Cendric Aruna: Ashes of The Truth

CHAPTER 1: FOREIGN FAMILIARITY

Jakarta, Indonesia
September 2nd 2024
1:29 A.M.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have just started our descent into the Soekarno-Hatta airport. Please put away your belongings and return to your seats. The weather in Jakarta is cloudy with a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius.

At this time, the Fasten Seat Belt sign is illuminated so please remain seated and buckled up. Our estimated arrival time into the Soekarno-Hatta airport is approximately 1:42 A.M.

We hope that you have had a pleasant flight with us and on behalf of the entire crew, thank you for choosing Garuda airlines.

"Aoi, we're landing soon. Wake up!"

".... I've been awake for almost an hour, mom. And I also heard the pilot's announcement." I said slightly annoyed

"Oh, well you were still wearing your sleeping mask so I couldn't tell." Said my mom

"I was trying to sleep again but..." I paused

"But what?"

I leaned in closer towards my mom to whisper.

"The damned kid sitting behind me keeps kicking the back of my seat."

My mom smiled mischievously at me.

"You know you used to do the exact same thing when you were just a little girl too, right?" said my mom

"...that's fair."

"Anyway, aren't you excited to finally come back here?" asked my mom

"Hmm... I don't really know if I'm excited or not. I was only 9 when I left this country to live in Japan, I barely remember anything about Indonesia."

It's honestly a miracle that I'm still able to speak the language almost fluently. I guess that's because my mom still speaks to me in Indonesian sometimes.

"Well, you were crying forever when you were saying goodbye to your old friends back in 4th grade. Maybe you'll get a chance to meet them again in university." Said my mom

"Or maybe you'll even get yourself a nice and cute boyfriend." my mom continued while laughing a little

"Very funny mom.." I said sarcastically

"Even if I do meet some of my old friends, I doubt they'll remember me. Heck I don't even remember most of them. Well, except the ones I follow on social media of course." I continued slightly annoyed

"I'm sure you'll wind up meeting some of your old friends. we're going to be staying near our old house after all. it's in a small town so the chances of meeting them again are pretty big" answered my mom

"Anyway, look out the window! We're so close to the ground now." My mom continued

I took off my sleeping mask to look outside the airplane window. we're already so close to the ground that I can see some passenger buses and some cargo loaders on the airplane runway.

I guess it's really happening. I'm actually going to live here and start my university life. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit excited to live here, but I'm also slightly worried about the differences in norms and social values they have here compared to Japan. Well, at least there's about 4 months before I actually start going to college so I guess that's enough time to adjust. I think?

*THUD*

Oh, I think that's the sound of the airplane wheels touching the ground. My back is killing me after sitting down for nearly 8 hours. I only stood up a couple of times to go to the bathroom, and most of those times I wasn't even using it - I was just bored out of my mind.