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Lol one of my first stories I wrote in Creative Writing class, when we were focusing on description and imagery (which I usually ignore lol). It really as no plot, and near the end I had to hurry because I was running out of time. But I read it again today and I was suprised...it was better than I thought it was. XD Yay biggrin Tell me whatcha think. wink
~
The Tokyo crowds were as bustling and confusing as ever. It seemed the whole population of Japan was there, pushing past each other on the sidewalks. The air was filled with the murmurs and shouts of people and the honking of cars driving past. It was crisp with the taste and smell of winter air. The tall buildings surrounded the people, giving occasional glimpses of the darkening sky...on the ground all that could be seen were the crowds of people, all of Japanese lineage, with their straight dark hair and clothes which were, as always, the colors to suit the season--dark tones of blue and purple for winter.
For me, however, it was different. I was an obvious tourist, with my short hair dyed pink and my eyes a bright emerald green. I was making no attempt to be fashionable...I was only trying to be warm. The absolutely frigid Japanese air pressed around my bulky brown coat, penetrating through to a thick blue sweater and dark jeans. Even my feet were cold in my gym shoes as I readjusted my new black backpack and walked quickly.
I was getting used to pushing through the crowds, instead of letting the mass of people push me this way and that. I had been studying abroad in Japan at Keio University for three months now...my plane back home would leave that Monday; but I had thoroughly enjoyed my stay, a great way to wrap up my senior year in college. Now I was making my way to the home I shared with a friendly Japanese family after my last day of classes on that Friday evening.
My temporary home came into sight. With a little extra force I pushed through the people passing by, making a beeline for the house. When I finally broke free of the crowd, I put my hand on the gate to the small Western-style house and turned my head back to the streets for a quick wandering look.
And that's when I saw him. It was incredibly hard to miss him--I mean, there was something very odd about him.
He was definitely Japanese...a native to Tokyo, just like all the others...with a perfectly shaped face holding all the male Asian features I'd loved to look at since high school. But one very distinctive feature was off...
He had obviously natural, flaming red hair.
It stuck out even more than the occasional blonde American tourist. What's more, he was carrying an enormous stack of pizzas and heading in my general direction!
I looked down, embarrassed to have been staring, and pushed through the gate. But I was surprised to soon hear footsteps behind me. I stopped to turn around, which wasn't a smart idea, because the pizza-delivering redhead walked straight into my backpack. The five or six pizzas he'd been carrying fell over my shoulder and I caught them in my arms. Surprised to find him still behind me (I had expected him to eventually change direction to some other destination), I immediately turned around and held out the pizzas.
"Gomen ne!" I gasped, obviously speaking Japanese, with which I was steadily becoming more fluent. "Really sorry--I didn't know you were coming this way."
The redhead ran a hand through his hair and smiled awkwardly, returning in the natural Japanese accent I still hadn't quite been able to master. "No, it's my fault...I was too close behind you and I should've called out to you." He started to take the pizzas, but I head back and assured him with a smile, "I can take half of them; these are a lot to carry."
I hoped he didn't notice how much I wanted to just stare at him.
He looked about to argue, but pizza delivery boys aren't supposed to argue with their customers, especially in Japan. So he took three of the pizzas and left me with two, and we walked into the house together.
"Okaeri!" my Japanese mother--as I always called her--said cheerily from the table she was setting as we walked in the door. "Welcome home!"
Mother, or okaasan, was a very admirable woman. I looked up to her very much. The seventy-year-old woman had aged very gracefully; her face was lined with the slightest of wrinkles and her dark brown eyes still had a youthful shine to them. Her typical dark hair had a few streaks of gray and was always tied back into an elegant bun. Her smile was lopsided but always friendly and warm.
"Okaasan, why did you order pizza?" I asked her as I hung up my coat and backpack.
My okaasan laughed. "Why wouldn't I order pizza? You're leaving us in three days and we want to send you off properly!" She pulled out her wallet and proceeded to pay the pizza delieverer, who was standing by patiently. When I glanced at him, he quickly looked away.
"On Sunday we will give you a traditional goodbye party, which I'm sure you will love," Okaasan continued, seemingly oblivious. "But for today we'll just make do with a nice casual party. I invited all our friends."
I hadn't made that many friends in Japan--it was difficult for a Westerner to be accepted into the slightly exclusive society. But I had made a few, and they were very great people. I never liked big parties anyway, so I looked forward to the prospect of their company.
The delivery man was paid, and I smiled at him. "Arigatoo," I said, but inside I was thinking. A redheaded Asian? I was leaving in a few days, and I probably wouldn't ever see him again...
Okay, yeah, I kinda liked him. I've always had this fascination with both redheads and Asian guys...and he was pretty cute despite the weird combination. I couldn't just go home and forget about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I caught my okaasan's eye, who had obviously noticed everything. She winked.
"Uh...hey!" I called with my terrible tourist manners, just before he walked out the door. "If you're done working soon, or something, I mean, if you don't have anything else to do...you're welcome to come for my little party thing..."
Wow, I sounded so stupid. Okaasan smiled but said nothing.
"I mean," I rushed on, trying to explain, "today is one of my last days in Japan. I want to savor every bit of it, and every bit of company. And besides, this isn't like a strict exclusive party, is it? I would say anyone is invited--hospitality and friendliness would be the rule." I turned to my Japanese mother. "Is that okay with you, Okaasan?"
The woman grinned again and shook her head. "All right, all right, go out and invite all of Tokyo if you must...if you really want to..." Yeah, she saw right through me.
The redhead--oh shoot, I didn't even know his name--grinned awkwardly. "Uh...sure...I might stop by...if I find some time..." He coughed and turned to go. "Um, well, I have to go back to work and finish my shift...I may see you later..."
"Oh! My name's Alisyn, by the way. Alisyn Coleman," I called out quickly, making things ten times more awkward. "And this is my Japanese okaasan. Just so you know."
The redhead laughed. "I'm Kyosuke Okamiya. Nice to meet you." Then he was out the door.
I turned to my okaasan and sighed. "He's not coming, is he? I scared him off, just as usual."
She cackled good-naturedly. "Little girl, he thought you were crazy!"
I sighed.
"But I am very sure he will do all he can to come," she continued, with another wink.
~
The party was very fun. And you know what? It turns out my redhead did show up. Early. And he stayed there for quite a while after everyone else went home.
He fit in with my friends very well, and we played games and talked and laughed like we'd been best friends for years.
I learned that Kyosuke was amazing at guitar; he'd actually brought his guitar and we made him go out to his car and get it. Eventually we persuaded him to sing and had a really fun round of karaoke. Believe me, Japanese karaoke is like no other.
It turns out he'd been trying to start a band, but his style wasn't really picking up with the Japanese audience. So he'd actually been trying to earn enough money to go to America and try his luck there. But he was a little nervous about leaving his family and friends.
It was funny--I told him how I'd been studying music in college, and didn't have too terrible of a voice either. I could also play a pretty decent piano and bass guitar.
"We could go back to America and start a band together!" I told him, only half-joking.
But I think he saw some promise in the idea.
~
The details after that aren't important. Kyosuke and I hung out a little more after that day, and on Monday, he told me he was going to fly to America the next week.
I was excited; we had become pretty good friends in those few days and it would be nice to bring a redheaded Asian home with me.
We started our band--calling it Falling Star, or Houkiboshi in Japanese. And eventually...I became Mrs. Alisyn Okamiya.
Our band wasn't the most popular, but we had a good fanbase, and more importantly, we had a blast, along with four redheaded Asian babies.
The End~! ;O
 LadyAlisyn · Wed May 27, 2009 @ 10:26pm · 1 Comments |
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