"I can't believe we're doing this!" Tess was still in a state of shock.

"Neither can I," muttered Hoshi.

"How in the WORLD did we convince our parents to let us go, by ourselves, with our cats no less, to Juuban?!" I think I was the most surprised at obtaining permission. We had just loaded the plane and taken our seats. I grinned at Kari.

"That exchange program idea was brilliant! I'm glad we managed to all get in together. What a stroke of luck!"

"Er, yeh, luck..." Ana sheepishly echoed. We turned suspiously to look at her.

"Well, I kind of wrote a few well-worded letters in favor of this whole thing and they were, er, effective, apparantly," she grinned. We looked at her in shock then burst out laughing. After congratulating her on her ingenuity, we settled into our seats as the flight took off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's beautiful!" Tess could hardly contain herself.

"Like something off a postcard," smirked Kariana. We had just gotten our luggage and left the airport terminal.
We would be staying with the Takeshi family during our extended stay in Juuban. Upon arriving, we received a warm welcome from the family, which consisted of mother, father, and a son who was only a year older than ourselves.

"Welcome to Juuban! It's wonderful to have Americans interested in our simple ways of life and culture. We are honored to be your host family," Mrs. Takeshi was a pleasant middle-aged woman. Her husband, a hearty man, echoed her sentiments. Their son, Ryo, was welcoming but distant. I could tell he was hesitant about housing all four of us, not to mention our pets as well.

"We are all very happy to be here, Mrs. Takeshi, and look forward to staying with you. We appreciate you taking in all of us," I smiled warmly at the woman as I made my way to the bedroom Kari and I would be sharing. Tess and Ana had the room next to us.

"Hmm, I think we had better get you all straight first... especially with there being twins! This could be confusing. Now, you're Tessia, correct?" Mr. Takeshi asked. The girl he was pointing at nodded in confirmation.

"Next in line are the twins. Kariana and Ariana. But which is which?" He laughed. "Let's see, Ariana, that's you on the left by Tess?" He was guessing, but luckily, was correct. We laughed.

"Which makes you Kariana!" His wife chimed in helpfully.

"That leaves Kerensa," said. I grinned. This was going to be fun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During dinner I had the occasion to study our hosts. Mrs. Takeshi was an excellent cook. She was of average height, which I, of course, considered to be tall in comparison to my own challenged stature. Her gleaming black hair was kept short and tidy. She had thin wire-framed glasses that looked nice on her long, oval face. Her occupation proved to be an assistant to the local doctor.

If Mrs. Takeshi seemed tall to me, her husband was a giant. While not overweight, he was well-built for his height. Mr. Takeshi worked as a lawyer. His hair was brown, which puzzled me. He later explained that his mother was Italian and and had moved to Juuban when she was 13. Both he and his wife were very nice people, and I thought I would rather like living with them. I particularly liked this when I thought of my own usually-empty apartment back in New York City.

Ryo took after his mother, having her black hair. He was tall, in between his parents' heights, and muscular. I certainly didn't mind studying him during dinner. His personality seemed that of a quiet demeanor, but yet that didn't fit quite rightly. I assumed he was still adjusting to four girls suddenly living with him and that he would become more talkative in time. I hoped so, at any rate.

I could tell the other girls were also formulating their opinions of the family and knew we had a long night of talking ahead. I smiled to myself and finished eating. When I looked up, Kariana was staring at me. She had an unusual expression on her face. I glanced over and saw Ryo looking intently at Tess. I couldn't help breaking out in a wide grin and winked at Kari. She had trouble preventing a fit of laughter, but she managed.

We had arrived on a Friday evening. We had an entire weekend to explore before we had to go to school. All the paperwork had been taken care of already, thank goodness. I was all set to go exploring. Ryo warmed up to us by Saturday morning, and offered to be our guide. I turned him down, much to the chagrin of my friends. I expected them to override me, but they were apparently indifferent. I asked why once we got outside. Ana explained.

"We just wanted him to come along as eye-candy, we don't need a guide. So, when you said no, we weren't going to argue that we need a guide." She grinned.

~Oh, duh~ I thought. And with that, we set off for the heart of the city. The day was spent "sight-seeing" and, well, exploring! We got some funny looks from people, understandably. I suppose two redheads, a brunette, and a short blonde girl (I dyed my hair to celebrate our trip.) would stand out among the sea of black-haired heads.
The cats went with us. It was amusing watching us pretend to cuddle the cats so they could talk. Luckily, no one paid that much attention to us. Eclipse told us that she and Diana would be leaving us to report to Diana's mother, Luna. Hoshi would stay with us. He seemed a bit overenthused about that. We laughed. Cat and kitten departed and we girls were left alone with Hoshi. He sighed and suggested we move on in our tour of the city. We did.

The next day was Sunday, and since I am a devout Roman Catholic, I managed to somehow locate a nearby church, St. Cecelia's, to attend in the morning. My friends came with me, but I wouldn't have minded going alone. My spirituality is about the only thing I'm quiet about. It's funny; I'm pegged as talkative and a "motormouth," but anyone who watches me in a group would note that I usually just observe, unless the topic is something I feel strongly about, then I contribute too much, it seems.

After Mass, we allowed Ryo to take us on a more realistic tour than we had given ourselves the previous day. It was quite insightful (we found out where the mall is!) and we returned that night exhausted from the hike, but happy. I couldn't wait for school the next day. If I had been in NYC, you'd never hear me say that. EVER.