Stars Fell on Tokyo | ✓

07 | i miss you, dad

      SHE FELT THE color in her cheek rise when he said that but she also wasn't going to let his pretty words distract her from figuring out why he was peeping at her. She abruptly asked, "why were you spying on me?"

     "I-I apologize! Believe me, I wasn't trying to," Kohei frantically waved his hands.

    "Then what were you trying to do?"

     "Well, you see, I usually come to this spot during my break times from work. And besides, it looked like you were getting too close that you might fall in,"

     Louanne cocked her head to the side while raising an eyebrow when he said that. "You go to work?"

     "Yes, I'm working at Naoki's noodle shop for the summer,"

      "Naoki's? I know him!" her tone is filled with excitement, "I'm his granddaughter!"

       His eye lit up. "You're Naoki's granddaughter?"

       "Of course but this is my first time here actually," she tells him.

        Before he could answer, Kohei checked the time on his time and said, "Oh, well I have to go now but it was very nice meeting you even if it was in an awkward situation," as he stalks off with his hands in his pockets. 

      Louanne was surprised that he question the way she look or something. She let out a shaky breath and she placed her hand over her heart, feeling it thump faster.

     "Oh my gosh, I just talked to a boy," she said to herself.

    When he was fully out of sight, she walked back to the house with her mind stuck on her encounter with Kohei, though still crept out by his peeping. She could've slapped him at that moment but that might be a bit excessive. 

      But at least he apologized in the end and for her, she was grateful that she met someone who was just as shy as she was. The sound waves of music flowed through her ears once she made it back to the house in such a slow amount of time.

      Louanne found Sobo Chō slow dancing with herself in the living room, the television screen was pitch black. She didn't know whether to leave her alone or interrupt the trance she was in. Her arms were rounded out as if she was holding someone or rather hugging them while her feet shuffled from side to side.

      "Come dance with me, Louanne," she said all of a sudden.

      She didn't question Sobo Chō's knowledge of her presence except she wandered to where her grandmother was. Louanne thought about how odd this was but threw that away.

      "Your father and I used to do this when he was little. He'd step on his own toes because he didn't know how to dance properly," then Sobo Chō sighed, "but it feels like I'm holding a piece of him and I wouldn't want to let go."

     "Do you still miss those days?" Louanne asked.

     "Almost every day but I know that this will always be his home to come to in open arms," the music cut off, making an awful scratching noise. Sobo Chō quickly rushed over to turn it off.

    "Why did he leave?" Louanne posed another question.

      Sliding the vinyl back into its plastic casing, Sobo Chō wasn't all too bothered with it but something was working through her mind. Louanne immediately wanted to take it back since her grandmother was in her own version of solitude. As expected, she didn't reply back to her.

       "I'm sorry if that came out of nowhere," Louanne atoned before she retreated upstairs to her room.

         As promised, Louanne wrote a letter to her parents back at home, recapping her day so far. If her father was here with her, he'd be a bit overprotective. She was still thinking of her meeting with Kohei underneath the cherry blossom tree. She was kind of hoping that he stayed a little longer or maybe even see him again. 

         It brought the butterflies back into her stomach and she wasn't expecting him to have this kind of effect on her. The rest of the day goes quickly either because she spent it watching tv with Sobo Chō before Jiji came home by nightfall.

         At dinner, it was the same as she arrived when the conversations were flowing until Jiji Naoki had mentioned Kohei Isa to Louanne at the table.

       "I see you've met our next-door neighbor today," he said, "speaking of which, his parents have invited us over to a dinner party tomorrow,"

       "Oh, for what?" Louanne asked.

       "Kohei's older brother, Haru is making a proposal to his girlfriend that night and he wanted it to be special,"

       "I bet it must be so exciting! I don't think I've ever been to, uh, an engagement party before," she said as she tries to fix her chopsticks.

        "Really?" Sobo Chō asked then she looked over at Louanne's fingers, "you want to make sure you have a firm with your index finger and thumb-almost like you're holding a pencil or pen."

       "You guys make it look so easy,"

       Jiji Naoki chuckles, "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it sooner or later. Not of all of us were naturals in the beginning,"

       "It took Haru this long to marry this girl. They seem like a perfect match," Sobo Chō commented.

       "The second best thing that I've heard this summer," Jiji Naoki raised his fist in the air.

        Louanne turned to him. "And what's the first one?"

       "Getting to know that my son is still alive and that I have a grandchild," he added.

      Louanne smiled a little at that statement and she still couldn't understand why her father had left in the first place.

***

          It was that Saturday morning that Louanne had spoken on the phone with her parents now that her first week of staying in Tokyo was over. She had to admit that she was feeling homesick for a while and things over here weren't the same. His voice was shaky on the phone line when she heard him.

          "How are you doing? Are you somewhere safe?" he asked anxiously.

          "I'm okay, Dad. I'm with Sobo and Jiji right now," she answered, "they're surprisingly nice."

          Her father lets out a sigh of relief. "That's good to know and I'm really glad that you're safe. Your mother and I-well, I was more worried about you. I almost forgot that you left,"

       "How is everything at home?"

      "It seems to be the same as usual,"

      There was an unsettling long pause before he asked, "do you mind handing the phone over to my parents? I'd like to speak to them."

     "Sure," Louanne's voice squeaked a little but she ignored it as she did what he requested. Since Jiji Naoki was sitting next to her on the couch watching television, she handed the phone to him, "he wants to speak to you,"

       The old man's eyes glistened in the sunlight but there was also a sense of hope. He obliged as he pressed it against his ear, holding the phone with his shoulder.

      "H-hello son," he starts.

      "Hello father, it's been a while, huh?" her father's voice stammered.

      "Your mother and I missed you so much every day, son,"

      "I...I miss you too,"

      There wasn't much to catch up on until the call ended.