Japan. More specifically an airport in Japan. Being a student that has gotten the wonderful opportunity to get to do his internship on foreign soil is something to be very proud of. My name is Clark and I'm what you could call a foreign exchange student… kind off. Out of the two hundred students that had applied to do their internship in Japan I was chosen. I could not believe that I was the one who was allowed to do such an honorable, but also scary thing. I'm a student from the Netherlands, and knowing my history with foreign countries I had a feeling first contact would not go so well.
When I finally arrived on the airport, I was immediately greeted by rather nice, but serious staff members of the airport. I have to admit that being in Japan—and as a student that has always traveled with his parents to literally every foreign country—that this was a big step for me. I always got scared as a little kid when I lost my parent while shopping—while even having a key to our house and said house was only a ten minute walk away from my current location. I was a really scaredy-cat back then… I sometimes still am, but walking home was definitely not an option right now. I carried this little book which I had titled "Japanese for retards", because, well, I sometimes act like a complete retard to be honest.
Honestly I had no idea what I was going to see when I arrived here. But seeing how friendly everyone was towards you did give me a bit of comfort. Finally I was able to leave the airport, and I was looking for a man holding up a sign which had my name on it. He would be the man to guide me through this whole internship. My very own learn-master so to speak. After some looking around I finally noticed the man. Walking towards him—as he seemingly had not noticed me—is stood in front of him and spoke up, holding the handbook to my face as I read the text.
"Are you Takane Yokutsa, sir?" I asked.
The man nodded. "Yes, and you must be Clark Anderson." He replied.
Thank God he knows how to speak English.
I nodded my head and held out my hand. "Yes, sir, that's me. It is an honor to meet you. I'm not too sure what you will be expecting from me, but I will do my best to finish the assignments my school has assigned me as best as possible.
Takane smiled and nodded. "Do not worry too much, Clark. You have just arrived here, let's get you acquainted with the locals first." He turned around. "Come, let us go to my car. It's going to be a long drive, and you must be tired."
I rubbed the back of my head. "In all honesty I'm not. I've never really been a person to get jetlagged. "I can't believe it's already getting dark, though. Seriously it's kind of a weird thought once you think about it."
Takane smiled, nodding his head. "It is indeed. But let's get going. Your first day starts tomorrow. And I must say that you are in luck, young man. I recently got two new clients, and since you E-mailed me all of your assignments, I think you will be pleased with the results you might be able to get."
"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "And why might that be?"
"Well," Takane replied. "They are from the same school, the same class, and have been friends for quite some time now. The funny thing is, however, they are mourning and grieving over people who are not here anymore." He replied, shaking his head.
"Well that's what people do when others are not around anymore," I replied, inhaling a deep gust of air. "So your assignment as a doctor/therapist is to help these two friends get over their grief or have them accept that they are not around anymore—their friends, or people they lost, I mean."
Takane shook his head, chuckling. "I think you misunderstood my sentence, young man. What I meant with "people who are not here anymore" I meant that they are apparently grieving over people who never existed."
"So they're schizophrenic?" I asked. "If so then this is a scenario I am unprepared for, sir. I'm going to be completely honest with you here. The worst thing I've seen in my entire "career" as a student was a man who thought he was being chased by Scarface." I said, shaking my head. "The fact that we're in Japan and my Japanese is freaking horrible doesn't help either."
Takane nodded in agreement. "Well that is why I am here. From now on my main focus will be on these two. Of course others will come, but since I've already decided these two clients will be "yours" I shall be your translator. We'll be making a visit to them… oh, now that's just convenient."
I raised an eyebrow. "What's convenient, sir?" I asked.
"Today is May twenty-first. I can't believe I forgot to put this into my phone." Takane said to himself, quickening his pace as we walked towards his car.
"Sir, might telling me why you're almost running, sir?" I asked, quickening my pace as well.
"Today is your lucky day. I know you haven't been properly introduced and we just met—not counting our E-mails, of course, but we'll be heading towards these clients right this instant. We're lucky they live close to where we will be working, so that's something."
"Wait, we're going to visit the clients? This late? I mean not that it's a big deal but… It's getting dark and even we need sleep, right?" I asked.
"Listen," Takane said as we finally reached his car. "The reason why we're going now is because I know one of the mothers of one of the clients. She's an old friend of mine and… her daughter, one of the clients, is not her happy and cheerful daughter anymore." We stepped into his car and he started it up. "They weren't like this until a week or two ago. They just suddenly… it's something that even I have never seen before. Now I know you're new, but please try to go with me and act as if you are a professional. I know I am asking a lot of you, but what better way to get acquainted to your clients then to visit them, right?" he asked.
I shook my head, but replied with a yes. I rested my head against the window of the car as Takane started driving out of the parking lot. I was surprised I didn't forget to put my suitcases into his car before we sped off. I knew today was going to be a difficult day.
Plus I kind of lied when I said I didn't get jetlagged so easily.
Damnit all to hell.
I was shaken out of my thoughts by Takane, who looked at me with a toothy smirk.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You just fell for my trick, young man." Takane replied.
"E-Excuse me?" I asked.
"Did you honestly think I'd take you to the clients this late? Hahahaha! You have a lot to learn about when I'm joking and when not. Now while the story about the clients and the mother being a good friend of mine is true, I did lie when I said we were going to visit them! I cannot believe you actually fell for that! It's the oldest trick in the book!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Too soon?" Takane asked.
"Way too soon, sir. But I'll admit, you got me good. But if you don't mind, I'd like to take a quick nap." I replied.
"I thought you said you weren't jetlagged?" Takane asked.
"Oldest trick in the book." I smirked.
Takane's eyes widened before he laughed a bit. "You, young man, are someone I can get acquainted with very easily. And that's a good thing, too. Tomorrow, Clark, that's when the real work begins. I want you to finish your assignments as soon as possible. Got that?"
"Got it, sir." I replied, yawning.
It had been a boring couple of hours, but I finally arrived at the apartment I would be staying at. Now fortunately for me said apartment was very, very close by the place I would be working at… so that's something positive. The only negative thing I saw in this whole "living on your own thing" was not having my mom prepare me some dinner. Now a guy my age should be able to take care of himself—and I can, might I add. But having a nice mother that is willing to prepare a meal for you when you're busy studying is a nice thing. Sighing to myself as I turned to Takane, who simply smiled at me and held out his hand, I listened when he spoke up.
"I'll be here next morning, 7.30 am, got it?" Takane said.
"Of course, Mr. Yokutsa." I replied.
I watched as Mr. Yokutsa left… but there was still something that was bugging me. Mr. Yokutsa had an in-build phone in his car. You know, the fancy kind of thing some people have? Well I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between him and probably another client. It… scared me a little bit, hearing what was happening to said client.
What made it even worse was the fact that it was the client's mother who had made the call.
"Yes, this is Yokutsa, how can I help you?"
"You're the therapist I talked to earlier, right?"
"Oh, yes. I am. What seems to be the problem here?"
I heard an audible sigh come in through the speaker.
"Well, ever since this morning, she's been acting weird. She barely walks around now."
"She hasn't left the house ever since?"
"Yes, that's right. She hasn't stepped one foot outside her room today either."
There was a pause before she spoke again. I swore he could feel her shudder again, like she did earlier.
"And she's still talking about that... friend of hers. I keep telling her, there's no such person."
Her tone started to change dramatically, almost as if she was pleading.
"And when I do, she gives me such a stare! I've never seen her look at me that way before. Never! Please... she was always such a bright and cheery girl..."
There was another sense of hesitation. I Could sense tension, even between phone lines.
"Where... where did my lovely daughter of mine go? What happened to her!?"
I heard Yokutsa inhale deeply and then exhaled. He started to speak into the receiver.
"Please, try to stay calm. This matter must be handed with the utmost care. Remember, your daughter has it even rougher than you right now. We mustn't think of her as a lost cause or she'll never get the help she needs."
He took a moment to check the time—8.40 PM.
"Rest assured, I'll do everything in my power to assist you. Let's work together to bring that happy little girl of yours back."
Her tone sounded more confident after his comforting words. "Yes, yes, you're right. Thank you. I feel much more better now just hearing you say that."
There was a period of silence as if she was contemplating on what to do now.
"I think... I'm going to check on her."
"Alright. Be careful though. Try not to say anything that might upset her."
I heard the receiver click as she hung up. He also hung up as well. Staring at the screen, the words crossed into my mind.
Seiko.
He had a feeling this wasn't a typical case, and so did I. There was just that... gut feeling.
Of course, when I meets her tomorrow, it'll all make sense. Hopefully. I just had to emphasize with her and see past the outer shell.
Hopefully there was a way to crack that shell. But, there's almost always a catch to it.
As I entered the apartment I was amazed at how clean it was. I had no idea a place like this could be so… neat. As I placed my suitcases into the living room, I immediately noticed a huge couch near the back of the living room. Closing the door to my apartment behind me, I took off my shoes and laid down on the couch.
"That talk Mr. Yokutsa had earlier." I shuddered. "It was pretty deep. This girl, whoever she is, must have been through something really bad. I mean these things don't usually happen. Mourning and talking about an imaginary friend while being completely normal is weird, very weird. This just can't be some kind of coincidence. Especially because another client, another person is having the same problem as she is. I just don't get it. Why… why would they suddenly break down like this?"
I let out a sigh as I grabbed my phone and dialed a number. Sure this was going to cost me, but I just had to talk to someone before I start my first day as an intern tomorrow. I dialed the number and I heard the phone beep a couple times before my good friend finally picked up.
"What's good, my guy?"
I smiled. "I'm good, Dave. Thanks for asking." I replied.
"There's a reason why you called, since I know it's already late where you are. So what's the problem? Feeling homesick already?" Dave asked.
"Always straight to the case. Alright, I'll tell you, but promise you won't tell anyone else. This goes against everything school has taught us, but I need a second opinion on this." I said, a hint of remorse in my voice.
"Dude, we saw each other's penis… twice. I'm sure keeping this a secret won't be a problem." Dave replied, chuckling to himself.
"Okay," I sighed. "Listen, tomorrow is going to be my first day and… well, I recently got some info about two new clients who I will be doing my assignments on. The thing is, however, these clients were not having their condition until two weeks ago, I believe."
"Mind telling me what the problem is?" Dave asked.
"Well this is just one of the client's story but… she keeps talking about people who never existed to exist. Apparently they passed away and she thinks they existed, while they never even did. Even the client's mother does not even know what her own freaking daughter is talking about." I replied.
"The client's mother? Just how old is your new client?" Dave asked, his voice clearly filled with curiosity.
"I don't know." I replied, shaking my head. "She just started acting like this… it's weird."
"Is she schizophrenic? Or does she have a history with schizophrenia? You should check her family's backstory and medical history, perhaps you'll be able to find out a bit more about her when going through those files." Dave replied.
"I hope. I really do not want to mess this internship up." I laughed.
"Me neither, dude. Me neither." Dave replied.
I let out a long sigh before yawning. "Okay, time for this therapist to go to bed. Have a nice… afternoon, I guess."
"Sleep tight, my guy. Sleep tight. Know that if you've got questions you can contact me. I'll be happy to help you through all of this." Dave replied.
"Same goes for me. It just sucks I won't be able to celebrate my birthday at home." I sighed.
"Well you'll be surprised what a guy like me can arrange." Dave replied. I swear he was smirking when he said that. I just knew he was.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Nothing, nothing." Dave replied. "Sleep tight. Good luck tomorrow. Make sure to masturbate while you're at it, okay?"
I shook my head at Dave's perverted mind. "I will. You make sure you do the same."
"I'm a father, dude." Dave replied.
"A father of millions of unborn children in a sock." I stated, making him chuckle. "Now go on and prepare yourself for your first day, dude. Make sure you do your best, and I'll make sure I do mine."
"Will do!" Dave replied.
I pressed the red cellphone on my phone and hung up. I placed my hand behind my head and closed my eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.
Tomorrow was going to be a tough day. I just knew it.