Wataru checked his phone as he walked towards Asakusa Station. Meet Koizumi in Shibuya at 9 AM. That would be an easy train ride straight from Asakusa to Shibuya. He opened up the phone’s gallery and looked at the picture of Itsumi, overlooking a message from Koizumi, barely noticing a mention of “Hachiko”. Only a few hours away he figured, so long as things with Koizumi didn’t drag on for goodness knows how long. Regardless, it would all be worth the wait. Every second was one second closer to that second meeting—he almost couldn’t handle his nervousness. Yet it wasn’t nervousness so much as it was sheer excitement. Itsumi. Itsumi. What a beautiful name. Wataru smiled just thinking about that. How did she write her name? Was it only kana like he had typed into his phone when she gave him her number, or perhaps she used some kanji that he had yet to find out about. Either way, he would learn all of that soon enough. All he could do now was interact with Koizumi in a way that wouldn’t spoil his mood before his date.
Wataru entered Asakusa Station, pulling out his wallet so he could tap his train fare card at the turnstile, only to see Itsumi analyzing the train map to figure out how to get to her destination and to see how much it would cost.
Wataru briskly jogged up to her, waving. “Itsumi!”
Itsumi looked up and around, trying to find who was calling out to her.
Wataru waved and smiled. “Oi, Itsumi!”
Itsumi spotted Wataru, smiling brightly and waving back. “Oh, Wataru. Good morning!”
Wataru chuckled. “I knew we were gonna meet up this afternoon, but I didn’t think I’d see you this morning.”
Itsumi snickered. “Well is that a bad thing?
Wataru laughed. “No!... It’s a good thing.” Maybe he could ditch Koizumi and spend the whole day with Itsumi!
Itsumi smiled and leaned towards Wataru. “Isn’t it?” Maybe she could ditch Mogami and spend the whole day with Wataru!
“You’re free this afternoon, right?”
“Yeah, I just have to uh… well I have plans to meet up with a family member of mine over in Shibuya this morning, so I hope that will go well.”
Shoot. Wataru exhales a bit laboriously in disappointment. “Well I actually have to meet up with a…” Wataru scratched his head, trying to be humble. “...a fan of mine over in Shibuya as well… so uh… I’ll be busy for a few hours at least.”
Itsumi too felt disappointed, looking away for a moment, and then looking back at Wataru with optimism. “Well at least we’ll get to ride on the subway together, right?”
Wataru blushed. “Yeah… of course!”
Itsumi closed her eyes and giggled as she held her fist up to cover her mouth. “I’d like that!”
“Then let’s get you a ticket!”
Itsumi reached for her purse. “Oh, OK.”
Wataru walked over to the ticket machine and bought two day-pass tickets. He handed one to Itsumi. “Here.”
“Th-thank you.” Itsumi blushed, accepting the ticket.
Wataru looked up at the train timetable. “We better get going! The next train to Shibuya’s gonna leave soon!” He subconsciously reached out and took her hand to lead her to the turnstile.
Itsumi held on to Wataru’s hand and followed him to the turnstile. She blushed and held on bewilderedly. Even so, that happy little moment reached an awkward end when they reached the turnstile and inserted their tickets and let go of each other’s hand.
It was at that moment that Wataru realized what he did. It was wonderful, and yet, it was horrifying. Was it too much too soon? What was he thinking? No. He was not thinking. Was it a turn off to Itsumi? Well, no… it couldn’t have. She grabbed onto his hand, didn’t she? Even if she didn’t, Wataru figured that it would be best to just roll with the situation and moved forward. His day had just begun, and it could be great if he gave Itsumi his all. Right?
Itsumi blushed and followed Wataru through the turnstile. It was a fantastic feeling to have taken his hand on this day full of discovery—but then there was the mystery of all of it. After all, she did grab onto his hand! But… Wataru was new to her. He seemed sweet to her, but did she just let her guard down too easily? If Wataru caused her trouble she could walk away. Even so… there was just something about him that gave her the premonition that she would be safe with him. What should she think about him? It would be best to be safe but hope for the best, she figured.
Itsumi smiled as she looked at the shocked Wataru, who was looking up at the timetable embarrassedly. “Wataru, we have a train to catch, you know.”
Wataru looked back at Itsumi nervously. “Oh, yeah... let’s go.” So much for confidently rolling with the situation.
The two hastily and awkwardly walked to the train in silence, finding a seat on the relatively empty train. Itsumi and Wataru sat down next to each other, blushing over briefly holding each other’s hand. The doors of the train closed.
Wataru glanced at Itsumi periodically after the train departed, sometimes longer than others when his eyes crossed hers. What happened to that confidence he was riding on? He had gotten her a ticket… she didn’t seem taken aback by him taking her hand either! But… No beginner’s luck. He trapped himself in a mental bind.
The train stopped at station after station, with more and more people getting on and taking up space, squishing Wataru closer to Itsumi. Time inched along minute by minute. So much of their trip was silent. He had to say something. His mother was right in all her urgings for him to befriend people. If anything, for such a time as the one he was in. He had exuded confidence all the way up to this moment, but now that husk had been shucked. Yet even so… when he did talk to Itsumi before… it just felt so natural, as if he was chatting with someone as familiar to him as Kirari. And… this feeling of excitement when he was around her—it was mysterious, even stimulating! Was it attraction… or perhaps something a little more than that? If it was more, and if Itsumi possibly did like him, well… Wataru knew that his silence and inaction were jeopardizing his chances with her. He needed to do something. It was imperative. He needed to ask her something. What was her favorite character in Higure no Rhapsody? What did she want to do with him this afternoon? Lovely weather we’re having. How about that airline food? Something. ANYTHING.
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Itsumi broke the silence. “Hey... Wataru, what do you want to do this afternoon?”
Finally. Wataru seized the moment. He could suggest some safe options. “Well I figured you might want to see Meiji Jingu or some of the museums in Ueno, but if there’s anything else you’d like to see or do then I think it’d be best to go with that.” Yeah. That worked. If she wanted something else he would happily oblige.
Itsumi smiled and looked upwards, pursing her lips as she thought about what she wanted to do until she burst in excitement having figured out what she wanted to do. “I’d like to have some Jiro style ramen for dinner!” She felt slightly embarrassed for asking… Was it going too far suggesting they have dinner… or maybe getting ramen sounded unfeminine…
Wataru perked up. Where had this woman been all his life?! “Oh you like Jiro style ramen?! Me too! My sister works at a dive that makes it. We should go there tonight!”
Itsumi leaned in, excited and inadvertently raising her voice. “Really?! I’d love that!”
The people on the train looked at Itsumi, irritated by the disruption to the relative silence on the train.”
“I’m sorry…” Itsumi sheepishly nodded her head in apology to the strangers looking at her.
Wataru chuckled. “Sounds good.” He paused for a moment and watched over Itsumi, who was looking down into her lap in embarrassment. “Are you uh... looking forward to meeting your family here?”
Itsumi was quiet for an extended moment. “Umm…”
Wataru was a bit startled. “I uh… I’m sorry for prying, I just-
Itusmi giggled. “No it’s not that.” She looked up at the ceiling in thought. Should she tell him? “It’s just… I think they might hate me.”
Wataru looked sympathetically at Itsumi, “Well…” He looked up to the ceiling. “I uh-
Itsumi blurted out, “I was kinda hoping that I could just ditch ‘em and spend the day with you-” Itsumi stopped suddenly and began to blush uncontrollably.
Oh. Wataru was surprised and felt fuzzy and warm inside, yet also relieved knowing that he didn’t screw up their day together thus far. “Well I’m meeting up with that fan at nine o’clock… so if they don’t show up by 9:15 I’ll take you up on that…” Wataru scratched his head. “But I think you oughtta give ‘em a chance. They uh… how should I say this…”
Itsumi smiled. “Well if they don’t like me I can-” Itsumi sighed. “I can… I can just move on and enjoy my time here in Tokyo.”
“Well yeah, but I think it’s good to hear them out…” Wataru sighed. “Some family members don’t care... but I think... others will welcome you with open arms… I think.”
Itsumi smirked. “Well that’s not very convincing.”
“No?” Wataru sighed. “... Well family can be…” He pressed his palm on his forehead and leaned on it with his elbow on his knee, feeling uncomfortable from what he was saying.
Itsumi caught on as she watched Wataru look aimlessly at his lap, seeming to have struck an emotional nerve. “Well uh…” She looked away, her eyes darting back and forth quickly. “How about you with the fan you’re meeting? Are you looking forward to that?”
Wataru’s tension was eased. “Well… I figured since it was summer I’d try to do something for a change of pace. And since they’re from out of town I figure I wouldn’t want to have them come all this way and not get to see me, you know?”
“Well that’s cool! Do you know where they’re from?”
Wataru tried to recall if Koizumi had told him where they were from. “Hmm… well they could be from Okinawa or Wakkanai for all I know. They never actually told me.” He chuckled. “They just told me they wanted to meet at Hachiko at nine o’clock.”
“Hachiko?”
“It’s a famous statue in Shibuya honoring a dog who showed up at the station everyday to welcome his master home for years.”
“Oh. I’ve heard of that. Did his master ever come home?”
Wataru sighed and pursed his lips. “No. His owner…” He shook his head in silence for a moment. “His owner died and never came back… But Hachiko kept coming until the day it died too. Waiting for years and years.”
“Ah…”
Wataru smirked. “I’ve had my fair share of no-shows there…” He chuckled. “Waiting for hours and then having to go on with my day.”
Itsumi giggled. “Did you show up the day after to see if they’d show up?”
Wataru closed his eyes and laughed quietly, trying to contain himself. “No… I just gave up on meeting them and did something else.” Wataru looked at Itsumi and smiled. “Heck, I might get stood up today.”
Itsumi laughed. “Would that be a bad thing?”
Wataru matter-of-factly responded. “Well my sister thought I was crazy for agreeing to meeting them to begin with, but it could be fun. We’ll see, but they won’t hurt my feelings if they don’t show up.”
Itsumi blushed, pulling her phone out of her purse to check the time. 8:45 AM. They’d reach Shibuya Station in three minutes and then be walking over to Hachiko. She saw a text from Mashiro, telling her to pat Hachiko on the head three times, and that the other person who patted the dog’s head three times will be the family member she was meeting. It was exciting, yet also nerve-racking all the same. What would this Naruhiko Mogami guy be like? Would he accept her, possibly wholeheartedly or at least not despise her with every fiber of his being? All the possibilities swirled around in her head. She looked over at Wataru and saw him briefly reading something on his phone.
Itsumi put her phone back into her purse and looked back at Wataru. “We’re almost there, right?”
“Yeah, we’re just about there, only a couple more minutes.” He put his phone into his pocket. “I’ll take you to Hachiko when we arrive.”
“OK!” Itsumi smiled.
The time looked away from each other and smiled. They had a special moment together and would have some more soon enough. Hopefully their individual arrangements wouldn’t sap too much of their time from each other, right? They could just spend time together instead of splitting up for a couple of hours, right?! The notion swarmed their minds, but it was of no use to entertain those thoughts. Itsumi wanted to learn more about her family, and Wataru felt like entertaining a fan.
The train reached the Shibuya terminal and Itsumi and Wataru filed out of the train behind the hordes of people hurrying out. Wataru led Itsumi towards the turnstile to get out of the train station. All Itsumi was shocked to be in such a huge sea of people, but she believed Wataru would take her to Hachiko, and from there… hopefully Mogami would treat her with the same kindness.
In front of Itsumi, Wataru forged ahead, looking over the crowds until they reached the entrance of the station and out of the maze that was Shibuya Station, finally making it through the Hachiko Exit. The path wasn’t new to him, but it was still a relief for him to make it out.
“Hachiko’s just over there Itsumi.” Wataru pointed at the Hachiko statue.
Itsumi looked over at Hachiko as well. “Oh!”
Itsumi gazed in shock at the hundreds of people congregated around the statue. It was definitely an easily identifiable landmark to meet someone at when you knew who to look for. Indistinct chatter, cigarette smoke, and the noise of billboard advertisements dominated the air, and to her right were thousands of people crossing an intersection to and from Shibuya station. Fukui was a ghost town compared to what she saw before her. it was all very new—even frightening. Now more than ever did she hope that Mogami would be nice to her. Sure she could get back to her hostel on her own if things didn’t work out, but even so, the bustling surroundings that confused her yesterday were nothing compared to this.
Wataru pulled out his phone and checked the time. “It’s 8:55. You’re meeting up with your family member at nine, right?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Well I’m meeting my fan at nine too, we can just hang out over there.”
“OK.”
Wataru scrolled through his notifications and looked for the messages from Koizumi. Just follow the instructions and then they’ll catch the cue. He put his phone back into his pocket and started walking towards the statue with Itsumi following next to him.
“You have my number if anything happens and you need some help. So call me if you have a problem.”
“Oh… thank you.”
The two weaved through the crowd around the Hachiko statue.
Wataru smiled as he approached the statue. “When do you think you’ll be free later?”
“I… I don’t know exactly… but we did have plans for lunch…”
“Ah. Then maybe we can meet up at two o’clock perhaps?”
“Maybe I can text you in an hour or so.”
Wataru stepped forward to the statue. Thinking about what Koizumi had suggested to him in their messages, he patted Hachiko on the head three times. Itsumi froze as she looked at him pat the statue. Then she quickly patted the statue on the head three times as well. Wataru froze and looked at Itsumi.
Wataru stared into each other's eyes, dumbfounded.