❝𝑯𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆.❞
Japanese-American, Megumi Nakamura, decides to abandon the comfort of home after graduating to go live with her cousin in Asia...
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Megumi tried to contain her excitement once she was finally able to stand up from her seat on the airplane. She pulled her leather backpack out from under the seat in front of her, then quickly slipped it on before making her way down the plane aisle towards the exit.
After a nearly 12-hour flight, she had finally arrived in Japan.
Kansai International Airport was bustling, so Meg weaved in and around the sea of people until she made it over to the baggage claim. She gripped tightly onto the straps of her backpack—a reaction to her rising nerves—as she was convinced that her heart was about to burst right through her white cardigan.
Her flight to Japan from the United States had landed ahead of schedule, so she texted her cousin, Ren, since he was supposed to pick her up.
About twenty minutes had passed by the time Meg retrieved her luggage and located the pick-up zone, but she still hadn't heard back from him. She knew he already had to rearrange his work schedule enough around her arrival, so she figured she would just take a taxi to his place and save him the trip. She already had his address, and that way, he could continue working without interruption.
She sent Ren another text message to update him on her new transportation plan then tracked down an airport taxi. Meg entered the address into the tiny GPS in front of her, and the driver took off. As they rode in silence, Meg stared out the window in total awe of how beautiful the city was.
She had previously visited Japan with her parents once before, though they spent the majority of their trip near Tokyo. Ren lived in Osaka, however, so everything felt brand new. So far, she was seeing much more traditional architecture in Osaka compared to Tokyo, which greatly excited her.
One of her main goals during her time here was to dive deep into the rich history and culture of Japan. Though Meg grew up in a Japanese-American household, she had still always felt slightly out of touch with her Asian roots. She hoped to connect with herself more here.
As the driver neared Meg's destination, he began to speak rapidly at her. Japanese wasn't Meg's first language, and she couldn't read or write in it, but she spoke it almost fluently—though it was sometimes difficult for her to understand when people spoke very fast. His authentic Japanese accent and pronunciation also made it a bit tougher for her to translate.
The man rambled on about something related to "forbidden territory," and he told her that he wouldn't take her any further than the bottom of the hill. The energy in the car shifted afterwards, and the man seemed suddenly uncomfortable with Meg's presence.
She was extremely confused and unsettled by the predicament but simply nodded her head and told him that the bottom of the hill would be fine.
