Let's meet the family

A moment ago I had been standing straight up, two feet flat on the ground. Now everything was dark, dark and warm. I wasn’t sure where or what this place was, I just knew it felt great.

“Um…Ren, I don’t know what you thought I meant when I said I was going home with you, but if you don’t get your face off of my chest right now you’re gonna have more than just your dad to worry about.” I jolted back quickly and jumped to my feet, blinking and looking around wildly.

“W…what? What happened?”

“Well right now I’m not sure if you actually passed out or if you’re just a pervert. All I know is I tried to catch you but… you’re heavy.” I stared at her for a moment, my eyes slowly trailing down her body to see her soft bouncy cleave poking out from the top of my jacket.

“You mean I fell face first into your-?”

“Yeaaaahhh…” Aiko began tapping her foot as if she was irritated, clenching her hand into a tight fist.

“Whoa whoa whoa, hang on now! You have the wrong idea!” I waved my hands back and forth laughing nervously, halfway ready to be decked right in the face. “You see I was already nervous about having to confront my dad, if I had to tell him I also brought home the girl that was the whole reason I’m second in my class now…well, I don’t think he’d take it so well.” Honest to God, I really didn’t even know I’d passed out. Maybe all the stress finally got to me, or maybe Aiko had me so flustered I couldn’t get enough oxygen to my brain. Maybe it was a bit of both.

“I’m the whole reason you’re gonna get chewed out today, right? So let me come with you! I feel bad enough already that I’m gonna get you in trouble..” To my surprise, Ai seemed genuinely remorseful, as if she’d actually done something wrong.

“Ai, you do realize that you beating my test score isn’t something you have to be sorry about don’t you? I mean yeah I was a little pissed at first.. Okay maybe I was really pissed at first. But it just means there’s competition now. I never had to deal with someone being as smart as me before, and neither has my dad. I’m not sure how he’s going to take it, but all it means to me is I’m gonna make you eat your words next time.” I smiled at her, swiping my school card to get through the turnstile to the train station, folding my sopping wet umbrella back down and taking a seat on one of the platform benches. She smiled back at me and punched my shoulder gently.

“Don’t think you can make me forget you’re a pervert just by saying something nice, Ren.” She giggled and hid her lips behind her black tipped fingers. Something about her acting so shy just made her seem so adorable. A few moments laters, the bright green train rumbled down the tracks into the station. The doors opened and the station immediately erupted into a lively place full of students and salary men. They scurried about this way and that, all eventually filtering down their own paths until it was Just Ai-chan and I stepping into the empty train car. The doors hissed closed and the train began to depart, the silence of the train car making me nervous again.

“Seriously, Ai. You don’t have to come with me. It probably won’t help, and I’m used to dealing with my dad by now. Honestly, you being there will probably just make things worse. I can’t imagine what he’d think if I brought some random girl home.” A door at the end of the car slid open, a tall business man in a suit stepped inside and walked past us, opening the next door at the other end and continuing on.

“What if I tell him I’m your tutor? Or just tell him the truth. I’m the new transfer student from Okinawa who knocked you out of first place in the class and I thought we should get to know each other.” I didn’t want to admit it, but simply being that blunt and straightforward with my father would likely work. My father didn’t like being second best at anything, but that didn’t mean he didn’t respect the people who were even more talented than himself. Maybe he’d think the same thing about Aiko and I.

“You know what? Deal. But if he yells and kicks you out that’s on you”

“Deal." We shook hands and relaxed back against the cushioned seats of the train car simultaneously, the rails eventually leading us out of the storm towards my house. As we arrived at the station I scanned my PASMO card again, this time letting Aiko go through the turnstiles first before scanning it again for myself. We walked down the quaint little streets of Yokosuka together as the clouds gave way to a crystal blue sky, beams of light reflecting brightly off of the innumerable puddles littering the street. As we approached the end of the street Aiko turned and looked at the small humble home on the left and smiled.

“So this is where you live, huh?” I tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the home on the opposite side of the street.

“Uh, no actually…this one here is mine” When I took Sentaro to my house for the first time he had about the same reaction. Dropped jaw, wide eyes with a vacant stare.

“Y..you live in THAT?! Is your dad the emperor or something?” I guess I never thought of it as out of the ordinary because I’d lived in the same house my entire life, but my house was one of if not the biggest house in the entire neighborhood. It was a large traditional style ryokan home that flowed perfectly into a large modern home. It had Old style Shoji doors, tatami mats and even a zen garden and pond centered in the middle. Large Japanese red maple trees adorned both sides of the large ornate stone staircase that flowed up to the front door.

“Well he isn’t the emperor…but he is a lawyer for one of the most prestigious law firms in all of Tokyo.”

“Wooowww…this is so cool! A house like this is like every girl's dream!” she skipped up the stairs, running her fingers along the moss covered stone walls on each side, stopping at the zen garden at the top to poke her finger into the koi pond, the fiery mangle of orange and red fish dashing over to nibble on her. She giggled and pulled the finger away, staying hunched down with her arms wrapped around her knees as she watched them.

“Ren, you should have called if you were going to bring over company! Who’s your friend here?” My mother walked out of the house after she overheard the commotion. She was wearing an Apron covered in flour and holding a tray with some sandwiches and a pitcher of barley tea set upon it. Aiko jumped to her feet and spun on her heels to face my mother, she at first saluted, realized what she was doing, blushed, and then bowed.

“ Hello Mrs. Natsukashia, my name is Aiko Yasawa, I’m here with Ren as a…erm…” She struggled for a moment, losing her train of thought as she blushed bright red. “As a friend, yes! A friend!” I rolled my eyes as I slowly arrived at the top of the stairs and walked over to them, extending one hand towards Ai-chan and one towards my mother.

“Mom, this is my new friend Aiko, Aiko this is my mom.”

“I never thought I’d see the day you brought a girl home all by yourself Ren, a pleasure to meet you dear!” my mom set the tray she was holding down on the ground and immediately pulled Aiko into a tight hug. “So how long have you two been dating?” she pulled away and looked Aiko over before looking to me for an answer.

“Mooooooom we are NOT dating. We’re just friends. Aiko is actually a new transfer student from Okinawa, I only met her today actually.” I covered my face shamefully with my palm and shook my head.

“My my, all the way from Okinawa, really? I haven’t been there since you father and I got married and he took me there for our first anniversary! That was ages ago, now! Do they still make sushi out of spam there?”

“MOOOOM PLEEEASE!” I turned away utterly embarrassed at this point, trying to hide my shame.

“Um yes they do actually! I actually quite like it myself.” Aiko replied a bit sheepishly at first, not sure if she could relax yet.

“ME TOO! It sounds a bit gross I suppose, but it's actually delicious. Say, would you like to feed the Koi fish?” My mother clasped her hands together excitedly. I saw Ai’s facial expression and knew what her answer was going to be before she could say a word.

“Boy would I! What do they eat?”

“Well mostly bugs, but I have fresh cut strawberries in the fridge and they just gobble them right up, it's honestly adorable! I can’t wait for you to see it, follow me!” The two of them ran off into the house as if they’d been friends forever, leaving me alone in the garden.

“What was that you said, Sentaro? Goth girls are the devil? Sheesh…” I shrugged my shoulders, taking a seat on the bench beside the pond as I waited for them to come back. As I sat there and had a moment to myself, I suddenly noticed how peaceful things here were. The koi in the pond were wistfully dancing beneath its translucent depths like a torch that somehow remained lit beneath the sea. The rain had stopped, but the droplets that had accumulated on the Japanese red maple trees around the yard occasionally were stirred off by a gentle breeze and came whirling back down to earth. Maybe I was worried for nothing? Would dad really be that mad ? I couldn’t imagine anything ruining this strange blissful calm I’d somehow found myself in.

Aiko and my mom came out of the house after a short while with a tray full of sliced juicy red strawberries. They were giggling to each other, I could hear my mom asking her about her makeup and how she thought the black suited her really well. Maybe I’d never appreciated it enough, but my mom truly was a great one. She was your typical housewife, but she was totally content with that. To stay home, clean, make meals for dad and I…it always seemed as though nothing made her happier. Whenever Dad got a temper though, she would Usually shy away.

I could think back to many times as a child when my father had screamed at me until he was blue in the face and I turned to her for comfort, but she would wait until later to come into my room and hold me. It was as if she was a bit scared of him, though dad never once raised a hand to her or myself. I was a bit scared of him too. I didn’t understand why she always stayed quiet then, but I think I do now. You can’t talk sense into someone who is unwilling to listen or change their mind.
Ai and my mom were hunched down by the pond tossing the little red slices into the water, the koi erupting upwards to splash around and grab them. I..don’t think I’d ever really had this before. I never had many friends growing up, and my dad would almost never let Sen come in the house. It felt nice, like a missing piece had fallen into place. My mother suddenly stood up, grabbing the tray of strawberries and the other one with the barley tea balancing them effortlessly.

“Sorry dear, Genji is home. I still have the shogayaki on the stove and I really should have it on the plates before he gets in the door. We’ll chat more after, okay?” She smiled and bowed to her before hurriedly walking off into the house.

“Genji?” Aiko looked to me for clarification.

“That’s my dad”

“But I don’t see anyone?” Aiko blinked and looked around, obviously confused.

“She didn’t see him. She heard him” This response seemed to puzzle Aiko even further, until the low rumble of my dad’s mint green 1965 Datsun 520 pickup truck came into earshot, the sound of the tires groaning up the gravel driveway until they came to a stop underneath the small pavilion beside the garden where he parked everyday. The brakes squealed a little, and inside the cab you could see my dad reaching over to the side to rummage through his briefcase.

“Whoa, your dad drives a cool old truck. I thought he was a rich uppity lawyer type, shouldn’t he be in a Benz or something like that?” Aiko had stood up and joined me on the bench, both of us watching with a bit of anxiousness as our seemingly impending doom drew closer.

“It was my Grandpa’s truck back in the day. He was a big Tokyo lawyer just like my dad, and so was his dad before him. My dad is one of those people that likes to preach the old ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ philosophy.” I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but Aiko had set her hand beside mine on the bench, her fingertips just barely resting over my own. I heard the mechanical ‘clack’ of the old Datsun’s door opening before being slammed heavily and tiredly behind my father.

Despite having been at work for nearly 13 hours at that point, my father still looked impeccably clean and professional. There was not a single crease or wrinkle in his suit, nor was there a single hair misplaced atop his head. He walked up the little pathway from the parking pavilion to the garden, stopping as he looked over and saw Aiko and I sitting there…staring at him.

“Ren, you brought company… Hello, I’m Genji Natsukashi, Ren’s father.” He spoke at first to me, then directed his attention to Aiko as he approached and extended a hand. Aiko stood up quickly, her face flustered and bright red as she bowed instead of accepting the handshake.

“Ah, hello sir. My name is umm… Aiko Yasawa.” She remained bowed as if she was frozen, or perhaps too afraid to look back up at him.

“There’s no need for all the formality. Will you be joining us for dinner, Aiko?” My father lowered his hand back down to his side , and despite sounding polite and respectful, his face was as stoic and intimidating as ever. Aiko nervously stood up, looking at me unsure of what she should say. I nodded to her , mouthing the word ‘yes.’.

“Yes sir, if you don’t mind that is.” Aiko tucked her hands behind her shyly, looking red as a beet.

“Not a problem. I’ll tell Misato to prepare an extra plate for you. If you’ll excuse me for the moment, I’ve been dying to get out of these shoes.” As quickly as he’d arrived and stirred us both into a panic, he left us and walked into the house. We both audibly sighed in relief, collapsing backwards onto the bench, slumping downward.

“I feel like I’m going to puke.” Aiko groaned, turning on her side and clutching at her stomach.

“Actually, that went a lot better than I thought it would. It only took Sen five minutes to get kicked out of my house the first time, that was probably the nicest I’ve seen my father be to anyone in a long time.” I stood up, holding out my hand to help Aiko up. “Ready to head inside the?” She nodded, and we walked towards the door on the side of the house together, kicking off our shoes as we stepped inside. My Mother poked her head around the wall at the end of the hallway, stirring a pot with some chopsticks as she gave us both a cheerful smile.

“Aiko, I’m so excited you’ll be joining us for dinner, it's been so long since we've had company besides coworkers from Genji’s firm. Dinner isn’t quite ready yet though, Ren why don’t you show your new friend your room and I’ll call you when everything is set, okay?” I could hear the floorboards upstairs creaking, my father was probably in his office getting out of his suit.

“Yeah, sure… thanks mom.” I waved for Aiko to follow me as we walked down the hallway past her.

“Yes, thank you very much. It smells delicious by the way!” Aiko bowed as she passed.

“Stop it, you’re making me blush!” My other covered her lips coyly and giggled, turning back into the kitchen so she could start adding a plethora of seasonings to her dish. As we walked down the hall to the stairs, our socks slipped and slid along with polished hardwood floors. I grabbed onto the railing and took off up the steps at a jogging speed.

“H..hey wait up! If I get lost in here I might not ever find my way out!” Aiko picked up the pace after me, the both of us laughing a bit as we coiled around the staircase and ran down the upstairs hall to the very end where my room was.

“Well, here it is…believe it or not it's actually not anything that crazy.” I opened the sliding shoji doors and stepped aside, allowing Aiko to enter first before going in behind her and closing the door behind us. My room was rather small and quaint. It had enough space for my futon and a table for my PC and schoolwork. On the far side of the room was a small walk-in closet and a long rectangular window nearly spanning the whole length of the wall.

“You actually weren’t kidding this time. It almost looks like my own room.” Aiko sauntered into the middle of the room and glanced around. I had a few bookshelves stocked up with reading material, and each wall had a poster or two of old school movies or classic Japanese cars I put up when I was a kid and never bothered to take down. Aiko let her bag slip off her shoulder and set in on my work table, glancing at the messy paperwork strewn over every inch of it. At the back of the table I had a few photographs of my family. My grandpa and grandma, a family portrait with me as a baby. A photo of me going to preschool. Aiko glanced at them all for a long time before pausing to look at the last one for a long time.

“Who’s this here?” She pointed to it. It was a photo of me giving the peace sign inside a cafe with a pretty girl sitting beside me doing the same.

“That’s uh… my girlfriend, Hifumi.” I grazed my hand back and forth along the back of my head awkwardly. I know we just met, but I somehow felt guilty for not having mentioned Hifumi before.

“Oh… I see.” Aiko reached over the table and picked up the dusty glass frame, looking at it closely. “How long have you two been seeing each other?”

“Well uh… I guess I’ve known Hifumi since I was four or five… But we only started seeing each other when we both were about thirteen, I guess.” The frame suddenly fell from Aiko’s fingers and hit the ground, a hairline crack running through the frame as it rolled across the floor, a few small glass particles chipping away from the glass cover..

“I’m really sorry, I just… I’m so clumsy!”

“No, don’t worry it's okay I’ll just grab..” We both leaned down to grab it at the same time, our hands overlapping on top of it. Aiko let out a half hearted laugh, but I could tell she felt a bit hurt. I picked up the photograph and dusted it off, setting it back up on the table.

“So… you two are like childhood sweethearts, then?” Aiko remained on her knees, staring off into the corner of the room as she spoke.

“Well, no not exactly. I mean, it's not like that at all actually.” I grabbed some tissue paper from my desk and used it to pick up the broken glass, tossing it into the waste bin. “See, my dad works at a firm with a few other prestigious lawyers, Hifumi happens to be one of their daughters. We kind of grew up seeing each other on and off when the firm would have get-togethers and business meetings.” Aiko at least turned to look at me now, but she looked so miserable in that moment I almost wish she’d turn away again.

“My dad is a really traditional man, his marriage to my mother was an arranged one and he always intended to do the same for me. Most parents usually spend quite some time evaluating partners before they give their child a few options to pick from. But with Hifumi and I, we already knew each other for so long and obviously we were certain we both came from good backgrounds…it was just kind of a natural fit.” I felt like a complete ass, but every word of it was the truth. I’d never really questioned my relationship with Hifumi before. With my marriage basically taken care of by my family, it left me more time to study and learn things like Taekwondo and take piano lessons.

“Wow, I didn’t really know arranged marriages were still a thing in Japan. I mean, I guess I did…but I never knew of anyone being a part of one before.” Aiko finally rose to her feet, she turned and walked over to the window, peering out into the cold winter evening outside.

“I don’t think I know of anybody that’s in one either besides me…I guess I never really questioned it… It always seemed normal.” I sat on the corner of my futon, feeling like I’d said something horribly wrong. Aiko turned to face me abruptly, looking at me coldly as she spoke.

“Are you…in love with her?”

“Reeeeeen, Aiko! Dinner is served, come on down, it's no good if it's cold!” The sound of my mom's voice sprung upwards from the stairs and echoed down the hall to my room. I sighed in relief, it felt like I’d dodged a bullet.

“C’mon, let's go. We still have dinner to survive.” I got up and opened the door, Aiko quickly and quietly walked through it and headed off down the hall ahead of me. Dinner started as it always did, my mom and dad sat with their hands clasped together and their heads bowed low.

"Itadakimasu!" We all said in unison, except for Aiko who seemed genuinely confused about basic Japanese table etiquette. We all began to eat, the sound of chopsticks clacking against plates filled the room. My Father had changed into a long sleeve white shirt and a pair of black pants, without his glasses on he looked a bit more approachable.

“So, Aiko. I know most of the families in Ren’s class and I’m not familiar with the Yasawa name. I’m assuming you’re a new transfer?” My father was always sharp as a tack and quick to deduce things.

“Yes..I am, I originally went to school in Okinawa, but I’ve been in school all over Japan actually.” Aiko barely nibbled at her food, only taking enough to seem respectful.

“Your father is a military man then I assume?”

“Yes, He’s actually a first Lieutenant in the U.S navy. He just got transferred to the base here in Yokosuka a week or two ago.” I noticed Aiko had begun tapping her fingers on the edge of the table over and over again in a rhythmic fashion.

“It must be extremely hard on you to maintain good grades in school with all that moving around. I had a few friends who lived that life myself when I was in school, they never got very far in life.” My father had already cleared his plate once and was putting seconds onto his plate. “Speaking of Academics… how did the scoring go today, Ren? Good I assume.” A knot twisted in my stomach and a thick clumpy lump of speechlessness welled itself up in my throat.

“Actually dad..that’s how I met Aiko. She uh…She got the highest midterm score in our grade. I mean I was second place of course, and she only beat me by a few points! but…I invited her over so she could uh…give me a little guidance.” I tried desperately to downplay the situation while maintaining a cool composure, but my dad always had a way of figuring me out. He stopped eating, setting his chopsticks down on the table beside his plate, then clasped his hands together and placed them under his chin. He glanced at me, then at Aiko, looking for what seemed like a painful eternity.

“You must be a pretty smart kid if you took first place from Ren. He’s been on top of his class his entire highschool career, and I’m very proud of him for that.” I’d never heard my father say he was proud of me before. Not when I earned my blackbelt in Taekwondo, not when I learned piano…not when I placed first in my class…every…single…year. Honestly at that moment, I had no idea what was happening anymore. It all felt like some sick fever dream .

“Well my dad and I are always traveling…so it gives me lots of time to read on my own. He always told me it's good to be well rounded. I don’t really study much… I just try my best and usually I score pretty high.” Aiko looked over at me, I’d become so pallid that I looked like a ghost.

“Ren, maybe you can learn a thing or two from this girl. Like discipline and respect. If you knew anything about that, she wouldn’t be in my home telling me how she dishonored my son.” His voice had a hint of malice and anger behind it, but he remained stoic and calm on the outside…just like he always did.

“Genji dear, please. We have company. Can’t we wait to discuss grades until later?” I was shocked to hear my mom interject for once. Was this even real? Were these people even my family? Maybe I’d fallen into some bizarre state of limbo. I had to pinch my arm to be sure.

My father suddenly slammed his fist down on the table, rattling all the plates and silverware. “Damn it Misato, the reason we’re having this conversation in the first place is because our son thinks he can just ‘wait til later’ and have success come to him. I won’t have my wife undermining my authority in front of guests, either. Aiko, I’m sorry you had to witness all this. If you’ll excuse me, I have some case files to prep for tomorrow. “ He stood up and pushed in his chair, the loud screeching of wood on wood reverberated through the dining room loudly. “Come again sometime. Help Ren get his act together. Maybe you’ll have more luck getting through to him than his own father.” The words came across as thick and venomous as he turned and walked down the hall.

“Genji…Genji, please come back… I’m sorry Aiko. It must have been a bad day at the office.” My mother stood up and quickly went down the hall after my father, leaving Aiko and I alone at the table.

“It wasn’t a damn bad day at the office…this is just how he is EVERYDAY…tch” I threw up my hands and let them slam down on the table. I wasn’t good enough. Ever.

“I’m sorry Ren, really I am…it’s all my fault…I just…I.” Tears began to well up in Aiko’s eyes.

“No, please don’t say you’re sorry. Meeting you today is probably the best thing to happen to me in a while. I really mean that” I handed her a napkin to wipe the tears from her face, she blubbered a bit and laughed and cried at the same time. “Listen… It's been a long day for both of us now. Why don’t you let me walk you to the station. You, me and Sentaro can all hang out at lunch again and we can pretend this whole thing never happened, does that sound good?” Aiko nodded silently, and we both got up to grab our shoes and my jacket.

It had long since gotten dark out, and the walk to the station was spent entirely in awkward silence. I thought for sure this friendship had crashed and burned before it ever got the chance to be anything.

“Ren, look! Snowflakes!” I turned around and glanced up to the black night sky. They were dainty and small, but blowing underneath the mellow white light of the Yokosuka streetlights were the first snowflakes of winter. I held my hands up, letting a few of them land and melt on my palms.

“It never snows this early in Yokosuka…” I stared up into the sky watching the small white particles wisp around in the wind and then disappear on the ground.

“We gotta have a snowball fight!” Aiko chirped excitedly, looking at me with wide eyes that seemed to have been reinvigorated with a childlike wonder.

“You’re joking right? I mean I’d love to but there’s no way it's going to stick. It's way too warm out.” I watched the childlike wonder on Aiko’s face turn into an equally childlike pout as she whined.

“Awwww…you think so? We never got snow in Okinawa. I haven’t even seen snowflakes in years.” I hadn’t thought about the possibility that it might be the first time Aiko had seen snow in real life. “That’s okay though. It sure is pretty though, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…it really is.” I wasn’t talking about the snow. I was talking about the view I had of Aiko standing there in the snow. She suddenly walked in extra close to me and pouted again,a small “hmph” pushing between her pursed lips as she looked up at me.

“You promise we’ll see each other again tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Aiko held up her small hand, her little finger curled outward for me to intertwine with my own.

“Yeah.” I offered my own pinky up to her and we shook on it. I walked her up to the platform and waited for the train to arrive. I said goodbye and waved her off, watching as it disappeared out into the inky blackness of night.