House Aiko

The train ride across town to Aiko’s house was spent in almost total silence. The only sounds to be heard were the steady rumbling of the wheels gliding along the track towards our destination. The sun had already begun to set for the evening, giving the horizon line a gloomy bluish gloomy hue that gently cast its essence through the window panes of the train car.

Aiko lived in a part of town that I had rarely ever been, just outside the naval base on Yokosuka’s shoreline. Something about it seemed sleepy and detached as if it weren’t a real place or was somewhere far, far away. Something about walking through that dimly lit night reminded me of what it might be like to dive into a big pile of blue cotton candy, enveloped in its depths.

“That one right there is my apartment building, the tall pink one” Aiko was the first one to break the silence that the three of us couldn’t seem to leave behind, she held out her arm and pointed to a cute little apartment building on the corner. I hadn’t really seen a building like it in Japan before, it was pink with white stripes running along it underneath the windows and was probably five or six stories tall.

“Do you think your dad is going to mind that the Sen and I are sort of… inviting ourselves over?” I said, following close behind her as she opened the swing-out glass doors to the lobby. She turned and looked at me for a moment, her lip quivering a little.

“No…No, he won’t mind at all.” She muttered back, the three of us walking through the apartment complex lobby to the elevators together. She hit the up button, it illuminated orange, and in a moment or two the doors hissed open and we all stepped inside. She pushed the button for the sixth floor and the doors groaned shut again, the sound of the cables and gears groaning to life as we ascended made the building itself seem like a living thing.

“You really live on the top floor? I don’t think I’ve ever been in a building this tall before… can you see the harbor from up here?” I was surprised to hear Sen speak again for the first time since we’d left his house, but I was glad. How I ever was so oblivious and ignorant that I didn’t even notice my best friend was suffering, I’ll never know.

“I do, and you can. It’s really not that great of a view because the building isn’t all that tall, but on sunny days the light across the harbor does look pretty” Aiko answered as the doors slid open as we reached the sixth floor, she stepped out and reached into her coat pocket, grabbing out a small key ring. She walked a few steps and put the key into the first door on the left and pushed it open. We all walked inside together into the pitch black room, Sen and I squinting our eyes. Aiko flipped the light switch causing us to blink and rub our eyes.

It…was not what I had expected. The room was painfully plain. Besides a small couch, a TV and a coffee table there wasn’t any other furniture in the whole living room. The whole place was painted a bland shade of white and reminded me of one of those rooms in prison where they try to deprive you of your senses. There were still packing boxes strewn about here or there with things like ‘clothes’ or ‘silverware’ written on them.

“Here it is, home sweet home” Aiko said with a depressing hint of sarcasm. We all kicked off our shoes and hung up our coats by the door, Sen and I walked to the middle of the living room and flopped down on the couch while Aiko went into the kitchen area, disappearing for a short while.

“This might be even more depressing than my place…” Sen whispered to me as we looked around the big empty room surrounding us. We heard the sound of Aiko opening the fridge door and then slamming it shut, the pat of her feet on the tile flooring slowly getting closer before she stood before us holding a huge plate of assorted and really expensive-looking sushi in one hand, and a big bottle of what looked like Plum sake in the other. Sen nearly flung backward off the couch upon seeing the food.

“Whoa, your dad just keeps food like that laying around for you to eat whenever you want?! Hey! What gives!” Sen blurted out as Aiko threw the sushi platter down carelessly on the coffee table, bits of shrimp and rice flinging across the table. On top of the sushi was a yellow piece of scrap paper with a handwritten note on top.

“Aiko, I’ll be working overnight again in Yokohama, but I brought you home sushi from what one of the sailors on base claimed was ‘the best sushi restaurant in all of Japan.’ Love you bunches ~ Dad”

Sen and I looked at each other a bit confused, then up at Aiko who had become a bit teary-eyed.

“Hey, what's wrong? Your dad working late and leaving all this awesome food here for us isn’t any reason to start crying! Let’s dig in!” Sentaro exclaimed, lunging forward to grab a piece of fatty tuna but was deflected by me slapping his hand away.

“Don’t you have any manners at all? We’re guests.” I scolded him while giving a disappointed look, the kind a parent might give their child when they’ve shown poor table manners in front of company.

“No, it's okay. My dad does this sort of thing all the time. I’m used to it by now… He left it here for me to do what I want with it, so we may as well dig in”

“Hell yeah, I couldn’t even tell you the last time I got to eat sushi! So your dad just goes to work and you get the whole apartment to yourself and he even buys all this great food for you to eat the whole time he’s gone? That sounds like the life!” Sen chirped happily as he threw a few pieces of sushi in his mouth that were easily worth a few dollars a piece, chewing and swallowing them so quickly I can’t imagine he even tasted them.

Aiko had knelt down on the floor beside the table, a teardrop rolled off her cheek and she sniffled a bit.

“I guess so. I guess most kids would kill to have the kind of freedom I do. But just for once, I’d like to live somewhere long enough to make friends. Just once I’d like to bring my friends over and introduce them to my dad. Just one time…once I’d like to have even the faintest idea where I am or how I got there” Aiko sobbed and slammed her hands down on the table, rattling the entire room.

“Whoa, Aiko you have to calm down, it's not a big dea-” I reached out to touch her shoulder, but she slapped my hand away and wiped away the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve.

“No, Ren. It is a big deal. Don’t you see that?! How is any of this fair? Why do any of us deserve what this shit life has given us” she yelled, looking at me with her glassy eyes.

“Aiko, what are you talking about? If I said something rude I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry… I was just a little upset because of everything that happened today… and I was hungry” Sen said cluelessly with his mouth full of tuna and rice. I smacked him across the back of his head, the loud ‘thwap’ of my hand against the back of his head reverberated loudly off the walls of the living room. “Owww, I said I was sorry!”.

“Aiko, if you want us to understand what you’re so upset about, you’re going to have to explain a bit better than that. We’re all friends now, we’re here to help you. Just tell us what’s going on and we’ll listen, okay?” I really didn’t have a clue what had suddenly gotten under Aiko’s skin so badly, but I had to at least try to be there for her. I had to.

“Don’t you get it, Ren? It's not just about me. It's about you and even Sen… all of us. You had a father who controls your entire life! Your friends, your career, your love life, all of it!” Aiko had begun to shout and hyperventilate. “And Sen, you don’t even get to enjoy being a kid! You had to grow up without a dad and take care of your mom and brothers your whole life. Having to worry every night if you’ll be evicted and placed in the foster system or worse!”

Aiko’s nose had started to drip, she wiped her eyes and nose before continuing on even further.

“And then there’s me… Who gets tossed around like inconvenient baggage every few months whenever my dad feels like moving to a new city for work… Never got to keep a single friend my whole life or live in the same house for more than a few months at a time… We’re all being robbed! Robbed of our own lives and there’s nothing any of us can do about it!” The room fell quiet after that, the only sound was Aiko occasionally sniffling through her nose. In those few short moments, Aiko had blurted out what each of us had been thinking. Every worry, every insecurity, every doubt and fear each of us had ever had. It had all been laid out on the table before us, intermingled with expensive sushi and plum sake. The silence in the room became so deep that you could hear a pin drop. Finally, of all people, Sen broke the silence with probably the most profound thing he’d ever said.

“What are we gonna do to change it? I mean…when you’ve been living your whole life like you’re dead, how do you make yourself feel alive again? Is something like that even possible?” Sen’s voice was soft and low and seemed completely discouraged.

“I’m not sure if we can change our lives around, but I know what we can do to numb the pain right now” I stood up, Aiko and Sen both looking at me in surprise as I grabbed the bottle of plum liquor, twisted off the cap and took a big heavy swig. Truthfully, at that point in my life, I’d never had a drink before and had no idea what to expect. It only took a short moment after I’d swallowed it for the coughing and gagging to start, pounding on my chest as I fell back onto the couch.

Sen and Aiko looked at me wide-eyed before suddenly bursting into laughter. Aiko collapsed backward onto the floor and clutched her sides rolling back and forth, and Sen laughed so hard he started to cry. I got a bit flustered, punching Sen in the ribs causing him to yelp. “Quit laughing, you really think you can do any better? Here!” I shoved the bottle in his face with a sinister glower on my face. “Then show me.”

“Uh, Ren…unlike you I’m not a lightweight and I used to sneak beers from my Uncle’s fridge all the time when I was a kid. This is really no problem for me, stand back and watch how a professional does it.” Sen leaned in, cautiously sniffing the brim of the bottle first before taking a swig.

“Oh, God! That…that’s awful!” He snorted and sprayed a bit of it out of his nose, slamming the bottle down on the table and then coughing vigorously. It was my turn to break down laughing as I watched him groan and run to the kitchen sink to get some water to get the taste out of his mouth.

“Guess it’s a little bit stronger than your uncle’s beer isn't it Sentaro?” Aiko wheezed and taunted him, the thick sadness that had covered her face before had been replaced by a full smile… a beautiful one, too.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook either!” I smirked, shoving the bottle into her chest. She grabbed it and smiled as Sen came back to the couch, the both of us staring at the spectacle that was about to unfold. She leaned across the table, plucking up a piece of eel sushi between her fingers. She looked us straight in the eyes, popped the sushi into her mouth, and then tilted her head back and chugged a few big gulps right from the bottle.

“Ahh, now that’s the good stuff.” she smiled, taking another piece of sushi followed by another sip from the bottle. Sen and I looked at each other, then back at Aiko. Her face was blushed red but she was smiling and giggling.

“Gimme that” Sen snarled, swiping the bottle out of her hands, hesitating for a second before taking a piece of sushi between his teeth and then downing a big chug from the bottle. “Ya know when you do it that way… it's really not so bad at all” He took another piece of sushi from the plate and handed it and the bottle over to me. The situation slowly devolved into the three of us making several trips to the fridge to grab more sushi or plum liquor, getting more and more drunk as the hours passed. Eventually, we got around to telling stories and laughing, and before any of us knew it, it was midnight.

“Seriously Ren, you’ve never kissed a girl? I thought you’ve been with that Hifumi girl your dad hooked you up with since you were basically a kid?” Aiko laughed and burped, dizzily sitting back down at the table while twisting the top off another bottle.

“Are you kidding? Ren’s a total prude! He’s never laid a hand on that girl! He only goes on a ‘date’ with her like once a month and all they do is study!” Sen snorted as he drank, dipping a big piece of Cod roe sushi into some soy sauce, dripping it all down his shirt as he lifted it to his face for a bite.

“You’re one to talk, at least I’ve had a girlfriend. For as long as I’ve known him, Sentaro has been allllll alone!” I mocked him, sticking my tongue out at him as I held my hand up above my forehead in the shape of an ‘L’.

“Hey, I totally could have had plenty of girlfriends if I wanted, I’ve just been waiting for the right one, that's all!” Sen crossed his arms and turned his nose up at us. All the while Aiko had been giggling at both of us, her whole face cutely flushed with drunkenness.

“Well, I for one think it's kind of adorable that both of you are so inexperienced with girls. But even something as cute as that has to come to an end eventually, right Ren?” Aiko suddenly sat up and leaned over the table, smooshing my cheeks between her palms before pulling me over to her and giving me a kiss right on the lips. I froze up, not sure how to react at all. I must’ve looked like a ghost in that moment. I ran my fingers across my lips, making sure that was actually real.

“Aiko…I think you’re drunk” Sen laughed.

“I think you may be right.” she snickered before attempting to sit back down, misjudging how far down the floor was and hitting the floor with a hard thump. We all broke out into laughter again, but it was cut short by my phone going off in my jacket pocket over by the door.

“H…hold on guys that's probably important. Quiet down for a minute.” I steadied myself with the table as I got to my feet, immediately stumbling across the room into the wall, leaning against it for support as I shimmied down to my coat, reaching into the pocket to see who it was.

‘Incoming call: Mom’

“Oh shit, seriously guys shut up it's my mom!” Both Sen and Aiko held a finger up over their lips and went “shhhhhh” to each other comically. I rolled my eyes, deciding to walk out into the hallway before I picked up.

“Uh, hi Mom what’s u-”

“REN NATSUKASHI, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS! I’VE BEEN LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW ALL NIGHT WAITING FOR YOU TO GET HOME, YOU’RE LUCKY YOUR FATHER WENT TO BED EARLY OR YOU’D BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE…”

“I’m sorry mom I’m at Sen’s helping him study for makeup exams and I guess I lost track of time.” I tried my hardest to sound as convincing and articulate as possible, but I could feel my tongue defying me as it slurred my words and made me stutter. I wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not my mom.

“Ren, where are you? Have you been drinking?” I covered the receiver and glanced through the doorway to Aiko and Sen laying flat on their backs on the floor, surrounded by bottles.

“No?” I murmured as I put the phone back to my ear, sounding more like a question than a convincing answer.

“Ren, are you lying to your mother?” the line was silent for a moment. I knew I had to choose my next words very carefully.

“I’m at Aiko’s place with Sen and we’ve been drinking! I’m sorry, please don’t tell dad!” I blurted out without even thinking, realizing I probably just made a huge mistake. The line was quiet again for a while. “Mom?”

“Send me the address. I’ll come to pick you up.” I told her and she said she’d be by in ten minutes before abruptly hanging up on me. I walked back into Aiko’s apartment, swaying side to side dizzily as I made my way to the table and told them both what happened.

“Well, guess the party's over then.” Sen muttered, taking one last drink from the bottle in his hand before slamming it on the table. By the time my mom pulled up in my dad’s truck, the three of us were already sitting on a bench in the front of the building looking guilty. We all stood up and walked over to the truck as she opened the door.

“Get in, Ren. Sen, will you be needing a ride home too?” she looked at all us, seeming more concerned than mad.

“No thank you Mrs. Natsukashi, I’m pretty sure if I got in a car right now I’d probably hurl. I’m gonna hang here for a bit and catch the last train ride home.” Sen nodded respectfully as he answered, stepping out of the way so I could get in the truck.

“Well, okay then. Message Ren before you fall asleep so we know you got home safe. Aiko, keep an eye on him. And the both of you drink plenty of water or you’ll regret it in the morning, trust me.” I was shocked to hear my mom say something like that, I’d never once in my life heard her talk about drinking or doing anything rebellious before.

“I will Mrs. Natsukashi, I’m sorry we made you come all this way. Don’t be too hard on Ren, it was my idea actually…” Aiko bowed her head apologetically and clutched her hands together tightly.

“Nonsense. You can’t go taking the blame for a decision Ren made himself. But if you insist, you can make it up to me by stopping at our place again so we can feed the koi and chat like before.” She winked at her with a small grin. Goodnight Aiko, goodnight Sen. Stay safe. “ She waved to them both as she put the truck in gear and pulled away. As I glanced in the rearview I could see the both of them standing there waving us goodbye. My mother and I were both silent at first, but eventually, I got so antsy I couldn’t take it.

“So you’re really not mad?” I said, looking over to her with guilt plastered all over my face.

“To be honest, I can’t believe something like this didn’t happen sooner. You’re nearly an adult Ren, you can make your own choices whether I agree with them or not. You think your father and I didn’t do stuff like this back in our hayday?” She chuckled to herself as she said this.

“Dad getting drunk? I don’t think that’s something I could ever believe is true, even coming from you.” I looked at her a bit surprised. She’d never told me much of anything about back when the two of them were young, but then again I suppose I never bothered to ask either.

“Oh, please. In his last year in school, your father did so much partying he had to take every extra credit assignment he could convince the teachers to give him just so he could pass. Your grandfather was furious of course but in the end, he pulled it together.” I couldn’t believe neither of them had ever mentioned any of this to me before. Even my own seemingly boring parents had a more wild and fun childhood than I had so far. Maybe I really had been robbed of my youth.

We arrived back home, my mom slowly and quietly pulled up the drive and park the truck the exact way my father did every evening. She turned to face me, giving me a serious but caring look.

“I’m not going to tell your father on one condition; That being if you ever pull a stunt like this again you let me know so I can make sure you’re safe…deal?” I couldn’t contain it, I immediately leaned over and hugged her tightly.

“Deal,” I said quietly, and even though she couldn’t see my face, I could tell she knew I was smiling.

“Good, now get on up to bed.” I nodded and opened the door, closing it almost inaudibly behind me as I tip-toed through the backyard and made my way upstairs as noiselessly as I could manage while still being a bit tipsy. I groaned pleasurably as I flung myself down onto my futon, embracing it like an old friend, my eyelids slowly fluttering shut. VRRM VRRM. I was exhausted beyond words but decided to check the message before I passed out. I assumed it was Sen letting me know he got home okay.

Sen has added you to the group chat: Jump Pact

Sen has added Aiko to the group chat: Jump Pact

Sen: There, now you had each other’s numbers.

Ai: Cool, thanks.

Sen: Np

Ai: Neither of you sleep in too late tomorrow. We’re all gonna be meeting at NaNa’s cafe at the end of Dobuita street at 10 am. Don’t be late or you’ll miss out on the first official meeting of the

Jump pact.