Visual Kei

Glancing tiredly out the window, my fingers slid across the smooth jade of the character hanging at my neck. Beside me, Arvin was flipping through some airline shopping magazine, which was in both Japanese and English. The clouds seemed so fake from here, as if their fluffy appearance on the ground was simply an illusion. At this altitude, they looked like little puffs of cotton candy that hadn’t been colored yet.

As I was mentally fantasizing about eating the clouds, a flight attendant announced over the intercom that we would be landing in Okinawa momentarily. Finally! I thought, happy to finally make some kind of step forward in figuring out exactly what was happening to me and my brother.

The plane touched down without problems and we disembarked quickly. I was unprepared for the crowd of people waiting to board their plane, and the striking similarities to American airports. It was as if I had never left home. Arvin led me away and I glanced back worriedly at the guys, anxious about being separated from them in a place as foreign to me as Japan was. As if to assure me that they would not be far, Shinji held up his cell phone and smiled as they headed the opposite direction. Arvin and I climbed into a taxi and I translated for my brother, asking the driver to direct us to the military base.

When we arrived, we met a tense, formal-looking man whose forehead was more than a little too large. It seemed to go on for far too long, like a fleshy wall that was deeply wrinkled, probably due to the constant look of disgust that sat on his pug-like face. It looked like he had tasted something horrible and was so traumatized, he couldn’t forget the sensation. Judging from his demeanor, he was Arvin’s superior. The huge man eyed me suspiciously, addressing my brother in English, though his German accent hung heavily on his words.

“You are Arvin Walter, correct? It is a pleasure to meet the young man whom I’ve heard so much about, though I must know, who is this girl you’ve brought with you?”

“She is my younger sister, Alice, who I am currently housing. She knows a bit about computers and networks, but can be of assistance in translation if necessary.”

“I see. Welcome to Okinawa, Alice,” the man said slowly and emphatically, as he would to a child. “I hope you enjoy your stay here. All that I ask is that you do not enter restricted areas. You are allowed to enter the lobby, the rooms, cafeteria, and a few terminals.”

“Thank you.”

He led us to our room and I deposited my bags on the floor, a bit surprised at how large it was. I had always heard that in Japan, the rooms were much smaller, but this was a decent sized one according to anyone’s standards. Arvin, before leaving, made it a point to unpack his things.

“Your friends came with you, right?” he asked, sliding open a drawer and placing his clothes inside. “I don’t care if you hang out with them, but be careful, okay? I don’t want you to go anywhere by yourself, especially since this is a military base.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Good deal. I don’t want to have to annihilate anyone. I’ve got to work around the clock while I’m here, so you probably won’t see much of me until Sunday. If you need anything, call my cell phone. I’ve got to go.”

“Bye Arvin,” I said, waving. He locked the door behind him. I flipped open my cell phone and texted Shinji, asking them to come to the base and pick me up.



“Where are we going, exactly?” I asked, simply following Tsurara along the crowded street. He walked with purpose, almost militarily, which (let me tell you) I was already bored of seeing. When he did not answer, I searched the others’ faces.

“We’re going to talk to our friend, Taku. He’s got a record label that’s pretty popular. He might have signed on Fallacy at some point,” Shinji said, his smile as cute as always. “Don’t worry; he will like you a lot, Alice!”

“Thanks, Shinji.”

We walked a few blocks before we reached what seemed to be the destination. It was a plain-looking brick building that could only be accessed by taking a long flight of cracking concrete stairs to the marketplace beneath the main one. Tsurara led us down the staircase and waited in the darkness for us to catch up to him. As I descended, I felt the temperature drop. When I reached the bottom, it was damp and cold, like nighttime after a day of rain. Small disks of yellow-green light cast by odd-shaped bulbs at our feet led us around the marketplace, toward a cluster of flashing signs, indicating the main section of the marketplace. Tsurara turned sharply toward one of the many brick buildings and I almost ran into him as he pulled open a heavy metal door and stepped inside. I filed in after him, not sure what I was expecting to see, but definitely not finding it.

The interior had only three rooms, one for the actual recording, one for the people using the machinery, and a bathroom. Against the wall were two leather couches and a cooler wedged between them. The walls were plastered with tour posters and one-man live posters from various bands, which I assumed were part of their record label. At the desk near the wall opposite of the leather couches sat a scrawnier-than-normal Japanese guy with thick black glasses and a baggy hoodie. His body swam in the many folds of the oversized garment, simply making him look thinner. At our entrance, he looked over and smiled, setting his pen down and standing, indicating us to seat ourselves.

“Tsurara!” he said excitedly, embracing his obviously long-time friend. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you around here anytime soon. It’s a pleasure.”

“Thanks, Taku. How have you been lately?”

“Things are good. There have been a bunch of new bands that sprung up recently and they’ve all taken interest in the label, so we’ve signed a lot of people on. It’s really great. How about you? How have you been?”

“Things have been a little… strange since moving to America. I’m still not quite used to it, but I have managed.”

Taku nodded. “And who is this? I don’t believe I’ve seen her before? Is she your American girlfriend?”

Tsurara got a strange look on his face, a mixture of disbelief and shock at such a question. And maybe even a little horror. “No, of course not,” he said calmly, though it was obvious that he was uncomfortable. “She is a friend from America. Her name is Alice.”

“A friend?” he asked, giving Tsurara the look. “No? Ah but I think I know whom she really is friends with here.” His gaze rested on Kiiro, and neither moved for an awkwardly long amount of time.

“Yes, yes, friendly friends. We love to have pillow fights in our underwear, talk about boys, and buy matching bras and thongs,” I said, rolling my eyes at his teasing. Taku laughed.

“Quite an interesting girl, aren’t you Alice? Ah, but Tsurara, I have lost my thoughts now…”

“That’s okay,” Tsurara said. “I was actually wondering about something.”

“What’s that?”

“Have you signed a band named Fallacy? We are thinking of… doing a project with them.”

“Fallacy?” Taku repeated, deep in thought. He adjusted his glasses on his nose. “I’ve heard of them, but I don’t think they’ve signed on with me. If you want to find someone though, you should be looking for Umi. She knows everyone.”

“Umi? But I thought she moved to the Philippines?”

Taku shook his head, turning back to his desk for a moment. “Nope. She’s been here the whole time, but I think she’s been laying low for a while. Maybe someone was looking for her that she didn’t want to be, but she’s out in public again… kind of. Here’s her address,” he said, handing a piece of paper to Tsurara. “What kind of project do you have planned? I’m sure it will be cool, seeing two great bands get together.”

“We aren’t sure yet, but our fans have been suggesting a dual project, so we decided we’d at least indulge them a little by entertaining the idea. We have to talk to Fallacy first, though.”

“Of course, but you mean that you have no ideas whatsoever? From what I remember, Fallacy tends to do a more traditional rock sound, so that’s different from what Living Forgery does. Maybe you should consider blending the sounds? Then again, maybe not… it would be hard to come up with something like that.”

“We plan to discuss with them once we can contact them.”

“I’m interested. If it goes anywhere, hit me up.”

“Will do. Thanks, Taku, we’ll keep in touch.”