CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

Tokyo Tower

Minato, Tokyo

Japan

December 2, 2006

The group walked around the various floors of Foot Town, but no one bought anything yet. The stores someone wanted to buy something in were to be hit up on the way down. Dee already had picked up various small things for each child at the orphanage during previous visits to Tokyo Tower, but they would not get them until he was back in New York and made a visit to the orphanage. He decided that it still would be a great idea for Mother to have something to give to each child on Monday and will make sure they would leave Tokyo Tower with something for Mother to give.

The group who took the stairs to the 2nd floor continued to use the stairs as they explored each floor up to the roof level of Foot Town. They stopped to allow the children in their group to ride the mechanical animals. Stefan and Dani, having never seen them before were excited to get on the rides. Some of the adults even joined in on the fun, including Dee, Dafydd, Saburo and Ayaka.

As when they were sightseeing with Ayaka in Nagoya, Dee's famous youngest sister was wearing a loose colorful top with a hood and her New York Mets cap and glasses. Today, she had her long hair braided and piled up inside the baseball cap. She didn't mind photos with the glasses on but sometimes she took off the glasses for pictures. At one point, while Bikky was filming the family fun, she took off her glasses when Bikky moved closer to her to ask questions. Several young women nearby noticed her and started to giggle and wave. Dee had to stop and watch as Ayaka waved the girls over and allowed Carol and Bikky to include them in the video, much to the girls delight. They made sure the girls knew Carol's YouTube channel so they could watch the video.

After the excited girls went on their way, Saburo came over to Carol and said, "We need to get you business cards. I think I will get some ordered from my printers and have them for you next Thursday. I will get them in Japanese and English, so you can use them everywhere."

"You don't have to, Saburo-san," Carol said.

"Nonsense. This is a necessary thing, especially in Japan. Everyone has business cards, even if they don't have a business, if they have something to share. And you definitely have something to share. You can hand them out just to get more viewers. Bikky, you should have some too, since you are part of this wonderful operation." Saburo noticed how Dee and Ryo were about to protest Saburo spending more of his money on Bikky and Carol, and added, "I'll make the first order, but Daisuke and Ryo can make sure you kids continue to have cards." He grinned at Dee and Ryo.

"Gee, great idea, Papa," Dee remarked and laughed. "But it probably is a good idea, so we'll make sure they have reorders when needed."

"But when they finally get sponsors, they could pay for their own cards," Momo pointed out. "The sponsors might even put money into it too."

"I doubt I'll get sponsors," Carol said.

"Have you seen your videos views, Carol?" Dafydd asked. "Your videos when I first looked at them had many many views and you had over 1000 followers. I noticed the numbers are going up, and you didn't get to the videos with Ayaka yet."

"You will have sponsors, Carol," Ayaka said in broken halting English. "Japanese and American."

"I think so too," Dafydd agreed. "I know the other videos you have during your time in Japan, with and without Ayaka will be very popular."

"I agree," said Momo.

"I don't think we'll be uploading most of the videos until we get back from Japan," Bikky said. "I don't have much time to edit full videos, but I did manage to edit some highlights videos that we've been uploading. Carol is calling them teasers. We did want to have something uploaded while we're in Japan to update Carol's viewers on what we're up to. We do have a few full videos from Japan but there's so much more video to edit and upload."

"This is why you need cards," Yoshio stated. "We can see you both have a firm grasp on what you are doing, and with time you will be YouTube stars."

"Carol has already been mentioned as a social influencer," Elina said proudly. "I got emails from some of my friends who have daughters who follow blogs on YouTubers, and there is talk about you, including your earlier videos." She looked over to Bikky. "And you are getting praise for putting up with the beauty and fashion videos for your girlfriend. It's said to you give much detail in shooting the videos."

"Aw hell, I just point and film," Bikky said.

"They're onto something," Dee said. "I noticed that as I watched the videos on the channel. Your first ones are definitely point and film, as you put it, but not anymore. Plus your editing keeps getting better."

"Dee's right," Ryo added with a warm smile. "We're proud of you, Biks. You too, Carol. And you definitely have our full support. As long as it doesn't take you away from school."

"You have a lot of family support, Bikky," Dafydd stated.

"I am still watching videos when I have time," Akira said, "but I like very much what I'm seeing, so I agree." She smiled at Elina. "I can see you're very proud of Carol. They have my support, too."

"It unanimous then," Dee announced. "And we stand a chance of my baby sister being recognized again, so shall we head up to the Observation Deck?"

"Are our walkers going to take the stairs up there too?" Akira asked.

"Yes," Hitoshi replied. "At least I am."

"And I am with my husband," Kiyoshii said. "Don't look at us like we're crazy. How do you think we're still in great shape for our ages? And still able to take those steps. So are our young detectives willing to keep up with the old men, and maybe when you get to our age, you can still take the stairs without a wheeze."

Ryo looked at Dee, folding his arms. "I think that's us being told." His gaze went to Dafydd.

"Being told by old men at that," Dafydd remarked in a teasing tone.

"Uncle Kiyoshii might be onto something," Dee said with a rueful grin. Looking at Akira, he said, "Weren't we overtaken by an 80-year-old taking on those steps at the shrines in Kamakura?"

Akira started to laugh. "Yes, you were, but I am not going to take those steps to the Observation Deck. It is true that I am in good health and could take steps when I need, but for that climb, I choose to take the elevator."

Ryo leaned over to kiss his grandmother's forehead. "We'll meet you at the Observation Deck too."

Rick held up his video camera. "And you're get a top photo journalist getting the start of that ascent on video."

"And we need to watch those videos on Carol's channel and see what we have to work with, Bikky. Especially after listening to all that praise," Elena said.

"Sure Aunt Elena," Bikky said, embarrassed as he joined the group going up the stairs. Carol decided to take the elevator and was standing with Tsukiko, Ayaka and her aunt.


After they came down from the upper observation deck, the five women excused themselves and headed out of Tokyo Tower, deciding to take the subway up to Akihibara. Everyone else hit up the shops they wanted to buy souvenirs and gifts to take home. Takahiro bought taiyaki for everyone before they left the tower and got on the bus for Asakusa.

Maria had a wonderful time so far. At the Observation Deck, she was reminded of when Dee took her up the first time when she came to Japan for his graduation. It was a special time, Dee revealing that Tokyo Tower had become a special place for him, a place he loved to go to reflect and think when he had stuff on his mind to work out. At the time, the Yokohama Landmark Tower was a relatively new building, the construction being completed the year before he arrived in Yokohama. The Yokohama Sky Garden on the 69th floor of the building did not open until a year later. Dee did not know of it until his last year. He had gone several times but by then, Tokyo Tower was already Dee's favorite high spot to go. She was not surprised that her son would find high spots to escape to during his time in Japan because he had his spots around New York. She really did enjoy looking at Mt. Fuji from Tokyo Tower.

When they boarded the bus, their next stop was the Sky Tree. Since it was close to Asakusa, everyone quickly voted to go to the observation deck. Maybe because she already had her opinions, but Maria had to admit while they had a great time at the Sky Tree, she still loved Tokyo Tower better. The bus was waiting when they came out from the Sky Tree and went over the Sumida River again for a short ride to stop by the Hanayashiki Amusement Park. The group went inside the old amusement park and allowed the children to go on a few rides while the adults took photos. Bikky had decided to keep on making videos and convinced Dee and Dafydd to be fill-in hosts. Dee and Dafydd managed to get everyone else involved one way or another as they went through the day.

From the amusement park, Dee and Ryo led the group the short way to the Asakusa Nishi-sando Shopping Street, starting their walk along the outside of the amusement park to look at the many small shops along the street. On the amusement park side, it looked like an Edo period street. The other side were just small quaint shops, including a tearoom with a feeling of the area in the 1950's. The tearoom offered kimono rentals for just a tea ceremony, or to rent by the hour to walk around town. They walked along the covered shopping street, figuring out what they were going to do for lunch, since they were such a large group, even without the five who went off on their own adventures.

They stopped at one small shop with a wood frame low pool when Bikky exclaimed, "I want to try goldfish scooping again."

"And again, I say, what will we do if someone wins a goldfish?" Ryo asked.

"Keep it in the penthouse until you take it back to New York?" Takahiro's husband, Shigeru, suggested.

"Please, Uncle Shigeru," Ryo remarked. "We're already bringing a dog back with us. Who is on his own back in our penthouse for the day."

"Yoshio and Tsukiko went out this morning and bought a cage to put Mochi in until he's better house trained," Saburo said. "He'll be okay. It's not his first time being in a doggie cage."

"That's good to know," Ryo said. "Thank you, Chichi."

"Too bad we couldn't take Mochi with us today," Bikky said. "But I know we couldn't take him everywhere. But I still want to try the kingyou game again." He used the Japanese word for goldfish this time making the adults smile.

"First let's see if someone can win a fish," Hitoshi said. "Who wants a try? My treat." He looked over the group and said, "C'mon, Rick. Show them how's it done."

"Him?" Elena exclaimed with a laugh. "He hasn't yet. At least that means we won't be taking a goldfish on the plane back.

"Just for that, you're going to try too, Elena. Let's go." Hitoshi clapped his hands twice to rush her.

Ryo let out a laugh at his aunt's face, followed by Dee. Elena glared at the two of them.

With a cocky grin, Dee said to her, "That's my Uncle Hitoshi. Have you met him yet?"

"Hmmph!" came from Elena and then rolled her eyes when she looked at Hitoshi.

"Bikky, you're the one who wanted to goldfish scoop, so you go first," said Hitoshi as Elena joined them.

Ryo started to laugh more. "And here I thought your Uncle Kennosuke was my aunt's match."

"Uncle Hitoshi isn't as loud or can talk as fast as Uncle Kennosuke, but he's very strong-minded," Dafydd said with an amused smile.

"I did get to realize that during our time with him," Dee said.

"Kennosuke, come over here and help me get this group in line," Hitoshi called to his nephew.

With a laugh, Kennosuke came over to stand next to Hitoshi. "Did I ever tell everyone that Uncle Hitoshi always was my role model?"

"That explains everything," Takahiro exclaimed with a laugh.

"Who else wants to play?" Hitoshi asked.

"Wanna goldfish scoop, Dafydd?" Dee asked.

"Sure. If you win a goldfish, I could take it back to Nagoya if Ryo won't let you keep it in the penthouse past Sunday."

"Don't start, Dafydd," Ryo warned him.

"Kiyoshi, Tatsuya, come on and let's win lots of goldfish for Uncle Daisuke," Dafydd called out to his boys.

"Me too!" Kento called out. "Cousins Dee and Ryo need goldfish!" He jumped up and down, clapping his hands.

"I wanna fish with Momma and Daddy," Dani exclaimed.

"Then come over here," Hitoshi said with a smile. "Aya and Stefen, you too."

Hitoshi ended up supervising the six children at one end of the 'goldfish pond', while Elena, Rick, Bikky, Dee, Dafydd, Kumi, Saburo and Yoshio had the other end of it.

Maria was content to watch, having Darin in his stroller. Sakura and Kyoshii stood next to her, Kiyoshii getting the fun on video. Ryo stood away from them, filming from a different angle. Akira stood by Ryo with Ryoko in a stroller. Takahiro went into the shop, walking around the players, cheering them on. Hoshi was giggling and decided to join Takahiro. Shigeru was also walking around, getting more video of everyone.

Kiyoshi, Rick and Yoshio ended up walking away with goldfish, much to everyone's amusement. Stefen and Dani were excited because they were "taking home Japanese goldfish". Even more amusing to the Japanese in the group, Dani was already talking about making a pond in their yard to put them, so they would grow big like the ones they saw in the Japanese Garden in Prospect Park.

"You know what she really means," Elena asked Rick.

"Yup. That I'm going to build it."

"First let's hope we can get this damn fish home alive," Elena remarked.

"We'll get our fish home," Yoshio said.

"I have no choice but to get this one home," said Dafydd. "And then dig out the fishbowl from the basement. Momo's going shoot us," he added and laughed, looking down at his son. Speaking in Japanese, he said, "Remember, Kiyoshi, you have to share the fish with your brother. Just like we all share Michi."

"Michi likes you better, Papa," Tatsuya said with a pout.

"That's not true," Dafydd said. "That's only because I feed Michi. If you start to feed her, she'll come to you first."

"Really?" Kiyoshi asked in English.

"Really," Dafydd said, also switching to English, but speaking slower. "But for now, I want the two of you to decide on a name for the goldfish."

"Okay, Papa," both boys said in unison.

Dee shook his head as he walked behind his twin and nephews with Ryo, the two men taking charge of the baby strollers. "It still scares me when they do that. And they do it a lot." He looked down at the babies in their strollers. "Something tells me I should get used to it, just in case these two are like that."

"I know what you mean," Ryo said, "It is kinda scary, but pretty cute too."

"Yeah, it is," Dee had to agree.

When they got to the end of the shopping street, they went over to the Don Quijote a couple of blocks away. Most of the Japanese in the group waited outside, while Dee and Ryo took Maria, Rick and Elena into the store. The Japanese relatives offered to keep Darin and Ryoko with them. Stefen and Dani seemed to have fun with the other children, so Dafydd offered to watch them and let them play with the other children. Kento and Aya spoke English, so there was communication with Stefen and Dani, but Kiyoshi and Tatsuya were almost left out, but managed to still somehow communicate with the American children between their limited English, hand gestures and expressions. Saburo and Hitoshi decided they needed some snacks and Bikky joined the two men on that expedition in the store.

Dee and Ryo with their group didn't stay in the store too long. A quick tour of the 7 floors, and most of the time spent in the store was in the food section. When they came out of the store, Hitoshi came up to them. Since he had gone just to the snack section with Saburo and Bikky, the three were out of the store sooner than the other group and explored the nearby area while they waited.

Pointing to a corner shop across the street, Hitoshi said, "That shop sells bento and futomaki to go, and around the corner is a Lawson's."

Akira joined them and added, "There is a nice garden that is part of the Sensōji complex down the street. We can buy bento and drinks between both stores and have a picnic."

"Oh, I think I like that idea," Ryo said. "We got snacks in Donki for the day but didn't think of drinks. We figured there should be vending machines along the way."

"I like that idea too. And after, we can walk through Sensōji to the pier," suggested Dee.

Which is what they did. After buying food and drinks between the two stores, they walked the block to the garden. It was a lovely little garden with ponds tucked behind the five-story pagoda of the Sensōji temple. They found a spot of grass facing the pond to enjoy their lunch. They also took the time to feed Darin and Ryoko. Then they ventured on, taking photos with the various buildings of the famous temple behind them.

There were many photos taken that day of Dee with Maria, Saburo, Yoshio and Dafydd.


As they continued their walk from the garden to the rest of the temple complex, Dee and Dafydd started talking about their jobs. Dafydd told Dee and Ryo about the most common offenses he ends up investigating.

"We do get a lot of hentai," said Dafydd

Bikky's eyes got wide as he stared up at Dafydd. "Hentai? Like tentacles and shit?"

Dee and Ryo stared at each other, and Dafydd looked at Bikky with an amused grin.

Both Dee and Ryo looked at Maria, Sakura and Akira having a conversation as they walked several feet behind them, and not appearing to hear what was being said. Dee let out a breath of relief.

"I blame you, you know," Ryo said to Dee.

"What?!" Dee exclaimed. "I have it password locked." He glared at Ryo. "It's not like you never watched it with me."

Bikky perked up more as he gazed at his Dads. "We have hentai in the house? Cool!"

"See? It's not my fault," Dee commented, looking smug. "I blame that Chinese kid."

"You don't really like Lai, don't you?" Bikky asked. "Why?"

Dee shrugged. "Other than he's weird?" he asked.

Ryo stared at Dee, raising an eyebrow. Dee raised his hands in defense. "I don't hate him. I just get weird vibes from that kid. There's just something… odd about him. He gives me the creeps for some reason. But beside that, it could also be that at his age, he owns a business that is dangerous, and hires minors. Especially my minor son."

"He was just helping me out, Dad," Bikky defended.

"That's nice," Ryo jumped in, coming to Dee's defense. "If he wanted to help you, he could have had you do something around the office."

Bikky shrugged. "He doesn't have an office. He runs the agency out of his house."

"What type of business does this kid have?" Dafydd asked in curiosity. "And how old is he?"

"He's 19," Ryo replied, "and his parents are super rich."

"And his family gave him money to start his own business for his 18th birthday," Bikky said.

"And you'll be lucky you're getting a car for your 18th birthday," Dee snapped, knowing where his son was going with that.

"Hopefully for your 18th birthday, we'll be giving you college tuition for the college of your choice," said Ryo. "When you graduate from college, you'll have your trust fund to do whatever you want. If it includes starting your own business, you'll have our support."

Dee nodded. "As long as you don't hire minors for dangerous positions," he added.

"Geez, I won't," Bikky remarked. "Okay?"

Ryo looked at Dee, who nodded. "Okay," he said.

Looking back at Dafydd, Bikky asked, "What about hentai?"

"Bikky!" Ryo exclaimed, exasperated. "There are no tentacle monsters in Japan."

Dafydd started to laugh. "It's not like the anime," he explained. "Hentai is pervert. They keep me busy while I'm undercover."

"Oh." Bikky sounded almost disappointed. Then he started to grin. "So what you're saying is that they are my hentai-dads?" he asked, pointed to his fathers.

"For fuck's sake, Bikky," Dee groaned.

"Dee!" Ryo admonished him, "Language."

"Yeah, like the kid never heard it before," Dee said. "And don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing."

"Yeah, I thought it, and kept it to just that." He gazed down at the twins in their strollers. "You two better not be picking up words from your Daddy's and big brother's vocabulary."

Ryo continued to watch his infant son and daughter for a moment and started to laugh. "I'm taking blowing bubbles as a yes," Ryo quipped, smiling down at the babies.

"What does he mean by that?" Dafydd asked. "Why did he call you that?" He asked Bikky, "Is it because they watch hentai?"

Bikky started to laugh. "Nah. At first I called Dee that when we first met, and I meant it."

Ryo gave Dafydd and Momo a crooked smile. "When I first took Bikky in, he felt threatened by Dee's attraction to me." Ryo glanced at Bikky. "I also think that because of his environment at the time, he was somewhat homophobic."

"I was," Bikky admitted. He smiled at Dee. "But because of the two of you, I learned that love is love and nothing else matters. Grandma also helped in me seeing that." He looked at Dafydd. "But then they became my perv-dads."

"It's a term of affection," Dee said, smiling. "Except that I don't really expect others to understand that, so it's best we really do keep this between us. Especially here in Japan."

Dafydd started to laugh. "Our family will understand just fine. We have weird affections that others may not understand too, so you all fit right in," Dafydd said.


While walking down Nakamise toward Kaminarimon Dori, they came across a stall selling kitchen items, including aprons. In front of the stall were a couple of mannequins displaying aprons for both men and women, with chef hats. The men's apron and hat was maroon and in gold stitching the apron said, "Daisuke The Samurai of the Kitchen" and the hat had "Samurai Daisuke".

Maria noticed it first and started to giggle. She grabbed onto Dee's arm and exclaimed, "Oh, I have to buy that for you."

"I thought I'm buying you stuff this weekend, Mom?" Dee asked.

"This is something that I just have to buy for you," and she pointed to the apron.

"Oh," Dee said and laughed.

"I love it," Ryo exclaimed, also laughing.

"Can we split the cost, Maria?" Saburo asked.

With a big, warm smile Maria looked at Saburo and said, "I think that is a perfect idea."

And Dee had no choice but to allow his mother and father to buy the apron, and to his chagrin, the hat for him.


Promenade Daiba

Daiba, Minato City, Tokyo

Japan

Carol, Elina, Ayaka, Tsukiko and Momo met everyone around 5:00. It was starting to get dark, and there were more lights than Dee remembered from their time there before leaving for their road trip. There were holiday light displays starting to come on around the promenade, and on the boardwalks along Decks and Aqua City, the two malls parallel to Odaiba Seaside Park. They group waited for the women on the promenade near the Hilton entrance which had an entrance to the Daiba train station.

When Dafydd got a text from Momo that the train they were on was going over the Rainbow Bridge, the group left Aqua City and went to that spot, where Dafydd replied they would be waiting.

A very happy small group of women came from out of the Hilton. They were talking and laughing. It was obvious the five women had a great time. It looked like they even did some shopping.

"I don't think we have to ask if you had a good time," Takahiro stated with a smile.

"Yeah, we heard you coming up the stairs from the train station," Hitoshi teased.

"You did not!" Tsukiko exclaimed to her uncle.

"Oh, I hope not," said Carol.

"I still have to ask," Akira said with a grin. "Did you have a good time?"

"We had an awesome time!" Carol exclaimed.

"Oh my God! I don't think I had so much fun in a long time. This definitely was better than spa day," Elina said. "Dee, you have some amazing sisters, and Ryo, the same about your cousin."

"She's my sister-in-law now," Ryo said with a laugh, "but yeah, I also still see her as my cousin, only not so distant anymore."

"That makes me happy, Ryo. The same with me, brother-in-law," Momo said. "I think we showed Carol and Elina a great time."

"What did you buy now?" Dafydd asked her.

Momo held up a big shopping bag that obviously had several other bags. "Manga!" she exclaimed. "Doujinshi, actually. And we went into that store near Akiba station with the cutest clothes."

"I tried to stop them, but they bought things for Carol and me," Elina said, slightly embarrassed.

"But you had fun once you realized you had no choice," Tsukiko said to her.

"Yes, I did. Thank you again so much."

"Did you see TKY52?" Dee asked the group.

"We did!" Carol exclaimed. "My goodness that was fun! Ayaka was with us and only a couple of people noticed her. We had so much fun."

"We had really good seats too," Elina said. "I didn't think I would enjoy the show so much, but I loved it. I have no idea what they were singing, but I think I'm a fan now."

"It probably helped having one of the original members of the group watching the show with you," Ryo teased.

"Then Ayaka got us backstage and met some of the girls," Carol said.

"Carol and Elina could have met more, but we had to get to the station and head here," Tsukiko explained.

"I'm fine with who we met, and not complaining. This was so much better than I thought when I was hoping we could see them," Carol gushed.

"I'm glad everyone had so much fun," Maria said.

"How was your day, Mama-san?" Tsukiko asked as the group made their way toward the Statue of Liberty, which was at the end of the promenade.

"I had a wonderful time. After Tokyo Tower, we went to that new Sky Tree, and then walked around Asakusa," Maria said.

"Maria and I bought something for Daisuke," Saburo said.

"What did you get?" Ayaka asked Dee.

"I'll show you on the bus, because I don't want to dig it out now. We also did some shopping today," Dee replied. "Then we all managed to get on the Himiko for the trip here."

"I really enjoyed that boat ride," Maria said. "Then we had time to walk around both malls here. And Bikky made sure I saw the Takoyaki Museum."

"Bikky made sure everybody saw the Takoyaki Museum," Ryo remarked and laughed.

"It is a very good place," Kyoshii commented. "The takoyaki is almost as good as Osaka with a great setup."

Carol smiled at him. "I'm really glad you liked it, Kyoshii-san. It's not Osaka, but it's still fun and the takoyaki is very good."

"I agree," Hitoshi said.

"I hope you still have appetites for dinner," Elina said.

"And you didn't snack?" Dee asked.

"We did, but we worked it all off during the show," Elina replied.

"We didn't have any shows to get excited at, but we did a lot of walking," said Ryo. "Besides, we just had bento for lunch."

"We had a nice picnic in the garden at Sensōji," Elena said.

"I know my family, so you all got just one bento each and that's it?" Tsukiko asked.

"No, of course not. They also sold futomaki and onigiri. Some extras were picked up that were favorites for some of us, and to share with our New York guests," Yoshio replied. "We did have to restrain Uncle Hitoshi."

"I managed to hold him back," Takahiro remarked and laughed. "To be fair, there was still plenty of walking between there and the Takoyaki Museum."

"We did get snacks on the boat here," Dafydd added with a laugh. "But we were walking around here, too."

"We are going to take some photos with you five at the Statue of Liberty and then head over to the restaurant in Decks," Ryo said.


Not long after they started to get food from the buffet, Nobu, Takehide and Tsubasa arrived from work to join in for dinner. During their meal, both Darin and Ryoko started to grab for food. Earlier when they were eating takoyaki, they had to give the babies one to lick and play with.

Dee looked around at everyone having dinner and said to Ryo, "I have an idea. Since we have Mother and my fathers in Tokyo, and your grandmother will be back on Sunday, why don't we try solid food Sunday morning?"

"I think that's a great idea. We have almost all the important people here," said Ryo. "I'll call my grandmother tonight in case they want to video in. It's going to be easier having one video instead of several. And I know your fathers would love to be part of it, plus your twin brother."

"What are you talking about?" Maria asked, from her seat next to Dee, turning her attention from talking to Dee's great uncles.

"We going to feed solids to Darin and Ryoko Sunday morning," Dee said loud enough for everyone to hear. "It's a good time, having Mother, my fathers, our grandmothers and Dafydd."

"You do plan to be back in Tokyo Sunday, right Obāsan?" Ryo asked.

"Yes. Nobu and I will be here and make sure everyone gets to Haneda in time for their flight that evening," Akira replied. "I was hoping we could do that while we have our New York guests here."

"Then it's a plan," Ryo stated.

Sakura hugged Ryoko, who she had in her lap and giggled with glee. "We get to see you have your first solid meal, akachan. I'm so happy!"

The others in Dee's family who would be part of it agreed. Dee also promised to send videos to those who were leaving before Sunday.

After dinner, they walked around the boardwalks along the two malls, enjoying the holiday lighting and taking photos at the various spots set up for pictures, including the couples standing behind a lit heart and a holiday in Odaiba message, with the Rainbow Bridge in view behind them.

After some gazing out at Tokyo Bay, with the Rainbow Bridge now bathed in colorful lights, and Minato, including Tokyo Tower, it was time to get on the bus. Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to some of the group. The bus stopped at Tokyo Station so Takahiro, Shigeru, Tsukiko, Ayaka, Hitoshi and Kyoshii could get the train back to Nagoya. It was an emotional time in the station for those who were not going to see them again the following week.

When the bus stopped at the hotel, Akira, Nobu, Hoshi, Tsubasa and Kumi, and Aya and Kento stayed on the bus to go back to Kamakura. Akira wished the New Yorkers to have a great day on Saturday and will be seeing them on Sunday.