Chapter 1
A small gasp escapes from Vanessa’s glossy peach-colored lips as she is jostled awake in her seat. She turns her head ever so slightly toward the elderly woman sitting beside her on the populated bus. “I’m sorry” Vanessa says softly once she realizes she had bumped into her accidentally. The woman didn’t seem to mind or even notice, staring right in front of her. She is wearing a mask, covering her nose and mouth. Vanessa wonders if she should be wearing a mask as well. She had forgotten to pack her package of masks in her haste to the airport and hasn’t gotten around to replacing it.
Vanessa is wearing a thin water-resistant dark olive-green jacket over a simple white cotton T shirt and has dark denim skinny jeans on along with sneakers. Her navy-blue backpack remains on her lap, showing its age in faded, slightly torn fabric. She is a light packer. It’s not like she had much anyway. This trip isn’t for leisure. She is in search of her twin sister, Vera. It used to be them against the world, now it was only just her. She just can’t accept her sister disappearing without a trace. She can’t imagine living without Vera. She refused to let Vera become a forgotten name, her picture getting lost in the shuffle of missing girl photos on investigator’s desks. She isn’t being found fast enough and with each passing second Vera continued to be missing, Vanessa could feel the crack in her heart deepening. She needs Vera more than she needs oxygen to breathe. Vera is all she ever had in life.
She can feel that ever familiar ache inside of her chest as she blinks back the tears that threaten to come. Her round watery light green eyes focus on the water droplets on the window which have taken on a muted iridescent glint from the light. Her sister is the optimistic one, who always looks for the rainbow after a storm. Vanessa always thought that idea was ridiculous but now she finds herself holding onto that notion like it’s a life preserve.
It had been Vera’s lifelong dream to visit Tokyo. In Vera’s room there are tons of pictures of Sakura trees. Sakura means cherry blossoms in Japanese. The delicate flowers are Vera’s favorite plant and now they serve as a haunting reminder to Vanessa on the fragilities of the human condition. Her small, slender fingers gently trace the cherry blossom tattoo on her inner wrist. Vera has a matching tattoo on her left wrist while Vanessa has hers on the right wrist. They decided to get matching tattoos together during spring break after one too many drinks. Although, cherry blossoms are transient and fragile, Vera admired that they could survive through the brutal winters to bloom next spring. Vanessa admires that resilience as well.
Vanessa snaps out of her thoughts when she realizes she is nearing her location. She gathers her belongings and starts to make her way off the bus. She is in Adachi, Tokyo. This is where Vera vanished. It is a gloomy day today with grey storm clouds above, threatening to rain at any moment. The atmosphere around her is chaotic and ominous but she isn’t easily detoured. She is grateful for the humidity cooling her warm cheeks. The climate in Tokyo is similar to that of some American cities on the East coast which is where she is from.
Her stomach rumbles in protest, reminding her that she hasn’t had dinner yet. She is too exhausted to eat, still experiencing jetlag, but she knew she needed to keep her strength up. She wouldn’t be able to help anyone if she became ill. She had to take care of herself first. It is always difficult for her to prioritize herself because that isn’t her nature. She is the worrier, the protector, the mother hen, that is what Vera use to call her.
She can feel the start of a headache forming in her head so she takes a sip out of her bottled water. She wants something warm, quick and filling so she decides to step into a small building that specializes in ramen. There is something so comforting about ramen. Ramen reminded her of her childhood and adulthood. There were many nights when she finished working a double shift and decided to make ramen noodles for herself at 3 am.
After studying the laminated menu, she placed her order for tonkotsu ramen. Tonkotsu means pork bone and it is a delicious, hearty broth that is opaque in color. It is made by boiling pork bones for many hours to create a rich, savory taste. The simmering process breaks down the bones, releasing their flavor. Chashu which is a Japanese pork belly, thinly sliced fills the bowl along with fresh green onions, bamboo shoots, braised egg and leafy greens. She is salivating just thinking about the soup. It is such an explosion of flavor in her mouth. It happens to be one of her favorite meals. Once she places her order, she glances around her space, noticing families, and businessmen dining out.
It didn’t take long for her meal to be presented in front of her. “Arigato” she says to her server. She didn’t know that many Japanese words, but she remembered a few from the Japanese class she use to be in when she was a teenager.
Once every drop of broth is gone in her bowl, she is satisfied. She pays for her meal, leaving the establishment, feeling warm and cozy. She makes a note in her phone to remember the business so she can return at a later date. She had a feeling she would be in town for a while. She knows it is time to get to the apartment complex where she is renting.
She gets onto a shuttle bus, feeling comfortable seeing young ladies and mothers with their children on the bus. She explains to the driver where she wants to go, what stop, and he nods his head. It didn’t take long to reach the residential areas, a little bit out of the city. Once off the shuttle, she can hear a dog barking in the distance. She can see clothes billowing outside attached to string and potted plants in various spaces. When she was seated at the restaurant, she had let the apartment owner know that she had arrived in the city and would be there to collect her key soon. She climbed up the steps, ringing the doorbell, and waited.
