Interactions: N/A Mentions: N/A

Date: July 5th Location: The Ito residence, Shiiba, Japan

Japanese: speech English (Cass): speech

- Arrival -

Family was the roots from which a tree grew. The foundations of a person, from which they rose up to stretch their branches skyward. It was quite simply the most important thing to exist. Family supported each other, through the toughest of times. To be an Ito was to have the roots of centuries stretched out beneath you, and the sky above you open and ready to be devoured. Supporting family was something that one did without question. It just wasn't often that the arrival of a cousin that she had never met before was accompanied by a warning. To say never met before would be untrue- she had a faint memory of a kid with messy hair attempting to convince her to climb trees with them when she was much younger. England and Japan however, were quite faraway and it had been quite some time since she had seen them. Her mother had reminded her, Minato and Takashi (She expected that Honami and Takuto had probably been told with the rest of the adults. It stung a little that she hadn't been, but it was only to be expected) of their name. Cass. Cass Ito.

Although she hadn't exactly been told of the circumstances of their move to Japan, it was quite obvious. Her cousin had been brought up over dinner a few times, with mostly good things. They had been made prefect at such a young age (she had been informed that prefect was the English equivalent of class representatives), and seemed to be doing as well as should be expected, although she had heard that they were a bit of a troublemaker. But now here they were, or rather here they would be arriving. Whatever had caused them to be sent to Japan had to be of importance. She intended to find out. Excited would be far from the correct word for her emotions that day, she was simply prepared. Minato however, wouldn't sit still. All those years back when her tree-climbing cousin had visited, Minato had been the only one to take them up on their offer. Sayaka of course, had politely declined and then followed to make sure that they weren't about to drop her cousin out of a tree. On the whole, it was a ridiculous, childish affair.

She expected that Cass must have grown up since then. Whatever had happened back in England though, sending them to Japan was simply the best decision that their parents could have made for them. This was the best place for them to recover from the event that had sent them here, and she was sure (or at the very least hopeful) that they would excel just as much at Mahoutokoro. It occurred to her that they would be starting school at the same time, albeit in different years. She would take them on as her responsibility to look after, then. It was simply what family was expected to do. She was sure that Honami or Takashi would have done the same. "Cease your fidgeting" she said to Minato, gently lifting her hands away from where they had been drumming an impatient rhythm on the staircase wall. As well as her and her younger cousin, her sister stood beside them in the stairwell that held the families cherry blossoms. Her brother and cousin were off with her mother last time she checked, attempting to solve where their new arrival would be staying.

She felt a sense of pride at the thought that this room would be the sight that greeted her cousin when they arrived. Soon, her tree would sit there as well. It was never wise to brag. It only created complications if the event where you couldn't back up your claims occurred. But when she left school, her trees leaves were going to shine gold the likes that had never been seen before. Footsteps coming down the corridor caught her attention, and she looked up as Minato let out a little squeal of excitement and Honami shot her a look of warning. She stood up, glancing at the party approaching. Her father and her aunt walked beside a short kid with messy hair, who wouldn't look up from the ground. They had obviously been crying. This was... unexpected, to say the least. "You must be Cass. Welcome to Japan" her sister said smoothly, and Sayaka took a step forward, following Honami's lead and silently berating herself for not doing it sooner. Before she could speak however, Cass continued up the stairs without stopping. Minato, who had ran up to them to say hello, had shock written all over her face.

They didn't even look up. Sayaka looked over at Honami, completely at a loss for what to do. There was disappointment on her sisters face, and together they watched as their aunt pursed her lips before following Cass up the staircase. Minato looked on the verge of tears, and Sayaka stepped forward and grabbed her hand. She knew that her cousin had been sent here for a reason, but this sort of behaviour was unacceptable. Cold rage filled her as she whispered to her cousin "They shouldn't have done that. You did nothing wrong". It was one thing for them to treat their own family this way, but Minato was only a kid. She had expected many things from her cousin, but cruelty was not one of them. At the sound of Minato's sniffles stopping, she looked up. Her mother stood at the top of the stairs, accompanied by Takuto and little Takahsi. Her father joined them at the top of the stairs, but she was more focused on keeping her little cousins calm than listening in on his explanations. Minato was too good for this world. It was a treacherous thought to think about family, but her cousin was going to pay for treating her like that.