Chapter One: Return
The scenery changed from wide, green fields with mountains and trees to tall skyscrapers and bright lights to shine the city night. It had been a really long ride, as expected. 17 hours. Started as early as 3:30am from the first station which was Hokkaido. A lovely place, I admitted, but despite the fact that it was Japan's most peaceful and calming place, I didn't really had that much 'fun'. Because of my work. Luckily, my work involved taking pictures of scenery and people, so at least I could keep it as a memory. Like how I always did in every place I went.
In every trip I went, I was neither happy nor looked forward to it. However, this time, I was sort of excited to start my job in the most busiest –and unique city ever. Ikebukuro. Also known as my hometown.
As the train entered a tunnel, I saw my own reflection on the window. I looked somehow different. I had long, dark brown hair. Black iris behind a pair of glasses that I had worn since forever. I was a bit startled when I saw a smile carved on my lips. Was I really that happy to be able to return to my home, even just or a while?
The train stopped. I held tight on my black bag pack which was the only thing I carried and stood in front of the door. When it opened, I rushed out and head towards the exit. I even bumped a middle school guy in the process. I heard him apologized nervously, but I didn't mind and ignored him as I walked up the escalator towards the bright light.
How nostalgic. I thought. The view, the sound, even the air was so familiar to me. As if everything was the same like how I remembered. If there was a difference, I couldn't tell what. The clock at the park showed 8:05pm. It was still too early to do anything. I stared at my surroundings and realized that there were still lots of people walking around, doing their business and moving on with their life. They looked happy that it brought back a conversant emotion.
And then I remembered my job. Right. I buried that emotion inside and took out my camera from my bag. I started taking pictures of the city and its people. Taking only the buildings would make the picture looked uninviting, so adding some moving activities to it might bring it back to life. I learnt that from experience.
I was concentrating really hard of a butterfly on a frog statue. The lighting and pose was absolutely perfect when my stomach began to growl like an angry wolf. It scared my model away. I sighed as I held my stomach, completely forgotten that I had skipped lunch and dinner. Because train food were awful. Cheap, but hardly edible. At times like this, the best place to eat was at Russia's Sushi which wasn't far from my area. I put my camera in my bag –reserving batteries- and left.
I memorized the road and path that I had taken. It wasn't that hard to remember, since I was born and raised here in the city. I crossed a road in which I was sure was the one that went straight to Russia's Sushi. I could just follow it, but then I saw a familiar white van parked at the side of the road not far from where I stood. It looked really familiar. I gasped mentally when I realized that it belonged to Kadota's gang. My old friends.
Should I talk to them? It's been so long and I really want to talk. My stomach scolded me and I held it. No good. I gotta eat first.
Something fell on my cheek, so I wiped it off. It was water. When I looked up, the rain began to drizzle, slowly getting heavier and heavier. Even so, I didn't have the urge to escape from the cold rain. The kind of rain that penetrated me with old memories. Ones I wished could've stayed forever. If it were possible. My mind flashed images from years before, as if they were photos and I was just looking through them. They were all me being happy around my friends during school years. But the most vivid part were 'those two'.
This feeling. The feeling of longing. Like I wanted to meet them again. Yes. It would be nice.
My view of the cloudy, dark sky was cut off by a black umbrella, hovering on top of me. I was startled by it and looked at the person who held it. Before I could say anything, he said in a teasing tone, "And here I thought you were dead, Ai-chan."