Field of Yellow

On the way back, he took in all the things that he would have to be familiar with from now on. The street signs, the roads, the people, and so on. He missed his old home, but knew they couldn't stay there. It reminded them too much of their mother. And it wasn't as if they wished to forget her, no, never. But just being there made his dad and sister too sad. So they decided to start a new life here in Kakogawa. Aoron hoped that he and his sister would be able to smile again in this town. He wouldn't have to wait long.

As he made his way back to the car, a girl of fifteen walked up to the house, watching the movers carry the furniture inside. She looked around and spotted Aoron. She smiled and walked up to him. He was sitting sideways on the backseat when she walked up.

"Hi" she said with a cheery smile. Aoron looked at the girl who just walked up. She was very pretty, with long black hair, and bright blue eyes. She wore a light blue sundress and sandals. She had a nice smile. For a second, Aoron was taken aback by her beauty, but he recovered himself.

"Uh, hi. I'm Aoron." He replied. She looked at him in a friendly sort of way.

"I'm Chiharu Nagasaki. I live next door. So I guess we'll be neighbors from now on, wont we?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so." he said. He could stop looking at her. She was extremely beautiful.

"Hellooo? Anybody home in there?" she asked waving her hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Sorry. I'm just tired from the plane ride here." He explained.

"Plane ride? Where did you live before moving here?" she asked.

"San Francisco." He replied.

"America?!" she exclaimed. She looked excited for some reason.

"Uh, yeah." He said.

"So Cool!" she exclaimed. And she suddenly went on rambling all sorts of questions about what America was like. He answered them the best he could, and when he finished, she smiled.

"You're so lucky, Aoron-kun. I wish I could live in America."

"I'm not that lucky..." he said.

"Eh? Why not? You got to live in a nice house with your mom and dad, right?" she asked. Aoron's face fell a little bit.

"Yeah, I did. But my mom..." She suddenly made an apologetic face.

"I'm sorry. Did your parents divorce?" she asked.

"No. My mom died last May." Chiharu's eyes widened. She felt so embarrassed for making him talk about it. She bowed in apology.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea." She said.

"It's alright." He said. But to be honest, he wasn't sure if he was. It had been really hard living without her these past couple of months. It was hard on all of them. But he knew had move forward. He knew his mother would have wanted him to keep moving forward. But nonetheless, he missed her very much, as did his little sister and especially their dad.

Suddenly, they heard a sound from behind Aoron. He turned to look at his sister, who had just woken up from her uncomfortable sleep. She sat up in the back seat and leaned forward to hug her brother, still groggy from sleep.

"Morning, Aoron." She said in a monotone voice. "Are we there yet? I need to pee." This made him laugh.

"Yeah, we're here Sarah. And I don't know where the bathroom is. You'll have to ask dad."

"Mmm...." She grunted sleepily. Chiharu giggled.

"Your sister?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so." He replied. Hearing someone else made her bolt up. She looked at Chiharu, then at Aoron.

"Who's she?" she asked curiously, now wide awake.

"Sarah, this is Chiharu. She's our new neighbor. Chiharu, this is Sarah, my little sister."

"It's nice to meet you, Sarah-chan. I hope we'll hope get along." said Chiharu.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." She said with a smile.

They talked about different things for awhile, until it had started getting dark. The movers had finally finished, and Michael had finally sorted out the TV and internet. He got up from the chair in the newly organized kitchen, and went out to the car. He saw his two children talking with who he assumed was one of the neighbor kids. He smiled. One day in a new town and they're already making friends. Good. That's a relief, he thought. He called out to them.

"Aoron, Sarah! It's time to come inside now. I just ordered take out, so help get the table set." Aoron and Sarah looked at each other, then at Chiharu.

"We have to go now. But we'll see ya tomorrow if you want." Aoron said.

"Yeah, you gotta show us around sometime, Chiharu-neesan." said Sarah. She had already started using honorifics. Weirdo, thought Aoron. Chiharu stood up and stretched.

"Yeah, definitely. I'll let my mom know, so let your dad know too, okay?"

"Bye Chiharu-neesan!" said Sarah as she ran inside.

"Yeah, see you later, Chiharu-chan" he said. Dammit, Sarah. Now she's got me doing it too, he thought with a smile. Oh, well. Might as well get used to it. Chiharu looked at Aoron and smiled.

"Good night, Aoron-san." And she walked back to her house next door.

Aoron smiled as he made his way to the front door of his new house. Maybe we will smile tomorrow, and everyday here, he wondered.

They did.

**~to be continued~** \^o^/

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*** A short note concerning honorifics***

In Japan, it is customary to greet some by name, but with an honorific attached to show a certain amount of respect, depending on the person. Here is a short list of the honorifics used in this first chapter:

1) -san.......... a formal show of respect to co-workers, friends, or acquaintances.

2) -chan.......... a sign of admiration to girlfriends, younger girls, or lovers.

3) -kun.......... a sign of respect among boys who are friends.

3) –neesan....... An informal approach when referring to an older sister or older sister figure.

4) -niisan.......... An in formal way of referring to an older brother.

*** There are tons more of these. And I'll probably be using them later on. If you'd like to know them ahead of time, just look them anywhere on the internet.

Thanks for reading! \^^/ -- Floater_320