Chapter 1
Hello! I am just at the Gate; you can see me from here.
Vikarnan picked up the phone, responded, and hung up immediately before Kerishia could yell at him.
Keri: 6 messages, 2 missed calls
He swiftly moved the notification to the right. He knew that the first thing Kerishia would ask for was his phone to make him realize the grave mistake he made. Perhaps she’d prove again how irresponsible and not punctual he is. “Hi… Ohayouooooo!” Kerishia almost jumped in excitement.
He did not understand whether Kerishia was terribly angry or repressing it until they boarded the Shinkansen. He smiled fakely and greeted her with a “Good morning.”
Kerishia understood that he might be scared or anticipating the imminent fight because she had been waiting for him since then.
“Relax, I am not going to fight with you… now.”
Vikarnan tried to smile, but before he could complete it, he heard the most important “now!!”
“Ha ha ha…” Kerishia laughed like a kid who thought he made the funniest prank with her bestie.
“Alright, I promise I won’t fight about this.” Vikarnan did not smile this time, but Kerishia held his hand and pressed it between her fingers.
She leaned her head on his shoulder to reassure him about her intentions.
“Muchas gracias, senora!” He reciprocated by placing his fingers on her hand as well.
“Now, run, or else we will miss this Shinkansen. I don’t want to waste any minute now.
I have to submit my paper for the Kobe conference, so I am busy these days; Run, Vikki, run!” She almost made him fall from her sudden running. They started running towards the station.
“Wait, wait,” this time she pulled him behind! “Just watch out for the signal.” Kerishia had a little overturning tone and was a little annoyed. He needed to understand whether it was due to him being late or due to the signal.
“Wait! Don’t be sad; we can get something from this 7-11 to eat.” Vikarnan consoled Kerishia after gently holding her hand again. Vikarnan was starving, but asking her to wait so he could have something was risky. So, he was waiting to see if she asked him or if she would also be hungry at some point. Until then, he would bear with this.
“You are right. Let’s eat something or buy something we’ll eat on the train. I am hungry… you?!”
Kerishia told him, tried to optimize the time at the university gate, and went inside the konbini.
“I will have a pizza bun, banana cake, corn chips, and chu-hai, that one with the red-colored orange-type fruit on it. The color of the bottle is lemon yellow.”
After listing his choice, he felt so relieved.
Now, he was trying to read Kerishia’s face to prepare himself for a possible response or explanation.
“You won’t be having chu-hai because it’s a temple we are going to. And I don’t like it that you are starting your day with a drink.”
He said sorry and agreed it was a mistake. He told Kerishia they could have an espresso, and she took two black coffee BOSS bottles from the chilled part. “I want it hot if it is fine with you.”
“No problem,” she said, giving him one bottle and putting the rest of the things on the counter for billing.
“I will have one onigiri,” she told Vikarnan while he was going through the aisle.
“I want one corn chips packet also,” Vikarnan pulled one pack and an onigiri for her.
“Oooo maai gaawddd…” she had a very peculiar accent.
“We will be inside the train for a maximum of 90 minutes or so. We are not camping at Zhao, and I will treat you to lunch.”
“Vikki, Awwwww, I will eat and digest everything on the train itself.
And don’t worry, I will be hungry again.”
Kerishia smiled at him while they crossed the signal.
“How much do I owe you?”
Vikarnan asked.
“Don’t worry, I will take my money, and I have a bill, so relax.
Can you walk a little faster…”
“Onegaishimasu…” Kerishia winked at him.
“Ano Keri-San…Chotto matte kudasai,” Vikarnan replied, almost flaunting his Japanese skills to Kerishia.
“I got this, Bikku-San; please forgive me for speaking the Japanese language in front of you.
I am not giving you a demo this time, but let me share my Japanese language skill achievement with you.
You are privileged to hold the hand of a language connoisseur, not an ordinary doctoral student.”
“What, now I seriously doubt your English vocabulary too.
I know you just know a few phrases, and that’s it.
I can sing a Japanese song for you…
What!” Kerishia’s eyes almost popped out when she heard this.
“Don’t be surprised,” Vikarnan stared at her as if she should seriously admire him.
“Okay, just sing it, sing now…”
“Do you really want to listen now?” Vikarnan confirmed,
as there were many people in the Ichibancho Sun Mall.
“What could be more pleasant than listening to your melodious song in Japanese on Marble Road?”
She gave a naughty smile and pointed towards the signage saying Marble Road.
Kerishia stopped. “I will move once you sing for me.”
Varnit’s face turned red as a few people seemed to be getting interested in this.
Perhaps only Vikarnan thought this way; people were really not bothered by what the two foreigners were talking about in English.
“Everyone is looking at me, I am shy.” Vikarnan tried to escape by saying this.
“These ABC people don’t care about you.” (“ABC” is the word she uses for people because of their different pronunciations, like no word for “V,” so everything is “B, Vi, Bi, Wi,” etc., so sometimes she teases like this). She herself reads “J” as “H,” but she makes fun of accents and pronunciation. That’s Kerishia… “I won’t move until you sing…” Kerishia made an innocent face and looked at his face.
Vikarnan told her, “You told me that you won’t fight with me. Now I got you. You want to insult me,” Vikarnan complained to Kerishia. “Insult, nooo… not in a million years. I just want to see your face while you sing a Japanese song for me. It’s a sincere request,” she made a puppy face.
To make it impossible for Vikarnan to escape, she added more…
“Please Vikki, please, please, please!!!” and held his hand tightly.
“Okay, if you really want this so badly, I will sing.”
Vikarnan told her after gently taking his hand out of hers.
He took a few more steps away from her and started running and singing simultaneously…
“SENDAI YODOBASHI CAMERA…”
“I will kill you,” Kerishia also ran behind him to chase him… as his voice faded in the crowd.
[P.S. I hope you all enjoy the bonus story]