Aiko took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. She took a drink and set the bottle down on the counter. The black-haired girl opened up the top cabinet and reached up towards the top, trying to take down microwave popcorn. As she reached up, the bottom of her tanktop rose, showing the bottom of the "Jounetsu" Kanji on her lower back.

"I still do not know why you got that thing," her mother's voice said disapprovingly as she entered the kitchen.

"Yamette, Maki," Aiko said, exhasperated already. "Cwen, Alix and Amy are coming over to watch a movie."

"Is that so?" Maki said, busying herself in the kitchen.

"Mother," Aiko said, "This is my apartment. My friends are coming over. I would like some privacy?"

Her mother looked back at her for a second, then seemed to decide that it was not worth a struggle. She gathered up her bags and said good-bye to Aiko, leaving the apartment and walking down the street on her way home. Aiko watched her mother leave, then went back to the kitchen and climbed on the counter, taking down the popcorn. She put it on the counter, preparing it for when the girls came over.

Aiko thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye outside of the kitchen. She turned, but there was nothing there. She wandered into the living room to investigate. There was still no sign of any unusual disturbance. The Amazon.com box holding the newly-sent DVD. Aiko took out a scissor from her desk and cut the box open. She pulled the interior out and looked at the decorations on the large outer box of the DVD set.

Aiko went around the couch and put the box on top of the television. She went to her window and looked out at what would be a setting sun. Instead she faced ominous storm clouds oozing slowly as far as the eye could see. She saw a flash of lightning, and she flinched. Aiko swore at the bad weather, and looked down the street, not sure what she was looking for.

That was not true. She was looking for the red jeep Amy was driving to bring Alix and Cwen to the apartment. However, she knew they would not be this early. Aiko still had a while before the others got there.

The screensaver glittered invitingly to Aiko and she wandered over to her laptop. She went online and made her way over to The Council of Elrond. She logged in and clicked on "Lesson 15 - Mixed Conjugation Verbs" and read through it quietly.

Crash! Clunk! Aiko heard a grunt from the apartment upstairs as someone apparently dropped something, startled by the sudden thunder. She left her computer, opened the door, and went out into the hallway. The stairway clunked as Aiko climbed the stairs to the next floor.

"Are you all right?" she asked, stopping at the door from which the grunt had come. Aiko, recently moved into this apartment, did not know who lived around her.

A young man of about twenty-two opened the door. He had sandy short hair and gray eyes. He was about six feet tall and very thin.

"Yeah...fine," he said. "Hey, you're new, right?"

"Yeah," she said, "I'm Aiko."

"David," he said. They shook hands. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Aiko said. "I'll see you around?"

"Sure," David said. He shut the door and Aiko looked at the door for a second. She brought her hand up and adjusted her silver earrings and made sure her black nose stud was in properly before going back downstairs.

Aiko reentered her apartment and went back to her computer, printing out the lesson and the workbook page. The thunder crashed outside and the rain began to fall morosely.

Edited by: Gwilamlug at: 3/3/04 10:29 am

Aiko had been laying on the couch when she heard the car pull up in front. She heard shouts that could only belong to Cwen, Alix, and Amy. The clock read that they were half an hour late.

Once the girls were inside, Aiko fetched the wet girls some towels, then put up water for hot tea in the hopes of warming the three up. The three girls dried off thankfully with the towels. They talked merrily as Aiko went into the kitchen to prepare the tea for each one of them. She put the tea in shiny blue mugs with comforting, snow-white speckles on them. Once the tea was prepared, she brought the mugs in, two at a time.

"So, can we see the DVDs before the others get here?" Cwen asked as she took the tea from Aiko graciously.

"Sure. Right over here," Aiko said, fetching the box with the DVDs and other inclusions.

As the girls looked inside the box and spoke merrily, Aiko felt a jovial spirit enter the apartment. The ominous sensations of before vanished, replaced only by the joy of her friends and their observances regarding the box and its contents. Aiko dropped down onto the couch and pulled her feet up under herself, holding her much with both hands and feeling very thankful that she was no longer alone that night. Soon she found herself smiling and laughing with the girls as well, her fears nearly forgotten.

Edited by: Gwilamlug at: 3/10/04 10:08 am