Black strawberry kiss!

Crowned with laurel!

Chapter 2

The arrival

Laurence's POV

My travel to Japan was neutral. Sitting on a plane, listening idly to the music of my iPod that I had gotten second hand from my younger brother who no longer wished for the item. I took it before he trashed it and stuffed it in my pocket the day before I left. He didn't mind. He just muttered to me that he wanted me to have it. I'd lie if I said I wouldn't miss him, but yet time to time as I thought about it I would miss him and I wouldn't.

I suppose it was a common brother sister trait about us. We loved each other yet we hated each other.

Rubbing the cord for my headphones as I stared briefly out of the small box window, I thought about what this town would look like. Karakura town. I'd never heard of it before, and wondered exactly why George had chosen such a hidden town in the south west of Japan, rather than going to Tokyo for a much richer suited life. Yet this was George and he liked quiet towns which probably explained most of it. At least that was what I thought at first.

Anne hadn't let up her threat and squashed beside George separating us, clinging to his arm like a dog with his bone. She was leaning over him looking down as he flicked through a magazine, frowning as he attempted to concentrate with the leech that clung to him.

It made me sick to see her so clingy, it reminded me of all the girls back in my old school. Yet all seems a little harsh, but most at least were like she was. Clinging to their boyfriends, refusing to let them go. Surely George must be sick of her continuous jealousy, I thought. But I supposed it must be genuine love if he wasn't annoyed by now.

The plane ride was long, I almost didn't wake up when it was time to land. George had been shaking me for at least a full ten minutes in the attempt to wake me up and by the time I groaned out a protest, yawning and stretching my arms Anne was back in her seat making sure George had no contact with me. So I sat for the last twenty minutes listening to the music that was already uploaded onto the iPod with only mild interest and some comfort of not being able to hear Anne drone on about their marriage.

I noted the items around me from the boredom that soon crept in five minutes later. A few empty hard boiled sweet packets, three empty bottle of coke and crushed foam coffee cups. My hand held bag by my feet, my legs numb from barely moving, Anne's handbag stuffed by her own feet with her heels stuffed beside them. George hadn't a hand held bag and only carried his jacket which was draped over his knee. My own jacket was wrapped around my waist, warm from sitting on it for so long, but I wore a long sleeved shirt which I had rolled up the sleeves from the heat.

Their wasn't many interesting people dotted around as far as I could see. A family sat in front of us, a husband and his wife with two children, both young of age, and were both sleeping soundly only half an hour ago. A young couple sitting at the far left of us, snuggling into one another for comfort, and somewhere along the lines I spotted two businessmen, sitting arguing or discussing over matters, briefcases out and coffee cups trailed around their area.

Musing over the fact that I felt sorry for the flight attendants, I didn't even realise the sudden drop of the plane as it slowly landed, and I almost didn't stand up when George and Anne did, as I was concentrated on my feet. I realised when I felt a sudden jerk of the earphone in my ear, being tugged out by Anne.

"Get up. The plane has already landed."
She frowned pulling her handbag up onto her shoulder and toddling off after George. They'd wait outside of the plane for me as I fumbled to my feet, tugging my bag up onto my shoulder and tumbling after the passengers and onto the ground, which surely George waited for me, but no Anne.

"Where's Anne?"

I asked yawning as we trudged into the airport slowly, stretching our legs, easing up the cramps. It was heaven finally breathing in air and I never felt so happy to be on ground, walking. George seemed equally satisfied as he stretched out his arms freely expressing the discomfort from the plane. I didn't blame him. After sitting on the same seat for over twelve hours, it was sure to get boring and uncomfortable with impatience of wanting to get off the stuffy aircraft.

"She went ahead to get a taxi. We left our car at home."

He replied to me with a smile, ruffling my already mused hair as we stepped into the crowded airport. It took some time to get to the conveyor belts. Suspecting each suitcase warily, we eventually found our luggage, grabbed hold of it and pulled it from the belts dragging it along the floor and to find Anne. We eventually came to the entrance/exit of the airport and waited sitting upon the suitcase waiting and waiting to see if we could spot Anne in hope to wave over to her and tell her we were over here. At least that was what George wanted to do. I only followed him without a care, hoping we had lost her. Yet she was important to both of us at this point so I sighed listening to the iPod that still hung in my left ear.

Eventually George's phone jingled that merry phone bell and he jumped answering it with a dry hoarse reply.

"Hello… ah Anne… Yeah we're at the entrance… sure ok… we'll be there in a minute… ok… love you too."

And he hung up, smiled to me and gestured for me to follow out of the doors. I nodded gathering my own luggage, George tugging along his suitcase which he shared with Anne and a large bag which possibly held something other than clothes. Following him out into the open air, I felt a warm autumn chill. Looking around, the obvious few orange trees introduced the welcoming season. My favourite season. Ironic wasn't it. I loved autumn, and I happened to have moved to Japan in this season.

I was looking around in awe at the clustered car park, when I noticed Anne waving over to George, she stood before a taxi and I growled under my breath as we dashed over to dump our things into the taxi. Shuffling into the back seat I shivered at the cold touch to my behind, but otherwise I figured it wasn't a long travel. And it wasn't.

My first impression of Japan. What was my first impression of Japan at that moment as I arrived in Karakura?

A city, filled with tall buildings, modern technology, yet small, quiet and country like. At least what country life should be like, quiet and calm. I couldn't help but try and look up at some of the tallest buildings. They were huge, so modern and uncommon to me. The biggest building I saw was the cathedral, but that was old and crumbling and in need of medical building attention.

The roads were huge, like the roads on the A1 back home. I didn't expect to see such large roads in a populated area. Most of the roads I saw at home were simple main roads almost half the size of the roads dumped around the town. I suppose it was interesting at first at least. Something about it made me mesmerized immediately about the ominous town.

I watched carefully at a few of the school children, slowly easing their ways back home. All wearing a certain uniform. To my disgust all the girls wearing skirts and all the boys in trousers. I didn't enjoy the idea of wearing a skirt.

By each of the uniforms and the way most of the children and teenagers looked in the different uniforms I suspected for the different uniform meant a different age grouped school. I had made some mild research about the modern day Japanese, they attended three different kinds of school I knew of. Kindergarten, which I suppose was for the youngest and the ones starting school. Middle school which was what would lead into high school. Then came college or university, which I didn't really class as school since it was a choice rather than a must. I disliked the idea of staying in school till I was eighteen as well, I really disliked the idea.

I could understand that their teaching was different to ours. The English always had a choice of leaving school at the age of sixteen and either going to a sixth form or straight to college. Most refused to attend further education and immediately started a simple job. Then as they grew on into an early age of twenty they could earn more money in a full time job either working in a store or starting up their own business or following a family business if the family had that kind of money to even start a business.

That was my opinion at least. And my knowledge as far as my own origin went and in comparison to the Japanese.

"Laurence what do you think?"

George questioned a smile plastered across his face as I glanced to him. I nodded and smiled back, my eyes still not visible under my heavy bangs.

"I like it. I'll be honest."

George must have been pleased to hear that and he squeezed my shoulder lightly, Anne frowning in the front seat. I had this funny idea of sticking my tongue out at her, but I remained calm and stale faced, possibly pretending to be a stone, hoping not to be noticed by Anne. Of course she'd already seen.

By the time we arrived at the new home I would have to bear with for the next year, it was already getting dark. Street lamps were flickering on and I just noticed a clinic opposite the house. Blinking confused I pointed to it, George nodding as he looked up.

"Oh that's the Kurosaki's clinic. They're a nice family. He has a son about your age, Isshin I mean. He's the owner."

George smiled. I nodded at his answer looking at the large house. Cocking my head to the side I looked up to a window noticing, green curtains open a light beaming out. And that's when I saw him, standing there in the view of the window, bright orange hair. Gaping at the colour, my cheeks flushed as he pulled off his shirt right there. I didn't look as I sped down the path to the front door my things in my hand, stumbling into the porch, where Anne blinked wondering what had frightened me.
She refused to ask the question, only shrugging and making her way into a kitchen, padding along the wooden floor. George came following after me, frowning at my sudden rush into the house, and I shrugged simply stating I was cold. He chuckled shuffling off his shoes and gesturing me to follow up the stairs and into a spare room, as plain as a cardboard box, with white walls, and a single bed.

It was a small room, but I wasn't fussed by that and simply dumped my things in a corner shuffling around to look through the single wardrobe and the set of draws, nodding satisfied with the simple square room. George smiled and left me as I drew the dark curtains shut and shuffled on the floor to my luggage where I began to sort through my items dumping them in the draws and the wardrobe supplied.

My shirts in the top draw, my junk in the second, and other clothing items such as socks and underwear in the third. I shuffled to the wardrobe and began hanging up my jeans and even the dresses that my mum had shuffled into my luggage. I dumped my shoes in the bottom of the wardrobe like back home, enjoying the idea that I could organise things my way rather than my Aunt doing that for me because she didn't like my organisation.

Shuffling through the bag pack I had stuffed with things, I began to tip out the contents, shuffling the books and DVDs onto a pile on the draws and the picture that I brought placed perfectly onto my side table which held a plain lamp. Just as I was shuffling my teddy into the corner of my bed, George walked in with a smile. I blinked standing up from my bed looking towards George.

"We're ordering in something. Anne is just going down to get the food, what would you like?"

I shrugged idly sitting on the cushiony bed.

"Surprise me."

George gave a nod and walked out of the room to leave me be as I lay back looking at my bear, reaching out for it again and hugging it, my cheeks warming as I held the soft toy to my chest, curling up into a ball enjoying the silent comfort of my new room. The smell of incense that lingered, and the strange smell of paints.

"Mr Bear… it reminds me of dad."

I mumbled to my bear, nuzzling my nose onto the bears head, taking in the familiar scent of my old room. Wood, dog and the odd whiff of garlic. I smiled at the delicious smell, enjoying the garlic scent that filled my nostrils, causing my stomach to growl of hunger. Smiling I shuffled my bear back onto the pillow and equally shuffled myself off the bed, studying the room before I left it to head back down the stairs and into the kitchen where I found, George sitting on a stool, munching happily on what looked to be a doughnut. He smiled to me as I took a seat beside him looking down to the male stash before him.

We sat silently, no words spoken as he shuffled through the papers, remaining silent until Anne came wandering back home, hands filled with a take out that smelled delicious as she placed it on the bench happily serving out the food, handing me an interesting substance.

After my tears back home, I admittedly felt comforted by the smell of strange food, but yet that twinge of guilt and loneliness crept back into my chest. Was I ever going to stop being home sick and get on with this new life that was set before me at that exact point?