A/N: complete author's note at the bottom of the chapter! Kodocha belongs to Miho Obana.

CHAPTER 2

Sana was restless. Her and Rei had just gotten off their twelve-hour flight and she was feeling queasy. It wasn't that she was nervous to be back in Tokyo; after-all, it was the place where she grew up. It was her home. It was the fact that she had been out of the country for so long, and that she hadn't seen any of her friends since last year, and the only contact she'd had from them was from Aya or Tsuyoshi via the phone or by letter—and even those were scarce. She didn't know what to expect, and whether or not she'd be greeted by smiling faces or cold shoulders. It'd been awkward when she left; everyone had heard about Fuka and Akito dating prior to Sana's knowledge, but they hadn't told her because they didn't think that it was in their place to, or that she already knew. She thought that the former was impossible, since her whole school was so darn nosy, and they'd find any opportune moment to blab about something that they heard from the grapevine. Out of anything at school, she knew that that would never change.

"Ah, she's here!" exclaimed Rei, wildly waving at the sleek black car that had just pulled up to the curb. Sana and Rei had been waiting just outside of the airport for Asako to come pick them up to bring them back home. As Asako stepped out of the car, she was instantly greeted by an overly-excited Rei, who was honestly blowing his cover a bit when it came to his and Asako's relationship.

Despite them having dated (after their split during college) for about seven years now, Rei and Asako still tried to keep their relationship on the downlow. Very few people knew of their relationship, yet people in the media were starting to have their suspicions—there had been a few times where the paparazzi had photographed her with a "mystery man", but they still had no idea who he was. Little did they know, that if they found out that she was dating Sana's manager, well, they'd have a field day! It was one thing to be dating the Asako Kurumi, but it was another for her to date a well-known actress's manager.

Asako peeked her head out from the back doors after having opened them, giving both Rei and Sana a big smile. "Hi, you two," she said, ushering them in. She took a quick glance to see who might be watching, but the others around them were too busy scouting their own rides that were to come pick them up.

"Hi, Asako!" Sana exclaimed (a little too loudly). Rei quickly piled her in the backseat with Asako, while he handled their luggage with the driver who had stepped out to help him put their belongings in the back. "Geez, he's impatient," she giggled, turning her attention to Asako. "How are you?!"

"I'm just fine, I'm happy to see you two," Asako said, giving Sana a warm hug before pulling away. "You look great. Plane ride was okay? Everything went to plan for your movie?"

Sana nodded. "Yep! Everything was just peachy." She didn't feel like discussing her nervousness that she had felt on the plane ride over; that was something that she could discuss with Mama. It was too much of a topic to talk about when they had literally just gotten back to Japan. "You look great, too." She smiled, noticing that Asako was dressed perfectly as usual, wearing a thin beige sweater, dark trousers, and little black ankle boots. On her head sat one of her black berets, and on her neck sat a necklace that Rei had given her two Christmases ago. It was one with a little jade pendent; nothing too complicated but something very pretty to look at.

Asako smiled, holding onto Sana's hands. "Thank-you," she said. "I'm glad everything's been good; the two of you have been gone for a long time. I have to admit, it's been a little… I mean, I've felt… it's been strange to not see Rei every once in a while. And of course, you, Sana, but…" She trailed off, looking away.

Sana giggled. "Say no more," she said, while holding up one of her hands. "I get it. You've been missing him. I mean who wouldn't? Rei is a real gentleman." She grinned, and Asako looked back at her, shaking her head with a small smile. "I know that he's missed you, too, but don't tell him that I told you that, okay?"

Asako's cheeks turned a light pink, and she quickly cleared her throat while releasing Sana's other hand. "Oh, stop it Sana," she said, her voice suddenly shy. "Really?"

"Of course! I happened to hear one of your phone calls and lemme tell you, Rei looked like a little school-boy—"

"Sana," Rei interjected, a hint of a teasing warning in his tone. He nervously laughed, peering into the back of the car. "Mind if I join you two in the back?" He addressed this question more so to Asako—even though his eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, both girls knew that he was really talking to the older one.

Asako nodded. "Yes, come on in." She beamed up at him, shifting more to the side of the car to offer more room.

Sana, meanwhile, all but shoved Rei into the back, so he could have some quality time with his girlfriend. "I'm gonna sit in the front so you two have some more privacy," she winked, giving them a little wave as she scooted out of the back, closing the door behind her. Getting into the passenger seat, and greeting the driver, she stole a quick glance back at the two lovebirds as the driver got the car started.

The two of them were holding each other's hands, and it was so evident, so clear that there was a shared love between the two of them. Asako had laid her head on Rei's shoulder, while Rei was idly running a hand through his hair, a bit of a blush on his cheeks. They were right next to each other, side-by-side—and Sana felt herself smile at their cute interaction.

Turning her head to face back to the front, she talked mindlessly with the driver, whose name was Arata. All the while, she couldn't help but feel a sharp pang that Akito and Fuka could very well be acting the same way with each other, and that made her feel a little lonely.

"Oh Mama!" Sana called out, after having energetically burst through the house like some sort of bullet. She gave a quick hug to Shimura, who had opened the door with a bit of a tear in her eye, having missed Sana and her lively antics. "We're ho-o-o-o-ome!" She all but threw her things off to the side of the front entrance, kicking off her shoes in the process. As she raced forward, she nearly crashed into her mother who was driving around in her signature red car.

"Welcome home, dear," Misako Kurata said warmly, giving her daughter a smile as Sana embraced her in a tight hug.

"Aw, I missed you Mama!" Sana said, a few tears coming out of her eyes. "It's been so long!"

"It really has been. You look well. I take it Rei took good care of you?" She peeked a glance over at Rei, who had taken his sweet time coming in to say "bye" to Asako.

"Yep!" Sana chirped, smiling wide. "He catered to my every needs." She sang teasingly, twirling around in a circle once before stopping to give Rei a look. "Nah, he was great. We both had a lot of fun. I really think you're gonna like the movie, Mom, we all worked so hard on it!" She pumped her fist in the air, her eyes shining bright. "By the end of it, we all became such good friends." Sana clasped her hands together, her smile holding strong until it faltered a little bit. "Although… it's kinda weird to be back here, to be honest." She scratched the side of her face and chuckled sheepishly. "Things haven't changed much around here, has it?" she asked, turning back to her mother.

Her mother paused, whipping out a fan out of thin air and using it to cover her mouth. She eyed her daughter pensively. "And what kinds of things do you mean, Sana?" Always the perceptive type, Ms. Kurata knew that her daughter was asking of a specific sort of thing but was too shy to speak out loud on it. She often tried to pry her daughter of information when she saw fit, but never forced her to admit to anything that she didn't want to. They were equal partners in this house; one wasn't more superior to the other (that is, unless she needed to put her foot down, which she did many times with such an enthusiastically charged daughter).

Sana immediately backtracked, laughing it off. "Oh nothing in particular, just, you know, life and all. If anything's changed with life or with the town or whatever." She kind of regretted asking the question, and she was saved by the bell when she took a big whiff. "Woah, Shimura it smells amazing! What did you make? Let's go, everyone!"

Rei nodded. "Coming, coming," He turned to Misako, an exasperated smile on his face. "Looks like you've been doing well, too?" He looked back at Sana, who had already apparently floated to the kitchen, because she was no longer in the hallway. "I don't know how she has so much energy. I'm exhausted. I'll probably be jet lagged for a few days, but Sana? She always bounces back so fast. I don't know how she does it."

"That's my daughter for you," Misako smiled. "Thanks for taking good care of her while you two were in America. I trust you fared well, too?"

"I sure did—lots of things to do and see there. But I missed Tokyo, you know."

Misako smile turned smug. "Oh? You missed Tokyo or you missed Asako?"

Rei's face immediately turned red. "W-what do you mean?" he stammered.

"Oh come on Rei, it's as plain as day. Anyone with a brain could see how you feel about her. Now let's go join them for food, I'm sure you're starving."

"Famished." Rei said, more than happy to escape the conversation. For some reason, since Sana had essentially brought him home and adopted him into the family, he felt like Misako was like an aunt or something to him—she knew how to get under his skin and poke at his buttons. It was something that he wasn't personally a fan of, but he found that when he was in America, he did miss those interactions. It was funny how life worked out that way; you miss things that you didn't know you would until you weren't around them anymore.

Dinner was as lively as ever, especially with Sana back on the premises. Even though she was seventeen now, she was still quite boisterous and bold in her behaviour. As she talked about her experience in the U.S., she had stood up on her chair multiple times to act out a couple of scenes from stories that she shared, getting a laugh from Shimura and Rei and the occasional smile from her mother. Alongside the good company, the food that Shimura had prepared was as delicious as Sana and Rei had fondly remembered it to be—fried chicken, stir-fried yakisoba, piping hot curry. All of these main dishes and more were laid out with the tempting dessert of a welcome back cake; a two-tiered cake that had a gooey chocolate filling complete with an assortment of fruits on top. It really was a meal to come back to, and Sana felt the buzz of happiness from being around people again that she had known her whole life. She just wondered if things would feel like they would here when she returned to school the next day.

Speaking of which, after the filling dinner she was now in her bedroom, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She was too nervous and jittery to be sleeping now, especially now that the return to school was sweeping around her like an itchy blanket that she could do without. She paced back and forth around her room, her mind racing with thoughts about what the next day would be like.

Will anyone want to say "hi" to me? she thought to herself. Will everyone just see me and immediately think of what happened before I left? She bit her lip. It wasn't that she necessarily cared what people thought of her, because she didn't really—it was really what she thought specific people would think of her instead. Her anxiety-filled thoughts consisted of her close friends like Aya and Tsuyoshi—would they still be as kind to her as they usually were? Or would they take pity on her, knowing about what had happened? They had sent her postcards from time-to-time, as long-distance calling was expensive, and she would reply, but only to about half of them—she realized that she really didn't have much free time as she hoped she would in the U.S., but she had a feeling that the two of them had understood.

What of Akito and Fuka? Would they ignore her, or treat her like any friend would? Would they tiptoe their relationship around her, or flaunt it? She didn't know which was worse. How was Akito going to be around her, most importantly? She wasn't going to stop thinking about it until she reached tomorrow, and she was dreading tomorrow. She was good at acting, sure, but she was rather bad at it when it came to her true feelings. She supposed that she'd just grin and bear it. Having things be awkward kind of made her shrivel up inside, and it just made her feel uncomfortable. She knew that she was going to be uncomfortable, but perhaps she was thinking far too much into things. Everything would be okay—it'd just take time. If not, well, she only had one year left at school, so she had that to look forward to before they all departed ways to their respective jobs, post schooling, years off, etc.

With this somewhat comforting thought in mind, Sana found that she could sleep a little more at ease, and though her dreams were not fuelled with nightmares, they were filled with awkward tensions and a move to make peace by walking away (in her dreamlike state)—of course, some things are easier thought out than when being done in practice. Snuggling deep under pink sakura covers, she tucked her blanket right underneath her chin, anxiously awaiting the next day.

A/N: hi everyone! Is there a way for me to apologize at-all? My posting schedule is horrendous, as per usual. I am so sorry, though. I had half of this second chapter typed up back in the Fall but never got around to finishing it until yesterday/today. It's not an excuse, but things got really busy for me and I do apologize for that. Thank-you to my one and only follower of this story (oliviapaler !)- I remember seeing that and it made me so excited, so thank-you so much- it means a lot to me!

I will do my best to have a consistent upload schedule, but this is something that I can never promise. I will always do my best, though. Hoping that everyone is still doing nicely during these times.

Does Sana seem similar to you? Or have I changed her personality a little to reflect her current age? I wanted a balance of both. Please lemme know your thoughts :)

Next chapter we should see the entry of all of Sana's friendos!