CHAPTER FOUR: THE RETURN
feat. Saki Kashima & Mayu Iwatani
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I did not go to the event on the following day. I was planning to, and was within twenty minutes of making it when I got a phone call from back home. The details are not important but I had to leave as soon as possible. I went to my apartment and gathered my stuff, before stopping at the dojo to do the same. I left a handwritten note for Mr. Ogawa in his office before I took my rental car to the airport and flew back to American soil.
Months later, once everything was taken care of at home, I got back in contact with Stardom and asked to continue my work there, fully aware and accepting that they may tell me to just kick rocks. To my surprise, Mr. Ogawa was not only open to me coming back but also offered me a job in their expanding English-language team. When I asked why I was being considered after only a few days there in my first stint, he told me that I had made such an impression with certain roster members that he knew I would keep morale high in the locker room.
I obviously accepted the position, especially after being told that I could not only continue the documentary but have the full backing of Stardom's parent company, Bushiroad. My dreams were coming true before my eyes and I was still not entirely sure why. This all felt like a dream or a fantasy story but I was not about to waste time in case it was.
By the time I made it back to Japan, it was just short of one year since my abbreviated first visit. I spent my entire flight reminiscing on my time there, like I had done for most of the last year, focusing more on my time with the girls not named Saki than my time with Saki. Towards the end of the flight, I began to wonder what that woman's reaction to me being back would be. Would she continue the games? Would she be an entirely different person? Would she avoid me like the plague? Did she think she won and ran me out of the country? Will she be bothered to remember me at all? Several questions and soon to follow, the answers.
After I landed, I spent the first week in my new home country settling in. I moved into an apartment, which was about three miles from the dojo. I drove past the building several times on shopping and leisure trips, noticing the impressive renovations that had taken place. The last time I drove by before my first day of work, I saw Hazuki and Saki having a conversation that looked friendly. Part of me wanted to stop but since I would be seeing them the following day anyway, I kept driving.
The day finally came for me to start my dream job. I arrived very early in the morning, dressed in a black button-up and matching khakis, and made my way through the building, taking in the newness while remembering the past. I peeked into the room where I had gotten to know Hazuki and Momo, and it looked exactly the same. The cafeteria where I had first met Saya was much cleaner but still very much the same. As I first walked in, I could faintly see someone rushing out through the other exit while loudly whispering to themself. I could not say for sure, but it sounded a lot like Saki.
I found the medical room where Saya and I had our intimate moment in front of a small, unexpected, yet mostly unidentified crowd. It was completely different and expanded by at least triple the size. I again heard loud whispering and light feet-shuffling behind me but ignored it. After almost walking into a women's restroom, I decided it was best to just head back to my office. As I turned the final corner, I bumped into a skinny blonde, who dropped her heavy water bottle inches from my toes.
"I am so sorry," I said, locking eyes with Mayu Iwatani, the 'Stardom Icon.'
"It's okay," the thirty-year-old said, bending down to pick up the bottle. "Oh, you must be the new guy."
"William," I responded, extending a hand.
"Mayu," she said, shaking my hand. "I was actually looking for you. You have to interview me about something?"
"Yes, my documentary," I said, motioning her to my office.
Mayu entered the room in front of me. As I was about to step in, I had a feeling I was being watched. I looked around and, for a brief second, locked eyes with Saki, who was peeking around a corner. She quickly dashed off, out of sight. I took a deep breath, shook my head, and walked in.
"We aren't filming anything, are we?" Mayu asked, sitting down in a chair. "If so, I need to put some makeup on."
"Nope, I'm in the very early stages," I explained. "Today is my first day back in a year, and I did not get much done when I was here."
"What was the holdup?" she asked while fidgeting with her bottle. "Attention problems? Laziness? Fucking my friends?"
"The third one and kind of the first one too, I guess," I said, taking a deep breath. "I'm guessing you know all about my first stint here."
"I only know what Saki told me, and she tells me a lot," Mayu said with a laugh.
"You two are close?" I asked.
"We live together, so I would say so," she said. "For the record, don't expect this meeting to go like those did."
"Noted," I said as I sat down. "Did Saki tell you why I fucked your friends?"
"She would not go into details, but she said it was something incredibly stupid that she wished she had not done, and she keeps saying that any time your name, or something that sounds like it, is mentioned," she replied. "She can't stop talking about you."
I hoped that I was hiding the surprise I was feeling at these words. Either Saki was playing Mayu like she tends to do with people, or she sincerely regrets everything.
"For the record, she was threatening to lie and tell Mr. Ogawa that I was creeping on Rina," I said, shuffling some papers.
"Yeah, that sounds like something she would've done back then," Mayu sighed.
"Back then?" I asked, unsure of what she meant.
"Ever since you left, she has become a completely different person, or the person she was before she joined Oedo Tai," Mayu said while adjusting her green t-shirt. "She was a bit too 'method actor' with that role and thought she needed to be a bitch all the time. That is not the Saki I have known since 2011. She is one of the sweetest people I've ever known. I guess I should thank you for leaving because it brought my best friend back."
I was in complete shock at the words being spoken. Part of me wanted to rush out of the office to find Saki and confirm this, but something about the way Mayu was talking made me think for sure that it was true. She could tell that my mind was racing and offered me a drink from her water bottle. I took a big swig and handed it back to her.
"Anyway, we should get started on this interview," I said, grabbing my notebook and a pen.
For the next several hours, I asked Mayu every question that I had prepared for the woman who had been with Stardom since day one of the company without ever leaving. Once the interview was concluded, we both took a walk to the cafeteria. While I got some food, Mayu quickly met with Hazuki and Momo, who were eating together at a table, before scurrying off. Momo waved me over, and I sat down with them, ready to catch up. For nearly an hour, we chatted mainly about our lives since our first encounter. Towards the end of the talk, Hazuki revealed that she was now in a three-way relationship with a couple she had met over the winter.
