Chapter One

' April, 2013

Tokyo, Japan

Naya walked into the Nico Nico office wondering why the hell Tora had told her to come here at such an ungodly hour. She swore at him in her mind since he didn't even let her have a cup of coffee before he all but shoved her out the car door when he dropped her off. She made a mental note to maim him later for that. He knew damn well she couldn't function let alone be sociable at 9 am without at least two cups of coffee. Oh yes, she thought to herself, you're so gonna get it. It then occurred to her that he was even less likely to be awake this early than she was. What the hell is going on with him this morning? He was definitely acting weird.

'Naya-san,' she heard the girl at the reception desk call cheerily to her. 'Good morning.'

That was a matter of perspective. Naya inwardly cringed. She hated overly cheery people at this hour of the day.

'Tora-san asked me to give you this when you came in.' the girl said, smiling as she held out an envelope.

Naya quirked an eyebrow and wandered over to the desk. She took the envelope from her and opened it. Unfolding the piece of paper tucked within it, she recognized Tora's writing.

'Thirteen years ago, our paths crossed

It's been a wild ride since then,

with many twists and turns along the way.

Like being lost without having a map,

An adventure I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

Now that we have gone this far, let's navigate where we have been

So we can discover where to go next.

Let's start this journey by returning to the place where we first met.'

Naya crinkled her nose. He really was acting weird, but at the same time she couldn't deny being curious about what he was going on about.

'Alright, I'll play along.' she muttered to herself as she headed out the office door, thinking she might end up regretting playing along by noon.

'Naya!' she turned her head to see one of Alice Nine's staff members waving her over.

She jogged across the parking lot and greeted Matsuyama.

'Get in,' he said as he hopped behind the wheel. 'Tora asked me to take you around today.'

She quirked her eyebrow again but wasn't gonna turn down a ride since the coffee shop where they met was quite far. Shrugging, she skipped to the other side of the van and slid in the passenger seat. There was another staff member with a camera seated behind them. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it. She just shook her head instead. Her brain really couldn't take anymore weirdness, not without a pot of coffee anyway. Matsuyama turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot.

At least the first place she had to go to was an easy one. They still went to The Grind whenever they got the chance to.

'Cause its you and me and all other people

And I don't know why

But I can't keep my eyes off of you'

-You and Me, Lifehouse

August, 1999

'Ladies and gentleman, we have begun our descent to Narita airport. The weather is sunny and 29 degrees celsius. The time is 2:20 pm. We will be landing in 30 minutes. We hope you enjoyed your flight. Thank you for flying Japan Airlines.'

Naya's eyes fluttered open as the announcement was repeated in japanese. She stretched as much as she could in her seat as she attempted to wake up. Gazing out the window, she saw the blue ocean beneath her that seemed to encompass infinity itself. She was awed by how vast the earth really was. She kept her gaze out the window and she soon saw the coastline of Tokyo come into view. As the plane got lower and Tokyo expanded, she was rather struck dumb by how big it really was. She knew Tokyo was a stupidly large city but she had no idea how large it was really was. There was no end to the sea of concrete, glass and greenery that was spread outside her window like cream cheese on toast, giving the impression the entire country was one city. Damn, she thought to herself.

The plane landed and she reached above her seat to grab her backpack. She stood quietly as the passengers slowly filed out of the plane. Once she was out, she followed the people who walked in front of her to the baggage area and waited for her suitcases. The airport was packed and the overhead intercom made numerous announcements in japanese. After 15 minutes, she found her luggage and taking it off the belt, made her way to customs. An hour and half and a baggage search later, she left the customs area and made her way out of the airport. The airport was huge and she hoped she wouldn't get lost trying to find the front entrance. After what seemed like hours to her in a completely unfamiliar place, she stood outside in the refreshing, bright sunshine. She hailed a cab and in her beginner's japanese, asked the driver to take her to the Komaba International House Main at the University of Tokyo. The driver pulled out of the airport and headed out. Naya stared out the window of the cab stunned by the towering skyscrapers, struck dumb once again by the streets choking with both cars and pedestrians on the sidewalks. She was surprised by the occasional temple nestled in the shadows of the skyscrapers. She swallowed nervously as she wondered if she could ever get used to a place like this. Denver was a big city with millions of people, but compared to Tokyo, it was merely a small village that if you blinked, you missed it. The long cab ride seemed to end in only a few minutes as she was mesmerized by her surroundings. The driver stopped and she came back to herself. She paid the man and stepped out of the car. The driver hopped out and went to the trunk. He took her four suitcases and storage bin out of the car. She thanked him and bowed. As he drove off, she looked at the huge six floor building in front of her.

'Well here goes.' she muttered, sounding more confident than she felt.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulders, she grabbed two of her suitcases wishing she didn't have to leave the other two in the middle of the sidewalk for the moment.

'Oh hey,' she heard a voice. 'Let me help you with those'

She turned and saw a rather tall girl with short, boyish sandy blonde hair and green eyes. The girl smiled as she took the handles of the other two suitcases.

'Which floor are you on?' she asked as she started heading into the building.

'Fourth floor, room 410.' Naya answered, following the girl.

'That's cool,' she replied, grinning. 'I'm on the fourth floor too. Just down the hall from you in 422'

Naya went to the dorm office and got her room key. She then followed her companion into the elevator. When they reached the 4th floor, they went down the hall, passing a few people along the way. They stopped at room 410 and Naya took out the room key. Opening the door, she let the girl into the room before following her in.

'Just put those down where ever. I'll deal with them later.' Naya said, closing the door.

'Sure thing,' the other girl chirped. 'Oh I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself. My name is Amarah'

'I'm Naya,' she answered smiling. 'When did you arrive here?'

'Yesterday actually,' Amarah replied, snickering. 'I came from Malta, Montana and believe me, I'm never taking that trip again!'

'Long trip?' Naya commented, laughing.

'That is an understatement,' Amarah visibly cringed as she stepped out of the room. 'in total it was a 24 hour trip.'

'And here I thought a 14 hour flight was horrid.' Naya laughed as she and Amarah went back downstairs to get her storage bin.

After the storage bin was safely in Naya's dorm room, the two girls spent the rest of the afternoon talking as Naya unpacked. They found they had alot in common. They both liked the same music, some of the same bands and that they both played the guitar. A mutual love of Star Trek held a promise of marathon nights with the combined season sets the girls each had. Before long, it was 7 pm and Naya felt oddly jet lagged even though she had slept most of the flight.

'If you're feeling up to it,' Amarah said as she opened the door. 'do you want to go and explore the area with me tomorrow?'

'Sure,' Naya agreed, grinning. 'it would definitely be a good thing to figure out where we're going and where the stores are before school starts'

'Cool,' Amarah smirked. 'let's meet up at noon and we'll head out and hope we don't get lost'

'Sounds good.'

The two girls said goodnight and Naya crawled in her bed. Within minutes, the jet lag won the battle.