Dear Tokyo

Week 4

Waking up to a Facebook friend request from Eduardo, which had been sent in the middle of the night when he should have been sleeping, was flattering. However, as I watched the number of our mutual friends climb higher with every refresh, I realised just how pointless it was ascribing meaning to anything a boy did.

From his position across the train, he couldn't see what I was looking at but I pushed my phone back into my pocket anyway. I hadn't yet mastered the art of balancing on the train without a handle and we had been jostled to the middle of the car with nothing to hold onto.

An old lady stood between us. None of the salarymen offered her a seat but I didn't know whether that was out of rudeness or because, as I had read once before, the elderly in Japan didn't appreciate being made to feel like they were in need of coddling. Either way, she looked like she was having trouble keeping up with the train's swaying so, timidly, I held out a hand to her, not knowing what to say but hoping she would understand that I just wanted to help her find balance. She looked at me and smiled, and we held hands until the train arrived at Yotsuya and I had to leave.

I bowed as I motioned to the opening doors and she thanked me, waving.

"Aw," Eduardo said as we made our way upstairs to the turnstiles. "How sweet."

I only grinned.

The buildings our classes were in were on the opposite side of the entrance. As we crossed campus, we were intercepted by Cat, Estel and a girl I didn't know the name of but whom I actually recognised from Japanese class. She introduced herself as Ingrid, from Germany. All three of them were carrying plastic cups of iced coffee.

"You guys come so late?" Estel said.

"We like our beauty sleep," I said.

"I don't think it's working for Edu."

Eduardo rolled his eyes. "Where did you get that?" he asked, nodding to her coffee. I tried not to react to the nickname.

"The cafeteria in Building 9," Cat said. She pointed to the stairs they had just come up from. It was the basement cafe that me and the other non-degree students had hung around in after orientation a few weeks ago. "They do a hundred yen breakfast."

"What!"

"You get a drink and a sandwich," Ingrid said.

"Why don't you come with us tomorrow?" Estel suggested.

Eduardo looked at me. Although it meant we would have to wake up earlier and I would lose my alone time with him, I couldn't exactly decline, but I couldn't explain why it felt like I was losing and Estel was winning.

*

Eduardo and I didn't always go home together but, today, our schedules aligned. When we tapped our Suica cards and made it out of Seijogakuen-mae station proper, I elbowed him. "Isn't that Mischa?"

"Oh, yeah."

I blinked as he called out to her. It was the normal thing to do, of course, but I didn't think I would have done the same. I would have been too shy and just awkwardly trailed behind her all the way back to the dorm. Plus, it was Japan. People didn't usually shout across the road.

She paused for us to catch up and we walked together. I liked Mischa. A group of us had gone to the bank together to open accounts before school started and we had bonded that afternoon. She always hugged me and called me cute, like a big sister.

She was currently teaching Eduardo how to say good morning in Russian, though he was butchering it. She laughed at whatever nonsense had come out of his mouth. "You're so cute," she said, still chuckling. It was distinctly not the same tone she used when she called me that and it was confirmed in her next sentence. "You could totally be a model here in Japan."