The train continued to become more and more cramped the further we moved into the city, pushing Nene closer to me at every stop. I felt her warmth slowly creep onto me as she drew closer, and I awkwardly continued to look out the window, even as the view of Japan became further obscured by the growing number of passengers entering and exiting the train. Glancing towards the display sign sitting atop the car doors, I saw that our destination was up next and glanced back towards Nene, who had fallen asleep on my shoulder. Sighing, I prodded her in the side with my elbow, which quickly woke her up from her nap.

“Nnn…nani?” Nene yawned, and slowly turned to face me. “Oh- Anon-sensei, wh-what is it?”

“Nene,” I said, pulling my bag off of the floor. “Our stop is soon, so please get ready.”

Her eyes perked up, my words seemed to have brought her back to full consciousness. “Oh, okay, Nene understand.”

“Understands,” I said, correcting her again.

She silently nods, and I turn back to stare at the display sign again, which had simply read, “Kurihama Station– 4 Minutes” in both Japanese and English. I knew that I wasn’t the only English-speaking person that frequented the area, but the bilingual displays continued to fascinate and intrigue me. Sometimes I would run into American sailors stationed out in Yokosuka, fellow gaijin travelers from overseas. And on the rare occasion, I would find someone from the general area where I grew up, and we’d have just small talk about life, family, and whatnot. It gave me at least some reassurance to know that I wasn’t the only one who had forsaken my home and gone off to greener pastures. Of course, those who made for the best conversations were Australian businessmen who were in the country for a business trip or some meeting. They always had this aura around them, exuding pure confidence and for lack of a better word, swagger, even more so than the Americans, or as they called me, “yanks.”

“Oi, ‘Nonners, I wouldn’t worry ‘bout those blokes, eh?” He said to me, wrapping an arm around me, his beer sloshing around in his hand. “I can call ya ‘Nonners, roight?”

“Uh, sure,” I said timidly, taking a small sip of my own Asahi.

“Now, ya oughta know, the real cunts in the business world aren’t the, the-uh, the Krauts.” He belches, interrupting his remarks. “The ones ya really need to look out for are the bloody Singa…Singah-Singaloreans. Now, they may seem quiet, but they’ll ram ya up against the wall and you don’t even know what’s hit ya, like I’m one of the goddamn fucking sharks they make soup out of, huh?”

“Yeah, yeah, I understand you,” I said semi-facetiously as I was nodding along. “Do you need me to, uh, give her a call though? You seem to be getting a little too drunk.”

“No, no, it’ll be fine, I’m don't think it’s too tipsy.” He leaned back, waving his free hand at me dismissively as he took another chug of beer.

I rolled my eyes at him, glancing down towards my watch. Shit. It’s getting pretty late out, it’s past midnight now. Turning back towards him, I spoke. “Sorry, buddy, but I think I’ve got to go now. I have to wake up pretty early tomorrow.” Getting up, I finish the rest of my own drink and give a nod to Roberu, the bartender. “You sure you don’t need a call?”

“Piss off, ya not my mum, aight?” He chuckles and waves goodbye as I walk out of the bar.

“Oi. ‘Non.” A distinctly female voice greets me immediately as I exit onto the sidewalk. Looking towards the sound, I see a red-haired girl with twintails standing in front of me. “You’re up late, aren’t ya?”

“Oh, hey, Bae. Didn’t expect to see you here,” I replied back. “Still sticking with that spiky collar-thing you’ve been wearing?”

“Yea, of course.” she said. “So, how’s my dad holding up in there?”

“He’s fine, just a little tipsy though. I think he’ll be in there for a while.”

“Alright,” Baelz subtly nodded along.

“So, uh, how’s your day been?” I asked, hoping to make some small talk.

“It’s been fine, I guess,” she replied.

“Same, honestly. I- I think we’re making progress, it’s been about a month since the school year started.” Baelz nodded in response, the conversation slowly fizzling out despite my best efforts. “Hey, uh, are you… well, are you… doing anything this, um, weekend?” I awkwardly asked, clumsily attempting to salvage it. “I know this, this new, it- it’s a new ramen shop that opened up right by the Lawson’s. It’s pretty good. Well, I heard it’s pretty good…”

She looked up at me and shook her head. “Ah, sorry, ‘Non, I’d love to, but I’m busy…”

I do my best to hide my disappointment from her rejection. “Oh, uh, what are you doing, then?” I asked, curious of what was going on.

“Oh, I’ll be going out with Roberu to visit this beer festival he’s been excited about!” She said, enthusiastically.

“G-going out… wait, with Roberu?” I asked, somewhat shocked.

“Yeah! We actually started dating about a week ago, didn’t you hear? You know, he’s honestly just the nicest!” Her words pierced through my heart like a stake.

“W-well, al- alright then…” I muttered out, wistfully. “I, uh, hope that, um, that the two of you have a good time.” I quickly bid her goodbye, walking towards the train station.

Returning home dejectedly, I wiped the tears from my eyes as I drifted off to sleep. The next day just felt like a blur, and I sat at my desk forlornly, having the class just complete worksheets for the day. I didn’t stick around long after school, making a beeline to the train station as soon as I could. Back at my apartment, I stood alone, filled with pure melancholy. Hoping to ebb away my sorrows, I flicked on the television, which had been tuned into an NHK news report.

“Former Prime Minister Mori Yoshirō…”

I sighed, turning off the broadcast, just laying down on my futon. My eyes shut, and I simply just submitted to the sorrow eating away at me from the inside.

The next day started off as poorly as the last, my back aching from poor sleeping posture. Looking into the mirror, I saw that my eyes had started to grow partially red. Begrudgingly, I got ready for work, and again stayed mostly quiet at my desk for most of the day, issuing more worksheets out. Class passed by again like an unintelligible blur, and I was ready to get out. As I was sitting at my desk, putting on my jacket as everyone began filing out, a female student approached me with a concerned expression on her face.

“Anon-sensei, a-are you, daijōbu?” She asked, looking up at me solicitously.

“Oh, uh, well, don’t worry about me, Nene. I’m f-fine,” I stuttered out, surprised that someone cared enough to check up on me.

“W-well, anatade wanai- you not acting like is.” She said, doing her best to convey her worry in broken English.

“It’s just- well- hard times,” I say, trying to calm her down. “Kibishī jidai.”

“P-please p-promisu me… you- you are good! Okay??” Nene pleads. “Do- do you need hug?”

“Uh, s-sure,” I said, getting up and weakly opening up my arms. She gently wraps her arms tight around my torso, giving me a hug. Looking back at her, I do my best to flash a reassuring smile towards her. Her hair smells… nice…

After a long moment, she pulls away, leaving me feeling just a little better about myself. I wish it would have lasted just a little longer.

“T-thank you, Nene. I needed that.”

“Ie ie. W-welcome.” She nodded, smiling at me. I begin to start walking out, only to be interrupted again by Nene. “A-Anon-sensei, w-wait!” She called out.

“What is it, Nene?” I asked, curiously.

“W-w-wait…” She hastily digs through her own bag, pulling out a partially crumpled sheet of paper. “Nene needs to give!”

I quickly take the paper from her hand, giving it a cursory glance. It’s a worksheet for this class, she must’ve forgotten to turn it in. “Oh, uh thank you, I’ll grade this soon.” I walk back to file it in with the rest of the worksheets on my desk, but I freeze after giving it another look. “Nene…” I turn towards her and furrow my brow. “Wasn’t this due two weeks ago?”

She frowns, nervously glancing down towards the floor. “Nene finished it though…”

I sighed, and laid it on the other side of my desk. “Don’t worry too much about it, okay?” Walking out of the classroom, I give her a friendly smile and wave goodbye. “And again, thanks for that.”

My mood began to rise up, the sorrows of rejection getting washed away like the many liters of alcohol I had consumed at home. Tomorrow’s gonna be a brighter day, I told myself.

The train begins to slow down, pulling towards a stop as it enters into the station. The announcer, as always, announces the train has arrived and lists out the stop name. Tapping Nene on the knee to grab her attention, I rise to my feet and lead her out into the station. It’s pretty crowded, we’re smack-dab in the middle of rush hour. I sigh, scanning the conglomerate crowd of mostly salarymen for the exit. Looking behind me, I gently take hold of Nene’s wrist, leading her through the crowd. “Stick with me, okay?” I tell her as we weave between different people, vending machines, and other assorted amenities in the station.

After what seemed like an eternity of trying to navigate myself and Nene through a labyrinth, we finally exit the station and walk out into the city, which has begun to grow more alive as the night approached. I still held on tightly to Nene, leading her along the sidewalk, passing by the various small stores and restaurants lining the street.

“Have you been here before?” I asked her as we continued walking.

“I- uh- sometimes…” She said, timidly.

“That’s good to hear,” I said, moving along the sidewalk. “It won’t be long until we get there, so don’t worry, okay?”

Walking past a small conbini, we crossed the street and approached a small apartment building. My residence, my own home here in Japan. Though I definitely knew that it could be much nicer, and more spacious, I was thankful that I wasn’t destitute enough that I needed to stay in a cockroach-infested closet. At the front door, I let go of her and reached into my pocket to grab my own apartment key. Opening the door for her, we both walked into the lobby.

“We’re on the third floor, got it?” I say, leading her towards the elevator. Pressing the button, we stand there and wait for the doors to slide open and bring us up. “So, not bad, huh?” I ask, turning towards her.

“Not- not bad at all,” Nene says. “Though, I can’t wait to see where Anon-sensei really lives.”

I chuckled. “Brace yourself, it’ll blow your mind,” I replied back semi-sarcastically.

She laughs back, and it was then when the elevator finally opened its doors. Walking in with Nene, I quickly push the button for the third floor. The doors close, and the two of us get pulled upwards towards my own apartment.

Coming to a stop, the elevator opens up to the third floor, allowing us to walk out into the hallway. My apartment’s just a couple more feet down the hall, and I twirl the key around in my fingers as we walk forwards. Stopping in front of my apartment door, I grab the doorknob and unlock it, leading Nene inside.

“You can just set your bag down wherever, it doesn’t really matter,” I say, shutting the door behind us and sliding off my shoes. Scanning around the room, I slightly grimace. I would’ve cleaned up better if I knew in advance that someone would be coming. I really should have just scheduled it beforehand instead of just telling Nene on the fly. Sighing, I take my jacket off and unbutton my dress shirt now that I’m home.

Nene seems to have set up shop at my kitchen table, pulling up a chair and glancing around excitedly. After hanging up my jacket, I approach her in the kitchen and sit down beside her. To be honest, I didn’t actually plan anything so I was a bit at a loss for what to do here.

“So, uh, Nene… Can you, uh, pull out today’s homework?” I asked her, as I pulled out a pencil from my pocket.

“Of course, Anon-sensei!” she says, reaching into her bag and ruffling through several different papers and books that appeared to have been haphazardly stuffed inside. This girl needs to be more organized…

Retrieving one of the many partially-crumpled sheets of paper inside, she holds it up in the air triumphantly and gleams a bright smile towards you. “Very nice, Nene, can you put it on the table now?” She enthusiastically nods, laying it flat on the table. I hand her the pencil, and start looking at the worksheet.

“So, uh, parts of speech. What can you tell me about parts of speech, Nene?” I point to the top of the worksheet, waiting for her to formulate a response.

“Uhh…” Nene looks at me, confused. She doesn’t answer my question, instead choosing to alternate between staring at me and the paper.

“Okay, let me rephrase that.” I quickly try to steer her to somewhere we can start. “What do you know about nouns?”

“Nouns?” She’s still somewhat confused. “I-um…” Her voice began to waver. Her lips pursed slightly, and her gaze shifts to being fixated on the worksheet in front of her. As I was about to step in and help, she looked back at me as a more buoyant expression took hold, it looked like a lightbulb had just gone off in her head.

“Nouns!” She paused, tapping her fingers on the table. “T-that’s, um… things, right?”

I smile, nodding in approval. “Yes, very good Nene! Nouns are indeed things, but they’re also people and places, too.”

“P-people?” She asked, curiously.

“Yes, people are included.” I leaned in closer, pointing to the worksheet. “So, can you identify which words on the page are nouns?”

She nods, confidently pointing to the top of the page. Worksheet. I chuckled to myself, she’s on the right path but that’s not what I had in mind.

“Well, you’re right– the word ‘worksheet’ is a noun, but the assignment wants you to identify the nouns from the word bank over there,” I said, directing her over to it.

“Okay, so…” Nene pauses, intensely surveying the various words listed below. “House!” She beamed out triumphantly, pointing towards the word on the page.

“Great job!” I warmly commend her, sticking my hand out towards her. She looks at me curiously, as if I had made a remark in something like Hakka instead of English or Japanese.

“Hand? Why out?” She asked bewilderedly.

“Oh, uh, do you not know what a high five is?” Nene shook her head no. “Well, it’s a- um- it’s an American thing, I guess.” I try to think of how to explain it. “You’re supposed to put your palm against mine, it’s like a way to show ‘good job’ or sometimes it’s just a greeting.”

Confused, Nene weakly stretches her hand out and lays her flat palm against mine. “L-like this, Anon-sensei…?”

“Come on, put more energy into it!” I reply back, putting my hand down. “Let me show you, raise your hand up,” I tell her eagerly.

She complies, raising her hand out towards me. “Alright, watch this drive,” I say, energetically slapping my hand against hers. “Now, that’s how you do it!”

“Okay, okay, I understand!” Nene excitedly smiles. “Let me try again!”

“Alright, up high!” I say, raising my hand up above her head. She quickly lurches forward, high-fiving me with vigor. “Down low!” I pull my hand downwards, holding it out for her. She moves downwards quickly, but it’s not quick enough as I lean back and jerk my hand away, making her miss me and swipe at empty air.

“Too slow!” I tauntingly wag finger guns at her, laughing at how easily she fell for my trick. Nene pouted and lunged at me in the chair, causing me to nearly fall on my ass.

“You tricked me Anon-sensei! That’s not very nice of you!” she bawled, softly pushing her fists against my chest in a form of mock-anger.

I chuckled along, and I extended my hand out and patted her head gently. “I’m sorry Nene, I was just kidding around.” I tenderly scratch her scalp with my fingers for a few seconds, pulling her a little closer with my other hand.

“Apology accepted, y-you b-bakanon.”

“Bakanon? Heh, that’s a new name…” I smile, pulling away. “So, let’s name a couple other nouns, okay?”

“Okay, okay,” she says, going back to the worksheet. “Nouns…” She hums, tapping her pencil eraser against the paper. “I- uh, tree?”

“That’s right!” I lean forwards, glancing at the sheet. “Oh, and don’t forget that you’re supposed to write the letter ‘N’ above all the nouns, okay?”

She nods, quickly scribbling an ‘N’ above the word tree on her paper. We continue on, with her successfully pointing out more nouns: road, lamp, car, bird, and apple. I smile, she’s now quickly making progress with her learning. Looks like she just needed a little help, after all.

Cycling through a couple more nouns, I lean back in my chair, feeling quite satisfied with myself. “Alright, it looks like you’re good with nouns. Easy, right?”

“Yes, yes, I understand. Very easy!” She says, cheerfully.

“So I guess we can move on to going over verbs.” I grab the sheet, and flip it over to the back. “Nene, can you tell me what a verb is?”

“Verb…” Nene stares downwards at the paper again. “Uh, that’s…” she taps her fingers on the desk, reaching deep into the inner crevices of her mind, searching for the proper response to me. “Verb, is, uh… doing things, right?” She says, hesitantly.

“Yes, that’s right. Verbs are used to describe actions. For example, like this!” I stick my hand out again, beckoning her to high-five me. She pauses, looking at me suspiciously. “Don’t worry, I promise that I won’t trick you, okay?”

Reluctantly, she moves to high-five me, and I smile. “See, you can trust me! Now, can you point out some verbs on the page?”

Nene scans the paper, looking out for verbs with a determined expression on her face. Her eyes light up, and she looks at me proudly. “Running!”

“Alright, that’s right. Let’s keep going, I’d like to see you find more verbs, okay?”

“Uhh…” she quickly glances down at the word bank. “Learning!”

“Hey, that’s exactly what we’re doing right now!” I laugh, giving her a thumbs-up. We continue onwards, identifying and naming different verbs, quickly tearing through the backside of the worksheet with ease.

“Great work, today, Nene,” I said, smiling contentedly to myself. Getting up, I gave Nene a pat on the back and walked over to the fridge to get myself some water. I glanced at my watch, and my eyes quickly widened in worry. I can’t believe it’s gotten this late, holy shit.

“Hey, do you- uh, do you need me to escort y-you home, or anything?” I ask, turning around to face her. Nene shakes her head and stays sitting.

“N-no, can’t go. Nene is– I-I’m very… hungry…” She says, frowning.

I nod in understanding. “Do you not have any food back at home?”

She shook her head again, and my brain immediately started running through every item of food that I have here in my apartment. Quickly, I walk back towards the fridge, and pull it open, scanning for anything useful. It’s mostly just beer and soft drinks, there’s barely anything that could seriously contribute to making a filling meal. I sigh to myself, shutting the fridge door and opening up the cupboard. Bingo. I scan inside, and see several packages of microwavable cup ramen all lined up in a row, and I grab two.

“You don’t mind cup ramen, do you?” I call out to her. She shakes her head, and I quickly pull out the packages and place them on the counter. Alright, now I just need to get this ready for her. I peel off the plastic wrapping, push them to the side, and start working. Pulling the paper lid of the cup up halfway, I take the flavor and seasoning packages out of the cup and struggle to tear them open. I sigh and open the cupboard, scanning for a pair of scissors. I find them, and cut open the packages, pouring their contents inside and atop the dried ramen. I glance at the cup, just now noticing the flavor. Beef flavor, huh?

Finishing up, I discard the empty packages and walk over to get the water, pouring in the contents of a plastic bottle into the cup, stopping once the water rose to reach the designated line inside. I’m reminded of my college days, when a good ninety-five percent of all my meals were just instant ramen noodles that I’d have prepared within the confines of my dorm room. I haven’t actually made or eaten one of these in a while now; the visits to the nearby conbinis filling their spot as my number one means of sustenance. Looks like once an instant ramen eater, always an instant ramen eater. I stifle a chuckle, and walk over to the microwave, ramen cup in hand. I open the microwave door and slide in the cup, shutting the door and turning the machine on. Inside, the lights quickly come to life, and the plate begins to rotate.

Usually I’d have bought something to eat already, but I guess I’ll have to have cup ramen for dinner too. I unwrap the second package and begin preparing it, pouring the flavor packet and water inside. Leaving it on the counter, I walk back to the microwave, watching it as the plate spun around and the counter continued to click downwards. 20 seconds. 10 seconds.

The cup soon comes to a stop, and the microwave begins ringing out, alerting both of us that the ramen had finished cooking. I reach out and pull the cup out of the microwave, walking back towards the table and placing it down in front of Nene, who seemed to have been watching me intently for the past couple minutes.

“Hold on a second. I’ll go find chopsticks,” I say, walking over to the cupboard and pulling out two pairs of chopsticks. I lay them down on the table in front of her, and then return to the counter to go and microwave my own cup of ramen. I glanced down at the label. It’s a different flavor, chicken/shrimp mix. Sliding it into the microwave, I turn it on again, sighing as I lean back onto the counter, watching Nene eating up her own ramen out of the corner of my eye.

A minute quickly passes by, and the microwave’s electronic ringing yet again makes itself heard. I go over and grab my ramen, joining Nene at the table shortly after. As I sit down, she looks up towards me and smiles.

“T-thank you… very much, Anon-sensei…” she says to me, in between slurps.

“Ah, don’t sweat it,” I reply back while opening up the chopstick wrapper.

After finishing up my ramen, I stifle a yawn and get up, stretching my arms a bit. “Alright, it really should be time for you to go home now, okay?”

Nene nods ambivalently, slowly getting up from the table and grabbing her bag. “C-can you come with me, p-please?” She asked, sympathetically. Agreeing to accompany her downwards, I lead her back into the lobby, where she freezes right as we begin to approach the front doors.

“N-n-never mind!” She cries out, running into my arms. “I-I can’t! It’s too dark out…”

I sigh, walking her back towards the elevator. “So… you’re saying that you want to stay the night here?” I asked with apprehension.

“Uh…” Nene pauses, staring into my eyes. “Yes!”

“Are- are you, uh, sure that no one’s gonna be concerned about that?” I ask her with a hint of worry in my voice.

“It’ll be fine!” She smiles, and I shake my head slightly.

“Alright then…” Begrudgingly, I capitulate again to her requests and lead her back into my apartment, letting her lay her bag by the table again.

It’s then that all the countless issues which I’ll have to do my best to navigate around with Nene staying the night start flowing through my mind, like an unstoppable tsunami washing away a small fishing village. I groan to myself as I take off my shoes, walking further inside and sitting on the futon. Shit, I’ll have to worry about this too.

“Hey, uh, Nene… Sorry, but there’s only one futon here…” I say, calling out to her.

“That’s okay, we can sleep together!” She says, innocently, tossing off her uniform’s cardigan and undoing her ribbon, laying both of them onto the floor.

“Uhh…” I flusteredly try to muster up a response, but my mental acuity seems to have recently taken a hit.

“Don’t worry!” She says nonchalantly, peeling off her stockings as well.

I try to get my mind back on track. “Nene, uh, you should treat your uniform with a little more care than that,” I say, moving to pick up her cardigan and properly fold it.

“Ok, ok,” she replies. “Also, anon-sensei, you have extra clothes?”

I sigh yet again. “You can probably just borrow one of my shirts in the wardrobe,” I tell her, motioning her towards that direction. As she skips off in order to find something to wear to bed, I shake my head and go into the bathroom to change out of my work clothes.

Walking back into the room, I see Nene standing about, wearing an old Terminator shirt I had bought in the States. It was too big for her, the hem of it reaching down to her knees.

“Oh, welcome back, Anon-sensei!” She called out, cheerfully.

I yawn, and go over to the futon. “Come on now, both of us have to wake up early,” I lecture her, laying down and getting ready to sleep. “Turn off the lights, please.”

Nene complies, running over to the light switch. The shirt flutters up a few inches, and I accidentally manage to catch a glimpse of her panties. Embarrassed, I quickly turn the other way and try to toss that memory. But yellow-colored, huh?

The room goes dark, and I can feel her run back towards the futon and slide in next to me.

“Thanks Nene. And, uh, goodnight…”

“G-g-goodnight, Anon-sensei…” She mutters, beginning to drift off into sleep. For a while I just lay there, sitting still, occasionally turning to glance back at Nene, who surprisingly was able to just lay down and then sleep like a rock. She looked so peaceful, her body lying there tranquilly. After a while, I turn back and shut my eyes, drifting off to sleep. Something about this just feels like it was destined to happen.