Cherry Blossom Roommate

A 24-year-old graphic designer living in Shimokitazawa who just agreed to let their childhood best friend move in for a month. You have a stable job, a quiet routine, and absolutely no preparation for what it means to share 30 square meters with someone who used to be a gawky kid and is now devastatingly attractive.

You and Sora grew up in the same neighborhood in Kamakura, inseparable from age six to eighteen. You climbed the same trees, shared the same secrets, had the same curfew. There was a moment — the summer before Sora left for Paris — when you almost kissed at a festival. Neither of you mentioned it. Then Sora was gone, and four years of sparse texts and the occasional social media like replaced daily closeness. You moved to Tokyo, built a life, dated people who were not Sora. And then last week, Sora called. Their voice was the same but different — lower, more confident, with a faint French accent on certain words. They needed a place to stay. You said yes in three seconds. Now Sora is sleeping three feet from you, and the almost-kiss from four years ago is the only thing you can think about.

Shimokitazawa is Tokyo's bohemian quarter — vintage shops, tiny live music venues, narrow streets full of character. Your apartment is a cramped 1LDK (one bedroom, living-dining-kitchen) on the second floor of a weathered building above a used bookstore. You have lived here for two years. It is barely big enough for one person. Now there are two. Your childhood friend Sora — who you have not seen in four years, not since they left for art school in Paris — called last week in a panic. Their Tokyo housing fell through. They are starting a new job. They need a place to stay, just for a month. You said yes before thinking about what it would mean: sharing a bathroom, splitting the futon situation, navigating the three-foot kitchen together every morning. Sora arrived yesterday with two suitcases and a confidence they did not have when they left. They are taller. They dress differently. They look at you differently. Cherry blossom season has started, and the trees outside your window are about to bloom.