Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

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CHAPTER SEVEN: New Arrivals

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Tsukushi saw her friends gathered around the breakfast table early that morning. "Morning guys!" she chirped as she took her seat and poured herself some fresh milk and coco crunch cereal.

"Morning," the three girls on the table said in unison.

"It's a good thing that we're all here 'coz I got some bad news to impart." She announced after she took a spoonful of her own cereal.

"Is it about the band?" Yuki suddenly asked with panic.

"No…see, my mom called yesterday afternoon, and then after some hi's and hello's she said that my annoying flirty cousin heart broken Umi is going to have a vacation here with us for a while. Though I have no idea for how long was that 'awhile'." She shrugged.

Her friends stared at her as if she just announced that the world has come to an end.

"Guys, say something, would you?"

"Umi. As in slutty bitchy self-centered Umi. The one who colored her hair blond?" Sakurako said, her eyes not blinking.

Obviously, for the four of them, Umi is bad news. Really bad.

"Yep, that Umi." Tsukushi nodded. "Though I have no idea if she's still blond or what. You know she likes to re-invent herself."

"Yeah, I remember how she loved to copy Madonna's style." Shigeru said as if recalling the last time she saw Umi, and that was still back at gradeschool.

"Why did she suddenly decide to come here?" Sakurako frowned. "I mean, she could go to Europe for all I care."

"Yeah," Yuki agreed, "She's a disaster!"

"And news alert," Sakurako smirked, "Be careful not to introduce her to your boyfriend or she'll snag him in a second." She announced to her friends.

"Then you're the one who needs to be careful then," Tsukushi pointed out. "All I care about is for her to stay away from our goal, the band."

"Yeah," Shigeru stretched her arms. "Me and Tsukushi have no problem when it comes to guys 'coz we don't have any."

"Maybe you could ask your mom to just let Umi have a vacation somewhere else." Yuki said with a worried look.

Tsukushi smiled to her friend, "Don't worry, it's not like Soujirou will like her, I mean Umi's just like Asai and her gang and Jirou won't go for that kind." Then she pouted. "I don't think I can persuade mom, she sees Umi as a sweet dear girl." She rolled her eyes. "I tried to contact her yesterday after she hangs up but I can't reach her."

"Umi is only kind when she's sleeping!" Sakurako muttered.

Tsukushi chuckled. "That's what I told my mom."

"Anyway, let's stop worrying about her, I mean it's not like we can't handle her if she does anything stupid." Shigeru mused.

All of them agreed.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the Doumyouji mansion….

-

"Tsubaki's coming here next week and she wanted us to pick her at the airport." Tsukasa announced to his brothers. They were gathered at the living room. Watching tv while having some snacks.

"I thought she's there because of her fiancée." Akira frowned.

"She wants to know how we are doing about our 'goal' here." Tsukasa said meaningfully.

"But it's under control!" Akira muttered.

"That's what I told her, but she insists on coming. It's not like we could do anything."

"What's the fuss anyway?" Rui frowned. "Why don't you like our sister here?"

The three guys looked at him as if he's gone mad.

"Because brother," Tsukasa said in a gritted teeth. "Once she's here, she'll have a good time kicking our ass if she sees anything 'she thinks' we did wrong."

"And you're cool with the idea about her coming here because you never experience her wrath." Soujirou added.

Rui grinned at that.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the airport, after a week….

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"Tsubaki!" the F4 greeted their sister with a smile. They each gave her a welcoming kiss and hug.

"Nice to see the four of you again." Tsubaki said after greeting her brother's back.

The four guys frowned when they noticed someone behind their sister.

"Who's the punk?" Tsukasa muttered with a threat. "He doesn't look like old enough to be your fiancé."

"I agree," Soujirou added. "He looks younger than you, Tsubaki."

"Baka." Tsubaki mused as she tugged the guy behind her forward. "He's Seinosuke, our cousin from America."

"Oh."

"From what side?" Akira asked cautiously.

"Father's."

"That means." Soujirou concluded. "He's like us too?"

Tsubaki nodded.

"Why did you bring him here then?" Tsukasa asked as he looked at their cousin. "We're more than enough in here, anyway."

"Well, I brought him here to do the same thing you guys are doing." Tsubaki grinned, "Finding that someone, since he has no luck in America and the fact that investigator's were hot on his trails, well, not that they know anything."

"Fine!" Tsukasa shrugged. "But I'm telling you," he pointed at Seinosuke. "The Hana is ours."

"Hana?" Tsubaki frowned.

Akira told their sister about the band of four girls called The Hana.

"So, you've found your ladies, eh."

"Yeah, all we have to do is reveal our secrets and feelings to them." Soujirou said with a sigh. "And that's the hard part, we need some timing."

"You'll have your right time," Tsubaki assured them, "I'm just glad that you four already have your special someone."

"Anyway," Rui spoke for the first time. "It's better if we continue this chat at home."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tsukushi was looking at all the blonds passing them by to see if it's her cousin, Umi.

"What the fuck!" Sakurako snorted. "Does she want a dramatic entrance or what? We've been here for hours, dammit! I'm gonna strangle that cousin of yours."

Tsukushi smirked, "I'll give you my blessings then."

They all laughed.

Yuki sat down at the chair and tried contacting Soujirou. Shigeru was filing her nails. Sakurako and Tsukushi were walking back and forth with boredom.

"Another five minutes and we're out of here." Tsukushi announced.

"Anyway," Shigeru looked up. "Any idea's who'll manage our band?"

"Tsukasa said that maybe we could choose between Akira or Soujirou." Tsukushi shrugged.

Yuki suddenly perked up, "I vouch for Soujiro. I mean, he already sang with our band, right?"

The girls considered this.

"How about Akira. Maybe he doesn't look serious most of the time but he's the one who suggested that we take Soujirou as our male singer to collaborate with Tsukushi." Sakurako added.

Now, the girls were confused.

"How about," Shigeru said as she waved her nail file back and forth, "Let's have some contest between those two and whoever wins shall be our manager?"

"As if they'll agree to a contest." Sakurako snorted.

"So, why not ask them both who wants to manage our band?" Tsukushi suddenly said.

"That's okay." The three other girls agreed.

"Tsukushi?" a girl behind them called with a low-sexy…or more of trying hard to make it sexy….voice.

The four girls whirled around.

In front of them was a yellowish-orange haired young lady. Shorter than them by an inch or two, her sunny looking face was smiling, the girl was wearing a yellow mini dress and a pair of mint-green slip ons, her face with glittery make up.

The four girls decided that they hate the girl. She was too much to bear, she was too bright for their eyes. Practically the girl's things were all in bright colors.

"Could we help you?" Tsukushi asked, wincing. Not to mention that the sun's rays was practically behind this girl.

"It's me, Umi, silly." The girl chirped.

"So, you dyed your hair again." Sakurako remarked.

"Yep!" the girl bobbed her head up and down as she scanned the whole crowd around them.

"Who are you looking for?" Shigeru also looked around.

"Nothing. I'm just checking out if there are cute guys around."

The four girls rolled their eyes.

"I thought you're heart broken?"

Umi shrugged, "What's the better way to forget someone is to find someone else." She said cheerfully.

Sakurako groaned. "Let's get out of here before I commit a murder," she murmured out of Umi's hearing range.

Shigeru smirked. Yuki shrugged.

"Well, let's go!" Tsukushi declared.

When they were walking toward the exit, "Well, are you planning to enroll here?" Tsukushi asked.

"Nah, I just want to relax and have some fun, don't worry, my mom will send my own money and don't worry I'll be out most of the time." Umi said.

"Okay," Tsukushi nodded, almost feeling good. "So, I just want to say some things, it's okay for you to roam around Tokyo or anything, just don't interfere at whatever way with our band."

"Not to worry, I only care about is boys. I have no time for something else."

"With that mention," Sakurako intervened. "I wanna let you know that Akira from the neighbor is MY boyfriend, and I'll kill anyone who comes between us." She warned.

Umi shrugged. "There's a lot of fish in the sea…oh…make it a rich fish."

"And Soujirou…" Yuki blushed while hesitating to say, "Is my boyfriend."

Tsukushi looked at her friend with surprise. 'Geez, that's fast!' she thought.

"Fine." Umi said again. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Tsukushi said. "Well, my friends are staying at the mansion and I hope that everyone will get along."

"And we'll appreciate it if no one bothers us," Shigeru pointed out.

Umi rolled her eyes.

"And please do remember that I'm still the owner of the house." Tsukushi reminded her cousin. "So, don't feel like you have the courtesy to order around without my permission. That's all."

"Settled then. All I really need was a place to sleep at night, if I come home, but I guess I'll be out most of the time. Believe me, you'll barely see me, as if I'm not around."

"That's fine." Tsukushi grinned.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day, at Eitoku…..

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"Miss Makino, I have something to tell you before you go." Mrs. Shin, her ballet teacher said.

"Yes?" Tsukushi approached her teacher after the others were gone.

Mrs. Shin handed a paper to Tsukushi. "That's the form for our ballet that'll be performing this coming month. It's called The Fairies. There's no lead character yet but the other cast were filled already, so I'm asking you if you want to be the lead character as the Fairy princess. Your partner is Junpei, he's the fairy prince in search of his princess. If you happened to watch Thumbelina, you got a clue already, but they're both fairies."

Tsukushi felt excited, she loved Thumbelina, and if this ballet was near like it, then she'll definitely take the role.

"When would this be?"

"First week of next month."

"I'll take the lead!" she said excitedly. "Wait, are you sure nobody else wants the role? I mean isn't it unfair to hand the role directly to me?"

"Don't worry, I know you're the best for that role. And many auditioned but none came to my expectation." The ballet instructress smiled.

"Then I'll take it."

"Well, practice for the play starts tomorrow."

Tsukushi nodded enthusiastically before she left.

Later at the school cafeteria, she met her friends and Akira and Soujirou.

"Why look so happy?" Sakurako frowned as she popped a fries to her mouth.

"Guys, you won't believe it!"

"What is it?" Yuki asked with the same excitement.

"Mrs. Shin picked me as the lead character for the play called The Fairies!"

"Wow! Congratulations!" Shigeru squealed.

"And you're wrong, we believe you, I mean, we know you're the best!" Sakurako mused.

"I'm so excited!" Tsukushi hugged everyone from the table. When Tsukasa and Rui showed up, she hugged them too. The two new comers were surprised.

"Is this my good luck or what?" Tsukasa said with a wide smile.

"Congratulate her, she'll play the lead role for the ballet." Akira informed him with a smile.

"That's great!" Tsukasa beamed as he hugged and kissed Tsukushi.

Tsukushi's eyes widened with surprise. And the kiss seemed so similar to that one from that night.

"Congrats, Tsukushi." Rui said to break the thickening silence.

"Err…thanks…" Tsukushi said while blushing.

"Wait…" Yuki suddenly frowned.

"Nani?" Sakurako asked.

"We're having some band performance at the same day."

"What for?" Tsukushi frowned.

"The company presidents and other member's wants to see us play, maybe even record some songs."

"Oh…" Tsukushi muttered. 'Of course the band comes first.' She thought a bit disappointed that she can't take the lead role after all.

"Anyway, what time is the sound check anyway?" Shigeru asked Yuki.

"Around ten I guess, who knew that those people were night person's." Yuki mumbled.

"Then Tsukushi can still join the ballet."

Tsukushi's hopes rose. "Yeah, I could just follow you there after the ballet."

"Don't even think that we're not gonna watch." Yuki suddenly said with a smile. "I only told you about the band's performance but I didn't say that we won't watch the play. We could all go there after the ballet."

Tsukushi beamed. "Thanks!"

"With that settled," Shigeru suddenly changed the topic. "Maybe we could choose our manager?"

They looked from Akira to Soujirou.

"So, which one of you would like to be our manager?"

"Akira could take the cake." Soujirou grinned.

"Fine."

"So, Akira's our manager." Sakurako declared.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo