The tinkling sound of glass cups and plates trickled over the low rumbling of quiet conversational voices. Of course the environment was worthy of the high-end classy French cuisine restaurant that I somehow found myself in. My father caught my aunt and uncle’s drift, and invited them to the most expensive restaurant he could find in Ginza.

Despite the long commute, crowded places and soaring sky-high prices, my parents went along with the flow. Quite reluctantly. I could see their smiles more strained than before. The Yara family didn’t even begin to notice. I couldn’t decide whether it was because we were sensitive to each other, or Aya’s parents were just plain ignorant.

“Sei-kun.” I heard my uncle call me. I must have been zoning out. I reminded myself to keep my composure. “How’s school going?”

“Oji-chan, you know I’m doing great as usual. Don’t worry about me.” I felt slightly disgusted at myself.

My sister giggled. “What a liar.”

The whole table laughed at the comment. But she managed to lighten up the atmosphere by degrees.

He grinned over his gold framed spectacles, his perfect white teeth glowing. “That’s good to hear.” He shook his head slowly, still smiling. “Having a sharp tongue as always.”

I shook my head humbly. I turned to Aya. “How are things going for you? Miss American prodigy.” I joked.

They laughed. “We’re actually transfering schools.”

“Really?” Are they transfering to Japan?

“Yeahh.” Aya began. “The program isn’t really quite for me.” She sipped from her cup delicately, elbows carefully brought in, both hands on the cup. She is the most civilized girl I’ve ever met. Luckily I managed put on a show to match. I just wondered if I would ever crack under the pretense.

“Where are you transfering?” My mother asked. She sounded more worried than me. I grinned at that thought.

“I’m transfering to UCLA in Los Angeles.”

“I see.” I said almost too quickly, relieved. Aya was a good friend but wherever she transferred, her parents tagged along too. And I didn’t want to hang out with the parents.

“But I’m actually coming over for summer exchange in the coming year!” She grinned. “Isn’t that awesome? We can hang out.”

I smiled back. “Cool. Sounds good!” I said with a tired smile.

Moments later, we were strolling down the street through the Sunday crowds. The sun was actually out today and its warmth was a welcome change. The streets were alive with commotion, men and women quite neat and tidy bustled about. Ginza was a high end shopping and commercial district, well known for its fancy flavours and dainty brand name flagship stores.

I glanced at my watch. It was two o’clock, I was starting to get frustrated in wasting my time, when I could be shutting myself in busy studying. I had a test later on in the week, and two term papers. It wasn’t the end of my troubles.

“Ah, Seiji,” Aya’s mother said, “We’re going to head to our hotel soon, why don’t you and Aya hang out longer?”

“Eh?” I said blankly.

“You haven’t seen each other for so long, you must want to spend some time together.”

I had nearly forgotten they were always trying to set us up. My mother didn’t help me out however, she agreed and told me to relax my mind and have some fun.

With that, they departed. Aoi turned and gave me a knowing look before following my parents.

I shook my head and grinned. “What are they doing setting us up?”

Aya smiled and ignored my comment. Instead she put her arm through mine. “Shall we go?” She said in perfect English.

I made a muted sound before falling in line beside her. Women don’t give men a choice was what I learned. Not for the last time, I wondered how to get out of this. For me, we were cousins, for Aya and her parents, we were husband and wife. I sighed.

We headed slowly down the Ginza streets, making little progress through the crowds. At the intersection we stopped for the light. Just as we were about to cross the street, something caught my eye. I blinked.

Saori?

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