LAST TIME:

Except of course, for the fact, that I can talk to the dead…..

ON WITH THE STORY PPOL!...

Otou-san & onii-chan told me it'd be just like Tokyo. I didn't belive them but thats what they told me. They told me I'd be able to see them from the plane.

Oh I knew it would be probably about the same as Tokyo. I mean, I'm not a dumbass that thinks everyone from outside of Tokyo are savages and live in the wilderness.

But I was moving to Tomoeda. God! See! I bet half of you people didn't even know that a place like that existed well, to be honest, neither did I.

So I wore what I usually wore in Tokyo. My black leather motorcycle jacket. So there I was, sitting on a plane, seeing a heck of alot of nature and a good clean environment as we landed. Black leather and a clean healthy goody two shoes environment. Already I'm fitting in, just like I knew I would...

...Not.

My Otou-san isn't fond of my leather jacket, but I didn't wear it to make him mad or anything. I'm not ressentful of the fact that he decided to marry a woman who lives three thousand miles away, forcing me to leave school in the middle of my sophmore year; abandon the best-and pretty much only-friend I've had since kindergarten; leave the city I' ve been living in for all of my sixteen years.

Oh, no. I'm not a bit ressentful.

The thing is, I really do like Nadeshiko, my new step-mom. She's good for my dad. She makes him happy & she is equally nice to me as well. Its just this moving-to-Tomoeda thing that bugs me.

Oh, and did I mention Nadeshiko's sons?

They were all there to greet me when I got off the plane. My dad, Touya, Nadeshiko and her three kids.

Sleepy (can anyone tell me how to say sleepy in japanese?), Dopey (same thing for him) & Doc (same as well.).

"Kaijuu!" Even if I didn't hear Touya scream my "name" I would definitely have not missed them from the gate.

Nadeshiko was making her two youngest boys hold up a sign that said: Welcome home, Sakura!

Everone from my flight were going "Aw, look, how cute," to their travel companions & smiling at me in a way that made me want to puke. So I hurriedly walked toward them.

Oh yeah, I'm fitting in just great.

As I was stomping repeatedly on Touya's foot, I managed to say "Okay, you can put the sign down now".

But my dad was to busy hugging me tightly to pay any attention. "Oh, my little Cherry!" he kept saying. I hate it when anydody but my dad calls my Cherry, so I shot the boys a look in case they were getting any ideas. All they did was grin at me from over the stupid sign, Dopey, because he's to dumb to know any better; Doc because-well, I guess because he was happy to see me. Sleepy, the eldest, just stood there looking well, sleepy.

"How was your flight, darling?" Otou-san took my bag off my shoulder, then we proceeded to getting the rest of my stuff. Did I mention Nadeshiko fancies herself a comedian? She isn't, she's a news journalist, thats why when she saw my bags she went and said "Whoah! What do you think you're doing? Moving in or something?"

So we got all my stuff and Nadeshiko kept telling me about how the view of the ocean in my bedroom was the best one in the house. About how my room was all glammed up to suit my needs & all. I wasn't really paying attention.

It was just as we were nearing the exit that everyone pulled off their sunglasses like it was a big thing or something. Boy was I ever right. The sun was shining full blast. I had my sunglasses with me, somewhere. Me being the clumsy person I am, I decided to pack it somewhere uneasily accesible.

Before heading out though, my dad, even though I could see he didn't want to say it, went and said "Cherry, what did I tell you about the leather jacket? And I thought you were going to throw away those jeans?"

They were my oldest and most comfy pair of jeans. No way was I giving them up. As for the jacket well, old habits die hard.

I just shrugged and we kept on moving.

"Jake!" My dad called out. "We're going now".

He had to call Sleepy by his name since as it looked as if he'd fallen asleep standing up. I asked my Otou-san once if Jake had narcolepsy or possibly a drug habit, and he was like, "Itai, why would you say that?" Like the dude doesn't just stand there blinking all the time, never saying a word to anyone.

Wait, that's not true.

He did say something to me, once. Once he said, "Hey, are you in a gang?'' He asked me that at the wedding, when he caught me standing outside with my leather jacket on over my maid of honor's dress, sneaking a smoke.

Give me a break, alright? It was my first & only smoke ever. I was under alot of stress at the time.

We were on the drive home, and I was cramped between Dopey & Doc. You would feel cramped to if you felt like you were sitting in a 3-seater that felt like 5 people were trying to sit on it. Dopey counted as 3 people. He is on the school wrestling team so, I suppose it was natural.

We were half-way there, from what Dopey said, when my dad started talking about the school I'd be going to.

The school was supposedly named "Yi-Ming" for a dude who used to go there and made something out of himself and donated generously alot of money to the school. My dad said he was a multi-billionaire even though that name didn't tinkle the slightest memory in my brain.

I wasn't really listening to my dad tough. My interest in school, zero. I always arrived late due to well... me... but... no one needed to know that... all they needed to know was that I arrived late due to personal reasons. That was half of the truth.

I was forced to wait till the second semester for a place to open up at the "Yi-Ming Private Institutions Academy". I hadn't minded.

I was busilly craning my neck for a view of nature all around Tomoeda. Everything was clean, peaceful, silent, it was like, perfection at its best.

But suddenly I went, "Wait a minute, when was this school built?"

"The eighteenth century," answered Doc.

"Eighteenth century?" I said, leaning forward.

"Eighteenth century?"

My Otou-san must have heard the panic in my voice, since he turned in his seat & said soothingly, "Now, Cherry, we talked about this. I told you that there's a year's waiting list at Robert Louis Stevenson, and you told me you didn't want to go to an all-girls school so Sacred Heart is out, and Nadeshiko's heard some awful stories about the public schools around here-"

"Eighteenth century?" My heart's pace was picking up.

"That's like three hundred years old!"

My dad already explained to them that I wasn't to wild about old buildings so no comment was heard. But then Nadeshiko said "Then I guess she won't like the house."

"Why?" I demanded in a tight voice. "Why am I not going to like the house?"

I saw why, of course, as soon as we pulled in. The house was huge, and impossibly pretty, with Victorian-style turrets and a window's walk-the whole works. My step-mom had it painted blue and white and cream, and it was surrounded by big, shady pine trees, and sprawling, flowering shrubs. Three stories high, constructed entirely from wood etc., etc.

And I didn't want to set foot in it.

I knew that when I'd agreed with dad and Touya that I'd move to Tomoeda, that I'd be in for alot of changes. The big change was to share my dad with other people besides Touya. In the decade that my mom passed away, it had been just the three of us. In fact, if it hadn't been for the fact that Nadeshiko made my dad so obviously happy, I would have not gone to this place without a fight.

My dad showed me to my room. My room was upstairs, just above the roof of the front porch. My dad was right and so was Nadeshiko. For weeks they have been bragging telling me that it was ht best room of all. Guess what? They were right, except for one thing.

They were right about the view, and Nadeshiko did go a little bit overboard with the bed, and my dad with the clap-on clap-off lights but I didn't mind. My dad even installed a window seat.

Ok, I thought, so far, so good. This isn't bad. You're still in the clear.

I turned to the window-seat my dad so lovingly made for me, only to see it occupied by someone who wasn't related to me. I turned to both Nadeshiko & my dad to see if they saw the intruder as I did. They didn't seem to notice, even tough he was right there in front of their faces.

So I frowned.

The view was amazing and spectacular but still, I had to frown, and for a very good reason. My dad, seeing me frown asked if anything was wrong, I kept telling him no and in the end he gave up. But he assured me that if I wanted to talk about anything, he would always be there.

I turned to look at him as he & Nadeshiko left making sure to close the door to give me some privacy...

... TO BE CONTINUED

DUN! DUN! DUN!

Who was the mysterious stranger on the window-seat?

Why aren't Nadeshiko and Fujitaka married?

Living in Tokyo then Tomoeda?

ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED IF YOU KEEP READING ON & REVIEWING.

I ask for reviews as I way to know that people at least read my story, even if they hate it or love it at least they still read it. I ask to be reviewed to give me pointers, encouragement, tips, & to know that people like what I do.

I KNOW it seems exactly the same as the Mediator but bare with me. It is my own story so u ppol will see sooner what I have in store!

REVIEW SO I KNOW U READ IT AND LOVV IT & SO I KNOW THAT THIS ISN'T A WASTE OF MY TIMME! THX!

Muchh luvv mizannonymouz04