(tokyo meetup / driver’s license / tv show over dinner)
I live in Japan, somewhere somewhat rural but still close to Tokyo. Friend K is visiting Japan, and since I have some days off, I decide to meet her in Tokyo.
We meet up and spend time together. It was recently my birthday, and I had posted online asking people to message me. Akira had messaged asking if I wanted to meet at “dept Machada.” I’m unsure if that means a tea shop in a department store or if it’s a typo for Machida in Tokyo, and I briefly wonder if he’s following my updates too closely.
In the early afternoon, Friend K and I talk about what to do next. I mention something my host family has for me that I never picked up. Friend K feels responsible and offers to go get it. She has a train pass, so it won’t cost much.
There’s a special express train leaving soon, so we go to the station and she takes it. I wait with her for about twenty minutes, then stay behind to catch a regular train into Tokyo. We plan to meet again later.
As I’m on the train, I realize I didn’t think the timing through. We both left around 3:30 or 4:00pm, which doesn’t give her enough time to go to my host family and come back. I also realize I never told my host family she was coming, and she’s going to Sapporo, not Kushiro. I scroll through my LINE messages trying to find Okaa-san, but there are lots of recent messages from people I don’t know well, along with ads from businesses, especially home goods.
I arrive at a building that looks very American, with an entrance like a dentist office. There’s a front parking lot reserved for certain people. A friend parks there, and when I ask why, she says it’s because her small truck doesn’t fit in the regular parking spaces.
I think about getting my license. Instead of retaking a test, I go to reception and they reprint it for me based on past data. There’s another window that looks like it can print passports too. I answer a few simple questions, and they print my card, and now I can drive.
There’s a car outside that I can take, though I realize I don’t actually have permission to park there. I take it out anyway and drive around the streets for a bit. Dad is also there at the building when I get my license.
I’m at a very fancy house, possibly In-laws’. I talk with someone about a show I’ve been watching and put on the first episode while I make dinner—pasta and salad.
The show is about a girl who is treated very badly by her family. Her brother and sister treat her like a dog, and the father is cold and doesn’t stop them. At some point, the father brings her for experiments. The siblings realize what they were doing isn’t just a game but actually harmful.
The sister tries to stand up for her but has no power against the father. He forces the daughter to watch the experiments even when she refuses to help him call the girl over. He drags them both instead.
The girl understands vaguely that the siblings are trying to help, but she’s powerless, and the way she’s been treated has become ingrained in her. She behaves like a dog even as she’s strapped to a table for experiments, while the sister is tied up nearby and forced to watch.
The house itself is bright and grand, with a pool in the garden and grass and flowers everywhere.
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