Alysha's POV:

She strode along the busy street of Tokyo, minding her own business. The beautiful sakura at each side of the street didn’t even give her the comfort she needed.

‘Why must he agree to it?  Has he forgotten about our promise?’

She kept saying that to herself over and over again. Two hours before that, she has made a call to her boyfriend in Malaysia.

“How can you do this to me?  How can you just follow along?  Have you forgotten about me?  About our promise?” she said, starting to raise her voice through her mobile phone.

“You are the one who forgot about us!  You’re the one who left me!  You’re too excited, too eager to further your study there, at Japan!  Even after, I begged you not to.  You’re too into Japan!  Just look inside your wallet.  Whose picture was in it?  Takuya, Yutaka, Kashishi…or what-so-ever!”

“It’s Kassy.”

“What ever!  The truth is, you’re the one who ended this relationship.  Why can’t you just tell them you want to further your study at Malaysia?”

“But... Japan are far more advance in the telecommunication technology. Especially mobile…It’s not because I purposely…”

“Enough!  Just go and find yourself a Japanese boyfriend.  I’m fed-up with your Japan craziness!  You never listen or respect my opinion! Everything must be your way… After this, don’t bother to call or contact me again.  I’m getting engage with my parent’s choice next weekend.  Good bye!  Click!”

The other line has been cut off.  She couldn’t believe it! She has just being dumped!  And not only that… her ex-boyfriend preferred to be engaged to someone he doesn’t love than wait for her!  A one and half year of relationship has just gone down the drain just because of her fondness with Japan.  It’s not that it is such a weird thing.  Some of her friends like Japan as well, the music, the dramas…but she must admit, they are not as ‘bad’ as her though.  But she can’t be blamed too, it has been in her blood.  Well, she is a descendent of Japanese.  So, her interest in Japan is understandable, right? 

‘Maybe I am better off without him.  It might be a sign that he is probably not meant for me,’ she comforted herself.

Nevertheless, she was feeling a bit down about it, only for the first hour.  As she strode down the sidewalk of Tokyo, looking blankly at the beautiful scenery night, things started to come to her senses.  By the second hour, it has shocked her to find out that she doesn’t really felt upset about the whole thing. 

‘Maybe I didn’t love him the way I think I am,’ she told herself.

With that thought in mind, she tried to smile again and just then, she started to become aware of her surroundings.  She has been walking straight to the park.  She stopped and looked up. The stars way up in the sky seemed to be so bright and beautiful.

At her left, stood a row of sakura trees, wonderfully blossomed.  The park seemed to be packed with people, partying.  During the spring season, the Japanese would sit down, sort of like a picnic but it was done during the evening through out the night and they watched the sakura flowers while drinking sake or beer.

“Nigiyaka na koen”, she said to herself, noticing how bustling the park was at that time.

She kept on walking.  It’s late and she really has to get back home.

“Japan is really beautiful!” she continued telling herself.

It was just like what she has expected it would be.  No, it was more than what she has expected it to be.  Still, she felt really lonely.  She has been there for about 2 months now, but she didn’t have any close friends yet.  Oh! There are her course mates but they seemed to have their own clique.  Furthermore, they are taking classes while her masters were only on research.  She seldom has time to mingle with them.

‘Well, I can’t blame them.  How do I suppose to have friends if I don’t socialize?  Furthermore, I’m an outsider,’ she thought, giving out a frustrated sigh.

Not only that, she only knows a little of the Japanese language.  Her English was okay but the problem was that the Japanese doesn’t really know English.  Only a handful of people she met have known English.  Now, she really regretted for not taking her mother’s advice to learn Japanese seriously.  Whenever her mother spoke to her in Japanese, she would ignore them as if she didn’t hear them or assuming her mother was talking to someone else even though there are only her mother and her around. 

Thinking about her mother, she took out her mobile phone, the one equipped with global roaming service.  She actually has two mobile phones; one is FOMA, the Japanese phone with the local line while the other one was a Nokia 6600, equipped with her subscribed line from Malaysia.  The Nokia was used only to call back to Malaysia.

“Hello… Mama, it’s me.  Yes, I know it’s late.”

“No mama.  Nothing’s wrong.  I’m fine.”

“You can always read me, mama.  I…He left me.  He’s getting engaged this weekend.  Oh, mama!  I don’t know what to do,” she said, shakily.

Tears formed in her eyes while she was listening to her mother’s advice from the other end of the call.  The tears were not because she was feeling very sad about herself being dumped but more because she missed her mother so very much and talking to her right there was too unbearable.  She wished she could be in her mother’s embrace. 

Her mother was the only relative she has.  Her father was the only child while her mother was an orphan.  She was four years old when she lost her father together with her only grandparents in a car accident at the Karak highway when they are on the way home from a business trip at Fraser’s Hill.  Her father owned a medium network management company where her grandparents were one of the board members.  With the insurance money and the business, her mother raised her alone.  Luckily, her mother was a computing graduate.  That was why she was so interested in the similar technology line.

“Yes mama.  I understand.  I will focus on my studies.”

“Don’t worry.  I will take care of myself.  I love you mama and I miss you so much.  Good night, mama.  Mmmuuaahhh!  Bye mama…”

She hung up the phone.  With her palms, she wiped the tears that had run down her cheeks a few moments before.

“Oww!!”

Out of nowhere, somebody has pushed her from behind and made her fell forward on the hard, cold sidewalk.  Shocked and infuriated, she got up and quickly faced the person responsible for making her fall.

“Hey!  Watch where you are going!  Do you think I’m a dummy to be pushed around? You drunk Japanese!!  Baka!” she screamed, totally forgetting about the sadness she felt before.

Her yelling startled the person in front of her.  Picking up the two phones from the sidewalk, he handed out one to her.

“Sorry.”

“Luckily I didn’t have any scratch or cuts.  Oh, like you understand the word I’m saying. Forget it!” she said as she took her phone and turned to leave, crossing the road.  

She was so angry, frustrated and busy putting away her phone in her sling bag that she did not notice a motorbike was speeding right into her.

“Ahh!”

Somebody grabbed her from behind and she fell backwards.  She opened her eyes and found herself on top of another person.  This was her second time to fall down at the same street and the same sidewalk.  She quickly got up and looked at the person beneath her.  The person was the same person she has scolded a few minutes ago.  She recalled back what had happened.

‘This guy has just saved my life!’ she told herself.

“Domo arigato gozaimasu,” she thanked him while bowing to the person that has just saved her life.

The guy got up and looked at her.  His face held a blank expression.

“Anata wa daijobu desu ka?” she asked.

The guy just shook his head and smiled, “I don’t understand.  You okay?”

“What?  You know English?  Oh! My god...But, you don’t understand nihon go?  You’re not a Japanese?” she asked sheepishly and at the same time curiously.

She was so ashamed.  Her face started to felt warm.  She was blushing.  The guy smiled and shook his head again. 

“Not Japanese…Taiwanese.  Not good in English too,” explained the guy slowly and with a little sheepish grin on his face. 

“Well, thanks again.  Good night.” 

She gave a polite, thank you nod, turned and started to leave.  She had walked a few steps before she decided to turned and looked back.  The guy had gone.

‘He probably went to the park.  A Taiwanese?  Probably a tourist.  I shouldn’t have yelled to him like that.  I really hoped he’d forgive me.  Whew!  I was really lucky he saved me before.  If only I could thank him properly,’ she thought, before she carried on with her destination to go home.