=NOTE: If you've already read the prologue, scroll down. Chapter one has been added.=

A Girl from Someplace Sweeter

0 - Prologue

"Tsukasa!"

Tsukasa's head jerked up. Before he could move, stutter, or smile, he found himself struggling to breathe with a pair of arms locked tightly around his waist. With a light pat to the head he disengaged himself and smiled at the somewhat shorter, wide-eyed girl standing in front of him, whose hair was a bit mussed and her hands were tucked tightly behind her back after releasing him. She smiled.

"Hey there," he greeted, his usually stern, dark eyes brightening, "how was the trip?"

She adjusted her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave the area near the gate where he had been sitting. "Not too bad," she replied. She seemed to have recovered from her initial excitement. "I liked it until the view was blocked by clouds."

At that, Tsukasa laughed and patted her shoulder. "Flying is still new to you. Your first time was only a few years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, come on. Tsubaki's waiting at the mansion to see you. She's going to leave in a few days."

Her eyes fell. "Oh, I see," she murmured. With a sigh, he stopped her with one hand and bopped her lightly on the forehead with his finger, then lowered his head to look at her.

"Come on, don't be like that," he snorted. "Let's go, ugly."

She huffed indignantly. "Ugly?" she growled, "You're the one who's ugly, what with those curls and all. I can't believe you're my brother!"

"And with those plain looks, I can't believe you're my sister!" Tsukasa shot back. Bickering merrily, the pair left the concourse.

"Hey, Akira, did you hear? Tsukasa's sister is back in town."

Akira raised one eyebrow. "Sister? You mean Tsubaki? I thought she was already here."

"If it were Tsubaki, I would have said Tsubaki. No, his younger sister," Soujiro corrected and leaned back in his chair, using his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear.

"I thought she was living in Hiroshima with her mother."

"She was. She just came back to Tokyo today, and I hear she's staying for good."

Akira stifled a gasp and leaned forward, replying, "You mean Tsukasa's mother is letting her anywhere near Tsukasa? That's impossible."

"Apparently not. I have no idea what's going on over there," Soujiro snorted in distaste. "I thought they'd forgotten all about her, since her existence was such a disgrace to the family."

"Yeah, I would have thought that old lady would try to keep the whole thing under wraps."

"Doesn't seem so."

"Tsubaki-san?" Tsubaki raised her head at the inquiring voice. She saw a short, oddly-dressed girl standing in the doorway, her brown hair hanging loose to below her shoulders and her bangs uncut and uneven. She blinked her wide, vividly brown eyes, and they drew away from her round face, wide shoulders and strong eyebrows. The eyes. Tsubaki recognized her instantly.

"Don't be so formal," Tsubaki requested in a somewhat melancholy voice, "it makes us sound so distant. Come inside, I haven't seen you in years."

The girl bowed and came into the den, taking a brief, unmasked look around before smiling broadly at the older woman. "It's good to see you again, oneesan."

Tsubaki smiled. "That's better. It's too sad when my own sister is formal with me... It makes you sound like mother." The girl laughed and nodded in agreement. "Now, come sit down. I want to hear how you've been doing, Tsukushi-chan."

1 - Welcome to the Doumyouji House

The first thing to strike any normal person about the Doumyouji mansion would be the size: it was huge, with grand terraces, balconies, and more rooms, bathrooms, dining rooms and drawing rooms than anyone could count. Next would be the ornate designs on every last table and pillar, the cleanliness, the vast gardens, and the large staff.

The moment Tsukushi stepped into the Doumyouji mansion, she thought that it seemed a little lonely.

And cold.

After she had had her bags taken by servants with heads bowed and watched Tsukasa giving a maid a piece of his mind about something she wasn't paying attention to, she had been led to meet Tsubaki and have a brief chat before dinner. If she had thought the mansion empty and distant at first glance, her definitions were redefined by the dinner table. It was half the length of the room, and reaching the bread halfway between she and Tsukasa was a trial and tribulation in itself. She sat between the resident of the house and their older sister, and yet, she found she had to talk louder than usual for either of them to hear her clearly. It was a rather troublesome business, she thought. In the future she would suggest to Tsukasa that they eat in a smaller room--with a smaller table--if possible.

Tsukushi cleared her throat. "Oneesan," she addressed Tsubaki loudly, "when do you have to go back to America?"

"In two days," the older woman replied, chuckling somewhat to herself at the girl's obvious uneasiness. She saw Tsukushi's face falter at her response, and glanced up at Tsukasa, who was watching her. "But don't worry, you won't be lonely, you'll have that moron over there to keep you company."

Tsukushi glanced over at Tsukasa and chuckled at his expression, which displayed his fluster, irritation, and offense all at once. "I don't want to be a bother," she told them, "I should go make friends quickly!" Tsubaki laughed.

"That's a good idea, Tsukushi-chan. But for now, Tsukasa, will you take her around until she knows the city a bit better?"

Tsukasa grunted out a "Sure, whatever," as a reply and ate a miniscule piece of rice. "What about school? You're a year younger, right?"

"I'm a second year," Tsukushi said with a nod, smiling politely. Tsukasa frowned at her. "You're a third year?" He replied with an affirmative grunt and resumed eating, so Tsukushi closed her mouth and followed suit.

"Mother enrolled you at Eitoku as well," Tsubaki spoke up. The other two siblings seated at the table dropped their utensils. "You start next week, Tsukushi-chan."

Tsukushi let her shock take over as a vegetable slid down her throat, getting caught somewhere along the way. With a gasp and a choke she stared wide-eyed at Tsubaki, hand gripping the table, and coughed, hardly noticing when Tsukasa leaped from his seat and quickly came over to pat her on the back. Before she could react she swallowed the offending food and gave him a brief glance of appreciation.

"But, oneesan," Tsukushi objected after clearing her throat, "I live in Hiroshima and even I've heard of Eitoku! I couldn't go there, I'd never fit in at a rich school like that." She gave Tsukasa a sideways look at Tsubaki's seeming unemotional expression.

Tsukushi jumped when Tsubaki's voice replied in a coolly, "You're a Doumyouji. Of course you'll fit in. Now, we should all get to bed early tonight. I'm sure you both will have a busy day tomorrow." Tsubaki gave her brother a meaningful look, which he responded to by crossing his arms and looking away spitefully. She sighed. "I'll find Tama. She'll take you to your room, Tsukushi-chan."

With that final word, Tsubaki rose and folded her napkin, lightly touched her lips with it, and placed it on the table before walking out of the dining room into the hallway.

Tsukasa was in the process of wiping his chopsticks clean when Tsukushi murmured, "Sorry."

He blinked. "For what?"

"That you have to take me around tomorrow. I'm sure I can just walk around for a while," she replied, both hands crossed under the table and her eyes on the tablecloth.

Tsukasa sighed and tilted his head. "Don't worry about it," he said, "I have nothing better to do anyway. It'll give us a chance to catch up." Noting her still somewhat melancholy look, he added, "Stop pouting, it makes you look uglier than you already are."

Just as she opened her mouth to retort--and her blood started boiling--the door opened and a short, frail-looking old woman walked into the dining room. With one sharp look from her Tsukasa's mocking grin immediately disappeared and Tsukushi noticed his back straighten.

"The young mistress informed me you will be staying here from now on," the woman announced, still standing by the door as she addressed Tsukushi. Even with wrinkles, gray hair, supportive cane and maid's uniform, the stranger had an air of authority that seemed to even affect master-of-the-house Tsukasa. "Come with me."

Nodding once at Tsukasa, Tsukushi got to her feet as quickly as possible and put her napkin and chopsticks on the table, barely missing catching a shirt button on the tablecloth as she stood. She bowed once, earning herself a strange look from the old woman, and smiled. "All right," she said with a polite grin. "I'm Tsukushi. Ma... Doumyouji Tsukushi."

"I know," the woman snorted with one eyebrow raised. "I'll take you to your room."

"You don't have to be so annoyingly polite."

Tsukushi jerked her head up and stared. Tsukasa walked beside her--slightly ahead, both hands tucked into his pockets--with his eyes focused on the sidewalk rather than the shops they passed.

"What do you mean?" she asked, clearing her throat when her voice came out a little high-pitched. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, glanced over her curious, wide-eyed face once before sighing and pausing in front of one of the glass doors to Chanel.

"I mean you can just be yourself. I've at least known you long enough for that," he replied gruffly. As he went to open the door to the shop, he glanced back at her.

Tsukushi laughed and pointed at him. "You look stupid when you try to be so serious," she mocked and grabbed his sleeve with one hand, jerking the surprised Tsukasa away and walking back to the sidewalk. "Come on, let's keep going. I want to find a cheaper place to shop."

"Cheaper?!"

By two in the afternoon, Tsukasa was found collapsed in a seat in a small burger shop. He had his head pillowed in his arms on the table with two empty baskets beside him, and Tsukushi sitting just opposite. She poked him in the head.

"Are you ready to go home?" she asked, glancing down at the three bags littering the floor around their chair legs with a grin. Tsukasa responded with an affirmative grunt and slowly eased himself up, shooting her one deadly look before picking up two of the bags and slinging them over his shoulder. She took the remaining bag and the pair left the small store.

The new spring semester had just started, so the weather was turning warm but still carried some of the cool breezes and wet rains of winter. As Tsukasa went to wave down a taxi, Tsukushi grabbed his arm and shook her head, earning a confused, somewhat irritated look. "Can we walk? It's really nice out, and I want to see more of the city," she requested, focusing both eyes on him and raising her voice in a way she knew guaranteed he would be unable to resist. Looking once at her face he acquiesced with a sigh and dropped his hand to his side. Tsukushi grinned widely and took the opportunity to raise her eyes up to the blue sky above.

The air was moist; the sun barely broke through white, puffy clouds, sending down fractured beams of sunlight. It was warm, and Tsukushi marveled at how different the very atmosphere was than what she was used to. "Tsukasa?" she inquired, glancing up. He raised both eyebrows, but didn't respond, so she continued. "What's Eitoku Gakuen like?"

"Simple," Tsukasa said, "simple and pointless. School is worthless to me. Don't ask me, I hate going there." Both his voice and expression were emotionless, and Tsukushi raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"Hate? I doubt it. A guy like you must have a lot of attention," she alleged, appraising him with her eyes from head to toe--and deliberately causing an annoyed blush--and laughed. He only snorted and crossed his arms, as if ending the conversation. Tsukushi stuck out her tongue and admonished, "You're such a spoil sport. Let's get back so I can get my uniform!"

Tsukasa blinked as she jumped ahead, jogging for a moment before waving at him. "Come on! I want to meet all your friends as quickly as I can!"

At that, his eyes flew wide, and he charged after her, bumping past at least three startled bystanders along the way.