Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Chiyoda City, August 1st 202X, 12:00PM

"That's what I've been trying to say for hours now man, how hard is it for you to understand plain English?" said the disgruntled Frenchman currently being interrogated for what was apparently a drug possession charge. He had been arrested at 7:00 AM this morning after he failed to show a patrol officer his passport. The patrol officer in question was also in charge of interrogations and was struggling to communicate with his suspect. Even the translator they brought in, a freelancer who finished his degree only a year before, was losing his patience with the suspect by now.

"Okay, I see. The CCTV footage of the district does show us that something was seemingly planted on you. We're going to let you go for now but be prepared for a call within 72 hours from us. Failure to answer will result in potential issues with leaving the country." said the officer who was finishing up some paperwork. The translator quickly conveyed this all in English to the suspect, who was shown to the door by the officer and left the interrogation room causing as little of a scene as possible.

"Tch, I always get stuck with the gaijin huh…" muttered the officer under his breath. He turned his attention to the translator, who was filing his report notes to give to his superior and the officer.

"Oi, Mr. Translator…what made you choose living in Japan anyways? Why here instead of getting a comfy job back home?" the cop asked, fixing an undone button on his shirt.

"Well, home's just a place too filled with things I'd rather forget, I guess" said the translator, taken aback by the officer's sudden personal interest. It'd been a long time since anyone outside of his ex-girlfriend took an interest in his personal life. It had been seven years since he had left his home country to pursue a career in the languages, and while it wasn't an easy path, he managed to get there somehow. Perhaps it was perseverance, luck, determination…or was it because he needed to run away from a past full of fear, hurt and anguish? Only he, Jonathan Cujoh, knew the answer.

"Hmph" snorted the officer with a hint of content. "Be sure to hand a copy of your report to the receptionist before you leave. Here's a copy of your bill which will be debited to your account tomorrow" said the cop, handing a receipt of services to Jonathan. It was slightly above what he was expecting, which was always a good thing in his book. He took it with both hands and bowed to the officer, who gave a dismissive wave (basically saying "get the hell out now, we don't need you until we call you again") and left. Jonathan adjusted his coat and hair before heading out towards the reception. He handed the report to the middle-aged officer on duty who scanned it briefly, and gave him a quick look up and down.

"Oh, you're the English translator. I only just started my shift so I didn't know who you were for a second, pardon my ignorance" she said, examining the document once more. Her name plate on her desk read "Yamagami"

"It's okay officer Yamagami" said Jonathan with a flustered look on his face.

"You look like you could use a coffee…" she said, once again looking him up and down and noticing his somewhat tired looking eyes. "Here" she said, as she began to write some details down on a piece of paper. "My daughter works at this coffee shop not too far from here. They make excellent coffee and doughnuts that are too good to pass up on." she smiled as she handed over the small card with an address. Jonathan took it with both hands, examined it carefully, and thanked Yamagami before leaving. He placed the card in his wallet once he was outside, and began to make his way to Kasumigaseki station. Jonathan didn't have time to go to get coffee, he had someone who was coming from the airport to meet him. Someone he hadn't seen in about 2 years now, and that he was quite frankly excited to see. His high school friend Angela Ziegler was coming to Tokyo for a short business trip, and he was looking forward to catching up with her. Despite living in Tokyo for many years now, Jonathan had found it difficult to forge many meaningful connections with people in University. Despite a rocky start, he found a girl named Aki that he dated for about three years before she had to leave to live in Europe with her family, and the long distance thing simply didn't work out no matter what they tried. A global pandemic only made things worse for them. Since then though, he's only ever really hung out with work colleagues as a formality or with Angela whenever she'd visit on business. After what happened seven years ago, he couldn't trust himself - or anyone else for that matter - to comfortably approach anyone new.

The scars on his chest, the 4 letters permanently etched into his flesh, were a constant reminder of that. Aki and Angela were the only two people who knew about it, but it had caused tension in Aki and Jonathans relationship. Whenever they were intimate, Aki insisted Jonathan went from behind or wore a shirt. That hurt him deep inside, but he never told Aki. He couldn't afford to. She was the only real light in his life and he needed to make sure she was happy no matter what, for his own sake. That's why this visit from Angela meant so much to him. She lost so much all those years ago too, their pain was shared. She needed Jonathan as much as he needed her.

"I wonder if I'll finally have some sleep tonight, knowing Angela's around…" he murmured to himself softly as he boarded the first of many trains on his way to Haneda Airport. His insomnia was truly beginning to take its toll on him. Today was the first time a contractor of his noticed it, which caused him more than a little embarrassment. He sighed wearily and opened up his phone. He had one notification, which must have popped off during the interrogation. It was a LINE message from Angela.

"Hey, landing in about an hour. I've attached a picture of what I'm wearing so you can find me easier. I'll see you at the airport, hopefully you'll be on time this time!". Jonathan tapped the attached file and sure enough, there was Angela in her business attire. Her headband looked kind of weird but nonetheless, her outfit suited her well and certainly made her…pop

"C'mon man…not her" Jonathan wearily muttered, shaking off any impure thoughts he may have had of his only real close friend.
"This train bound for HANEDA AIRPORT is now departing. The doors on the right side will open. The next station is; TENKUBASHI, TENKUBASHI." Jonathan opened up his Spotify and began playing his daily listening mix composing mostly of City Pop from the 1980's. The more retro sounding the vibe, the better, thought Jonathan as he tried closing his eyes if only for the briefest of rests.

Haneda Airport Terminal 3, Arrivals Gate, 1:30 PM

It was useless to try and get any kind of rest, Jonathan thought, as he headed out of the train and towards the escalators which would bring him to where Angela was. Only 30 minutes late, lucky, considering how much longer that interrogation could have been. "God, she's gonna kill me" he thought with worry as he threw a breath mint into his mouth. The tuna sushi he had for breakfast wouldn't have given Angela the nicest smell to be welcomed back to Tokyo with. After a few moments of sucking and chewing he swallowed it up quickly and headed right to where their meetup point was supposed to be, a cafe on the ground floor. After another three agonising minutes had passed, he caught sight of her.

It was hard to forget what kind of person Angela Ziegler was. Beautiful was an understatement of an adjective; she was a drop dead, European beauty. She was also an accomplished scientist in the medical field, she was effectively a prodigy that had forgone the need for any dedicated formal training, hence why she requested her parents to put her in public school. She wanted to have a normal teenage life. Something she desperately needed to get away from the pressure that the life her parents wanted from her had put on her. A normal teenage life is exactly what she got, until the events of seven years ago. Her life was hit with three swift and consecutive blows all within the space of twelve months. Her ex-boyfriend left her and everyone else they knew to go and be a terrorist leader. That terrorist organisation led directly to the death of her girlfriend who was killed in front of her, and then there's what happened between Jonathan Cujoh and Hana Song, whose death never sat right with Angela. She never got to see the body, but the autopsy report she found whilst in university seemed like it was missing something…something she just couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Oh there you are! I was about to ring you!" said Angela in a voice that screamed relief. She leaned in for a friendly hug but Jonathan instinctively pulled back and simply let his hand out for a shake, which Angela accepted.
"Still afraid of opening up yourself huh?" she said in a rainy tone. "Ah what am I saying, let's go back to yours. Would you mind picking that small bag up?" she asked with a calm smile. Jonathan chuckled. "Hehe, Still getting me to do the dirty work, you never change Ziegler" he giggled as he picked up the bag. "Well you're a man aren't you? You should be helping out a girl like me, lost in a foreign land, not knowing where to go!" she joked playfully. Casual sexism aside, Jonathan snorted at her playful attempts at brightening the mood after her little jab at him earlier. "Afraid" didn't begin to describe how Jonathan felt about being around others. Aki's move and what happened seven years ago left him vulnerable and too open for so long that all he could do to cope was shut himself off from intense, committed and personal relationships, other than Angela but he had limits for even her.
"C'mon Angela, let's get the train back to mine. Should only be about 90 mins from here!" he said, leading the way.

"Tokyo's not changed much these past few years" Angela said, observing the city passing her by on the train.
"Meh, it has and it hasn't really. Nothing super major has changed here. If you lived here though you'd see that the little things change often. New convenience stores pop up, new and old restaurants open and close, families move in and out…same as any other city. Such a far cry from back home"
"That's true, though Geneva isn't all that different. Well, European sensibilities aside I suppose" she said, glancing at her phone. She forgot to change her clock to account for the time difference, which she quickly corrected. "I think this is one of the most unique metropolises on Earth…I've been here only three times before, but it still catches me off guard each time" she says. Angela first visited Tokyo seven years ago, alongside Jonathan for a school trip. The trip was an unmitigated disaster though, one which Angela (and especially Jonathan) would like to forget. She then returned once during college to catch up with Jonathan and then once more two years ago for work related matters. "Maybe one day you can come to Geneva and see the wonders of the Swiss Alps" she said, finally finishing with her phone.

"Yeah, maybe…" Jonathan said with distance echoing through his voice.

Later that night, Jonathan Cujoh's Apartment, Ueno, Tokyo, 10:00PM

After a long day of showing Angela around the Shibuya area and the overpriced tourist "garbage" he thought they should have probably avoided, Jonathan and Angela finally arrived back, Angela stumbling through the door, seemingly forgetting the step that most Japanese homes have to take off your shoes and put slippers on.
"Good grief, you still don't know this?" Jonathan said with a laugh, helping Angela back to her feet.
"Look, I'm a little tipsy from those Strong Zero's and I am SO used to how things work in Europe that I can't help myse-*hic!*" Angela instantly covered her mouth out of embarrassment.
"Haha, okay big girl, let's get you to bed. I've got the second bed set up in my room since this place doesn't have much room elsewhere for it. Do you need a bath or shower?" he asked, picking up her discarded shoes and placing them in the cabinet.
"N-No I'm ffffine thanks, I'll have one to-*hic*morrow…sheesh, help me to bed will ya!" she said, her accent starting to become more and more apparent.
"Fine, fine" he said, draping one of her slender arms over her shoulder, a whiff of (assumedly) expensive perfume filled her nostrils. It was pleasant, all things considered given the current situation. He entered his bedroom, one which was cleaned but only swiftly (if Angela were in any way sober he would have been sure to get an earful from her about it). He put her on top of the bed and she began getting undressed
"I-I'll just head out while you get changed into your night clothes" he said, face turning crimson.
"yep!" she said back in a stupor. After a few minutes had passed, Jonathan walked in to see Angela fast asleep in bed (though her clothes were all over his bed). He neatly put them to one side on a drawer and lay down…his pillow smelling faintly sweet.
"Damnit Angela…where'd I be without you" he said with a soft smile, as he began his attempt to sleep for the night.

A few hours later

"I love you Jonathan…Goodbye"

The screeching of tires and crushing sounds of metal crashing into itself created an awful cacophony of noise, one rarely heard in the Japanese capital. Jonathan Cujoh stood in place as he saw what he thought was the woman he once devoted his heart to, a woman who cruelly took almost everything from him once, the woman he knew as Hana Song, step out onto the road to end her own life. He could barely move, and as much as he wanted to get his phone out to call McCree, he was paralysed from shock. There was no way she'd know he was here? How? Was it Satya? Did Brigitte let it slip? The noise grew louder and louder until suddenly-

*GASP*

Jonathan's body shuddered as he felt a familiar pair of warm, slender arms hold his body from behind.
"I knew this would happen, another nightmare, right? PTSD isn't something you can just get over, I suppose" Angela said, slowly turning Jonathan's body to face her. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm here to comfort you. You've been so brave these last few years, you know? You actually managed to get a job! And the relationship with Aki wasn't terrible was it?" she said, moving a tuft of hair from his eyes. "Look into my eyes, I'm here. It's Angela, Jonathan. Your friend. Now, let's try and get you some sleep?" she said with the most sincere smile Jonathan had seen in years. In that moment, his worries simply faded away as Angela turned his body back around and she held him closer, her arms tightly wrapped around him, her breasts pushing softly against his back. It was a position any other man would envy for lecherous reasons but Jonathan was just glad that he could have someone to reassure him for once that everything was okay. That Hana was long gone in the past. That everything was happening for a reason. That maybe things could go back to a relative normal, that he could open himself up to someone close again.

The sweet smell of Angela's perfume enveloped his senses until he once again drifted away into a nocturnal slumber, not knowing what would await him the next day.

(Authors Note: It's been a while. Kept you waiting, huh? I suddenly remembered that this existed and wanted to bring it back. Hope that this first chapter is a decent beginning. I've left some breadcrumbs in here for future events. It's only beginning folks. As always, any and all reviews are appreciated.)