Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Natsume or the creators of Harvest Moon. I do no claim ownership of the character names etc. The city of Makimachi in which the majority of this story will be set is purely fictional.

Author's Note: So I finally broke my bought of writer's block, but instead of being able to work on BIMY, I found myself writing the AU story I had been thinking of writing a long time ago. I felt particularly inspired because of my own experiences in Japan and thought it would be a good idea to draw on those feelings and memories here in my writing. Everything that happens within this story is purely fictional, but I'm not going to lie and say that certain aspects have been inspired by events in my life here. I hope you enjoy this first chapter and I appreciate any reviews or comments you want to leave me. Reviews help motivate me.

Chapter One

Lillian

The 'Ekimae Scramble', as it was affectionately known as by the occupants of Makimachi, was the busiest intersection in the whole of the city. When the lights went red, the whole crossing was covered with people, like marbles spilling out of a box. They walked briskly, with purpose, and the flow of human traffic was almost never ending.

I arrived in Makimachi at the busiest time of the day. The morning rush hour. I stood on the sidewalk looking up at the giant TV screen that was mounted to the building opposite the main city train station. The face of a beautiful Japanese woman advertising some sort of skin lotion looked down at me, smiling warmly as if she were welcoming me to her country. Blinking, I wrenched my eyes away from the screen and looked around me in wide-eyed amazement. Having grown up in a small town in America, the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle was as frightening to me as it was exciting and I felt my head spin. It was so far removed from what I was used to back in Indiana that I found myself gaping at each new thing that I noticed. Doll-like women with scary high heels and tiny skirts. Little old ladies dressed in traditional kimono, carrying cabin sized travel cases behind them. Young men with gelled hair that looked like they'd walked straight out of an anime. It all seemed so completely alien to me.

I heard an elderly businessman grumble behind me as the walking light turned green and I still didn't move. Remembering where I was, I turned around and grimaced apologetically at him before looking down at the piece of paper in my hand with the address of my new apartment on it. I glanced up at the street sign across the road from me; it was all in kanji. I didn't know any Japanese yet and I had no idea of where I needed to go. As the reality of my situation hit me, my vision began to blur and I took a deep, shaky breath to control my tears. I could feel peoples' eyes on me as they walked passed me, staring at me as if I were some sort of out of place exhibit in a museum. I looked and felt exhausted and I was struggling not to cry.

"Are you okay?" I heard someone ask in accented English. Blinking my tears away and looking to where the voice came from, I found myself staring up at a tall Caucasian man with a shock of white-blonde hair. Smartly dressed with a violin case slung over his shoulder, he looked as out of place as I did. I noticed that his eyes behind thin framed spectacles were an odd shade of grey-blue and they brought back memories I'd thought I'd long forgotten. I was so entranced that I must have stared a bit longer than I should have and growing impatient he pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose before asking, "Nihongo hanasemasu ka?"

"No," I replied in English, shaking my head. "I don't speak any Japanese whatsoever."

"You're new here, huh," he commented, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled down at me. He was much taller than me, and I had to crane my neck to look up at him as he stood next to me on the sidewalk.

Realising that this was my chance to get help, I thrust the piece of paper in my hands towards him. "I need to get here, but I have no idea how."

"Okay, let me see," he said, taking the piece of paper and readjusting his spectacles as he read it. He scanned the address and frowned, pursing his lips thoughtfully before handing the paper back to me. "I have a vague idea about where this is. We need to get the subway though, unless you're willing to take the taxi. That would be easier."

"Um…" I began bashfully, my eyes darting downwards. "I don't really have enough cash on me for a taxi right now."

He laughed. "You're just like I was!" I glanced up at him questioningly and he added, "Totally disorganised!"

"Please don't laugh at me," I said, my cheeks growing warm as another wave of Japanese commuters walked passed.

"Look, let me help you get there," he said good-naturedly. "I actually need to go in that direction anyway." He turned his head slightly and gestured towards what looked like a subway entrance. "We need to go there."

As if it were completely natural, he took my suitcase from my hand and began carrying it towards the subway entrance, striding ahead of me confidently that I had to half-run to keep up with him. The Japanese masses seemed to part for him so easily, as if they were deliberately avoiding him, and I couldn't help but notice the way that some of them women were staring at him. Of course, I understood why. He was tall, attractive, and had an air of confident sophistication about him. Usually I steered clear of men like him, but I could understand why so many women were unable to resist staring at him.

"You don't need to carry that," I exclaimed, running to catch up with him. He made my suitcase look like it was as light as a feather when I knew for a fact that it weighed a tonne. "I can carry it myself."

"You're a girl," he said, turning to look over his shoulder at me. "Girls shouldn't have to carry heavy things."

I felt my cheeks grow warm as I watched his broad back navigate through the crowds. When we reached the stairs he picked the case up and started heading down them quickly, not missing a beat. As I watched him head towards the ticket machine, I wondered who he was and why he was being so nice to me. It was clear from the case he was carrying that he was a violinist, but I couldn't pinpoint his accent. He had what sounded like a European accent, but one that I couldn't quite place.

"Let me just grab you a ticket," he said, popping the suitcase down as he rummaged in his pockets for spare change.

"Oh, I have some coins…" I mumbled, beginning to sift through my pockets. "My friend gave me a bunch of Japanese coins that she had left over from her trip to Tokyo last year."

"No, its okay," he said, pulling out two one hundred yen coins.

I felt myself begin to frown as he popped his two coins into the machine and a small ticket stub was ejected from it. "You're being so nice to me… I could have at least paid for my ticket."

"You can pay me back later," he said with a dashing smile as he passed me the ticket. I took it and he began to head towards the turnstiles that lead down to the subway, not stopping to wait for me as he went through the turnstile with my luggage.

"Hey, wait!" I called out, getting caught up in the crowd. People were swarming all around me and I found it hard to dodge the oncoming traffic as deftly as he could.

Hearing me call out, he paused and looked over his shoulder. "Hm?"

"Can you explain to me where we're going?" I asked, slightly out of breath as I caught up with him. We boarded the escalator down to the platform together, which allowed me to catch my breath back.

"We're getting the Nakanashi Line towards Aibacho, which is the closest stop to that address," he said in a matter of fact tone. He then sighed and said, "Sorry, I totally forgot my manners." He turned around as much as he could and stuck his hand out towards me. "My name is Mikhail. I probably should have told you that before grabbing your suitcase."

Unable to fight back a smile, I took his hand and shook it. His grip was firmer than I was expecting and I had to readjust my own to mirror his confidence. I wondered just how much older he was. He looked like he might have been in his late twenties to early thirties, but his whole aura made me think that maybe he was even older than that.

"My name is Lillian," I said with the brightest smile I could muster. "I'm from the US."

"I figured as much," he said, raising his eyebrow. "Pretty obvious from your accent."

"And where are you from?"

"You can't tell?" he asked.

"Not at all. I'm not good with accents that aren't American. I don't usually travel much."

"Well flying here from America is a pretty big change from that," he said as he stepped off of the escalator and strode towards platform one. "I'm from Russia originally, but I travel a lot and I've lived in England and America before."

"And now you're in Japan," I said. I have to admit, I was impressed. Maybe he really was much older? "What do you do? Are you a musician?"

He smiled wryly and patted his violin case. "I'm a violinist. I play with the Makimachi orchestra occasionally, though my goal is to become a professional composer at some point."

"I figured you were a violinist from the case you're carrying," I replied with a knowing smile.

Mikhail nodding instead of verbalising a response. The train pulled up at the station and as we shuffled on, squeezing onto the busy train as best we could, I found myself pressed up against him uncomfortably while he held onto one of the hanging supports above. I was so perturbed by how cramped it was on the train that I found myself avoiding eye contact with him, and as the train lurched forward I had to grab onto him for support. Without even looking down at me, he momentarily let go of my suitcase to steady me, his hand taking my elbow with the same firmness he'd shown me with his handshake. He didn't seem particularly bothered by the whole situation and simply smiled down at me once I'd finally caught my balance. I nodded in silent thanks and reached around him to grab the pole behind him so I wouldn't need to grab him again, but because of the distance I had to step even closer to him. Trying my best to look away as I found myself staring directly at his chest, I began watching a mother who was sitting down with her young son.

The mother was dressed very elegantly, wearing a black mini-dress and satin pumps. Her hair was curled to perfection and her make-up was immaculately done. She was beautiful, but it was very clear that she worked very hard to look that way. In comparison, her son was dressed in designer children's clothes, but his t-shirt was covered in what I could only assume were jam stains, while his hair looked unbrushed and matted as if he hadn't bathed for a couple of days. Finding it an odd picture, I found myself frowning in their direction as I watched the interaction between mother and son. The son seemed eager to get his mother's attention, but she seemed far more interested in playing with her smart phone, occasionally pausing to readjust her false eyelashes before reprimanding her son for not behaving properly.

"You like children, don't you?" Mikhail asked suddenly, causing me to jump.

I looked up at him in surprise and upon seeing how close our faces were I quickly looked away again in embarrassment. "Yeah. I've always loved kids. It's part of the reason I'm here."

"English teacher?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "How did you know I wasn't just a tourist?"

"Most foreigners who come to Makimachi city are here to work. It's a great place to live, but it isn't really much of a tourist destination," he explained. "And most foreigners are here to teach English."

"I see."

"Though it's mostly foreign men who live in Makimachi," he added. "If you look at the ratio between foreign men and foreign women, there are a lot more men than women. Most of the ladies go to bigger cities."

"I've read a lot about the different stereotypes there are about foreigners here," I commented. "I try not to believe them though. I'd rather see it for myself."

"Now that's rare," Mikhail replied. "There are a lot of women here who tend to believe the stereotype very easily after being here for only a short time."

"Yes, well, I'm sure there are a lot of men who believe the stereotypes about foreign women," I said. "I'm prepared for that at least."

"I'm sure only the good stereotypes apply to you," he said sweetly, causing me to look up at him again.

"You're quite the charmer, aren't you?" I replied in almost challenging tone.

He laughed. "I'm only charming when I want to be."

"Hmm," I murmured, staring up at him suspiciously. He smiled down at me mischievously and as we stared at one another I felt the corners of my own mouth begin to curl.

Before we could say anything else, the train announcer suddenly said, "Aibacho. Aibacho desu."

"Ah, this is it," Mikhail said with a flourish as the doors opened and the both of us were forced out by the crowd of people also getting off at that station. As I was shoved aside by a grumpy looking businessman, I lost my balance again and began to tumble forward unsteadily. Before I could fall further, I was caught by a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around my waist. I turned to look at who caught me and when I saw Mikhail scowling in outrage in the direction of the businessmen I felt my heart lurch in my chest.

"What a moron," Mikhail mumbled as he helped me get my balance back yet again. "The Japanese are perfectly pleasant people, but when they're in the middle of their daily commute they will not hesitate to push you out of the way. No manners."

I straightened my clothes out and awkwardly rubbed my waist. He'd grabbed me pretty hard. "Thanks," I mumbled.

"Are you okay?" he asked glancing down at me in concern.

"I'll be alright," I replied, forcing myself to look cheerful. Truthfully though, I was quite shaken by what had just happened. Not simply because of how shocking the other man's behaviour was, but because of how oddly comforting it was to have the charming Russian's arms around me. It left me feeling more flustered than I had imagined I would. "Thank you," I said again, hoping my face wasn't too red.

"You're welcome," he said with a nod before turning to look at the exit signs. "We need exit three. That will come out in front of Aiba-jingu. A shrine."

"A shrine?" I parroted dumbly.

"Yes," Mikhail said. "There's a famous shrine dedicated to friendship near to that address you have. It's a really beautiful shrine, but not many people go there."

"Why's that?"

"Not entirely sure. The locals don't like to talk about it too much," he replied, looking confused. "I've tried asking, but most of the young people don't seem to know and the older generation seem to want to forget about it."

"Oh…" I said as we went through the turnstiles and headed for the elevator. "That's pretty cool that I'll be living near a shrine though."

"It's very calm there," he said with a nod. "Mostly elderly couples live around this area, so you shouldn't have to deal with the noises of the city quite as much."

Exiting the elevator, I blinked against the sudden light assaulting my eyes before smiling when I saw how quaint the street we were on looked. It wasn't a large street and it was clear that it was a simple residential area with only a few boutique type shops and a tiny supermarket. As he had said, it was quiet, with very little traffic, and I thought I could hear the sound of a nearby stream. Drinking in the foreign exquisiteness of it all, Mikhail led me down the street and I almost didn't register a couple of elderly women walking towards us in the opposite direction. They smiled and giggled to themselves when they saw us, bowing their heads slightly as Mikhail gave them a respectful nod.

After walking for a few minutes Mikhail stopped in front of an apartment building. "May I see the address again?" he asked. I showed him again and after scanning it briefly he handed it back to me. "This is the place."

I looked up at the apartment building and tried not to grin at how pretty it was. It looked well maintained, clean and there were only three floors. While it was quite an old building, it was freshly repainted with white paint and it was surrounded by mature trees that swayed almost musically in the breeze. The front entrance had two sets of glass doors and a wide staircase that led up to the floors above. Just to the left of the door were six metal post boxes, each labelled with Japanese characters which I assumed were names and hanging from the balconies above were futons, towels and other various garments that were put out to dry.

"Nice place," Mikhail commented. "Are you living by yourself?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm supposed to be sharing. I have no idea who they are though, so I hope they're nice."

"I'm sure they are," he said comfortingly. He then glanced at his watch. "Well, I think I should get going. It was a pleasure meeting you Lillian."

"Thank you so much," I said earnestly, grinning back at him as he flashed his dashing smile at me again. "I'm glad that there are some friendly people in this city. I would probably still be back at the train station if you hadn't saved me."

With practised ease, Mikhail put his hand into his jacket and pulled out a little business card. "If you ever need saving again, please don't hesitate to give me a call."

I took the business card and looked down at it curiously. "Thank you."

"I'm serious," he said gently. "Give me a call if you need any help."

"And if I don't need help?" I asked coyly.

"Give me a call anyway," he said with a laugh. "Ja, matta ne!" he exclaimed before turning and heading down the street again, his confident strides taking him back towards the subway station as I stared after him.

Once he was out of sight, I turned back to the apartment building and slowly headed towards the entrance. I saw that there were six buzzers that I could choose from and I glanced down at the address before pressing the button for apartment 1A. The intercom crackled to life a few moments later.

"Hai?" came a gruff male voice.

"Um, this is Lillian. I'm moving in today," I said into the intercom.

"Oh! Riri-san!" he exclaimed, his pitch changing instantly. "You here early than I thought."

"Yeah, someone helped me find this place," I said, smiling at his eagerness to use English.

"Sou nan da," he said. The door in front of me suddenly buzzed, giving me a bit of a fright as the man said, "Hai, douzo. Come inside and soon I will be out."

Unsurely, I pushed the door open and waited in the entrance hall with my suitcase, looking around at the neatly kept interior. Each floor appeared to be split in half, with two apartments to each floor. There were several pot plants decorating the area around the stairs and a large potted palm tree stood near the entrance to the apartment marked 1A.

A moment later the door to 1A opened and a giant of a man stepped out. Wearing a traditional Japanese jinbei, his hair in a top knot and an eye-patch over his left eye, I would have thought him quite comical to look at it if he wasn't built like a tank. He shuffled some papers in his hands before looking up at me searchingly. He paused for a moment, appraising me with his one eye before he nodded and outstretched his hand towards me.

"Nice to meet you. I am Mako. This is my building," he said, shaking my hand vigorously after I offered mine. "Did you have a good journey to Japan?"

"It was relatively comfortable, but it was very long."

"Ah yes, it cannot be comfortable. I understand," he said. "Now, I'm sure you want to go to your new home, yes?"

Nodding enthusiastically, I replied, "Very much so."

"Ja," he said, before heading up the stairs. I noted that Mako didn't offer to help with my suitcase the way Mikhail had and I struggled to lug it up the flights of stairs that led to the top floor. By the time we reached the top, I was red-faced and out of breath. Leaning against the railings, I watched as Mako pulled out a set of keys and put them into the front door of the apartment marked 3B.

"You will share with two girls," Mako began as he opened the first lock. "One is a British woman who works same school as you. Other is my niece, Reina. Reina is very smart girl. She will look after you."

Once both locks were opened, Mako proudly pushed open the door and I peered into my new apartment. Now, I have to be honest, I wasn't sure I liked what I saw.

The interior itself was open-plan and modern, with lots of windows that let large amounts of light in. There were many mirrors and the dark wood floor looked freshly polished, giving it a very sleek look. With a fitted kitchen that featured a lot of chrome and off-white cabinets, it looked far more luxurious than I was expecting. The only problem I had with the place was the amount of plants. There were plants and trees and flowers everywhere. Two large potted palms similar to the one in the entrance hall loomed in the corner near one of the doors off to the side and several varieties of exotic looking flowers covered nearly all the surfaces. The explosion of colours didn't seem to match the modern style of the apartment. When looked up at the ceiling, I had to fight back the urge to grimace when I saw that there were several vine plants creeping up the walls and across the netting that hung from the ceiling. When I had agreed to move in I'd had no idea that I would be moving into a tropical rain forest. I was about to turn around and ask Mako about all the plants when one of the other doors opened.