~Luca POV~

Leaving The Bronx for Osaka was bit of a bittersweet moment, considering that I never left my home, unless it's for a vacation to, like, Florida or whatever, but for school, it really wasn't something I was looking forward.

However, I wanted to try something new and what better than to study abroad?

James "Jimmy" Rivera was my childhood friend and was one of the guys I would go to whenever I needed to hang out or just needed someone to talk to.

After my high school graduation, I knew I needed to try something new for my life and when Jimmy invited me to join him in Osaka Metropolitan University, I was ecstatic.

Jimmy went to Osaka for summer break and when he came home, he shared with me his experiences over there and the first thing he told me was that the GIRLS were thirsting for him and actually wanted to have sex with him on the first date just because he was a foreigner in their country and they thought he was cute or whatever.

It made me laugh, considering that I always wondered how the Japanese would perceive foreigners as being disrespectful and whatnot, and there are people who are, but to me, as long as foreigners respect Japan's traditions and customs, they'll get along well with the people themselves, and that's what I plan on doing when I arrive.

Also, I should mention that since I'm gonna be roommates with Jimmy, we were gonna have to find a place to stay and luckily, there was an apartment for sale in Osaka, near the lively district, with all the bars, nightclubs, bars, and whatnot.

I got into contact with the seller and it turned out, he knew English and could speak it almost perfectly, but over the phone, he sounded urgent, like he wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.

I don't know what it was, but when we finally get over there, I plan on asking why.

At the airport, we said goodbye to our families and looked to see the city of Osaka.

When we got in the plane, we decided to practice our Japanese and our etiquette, just so we don't have any of the people view us the wrong way.

In fact, I made the idea for the both of us to practice those things and so far, we're doing pretty good. We basically practiced our phrases and some other words that we always have trouble with, so that way we can get them over with.

~14 1/2 Hours Later~

When we arrived at the airport, we thought we were in an another world.

There was kanji everywhere and we didn't know what it was saying, but luckily, a student from the University, offered to translate everything and help us learn more of the language.

I don't know who the student is, but I'm looking forward to what he or she is gonna tell us, and hopefully they speak some English.

We saw the escalator and we went down the steps and luckily, I saw someone holding a piece of paper that said, "Luca Caruso and Jimmy Rivera".

And it turned out that the person we're seeing is a guy, which I'm okay with. If he can speak English, then our quest for a great school year in Japan will not have been for nothing.

Guy: Luca Caruso and Jimmy Rivera?

Luca: Uh, yes.

Guy: I Takashi from Osaka University, and welcome to Japan.

We shook his hand and said in Japanese, shocking the guy a bit.

Jimmy: Arigatomasu.

Luca: Arigatomasu.

Takashi: You speak Japanese?

Luca: I'm starting to learn it, but Jimmy visited before, over the summer break last year, learning some of it.

Takashi: Oh, really? How was it?

Jimmy: Ten out of ten, will highly recommend.

Takashi: I glad to hear that. Now, we have gotten to know each other a bit, let me take you to the dorm you'll be staying at until school finds a place for you.

Jimmy: We actually have a place in mind. We were in contact with an owner who was selling his apartment.

Takashi: Really?

Luca: Yeah. We just started to look at it and hopefully we get a good deal on it, right?

Takashi: I understand. Would you two like to come with me? We will bring you over to apartment you will be staying at until finalized.

Luca: Sure, let's do it.

Jimmy: Sounds good to me.

We walked with Takashi over to a car and we rode over to the place.

Turned out there was a couple of people wanting to meet us and it was very interesting to see that Osaka is very friendly to foreigners like ourselves.

As we got out of the car, we saw the apartment...

It looked pretty decent, like, I can't complain, but I saw that the owner was standing outside, looking all jittery and nervous about something.

I don't know what the hell is going on, but something ain't addin' up.

After Takeshi said his goodbye and we'll see him in a few days before school starts, we started to walk up to the owner, who seemed excited to see us for some reason.

Owner: Are you two the new residents?

Jimmy: We are. I'm Jimmy, this is Luca.

Owner: Nice to meet you two! Let's have a look around, yeah?

Luca: Yeah, let's take a look.

We then walked in and we were just amazed by how beautiful it was.

I wasn't expecting a stairwell like this, as it's in the front of the entrance.

Owner: Um, your shoes? Can you take them off?

Luca: Oh, I'm sorry.

I took my shoes off and left them on the tile as Jimmy did the same.

After we took the shoes off, we walked around and it looked really nice. There was a kitchen where we can cook up our meals, whatever we wanted to eat, a dining table, a fridge, a couch, it was everything we needed.

We went to the bedrooms and they so perfectly and immaculately clean! Beautiful!

Everyone can just tell I'm a fan already.

Anyway, after looking around, the owner asked us if we were in school, we told him that we were attending Osaka Metropolitan University, at the Nakamozu Campus.

It was good talking to him because he seemed very friendly about the whole situation with us, but when we told we'll take the apartment, he somehow sighed a sigh of relief.

What was that about?

I quickly brushed it off, Jimmy paid him and we moved in, as everything was ready for us, but it wasn't long before the owner grabbed two trash bags, threw them in his car, drove away as fast as he could without even acknowledging us, and we never saw him ever again.

It was weird because he was so nice, so polite, and now he left without saying "good luck in school"?

Luca: Who put him up to this?

Jimmy: I don't know, man. Come on, let's get settled.

It was only a day later that we went to the school to talk to them about our housing situation and soon enough, we were allowed to move into the apartment and no questions were asked.

~Night 1~

I was asleep and I was actually getting a bit thirsty, so I went to get a water bottle.

It wasn't the first time I get up in the middle of the night to get some water as I would need it to get some hydration for sleeping, but somehow, it felt different.

I thought I wasn't alone, even though Jimmy was my roommate.

I looked around and I found nothing, so I went into the kitchen and started grabbing a water bottle and I managed to get one so I can take it back to my room.

I thought I was hearing things. I mean, I just thought, "It's an old house. It probably housed more students than I could count, so I can't let that get to me."

After bringing the bottle of water to my room, I just went back into my bed and fell asleep.

Something didn't feel right, but I brushed it off because I had to get ready for school the next day.