Chapter 1

"Listen to me, sweetheart. You have everything that you need right here at home." Sango Fukushima smiled at her five year old daughter. "As long as you're with Mommy, you won't need anyone else."

Her daughter looked up at her as she sat, cuddled in her arms. It was nighttime and they could see the moon outside the window as Sango was putting her daughter to bed. The little girl yawned as she rested her head against her mother's bosom before asking a question. "Will I ever be able to go outside with you, Mommy?"

Sango simply smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "In due time, Anzu."

° ∆ -------- ••• ------- ∆ °

There was a rush of noise that bombarded Anzu's ears as she pried her eyes open. There were people talking, soft music playing, and the clicking of metal against metal. Rubbing at her eyes, she sat up as she slowly realized where she was. She'd finally made it onto a train after a small struggle to get a ticket. Clutching her backpack to her chest, she slunk closer to the window of her seat and tugged at the end of her hood.

Today marked her first day in the country of Japan. She had flown here by herself from the United States, then had to navigate finding a train station, which led her to now. The only thing she had to give her a clue about where she was going was the polaroid photo in her hoodie pocket, a lackluster hand-drawn map she hastily drew herself, and her birth certificate. The train ride would be a couple of hours so she laid her head against the window and closed her eyes again to relieve some of her exhaustion.

Once the train had stopped, Anzu was woken up by one of the train attendants. The female shook the girl's shoulder and explained that this was the last stop. As Anzu stepped off the train, she yawned and pulled out the map in her pocket. It consisted of some lines and a circle for her 'point of destination', however it wasn't useful at all. The only thing that was somewhat okay was 'Sohma Estate' written in the center of the circle.

"Do you need help, ma'am?"

Anzu turned around sharply to see a train attendant approaching her - a male one this time. Her mother had explicitly told her to steer clear of all men. The reasoning behind it, however, her mother never explained. Although she was curious, she also felt a little bit uncomfortable. He was quite a bit bigger than her small frame.

"N-No thank you, I'm fine!"

The female clutched her backpack to her chest and scurried out of the train station. Only once she reached a stopping point did she catch her breath and look around, only to find that she had no idea where she was. Here she was, lost in Japan.

There were too many people walking around and, suddenly, her chest started to feel tight, like someone had their hand around her lungs. Why did she have to leave her home so suddenly and go to a new place? Why did her mother have to leave her when she told her she'd always be there? Why was she learning so much about her father right now? Grabbing onto the railing by the street, she crouched down and tried to steady her breathing as she was feeling really overwhelmed.

"Excuse me, are you okay?"

"Do you think we need to call an ambulance?"

"Wait a minute… Doesn't her face look familiar to you?"

Everyone was talking so fast, she couldn't quite understand them. Tugging on her hood, she weakly stood up and tried to leave the area. One of the males from the crowd grabbed the girl's arm as she tried to escape. Panicking, she immediately pulled away, but his grip was too fastened on her.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"Oh, there you are!"

A new voice called towards the crowd as a teenage girl with long brown hair ran over. She smiled as she stood between the girl and the man, causing him to reluctantly let go. The brunette immediately turned around and placed her hands on the hooded girl's shoulders.

"I've been looking all over for you! Please don't run away like that again."

Anzu stared at the girl in front of her. Did she know that she was in trouble and offered to help? Wasn't this something that you would only see in movies? As her emotions started to get the best of her, tears welled in her eyes and she immediately leaned into the stranger's embrace.

A little ways of time had passed before the two were alone again. The girl revealed that her name was Tohru and she brought her back to her place of work that was around the corner. She said that she saw the commotion through the window when she was cleaning and felt that she needed to help, seeing how scared the girl had looked.

"Do you feel better now?" Tohru asked after she came back from taking the trash out. This girl had a very calming presence although Anzu didn't know her at all. She did, however, tend to talk a lot so Anzu found out that Tohru was halfway through her second year in high school and worked as a janitor in this huge building.

Anzu clutched the small bottle of water between her hands. "Yes… Thank you for saving me, Tohru."

Once she was on break, the female sat down across from her on another couch with a smile. "Do you mind if I ask you your name?"

"My name is Anzu Fukushima." She took off her hood, revealing waist-length brick red hair and soft brown eyes. It had always confused her as to why her hair was such a vibrant color compared to her mother and father, who had rich, espresso colored hair. "I also go by-"

"Y-you're Maya!"

"Yeah…"

"Oh, I'm sorry for being so loud." Tohru immediately apologized, seeing the girl's sullen expression. She knew the girl had looked familiar earlier, but now it was starting to click. There had been a lot of stories on the news about a famous Japanese actress, Sango Fukushima, who had died in an accident on set. In the midst of the pandemonium of emotions from the public, it was revealed that she had a daughter who was hidden from the public eye and had inherited her income and savings. It was awful how the media invaded her personal life and exposed the daughter's picture and one of her documented names, which was Maya.

Anzu attempted to smile as she saw how genuine Tohru was. "It's alright. I know it's probably a shock being that a missing girl from the States whose entire life is being broadcast on national television suddenly appears in front of you."

"How did you travel here all by yourself? That must have been pretty scary." Tohru watched her in awe. "I've never even been on a plane before."

"Neither had I." Anzu confessed. "I just had to get away from it all… Actually, I came to Japan to find someone. Do you-"

"Tohru! They're calling for you in the back!"

The brunette looked at the girl apologetically before standing up. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll be right back!"

Anzu nodded as the girl took off before sighing. Maybe it was good that the girl was called to leave; it didn't seem too smart to tell a stranger all of her business. What if this was all a ruse and she was actually going to kidnap her and make her a hostage or something? She'd seen it in a movie before so there was a possibility that it could happen.

Standing up, the crimsonette decided it was time to leave and find somewhere to stay for the night. Outside the lavish tall windows, she could see that the sun was setting so it was best to find somewhere as quickly as possible. If she remembered correctly, all she needed to do was go around the corner to the stairs and the exit was just beyond. As she hurried to leave before Tohru could come back, Anzu rounded the corner, only to bump into a blonde-haired boy that was a little shorter than her, knocking him down in the process.

"Ow…"

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? I'm so sor-"

As Anzu stumbled over her feet, she fell into the back of a male employee that was on his way home from a late day in the office. There was a large puff of red smoke and the eyes of the blond widened in shock as the glimpse of the girl that ran into him transformed into a rather small hen. The businessman turned around, however it looked as if the boy had run into him since the hen was hidden behind a wall. Once the man left, the boy approached the animal cautiously.

"What are you looking at?" The hen asked with a tilt of her head. "And why are you so tall all of a sudden? I could've sworn you were shorter than me."

"Anzu? Anzu, where did you go?"

The hen's eyes widened and she feverishly looked around. "Oh no, I have to go. I can't be here." She tried to grab her backpack, however the backpack looked abnormally bigger than her. Even more confused, she caught a glimpse of her outstretched arm, only to see a cluster of feathers sticking out from a wing. Bewildered, she looked over at her other arm to see the same thing. Her chest was covered in feathers, her toes were reduced from five to three, and the clothes she had on earlier were piled around her.

Tohru peeked around the corner just as the hen fell back and passed out. She spotted familiar blond hair and immediately ran over. "Momiji-kun! Have you seen a girl with long red hair anywhere?"

"I, uh…" Momiji looked to the unconscious hen just as Tohru recognized the backpack on the floor. "She was right here, but now…"

The brunette's eyes widened in shock and she immediately scooped Anzu up in her arms. "W-We need to get home, right now! I, uh, please grab her bag!"