Prologue: Catching up

As Kaho woke up the next morning, she stared at the familiar ceiling. It had glow in the dark stars stuck on it and reminded her of memories during high school days. She bitterly smiled.

...

Kaho went to a prestigious school, it was a common occurrence for students to get bullied by others but it was on a whole new level.

As the school was very reputable, there were often many students from rich families who attended. Many were arrogant and selfish. Some stooped low enough to blackmail their victims and expose whatever information they had on hand.

Kaho, unfortunately, was a victim. Even after everything she had gone through, she always stayed kind. This of course made her an easy target for many students to take advantage of. Although she had been bullied relentlessly, she always had friends that stuck by her. They weren't the average types of friends but they were good friends and they all had been friends since they were young.

Kaho was born and raised in the United States. At the age of seven, she had moved to an unfamiliar environment. Which she now called her home, Japan.

Kahoru liked Japan more than America as things were much more organised and cleaner there. She even made friends who made sure she felt comfortable and at home. She was the happiest she had ever been. Many people she had met always said her that she had a peaceful aura and that the atmosphere was never tense. They always felt relaxed.

...

It was fine and sunny day, Kaho was going shopping with her mother, Aiko.

Aiko wanted to buy new clothes for her daughter as Kahoru had no fashion sense whatsoever. "Kahoru! You dress like a grandma! You will never be able to impress your boyfriend with clothes like those." Aiko complained as she gestured towards Kahoru's old patched up tunic.

"I didn't have time to buy any clothes. I've been studying and working every day..." Kahoru pouted.

"Well, we are buying some today! Also, don't push yourself so hard. You're going to get sick."

"If you say so, mother! And I won't."

They had left the house and made their way down towards the mall. The mother-daughter duo had been shopping for hours upon hours. After their one hundred years long shopping trip, the exhausted duo had stumbled upon a charming restaurant and decided to take a break.

The restaurant was a high-end Italian ristorante. The lights were dim, the decorations were an old vintage style, there was jazz music playing live by a small band in the corner and you could faintly hear the sound of metal spoons and forks tapping the plates as people were dining.

Overall, the atmosphere was relaxing. After their luxurious dinner, the pair were ready to make their way home, take a bath and head to bed.

It had been a week after Kahoru's arrival and the day has arrived where she was going to catch up with her group of friends. It was a Sunday afternoon and the day has been pleasant. She had been spending the last week resting due to the bad jet lag. She took the train to Midtown Tokyo, Asakusa then transferred over to another train and headed to Roppongi station, took the exit and made her way towards the entrance of the shopping centre. She had taken a seat nearby the entrance and waited for her friends to arrive.

A few minutes had passed and Kahoru sees a group of young adults walk towards her. No doubt indeed that it was her friends. Her friends waved to her and with one sprinting towards Kahoru. Kahoru quickly stood up and with her arms opened wide ready to catch the incoming hug."Kaho! I missed you." Yuuki exclaimed.

"I missed you too Yuuki."

The two girls teared up at their heartfelt reunion and hugged each other as tight as they could.

"Don't you forget about us too Kaho."

The girls let go of each other and both turned to look at the rest of the friend group. Kahoru gave them a confused look.

"Who are you again?" she jokingly said.

"Don't tell me you already forgot about us?" One of the male members of the group gave Kahoru a disappointing look. Kahoru chuckled and pat the man on the shoulder.

"Don't worry I didn't forget about you Jun, Erika, Takao and Asahi." She called out the names of her friends as she patted each of their shoulders.

"You better not forget us Kaho!" Erika hugged Kahoru's arm and started to drag her into the shopping centre. Everyone chuckled as they followed the two through the automatic doors.

The group had split off into girls and boys. The girls decided to go shopping for clothes and cosmetics and the boys went off to go to the game store. Kahoru, Yuuki and Erika were in a department store browsing for accessories. They caught up and gossiped.

"Hey Kaho," Erika tapped Kahoru's shoulder. "Did you know Yuuki is dating Jun?"

"What, really?" Kahoru was shocked and looked over to Yuuki. Realizing what Erika had said Yuuki flicked Erika's forehead.

"Ouch." Erika rubbed her forehead as she pouted at Yuuki.

"I was going to tell her that first!" Yuuki glared at Erika. "Well, then I will tell Kaho that you are dating Takao."

Erika immediately froze. "H-how did you know we were dating? We haven't told anyone yet!"

Yuuki smirked at Erika and patted her on the shoulder. "There's your answer."

Erika covered her face with both of her hands as her she turned bright red. Kahoru blinked a few times as she tried to process what had just happened. After a few moments, she gave Erika and Yuuki the biggest grin and hugged them.

"Congratulations!" She then chuckled and dragged them to the food court, where the group was going to have lunch together. The girls looked around to see if the boys had already arrived. Kahoru spotted them and they made their way toward them. Each step Kahoru took towards them, she had the biggest grin on her face, and the atmosphere had turned cold.

The boys felt something coming their way and shiver had gone down their spine.

"Hey guys, did you feel something?" Jun asked.

"I did. I thought I felt something chilling." Takao arched his back a little. He didn't feel comfortable.

"I didn't." Asahi looked at the two boys, confused. "What did they feel?" He thought to himself.

As Kahoru tapped Jun's Shoulder, Jun slowly turned to see that Kahoru was right in front of him smiling. It wasn't the genuine smile she usually had. It was far scarier.

"Oh, H-hi Kaho." Jun hesitantly smiled back. Kaho turned to smile at Takao and he immediately shrunk back.

Kahoru slapped both of their backs very hard and whispered to them, " Hey, You better take good care of them otherwise something horrible will happen to you."

Jun and Takao instantly shuddered and shrunk. They both peeped a "Yes."

"Good! let's go and eat!" Kahoru was now grinning ear to ear. The atmosphere had finally lightened up again.

Takao walked next to Erika and he talked in a low whisper, " How did Kaho know?"

Erika's face had turned red again and replied in an embarrassed voice," Yuuki found out first, Were we that obvious?"

"Hurry up you lovebirds!" Asahi called out to them.

"We aren't lovebirds Asahi." Takao and Erika simultaneously called back and quickly walked to the group, now realizing how obvious they were.

"I guess we can't hide it anymore, they caught us." Erika mumbled and chuckled to herself.

The small group had gone into a small ramen restaurant and had caught up Kaho with their lives. They were completing university soon and Erika still had another year to as she was a year younger than anyone else; as for Asahi, being two years older than most of the group, he was an accountant working in an office.

After the catch-up, it was time to head home. It was quite late and Kahoru was walking down the streets of Asakusa alone. She waited for her driver to pick her up. It was only the beginning of spring. The street lights at night shone down on the cherry blossom trees as petals slowly floated down covering the streets of Tokyo. Kahoru reached out her hand to catch the soft pink petals. She looked up the beautiful view and thought to herself, "I will never get sick of this." As Kahoru smiled, whilst she was watching the soft shower of petals, her cellphone buzzed. She reached for her cellphone that snuggled in her coat pocket and answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Miss, we have arrived."

"Okay, I will come in a minute."