Cherry Blossom

Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

I can't believe the day has finally come. I'm so nervous I can feel my own pulse again, is it hot or is it just me? Forget that, what I need is air! Who the hell thought of building a city with so many people!

Yesterday Tamamo asked me to go see a movie today since I had promised her, I accepted, but then she replied "that's perfect, it will be our date then" and since she said that I've been acting this nervous. I had never been on a date before, not a traditional one at least. With Nanami I was more like the type trying to be together when we could, we never agreed to do anything, everything was always improvised. I know absolutely nothing to do in situations like these! I tried to mitigate this by studying all night on the internet for things to do on a date, but still, all I could get was a couple of suggestions, not a guide as such. And even with those things that they put were difficult things to fulfill with my current predicament. 

The first part was choosing the right clothes for the event. Today is a sunny spring day in a country with a temperate climate, so you have to dress casually but a little light. So far so good, but then the doubt arose. Should I dress as a boy or as a girl? The guide said that you should dress nicely, ok, but what kind of nice? Most of the clothes I had were for men, mainly out of preference, but they also had a purpose, they help a lot to hide the tail and the ears, I think. For his part, Tamamo loves cute things, so she may like to see my dress that way sometimes. But then, to my help, or to my misfortune, my sister jumped into action, taking advantage of my indecision and my cloudy judgment, she began to poison me with her words and suggested that I wear something special that would make Tamamo happy, and by the time I realized I was already dressed as a girl in front of Hachiko's statue waiting for her to arrive. Did we decide to go out at a little different time because maybe it would be more fun that way? I don't know the truth, I just thought she might like some time alone to get ready before she came over.

But still, I'm not going to let this stop me, I'm going to do my best. The most important part of the guide was to always keep in mind to act like a gentleman in all situations, that she sees that I am a strong person and that she can depend on me. So I have to do my best to appear as trustworthy as possible, Someone who can handle any situation that comes their way concisely.

"Excuse me little one, are you lost?"
"Do you know where your mother is?"
"Is she near?" a police officer who appeared out of nowhere asked me.

Shit, seriously? They are never there when they are needed, but to annoy they are the first.

"I'm not lost, I'm waiting for someone thanks!"
"She is almost here" I replied

"But what a brave girl, your parents must be proud to have someone so trustworthy"
"Wouldn't you like to wait for them at the police station over there? you can wait sitting there until they arrive"
"I also like to have a little chat with them"

Just let me die again.

After the officer scolded Tamamo for a few minutes, he left to continue patrolling the place. Once all that embarrassment was over, we were finally together again. I paid attention to the way my wife was dressing. She was in a western outfit, a brown turtle neck, a light pink and white striped sweater, a short jean skirt, long stockings, and light-colored boots, this time she looked completely human, with no fox ears or tail. It was beautiful to see her dressed like that, but there was a big little problem, I was wearing the same. To my annoyance, we were both dressed exactly the same, except that I also had a cap and the sweater wrapped around my waist, for the usual reasons.

But there was nothing I could do in these cases, I just accepted it and moved on, as usual too.

"Didn't you miss in your  way here?"
"Are you used to using the train?"
"Didn't you have any problem?" I asked her

"No I did not have any inconvenience, I am already more used to the modern era, thanks for your concern"
"Although your sister was afraid that I would miss the station so she came to drop me off to make sure"
"But other than that everything is fine"

"It's a relief to hear that"

"Hey, don't you find that statue over there interesting?"
"It is that of a dog, but why is it in a place that seems as important as this?"
"Did he do something special?" She said while turning to see it better 

"Hachiko's statue?"
"Almost nothing, it's just one of the most well-known stories in the world"
"Even before I came to Japan for the first time, I already knew its history"
"The story is of Hachiko the dog of the statue as you can imagine"
"He accompanied The Professor Hidesaburō Ueno, his owner, every day to the station"
"Both when he left and when he returned, the were almost inseparable"
"But one day the teacher died while he was still teaching"
"Hachiko came to the station to pick up her owner, but he never came back"
"Hachiko spent the rest of her life, the next nine years here, in front of the station waiting for the day that Professor Ueno would return"
"The people who passed here daily who had witnessed the two of them took care of him, and it was they who erected this statue in his honor"
"For the loyalty with which the dog was waiting for his owner to return"

"He really must have loved that person a lot to be waiting for him so long."
"...."
"He even reminds me of you"

"Sorry did you say something?"

"No, nothing, I just hope that wherever they are, both of you have been able to meet again"
"...."
"Yes, both"

The cinema was on the other side of the intersection, in Shibuya Center-Gai, so we started walking. It was a little afternoon so the number of people passing by was quite high, it was a large number of people who came and went. Tama suddenly took my hand and held it tightly, I thought it was because she didn't want to lose sight because of my small size. But then I remembered, isn't this what couples do? It is normal for us to hold hands, so with this happy thought I also held hands and we started walking through the mythical cross. To further enhance the atmosphere, this was the time when the cherry trees were in bloom, so the city looked magnificent, for it was a reward in itself to simply walk through these places on a day off like today. 

After walking for a while we finally reached our destination, the cinema. Where we queued for a few minutes to get to the ticket office. But as always something happened later, in this case, it turned out to be Nozomi Yasuda, the journalist, who was also working at the ticket office, where I was using the free tickets that she had given me.

"But  look how beautiful they are, a mother and her daughter wearing the same!"
"I would love to take a picture of you!"
"...."
"Wait a minute! I know that white!"
"It's you!"

And another one, just stop, please!

"Do you know her?" Tamamo said pretending not to know her.

"She's the girl who gave me the free tickets for answering a couple of questions."
"She said that she was a journalist"
"The one from that day in the park" I also answered pretending that I did not know her well at all.

"Are you sure?"
"She doesn't look very journalistic?"
"What is she doing working here then?"
"They don't pay you enough? temporary job?" Tamamo said trying to play with her.

" I am Nozomi Yasuda and I do work for the newspaper."
"It's just that I need money for a couple of personal projects"
"Can we leave it there?"
"I don't bother you anymore if you don't bother either"
"What movie do you want to see?"

Okay, this is my time to shine! I have to choose a movie that Tama likes, but I would also like it to be about love, even if it is superficial. Yesterday I spent a good time trying to find out what movie was showing, and although there were some quite new ones, they were also replaying some classic movies. Among them is Die Hard, a cult classic, high action coupled with the family theme, no doubt she will like the movie as soon as she sees it. That is the correct answer to the question! 

"2 tickets for the Die Hard movie, please!"I said energetically 

"I'm sorry"
"I can not do it"

"What!? why!?"
"That the free tickets were a lie?"

"No, none of that"
"It's just that the movie is for over 16 years"
"I can't let children go to movie theaters where movies for adults are being shown"

"That's stupid!"
"I've seen that movie about twenty times!"
"I know it by memory!"

"Movie Theater politics, I can't do anything"
"But why not better see something for your age?"
"Look we have those movies there in the premiere!"
"You can go see any of those with your mom"

"The toys say"
"Doraemon"
"In search of easter eggs"
"...."
"Seriously?"
"There is nothing else?"

"Oh, but what do we have here a cinephile"
"The fault is yours for coming literally in the worst season to come to see movies"
"...."
"There is also the fifth Harry Potter movie, it is less bad than I can let you go see it"

"The fifth film in a saga?"
"Tama...I mean...my...mother...has never seen one before"
"Isn't it a bit difficult to understand without the context of what happened before?"

"Or you can go see the movie In search of easter eggs"

"..... it's okay"
"At least that one has wizards, that's something"
"Two tickets to Harry Potter please"

"All right"
"Here you go, enjoy the movie"
"And please remember our  deal"
"Do not forget!"

Okay, that couldn't get any worse, but at least it's over. I just have to try to bring my wife up to speed with a little recap of what happened before while we were on our way to the movie theater. We also stop to buy popcorn, something that can never be missed when going to the cinema. But in this case, the employee just ignored me and the bastard just addressed Tamamo. I'm sure he thought I didn't have any money, because he try to sell us only the most expensive things possible. After that, we finally arrived at the place and looked for our seats, but again another problem arose again. Whoever designed this cinema did not seem to think about short people, the only thing I could see was the seat in front of me. The only possible solution? go and get a  kids booster so that I could see the projection, obviously with its respective damage to my self-esteem that this entailed.  The only non-negative side was the movie itself, Tamamo loved it, she loved how the castle or the final fight looked. But above all the magic itself that they used in the movie, she even mentioned how some of the spells that appeared throughout the film could be done. It seems that I found another saga that Tamamo loves, my sister surely has the complete collection in Blu-ray, I'm going to borrow them to see the rest with Tama another day. 

It was located in a huge office building but the roof is an observation deck, so everyone can go. From here you can see a good part of Tokyo and realize how incredibly big this city is. From here you could see the docks, the Tokyo Skytree, the Tokyo Tower on the opposite side, the Emperor's Palace next to the gardens, and Mount Fuji in the distance.  Although also a big part of the view is the enormous number of large buildings that this city has.  We sat on some stairs and we started talking a bit to pass the time. 

"So what do you think?"
"It's a good place to hang out right?" I asked just before continuing to drink my can of soda 

"Yes, it's a pretty nice place"
"And the view is amazing"
"I still can't believe this is Edo after a thousand years"
"..."
"When I was on earth for the first time, the capital was still in Kyoto"
"But apparently after that violent time of wars, they moved the capital here"
"It's hard to imagine that a country as violent as this one would have a future where everyone is happy and lives in peace"
"It is the joy of any Goddess to see her people living in this way"
"Everything is also so advanced now, humans took down the lights from the stars and placed them in their homes"
"Now even the night can bring pleasant moments"
"And everything is so colorful now"
"I'm really glad you brought me here today." She said as she leaned back on me. 

"I like to hear that too"
"Although I would have liked it even more if people stopped bothering me because of how I look"
"I'm still ashamed to remember what happened with the police officer this morning"

Use my hand to make a facepalm due to remembering such bad times.

"But that was fun too!"
"See the face you made trying to contain yourself, I thought it was funny"
"Although luckily I managed to get there on time, if not if they had taken you to the police station"
"Besides, I also found it funny that they confused me and thought that I was your mother"
"I was thinking of scolding you like a child to make my acting seem more believable" she said smiling gracefully.

"That's exactly the part I don't like."
"That people think that we are mother and daughter instead of a couple"
"Destroy what little pride or self-esteem I didn't know I still had left"
"Doesn't it bother you?"
"Have to see how people think of us that way!?" I told her looking at her face 

"Well, I'd be lying if I told you no" Said my beautiful Tama making a gesture of doubt as she looked away a little and put her hand to her lips.
"But it's not a big deal either, you can't do anything about it"
"I also think that the two of us are the perfect example that the appearance not to matter in love."
"I honestly still don't know what you looked like when you were still a man, and I can change my appearance at will, and yet you've never asked me to transform into something you like more"

"Well I think that comparison is quite unfair"
"To start you have the beauty that only a goddess could have from the beginning"
"On the other hand, I was an ugly monster "
"That I had an excuse to be that ugly, well yes, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I was really dissatisfied with my appearance"

I reclined on the stairs to lie down and rest for a moment, but Tama, as if reading my thoughts and realizing what I would have liked most at this precise moment, stretched out her legs and gently put my head on her thighs, so that I could rest better.  If only I had experienced this while I was in college maybe I would be a better person. 

"I think this is the first time you mention that"
"Do you mind if I ask what happened?"
"Did it have something to do with the dragons?"

"...."
"...."
"No, it was after that, during the continental war"
"It was during my plane crash in Italy"
"I miraculously survived, or rather the angels rescued me"
"But the wounds of that day were terrible"
"Jet fuel burns horribly"
"Since then I always used something to cover my face, because it bothered me to see even myself"
"Ironic right?"
"I basically hated how I saw myself, for something that was completely my responsibility for taking part in that conflict"
"I looked for it and I earned it"
"...."
"...."
"You know, now I think maybe I shouldn't have told you that"

"Was it that bad?"

"I lost my hair and I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror"

"Well, that last one still happens"

"They are different things okay! One was an accident and the other was magic"
"They don't compare at all!"
"Aren't we having a sweet conversation?"
"I'm telling you one of the things I least wanted to talk about!"

"I'm sorry I was just bothering you"
"I wanted to see again that face you make when you suddenly get upset"
"It was my fault"

"Don't worry"
"It's something left in the past"
"Just like you said there is nothing you can do about it now"
"At least now I don't need to have my face covered so I don't scare people"

"It's fine if you want to leave like that, it doesn't matter"
"But I assure you that even if you still had burns all over your face, I would still love you the same because the person you are inside is still the same"
"Nothing would have changed" She said close to my ear, as her hand met mine, to finally end in a kiss.

"...."
"...."
"Thanks....."
"...."
"I didn't even know I wanted to hear those words"
"...."
"My past self would surely have appreciated them even more"
"...."
"...."
"I think it's getting late, we should go back"

We started the trip back, walked together back to the station, and took the train back home. During the trip, we both stayed together holding hands. This time I think that we realy look as a couple despite the differences in our looks because there were several people who saw me in a rather strange way, but I didn't care, not this time, because I felt like for the first time in a long time I had won something that I did not deserve or  I was not worthy. 

After that, we arrived at our station and got off the train as we always did. We kept walking back to our house, but the atmosphere was quite different from usual. In the park in front of the house, there were quite a few people gathered, tables and chairs everywhere.  It seemed that there was some kind of fair or party in the place, I thought about asking a neighbor what was going on, but from the crowd, I managed to see my mother and the other girls, they made signs for me to accompany them.

It was Hanami, and although it was not a holiday as such, it was almost the same. It was a Japanese tradition to admire the cherry blossoms when they bloomed. Although it was a tradition of royalty little to the field, everyone was celebrating, that together with how this flower has so much meaning in the culture here makes this an event in itself. Today the neighborhood organized this event so that all the neighbors could participate in it and enjoy it together. Tamamo was happy and excited because she told us that she also celebrated Hanami in her time and it was nice to see that the same tradition was still present even after all these years. 

This time we were all gathered under one of the cherry trees enjoying all kinds of food, from a couple of cakes that were leftover from the store to sandwiches that were sold in some of the food stalls that they put up for the occasion. Momo wearing the same "camouflage" that she had designed last time, although she had to be careful when choosing when to eat so that no one would notice her. Lisa seemed like this time she wanted to try the same thing too, so she came dressed similarly, but a little less flashy, she wore one of my hats to hide her horns and ate with gloves. Both of them looked quite striking, although I'm not the best at talking about those topics, since everyone was partying with their friends, the truth is that nobody paid much attention to what we were doing.  Tifa was also with us, she was once again inside a bag, but this was open so that she could also enjoy the atmosphere and the food, and in case someone approached she could easily hide. In the end we spent a very pleasant time with the others enjoying the atmosphere and the tranquility.