Tokyo Deception

28

Once Mimi had open the door fully the woman bowed and said "Hi my name is Kojima Rei and I am your next door neighbour. I saw the movers moving your stuff in earlier and I have to tell you I was so happy that you're not knocking this lovely house down."

Mimi smiled at Rei then said "Hi I'm Kanzaki Mimi. It's very nice to meet you Kojima-san" Mimi paused she didn't want to be rude but Mimi was very hungry then said, "You sort of caught me on my way out to get dinner."

Rei gave Mimi a warm smiled then said "Well you're in luck because once again I have cooked way too much. Why don't you come over to my place and have dinner."

Mimi was taken a little off guard by Rei's offer. Mimi was not used to this level of neighbourliness although her neighbours in Denenchofu had been friendly they pretty much kept to themselves.

Mimi thought "What the hell" then replied "If it's not an inconvenience than I would love to."

"Don't be silly, I love having company over, I get so lonely when my husband is away." Rei said then started walking towards her house.

Rei's house was an odd mix of styles, the house was modern mock European but the roof was a tradition Japanese roof with dark blue ceramic tiles. Even though the combination of the two very different styles should not have melded well with one another they formed an odd harmony with each other. The house and gardens were surrounded by a huge hedge and grey concrete wall. They walked into the house and Mimi took off her shoes in the genkan and Rei handed Mimi a pair of slippers then showed her to the living/dining room. Mimi sat down at the table and Rei brought out tons of food way too much for even two people to eat but it all looked and smelled delicious and Mimi was grateful for Rei's kindness.

As Rei sat down she said "I am so happy that a younger couple have moved in next door. I was worried that it was going to be an older couple and then I would not be able to become good friends with the wife."

Mimi smiled as Rei said this, Mimi wished she was a 'couple' but she knew that for the foreseeable future it was single life for her then said "It's just me moving in here, I don't have a husband."

Rei was embarrassed by her mistake and looked at Mimi's ring finger; it still had her wedding band and engagement ring on it, and then said "Oh I just assumed you were married."

Mimi saw Rei's reaction and raised both her hands and waved them about to try and dispel the embarrassment and said with a smile, "That's okay. I guess technically you could say I am but I won't be for long." Mimi looked at her rings then continued "I can't seem to bring myself to take them off I know it's silly really."

"So is that why you moved here?" Rei asked.

"Yep, I needed a new start and I fell in love with the house." Mimi replied and started to eat. Mimi was surprised at how delicious the food was and could not stop herself from shovelling more in. It had been ages since she had a decent meal let alone a meal this good.

"So I noticed that the movers only moved a few boxes in. Do you have any furniture coming?" Rei asked, She wasn't trying to be nosey but Rei was just naturally curious.

"Oishii!" Mimi said she was still thinking about the food then realised what Rei had said and then quickly replied, "No I have to buy everything and on top of that I have to find someone who can paint and decorate the place. Well actually more than one person as it's such a huge job. I don't think that house has been decorated since the eighties." Mimi replied trying not to choke on the food that was in her mouth.

Rei gave Mimi a huge grin then said "Well today is truly your lucky day because luckily for you I know where you can get all of that and you can stay with me while your house is being done."

Mimi really just wanted to get settled in her new home and replied "That's very nice of you but I'm fine with sleeping on my sofa."

Rei knew she was being pushy but she was lonely and really wanted a friend and could see Mimi was lonely as well even thought Mimi was hiding it well and said. "Please stay with me. I can't stand the thought of you sleeping on your sofa. Look, I have a spare room with a really comfortable bed and I could do with the company. I'm going to be on my own for another three weeks and I'm going crazy.''

Mimi could see that Rei was not going to take no for an answer so Mimi gave in, "Okay, thank you. I would love to stay in your spare room."

Rei gave Mimi a great big smile then said "After we finish dinner I'll take you to the bath house at the bottom of the hill. It's the best in Izu and only the locals know about it so it's never overcrowded."

        After dinner Mimi went to her house to gather her clothes, toiletries and a few other things that would last for a week. As she was going through a box marked office, looking for the notes Yoshi gave her on the manga Mimi found a picture of her and Shigure. It was taken the day before her twenty fifth birthday, and it was her favourite, a prized possession. Hatori had been away on a supposed business trip and had left in a huff after the two of them got into an argument. Mimi tried to remember what the argument had been about but couldn't. She had been depressed because she thought she was going to spend her birthday on her own; then Shigure turned up and took her to Kyoto. They had stepped into a photo booth and Mimi kept two of the four photos one was of them making a crazy face the other was of Mimi kissing Shigure on the cheek. Shigure kept the other two of them kissing each other. Mimi had wanted to keep one of them kissing because you could see the love they had for each other, but she didn't want Hatori to find it. Mimi had put the two pictures in a frame and kept it on her desk and Hatori never questioned Mimi about the picture because he assumed it was just a picture of two best friends messing around.

Mimi put the photo in the bag with the rest of the stuff she was taking to Rei's house. When Mimi walked back into Rei's house Rei showed Mimi to the room she would be staying in then Mimi grabbed her towel and bucket with her soap and shampoos and they walked to the bath house. As they walked down the hill Rei told Mimi that the street they lived on was full of very friendly people and that there was a builder that lived three houses down from them, and that he would be able to fix Mimi's house up quickly and Rei was sure he would give Mimi a discount as well.

After that Rei went on to tell Mimi she was a math teacher at the local high school and her husband was a marine biologist. By the time they reached the bath house Mimi had let her mind drift and she was only half listening. Mimi quickly got the impression that Rei was a very friendly person that was very curious about everything and everyone in her life. Mimi could tell Rei meant no harm by it and was not a busybody but was in fact naturally kind, caring and just wanted to help whenever and however she could.