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The entire day felt like a big blur as her parents, Aunt, and Uncle all had filled a new suitcase with her essentials. Her father coached her on the do's and don'ts of traveling on a plane alone and how she had better not lose her passport and ticket. But no matter how many times she asked them about why she was going to Japan and when she was coming back, the less answers she got. By the 24th time she asked, her mom scolded her, saying if she asked them one more time, she was going to get a beating. Now Ashley was a stubborn girl and would have asked again if it weren't for the oddly sad expression on her mother's face that made her stop. Her cousins and brother were just as confused and surprised as she was when they found out she was going to Japan tomorrow. At first they couldn't believe it but when they saw the hectic packing happening, the fact that this wasn't a prank dawned on all of them. But to Ashley, it didn't even matter if she was already in Japan, she would STILL not believe what was happening! Her cousins and brother felt happy for her, as they've known how much Ashley had wanted to go to Japan since she was young (and insisted she brings back gifts for them, giving her a foot long list). But she felt nothing but shock and a strange feeling of suspicion every time she looked at any of the adults. It wasn't that she didn't believe their reasons for the sudden trip, but the strange mood they've been in ever since yesterday...the sense of sadness, was what confused her. A sadness she couldn't understand the reasons behind. Of course she was going to miss them when she was in Japan but knowing her parents, she wasn't going to stay there for too long...right? Ashley looked at the white ticket in her hands, fingering the bolded black words that read 'First Class'. Where in the world did her parents get her money to go on first class?! At one point, she even began to wonder if her parents had gone to some loan shark. But when asked, her mom just shook her head and told her to continue packing. One thing was for sure, this was definitely the most craziest thing that's ever happened to her (the most excitement she's ever gotten was when school closed on snow days- but hey that's pretty fun). Folding her last bit of clothes (her parents had insisted she packed her neatest looking ones- that meant no worn out holes) she zipped up the suitcase and rolled it to a corner. She sighed for the fifth time as she plopped down on her aunt's bed and stared up at the small plastic stars on the ceiling. Her mind had been hazy all day, so she hadn't even realized just how tired she actually was. Going to Japan was always a dream of hers but with the suddenness of it all and the strange mood surrounding her, she wasn't sure if she wanted to go tomorrow. She wasn't prepared for what was to come and that left her feeling useless and empty. "Dear God, please...just be with me", she thought, not even able to ask for proper help. "Please let everything go well..
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It was only until next morning when Ashley stepped into the sleek, tall building of JFK airport that her mind had finally caught up to what was happening, her pulse skyrocketing. The foreign faces of people that stood in line with her to weigh their suitcases made her nervous. Although her family was only a few feet away, between them, the thick rope that separated the passengers from the public was evident.
When it was time to leave her family, that was the moment reality crashed down on her.
This was real.
She was going to Japan.
She was going to Japan!
Tears flowed freely the second she saw the moistened eyes of her mother, aunt, and uncle and heard the sniffling of her cousins and brother. And she was practically sobbing (and utterly flabbergasted) when she saw her father -a man she had only witnessed cry twice in her life, produce tears. They all hugged and kissed for what seemed to her as too short of a time when the female service announcer relayed the arrival of her plane. She couldn't stop turning back to wave at them as they did the same. And she was determined to drag it out as long as she could until her father had pointed to his watch, urging her not to be late. She couldn't help but smile; goodness even here, her father was her personal alarm clock. The tears became even more sudden as they rushed down her face when she waved her final goodbye, her family disappearing in the crowd. Her sleeves were wet as she scrubbed her face, trying to make all evidence of her meltdown disappear. She hated it when others saw her cry, especially people she didn't know. Running to the nearest bathroom, she washed her face with cold water, hoping it would even out her pink puffy eyes. Looking into the mirror, she decided that this was it.
There was no turning back now.
"Japan, here I come..."
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Studying basic Japanese wasn't too hard for an anime obsessed girl like her. However, if Ashley was to live in Japan for a short time, she had to know more than things like "Baka!*". So she spent most of her time in the plane studying Japanese phrases from the book she had bought just yesterday. Her other time was spent exploring the first class section of the airplane. The men in suits and women in jewels looked at her weird as she rummaged around her padded seat, fawned over the fruit salad, and used the hot towel over and over again. She couldn't even blame them, she looked so out of place with her hoodie, sweatpants, and her hair in a bun! But it not like she'd get this type of treatment everyday, so she might as well enjoy it for the last remaining hours.
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She couldn't help but feel nervous when hearing the shouts in Japanese all around her. The biggest airport in Japan was definitely crowded and Ashley felt extremely lost. Her body was literally going with the flow of the crowd and she somehow managed to reach the arrival area. Her father had called her right when she got off the plane to tell her his friend had sent a driver to pick her up from the airport. He described to her that the driver was a man in traditional Japanese wear. 'Some description...' she thought as she looked through the crowd of people holding signs. And yet surprisingly, the man holding the sign with her name written on it in English was extremely easy to spot. He stood out like a sore thumb with his traditional jaded green and brown kimono. Other people passing by him looked at the man strangely and she couldn't help but blush from second hand embarrassment as she walked towards him. "Um...are you Mr. Takeshita?" she fumbled in Japanese. Suddenly the man took a step back from his place and lowered himself to the ground in a full bow. Ashley almost yelped in surprise as the man continued to stay on the floor, his head low. "C-can you please get up!" she exclaimed in English, her hands twitching around, not knowing what to do. A crowd was beginning to form as people looked at her in awe, wondering who she was as to why a full grown man was showing her such respect. When the man finally stood upright, he extended his hands towards the two suitcases beside her, "May I take your bags Your Highness?" he said in English, his voice laced with a slight accent. "No it's okay, I can do it. And you can just call me Ashley...san" I said awkwardly, beginning to drag both of my suitcases towards the exit. 'Highness? Is this a usual nickname here, like how people call younger girls sweetie?', she thought, extremely uncomfortable with the new title. But Mr. Takeshita held out a hand, "Please Your Highness, I insist." he said, indicating that he wasn't moving until she gave him her luggage. Ashley sighed, she was glad he was being kind but she never liked giving others trouble. However the man seemed stubborn in his words and the crowd of curious people were only growing bigger around them, so she reluctantly handed over her one of her suitcases. Mr. Takeshita held out his other hand, indicating for her other suitcase and Ashley sighed again, sliding the luggage to him. "Just Ashley please..." she murmured, her words falling on deaf ears.
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Ashley blinked, once, twice, three times, at her reflection on the spotless, sleek black limousine in front of her. She then slowly turned her head to Mr.Takeshita who held the door open her, bowing his head while indicating her inside with his hand. She knew what he wanted her to do, she just didn't understand how...why...what was happening?! Sliding into the seats that smelled and felt way more expensive than anything she's even ridden in. Mr.Takeshita closed the door, firmly, not too loud but not too soft, as if has done it countless time. He then walked around to the front of the limo and settled into the driver's seat. The questions that jumbled around in her head only increased as the engine awoke and the airport eventually disappeared from sight. 'Is Appas* friend this rich!? So...am I going to be staying at his house? And how the hey is Mr. Takeshita driving with a kimono on?!' she thought, watching the gray buildings fade and give way to greenery. The thought of so much trees and open space at the border of the busy city would never even had occurred to her if she did not see it for herself. Whipping out a camera her uncle had given to her just for this trip, she tried her best to snap as many pictures as she could. Although most were blurry, she was satisfied with a handful of decent ones. An hour on the road drawled by into two hours and jet lag made her eyelids heavy and mind foggy but she refused to fall asleep inside a car with a stranger. To help keep her awake, she hoped Mr. Takeshita would start up a conversation. But not a syllable dropped from his mouth and Ashley was too shy to say something first. It wasn't that she didn't like the silence (she actually preferred it, especially since she got a chance to look out the darkened window), but she felt some need to ask where they were going and how much longer it would take.
Just as she was about to let those questions fall out her mouth, the sight of huge gates ahead of them left her in awe. The thick gates gleamed gold in the sunlight and stood high, making it absolutely impossible for anyone to climb over. Ashley stretched herself past the seat buckle, craning her neck to see what sort of building laid beyond such gates. 'Maybe some sort of mansion or fancy museum?', she thought, her eyes glimmering with excitement. She had never been so close to something so grand before and who knows, this could be her only chance to see it close up. The gates became clearer as the limo drove closer and she could make out faint red rooftops inside. Mr. Takeshita drove closer and Ashley prepared for the limo to turn when instead it continued straight towards the gates. Her eyes widened when the gates opened, letting the limo in. 'Wait what?!' she thought, scrambled in her seat as she stared out the window. Right before her eyes, there was of a stretch of at least one meter of fresh green grass. Littering the field were flowers of all colors and shapes, arranged in what Ashley assumed was fit for traditional Japanese gardens. The flowers enchanted her, as plants always had that kind of effect on her. In fact, she almost missed what the gardens were surrounding. An gasp escaped her, her eyes widening even further. There, standing as tall and magnificent as any mansion she had ever even dared to imagine, was a palace. Its red rooftops seemed to touch the white wisps of cloud above and the sheer size of its white carved walls were enough to intimidate even Mount Fuji itself. The limousine turned and slowed in front of what she assumed was the very front of the palace. A large staircase led up to two of the biggest doors she had ever seen in her life. Even from down here, she could see the outline of gold carvings all along the doors of a large dragon covering the sun. The grandiose of it all made a low/middle class girl like Ashley's head spin as she tried to absorb it all at once. Slumping back into her seat, she thought, 'Please let this be a dream or hallucination! It's all because of that historical Japanese movie I watched on the plane!'.
The click of the car door snapped her out of her mini breakdown as Mr. Takeshita stood out waiting for her. Bowing her head slightly to show thanks to him, Ashley stepped out and onto the stone pavement. "U-um, where is this place?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit as she followed him to the trunk where another man was taking out her luggage. She took a step back in surprise to see that the man was wearing the exact same kimono as Mr. Takeshita. In fact, now that she was snapped out of her trance, she noticed there was several people here wearing similar, if not the same, kind of clothes. Some were tending the gardens, while others just stood in a constant position, as if they were waiting for a command. 'They must all be wearing uniforms...' she thought, impressed by such quality. "This is your new home Your Highness." Mr. Takeshita said, smiling slightly up at the palace. Ashley turned to him, blinking almost owlishly, trying to process what he had just said. 'W-what? Oh...so this must be some kind of fancy hotel', she thought, the pieces all coming together and finally making some kind of sense. But the sense of it all quickly evaporated with her thought of, 'How did Amma and Appa even afford something like this?!' . Reluctantly watching the man take her luggage away, she followed Mr. Takeshita to the staircase. Craning her neck just to see the top, she knew one thing. Whoever climbed this staircase everyday probably had great quadriceps.
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*Appa - how some South Indians refer to their father
*Baka - means stupid in Japanese
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