Hi All...starblack17 here, sorry for slow update, and thank you very much for the reviews!

~o~

Tel-Aviv, "The city that never stops"...

A rapidly growing city in the midst of an exciting transition from medium-sized urban center to bustling international metropolis.

Its booming population, energy, edginess and 24-hour life style...

And now i'm here, in the small town that sleep at 9 PM

Well...the pub maybe still open a little bit late...

~o~

In Itomori, I live in my grandfather's house, my grandparents from my mother's side are already passed away when i still 3 years old, so the house was a bit abandoned, but when my father got his job relocated to Itomori, my mother ask some homebuilder in Itomori to renovated the house so we can live there, My grandfather house is located near the lake.

My father, Abbas Sarsur is a supervisor of infrastructure company in Israel that has a joint venture with a company in Japan, with some infrastructure will be build in Itomori, my father got selected as a supervisor to supervise the infrastructure building progress here.

My mother, Saki Inamoto is a native Itomori that move to Tokyo after she graduated from high school, after she graduated from university, She was go to Israel as Japanese Language teacher, my parents meet for the first time at Tel-Aviv.

Some photos of my late grandparents still exist in the house, my mother ask my father to hung one of the photo of them in the living room, the portrait of them together with my mother when she still in high school.

My mother likes to look at the portrait, maybe the nostalgia value still hits her hard, after years and years far from her hometown, now She can live and sleep in her own house again, the place of her childhood. My father will just stand beside my mother and start smiling.

"It just like a yesterday, when i ask them to marry you..." my father says.

And me, i'm just like to saw their romantic moment together.

~o~

One day, not long after we moved to Itomori, I accompany my mother to do some shopping at the convenience store.

"Mom, it is really that, that convenience store is the only one around here?"

"Yes dear, i even know the owner since the konbini is still a common groceries. And please dear, can we use Japanese?" my mother giggling slightly, maybe she felt weird if we walk around Itomori while still speaking Hebrew.

"Ken*..."

My mother give a glance to me

"Kaa-san..."

My mother rub my head and smile.

We enter the konbini, take things needed, and going straight to the counter, suddenly, my mother start to talk to the cassier

"Haraguchi-san...Haraguchi-san right?"

The cassier seems confused.

"Yes..and.."

"It's me, Saki!"

"Saki...SAKI INAMOTO?!SAKI-CHAN?!"

"YES!IT'S ME AUNTIE!"

Two of them start crying and hugging, it's just us inside the konbini, but i feel a little bit awkward.

A middle-aged man come inside the konbini, looking at two woman hugging and one boy who just staring at them, he looks confused.

"Hey Haraguchi, what happen? who is this woman?"

"TAKAMITSU!IT'S SAKI!SAKI-CHAN!"

"What? Inamoto's daughter?"

And now three grown-ups are happily crying in unison.

"Is this kind of situation would always happen when my mother meets people here..."

Yep..just like my mother says..so close-knit.

~o~

"Hey Mo, tell us about your hometown!"

"Yeah, I want to know about Israel!"

So at the school break, I have Yuzo, Keiji, and Kasumi, three of my classmates that suddenly want to know about my country...

"Well, my hometown, Tel-Aviv is a...city, you know, buildings, cafes, malls, just like another city in the world, think Tokyo without Akihabara"

That's a lousy comparation, i admit

"...and beach, we have many beach, It's so crowded there when holiday season comes. Bottomline, it's the burstling city that you can imagine."

"So, how is your daily life here?" Keiji ask to me

"Hmm..example for a school-free day, I have a little bit jog in HaYarkon Park in the morning, accompany my mother to do some shopping in HaCarmel Market (and treat myself with some free taster), some strolling at the beach, and sometimes me and my friends go to Azrieli Center, one of the biggest mall in Tel-Aviv, usually to watch movie."

"Wow...looks like fun there, i want to shopping at the mall too." Kasumi slightly pouting

"Yeah..so different than our beloved town here, when you can found yourself alone and no people in sight as long as your eyes can see in the night." Yuzo says that and laugh.

I suddenly remember that i brought something

"By the way, I brought some fruit, gotta give you all some middle east taste.."

I take a pack of date fruit and give some of it to them

"Be careful, there's a seed inside the fruit"

Looks like this is the first time they eat dates

"So..how is it?"

"Well..unique taste here." Keiji still observe the taste.

"It's sweet, i kinda like this fruit." Kasumi looks happy

Yuzo? no comment from him, he just eat and eat it again.

~o~

Well, slow pace indeed, but i just want to flesh out Sarsur's life in Itomori before he meets some canon character, I'm sorry about that.

Thank you for reading!

-o-

Talk With Reviewer

starkitty10: I'm glad you have an interest into my story! I hope you already have some Falafel today ;)

Mizore Shirayuki: I hope the story's slow pace can show the dynamic of different cultures, Thank you for your words!

nicbob255: My English grammar is not so good, I hope I can improve it in the future, thanks for your concern :)

TheEpicAnimeBoyX: Syukran! thank you for read my story :)

MittensTheWorld9: I'm surely should work with my grammar hehehe...nice to know that you love the story :)

DarwinismRising: I just want to give more reality in the story, I try to keep the religious content in casual, minimum level, sorry if you not content with that, thank you very much for your review!

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*: "Ken" is "Yes" in Hebrew.