The moment you landed in Japan, your first priorities were to get some of your dollars exchanged for yen and a new SIM card.
Thankfully, you managed to do both tasks just near the airport. The person you talked to about residence should be waiting for you outside.
Just as you arrived out with your luggage, you saw the lady who you contacted beforehand, smile kindly at you. Her name was Shizune-san and she was actually someone one of your colleagues knew. When you informed them of you leaving for Japan, one of your kinder colleagues told you that they knew someone who owned a hostel.
Hence, you managed to get in contact with the said lady, Shizune-san.
"You must be [Last Name][Name]-san?" Her voice was soft and kind, a good match with her gentle looking face. Thankfully, she spoke really good English and it made it easier to understand her.
"Yes, you're Shizune... san?" She smiled in amusement when she heard the awkward use of honorifics. You would have used Ms. but you weren't aware if she'd like that or not.
"Just Shizune is fine, don't stress over the honorifics." You nodded again, and began to follow the said lady when she gestures you to come along. She weaved her way through the crowd, making it a bit of a hassle to constantly keep an eye on her light pink cardigan.
When you managed to successfully get out of the crowd, you were met with a parking lot, filled with cars. She walked up to a grey van that didn't seem to be in the best of conditions. Still, you kept your mouth shut because for you, if a car is doing its job (taking you from one place to another, in one piece) then it's a good car.
She helped you load what little luggage you had, in the back before walking to the front. She buckled up and you followed suit, watching as she set the keys in ignition and began reversing the van to get out of the parking spot.
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As you guys drove past the streets, you couldn't help but gawk at everything you saw. America was good, it was pretty.
But it was nothing compared to Japan.
The streets were cleaner than anything you've ever seen! Every place you looked at, looked straight out of a painting! But something that absolutely took your breath away was the pink cherry blossoms. You believe that they were called sakura.
Since you arrived in almost late March, you managed to arrive in time to see them in full bloom. Luckily, they will remain this way until April.
Shizune couldn't help the smile that made way to her lips when she saw how tranced you were. It always made her happy when she saw foreigners see the beauty of Japan.
"You're just in time to see the sakura bloom, you know that?" You nodded, a smile escaping onto your lips too. It was the first time you smiled after your sister's passing.
"They're beautiful..."
"I'm glad you seem to like them, they're quite an eye-catching view, aren't they?" She asked and you nodded almost instantly, "Yes! They're ethereal!"
"So, what brought you to Japan? A new job opportunity?" While she kept her eyes on the road, she managed to catch the small flinch you gave upon hearing her question, "Yeah, something like that... Although, it was more for the change of scenery..."
"Oh? Well, I assure you, you'll be having plenty of scenery changes in our pretty little Japan!" A giggle left your lips as you gave her a kind smile, "I hope for the same!"
Soon, the hostel that she owned came into view. It was a little worn out, but it still had a comfy looking feel to it, and compared to the low prices she offered, it was practically heaven.
You both got out the van after she parked it close by, and got your luggage from the back. You followed her closely as she entered the building, letting you have a look at the lobby. It was clean, a bit roughed up, but clean.
The reception had a cute elderly lady with a kind, wrinkled smile plastered on her thin lips, and you smiled back politely.
First impressions were always important.
"This here is Kuroki-san, she's our receptionist!" You bowed slightly at the lady, because that's customary in Japan. She smiled and bowed back, while Shizune smiled, "She is also responsible for helping you with any problems, so please feel free to address her in times of need. You don't have to worry about any language barriers because she is quite fluent in English!"
Well, that was actually a relief. Because while you did learn some basic Japanese that would help you in times of need, you still weren't fluent enough to hold a proper conversation. So this was actually a life-saver.
"She checked you in a while ago, so you you can go ahead. Your room is 547B on the 3rd floor, and uh... you also have a roommate, but she's a nice girl! So I'm sure you'll enjoy her company!" You thanked them and left for the elevator after they handed you the keys.
Making way to the said room, you couldn't help but heave a sigh. You prayed to God that the girl you would be sharing your room with, wasn't a bitch like what you feared.
Inserting the key in the hole, you heard the satisfying click when you opened the door. Inside, you were met with an empty room. The room wasn't itself empty, per say. But there was a lack of your said roommate.
With that going on, you took your shoes off at the entrance and hauled your luggage in, walking to the other, unoccupied side of the room. There wasn't much space in the room but then again, you literally paid only 27,000¥ for the entire month. It was almost 200$ for the entire month. You really wouldn't expect much in that little money.
Since you didn't have much luggage to begin with, it made it ten times easier to unpack. In less than an hour, you managed to unpack everything. With that done, you decided to use your new SIM card to call Connie and Mrs. Lee and inform them about your arrival in Japan.
However, before you could do so, you heard the door lock click. Your eyes immediately darted towards the door and you were left a bit surprised when you saw your said roommate, who was a girl barely older than you. In fact, she seemed a bit younger.
She was really pretty too. She had chest length blonde hair and pretty brown eyes, shining softly when the light reflected from them. Her brown eyes drifted towards you, meeting your [Eye Color] ones.
"Who are you?" She spoke in Japanese, her tone not exactly rude, but not very kind either. You nodded as a sort of greeting towards her before beginning, "Your new roommate." You replied back in Japanese as well, and she seemed to notice your accent.
"American?" This time, she spoke English, albeit a bit hard to understand with her accent but you nodded once again. She nodded back in understanding before going towards her side of the room, "Okay, I'm Hokutozai Minami. Your name?"
"[Name]-no..." You stopped when you remembered that they always said their last names first, "[Last Name][Name]."
"Okay, [Last Name]." She tested your name, and closed her eyes in understanding. You took this as a sign of the conversation ending and left it at that.
"I'm going out." You simply declared, loud enough so she could hear you. She didn't reply back, so you didn't bother with another statement and simply gathered your purse and your keys.
Leaving the room, you made sure to keep your steps as soundless as possible, and went for the stairs. You could just take the elevator but you didn't feel like it. Downstairs, you were greeted with Kuroki-san, and she offered you a kind smile, "The curfew is 11 PM, my dear."
You nodded and checked your phone, 12:21 AM. There was still a lot of time for you to check out your new workplace and also grab a bite on your way.
You finally left the place. First thing you did, was walk over to a nearby local restaurant. There wasn't much you could read on the boards since most of it was kanji, but you could read some katakana. The moment you read something you enjoyed, you decided to order that and took a random seat.
The chef was preparing the dish right in front of you, and you could see how their skilled hands worked meticulously to craft a single bowl of food.
It really was like you were watching a show. They worked almost like they were dancing, with each of their movements so precisely coordinated that everything was coming together wonderfully. In just a few minutes, they placed your order in front of you and you felt your mouth watering.
For once, you actually forgot about your misery after your sister's death and actually focused on enjoying something.
The food was amazing! The moment you took a bite, you could feel the flavours bursting in. Although the tastes were mild, but they still blended together wonderfully. And with you only eating one meal a day as one of your bad habits, this seemed to fill you up quite well.
Not to mention the amazing price!
You're definitely going to frequent this restaurant in the future!
With your stomach filled and your taste buds happy, you left the restaurant satisfied. You decided to stop in the way to finally make the phone call.
As you heard the rings, you couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu. It reminded you of the horrible time when you kept calling Xeno and Stanley, only for them to never pick up.
Almost in an instant, your mood dampened. With a frown now resting on your lips, you heaved a sigh and sat down at a nearby bench.
Finally, you heard the other side speak up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Connie!" You exclaimed softly, a smile slowly overtaking the frown on your lips from before.
"Wait... [Name]?!" You heard her yelling at her mother about how it was you who was calling, and you even heard Mrs. Lee happily asking about you.
"How are you?! Oh my God, you landed in Japan already? How is it? Is it pretty?" Her bombardment of questions didn't fail to elicit a chuckle from you.
"I'm fine, I'm fine! Jeez, so many questions? At least tell me how you guys are doing, first!" You're sure that if you could see her right now, she most definitely would have been flushed from embarrassment.
"We're fine! Mom was just asking when you were gonna call!"
"Is that so? Well, here I am. Did you guys eat dinner already? It's probably 10 or 11 back in Texas, right?"
"Yup! Did you have any problems when you landed? No issues finding your hostel lady?" You smiled at her inquiries before sinking in the hard bench, "Nope. It went along smoothly. To answer your previous question, Japan's honestly a beauty. I can't tear my eyes away from any of the places, it's too pretty..."
"Aww, now I wanna go there too!"
"Hehe, why don't you start with going to the ISS first, Ms. Astronaut?" She giggled at your little quip, "Yeah, yeah... I'll go there alright! Just you wait, you'll be seeing me on the news, blasting off into space after I'm done with my training!"
"Of course you will, I don't doubt it even for a minute!" You could hear Mrs. Lee asking in the back to let her talk as well and Connie finally handed her the phone, albeit begrudgingly.
"Hello, dear! How was your flight?"
"It was very comfortable, Mrs. Lee. How have you been? Did you take your meds?" Hearing their voices brought you a sense of melancholy. Although Japan was beautiful, America was still your home.
And although you have bad memories associated with that place, Mrs. Lee and Connie were still your beacon of hope.
"Oh, yes I did, dear. Although I must say, it's quite lonely without you here..." You could faintly hear Connie whine in the background, asking, "Am I a roach?!"
A giggle left your lips when you heard her cry out, "I feel the same without you guys... But I do think Connie's a little offended..." You and her mother both shared a laugh at Connie's tantrum.
"You should rest up now, Mrs. Lee. It's time for you to sleep anyways. I'll call tomorrow too, okay?" You heard the lady agree and handed the phone back to Connie, who was still busy whining, "Bye-bye, you traitor..." She whispered and you chuckled at her actions.
Despite being older than you, she often acted a lot more childish. Perhaps that was the breath of fresh air that you needed anyways.
"Bye-bye, Ms. Astronaut."
The line beeped, and you teared your gaze from your phone to your surroundings.
It finally settled in.
This was no longer Texas. You didn't have any memories or problems to hold you back anymore.
You were finally starting a new, with a clean slate...