1 Chapter one

I sat on my bed in my room, reading. I heard the car door outside closing and my grandma's annoyed cursing. I laughed before standing up, putting my book down. I walked down the stairs, into the kitchen. The kitchen was small with a rectangular counter in the middle. We had a tiny fridge from the early 2000s. My grandma is 70 years old but with the way things are going with my disease, she'll probably outlive me .seeing her put all the groceries down on the kitchen counter. "Hey grams," I said walking over to check everything." hey sweetie," she said with her fake teeth smile. I began taking out the things that she bought ."I thought we could bake chocolate chip cookies " my grandma said getting out a mixer. "What's the occasion ?" I said getting a bowl ." I just thought it would be fun" my grandma said turning around and smiling ." that'd be great grams " I said smiling back, before getting out a pan ." oh, butter biscuits, I forgot the sugar. Hanako would you please go buy some at the grocery store ?" My grandma said slamming the cabinet door shut ." sure " I said before walking over to the key hanger next to the cabinet ." thank you, what would I do without you ?" She said walking me to the door ."not be baking cookies ?" I said chuckling. She ignored me and told me to be careful. "I will, " I said opening the door. I walked over to the car door and unlocked it "and make it quick " she yelled from the door. I laughed before getting in and driving off.

I stood in the aisle looking for the sugar we need ."Aha," I said taking it off the shelf. A few kids ran after one another in the aisle laughing, one accidentally fell on my legs, making the sugar slip out of my hand. It slid all the way at end of the ." sorry " the kid said before running away and playing again. I sighed before heading towards the fallen package. When I reached for it someone else hand already picked it up. I looked over to the person, it was a girl around my age with red hair and a round nose piercing, sort of like a bull. She had on a black Jack Daniels shirt and light blue jeans .with slightly worn-out green sneakers. "When your done checking me out, I think you should go check this out at the cashier," the unknown person said ."t-thanks" I stuttered, about to head in a different direction. But she stopped me grabbing my wrist ." hey, I didn't say you can stare for free " she said smirking. I gulped, feeling heat rush to my cheeks. "what?" I said a bit nervous ." go on a date with me " she said letting go of my wrist and acting as if I said nothing "like hang out ?" I said feeling my hands get sweaty .she Chuckled "I said date, not girls night out " she said smiling "so what'll it be ?". I thought for a moment, "I'll think about it " I said not completely sure ." well, while you do here's my number " she took a piece of paper out of her pockets and gave it to me, it had numbers scribbled on it with a name next to it. ~Lexi, her name fits her appearance as most people's names would. She must have been prepared for moments like these. I put it in my jacket pocket," thanks ?" I said not sure what to say .she nodded before turning and leaving ." I'm sure you'll take me on my offer "she said waving over her shoulder.

I walked in with the sugar in my hands, and closed the door behind me ." hey sweetie" I heard my grandma call from the kitchen. I put it down at the counter ." something wrong ?" She asked stopping for a moment. I shook my head smiling ."good, let's get baking " she said smiling back ." yeah " I said nodding at her statement.

I sat on my bed looking at Lexi's number, It been three days since I had that encounter. I sighed before grabbing my phone, I went into contacts. I hesitated before pressing the new contact button ." What harm can a one date do ?" Said one side of my brain ."She could be a serial killer !" Said another side. This went on for a while until I finally pushed it. I put in her name and number and went into messenger. And messaged her, a quick hi. And now decided to wait. I tried to read but my eyes kept going to the phone for new messages. I pressed the on button.

NO NEW MESSAGES

I sighed trying to read again," she'll probably never answer since you took so long " began my inner voice "your one chance at love and you blew it " I imagined it shaking its head "pathetic," it said disgustedly.

Ping!

I slammed down my book grabbing my phone. I unlocked it, already in Line ." meet me at Shinto temple at 6:00 pm " it read, I could feel my heartbeat fast .my eyes quickly went to the clock ."5:45", I have fifteen minutes to get ready .when the gears in my head started working again I jumped up, heading to my closet.I took some shorts with a plain white T-shirt and pink sneakers that had flower patterns on them.I took a tiny cute backpack and shoved it in my wallet and all the other things I need inside, I put my phone in my pocket .and headed to the kitchen. As usual, my grandma was there ."hey grams, I'm going out" I said giving her a hug ." where?" She said putting her hands on my shoulders ." to the shrine" I said hugging her one more time before going to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and hair.I went outside and began walking. It was only a few blocks away since the shrine was close by. When I got there, there were only a few people walking around and socializing, which was unusual for Kyoto at night. It was usually packed, I began walking up the walkway. once I was IN front of the Fushimi Inari shrine I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Lexy, she had her hair in a pony and wore a blue dress with casual sneakers "hey" she said smiling "I feel overdressed now " she said scratching her neck ." great now you flunked up by underdressing " said the voice in my head "nice going Hanako"

"Oh, sorry I just kinda put something together.I should've worn a dress -" I said stressing out."hey, don't worry about it " she said touching my shoulder ." so, three days ? I didn't know you could make a girl stress like that " she began putting her hand back down ." I thought I scared you away at the grocery store" she laughed ."yeah well I didn't know if you were a serial killer" I said, laughing with her ." so wanna get going ?" She said pointing a thumb behind her ."get going? Where?" I said confused ." on our date, I thought we could walk around the shrine then go for ramen," she said like it was obvious but with nervousness in there. "Oh, yeah I kinda forgot "I laughed nervously ." no, you didn't," said my inner voice ." ok, well " she grabbed my hand "let's go", I felt a blush began on my cheeks." ok " I murmured, I wasn't sure she heard it .but nonetheless We began walking .at first it was her dragging me but later on we walked side by side ." so, are you new to japan ?" I asked seeing as she isn't Japanese ." yeah, I just moved here from New York" she said, "how about you ?" .she asked turning her head looking at me ." oh, well I lived here my entire life " I said smiling looking at the shrine gates ." my grandma moved here, she then had my mother and my mother later had me " I said looking back in front of me ." oh, well it must've been nice living in japan " she said smiling at me " I always wanted to come here when I was younger, The culture seemed so interesting ." she said looking at the shrines. I nodded and looked around ." and I watched Anime " she added laughing, I laughed with her ." most people come here for the anime," I said .she grinned at that, the smile reaching her eye's ." well how about you ?" she asked, swinging our hands ." I never really thought of leaving Japan," I said ." yeah, right . more like you never could " said my inner voice again, reminding me of my disease ." well, if I were you.I'd probably think the same way " Lexy said taking me out of my thoughts ." I mean it's japan " she added smiling, making me giggle ." you really love japan, don't you ?" I said.She nodded " not only do I love it here, but my dream job is also here," she said her eyes began t sparkle ." oh, what's your dream job," I ask.We walked into the thousand imari shrine, It was like a tunnel ." I want to be a Mangaka "she answered ." a manga artist? I can see that "I said ." what do you mean ?" she asked looking over at me." it suits you " I said smiling.We headed up a few stairs before going further in the tunnel ." oh, well thank you" she said giving my hand a squeeze, I returned it after my butterflies calmed down in my stomach ." and what about you ? what's your dream job ?" she asked ." well, I actually already got my dream job " I said ." really ? you have ?" she asked looking very interested ." what is it?" she added.I smiled thinking about it ."I sell flowers at a small shop " I say "it's ironic since my name means flower basket, well it depends where you look on the internet " she smiled "I can see that it makes you happy " she said.I nodded at her "well you want to get going " she asked ."yeah I am getting kinda hungry " I say.She smiled at me before we headed back.We walked down the steps and we headed to the entrance gate." well, this is gonna take a while" she said laughing nervously ." I know " I laughed at her "I did live in japan my entire life," I say keeping my eye's in front of me ." don't rub it in, "she said pouting.We walked back to the train station which took a short while.We made small talk until we made it to the restaurant.She reminds me of my grandma sort of, maybe it's their big love for japan.Or the same drive they shared to come here. Because they love the culture so much all through my grandma's dream job is different from hers.The waitress from the restaurant went up to us asking the normal questions and we just answered with " a table for two " she showed us to a table and put menu's down in front of us. She asked if we need anything before leaving after we said no.We didn't talk for the first time since our "date". I began to go into thought, my first date and it wasn't the worst. Maybe it's not gonna be so bad. I might have a chance.