First day in Kyoto

A sharp knock startled me awake, still heavy from sleep. I wondered, "Who could be knocking on my door, literally right after I just moved in?" With curiosity, I asked myself, "Who could it possibly be?"

With blurry and unclear sight from the heaviness of my sleep, I stood up, unsteadily trying to hold my balance. I grabbed the door handle and turned it. Click—the door opened.

"Hi, who is it?" I asked without taking a good look at the person standing in front of my door.

With a hesitant voice, she answered, "I'm Shinoyama. Sorry to disturb you."

"Oh, no, no, it's alright. How can I help you?" I replied, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

"Are you free this evening?" she asked.

I felt oddly confused by her sudden invitation. "Oh yeah. What's up?" I replied, still puzzled.

"Do you want to tag along in the evening? I wanted to explore the area," she said.

My heart pounded, almost vibrating in my chest. I didn't know what to say, so I just blurted out, "Yes. YES!"

"Thank God," she sighed in relief. "I thought I was going to be alone. Since you're the only person I've met and know, I decided to ask you instead."

"It's alright, don't worry about it," I reassured her.

"Can we exchange numbers?" she asked.

My mind froze. A girl—asking for my number? I had never exchanged numbers with any girls before. But now, my fate was changing. It was like my teenage life was finally starting to bloom.

"Are you really okay exchanging numbers with me?" I asked, wanting to make sure.

"Yeah, it's alright. Mind typing it in for me?" she said, handing me her phone, already on the dial screen.

I reached out, taking her phone. I put out my pointer finger. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep...

"There you go, that's my number." I handed her phone back.

"Thanks, anyway!" she said before hurrying back to her room.

What just happened? I just exchanged numbers with a girl. Is this a life achievement?

I closed the door, turned around, and sat down on the chair beside my bed. I started thinking—why would she possibly invite me? Why did she want me to tag along? Asking a boy to tag along was kind of strange.

As I was lost in thought, I heard a sound from my phone.

Ding.

I glanced to my side, where my phone was.

"Oh, it's an SMS."

I grabbed my phone and opened the messaging app. It was from an unknown number. I tapped on the contact, and what I saw were three messages.

"Hey, I'm Runa."

"When I said evening, I meant 6 PM. Is that alright?"

"Sorry! If I interrupted your plans!"

"Oh, it's Shinoyama-san."

"I wonder why she was using her first name," I soliloquized.

In a split second, I texted back:

"It's alright, I don't have any plans."

"I'll wait at the ground floor!"

Then I hit send.

With a quick tap, the message was sent. A strange excitement bubbled in my chest—it was my first time texting a girl.

Since it was still just 8 AM, I turned to my side where my bag was, unzipped it, pulled out a book, and summarized some chapters that would be useful to know in advance before learning them from the teachers.

Hours passed without me realizing it. It was now noon, which meant it was time for lunch.

With an empty fridge and a rumbling stomach, I headed straight to the convenience store. The aisles were filled with various items. I browsed through them until, at the very last aisle, I found a ready-made lunch box.

"I guess this one should do—good and healthy," I murmured to myself, grabbing it.

On my way to the counter, something caught my eye—the fridge.

"Better take something to drink as well," I thought aloud.

I looked around and picked a sports drink that seemed pretty healthy.

After paying and having my lunch heated, I went straight back to my apartment to dig in.

The lunch was pretty good—a combination of golden prawns, carrots, and a side of fresh green peas. What could be healthier than that?

Well, there might be something healthier, but this seemed healthy enough for me. I mean, this was probably the healthiest meal one could expect from a convenience store, wasn't it?

"What a delicious meal I just had. I think I should do some research about places in Kyoto," I thought.

I stood up, unzipped my laptop bag, and pulled out my laptop. Placing it on the desk, I opened the lid and booted it up.

Minutes turned into hours as I learned about Kyoto.

I realized Kyoto was truly an interesting city, filled with historical and beautiful places. For example, centuries-old preserved temples with vermillion torii gates glowing under the orange twilight of the sunset; pink cherry blossoms blooming, making Kyoto a wonderful sightseeing destination.

As I looked at pictures of Kyoto on my laptop, I was stunned. The beauty of cherry blossoms truly amazed me.

With pink petals swaying in the wind, painting the sky with hues of spring. I've never liked or cared about flowers, but this—this was something else.

I was excited to explore all these places.

But all of a sudden, my phone alarm went off.

It was a reminder about hanging out with Shinoyama-san.

I quickly stripped off my clothes and rushed into the bathroom for a fresh shower.

After picking out what to wear and fixing my hair, I grabbed my wallet and phone, put them in my side bag, and headed straight to the ground floor.

Ding—the elevator chimed as it arrived.

"Yep, I'm here. Time to wait," I muttered.

I sat down in the lobby, took out my phone, and waited for her.

After a few minutes, she appeared.

"Hey! How long have you been waiting?" she asked, worried.

"Oh, it's alright! I didn't wait long, I just got here," I reassured her.

"Oh, that's good! Sorry if I was late," she said.

"Let's go, shall we?" she asked.

"Sure."

As I stepped out of the apartment doorway, the city lights flickered. Little did I know, this was just the beginning of my story.