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

running shoes. He felt fresh and confident as he headed towards the station.
    At Shin-Kawasaki station, Takashi bought a can of Coke and a packet of Mild Seven cigarettes from the vending machines on the platform. It wasn’t long before the train arrived. As it was Sunday, the trains were quite crowded with families on day trips. He boarded the first carriage. He often did this on longer trips, so that he could watch the train driver and the view ahead. When Takashi was a child, he’d always thought that train drivers and taxi drivers were not human but some kind of mechanical robots. They always wore clean, formal uniforms complemented by spotless white gloves and official caps. Their expressions were set and they always sat rigidly as they moved the controls.
    He stood for a while and watched the driver and the scenery stream by as the train picked up speed and then smoothly slowed down at each station, over and over again. Finally, the heat of the day forced him to sit down and wait with the others on board. He could see that everyone was wishing that the next stop would be his or her destination. There was no air-conditioning on this train.
    At last, the train pulled into Kamakura at nine fifty a.m. Takashi came out of the station and found Haruka there waiting for him.
    ‘Hi, you look fresh,’ he said to her.
    ‘I haven’t been on a long train journey. Did it take you ages to get here?’ asked Haruka.
    ‘Only about ninety minutes,’ Takashi replied.
    ‘Ninety minutes! Did you have air-conditioning on the train?’
    ‘No, and it was really stuffy because there were so many people on my carriage.’ Takashi wiped the sweat from his brow. ‘Did you drive here?’ he asked her.
    ‘Yes, I parked the car near the station,’ she said, pointing to the adjoining car park.
    ‘So you did buy a car. What did you end up getting, Haruka?’
    ‘A Nissan March,’ she replied.
    ‘That’s a perfect car for you,’ Takashi said. He could picture Haruka in this curvy “handbag car”.
    Takashi knew a lot about this town, as he’d visited often. Many people regarded Kamakura to be the Kyoto of the east. It is situated in the Kanagawa prefecture. Hundreds of years ago, it was the political centre of Japan. These days, it’s a renowned tourist destination, with many historical monuments, shrines and temples.
    Haruka and Takashi decided to walk around Kamakura, rather than drive. He thought that she looked lovely. She was wearing a white A-line linen dress and her hair was tied back casually in a ponytail. The effect of the dress swinging from one side to the other as she walked and the style of her hair gave her a much younger appearance today.
    They chatted as they walked.
    ‘Where did you go to primary school, Haruka?’ asked Takashi.
    ‘Infune,’ she replied. ‘But I didn’t like that school.’
    ‘Can you tell me why?’ he asked her.
    ‘I was really tiny until the age of twelve and the kids used to tease me and tell me my head was too big for my body. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I don’t usually talk about it to anyone.’
    ‘You’re not going to believe this, but I had a similar problem,’ said Takashi. ‘I was so small and the other boys in primary school used to rough me up a bit because I wasn’t big enough to defend myself.’ Takashi shuddered as he remembered the bruises the young boys used to inflict on him. ‘But when I was fourteen, I had this amazing growth spurt and now I’m quite tall because of it.’
    ‘I can understand exactly how you feel,’ said Haruka.
    Takashi and Haruka gazed at each other with a knowing smile. It was times like this that Takashi knew that they were meant to be together. They had so much in common.
    Takashi thought it was a good time to change the subject. He didn’t want Haruka to harbour any bad memories. ‘How’s your father, Haruka?’ Takashi asked her, knowing that he was much better than he used to be. Waiting for a response, Takashi took