In the city, with you (pt 1)

Haru watched Mia, sitting across from him in a train seat. Their quiet conversation had fiddled away, the girl now playing with her phone. The rhythmic clanking of the train wheels resounded through Haru’s head, his nose filled with the faint smell of warm plastic and old fabric.

Suddenly, Mia turned her phone around. “Have you ever been here?”

Haru leaned in to inspect the video playing on her pink phone. It showed a high-ceilinged shop lined with towering bookshelves that seemed to stretch on forever.

He nodded, “Ahh, the giant Bookstop, that’s near the university.”

Mia let out a slight puff, “I wanted to surprise you… but you seem to know the city quite well…”. Then her face cleared up and she flashed a brief thumbs up, “But let’s still go!”

Haru smiled, opened his little book of poems, and started reading. Outside the window, the blur of rice fields and tiled-roof houses gave way to blocks of apartments and billboards praising a variety of goods. A soft ding-dong played over the speakers announcing the name of the city’s central station.

All around them, passengers rustled and shifted, gathering bags and stretching legs. Mia got halfway up from her seat, with questioning eyes, she looked at Haru. Just before closing his book, his eyes lingered on the poem's first line, “Let us go then, you and I…”

He smiled to himself.

The perfect line to begin the day.

X

At the station, Haru and Mia wormed their way through a sea of people, sticking close to avoid getting separated in the chaos. The couple exited the station hall through tall glass doors, escaping the buzzing, overlapping chatter of their fellow passengers. Or at least, that’s what Haru thought.

“I’m so impressed with how people line up so neatly. Everything’s so organized here!” Mia exclaimed.

Haru smiled. I don’t even want to know what an American train station is like.

Ready to show Mia the city, Haru turned to her. “Please follow—”

She wasn’t listening. She was already absorbed in her phone, striking poses and snapping selfies in front of the station building.

“Say cheese!” Mia cheerfully exclaimed, the sudden flash catching Haru off guard.

“Don’t close your eyes! You silly!” she giggled, reviewing the photo. Then, with a satisfied grin, she whispered. “I’m keeping this one as well.”

Mia followed Haru through the busy streets, phone at the ready. Every little billboard, hole-in-the-wall shop, and vending machine earned a spot in her photo album. She paused patiently at a giant diagonal crosswalk, eyes lighting up as she watched the traffic lights change. Then, in a sudden burst of energy, she grabbed Haru’s arm and pulled him across.

A slightly exhausted Haru glanced at her. “Having second thoughts about not picking the city for your exchange?”

Mia shook her head. “The city’s cool and all, but it lacks charm.” A grin spread across her face. “And most importantly, it doesn’t have a Haru.”

He laughed. “Not yet… but it will soon - if I pass the exam, that is.”

After traveling a couple more streets, the couple arrived at the university campus. A little sanctuary inside the big city… although not nearly as quiet as Hanabusa. Haru led Mia across a shaded path lined with slender trees. Surrounding them was a field of freshly mown grass, on which a group of students were reading their textbooks. Left and right, the couple got passed by busy students on bicycles.

Mia paused to take a snapshot of a weathered statue of a poet neither of them knew. She turned to Haru, “Will you ride a bicycle as well?”

Haru sighed, staring at the giant university building looming in front of them. “I hope so… I’ve been dreaming about getting admitted here for a long time…”

Still, something was bugging him. Now that there was less than a year left before he started his studies, he suddenly felt less excited to go here. Pondering his mind, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was bothering him.

He used to picture walking these paths as a student, not just a visitor. But now, standing here with Mia beside him, something about that dream felt hazy. Was it just the pressure of the exam? Or... had his dream changed? He didn’t know what his future looked like anymore - not in sharp outlines like before. What if he went to America to study literature there… together with Mia? All he knew was that she wasn’t supposed to be in that picture, but now that she was here, cracks in his old vision started to show..

He turned to Mia, who was watching him with a curious expression, “Got lost in your thoughts again?”

Haru paused for a moment, caught off guard by her question. “Yeah,” he finally replied, his voice a little slower than usual. The couple wandered around the campus for a bit, after which Mia suggested going to the bookstore she had shown on her phone earlier.

As soon as Haru stepped inside, his eyes lit up. He passed by the displays in the front that advertised the newest best seller and led Mia right to the back, where second-hand, English-language books he liked resided. He crouched by a shelf and browsed the shelf, pulling out a book that looked interesting.

Curiously, he flipped the pages, his thoughts completely consumed by it. After about a minute, he looked up and was startled by Mia, who watched him intensely.

Haru chuckled while rubbing the back of his head, “I am sorry, I got too absorbed in the book again. I am buying this one.”

He held up the book for Mia to see, but it was clear that she didn’t recognize it. She smiled, “Boy… you're so cute. Like a little kid in a candy store,” she stopped for a second, collecting her thoughts, “Say, Haru… how’d you even get into these old books in the first place? No offense - I love you - but in America, only grandmas read this kind of stuff.”

Haru laughed softly. “When I was a kid, I used to hang out at the Hanabusa library after school. My mom worked late, and there weren’t many books for kids. One day, I picked up a collection of translated poems - no idea why - and I just… got pulled in.”

He lifted the book slightly, giving it a playful little wave.

“The words were saying things I didn’t know how to say yet. So I kept reading. Later, I even started learning English, to understand them better.”

He smiled faintly, “I guess I never grew out of it.”

Mia smirked. “You learned a whole language just to read old poems? That’s either the nerdiest or most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

She tapped his chest with her finger. “Definitely romantic.”

Then she glanced at the book and asked softly, “Will you read one for me later? Even if I don’t get it, I wanna hear what you hear.”

Haru looked at the girl, scared but also excited. None of his friends had ever asked him something like this… his mind raced, thinking of what poem to read her.

“Okay,” he quietly responded, “But only if you promise not to laugh when I sound dramatic.”

Mia grinned, “I would never…”