K a i n e

by 江島ひとみ

2004.10.17

01 i n n o c e n c e

"To all our passengers, we are shortly arriving in Tokyo in five minutes. Exit doors will be on the right side of this train. Please check all your belongings before leaving, thank you..."

Idly tapping my fingers on the armrest of my seat, I quietly watched the rapidly changing scenery outside my window. The train finally came to a slow halt several minutes later as the other passengers around me began unbuckling in their seats. I grabbed my backpack from the floor and slung it over my shoulders, grabbing the guitar case beside me and standing up to make my way to the exit with the rest.

An astounding swarm of people flooded past me when I exited the sliding doors, and it had taken me quite some time before I could settle on the crowded station platform. Together with the baggage that was left to lug on my shoulders, the pain on my bottom from sitting in the train too long was suddenly no comparison to the pain growing on my back. It had been a long, eight and a half-hour trip from my hometown in Nagasaki, and here I was, on a station in Shinagawa, on my very first time in Tokyo.

To cut the introductions short, I'm Suzuhara Hitomi, recently turned 19-year old, high school graduate from Nagasaki. I was here in the big city mainly to study college in one of the universities here. Considering this was my first time in one of the world's most populated cities, all alone and estranged, I had every chance to lose myself in a snap here. A long, lost cousin of mine was supposed to meet up with me here, but yes, that would be another problem, since he was nowhere in sight.

Taking out my cellphone from my pocket, I dialed my cousin's number and waited on the other line, feeling impatient and rather nervous. We agreed to meet up here so he could pick me up, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

When the line remained ringing, I ended the call with a frustrated sigh and looked at the small piece of paper in my hands. It had been a good five years since I last saw him, so he sent a recent picture of himself so I could recognize him the moment I arrived here. Still, as I looked at the young man in the photograph posing with a cheesy peace sign, his duplicate remained missing in action.

Feeling my right eye starting to twitch in irritation, I glanced at the paper again, knowing I couldn't stall around waiting for the man who I doubted would still come.

Yoshino Shinichi
080-2146593
9-14 9F Seijo Blg.
Shibuya 3-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

The idiot never seemed to change. I should've seen it coming this would happen. Currently stuck in a place I had never been to, how the hell was I supposed to make my way from here? God, I was going to grate that man to shreds once I found him.

The only question was, how?

xxxxx

Shifting my eyes from one door to another as I made my way down the long, narrow hallway, I checked the paper in my hands once more and continued looking for Room 914. I had somehow managed to follow the address to my blasted cousin's apartment, and hopefully, where he was right now had he not been missing at the station earlier. I had practically gone through hell and back travelling another four stations to get here, but at least the people were nice enough to give directions. A miracle I was still in one piece, really.

Grunting as I felt the heavy weight of my backpack against my shoulders, I slung my guitar case closer to myself and continued walking down the uninhabited hallway. Yes, I do play the guitar. For the love of music, and just for kicks, I guess.

Stopping in front of a door with the brass plate number 14 hanging on it, I let out a tired sigh, knowing this had to be the place. It had been a long, tiring journey, and now, I would finally reconcile with my favorite cousin... and beat him to a tender, juicy pulp...

I raised a hand and knocked on the door, trying to think of the best way to maim him as I patiently waited for a response. In a few seconds' time that door would open and I would see my darling cousin, all grown up to be the fine, noble idiot that he once was and still is...

No answer came. I creased my eyebrows and knocked again, a little harder this time. Perhaps he wasn't around? Yet having been ditched and left to struggle all the way here, that surely wasn't possible.

I glanced at my watch. It was half past 4 in the afternoon. If he wasn't here, then where the hell was he?

I began hitting the door with more force. No, he had to be here. Surely he had gone deaf. After all I had to go through this afternoon? If he wasn't around, I needed at least someplace to stay, and if ramming the door open was going to be the only way to let myself in, I would do it.

I had only glued myself to the door in poor attempts of nudging the damned thing to open when I suddenly heard a voice inside the room.

"Who is it...?"

I blinked in surprise. Somebody was home all along?

"Um, Shin-chan??" I innocently called out. Unless I was marching up the wrong door all this time from a wrong address...

The silence resumed.

"Shin-chan? Is that you?" I asked aloud, knocking on the door. "It's me, Hitomi!"

A few seconds later I heard the rustling of locks. The door opened a bit, for the chain lock was still in place, and I saw a glimpse of what definitely looked like an older version of my cousin from the last time I had seen him.

"Who are you...?" He wearily groaned again. He seemed to have just woken up.

"Shin-chan??" I blinked, inching my face closer to the door to try seeing his face further. The room inside was dim, except for a patch of late afternoon sunlight that crept in through the partially open curtains. "Shin-chan, is that you??"

"Wha...?" The man murmured, rubbing his eyes as if to clarify the person in front of him before finally swinging the door open. My cousin looked at me in utter surprise. I stared back at him, and his half-naked state.

"Hitomi...?" His eyes widened.

"Shin-chan...!" I exclaimed, suddenly lunging myself at him without warning. "I can't believe it! It's been ages!"

"Oi...!" he stifled out a weak laugh, hugging me slowly in return. "How are ya...?"

"I've missed you so much!" I cried, my loving embrace turning into a death grip as I crushed him in my arms. I knew I was successful in sending him completely awake when I heard several bones crack.

"H-hey, don't get too excited...!" he gasped, trying to squirm his way out of hold. "Let me go, it hurts...!"

"Where the hell were you?!" I angrily demanded, shoving him back inside the room. "We were supposed to meet at the train station!"

"Oi, calm down...!" He stumbled around in his boxers as he frantically raised his hands in the air. "I was gonna go! But something came up, you see..."

Even in the dark, anyone would see that the room was a complete mess. Not only did he remain an idiot, he remained a slob.

I continued charging up to him. He kept backing away nervously in the process. I heard a sharp yowl, and a big, white cat suddenly emerged from the darkness to claw on my cousin's right leg furiously.

"Ouch, Yumi, I'm sorry!!" he exclaimed, raising his foot to let go of the cat's tail. The cat disappeared off to the other side of the room, hissing angrily.

I was only about to throw my backpack to the nearby bed when I realized somebody else was already in there.

A naked woman under the sheets of my cousin's untidy bed stared back at me.

"Hitomi-chan, I can explain..." The man carefully said when I fell silent. So this was the reason why he wasn't at the station...

The woman immediately fumbled for the covers to hide her naked self as she quickly sat up.

"Your girlfriend?" The woman stuttered, grabbing for her pile of clothes all over the sheets.

"No, I'm his cousin," I growled. I felt my jaws harden in growing irritation. "Sorry to interrupt, but please get the hell out of here."

Jumping, the woman hurriedly ran from the bed and disappeared inside the bathroom.

"You," I hissed, returning to my cousin as I pointed a finger at him. "Explain. Now."

"Okay, okay," The man cleared his throat, putting on his best, innocent-looking face. "I'm sorry if I wasn't able to come pick you up, but Mika, she... I didn't expect..."

I merely narrowed my eyes at his reply. Yoshino Shinichi shifted around in his feet uncomfortably.

"I couldn't help it, man..." he groaned. "She came out of nowhere..."

"Oh, so you'd rather screw around, huh?" I spat out angrily. "You left me all alone at the train station just to fuck your wits out!"

"Hitomi, I'm sorry...!" he begged. "I was supposed to pick you up right after..."

"Yeah, three hours ago," I snarled. The girl named Mika soon came out of the bathroom again in no time, wearing a spaghetti-strapped top and a micro-mini skirt. I glared at my cousin again, who simply grinned sheepishly back at me.

"I-I'll call you, okay?" The woman feebly said, making her way out. "See ya."

He merely made a poor wave at her until she left the room.

"I cannot believe you," I grumbled, shaking my head. "When I tell Aunt and Uncle about this..."

"Please don't," he sighed, collapsing back to his untidy bed. "I said I was sorry, okay?"

I looked away and humphed, ignoring his apology.

"Come on," he groaned, frowning. "I mean it."

"Fine," I grunted, closing one eye. "But I almost got lost because of you, damn it."

"I'm sorry," he smiled, putting a hand to my head. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"Loser," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "You always have a way of sucking up to people, don't you?"

"Of course," he grinned. "That's what I'm good at."

I let out a heavy sigh as I took the opportunity to observe my surroundings. His apartment was pretty much a simple place. It wasn't really big, but it wasn't that small either. The walls were plain and tinted with a fading shade of beige. At the other side of the room was a small kitchen, many unwashed plates pending on the sink, and several spilled drops of coffee next to a flea-perched mug on the table...

"So, how have you been?" he smiled, snapping me out of my little visual tour of this promising apartment. "Aunt and Uncle decided to send you here too, eh?"

I merely nodded in response. My cousin also came to Tokyo for college, and I've been living with my Aunt and Uncle back in Nagasaki before I ended up here. Both my parents died long ago from a car accident when I was five.

"Ojisan told me you're supposed to stay here until I can find you your own place," he said, standing up and walking past another guitar case situated quietly at a safe end of the room. Knowing him, I was certain it was his loyal bass guitar, since it had been his instrument of choice ever since. "Where are you supposed to be studying in?"

"Titech," I replied.

"Ah, you got in there? Awesome," he whistled. "That's in Meguro, if I'm not mistaken. That ain't very far from here. You'll have your own place in no time."

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" I asked as I glanced at the single-sized bed I was sitting on. It would definitely not be able to accommodate the both of us, unless I was just like that ho who got out of the room.

"Well, you can sleep on the couch."

I stared at him.

"What?" I snapped. "The couch?"

"What?" he beamed, walking to the sofa and patting it proudly. "I've had many beautiful nights on this couch."

"Screwing on it, you mean," My right eye twitched.

"Hey, you brought a guitar with you! Is this a new one?" he asked in excitement, apparently ignoring what I had just said.

"No, that's the old guitar," I grumbled, standing up as my cousin took hold of my guitar. "And will you please change into some clothes? You look like a slob."

Shinichi stared down at his boxers and stupidly grinned. "Oops, sorry."

"Some couch you got, huh?" I said in a low mutter, finding a pink thong in a slit of the furniture. With a grimace, I carefully pulled it out in abhorrence and tossed the underwear at his face.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, halfway in wearing his shirt over his shoulders.

"Your girlfriend forgot her undies," I spat out.

"She's not my girlfriend," he carefully corrected. "And no, that's not hers."

I wonder how the hell I'd be able to survive living with this man under the same roof.

xxxxx

A rapidly changing multitude of buildings and billboards passed me by as I stood by the train door the following Tuesday morning. At half past nine, the JR Line that was bound for the next station was already jampacked with commuters. As I stood holding on to one of the railings beside Shin-chan, I could only wonder what the big city would have in store for me today. Today would be the first day of classes at my school in Titech, or more formally known as the Tokyo Institute of Technology. No Tokyo University equivalent or anything, but as I would quote what my zealous adviser said back in my last year of senior high when he found out I passed...

"That's the biggest technology institute in the country! Kami-sama, you got in, Suzuhara-chan?!"

Or so he says anyway. Either way, I was lucky enough not to end up in some community college back at home. Getting into a school in Tokyo seemed to offer a more promising change.

The campus was just two stations away from Shibuya, but I asked my cousin to accompany me just in case. It was the least he could do to make up for yesterday, and to assure me that I wouldn't be late on my very first day in college in case I got lost in Tokyo for good.

"So what are you taking up in Titech?" My cousin asked as he stood behind me, one hand on the same railing I was holding on to. "That's a pretty good school. Cool thing you got in."

"Computer Science," I pursed my lips. "It looked the easiest."

"Yeah, you're the freak who uses the computer at least ten hours a day," he snorted.

"Ebisu, Ebisu," The train announced. "Ebisu station..."

Scowling at the comment, I moved out of the way with my cousin to allow the people to pass through the station platform when the train stopped. There was only one more stop to go, then I would be dropped off.

The train doors were only about to close a few seconds later when a high school girl suddenly came running into view. She was almost about to get stuck in between the door's hinges had my cousin not blocked his hand on the automated doors to let her pass through.

"Arigatou..." The girl murmured with a curt nod.

"No problem," he winked, sending the girl blushing. Even as the girl moved to the other side of the train, my cousin remained glimpsing at her as he flashed a smirk at her direction.

"Considering you just slept with some ho yesterday," I muttered. "Do you also plan to hit on a minor?"

"Oh, don't say that," he scoffed in feigned disdain. "I love high school girls."

"Ugh, you haven't changed," I rolled my eyes. "Your brain's still in your pants."

"Hey, c'mon now," Shinichi grinned and raised a hand to pat me on the head. "You know you're the only girl I'll ever truly love."

"Put a sock in it," I spat as he let out a small laugh.

"Aww, look," My cousin murmured in my ear. "That girl's looking at you. She must think it's us."

I glanced at the high school girl at the opposite side of the train once more, and found her staring at me rather sourly. What? She actually thought I was his girlfriend or something?

"Why, what did I ever do to have you?" I muttered in sarcasm.

"Meguro, Meguro," The train finally announced. "Meguro station..."

"Well, I'm dropping you off here, love," My cousin smirked. "Just call me if anything comes up."

"Whatever," I sighed, shaking my head and clutching my backpack tighter to myself as the train began to slow down. "Thanks anyway."

The doors finally opened several seconds later as I stepped out onto the platform, the bright, morning rays welcoming me to a promising, new day. Or so I hoped anyway.

"Take care, baby!" My cousin called out proudly. "I'll miss you!"

I couldn't help but grin back at him as he waved at me from the closing doors until the train finally left for the next station.

Looking back at the train before it finally disappeared, I took in a deep breath, making my way out of the station and into the streets to head for class.

xxxxx

"Tadaima."

Unlocking the door and stepping inside the room, I returned to my cousin's apartment a couple of hours later and tossed my bag on the nearest sofa. It was already late afternoon by the time I arrived home from my first day at the university. Just orientations, a campus tour, and other usual introductions. Nothing really worth noting today, except for the too many people and the too many streets in Tokyo that I was yet to get used to.

"Tadaima, Yumi," I smiled as my cousin's resident pet came crawling to me with a meow. I knelt down to stroke the cat and heard her purr lightly in response. Standing up, I headed to the kitchens and checked the refrigerator. Of course, what decent food would you expect from a lowlife's fridge, except for a few cans of beer, frozen meals, and a pint of half-eaten ice cream? With a disapproving cluck of my tongue I closed the fridge and walked to the window. How I couldn't wait to get a place of my own, but knowing my cousin, I figured it would take him a couple of weeks more, or maybe even months if he was that wasted. Sure, the cat's adorable, but if I didn't have anything decent to eat, I would eat her.

I looked at the cat again. She merely meowed back at me.

"How can you live with Shin-chan?" I asked the cat with a sigh. I stared at her for a while, expecting her to talk back to me.

Knowing only a miracle would make her tell me what to do next, I walked back to the couch and grabbed my bag, exiting the room without another word.

xxxxx

Looking at my surroundings as I clutched my backpack closer to myself, I continued walking down a narrow alley called Nonbei-yokocho, one of the more obscure streets in Shibuya that wasn't crowded like every other street in this district. The alley was lined up with many small restaurants and bars, and the place I had decided to conquer in search of food. I knew it was practically suicide going out in a place I'd hardly known for two days, but after discovering the contents of my cousin's fridge, it wasn't like I had a choice, really. I had only been a block or two from the flat, or so I remember anyway...

I stopped in my tracks and found myself standing in front of a convenience store. After all that walking, I would only end up with chips and soda for dinner. Then again, compared to what was inside my cousin's fridge, I suppose it was the lesser evil.

I sighed tiredly to myself and stepped inside the automated doors of the store, grabbing a basket along the way as I began to stroll around the aisles for snacks.

After stacking up my basket with several chips and some sweets, I was only about to head to the drinks section to take out a bottle of lemon soda when I overheard a couple talking nearby.

"I'm free this Thursday night," A familiar voice said. "How about you, babe?"

"Um, my parents are kind of strict..." The girl shyly replied. "Maybe some other time...?"

"Oh, but I'd miss you, baby..." The guy murmured. "You know I can't stand a day without seeing you..."

I looked to my left. There at the other end of the aisle I saw none else but my cousin, busy cornering a girl to a small, secluded section near the cashier. He was wearing a gas station boy's uniform, with the logo 'Shell' patched on his right chest pocket.

So basically, while I remained starving in his rotten apartment, here he was all along, busy flirting with a new twat…

"Oi," I called out in irritation. "Boyfriend."

Shinichi glanced up. He raised his eyebrows in faint surprise when he spotted me behind him.

"Hey," he blinked. "Hitomi-chan."

The girl he was talking to then slowly and uneasily walked out of the store while he wasn't looking.

"Bye!" He hastily called out to the girl with a weak wave several seconds too late. "See ya around, baby!"

I walked to the cashier next to him and placed my basket of groceries on the counter.

"Man, you just lost me another one," He shook his head, sighing. "And that girl was pretty cute too..."

"Will you quit it?" I grunted. "All you ever seem to do is screw the nearest girl you see."

"Maa, don't say that," he defensively replied, leaning by the counter. "You make me sound like such a bad guy."

I stared at him. "You've got the word 'sex' written all over your face."

"Ah, you know me too much," he grinned lazily. "That's why you're my favorite."

"Shut up. Where the hell's the guy who runs this place anyway?"

"Oi, Ryou," My cousin barked, leaning forward and tilting his head to the nearby aisle. "You've got a customer."

I saw a young man in a green hat and apron emerge from the corner. He seemed previously busy as he walked back to the cashier with a price tag marker in his hand.

"Irasshaimase," he drawled in a low voice, sliding the products away with each beep of the automatic sensor. I glanced at the face in front of me and noticed this guy was pretty good-looking, if only he didn't look like someone who had just swallowed a rock because of his seriousness.

"That will be 740 yen, Miss," he said. I slowly gave him a crisp, 1000 yen bill in return as I continued observing him. He seemed to remain oblivious as he handed me my change and began packing my purchases to a plastic bag.

"How'd you end up here?" Shinichi asked me again as he playfully shuffled his feet on the floor. "There's still some food in the fridge."

"You expect me to eat that?" I turned to him, raising my eyebrows. "You better find me my own place soon. I ain't lasting with you like this."

The cashier guy briefly glanced at me as he prepared another basket for the next customer.

"Oh, by the way," Shinichi spoke again, as if completely ignoring what I had just said. "Ryou, meet Hitomi-chan. My cousin I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you," The man muttered with a curt nod before heading back to the aisles.

Well, that was a nice introduction.

I grabbed my bag of groceries and began heading to the exit.

"I'm going then," I called out to my cousin. "See you later."

He merely waved back without even looking. I shook my head.

"I hate this place," I grumbled, stepping out of the convenience store to make my way back to the flat.

xxxxx

"Now as you all know, before the 1920s computers referred to real people, not machines. Computers were clerks, mostly women who performed various mathematical calculations, and worked in fields such as commerce and research..."

Fighting the urge to yawn, I lazily tried to blink my idle senses awake as I blankly stared at the professor up front the next Friday afternoon. First week in school remained basically all introductions, and today, I was left to rot in a class lecture about the history of computer science. I had somehow expected to be able to access a computer by now, but the geezer who remained yakking up front about a bunch of dead engineers didn't seem too keen in letting us touch any computers anytime soon.

Knowing his discussion wouldn't be ending in another half hour's time, I inwardly sighed in my seat and rested an elbow on my table, accidentally knocking my pen to the floor in the process. I was only about to bend down and pick it up when somebody else got it for me.

Now I would've wanted a nice, dashing gentleman to retrieve my pen for me, but upon staring at the bright, lavender-painted fingernails holding out my pen for me, I was quite disappointed to find a perky-looking girl smiling at me.

"Thanks," I faintly smiled in return as I took the pen from her hand.

"No problem," she cheerfully replied.

"After the 1920s, the term computing machine came into use. These computing machines basically performed the same work of a human computer. There were two kinds of computing machines: the analog and the digital..."

"Sorry, I didn't get your name," The pen-retrieving girl beside me said.

"Huh?" I blinked. "Sorry?"

"Oh, sorry," The girl giggled. "I'm Kozuki Suzume. You are?"

"Oh," I blinked again, feeling stupid. "Suzuhara Hitomi. Nice to meet you."

"Same here," The girl named Suzume smiled. "Yoroshiku ne."

Yay. My first friend in college.

xxxxx

"Oh, so you're from Nagasaki?" Suzume thoughtfully nodded in response as she took a small sip of her iced tea. "That's nice. I've always wanted to travel down south."

"Yeah?" I idly raised my eyebrows. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm a Tokyo girl," she smiled. "Born and raised here. I live just nearby, in Yotsuya."

I could only bring myself to nod in reply, since I didn't really know where that was, but considering I've barely lasted two weeks in this place, I had a lot to work on.

It was a couple of hours later after class and the both of us were currently in a small coffee shop downtown. Having just met Kozuki-san earlier, it seemed a bit too sudden for me to be having coffee with this girl already. Then again, it wasn't like she was a guy or anything...

"So, what about you? Where are you staying?"

"Me?" I blinked, looking back at her. "Where? Um..."

Okay. So I think I just forgot where I live. And to think I already threw away the paper with the address to Shin-chan's flat...

"Uh..." I fell stumped, feeling more stupid by the minute. "Shi... Shi something..."

"Shinjuku?" The girl blinked. "Shinbashi? Shibuya?"

"Shibuya!" I exclaimed. "Yeah... that one..."

Suzume giggled in her seat. "I see. So you live alone then?"

"No, I'm staying with my cousin at the moment," I replied, reaching for my glass of iced coffee and sipping on it. "I'm moving out when I get my own place."

"Oh, you might want to try Shinanomachi. It's just a station away from ours," she said. "I hear there are some apartments there that offer rooms at good prices."

"Really?" I slowly nodded. Another place in Tokyo that starts with a Shi. Wonderful. "I'll go check it out then."

"Yup, and it's not far from Shinjuku where I shop," she smiled. "I love to shop. How about you?"

I uneasily smiled back at her. Of course, with Kozuki-san in her flowery top, knee-length skirt and strapped sandals, why wouldn't she love shopping? Meanwhile, I was the girl in the dark-colored shirt with the rude print, faded, worn-out jeans, and an overused pair of Chuck Taylors. Sitting next to her, what did that make me look like?

"Uh, no, I'm not really much for shopping," I forced out a small laugh.

"Too bad! Shopping is fun," Suzume giggled again. "So what do you like to do?"

I have been known to use the computer for at least ten hours a day, as my cousin oh-so-knowingly stated himself. Does that count?

"I... don't really do anything much," I slowly scratched my head. "Computer, video games, guitar, I guess..."

The girl fell silent and could only nod in response. I suddenly wondered if I magically grew a penis right then and there.

I suddenly felt my cellphone vibrate on my right leg as I took it out from the pocket of my jeans. Speaking of the devil, Shin-chan was calling.

Inwardly wondering the reason for his call, I slightly creased my forehead and brought the mobile to my ear. "Hello?"

"Yo, Hitomi-chan," Shinichi began on the other line. "Where are you right now?"

"Uh..." I impulsively glanced at the girl in front of me for help. "Where am I right now...?"

"Coffee shop in front of Meguro station," Suzume answered for me with a smile.

"Yeah, you heard that?" I stupidly replied. "Why?"

"I'm going out to dinner with my friends tonight," he said. "Wanna come?"

My cousin and his friends. What a disturbing idea.

"Um, I don't know," I uneasily said as I shortly glanced outside the coffee shop window. "I'm not sure."

"What? You're such a dork," he snorted. "Come on. It's Friday night. Besides, you complain about my fridge food anyway."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes in response. He did have a point though.

I stared at my watch and realized it was already half past 5 in the afternoon. To go, or not to go...

"I'll go if it's your treat," I muttered.

"Sure," he chuckled. "I'll meet you at the station. You know how to get there."

I was only about to open my mouth to protest when the idiot hung up on me without another word.

"Who was it, Hitomi-san?" Suzume asked shortly after, snapping me out of the glare I began to cast on my cellphone.

"Oh, sorry about that," I mumbled. "That was my cousin. I have to go now, if you don't mind."

I stood up from my seat, grabbing my backpack as I extended a hand to her.

"Nice meeting you again, Suzume-san," I smiled. "See you tomorrow."

"Ah, same here," She smiled back brightly at me, standing up as well and shaking my hand in return. "Take care!"

I slowly made my way out of the coffee shop, smiling back at her one last time before I left to meet up with Shin-chan.

It would be a miracle if that girl would even have enough interest to talk to me again tomorrow.

to be continued

Ojisan - one's own uncle (polite)
Kami-sama! - "Oh my God!" (literally, kami - god)
arigatou - "thank you"
tadaima - "I'm home"
irasshaimase - "Welcome" (used when greeting customers in stores, restaurants, etc.)
yoroshiku - "Nice to meet you" (informal)

Tokyo Institute of Technology (TITECH) is a real school in Meguro, Tokyo.