CM: Hey all! It's your gracious host, Copper Moon, here. Okay, so a friend and I joint wrote this cause we were bored. We've also been working on other stories but I thought I'd put this one out first even though it's not the first we've written. We did our best to keep everyone in character but if there is a little bit of OOC please forgive us! I hope you all enjoy it!

CHAPTER ONE: WELCOME TO JAPAN

"WARNING! OUR PLANE IS CRASHING! ALL PASSANGER BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

"Kylie! How many times have I told you not to do stuff like that?!"

Kylie sighed before fitting her bag over her seat and sitting herself down. "It never fails, the one plane that gets delayed and it HAS to be ours," She noted to her traveling companion.

"I know but we've survived this long and actually got the chance to study abroad, so try to look on the bright side," her companion said. She leaned against her seat, having already placed her bag up top. "Delayed or not, at least it arrived."

"Yeah, I know," Kylie said with a smile. "I'm only stating the fact because I find it funny."

"Oh, that's right, knowing you, Miss Happy-go-lucky," the other said with a small roll of her eyes. "Your sanguinity really amazes me sometimes."

"What can I say? I just look for the silver lining," Kylie said with a shrug. "But just think, Lin… we're on our way to Japan!"

"It's Linda okay, quit with the silly nicknames," Linda said, sighing heavily.

"The plane will be taking off, so would all passengers be sure to have their seats in the upright position and their seat belts fastened," the flight attendant said over the intercom.

"Right, here we go," Linda said, buckling herself in and hanging on tight.

Their flight went on rather peacefully for the most part. Kylie read her novel while Linda watched a movie. The two both took naps, so as to lessen the effect of jet lag. They got off and caught their second flight on Wake Island. About half way, the plane began to shake and the airline lady's voice came on. "Attention passengers. We are encountering some turbulence. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened."

"Wow, I wonder if we'll have to land in Japan via parachutes. What a way to make an entrance into a new country, right?"

"Kylie….please don't jinx this flight. I really don't plan on having another thing go wrong," Linda said, clenching her teeth and taking huge gulps of air.

"I suppose, though, that with our luck the parachute's wouldn't work and we would end up fertilizing Japanese soil with our--" Kylie began.

"Kylie, please, quit it. You know this is my first flight, I don't want to think about it being my last one," Linda shouted, keeping her eyes closed tightly.

"Wari, wari," Kylie said apologetically. Contrary to Kylie's fantasies, there was no need for parachutes. The plane managed to dock at the airport and the two girls stepped off without a scratch.

"Land!" Linda exclaimed in unreserved alleviation. "Solid Land."

She stopped as she found lots of people staring at her in amusement and confusion. "So…let's go grab our things Kylie," Linda said, red in the face. She led the way to the baggage drop and they waited for their bags.

Unfortunately, they waited for several minutes until all the bags were gone from that plane.

"Don't tell me we lost our luggage as well," Linda sighed, her head drooping in sadness.

"Wait right here," Kylie said, going over to a phone booth. After several minutes, she came back, her face semi-serious. "Apparently are bags are still on Wake Island."

"What? They didn't transfer over?" Linda asked with a groan.

"That's what it sounds like," Kylie replied.

"Well…at least we have our money with us," Linda said, forcing a smile onto her face. "We should just take what we have and go find our hotel."

"They said they'd have our luggage here by tomorrow at the latest, so we can wait until then," Kylie said with a smile as they grabbed what stuff they had and exited the airport.

They managed to hail a taxi and when they arrived at the hotel room Kylie flopped down on the bed. "The school term starts tomorrow, so we need to find a good apartment to stay in, unless we get lucky enough for a Japanese family to take us in," she added jokingly.

"Oh ha ha, I seriously doubt that would happen…unless it somehow gave that family good luck," Linda said shaking her head. "Naw, we just need to focus on making it through the school year."

"Righto," Kylie said with a thumbs up. "This year is going to be fun. I just know it."

***********

"Say that once more to my face, Rat Boy!"

"I swear, you're so idiotically childish it disgusts me."

"Why you--!" There were some scuffling noises along with a crash soon after.

"There they go again," the man with dark hair and glasses sighed, leaning back in his chair. "What's a writer to do when he can't even write peacefully in his own home?"

But in truth, he had been having writer's block lately. He needed some inspiration, a muse, if you will. His musings were interrupted by the shrill ringing of the phone.

"Hello…Sohma residence," he said, picking up the phone.

"Shigure, do you have a moment?" a soft, irritated voice asked.

"Of course, Hatori…I'm always free. What's on your mind?"

"Mayuki just called, saying that her sister, who works at the College, won't be getting in for some time on account of her plane being delayed. She wants you to substitute for her class until she returns," Hatori explained.

"Of course I'll do it…why didn't she call me herself?" Shigure asked.

"She didn't want to talk to you," Hatori answered curtly. "I'll tell her you'll do it, so just make sure you're ready." Hatori then hung up without another word.

"Well, that's just cold," Shigure said to no one, laying the phone back down on the cradle. Suddenly, he got a wide grin on his face. "Well, I suppose if not high school girls, college girls are the next best thing."

***********

The next day found the two girls in their first Japanese class….in Japan. They were notably the only Americans there and they felt somewhat out of place. "You know…I'm starting to feel like any mistake we make in this class will be laughed at," Linda whispered.

"Oh, I'm sure it won't be so bad," Kylie assured her with a small wave of her hand. The professor came in and wrote his name up on the board in kanji. Kylie translated it to Professor Endo.

"Welcome class," he spoke in Japanese. "This year's class looks promising. I hope that you all at least manage to pass this class." His eyes lingered on Linda and Kylie before he went on into the lecture.

"Now, let's have a volunteer come up and write one thing they did this summer on the board in Kanji….how about one of our young Americans?" he said, staring at the two girls.

"Do you want to do it, or should I?" Kylie asked.

"I'll do it, I might as well get it over with," Linda replied heavily, getting up from her chair and walking toward the board.

As she walked forward, a student jotting down notes knocked his book off the table with his elbow falling right in front of Linda as she was passing by, causing her to stumble and practically fall on her face in front of the entire class. There was much suppressed laughter as Kylie went to Linda to make sure she was alright.

All Linda could do was sigh. "Somehow I knew something like this was going to happen," the girl muttered, getting up. "Don't worry Kylie I'm fine…really," she told her cousin before going the rest of the way to the board and writing something she did over the summer in Kanji…though rather sloppily. Once she was finished, she returned to her seat and made an extra effort not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Don't sweat it, Lin," Kylie told her, patting her shoulder.

"Easy for you to say," Linda said darkly. "You didn't make a fool of yourself in front of the whole class."

"No… but chances are, before the end of the day I will."

"Jones-san, since you seem to have a lot to share, why don't you try? I hope your writing is more legible than your sister's."

"Actually, we're cousins, sir," Kylie told him respectfully.

"My apologies…will you come up, anyway?" he asked politely.

Kylie nodded and went up to the board with no problems. Once there, she picked up the chalk and wrote her thing in near perfect Kanji, making the others impressed. Suddenly, she fell forward as the chalk holder she was leaning against broke under her weight, causing chalk and erasers to go everywhere.

"……Gomen nasai," Kylie murmured.

"…That will be all, Jones-san. I will be sure to have the school bill you. You may sit back down," the professor told her, keeping his calm. Kylie went back to her seat, not looking at anyone.

"Guess I should stop predicting my downfalls, huh?"

"Yeah…maybe then you wouldn't be as jinxed as you are," Linda murmured. She did give her cousin a reassuring smile all the same, though. The rest of the class went without anymore major pitfalls and soon it was time to part ways for their separate classes. "Do your best, Kylie," Linda said with a wave; she didn't believe in telling people good luck.

"Right back at you," Kylie said with an encouraging smile before heading off to her English class. There she found a seat in the third row, so as not to be too close, but also not too far.

Soon the class was filled, but the professor was nowhere to be seen. Kylie decided to read a book that she had bought on a whim at a book stand in order to practice her Japanese and literature in one go. After ten minutes into the hour, Kylie heard the classroom door open.

"Sorry everyone, I got lost on the way. Hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."

Kylie paused in her reading to glance up. Standing in front of the class was a beautiful dark haired man wearing a dress shirt, tie and slacks. All the girls in the class swooned while Kylie quickly decided to continue her reading.

"My name Shigure Sohma and I'll be substituting this class until your teacher returns from her trip," he said with a big smile. "Now, I want to get to know all of you, so we'll just go down the line and you'll tell me what your name is and…one thing you enjoy doing," he said, still smiling.

The students took turns giving their names, the girls with love in their voice and the boys with annoyance, until it came to Kylie who didn't seem to notice what they were doing. "Miss, would you please give us your name….I am interested to know more about our American friend," Shigure said happily, standing right in front of her.

Kylie nearly dropped her book, and nearly looked up at him, but caught herself in time and stared at her desk instead. "Ah, gomen. My name is Kylie Jones," she said in a soft but clear voice.

"I see, and are you enjoying your book, Kylie-san?" he inquired.

Kylie was a little perturbed that he was using her first name since normally first name basis in Japan was only used between family or close acquaintances. "Yes, Sohma-sensei," she replied, turning slightly pink.

"I'm glad to know that you're enjoying it…especially since it one of my personally written works," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Sohma-sensei…do you mean you wrote that? Are you a novelist?" one of the girls asked in awe.

"Yes indeed. That particular one was my favorite to write….it was most enjoyable," he replied with a smirk and his hand on his chin. "Do tell me what you think once you're finished," he said before returning to the front of the class.

The class continued on with Sohma-sensei diving straight into reading comprehension. And Kylie, glancing around, didn't think there was much comprehension to be had. The girls were to busy ogling the professor to comprehend anything he was saying, and most of the guys just didn't seem to care much.

Kylie spent the whole lecture taking notes not looking up even once. Once the class was over she thought her hand was about to fall off. Before he had them leave he showed them all a picture.

"For your first assignment, I'd like you all to write a short story about this picture you see here. There are no rules, except be creative. That is all."

Kylie looked at the picture. It was the image of a shadow.

About an hour later was lunch and Linda found Kylie sitting at a table alone. "Hey…so how did Language Arts go?" she asked, sitting down with her food.

"Well…. The teacher was late," Kylie said with a small shrug.

Linda shook her head in disapproval. "Oh yeah, that's a great way to start."

"Well, from what I've heard, he's a substitute until our real sensei gets in," Kylie said, taking a sip of her milk.

"At least he's not supposed to really be your teacher," Linda said, taking a large bite out of her rice ball. "Anything else happen….any more accidents?"

"Not yet," Kylie said before knocking on the wooden table.

"Don't really see the point in you doing that," Linda remarked. "That dang wood hasn't done squat for us our whole lives."

"Wari, force of habit I guess."

"Sounds more like wishful thinking to me," Linda said, rolling her eyes.

"So, what about you, how did your class go?" Kylie asked, turning it back on her.

"Well…since it was P.E., we weren't expected to do anything today…though, during the free for all, I got hit in the head at least a dozen times with the basketball."

"Ouch…" Kylie winced in sympathy.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Linda muttered, rubbing her head. "So, have you found us an apartment yet?"

"I found one, "Kylie said slowly. "It's a bit pricey, but it's close by, so we can just walk to school. We have enough money for now, and if we need to, we'll just get jobs."

"I guess that's better than nothing. Because my last lab is really late today, so I'll meet you later and we'll pay for that apartment together," Linda said taking a swig from her juice box and inhaling it. "*cough, cough* I…can't even *cough* drink juice *cough* without something *cough* happening," she said angrily, trying to get her breath back.

Kylie thumped her on the back and after a few more coughs, she was better. "Arigato," Linda told Kylie.

"Douitashimashite," Kylie said with a smile.

"So next you have…Biology and its lab right?" Linda asked, finishing her juice.

"That's right…my lab get's out late too, so I'll just meet you afterward," Kylie answered, smiling all the while.

"Alright," Linda replied, smiling as well. Linda then looked down at her watch and sighed before standing and picking up her platter. "Well, I've got to go…Organic Chem awaits," she said, throwing her trash away.

"Later!" Kylie called as the two went their separate ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CM: End of chapter one! Yay! I know the first chapter is a little slow but it will pick up soon I promise. In the mean time for those of you who aren't familiar with certain Japanese terminology, here ya go!

Arigato- thank you

Gomen/ Gomen asai- I'm sorry/ I apologize

Douitashimashite- You're welcome

Wari- my bad