[Ken]
Plane flights are, as a rule, boring. If you think sitting in one chair for an hour with nothing –and I mean nothing- to do is boring, try three and a half hours.
Sure, flying used to be exciting when I was a little kid, but back then going to the park was exciting. Killing people was unheard of. But now, I seemed to do more of the latter, and, well, planes were relatively tame.
I try to read the in flight magazine in English, being that I'm going to be speaking it a lot.
I wonder which I hate more, English or this plane flight.
The mission involves a little more research than we originally thought. We're going to have to stay there a month –hear me- an entire forsaken month, and pose as "TA"s. This is an English acronym for "teaching assistant" which, unfortunately but obviously, means that we're going to have to assist teachers in their…teaching. Aya and I are, at least. Omi's going to be a student. Youji is actually applying to be a teacher of all things. Aya pointed out that he'd have to lie on his resume to become a janitor, and he shouldn't set his sights too high, but Omi insisted that this would give him more of an "inside" look. Inside what? The teacher's lounge, most likely.
I was fairly lucky, getting to be a gym TA. I wonder if I'm supposed to say "Gym teacher's TA" or just "Gym TA". The first one sounds better, but I'm confusing myself.
Not that I have anything better to do.
I turn on the fan.
Big thrill there.
I turn it off.
And on again.
And off.
And on again.
Aya glares a stake through my heart.
Omi's head falls on my shoulder. I think he passed out before the plane took off. Omi's one of those lucky people who are able to sleep through plane flights. Omi takes this a step further, though, and he just shuts off as if he left his life force on the ground.
Youji is…somewhere.
I wonder what Omi thinks about when he's asleep. Maybe, if he's lucky enough to sleep through plane flights, maybe he's lucky enough to not have any weird dreams.
I have neither of those talents.
Will this flight ever end? It's dark out now, the white wing of the plane swallowed in thick, impermiable black.
Weiß.
Shwarz.
Eternity seems to be in black and white.
Some obscure light blinks on the wing, illuminating it briefly before the darkness closes in sullenly.
Weiß.
Shwarz.
Excuse me while I drown in irony- obvious irony that I seem to have totally missed the point of.
[Omi]
I contemplate falling asleep in the car, but Ken would probably toss me out the window and straight into the lake. What is it? Lake Michigan? Weird name.
He seemed to resent the fact that I had slept through the entire plane ride, and has told me so…over a hundred times.
It's four o'clock in the morning.
Even Ken is asleep now (I wonder just how much torture I can leech out of this tomorrow…today…whatever)
Youji's sitting in the passenger seat, snoring. It's really bugging me. Aya's driving. I wonder if he knows where we're going, it's been a heckuva long time and we haven't stopped.
"Ayaaaaaa…?"
Aya bounces a glare off the rearview mirror to nail me in the forehead. "What?"
"Well… I was just wondering if maybe… oh… you know where we're going?"
"I do."
"Oh, Okay."
Long pause.
I think I must have fallen asleep again. But when I woke up, we were parked on the side of the road, the headlights on, and Aya…gone. Ken blinked a few times and gave me a questioning look. Youji….snored.
The area seemed very residential now, quiet streets full of normal people sleeping.
Ah, to be normal.
"Ohmygosh I am SOOOO sorry! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!! I mean… we usually don't get many people around here at night…morning…. Whatever this is…"
That's not Aya.
It sounds like a girl. I roll down the window. There are three girls standing in a half circle around Aya, who, aside from looking very tired, is about to kill them in increasingly gory ways.
Sorry, Aya, but this should be good. I open the door and get up, almost tripping over Ken, who is asleep again.
"Ohayo!"
Aya stares at me.
"Erm… Good morning." I think that's right.
Maybe it wasn't. This makes them freak out all over again.
"What happened?" I ask Aya in Japanese.
"They hit us." He answers, glaring haggardly at the girls.
"Dai- erm.. are you all okay?" I shouldn't rule out the possibility of injury…
"Of course! We're just reaaaaaaally sorry, and, if there's anything we can do…"
Can they speak for themselves? I wonder.
"No. It is fine. Good da-"
"Heeeeey! There's somethin' you can do for meeee!"
Youji is out of the car. Dang.
"…sorry?"
Three confused looks.
"We're in America, Youji-kun. Go back in the car."
He obliges.
This is the weirdest forsaken night….argh.
Plane flights are, as a rule, boring. If you think sitting in one chair for an hour with nothing –and I mean nothing- to do is boring, try three and a half hours.
Sure, flying used to be exciting when I was a little kid, but back then going to the park was exciting. Killing people was unheard of. But now, I seemed to do more of the latter, and, well, planes were relatively tame.
I try to read the in flight magazine in English, being that I'm going to be speaking it a lot.
I wonder which I hate more, English or this plane flight.
The mission involves a little more research than we originally thought. We're going to have to stay there a month –hear me- an entire forsaken month, and pose as "TA"s. This is an English acronym for "teaching assistant" which, unfortunately but obviously, means that we're going to have to assist teachers in their…teaching. Aya and I are, at least. Omi's going to be a student. Youji is actually applying to be a teacher of all things. Aya pointed out that he'd have to lie on his resume to become a janitor, and he shouldn't set his sights too high, but Omi insisted that this would give him more of an "inside" look. Inside what? The teacher's lounge, most likely.
I was fairly lucky, getting to be a gym TA. I wonder if I'm supposed to say "Gym teacher's TA" or just "Gym TA". The first one sounds better, but I'm confusing myself.
Not that I have anything better to do.
I turn on the fan.
Big thrill there.
I turn it off.
And on again.
And off.
And on again.
Aya glares a stake through my heart.
Omi's head falls on my shoulder. I think he passed out before the plane took off. Omi's one of those lucky people who are able to sleep through plane flights. Omi takes this a step further, though, and he just shuts off as if he left his life force on the ground.
Youji is…somewhere.
I wonder what Omi thinks about when he's asleep. Maybe, if he's lucky enough to sleep through plane flights, maybe he's lucky enough to not have any weird dreams.
I have neither of those talents.
Will this flight ever end? It's dark out now, the white wing of the plane swallowed in thick, impermiable black.
Weiß.
Shwarz.
Eternity seems to be in black and white.
Some obscure light blinks on the wing, illuminating it briefly before the darkness closes in sullenly.
Weiß.
Shwarz.
Excuse me while I drown in irony- obvious irony that I seem to have totally missed the point of.
[Omi]
I contemplate falling asleep in the car, but Ken would probably toss me out the window and straight into the lake. What is it? Lake Michigan? Weird name.
He seemed to resent the fact that I had slept through the entire plane ride, and has told me so…over a hundred times.
It's four o'clock in the morning.
Even Ken is asleep now (I wonder just how much torture I can leech out of this tomorrow…today…whatever)
Youji's sitting in the passenger seat, snoring. It's really bugging me. Aya's driving. I wonder if he knows where we're going, it's been a heckuva long time and we haven't stopped.
"Ayaaaaaa…?"
Aya bounces a glare off the rearview mirror to nail me in the forehead. "What?"
"Well… I was just wondering if maybe… oh… you know where we're going?"
"I do."
"Oh, Okay."
Long pause.
I think I must have fallen asleep again. But when I woke up, we were parked on the side of the road, the headlights on, and Aya…gone. Ken blinked a few times and gave me a questioning look. Youji….snored.
The area seemed very residential now, quiet streets full of normal people sleeping.
Ah, to be normal.
"Ohmygosh I am SOOOO sorry! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!! I mean… we usually don't get many people around here at night…morning…. Whatever this is…"
That's not Aya.
It sounds like a girl. I roll down the window. There are three girls standing in a half circle around Aya, who, aside from looking very tired, is about to kill them in increasingly gory ways.
Sorry, Aya, but this should be good. I open the door and get up, almost tripping over Ken, who is asleep again.
"Ohayo!"
Aya stares at me.
"Erm… Good morning." I think that's right.
Maybe it wasn't. This makes them freak out all over again.
"What happened?" I ask Aya in Japanese.
"They hit us." He answers, glaring haggardly at the girls.
"Dai- erm.. are you all okay?" I shouldn't rule out the possibility of injury…
"Of course! We're just reaaaaaaally sorry, and, if there's anything we can do…"
Can they speak for themselves? I wonder.
"No. It is fine. Good da-"
"Heeeeey! There's somethin' you can do for meeee!"
Youji is out of the car. Dang.
"…sorry?"
Three confused looks.
"We're in America, Youji-kun. Go back in the car."
He obliges.
This is the weirdest forsaken night….argh.