Mom snapped her fingers in realization as she said, "Ah, right. That reminds me..!" startling me in the process. I tried hard not to react. "Keiko, do you know how to speak Japanese?"
"Umm... well, I did just understand the driver speaking Japanese. So, yeah. I can understand Japanese, but I don't know if I could speak it."
She hummed in thought and nodded, "Alright. Then it won't be hard to adjust here," she smiled at me. I returned the gesture and thought, 'But I still don't know how to speak it...'
"Don't worry too much about talking in Japanese," she pat my back, I flinched, 'Did she just read my mind?!'. She continued her reassurance, "We used to speak Japanese back then, I'm sure you'll remember it sooner or later."
I nodded, quite sad. The Japanese language is similar to Chinese, but mixed up. 'Hngh... its gonna be hard learning the Japanese scripture.' I groaned, looking out the window as my hand caressed my cheek supported by my arm on the car door's holder.
Mom side-eyed and noticed my composure. She sighed and said, "It'll be fine, Keiko-chan."
'Chan?'
"Japanese is easy to master, so long as you study hard enough," she smiled enthusiastically, with both her hands turn to a fist — one that might do whenever they encourage another.
'So, I do, still need to study,' I grimaced the thought. "Keiko?" Mom called out once more. 'I hate studying...'
We arrived -- after half an hour in traffic -- to the hotel Mom mentioned in the airplane. It was a tall building with its width thinner than expected. As soon as we entered, we were greeted with a welcoming atmosphere. "Hello, how may we be of service?" the kind lady said in Japanese.
"Hello, may we..." Mom talked about registration or something when my mind wandered around the room. The waiting area was small, cheap yet grand as the chandelier above the sets of couches lit the room. There were people other than me and Mom, my eyes met with peachy orbs of a kid who went into a room. I didn't think much of it as I complimented the establishment.
'A small, humble business.' I nodded to myself. "Keiko, Our room is ready."
"Coming!" I followed Mom to an elevator to which we went straight up to the 5th floor, third room to the left. We placed our bags in a corner as we rested ourselves on the beds, exhausted.
The room was dimly lit when we entered, dirty cream walls with enough space to fit a family of four; a small bathroom right next to the entrance, and a sliding door that opened to a closet. There was a small flat screen tv of 20 inch on the wall but we didn't mind it.
After that quick rest Mom got up, "I'll take a bath first. Tomorrow we'll continue our journey." Her usual genuine smile still plastered as she took one of the bags with her and went into the bathroom.
I sat up and looked around the room. Made sure the door was locked, sought through the twin beds for any damage or dirt and confirmed if the mirrors were not double sided. Clear. Everything was clear.
Plugging in the tv, I opened the first channel and watched a random Japanese drama. Personally, Korean drama were a lot more emotional and heartfelt, Japanese drama were missing a bit of it.
After the 30-minute-long episode, Mom finished showering and came out with pajamas all ready for bed. "What are you watching?" She asked, tying her hair with one of the smaller towels.
"Oh... uh... just some Japanese drama I came across. It's... kinda..? cool."
"Oh no no no." She repeated, sitting beside me at the edge of my bed and took the remote. "In Japan, our people pride ourselves with our Animation series." She switched the channel to one of the three channels containing anime. "Anime is known across the world, of course it's part of our culture since 1921." Mom grinned with pride, her pearly teeth shined brightly after switching the tv channel.
I nodded when the room lit up from the tv's light radiation as the characters in the show casted magic and action displayed. My eyes shone with inspiration. I don't know what I like better but I love how close up the action in Anime is!
For hours — after showering, of course, — we watched a couple of random Anime episodes from different series of shows, drank the free juice available on the long table, and bought a small tray of snack (that was unreasonably high in price). We had a full blown marathon. Until the clock hit 12 am. "Whoop, time for bed."
"Awww... can't we watch one more episode?"
"That attitude right there is self-destructive, Keiko-chan. You need to be more disciplined," Mom lectured, cleaning the mess we had made from bingeing. "Besides, we have many places to go tomorrow." She continued, placing the tray on the long table.
"Like where?"
She stopped and stared at me before making a thoughtful posture — her left arm supporting her elbow while her right hand laid at her chin. "Well, like the bank. Our money is still in Chinese currency. We need to change it from Yuan to Yen. So, it'll be a really long process. Then after that, we'll need to buy a ticket train and—"
I was tentatively listening to her explanation when she blinked multiple times at me, smiled as she chuckled to herself and shook her head from left to right. "Haha, never mind. Let's go to sleep."
Why did she hesitated? Was my first thought. It seemed like she wanted to go into more detail about our "journey" here in Japan. After all, Mom came from Japan, so her family must be nearby. Is that why she hesitated?
Before I could think of anything else, Mom turned off the lamp and scurried to her bed on the left near the window, whereas mine was located on the right near the wall where the air conditioning controls were. The lamp was located in the middle of our two beds. I couldn't help but stare at Mom. Was she gonna sleep that easily? After the day she went through... must be hard for her.
I tucked into the blankets when I felt goosebumps from cold, turned to Mom and thought: Should I say goodnight? But what if she's already asleep? No, let's just sleep... Mom would say "goodnight" first if she wanted to. Yeah, that's probably for the best.With that, my eyelids fell and I slept a dreamless night.
I woke up to the jolt sent from my brain after one of those falling dreams, and realized I was both parched and wanting to pee. 'Gah, too tired...
NOPE! need bathroom ASAP.' I stopped shifting in my bed when I suddenly heard sniffles. Mom?
I turned on the lights and sat up, but Mom didn't react. The sniffling sound continued, 'seems like Mom is having a bad dream...'
Nature called out again, forcing me to run [quietly] to the bathroom as Mom continued to silently cry in her sleep.
After a short while, I came out of the bathroom with a sigh, turned to my side and saw a little remaining of the ice juice earlier, then drank it. I looked at the clock to see it was 'Two o'clock... t[w]oo early.'
I couldn't help but feel awful about Mom's situation right now. Yet here I am freelancing off of her like a leach. I need to do something... Even if it costs me my life.
That night I slept together with Mom. Cuddled her until she hugged me back and her sniffling died down. For now, all I could ever have done was to be there for Mom.
Life is better when you have someone to be together with, you know?