Chapter 8
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February in London was still in the midst of winter. Although there was not much snow on the ground, thick clouds covered the sky and the temperature hardly rose during the day. Kento’s traveller’s guidebook had said it was warmer than Tokyo, which was hard to believe.
“It’s especially cold this year,” said his mother, Hisae, who had come to pick him up at the airport. She pushed her shivering son into her red Rover Mini.
During the six months that Kento had not seen her, Hisae had highlighted her short hair with green and pink strands. Kento gaped at her in surprise.
“What do you think?” Hisae said proudly. “Makes me look young again, doesn’t it?” She wore an outfit of patch-worked jeans and a fleece sweater. Hisae’s small stature made it easy for her to be mistaken as a younger woman. Many people believed her off-the-bat when she jokingly introduced Kento as her younger boyfriend. For a while, Kento was fully occupied with the task of correcting her every time.
Hisae worked for an apparel company in a district of London called Camden Town. The company was as startup run by a group of young up-and-coming designers. They designed clothes, hosted fashion shows, and took commissions for patterns.
Hisae’s job was in textiles, which involved designing colours and patterns for fabrics. The design studio was a small brick townhouse, with three floors and a half-basement. Contrary to the classical-looking exterior, the interior was outfitted with silver and white in a simple and modern style. The simple interior brought out the vibrant colours of the folklore-style clothes on display.
Many of the workers were young, energetic women, and Kento instantly became the centre of attention. When Hisae proudly informed them that he belonged to a talent agency in Japan, they were not surprised.
“It makes sense. Kento is adorable,” they said.
There was a neverending line of older women who offered to take Kento on a tour of London in place of his busy mother. That day, Kento had finished shopping for souvenirs for his friends and was hanging about his mother’s workplace when a gaggle of women came to surround him.
“Kento, where do you want to go? The London Eye? Buckingham Palace?”
“What about the British Museum? The Tower of London?”
Kento wasn’t interested in any of those.
“I want to walk barefoot across the zebra crossing on Abbey Road.”
The cover of the Beatles’ album, named Abbey Road, featured the four members walking across the zebra crossing. Paul was the only one walking across it barefoot, and Kento wanted to imitate him.
When Kento said so, one of the pattern-makers, a huge Beatles fan, widened her eyes.
“Are you a Beatles fan, too?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Wow!” The woman, whose name was Audrey, excitedly took Kento’s hands in hers. “The Beatles are the British saints of the twentieth century. Saint Paul, Saint John, Saint George, and Saint Richard.” She winked at him, her red hair in dreadlocks. When Kento effortlessly sung two or three songs for her, she gave him an enraptured smack on the cheek.
“The great thing about the Beatles is that their lyrics are just as good as their music. Their songs are like hymns to me,” she said, playfully crossing herself. Kento chuckled at her exaggerated analogy but went along with her conversation.
“People say that as long as I know Beatles’ songs, I have all the English I need.”
“Absolutely. Their songs have everything.”
An ardent Beatles fan, Audrey took Kento around London to visit many locations associated with the Beatles. They got off the tube at Tottenham Court Road Station, and without even batting an eye to the nearby British Museum, they headed for the Soho district.
Located between Regent Street and Bond Street on 3 Savile Row was the headquarters of Apple Records, the record label that brought the Beatles to the rest of the world. The company itself, however, was no longer there.
With a view of Regent Park to their right, they boarded the bus and hurried to Abbey Road. When they arrived at the famous zebra crossing, they already found a group of young men, unsurprisingly, crossing it barefoot despite the cold weather.
“I want to cross, too. Audrey, can you take a picture for me?” Kento pulled off his sneakers. The cars running along the road seemed accustomed to such behaviours of Beatles fans, and slowed down to stop in front of the crossing.
After safely finishing their photoshoot, Audrey took Kento to the EMI studio nearby. Just the thought of the vast number of albums recorded in this very place made Kento’s whole body tremble with awe. Lastly, they visited Madam Tussauds wax museum, where wax sculptures of the four Beatles members were displayed.
“Where’s Penny Lane?” he asked Audrey.
“It’s not here,” she said. “Penny Lane” was the name of another famous Beatles song, and like Abbey Road, was named after a street. But this one was located in Liverpool, a port town where the group grew up. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the time to travel all the way there today.
“Next time, you should bring your friend along. I’ll take you both,” Audrey said. Kento vowed to one day travel to London and Liverpool with Orihara.
When his short trip came to an end, Hisae drove him to Heathrow Airport. She sighed as she watched Kento look at his boarding time in anticipation.
“Kento, you’ve found someone special, haven’t you?”
When Kento blushed in response, Hisae pinched his cheek.
“You know a chick is ready to fly away from its nest when it’s found someone more special than its parents. I guess I should start preparing to let you go, too.”