Walking down one of the halls in the dorms was a Japanese girl wearing a beautiful red dress and high heels. She keeps looking at a slip of paper while she drags her wheeled luggage in search of her room. Hitomi had wanted to wait for her roommates before heading to their room, but the woman told her that tradition mandated each girl proceed to her room alone. Hitomi had thought her English adequate, but some of the students in the hallway called the line of new girls headed towards their rooms a "menu train". Hitomi would have to look that up sometime.

Her head was still a bit fuzzy from the plane ride. (Normally she couldn't sleep when flying. But this time, Hitomi felt drowsy during the flight and quickly fell asleep.) It sounded like the housing director said that Hitomi's two roommates were also on the plane and also from Okinawa. Hitomi was especially excited about meeting them. To be so far from home and have roommates from home was extremely lucky.

Finally, Hitomi finds her room. She punches the code on the keypad and the door unlocks with a click. Once inside, Hitomi is impressed. An anteroom with three desks, each with a computer. The bathroom was split into two sections: two sinks with a large, vanity mirror; and a separate room for the toilet and bath. Good. A bathtub/shower combination. Hitomi usually took showers. But every now and then, she did so enjoy a long bubble bath.

The next room had three beds, closets, and dressers. Hitomi went to the far bed, the one closest to the window, and set her bags on top the dresser. She wasn't claiming them before her roommates got here. But she hoped they would let her have this one because she so enjoyed falling asleep while looking at the stars. She now opens the most important bag, the one with the Tonfa. The Okinawan becomes more and more frantic as she looks through the bag until she stops looking and turns white as a sheet.

Reiko lugged her bags towards her room, reading the small strip of paper she was given that told her where her room was. She hadn't expected a big room, maybe a small college dorm with spartan accommodations. Clad in a dark red tracksuit with the sleeves rolled up on the coat, black running shoes with blue soles, and a visible white tank under the coat. She only had a backpack and a duffel full of clothes and belongings, figuring she wouldn't need much in case she could just get what she needed from the school itself. Books, food, a new uniform...

Reiko could do without two of those.

She'd just picked up her uniform, stuffing it in her duffel as she ascended a flight of stairs towards her room. “Man, this place is... is so... odd.” Reiko mumbled to herself, stepping inside the room only to note there was another girl already there. She stayed quiet and stepped to the middle of the room between the beds, tossing her stuff down on the middle bed. “Heya! You uh... look like you just saw a ghost. You alright?”

"The rose, summer's emblem,
'tis England's chosen tree
And France decks her shield
with the stately Fluer-de-lis"

The musical voice of Fiona Macbeth carried on down the corridor, preceding the peppy red-haired Scotswoman as she happily dragged her wheeled suitcases towards her new living quarters. Fi was dressed in a white blouse with a red lace tied at the throat, brown vest, tartan of the Macbeth Clan (image shown in Fiona's bio, a link to the thread can be found below Fi's sig pic), matching mini kilted skirt, white socks and black pumps. Around her neck, attached via a thin silver chain, hangs a Celtic Tree of Life Pendant, rendered in sterling silver and stone, integrating and harmonizing both heaven and earth. There are also three out of Fi's six tattoos visible, a fairy tattoo on each leg and a Celtic Knot on her lower left arm (links also shown in her bio).

"But brighter, fairer far than these
There blooms a flower for me,
Tis the Bluebell, the Bluebell
On Scotland's grassy lea
Where from the dark, up springs the lark"

Everyone reacts differently when placed in a strange environment far from home, never knowing when they're going to set foot in their own home or when they might see their friends and family again. For example, some may be nervous or fearful, others frustrated or angry that they are forced to be stuck on an isolated island so far away from home and everyone they know.

As for Fiona, who was used to going off on wild adventures to far off places...journeys that took her far away from her home for weeks or even months at a time...Shokushu Island would be just another exciting adventure, which she hoped would be even more full of mystery and intrigue than the ones that came before.

"The rising sun tae see!
Where from the dark, up springs the lark
The rising sun tae see!
Mae land! Mae native land!"

Fiona stopped in front of her door and fumbled for her keys in large, over-stuffed book-bag strapped over her shoulders...

"Where afar mae steps have been,
Blue skies charm the eyes,
And the earth is ever green.
Yet dwelt my heart 'mid Scotland's glens,
Where aye in thought was"

The door opened, and Fiona stepped inside, luggage in tow as she entered the room. Fi whistled as she examined the spacious interior of her new dorm room with a curious eye. "Most impressife..." A wide smile appeared on her face then as she spotted her new roommates standing by the beds. "Guid day thaur, girlies!" Fi waved at her new roomies before crossing the floor to meet up with the two Asian beauties. "I'm Fiona Macbeth, and it looks like I be yer new roommate. What be the names of you fine lasses?"

Hitomi squeals when Reiko speaks. She spins to face her roommate while absently trying to hide the missing tonfa. "No! Ah... No, I just thought I had forgotten tooooo... pack something. But here it is." She holds up a coffee mug of J-pop star and actress Noriko. "But I did." She laughs nervously.

Fortunately the arrival of her other roommate saves Hitomi any more embarrassment. Her heart sinks a little when she sees that the third girl is not Japanese. But Hitomi rallies and gives Fiona and the as yet unnamed Reiko a wide smile and small bow. "My name is Hitomi Oshiro. I am very happy to meet both."

As Hitomi waits for Reiko to introduce herself, she tries to figure out how the Tonfa had gone missing. She decides it can wait and returns her full attention to her new roommates as the color begins to return to her face.

Reiko laughed a little as Hitomi held up a poster of Noriko and pointed to herself. “You probably wouldn't be able to tell by lookin', but I'm a fan of Ali Project myself.” She was glad that one of her roommates shared her homeland, especially so close when it came to prefectures. She wondered then about their third roomie...

... but she didn't have to wonder long.

A beautiful Scot made her way into the room, her accent rather thick which made it slightly difficult for Reiko to pick up on immediately. However, it wasn't too long before she got the gist of what was being said.

“Ah crap! My manners! Must've left 'em back in Okinawa.” Reiko laughed shyly and introduced herself. “Reiko Kikugawa, nice to meet you both. I hope to have a wonderful experience with the both of you.” The athlete bowed and immediately felt her heart jump into her throat.

"A pleasure to meet ye both!" Fiona returned the bow and then stood up straight, beaming excitedly at her new roommates. "It be an honor tae be rooming with two such pretty lasses as yerselves. Ay'm sure the three of us will get along famously."

Fi set her luggage down against the wall and then deliberately fell backwards onto the bed behind her. The bubbly young red-head bounced a few times as her bottom hit the top of the mattress. "So, why don't we take this taem tae get ta know each other a bit? I'd love ta know more about where yer from."

Hitomi too struggled with the Scott's accent. She couldn't help but to like her personality. Hitomi smiled at her antics, happy that the first impressions of her new roommates was so positive.

"Well, I'm from Okinawa of the Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The city that I lived in, Nago, is a vacation spot. Even when I was in school, there was always something to do." Hitomi spoke with a bit of an accent herself. And her roomies could clearly tell that she was struggling to use the correct words in English. Still, it was good practice. And she needed to improve if she were going to survive four years here.

"But where are you from? It sounds like you come from England. Is that right?" Hitomi wasn't good with accents, especially in English. She hoped that she had guessed right. Of course, Americans had so many different accents. And if Fiona were American she might be offended by Hitomi's guess. Hitomi sucked in a bit of air and held her breath, hoping she hadn't committed a major faux pas.

((Is it alright I bring Fi's cousin in for a bit?))

((It's okay with me if it's okay with Reiko.))

((Okay...Have you seen her around here at all? Looks like she hasn't been on in a while...))