Makino Susumu was in his school, Eirin, waiting for the day to end. His classmates were also in a deep stupor because of the boring lecturer. He was attending a different school than his sister had because she choose Eirin over Eitoku for him. She said it would be better for him. She was right. Susumu didn't have to worry about people asking if he was related to her in Eirin so much.

However, Susumu found that he didn't fit in Eirin. Even though, he had the money to attend it and lived alone in a nice penthouse in Tokyo, he still didn't feel like he belonged in the school. His sister was the one who was paying for everything. Two of his classmates behind him were chatting during class, not bothering to pay attention.

"They say that Ringo-san will be coming to Japan," said one boy.

"Yeah, and they say that she'll be recording an album in Japanese. Finally, I can't wait. I'm learning English just so I can understand what she's singing about," said the boy next to him.

Susumu sighed. They were talking about Ringo Arisu again. Everyone was talking about her these days. She was a breakthrough international star who was originally from Japan, but she was currently in England.

"That is it for today. Please remember to do the homework assignment as listed on the class syllabus," said the teacher as he released them.

Susumu got up slowly. His sister did promise she'd take care of it and all he had to do was take the entrance exams, but he had no idea that going to Eirin would make him so uncomfortable most of the time. Perhaps, it was because most of the students had their parents paying for things and not their older siblings. His cell phone went off and he read a page: "Coming back to Japan. Will arrive at five in the afternoon." There was no name left with the message, but he knew who it was.

His sister. She was finally coming home after five years. Susumu smiled and took off running. He kept running until he reached a nearby sushi café where a friend of his sister's was working, Kin-san. "Kin-san!" exclaimed Susumu as he entered.

"Hey, Susumu-kun! What are you doing here so soon? Don't you usually linger at school before coming in?" asked the sushi chef.

He ignored his question. "Did you get her message?" asked Susumu excitedly.

"Yes. Why do you think I'm making some thing right now? Her message said her flight number and what gate along with 'bring sushi,'" laughed Kin-san.

"I guess she asked because the airplane food's crappy," said Susumu. "I think she already called my parents, but since they're in Osaka, they can't meet her at the airport. Are we going together?"

"Of course, but I have to pick up Yuki at her work first. We'll all go together," said Kin-san. "Just sit tight." He placed a drink for Susumu on the counter.

Kin-san and Yuki were the only two friends who knew where and what Makino Tsukushi was doing these days. She had kept steady contact with them through letters and email. The only people she called home were her parents because they didn't have a computer and sending her mail would have taken too long to respond to. Susumu sent her emails and also got a phone call from her every month, but those were too short. Tsukushi was an extremely busy person.

Most people didn't know her as Makino Tsukushi. She had a stage name that more people knew her by, Alice Apple. Or the Japanese translation: Ringo Arisu. She was a singer who had started with stage performances and was soon discovered by a record company. Her album was written and sung totally in English. She had started in England and worked her way towards the United States. Her album had gone platinum in Europe and was in the top twenty in the U.S. She had millions of adoring fans all over the world.

Many people in Japan hadn't heard of her. She avoided making music videos and only did a few sold out concerts in other places around the world. Most of the pictures that were taken of her were very artistic. Her face was hardly shown. The record company decided that it wanted to expand the market it had created for her into Asia. That meant they wanted her to record her next album in Japanese. This time she would have to make more public appearances and make some music videos.

Makino Tsukushi was currently a student at London University. Her major was English Literature. She had to learn English by force because she had chosen to go to England to study. Five years entrenched in England was more than enough for her to learn how to speak English. During that time, to combat her loneliness, she allowed her roommate to drag her along to a club meeting.

The club meeting was a group of international students who were putting on musicals for fun. Somehow, Tsukushi found herself cast in a leading role in the play, South Pacific. She could swear she was only cast because she was Asian. However, it didn't stop her from doing more and more production. At the urging of her school friends, Tsukushi learned how to play the guitar and over time improved immensely.

Many wondered why she was so determined to do things to keep her distracted. She was lonely being so far away from Japan. Her family was living halfway around the world. There was also someone else she missed. Circumstances did not allow them to be together. The ones she had kept in contact with understood what had happened.

Five years had past since she had been in any contact with those from the other world. The world that Makino Tsukushi couldn't join as herself, but rather as another person entirely. She was known as Ringo Arisu.

The weight of the world hung on his broad shoulders. It was almost too much to bear at times. He wore a fine Armani suit, but he had taken the tie some time ago. He hated this whole thing. He stood up and looked out the window of his New York City office.

He ran his fingers through the curls in his hair. He wondered what was going on below him. Not that he cared about such poor people. No. Not since she had left him. She swore she wouldn't and she did. He had little faith in the world because everything was being controlled for him.

Doumyouji Tsukasa was working at the office, or rather his prison. His mother checked up on him from time to time. She wanted to make sure he was doing what he was supposed to. However, she had let up recently. It seemed that Makino Tsukushi had disappeared off the face of the earth. Tsukasa had a feeling his mother had something to do with it.

The last time he had heard from her was when a strange message was sent to his mother. It was a check made out in the exact amount of money she had borrowed. Doumyouji Kaede decided to see if there were any funds to support the check and to her shock there was. Her special police had no luck in figuring out how she got the money to pay back all the loans she had taken out.

Hanazawa Rui called Doumyouji a few days later to tell him that he was also paid back in full by Tsukushi, but he couldn't figure it out either. She had not called him either. Doumyouji was worried to no end, but his mother prevented him from making any inquiries.

Doumyouji Kaede said that since Makino Tsukushi paid off the money she borrowed that meant that her business with the Doumyoujis was over. She suggested to her son that it was best for her to be left alone because she hadn't bothered to go through him to pay back the loan.

Little did Doumyouji know that he all he had to do was go down to the local music store and he'd see how well she was doing. He had no time for such things. However, the good news was he was coming back to Japan after two years of going overseas. He was going to attend school at Eitoku's university to finish up his degree in business and economics.

Doumyouji wondered why he had to go back to Japan at all. There was nothing he really wanted to come back to. Everything over there would remind him of her. He sighed as he leaned back into his chair. Maybe it would be good for him to go back after all. He was starting to forget her a little bit. He didn't want to ever do that.

The phone rang, shaking him out of his thoughts. He grabbed the phone. "What?" demanded Doumyouji gruffly.

"Your flight is ready, sir," said the secretary on the other line. Her voice shook. "Fine," he said as he slammed the receiver down. He stood up and put his coat back on. He sighed again. It was time to go home to Japan.

Susumu was getting bored waiting for Kin-san to finish up, so that they could pick up Yuki from work and go to the airport. Kin-san packed a bento box with some sushi for Tsukushi. He washed his hands. "Okay, we're ready to go," he said.

"Finally," said Susumu. "Let's go and get Yuki."

The pair stepped out of the sushi café. Kin-san smiled at the sunlight as it hit his skin. He looked at Susumu. He was such a short boy before, but now he was nearly six feet tall. He was on his last year of high school. Kin-san promised Tsukushi that he would watch over Susumu when she went away for school. Yuki made the same promise.

Yuki was currently working at one of the companies that belonged to Mimasaka Akira's family. She was looking at her cell phone for the time. She had no idea that Nishikado Soujirou and Hanawaza Rui were coming in for a meeting with Akira.

Rui stopped when he saw her working at the secretary pool, or rather her staring at her cell phone, looking at the time. "Soujirou. Isn't that Tsukushi's friend?" he asked.

Soujirou hadn't seen Yuki in a while. "Get back to work, Matsuoka-san," said her supervisor.

"I'm sorry, but I need to leave before five today. It's very important, Sempai," said Yuki as she bowed and hoped she could get out of the office before time was up.
"What could be so important you have to leave before six?"

"I have to meet with my friends, but it's very important, Sempai," insisted Yuki.

"Are you trying to escape my offices?" asked Akira as he showed up.

Yuki froze because her cell phone was still on her desk. She sucked in a breath. "I just have to leave early, Mimasaka-san," she said in a brave voice without flinching.
"Let her go, Akira," said Soujirou, making Yuki shake slightly.

"Fine, you're free to go," said Akira.

She whispered, "Thank you, Nishikado-san." She thanked him without looking at him. She had to get out of there before Susumu showed up with Kin-san. If F3 saw them, then they would immediately know that Tsukushi was coming. She gathered her stuff up and said, "I will come in early tomorrow."

"That was odd," said Rui as he watched her retreating back.

"How long as she been working here, Akira?" asked Soujirou.

"Hmm…I'm not sure. Probably since the last hiring," replied Akira.

"It seems like we're seeing old friends again. Tsukasa is coming tomorrow. Now all we need to do is find Tsukushi and everything will be normal again," said Soujirou. "Do you think that Yuki knows anything?"

"I asked her before. She wouldn't say anything. She said that she hadn't heard Tsukushi's voice in a while," said Akira. "It seems so strange that she would give up after all the trouble she had gone through for Tsukasa, but I guess everyone has their breaking point. Even Tsukushi."

"Do you want to go out?" he added.

"Yeah, we might as well have some fun before Tsukasa comes," answered Rui. He was more of a homebody, but he did enjoy going out with his friends everyone once a while. He had a feeling things were not going to be fun once Tsukasa showed up.

"Let's take my car," said Soujirou.

"Why not mine?" asked Akira.

"Because I said so," he replied.

They piled into Soujirou's car. He turned on the radio, but there was a CD in the player. It started playing, but Soujirou turned it off right away. "Damn, my brother. I'm starting to get really annoyed with him. He must have taken out this car again. He doesn't even have a license."

"How do you know that Tori did it?" asked Rui.

"The CD. It's by this singer in England. I don't know who it is. My brother keeps playing it all the time at home. It's driving me insane," answered Soujirou with great annoyance. His younger brother, Tori, had arrived from boarding school just last year. He was attending school at Eitoku. He also kept taking out Soujirou's car at night.

"What an interesting cover," commented Akira as he picked up the CD case. "Arisu Ringo. Alice Apple. Cute ankle." The picture on the cover was the ankle of Arisu Ringo with the apple tattoo on it. She was wearing a strapped sandal with a high heel. He turned the cover over. "It's all in English."

"Yeah. It was good the first time I heard it. She's a great singer. But Tori plays it all the time at home," said Soujirou. "The brat also takes my car. If he does again, I'm going to take the spark plugs out and keep them with me."

Rui started chuckling. "It seems like yesterday that Tori was just a baby. He's around the same age as Tsukushi's younger brother, Susumu."

"Yeah, I remember him. He really looked up to Tsukasa. I wonder where he goes to school. The Makinos moved out of Tokyo, so I have no idea where he's going to school," said Akira. "He's not going to Eitoku. I doubt that the Makinos could afford to send him there after they sent Tsukushi."

Soujirou's car passed by Kin-san's car, but neither seemed to notice. Yuki was already waiting for them outside. "Hi Yuki-chan," said Susumu as he got out of the car to open the door for him. He had really grown up a lot during the past five years.

"Hi Susumu-kun," said Yuki as she got into the car.

"Did you have any trouble getting off?" asked Kin-san as he started to drive again.

"Almost. It was a close call. The F3 were there, but I was able to get away. It's a good thing that Tsukushi never leaves her name when she pages. I was only looking at the clock. I was thinking that if her flight had arrived early, she would call and I would get her into a lot of trouble."

"It's important to remember, Yuki, that we leave in a separate worlds than them. It's best we keep it that way. We can explore, but never really join," said Susumu.
"What about me?" asked Kin-san.

"You're a special case, Kin-san. There are always special cases. It's always easier to go down than up," answered Susumu.

"What a bitter person you've become," murmured Kin-san.

"Going to a school where I don't belong makes me that way."

Yuki decided it was best to change the topic. "You know, it is going to be great. Tsukushi has to be here for a year according to her record company. The plan is take Japan by storm. That might mean that she'll start doing concerts in Japan."

"I don't know about that. She's attending school in London. She's only transferring to Tokyo University for one year as soon as she's done with the new album she'll leave again," said Susumu.

"You have such little faith in your older sister," said Kin-san.

"I'm just saying what will happen," said Susumu. The rest of the trip to the airport was extremely quiet. Susumu was thinking about the future. He hated having his sister away. She was hiding. Something terrible happened to her and he was sure that Doumyouji Tsukasa was responsible for it.

Meanwhile, on the plane, in first class, Tsukushi was watching the clouds as they descended from them. She wore a simple cotton blouse with a pair of indigo jeans that covered her ankles and a pair of comfortable sneakers. She had her hair cut short, but one side covered her right eye. She hadn't gotten taller, but she stood straighter to give the illusion of added height.

There was something she always wore. It was her good luck charm. It was a necklace with a pendant in the shape of Saturn; there was no other pendant in the world like it.. She tucked it under her clothes so that no one could see it. It was where her heart belonged. It gave her strength when she needed it.

On her lap was a notebook where she wrote some lyrics in. Her guitar was in her overhead compartment. She had stopped writing earlier and decided to look at the clouds. She was usually busy planning what she was going to do as soon as she got off the plane, when she was on tour that she didn't have the chance to just breathe.

"We are now landing in Japan," said a voice over the intercom. The voice said it also in Japanese. Tsukushi let out a sigh. As she put her seat beat back on before the intercom told her to do so. She waited until the plane started to land. She gripped the notebook on her lap tightly as her nervousness increased. Finally, the plane had landed at the gate. She unbuckled her safety belt and got out of her seat.

She went and got her guitar and stepped off the plane. She looked around her. She was hoping to see a friendly face, but she was elated to find three friendly faces. "Hey!" she cried out in English.

"Hey?" asked Susumu questioningly as they went to meet each other.

"I mean hello. It's great to see you. Wow…Susumu-kun, you're taller. When did this happen?" asked Tsukushi.

"Over the last five years. You look wonderful, Oneesan," said Susumu.

"Thanks," said Tsukushi as she kissed his cheek. "Now, let me say hi to you both. I've missed seeing you. Yuki, you look fantastic. I didn't think you could look cuter." They embraced. "Kin-san. You look different, too."

"Different?"

"I mean you look great," said Tsukushi as she gave him a hug. He hugged her back with all his might. "You're crushing me, Kin-san."
"I'm sorry. It's just great to see you," exclaimed Kin-san.

"It's okay. Did you bring the sushi?" asked Tsukushi. He laughed as he handed her the bento. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get decent Japanese food in England? Hmm." She had taken a bit of the sushi.

"I can't believe this," said Susumu. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be standing out here like this?"

Tsukushi swallowed before answering and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "It's not a probably. If this were Heathrow Airport, yes. But this is Tokyo International. Hardly anyone in Japan cares. Besides, I look very unassuming, don't I?"

Susumu looked around nervously. He thought that they should move. "Let's go get something real to eat," he suggested.

"What? Are you insulting my work?" asked Kin-san.

"No, I'm just saying we should get out of here," replied Susumu. Tsukushi smiled at him. "Let's go then," she agreed.

They stood up and went off. "Where should we go?" asked Kin-san.

"Hmm…how about a nice restaurant?" asked Tsukushi. "I'll treat you all. I've been wanting to do that for the longest time."

Kin-san had the perfect place in mind. It was a place he had longed to take her before when they were younger, but he never did because she was with Doumyouji. However, he knew it was a good time to take her there.

The restaurant was a fine one that many important people dine at. Tsukushi looked around cautiously. She was doing it for more than just the obvious reasons. These days she was getting more and more popular. There were foreigners who could point her out on the streets.

"Let's order," said Yuki. "Hmm, what should we get?"

"You can order whatever you want. It doesn't matter," said Tsukushi.

The F3 walked into the restaurant. "This is a nice quiet place. You don't even need reservations," said Rui.

"Since when do we need reservations at any restaurant?" asked Akira.

"It does look nice, but there aren't any girls to pick up here," mused Soujirou. He spotted Yuki. He opened his mouth for a moment. "Let's go."

Rui followed his line of vision. He spotted Yuki, but he also saw the three other people. He recognized Kin-san. The boy he almost didn't recognize. "Isn't that Makino Susumu?" he asked out loud.

"Yes, that's Tsukushi's younger brother," confirmed Soujirou, but he wondered who the other person was. He couldn't see this person because a plant obscured the F3's view. "Why don't we go over and talk to him? He might know where his sister is. At least we'd have something for Tsukasa when he gets back."

Rui and Akira nodded in agreement. They made their way to the table and their jaws dropped as soon as they got close enough. They immediately recognized her, but they quickly made a dive for a seat because Rui had pulled Akira and Soujirou down with him. "What?" asked Akira, but Rui signaled him to be quiet. He mouthed. "Let's listen."

"I was going to ask you guys to catch up, but there's no point since I just e-mailed you guys last week. Anything new this week?" asked Tsukushi.

"My school is having some kind of event that all the kids are going to. Just a bunch of rich brats. I don't have to go," said Susumu.

"But, you were invited. I saw. You were walking by the café and those girls came to ask you. They really wanted you to go," corrected Kin-san as he laughed.

"Why would I go to a party that is filled with boring rich people who are out of touch with reality?" asked Susumu.

He was interrupted when he heard his sister's soft laughter. "I never thought I'd see my brother get so cynical," said Tsukushi. "You have grown up a lot. I remember when you were still hiding behind me."

Yuki joined her laughter. "That was dessert. I suppose it's time for the check," she said as she took out her wallet. Kin-san and Susumu did the same time.

"Hey, didn't I say this was my treat?" asked Tsukushi as she grabbed the check as the waiter had dropped it on the table before Kin-san could make a dive for it. She looked at it and took out her purse. It was a Prada bag. She drew out her wallet and opened it. "Oh. I don't have any currency here other than British Pounds."

"Didn't it occur to you to exchange your money?" asked Kin-san.

"That's okay. We'll cover," said Yuki.

"It wouldn't be fair. You're a guest," said Susumu as he held out his hand so Tsukushi could hand him the check.

"Did I say I couldn't pay?" asked Tsukushi. She smiled as she drew out her platinum card. "This is what credit cards are made for." She put it on the little tray the check had come in and went back to sipping her tea.

The F3 looked at each other briefly. They couldn't figure out what was going on. The waiter went back and got the check. He went to process it. Rui knew it would be good because the check she had sent over to him was good.

"What's the plan tomorrow?" asked Yuki.

"I have to go and get registered at the university, then I'll try to make some classes. The transcripts from London University should have already arrived. I just hope not to get lost," said Tsukushi.

"Don't worry. I'll meet you somewhere tomorrow and give you a tour," assured Yuki.

The waiter came back with the credit card. "Thank you very much," said Tsukushi as she signed it.

"You're welcome, Makino-san," said the waiter as he left. He stopped at the booth that the F3 were sitting in.

"Would you gentlemen like to order?" asked the waiter.

"Yes, give us some menus," said Soujirou hurriedly. They propped the menus up to conceal themselves and waited for Tsukushi and her group to leave. The F3 let out a sigh of relief.

"It seems that things are about to play out again," said Rui quietly.

"Should we tell him?" asked Akira.

"I have no idea. Rui, should we?" asked Soujirou.

"Why don't we let her tell him?" he suggested that way none of them had to. "But things are different. She's changed. I wonder where she got her money."

"We should look into that," said Soujirou.

"I think she got even prettier. She's not so plain anymore," noted Akira.

"Yes, she is," agreed Rui.

Let's see, I'm planning a charity date auction and some fun music stuff. A dangerous stalker and let's thrown some rekindling romance. I don't know if I'll continue this or not, but some reviews would be nice. ^^

Disclaimer: All standards apply. I don't own the characters. ^^