Ten years earlier, Tokyo

"Sumiko-san? Hey... wake up..."

Seven year old Sumiko, who would later be known as Suzume, opened her heavily crusted eyelids. The thin pile of bedding below her did nothing to aid her back and limbs, which ached as if they had been punched. Leaning above her with a worried expression was Tadao, the moonlight beaming in behind him showing his raven hair to nearly sparkle.

"Tadao-san, ughk." She dragged her body up, her chubby cheeks resting in her palms. "It's gotta be midnight. How did you even get into my house?"

"Su-san, there's a man and a boy from Osaka at my doorstep. They're asking for the children," Tadao mumbled, nervously clutching into the sleeve of his kimono. "That means you too."

"What... what does that mean?"

"I don't know. We have to go though."

"What if I'm scared?"

Tadao grinned pleadingly. "I'll protect you."

What Suzume and Tadao wouldn't know until twenty years later, was that their families had "donated" them. Although they lived in the prosperous city of Tokyo, they still resided in one of the less fortunate district. Thinking that her younger sister would have a better life, and hoping to gain some sort of affluence, Suzume's older sister and caretaker sold her to a man from Osaka and his sister from Kyoto. This happened to many of the children in the area, including Tadao. Finding that she couldn't stall any longer with her tired facade, Suzume was pulled from her bed by Tadao. He helped to wrap a cheap kimono around her frail frame, and she retrieved two thick wool blankets for the two of them to wrap around their bodies in the cold March air. Suzume's sister rolled under her blankets, her cheeks stained with tears as she listened to her sister leave.

Exiting the tiny home, Suzume closed the door with a slight effort filled huff, and when she turned around, all her neighborhood friends were standing around a small wagon of sorts. A tall man in a black, pinstriped suit glanced at his pocket watch, and a similar looking boy glared at Tadao. Suzume couldn't even find it in herself to laugh when Tadao narrowed his eyes in return. Only confusion was buzzing through her head.

"Girls in the back of the coach." The older man's voice was booming and proud, and there was no doubt in Suzume's mind that he had awoken the whole area.

A few young men suddenly seemed to have appeared, and Suzume found herself desperately clutching onto Tadao, her little fingers hooked on his obi. A gruff middle aged man with scratchy and mismatched facial hair grabbed Suzume's waist, and when he still couldn't pull her away, another man tugged at Tadao's shoulders while a third with calloused hands latched onto Suzume's wrist. Suzume screamed, Tadao screamed, all the other children scattered. Servants and assistants leapt at the escaping minors, and Suzume was the first to be tossed into the hooded back of the mechanism. Everything went blank in Suzume's memory after that, but the last thing Tadao remembered was being held back by the aristocratic boy, who whispered in his ear,

"She's gonna be ok, and you will be too."

"Too skinny. I can practically see her bones," a woman who had been introduced as "Madame Kurokawa" muttered. "I don't think she's the type to gain weight either, and I refuse to be stuck with dagger cheeks here."

Suzume had been informed that they were now in Kyoto, and after being lined up inside a large warehouse, all of the girls were being critiqued. Judged for what though, was a mystery, but only one girl had gotten a compliment. She was lead into the small door on the left, and the other girls were lead back through the large opening doors on the right.

"Her eyes, they're too... narrow. I can't even see their color," the woman sighed as she lazily watched the girl being lead away.

Suzume was next in line.

"Alright, what is your name?" Madame Kurokawa asked, her arms folded as she balanced herself in front of Suzume. However, unlike with all the other young girls, a smile graced her lips.

"Soma Sumiko."

Suzume kept her eyes downcast, her fingers playing with each other behind her back.

"What if I were to call you Suzume?"

Said girl gazed up, a bewildered expression on her face. "I... would not mind..."

Madame Kurokawa nodded in satisfaction, as if her question had an actual right answer. Apparently, Sumiko's words were the correct ones. "I like her. Her cheeks are round, very cute. I hear that cuteness is a growing trend," and just like that, Sumiko was gently guided by a much kinder looking assistant to the left door.

Only a day after the ordeal at midnight, Tadao was already harshly scrubbing the stone steps of a teahouse, two siblings that had lived two houses down from him doing the same. Tadao and the boy, Matsuoka Rin, weren't even given an option or chance. As soon as they arrived in Kyoto, they had been shoved into the arms of a teahouse owning family as the new servants. Rin's sister, Gou, arrived the next day, a horrible looking cut on her cheek.

"What did those creatures do to you and the girls?" Tadao softly inquired under his breath as he slowed his cleaning.

Gou sighed. "Well it's obvious that they wanted some new geisha material," her tone was sarcastic and hateful. "That dreadful okiya woman only pointed out the faults in us! So I did what I had to."

Rin tensed. "Sis... wha'd you do?"

"I wanted to defend myself and my friends, so I kicked that woman in the shin."

"Gou!" Tadao gasped, a little chuckle of awe and respect beneath.

After explaining in great detail how the whole argument and eventual fight drew out, Gou rung her wrists and hands achingly, her knees on fire from leaning on them for hours. "I do know that all the girls who weren't picked were sent to teahouses like these. However, two girls did get picked. Oh my goodness, I am so jealous!"

"Who was picked then?" Rin asked absentmindedly, his arms shaking from the pressure.

"Takemura Kiriko and Soma Sumiko."

Tadao, for a reason that he could only describe as intense relief, fainted right then and there.

Takemura Kiriko: Kyary (Remember her? Yeah, she'll be a recurring character.)

Matsuoka Rin: He's the red haired guy from Free... you know... that swimming anime...

Matsuoka Gou: Rin's sister... again... from the swimming anime...

I know that I probably should continue on from last chapter, but I really couldn't resist. This chapter and the next one are focused on other side stories. I'm sorry if this is a big turn off of sorts, but this will be one of those multi-storied fics. I'll have some chapters reserved for Baekhyun and Taeyeon, some for Suzume and (blank, it's a surprise), etc etc, you get it. I have so many ideas and plot lines in my head, so I really can't control the urge to make multiple stories in this universe.

And now, another thing. I've tried to hint in some past chapters what pairings and drama will come up, so I hope you know that will be part of this story. I really hope you don't mind, but it's a certain story line that is dear to me, and I refuse to cut it from the story.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Please tell me your thoughts in the comments. Yes, I will update soon, I will never abandon this story as I see that it has gotten love. I don't know, tell me some predictions, ask me some questions, don't be afraid! I won't bite.