《Moonlight Memories》


 Chapter One

    . 1 .


    On nights like tonight, I was to stay in my room. On nights like tonight, I did not belong. On nights like tonight, I wanted more than anything to be where everyone was. On nights like tonight, I sneaked out of my room. And on nights like tonight, I was filled with fear of what would happen if I was caught.


    An icy gust of wind shot through the passage pushing against me. It seemed to urge me to turn back. Each step I took towards the hidden servant door filled me with excitement and nervousness. My hand slid across the cold iridescent ivory color palace wall. It reached the crescent indented shape that was the only sign of a hidden door. My finger traced the crescent shape causing it to grow larger and shift into a full moon big enough for me to pass through. Having passed through, it returned back to the indented crescent shape it had been before. I had found the same shape hidden in my locked room years ago.


    I pulled the hood of my black robe over my head to hide my long white hair that radiated any light around. I wrapped the robe tighter around the white shimmering fabric of the night gown I wore. My left hand held tightly to the hood and my right held to keep the robe in place as I moved closer to the light ahead. If I was going to watch from the shadows of the upper floor then no light from my hair or gown could escape from the robe.


    My heart felt like it stopped as my breath felt heavy in my chest. The emotions from below swept over me as I stepped slowly towards the railing. The happiness, love, jealousy, raw hatred that the mixture of guests below were feeling crashed into me. The strength of so many different emotions at the same time overwhelmed me. It felt like a physical form of those emotions slammed into me over and over again. I closed my eyes to listen to my heart beating. I focused on my own emotions of excitement and fear to drown out the others. The music from the room purred to me as it entered my ears. The foreign emotions started to fade¡­or rather I was starting to ignore them.


    I could hear the voices before their owners came into sight as I peeked over the railing. I scanned the faces of people gliding across the ballroom in dance. Not seeing her among those dancing, I looked towards the mezzanine where the thrones were.


    A large golden crystal throne, decorated with silver crystals shaped into different phases of the moon, glittered in the light of the ballroom. There the Queen of the Moon¡¯s golden eon sat. To her left a second golden crystal throne laid empty with a piece of black fabric tied across the back. A slightly smaller, silvery crystal throne, this one with golden shapes of the phases of the moon, sat to the right of the Queen¡¯s throne. There the young princess sat.


    She was about the same age as me, eight earth years, but lived a completely different life within these same palace walls. Her long white hair was pulled back with twists and braids leading into a large loose bun at the nap of her neck. A simple crown of silver, pearls, and moonstones rested gently atop her head. The fringe of hair covering her forehead parted at the center revealing the crescent moon mark glowing slightly. Envy instantly wrapped me as my eyes fell to her white gown with yellow highlights that were enhanced in the lights around the ballroom.


    The princess watched the guest below as they danced. Movement at the foot of the stair shifted her attention to a young boy who was making his way up the stairs to the thrones. I could only assume that the woman and man accompanying the boy were his parents. As they were dressed in the finest styles from the Earth Kingdom on the neighboring planet I assumed it was the royal family of the Earth Kingdom. Then the boy must be the princess¡¯s betrothed. Tonight was their first public meeting and the official announcement of the betrothal. As the Earth Kingdom¡¯s royal family neared the thrones the prince fell behind his parents. I fought back a laugh. I didn¡¯t need to let his emotions in to know he was nervous.


    The queen rose to stand and stepped forward to formally greet them. The princess quickly follow suit and stood as well. She mirrored the boy¡¯s actions standing behind her mother. She hid her face within the fabric of the Queen¡¯s white gown. I focused on the princess and allowed the wave of apprehension and dread to flow into me. I closed my eyes envisioning the emotion as ripples in water around me. I reached my hand out to the surface of the water as the ripples clapped into it. I felt the emotions seep into my hand as the ripples grew quieter and quieter.


    Opening my eyes again I saw The Queen¡¯s long silver hair covering her face as she bent down to talk to the princess. After the princess nodded in response the Queen kissed the glowing crescent moon on the princess¡¯s forehead. I felt a monster of jealousy grab hold of my chest seeing the tender motherly kiss.


    Movement turned my attention to the Earth Kingdom¡¯s prince as he stepped out from behind his parents. He dropped to one knee before the moon princess and lowered his head. The princess looked to her mother once again for reassurance before extending her hand to the prince. The prince raised his head and kissed the princess¡¯s hand.


    A cold wave of emotions I did not recognize crashed into me from behind.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here little one¡­¡± an amused croaky voice whispered into my ear.


    The whisper sent a shockwave through my body causing me to freeze in place. My breath caught in my chest as a cold sensation crept up my body from my toes. The emotion submerging me grew stronger. I could feel what it was, the happiness of anticipation¡­ the anticipation of causing another being pain.


    ¡°Good little girls listen and do as they are told.¡± The whisperer took a satisfied slow breath as my body started to shiver. ¡°Bad little girls¡­¡± they continued. ¡°get punished.¡±


    I felt an explosion against the back of my head before seeing a flash of white and everything then went black. A sensation of something else pulling me away entangled me.


    @}¡ª,¡ª¡®¡ª-


    I gasped for breath, feeling as if I had been held underwater. The back of my head was pounding. The dream slowly faded away as I opened my eyes. My eyes focused as I looked around to remind myself where I was; a business hotel room in Tokyo. My eyes adjusted slowly to the light from the bathroom that we left on as a night light. My head continued to throb as I registered the halo of light around the blackout curtains of the hotel windows. Daylight? I looked across the room from the intruding light of the bathroom to the clock. It read 5:57.


    Terra¡¯s soft breathing in the bed next to mine comforted me. I closed my eyes to focus on letting the peace and calmness from Terra float towards me. She must be having a wonderful dream. I started to feel Terra¡¯s peace wrap around me and envisioned it as a warm blanket on a winter¡¯s day. I still felt the terror still lingering from the dream as nails digging into my skin. Their grip on me lightened as the blanket I imagined acted as armor. When my breathing returned to normal and the pulsing in my head subsided, I dropped the blanket from around me.


    I opened my eyes when Terra let out a small gasp in her sleep. It astonished me that she was still asleep. It may only be six am in Tokyo but our bodies were still on Hawaii time which was eleven¡­ five hours later but also yesterday. When traveling, time became a very strange thing indeed.


    I picked up my iPad from the night stand between our beds and angled it so the light would not bother Terra. I connected it to the hotel¡¯s WiFi last night to send my mother a message that Terra and I had arrived safely at the hotel. I ignored the reply from her and searched for the email from the University. I double checked the time we had to arrive at the international student¡¯s office. Even taking ¡®Hawaii time¡¯ into consideration, there was still plenty of time to let Terra sleep more.


    I laid back in my bed still feeling a haze around me from the dream. I¡®ve had these dreams my whole life. The setting and the people were always the same. What changed was the age I, and the people around me, were. In one dream, I was a toddler playing a hide and seek type of game with my friends and, in another, we were readying for some kind of coming-of-age traditional ceremony. The girl I was in my dream was an empath just like me. She could sense and control other beings¡¯ emotions.


    I thought it could make an interesting story someday so I started to write the dreams down to make some sense of them. Sometimes all that were left of the dreams was the wisp like feeling of the person I was in the dream. Other times I remembered everything from the scent of the air around me, to the feel of the weight of the dresses I wore. And sometimes all that was left was nothing but the fear, pain and sorrow that had been in the dream. Those were the dreams I woke from in tears. There was even a time I had terrified my mother when I had woken up screaming. Usually, those dreams were the quickest to fade away.


    Replacing my iPad back onto the night stand I got up to get some water from the bathroom. I splashed water on my face and dried it with a towel. I caught my reflection in the mirror, surprised. I think I had half expecting to see white glowing hair instead of my ginger hair that any Weasley would be proud of. With a couple of swipes, I brushed the hair of my fringe back into their proper place. I grabbed a hair tie from a small bag sitting on the bathroom counter and pulled my hair back into a ponytail.


    Returning to my bed I pulled a shopping bag from the floor to the bed next to me. I retrieved one of the many notebooks I had bought and a pen from the bag. I bought the new notebooks yesterday from a department store near the hotel. I wanted a clear start of the dreams I had while in Japan¡­ if I had them at all. The notebooks all had the same plain light brown cardboard covers. I bought some color illustration pens as well and I planned to draw on the cover once we got settled into our new dorm rooms. I wanted to start writing what details I could remember from the dream before they slipped away.


    March 22nd ¨C age 7 or 8 ¨C used power - first in Japan


    I wrote on the first page of my new notebook. The ink from the pen in my hand flowed quickly trying to keep up with the speed I was writing at. My hand still shook slightly from the adrenaline that had been released into my body. I paused writing after a couple paragraphs to sketch in the margin the crescent moon indented shape in the wall I had seen in the dream. The lines on the first page filled up and I turned the page to continue on the back.


    ¡°Another dream?¡± Terra asked, her voice hoarse, still filled with sleep.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I finished adding the last little detail to my sketch of the crystal thrones I had seen. I clicked the pen closed and dropped the notebook on my lap, giving my awoken friend my attention.


    ¡°Anything new or interesting?¡± Terra looked around the room in a daze. ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost seven.¡± I answered, surprised I had been writing for that long.


    ¡°We only have a half hour left of hotel breakfast. Yeah? Do you want to grab some clothes and rush or do you want to shower, pack, check out and get breakfast somewhere else?¡± Terra asked, sitting up in bed. She ran her fingers through her chin length dark red hair. ¡°Either way I need coffee.¡±


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Quickest way you¡¯ll get coffee is if we go downstairs to the hotel breakfast. I¡¯m hungry so let¡¯s just throw clothes on and go downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Dirty bean water!¡± Terra chirped happily as she sprang up from the bed.


    @}¡ª,¡ª¡®¡ª-


    There was a loud clunk as Terra overzealously put her coffee cup and saucer down on the table.


    ¡°No food?¡± I asked, frowning at the lack of a plate of food.


    ¡°Not yet. I¡¯ll get some when I refill my coffee. I just really need to get some caffeine in me before I can be hungry this morning.¡±


    I nodded and picked up my own cup of coffee as Terra did. In unison we took a drink then we let out a satisfying ¡®Dirty bean water¡­¡¯


    ¡°Jinx! You owe me a Coke!¡± Terra triumphantly stated.


    ¡°I¡¯ll buy you one for your new apartment fridge.¡± I laughed.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan today?¡± Terra asked, taking another sip of coffee.


    ¡°We need to be at the international office by 10. After we finish getting checked into our apartments, I¡¯m thinking we can head somewhere to buy things we need.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Terra looked at her watch and nodded. ¡°Feeling the coffee now so on to step two of breakfast.¡±


    I looked down at my plate. The hotel¡¯s breakfast buffet offered, I assume, for western guests, runny scrambled eggs, breads, sausage, and potato salad. For the Japanese guests they offered rice, miso soup, fish, and natto. I was happy to see tamagoyaki, a sweet fried folded egg omelet of egg and sugar, that appealed to both types of guests. The sausage and croissant I picked up I thought would go best with the tamagoyaki¡¯s flavor; I was right. In true bestie fashion Terra returned with a similar looking plate though instead her bread was toast with butter and jam.


    We talked excitedly about what the apartments might have in store for us as we ate breakfast and returned to our room to check out. Along with the excitement of starting a year of studying in Japan with my best friend there was also a sense that something was coming, something big.


    @}¡ª,¡ª¡®¡ª-


    Our taxi pulled up to the main gate of the university. The gate was mostly closed, leaving only enough room for people to enter the campus single filled. An arriving student showed a security guard in the window of a security office their ID as they entered the school.


    Once we paid the taxi driver the door next to Terra swung open and the driver quickly jumped out of the car to take our suitcases out of the trunk.


    ¡°This place is amazing!¡± Terra exclaimed, stepping out of the taxi.


    The driver placed a suitcase next to her as I stepped out after her. He quickly returned with mine, placing it next to me.


    ¡°Arigato gozaimasu!¡± I bowed thanking the driver.


    I reached out to close the door but let out a yelp of surprise as the opened taxi door swung shut automatically. Terra let out a little chuckle. We rolled our suitcases up to the security guard sitting in the window.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± He asked us in Japanese, suspiciously eyeing our suitcases.


    ¡°Yes. We are new students. We have an appointment with Nishimura sensei in the international student¡¯s office.¡± I answered in Japanese.


    ¡°Stand over there. Please wait a moment.¡± The guard motioned towards the door of the gate office and closed the window.


    Terra and I rolled our suitcases next to the door as a couple more students arrived. Once through the gate the students walked up wide brick stairs that paused every seven steps. The pauses in the steps were wide enough to have a cherry tree, almost in full bloom, planted on each side of the pauses until the stairs finally reached the top of the hill. At the base of the stairs was a large circular fountain. Water flowed down in a water fixture that ran down the middle of the stairs cutting the stairs into two sections and feeding water into the fountain at the base of the stairs. At the top of the stairs, in the center of the fixture, was a statue of a man.


    ¡°Mahina¡­¡± Terra called me by my nickname, the Hawaiian word for moonlight. A strong mixture of exhilaration, anticipation and dread rushed towards me from Terra. She took a calming breath before continuing. ¡°I know we boarded a plane. We were surrounded by Japanese after we landed but¡­¡±


    ¡°This whole thing just got real.¡± I finished her sentence feeling the same.


    ¡°Yeah. We are standing at the gate of the University.¡±


    ¡°How many pictures have we seen of that statue, yeah?¡±


    ¡°We are here standing at the gate. Tonight, we will be sleeping in the dorm rooms. This is life for the next year.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sorry!¡± An older Japanese woman dressed in high heels and a skirt suit quickly shot through the gate. In a smooth quick motion, she bowed an apology to the security guard and continued her way to us.


    ¡°Ayla and Terra? Nice to finally meet you. I¡¯m Nishimura from the international student¡¯s office. I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re early. I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t ready to meet you at the gate. If you¡¯ll follow me.¡±


    Following Nishimura we rolled our suitcases up a ramp that built in after thought on the left side of the red brick stairs. The noisy roll of the wheels overpowered the sound of the water flowing down the middle of the stairs. I was thankful it was right before the new school term started. The number of students on campus were limited but those that were there watched us as we rolled our suitcases through the campus.


    @}¡ª,¡ª¡®¡ª-


    We were sitting at a large boardroom-like table in a meeting room in the international student¡¯s office. The rest of the office was made up of desks for the various staff and an area with information about things to do around Japan in various languages.


    ¡°Coffee or ocha?¡± Nishimura asked, rolling our suitcases out of the way into the corner of the room.


    ¡°Coffee, please.¡± I answered, my voice shaking with a blend of excitement and nervousness.


    ¡°Me too.¡± Terra quickly replied, her voice filled with the same blend of emotions.


    ¡°Please wait.¡± Nishimura left the room.


    ¡°Are we the first ones here?¡± I asked Terra looking around the room.


    ¡°I think so. The drive here was faster than I thought. We¡¯re a little early. Do you think that ¡®I¡¯m happy you¡¯re early¡¯ was a dig?¡±


    ¡°One hundred percent!¡± Terra laughed. ¡°Could have been on Hawaii time.¡±


    Nishimura entered the room again, this time she had a tray in her hands. She placed a napkin, a cup filled with steaming coffee, and another cup filled with creamers and sugar down, in that order, in front of me. She placed Terra¡¯s coffee in front of her in the same methodical way. A phone rang in the office, sending Nishimura out of the room with the empty tray.


    Terra and I looked at each other, not sure what to do. I shrugged, opening one of the creamers and sugar pouring them into the coffee. Terra smiled relaxing as she followed my lead and mixed her coffee.


    After a while the door to the room opened again revealing Nishimura and another foreign student arrival behind her.


    The new arrival had a natural tanned glow to her skin. Her curly thick sun lightened brown hair streamed down just low enough to brush along her shoulders. Her almond shaped eyes darted nervously around the room.


    ¡°This is Terra and Ayla.¡± Nishimura rolled the new arrival¡¯s suitcase over to the corner of the room with ours.


    ¡°Hey. I¡¯m Amaya.¡± She sat down across the table from us.


    ¡°Would you like coffee or ocha?¡± Nishimura asked the new arrival.


    ¡°Coffee please.¡± Amaya answered, sending Nishimura on her way. ¡°I need caffeine.¡± Amaya let out a nervous sigh and turned her attention to us.


    ¡°Where are you from?¡± I asked her, smiling, hoping it would relieve some of the nervousness I felt from her.


    ¡°I¡¯m from Hawaii.¡±


    ¡°Knew it!!¡± Terra stated victoriously. Both Terra and myself sat up even straighter with excitement. ¡°I can see the Hawaiian in you. And also¡­Japanese? Which explains why you¡¯re here. Connecting to your culture. Am I righ-¡±


    ¡°Ignore her!¡± I interrupted Terra. ¡°What island? We¡¯re from Honolulu.¡± The tension in Amaya¡¯s body seemed to relax hearing that.


    ¡°UH Manoa? I¡¯m here through UH Hilo. I¡¯m from the big island.¡±


    ¡°Yup, we go to Manoa.¡± I replied as Terra pouted at me playfully.


    ¡°Sorry if this seems strange to say but¡­¡± Amaya started. ¡°I¡¯m shy. I might come off rude or my resting bitch face might make you think I¡¯m all anti-social but I¡¯m just shy.¡± Amaya¡¯s tan checks seemed to get a slight red blush to them. ¡°Sorry I want to make the most of¡­ just forget I said anything.¡± Amaya turned her eyes to the ground.


    ¡°I like her, Ayla!¡± Terra chuckled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry you¡¯re making a great first impression.¡± I gave Terra a look. ¡°We love awkward people.¡±


    Amaya laughed.


    Nishimura walked back into the room and placed another cup of coffee in front of Amaya.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back with the keys.¡±


    ¡°Keys? Did you hear that?¡± I asked Terra.


    ¡°Finally, we will get our keys to our dorm!¡±


    ¡°If we have time today we want to go shopping for things we need¡­ Do you want to come with us?¡± I asked Amaya.


    ¡°Sure that sounds like fun.¡±


    Nishimura walked back into the room with three large envelopes in her arms. She glanced down at the name on the top envelope and placed it in front of me. The next one was placed in front of Terra and the last in front of Amaya.


    ¡°Inside of the envelopes are your student cards, the renter¡¯s agreement for the house, and house keys.¡±


    ¡°House? House keys?¡± Amaya looked over at us trying to see if she missed something or if we were just as confused as her.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry. We did not have time to tell you before your arrival. There was a broken pipe in the dorm and we had to move our incoming students in that area to new housing. The University has an old house nearby that used to be a part of teacher housing.¡±


    ¡°Old house?¡± Terra gave me a worried look.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s very close outside the west gate of the campus. It¡¯s closer than the apartment where the other international students are staying.¡±


    It took over an hour to go over everything. Nishimura explained that we needed the student IDs to be able to get on campus for classes. We will be living in a 5LDK, 5 bedrooms with living, dining and kitchen. We went over the renters agreement that started things such as not hanging anything on the walls with nails or tacks. The agreement also stated the way to separate garbage, where and when it had to be put out. A schedule for the next week was also given to us.


    Tomorrow we will be doing housekeeping; opening a bank account, getting cell phones, registering at city hall. The day after that was language placement tests followed by selecting the classes we wanted to take this term.  Classes would start on April 10<sup>th</sup> giving us over two weeks to get over jetlag and get settled in. We signed our renter agreements, placed the remaining paperwork into our bags and followed Nishimura through the campus rolling our suitcases in tow.


    The sounds of the university faded quickly as we crossed the street from the west gate. The only sound seemed to be the sound of the suitcases rolling along the pavement of the narrow street. I doubted the street was wide enough for a car to pass.


    Nishimura sensei stopped and pointed ahead. ¡°The path leads into the shrine. If you go straight through the shrine to the left, the train station is there.¡±


    She continued leading the way past the park. Before us was a two story house with an old shoulder-high dirty concrete brick wall with iron gates marking the entryway. Two dead looking trees framed the front door which a cracked concrete walkway led to. Second story windows could be seen beyond the pyramid style roof of the first level only entry. The windows were covered in diamond shaped metal fencing and the paint of the house was chipped, having been beaten back by years of Japanese summers.


    ¡°T-this is where we are going to live?¡± The confusion in my eyes were the same as Terra¡¯s and Amaya¡¯s.

 Chapter Two

    <hr>


    . 2 .


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! It¡¯s old but it¡¯s perfectly safe in an earthquake.¡± The door let out a loud creak as Nishimura pulled it open.


    ¡°The opening of Tut¡¯s tomb.¡± Terra whispered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be rude.¡± I lightly scolded while chuckling.


    We followed Nishimura after she stepped through the door into the entryway. The entry was made up of a cabinet for shoes to the left, a blue-gray tiled floor clearly defining the entry area that was ¡®outside¡¯ of the house and the step up into the rest of the house and hardwood floors marking the ¡®inside¡¯. Beyond the entry I could see a sliding door to the right, a door and stairs to the left, and a frosted glass door ahead of us.


    Five pairs of slippers were paired off, lined up, and faced into the house on the step up. Nishimura slipped her heels off, stepped into one of the pairs of slippers, and turned around bending over to turn her high heels to face towards the exit. I wondered how many times the older woman had done that in her lifetime.


    Terra knocked off her tennis shoes jumping up to the step quickly as if the tiles we stood on were lava. Amaya and I followed her lead, slipping our feet into the slippers.


    ¡°The door next to the stairs here is the bath and washing machine. Next to the stairs is a closet. Next to that is the toilet. The door on the right is a bedroom. There are two bedrooms on this floor and three upstairs. There is also a toilet on the second floor.¡±


    ¡°Looks bigger on the inside.¡± Terra commented.


    ¡°What is this the TARDIS?¡± I quipped, making Terra laugh. I caught that Amaya let out a chuckle as well. Nishimura stared at us unimpressed.


    ¡°You may use these slippers, buy slippers you like, or not use slippers.¡± Nishimura continued. ¡°Sometimes the floor of older houses can stab you. I think slippers are a good idea. We want you to not wear your outdoor shoes into the house.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­st-stab you?¡± Terra¡¯s mouth slightly opened trying to process what she just heard.


    ¡°Yes. Little small wood breaks off the floor.¡± Nishimura replied, standing our shoes upright, pairing them together and facing them towards the exit.


    ¡°OH! Splinters! Ok we will be careful.


    ¡°Splinters?¡± Nishimura repeated slowly trying to recreate the correct R and L pronunciation.


    ¡°The very small piece of wood that we get stuck sometimes in a finger maybe is called a splinter. I think it comes from the verb ¡®splinter off¡¯ meaning a small piece broken off.¡± I explained to the older woman who listened intently to me and nodded in understanding.


    ¡°Ayla-san, that was very easy to understand. You¡¯d make a great English teacher.¡± Nishimura used my first name with the casualness of western culture but strict Japanese tradition kept her from not using the honorific san with it. She smiled. ¡°Now that the shoes are taken care of.¡±  She held her eyes on us for a heartbeat and headed into the next room through the frosted glass door.


    Terra gave me a look that I knew was saying, ¡®another dig at us, Yeah?¡¯


    I smiled and nodded at her then followed Nishimura into the living room.


    Walking through the living room door a wall to the left crossed a third of the way across the room separating the kitchen from the living room. Where the wall ended, it opened up to a space filled with a dining table and chairs. The area to the right in the room was filled with a large sofa dividing the dining area from the living room. A slightly smaller sofa, perpendicular to the larger one, was pushed against the wall under a window. A coffee table filled the space within the L shape made by the sofas. Between two windows on the right-hand wall was a television, bigger than I expected, centered for viewing from the sofas or dining room. The use of the furniture succeeded in making the space feel bigger than it was.


    ¡°It is a TARDIS!¡±  Terra said, taking in the room.


    ¡°The kitchen is there.¡± Nishimura pointed to the walled off area of the room. The only entry to the kitchen was a doorway with a cherry blossom printed cloth hanging from it.


    Nishimura explained how to get hot water by using an electric panel on the wall just outside the kitchen door. My eyes wandered around the living room as she explained there was one just like it in the bath. I then noticed another door in the living room back towards where we entered. ¡°What¡¯s that door?¡±


    ¡°The second bedroom on this floor.¡± Nishimura answered, walking over to the door to open it. A mattress on a black metal frame, desk, and chair were the only furniture in the room. A new set of sheets, duvet, and a pillow laid on top of the bed waiting for use. On the desk was a key and what appeared to be a WiFi router. ¡°We moved the furniture from the dorm rooms and put them into the bedrooms here. The keys on all the desks are for your rooms. We put locks on all the bedroom doors.¡±


    ¡°Is that internet?¡± Terra asked, pointing to the unit on the desk.


    ¡°Oh yes. You are very lucky. The internet was put in several years ago so there is no need to have construction for it. We just plugged in a new router and signed up for service. The waiting list to have construction can be a few months right now. Many people move and start new lives from April so it¡¯s very busy. The internet is part of your rent like water, gas and power. The university will take care of paying them. It¡¯s ready to use. The password is on a sticker on the internet machine.¡±


    I looked around the room thinking I would have placed the furniture in the same way. The bed, under a small window in the corner, was against the wall connected to the living room. It took me a moment to realize the small window did not open to the living but outside, this part of the house was wider than the living room. The desk was placed in the middle of a large window to the left. There was a door leading to what I assumed was a closet to the right. Across from the door leading from the living room were two sliding doors.


    Almost anticipating my next question, Nishimura reached for the handle and slid one of the doors open. ¡°This is the bedroom from before. These two rooms are connected. It¡¯s a Japanese style room with tatami mat flooring.¡±


    The fragrance of grass and straw flowed into the room. Light through rice paper lined shoji screen doors to the left and shoji screen covered windows across from where we stood filled the room with filtered sunlight. The added shadows of trees or plants outside the door and windows made it appear almost like moon light coming into the room. A starter futon pack with a new futon, pillow, duvet, and covers for all of it were left in the corner of the aged light brown tatami floored room. The only wall space not taken up by doors or windows was filled with the same desk and chair as the room before.  This time under the desk and chair was a mat laid on top of the tatami to protect it from the weight and movement of the furniture. There was a key sitting on this desk as well.


    ¡°This is ¡®yukimi¡¯ shoji. It means to ¡®see snow¡¯.¡± Nishimura placed her hand on a slightly thicker stick than the rest of the sticks of wood that made up the shoji frame. This thicker one ran across the doors in the middle. She lifted up on it, raising the lower half of the shoji up and revealing the glass door on the other side of the shoji. ¡°From here you can see the snow on the ground in the garden outside. That¡¯s why it¡¯s called yuki, snow, and mi, see. You can see the snow but keep privacy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the state of the garden.¡± Nishimura apologized, sliding the shoji screen door open. The small garden outside the glass doors was overrun with weeds. Most of which stood tall, proud and growing up against the glass of the doors. The weeds had grown their way around what looked to be a large rock that once acted as a step from the house to the ground of the small garden outside. ¡°We will schedule time for members of the local silver center to come and fix the garden.¡±


    ¡°Silver center?¡± Amaya asked.


    ¡°Local group of men and women over 70 who don¡¯t work anymore.¡±


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s called silver.¡± Terra placed her hand on the glass looking at the weeds brushing against it. ¡°I love gardening. If I can, I''d love to help. Isn¡¯t this job too hard for the silver center?¡±


    ¡°I actually love that idea!¡± I turned to Nishimura. ¡°Could we possibly take care of the garden? It would be nice to do something for the house that will take care of us for the next year.¡±


    Nishimura frowned in thought. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the owner of the house. There is more to see.¡± She raised her hand gesturing to return back to the previous bedroom and living room before leading the way. Amaya followed after her.


    As I turned and stepped forward to follow, I felt sadness from Terra reach out for me to stop. Terra stood still looking out the glass door. The light of joyful energy that usually filled her eyes was dim as she frowned at the weeds. ¡°Mahina, there are too many of them. The others can¡¯t breathe. They¡¯re suffering.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be ok. We¡¯ll take care of them soon. They¡¯re very lucky you¡¯re here now.¡± I placed my hand on Terra¡¯s back to comfort her. For as long as I¡¯ve known her, and that was almost most of our lives, she loved flowers and plants. The way she spoke of their feelings it almost seemed as if she could speak to them.


    ¡°I¡¯m certainly the right person for the job.¡± The light slowly returned to Terra¡¯s eyes as she smiled and nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. Since the two bedrooms on the first floor are connected...¡± I started as Terra and I returned to the living room where the others were. ¡°Terra and I should probably have them. I¡¯ll take the tatami room if that¡¯s ok?¡± I turned to Terra.


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea!¡± A touch of relief in Amaya¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Perfect. I was worried about that but it¡¯s decided. Terra-san and Ayla-san will use the first floor. I¡¯ll show you around upstairs and Amaya-san can pick her room. The other two girls will arrive sometime tonight and can have what is left over.¡±


    The stairs were lit during the day by a skylight in the ceiling above, and at night by a light in the wall. The stairs were slightly steep so as to use the least amount of space to achieve its goal of carrying you to the second floor. The hall at the top was narrow, maybe wide enough for two people to stand side by side, and lined with three doors to bedrooms on one side. The other side had a door to the toilet on this floor, and a mini kitchen made up of a burner and sink on the other.


    ¡°This is the biggest bedroom in the house.¡± Nishimura opened the door immediately across from the top of the stairs. The same furniture and starter bedding from the other rooms were also in this room. There was a door that opened to the shared balcony. A small walk-in closet made perfect use of the awkward spaces left by the stairs running around it. A small little door marked more awkward space that could be used for further storage.


    ¡°Not really Harry space if it¡¯s above the stairs and not under, yeah?¡± Amaya said to herself nodding as she assessed the room.


    ¡°Still counts. Cabinet, near the stairs, could house an eleven-year-old boy if needed.¡± I said looking out the door to the balcony. Two long poles were hanging from the covering awning. ¡°Lots of space to dry clothes.¡±


    Nishimura showed us the other two rooms, both filled with the same furniture. Both had glass doors opening out to the balcony. The only difference between the two was the room in the middle did not have a window in addition to the glass doors. Amaya decided on the room with the Harry space and we returned back down stairs.


    Nishimura reviewed how to use the washing machine and bath. She left the folders for the two girls whose flights didn¡¯t get into the airport until later that evening. She instructed us to make sure the girls read and signed the renter¡¯s agreement before going to the international student office in the morning. She gave us recommendations for places to shop, such as Daiso where just about everything was only one hundred yen or one dollar.


    We gathered at the entry to thank Nishimura for her help today as she slipped back into her high heels. She reminded us not to be late tomorrow and if we needed anything she¡¯d be in the office until five that evening. With a bow she left. The sound of the door locking as I locked it sounded the start of our freedom.


    ¡°So...now what?¡± I asked, feeling a little overwhelmed by the freedom we now had.


    ¡°Shopping?¡± Terra suggested enthusiastically.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind. Would it be ok if I made the bed first?¡± Amaya asked. ¡°I¡¯ve moved a lot and you¡¯re always more tired than you think at the end of the day. It¡¯s nice just to fall into bed instead of having to make it after.¡±


    ¡°That is a great idea. How about we leave in ten minutes or so? It¡¯ll give us a moment to take in our new rooms.¡±


    We all grabbed our suitcases from the entry and split off to go into our rooms. Terra rolled off quickly into the living room not wanting to deal with tatami by going through my room. I paused for a moment, waiting to make sure Amaya was ok with her suitcase on the stairs before lifting my case up into the house. The only non-tatami surface in my room was the floor in the closet. After placing my suitcase there, I retrieved my computer bag and carry on bag from the entryway giving them a temporary home on the desk.


    I turned my attention to the bedding. I started simple; reuniting the pillow with its long-lost love, the pillow case. The remaining two covers were a bit harder to pair off than the pillow case. I assumed the larger case was for the duvet as it was bigger than the actual futon I¡¯d be sleeping on. I felt victorious after a struggle as the futon fit into the case perfectly.


    ¡°Need help?¡± Amaya stood at the door to the room seeing me trying to figure out the duvet. ¡°There are strings inside the case to tie to loops on the duvet.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± I let out in excitement seeing the strings and loop. Amaya stepped into the room and sat down grabbing a corner of the duvet and case. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Amaya tied the aligned corner strings and loop together. I started on my end.


    ¡°Get everything set up upstairs? Did you need help with anything?¡± I asked, wanting to return the favor if I could.


    ¡°Yes. I need to get hangers before I can unpack anything.¡± She glanced around the room. ¡°I don¡¯t see any drawers... There are two plastic set of drawers in my closet. Do you want one of them? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll use both.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? That would be great until I can get something ordered for this closet. It¡¯s a Japanese closet so my futon should be stored in there but thankfully someone installed a bar to hang up clothes too. I see lots of hangers in our shopping future.¡±


    ¡°You and Terra are twins, right?¡± Amaya stated suddenly. I sensed from her the feeling of relief in finally asking but also the regret for having done so.


    ¡°Twins?¡± I asked. ¡°Me and Terra? We aren¡¯t related.¡±


    ¡°Really? You look so much alike!¡±


    ¡°You think so?¡± I laughed. ¡°Not the first time we¡¯ve heard that. We¡¯ve been friends most of our lives. I guess it¡¯s something like...pets looking like their owners.¡±


    ¡°Are you calling me a pet?¡± Terra shouted from her room. She slid the door between our rooms open. Her bed was mostly made but it appeared she got as far as I did in trying to figure out the duvet and its case.


    Amaya quickly jumped up, leaving me to finish tying in the loops and she helped Terra.


    ¡°You¡¯re not saying I¡¯M the pet, are you?¡± I shot back at Terra pretending to be hurt and angry.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Terra said to Amaya and she grabbed a corner of the duvet. ¡°Well the pet joins the owner¡¯s life right? You¡¯re the one that moved to Hawaii in third grade. I moved before kindergarten so...¡± Terra shrugged her shoulders as to say that those were the facts and couldn¡¯t be changed, sucks for you.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but who spent more time sleeping on my floor than her own bed?¡± I countered victoriously.


    ¡°Mahina...¡± Terra sulked knowing she had lost.


    ¡°Mahina?¡± Amaya looked up quickly.


    ¡°Her nickname. Her mother always called her that so I started calling her that.¡± Terra shrugged.


    ¡°Why Mahina?¡± Amaya looked towards me.


    ¡°My father used to call me his little moonshine. Something to do with the full moon the night I was born. After he died my mom was heartbroken and wanted a new start so we moved to Hawaii. She heard the Hawaiian for moonlight and that¡¯s what she started calling me. To be honest, I think it was a way for her to keep my father with us.¡± I took a breath to release the sadness I felt building in my chest. I felt a cocktail of anxiety, regret, and sadness coming from Amaya. I looked over at her and smiled. ¡°It was a long long time ago.¡±


    ¡°The pain never goes away though. You only just get used to living with it. I¡¯m sorry.¡± The emotions from Amaya brushed against me gently, almost apologetically. With the sadness it carried I understood instantly that she too had lost. Though the pain of it was nothing I had ever felt...outside of the dreams that is. Not even from my mother.


    ¡°We honor those gone before us by looking towards the light of tomorrow instead of the darkness of the past.¡± I gave Amaya an understanding smile and nodded. Though it has only been a few hours since I had met her, I felt I knew Amaya¡¯s soul just was well as I knew Terra¡¯s.


    ¡°Finished!¡± Terra declared victoriously zipping up the duvet case.


    I turned my attention back to my duvet, finishing tying the last strings to the last loop. I zipped the case up and laid the duvet out over the futon and pillow.


    ¡°Shopping time!¡± Terra declared jumping up from her bed.


    ¡°Do we need a shopping list? Don¡¯t want to forget anything.¡± I took the dream journal I started that morning, a smaller notebook and a pen out of my computer bag. I always carried a dream journal with me just in case I suddenly remembered something.


    ¡°Oh right! Don¡¯t want to get back here and forget toilet paper.¡± Terra walked over, her hand out towards me. I pulled a page from the smaller notebook and handed it to Terra along with a pen.


    ¡°She always has a pen and paper on her.¡± Terra stated seeing Amaya¡¯s look of confusion. Terra returned to her own desk to have something to write on.


    I quickly followed up with another piece of paper and pen holding it out to Amaya. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Amaya took the paper and joined me at my desk to write a list.


    A few moments later we decided that with shared items, like toilet paper or laundry detergent, we¡¯d all buy one each and whenever we ran out, we¡¯d all buy one again. We shared our lists with each other hoping if we hadn¡¯t thought of something one of the others would think of it. Deciding the most important thing we wanted to buy was a key chain for our keys we decided our first stop would be Harajuku.


    Terra and I locked our bedroom doors. Amaya already had her shoes on and stood at the door with her purse. I slang my bag around me, slipped the slippers off and stepped off the step of the entry into my shoes.


    Terra took the honor of locking the front door behind us as she was the last one out. Amaya and Terra stayed a couple steps behind me letting me lead the way. Just as Nishimura had said once we passed through the shrine, almost hitting our heads as we walked under a bridge connecting the two shrine buildings together on the inside, we saw the road leading down the hill to the station. Even though we would register our residence officially tomorrow at city hall. This was our first step into exploring Tokyo as residents of the city. I felt my excitement was mirrored by Terra and Amaya as we walked pass the small park next to the station¡¯s entrance and down the stairs into the subway.

 Chapter Three

    . 3 .


    By the time we made it to Harajuku it was time for lunch. We decided that we would head down Takeshita Street to shop first then find a place to get lunch. It didn¡¯t take long to find a huge DAISO, a hundred-yen store.


    The first thing we sought out were keychains. We wandered throughout the aisles until we found a wall of keychains and cell phone straps. The amount of colors and shapes was almost overwhelming. There were cute bright colorful designs as well as traditional Japanese designs.


    A star shaped design caught my eye and drew me into the celestial themed key chains around it. A metal crescent moon keychain with swirling lines wrapping though it caught my eye. A full moon luminous blue sphere, the perfect size to fill most of the inside of the crescent¡¯s shape, was held into place at the top and bottom of the crescent frame. The full moon had different shadows around it representing the craters on the moon. A sticker hanging from the keyring confirmed what I suspected, the full moon glowed in the dark.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this beautiful! Should I get it?¡± Terra ran over to me. She showed me a cherry blossom keychain that had a large pink cherry blossom, about the size of the keyring itself, hanging on a chain with two smaller cherry blossoms hanging from where the chain connected to the keyring.


    ¡°It¡¯s gorgeous. It¡¯s perfect for you.¡± I showed her the keychain I picked.


    ¡°Does it glow in the dark!?¡± Terra snatched the keychain from me, cupped her hands around the keychain and peered into her hand. ¡°It glows in the dark!¡± Terra chirped, her experiment a success.


    ¡°What are you getting?¡± I asked as Amaya walked over. She pulled a silver sea turtle with a turquoise shell keychain out of her basket. Another silver baby sea turtle laid on top the turquoise shell.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there enough of those in Hawaii?¡± Terra¡¯s voice carried a slight chuckle. I chuckled as well.


    ¡°What? I love sea turtles and I¡¯m getting a degree in marine biology.¡± Amaya stated.


    Both of our chuckles came to an abrupt stop.


    ¡°Really?¡± Terra regretfully asked. Amaya nodded.


    ¡°I keep forgetting we only met this morning. It feels like we¡¯ve known each other for years. It¡¯s a cute keychain¡± I said, trying to sound apologetic. Amaya placed the keychain back into her basket.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s one thing checked off the list!¡± Terra declared. ¡°Now on to everything else. Where are the clothes hangers?¡±


    As we searched for the hangers, we saw more and more things we needed. Our baskets quickly filled with things like plates, cups, as well as sponges. We each grabbed a second basket and filled those up as well. We grabbed four or five packs of five hangers. We also grabbed a small hanger designed to hang clothes outside to dry. We didn¡¯t see a large one we¡¯d want for towels or pants but these small ones would be fine for socks, bras and the hand towels the internet told us we¡¯d need to dry our hands in public bathrooms. We¡¯d need to grab some of those as well. All told we each left DAISO with three large bags and were starting to regret buying so much so soon.


    By the time we reached about half way down Takeshita Street my stomach rumbled. Another crepe shop came into view and this one, a blue, white and red colored shop called Marion Crepes, called to me.


    ¡°Do you guys want to get crepes?¡± I asked hoping that the others would.


    ¡°Oh that sounds perfect!¡± Terra hurried over the rows of plastic crepes models, mostly unrolled to showcase the contents of the crepe, lined up in a case. The case acted as a menu; each crepe labeled with an assigned number to make ordering easy.


    ¡°So many flavors.¡± I walked up behind Terra. There was a large selection of sweet crepes, mixing fruit, whipped cream and chocolate, as well as savory ones with fillings expected in a sandwich.


    ¡°That chocolate banana one looks so good! You can get cheesecake in it too?¡± Amaya stood behind Terra.


    Feeling a need for a savory flavor I scanned the row of tuna, ham or chicken based crepes. Along with the meat you choose, the crepes came with lettuce, mayonnaise and if you wanted to add cucumber or cheese you could.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be getting the tuna mayonnaise.¡± The tuna crepe looked so good to me I was surprised I wasn¡¯t drooling. ¡°Terra, if I pay you back later, I can take all the bags and stand out of the way to wait for you guys.¡±


    ¡°Perfect! That looks like our next stop anyways.¡± Terra pointed over the drugstore across from the crepe stand.


    I took the bags from Terra and Amaya and found a place out of the way next to the drug store. I watched them move closer and closer to the cashier through the openings of people streaming down the street.


    Terra, carrying two crepes, and Amaya with hers, made their way over to me. It didn¡¯t take long to devour the delicious crepes. We all declared our crepe was amazing but had regrets of not getting one of the crepes the other two got. Standing in the middle of one of Tokyo¡¯s busiest streets eating a crepe was indeed an interesting experience. I handed out wet wipes from a small pack I pulled from my bag. Terra ran the trash to a bin near the crepe shop and we set into the drug store.


    The drug store started out easy as we quickly found shampoo, soaps and something for dishes. Though standing in an isle we knew was filled with things for laundry, it took time to figure out the difference between detergents and fabric softeners. When we left the drugstore, we had added another two large bags. One bag was filled with the large laundry hangers we needed to dry larger laundry outside. The bags were awkward to carry so we decided we had bought enough and decided to head back up to the JR station to grab a taxi.


    It took over about forty minutes to get to the western entrance to the University. It was the closest we could get to the house and the easiest place to describe to the driver. The fare was almost five thousand yen. Terra and I quickly placed two thousand yen each into the blue tray, leaving Amaya to add a thousand yen and to collect the change. The driver popped the trunk open and helped pull all the bags out of it.


    As the front door of the house came into view, I was relieved not to see two angry girls waiting for us to return.


    ¡°Tadaima!¡± I announced my return home even though there was no one in the house. Before taking off my shoes I put my bags down towards the door to my bedroom as close as I could without leaving the entry. I slipped my shoes off and stepped into slippers. I unlocked the sliding door to my room. Just inside the door I found the switch to turn on the overhead light. ¡®okaeri¡¯ , my previously made futon, welcomed me home. The futon reached out to me for a hug. Not yet my new friend, I have lots to do before that.


    We collected all our bags on the dining room table. We sorted out things needing to go upstairs, in the bath or in the kitchen. Plates, bowls and cups along with sponges and dish soap were placed on the dining table. We sorted out our own towels, shampoo and everything needed for the bath, along with baskets to store them in to easily carry them. The small and large hangers to dry laundry were placed on the couch with a pack of toilet paper, face towel and hand soap for the upstairs toilet.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Terra and I placed our things in our rooms then helped Amaya carry everything that needed to go upstairs. We dumped everything on either Amaya¡¯s desk or on her bed. I grabbed a few of the laundry hangers to take them out to the balcony. I paused after opening the door. I shouldn¡¯t step out on the balcony in indoor slippers, right? It¡¯s considered outside, right?


    ¡°I got some slippers for that.¡± Amaya took a pair of scissors and a pair of something that looked like black Uggs. She cut the strings connecting them and dropped them on the balcony in front of me.


    ¡°You thought of everything!¡± I slipped into the shoes and hung the hangers on the bar. Terra stood at the door to pass the remaining hangers to me.


    Stopping short of unpacking and hanging up Amaya¡¯s clothes we all returned down stairs to get the kitchen sorted. The plates were stacked and placed in a glass door cabinet that was built into the wall the kitchen shared with the living room. Dish soap and hand soap was placed at the sink across from it. A cutting board and drying rack took up most of the counter space there was in the narrow kitchen. With a dish towel hung above the sink it quickly started to feel like a home. To finish off the communal unpacking I placed a bottle of Coke for Terra into the refrigerator.


    We returned to our own rooms to unpack. Terra slid the door between our rooms open. We unpacked our computers first and successfully connected to the internet. Terra played music on her computer as we hung up our clothes. I moved onto setting up my desk once the clothes were up. Once finished I took my dream notebook into the living room. I wanted to continue from where I left off that morning. I still remembered things from the dream I needed to note down. I started to write about the whisper of the person who came up behind me but couldn¡¯t remember it, only what they said.


    ¡°Do you think we can order pizza?¡± Amaya walked into the living room.


    ¡°We have internet so it shouldn''t be a problem. Terra! Pizza?¡± I called towards her open bedroom door.


    ¡°Pizza!¡± Terra appeared through the door with her laptop in hand. She plopped down on the sofa next to me. Amaya started laughing.


    ¡°What?¡± Terra asked, opening her laptop.


    ¡°You¡¯re definitely the pet. You came when she called you.¡± Amaya answered, trying to contain her laughter. I started laughing as well.


    ¡°No pizza for you!¡± Terra closed her laptop again and feigned hurt or was in anger?


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Amaya and I said at the same time.


    ¡°Jinx!¡± Terra quickly shouted, opening her laptop again. ¡°You will buy me a coke to go with the pizza.


    ¡°But you already...¡°


    ¡°Did I stutter!?¡± Terra silenced me. She got to work locating nearby places to order pizza from.


    ¡°Amaya...here is the true test of our new friendship...¡± Terra¡¯s look at Amaya was so serious it caused the temperature in the room to drop. ¡°Pineapple, yes, or no?¡±


    Amaya took a deep breath. ¡°Yes.¡± She said breathlessly.


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Terra released Amaya from her stare. Amaya let out her breath in relief.


    The loud doorbell chimed causing our hearts to stop briefly. The screen of the intercom on the kitchen wall turned on showing two girls standing outside.


    ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± Terra said in her best Carol Anne impression.


    We jumped up quickly and headed to the front door.


    ¡°Hi we¡¯re-¡°


    ¡°Stop! I¡¯ll let you finish. First, do you want pizza?¡± Terra interrupted the brunette.


    The two girls looked at each other and nodded in response.


    ¡°Pineapple, yes or no?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes?¡± The blonde answered, the brunette nodded.


    ¡°A couple Hawaiians and a peperoni, ok with everyone?¡±


    Everyone nodded.


    ¡°Nice to meet you!¡± Terra said, running back into the living room.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s from the states.¡± The blonde girl said with a British accent. She adjusted her large carry-on bag on her shoulder.


    ¡°And I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re from England, yeah?¡± I blushed a little realizing how this must seem to the new arrivals. I did agree with what Terra must have been thinking, proper introductions and explanations can come while the pizzas were on their way.


    ¡°Coke, ok!?¡± Terra shouted from the living room.


    ¡°Coke¡¯s fine.¡± The brunette answered.


    ¡°That¡¯d be lovely!¡± The blonde answered loudly, doing her best not to shout.


    ¡°Sorry you guys came just as we were ordering-.¡±


    ¡°Any crust, ok?¡± Terra''s voice interrupted me.


    The new arrivals looked at me a little uneasy but nodded. I looked over at Amaya and she nodded too.


    ¡°Any¡¯s fine!¡± I answered for them.


    ¡°We¡¯re hungry and tired. I¡¯m sure you guys are too so; I¡¯m guessing Terra thought it was best to get it ordered as fast as she could. Welcome to the house. I¡¯m Ayla.¡±


    ¡°My name¡¯s Amaya.¡± Amaya said as I gestured towards her.


    ¡°The pizza crazy girl in the living room is Terra.¡±


    ¡°Are you all from the states?¡± The brunette asked. She spoke with an accent I was sure was from one of two countries.


    ¡°Yes. Actually, we¡¯re all from Hawaii. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re from Australia or New Zealand?¡±


    ¡°Australia. Sydney to be exact. My name is Bridgett.¡± She rolled her suitcase further into the entry.


    The blonde rolled her suitcase fully into the entry as Bridgett moved. The door clicked shut behind her ¡°And my name is Skye. I¡¯m from London.¡±


    ¡°Come on in. No outdoor shoes in the house.¡± Amaya and I backed up into the house.


    ¡°When did you girls get here?¡± Skye asked, stepping into a pair of slippers.


    ¡°Terra and I got in yesterday but stayed at a hotel last night.¡± I answered.


    ¡°I came to Japan a couple weeks ago. I stayed with family in Kansai. I got into Tokyo this morning.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked, realizing I had never asked her.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t come together?¡± Bridgett asked.


    ¡°Terra and I did. We met Amaya this morning when we got the house keys. She¡¯s from a different island in Hawaii.¡±


    ¡°Your rooms are upstairs so you can leave your bags here for now.¡± Amaya helped Skye by rolling her suitcase to the foot of the stairs.


    ¡°We¡¯ll give you a proper tour in a moment but just in case you need it the toilet is that door there.¡± I pointed. ¡°There is one upstairs too.¡±


    ¡°Pizza will be here in about forty minutes.¡± Terra announced as we walked into the living room.


    ¡°Bridgett from Sydney and Skye from London.¡± I gestured towards them as they entered to give Terra a review of what she had missed.


    ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Terra. I ordered a big pepperoni pizza, which is almost four thousand yen by the way! Large Hawaiians are smaller but the same price, two of those. I got one normal crust and one with something called Mille-Feuille crust. It¡¯s like a pastry crust with cheese layered in it. It looked good so I got it. There was a coupon so I ordered chicken nuggets and fries for six hundred yen. With a couple big bottles of Coke, all told it was over twelve thousand yen. Over a hundred and twenty dollars for three pizzas! Well, ok, there were drinks and sides but still!¡± Terra let out a frustrated noise. ¡°Why is pizza so expensive here?¡±


    We stared at her trying our best to follow everything she just said. I did feel bad for Bridgett and Skye having to deal with all this just after getting off a plane.


    ¡°How much do we owe?¡± Skye blinked looking over at Bridgett who looked just as confused.


    ¡°I had to use my card to order and well I ordered things without asking so I thought it would be easier if everyone just gives me two thousand yen when they can. I know you two just came from the airport so after sorting money stuff will be fine.¡± Terra turned her eyes to me and Amaya who stood nearby. ¡°Though you two still owe me a coke or coffee tomorrow. I didn¡¯t forget.¡±


    ¡°Cheers...¡± Skye looked back towards the entry not sure what to say. She looked over to Bridgett. ¡°Since we have a little time before the pizza gets here shall we get our things sorted away in our rooms?¡±


    ¡°Of course! I¡¯ll show you upstairs.¡± Amaya ushered Bridgett and Skye out of the living room. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, I made your beds up for you.¡±


    ¡°You did? Thank you! That gives us one less thing to sort tonight.¡±


    Amaya¡¯s and Skye¡¯s voices faded as they climbed the staircase.


    The doorbell announcing the arrival of the pizza brought the three girls from upstairs. Thankfully Amaya had the insight to buy a couple extra plates and cups to use. The pastry cheese crust Terra had ordered was amazing and worth every yen. It was a crime that any pizza was made without it.


    As we ate, we explained to Skye and Bridgett about the housing contract, next week¡¯s schedule, and needing student IDs to enter campus. Skye and Bridgett needed to do their own shopping and the rest of us still wanted to see more of Tokyo so we decided that after we were finished with school matters tomorrow, we would head out into Tokyo together.


    Terra and I volunteered to do the dishes and put the left-over pizza away so the others could return to their rooms to get ready for bed. Terra washed dishes and I placed all the remaining pizza into one box and placed it in the refrigerator, it would make a nice snack before heading out the door tomorrow- stereotypical college students. We finished quickly and were off into our rooms exhausted from the day.