The thing that attracts...

I decided to use this vox/blog to publish some of the stories I have wrote.
I would post them at my official blog, but that would interfere with the flow of my entries.

I will TRY to edit them before I post them.
Almost all of my recent stories have some dialogue in either Japanese, Korean or Spanish.
My goal is to write a story in every language that I study.
A story completely in that language.
So...look out for it.

The first story I'll post will be Snow, because it's the only one that is typed completely.
Not to mention it's short.

Master post:

Completed

Yuki: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

On-going

Tone's Angels: Part 1

No-title yet: Part 1 , Part 2

A/N: This is the final part.
This part is told in the present tense.
I'll combine the 1 paragraph after story in with this post.

Yuki!

No matter how far apart we are, I’ll fly over to you like the snow. If I ever leave again, will you wait for me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been five years since I last saw Yuki.
I graduated from New York University 6 months ago on May 30, 2009. I worked for the Smith company in California as the personal assistant for the CEO.

About a two weeks ago my boss came to me and said that we were going to fly over to Tokyo to discuss a partnership with the Matsumoto company. He needed me, not only as his assistant, but also as a translator. I was eager to go over to Tokyo. It had been a long time since I saw daddy, Ms. Keiko, or Akira.  Mama and Mr. Banderas had moved back to Guatemala in the summer to take care of Abuela.

I was sitting on the plane looking out the window down at the farm land. The flight attendant just made an announcement that we would be descending in 10 minutes, and that we would experience some turbulence because it was snowing in Tokyo.

“I hate the snow!” Mr. Smith said as we walked outside of the airport. “What about you Ms. Romero?” he asked.
Matsumoto had sent a driver to pick us up from the airport. I opened the door allowing Mr. Smith to enter first, and followed after him. “Snow is my first love.” I said smiling. Mr. Smith shook his head.

Mr. Smith wanted to meet with Matsumoto immediately, so we went directly to the office upon arrival.
Matsumoto’s building was huge.  Everything you would expect from the highest paid person in Japan.
We were guided to his office where he greeted us with a warm welcome.
“Sumisu san. Konnichi wa. Suwatte kudasai. I’ll ask my assistant to bring you something warm to drink.” he said gesturing towards the chairs opposite his own. Matsumoto made a call throw the intercom. “Nobu-san, kochi.”

“Weather’s horrible today.” Mr. Matsumoto said and Mr. Smith quickly agreed.

“But my assistant, Ms. Romero, says it’s her first love.” Mr. Smith said. Matsumoto laughed. “My assistant says the same thing. Silly children.” I smiled along with the two gentlemen.

The door opened and Mr. Matsumoto’s assistant come into the office. “He’ll be working with you while you’re in Japan Mr. Smith. He speaks English well, and recently passed the Spanish language test. Introduce yourself.” Matsumoto said to his assistant.

The guy bowed. “Nice to meet you. My name is Nobu Yuki. Before this partnership can reach and agreement, there are some matters we must adhere to first. I hope you we can face these challenges together. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neva-Chan!

If you were to try and leave again, instead of waiting, I would go with you. Even if that means I would travel to the ends of the earth. If I ask you to stay, will you agree?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Smith was in his hotel room, while I was sitting in the lobby going over the business plan with Yuki. Instead of focusing on the plan, Yuki kept his eyes on me and smiled.
“Focus!” I said tapping the documents that were on the table.
“I am.” He replied. “Genki?”
I tried not to smile and look serious. “Hai. Genki desu. Can you pay attention please.”

Whenever Yuki and I would work alone, he would lose focus of the job, and stare blankly at me. One week went pass in that fashion.

We were sitting inside of a conference room in the Matsumoto building finalizing the partnership, while Matsumoto and Mr. Smith went to brunch.
“What are you staring at?” I asked while looking over the folder.
“You.” Yuki replied moving the folder out of the way.
“Why?”
“Because I’m afraid you’ll leave while I’m not looking.”

I’m not going anywhere at this moment. I don’t leave until tomorrow afternoon.” I informed him.
Yuki frowned. “Then go out with me tonight. I need to do something, but I have no one to go with.” he said pouting.
“Like a date?” I asked.
“No. Not like a date, or maybe like one. Wakaranai. Dochira mo ii? If I say a date, will you agree?”
“Si. Ii yo.” I said smiling.

Yuki said to meet him in front of the office building at 6pm, and to wear something less corporate.
I was in my hotel room changing my clothes. Before I left out I made a stop pass Mr. Smith’s room.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
“I have to meet with Nobu-san.” I replied trying not to laugh. It was the first time I ever called Yuki by the name Nobu.
“Is that so? He seems rather fond of you.” Mr. Smith said.
“You think so?” I replied dully.

“You said that you use to live here before, right. Yuki in Japanese means Snow. When you said Snow was your first love, were you referring to Nobu-san?” Mr. Smith asked in a manner like a nosy neighbor prying into my personal affairs.

I was surprised that he caught on. “Yes.” I replied.
“So that will explain why he asked Matsumoto-san if he could work on this assignment.”
“He did what?” I blurted out.
“Have fun. Don’t stay out to late and miss the plane.” Mr. Smith said showing me to the door.

Around ten minutes to six, I was walking down the street that the Matsumoto building was located on. I saw Yuki leaning against his car on the opposite side of the road. I was standing at the corner waiting for the light to change.
There was two boys standing in front of me. They were tossing a soccer ball back and forth between each other.
The taller boy threw the ball a little too high and it went out in the street. “Get it.” he yelled at the smaller child.

The smaller boy ran into the street chasing after the ball.
Apparently the car that was coming down the street did not see the child, because the car continued to come at full speed.
Yuki ran out into the street to push the little boy out of the way.
“Yuki!” I called out, running out to push him out the wait, but the car was to close, and it hit both of us.

The people around ran over to the little boy whom Yuki saved. The driver of the car got out, and looked at both Yuki and I.
“Daijoubu?’ I heard him ask, but I couldn’t reply.
The surroundings were starting to fade and the guys voice was becoming fuzzy. I felt someone grab my hand, and looked over to see Yuki holding it. He had blood running down his face. He locked his fingers with mine. “I won’t let you leave me again.” he said.  I smiled and looked up towards the sky. “It’s snowing” I replied before everything went completely black.

Nine Years Later

December 23rd, 2018

Otousan! Okaasan!
Genki? Atashi wa genki?
Obaasan to ojiisan wa totemo shinsetsu. Everyday is fun with Abuela and abuelo, but I miss Mama and Papa. I’ll see you when the winter holiday is over. Guess what? It snows in Guatemala as well.

We’re going to fly over to America to visit abuela’s brother tomorrow. I hope it snows in Baltimore as well.

Daisuki,
Your Daughter, Snow!

The End

A/N: Yes, I hit them with a car. No, they did not die. Yes, they have a daughter name Snow. I'm waiting for the day my Japanese is strong enough to write the complete/whole version entirely in Japanese. I'll post it here as well.
I did translate some of the story, because almost all of the dialogue in Yuki's part was Japanese.
I wrote this for my friend who lives in Guatamala.
The setting is 100% real.
The setting in Baltimore is where I live. Keiko's apartment complex is where I lived when I stayed in Japan. The mall is real, the schools are real, the subway stations are also real. I use my own experience (as far a places I have been in Japan) as the setting.

A/N: Part 1 was told from Neva's point of view. Part two is told through Yuuki's point of view.
I might consider translating the Japanese into English since I wrote a bit in Japanese.

Hey Neva-chan!

When we first met I didn’t expect us to become friends. You were just that little lost girl that ran into me.
What was even more surprising was how much I liked you, but I was too afraid to say something.  On that snowy day When you told me that you moved to Tokyo, I was suddenly determined to confess to you.

Neva-chan, Siempre amare la nieve .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neva did not return to Japan after going back to see her granddad. I waited for her, but a year passed and she never returned. I asked Keiko and Roberto-san when would  she come back, but they did not know. One year passed and another year followed. Neva never returned.

When I entered high school, I started to hang with a different group of friends. Shin and I no longer attended the same schools. During Junior year I started to date this sophomore, Mika-chan.  Mika was a tough girl, very aggressive, but really cute.

On January 17th 2004, we went out to celebrate Mika’s 16th birthday. We went to a really cool spot in Shibuya, and even Shin came to join us.

There was a group of foreign teenagers sitting in the back of the restaurant who were also celebrating a birthday, so the restaurant was very decorative that night.

“Here’s your present, Mika. Congratulations.”  Shin said as he gave her a nicely wrapped present.
“Eh. What is it?”
“Open it.” Shin said. Mika looked at me. “Hey Yuki, where is my present?”
“I didn‘t buy one.” I replied. I knew she would be upset that I didn’t get her anything, but girls were so hard to shop for. “I‘ll take you out to buy one later.”
“Really!” she said excitedly. I promised to take her out to buy something sometime later.
“Yuki, you‘re always a cold-hearted guy,” one of the girls sitting at the table said. It was true. I was rather cold towards most people. Even on my girl friends birthday, I would not buy a gift.

Most people saw me as that cool, cold, stylish guy. One of the guys you would find in a drama. He was cold to everyone, but all the girls were attracted. I was considered a bad boy, and that didn’t bother me at all. Mika was the type of girl who would rather date a bad ass, over a nice guy. I was her ideal type.

We were sitting in the upper corner of the restaurant, so when the door opened a cold draft would blow towards us.
People would come in shaking snow off their coats, before taking a seat somewhere.

We were all sitting around enjoying ourselves. The waiters had just finished singing happy birthday to Mika, and were now in the back of the restaurant singing it to the group of foreigners.
“Happy Birthday Naila.” they cried out.
“Where is Shamaila?” Naila asked the others.
“She went to pick up a friend. They should be here soon.”. The guest started to pass gifts to Naila who was sitting in the middle.
“I‘m sorry. I‘m late.” A girl said walking over towards the table.
“Idiot. What took so long, Shamaila?” Naila asked.
“I went to go pick up our friend.”

“Long time no see, Naila! Feliz Cumpleanos!”
“EH~! Neva!” Naila said as she got up to hug Neva. “It‘s been so long.”

Although our parties were on opposite sides of the restaurant, I heard Neva’s voice so clearly that I stood up and looked over towards where she was. I saw her sitting at the table smiling happily. When I saw her sitting there, I felt happy, but that emotion was immediately followed by anger. It had been three years since I have last saw or talk to Neva. There was no contact from her at all after she left, but it looks like she would contact her old school friends often. Just what was I to her? At that moment those thoughts crossed my mind.

“Yuki-kun ! What are you doing?” Mika called out. She was pulling on the back of my jacket.
“Yuki?” Shin said. “Isn’t that…” Shin had also noticed Neva sitting over on the other side.

I never told Shin that Neva and I use to date, but I knew Shin knew it already. I just looked at Shin and sat back down.

Shortly after Neva walked passed on her way out.
“Neva-chan!” Shin called out. Neva who was about to walk out the door, looked back inside the restaurant. She stared at Shin for a while.
“Shin-kun?” she asked unsure. Shin nodded his head.
“Eh! Really?”
“it’s been a while, Neva-chan!”
“Yeah it has. What did you do to your hair?” she laughed as she pointed to his head. When her eyes fell on me, I turned my attention to Mika.
“When did you come back to Japan?”
“A week ago.”
“Yuki did you know?”
“No, I didn’t know.” I replied to Shin. Mika was holding onto my arm at that time.
“I have to go now. See you later Shin-kun.” Neva left out without saying a word to me.

“Is she your friend?” Mika asked Shin after Neva left.
“No. She‘s Yuki‘s friend.”
“Eh! She‘s Mexican? I never figured you the type to be nice to foreigners.”
“She’s not Mexican.”

It was still snowing when we decided to leave. Shin and I were the only ones who lived on the East side of Tokyo, so we split up from the group. When we reached Toyosu station, Shin and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways for the night. He lived on the other side of the station.

Although the snow was falling heavily, I walked slowly home. In my mind, I was thinking about Neva, and how she didn’t even speak to me. I came to the conclusion that, what’s done is done, but when I reached the apartment building, I saw her sitting on the bench looking into the sky. She was holding her hand up as if she wanted to grab the snow.  At that moment, I started to hate snow, regardless of how pretty I thought it was.

The bench she was sitting on was away from the entrance door, inside the park. I stood there for 10 minutes looking at her with her hands held up high, but she never looked in my direction. I felt as if I was being ignored for some reason I did not know, and it hurt. Inside I was feeling a mix of emotions. I wanted to run to her, but at that same time I hated her.  I had waited a long time for her to return, but she never did. She never even contacted me. Not once, but I still liked her a lot. My mind and body were at war with each other as I stood there looking at her.

She put her hands down, and I turned to walk inside the building without saying anything. “Yuki,” she called out as I walked away. I continued to walk inside the building. When I entered the elevator and saw her walked into the building. Instead of holding the elevator for her, I let it close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neva-Chan!

Do you know how I felt at that moment? I was afraid that I would throw myself at you if we stood on the elevator alone. When you called out to me as I walked away, I really wanted to hold you again, like I did that day you left, but looking at your face made me feel sad and angry. It was at that moment that I realized how much I hated the snow. It is so pure when it first comes, but leaves a mess afterwards.

I missed you, Neva-chan!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks went pass without me saying a single word to Neva. Shin had told me that she was staying on the base, but when she came down to visit Keiko and Akira we never said anything to each other.

Just as weeks went by, months went by the same way. I was still dating Mika-chan, and I heard that Neva was dating some America guy from ASIJ.  Even if I would run into her somewhere, we never spoke to each other. 
“You guys fought?” Shin would ask.
“No. “

It was awkward when my friends and parents would ask about her. My parents thought we were still friends. They never knew that I use to date her. If they did, I doubt if they would have asked about her as often.

Afternoon News:

Last week the police arrested 5 Americans involved in a series of serial rapes. In the past 3 months 11 school girls, 5 office workers, and a hostess, all who will remain un named, have been beaten and gang raped by the  Americans.

Since then a series of Anti-American riots  have been breaking out throughout the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Citizens have targeted foreign populated areas attacking random Americans, resulting in numerous injuries, and even one death. The Tokyo Police have had to intervene, and stop some of the riots.

“Kowai ne!” Shin said as we watched the news on the TV that was inside the store window.
“Which part? The rapes or the riots?”
“Both! Anyway it’s summer break and your birthday is today, so we’re going out tonight, right? 18!”
I nodded my head. “What do you have planned.” I asked suspiciously.  Shin was looking at the TV again.
“Yo Yuki. Check this out. The Family Friend Day care building is on fire.”
The news program was showing a live broadcast of the scene.
“That’s not far from here. Look, you can see the black smoke if you lean up against the window.” Shin said leaning closer to the glass.
“Neva’s working there this summer.” I said to Shin. “And Akira goes to school there.”
“Nani?” he asked shocked.

I ran as fast as I could out the store, and down the street towards the fire. Shin was next to me the entire time.

When we arrived near the building. The fire fighters had barricaded the area. Shin and I looked around to see if we could find Neva. The other workers were off to the side, trying to stop the children from crying.
“There’s Akira!” Shin said. We ran over to him.
“Akira, Oneesan wa doko?”
“Biru no naka ni.” Akira replied pointing to the burning building.
“Two of the workers are still inside. Two children had run off, and they started to look for them.” the manager of the daycare said. “The fireman said the flames are too hot for anyone to enter the building, but hopefully they’re somewhere on the top floor. The fire hasn’t reached there yet.”

The crowd jumped back as the window exploded and fire came out. “Neva-chan is inside” Shin said as we stood there.
There were police standing near the barricades to make sure no one crossed over.

“Neesan!” Akira said pointing to the building. On the fifth floor of the building a guy was waving his hands out of the window. He was yelling that there was still two children somewhere inside the building, but because the flames were so hot, and the area was enclosed, the firefighters couldn’t use a ladder to reach up to the top without it touch the flames.

There was a lady standing on the side who collapsed, and the police standing near by ran over to assist her. When the officer in front of us moved away, I took that opportunity to ran across the barricade. “YUKI!” Shin called out after me. One police off ran after me. I could feel the heat of the flames as I ran closer to the building, but I could only think about Neva being trapped somewhere inside.

I ran into the building, and up the stairs. I started to call out Neva’s name, but there was no answer on the second floor, third floor, or forth floor. The smoke was choking me, but I ran up the stairs as fast as I could to the fifth floor.

“Neba-chan!” I called out through fits of coughing.  “Neba!”
“Yuki?”
“Neba!”
“Yuki we’re in here.” Neva called out. She was inside the room next to the stair well. I was about to open the door, but Neva said not to touch the knob because it would burn me. I took off my top shirt and used it to protect my hand as I opened the door.
“Neba, daijoubu?” I asked as I checked to see if she was okay.
“Yuki what are you doing in here?” she asked. Her face was black from the smoke.
“I came to get you.” I said to her.
“Yuki you idiot.” She replied softly.
Behind her, two children was sitting on the floor hovering over a guy.
“He saved one of children from a burning room, but his arm was burned severely.”
The smoke started to suffocate me. I had to get everyone out of the burning.

“Neva you take the two children, and I’ll carry the guy down. If we don’t get out now, everyone will die.” I said.
Neva nodded her head in agreement. I started to cough again because of the smoke.
“Yuki are you okay?” Neva asked worriedly.
“I’m fine.” I said. “Take them down now while you can.” I said to her. I pulled the guys arms and lifted him on my back. He was heavier than I thought, but he would die if I didn’t carry him out.

Outside, Shin was sitting with Akira. The firefights had started to make their way into the building.

I walked in front of Neva as we went down the stairs. One of the children started to cry, and wouldn’t move, so Neva picked her up and carried her down. We made it down to the fourth floor, then the third, and the second. The stairwell from the second to the first floor was engrossed in flames.
“What do we do now?” Neva asked. I looked back at her, and I saw how scared she was.

My eyes started to burn because of the smoke. I thought that there was no way out, but then we saw the firefighter coming up the stair well, putting the fire out.

They noticed us standing at the top of the stairwell, and one guy came up first.  He put a blanket over the two children faces, to block the smoke. He picked up the other child and led Neva down the stairs. Another fire fighter came up after the first one. “Daijoubu?” he asked repeatedly, before guiding me down as well.

When we stepped outside the building, I saw Shin standing with Akira off the side. I looked up at the building, and saw that the fire had spread to the fifth and sixth floor already.
The officers came and grabbed the guy I was carrying, and lead him over to the ambulance.

My vision started to blur, and I saw Shin and Neva looking over at my. “Yuki. You’re bleeding.” Shin cried out, but I collapsed right after that.

When I woke up it was dark, and I was inside of a hospital room. I was not sure what time it was. Outside my door I heard my mom fussing.

“It’s because of your daughter that my son nearly died.” my mother said. “If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be lying on his death bed right now.”

Keiko apologized repeatedly. “Hontou ni gomennasai. But your son ran in there on his own.”

“Are you saying that it’s his own fault.” my mother snapped.
I heard Keiko apologize once more, before the sound of her feet walking down the corridor faded.

The door opened and my parents walked in. My mother saw my eyes open and rushed over to my bed side.
“Yuki! Yokatta! You’re okay.” she said relieved rubbing my arm.

I moved me arm away. “I went in there on my own, okaasan.” I said with my head looking away from my parents.
“Doushite? Why would you do something so stupid.” my mother snapped.
“Because I love her.” I replied.
“Nani? Mou ichido!”
I turned my head to look at my mother. “Neva-chan. Daisuki! Hontou ni daisuki.”
“Doushite?” was all my mother could say as she fell back into her chair.
“I always have, since I first met her. She was even my girlfriend the last time she was here, but she left, and I haven’t talked to her since. Even now, I haven’t talked to her until today. When I heard she was trapped in the building, I ran in without hesitation. I had to do something or else she would leave me again, and this time never return. I ran in there on my own. Gomen nasai. Hontou ni gomen nasai.”

I was in the hospital for two weeks. In the course of that time Mika came and broke up with me, when she heard I ran into the building to save Neva. Shin also came to visit often.

“Genki?” he said as he walked into the room.
I was sitting in the chair playing the PSP that my parents had brought for me to keep me entertained. “Un!”
“Baka da yo.”

In the beginning my mother wouldn’t let Keiko or Neva visit, but after a while she said it was okay. I was sleep one day, and I opened my eyes to find Neva sitting in the chair next to me.
“Ohayou!”  she said calmly.
“Ohayou!” I replied. We sat in silence for a few minutes.
“Genki?”
“Un. Anata wa?”
“Si.” We sat silently again.

After ten minutes Neva spoke again.
“I’m going back to America.” she said softly.
I thought about the day she left three years ago, and how it had been three years since I saw her after that. That feeling of sadness I once felt, rushed over me again.
“I was accepted into a University in New York. I start in a month. I leave in two days.”  I let what she said sink it, but never replied. I wanted her to stay next to me. There were colleges in Tokyo that she could go to, but it was impossible for me to say those words.
After a while Neva stood up to leave.
“Sayonara!” she said as she walked towards the door.
“How come you never contacted me?” I blurted out. She looked back at me, and I looked out the window.
She walked over and wrapped her arms around me.
“Because I was afraid. Yuki ga suki datta. Daisuki datta. I was afraid that while I was gone, you would break up with me. As long as I didn’t contact you, I would never have to hear those words. That’s what I thought. When I came back and I saw you with Mika-chan, I knew I was too late.”

I hugged her a tight as I could. “Baka.”
By time I was discharged from the hospital Neva was already back in America.  

That night when I got home from the hospital there was a package on my bed. “To: Snow, From: Snow” read the outside of the letter.

“Yuki. When we first met, you said “I am snow!”
Well , I am snow as well.

Feliz Cumpleanos.
Neva!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neva-chan!

After I read the note attached the present, I looked up the Spanish word for Snow, and your name appeared. Whenever I see snow I think of you. Do you think of me?
If I would have said to you “Stay with me”, would you have been next to me instead of in America?
You left me heartbroken for the second time on my 18th birthday, but I wished for you happiness that night.

End Part 2

A/N: This is the short version of the story. One day when my Japanese is fluent, I intend to write the complete version in Japanese. Originally I wanted this story to showcase the hardship the main character goes through while living in a foreign country, but since I didn't write it out completely, it's not showcased. Some parts are completely bizarre, but who cares?! It's a story. The story is told in the past tense and the italic bold blue parts are parts that are being spoken as the story is told.
Ignore the spelling and errors.
And the parts in Spanish and Japanese I will not translate into English. You should be able to figure out what is being said by the context.

And for of you who know who Narimiya Hiroki is, picture him as the lead guy.
At least that's who I pictured when I wrote this for my friend.
If you like it, comment.
If you don't like it, I really don't care.
I know my own work and what I am capable of, so I would be the first person to not like something I wrote.

This is part one.

“Snow!”

雪、覚える？あたしは覚えている.
We were both nine years old at that time, but I thought you
younger than me.
Meeting you back then was both a blessing and a curse, but I
would not exchange it for anything in the world.
I’ll always remember it. 永久に.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was December 14th 1996. I was sitting in between my mother’s leg as she combed my hair. “You have to look nice for your daddy.” she said to me as she braided my ponytails.

I lived with my mother in Baltimore, Maryland at that time. We moved there from Guatemala when I was 3 years old. My parents were divorced, and my mother needed to make a living to provide for us, so she moved to Baltimore to work at my uncles factory.

My father was a member of the US Army. He was born Guatemala as well, but gained U.S Citizenship at age 10, when my grandparents moved to America. He and my mom divorced shortly after my birth.  I only saw him around the winter holidays. He would fly in from his station in California to spend time with me, but last year he was assigned to a base in Tokyo.

This year, instead of my dad coming to visit me, I was going to stay with him in Japan until after the New Year. My mom had a new boyfriend, so it would have been inconvenient if dad had come to stay with us, and daddy was dating some Japanese lady who works on his base.

At 8:15am my plane took off from BWI airport. It would make a stop at an airport in Minneapolis, and I would change planes before flying directly to Tokyo. Before I left Baltimore, my mom had told me to be good and not make things hard for my daddy and his Japanese girlfriend. She said to me in Spanish, “Neva, don’t worry about anything. I know the language is different and the people look different, but it will be okay.  If you have a problem just talk to your dad  or Ms. Keiko. Be a good girl .”

On December 15th at 2:23pm, I took my first step on Japanese soil as I walked off the airplane. I was guided by the flight attendant who looked after me the entire trip. She helped me through check out and even got my luggage for me, before showing me to the exit.

Standing directly outside the passenger exit was my daddy. He rushed over to me when I walked through the door and picked me up. “NEVA! My Neva Romero.” my daddy said happily has he hugged me tightly.

A small lady with long black hair walked over to us. I recognized her face from the pictures my dad had sent me. She greeted me with a smile. “¡Hola! Cómo está? Mi llamo Keiko.” It was obvious that she practiced really hard on her introduction, but I smiled in return. “Konnichi wa!”
Keiko was really excited and thrilled to see me. She spoke English and knew a few basic words in Spanish, which she probably learned after she started  dating my dad, so I had no problem talking to her.

I was going to stay at Keiko’s house while in Japan. I would have rather stay on the base at my dad’s apartment, but he felt that it would have been better for me to stay in a more quieter and child-friendly environment.

Daddy had to work that afternoon, but he said he would come over to Keiko’s house for dinner. We left the airport and headed to Koto city. “Tienes…ano…tienes hambre?”
Keiko asked while we were in the car.
“No. I’m fine. The flight attendant gave me extra snacks.” I replied.
It took about an hour and the half to reach Keiko’s apartment. She lived in a 13 story, 3 building, “U” shaped apartment complex. Her apartment was located on the 3rd floor.

Daddy unpacked my bag for me, but he had to leave shortly afterwards. “I’ll be back in about 3 or 4 hours.”  he said before leaving out.

I was walking through Keiko’s apartment looking around. The apartment had 2 regular bedrooms and one super large bedroom, which I found out could be divided into two rooms.
“Why is the toilet and tub in separate rooms?” I asked confused. Back home, the sink, toilet, and bath were all in one room. Keiko merely smiled and said that it’s a Japanese thing. “Neva-chan!” Keiko called me.
“Chan? No, just Neva. My name is not Nevachan.” I said.
Keiko laughed. “Chan is what most Japanese people refer to children and girls as. When I was young, I was called Keiko-chan. My friends still call me that. Keiko-chan. Kou-chan. Aki-chan. Neva-chan.”
I nodded my head to signify that I understood.

“When Neva-chan’s at home with her family, do you speak in English often.”

“No. Some of my family can not speak English well, so we speak in Spanish.”

“I see!” Keiko replied. “Let’s go shopping for dinner groceries. There’s a huge market over inside LaLa Port.” she said enthusiastically.

“What’s LaLa Port?”

“It’s a mall close by. It’s on the other side of the train station. Let’s go. I’ll show you around.” We put our coats on, and then our shoes while standing in front of the door. Keiko would point at buildings and other areas, explaining what they were. We had to walk over two small bridges on our way to the mall. I was kind of afraid while walking, because many people would come speeding pass us on their bikes. I just knew someone would hit me with their bike.

LaLa Port was really close to Keiko’s house, so we were able to get there really fast. “I should buy an umbrella while we’re here. It looks like it will snow.” Keiko said.  She grabbed a push cart and started to walk into the market. “Ikimashou!”
I followed closely behind Keiko. While walking through the market I noticed many people would glance over at me a few times before they walked away.  It made me nervous, and I guess Keiko realized that. “Daijoubu?” she said.
I did not know what she was saying, so I just nodded my head randomly.  “Does Neva-chan know any Japanese?” she asked.
“Konnichi wa. Sushi. Sayonara.” I replied. Keiko laughed again and started to push the cart down the aisle. We walked down the snack aisle. Keiko was looking for a certain brand of cookie that my daddy likes. I spotted these chocolate lollipops. They were really cute. One was shaped like a boy riding a blue bike, while the other was shaped like a girl on a pink bike. My daddy had gave me money, so I wanted to buy them.

I stood up and started to walk down the aisle, but Keiko was not longer there. I walked over to the next aisle, but she was not there. I check the next aisle and the next aisle and the next, but Keiko was not in any of them. I was scared that she might have left me like one of those evil step-mothers from the movies. Although I was a small foreign child who looked lost, no one stopped to help me.
I ran down the aisle, and crashed into someone as I turned the corner. I feel back and the chocolate I was holding flew out of my hands, landing a few feet away. I looked over and saw that the person I ran into had also fell.

The boy stood up. “Sumimasen. Daijoubu?” he said. I could only look at him. I had no idea what he was saying to me. “Sorry,” was all I was able to reply. He extended his hand out to help me up. “Eigo?...English.” he said. I took his hand and he pulled me up. He was shorter than he looked when I stood up. “Lost?” he asked. I picked up the chocolate and looked around to see if I could see Keiko. “Lost?” he repeated. “Ano…you lost?”

I nodded my head.
“Dare mo iku…eeto…you come here with?” he asked.
“What?”
“You come here with, who?”
After the second time I understood what he was trying to ask. “Papa’s girlfriend.” I replied.
“Papa..pa..papa gaarufurendo?” he said scratching his head.  “Otousan no kanajo.” he said outloud. “Name?”
“Neva!” I replied.
“Iie, papa gaarufurendo name?”
“Her name is Keiko.”
“Sou! Iku iku.” the little boy said pulling at my coat. I followed behind him slowly. He walked into the next aisle over to a lady and man.
“Yuki. Doko itta?” the lady said to him.
They started to talk in Japanese to each other, so I could no understand what they were saying. The man walked over to me and kneel down.

“Hi!” he said.
The little boy stood next to him. “Papa English good.” he said smiling.
“Are you lost?”  the man asked.
I nodded my head.
“Did you come here with you mother?”
“Papa no gaarufurendo.” the boy said.
“What’s her name?”
“Keiko.” I replied.
“Keiko san desu ka. Shall we look for her?” the man said.
I nodded my head happily.
“Watashi mo!” the boy said.
His mother said something to him, but the boy started to whine, until his dad said ‘okay’.
“What does Keiko look like?” the man asked as we walked down the aisle. The lady went in the other direction to continue shopping.
I looked around at all the passing women. They all looked a like to me, but I knew none of them were Keiko.

“ I see! Let’s go to the security stand.” the man said, after realizing I could not describe what Keiko looked like.
The boy walked next to me. “You name?” he said.
“What?”
“You name is?”
“I’m Neva.” I replied.
“Neba-chan.” The boy said. “Hi Neba-chan. Yuki.”
I shook my head in confusion. “I am Yuki.” the boy said slowly.
“You key.” I replied. The man started laughing.
“You key. Ii ne!” he said patting Yuki on the head.
We walked towards the front of the market, close to the door.
“A! Mite otousan. Yuki wo furu!” Yuki said excitedly to his dad as he pointed out the window. “Snow falling.” Yuki said to me. I looked through the glass doors we were walking pass and saw that it was snowing.
“I am Snow.” Yuki said with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At first, I had no idea what you meant when you called yourself Snow, but I smiled in return because at that moment I felt happy. If I had not ran into you, I would have still been lost. At that time, I would have never guessed that you lived five floors over me.

ありがとう！雪。

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I no kid! Onaji eiji. Same age.” Yuki yelled as he snatched his book away from me.
“Liar. You are to short.” I replied.
“Uso janai. No short. No lie. Baka!” Yuki replied.
Keiko had walked into the room that Yuki and I were playing in. “Yamero! Enough.” Keiko had said to us. “Yuki ima kaeru. Ryoshin wa matteiru yo.”
“Hai!” Yuki said jumping up.
“Keiko-san. Akemashite omedatou gozaimasu. Neba-chan. Happy…New…Year. Mata ne.” he said waving bye to both of us before leaving out the house.
“Bye bye!” I replied.
“Let’s go Neva-chan. You’re dad will be here soon, and we’re going to the base to celebrate the New Year.”

I had less than a week left before I returned to America for school. I was happy that I was going home. I could finally see mama again, but I liked staying at Keiko’s house and playing with Yuki. He taught me how to write my name in Japanese, and I showed him how to say “Hi” in Spanish.

There were many children in Keiko’s community complex, but only Yuki would play with me, so I didn’t feel to alone. Keiko would play with us a lot as well. I even tried to play with some of the other children, but we could not talk to each other, so it was no fun.

“You go home, itsu?” Yuki asked as he bit into the cake. Keiko and I had baked a cake early that morning. Yuki came over after school to eat some with us.
“Friday.” I replied, biting into my own slice.
“Friday?” he said looking at Keiko.
“Kinyoubi.” Keiko replied.
“Mou sugu.”  he said. “You come back, itsu?”

“Ne Neva-chan, do you want to come stay with me during the summer holiday?” Keiko asked.
“I do not know what mama would say, so I can’t answer.”  I replied. Keiko pouted. “If Belsi mama says it’s okay, will you come back. There’s a lot of stuff I want to show you in the summer.” Keiko said.
I smiled and nodded my head. “Si! Bien!”

The night before I left Keiko cooked a big dinner for me and daddy. While we were eating Yuki came down to visit.
“Okaasan wa Neba-chan ni Ox wo ageru.” he said holding out a stuffed Ox. “Mama wa tsukatta.”
Daddy and I looked at Keiko so she could translate for us. “His mother wants to give you that. She made it herself.” Keiko said. “In Japan, for New Years we generally send out cards with the New Year animal on it.”
I took the stuffed Ox from Yuki. “Arigatou!” I said happy. Yuki smiled in return.

I wasn’t able to return that summer. Mama and Mr. Banderas said that it was okay to go back, but abuelo decided he was going to fly over that summer from Guatemela.

When Summer had came, I was upset that I wouldn’t be able to see daddy, Keiko, or play with Yuki, but I got over it really fast once Abuelo arrived. I liked playing with Abuelo. Although he was old, he was really fun.

Summer ended and Abuelo flew back home. School was going to start soon, and then my birthday would come, and I would turn ten.

November 1997, I was at the mall with mama and Mr. Banderas. We were Christmas shopping for our family members.  “Neva. Next week is Ms. Keiko’s birthday. Your dad sent money so you can buy her a gift. Pick something out.” Mama said.
“Si!” I said, before walking over towards the adult section of the store.

“Have you met Keiko?” Mr. Banderas asked mama.
“No. I’ve talked to her on the phone once about Neva. I have no reason to meet her.” Mama replied.
“Eh. You should know what kind of person you’re sending your daughter to stay with during the winter holiday.” Mr. Banderas replied.
I was walking over towards mama with a gift for Ms. Keiko, when I heard Mr. Banderas say that. “I’m going stay with daddy and Ms. Keiko this winter?” I asked excitedly.
“Si. Verano tambein.” Mr. Banderas replied.
“Really?” I asked.
“Your papa and Ms. Keiko will be getting married this summer. They want you to join them.” Mama told me.
“We’re going over as well, but only for a few days. You’re be there the entire summer.” Mr. Banderas said.
Mr. Banderas and Papa are childhood friends. Although Papa married mama first, Mr. Banderas dates her now.
Mr. Banderas and mama never met until after she was divorced.  Papa and Banderas were still good friends.

I stayed at Papa’s place on the Army base for the first two days that winter break. He wanted me to go straight to Keiko’s place, but I cried until he agreed. Keiko was working late that night, and daddy was busy, so I had to catch the train to Keiko’s house. One of her coworkers went with me to make sure I arrived safely.

It was my first time riding on a train in Japan. We had to catch the Keio line to Shinjuku station, then transfer to the Marunoichi line, before getting on the Yurakucho line. I didn’t like Shinjuku station. People would push me and step on my feet while we were on the train. Keiko’s friend was tall, so she could reach the hand rails easily. I was still short, so I had a hard time standing. When we  got on the Yurakucho train, it wasn’t as crowded as the Marunoichi train, so I was able to stand at the rail  next to the door.
The train arrived at the Yurakucho station and most of the people exited, while some got on.
A group of boys walked onto the train and stood at the same rail.

At the next station more people entered the train, so we had to bunch together.  I was looking out the window, when someone stepped on my foot again.

“Sumima…eh! Neba-chan!”  the guy next to me said.
“Yuki!”  I said in shock.
“Hontou ni bikkurishita!” Yuki said.
“What?”
Yuki smiled. “Hola! Como esta?”
“Konnichi wa…genki desu.” I studdered.
“Eh! Neva-chan, you can speak Japanese?” Keiko’s friend asked. I shook my head no.

One of the guys Yuki was with looked over at me, then Yuki. “Dare? Kanojo?”
“Iie.”
“Uso. Anata no kanojo wa amerika jin desu ne.”
“Urusai. Kanojo janai.” Yuki said pushing the guy playfully.

“Hi!” the guy spoke. “I am Shin. You Yuki girlfriend?” He spoke English fairly well, for a ten year old.
“Kanojo janai yo!” Yuki said angrily.
“No.” I replied.
“What is your name?” a different boy asked.
“Neva desu.”
“Neva-chan. You boyfriend have? The second guy asked. His English wasn’t so great.
“Yamero. Leave her alone.” Yuki said.

“Neva. Let’s go.” Keiko’s friend said. I followed her off the train. Yuki walked off not to long after I did with one of his friends.  We got off at Toyosu Station. When we walked outside, it was snowing.
“Yuki!” I said holding my hand out.
“Nani?” Yuki replied.
“Not you. Snow.” I replied.
Yuki stuck his hand out as well.
“I am Yuki.” I said as I caught snow flakes.

I didn’t spend much time playing with Yuki that vacation as before. Yuki was busy with school activities, and I would go to the military base everyday with Keiko and daddy. Before I know it, it was time to go back home to America. My last night in Japan Yuki came down during dinner.

“Tiger-chan!” Yuki said handing me a tiger teddy bear.
“Mama made it?” I asked. Yuki nodded his head.
“Arigatou Yuki mama.” I said holding the bear.

Summer vacation came and went just as fast as the winter break. I stayed at daddy’s place during summer vacation instead of Keiko’s place. Keiko was having her apartment renovated. She and daddy were planning to have a child soon, so she hired people to fix her house.

“Kekkon Omedatou Gozaimashita!” Yuki said handing Keiko a present. “Okaasan wa kaimashita.”

“Mou sugu, imoto ga iru ne!” Yuki said poking my arm.
“What does that mean?” I asked poking him back.
“You will a big sister one day.” he replied.
“Yep, but I can’t play with the baby much since I live in America.”
“Daijoubu. I’ll play with the baby everyday.”
“Why? It’s my sister or brother. Not yours.”
Yuki stuck his tongue out and left out the house. “Bye Bye!”
“Ja ne” I replied.
Keiko sighed. “You two fight a lot.”

I went back home late August, so I could start school. It was going to be my first year in middle school.
The winter holidays came and went, but I did not go to see daddy that year. In February, Mama told me that daddy and Keiko would have a baby in June. June arrived, and daddy emailed me a picture of the baby, a boy.
I wanted to see him in person, but I wasn’t going to visit daddy that summer either.

On December 10th  2000, Mama had called me into her room. She and Mr. Banderas. “You dad wants you to come stay with him, but we feel that you’re older enough to choose for yourself.” Mr. Banderas said. He and mama has married a year ago, and mama and I lived with him now.

“For the holiday?” I asked. It had been three years since I last visited Japan, and I thought that daddy and Keiko didn’t want me over anymore.

“No. To live there with them.” Mama said. “You father feels that he hasn’t been around, so he wants you to come live with him and Mrs. Keiko and the baby.  Of course I want to say no, but you’re older enough to choose for yourself. If you want to live with them, I’ll let you. It’s nice to spend time with your other family.” Mama said.
I always respected mama and how she never opposed Keiko or anyone for being different.

“Of course you’re coming back here for holidays,” Mr. Banderas said.

I thought about it for a while. I went mama and Mr. Banderas two days later. “Okay!” I replied.

The next year, I moved to Tokyo to live with Daddy, Keiko, and my little brother Akira. I entered the American School in Japan in January 2001. I liked my school. Everyone at school spoke English, and I was able to take Japanese classes.

I had to stay after class one day to go over my exam with my teacher. It was already pass 6pm when I was walking from the train station home. It had snowed earlier that day, and the ground was lightly covered with it. I kicked at the snow on the ground, and held out my hand to catch the snow falling from the sky. The snow was coming down relatively hard. I didn’t have an umbrella, and I left my hat at home that morning, so snowed piled on top of my hair as I walked.
I tried to brush the snow off my hair, but it would just piled back up immediately. I stopped walking while on the bridge and looked over at the city on the other side of the bay.

“I am snow!” I said laughing to myself.
Suddenly the snow stop falling.

“Nani wo suru?”

I looked behind me and saw Yuki standing their holding an umbrella over my head. “Looking.” I replied.

“You like the snow, a lot.” Yuki said leaning again the rail. “What’s with the uniform?”

“I live with Keiko and Akira now.”
“Hontou? Since when?”
“About two weeks now.”
“Eh! And you never came to visit me. Warui tomodachi. Kirai…What school do you go to?”
“ASIJ.” I replied.
“Uso. Chikai”
“No, it’s far from here. Not close at all.”
“I go to school in Fuchu. One city away. Chikai.” Yuki said.

Yuki and I would hang out together mostly on weekends. I had friends in Japan now, but my Japanese was still nonexistent at that time.  Yuki would come down to play with Akira. Sometimes his friend Shin would come as well.

I had a pretty busy life in Tokyo. Keiko would show me around as much as possible, but she was often busy with working, daddy, and Akira. When she did have free time, she would try to take me out, but most days I just let her rest.

Summer was coming around, and mama’s birthday was coming up. I wanted to buy her a present, but didn’t know what to get. Daddy had given me money to go shopping, but he and Keiko were busy, so they couldn’t take me out to find something.

At that time I felt lonely, so I called mama back in America often, or I would sit alone in the park outside the apartment.

I went to sit in the park one afternoon under the Cherry blossom tree,. Yuki also came out to sit under the tree.

“Que tiene de malo?” I asked once he sat on the other side of the tree.
“Sabishii.” he replied meekly.
“Amigos?”
“Their busy with their girlfriends. There’s a Hanabi festival tonight.
“Oh yeah. The firework show. I forgot about that.” I replied sulkily.
“Douka shita no?” Yuki asked dully.
“No one to take me shopping for mama’s birthday present.” I sighed.

We sat under the tree silently for a long time.
“Hey Neba-chan!”
“Que?”

“Shall we go out together?” Yuki asked.
“What?”
“I’ll go shopping with you, and you go with me to see the firework s.” he suggested.
I looked around to the other side of the tree. “Like a date?”
“No. Not like a date, or maybe like a date. Wakarnai. Dochira mo ii?” “I don’t know. You decide.” I replied sitting back on my side of the tree.
“If I say like a date, will you agree?” he asked shyly.
We sat silently afterwards.
“Si. Ii yo.” I replied later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ne, Yuki? When you asked me out that day, I was really happy. So happy that I smiled for a long time while sitting under that tree. Even though you did not look over at me. I knew you were smiling to.

Yuki and I were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. That was until December of that year. Abeulo suddenly became really sick, so I had to go back to America.

The morning when I was suppose to leave, Yuki came to visit me before the sun came up. We sat outside under the tree. It was cold, but I didn’t complain.
“When will you come back?”
“In a few weeks.” I replied.
We just sat there and watched the sun come up, but it had started to snow. “I like snow!”
 I looked at my watch. It was 6:23am. Dad stayed at the base yesterday, but he was coming to pick me up at 7:30.
“I should get ready now.” I said to Yuki. I stood up and started to walk away when Yuki grabbed my arm and pulled me back and kissed me. “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
He said before letting me go.

End part 1