Familglia Nishiazabu, popular place in Roppongi for foreingers to rent

http://www.realestate-tokyo.com/rentalapartment/B0003546/famiglia-nishiazabu/

Eddy’s house, or mansion, was very modern. It was nice, but it felt cold, and it was spacious and quiet. It also reminded me of an office space.

“Wa~.”

“You like it don’t you?” Eddy smiled at me.

He walked into the big kitchen. It had two stove: one on the island, and the other near the wall. He had a freezer separate from the fridge, and he had two ovens. His kitchen looked the studio of a cooking show.

He looked in the cabinet and took out… cat food?

“You never told me you had a cat!”

“It’s not mine.” He laughed. “It’s the neighbor’s, but she wanted me to look after it. I named her, though.”

“What’s her name?”

He poured the food in the bowl. “Neko~chan.”

“Neko~chan?” I laughed. “Good choice!”

“I’m not good with naming, okay?” He laughed. The cat walked in, sleepily, and meowed softly at my boyfriend.

“Hey, are you hungry?”

She sniffed at her food and slowly began eating it. I pet her soft white fur. “Where’s her owner?”

Eddy sighed. “She’s been in China for a month. Business.”

I looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

He scoffed. “She reminds me of my parents.”

“When will they be home?”

“I don’t know. I never see them anymore. I feel like I’m living by myself.”

Ok, we should stop talking about this, he looks upset.

“What games do you have?”

He smiled and stood up. “Come on, let me show you!”

After playing Mario Kart for an hour and a half, it was dark, and I was hungry again. He made us some onigiri.

“Umai!” I exclaimed with my mouth stuffed.

Eddy walked over to the window. “I’m glad you like it.”

“You’re not hungry?”

“No…”

I walked over to him and looked at the stars. “What is it?”

He stayed silent for a while, but finally said, “I remember back in the US, we’d take a vacation to Oklahoma every year. I was little, so I don’t remember what city.” He finally looked at me. “My Dad and I would always look for constellations in the stars while Mom would fix us burgers and hot dogs and beans over a fire.” He laughed. “I wish I could go back to those days.”

“What happened?”

“Promotions. My parents got promotions, and suddenly, their ideas become their children, not me.”

There were tears in his eyes. “I… feel like we’re strangers now.”

It made sense to me then why Eddy had always come over to my house to hang out with my parents, why he always took the opportunity to bond with them when he came over.

I hugged him, which made him jump a little. “Eddy, you have my family, and they love you as much as I do. You’re never alone, okay?”

I looked up at him, but he still avoided my eyes. The tears kept flowing. I guess he was a little embarrassed. “Thank you, Yuna. That means a lot to me.” And finally he smiled.

After petting Neko~chan for an hour, when she fell asleep, we decided it was time for me to go home.

It hadn’t really occurred to me exactly where we were, despite the fame it gets. I guess Roppongi never fascinated me as much as it did other people.

The other problem was that it never occurred to me which station we’d have to go to.

Hiroo Station.

It didn’t take long to get there, only ten minutes, which was good to Eddy since he didn’t want me to miss the subway.

Maybe if I could miss it I would be fine…

But his hand continued to pull me in that direction.

But the closer we got to it, the harder it was for me to breath, the more nauseous I felt, the dizzier I got…

“Okay, we’re here, let’s go.”

“I-I don’t have my card.” It wasn’t a lie, and it was also an advantage.

But Eddy’s head was full of ideas. “That’s okay, I’ll buy you a ticket. Come on, let’s go.” He forced me inside.

He bought the ticket and gave it to me, and we sat on the bench waiting for the subway to come.

I’m sure I started shivering at some point. I looked around. Where was it? Where was I when it happened? I could feel my head start to pound… I think I was reliving it…. I jumped up. I realized that I was sitting on the bench, the exact same bench I sat on when the man had approached me…

“Yuna!”

“Oh my god…” I fell to my knees. I couldn’t make sense of anything going on at the moment anymore.

“Yuna, you’re pale! Are you sick? Are you okay? I can’t let you go home like this!” Eddy grabbed me by the shoulders.

“Eddy… I don’t want to stay here…”

“Come on, Yuna, let’s get out of here.” He helped me up and we got out as fast as we could.

But five minutes later, while walking back to his house, I calmed down. I felt better, my mind was clearer, and I was completely embarrassed.

“Eddy, I’m sorry for wasting your time. I’m okay, really, I can go back.”

“No, you’re not going home sick.” He continued to drag me to his house.

“I’m… I’m not sick, okay.”

“No, you need to lay down. You were extremely pale, and you were dizzy.”

“Eddy, please...”

“Look, I don’t know if you’re sick, or if something happened at that station, but you’re not going home like this.”

I stopped. Why is he figuring me out? He knows it’s a secret, and he said he’d wait for me to tell. Maybe he knew I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean he should try to uncover it. Isn’t that invasion of privacy?

Eddy looked at me, and I let go of his hand.

He sighed. “Look, Yuna, I don’t know what it is that you’re fearing recently, and I don’t know what it is about that station that scares you, but I want to help you, okay?” He put his hands on my shoulders. “Can you trust me to protect you? I don’t want you to be depressed, okay? You’re not the same. I miss you...”

I didn’t want to look him in the eye because I was sure they were red as I was crying. Even if it was too dark for him to see I just looked at the ground, but Eddy lifted my face back up and kissed me softly. “Let’s go home now, okay?”

“Eddy, I can take a taxi…”

“No, taxis are too expensive. And don’t ask about a bus or train because it’s too late. I have a guest room you can sleep in, okay?”

It was a little awkward to me. I wasn’t the type of person to do sleepovers, and I never slept at anyone’s house after 5th year of elementary school. But Eddy was so persistent.

So I laid down, covered in the warmth of my covers, and fell asleep.

I don’t know how much later, but I was shaken awake by Eddy. He looked very worried. “Yuna, Yuna, what is it?!”

“What do you mean?” I asked sleepily.

“Were you having a nightmare?”

“I don’t understand…”

“You were screaming!”

I sat up. “I was?”

“Yeah. Are you okay?”

I wasn’t okay. I always had nightmares. Everynight. But I didn’t know I was screaming.

“I’m fine, sorry to wake you up. Good night.”

After Eddy left and I went back to sleep, we went through it again.

“You were screaming again! Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Eddy, I’m fine.”

“Are you taking Lariam?”

I laughed, really hard too. “What?! That’s ridiculous!”

“Why are you having nightmares?”

I stayed silent.

Eddy sighed and got into the bed, despite my requests. “Eddy, this doesn’t look good…”

“Yuna, you know our relationship isn’t like that, so who cares how it looks. I just don’t want you to be alone since you’re afraid right now.”

“It’s okay, I’m used to it…” I muttered, but he didn’t hear me.

So we laid down, my back to him, and he held me and said. “Good night.”

The whole night I kept waking up because he kept tensing up every time I screamed.

I sleepily got up, and turned around. Eddy looked very tired, and he seemed he was finally in deep sleep, so I didn’t wake him up.

I went downstairs to find something to eat, but was greeted by two people fixing coffee. Well, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a greeting.

They spoke boldly in English as if I wouldn’t understand. “Oh great, I saw it coming. He’s started taking advantage of these young es now.” His mother shook her head.

“He has no morals anymore, does he?” His father shook his head, glaring at me.

My face got hot, and my hands started shaking. “Excuse me, but I’m not a e, and we didn’t even sleep together. And Eddy does have morals!”

“Oh, she speaks English!” His mother nodded at me.

“Well, miss, let me ask you a few questions. Who are you and why are you here?” His father pointed at the table.

Dammit. It’s an interrogation!!

I sat down. “I’m Yuna, Eddy’s girlfriend, and I wasn’t able to go home so he offered me the guest room.”

A while later, as I explained everything that happened the night before, Eddy came down, saying “Yuna! I think your parents-” He saw who I was sitting with.

“Umma… appa… it’s been, what, two and a half weeks?”

“Just about.” His mother smiled. “Long time no see. How’s it been?”

“Please, don’t act like you care.” He ran over to me and tried to pull me away from them, but I swiped his arm away.

“I’m eating, and I’m not leaving until I’m finished. Besides, it’s about time I met your parents.”

“They aren’t special, come on let’s go.” He tried to grab me again but I dodged him.

His dad laughed. “You finally speak Japanese?” He must have been impressed with our conversation.

“Actually, he’s been speaking it very well after moving here. He struggled a little but now he’s doing very well in school.” I smiled, since I was very proud.

“Yuna, can we leave?”

Suddenly, his mother snapped at him, but I think she was speaking in Korean because I couldn’t understand, and soon they were basically screaming at each other.

I don’t know what was with his Dad, he just watched and nodded every time his wife said something.

It was chaos.

Finally, I stepped in. “Stop it, stop, okay? This is no way for a family to function!”

Eddy looked at me. He was breathing heavily, and was red in the face. “This is no family.”

I sighed. “Okay. Fine. I’m ready to go home now.”

“Okay, I called at taxi to take you to the other station. And here’s your phone. Your parents called you a few times. I think they’re worried.”