Hi all, starblack17 here! first of all, sorry for my gramatical error, I'm not fluent in English, i hope my story still readable to you all.
Quite a random background eh? hehehe... how an Arab-Japanese from Israel could wound up in small town like Itomori? i hope Mr. Mohammad Sarsur could give us some enlightment about that :D
~o~
2013, the year when i saw the greatest disaster, and the weirdest experience in my entire life.
That was the time when i saw with my own eyes, the destruction of my mother's hometown, when the beauty sight of that comet also bring its own judgment.
"God have mercy...God have mercy...God have mercy..."
That was the only words i repeat when i was saw that disaster...
.
.
.
.
"Hey...Mo!"
The shouting voice wake me up from my daydreaming, that's the voice of my friend, Ya'akov.
~o~
"Hey Mo, too early for daydreaming right?" Ya'akov start to talk to me and take the seat beside my seat in the class
"Hmm...just a little bit bored, hey, for this week, Maccabi will face Kiryat Shmona right?" i'm try to find another topic for both us, football seems to be the best topic for us now.
"Yep, you'll watch it at the stadion?"
"Yeah...I think i will.."
"Hey..you should bring your mother's "shawarma katsu" man..that food rocks!"
"It just a piece of chicken katsu inside pita bread, okay, i tell my mother if she can make some for our match snack."
"Great! no more hunger! hahaha!"
I just smirked and continue to see the sky through our class window.
Looking my longing eyes, Ya'akov start to look concerned
"Sorry for asking, but..the reason you always seems daydreaming... its that because your time in Japan?"
I hear his question, but i unconsciously didn't answer that
"It's okay if you didn't want to speak about that, once again, sorry for ask...
"No, that's okay, i'm just spaced out, i'll tell the story to you when we have much time"
"Don't worry, we can talk about that in another time, by the way, it looks like our next class will be started shortly, i'll back to my seat okay?"
"Kay!"
After that, our mathematic teacher comes to our class and put some of her belonging to her table.
~o~
Gifu, Japan, one years ago...
When people says Japan, my mind will full of the picture of Tokyo, with its high buildings, its lifestyle, and all that big city has.
After me and my parents arrived in my mother's hometown, well...you can say i'm a little bit surprised.
Itomori
My mother always tell me that Itomori is just small town with a lake in the center, nothing interesting about that.
With only one convenience store that only open until 9 PM, trains that only come every 2 hours, rice and grass field as far as my eyes can see and no cafe whatsoever, its really far from my images about Japan, that myself wrongfully assimilate with images about Tokyo.
But my mother always says that there's two things that makes her love her hometown so much.
"It's close-knit and peaceful"
And it really does, far from blasting city life in Tel-Aviv.
~o~
I'm really nervous about my Japanese Language, yes, my mother taught me Japanese since i was 8 years old, but with only my mother as my speaking partner for years, i still not fully confident to talk with my new classmates.
And the weird thing (for me) is she always taught and speak formal Japanese and not taught me dialects from her hometown.
Well...time to put my Arabic and Hebrew aside and be a full dedicated "nihonjin".
Then, the first school break as a student in Japan come
"Hi...err..Sa~su~san"
"Hi"
One of my new classmate greets me
Whuffft..first conversation imminent
"Err..sorry if i spell your name wrong."
"It's OK, don't worry about that."
The fact is, i'm not having too much concern about how people here in Itomori would spell my name.
"My name is Takeya, Hideo Takeya, nice to meet you!"
"Hi Takeya-san, Mohammad Sarsur here!"
There's my first handshake in Itomori
"Actually Sa~Su~san, can i ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Err..how to spell your surname correctly?"
Well..unexpected question, i think..
"Hmm..actually the "s" is like the usual "sa" and "su", but with more pressing to your upper mouth, and the "a" sound is more like "o", but it's like your mouth try to make "o" but you try to make "a" voice."
Hideo's face show unsurprising confusion, that's my best shot to explain Arabic letter pronunciation to Japanese people.
"But don't think about it too much, you can still call me Sa~Su~, that's how i wrote my surname in katakana in front of the class, right?"
"Yeah..hehehe, i think it works"
~o~
Two weeks in Itomori, I started to have friends and knowing some local resident, i also started to adapt myself in Itomori, okay..maybe Itomori didn't have big mall, fancy restaurant, or nicest falafel* seller in the world, but honestly, i try to enjoy my life in this small town and it didn't bad at all. Go to school, join football club, grab some snacks and drinks in our only convenience store with Hideo (now i called him in first name basis), some strolling around the town, yeah..sometimes it feels boring, but like my mother says, it's so peaceful here.
At one day after school, Me and Hideo are on the way to go home, my eyes hooked up to the lake, full of curiousity, i ask Hideo about that lake
"Hey Hideo, do you know how that lake was formed?"
"Err...people said that some thousand years ago, there was a meteor strike here, and the impact of the meteor builds a crater, and because that, the lake was formed"
"Meteor huh, must be a big one"
"Wait..do you have more superlative word than "big"? I'm sure that the meteor was so enormous! do you couldn't see the crater size?" Hideo jokingly mad to me.
"Okay okay..sorry for my limited vocabulary."
Both of us laughing about this conversation.
At the front of Hideo's house, i say my parting to him, resuming my way to my home.
~o~
I hope i'm not confusing you too much, maybe the story will be on slow pace.
I tried to explain some information about him and his family in next chapter, and of course, he will meet some of canon character in the series.
-o-
*: Falafel is a traditional Egyptian and Middle Eastern food. It's a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both. Sometimes serves with a pita bread.
