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Post by Maysan Paghishetsi on Jun 30, 2009 20:52:46 GMT -5
Tap tap tap
The rythm of pencil drumming thoughtfully against the edge of a desk could be heard from behind a tower of library books.
School hadn't started yet, and already Maysan was working -- books piled high on the table around her as she took notes, flipping through pages and then scribbling down pertinent information only to jump to the next book, tongue peeking out one corner of her mouth in a grimace of determination. The essay she was working on was due in two weeks, but she had a bit of time before class started so she had headed for the library immediately after swinging by her locker. The library not only held a wealth of knowledge, but it was quiet, much quieter than, say, home was. Not that the Paghishetsi family was particularly loud, but the constant hum of appliances and the low conversations of her parents could be heard through the floor, even when she shut her door and tried to concentrate. And unlike some people she could not just put on music and do her work, she would get too caught up in the music and be distracted away from the work at hand. So the library was the ideal place for school work.
She reached across her mountain of books -- that one at the very precipice of the table with the seventies font looked promising -- but as she did so she jostled one book with an elbow, knocking it into another, which lead to not one but three books perched on the edge of the table to go tumbling to the floor.
She jumped up with a gasp, leaning over with hand outsretched as though she expected to grab them before they hit the ground -- she winced at the thud that said her rescue attempt had failed. She glanced quickly around to see if anyone else were paying attention. "Sorry," She did a quick shoulder-shrug of apology to the librarian, who peered around in disapproval at the noise.
The Armenian girl gingerly tiptoed over to the other side of the table, bending down to grab the first book -- and her hand brushed up against another. Even though she would have jumped up to help someone else, she had not expected it from someone else. "Oh!" She jerked her hand back, and went for the second book. "Thank you." She looked up, to see who her helper was.
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Post by fryn on Jul 1, 2009 4:07:31 GMT -5
He'd found his wa to school and was dressed in what he hoped to be more normal clothing. Of course, as soon as he'd walked through the main gate Takumi realised that was anything but the case. Too late now to go back home and change but then his style had always been a tad extreme even for Tokyo. Better to be different? Maybe, but maybe not on your first day at school in another country.
He made his way owards the lockers, glancing at the letter he held that told him his timetable as well as locker number. Taki's gaze swept the lockers to his left as he sought the one he wanted...
"Hyaku rokuju..." he murmured as he passed number 160. He counted on... "Ichi... ni... san... " He came to a standstill. "Yon..." 164. It had to end in a 4?
He drew in a deep breath, doing his best to ignore the supersticious undertones that came with that unlucky number. The other word for the number 4 was shi... Shi represented death.
"Don't be so stupid," he muttered in Japanese and he quickly opened the portent of doom and pushed his books inside.
Takumi was then free to find his first port of call and the place he needed to go to register his arrival...
Ten minutes later he was still looking and found himself in the library. Surely someone here would be able to help him... He looked around the deserted room in frustration and spotted a dark haired girl reading at a table. He walked over, a question forming... and one forgotten for the moment when he saw the pile of books to her side start to wobble. The inevitable happened and the pile fell and he closed the space between them before crouching down to help her pick them up.
"Oh! Thank you."
"Do itashimashite," he replied and Taki reached for the final book and handed it to her. "I am Takumi," he added. "My.. first day here. Already I am lost. Can you help me?
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Post by Maysan Paghishetsi on Jul 1, 2009 18:45:01 GMT -5
May immediately felt sorry for the poor boy. She remembered what it was like, coming to America, far away from the familiar if tense Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. She had suddenly been thrust into a world filled with people who only spoke English, or Spanish, but few who could understand Armenian, and many who assumed her family must be terrorists simply because they were Muslims. America was filled with possibilities that would never have existed for her had her family stayed in the NKR, however, and assumed terrorist or not most Americans were more relaxed about her Muslim upbringing than the Armenian Christians, for whom memories of Muslim oppression still burned bright.
She assumed he was a fellow immigrant, anyway, because the first words out of his mouth were in a language she did not recognize, and what anime she watched with her brother was generally dubbed, so she did not have that to go by. She gratefully took the proffered book, turning to place them on the desk -- in a more stable position this time, she hoped.
"Lost?" She repeated. Of course she would help, helping was one of her favorite activities. "Of course I will help you, where were you trying to go?" She attempted to speak slower than usual, unsure what his skills in English might be. He seemed to have a fair grasp of the language, at least from what little he had said to her, but since it was clearly not his first language she couldn't be certain, and she wanted to make sure he understood her. She remembered what it was like, the native speakers hurrying and slurring words together, making for an entirely bewildering experience for the young immigrant. That was ten years ago, and she was quite fluent in English by now, but she tried to be sensitive towards other new speakers.
"Where are you from?" She inquired. He appeared Asian, but she did not want to hazard a guess about which country; she was not any good at telling the different nationalities apart, and she had seen people become highly offended, say, if they were from Taiwan and were assumed by others to be Chinese.
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Post by fryn on Jul 2, 2009 3:29:00 GMT -5
She would help him.
Taki smiled in relief, glad to have stumbled across a friendly face. "I am from Japan," he repled. "I understand more English than I can speak," Takumi admitted with a wry grin. "It's good that I learn fast, hai?"
The pair had straightened by now and he glanced around the library as she sorted her books once more. "I am looking for..." Taki rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the now sadly crumpled introductor letter. "... this place," he finished, offering the girl the note. "I am told to go there when am here. Do you know this place?" 'Please say so,' he thought to himself.
"Are you senior student too?" he asked as she glanced over the letter. "What is your name?" With luck it would be an easy one to pronounce as that hurdle tended to be Takumi's largest one he faced here in the USA...
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Post by Maysan Paghishetsi on Jul 2, 2009 15:04:12 GMT -5
May took the note from the boy, attempting to smooth it out so she could read it. The letter was rather confusing, she decided, no wonder the poor boy didn't know where to go. "You want the guidance counselor," She told him at last, once she had managed to decipher enough of the note to figure out where he was supposed to go. How annoying, couldn't the front office staff have helped him out? Wasn't that supposed to part of their job? But the front office was staffed by the most surly women possible, as a general rule, so she wasn't particularly surprised he was being left to fend for himself.
"Did you get an agenda?" She asked him, diving under the table to grab her bookbag and purse. "It looks like..." She opened the front pocket of her bag, pulling out the spiral-bound day-planner and collection of rules, holding it out for him to see. "It has a map in the very front." She explained. Surely when they gave him the letter they had given him an agenda, too, unless the counselor was supposed to give it to him -- but that would have been cruel, asking him to find the counselor without the helpful map. She gathered up her belongings, then placed the library books on the cart for the librarian.
"Japan," She repeated, "I would love to visit Japan. Where in Japan are you from?" She was pretty sure most of her knowledge about Japan was wrong, or at least exaggerated, since it largely came from the harem anime her brother watched and from the shoujo manga she read -- somehow, she doubted that Japan had quite so many idols posing as the opposite sex or school princes, although she supposed she could be surprised, it could turn out that the pop culture tropes were in fact a perfect representation.
"Not a Senior," She shook her head, "I'm a Junior. And my name is Maysan, Maysan Paghishetsi. You can just call me May, though. What's your name?"
She motioned for him to follow, "This way," She instructed, making her way to the halls, determined to get the boy to the counselor before the bell rang -- maybe her teacher would be lenient should she be tardy because she was helping a new student, but she couldn't be sure, and she certainly did not want him to be late on his first day, either.
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Post by fryn on Jul 3, 2009 1:57:47 GMT -5
"May-san?" Taki repeated. He didn't even attempt her surname. It translated as 'Ms Before' but he hardly thought that to be correct. "May... it is a nice name. Mine is Yoshino Takumi. My friends called me Taki." May might not be in the same year as he was but Takumi was glad to have made one friend... and so soon after arriving at school. He could remember well the teasing he'd earned from Ryou, Sakuya and Yasunori - his pals back home - when he'd told them where he was going.
--
"You'll never survive your first week at school," Sakuya declared.
Taki frowned. "Why not?"
Ryou sniggered as Yasunori answered. "Americans eat little nikkeijin like you for breakfast."
"I'm no nikkeijin, baka!" retorted Taki... causing endless laughter once more. He shrugged and soon joined in... all the while praying American breakfasts contained more than Japanese immigrant kids...
--
Taki and May started to wander out of the library.
"Japan... I would love to visit Japan. Where in Japan are you from?"
"Osaka," he replied. "A city on the Yodo River. Its on Honshû. I think you would like it, May-chan. It was begun in the 6th century so has a lot of old..." What was the word? He shook his head and mimed the shape of a building.
She motioned for him to follow, "This way."
"Dômo arigatô, May-chan. I am very... grateful for your help." He followed at her side as they passed through a myriad of nameless and faceless corridors. Taki knew he'd be lost once again and just as soon as he'd finished seeing this counselor. With luck he'd get a map of the school and its grounds but as that was unlikely to be written in Kanji it would be of precious little help. Maybe he'd see May again? Or, if not, perhaps someone else would be just as helpful. All he could do was hope that Ryou, Sakuya and Yasunori had been wrong about the dietry desires of his new school mates!
"I won't make you late for your class... will I?" he asked uncertainly and not missing the passing glances he was earning. Because of his appearance? His clothing? Or because he was walking alongside a very pretty girl. More likely it was a mixture of all three...
They soon arrived at the designated office and Taki turned to thank her once more, bowing his head slightly in the way taught to Japanese kids from an early age. "Arigatou gozaimasu," he repeated. "Thank you... "
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Post by Maysan Paghishetsi on Jul 3, 2009 21:34:29 GMT -5
"Taki. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," May responded.
Osaka. Was that the area with the accent, the one that was supposed to be kind of rough and tumble? She wasn't sure how to ask that, though; somehow she didn't think doesn't the familiar in Card Captor Sakura have an Osakan accent? would be a good conversation starter. He would probably be sick of all the otaku and Japanese cultural fetishists asking about anime characters, and for all she knew he hated CLAMP. She didn't really want to come out and say that the only reason she knew anything about Japan was from anime and manga, even if it was true. She wondered how best to ply him with questions while remaining ambiguous about the sources of any of her (undoubtedly erroneous) knowledge.
"I've heard a little bit about Osaka," She offered, "Isn't the accent..." She paused a moment, trying to think of how exactly to phrase her question, "very famous? Or am I confusing Osaka with some other area of Japan?"
She watched with interest as he attempted to mime exactly what sort of old attraction Osaka held. "Temples?" She suggested, "Shrines? Ummm, castles?" She would have to research Osaka, now, find out exactly what sort of city it was. If it were very old and filled with history, as Taki implied, then it ought to be fascinating to learn about.
She tried not to look too guilty when he asked if he would make her late to class. "Hmm? Oh, no, not at all!" She assured him, although she really was a little bit concerned; she despised being late. She also despised leaving a person in need, however, which Taki certainly was. She couldn't just abandon him, that would be cruel.
"You're very welcome," She smiled as he bowed to her, apparently quite grateful for what little help she had given him, "It was really not a problem."
She glanced at her watch. There were still a few minutes before class started. "Do you need me to wait for you?" She wondered. "So I can show you to your first class?" She really hoped that this would not make her late, but she couldn't help but ask. Of course, she would be unable to show him to all his classes, but with any luck once she got him to the first one someone there would help him find the next.
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Post by fryn on Jul 4, 2009 1:26:51 GMT -5
Taki smiled at May's question... The one about his accent. "It is famous," he replied. "Osaka-ben is perhaps the most well-known.. ah... dialect...? Is that the right word?" She nodded and Taki smiled again... pleased he'd remembered that word. "The most well-known dialect in Japan. It's used a lot in manga and anime. A lot of comedy people come from Osaka, too," he added. "Some people say it is a harsh accent while others claim it resembles music." He shrugged. "I do not know which for myself. It's just how I speak."
"Do you need me to wait for you?" She wondered. "So I can show you to your first class?"
Taki felt a pang of guilt at possibly making her late for her first class but he also knew he could use her direction after his meeting with the counselor. "It would be good... if you could," he said a little uncertainly. "Perhaps the counselor can write a note to say why you are late...?" He'd ask anyway.
They sat down in the chairs outside the room. "So you know about Osaka-ben," he began. "Do you also like anything else... such as anime? I am an addict," he admitted with a wry grin. Takumi felt sure any 'cool points' he might have earned had now been suddenly reduced to zero. That's assuming he'd even got any to start with!
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Post by Maysan Paghishetsi on Jul 4, 2009 21:35:32 GMT -5
Maysan tucked her feet beneath the chair as they waited for the counselor. She was pleased she had been correct about the Osakan accent; even with the amount of manga she read, she hadn't quite got the different areas straight, and although she loved to learn and liked anime, she wasn't exactly a Japanophile. That wouldn't have fit with her self-image of Very Normal American Girl, not at all. Even if it had, she wasn't sure she could dedicate herself obsessively to any one topic.
She could have laughed when he asked if she liked anime. She had been trying so very hard not to make assumptions, to remind herself that not everyone from Japan would be all that interested in anime and manga, and here he actually was interested. More than interested, apparently, since he claimed to be an addict.
"I like some anime," She admitted. And she certainly preferred anime conventions to regular sci-fi ones, because the anime ones tended to have a much larger female presence, a female presence that included enough other girls of her class -- the sort of preppy, but sort of interested in nerd media, too, kind of girls -- whereas the sci-fi convention girls tended to be split between dressing skanky for attention and sneering in condescension at any female who put effort into her appearance.
"My brother really likes anime, so I watch it with him." She explained. It was highly unlikely that she would have considered anime or fantasy novels as an acceptable form of entertainment if Tavit had not gravitated towards them. He was much more obsessed than she was, of course, but she really didn't have the time to spend on those hobbies, not when she had dance and cheerleading and volunteer work and maintaining her grades. It was just too much to add collector to all of that.
"Although I really like manga, you know, the girly ones. Nana is really good, and, ummm, Boys Over Flowers. I don't know the Japanese name for that one," Tavit had told her once, and offered to get the Taiwanese drama based off of it, even, but she had a difficult time remembering the Japanese titles, even when that was what the English release used. Tavit was good at that, remembering the titles and even what they meant, but unless she had read something very recently then she was never exactly sure she was getting the Japanese correct.
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Post by fryn on Jul 5, 2009 1:38:18 GMT -5
"I brought a lot of anime and manga with me," replied Takumi. "It's all in Japanese, though, or I could lend it to you and your brother." A shame as he'd liked to have at least tried to repay May's kindness. "I know that manga... Boys Over Flowers. It's called Hana Yori Dango. It's a good story," he added. "Furûtsu Basuketto is another good series... Ah... its Fruits Basket, I think, in English. I also like the Saiyuki series. A new manga is soon to come out but I don't know it in English. Its called Ôran Kôkô Hosuto Kurabu and its another one about school that you might like..."
Taki knew he was starting to seem boring. He always got a bit carried away when talking about on of his favourite subjects. If not anime and manga then nendoroids and Hello Kitty. Possibly that last hobby was better kept to himself. He didn't want to scare his one and only friend away so soon after meeting her.
"Can you tell me a little about what is done for fun at the weekends?" he asked instead. "I have only really seen the beach area around where we live and don't know where the best places to go are."
Taki fiddled with his sleeve as he sat alongside May. He was never one totally at ease when forced to remain still for any length of time. Hyper-active? Perhaps... from time to time.
"The beach seems nice," he went on. Very much different to anything back home but still not bad at all. He'd yet to witness its night life but at least he'd met Ash the previous evening so maybe some of the kids from this school or the other one used the place. If not, he had his scooter and so could travel shortish distances if need be.
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