| Fan Fiction |
by mari
It was a long train ride. Their mountain village was hardly a popular stop for the main shinkansen /bullet train/ to Tokyo, so Erika had to first take a train to Kyoto, and then caught the Nozomi /fastest bullet train/ to Tokyo. Overall the journey took four and a half hours. Four and a half hours of listening to her MP3 player, anxiously squeezing its metal frame in her hand, flipping through glossy magazines she bought from the newsstand multiple times, and short naps. As the speaker announced Shin Yokohama as the next station, Erika flipped out her cell phone, and dialed her sister’s number. It went to her voicemail, and speaking in a low voice Erika murmured, “Makichan, Eri des. I’ll be arriving in Tokyo in about ten minutes. Jah ne.”
Eri gave a deep sigh, and lay back in her seat.
Yosh, she thought firmly, time to conquer Tokyo.
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“Neechan!”
Erika glanced up sharply as her little sister waved frantically at the end of the stairs. A smile blossomed on her face, and hurried down with her suitcase.
“Makichan! Osashiburi! O genki? /It’s been a long time, how are you?/” She enveloped her sister in a hug. Stepping back she eyed her critically. Maki had cut her hair into a short bob beneath her chin, very cute. She dressed in a stylish full skirted tan skirt, a cute, loose white canvas blouse with a short denim vest, and to top it off, a cute tan hat with a little flower on it.
“Okikata ne? /You’ve gotten so big!/” Eri said teasingly like some obachan /grandmother/.
Maki stuck her tongue out. “I’m only a little shorter and a little younger than you, but I’m stronger and prettier!” she boasted her childhood line.
They both giggled.
“Demo hontoni kiireni, Maki chan /But you are really pretty/” Erika said admiringly. “Let me guess, boyfriend?”
Maki blushed. “Mah mah. Let’s get out of here and get lunch.”
Erika grinned as she followed her imouto out of the bustling train station. Maki’s flat was relatively close so they decided to just drop off Erika’s suitcase instead of eating at the train station. “In any case there’s a cute little café I’d rather bring you to,” Maki explained in her pragmatic manner.
Finally settled down and a cool glass of omocha /cold green tea/ before her, Erika studied her sister’s face, peering down at the menu. There really was something different about her. She had a fair glow about her, a happiness Erika had not seen a few months ago when she came home for New Years. Still, she could wait to pester Maki; if there really was a guy, Maki wouldn’t be able to help herself.
Erika grinned into her cup of water, calmly ordering a pasta carbonara, and waited.
After ordering a Caesar salad, Maki exclaimed to her sister brightly “So you have to tell me more about this internship.”
“Hmm well I’m working as one of Ohno Satoshisan’s helpers. You know preparing glazes, the kiln, but also learning his techniques. I’m really excited.”
Maki’s brow furrowed slightly in thought. “Hmm. Satoshisan, his name is vaguely familiar to me.”
Erika smiled a touch dryly. “Well he’s a famous artist in my field, so you’ve probably heard about him from me.”
But Maki shook her head. “No I’m pretty sure I’ve heard his name come up somewhere else, at work maybe. Well never mind. What’s he like?”
Erika shrugged. “I don’t know much about him, except he’s very talented and rather young. Only twenty nine and quite prominent in the art field.” Erika paused. “Actually, I’ve heard he’s a bit eccentric, though no one has explained what that means.”
Maki laughed. “All artists are, so I’ve heard. But you shall find out soon enough.”
“Well enough about my work,” Erika said, leaning back in her seat as the waiter arrived with their food. “How’s yours going? Any interesting projects, or clients?” Erika took a generous sip of tea. “Meet any new coworkers?”
Maki quickly glanced away. Interesting.
“It’s going really well actually,” Maki replied after taking a little pleased breath. “I’ve recently started a new project with much more responsibility than I’ve had before. It’s a fairly large job and I am working with another department I’ve never dealt with before. And I really admire their department head. Her name is Shaku Yumiko. She’s really gorgeous, confident and very smart. It was apparently she who requested that I head this project with one of their department.” Maki rushed her words, flushed with pride and pleasure.
“But that’s wonderful!” Erika exclaimed. She paused, and asked with innocent curiosity; “So you are heading this project with a member of her department?”
Maki appeared faintly pink. “Yes, a nice, talented and experienced (at least more than me) young man. He’s been a very good example to me. Actually,” Maki was fairly glowing, “Kazuyasan went to Ritsumeikan /elite university in Kyoto/ undergraduate, and then went to America to get a MB at Harvard Business School. And though he’s very elite and older than me, he treats me very respectfully and well.”
Erika took another liberal sip of tea. “Oh I’m sure he treats you very well.”
Maki blushed scarlet. “Caught.”
Erika grinned back. “And noted! Come now you thought you could hide from me? How long have you been dating?”
If possible, Maki seemed to become even redder. “We only went on a few dates,” she muttered. “We are both very busy people…”
Erika couldn’t resist teasing her. “Oh so you haven’t slept with him yet?” She laughed aloud at her sister’s expression.
“In any case,” Maki began with a forceful tone meant to change the subject, “I told him you are staying with me, and he wants to meet you. I thought we could go for drinks tomorrow night.”
“Sure I’d love to meet him. Tomorrow’s agenda is just to meet my employer and basically settle in.”
********************************aR^a_Sh>i************************************
Erika glanced up at the tall building with more than mild trepidation. She dressed a bit smartly today, having borrowed an elegant pencil skirt and jacket from Maki, and wore her best white blouse. Her hair she tied up in a small bun above her head. There were many business people walking in and out of buildings, but this office building was particularly impressive. She glanced down at the crisp business card in her hand, where Ohno Satoshi [大野智] was elegantly flourished.
“Yosh,” she muttered, unconsciously clenching her hands and tightening her shoulders in a fighting pose.
It was a very long ride up the crowded elevator, in which she slowly found herself the only occupant as it came to nearly the top floor. She stepped out hesitantly into a long reception desk at the end where a bored, pretty girl sat, painting her nails. She hardly glanced up when Erika explained who she was, but indicated an open door on the left with one indifferent sparkly blue hand. Rather puzzled, Erika walked towards the indicated door, still smelling the alcoholic residue of her nail polish.
And gasped. She stood inside an enormous white room with a ceiling that raised two stories and that stretched the size of a baseball stadium. It appeared to be a studio. There were a few sculptures, some finished but many in various states of incompletion. A couple she guessed to be rejects. Raw art materials were stacked on many shelves. In the far corner of the room she noticed several small kilns and one large kiln. The room, for all its vast expanse and supplies, was completely empty and silent of people.
Or so she thought. Immediately to her right she heard a crash, which badly startled her. A vast amount of small objects, she took to be some sort of glaze, came scattering about the floor making what felt to be a criminal amount of noise. She saw a lanky figure with lightly dyed hair gaze about sleepily, then muttered “yabai /shit/” when he noticed the balls he knocked over. Both simultaneously reached for the ground, trying to pick up the fallen objects.
Gomen Makichan /Sorry/, Erika thought as her sister’s spotless suit acquired a layer of dust marching about on the floor. When the offending objects had been all retrieved, Erika glanced curiously at her companion. He was gazing a bit sheepishly at Eri from a remarkably baby face. He was a bit short, though taller than she, dressed in a worn pair of jeans with one prominent hole about the knee, a blue tee shirt inscribed with English words and a loose black jacket vest.
He gave her a short bow. “Ah, domo arigato, for helping me.” He had one hand cocked against the back of his head. “Demo /But/,” his head titled curiously, “omaeye wa dare? /who are you?/”
“Ah!” Erika started, removing a business card from her jacket pocket. She handed it over grasped in both hands with a small, polite bow. “Watashiwa Toda Erika desu. Hajimemashite. /I’m Toda Erika. It’s a pleasure to meet you./”
The young man stared at her business card quizzically for a moment, as if it would yield him the answers he needed.
Erika glanced at him hesitantly. “I’m here as one of the interns for Ohno Satoshisan…”
His expression cleared up immediately. “Ahh! Souka souka. Hajimemashite. Bokuwa Ohno desu. Manejakun did say something about interns at some point…” he trailed off.
Meanwhile Erika’s mind was whirling. This cute baby-faced guy was Ohno Satoshi, the famous artist? But he seemed almost too young to be twenty nine.
“Ah suate /sit down/,” he said indicating an equally dusty chair near the couch he’d been sleeping on.
To be polite she did so, though she truly longed to wipe it clean with her hankerchief. Oh well, the skirt is already dirty. Satoshisan did not seem to notice her reluctance.
Ohno yawned a bit, glancing ruefully at the bottle of now retrieved glaze chips. “I’d forgotten I’d put them there when I fell asleep. Baka ne? /Stupid, huh?/”
Erika tried to think of an appropriate response but failed. Again Ohno seemed alright with this.
“Onaka ga suita? /Are you hungry?/” he asked suddenly. “I ordered lunch a little while ago and it should get here soon.”
“Ah daijobu,” Erika replied, but at that moment her stomach gave an embarrassingly audible rumble. The truth was she’d been too nervous to eat more than a mouthful of rice this morning.
Ohno smiled pleasantly. “You’re stomach knows better,” he replied, chuckling a bit.
Erika managed a weak smile.
At that moment a tall girl with a tom boyish bob and slender build came into the studio crying in a loud voice, “omata se! /sorry for the wait/”
Ohno smiled up at the girl, who was looking at Erika with a bit of surprise. “You have visitors today Ohchan?” She dropped her load, a large metal lunch box carrier.
Oh chan?
“This is Erika. She will be working with me,” he was saying to the girl who began to smile with delight.
Erika?
Erika bowed to the girl. “Hajimemashite.”
The girl nodded back, opening the box to reveal one large bowl of ramen, two sides of gyoza, and a bowl of rice. Erika’s mouth watered. “Ehh? Sugoi jah. I’m Aya. Ueto Aya. I go to Aoyama daigaku, but I’m working part time here. So you’ll have to let me know what you like.” She turned back to Ohno saying teasingly, “Nee Ohchan. Hontoni raki to have such a kirreno assistant. /Really lucky to have such a pretty assistant/.”
Kirreno assistant?
But Ohno only smiled. “Baa-ka. I don’t know why anyone puts up with you.” He pulled 1000yen out of his wallet. “Do-zo /here you go/.”
Aya gave him an exaggerated bow. “Kokyakusama domo arigato /Formal: Customer thank you/,” in a sweet voice. She took up her parcel, winked at Erika, and sauntered from the room. “Mata ashta! /Until tomorrow!/”
Ohno claimed the bowl of simmering ramen, but offered her the gyoza and rice. Erika weakly tried to give a polite decline, but Ohno’s smiling face wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Jah…arigato itadakimasu /thank you for the food/,” she murmured before digging in. At first she tried to eat slowly, but Ohno’s example, hardly aware of anyone’s existence but his food, except for an approving nod when she finally ate in earnest, broke down her reservations.
When they finished eating Erika surprised herself by exclaiming happily, “Hontoni oiishi. Yokata! /That was really delicious, thank goodness!/”
“Yeah, oreno ichiban suki ramen hausu /my favorite ramen house/,” Ohno agreed. He gave another yawn, and Erika wondered if he would nod off once more. “I started watching a new dorama last night and I didn’t sleep very much.”
Erika nodded sympathetically. “Umm, I was wondering how my schedule will be like. Is there a particular time you’d like me to come?”
Ohno blinked. “Oh yes, of course. Well, I tend to work in a sort of haphazard schedule. As in, not really a schedule. I suppose you are staying with someone or renting an apartment in Tokyo?”
Now Erika blinked. “Umm yes. I’m staying with my sister.”
Ohno gave a little shrug. “Well I’m not saying you have to always be here, but if it’s not too hard for you, you could stay here.”
Erika stared at him. “Stay here. You mean here? Here here.”
“Oh yes. During the weekdays if that’s too much. There are many spare bedrooms. Bit of a dormitory. Right now it’s just me, but there’s this other guy coming tomorrow if I recall correctly,” he replied easily, his eyes already drifting towards other possible occupations.
Erika slowly shook herself. “I suppose that would be easier for my sister,” she said after a moment’s thought. Without really thinking she added, “Now that she has a boyfriend especially…”
“Well then that’s settled,” Ohno said with some relief as he got to his feet.
Erika quickly did the same, following him as he began to walk towards the rest of the studio.
“I’ll just give you a little tour of the place,” he said over his shoulder.
Erika shook her head, still a bit bewildered by the antics of her new employer. And new roommate?