Chapter 1: Chapter 1
"My eyes… hurt…"
I was speaking softly to myself, with a nasal tone.
My allergies were worsening, and I do not know what had caused it.
The route going from my new home to the school was long.
This condition worsened, due to the fact I couldn't ride a bike, or drive.
The license I had from the states was nullified here.
It's because Father and I are… foreigners.
I would have to take a new test, and adjust to driving on the left lane, have to learn what the characters mean on the road signs.
But we had just come here.
Father's work sent him here, to work in the newly established branch.
He accepted the moment they said he would be the director.
Now we're stuck at a metaphorical roadblock.
Well, I am.
I have never studied any Japanese.
Not the kanji, not the hiragana… nothing.
New York is so far away from me now.
Our house… is massive.
I've walked maybe a hundred meters, and the western-designed monster towered over the trees surrounding it.
It seems impossible, taking up that much space in a country as small as this.
I punched the pin into the electronic lock at the front gate.
A screeching noise came from the metal sliding against the ground.
I walked through, and within a few seconds it had slid shut again.
There was talks about getting a translator to help me at school a few days ago, but I don't remember anything becoming of it.
Climbing the incline from my gate to the side walk, I saw all of the surrounding corporate buildings.
This is the charm of Tokyo, isn't it?
Millions of people here, yet father and me get to live on our own plot of land.
I'm walking down the pavement, through the thick sea of people passing by.
I saw the sights that the Japanese people get to see, the ones they become immune to.
Electronic billboards fought the obscurity of the sun's light.
An advertisement for anime, and another for a billion dollar company.
Only a little ahead of me, I saw a group of girls in the same school uniform as me.
Pushing my arms through, trying to get in through the gaps and cracks between bodies.
When I reached behind them, I took a deep breath, preparing myself for human interaction.
I could only hope they understood English.
"C… can I follow you all to school… please..?"
The four turned their heads to look back at me, before facing forward.
They whispered in Japanese.
All I could catch was "ikemen" and "gaijin".
I followed behind them, with my head hung down, staring at my feet, until they replied.
"Hey."
Slowly, my head reeled back up to them.
My posture straightened out.
"Yes..?"
It was the girl with short black hair and multiple moles that was speaking for her group.
"You can follow us, but she wants your number."
Bending her left arm upwards, she pointed at the girl next to her.
She was blonde, with noticeably dark skin.
But her uniform was completely proper.
Placing my hand on my neck to lightly scratch it, I ask:
"Like… that Line thing..?"
We were coming up on a crosswalk.
With her short hair bobbing, she nodded.
"Yeah, that Line thing."
I was a little surprised she spoke English well enough, that she was able to make jokes like this.
The girl on the very right pressed the button, to walk across.