Chapter 2: Meeting family. New friend.
Isabelle B. Part.
I hate it. Tokio's weather is just mad! I was in open street when it began raining cats and dogs so I ran to the nearest shop I saw. After having walked around nearly all the flat rental agencies on the zone and having eaten a sandwich I was nearly attacked by a prey dog (who has a prey dog not tied with a chain?) and now this.
Lukily the store was a music one, so I began looking the discs they had just to appear to be doing something. They had nice discs. Japanese groups and also international ones. I loved the Sex Pistols and suddely I found the only one left hidden behind a lot of "International bands" ones. I picked it up. It was one I didn't had and that was hard to find on a good shop.
I holded it tight and kept on looking among the discs.
"Sorry miss." The blond assistant said suddely. "We are about closing, would you mind to begin ending please?"
He seemed to be a bit restrained for my presence. Perhaps cause as I was european I was nearly as tall as him wearing just my converse when he was wearing platformed shoes.
I went to the counter to pay for the cd and he then looked to my face when I paid for it.
"You like the Sex Pistos?" he asked.
"Yep!" I said happy. "They are my favourites!"
"It's not usual to met a girl who likes them." He said smiling mildly while putting the cd on a shop bag with the receipt.
"Well, I must admit I have seen not many people around here who like it either." She said smiling. "But Sid was really... wonderful singer." She added putting her hand over her heart.
"Sure." The guy said. Nobu was what the identity pin on his chest said.
I payed and when I was about turning, he waved to someone outside. I turned back and saw a bluish white haired guy waving at him. I didn't knew why but his face rang me a bell. I said bye to Nobu and left. Outside it was still raining but not so heavyly. So I went out and began walking down the rain. Definetively that was not my day.
Shin's Part.
I was waiting for Nobu at the entrance of the work he worked at two or three days a week. He was in attending the last customer of the day and waved at me when he saw me. Then the girl turned and saw me. When she went out I saw her looking outside and checking it was raining.
Her face, her style... she rang me a bell. Perhaps she was one of the ladyes paying for me to stay with them. She then began walking under the rain.
"Hey!" Nobu then said running out carrying a little leather booked notebook. "Miss, you have forgot this!"
She then turned around and saw him holding it so she walked back towards us.
"Thanks." She said to Nobu. "I don't kow what would I have done if I forgot this." She said taking it from him with an smile.
"You have no umbrella?" I then asked putting the cig ashes down with a soft touch. "Miss, you will go shoaken."
"We are going towards the train station, perhaps if you go on the same way you would not mind sharing umbrella." Nobu then asked offering her his umbrella with an embarrashed face.
She looked at him for a second.
"I don't care, I have to take a train too." She finally said. "But you seem as if your girlfriend would kill you if she finds out."
I then lauged. Nobu had no girlfriend at the moment, so he could share his umbrella with such a cutte lady as her.
After Hachi, he had not had another girlfriend that could tell him off if she found him sharing an umbrella with a cutte girl.
"There's no girl to get mad at it." He said. "But... I can't allow a Sex Pistol's fan go shoaken like that!" he added shaking his head madly as if he was trying to refuse it too much making me laugh.
He sometimes acted as Hatchi. And I missed her too much too. Even when she still met us from time to time, but she never stayed for long and our meetings with her were begining to shine by its lack.
Suddely I noticed something while Nobu and her walked under the same umbrella. Her skin was a bit suntanned despite of the time of the year it was. And her hair was bright red on some locks and brown on others as if she had died it on any of the two.
"By the way, does your miss have a name?" I asked Nobu softly and smiling.
He went pink and surprised. I bet he didn't ask her.
That Nobu was surely too shy for try to flirt with such a girl, perhaps he was astonished by her beautiful face or he had still not realised on the lack of name she had.
"Miss." I said then catchin her eye. "I was wondering... do such a lady have a name?"
"Yes, but please, don't call me lady." She said smiling. "I don't like it, it makes me look elder when I'm still 21 years old."
"Wo!!" Nobu said surprised. "You don't look my age!!"
"That's perhaps cause you don't look that age." I told him. "So, what's the name? My name is Shin."
"Isabelle." She said smiling. "I have a relative about your age who is also named Shin. Ah, by the way." She said as we were arriving the station. "Could you please tell me wich train should I get to arrive to the Lotus hotel? I'm afraid I walked till the shop so I lost track of where I am."
Suddely my cig fell down as I remembered the phone call of the morning.
"Your cousin Isabelle will be living at Tokio. If you still have any proud left, you will phone her and offer her some help. She would probably be living at her father's hotel at Tokio. Her phone number is..." was what the man who called himself my brother told me.
"By any chance... do you have anything to do with Okazaki family?" I asked her trying to sound casual.
Nobu was now looking at me. He knew my surname was Okazaki, he was one of the very little people who knew it.
"Well... somehow I'm relative of the family." She said smiling.
"And how is you are here?" I asked her.
"Well... it's too long to say..." she said softly sighing. "Anyway, how is you knew about it?"
"Shin, what's going on here?" Nobu asked looking from her to me.
"We are cousins somehow." I then said softly making both surprised. "Yet I have not seen her for... uff, lot of years. We just met on christmast and little trips his father did to who called himself my father."
"You must be jocking." Nobu said. "You don't look any simmilar!"
"Are you really Shin? My cousin Shin?" she said. "The one who used to wear..."
I then put my hand over her mouth to prevent her speaking about my past.
"Isa, first thing, you don't speak about my past." I said. "Second one... do you live on a hotel room?"
"Yes, but I'm looking for a flat to hire." She said noding about the not speaking about past part.
"Well... until you find one... you could be at my flat, the landlord never puts his nose at my bussiness." I offered her. I didn't know why I did such an offer but... "Just till you find yourown space."
We were now waiting for the train to arrive so we were sitting at a little bench speaking there.
"Well... it's not that I don't want to stay at my suit, but... I don't want to rely on my father's money. I want to live by myself. Did... did you heard about the quarrell?"
"Sure, I heard something from one of my friends." I said letting out a puff of smoke. "Ran away, wasn't it?"
"Yes, my father went so mad at me when I refused to work for him that he nearly disinherited me. So I said I came here for attending some bussines here."
"If you not staying too long..." Nobu said. "I supose you could always share flat with me. Afterall is where Shin is when he is not sleeping with someone else."
"Thanks." She said smiling mildy.
Then I saw it. My cousin was not the average girl, as she is half japanese she can stand from average for beauty. Natural beauty I mean.
"I don't think that's too bad idea." I said softly smiling. "Nobu could be a nice partner for you. And Nobu, if you touch her you are death."
She then held her laugh as Nobu began shouting at me something about the image she could get from him, anyway, he stopped when he heard her holding her laugh.
"I can swear I can't do anything bad on a woman." He said ashamed.
"I doubt you could do anything bad on me." She said smiling. "It would not be the first time men try to do bad things on me without allowance, and I can swear you some of them will not have children while others just have to do a little trip to the hospital and others have food with a straw."
That made both Nobu and me confused, and then we laugh cause we didn't thought she would be able to such thing; afterall she was trying to look punk wearing Levi's and a well known trademark sweater. As a weird mix of their "Princess" and "Hachi".
"Laugh if you want." She said softly. "Anyway, I have still not unpack my things."
"Well, then take them and get to his flat." I said smiling.
"Shin, we have to train a bit at the record house!" Nobu said.
"That's true..." I answered.
We couldn't ask her to come, but we couldn't give her the house key.
"Don't worry." She said softly. "Shin, you know where the family hotel is, when you end just come and look for me. I'll pay for the taxi, right?" she said smiling lovely.
"Cool!!" I said as I used with Hachi.
My cousin was really cool, I couldn't remember she was so nice and cool when were were little. But I can still remember the warm feeling I used to feel when I was with her when our families met.