Aya and her best friend Mieri giggled excitedly as the plane took off. They were on their way to Tokyo. Being from a small farming village in Japan, this was a pretty big trip for them. "I can't believe it!" Aya squealed. "Our parents actually let us go by ourselves!"

"We are seventeen now, "Mieri reminded her. "We're big enough to find our way to Aunt Sanyo's house. It's not like she won't be waiting for us at the airport."

"Still," Aya insisted. "We are on a plane, by ourselves. I think we're making progress."

"Maybe so," Mieri laughed.

"How long till we get there?"

"Are you still scared of heights?" Mieri asked in wonder. "I thought we told you that there was nothing to flying."

"It's not the flying that scares me. It's the crashing and burning parts!" Aya squeezed her eyes shut as they hit some turbulence.

"You are such a baby!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Well, you're scared of bugs and stuff!" Aya countered.

"So? You're scared of granddaddy-long-legs!"

"Those things are nasty!" Aya shuddered. "They're so...so...nasty!"

"Really?" Mieri smirked.

The banter continued as the plane flew towards the biggest city in Japan. The girls were too busy talking and laughing to be bored, and the other passengers studied the two young teenagers for a time.

Though they had lived in Japan all of their lives, neither was truly Japanese. Both of their families had moved to their home village of before they were born. Aya was actually Irish. She had reddish-blonde curls that fell to her waist and icy blue eyes that could shine with warmth or flash in anger. She had definitely inherited the Irish temper.

Mieri, on the other hand, was quieter in nature. She had short brown hair that was super curly. It sometimes went "poof!" as she liked to say. This was the bane of her otherwise pleasant life. Her eyes were a clear kind of blue that was quite appealing. Her family originally came from England, and her parents still talked with a lilting accent as Aya's parents talked in a thick brogue.

"Look! I think we're here!" Aya leaned towards the window for the first time. She quickly realized her mistake and sank back into the seat.

"Yeah, you're right. There goes the 'buckle up' sign. Have you―" Mieri glanced at Aya and stopped. "Never mind. I guess you never unbuckled." Aya didn't answer. She just braced herself for the landing they were about to make.

Throughout the whole ordeal, there was a lot of hand-squeezing and even more whimpering, but both Aya and Mieri made it out OK.

"I think you broke my hand," Mieri shook her hand vigorously and twitched a few fingers for analysis.

"Oh, shut-up! It's not like you never needed comfort."

"Yeah, but I didn't take off someone's arm getting it!" Mieri smiled, and Aya couldn't help but smile back.

"You'll get me back at some point, I'm sure."

"You're right. I will."

"So what now?"

Mieri looked around. "I guess we wait for Aunt Sanyo to show up."

"What if she doesn't like us? Or is really mean?" Aya giggled. "We must show lots of respect, you know. Can't have her thinking bad about her foreign niece and friend."

"Whatever! She won't be mean! She's the best aunt in the world!"

"Still. You never―Oof!" Aya fell to the ground when a young girl practically ran her over.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" the girl spoke in the native tongue of Japan, Japanese. This was fine since both Aya and Mieri had grown up speaking the language. "Are you okay?"

Aya rubbed her butt. "It's okay. I'm fine."

Mieri snorted. "Yeah. She landed on her personal airbag."

Aya glared. "Shut-up."

The girl laughed. "I see you two are old friends!"

"You could say that," Mieri grinned. "We've only known each other since kindergarten."

"That is a long time. My name is Miaka."

"I'm Mieri, and this dumb blonde is Aya," Mieri pointed to first herself and then Aya.

The girl paused and studied them. "Have you any Chinese books? Any at all?"

"No," Aya was confused by the sudden change of topic. "I only speak a few words of Chinese. Japanese and a bit of English are all I know. Oh! And Celtic, of course."

"Oh," the girl was thoughtful. "I think that you shall go there soon," she stared at Aya. "It is good that you are so good natured. You will need every bit of it for your journey." She turned to Mieri. To their surprise, her eyes filled with tears. "Take good care of them please. I did not. There are so few left. Only three..." she faltered. "But maybe you shall change that. It won't be the first time something like this has happened."

"What are you talking about?" Aya questioned. "Who do you think we are?"

"No one. Not yet. Enjoy your story. For your sakes, I hope it ends well," the girl turned and ran. In the crowded terminal, this was pretty hard to do.

"Hey, wait!" Mieri cried out. "What were you talking about?"

Aya stooped down and picked up a book. "I guess she dropped this. It's got some weird symbols on it. Do you think they're Chinese? Was this what she meant by Chinese books? "

"Probably. It's definitely not Japanese. It's gotta be Chinese."

"Cool. I guess we do have a Chinese book now."

"Yeah, well, we'd better find my aunt. Have you been holding up the sign?"

Aya looked down at the sign which was by her side and lifted it into the air. "Of course! What kind of idiot wouldn't be holding up the sign?" a big grin forced its way to the surface.

"Your kind," Mieri muttered.

A few seconds later a hunched over old woman scurried over. "Mieri? Aya?"

Aya leaned toward Mieri and whispered in her ear, "Your aunt?"

Mieri whispered back, "So she's a great-aunt. They're the same thing."

"What's that?" Aunt Sanyo put her hand to her ear. "Speak up now! What did you say?"

"I said hello, Aunt Sanyo," Mieri talked slow and loud.

Aunt Sanyo gave her a look. "Well, there's no need to yell. I'm not deaf, you know."

Aya rolled her eyes, and Mieri nodded in agreement. This was going to be a long stay. "Should I call her Aunt Sanyo or Sanyo-san? Or maybe Taki-san? That is her last name, right?" Aya fretted to Mieri all the way to the car.

"Would you relax?!" Mieri finally said. "Just ask her what she wants you to call her! It's really no big deal. I see her every year for our family reunion, and she hasn't eaten me yet!"

"Oh, haha, Mieri. That's so funny. It's all fine for you. You're her family. But what about me? I'm just her great-niece's friend! I'm subject to disapproval!"

"Please. Do us all a favor. Shut-up!" Mieri waved her hands.

"Fine," Aya pouted. "But I'm warning you, if I get in trouble, I'm blaming it on you!"

"Agreed."

"Here is my car," Aunt Sanyo stopped at a nice little red car.

"Wow! I thought we'd be walking for a bit!" Aya smiled happily. "We don't have too many cars in our village. Most people just have bicycles."

"Throw your luggage in back here," Aunt Sanyo pointed to the trunk.

"Can we keep our backpacks with us?" Mieri asked. "It has an extra change of clothes."

Aya murmured under breath, "Not to mention snacks, CD's and CD players, game boys, magazines, our cell phones..."

"That's fine with me," Aunt Sanyo shrugged.

"Thanks!" Mieri and Aya jumped in the back. "Are we going to your house?"

"No. I have some shopping to do," Aunt Sanyo paused. "You probably don't want to do that, but I think I know just the place to leave you."

"At your house?" Mieri asked hopefully.

"Correct! I'm dropping you off. I'll probably be back in a few hours."

"That's fine," Aya winked. "Thank you."

"Buckle up. We have one stop first. I need to go by the news corner to pick up today's edition. I don't go anywhere without looking for some coupons first."

"That's okay. Go wherever you'd like," Mieri smiled.

"Then we're off!" Aunt Sanyo stomped on the accelerator. They took off into traffic. Both girls were thrown violently into first the back, then the front, and finally the back seat again.

"Ah!" Aya held on to the seat with one hand. With the other, she tried to buckle up. "This is worse than flying!"

"Shut-up and hold on!" Mieri squealed as they rounded another corner. On the way to their destination, they almost hit seven people, ten cars, two poles, and five animals. All in all, it was a traumatic experience for them.

"Why...didn't you warn me...that your aunt...was crazy?!" Aya gasped as she scrambled out of the car.

"I...didn't know...myself!" Mieri replied.

"Here we are, girls," Aunt Sanyo stepped out of the car. "This is my favorite news corner. The little boy here is so nice. Why don't you wait for me down by the candy store? You can both get a soda or something."

"Sure. That'd be great!" Mieri motioned for Aya to come and hurried off. They both bought soft drinks. Aya a Coke and Mieri a Dr. Pepper.

"When do you think she'll get back?" Aya asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know. How long does it take to buy a newspaper in Tokyo? Is there a line or something?"

"Yea!" Aya jumped up and down. "You've just reminded me that we're actually in Tokyo!"

"Yeah, yeah. But what about Aunt Sanyo? Think we'll hear her coming?"

"Sure," Aya smiled grimly. "Just listen for chilling screams and squealing tires. I for one don't know how she doesn't get arrested on a daily basis."

"Don't look at me," Mieri waved her hands. "I've never ridden with her before."

The squeal of rubber tires on the road caught both girls' attention. "Oh, boy," Aya breathed.

"Here she comes..."

A little red car turned on a dime around the street corner. It flew closer to the girls. At the last minute, the car jumped the curve heading straight for them! Mieri grabbed Aya's arm and flung herself to the side. Landing on the hard concrete was not a pleasant experience for either. The passenger door opened on the front seat. "Did I park close enough? Didn't want you to have to walk too far."

"I-I..." Aya was at a loss for words.

"Yes, Aunt Sanyo. Thank you, but next time we'll come to you, okay?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever. Come on, girls. I need to get going!"

"Yes, ma'am," Aya cautiously stepped back into the vehicle. This time both were prepared for the horrendous ride. But they did finally arrive at the house.

"See you girls later tonight!" Aunt Sanyo waved goodbye as she burst back onto the road.

"Do you think we could convince her to let us drive next time?" Aya asked.

"Not a chance."

"Oh. Okay. It was worth a shot," Aya sighed. "Wow! This is a really nice house."

"Yeah, I haven't ever visited it before. Come on! Let's see if we can figure out what this crazy book says!"