The Letters

Kasukabe, 150 KM

The roadside board read. It is a long drive from Kyoto, but Shinnosuke enjoyed these seldom solo rides. It had been a long time since he was here. The cause of this ride is a letter that he received last week. It was a wedding invitation, but the groom's name had startled him. It is Suzuki Bo! Bo from his childhood! How long has it been since he last met him? 10 years? 15 years? Maybe even more. Reading the letter, he went down the memory lane, to the long forgotten days of Futaba Kindergarten, the adventurous endeavors and astounding expeditions. Musing on nostalgia, he drove onward, towards Kasukabe, the city of Shin-chan;excited for the glorious reunion of the members of Kasukabe Defense Force.

It was evening, when he reached the city. He had booked a suite in a hotel called Shiro Inn. Asking around for a while, he finally found it.

After checking in, he entered his room and went for a bath. He realized that he forgot to inform Bo of his early arrival.He thought it was better that way. Tomorrow, he will make a visit to his house and surprise him. Shin was weary from the long travel, so he decided to spend some time in a nearby izakaya and call it a night. He went to the receptionist and asked for directions to nearest izakaya.

Tokusaki Family Izakaya

It was a small izakaya, but Shin always liked small establishments, as he felt more welcoming. He went inside, occupied a chair in a corner and ordered sake and ramen. He picked today's newspaper from the paper hold and started going over the sports section.

Shin was invested in the news of the upcoming changes of players in Kyoto Sanga FC, when suddenly he realized someone was standing behind him. He turned his head and found a girl of his age, staring at him, with a glimpse of smile in her lips.

'Shin…. Is that you?', she inquired.

He couldn't put a name on the face but it seemed familiar. Embarrassed, he politely said, 'Yes, but I am extremely sorry, because I do not recall your name.'

She grimaced a little but quickly recovered and made a smile. She then said in a teasing tone, 'Come on now Shin, think harder! It's only been just 15 years. Did you truly forget the good old days of you begging me to play real omamagoto?'

And with that, a barrel of memories came afloat. He stood up and exclaimed, 'Nene!'

The girl gave a broad smile and they hugged. She sat beside him and ordered sake.

'I can't believe it is 15 years already! How are you? What are you doing? Are you….'

'No more questions!', she interrupted him. 'Let us enjoy the sake and then we will talk. Tokusaki-sama, can you fit another round of sake for me and my friend here?'

They drank without saying anything, and after drinking her third cup, Nene broke the silence, 'You haven't changed a bit, Shin-chan!'

'Wha...t? Come on! I have changed a lot. And nobody calls me by that name anymore.', said Shin, a little blushed.

'Oh, you are blushing, kawai! So, I guess you are here for Suzuki's wedding?', she said, while picking up another cup of sake.

'Yeah, I received his invitation last week. I almost forgot about all of you, but reading that letter, all those memories came pouring out. At that moment, I decided I will take a whole week off and attend this. To be honest, I didn't expected anyone else from our group to be here, but seeing you, I am happy to be proved wrong. Are you here for the wedding too?'

She put down her cup, gave a smirk and said, 'Yes, you can say so. In a way I am here for the wedding, except not as a guest.'

'I am sorry but I didn't quite understand. "Not as a guest"?', said Shin, a bit surprised.

'I guess I can't blame you. I don't suppose you recall my family name, Sakurada. I changed my first name 8 years ago, from Nene to Sayuri'

'What!? You are Sakurada Sayuri? The bride?', yelled out Shin, astonished.

'Yeah, why are you so surprised? You don't like the idea of me being the bride?', she said with a snarky expression.

'No, nothing like that. It just came off as a huge surprise! Congratulations! Tokusaki-sama, put her bill on my tab please.'

'Well, if you are paying, then I will have another round!', she said with a cheerful gleam.

'Now now, let's not overdo ourselves. This is the last round, you have to promise me that.'

'Yeah, yeah, alright', she said and went for her cup.

'So, how did you two came together?'

'It is a long boring story, you know, the same cliched one. I work as a teacher in a school in Tokyo and he works as a contractor in a big hotshot company. After you moved out 15 years ago, Toru went to USA the next year and Sato family moved to Osaka. After middle school, Bo went to study in a private institution in Yokohama. I passed high school from here and then applied in several universities in Tokyo and to my surprise, one of them replied and they were willing to accept me. It wasn't any big university, but it was decent for me. I moved to Tokyo for my classes and after graduation, I applied for a teaching job in a kindergarten', she said it all in a single breath and looking perfidiously, bit her lip and said, 'Well Shin-chan, that was a lot of talking and now I am thirsty. How about another round? I promise this is the last one', she winked as she said it.

Indulged in the story, Shin gave in to her request and ordered another round of sake, 'Don't call me that!', he said, a little embarrassed.

'If you say so. In any case, only last year I was waiting in a cafe as my friend fixed me with a date. But, he decided to ditch the idea at the last minute. I can't blame him, who will want to go on a date with a kindergarten teacher? Anyway, I ordered a cold coffee and decided to enjoy the Sunday afternoon, by myself. Suddenly, I was surprised when I heard a voice calling me by my old name. I turned back and found this guy in suit approaching me. Initially, I didn't recognize him. He sat in the opposite of my table and then introduced himself. Hearing the name Suzuki Bo, I remembered all of our old days and was surprised to see much he had changed. We spent the whole afternoon talking about the kindergarten life and before I know it, I gave him my number. We promised to meet up at this same cafe, same time, next Sunday', she paused and emptied her sake cup. Before Shin could say anything, she ordered another round.

'The next Sunday arrived and we met in the same cafe', she continued, 'We talked about our work, hypothesized what others from our groups are doing nowadays and just like that, it became a regular thing. It was all going smoothly until last month, when he decided to show up at my school, unannounced, and proposed me. I loved him but it was a bit too soon. However, I guess you have to live your life. So, I said yes and you can see the rest', she paused and showed him the ring, then promptly picked up her refilled sake cup.

'That was really beautiful!', Shin said gushingly.

'Yeah yeah, it was something. Anyway, enough about me, what about you Shin? What are you doing nowadays? I saw that ring on your hand. So, who's the "unlucky" girl?', she said, with a grin.

'It's a boring story compared to yours. Her name is Mizuki. After graduating from Kyoto University, I joined Sony as a consultant, and there I met her. We dated for a long time and finally I proposed her 2 years ago and as per her wish, we had a small unceremonious wedding. She is currently in her father's house in the countryside with our infant son, Yamato.'

'Wow, I never imagined Shin-chan to become a family man!'

'Hey, you promised not to call me that!'

'Ha ha, yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, where are you staying here?'

'I booked a suite in a local hotel called Shiro Inn.'

'I know that place. I rented a suite in another hotel nearby. What do you say we go there? We have a lot more to talk about and I don't think the energetic Shin from childhood is exhausted', she said, with a smirk.

'Ehh…. It's getting late. You sure you don't wanna call it a night? We could talk tomorrow, if you want', Shin said.

She made a big surprised face and said in a mocking tone, 'Oh no! Our glorious Kasukabe Defence Force "leader" Shin is exhausted!? O cruel life, why thee torment me with such tragedies!'

Shin realized there's no escape from this. Plus, she was quite inebriated, so he thought that he could keep her company till her suite and once they are there, she will be sure to fall asleep. Against his better judgment, Shin accepted her offer and agreed to accompany her.

On her request, they walked to her hotel and discussed about their childhood kindergarten misadventures. The alcohol had started kicking in and even though he only drank 3 cups, Shin could feel its effect. On the other hand, Nene, or as she is now known by, Sayuri, seems to be holding herself pretty well, even after drinking so much. She took out her keys from her purse and opened the door to her suite; going in, she lit the lights and started the air conditioner. She told him to sit on the couch while she went inside to fetch wine from the mini-bar.

After a while, she brought a brand new bottle of wine and two glasses. While pouring the wine, she said, 'You know Shin, we could've arranged our wedding in Tokyo but for old time's sake, we wanted to do it here. We invited everybody from our kindergarten, I hope all of them will arrive before the wedding. It's good that you came a few days early. Did you inform Bo of your arrival yet?'

'No, I will visit his house tomorrow and surprise him.'

'Yeah, he would like that', she said indifferently and took her glass and sat beside Shin, slowly drinking the wine.

Shin didn't wanted to consume any more alcohol but seeing her, for the sake of etiquette, he picked up his glass. Sipping wine, he said, 'So, where are your parents? I don't see Mr. or Mrs. Sakurada. Are they staying elsewhere?'

'No, they separated years ago. I don't know where my mother lives now. After the separation, she never contacted us again. My father would have attended the wedding but a pressing matter in his company forced him to spend this week in Australia. Bo's parents live here and they asked me to stay with them but I wanted to have this last bit of solitude and freedom, so I booked this suite', she paused, finished her glass and promptly refilled it.

The effects of sake and wine had slowly started wearing Shin down, he felt a bit uncomfortable, but tried his best to hide it. Putting his glass aside, he said, 'So, how's the preparations going?'

She emptied her second glass and refilled again, kissing the glass, she said in a drunkenly, ignoring Shin's question, 'Shin, did you ever noticed?', she said and moved closer to him.

Shin was taken aback, he stuttered, 'Noti...ticed? Sorry, I didn't get that.'

She brought herself even closer and whispered in his ear, 'I like you, silly! Haven't you noticed yet?'

Shocked, Shin almost fell from the couch. He somehow managed to control himself and said, 'What….. what are you talking about?'

'Don't act dumb Nohara Shinnosuke! I was just afraid to confess but I am sure you knew that I liked you, since childhood. I was going to tell you. I built up my courage, but you left for Kyoto. I waited for all these years, hoping that one day you will come and confess me your love. On that day, in the cafe, when I heard the voice calling me by my old name, for a moment, I was euphoric as I thought that if I now turn back, I will see you. Shin, you are the love of my life and I don't care what the world says, nothing will keep as apart any longer', she said in a malicious, conniving tone, moving even closer to him.

Shin lost his words, he looked at the door and then suddenly she yelled at him, 'Shin, try to leave, and I will cut myself and bleed to death. Then we will see what everyone will have to say, when they realize that you came inside with me but left without notice and I was discovered dead in my own pool of blood.'

'You are clearly drunk Nene! You don't know what you are saying. Stop this madness!', cried out Shin.

She softened up but said in a calm but stern voice, 'Shin, give me one chance. One night. Come to bed with me. I went on living my whole life, hoping that one day, you will marry me and seeing as you are here now, I will not stay put.'

'Please, I beg of you. Let go of this lunacy. Go to bed and I will leave and we will forget this night ever happened. Please, Nene, don't do this', Shin said it in trembling voice as he went down in his knees.

Suddenly, Nene smashed her wine bottle in the wall and put the broken glass near her throat. She made a malevolent expression and said, 'This is the last chance my love. Deny me once more and I will cut my throat in front of you. Then we will see how you explain all this to Suzuki'. She then cried out in a commanding voice, 'Go to the bedroom, now! That is an order!'

Seeing no way around this, Shin went to the bedroom. A few moments later, a drunk naked Nene came inside the room and locked the door. She ordered, 'Why Shin-chan, are you gonna stay dressed while I let you see my naked flesh? Strip all your cloths, now!'

Shin resisted but Nene forced him to strip and threatened that she will tear out his cloths otherwise. After stripping, Nene pushed him in the bed and climbed on herself. Fondling his penis with her hand, she said, 'For someone who was resisting so much, you sure are hard and horny now'. Then she started licking the tip slowly. At a gentle pace, she put her mouth around his penis, and started playing with it, using her tongue. Soon, Shin came and ejaculated inside her mouth. She made a content expression and said, 'Now it is my turn!'.

She slowly mounted herself over him, gently putting herself over his pelvis. Her clitoris is right above his penis. Slowly she brought herself down, penetrating her vagina with his erected penis. They both moaned. Steadily, the act of pleasure continued with thrusts and moaning. For several minutes, it went on, and finally they both had orgasm together. Exhausted, she gave out a sigh of relief and fell asleep with a smiling face. Shin waited for a while, and once he heard her snoring softly, he stepped out of the bed, picked up his cloths and quietly came outside. He dressed hurriedly and left.

He returned to his own hotel suite and went straight for the shower. All this while, he was under a spell and as soon as the water touched his skin, he came to his senses. He was still not sure what has happened, or whether this is just a lucid nightmare. A sense of guilt, grief and anger engulfed him and for the first time in forever, Nohara Shinnosuke, broke out in tears. He shouted but the shower suppressed his voice. He spent an hour curled up in the bath tub, sobbing morosely. Finally he stepped out, dried himself and went to bed.

The next morning, he decided to write a letter to Suzuki Bo. He asked the hotel staff to arrange for an envelope and went to the desk and began writing. Addressing Bo, he explained all that had happened yesterday. Once done, he wanted to visit him personally and deliver the letter, but he was terrified. He hated himself for not having the courage to face his friend, knowing that this letter will completely destroy him. But, at the same time, he realized, not sending it will be even a graver mistake. He ringed the reception and requested for someone to come and take this letter and deliver it to the Suzuki residence.

Packing up his luggage, he left the suite and checked out of the hotel. He wanted to leave the city as soon as possible. The surreal experience of last night still seemed to him, like a vivid nightmare, whose memory will torment him for the rest of his life. A letter evoked the nostalgic memories of a jovial past and made way for a much awaited reunion and now another letter closed the door of that reunion and left the golden memories, molested and contorted, forever.