Amai Shi
Chapter 1: A Friendly Shocker
Written By AnimayWriteY0
Summertime has arrived and things are heating up in Japan, the dreaded hot air, the blurry horizon from afar, and of course a good fresh vacation for most of the citizens. It's late and a young girl name Himiko Shibumi has traveled from another state back to her home country and city, Kyoto Japan to visit her grandmother and meeting another girl who she grew fond of. Himiko met this girl online and spent a good half of a year getting to know the girl. Now being best friends and wanting to spend their time together for summer vacation, Himiko wishes nothing more than to add another memory she would hold dear in her life. However, their meeting will leave them with astonishing results.
After a very long airplane trip from America to Japan. Himiko is currently at a subway station preparing to get on the train set on course near the location where she'll meet her friend for the first time. Her excitement outweighs her nervous demeanor the moment she saw the train traveling towards her station. Once she paid the fare the bubbly brunette looked for a suitable place to sit. There's so many people crowding the train section she's in.
It's quite difficult to maneuver herself as she delicately moves by in order to not cause any trouble by not budging into others. Luckily all the way to the end there's a seat for two at the far back of the Train Section 3. Having asked a few people to move with a polite and formal tone, the other passengers allowed her request giving room for her. Once she had made it to the seats, Himiko sat down and checked her phone to see whether or not her friend had returned a reply. Her last message she sent being an hour ago during her last few minutes on the plane. As expected, her friend replied 5 messages about how excited she is to meet her. Himiko let out a slight chuckle and responded her that she'll be at Kyoto in about 3 hours.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm here in Japan, my home and what's more I can actually meet with my friend! This is going to be great!" Himiko thought with the brightest smile she could muster.
With every passing minute Himiko's hands are shaking with excitement. She felt much more relaxed knowing she's not alone with this trip. She felt a comforting pat on the head from a certain person sitting next to her. Then in a blink of an eye the train began to slow down reaching the destination where Himiko will meet with her friend. The train stopped; the doors open as the citizens in the train start trailing out to leave their section. The moment Himiko stepped out of the train and made it on Kyoto's train station. The brunette looked around to see if her friend arrived. To her glee she spots a young girl waving at her direction and hearing her name being called out. That's it! This is the girl who she is friends with online.
With no time to spare Himiko ecstatically ran to her to do a proper greeting. "Hi Kanatoshi San!" Himiko waved back as she watched Kanatoshi San ran straight at her with the same momentum. The red-haired girl with twin ponytails stopped 10 feet away from Himiko just to catch her breath. "Oh, Shibumi san! I can't believe you came! Oh...I shouldn't have ran... "Kanatoshi San tries her best to catch her breath and was given an unopened bottled water by a toothy smiling Himiko.
Himiko chuckled as she bowed to her, Miyazu did the same as well to show her equal respect. Miyazu wanted to start their time together with a list she brought with her. Himiko even more surprised that despite how excited she was to meet Miyazu, Miyazu is even more exited she even made a huge list she planned for tonight's hang out. However, a firm "no" came from behind Himiko as Miyazu tilt her head to see who is responsible for that abrupt decline, the bashful red head looked. A tall figure stepped out of the train with 2 rolling suitcases on his hands, with a big backpack hanging awkwardly on his back. The 6'1 feet tall young man with a deathly looking stern glare continued his reasons to not have Himiko go and do things with her friend at such a late evening.
"I believe it's unnecessary to do that with very little time we have since it took a while getting here…Himiko you should know better than to go out at night like this? Wait for tomorrow morning…" The angry looking man shook his head in expostulation while Himiko sheepishly laughs as she totally forgot.
The blank red head just stood there blinking twice and then notices something coming from that scary looking fellow. "Himiko?...Why did you call her by her first name? Are you like her boyfriend?…" She looked intently at the young man. But she can tell he looked a tad bit older than her. Which made her feel extremely uncomfortable thinking he may be her dad or uncle.
Himiko wave her hand rejecting that idea as she simply explained. "No no Kanatoshi San. This is my onii chan, Sanada Shibumi!"
"Ohh! So...you brought your brother with you?...I didn't know that." Disappointed thinking it's just going to be Himiko but at least having someone other than her grandmother to keep her company is okay in her books. Though she did feel a huge sense of tension building up between her and Sanada.
The stern eyed brother slowly sets his sights on the obviously nervous twin tail red head. "Yeah?" He stated completely transfixed on this friend of Himiko "Is that really okay for you to stare at me as if I am some sort of serial killer?"
With that one comment Miyazu totally wide-eyed jumped and held Himiko by the arm completely frightened at such a claim but Himiko laughed. Miyazu slowly began to feel irritated at how much Himiko sudden burst of laughter became more annoying than it already is after the first ten seconds. Himiko pointed out the joke. Sanada also laughed and let out a teasing wink letting her know that both of them were in on that joke just to get a reaction out of the confused Miyazu.
"What's so funny? Seriously how can you laugh at that when it's not funny at all!?" Sporting a pulsing tick mark on her left forehead as a pouting Miyazu crosses her arms disapprovingly at their immature behavior.
Himiko trying her best to stop her contagious laughter from ever continuing while she drank some water. Once composed she explained her brother's upbringing of coming too. "Hehehe don't worry he's just playing with you, but it is a given because my brother is a police officer from our old home."
That revelation made the already shocked Miyazu lose her cool as she's stunned at the thought of her having a cop for a brother. "Ehhhhhhhh?!" The rightfully worried red head jumped and began to feel cautious knowing full well that if Sanada were to see her as a threat to his sister, then there's a good chance, she'll be put into a slammer for it. After such an interesting interaction with this Miyazu girl, Sanada checked his wristwatch. "But seriously, it's getting pretty late, so we'll need to get to our grandmother by 8:30 pm in Arashiyama district of Kyoto Himiko. Also, I have a big day tomorrow since I already made an appointment about working as a private detective in one of Kyoto's police departments which is about 20 miles away from our grandmother's home."
Awwwww okay Onii-chan… The brunette sighed and turned to face her friend with a disappointed look on her face. "I'm sorry but maybe tomorrow when Onii-chan is busy, we can hang out downtown. Will that be alright Kanatoshi San?!"
Clearly saddened that she's unable to get a chance to spend at least an hour with Himiko, Miyazu just nodded despite her obviously disappointed look. "I guess...I just hope we get to the things on this list…"
Himiko gave the pouting red head a wink and chuckles while giving her a thumbs up. "We will! I promise, tomorrow at 9:50 am downtown Kyoto by Nishiki Market okay? Me and onii-chan needed to check up on our grandmother and make up some time." With that the Shibumi siblings glanced at one another and nodded simultaneously.
"Okie Dokie, well um have a good night you two. Don't be a stranger Himiko Chan!" Miyazu bows for the last time and proceed to go the other direction. Having given the opportunity to actually see Himiko for the first time, she felt quite satisfied.
[7:14 P.M. At Sanjo Dori between Daikokuya and Kyotosagano P.O.]
The two siblings are currently strolling through the street of Sanjo Dori, this is by far the busiest street they have to deal with due to the obviously abundant restaurants, cosmetics and general shopping outlets residing to this specific location. Unfortunately for the siblings this is the primary destination road they have to by-pass in order to get to their grandmother's residential home. With that, they needed to budge through a couple of people ranging men in suits, local people, students out of schools, and most annoying of them all, the damn tourists who come here to sight see and experience Kyoto's night life. Sanada finally let out his built-up frustration every time someone pushes him away just to get through.
"This is ridiculous! How on earth are there so many people at a time like this, especially on a freaking Wednesday?!" Himiko chimes in with a teasing smirk. "Onii-chan don't be a grump! Did you know that Arashiyama get very busy at night especially on a Wednesday? You know those % off deals and happy hours?" The stern eyed big brother took a big sigh and just silently moves along with his troublesome sister of his. "You know I always wondered why you're so rambunctious tonight? Is it the thought of spending your next day with that girl this…Miyazu Kanatoshi?" The way her brother spoke about Miyazu have really put Himiko on the defensive. "Onii-Chan sometimes I wish you didn't have to judge anyone based on the way they interact with me." She looked down feeling dejected at the thought of her brother still being overprotective of her. "I'm no longer a toddler anymore…" Sanada side eyed
Himiko narrowing his eyes trying the best he could to not push her buttons. "But you do understand that without you I wouldn't be alive today…" Sanada stated dryly as he subtly coughs under his breath. She turns to her big brother giving him a sad smile appreciating what he had done for her but now that's over. "I know that it's just, we should be relaxing and not stressing too much once we're back home here. Besides, the only person who deserves a vacation is you onii-chan."
Despite those kind words coming from his little sister, Sanada just scoffs at the thought of relaxing. "If I did, then I'll get sloppy, and when I get sloppy, I get desperate, and when I get desperate, I lose myself and make a huge mistake that would put you in danger." The glaring brother said while continuing to pass through more citizens blocking their path. Himiko now feeling gloomy kept herself from asking her brother any questions that may further irritate him. But then her hair got ruffled by her brother as she let out a big "moe" sound which causes a few eyes to turn at their direction. "See what you did Onii-chan?!" She whispered annoyingly.
Her brother didn't respond as he pat her on the head. "Ehh, it's fine lil sis." The brother still keeping his straight face from bursting out of laughter but internally it's a whole different story as the older brother is enjoying his time messing with his little sister in a wholesome way. Sanada caught an eye of a vacant taxi car and decided to take a quick short cut out of the sea of people blocking their path halfway. "Come on Himiko we're riding on this taxi to get home." With that Sanada paid for the fare and asked the driver to take them to the set destination. And so, Sanada and Himiko are off going straight to their grandmothers via taxi drop off.
Sanada slowly dozes off while Himiko is texting on her phone responding to Miyazu's updated replies, her usual excited expression has kept Sanada from napping, and because of this the tired Sanada has no choice but to do small talk with her. The glaring older brother asked Himiko about Miyazu. "How often do you have to wait for her to reply back from that phone of yours?" Himiko hums while doing a little happy head tilt until she answers him bluntly. "As long as we get there at grandma's house." The stern eyed young man rolled his eyes while placing his elbow on the armrest and nonchalantly ask his sister another question that actually caused her to stop texting. "I find it strange that you seemed so surprised to see her in person, I always thought she gave you a picture of her during your text sessions with Miyazu…"
Having heard nothing from her, he turns to check up on her only to see a hideous looking character screaming straight at him that causes Sanada to yell like a total sissy which ultimately made the driver of the taxi laugh alongside Himiko. Sanada just sat there with a huge tick mark on his head as his eyes twitch due to the sheer embarrassment he felt from that high pitched scream. "I hate you Himiko…" The bubbly younger sister giggles while stating her claim. "No, you don't hehe. Even if you do, you'd never leave me alone anyway!" The giggling brunette then stick her tongue out at her flustered big brother enjoying the payback she gave him for that hair ruffling. Once things calmed down, the stern eyed brother couldn't help but question some more about the mysterious red head. "Seriously though Himiko, did she ever show you what she looked like on one of your text sessions?" Himiko shook her head and thought nothing of it. "No, but to be fair I feel like she's more of a shy person. I mean if I were in her shoes, I'd do the same thing Onii-chan because you may never know who is behind the other line."
And from that response Sanada snaps his fingers. "And that's the reason why I am questioning it. Clearly, she didn't want you to know what she's like, but she sure does enjoy hearing you talk about yourself lil sis. Doesn't that sound one-sided Himiko?" Himiko raises an eyebrow and shrugs. "I guess, but we saw her earlier and she looked perfectly normal to me." Sanada sighed while resting on the back seat. "Alright, I'll give her a chance but only because it's to make you happy sis." Himiko gave a toothy grin. "You're the best Onii-chan!" With that the smaller sibling sat at the other side checking out the colorful neon lights. "Five more miles before reaching your destination." The taxi driver notified while Sanada nods. "Alright, we're close to see what our grandmother's like…" Sanada said with a hint of worry and uncertainty.
To Be Continued.