Chapter Text
Truth be told, my Japanese wasn't all that great, so what the hell was I doing fully moving my entire life to Japan?
I was eighteen and could live by myself, but I didn't really have the funds to live by myself in America, so when my mom retired and revealed her plan to move to Japan, I felt I didn't really have a choice but to move with her.
She's been working on her Japanese for a while now while we've planned this move, and she's actually much better than I am at the language. Me, though? I took three years of Latin in high school, I was better at Romance languages. Japanese was definitely not a Romance language.
Spanish, French, Italian, I could get by with. Japanese? I had the skills of about a five-year-old.
"We can always get you a tutor," My mom kept telling me while I stressed over it.
"I guess we'll have to," I sighed, giving in at some point in the airport as we were leaving the States.
So far, the only culture shock has been how small the districts are in Tokyo. We moved to an apartment in Shibuya, and with one Google search, I learned that the shopping and entertainment district of Roppongi was but eleven minutes away. Not the hour away I was used to in the States.
We did have a rather nice apartment, though. It might have even been considered a luxury in America. Two bedrooms, one bath, and a rather spacious living area and kitchen. Plus a balcony! We didn't even have a balcony at our old townhouse.
It truly was a breath of fresh air here.
"Boo, come here. I need to talk to you." My mom called from the living room while I was unpacking my clothes.
"Alright, but I'm still unpacking," I called back.
"I want to tell you before I forget." She said, and I walked out of my room and into that open living room.
"Now," She sighed with a small kind smile on her face. "You know I don't mind your self-expression at all, and I will always support you in anything you want to do."
Her eyes were clearly on the sleeve on my left arm, going from my neck to my fingers, covered in patchwork ink that I'd been working on for ages. I had a few on my right arm as well, but my left arm clearly stood out more.
"Yeah?" I blinked.
"I assume you already know this, but the Japanese have a sort of... stigma around tattoos. They're reserved for gangsters, you know." She gave me a look.
"I'm aware, mom. I won't let anyone mistreat me based on my appearance." I nodded.
"I just don't want you getting mixed up in the wrong crowd, is all." She sighed, seeming very tired. After her retirement, she's seemed more tired than not lately.
"I won't, mom." I smiled, meaning it.
We soon fell into a little routine with our new life. Mom hired me a tutor for my Japanese, we went grocery shopping once a week, did laundry on our own respective days, and trash went out on Tuesdays. I could go a little longer without needing a job, but I wanted my Japanese to be passable before I even tried applying anywhere.
One afternoon about a week and a half into being here, I decided to just grab a quick little treat for myself for doing so well in my Japanese lessons lately.
So, I started by standing in the middle of my room, staring at my clothes, trying to build an outfit in my mind. I landed on a set of matching top and bottoms; the top being a long-sleeved mesh top and the bottom being sweatpants. I then took a little longer to pick out some shoes and decided on my black platform high-tops.
I did a little light makeup and made sure my hair was decent before grabbing my bag and phone and left the apartment for the train station to head to Roppongi.
Of course, I'd learned from anime that Roppongi was the best shopping district around, so obviously that's where I wanted to start. I went big and almost always started at the top.
When the train arrived in Roppongi, I stepped off onto the platform and just followed the crowd to the outside, then took a moment just to look around a bit, aware of all the eyes checking me out or just glancing, but I paid no mind to them.
I was well aware of why I would get looks and stares. I had unnaturally blonde hair, my own doing, of course. At least once a month, I touched up my roots with bleach and toned my hair with purple shampoo every time I washed my hair, leaving me bright and platinum blonde, just how I liked it.
I also dressed to stand out a little bit. Nothing too outrageous, I was just following my number one rule when it came to finances. When you have money, buy things that will make it look like you have money when you don't. Hence, all my clothes taking up all the fucking space in my room and my shoes filling up almost an entire wall.
I took my appearance very seriously, you could say.
I started down one busy street, figuring if I followed the flow of foot traffic, I'd come across something good. And within about ten minutes of walking, I did. A little outdoor mall with a few stores. I took my time surveying the windows to figure out which one would be more my style and chose one that had a gorgeous green shiny dress in the window.
I soon found that dress and found the price tag. It was a little out of my budget currently, but it wouldn't hurt me too badly. I kept the dress in mind and kept looking around.
I couldn't help but notice that as I looked around, more and more eyes seemed to be lingering on me. I did my best to ignore them and just keep my eyes to myself.
"Mama, she's pretty." I heard a small kid say, and couldn't help but glance over to where a child was openly pointing at me with wide eyes.
I smiled softly at him, trying to be polite, and gave him a little wave with my right hand, the one without a tattoo.
"Excuse me," A new voice said, and I straightened up and saw an employee coming up to me. "Can I help you find anything?"
"I'm just looking around, thank you." I nodded, still trying to be polite.
"Have you seen anything you like?" She smiled.
"The green dress in the window," I looked behind me to the window with a smile.
"Would you like to try it on?" She offered, and I only took a second to consider.
"Yes, thank you." I nodded and followed her to the rack of dresses it was on and she considered my frame for a moment before picking one out and led me to the dressing rooms and assigned me one.
I drew the curtain and got the dress on, and considered myself in the mirror for a moment.
The dress truly was gorgeous. The skirt flowed around my thighs like flower petals, and the green was shiny and had a slight shift in the light of purple.
"Would you like an opinion?" The employee asked, so I turned and opened the curtain slightly and stepped out, facing her.
"Oh! Pretty!" She gasped with a smile.
"You really think so?" I hummed and looked at the large mirror nearby, turning this way and that to check it out from all angles.
"You have admirers," She whispered to me, and glanced in the other direction, so I turned my eyes to the swarm of people who were pretending to look at the clothes by the dressing rooms.
A couple of them caught my eye because they were openly staring at me, with no shame on their faces at being caught. Both were boys and looked like they could be related. One was tall and had a sly look on his face. He had long hair in braids, brown shifting to blonde, an ombre I'd never seen before. The other was a little shorter and had glasses and blond hair with blue streaks through it. Sky blue that seemed to suit him and his more serious demeanor. Both wore black and street clothes from what it looked like.
"Hm," I hummed and turned my attention back to the dress. I straightened my spine and took a deep breath.
"I think I will take it," I nodded to myself in the mirror, and the employee beamed a wide smile.
I got changed into my own clothes and brought the dress to the registers, whereupon paying, I noticed the total price was a bit lower than what the price tag said. I decided not to question it and carry on like I never noticed.
Once I had the dress in a bag, I stepped out of the shop and started to head back to the train station. I did decide on one treat, after all, and this was a somewhat expensive treat.
I bought myself a bottle of peach tea before I got on the train, and sipped it throughout the short trip back to Shibuya. I retraced my steps in my memory to our apartment and got in safely.
"What's that you've got there?" Mom asked in English.
"New dress. I've been doing well in Japanese lately, so I decided to get myself a little treat and practice conversation at the same time." I smiled and pulled the dress out of the bag to show her.
"Pretty," She nodded and I went to put it in its new place in my room.
In the solace, I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, a feeling of surety and calm coming over me.
Things were going to be okay.