Chapter 1

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY YURA!!!" we all shouted.

Yura smiled, her teeth and eyes shining. Mother hurried over to her side with a doll made out of straw and yarn, and while it looked messy, Yura didn't seem to mind as she gave it a tight hug.

"M̸̡̹̭̤̹̝̺̟̏̓Õ̸̮̺̺͈̲͔̰̫͒́̐̇͌T̴̢̧̜̗̳̼̹͇̣̝̀͑H̸̗͉͙͍͖͓̥͉̅̐̑E̸̙̬̘̤͚̯͖͌͌̈́͘͜͝R̷͈̬̙͛! A doll!" She squealed. "Neijiro, look!"

The boy gently reached over to the doll and gave it a slight squeeze.

"You made this m̷̤̤̘̭̺̤̌̏̆̾̄̚ó̷̧͓̰̥̬̞̠̬͑̋̆̑͑̔̇̔̕t̸̟̟̯͈̋̀͐ḩ̸̘̗̼̭̟͖̿̀̌̌̓̒̀͆e̵͎̙͍̅̍̕͝r̶̭̩͓͖͎̟͑͌̓̂́ ...?!" He asked, clearly surprised.

She nodded. "Yes, I did! I hope that it's alright, my dear..." She said, wanting to do nothing but make her daughter happy. "It's BETTER than alright!!! It's MAGICAL!!!" She giggled. "UTTERLY wonderful!"

—----

I woke up, my face hot and sweaty, and my body cramped and numb. I glanced around and noticed that I was in a small house. It was rather cute. Dinky but had a sweet feel to it. It had a single window and a small rectangular door and a low roof. It felt nostalgic but I didn’t know why and didn’t even know whose house it was. As I stood up to try and understand my surroundings, I suddenly realized and remembered the memory that had somehow echoed within my memories. My sister, small, gentle, and ever so kind, holding a doll that was created by our mother. Thinking about it again, my chest began to hurt. But I shook my head and tossed the pain away.

While trying to walk around, I accidentally bumped into someone and they gave a small squeak. At least, I think it was someone. It was more like a floating laundry basket of some kind. I just blinked as I took a step back, but having accidentally shifted my left foot a bit, the person stepped on it and found themselves stumbling backwards with a shriek.

The basket flew up into the air as the person, a young girl, tumbled backwards, the basket smacking her on the top of her head. She moaned and immediately went to rub a hand across her face while cursing under her breath to herself. Whether it was out of embarrassment or because of the basket hitting her, I wasn’t quite sure.

As I bent over to offer her a hand, I noticed right away that this girl was fairly unusual. She seemed fairly tall, around my age, and had creamy white skin, like my sister. Except, her hair was lime green, her eyes a piercing yellow, and her lips seemingly painted a dark velvet red. Her figure was small and dainty, but she also seemed to be the physical type, as she had some mild muscle on her as well, though not too much. Her hair was a peach pink that almost melted into a pinkish blonde, her eyes were a soft purple and her lips a light tan. She had on a short patchwork dress and pointed ankle boots that reminded me of the kind elves would wear in childrens stories.

“Hi, I’m…err…Neijiro Umemoto. Do you need some help?” I asked with as bright a smile as possible.

She took her hand off her face and shot me a moody glare, then quickly shut her eyes and shifted so that she was facing the walls, her arms over her chest.

“NO, I do NOT need your help! I’m 18, thank you! And…” She turned back to me, and her jaw slightly dropped.

“Errr…” She looked back at the basket and bit her bottom lip.

“Ahem, men that knock over women, especially young girls, are awful! I don’t trust disrespectful men!”

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly at her unprovoked, rude comment and gritted my teeth.

“Well, can you at least tell me-”

“Chow Ling Liu. Call me Lulu, LiLu, or Chow. Call me Chowling and I’ll kick your ass outta here!” She spat as she stomped away from me.

Dropping my arms down to my side, I let out a long-held sigh and knew that for some reason, this chick hated me. I wasn’t sure why and it definitely struck me as surprised and maybe even a bit shocked but, I decided to wave it away.

Once she walked away, the front door creaked open, and an older woman walked in. She was rather curvaceous with neon purple hair, matching purple nails, and thick working boots. Her outfit was a typical farm and village outfit. Long baggy pants made out of potato sacks, an oversized patchwork shirt and only one sock on her right foot.

“Chowling, are you harassing a new compatriot?” The woman teased.

“I FCKN HATE THAT NAME!!! AND that KID, he…HE…HURT ME!!!” Chow hollered.

Exaggerate much?

The woman rolled her eyes and made her way over to me.

“Hey, sorry that my gal was bothering you. She’s kinda…ehh…she’s alright but she’s also…ehhh…” The woman said, rolling her eyes a bit with a smirk on her face.

“Okay, understood!” I replied.

“SO, my name is Asai. Hatsumomo Asai. Call me Momo or Hatsu. Just don’t call me single, even though I am. HAH!” She roared like a middle-aged man rather than a beautiful woman.

“She’s like my daughter. We met when she was just an itty bitty pussy cat of a kid. Now I have her at my beck and call. Though we don’t always like each other. More like sisters rather than ma and kid.” She said the last part a bit sadly, but I knew not to edge too close and leave it be.

I gave a small smile and felt my nose twitch when something began to fill the air. The lady, Momo, suddenly gave a huge smile and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “That girl…an early bird for sure. She’ll be cooking til she dies. Man, what a wife she’d be! Too bad her food tastes like quack…HAH!” She snorted.

At the mention of her being an early bird, I suddenly realized that it was still relatively dark outside, the moon illuminated against a dark navy blue sky. Shocked, I walked over to the windows and took a look around. Small houses, chickens, and ducks waddling and walking all over the place, as well as a few cats, probably hunting cats or barn cats. I glanced back over my shoulder at Momo, and she turned the corner of her lips up.

“If you’re gonna stay with us, be ready to be kicked before the sun is up. We got some crap to do.” She seemingly sang, giving her hands a small clap.

As she walked around, I couldn’t stop myself from grinning and turning back towards the window. While I may not understand what is going on or where I came from, one thing is for sure. My sister is somewhere and I need to reunite with her, even if it is dangerous. Without our parents, it’s just us, and I can’t imagine a life without them.