Tokyo Blade Company 東京ブレードカンパニー

Chapter One~The Ticket

I sat in silence as the guests walked by and paid their respects to the body that was once my mother. So many people, but yet the room felt empty to me. I took a deep breath and looked down at my feet, trying to ignore the constant stares and whispering. It was at that time I had realized that I was alone in this world. I did not know where my father was, I assumed he had passed away when I was a baby. My mother lost her life to an illness her body was too weak to fight. Using all the strength I had, I stood up and walked up to look at the body of my mother. I had inherited all of her features: chocolate brown eyes, jet black hair that went down to my waist, and a fair face that was not too pale, but also not too tan. Mother looked so peaceful in a white dress, and her hands looked as soft as always.

"The only time you can truly experience peace is during sleep or death." a voice next to me spoke in a low manner. I turned to see my cousin and childhood friend Satayo, peering over the casket. He moved his index fingers to his frames and re-positioned them.

"E-excuse me, Kitomi. I understand that you are in mourning right now but my mother wanted me to hand this to you." I watched Satayo dig into the pockets of his dress pants and pull out a white slip with writing on it. A ticket?

"A ticket.....?" Satayo handed me the ticket and I examined it closely, occasionally glancing at the smirking cousin.

"What's so funny?" I scorned him.

"Consider yourself lucky. You're going to Tokyo. You can't live in Hakone by yourself just yet. Oh!" Satayo did his common slap on his forehead with the palm of his hand. "You DO know that you have a brother who lives there.....right?"

My eyes widened. In my 17 years in Hakone I didn't recall ever seeing a brother in my life. Hell, mother never even mentioned him. It was a surprise too much for me to handle, resulting in Satayo to have to bring me to a chair.

"I can't believe your mom kept such a huge secret from you. Umm....I'm sorry for telling you in this situation. To be honest, I had no idea you had a brother until about two weeks ago."

"What do you know about him?" I was straight to the point. I was filled with anger but also curiosity.

"The only thing I really know about him is his name. Anju. I think I did recall an age. 25?" Satayo paced back and forth and stopped. "Well, what are you going to do, Kitomi?"

"Well, I'm going to find him of course! Maybe he'll know about what happened to my father." I stood up and looked at my ticket, which read that the train would be leaving to Tokyo the next day at 10:30 a.m.

"Well, first thing you better do is pack." Satayo said. "A small bag. I hear Tokyo is um...really rough these days."

~

All my life I had lived in the small town of Hakone, which was about 100 kilometers (or 62 miles) from Tokyo. Mother was not a traveler and enjoyed a simple life as a florist and teacher. Therefore, we never left our town. It was such a bittersweet moment realizing I would leave the memories I had in this town, but I was ready. The neighbor who was going to rent out mother's home walked me to the train station, an elderly lady I called Eda.

"Just a backpack, miss Kitomi?" Eda smiled at me as I paced around the station.

I smiled. "Yup! All I need is the basics of things! Money, some clothes, snacks, oh and I also have this..." I opened up a small pouch of my bag and took out a black and silver handle-like device. I pressed a button and a blade came out. "In case I get those creepy dudes trying to hit on me."

"How creative." Eda said as the train pulled into the station.

I gave Eda a hug. "I'll miss you so much Eda! Please take care of mother's house for me!"

"Okay, Kitomi. Please come visit sometime. And be very careful with what you do in Tokyo, you hear? I've been told that...."

"I have to go now, Eda! But I will be very careful!" I smiled and she nodded and motioned me to go as I quickly ran into the train. I found a seat to myself and gazed out of the window, watching the memories I had made in my hometown fade away.

Little did I know at that time the calm and happy life I had once lived would be turned upside down....literally.