Affection Part 2 - Alteration

Caution: This fiction mild violence and sexual references. If your easily offended, Do not read this, I take no responsibility for your actions as a result. Most of the dialog in this book is considered to be in Japanese, as its set in Japan and all the character's speak Japanese. Don't be put off by phrases like "My English is very bad" Written in English, its actually supposed to be Japanese. Of course, Sometimes I will use Japanese words, because I like them. There will be a complete glossary of all the Japanese 'Romanji' words I use at the end.

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Affection. A warm story in a cold part of Japan.

Part 2 - Alterations

By Dare Richardson.

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Tohya awoke from her deep sleep to the ringing of her alarm clock, its piercing tone cut through her unconscious state like a knife through her head. An annoyed fist slammed into the top of it, slipping it onto snooze. 'Don't wanna get up....' she whined to herself. A small half smile came across her face as she hugged one of her enormous pillows. Her face buried in it as her legs wrapped around it. "Mmm, Warm..." She said dreamily before the alarm clock fired off again. Tohya rubbed her eyes and sadly let go of her pillow. She managed to push herself up from her hips and sat up in her bed. The ringing was stopped when she flicked a switch on the side of the alarm clock. '7:30' Tohya read. She pushed herself to her feet and looked at the sign that she had made, that was laid down on her desk.

After almost a year of complaining, and a full 300 days without a day off, Tohya's boss finally buckled. She grinned at the red 'Help Wanted' Sign. Tohya walked over towards a long dress mirror, trying hard not to tread on folders and piles of sketches as she went. When she arrived, she looked down at herself wearing a long black nightgown, with her messed up purple hair. Tohya sighed and picked up her hairbrush, before running it through her hair for a second. It got caught in a lump of matted hair and Tohya winced as she pulled it through. "Owie...." She moaned softly. By 7:40 her hair was completely knotless and she had stepped into the shower.

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Nate blinked his sore eyes as he rubbed the back of his head. 'Where?' he thought. "Am I?" as he looked towards the brown wooden ceiling. His apartment certainly didn't look like that. He suddenly realized he was extremely comfortable, despite the fact he was laying on the floor. He placed a hand on the soft floor. "What is this? Tatami?" he said out loud. "Umm... I'm in Japan!!!" Nate suddenly realized. He sat up quickly and looked around the traditional Ryokan hotel that he stayed in the night before. Nate rubbed the back of his head slowly again. He stood up, still wearing the clothes from yesterday, because of a knock at the door. It slid open and a woman came in holding a few towels. She was dressed in a long purple kimono and had her hair tied up. She left the towels on the floor near the door and smiled.

"If you wish to freshen up, we have a western style 'Shawa' just down the hall." The geisha said. She bowed to him as he dipped back. She then turned and left. Nate smiled as he picked up the towels and walked down the hall into the bathroom. 'Tohya...' he thought distantly as he walked into the shower room. 'The dream girl' He thought vacantly before dropping his clothes to the floor and stepping into the shower.

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Tohya pulled on a pair of stockings to up past her small pencil skirt. She put on a pair of boots and happily picked up the sign from her desk. Tohya began walking to the door. She picked up her keys and stepped out into the warm fall day. It was just warm enough to be pleasant, and just cold enough to be comfortable. She skipped happily down the stairs and walked around the corner to the book shop. A key opened the door to the bookstore and she stepped in. Tohya couldn't help but grin as she placed the 'Help Wanted' sign in the window.

Suddenly an angry looking man walked into the bookstore. He was only as tall as Tohya, and seemed to be balding. He carried a box of books under his arm, supported by his other. Tohya shook her head and sighed 'The peace was nice while it lasted'

"TOHYA!!!" He yelled. "You know I'm not gonna be around when we finally get some help around here, so you need to get all these boxes emptied and moved." Tohya sighed again and walked back into the main portion of the shop.

"Ee..." She said before taking a quick look around the shop. There were at least 10 boxes full of books that needed unpacking. Some were over by the 'Quick reads' section near the door. "Books for lazy people." She said with a small smile. Another few boxes were stacked by the Biography shelves. "Like we care about there lives. The only people sadder than someone who would write a biography are those who read em." And the final book boxes were stacked by fiction and Manga. She sighed again and went to work.

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Nate slipped on a fresh set of clothes and saw that he only had 2 fresh sets left. 'Need to do some laundry...' he thought to himself. He tied up his long blonde hair in a ponytail before sliding open the door of his room. He walked towards the counter of the Ryokan and smiled at the Geisha who was behind it. "I would like to stay for one more night at least." Nate said. The woman nodded and smiled. Nate smiled back as he left the hotel. A crisp wind blew through his hair gently as he took in a deep breath. 'Nara, eh?' He thought to himself. 'Lets see what you got!' He almost taunted to the town

He glanced to his left and looked down the road. He saw a large street, that he assumed was the one he had come from the day before. He then glanced to his right and saw a musical instruments shop. Nate found himself smiling as he made towards it. Music in all its forms seemed to call him.

Stepping into the music shop brought something out in him. He made a direct beeline to the supplies part and picked up a new manuscript pad. He looked around the store again where his eyes met a large piano at the side of the room. He walked over to it and admired it for a few seconds. Suddenly reality hit him again. 'No chance...' he thought. He turned tail and walked towards the electric keyboards. 'This is more like it...'

After browsing the items, and buying the manuscript pad, Nate left the shop and headed for the computer shop next door. He was tempted to walk into it, but then he remembered how he felt about computers. He wasn't overly fond of them. The only reason he owned a was laptop out of necessity with his work. He did, however, take note of the cell phones on one corner of the shop before moving on.

Nate walked around the next corner and saw 2 shops. One was small, and looked like some form of Kissaten. The other was large and seemed to be a bookstore of some kind. Nate walked up to the closest, the bookstore, and looked in the window. There was a short balding man stacking some books on a shelf, and he appeared to be yelling at someone. Nate saw the large amount of Manga on the shelves and smile. He had always loved Manga.

Nate’s Attention was suddenly snapped by a red sign that was in the window. He looked at it for a few seconds trying to understand it, and finally read it. He smiled to himself and walked inside the bookstore. The bald man turned towards him and smiled.

"Hello!" The man said. "How can I help you today?" Nate bowed to him.

"I came to ask about the job in the window." Nate stated. The balding man bowed.

"Well, I am not making the decision there. I only own the shop!" He joked. Nate found himself laughing at the bad joke, if only as a courtesy. "TOHYA!!! GET DOWN HERE!!!" The man yelled. There were slow shuffling footsteps towards them. "By the way, I am Shoda" Nate bowed again.

"'Shoda-San" He acknowledged. Suddenly a sullen looking girl walked around the corner. She had long purple hair that was down over her shoulders and covered her eyes slightly. The shield of hair prevented Nate from seeing her eyes. She wore a black top, with a short black pencil skirt. Her legs were encased in a thick pair of black and purples striped long socks. Her build was incredibly slight, and though Nate could tell she was around 23, she appeared to have an incredibly small body. Nate had an odd feeling about her, it was as if she had an inner sadness.

"What?" She said sullenly. Nate suddenly recognized her as the girl who directed him yesterday. Shoda turned towards her.

"This man wants the job!" Shoda said gruffly. Tohya looked towards him briefly before turning to a bookcase. "How are you gonna interview him?" Shoda asked. Away from there eyes Tohya smiled. She reached up and grabbed a book from the top shelf.

"What’s this?" She asked. Nate looked at her confused.

"Its a book." He said. Tohya smiled again as she replaced the book.

"You got the job. I hope you can start straight away."

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Nate picked up another handful of the books and placed them on the top shelf. Tohya sat and watched him from her seat behind the counter. Nate knew she was looking at him but didn't feel the need to do anything about it. He organized the works of Japanese literature to the best of his understanding. The titles were written in Kanji, and Nate didn't know much about Kanji. He placed another book on the shelf and looked at them.

Tohya eyed him suspiciously. 'He looks so much like... my drawings. He even has the same name.' she thought to herself. 'What is going on?'. Nate turned towards her and smiled, before moving over to the Manga shelves and starting to re-stock it. Tohya looked down to the half drawn picture in front of her. She suddenly screwed it up and threw it into the bin across the room.

Nate held a Samurai power Manga in his hands. "Wow..." He said, before putting it on the shelf. Tohya looked at him again. Nate continued to work at filling the shelves as Tohya looked down to another blank sheet of paper. She picked up a pencil and sketched a few lines on it. Nate looked down towards it as the few lines soon formed into a picture.

"What’s so interesting?" She asked bluntly, without taking her gaze from the sheet of paper.

"Oh... nothing..." Nate said as he crossed the small bookstore. Another box of books was emptied onto the shelves.

"Its a good thing you came along." Tohya started. "I was never gonna get all this stuff unpacked." She said dryly as her pencil continued to trace over the sheet of paper. Nate turned and walked back to the counter, and leaned against it with a sigh. He glanced over to the picture Tohya was drawing at it was starting to take shape. It was of the shop they were both working in, though the sign at the front was slanted, and it was on fire.

"Nice!" Nate said with a smile at the picture. Tohya shrugged slightly.

"I can dream, can't I?" Tohya almost smiled. "So, Nate? What did you do before you came here?" Tohya asked as she started to draw a man jumping out of the building.

"I was a musician." Nate said simply, though the words seemed to cause Tohya to drop her pencil. She looked towards him.

"Can I see your passport? I need to write a file on you. That is, of course, if you want your pay." Tohya said. Nate fished in his pocket and handed his passport to the purple haired Goth girl. She inspected it, and stared at the name on the last page of it. 'Nathan... Fielding...' She thought. 'Its him...' She looked at him. It was the tall man with long blonde hair from her drawings, Her refuge, that had been in her dreams, in his arms for the past half a year.

"What?" Nate asked. "Its really my passport, you know." Nate smiled. Tohya raised a slim eyebrow before looking down towards the passport again. She wrote a few notes from it into a sheet of lined paper before handing it back.

"You wrote the theme tune for Samurai power." Tohya said. Nate nodded and smiled as a customer walked into the shop.

"Yeah.. how did you know?"

"I just do..." Tohya dismissed. "Now come around here, you have a customer." Tohya instructed. Nate jumped over the counter and sat in his seat with a smile. The customer walked towards one of the shelves and took a book from it. The man walked up to Nate and smiled, he handed Nate the book.

"A good book..." Nate said as he rang the till and took the money for it. He smiled as the man left with his new book. Tohya looked at him.

"Wow... you can use a till and everything..." She drawled. Nate rolled his eyes as he saw the man jumping from the building in the drawing, was his new boss, Shoda-san. Tohya seemed slightly happier since he had left. "If you write music, why are you here at the bookstore?" Tohya asked. Nate looked down at the counter.

"I lost my inspiration 8 months ago." Nate said sadly. Tohya looked at him.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because... of a dream. At least I think it was a dream..." Nate looked back. Tohya was interested now, 8 months ago she had talked to him.

"What kind of dream would cause someone to lose there inspiration?" Tohya asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure if it was a dream or not." Nate said as he rubbed the back of his head. Tohya tilted her head and half smiled again. "I was talking to this girl on my computer. Her name was... well, it was the same as yours..." Nate said. He smiled to himself. "What are the chances..." he chuckled. Tohya's face split into yet another almost smile.

"And that caused you to lose your inspiration?" Tohya said suddenly feeling a pang of guilt in her stomach 'what did I do...'

"I talked to her, it was great..." He said fondly. "She said that she would contact me again, but she never did... After a few weeks I wasn't sure whether it had really happened or if I was just dreaming." Nate thought for a second. He looked at Tohya and saw that she seemed to have saddened a little. "Are you alright?" He enquired. Tohya nodded and carried on her drawing. Nate stood up and walked around the counter again. He placed another copy of the book that the man had just bought on the shelf.

Tohya continued to scribble on the small sheet of paper while not looking at Nate. Though she was trying not to look, so she was half looking. He was walking around the shop and straightening things up. Tohya rolled her eyes. "You've done more work today than I've done this month." Tohya sighed. Nate turned towards her and shrugged.

"I'm sure that’s not true." Nate said with a smile. Tohya just continued to sketch her strange picture.

"I'm serious, those boxes had been there for 3 weeks." Tohya half smiled. Nate continued to sort the shelves as Tohya finished her drawing. "But at least now Shoda-san isn't here I can draw some more."

"Didn't he let you draw?" Nate asked. Tohya shook her head.

"He insisted that I should do some work..." Tohya drawled.

"How rude of him!" Nate said sarcastically before turning away to place another set of books on the shelf. Behind his back, away from his eyes, Tohya smiled widely.

"Why did you come to Japan?" Tohya asked. She half smiled again. "Did you come to track this girl down?" She asked.

"Umm, no. I had a job offer, but they gave it to someone else before I got here. I thought I could either go back to my crap life at home, or stay here. I decided to start afresh." Nate explained. Tohya nodded.

"Well, if your planning to stay in town, there are some cheap houses in the middle. There only small. 3 rooms and a bathroom, but there everything you need." Tohya said. Nate looked at her.

"Is that where you live?" Nate asked. Tohya shook her head. Nate walked back to the counter again, with everything now unpacked and on the shelves. He placed a hand on the counter and jumped over it again, landing perfectly in his seat.

"I live upstairs, in the apartment and storeroom." Tohya said. Nate picked up his small carrier bag from under the counter and took the manuscript pad from it. He opened it up and wrote a few notes on one of the staves. "Writing again?" Tohya asked. Nate just shrugged.

"So, where are these houses?" Nate asked. Tohya half smiled again.

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"Thanks for showing me around Tohya-san." Nate said again. Tohya just shrugged as she locked up the bookstore. From her bag she produced 2 cans of an orange drink. She passed one of them to Nate, before opening her own. "Arigato."

"So, tell me more about this 'Tohya'" Tohya asked slyly. Nate looked at her for a few seconds as they began to walk down the street.

"Its strange..." Nate mused. "It could really be you. She worked in a bookshop, about your age, same personality. Are you sure its not you?" Nate asked with a smile. Tohya turned towards him.

"Hate to break your fantasy, Nathan-san, but there are at least 10 bookstores in the next city over. Think how many there must be in Japan all together" She half smiled sadly again, "And Tohya is one of the most common names in Japan."

"Oh. Is that so..." Nate said sadly. "Its a shame, It would have been nice to know it wasn't a dream." Nate smiled. Tohya looked at him for a second before guiding him around the corner. She felt bad about deceiving him, but she didn't openly deny it. Tohya shook, unsure of why she felt the need to deny and defend her feelings. Her memory slipped back to the nights of the last 7 months, memories of the few times she had almost cried herself to sleep.

'What am I thinking, It wasn't a few times... and I wasn't *almost* crying...' She thought sadly. Suddenly she looked towards Nate who was smiling back at her again. "What?" She asked impatiently.

"Just wondering what the chances are of finding a girl called exactly the same thing working in a bookshop" Nate smiled. Tohya shrugged again. Nate raised an eyebrow at her, in a gesture that was almost like Tohya's.

"What?" She asked again,

"Now I'm wondering if you ever smile." Nate said as he looked forwards again. Tohya looked forwards too, as she took a swig from her drink. A few seconds later, Nate took a small draught from his own.

"What do I have to smile about?" Tohya asked rhetorically.

"What do you have to be sad about?" Nate retorted quickly. A wind blew and pushed some of Tohya's hair into her face. Secretly, beneath her hair, Tohya smiled gently. Suddenly her face straightened as the wind blew the hair out of her face.

"I still want to hear more about this Tohya." Tohya asked with a half smile. Nate took another sip of his drink as Tohya asked another question. "Did you like her?" Nate nodded as he leveled his drink again.

"She was a nice girl. A lot like you really..." Nate said again suspiciously. Tohya's face half smiled slyly.

"Does that mean you like me?" Tohya asked. She was expecting Nate to be flustered by this, but he was completely unshaken. He just nodded slightly.

"Hai." He smiled as he started to see a set of small houses in the distance. Nate turned to Tohya and saw her face had reddened slightly. "Are these the houses?" Nate asked. Tohya nodded slightly as they continued to walk towards them. Tohya walked to the furthest of the houses and almost dragged Nathan up the path. She knocked on the door and an old man opened it. He bowed to them and they returned the bow.

"Were her to look at the house." Tohya said abruptly. The old man nodded and allowed them entry. They both took off there shoes in the Genkan entryway. They both slipped into the white slippers that were provided. Tohya quickly grabbed Nate's shoulder for balance as she pulled on the second of the slippers. Nate supported her for a second, before she put her foot down again.

"Arigato." She said, though it was flat and emotionless. They stepped onto the flooring, and as they did, Nate fell in love. The house was beautiful. It was a perfect idea of a traditional Japanese home. Its floors were covered in Tatami, and its wooden walls were delicately decorated. They stepped into the first room, and saw it was a large room. "This is the Washitsu. Your bedroom." Tohya explained. It was a beautiful room, light was diffusing through Shoji style windows. It had a sliding Futsuma style door and the floor was coated in Tatami mats again.

"What’s that?" Nate asked pointing to a closet. Tohya looked at where he was pointing.

"That’s on Oshiire. Its where you keep your futons." Tohya explained. "Shall we go and see the next room?"

"Hai" Nate said happily. He was in love with this house. Tohya shook her head with sigh and walked to the next room. Nate followed her as they slid open the door to what seemed like a smaller room. It was decorated the same as the last one however, only with a smaller Oshiire. It looked like it was for only a single Futon.

"A spare bedroom." Tohya shrugged. Nate just continued to smile as they walked into yet another room. It was a small kitchen. It had a stove, with some kind of Broiler for cooking fish. There was a sink just next to a toaster on the counter. Nate smile at the fact it still looked like a Modern western style kitchen, with a eastern twist. The man from before, the owner of the house came up behind them.

"Western style toilet too." He said. Nate nodded and smiled. He was glad of this, because he hated Japanese style toilets. "There is a traditional Japanese ofuro." The man explained. Nate didn't understand this word and turned to Tohya.

"Bathroom..." She explained with a shrug of her shoulders. Nate nodded. Tohya started to walk towards the bathroom, and Nate followed. They opened the sliding door and Nate smiled. There was a shower in the corner, and a large wooden tub in the middle of the room. It was around 5 feet deep and had a few steps up to it. "You can swim in that if you want..." Tohya drawled. She turned to Nate in the doorway of the bathroom. "Do you like it?" Nate grinned and nodded.

"Hai. I like it very much." Nate smiled again. The man walked up to them.

"Asking Price 2000000 yen. Deposit of 200000 yen, and you can move in and pay the rest off when you can." The man said. Tohya shrugged.

"You just need to save up the deposit..." Tohya explained. Nate however, just reached into his pocket and produced the bank card that his rejecting employer gave him. He handed it to the man and he smiled.

"You can move in tomorrow!" The man said. Nate smiled and looked at Tohya. She was almost smiling. They both bid farewell to the man and slipped there shoes back on in the Genkan area, and stepped outside.

"Are you still staying at the hotel?" Tohya asked as they walked slowly back to the circle of shops. Nate smiled.

"Yup, and now I know what an Oshiire is, I will be able to find a futon and not sleep on the floor." Nate laughed. Tohya looked towards him and another half smile appeared on her face. Nate saw that it was getting dark. "Can I walk you home?" He asked. Tohya shrugged.

"There’s no need, its a safe town." Tohya explained. Nate shrugged this time. "If your really that bored, then suit yourself." Tohya added. Nate smiled, and secretly, Tohya smiled inwardly. She hoped that Nate didn't see her want, or even need for company. Strangely, she was feeling slightly happy.

Nate walked slowly down the street, with Tohya walking slowly to his left. He looked towards her. "Do you draw a lot?" He asked. Tohya nodded.

"A little too much really. My floor is covered with drawings." Tohya remembered her drawings, the ones that seemed to look like Nathan. "I've even drawn a couple of people that look like you, Nathan-san."

"But you only met me today." Nate said. Tohya shrugged.

"Yet I drew them months ago." She looked towards him and mocked him slightly. "What are the chances of that?" Nate smiled.

"Lots of coincidences today. What’s one more to add to the pile." He smiled. Tohya giggled slightly, she covered her mouth to hide her smile. Nate saw through it though. "Wow, I made you smile." He said happily. Tohya almost scowled at him. Nate was taken aback as they started to walk in silence for a few seconds. "What’s wrong with smiling?" Nate asked again.

Tohya remained quiet for a second. "Nothing. I suppose." She still didn't smile though, as they walked slowly down the street.

"So, Do you dye your hair a lot then?" Nate asked innocently. Tohya looked towards him with a raised eyebrow before rubbing the back of her head.

"Yup. Every week. Its the only way I can keep my purple hair." Tohya said, toying with a lock of her hair, winding it around her fingers. "Think I should go back to my natural colour?" She asked with sarcastic half smile.

"I wouldn't know what your natural colour is." Nate shrugged, "Besides, the purple suits you." He smiled again. Tohya nodded.

"Most people seem to think so." Tohya added. Nate looked towards her and saw she was half smiling again. He sighed and shook his head. "What?" She asked. Nate just shrugged. They turned the corner onto the road with the bookshop on. "Why do you feel you have to smile so much?" Tohya asked.

Nate scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I didn't used to, back at home I hardly smiled at all." They walked past the bookstore and towards the staircase at the side. Tohya turned to Nate.

"See you tomorrow." Nate said. Tohya half smiled again.

"Sayonara!" She said. Her feet carried her up the stairs as Nate turned and continued to walk down the street.

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Tohya opened her door and slipped inside. She didn't close the door however, she just hid behind the doorframe and watched Nate walk until he was out of her view. After a few seconds she moved out of the doorway, and closed the door. Her thin fingers found the light switch, that bathed the room in an uncomfortable, artificial light. She walked over to her desk and pulled out her swivel chair. On the desk was a huge pile of papers, in a tray that she had simply noted 'N'. She took the first picture from it and glanced over it. It was the picture she had drawn last night. It showed herself, dressed in a long black and purple gown, in the arms of a tall man, with blond hair tied in a pony tail. She now understood what the N stood for.

She took the next picture, and it was a picture of her laying on her back, with the blonde man laying over her, with his hair down. She couldn't see his face, because his hair covered it. They were obviously locked in a kiss that warmed Tohya's heart every time she saw it. She placed this one on the desk, before taking another picture from the tray. This one was just of the Mysterious blonde man. He was stood in front of a piano with a sad look on his face.

The next picture held a sad looking Tohya, with her arms wrapped around her pillow. Tohya thought of most of her days, or rather nights, for the last 6 months or so. This pose was a common one with her. Her clutching at her pillow tightly. In need of some kind of company. Yet for that one night, she had company, she had someone to talk to. She had Nate. 'I wonder what kind of fate this is.' She asked to herself. 'Just as I'd given up hope of him, he walks into my life again.'

She looked down at the picture of Nate in front of the piano. The likeness to him was remarkable. It had his face, though it was sad and not smiling. Tohya had always hoped it was because she hadn't talked to him. She looked down at another picture she had drawn of the man. 'I always wondered why I drew him so much.' She looked at the blonde Manga man in her pictures. 'It was him all along. It was Nathan-San.' She smiled. It was a true smile, an honest smile that she was sure Nate would have wanted to see. 'And he thought I was just a dream...'

She grinned to herself and flicked on her computer. She opened a painting package and started to draw another picture of Manga-Nate.

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Nate walked down the street with the girl on his mind. Not the girl of his dreams, not the girl of 9 months ago. This time it was a new girl. A new Tohya. 'She is cute...' He smiled to himself as he walked slowly around the corner and out of the view of Tohya, who was unknowingly to him, staring at him. A door closed behind him as he looked into the computer shop, that was lit up by the glow of electrical equipment. "I wonder why she is so moody." Nate asked rhetorically. He blinked a few times and put his hands in his pockets. He walked slowly towards the musical instrument shop and stopped to look in the window of that too.

His eyes glanced over a small Yamaha keyboard that looked quite nice. 'I might need to find somewhere to put it.' He thought about his new house happily. Suddenly he was extremely glad that he got the compensation on the credit card from his previous prospective employer. 'I get a spare room too. Incase I get company.' Nate smiled, before shaking his head and laughing. 'Who am I kidding? I never have company.' He walked again around the corner and to the Ryokan on the road. He stepped inside again and removed his shoes.

Nate walked towards the counter and handed his card to the woman behind it. She smiled and took it. "I'll be checking out tomorrow." Nate explained. The woman nodded with a small smile. After running his card through a computer, she nodded and handed it him back.

"Have a pleasant night." She said. Nate wished her the same and walked into his room. He looked around and found the closet with the Futon in. He opened it and pulled it out before sitting on it gratefully. He located a plug on the wall and opened up the bag holding his laptop. Nate plugged it in, with a converter on the plug and switched it on. As it loaded up, Nate noticed and internet connection on it. 'Cool' He imagined he was getting a wireless broadband connection from the computer shop, and smiled as he opened Google.

'Hmmm' He thought, he opened a new window and found an e-mail provider, while in the other began to type 'Tohya.' He thought about it, but didn't know her other name. He closed the window and focused on his e-mail account. After sitting for a few minutes he had set it up, and written it down to give to Tohya.

Nate sighed as he stretched out onto the futon. 'This is good.' He thought with a smile. 'Got a good job, got a nice house. I've even made a friend... at least I think I have...' he thought about Tohya. He smiled gently as he looked up at the wooden ceiling with another sigh. "This isn't good" He said out loud. "This is great!"

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Tohya looked on at the picture on her computer. She smiled to herself as she saw it almost perfectly reflected her and Nathan. He smile turned slightly, into a sly grin as she picked up all the pictures in the tray with 'N' on it, and placed them into a black A4 Size box. She made sure all the drawings of Nate were in it, before she closed the lid and locked the box. She slid it into a draw in her desk and looked over towards her bed.

'Looks comfy.' She thought with a cute smile. She pushed her slight frame up from out of the swivel chair that she was sat in, and crossed to her closet. After rummaging in it for a few seconds she found a long black t-shirt that was far too big for her. She took off her purple and black shirt, and her stripped leggings. She also squirmed out of her pencil skirt, so she stood in her underwear in front of her mirror. She looked sadly down at her body.

'Why do I have to be so skinny?' She asked to herself. She looked at her tiny body with a sadness as she pulled the huge black shirt over her head. It dropped down to her knees and she smiled. It was a very warm T-shirt and felt soft against her skin. Tohya looked at her self again as she reached around her back to unhook her bra. She looked even skinnier now, in the flowing black that was so loose on her. She wriggled her hands as he bra fell to the ground, and pulled down her panties slowly. She took her dirty clothes from the floor and threw them into a clothes hamper by the door. She crossed the room again and laid down gently on her bed. Tohya gratefully pulled the covers over her head and smiled as she pulled her huge pillow towards her again, and wrapped her legs and arms around it 'Night, Nathan-San' She thought.

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Nate stepped out of his black pants and left them on the floor. He walked across to the window and looked out of it, as he pulled his hairbrush through his hair. He stood looking out the window, wearing his black t-shirt and boxer shorts. As he finished brushing through his hair he pulled off his shirt and lowered himself into the futon that awaited him. Nate found himself staring at the ceiling again, thinking of Tohya. He smiled to himself as it hit him, the sudden realization. Nathan wasn't himself anymore. He had started a new life. A new job, a new home, a new country.

"I guess this trip wasn't a waste after all." Nate said to himself as he fell gently asleep.

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