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The sky was very pretty.
Especially at 6 AM, when the sun was barely rising.
You may wonder why I was awake at dusk, but you won't be able to blame me if I were to show you the serenity of the pale blue hour—with its faint clouds and ghost of a moon hanging upon the sky like a chandelier.
I always woke up along side mom at this hour, to help her with house chores. She always had her day full, especially with three kids clinging onto her feet, so I never hesitated to aid her as the eldest.
After eating breakfast and helping Mom around, I walked out at half past into the streets and started on my walk to school. Why? Don't ask again. I liked walking around the city early.
Yes, city. 'Cause we just moved to Tokyo!
You won't believe the utter joy I felt when Dad announced that he got a promotion and that we were moving.
I wasn't gonna lie and say that Aogashima was bad, no no no. It was my hometown after all and I will love it forever. I will always remember it as the origin of my birth and my own lovely home, where memories were made and shared. But still. You know how people who come from towns and villages tend to think of the civil parts of the country as either gates to opportunities and luxury, or just a dungeon where even stray dogs will gnash at you if you aren't careful? Well, the household of Kikuchi was no different than the rest of the village folk.
I had this assumption that the city must be some kind of boisterous maze, full of loud noises and flashy lights and glitz and glamor. And somehow, I was right. It was all just like in the movies when we arrived, a huge contrast between the peaceful village of Aogashima and the grand city of Tokyo. Buildings ran up to the sky, full of bright screens and blinding flashes of colors and people coming and going from all directions. Like an ant colony, minus order. Tokyo was a mix of everything—elegance and pop, neatness and chaos, richness and emptiness. Just a whirlwind of things that made no sense, and when combined together, they seem beautiful. (Not sure about the reason for the poetics but I suppose it fits.)
It took us the whole day to find a suitable place for a home, since Dad ended up getting scammed by the landlord of the apartment, who sent him fabricated photos of a nice house. We only realized the situation until Dad already handed him the money, and we found the landlord had already run off to some other corner of Tokyo. It was infuriating. Luckily, Dad contacted one of his well-off friends and he helped us with our predicament and found a good house for us in Shirokane, Minato District, with an advantageous location and everything. Now we just bow and thank him every time we cross paths.
We moved in for about a week now. Dad started going to work at his new office, and Mom became so excited to roam around the city and explore all the malls and grocery stores and shops and cafés (my siblings, Kei and Kanna, and I included). We had lots of fun on the weekend, running around like curious little chicks around a new, much larger chicken nest. The word exhilarating could barely describe the feeling.
