So... I guess the formatting on my last story didn't work out so well.
I'll try harder this time! Hopefully I will be better about keeping the
characters in character this time, too.
So, anyway, what makes you think I could possibly own such a great work as RK? I do, however, lay claim to: Benny, Adam, Avi, Chava, Rahel, and Dina. Chances are there'll be more as the story progresses, but I think that's pretty good for now.
You Don't Need to be the Hero!
As Sagara Sanosuke stepped out onto the deck of the ship he'd been confined to for the last few weeks, he peered off into the distance to notice that they were finally approaching land.
"Yosh," he thought. "I'm about ready for a change in scenery. I hope this country has some good food. Anything would be better than the gruel I've had to endure on this leg of the trip..."
Sano disembarked from the ship amidst a cacophony of various languages, none of which were ones he remotely recognized. The dominant one, however, contained a word that just about everyone was using.
'Shalom,' Sano thought. 'Hmmm...it must be some form of greeting, or something, the way everyone's using it! Whoa, I must have some weird expression on my face, because there's some guys headed my way who look to be about my age...' He tensed up so that he would be ready for anything, including a potential fight.
"Baruch ha-ba l'eretz Yisrael," the first man exclaimed. He was average height, a little shorter than Sano, with dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin. They were all very tan, but it was early in the summer, and the Japanese teen could tell that his new acquaintances hadn't been born in this country.
"Nani?" The look on Sano's face told the group that he hadn't understood a single word of their favorite greeting to give to newcomers.
"This guy must be from eastern Asia, and that's why he can't figure out what we're saying," a second man explained to his friends. "Let's get Chava over here... She knows a little bit in one of those languages...maybe she'll be able to get our point across to him! Hey, Chava! Can you come here for a second?"
In the mean time, Sano started trying to piece together exactly where the ship had landed (with his sense of adventure, he simply bought the ticket, regardless of where it would actually take him). Without having much luck in solving the puzzle, he attempted to back away from the group with an "I should probably be going..."
This gesture did not, of course, escape the group's attention. As the two men reached out to grab his sleeves, Sano knew this would be his 'group,' so to speak, for this portion of his journey. He watched as a young girl joined them. She seemed to be around the same age as the men, also tan, with her long hair tied back out of her face with a length of string.
"Ma nishma, Benny," Chava asked as she approached the man who had called her over. She noticed Sano off to the side, and checked him out in a similar way to how he had sized her up. "Ohhhh...Eich korim l'cha?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Benny replied, a little irritated at the fact that she hadn't yet determined the reason they had asked for her to join them. "I remembered that you knew a little bit of one of the eastern Asian languages, and I was hoping you'd be able to figure out a way to communicate with him before we all go insane."
Throughout the whole exchange, Sano just stood there, baffled at the predicament he had gotten himself into. It was amazing how much the girl reminded him of jou-chan, at least in temper. He was wandering around inside his own head for so long, though, that he didn't notice at first when the guys started chuckling.
Chava's cheeks began to turn a rosy shade. "Eynaim l'mala! Gee, guys, you sure picked out a winner here!" She was about to slap him too, but her tone of voice was enough to snap him out of his reverie in plenty of time to dodge the assault.
"Gomen," he replied, with the facial expression to match, so that he could be sure she'd understand his appology.
[A/N: At this point, the group and Sano are still speaking two different languages. I've translated most of it, partially because I don't have a wide enough vocabulary, and also to make it easier on you guys, my readers. Don't worry, the Japanese will remain pretty easy - it's the one I know less of, and there'll be a glossary at the end for the rest, so that I don't screw up the flow any more than I already have.]
"Well, at least he has some good points, like knowing how to treat a woman... and he is kinda cute..." Chava thought as she tried to translate a phrase in her head that she thought Sano would understand. After trying it out on him, however, she discovered that whatever language it was she had learned wasn't in any way similar to his. "Okay, next thing I'm gonna try... Do you understand any English?"
Of course, with English already becoming one of the more common world languages, and Sano having traveled east from Japan (therefore already going through America), his face all of a sudden lit up as he recognized the words of her last question. "Yes," he exclaimed, "but not very much. I'm from Japan, and my name is Sagara Sanosuke."
"Alright! Now we're finally getting somewhere," the first man seemed ecstatic that they had managed to find a means of communication with their new friend. "Sagara's a pretty funny sounding name, though... but anyway, I'm Adam Levine, and this is Benny Nathan, and this lovely young lady is Chava Aronson."
"No, my name is Sanosuke. We put the other first in Japan. It's good to meet you, Levine-san, Nathan-san, and Aronson-san." He laughed at the thought that something so simple to him seemed so backwards to these people.
"I can see we have a lot to work on with you, starting with breaking down the language barrier," Chava commented. "You seem to know enough English, that we can use that to translate."
"But anyway, it's good to meet you, Sa...no...sk..." Benny tried pronouncing the difficult Japanese name.
"Just call me Sano. That should be easier."
"Okay, Sano," Benny replied as relief washed over his face to know that the Japanese man already had a usable, comfortable nickname. "Welcome to Israel!"
End Chapter 1
A/N: So, Sano's landed himself in Israel. No wonder he didn't understand a word anyone was saying! Don't worry, hopefully that won't last too long.
I was hoping for this to kinda be a time-warp. Sano left to travel the world at the end of the Jinchuu arc...who knows where he ended up along the way? I know more about modern Israel, the only problem being that it doesn't really mesh with the time period... oh well... There's lots of interesting places to visit, and it's such a small country, that I'm sure he'll be able to hit all the major attractions with his new friends.
Why does he trust these people all of a sudden, you ask? Well, it wouldn't be much of a story without him making some friends... Again, don't worry, he'll have enough to deal with in the near future, that it might even come in handy to have this new group... not that I'm promising anything, just posing a possibility. I have no idea where this story is headed, so stay tuned!
Baruch Ha-ba - welcome
Eretz - land (as in, Land of Israel)
Enayim L'mala - literally, eyes up. Apparently, Sano's mind and eyes were wandering to places where they shouldn't really have been at that time...;)
Eich korim l'cha - What's your name? literally, 'how are you called?'
Ma nishma - What's going on? or, what's up?
PS. Like I mentioned in the middle of the chapter, even though the dialogue was mostly in English for a while, they didn't start to understand what the other was saying until Chava asked Sano if he spoke English.
So, anyway, what makes you think I could possibly own such a great work as RK? I do, however, lay claim to: Benny, Adam, Avi, Chava, Rahel, and Dina. Chances are there'll be more as the story progresses, but I think that's pretty good for now.
You Don't Need to be the Hero!
As Sagara Sanosuke stepped out onto the deck of the ship he'd been confined to for the last few weeks, he peered off into the distance to notice that they were finally approaching land.
"Yosh," he thought. "I'm about ready for a change in scenery. I hope this country has some good food. Anything would be better than the gruel I've had to endure on this leg of the trip..."
Sano disembarked from the ship amidst a cacophony of various languages, none of which were ones he remotely recognized. The dominant one, however, contained a word that just about everyone was using.
'Shalom,' Sano thought. 'Hmmm...it must be some form of greeting, or something, the way everyone's using it! Whoa, I must have some weird expression on my face, because there's some guys headed my way who look to be about my age...' He tensed up so that he would be ready for anything, including a potential fight.
"Baruch ha-ba l'eretz Yisrael," the first man exclaimed. He was average height, a little shorter than Sano, with dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin. They were all very tan, but it was early in the summer, and the Japanese teen could tell that his new acquaintances hadn't been born in this country.
"Nani?" The look on Sano's face told the group that he hadn't understood a single word of their favorite greeting to give to newcomers.
"This guy must be from eastern Asia, and that's why he can't figure out what we're saying," a second man explained to his friends. "Let's get Chava over here... She knows a little bit in one of those languages...maybe she'll be able to get our point across to him! Hey, Chava! Can you come here for a second?"
In the mean time, Sano started trying to piece together exactly where the ship had landed (with his sense of adventure, he simply bought the ticket, regardless of where it would actually take him). Without having much luck in solving the puzzle, he attempted to back away from the group with an "I should probably be going..."
This gesture did not, of course, escape the group's attention. As the two men reached out to grab his sleeves, Sano knew this would be his 'group,' so to speak, for this portion of his journey. He watched as a young girl joined them. She seemed to be around the same age as the men, also tan, with her long hair tied back out of her face with a length of string.
"Ma nishma, Benny," Chava asked as she approached the man who had called her over. She noticed Sano off to the side, and checked him out in a similar way to how he had sized her up. "Ohhhh...Eich korim l'cha?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Benny replied, a little irritated at the fact that she hadn't yet determined the reason they had asked for her to join them. "I remembered that you knew a little bit of one of the eastern Asian languages, and I was hoping you'd be able to figure out a way to communicate with him before we all go insane."
Throughout the whole exchange, Sano just stood there, baffled at the predicament he had gotten himself into. It was amazing how much the girl reminded him of jou-chan, at least in temper. He was wandering around inside his own head for so long, though, that he didn't notice at first when the guys started chuckling.
Chava's cheeks began to turn a rosy shade. "Eynaim l'mala! Gee, guys, you sure picked out a winner here!" She was about to slap him too, but her tone of voice was enough to snap him out of his reverie in plenty of time to dodge the assault.
"Gomen," he replied, with the facial expression to match, so that he could be sure she'd understand his appology.
[A/N: At this point, the group and Sano are still speaking two different languages. I've translated most of it, partially because I don't have a wide enough vocabulary, and also to make it easier on you guys, my readers. Don't worry, the Japanese will remain pretty easy - it's the one I know less of, and there'll be a glossary at the end for the rest, so that I don't screw up the flow any more than I already have.]
"Well, at least he has some good points, like knowing how to treat a woman... and he is kinda cute..." Chava thought as she tried to translate a phrase in her head that she thought Sano would understand. After trying it out on him, however, she discovered that whatever language it was she had learned wasn't in any way similar to his. "Okay, next thing I'm gonna try... Do you understand any English?"
Of course, with English already becoming one of the more common world languages, and Sano having traveled east from Japan (therefore already going through America), his face all of a sudden lit up as he recognized the words of her last question. "Yes," he exclaimed, "but not very much. I'm from Japan, and my name is Sagara Sanosuke."
"Alright! Now we're finally getting somewhere," the first man seemed ecstatic that they had managed to find a means of communication with their new friend. "Sagara's a pretty funny sounding name, though... but anyway, I'm Adam Levine, and this is Benny Nathan, and this lovely young lady is Chava Aronson."
"No, my name is Sanosuke. We put the other first in Japan. It's good to meet you, Levine-san, Nathan-san, and Aronson-san." He laughed at the thought that something so simple to him seemed so backwards to these people.
"I can see we have a lot to work on with you, starting with breaking down the language barrier," Chava commented. "You seem to know enough English, that we can use that to translate."
"But anyway, it's good to meet you, Sa...no...sk..." Benny tried pronouncing the difficult Japanese name.
"Just call me Sano. That should be easier."
"Okay, Sano," Benny replied as relief washed over his face to know that the Japanese man already had a usable, comfortable nickname. "Welcome to Israel!"
End Chapter 1
A/N: So, Sano's landed himself in Israel. No wonder he didn't understand a word anyone was saying! Don't worry, hopefully that won't last too long.
I was hoping for this to kinda be a time-warp. Sano left to travel the world at the end of the Jinchuu arc...who knows where he ended up along the way? I know more about modern Israel, the only problem being that it doesn't really mesh with the time period... oh well... There's lots of interesting places to visit, and it's such a small country, that I'm sure he'll be able to hit all the major attractions with his new friends.
Why does he trust these people all of a sudden, you ask? Well, it wouldn't be much of a story without him making some friends... Again, don't worry, he'll have enough to deal with in the near future, that it might even come in handy to have this new group... not that I'm promising anything, just posing a possibility. I have no idea where this story is headed, so stay tuned!
Baruch Ha-ba - welcome
Eretz - land (as in, Land of Israel)
Enayim L'mala - literally, eyes up. Apparently, Sano's mind and eyes were wandering to places where they shouldn't really have been at that time...;)
Eich korim l'cha - What's your name? literally, 'how are you called?'
Ma nishma - What's going on? or, what's up?
PS. Like I mentioned in the middle of the chapter, even though the dialogue was mostly in English for a while, they didn't start to understand what the other was saying until Chava asked Sano if he spoke English.