Tokyo Hearts: A Japanese Love Story

by Renae Lucas-Hall

  ‘The poor girl,’ said Takashi.

  ‘I know. That job was becoming really stressful for her, but she’ll be alright now,’ said Masaya.

  ‘Thanks to you, Masaya,’ Takashi said.

  ‘Well, people say I’m a great guy,’ said Masaya. He burst into laughter, turning his back on Takashi just before they reached the fifth floor. Five seconds later, they approached the racks of slippers they’d been looking for. Masaya picked up a tan pair and then reached for another pair in the same colour and style, but in a smaller size.

  ‘I’ll take these. ¥1,000 each! Not a bad price,’ he said turning the two pairs over in his hands to feel their texture. ‘Made in France! Cool!’

  ‘Do you need anything else?’ Takashi asked.

  ‘Let’s go and look at the clothes in Seibu department store next door.’

  ‘No problem,’ Takashi said with a smile.

  They crossed the road and entered the Seibu store.

  ‘Do you remember what floor the men’s wear is on?’ asked Masaya, pointing to the upper floors.

  ‘Fourth floor,’ Takashi replied firmly.

  They reached the fourth floor and checked out the labels that were on display: Giorgio Armani, Comme des Garçons Edited, Yohji Yamamoto, Joseph Homme, Porsche Design, Ralph Lauren Black Label and many others. They wandered through these boutiques quite quickly, trying not to attract too much attention from the shop assistants.

  Having checked out the fashions upstairs, they headed back to the escalator. A tall man in a black tuxedo stood politely to the side of the down escalator, offering a glass of Moët Champagne to shoppers.

  Masaya and Takashi looked at each other and silently agreed to take a glass.

  ‘There we are,’ the gentleman in black said, handing both of them a quarter filled glass. ‘Are you looking for a particular designer?’ he asked.

  The man in black did speak very beautifully.

  ‘Ah. Um. Ah,’ Takashi stuttered.

  ‘We’re here to view the latest Armani collection for the season,’ said Masaya confidently, in a very posh voice.

  ‘Very good,’ replied the gentleman in black.

  Masaya and Takashi quickly quaffed the rest of the Champagne and rushed down the escalators to the exit. Outside, they bent over backwards with laughter.

  Takashi stood stiffly upright and mimicked Masaya with an over-affected posh voice. ‘We’re here to view the Armani collection!’

  ‘Shut up,’ said Masaya. ‘Ah, um, ee, um!’ he mimicked him. ‘Come on, Takashi, let’s go to Daikanyama.’

  ‘Okay,’ Takashi agreed. ‘But let’s get something to eat first. It’s cheaper to eat in Shibuya.’

  ‘Sure,’ said Masaya.

  They ended up walking through a few more shops, all packed tightly together in this pulsating shopping district, before finding somewhere to eat.

  Many of the shop windows were cleverly designed to lure customers through their doors. Takashi tried not to become a victim to many of these tempting invitations. Having been here so many times before, he rarely parted with a lot of money, strongly aware that he had to live on a tight budget while he was at university. When I start working in marketing, he kept telling himself, I shall eventually have enough money to buy whatever my heart desires.

  It had been three hours since Takashi had left his apartment. His feet were tired and his stomach was groaning. They finally found a cheap little vendor where, for a few hundred yen, they were able to buy chicken and rice dishes. They had to stand and eat against a counter. This place was cramped between a department store and a small music shop and although it was a small eatery, it was very popular. They stood there surrounded by couples and young men who were shopping solo. The food and the customers were churned out quickly, and it wasn’t long before they were finished. Feeling a lot better, they went on their way again.

  They decided to visit the Kinokuniya bookshop opposite the station before making their way to Daikanyama. They moved through the crowded store like a tight school of fish, shoulder to shoulder with dozens of other strangers, each of them searching for their chosen novel or magazine. When they reached the section on comic books, it was too crowded for Takashi to steal a good look at the latest choices. They left after only a few minutes, excusing themselves over and over again as they pushed their way through the crowds and back down the escalator. Finally, they reached the ground floor and from there they made their way to the train station.

  Takashi always enjoyed visiting Daikanyama after window-shopping in Shibuya. There was a great deal less hustle and bustle in this town. It was only the affluent that could afford to live in this area, and there was a possibility of running into arrogant shoppers and sales assistants, but Takashi really found it all very sophisticated.

  After taking the Tky Tyoko line from Shibuya, they arrived in Daikanyama. They wandered through the streets leading from the station, which were more like lanes or winding paths compared to the noisy and bustling stretches of bitumen that ran through Shibuya. They stopped to admire a red Ferrari parked on the side of the road. You could see the whole engine under its transparent cover. Takashi thought that it really would have been so cool to be able to walk up to it and claim this car as their own, put the key in the door, sit in the red leather bucket seats and wrap their fingers around the stitched leather steering wheel with its yellow Ferrari emblem. The owner of this car certainly wasn’t a university student with a limited income. He was probably a music producer or an owner of one of the boutiques or restaurants nearby, Takashi thought to himself.

  The streets were lined here and there with the occasional stylish boutique, some of which they popped into to take a look at the latest clothes. There were also classy cafés and society restaurants on every corner. Takashi sometimes made plans before their visit to work up the courage to try on the markedly expensive clothes, hoping to be attended by a gorgeous-looking sales assistant, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Their friend Kenji would’ve been able to do it with ease, while at the same time laughing his way through it. At the end of it all, he would have no trouble completely convincing the ladies in the shop that he would be back later to pick the clothes up. He’d probably get a date out of it too, somehow.

  Feeling a little tired now after wandering through these exclusive shops, looking but of course not trying on the clothes, they settled on getting a coffee from one of the cafés near the train station. They were hoping to sit in their courtyard for a while and rest a little before heading back home.

  It wasn’t until Takashi bought his coffee at the counter of their chosen café from a girl with a piercing through her chin, complemented by several more on her eyebrows, that he realised there were not that many places to sit down.

  Suddenly, a familiar voice called out his name, sounding very much like Haruka. Takashi’s face lit up to see her sitting, as composed as ever, on a leather sofa in the back corner. She was waving her hand from left to right in the elegant way that only beautiful girls knew how. He rushed towards her and nearly knocked his coffee over a huge foreign man.

  ‘Whhhooooo … careful!’ cried out the large man in English in a big voice.

  Takashi had slowed down anyway at this point, because he’d just spotted Jun and Yuriko, sitting to Haruka’s right. He silently winced, noticing Jun’s left arm casually resting on Haruka’s shoulders.

  Takashi excused himself as everyone edged further over to the right and he sat down on Haruka’s left. It was a snug fit, but he was as happy as anything to be the cushion squeezed between the wall and this lovely girl, and even happier that Jun had now taken his arm off Haruka’s shoulder.

  Takashi introduced Masaya to Yuriko and Jun, and he sat facing everyone in the seat opposite, looking at Takashi, then Jun and then back at Takashi again, while Haruka apologised for being unable to meet Takashi on Thursday. When she fell silent, there was a long pause, and for a second, they all looked very uncomfortable before Yuriko piped up with a recount
of the day that Jun, Haruka and she had shared so far.

  Takashi looked across the table, still a bit hungry after his lunch in Shibuya. Haruka was enjoying a French hot dog in a baguette with a salad on the side. Yuriko was playing with her Caesar salad and Jun looked like he’d finished his lunch. While Haruka ate her lunch, he tried to draw her attention in, chatting away about the different shops and the Champagne that the department store was serving in Shibuya.

  ‘It’s a great idea, Haruka,’ said Takashi. ‘If I’d had a load of money on me and they kept offering me another glass of bubbly, I know I’d just continue buying clothes and get completely drunk in the process.’

  Jun interrupted. ‘You’re talking about shopping at Seibu … I bought a pair of jeans there last month. They cost me nearly ¥40,000, but no one offered me Champagne,’ he said to them as he ran his fingers over and through his hair.

  Yuriko ignored Jun. ‘I know what you’re saying, Takashi. I went into a shop in Aoyama the other day and they were offering a free cup of tea and a piece a cake at the café next to the shop if a customer spent over ¥10,000.’

  Jun pushed his way into the conversation once again, ‘Oh yes, I know that shop. I was with you when we saw the sign.’

  This time Haruka turned to Jun and smiled. ‘That’s right, Jun – it was last Friday, wasn’t it?’

  Takashi started to wonder if it was possible for Jun to let other people talk without his continual interruption and why Haruka had never noticed this annoying fact. Although the girls didn’t seem to find him aggravating and overly self-assured, Takashi certainly did.

  Eventually, Takashi gave up continually trying to vie for Haruka’s attention, fearing that he may be mirroring Jun’s maddening habits. Instead, Takashi began to surreptitiously study Yuriko, who was almost a watered down version of her cousin – not so exasperating, but certainly not as pleasing to the eye or the ear as Haruka. From where he was sitting, he could see that Yuriko wore too much make-up for a girl her age, and probably had quite a severe acne problem under all that muck. She was also too lanky for the clothes she was wearing, although they were obviously expensive. He could see the brand Moschino on her top, Chloe on her handbag and Salvatore Ferragamo on her shoes.

  After seeing Yuriko’s house next door to Haruka’s, Takashi knew that she was not the type that would have to resort to any fake brands. Haruka once told him that she never wore more than one label showing at a time – she’d told him that it could look overdone. Looking at her friend now, Takashi thought that Yuriko could do with some of that advice.

  He returned his gaze to Haruka. It was easy to appreciate her fine features and charming personality. For this reason, he couldn’t understand how someone as nice and intelligent as her would have allowed someone like Jun to rest his arm on her shoulders. Many people had told Takashi that he was a sensible person and that he was able to judge most situations wisely. With those words in mind, he refused to believe that Haruka was seriously interested in Jun, despite the fact he kept popping up all over the place.

  Takashi decided that he needed to get Haruka alone. He needed to find out what kind of feelings she had for him and more importantly, whether she could ever see him as more than just a friend. However, on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a busy café, surrounded by everyone, Takashi knew he wasn’t going to find out anything about her true feelings that day.

  Masaya and Takashi continued to talk about shops and Shibuya and a new French restaurant that had just opened in Daikanyama where Yuriko had already dined. When Haruka began talking, Takashi nodded away, listening along while he admired her pretty face. Her hair was pulled back into a casual knot that the girls called a chignon, and she was wearing a flowing cream silk jacket and trousers that matched her flat brown shoes. Haruka always wore minimal make-up, and today was no exception. She looked so stylish, and Takashi was so proud to sit next to her. Haruka paused for a moment, and Jun leaned over to question her.

  ‘Would you like to go out for dinner next Thursday night, Haruka? I know this exquisite restaurant in Ginza that serves formal kaiseki ryri.’

  ‘Oh that would be lovely, Jun,’ Haruka enthusiastically responded, to Takashi’s dismay, ‘but I usually meet Takashi on a Thursday, so couldn’t we make it another night?’

  ‘Impossible,’ Jun replied. ‘I’m going back to Kyoto tomorrow morning and then I’ll only be back for twenty-four hours on Thursday, so it can’t be any other day.’

  ‘I see,’ said Haruka. ‘You don’t mind if I go out with Jun instead of meeting at our usual café on Thursday, do you Takashi?’

  ‘No, Haruka, that’s fine,’ Takashi replied, noting how happy Haruka looked. She’d turned her shoulders towards Jun and she was leaning into him. Takashi felt ignored, and he was doing his very best not to show how much this upset him.

  ‘Well, that’s settled. Now what are we going to do tonight?’ asked Jun. ‘Takashi has to study, but I could take you girls out to a club or a nice restaurant in fune or Kamakura. Name your favourite place,’ said Jun with a big grin. Again, he was unable to resist the temptation to flick his hair. ‘Would you like to join us, Masaya?’

  ‘No, thanks, I have some work to do at the tavern,’ Masaya replied.

  ‘Let’s go out another night, it’s been a long day,’ said Yuriko.

  Takashi’s head started buzzing. It was time for him to leave.

  ‘We have to go. I’ll call you in a couple of days, Haruka. Bye everyone,’ he said. Masaya and Takashi stood up and walked away. Just near the door, Takashi cursed as he fell over three chairs in his rush to get out of the café.

  At Daikanyama station, Masaya and Takashi intended to part ways. Masaya wanted to visit a friend who lived nearby before returning to his tavern. Just before Takashi started to run for his train, Masaya pulled a Loft bag out of his backpack and threw it at him.

  ‘What’s this?’ Takashi yelled at him.

  ‘A present for my best mate,’ he yelled back.

  Surprisingly for five p.m., there weren’t too many people on the train and Takashi found a seat easily. He opened the Loft bag to find a smallish box inside. Takashi opened it and discovered the sunglasses that Masaya had made him try on in the department store. Any feelings of discontent that he was harbouring from that afternoon after leaving the café now vanished, thanks to his generous friend.

  CHAPTER 10

  One of these days is none of these days

  On Wednesday night, Haruka was bubbling with excitement, wanting to tell everyone about her date the following evening, and she did exactly what she’d promised Yuriko she would not do.

  Haruka was at home on her way to the kitchen to get some snacks at about eight p.m. when she saw her mother at the dining table going over the bills and the weekly shopping list. She was slumped in the chair with her head in her hands, and Haruka just felt so sorry for her. Her parents didn’t know that she’d heard them discuss their financial problems a few weeks back, and it tore her apart to watch them try and put on a happy, united front for her sake. She’d been playing along as if nothing was wrong so as not to wound her parents’ pride, but watching her mother sitting down so depressed at the table, she thought her news about Jun was just what she needed to hear.

  Haruka came over and, much to her mother’s surprise, knelt beside her and explained how Yuriko had seen the engagement ring and where Jun hoped to take her to dinner the following evening. The result was instantaneous. Her mother broke into a wide smile and clapped her hands. Haruka apologised for not telling her sooner and she told her not to worry. She left the room so pleased that her relationship with Jun had brought so much joy to her mother. The mood in the house changed for the better that night, and Haruka felt a real attachment to her parents that she had not experienced before.

  On Sunday, when Jun had asked Haruka out to dinner, both she and Yuriko had shared a knowing smile. Haruka wished Takashi hadn’t been there to see her reaction, but at least he didn’t know how important tha
t invitation was for her. Yuriko and Haruka had spent most of the week talking about what would happen in Ginza during the date on Thursday.

  All week, after Yuriko had spotted the engagement ring in Jun’s shopping bag, they’d talked about the special dinner that Jun had arranged. They’d decided that men didn’t take you out for kaiseki-ryri unless it was an important occasion, and for three days they’d only talked about what Haruka would wear that evening, how Jun would propose and how Haruka would react when he popped the question.

  It had been decided after several deliberations that Haruka would wear her black lace dress, fitted grey peplum jacket and the Christian Louboutin shoes with the red soles and five-inch heels that she’d bought twelve months before. Jun told Haruka that he was going to meet her at six p.m. outside the English conversation school where she worked in Harajuku, and from there they would go to the restaurant in Ginza.

  Since Monday, Haruka had wanted to share her good fortune with the other girls at work, but she’d decided not to tell them because she knew if she waited, a beautiful diamond engagement ring would sum up everything she was dying to say.

  On Thursday after work, quite a few girls did ask questions when Haruka changed out of her work clothes and into the black lace dress, but she just smiled and told them she was meeting a friend for a nice dinner in Ginza.

  Haruka was outside her workplace at five forty-five p.m. waiting for Jun. It was quite difficult to stand in one place in such high heels, but she gathered inner strength and poise knowing that these beautiful shoes were worth any discomfort if they impressed Jun even a little. He sauntered up to her at about six fifteen p.m. wearing cream chino trousers and a nice, but quite casual, blue striped shirt. It disappointed her a little that he hadn’t made a bigger effort, but the fact that he only would have brought an overnight bag from Kyoto justified his looking so casual.