Mixing Cultures-Chapter 3
"Repent, motherfuckers!" Those are the words emerging from Alfred's T.V. right now. He's watching Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt and he's loving it! "Holy crap, man! This show is awesome!" Al couldn't believe that Kiku's country made such a crazy, raunchy, and hilarious show. 'Oh! I should call my Japanese bro and thank him for importing the show,' Alfred was thinking. 'Hmm... The time difference might be a problem, though. Eh, whatever! He won't mind!' So, he grabbed the remote and paused the show right before Panty and Stocking got to fight with the Demon sisters. 'Can't wait to watch that! Let me get this call done, though.'
"Netto geemu sekai wa kyou mo
kaku ri aware habikoru koritsu zu
Riaru no sekai wa asu mo
boku nuki de kinou shite mawaru-"
The Vocaloid ringtone suddenly ceased. The cellphone had been answered by a sleepy Mr. Honda. While it was 3:00 P.M. in America, it is 4:00 A.M. in Japan. Kiku answered the phone in a quiet, groggy voice, "H-Herro? (Hello?)" A loud, cheerful, and definitely wakeful voice spoke back. "Yo, Kiku! What's up, bro?" He knew it was Alfred. No one else spoke the way he did. "Eto, Arufuredo-san, you do rearizu what taimu it is, raito? (Um, Alfred, you do realize what time it is, right?)" Kiku responded, trying to still be polite. "Oh, it's late over there, isn't it? Heh, sorry, dude! I forgot," replied Alfred, feeling a bit of guilt for talking to him when he was sleeping.
The Japanese one sighed, due to still wanting to get back to his rest, and because of the meeting he was having with his boss in a few hours. He, however, still didn't hang up. This was his closest friend, after all. "No, it'su fainu. I'ru sutei up a bit ronga. It'su been a wairu since we habu supoken. (No, it's fine. I'll stay up a bit longer. It's been a while since we have spoken.)" Al was glad that Kiku wasn't mad or vexed. He was his best bro (and crush maybe?), so he cared if they were on good terms or not. "That's a relief, man! Thanks!" Tired or not, hearing the American's voice always made Kiku smile. So energetic, confident, cocky, and sweet, all in one. 'Eh? Do friends always think so highly of each other like that?' Kiku wondered.
"Anyway, man, I don't wanna keep you up too long. A hero would never let their friend get into trouble!" Al stated happily. Kiku was confused. "What churabaru? (What trouble?)" He chuckled and said " Well, I'm guessing that you have work in the morning. Am I right? Did I guess it?" Kiku was surprised. He hit that right on the nail and he was an ocean away from him. "Y-Yes. You are raito. How did you know zato? (You are right. How did you know that?)" Alfred smiled from his end of the call. "Because, man, we're best buds! I owe it to ya to know when you have free time and when ya don't. Makes sense, huh?" Al stated, still smiling. "Ah, zato's churu. Sankyuu foru going zat ekusutura mairu. (Ah, that's true. Thank you for going that extra mile.)" Kiku stated smiling as well. 'So considerate. Alfred-san really is a good friend to me," the Japanese man thought.
"Ano, Arufuredo-san (Alfred-san)," Kiku started saying. He forgot to ask what the purpose of this call fron his American friend was. '(sigh) It's always fun to talk to Alfred-san. It actually makes me very happy when I speak to him,' Kiku mentally said. 'Very happy... I also get this oddly warm feeling when I'm with him... Like, as if, I-' His thoughts were cut off when a semi-concerned voice said "Uh, Earth to Kiku. You still there, dude?" The Japanese man replied, his mind scolding him for spacing out. "Oh, I amu stiru here. I'm so sorry, my furendo. I was shinkiingu. (Oh, I am still here. I'm so sorry, my friend. I was thinking.)" The American chuckled a little. "No problem, man. Anyway, what were you asking?" What was he going to ask again? Oh, yeah. He remembered now. So many things distracted him, along with the fact that he's still in the middle of sleep deprivation as they speak. "Ah, yes. So, I was going tsu asuku what you carred foru? (So, I was going to ask what you called for?)"
Alfred had a face of realization. He forgot to say what he even called for. He kept detouring the conversation. He started feeling bad because he was keeping his friend up and he didn't even call for anything important. Now, it was his turn to space out. 'Man, sometimes, I suck as a friend. I was just so excited 'cause I had an excuse to talk to my best bud. This was totally selfish and heroes are NOT selfish.' Alfred gradually began frowning at how inconsiderate he's being at the moment. 'I just love hanging out with him. He may be quiet and awkward at times, but it's cute...' Then his expression changed. It was one of those faces that just said "What the hell?!"
"Arufuredo-san? What did you carru foru? (Alfred-san What did you call for?)" Kiku inquired. Alfred decided to save the unimportant topic for later and tell a little white lie. "Y'know what? I totally forgot. Sorry for wasting your time, dude." Kiku was too tired to sense that it was a lie, so he believed him. "Oh, OK. Werru, it was naisu to supiiku tsu you. I am going tsu suriipu. (Well, it was nice to speak to you. I am going to sleep.)" Al nodded in understanding, a bit sad that the conversation has to end. That was the negative of time zones for him. "OK, man. Talk to you later. As you guys like to say, ohyasuumi nahsai (oyasumi nasai)." Kiku made a mental note to help his American friend with Japanese pronunciation, for that made him cringe a little. "Oyasumi nasai, Arufuredo-san."
Alfred pressed "end call" on his smart phone and put it back in his pocket. He then sat back on his couch and pondered. '(sigh) Hope he doesn't get in trouble in the morning. Getting someone into an issue is the opposite of what heroes do. Ah, well. We can have an Otaku convo some other time.' Al grabbed his remote and was about to press play when another thought came to mind. 'And why did I keep thinking those thoughts about him...?' He eventually shrugged the thought off so to not further confuse or worry himself and continued enjoying an afternoon of Panty and Stocking. "Whoo! I love these bitches!"
From Kiku's side, he pressed "end call" on his kawaii cellphone (that had a negi cellphone strap on it) and set it on his dresser. Then he yawned and settled back into his soft futon. Before fully going to sleep, he thought about the call and the foreshadowed morning. 'I get a feeling that my morning will not be as easy as I thought. Even so, I don't trruly believe that Alfred-san's call was a waste of time.' A small smile appears on his features as he thinks of Alfred. 'I wish that I wasn't busy tomorrow. I would think of asking Alfred to come to Japan.' He then shook his head, voiding the idea. 'No, I couldn't ask that of him. Besides, I have a lot of work to do. It will be stressful, but I will not give up. Gambatte, as my people would.' He caught a glance of the clock and it turned out to be five A.M. The friends spoke for a full hour. He frowned a bit at the loss of sleep, but then he smiled a bit at what it was lost for.
'Oh, Alfred...' He then made himself comfortable and relaxed slowly into sleep.
'Aishiteru...'
AN: Hello, people! I am back to writing again! I will try to update again as soon as I can. I'm sorry for the long wait, but I've been really busy. Luckily, I found some free time to make this chapter. Am I still doing good with this story? Do you guys like my Anime allusions? Are you guys annoyed with Kiku's accent? Review and tell me, OK? I don't normally ask for reviews, but it's a nice form of motivation for me to continue. After all, I may be somewhat good at writing, but it's not my main talent. Anyway, sorry for droning on. Before I go, yes, Kiku's ringtone is "Online Gaming Addicts Sprechchor" by Hatsune Miku. Thanks for reading!