Hi Everyone!
Thanks to Janee', Joe, April, Adrian, Simon, Alfred for writing.
I know this story is a bit "different" and a bit more experimental. I hope you like it.
Yes, I have been to Japan for a considerable amount of time for those that asked.
Also, my uncle recently passed away. He committed suicide, leaving his mother, sister, wife and children behind. For anyone who is plagued by suicidal thoughts, remember firstly that it is a permanent solution to an impermanent problem. All problems go away, with enough time.
Keizoku wa chikara nari. Continuance is power!
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Please note, this copyright notice is retroactive to all stories I have previously posted on Nifty. They are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License, Copyright (C) 2008.
DISCLAIMER
This story involves relationships between males aged 17-19. If you do not approve of this, why the hell are you even reading it now? If you are a parent reading through the Internet logs of your young child, do not punish your child for reading these stories. He/she clearly has some questions about his development, and it is YOUR responsibility to answer those questions truthfully and honestly. If this material is illegal in your area, leave now. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. You know the drill. If you aren't supposed to be reading this, Don't (although some flames would be lovely to publicly dissect :)).
FEEDBACK
I absolutely love feedback. Please submit your feedback, good or bad, lengthy or brief, in Japanese or in English, (although preferably English) to:
sakurakangen@gmail.com
You may also add me on Google Talk or MSN Messenger at the same address. I love talking to you.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu.
And now, without further adieu.....
=============================================================================== FINDING YOU: CHAPTER FIVE - Spilt Water ===============================================================================
"Hey, thanks, I appreciate the help. So I catch the 7:30 train? That's a good while away.." The American man I was speaking to looked rather uncertain.
"Yeah, but if you go any earlier the trains will be packed.." I replied, "and by packed, I mean packed!"
"Okay." The man smiled, "Thanks for the help! Never thought I'd meet an English speaker working as a doorman."
"Uh.. We prefer the term 'concierge'." Chris interjected. I glared at him.
The man laughed, "Okay, thanks again!" as he walked out.
"Otsukare sama deshita! Well done!" Hayaka-san, the woman who had volunteered us to be her assistants, had returned from her break, "You handled that very well!"
"You know, It's kind of hard to give people directions around Tokyo when you barely know your own way around Tokyo."
"All the more incentive to work hard! Ganbatte! Jyaa, it's five o'clock. Let's get going." she said as she began walking out of the building.
We hurried along behind her and out onto the now very (very) busy streets of inner Tokyo.
"Urashima-san's house is right near my apartment." said Hayaka-san as we headed towards Kasumigaseki subway station.
I translated for Chris.
"House? In Inner Tokyo?" he replied, his eyes widening in mock suprise.
Hayaka-san obviously understood his remarks, as she laughed (once again, quite forcibly) and directed us to a narrow descending staircase, a large sign above reading, in kanji with furigana, "EKKI: KASUMIGASEKI" with the Tokyo metro logo boldly emblazoned nearby.
As we had left only a few minutes before - it was right on 5:00 when we got to the station, not many had left their workplaces as yet. The train arrived very shortly and we were only mildly discomforted by the crowdedness of the carriage, but I knew from prior experience that it could have been alot worse.
Hayaka-san didn't speak much on the train, but I began to teach Chris how to read the hiragana and katakana on the signs.
"So, this is the sound 'shi', in hiragana, and here's the same thing in katakana."
"Why do they have two letters for the same thing?"
"They're not letters, and we have capital and non-capital letters in English too, so stop complaining! This one here is the katakana for 'tsu'."
"Dude, that one looks exactly like 'shi'."
"What? No it doesn't. Look closely." I was confused.
"I'm looking closely, and they look exactly the freakin' same!"
I sighed. "We'll come back to it then. Let's do some Kanji. This one here is the kanji for 'tree'. It is usually read with a 'ki' sound."
"Dude! That looks exactly like the katakana for 'ho'!" Chris was starting to speak a little louder.
"No, no, in the katakana, the bottom two bits are disconnected.."
"You know what? Fuck this!" Chris shouted, attracting the attention (and no doubt disapproval) of other people on the train. I immediately cringed, hoping (probably in vain) that none of the people in our immediate vicinity knew enough colloquial English to translate "Fuck".
Chris was clearly in a pretty bad mood. Even so, I realised quickly that he had taken a seat in a red chair, marked seperately for elderly, disabled, or pregnant people. He was folding his arms and looking annoyed.
"Dude.. you're sitting in the old people's seat." I said.
Chris stood up, but kept his arms folded and continued trying to look sulky. It was hilarious. He thought so too, because eventually he broke out into laughter.
"Itabashi no ekki ga arimasu" came over the public address speaker, and the doors opened. Hayaka-san got up immediately and walked out, subtly signalling us to follow.
We managed to struggle our way out of the carriage and on to the platform of Itabashi station. Itabashi was a Tokyo suburb, but it was still part of Tokyo Ward, which meant lots of high-rise buildings abounded around the station. We followed Hayaka-san down the platform which was well lit in the setting sun.
"Urashima-kun told me that your friend was much more curteous, ne?" she said to me.
"My friend?"
"Kurissu-san, your.. good friend, shall we say."
"But Urashima-san doesn't know Chris... OH! No! You misunderstand! Chris is my good friend, not my.. uh.. /good/ friend!"
"Soo desu ne.." she said, indicating for me to continue.
"Actually," I continued, "I'm here to try and find the friend of mine that Urashima-kun knows."
"Anoo.. Nihonjin have a saying," she replied, "Fukusui bon ni kaerazu. Spilt water will not return to the tray."
"E? What does that mean? I don't understand."
She sighed. "You will, eventually."
"Callum, why don't you have a girlfriend yet? Handsome boy like you?"
"Mum, I'm only 13. I don't have to deal with that yet."
"Well, if I were you, I'd get cracking. You don't want to turn out a poof like your brother. Come to think of it, you should probably try out for the school football team as well."
That was it. Callum REALLY didn't want to play football.
"Mum, football is like the most homosexual sport in existence."
"Really? It is? In that case, maybe try out for a more.. manly sport, like, I don't know.. netball or something?"
"Okay Mum." Callum said, inwardly chuckling at his mother's total lack of knowledge about sport, "I'll try out for the school netball team."
She smiled, "That's my boy. So you won't go flying off to China or Japan or something? You won't end up like your brother, right?"
Japan. Of Course. Come to think of it, Jacob had looked alot like Chris' friend, Will. Callum had seen the way Chris looked at Will. He may have been 13, but he wasn't stupid. He ran up the stairs to his room.
"Callum! Callum? You didn't answer my question?"
Callum searched through his meticulously organised filing cabinet until he found the note Jacob had written him, still perfectly preserved in a plastic sleeve. He punched the number into his mobile phone.
" dooot dooot dooot dooot dooot..."
"FUCK! Engaged!" He swore, put the note back in its sleeve and filed it away again. He was just about to close the cabinet when he noticed another note, this one had aged significantly, but the number could still be made out.
He took the note out of the cabinet and closed the drawer. He sat on the floor, looking at the note and looking at his phone. It took him a while to actually put two and two together and type the numbers into the keypad.
"Hello, Dad? I need a way out. You promised."
===============================================================================
Japanese phrases used in this chapter:
Otsukare sama deshita - Good job! Well done!
Ganbatte - Literally "work hard", can mean "good luck". A general
expression of encouragement.
Jyaa - "Anyway", change of subject.
Itabashi no ekki ga arimasu - "Train station of Itabashi is here."
Katakana - A type of japanese writing used for foreign words.
Hiragana - The most common type of Japanese writing.
Kanji - Chinese characters commonly used in Japan.
Furigana - Small Hiragana used to indicate the readings of Kanji to those
who cannot read kanji.
Anoo.. - Um..
Nihonjin - Japanese people
Fukusui bon ni kaerazu - Spilt water does not return to the tray.
I absolutely love feedback. Please submit your feedback, good or bad, lengthy or brief, in Japanese or in English, (although preferably English) to:
sakurakangen@gmail.com
You may also add me on Google Talk or MSN Messenger at the same address. I love talking to you.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
-SK (written in vi improved 7.1.. beats emacs any day)