Year of the Idol

Chapter TWO

The entire group seemed to freeze for what seemed like an eternity. Nami looked around, completely lost as everyone had the same expression. It almost felt like an inside joke that went right over her head. Everyone was holding their breath until Tohru nervously laughed, pulling Nami's attention away from Kyo's shocked expression.

"He's just, uhm, shy! Kyo's just very shy. He got his hair from his mom too! I'm sure your mom and his mom look super similar. Maybe you guys even have the same mom!" Tohru seemed to stumble over her words, babbling them out. Her eyes were wide as she continued with, "Oh my gosh! What if your mom and Kyo's mom were sisters? Wouldn't that be insane?"

"My mom only has a brother," Nami pointed out, amused at Tohru's rambling and very active imagination. Yuki exhaled a breath. "Besides, my mom is from America. I doubt we'd be related."

As the group began eating lunch, Nami explained that she was born and raised in Tokyo. Her mother was stationed in Tokyo about twenty years ago by the American Navy, which is how her parents met. She also told them briefly about how her family lived on the East Coast in America for the last 3 years, before her mother was able to retire and move back to Tokyo to be closer to her father's family.

Tohru perked up, exclaiming, "No way! You've got American citizenship? That's so cool!" Momiji had moved around the picnic table to start playing with Nami's hair, admiring the color in the sunlight before carefully weaving a double dutch braid.

"Yup," Nami blushed, a little embarrassed at all the attention on her. All of them were looking at her with curious eyes, completely enamored by her foreign status. "America wasn't that cool though. Not much to do. We didn't live in a big city like this but we learned how to garden!"

"Garden?" Yuki gave her a tight-lipped smile. He glanced at Tohru then back to Nami as he softly said, "That sounds like a lovely time."

Before Nami could say anything more, the bell rang and lunch was over. They quickly wrapped what was left of their lunches and headed inside the school. Yuki and Tohru said goodbye to Nami and that they hoped they would be able to see her again soon. As they began walking down the right side hallway, Kyo was trailing a few feet behind the pair and gave Nami a look before turning the corner. It was a mix of judgement and something else that Nami couldn't put a finger on. Her thoughts were interrupted as Momiji grabbed her hand and pulled her down the left side hallway.

"Since we're in the same year, we all have the same schedule," Haru chuckled under his breath as Nami looked at her printed schedule. She sheepishly put it back into her bookbag and continued to follow them down the hallway.

–

As the day continued on, she noticed that Momiji was friends with almost everyone in their year, and Haru talked to almost nobody except herself and Momiji. At the end of the school day, the pair waved goodbye to Nami as they turned down separate streets to walk home. Taking in the fresh air, Nami decided to take the long way home and pass through each neighborhood that lay between school and her house. Usually her walk home took about 25 minutes, but since it was the beginning of the school year, she decided now was the best time to be outside. With no homework to restrict her, she began wandering the streets of Tokyo.

She marveled at all the window decorations on passing houses and smiled at everyone who rode past on a bike. She'd only moved back to Japan within the last month, so even though she grew up in Tokyo, she still soaked in all of it's beauty since America had been so different and rural. Nami also felt like her memories of the streets were hazy, so she wanted to reacquaint herself with them.

While she was staring at the flashing sign in a bar window as she walked, she didn't notice that she had stumbled into the financial district of Tokyo until she caught herself looking up. Hotels, offices, and apartment buildings spanned to the sky as Namiko continued down the busy street. Many people buzzed by on scooters and laughed as they walked along with friends, but she stopped walking and took it all in. She was beyond happy to be home in Japan.