Anthony Cunningham was Darren’s younger brother and was two years his junior. Though Darren wondered at times if there was a conspiracy and he was really much younger than that. Or at least his maturity level said as much. Like Darren, Anthony was scrawny and small for his age. But that was where the similarities between them stopped. Anthony’s hair was always in wild hairdo that resembled a favorite anime character. Darren thought that he looked like a bit of a dork.
Darren gave Anthony a hug and introduced him to Yuki.
“Hi.” Anthony said in English, then turned to Darren, “You didn’t tell me you have a hot Japanese girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Darren said back to him in English, “She’s a friend. Stop being weird.”
“I think you’re a poor liar.” Anthony said, “Does she have a friend for me?”
Yuki looked at Anthony, with a happy smile on her face.
“I think you need to realize that I speak excellent English,” Yuki said.
Anthony’s face turned deep red.
Darren laughed.
“What color is your luggage?” Darren asked.
“Its the blue one,” Anthony replied.
The luggage turnstile spun before Darren in a long loop. Bags traveled past them, but his brother’s luggage wasn’t in sight.
“Where’s mine?” Anthony asked.
“It’ll be here,” Darren replied.
“Are we at the right place?”
A second later, a blue suitcase turned the same corner.
“Told you,” Darren said.
“Great. Now what?” Anthony said, “Lunch? It’s like what two in the afternoon?”
Darren looked at a big clock on the wall.
“No dude.” Darren replied, “It’s more like seven in the morning. The next day.”
“Dang. breakfast then.”
Darren, Yuki, and Anthony walked through the airport. They grabbed breakfast from a small shop and walked towards the Taxi round-about.
They walked through the airport terminal to the exit. Off to one side was a kiosk with newspapers and a couple TV’s showing the news. On one of the screens was a picture of Yellowstone.
“Hold on,” Darren said.
Darren marched up to the TV screen. Flashing on the screen were reports of the seismic event. A news reporter talked, but the sound was off. Japanese sub-titles flashed on the screen.
Yuki walked up behind him.
“This is a report on that Volcano in America,” Yuki said in Japanese without thinking about it, “Did you want me to read it for Anthony?”
“Yes, please. I can’t translate Japanese text into English as fast as you can.” Darren said in English.
“The reporter is saying that the small tremors that have been persistent for three months and the smoke and ash have stopped,” Yuki said in English.
“Oh good.” Darren said, he walked away from the kiosk, “I was afraid the volcano was going to blow.”
“But its not, right?” Yuki asked.
“Exactly,” Darren said, “To the taxi.”
“Are you like a Wayfinder?” Anthony asked.
Yuki gave Anthony a perplexed look.
“I may speak English quite well, but I don’t speak American,” Yuki said.
Anthony broke out into a fit of laughter. Yuki looked at Darren with a shocked look on her face.
“What’s so funny?” Yuki said in Japanese.
“I’m sorry.” Darren replied in Japanese, “We’re not American, we’re Canadian.”
Yuki looked at the confused look on Anthony’s face.
“He doesn’t speak Japanese does he?” Yuki asked in Japanese.
“Not a word.”
“What did your brother mean by his comment?”
“Right.” Darren said dropping back into English, “My brother is a geek and doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”
“What were you two talking about?” Anthony said.
“If you learned Japanese like dad asked you to, you would have understood it. Until then, what I say to pretty girls in their language is none of your business.”
“You were hitting on her then. Right?” Anthony said to Darren.
Darren’s face turned bright red.
“He wasn’t hitting on me.” Yuki said, “But we can go. There’s more to see of Tokyo than just the airport terminal.”
The round-about was filled with taxis of every color. Most of them were yellow, but there were green taxis and even red taxis.
Chapter 2
The trip to the Apartment was uneventful, Darren stared at the signs as he passed them. Some of the words he understood, but others he did not. After about twenty minutes, the taxi pulled up to a ten-story white apartment building.
The apartment building was more modern looking than some of the ones that they passed. The apartment building was covered in white stucco, and it seemed almost like a pile of kids construction blocks stacked in a heap.
Darren paid the driver while Anthony and Yuki retrieved Anthony’s suitcases from the truck. Darren left the cab, and it sped away.
Darren opened the door and walked into the foyer of the building. The entrance was decorated with dark gray marble floors and sand colored tile on the walls. The ceiling was very high, about fifteen feet. A small desk sat to one side with a row elevators off to one side. A security guard sat in the chair behind the counter.
“Hi, Goru.” Darren waved at the security guard.
“Hi Darren, how may I help you?” Goru, the security guard, said in Japanese.
“This is my this is my little brother Anthony,” Darren said in Japanese.
“Ah, another son of Freddy the Gaijin.” Goru said in Japanese, “I was told that you were going to be coming by today.”
“He doesn’t speak Japanese,” Darren said.
“My name is Goro Hayata.” Goru said in English, “If you need anything, please feel free to ring me up and ask.”
Darren, Anthony, and Yuki traveled up the elevator to the seventh floor.
Darren unlocked the door to and walked into the apartment.
The apartment was a two bedroom corner unit. Long walls of clear windows let in daylight that brightened up the apartment.
The two bedrooms were on opposite sides of a great room that was the living room, dining room, and a small kitchen. The kitchen was off to one side. A small table with four chairs sat in the middle of the dining room. The TV was attached to one wall, with a couple sofas facing it.
On the walls and shelves were many small souvenirs from various parts of the world. Darren knew that there was art from Norway, Russia, Africa, and Brazil. In amongst the tokens was a little hand-drawn picture of some crayoned stick figures. Darren recognized the picture as something that he drew when he was tiny. He was surprised that his dad had kept it.
“It’s quite small,” Anthony said, referring to the apartment.
Anthony walked into the kitchen, his shoes still on his feet.
“Dude.” Darren said, “Take off your bloody shoes.”
“Why its just dad’s house,” Anthony said.
“And he’s been living in Japan for six years. He has some Japanese customs now. Take off your shoes.”
Anthony took off his shoes.
“You’re annoying,” Darren said.
“You’re pig-headed,” Anthony said.
“You two fight like brothers,” Yuki said.
“We are brothers.” They both said in unison.
Yuki rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Where do you want to go,” Yuki asked.
“I don’t want to go anywhere.” Anthony said, “I’m tired, and I want to have a nap.”
“Your loss.” Darren said, “Don’t leave the apartment as no one will be able to understand you.”
Darren turned away from the sulking Anthony.
“Shall we go?” Darren asked.
“We have ten hours to spend before dinner with our dads.” Yuki said, “Are you sure your little brother is going to be all right?”