Tokyo Hearts: A Japanese Love Story by Renae Lucas-Hall Read Free Book Online Page B

his clothes after the wash. This area was so small that only one person could stand and look out over dozens of other apartments with washing machines and freshly washed clothes.
    Until a couple of years ago, he’d also had a Microsoft Xbox 360 and thirty-seven games to go with it. That had kept him busy most of the time, but that interest came to a sudden end the first time Haruka visited him at his apartment at the end of the first three months at university. He’d spent an hour showing her how easily he could get through the first five stages of one particular game when she’d pressed the power button deleting all his efforts after a solid hour of impressive playing. She’d told him that it had been the most boring sixty minutes she’d ever spent with him. On an impulse the following day, he’d sold the console and every one of the games.
    The first three months without his Xbox were difficult as he tried to find different ways of filling up his spare time and he even considered buying the games back on several occasions, but he soon found out that his studies were improving without the distraction and his friends Masaya and Kenji were happy to hear the last of his conversations about his Xbox abilities.
    Takashi sat down, turned on the TV and settled down to watch a game show. He glanced at his textbooks piled up in the corner of the room. He felt like those books were staring at him and trying to make him feel guilty for neglecting them. He took his jacket off the bed and threw it over them. Now that they were out of view, he knew he’d be able to ignore any urge to study.
    He’d just about finished his sushi when he received a phone call from his cousin Katsuro, who lived in Yga.
    ‘Hi Takashi, it’s Katsuro. How’re you doing?’ he asked.
    ‘Fine, thanks, good to hear from you,’ Takashi replied. ‘What’s new?’
    ‘Not a lot. Sorry I haven’t spoken to you recently. I’ve been really busy at work.’
    ‘You have the best job, don’t you? I know you work really hard, but you get a lot of perks working for such a prestigious trading company,’ said Takashi.
    ‘Wait and see, Takashi. When you begin to work, you’ll understand that my job sounds a lot better than it actually is.’
    Takashi lit a cigarette. ‘How’s Mika?’ he asked, flicking his ash into the ashtray.
    ‘She’s okay thanks.’
    ‘And the house?’ asked Takashi. ‘Are you enjoying living at this new place in Yga?’
    ‘I miss Australia and being able to walk to the beach on the weekends. My house was also a lot bigger over there.’
    Takashi put his hand to his mouth and coughed before stubbing out the end of the cigarette. ‘But this house in Yga is nice, isn’t it?’ Takashi asked with his hand to his mouth.
    ‘What did you say?’ asked Katsuro.
    ‘Sorry, I have a tickle in my throat. Your home – it’s nice, isn’t it?’
    ‘Well, yes,’ said Katsuro. ‘It’s much smaller, but Mika’s happy because she missed Tokyo and now she doesn’t have as much to clean.’
    ‘You know I wanted to visit you in Australia, but I couldn’t afford the plane ticket. Will you be going back there?’ Takashi asked.
    ‘No, I don’t think so. I think that I’ll be posted in London within the next two years,’ Katsuro replied.
    ‘For how long?’ Takashi asked.
    ‘It will probably be a four-year stint, but I’d prefer to go back to Australia. Hey Takashi, why don’t you come to visit us next Saturday? We live about five minutes from Yga train station. Will you come for dinner?’
    ‘I can’t make it this Saturday because I have to go and visit my grandmother in Yokosuka, but are you free the following Saturday?’ Takashi asked.
    ‘Sure, that would be fine, Takashi.’
    ‘By the way, what’s Mika planning on making for dinner?’ asked Takashi. He knew Mika was an excellent cook and he always looked forward to her meals.
    Katsuro laughed. ‘I don’t know yet. Does it matter?’
    ‘Of course not! I’ll be there