Life in San Fransokyo

Making a New Friend

Note: This was previously an Interlude chapter in One Year, but after I reread it, I thought this and the other Interlude chapter were out of place and moved them here. FYI. Thanks.

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"Can we go now, tou-san? The plane's here already," Tadashi asked, a whiny note in his voice. He had his face pressed against the glass, watching the hustle and bustle on the runway. He had read up on planes a couple of days before, and he knew that once the tube thingy was attached to the plane, people can start getting on it.

"Not yet, Dashi-kun. We have to wait for them to call us," Akihiko Hamada answered him, looking up from his smartphone. Father and son were spitting images of each other, save for the nose—the younger Hamada had inherited that particular feature from his mother.

Tadashi pouted. This was so boring. His minitab had already run out of power, which left him with nothing to entertain himself with—and he was so close to finishing Level 7 of Hamster Wars!

"Can I borrow your phone?" he asked his father, who shook his head no.

"Sorry, buddy. This is a boring phone. It doesn't have games. Unless you want to read the news?" Akihiko held out his phone, which prominently displayed the website for the San Fransokyo Times.

"That's boring. I'm gonna go look around."

"Don't wander off too far, Dashi. Just stay close," his father warned him.

"Uh-huh." By then the boy had scampered off to the back of the gate lobby, where a family of four was seated. Normally he wouldn't have paid attention to them because they weren't interesting. The woman was asleep, resting her head on her husband's shoulder, while their younger daughter was doing the same thing, her coppery head on her older sister's lap.

Tadashi was just about to go back to his parents when his ears pricked at the sound of someone singing.

"Byssan lulle barnet, gryta henger i jarnet..."

He followed the source of the sound and found that it came from the girl that was letting her sister sleep on her lap. His curiosity was piqued—what was the girl saying? The language she used was unlike anything he had ever heard.

And she had the nicest voice, too.

The girl must have noticed him staring at her, because she stopped singing and looked straight back at him. Tadashi's heart leapt when their eyes met. The girl's eyes were the same color as his favorite cap, which he wore right now (bright blue and worn backwards, because he saw it once in a movie and thought it was cool).

He blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Hi." He waved once, smiling.

The girl returned his smile and nodded. But she didn't speak, placing a finger over her lips and looking down at the sleeping toddler on her lap. Tadashi mouthed a 'whoops' and winced apologetically at her. She only smiled again and shook her head.

Tadashi bit his lip, trying to think of something to say to the girl. He didn't know why, but he wanted to talk to this girl. Probably because she was pretty. Besides having eyes that were his favorite shade of blue, she had really nice hair too—pale blonde, which was tied in a neat braid and held back with a headband.

"Do you speak English?" he asked, curious. He hoped she did.

The girl hesitated before answering. "Yes, I do," she replied, which made him grin.

"That's so cool! I can speak Japanese too," he informed her with a proud grin. "What were you singing?"

"It's a lullaby from Norway. I'm Norwegian." She tilted her head. "You're Japanese?" He felt something funny in his stomach, because no girl had ever looked at him that way, as if he were the only person in the world. Most of the girls he knew were always giggling over stupid girly things.

This girl...she seemed different.

"Nah, I'm Japanese-American. My dad's from Japan, and my mom's American," he explained, snapping himself out of the momentary spell the girl's eyes had cast on him. "Me and my parents are going to Japan for vacation and to visit my grandparents. You're probably on our flight too, right?"

His voice must've been a bit too loud, because her younger sister stirred and frowned. Tadashi flinched. "Sorry," he whispered.

The girl shook her head and waved her hand. "It's okay," she whispered back. "We're going to Japan for vacation too. My dad has to work, though."

An awkward silence descended between them as the girl's sister's face relaxed back to slumber. Tadashi fidgeted, rubbing the back of his neck. What should he say next? Oh, right—he should introduce himself!

He was just about to do so when he heard his father call out for him. "Dashi-kun, time to go, buddy."

Tadashi turned his head toward his father then looked back at the girl. "I gotta go," he said, starting to walk backwards and pointing his thumb over his shoulder. But he wished he didn't, because it would have been nice to talk to the girl some more.

"Your name is Dashi?" the girl asked. He nodded and grinned.

"Yep. Nice meeting you!" He waved at the girl over his shoulder as he ran back to his parents.

"Made a new friend, huh?" Akihiko observed. Tadashi followed his father's line of sight and saw the girl waking her sister up. "She's pretty. Nice work, son." He felt his face grow hot over Akihiko's teasing.

"Tou-san!" he protested.

Akihiko raised his palms to placate his son. "Hey, I'm just saying you have good taste, just like your old man." He clapped a hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Let's go."

Tadashi couldn't help but glance back at the girl. By then she had her sleepy sister by the hand and was obediently following her parents. She must have sensed his gaze on her, because she met his eyes once more and smiled at him.

He smiled back and wished he had been quick enough to ask for her name. Little did he know that someday, their paths would cross once more.