Chapter 1: Sushi Exchanges

"Attention passengers," announced a soothing stewardess's voice over the system, "We'll be starting our descent into Tokyo shortly. Please stow all carry-ons under your seat..." At those words, a second year college student named Adele Tsubasa began nudging her sleeping seat mate and best friend Caden Masaharu awake. He groaned unhappily and stretched his long, lanky arms outward before moving his seat upright.

"Morning," he greeted her lazily as he pried his chocolate brown eyes open. He studied her worn expression and sighed unhappily.

"That dream again?" he questioned as he put away his headphones, "Wonder how long its going to plague you. Did it get any clearer?" Adele frowned and furrowed her brow as she tried to recollect his face. There were others, one in green, another in blue, a person in yellow, one in pink, and someone in gold. But none of them were as clear as the figure in red. With serious, dark eyes and his hair cut in a sharp but wispy bean sprout cut, everything about him commanded respect and order. She thought she saw a katana at his side as he strode forward with the others behind him. But why was it that she could only see him clearly? He seemed important, almost regal in a way. It puzzled her as to why this dream continued to happen every time she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

"I saw his features this time," she noted, "It felt like I should know who he is but something about him commands complete order and balance." Caden drummed his fingers on his armrests as the plane touched the ground all of a sudden.

"Well maybe that's a sign that you'll meet him here," he commented as they walked off the plane, "Maybe he'll be your soulmate." Adele snorted at her friend's comment and wrinkled her nose. This figure from her dream seemed too structured to even think about romance, no doubt. As they rolled their suitcases behind them, a cell phone went off. Adele stopped short and turned around to face Caden before rolling her eyes skyward. She didn't need to be psychic to guess who was calling him. Caden grimaced as he fished the red cell phone from his pocket and threw her an apologetic look.

"Listen," he began, "This will only take 5 minutes, I swear."

"You know what," sighed Adele, "Just answer. Or else she'll hound me next and start asking how I managed to let you out of my sight after touching down in Tokyo. But don't spend the entire trip on the phone with her, okay?" Caden reassured her that he wouldn't before answering the call from his longtime girlfriend, Kari Xie. Adele glumly joined the small group of her university classmates who traveled from La Jolla, California for a Japanese Cultures and History class. All they were waiting for was the professor and additional professors acting as chaperons. She noticed her teacher's aid talking frantically into his cell phone and becoming quite pale. Suddenly, he snapped the cell shut and announced some grim news: their professor came down with swine flu and was unable to fly in and teach the class. The other professors had gotten on the wrong flight and all of them were delayed. The teacher's aid knew practically nothing about the subject and was in no position to teach.

"So like, what are, like, we're gonna do?" clueless classmate Sandy asked as she twirled a strand of wavy hair. The teacher's aid sighed and reported that this trip was literally going to be just a free trip for everyone. Because the professor was so ill, he was forced to pass everyone on the course regardless of whether they actually did anything in Japan period. Adele made a face and looked over at Caden. She wondered if she dare tell him the news in the case that stupid Kari decided to weasel her way by making Caden come home immediately rather than stay and enjoy their homeland. Then Adele's phone rang and she walked a few feet away to take the call.

"Hey my soul sister," bubbled her hallmate and friend Thea, "How is the Land of the Rising Sun so far?"

"Well...the professor got sick and the travel class became a free-for-all trip to Japan," Adele told her as she leaned against a wall.

"Wow, what luck!" hooted Thea, "Better not tell Miss Don't-Trust-Anyone because she'll be hauling Caden back here faster than a skilled fisherman can reel a big catch in."

"Tell me about it," grumbled Adele as she began to remember the bad times thanks to Kari.

Caden and Kari met as juniors in high school and she clung to him like a sticky piece of gum. She followed him to college and continued to hound him at every moment of his life. Even back then, she was just as rude to Adele. She always managed to cry, whine, and plead Caden to come to her side and to ditch Adele at last minute. There was one instance where Caden tried to solve the problem by bringing both Kari and Adele on an outing. What a joke-Kari kept acting like Adele didn't exist the entire outing. When it came time to pay the lunch bill, she said that Adele didn't deserve to have Caden pick up her share of the tab and demanded that she pay her way. Caden, who was paying for himself and Kari, kept on trying to reason with his girlfriend that Adele was his longtime friend and that he owed her for the times he bailed on her. To shut up Kari, Adele quickly offered to settle the entire bill for the trio which left Caden protesting and Kari throwing her a false, sickly smile.

"She hasn't called you yet, has she?" asked Thea, breaking into Adele's thoughts. Adele snapped back to reality and let her eyes fall on Caden pacing as he talked to Kari.

"No, Caden bought his own international call and text plan for this trip," Adele dryly replied, the words triggering back another sour memory. When Adele and Caden were visiting London over January break in freshmen year, Adele's dad bought her an international text and call plan so she could communicate with them about the day had permitted Caden to borrow the plan as well because the two families were so close. However, Kari had got this news through the grapevine and used it to her advantage. Boy, was Adele unhappy to hear Kari's snippy voice telling her to shut her ugly voice up and to hand the phone to Caden immediately when she received her first call in London. Kari had wasted all of her call minutes over the course of the trip so poor Adele was forced to text rather angrily to her father the information about her daily adventures instead of getting to hear her father's voice. Caden was so embarrassed about the episode that he reimbursed the costs of the calls with 4 weeks of payment from his part-time job. This resulted in a huge fight from Kari and Caden that almost lead to their break-up.

"Hey, I need to get going," Adele quickly told Thea as she snapped out of memory mode, "See you later!"

"Blog those beautiful pictures asap sister!" Thea instructed her, "I'll be stalking your LiveJournal this summer every day."

"Deal," smiled Adele as she hung up the phone. Caden had finished his call and joined her. They began walking toward the hotel shuttle.

"Did you hear the news?" Adele slowly began. Caden shook his head and replied that he was too far away to hear the teacher's aid.

"It must have been bad," he remarked as he handed his suitcase to the driver, "What did he say?"

"Professor came down with swine flu at the last minute," sighed Adele, "The other professors are stuck and can't get here immediately. And the teacher's aid can't really teach the class so this travel course has become a free trip." She held her breath, waiting to see if Caden would turn around to buy a return ticket now to shut up Kari's complaining immediately.

"Bummer for the prof," he replied sympathetically as he helped her with her suitcase, "But hey, we can do whatever we want! And go to Tokyo Disneyland!" Adele let out the breath she had been holding in as she boarded the shuttle and sat down.

"What's the sigh of relief for?" Caden asked her curiously as he sat down next to her, "What? You thought I was going back for Kari, weren't you? Nah, this trip was expensive and I'd like to take in the sights of my half-heritage, don't you?"

"Yeah," Adele echoed cheerfully as she settled back into her seat. It was going to be like old times. No Kari there to physically harass her. Just pure amusement and breathtaking sights waiting to be photographed for her blog. She couldn't be more happier.

...

"I'm hungry," Caden announced as he met Adele back in the lobby again after dropping off their bags in their rooms. Adele agreed as she played with a white dangling object bearing the kanji for 'yang' on the front in black, which was clipped to her belt. She liked to think of this as a lucky charm since she swore that good things always seemed to happen when she wore it on her belt loop. It was her grandmother's which had been passed down to her mother, then to her. Caden had one too-his was black with the white character for 'yin' on the front but his came from his grandfather.

"Lucky charm with you?" Caden remarked as he pointed to the object clipped to her belt, "Me too." His was attached to his belt loop too. Adele smiled weakly since it felt so long ago that they were doing this: hanging out, lucky charms by their sides, ready to conquer the challenges ahead.

"Why not we wander around and eat when we find something that tickles our fancy," Adele suggested as they began walking out of the lobby. Caden agreed as they walked alongside the rail of the bay located near their hotel. It wasn't long before Adele pointed out a lonely sushi cart and they walked over to check it out.

"Gold Sushi, huh?" mused Caden as he read the Japanese lettering on the cart's banner. The young man manning the cart stood up proudly and welcomed them.

"Welcome! What may I get for you today?" he asked them cheerily in Japanese as he tightened his forehead tie.

"What would be your speciality Sir?" asked Adele politely in Japanese. The man clapped his hands together and started making sushi with rapid speed.

Adele watched him in amazement and Caden whispered, "Too bad there's no such thing as California Roll here." The young sushi maker stopped immediately and stared at Caden intently.

"California Roll?" he asked all of a sudden in English, "I've heard of it when I began selling in Paris. That can be made!" Adele blinked in shock and Caden dropped his jaw open. Did the sushi seller just speak English?

"Did you just answer in English?" Caden slowly asked the young sushi seller. The sushi seller continued to make rolls and drew himself up proudly.

"I'm self-taught," he boasted cheerfully, "Learned when I started in Paris since so many American tourists were buying my sushi!" The young man reached under the counter and placed an avocado on the cutting board in front of him.

"Are you two Americans?" he asked the pair as he cut the avocado up, "Is this your first trip to Japan?"

"Yes it is," Adele replied kindly, "I'm Adele Tsubasa and this is my friend Caden Masaharu. We're half-Japanese."

"We were visiting with our university class," Caden began, "But the professor caught swine flu so the trip became a fun trip." The sushi seller clapped his hands with joy before handing the two their sushi plates. Both began to pull out yen bills and the sushi seller waved them away.

"On the house," he insisted as the two put away their wallets, "I'm Genta Umemori! That is better than being cooped up in a building! You do what you want now!" Adele gave him a polite smile before digging into her food. Caden had barely raised his chopsticks to his lips when his cell went off. Adele looked skyward with a knowing, slightly sarcastic spark in her eyes. Caden bowed his head and excused himself before going to answer the call from Kari. Genta blinked in amazement as he watched Caden quickly remove the red cell phone from his pocket and abruptly leave to answer the call. It couldn't be-another Shodophone?

"Something wrong Umemori-san?" asked Adele as she noticed his change in expression. Genta snapped back to normal and apologized.

"Please, call me Genta," he reassured Adele cheerfully, "So your friend's phone, where did he get it?" Adele blinked and shrugged before removing her phone too. Genta did a double take as she placed her same phone on the counter of his cart.

"I don't know actually," Adele murmured as she handed it to him, "My dad and his parents gave us the same phone but said that they had this from their parents. So its probably an old model I guess? Anyways its still good for a phone used by our parents. The battery life can go for a long time still. Strange huh?" Genta nodded feebly as he took the phone in his hands and began studying it carefully. It was indeed the same make and model of the ShodoPhone that Take-chan and his vassals used to become the Shinkengers. No denying it. But these two probably didn't know that their phones could become calligraphy phones that would transform them into...Shinkengers? He smiled brightly at her before giving her the phone back and studying Caden as he talked angrily into his. Genta leaned on his elbows as he shot Adele a question.

"So who's your boyfriend talking to?" he asked her casually, "Must be someone bad from the looks of it."

"We're not boyfriend and girlfriend," Adele slowly replied with a touch of amusement in her voice, "We've known each other since kindergarten. He's talking to his girlfriend Kari Xie." Genta blinked at her and gave her a confused look.

"They started dating in high school," sighed Adele as she began telling the details, "She's always been rude to me and treats me like dirt. I'm guessing that she found out that Caden's travel course trip for Japanese Cultures and History turned into a free-for-all trip and is angry that he's not turning right around to catch an immediate return flight to see her." Genta winced and patted her on the shoulder sympathetically.

"That's rather selfish of her," Genta spoke up, "Why does he stay with her?" Adele shrugged her shoulders.

"Search me," she sighed irritably, "He finds something about her that is amazing. I think she's tragically hopeless future-wise. We've both decided on our majors in college already and here she is, a second year college student who is still Undeclared! Go figure." She moved her eyes away from the cart and allowed them to drift. They fell upon a group walking toward the cart and her throat tightened. It was exactly like her dream. Except for the guy in gold every form she saw in certain colors walked alongside the middle figure who was tall, dressed in red, and looked exactly like the figure from her dream.

...

Takeru had been laughing at something that was said when his eyes drifted over to a girl seated at Genta's cart who had been staring at him. All of a sudden, he felt a jolt run through his body. Who was she? He had been seeing a pair dressed in black and white in his dreams but only the figure in black had been clear. It was a girl, strangely a girl who looked just like this one staring at him.