Nori and Darick first met in high school, the last semester of their senior year in 1997. In the class they shared, she sat in the desk in front of him on the left side of the room, and it was there that they started getting to know each other.

As the semester went on, they began spending time together after class as well. Conveniently, she was without a car at the time, so he would often offer to take her home. Sometimes they would take walks. Once in a while (and this is hard to believe now) they would study together at her place, where her mother would bring them sushi to snack on—studying was more fun that way.

It became apparent to him that he enjoyed spending time with her more than anything else, that she was someone very special. Unfortunately, the school year was almost over, and because she had to move back to Japan for college, she was hesitant to let their relationship go beyond friendship. Eventually, though, she chose heart over head and they decided to be together for the short time they had left.

In the last 18 days before Nori and her family moved back to Japan, she and Darick were sweethearts, and spent as much time together as they possibly could. Years later they would still remember that relationship as nothing short of perfect, the only sadness being the day she had to move to the other side of the world.

One song said it best:

Nine years later, in the spring of 2006, fate would have them meet again. Asked to go to Tokyo for a short business trip, Darick readily accepted and sent Nori a letter saying he'd be in town.

How much does a person change over nine years? This was the big question on both of their minds before they met each other again. And though it was unrealistic to expect something like the relationship they had in high school, they still wanted to catch up with each other after so many years.

Before long, they realized that at the core, they were the same people from nine years before, and their relationship was rekindled. Having gone through college and entered the working world, they decided that the distance was something they could overcome this time.

That summer they both flew across the sea to visit each other whenever they could, if only just for a weekend. Finally in September, he packed his bags and moved to Tokyo so that he could at last be with her for more than 18 days.

On November 9, 2006, Darick asked Nori to marry him. His reason for waiting until then was to not only ask her in Japanese, but be able to understand her response as well. She said yes.