LCTM Chapter 1

    The young woman sighed as she stepped off the plane in the Tokyo airport. She looked around at her surroundings and have a little half-smile to the sight of Americans and foreigners bustling between terminals, arguing all the way.

    'Yup, that's the Americans we all know and love,' she thought silently to herself.

    Tucking a lock of her shoulder length, dark blond hair behind her ear, she collected her pack, and small rolling suitcase.

    "Time to see if all those Japanese classes in high school and college were worth it," she mumbled to herself, and started walking in the direction of the sign marked "Baggage Claim" neatly in Japanese.

    After picking up her large suitcase, the woman rolled herself along to car rentals.

    "Your name Miss?" the attendant asked in smooth Japanese.

    "Zoë McClain," the young woman answered, looking around curiously at the lobby.

    The young clerk took a few moments to reference in her computer, then looked up and smiled.

    "Ah, Miss McClain. Here are the keys to your car compliments Onsen technologies. And I have been instructed to give you this note concerning you new life here in Tokyo. Welcome to Japan Miss McClain," that clerk said handing Zoë the note and keys to her rental car.

    "Thank you," Zoë smiled, gathered her things, and walked to the nearest bench to sit down and organize herself.

    Unfolding the neatly creased note, Zoë read to herself the details of her living in Japan. Once finished, she folded the note once again, and slipped it into the wallet concealed in the back pocket of her navy green toggle pants.

    'Boarding house eh? Well, certainly won't be very expensive. Hmmm, wonder what my rental car looks like. Knowing my luck, it'll probably be an ugly '88 Toyota or something. Or, most likely, worse. Sigh' She mused to herself.

    She picked up her things and headed out the doors into the parking lot.

    'Let's see here,...oh wow...' Zoë thought in amazement at the sight of her rental car. It was a new green VW Beetle. The exact car of Zoë's dreams.

    After loading her two suitcases into the trunk, Zoë shedded her Old Navy Performance Fleece to reveal a white tank top. Inside the car, she pulled out her map, and adjusted herself. Finding the address of the boarding house, she lightly outlined in pencil the route from the airport to the boarding house. Pulling out, she embarked into the Tokyo downtown surface streets on destination to the Nemui Boarding House.