Mrs Yoshino had obviously been entertaining the young people while they were waiting for Haruka.
‘Hi Yuriko and Jun, how are you?’ asked Haruka.
‘Fine, thanks,’ said Yuriko and the young man beside her in unison.
‘Sorry if you’ve been waiting for me for a long time. I really wasn’t expecting you to drop around until later,’ said Haruka.
‘Haruka, you look lovely, as usual,’ said the young man called Jun with a wide smile.
‘Thank you, Jun,’ replied Haruka.
‘Jun was missing you so much that he insisted we come over earlier,’ said Yuriko.
Takashi looked at Jun’s face and then over at Haruka’s. It killed him to see that Jun was quite smitten with her.
‘You know Yuriko Makimoto, my neighbour from next door, and this is Jun Kurokawa, her cousin from Kyoto,’ Haruka said to Takashi, looking strangely embarrassed as she beckoned him to take a seat.
‘Would you like a glass of chilled barley tea?’ Haruka asked Takashi before escaping to the kitchen.
She was out of the room and down the hall before Takashi could reply, leaving him to stare blankly at Yuriko and Jun. Takashi had met Yuriko a few years ago, but he didn’t recognise her when he first walked in the room because she’d lost so much weight. He certainly wanted to know how well Haruka knew this Jun guy. He certainly spoke to her like they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Even though he was sitting down, it was obvious that he was taller that six foot. His eyes were as black as midnight and he wore a permanent scowl that lined his deeply tanned face. Jun had an unnatural look about him – his colour was definitely the effect of many hours lying on a sun bed, and when he attempted a smile, Takashi could see that his tombstone teeth had been artificially whitened by the dentist. Takashi wondered why Haruka thought he was attractive. Jun certainly had the arrogance and the look of a player.
Takashi was even more concerned when it became apparent that Mrs Yoshino found Jun captivating. She really seemed to be fascinated by Jun, leaning into him like he was the only person in the room. She sat opposite him and gave him her full attention. Takashi wasn’t the jealous type, but he was getting quite wound up watching her dote on Jun’s every word. It seemed to Takashi that the attention that he’d once received from Haruka’s mother was now being wholly directed at this Jun character.
Takashi tried to look at him now and again, attempting to be inconspicuous. Unfortunately, he did look very cool, dressed in a white T-shirt and navy chino trousers. But Takashi couldn’t help noticing that he also had a very annoying habit of running his fingers through his hair every few minutes. He was obviously very conceited.
Unfortunately, Mrs Yoshino seemed to be quite taken by this conceit. Takashi was hurt, but really not so surprised, because next to Jun, he must have looked dishevelled and sweaty from his long day out in the heat.
Haruka finally came back from the kitchen holding a long glass of chilled barley tea. She handed it to Takashi with an apologetic look.
‘That’s a lovely flower arrangement on the bookcase behind you, Mrs Yoshino,’ Jun pointed out.
Takashi hadn’t noticed it until now, but he wished that he had and that it was him paying the compliment instead of Jun, who really knew how to charm Haruka’s mother. It was upsetting Takashi quite a bit.
‘Thank you, Jun,’ said Mrs Yoshino. ‘Haruka and I take a flower arranging class every Saturday morning.’
‘I can see that you’re both very talented,’ said Jun. ‘It’s great seeing you all again. I’m only in fune until tomorrow afternoon, and then I have to return to Kyoto. I was telling Yuriko earlier, before we came over, that I was hoping to see you again, Mrs Yoshino. You’re originally from Chiba Prefecture, aren’t you?’ asked Jun.
‘Yes, that’s right Jun,’ she replied. ‘And you’re from Kyoto of course. Kyoto is such a lovely place.’
‘Have you been to Kyoto recently?’ Jun asked Mrs Yoshino.
‘No, we haven’t,’ Mrs Yoshino said, staring up at the crooked picture on the opposite wall. ‘We visited your parents about three years ago in Kyoto, but my husband and I haven’t been back since.’
Mrs Yoshino stood up, leaned over to fluff up a cushion and having done that, walked over to the facing wall and adjusted a picture of a seaside village scene slightly to the left. She stepped back to check and see whether it was level. ‘We didn’t get to do much sightseeing in Kyoto and I regret that,’ Mrs Yoshino continued. She adjusted the picture again a little further to the left, and having done so, came back over to sit down again.
‘Well, you should definitely come and visit my family and me in Kyoto again,’ Jun suggested. There was a strong conviction in his voice.
Mrs Yoshino’s eyes lit up. ‘Wouldn’t that be wonderful, Haruka!’ she said, looking at her daughter.
‘Yes, mother,’ Haruka replied obediently, but there was excitement written all over her face.
Jun reached for his rucksack and pulled out two presents, beautifully wrapped in distinctive orange boxes.
‘Haruka and Mrs Yoshino,’ he said. ‘I have a couple of small presents for you two lovely ladies.’ He handed each of them their gifts, looking at Takashi with a smirk drenched with self-satisfaction.
‘More gifts! This is too much,’ said Haruka, embarrassed but obviously pleased.
‘That’s very sweet of you, Jun,’ said Mrs Yoshino, opening her present.
The so called “small” presents both turned out to be extremely expensive gifts.
‘An Hermès scarf!’ both ladies cried out in unison. They opened out their coveted presents, spreading them wide so everyone could appreciate the full effect of each scarf. The rose-coloured luxurious silks were very beautiful. Within minutes, they’d tied their scarves around their necks in fashionable knots.
‘How do we look?’ asked Mrs Yoshino.
‘You both look very stylish. Aren’t they nice scarves, Takashi?’ Yuriko asked him.
‘Oh yes, very stylish,’ Takashi stuttered back.
Takashi shifted in his seat and Jun pointed at his foot, having noticed the hole in his sock.
‘Takashi, you need to buy yourself a new pair of socks,’ he said. Everyone turned to look at the hole in Takashi’s sock.
‘Yes, you’re right, Jun. Well, I have a long trip home. I better get going,’ blurted out Takashi, very embarrassed. He finished the last of his barley tea, stood up and walked to the door of the living room. Everyone said his and her goodbyes, but it was only Haruka that showed him to the door.
‘I can drive you to the station … wait for me while I get my keys,’ she said.
Takashi waited for Haruka in the hallway, listening to the conversation between her mother and Jun in the adjoining room. Jun began telling Mrs Yoshino how he thought her home was lovely and how nice it was to see them again. Hearing this, angry feelings started to well up inside him and he imagined himself rushing in, breaking up this conversation and giving Jun a piece of his mind – but of course, this didn’t happen and it wasn’t long before Haruka showed up with her keys.
‘You know what, Haruka? You must be tired. It’s only ten minutes from here to the station, and I’d rather walk. I’ll call you soon. Thanks for today,’ Takashi stammered as he made a hasty exit, leaving Haruka, mouth wide open, in the hallway.
Takashi walked down the short driveway and turned to head for the station. He couldn’t help but look at the house next door that belonged to Haruka’s friend Yuriko as he walked away. He didn’t know how he could have ever missed it before. It was a small fortress heavily guarded by huge hedges. Yuriko’s family was obviously extremely wealthy and her cousin’s family probably had an equally impressive estate. Takashi thought that if there was something going on between Haruka and Jun, she deserved to be with someone who could give her everything. He’d been conceited to think that she could have ever possibly seen him as more than anything but a friend.
On the train heading for home, he did not hear most of the
overhead announcements. Takashi was in his own small, unhappy world. He couldn’t stop wondering about this Jun he’d met today and how Haruka really felt about him. He thought that the silence during lunch was a bad sign and the whole day had been a series of contradictions. Thinking back, it seemed to him that her words had often been full of encouragement, but at the same time the tone of her voice seemed to discourage him.
Halfway home, having played back over and over in his head the conversations at lunch and at her home between Jun, Haruka and her mother, Takashi started to feel a bit more positive. Surely Haruka preferred him, he thought to himself, and not this pretentious and conceited boy from Kyoto. Although he could not afford to buy Hermès scarves, he decided that he was definitely a better person. With that in mind, he returned to his apartment much happier than when he left fune.
CHAPTER 6
To become wealthy at a single bound
Haruka watched Takashi leave from the entrance of the house. He looked so despondent. Was it because of the sticky, oppressive weather? Was it because of Jun? Could it have been that they’d spent such a great day together and he hadn’t wanted it to end? She thought to herself.
This was the first time Takashi had met Jun, and Haruka could see how it had unsettled him. After the wonderful day they’d spent together, she’d hoped that he’d realise how much he meant to her as a friend. Haruka was determined not to dwell on this as she went back into the living room. No matter how much she liked Takashi, it was very flattering to receive so much attention from Jun. She paused at the doorway of the room where everyone was seated and watched her mother fawning over Jun with a quiet satisfaction.
Thinking that Jun and the others might be a bit peckish, Haruka decided to replenish her guests’ refreshments and without a word, headed into the kitchen, half-listening to the friendly chatter emanating from the living room. She found a packet of rice crackers on the kitchen shelf above the sink. Next, she took out one of her mother’s good sculptured wooden bowls from the cupboard above the dishwasher and poured half the packet into it. Haruka reached into the bag to steal a few for herself, wondering whether Yuriko, sitting so happily on the sofa in the next room, would dare to eat even one. Rice crackers were very low in calories, but since Yuriko had developed such an obsession about losing weight over the past few months, she would most probably frown upon placing anything between her lips.
Haruka picked up the bowl, headed back into the living room and sat down next to her mother.
‘There you are, Haruka,’ said her mother, turning to her. ‘Jun was just telling us how his father’s real estate company is set to expand overseas next year.’
‘Your family’s firm really has done very well for itself, hasn’t it?’ her mother said to Jun. ‘Do you think you’ll be travelling overseas in the future with your work?’ she asked him. Haruka’s mother had been dreaming about travel to foreign countries for a long time. Her parents had been to Paris and London many years ago, but it was a short trip, and her mother really would’ve liked to visit a dozen other countries. As her father’s hospital bills had cost them so much, there really wasn’t a lot of spare money left to be spent on travel.
‘Oh yes,’ replied Jun. ‘I may even have to live abroad if everything goes as planned.’
Haruka’s mother’s eyes lit up. The look on her face and the gushing display of enthusiasm she expressed for Jun were evidence that the idea of him as a future son-in-law was once again becoming more and more appealing to her.
Haruka’s father leant forward to pick up his glass, and just as quickly her mother jumped to her feet and perched her arm across Yuriko to pass the drink to him.
‘Stop fussing over me, woman,’ Haruka’s father barked at her. His voice was gruff, but his eyes showed both an appreciation and gentle affection for his wife. This made Haruka feel warm and fuzzy inside. In a strange way, her father’s illness had brought her parents together, so that they were a lot closer now than before the ordeal.
Haruka shifted her gaze and studied her friend Yuriko as she swayed the conversation in her direction and started babbling on to Jun and Haruka’s parents about her shopping experiences in Paris the previous year. Jun nodded attentively while Haruka and her mother watched Yuriko with concern. Her face, covered thickly with makeup, was painfully thin. Her eyes were hollow and her hip bones were jutting out from under her white jeans, giving her body the symmetry of a coat hanger.
Yuriko hadn’t touched the rice crackers Haruka had put on the coffee table, although she’d taken a couple of sips from her oolong tea. Haruka knew that her mother would probably comment on Yuriko’s appearance as soon as she left the house. Her father wouldn’t say anything. He really didn’t seem to notice much about people’s appearances. Haruka’s mother had said once before that she looked ugly and unattractive and that she was behaving like a selfish child. She believed that Yuriko was starving herself just to get attention.
Haruka knew otherwise. Yuriko was far from selfish. She had been slightly overweight in high school and the boys had teased her occasionally. On top of this, her mother hadn’t heard the cruel taunts or the bullying some of the more popular girls at school had directed at Yuriko. Haruka remembered the day she’d first spoken to Yuriko. It was Sports Day in her second year at high school and Haruka was heading to the cafeteria for lunch when she noticed Yuriko cowering up against the school gates as three older girls from the year above mocked her for being overweight. She recognised her as the new girl who had just moved into the house next door to her with her family.
Haruka ran up to them and chastised the girls for being mean. The spiteful group by this stage had already said everything they’d wanted to say and it didn’t take much for them to leave. From that day on, Haruka had a firm friend and as soon as she and Yuriko realised they both shared a love for Japanese fashion brands, they became inseparable. Many evenings were spent trawling the streets of Ginza, Aoyama and Shibuya looking for outfits to wear on the weekend and to parties. Although Yuriko would sometimes get upset with herself when she couldn’t fit into the same clothes as Haruka, that didn’t stop the two of them spending most of their free time admiring the latest looks on offer or talking about the current trends.
Yuriko’s obsession with her weight developed not long after she returned from Paris. She joined a gym and her weight quickly plummeted. Haruka became concerned that she didn’t want to study nor did she want to work. Yuriko spent her days visiting her friends, shopping and exercising and thinking about her boyfriend Ry. Every time Haruka had visited Yuriko at her home over the past few months, she was either just about to go to or come back from the gym, working out on the exercise bike in her room or on her treadmill in the basement of their huge house.
‘Yuriko, why don’t you try just one of these rice crackers?’ Haruka’s mother implored. ‘You used to love this type.’
‘Oh, no … I need to lose some more weight,’ Yuriko replied. ‘I’m trying to take off some fat around my calves. Everyone comments on how big my calves are.’
Haruka remembered that Yuriko used to have quite thick calves and ankles, but no one would say that they were large now.She looked across at her mother, who rolled her eyes in Haruka’s direction.
‘Why don’t we go for a walk? It’s a little cooler now … Yuriko? Haruka?’ said Jun, changing the subject as he stood up and beckoned the others to follow him.
Haruka was just as happy to avoid forcing Yuriko to face her demons and, forgetting she was tired from a long day, she willingly stood up and reached across to help Yuriko up onto her feet. Her mother gently nudged Haruka in the back all the way to the front door.
The weather outside was still nice. Although it had been a lovely day with Takashi, it was very pleasant for Haruka to hear Jun’s flattering comments about her dress and her hair as they headed away from the house.
As they turned the corner, Haruka held back a little so she could observe Jun walking slightly ahead with Yuriko. He strutted along
like an army major, with a very straight back, as though he was taking charge of the girls. He hadn’t always been charming a few years back, but as Haruka looked at him now, all tanned and relaxed, she thought that he’d changed and he was being so nice that it was difficult not to find him attractive.
After about ten minutes, Haruka found it quite difficult keeping up with Yuriko and Jun’s pace in this heat. After all, she’d been walking around Kamakura most of the day.
‘You’ll have to get fitter than that, Haruka, if you want to keep up with us,’ teased Jun with a wide grin.
Haruka smiled back at him, not sure how serious he was about this comment. Anyway, she could easily forgive him for being a bit cocky, as he’d given her and her mother such beautiful scarves earlier and they wouldn’t have been cheap. The presents really had been very thoughtful, she thought to herself.
Haruka ran up to join them, trying to prove that she was a lot fitter than she actually was, but Jun and Yuriko slowed down for her, sensing how tired she was and she appreciated this as they walked along enjoying the balmy evening.
‘I’ll be in Kyoto next week for an interview, Jun … would you like to meet up?’ Haruka asked.
‘What day, because I’m quite busy next week with work,’ he replied.
‘Tuesday. My interview is at eleven a.m. … I’ll be finished by midday,’ said Haruka.
‘Sounds good. I could meet you at twelve p.m. and take you out to lunch.’
‘That sounds great,’ Haruka replied.
‘Send me a text message when you’ve finished the interview,’ said Jun.
‘I will if you promise to look at your phone – you never answer it when I try and call you,’ said Haruka.
Tokyo Hearts: A Japanese Love Story Page 7
