i am getting late. My guests are about to reach my home. we shold pick up speed."told Lavenya to her friends.