Chapter Nineteen: Kuni:

There were two women after Allison in Daisuke’s life that sent him into a bit of a swirl. One came from his past while another one could’ve been his future.

Sayuri

Tokyo, August 10th, 1989.

Kato took Anna up for a visit that day. He walked the little girl up to the hotel room that Daisuke was staying at.

“How’s my little angel?” the young man asked as he knelt down to hug her. The little girl giggled as he took her into his arms.

“Fine!” she cheered.

“Have you been good on the way here?” her father asked.

“Yes, Papa!” she cheered.

“That’s good,” Daisuke said. He turned his attention to Kato as he glanced up at him.

“How was the trip up?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” the older man replied. “We had no trouble finding our way around, though this little one just had to stop and see everything.” He patted Anna on the head as he said that last part. Daisuke laughed as he rose to his feet.

“I’ll believe it,” he said. The man turned back to his daughter. “Ready to go?”

The little girl tilted her head at him. “Go where?” she asked.

“Just a little walk,” her father replied. Anna perked up when he told her that.

“Do we get to see more of the city?” she asked.

“Of course,” Daisuke answered.

“Yay!” the girl cheered. Kato gave them a warm smile.

“I’ll be in the library if you need me,” he said.

“Sure thing,” Daisuke replied as he and Anna headed down the hall. Tokyo was rather busy that muggy Thursday afternoon. Daisuke did everything in his power to tug his daughter along on the sidewalk.

“Sweetie,” he said. “Please stay by me. I don’t want you to get snatched or anything, alright?”

Anna turned to him with a huge smile on her face. “Okay!” As they turned the curb, a sight caught Daisuke’s eye as he froze dead in his tracks. Anna paused and looked up at him.

“What’s wrong, Papa?” she asked. Her father didn’t answer; instead he walked towards a woman up ahead handing out flyers for a nightclub of some sort.

“Come out to the Golden Lotus!” she called out to the people passing by. “Ladies get in free for the first time.” Daisuke’s eyes stayed on her long curly brown and pink hair. She had on a pinkish-white puffy coat in the middle of summer. To him, it looked just as weird as her Madonna-like fashion in the streets. However, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

I think that I’ve seen her from somewhere, he thought. The man just couldn’t really place where. Suddenly, the tan-looking woman paused and turned when she noticed him. A puzzled look came over her face.

“Dai-kun?” she asked. “Is that you?” Daisuke looked just as confused.

“Uh…” he spoke. The woman’s eyes lit up brighter than firecrackers as she raced over to the man and his child.

“Dai-kun!” she exclaimed. “I haven’t seen you in so long!” The man blinked at her with a lost expression.

“I’m sorry, but do I know you?” he asked. The woman gave him a perky smile.

“It’s me, Sayuri!” she exclaimed. “I was in your fifth grade class back in Kobe!”

The man still didn’t understand her. “I don’t know a Sayuri,”

“It’s me, Peaches!” she said with a “V” sign to her face. That voice and the “peaches” triggered something in his mind. The man’s jaw dropped when he put two and two together.

“Peaches?” he asked. “You’re that Peaches?”

“That’s right!” she chirped. Daisuke remembered a hyper, chubby weird girl in his fifth class. She was always loud and loved to draw. On the first day of class, she stood at her desk and introduced herself to the class.

“My name is Choshi Sayuri!” she boomed. “And I like peaches!” The whole class got a good laugh out of that one. She ended up being called “Peaches” for the rest of the year. Somehow, Sayuri didn’t seem to mind it all and gladly took it as her nickname. Some of her classmates wondered if she was really stupid or just pretending to be. Daisuke began to smile and nod as it all came back to him.

“Peaches!” he exclaimed, “I didn’t recognize you at first. You have really slimmed down!”

“Yep,” she said, twirling around. “You like?” The man nodded rather impressed.

“Yeah,” he said. “How have you been? Are you still drawing these days?”

“I’m doing great!” Peaches replied. “Though, I barely get time to draw anymore.”

“Aw, what do you mean?” Daisuke asked rather puzzled. She gave him a little frown.

“I’m so busy with work lately,” the wild woman answered. “I’m trying to get into art school.”

“Art school?” Daisuke asked.

“That’s right,” she perked up. “I always wanted to go ever since I first came to Tokyo.”

“And have you?” he asked.

“I’m getting there,” Peaches said as she clapped her hands together. “How about you? What have you been up to these days?” Daisuke chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh, not much,” he replied. “I work as a teaching assistant now at a local community college in Kobe.”

“Teaching assistant, huh?” Peaches asked.

“That’s right,” Daisuke answered.

“Somehow, I always felt that you would end up with a job like that,” she said.

Daisuke tilted his head as he gave her an odd look. “Why do you say that?” Peaches gave him a small shrug.

“Dunno,” she answered. “You just had that caring nature about you when we were in school together.”

“Is that right?” Daisuke asked.

“Uh-huh, don’t ask me how; I just knew,” Peaches replied. Hearing her suggest that brought another thought to Daisuke’s mind.

“Hey Peaches,” he spoke up.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Why did you let call you ‘Peaches’?” he asked. “You knew they were picking on you, right?”

“Probably,” she replied, “It just kind of stuck, you know?”

Daisuke nodded after he thought about that. “I suppose.” Peaches happened to look down by her former classmate’s side and saw Anna peeking out from behind. She quickly hid back with a small gasp. A smile spread across Peaches’ face.

“Oh, and who’s this little cutie?” she asked. Daisuke looked down and patted Anna on the head.

“This is my daughter, Anna-chan,” he replied. Peaches’ eyes lit up brighter than the stars.

“You have a daughter?” she asked.

“That’s right,” he replied. The man looked down at the little girl hiding behind him. “Say hi, Anna-chan,” he whispered. The little girl peeked out at the smiling lady squatting down to her level.

“Hi there,” she greeted the little girl.

“Hi…” Anna mumbled as she gave her a small wave. Daisuke chuckled.

“Don’t worry about her,” he said, “She’s just really shy.”

“I see,” the woman said before rising to her feet, “So who’s her mother?” Daisuke lowered her head.

“She’s dead,” he lied. The glow in Peaches’ face dimmed at that response.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” she murmured. Another thought crossed her mind, changing her mood. “How old is Anna-chan?” she asked. Daisuke pretended to perk up.

“She’s six years old,” he replied.

“Ooo, that’s a busy age,” Peaches cooed.

“Yeah,” Daisuke said with his laughter reaching the high afternoon sky.

“Peaches!” a man yelled behind her from the club where she was standing in front of before, “Where the hell are you?! Get your ass back to work right now!” Peaches gave off a nervous laugh as a response.

“I better go, I have to get back to work,” she said quickly. “Nice talking to you again.” Peaches turned to run back to her post.

“Good luck with getting into art school!” Daisuke yelled back. The bubbly woman turned around and flashed another V-sign at him.

“Remember, I love Peaches!” she shouted before heading back to work handing out flyers. Daisuke couldn’t help but smile at such a woman. Anna looked up at her father.

“Papa, who was that?” she asked.

“A really nice, goofy girl I know used to know,” he replied. “A really nice, goofy girl.”

Yoshimi

April 1st, 1993.

Daisuke waited under the cherry tree in the public park in Kobe. Kyoko set him up on a blind date today. The man nearly spat out his green tea when he heard that.

“What?!” he screamed in Kato’s kitchen. The old lady tried her best to calm him down.

“It’s just a blind date,” Kyoko reasoned with him. “I’ll even watch Anna-chan while you have a nice time out.”

“But why?” he asked.

“Anna-chan’s going to need a mother figure in her life soon,” the old lady began. “And how long do you plan to stay single?” Daisuke looked at her blinking.

“Well… I haven’t really thought about it,” he answered in a choked-up voice. Kyoko leaned in close to his face with a grin.

“So, this is a good place to start,” she encouraged. “She’s a daughter of a good friend of mine. She’s really nice and just got out of a nasty divorce. Maybe Anna-chan could have a little step-sister if it all goes well.”

Daisuke gave off a nervous laugh. “You won’t back off of this, will you?”

“Do it for me, please?” the old lady pleaded. The young man frowned as he set his cup down on the kitchen table.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll give it a try.” Kyoko bowed her head with a smile.

“You have just made me so happy,” she said. “You’ll really like her, I promise.” Daisuke really wasn’t too sure about that last statement. So, here he was at the park waiting for his date. Daisuke looked at his watch. She should be here by now, he thought. It’s almost three o’clock.

“Excuse me,” a small voice spoke up. “Are you Kimoto Daisuke?” The man turned around to see a tiny woman standing inches away from him. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her yellow and pink yukata. Her light red butterfly clips held her twists in her hair neatly in place. Daisuke tilted his head puzzled.

“Yes,” he replied. “Why do you ask?” The woman’s cheeks turned a bright pink at his question.

“I’m Kate Yoshimi,” she answered in a soft voice. “I believe I am your date.” It took Daisuke a while to put it together in his head.

“Oh,” he said aloud. “Nice to meet you!” Both of them took a bow. It was just now he noticed that Yoshimi had nice violet eyes.

“So what are we doing today?” she asked. Her blind date shrugged.

“I don’t really know,” he said. “We could just walk around for a bit.”

“That sounds good,” Yoshimi replied. The two of them started their path. He got to know his date quite well. She too had a young daughter Anna’s age and she had just recently got divorced. As a result, mother and daughter moved from Osaka to Kobe for a change in pace. Her mother objected to the move, but Yoshimi insisted on a changer for her and her young daughter. They had just bought an apartment near the beach. Right now, Yoshimi was looking for a new job in Kobe.

“Whoa,” Daisuke said. “That seems like a lot.” Yoshimi nodded at him.

“Yes, it has,” she said in a soft voice, “How about you?”

Daisuke looked up at her blankly. “What?”

“What is your story?” Yoshimi asked. The man froze in his tracks and lowered his head. His dated stopped behind rather puzzled.

“Daisuke-san?” she asked. He turned to her with a rather dry smile on his face.

“It’s a long story,” he replied. Yoshimi looked rather confused by his statement.

“Shall we go on?” Daisuke asked. His date nodded at him uneasily as she walked up beside him.

Their date turned out to be rather nice and quiet. They walked through the park admiring the cherry blossoms and talking. He even took her out to dinner and walked her back to her new apartment. Sparks didn’t go off between Yoshimi and Daisuke, but they became good friends all the way up until January 1994. They would meet up in the city part of Kobe and just talk over coffee or lunch. Daisuke found that he rather enjoyed her company.

Maybe Kyoko-san did do something right for me for a change, he thought. Bit by bit, they shared personal stories with each other and became strong support for one another. Their little girls even became good friends and played together.

“They look like they could be sisters,” Yoshimi said as she watched Anna and her daughter, Kiko, playing on the beach together.

“Yeah,” Daisuke agreed. Could every day be like this? However, it came to an end when Yoshimi and Kiko moved back to Osaka when her mother died.

“I’ll miss you,” Yoshimi told Daisuke.

“Me too,” he replied. They kept in contact for a little while until they grew apart and moved on with their own lives.

Both women put a lasting impact on his life, but that was nothing compared to the next decision he would make next year.