Amai Shi

Chapter 2: Test Day

Written by AnimayWriteY0

As the two siblings are on their way to their grandmother's home by riding a taxi, Himiko looked on the side to view the beautiful scenery of Kyoto's sightseeing attractions. As for Sanada, he has been asleep for the whole drive due to his preparation of moving back home. Though it has been a while for them to finally get the chance to actually live in their home place. It was all unplanned due to Himiko's friend, Kanatoshi San. However, it's a good idea either way, to Himiko she wanted to meet her new friend while Sanada have plans of his own regarding to a certain case that made him want to investigate regarding to a couple of missing persons back at USA, not only that he just wants to be there for their grandmother Sajime Shibumi to make up for lost time.

For a brief moment the Taxi stopped indicating that they have arrived at their destination, Sanada woke up from the sudden stop and turned his head at the greenery, both him and his sister stepped out of the Taxi after Sanada gave the taxi driver 5,600 yen in tip for his services. Himiko is amazed that they are at the heart of Arashiyama. "Brother! We're here, we're finally home!" Himiko's eyes sparkled like the beautiful lights that shine over the skyscrapers of Arashiyama and smelling the delicious aroma of freshly cooked street food near their location.

Himiko's joyfulness led to Sanada nodding as he addresses his sister to follow him to their grandmother's home district near Arashiyama. Checking his phone, he starts to follow the way using the GPS to guide them there. As they walked, they noticed that the crowd is clearly visible and shockingly still overcrowded like a herd of cattle. They both forgot that Arashiyama is one of the most visited places for tourism. Once again, they have no choice but to try moving through and around the populated gathering. Sanada luckily found the house after he and his sister managed through. "Hmm that must be the district prefecture our grandmother resides in." The two siblings walked past each house checking the address number to see which one matches the set address on Sanada's gps app from his phone.

After seeing the set number Sanada stops to check out the house. "This must be it...Kyoto-shi Nishikyo Ku." His expression is stunned as he realized the house in front of him and Himiko is a two story. Judging by the size, it seems to be estimated around 2,500 square feet from first to second floor. "Goodness I never knew our grandmother actually owned such a house like that" The stern eyed brother just stood there in awe while Himiko rolled her eyes and shoulder budge him to get his attention.

"Of course! She's a registered nurse near any local hospitals within the district, big brother! Oh, look there's a toy store at the other si-" Before Himiko finishes her sentence and wanting to check out the shop, Sanada interrupted stoically and firmly as he reminds her about his plans for tomorrow. He needs the remaining time to finish his application to join the police force in Kyoto, Japan.

"It's time to come inside and meet our grandmother, she must have been worried for us being this late on our scheduled arrival." Sanada bluntly stated wasting no time to enter the house. "Did she actually buy this house all on her own?...For some reason it felt like she knew we would come to live with her…" Sanada thought feeling pretty paranoid at the thought. But overall, it's still a welcoming place regardless.

Himiko pouted but already knew that it's time to get some well-deserved rest from such a grueling long-distance travel. Sanada and Himiko stood by the door as Sanada start knocking on the door hoping his grandmother is awake to hear it. To their relief, the door opens revealing an elderly woman close to her early sixties wearing a white blouse shirt, long white skirt that matches with her hair black with a bit of gray as she welcomed both her grandchildren in her domain.

Before they could put away their shoes and getting ready to properly introduce their grandmother, they both suddenly felt an embrace right out of nowhere. They glance at their grandmother who obviously couldn't contain her happiness to see them in person. Noticing that Sanada couldn't breathe, she let both of them go and smiles in pure delight as she bows, the two siblings did theirs in return. As soon as Sanada and Himiko get settled into their respective rooms. Sajime informs the two siblings to come to the dining room for supper tonight.

"Okay Sanada, Himiko once you two are done unpacking I like you two to come down and have some of my homemade beef stew tonight." Sajime hums as she prepares the table for her two grand kids to dine on putting a clean sheet of cloth over the decorative wooden table with spotless plates on each side near the chairs. Sajime then place a huge bowl of beef soup at the center of the table with small bowls of rice placed beside the empty flat plates for the soup. Once everything is neatly set up, Sajime await her grand kids.

"Thank you, grandmother I'll be at the dining room, in a few." His loud voice can be heard from all the way to the living room as his grandmother took notice and gave him the okay response. Himiko is the first to arrive with just a simple t-shirt and a very frilly short skirt, along with her hair tied to a reverse ponytail. Seeing Himiko in that outfit, Sajime raises an eye brow to such a revealing look to such an innocent girl. "Himiko sweetheart, why on earth would you wear something like that?" The young girl after sitting on her chair immediately respond. "It's my type of style in my opinion, it's much more comfortable than the ones my big brother offered, they are just easy to walk around with. Plus, I'm here at home." Himiko hums while Sajime gave her a dead pan look as she just brushes off Himiko's choice in attire for another time.

"Where's your brother? He sure is taking his sweet time up there?" And then on queue, Sanada enters in wearing just a skintight black tank top and dark camouflage cargo shorts. "Not you too Sanada!" Sajime laments with a gaping mouth and horrified expression. Sanada scratches his back hair and state exactly the same reason. "What? It's just comfortable, I don't see anything wrong with this." This in turn have driven Sajime into a state of depression while she just welcomes them to her home cooked food.

Soon enough after such an awkward moment the three enjoyed their time together as a family as the night's still young. Himiko with excitement told her grandmother about her first meeting with Kanatoshi San. Visibly intrigued Sajime asked her granddaughter a bit more of Miyazu's history and the day they met in the first place. Unfortunately, all Himiko could say is how they met online from a fairly popular social media. The brunette did mention about how Miyazu was surprised that her brother came along for the trip. A curious Sanada also wondered why she would be feeling that way. Since in his logic, having someone who is vulnerable like his sister traveling so long and far on her own without protection is ludicrous. Sajime points out that it may be her excitement to meet Himiko that she's unaware of anyone coming as well. Suddenly both Sajime and Sanada heard a sheepish chuckle as both of them turned their attention towards Himiko who is obviously sporting a nervous smile.

"W-well you see I haven't told Kanatoshi-San about bringing Sanada with me ahead of time even before we got on the plane. So that's the reason she reacted like that upon our very first in person meeting." Her guilty smile only fueled the annoyance of Sanada as he decides to ask Himiko to go back in her room so he can have a somewhat serious conversation with their grandmother.

As Himiko finishes up her meal, she took the dirty plates and proceed to clean them before going to bed, so her grandmother won't have to do a lot of chore duties after supper. As soon as she's done, she went straight into her room and laid on her new bed resting for the next day to come. Now having Sanada and Sajime alone to have their talk, Sajime looks down in utter shame knowing full well where this conversation is going to start. Fully aware of his grandmother's guilt of abandonment Sanada just gave a big sigh as he does his best not to let his emotions get the better of his better judgment. "Grandmother...despite not being there in our lives I can't help but feel bad about your...uhhh situation regarding to grandpa…" Sanada tries his best to find the right words without hurt his grandmothers' feelings. "But in all honesty, you could have at least made your presence known…" The sad elderly woman looked up at her grandson and nodded.

"You're right, I should have been there when you needed it the most...I can't imagine the pain and suffering you must have gone through just to survive on your own with your sister whose just been born.,." Not wanting to bring up old wounds but very curious on how her grandson manage to pull through at such impossible odds to overcome. Sanada went to the living room to pick up his shoulder bag and takes out a particularly worn-out notebook with a signature of Sanada's name and title that vaguely says. "Sanada's Personal Journal." Sanada glared directly at the notebook feeling the weight of the brutal journey he had to go through to survive with his sister. "This journal should tell you exactly what my life was. I've started writing this when I turned six, a year after our mother passed away…if you see my writing, you could tell how much I had to grow at an exponential rate in order to thrive…" The moment Sajime skim through the pages and read parts of the events of Sanada's life with Himiko, Sajime appalled expression is enough to know the type of hellish life he and Himiko had to go through to get this far in life.

Sanada slowly took the journal away from his grandmother while his face turned solemn. "Despite all that, I still manage to pull though because this journal is one of the reasons why I held on in the first place. To remind myself exactly why I had to keep pushing forward. Not only that, without Himiko being my first priority I would have ended my life on the spot." The stern eyed young man sighs while looking directly at his grandmother. "Unlike our bastard father, at least you tried to contact us figuring out where we were grandmother. Keeping in touch with our in-phone conversation with me. Showing that you do care for us. That's enough for me to give you a chance."

Before he could get up, Sanada is met with Sajime hugging her grandson is sheer gratitude as tears begin to stream down her face. "Thank you! Thank you! I'm so sorry I wasn't there to look after you and little Himiko during that time! If it wasn't for the things that had happened to me, I would have tried my absolute best to bring you back home!" Sanada who tried his best to stay stoic can't help but shed a single tear from his left eye and gave his grandmother a gentle hug in return. "Grandmother...I forgive you…" After that the two pushed away to get some breathing room. As soon as Sajime wiped the remaining tear off her face she proceeds to let her grandson get some rest. "Alright sweetie, you should probably get yourself ready for the big test tomorrow!" And so, the young glaring man did just that, getting his well-deserved rest to prepare his big day tomorrow.

The next morning, Sanada has already dressed up in a formal attire getting ready for his appointment of hire. Meanwhile Himiko and Sajime have made exquisite bento lunches for them to eat for the day. Sanada rushes downstairs and immediately put his shoes on as Sajime hands him his bento in a properly wrapped handkerchief. Sanada bows and thanks his grandmother as the prepared Sanada rushes outside to get on a bus that has the best route to his traveling destination, Kyoto Uryo Ward Police Department or K.U.W.P.D. for short. Once he's in the bus, he checked the distance and time it takes to get there, after seeing the result he's confident that he'll get there 20 minutes early. With that sufficient time Sanada began to snooze getting that extra energy boost for this job position.

[At Arashiyama Karasame subway line station]

Himiko and Sajime are currently walking through the neighboring outskirts of Arashiyama and arrived at Arashiyama Station where public transportation mostly resides in. It's also an area filled with little shops where passer-by's sought for merchandise and a quick bite to eat. Himiko strolls happily taking her time to glance at some stuff that intrigues her, yet her grandmother made sure that their destination is Kyoto's Arisugawa, a place where it has more than what Arashiyama Station has to offer. To their luck there is already a bullet train on standby ahead of them, and it's the line route they intend to get on, the Karasama subway line. The two went on, took a seat and watches on at the view of the suburban homes, to little towns, and eventually the city of Kyoto from their roadside viewing mirror. It's buildings towering, the scenery from afar is beautiful, and the fact that this is Himiko's and her brother's birthplace brought back so much nostalgic memories when they were just little kids.

"I never thought I get the chance to see this place again but, my goodness it looks much bigger than it used to be back then!..." She gazed the entire streamline of manufactured towering buildings as her eyes lit to the shining flares of the building glass reflecting the light of the sun. "Time has passed by when you and Sanada were over at the other country, the whole city of Kyoto has had several redevelopment industrial projects to provide better living quality and add new tourist attractions." Sajime explained why watching her granddaughter having a great time.

After the train stopped at Sajime's and Himiko's desired place to drop themselves off, both of them had gotten off the bullet train and walked up the subway stairs going straight up to the city of Kyoto. Himiko looked up as she notices that the whole city is jammed packed and compact. Sajime holds her granddaughter's hand to help her guide them to the courtyard that is not too far from where they're currently at. So, they decided to have their lunch here as they talked about their experiences from their lives before she and her brother Sanada decided to come home. Life, work, struggles, even how both siblings love to hang out with however much time they have left. Sajime let out a comforting smile to know that she's glad both her grandchildren are holding up pretty well despite not having any parental guidance to assist their struggles. Once they have had their fill, they continue on their adventure of Kyoto, shopping for clothes, trying out new places they've never been to, even sampling some of Kyoto's most delicious street foods from convenient food stands and carts.

[At Kyoto Uryo Ward Police Department, three hours after Sanada's arrival]

On the other end of the way, Sanada sat still in a room where he awaits his results of his testing. His experience as a police officer from the other country has helped him get that familiar feel of what to do in order to work in the police force. Thinking back to his arrival to KUWPD, he must bow to the first person who stood by the door with respect, then he must do the same to the hiring representative who interviewed him about his interest of working here in this very building. It was one heck of a bag full of intensity all around, the number of formal gestures and correct way to speak has already mentally exhausted Sanada. The hard part is proving his eligibility of being a citizen in Japan, his copy of his birth certificate confirmed his legitimacy along with his history of police experience from his resume passed the overall experience needed to qualify. Not only that, but his language is also pretty fluent. His overall martial arts skills the only thing lacking but it was sufficient enough for the stern eyed soon-to-be detective to pass through. The only thing left for him to do is sit and wait for his call to see whether or not he qualifies.

Each passing minute the clock ticked and tocked creating more aggravation within Sanada's mental stress. He begins to sweat profusely, and his joint muscles become tightened. There are times where he felt as if he's going to fail because of his lacking performance from his last physical stress test. It's been such a long time since he has been physically fit due to his previous job working in a desk job. Though he does feel confident about the rules, objectives, roles, and even what prefectures an officer must work in. Then in a short blink he heard his name call. This is it the moment of truth, whether or not he is going to get hired he knows there are other departments he can try again. One of the representatives explained their results to Sanada, she said the two words that shocked him to the core. "You're hired" That moment has left Sanada silent, and eyes drenched with tears, and a huge mountain of doubt being washed off his shoulders, he did it. He is now a proud officer/detective of Kyoto's police force. Now the only thing left is to know what prefecture he'll be working in.

The representative has informed him further that he will be placed in the Kinki regional police bureau as well as being a freelance detective working in the first and second investigation division. So, he will be informed by e-mail, phone call, or text on any updates to cases that will soon be given to him. This also gives him the decision to work on cases that are left unsolved. This is a huge deal, not only will he be working with his new fellow crew mates he will be able to do some mystery solving since in his childhood he loves to read mystery genre books. Once he walked out of the building, he immediately texted his grandmother and sister the good news of his successful hire.

Not long after the success of Sanada's accomplishment, Himiko is the first to get the message from her phone. She checked her text, and her reaction is enough for Sajime to know that her grandson has been hired to the new position in Kyoto police department.

"He passed, did he?" Her smile widens even more knowing how proud she is for her grandson and seeing her granddaughter feeling exactly the same way. "Oh my gosh we should treat onii Chan with a big feast as celebration for his successful hire grandma! It will even be more worth the day for all of us!" Her excited behavior has left her forgotten that she is still in a middle of a huge crowd as a whole bunch of people turned towards an embarrassed Himiko. With that Himiko sent a message about meeting at Higashiyama to have ramen from their famous ramen shop, Ishinmori.

For another hour or two, Himiko and Sajime waited for Sanada to show up right after Himiko texted him the location of the Ramen shop. For a few more minutes they could hear his voice, when they turned at the left side of the street, they could see Sanada coming ever closer towards them, with in hugging distance Himiko ran and hugged her big brother tightly feeling overwhelmingly proud of her older brother of actually passing and being hired on the spot. After their reunion, the three enjoyed their meal within the Ramen shop and chat about their times of the day. Sanada told them about his struggles of every step and process he had to go through to get hired. For Himiko, she had a wonderful time exploring Kyoto for a good long while trying out some of their good shops. Sanada informs both of them that he had just been tasked with a case. Of course, being a curious bunch, they asked Sanada what his case is about?

"Well, this case is about a missing person, very recent in fact…" His tone changed as he already knew what details came next and decided not to give out graphic explanations and told them it's something a professional should only know.

"If it is a serious case then you don't have to say it dear." Sajime reaffirms her claim so her grandson wouldn't have to get into specifics.

"Thank's grandmother..." He knows there's something about this one case that can lead to a much bigger problem. All he needs to do is work with his co-companions in his department about it and see what they can come up with. For now, all Sanada needed to do is enjoy his successful accomplishment of becoming "The Protector of Japan." Both Sajime and Himiko gave dead pan looks directly at Sanada for making up such a stupid alias. Sanada visibly begins to sweat at how corny his fake name is.

To Be Continued.