A member of staff held the line and once it was clear, he let me through. There was HARU, looking rather serious albeit in a somewhat pleasant manner.

“ロンドンにようこそ！”[1] said I whilst giving her a gentle high five, and almost sounding like a tour guide. She smiled and I moved on towards TIMO, also gently high-fiving her, and said,

“覚えていますか？”[2]

TIMO gave me a bemused look, and as I didn’t want to get told off for holding up the queue, I said to her,

Shingapōru. Ni sen jyu san nen.[3]

TIMO gave a gasp and MAMI who was watching the whole thing, exclaimed “わぁぁー！”[4]

On my left hand was a Funassyi hand puppet. And on Funassyi’s left hand was a little gift bag.

Please don’t ask.

I high fived MAMI and gave her the lil’ pressie. “まみちゃんの小さなプレセントです。”[5]

Arigatō! said she smilingly as she accepted the bag. It felt like a chain reaction, considering what happened when I high fived TIMO, because this time it was RINA going “わぁぁー！”

As I finally high fived RINA, I wished her all the best for the evening’s performance with the often used phrase:

“頑張れよ‼︎”[6]

How boring can I get, but RINA said thanks as I bowed in appreciation , moving away to take my place in the next queue, which ultimately led to me being in the second row right in front of the missus.

This is not a work of fiction.

__________________________________
[1]Welcome to London.
[2]Do you remember me?
[3]Singapore. 2013.
[4]Waaaaaah!
[5]Just a lil’ something (rough transl.)
[6]Do your best! (lit.)