Tokonatsu no Kuni, Everlasting Summer
by: sakuramimato (sakuramimato@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: All characters (unless original) are owned by Akiyoshi Hongo.
Author's Note: Sorry, should I add English translations to the Japanese phrases? I forget sometimes, thinking that this is one of my Japanese class assignments. ;_; Gomen nasai! (I'm really sorry!)
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Chapter 02
Yamato left the magazine on his bed and let out a sigh as he stood up and began walking to the door. 'Damned step ladder.' He recalled the incident of falling on Mimi when she walked in. He had been putting up a poster on the wall when she had entered, hitting the ladder on its support and causing it to collapse. Before he knew it, he had the chestnut-haired beauty pinned beneath his body, and his head had rested itself upon her chest. His face flared red and he shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of any unwanted thoughts. 'She must think I'm a pervert now. Ugh, of all the things!!'
Deciding on taking a short walk and possibly apologizing to Mimi about what had happened, he left the cabin.
'"Housing assignments are interesting this summer. You might be in for a shock." ... Hm, Taichi, you didn't possibly know that this was going to happen, right?' Mimi thought to herself as she lay among some flowers on top of a hill ovelooking the entire campsite. 'And Yamato-kun didn't seem like he knew about it either. Oh, well. I guess I can try to be friends with him this time. I screwed up a bit back in junior high. Aw, poor Yamato.' She slumped over, pulling more daisies into her arms until she had enough to act as a pillow. 'Etoo.. Why am I all alone then? I should be cheering up Yamato-kun for what I did earlier, aw I'm so sorry! Hn?'
Lost in her thoughts, she noticed that the door to her cabin click open as Yamato's blonde hair shone freely in the light. She was practically gazing over the side of the low-lying hill when a wind picked up, carrying some of the daisies from her hand and letting them glide down toward him. Noticing that the flowers seemed to come out of nowhere, Yamato paused and looked up where the flowers originated. A head of chestnut peeked over the ridge and gave off a shy smile as she knelt near the edge to greet the person her flowers had disturbed. "Konnichi wa, Yamato-kun. How are you doing?"
"Tachikawa, I won't take any responsibility if you managed to fall from there." he warned, looking away from her. 'What the hell is she doing up there anyways?'
"Mm.." a slight frown overcame her face after hearing those words. "Hai, thanks for the concern, Yamato-kun, but ow.. you having to call me by my last name.. that hurt. Aren't I your friend enough for you to call me by my first name?"
'What?' Yamato felt his cheeks reddening as her words came to him. He looked up and began to reply, but she cut him off.
"Besides, you're my roommate for the whole month before the next school term starts, Yama-cchi!" she smiled at her new nickname for him. "We shouldn't be on acquainted terms, right? I wouldn't want to be on bad terms with you, so about earlier--"
"Forget it." Yamato took his attention away from her and began walking along the path. 'I don't even know why I bothered to talk to her.'
'..Nani?' Mimi sighed as she watched him retreat, unaware that the wind had begun to pick up. 'I don't know what I did wrong. I was only trying to be his friend. Hmm.. Maybe he doesn't like me at all and only thinks of me as a bother? Heh.'
With the flowers in hand, she decided to walk back down to the campground and get her things from Sora's room. Holding the bundle under one arm and poking at the flowers with another as she walked, she wondered how she could get Yamato to like her. 'As a friend.' She paused for a second and let the words repeat in her mind for a moment and resumed her walk, trying to suppress any past memories that would return to her.
'It was back when I was in America, after moving away from my home country due to the Digimon attacks.. I used to be set apart from the young American kids of many different backgrounds because I couldn't speak their language very well and they all spoke with one another with the same words, as if I couldn't understand what they were saying. And they were right. I couldn't understand what they were saying and felt even more alone than anything else, being separated from my summer camp friends of those old adventurous days.
'The thing is, they couldn't understand that they were hurting me by rejecting me just because I couldn't tranlate the words they were speaking. I tried every now and then, joining their groups, trying to feel as if I belonged, but they rejected me anyways. Was it my clothes? Was it my hair? Was it because I was new? Maybe it was all of them, or maybe it was just me they didn't like?
'I came to understand how different things were in America and how different life was compared to Japan. Around February, the Valentine's tradition seemed to be a combination of White Day and Valentine's Day*. I walked through the halls, observing the displays of affection during the school day and saw not only the girls giving the guys chocolates (namely, their boyfriends), but the guys also showering the girls with flowers and candy.
(A/N: In Japan, the girls give chocolates to the guys they like on Valentines Day (handmade if they like the boy enough), February 14, and one month later, March 14, the guys either return chocolates to the girls or give chocolates to the girls that they like on White Day.)
'I was in America for almost half a year by that time, and finding my heart exhausted by the scenes that flew past me that day, I tucked myself away in the school halls, feeling even more isolated than I had when I first arrived. Valentine's Day of my seventh grade year in junior high in America (first-year junior high in Japan), I met the first person ever to befriend me.
'He was a blonde-haired boy with pale blue eyes who greeted me with "Hajimemashite". I was shocked to hear the clear Japanese accent with those words and felt a bit of humiliation as he had seen me with those tears. I wanted to be loved once again, or at least feel like I belonged, just like I did in Japan, and the past couple of months since junior high began, I had lost hope in ever finding friendship.
'The boy was Maikkeru, or Michael in the American tongue, and he bowed low for me while I was on the floor, weeping jealously at the American kids that had found belonging with the others, no, love among other people. Michael was bowing to me in greeting, and he offered me a hand up upon regaining his composure. I gladly accepted and presented my name with the accompanied "Doozo yoroshiku," feeling at ease, having to say the greeting once again.
'Before long, Michael and I became the best of friends, always eating together at lunch, taking the bus home together, studying with one another and comparing grades. One-sidedly he often walked me to class and carried my books while I repaid him with a homemade obentou (boxed lunch). Through him, I managed to excel in English, no matter how outrageous the language is, and I had begun to grow slightly in popularity among the American classmates that I had. Being able to communicate with them, I guess they found me more appealing, but my heart and attention still lay with Michael as he had been the one to rescue me when I was alone.
'Valentine's Day my eighth grade year, I managed to make up some homemade chocolate for Michael-kun, thanks to the home ec classes I had been taking. It took me quite a while to get the courage enough to present the nicely wrapped box in pink to him and he sweetly smiled at me for the chocolates, accepting them and giving me a bow in thanks. I couldn't help but feel more appreciated by his gratitude. While opening the box, he gave a short chuckle and told me that it was already February 15th in Japan. "You're a couple hours late of Valentine's Day, Mimi-chan." Without even trying, he caused me to blush redder than any boy had ever been able to, and he just grinned sweetly, patting me on the head saying that it was okay just as long as I had kept him in his thoughts.
'A month passed and I had been lazily walking through the halls, slightly burned out from the information the teachers were trying to hammer into my head. After putting away the textbooks that I didn't need into my locker at the end of the day, I found Michael leaning on the locker beside mine after I had closed it. He smiled and handed me a neatly wrapped box in white. After being away from Japan for three years, I had forgotten about White Day and was surprised to find that it was some homemade chocolate for me in memory of White Day.
'From that day on, I knew that Michael mean more to me than anything else, and I grew to love him because of his sweetness and kindness.
'The schoolyear passed and Michael and I promoted from junior high together. My mom and dad were crying over me as I had on my cap and gown, repeatedly praising me about how much I had grown. I hadn't seen Michael during the promotion ceremony, but as I was getting ready to leave with my parents, he called out my name and had in his arms a large bouquet of flowers with a letter written in his own Japanese handwriting: You did well this year, Mimi-chan. I couldn't help but feel the tears fall from my eyes and he gave me a smile saying, "If you want to hug me, tell me and I'll gladly place your flowers down. You wouldn't want them to be wrecked, right?" I nodded and told him that it was no need, giving him a hug with the flowers still in his arms. Taking off one of the flowers, he placed a daisy in my hair and bid me farewell. That was the first hug I ever had with him.
'By the time of my freshman year in high school, Michael and I continued to hang out together, but our classes together were little and for him to be able to walk me to class, I'd have to risk his tardiness, so we dropped the walks together for the sake of our education. There was also another problem that kept me from being with Michael all the time: my forever growing popularity. The upperclassmen boys continually prodded me and pursued me to the extent that harassment was being brought upon me. Michael hadn't known of my troubles until he found a senior forcing himself onto me near my locker after I had finished with my supplementary language course. While the two were fighting amongst themselves, I attempted to help Michael-kun out, but ended up being thrown against a locker and blacking out. Regaining consciousness, I found my eyes fixed on the white shirt the boys had to wear for their school uniforms. It was dark and Michael's shirt had been torn. He was kind enough to lend his jacket to me even though the winters in New York brought forth heavy snow.
'My love for him had grown so much that I couldn't bear not being by his side anymore. Searching through the halls during Valentine's Day, I learned from Michael's classmates that he no longer attended school with me; he went to study abroad in another country. I had the chocolates prepared for him, my words thought out for him, my confession -- but he was nowhere to be found and the administration office could only confirm my greatest fear.
'That was the time my first true love left me, before I even had a chance to admit that I felt that way for him. Not knowing what else to do, I returned to my locker and found a white box on top of a sheet of paper with the words "Gomen nasai" written in Japanese. And my heart crumpled up as I had the paper clutched in my hand.
'My parents announced that we would be moving back to Odaiba, just in time for the beginning of my third year in junior high that very same day.'
Mimi sighed and shook her head at the old memories, turning around to see the trail of daisies that she had left behind. Only a single flower remained and she tucked it behind the same ear the last one had been. Finally reaching Sora's cabin, she found the door unlocked, opening it to find a couple making out with the shades drawn.
by: sakuramimato (sakuramimato@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: All characters (unless original) are owned by Akiyoshi Hongo.
Author's Note: Sorry, should I add English translations to the Japanese phrases? I forget sometimes, thinking that this is one of my Japanese class assignments. ;_; Gomen nasai! (I'm really sorry!)
---------------------------------------------
Chapter 02
Yamato left the magazine on his bed and let out a sigh as he stood up and began walking to the door. 'Damned step ladder.' He recalled the incident of falling on Mimi when she walked in. He had been putting up a poster on the wall when she had entered, hitting the ladder on its support and causing it to collapse. Before he knew it, he had the chestnut-haired beauty pinned beneath his body, and his head had rested itself upon her chest. His face flared red and he shook his head violently, trying to rid himself of any unwanted thoughts. 'She must think I'm a pervert now. Ugh, of all the things!!'
Deciding on taking a short walk and possibly apologizing to Mimi about what had happened, he left the cabin.
'"Housing assignments are interesting this summer. You might be in for a shock." ... Hm, Taichi, you didn't possibly know that this was going to happen, right?' Mimi thought to herself as she lay among some flowers on top of a hill ovelooking the entire campsite. 'And Yamato-kun didn't seem like he knew about it either. Oh, well. I guess I can try to be friends with him this time. I screwed up a bit back in junior high. Aw, poor Yamato.' She slumped over, pulling more daisies into her arms until she had enough to act as a pillow. 'Etoo.. Why am I all alone then? I should be cheering up Yamato-kun for what I did earlier, aw I'm so sorry! Hn?'
Lost in her thoughts, she noticed that the door to her cabin click open as Yamato's blonde hair shone freely in the light. She was practically gazing over the side of the low-lying hill when a wind picked up, carrying some of the daisies from her hand and letting them glide down toward him. Noticing that the flowers seemed to come out of nowhere, Yamato paused and looked up where the flowers originated. A head of chestnut peeked over the ridge and gave off a shy smile as she knelt near the edge to greet the person her flowers had disturbed. "Konnichi wa, Yamato-kun. How are you doing?"
"Tachikawa, I won't take any responsibility if you managed to fall from there." he warned, looking away from her. 'What the hell is she doing up there anyways?'
"Mm.." a slight frown overcame her face after hearing those words. "Hai, thanks for the concern, Yamato-kun, but ow.. you having to call me by my last name.. that hurt. Aren't I your friend enough for you to call me by my first name?"
'What?' Yamato felt his cheeks reddening as her words came to him. He looked up and began to reply, but she cut him off.
"Besides, you're my roommate for the whole month before the next school term starts, Yama-cchi!" she smiled at her new nickname for him. "We shouldn't be on acquainted terms, right? I wouldn't want to be on bad terms with you, so about earlier--"
"Forget it." Yamato took his attention away from her and began walking along the path. 'I don't even know why I bothered to talk to her.'
'..Nani?' Mimi sighed as she watched him retreat, unaware that the wind had begun to pick up. 'I don't know what I did wrong. I was only trying to be his friend. Hmm.. Maybe he doesn't like me at all and only thinks of me as a bother? Heh.'
With the flowers in hand, she decided to walk back down to the campground and get her things from Sora's room. Holding the bundle under one arm and poking at the flowers with another as she walked, she wondered how she could get Yamato to like her. 'As a friend.' She paused for a second and let the words repeat in her mind for a moment and resumed her walk, trying to suppress any past memories that would return to her.
'It was back when I was in America, after moving away from my home country due to the Digimon attacks.. I used to be set apart from the young American kids of many different backgrounds because I couldn't speak their language very well and they all spoke with one another with the same words, as if I couldn't understand what they were saying. And they were right. I couldn't understand what they were saying and felt even more alone than anything else, being separated from my summer camp friends of those old adventurous days.
'The thing is, they couldn't understand that they were hurting me by rejecting me just because I couldn't tranlate the words they were speaking. I tried every now and then, joining their groups, trying to feel as if I belonged, but they rejected me anyways. Was it my clothes? Was it my hair? Was it because I was new? Maybe it was all of them, or maybe it was just me they didn't like?
'I came to understand how different things were in America and how different life was compared to Japan. Around February, the Valentine's tradition seemed to be a combination of White Day and Valentine's Day*. I walked through the halls, observing the displays of affection during the school day and saw not only the girls giving the guys chocolates (namely, their boyfriends), but the guys also showering the girls with flowers and candy.
(A/N: In Japan, the girls give chocolates to the guys they like on Valentines Day (handmade if they like the boy enough), February 14, and one month later, March 14, the guys either return chocolates to the girls or give chocolates to the girls that they like on White Day.)
'I was in America for almost half a year by that time, and finding my heart exhausted by the scenes that flew past me that day, I tucked myself away in the school halls, feeling even more isolated than I had when I first arrived. Valentine's Day of my seventh grade year in junior high in America (first-year junior high in Japan), I met the first person ever to befriend me.
'He was a blonde-haired boy with pale blue eyes who greeted me with "Hajimemashite". I was shocked to hear the clear Japanese accent with those words and felt a bit of humiliation as he had seen me with those tears. I wanted to be loved once again, or at least feel like I belonged, just like I did in Japan, and the past couple of months since junior high began, I had lost hope in ever finding friendship.
'The boy was Maikkeru, or Michael in the American tongue, and he bowed low for me while I was on the floor, weeping jealously at the American kids that had found belonging with the others, no, love among other people. Michael was bowing to me in greeting, and he offered me a hand up upon regaining his composure. I gladly accepted and presented my name with the accompanied "Doozo yoroshiku," feeling at ease, having to say the greeting once again.
'Before long, Michael and I became the best of friends, always eating together at lunch, taking the bus home together, studying with one another and comparing grades. One-sidedly he often walked me to class and carried my books while I repaid him with a homemade obentou (boxed lunch). Through him, I managed to excel in English, no matter how outrageous the language is, and I had begun to grow slightly in popularity among the American classmates that I had. Being able to communicate with them, I guess they found me more appealing, but my heart and attention still lay with Michael as he had been the one to rescue me when I was alone.
'Valentine's Day my eighth grade year, I managed to make up some homemade chocolate for Michael-kun, thanks to the home ec classes I had been taking. It took me quite a while to get the courage enough to present the nicely wrapped box in pink to him and he sweetly smiled at me for the chocolates, accepting them and giving me a bow in thanks. I couldn't help but feel more appreciated by his gratitude. While opening the box, he gave a short chuckle and told me that it was already February 15th in Japan. "You're a couple hours late of Valentine's Day, Mimi-chan." Without even trying, he caused me to blush redder than any boy had ever been able to, and he just grinned sweetly, patting me on the head saying that it was okay just as long as I had kept him in his thoughts.
'A month passed and I had been lazily walking through the halls, slightly burned out from the information the teachers were trying to hammer into my head. After putting away the textbooks that I didn't need into my locker at the end of the day, I found Michael leaning on the locker beside mine after I had closed it. He smiled and handed me a neatly wrapped box in white. After being away from Japan for three years, I had forgotten about White Day and was surprised to find that it was some homemade chocolate for me in memory of White Day.
'From that day on, I knew that Michael mean more to me than anything else, and I grew to love him because of his sweetness and kindness.
'The schoolyear passed and Michael and I promoted from junior high together. My mom and dad were crying over me as I had on my cap and gown, repeatedly praising me about how much I had grown. I hadn't seen Michael during the promotion ceremony, but as I was getting ready to leave with my parents, he called out my name and had in his arms a large bouquet of flowers with a letter written in his own Japanese handwriting: You did well this year, Mimi-chan. I couldn't help but feel the tears fall from my eyes and he gave me a smile saying, "If you want to hug me, tell me and I'll gladly place your flowers down. You wouldn't want them to be wrecked, right?" I nodded and told him that it was no need, giving him a hug with the flowers still in his arms. Taking off one of the flowers, he placed a daisy in my hair and bid me farewell. That was the first hug I ever had with him.
'By the time of my freshman year in high school, Michael and I continued to hang out together, but our classes together were little and for him to be able to walk me to class, I'd have to risk his tardiness, so we dropped the walks together for the sake of our education. There was also another problem that kept me from being with Michael all the time: my forever growing popularity. The upperclassmen boys continually prodded me and pursued me to the extent that harassment was being brought upon me. Michael hadn't known of my troubles until he found a senior forcing himself onto me near my locker after I had finished with my supplementary language course. While the two were fighting amongst themselves, I attempted to help Michael-kun out, but ended up being thrown against a locker and blacking out. Regaining consciousness, I found my eyes fixed on the white shirt the boys had to wear for their school uniforms. It was dark and Michael's shirt had been torn. He was kind enough to lend his jacket to me even though the winters in New York brought forth heavy snow.
'My love for him had grown so much that I couldn't bear not being by his side anymore. Searching through the halls during Valentine's Day, I learned from Michael's classmates that he no longer attended school with me; he went to study abroad in another country. I had the chocolates prepared for him, my words thought out for him, my confession -- but he was nowhere to be found and the administration office could only confirm my greatest fear.
'That was the time my first true love left me, before I even had a chance to admit that I felt that way for him. Not knowing what else to do, I returned to my locker and found a white box on top of a sheet of paper with the words "Gomen nasai" written in Japanese. And my heart crumpled up as I had the paper clutched in my hand.
'My parents announced that we would be moving back to Odaiba, just in time for the beginning of my third year in junior high that very same day.'
Mimi sighed and shook her head at the old memories, turning around to see the trail of daisies that she had left behind. Only a single flower remained and she tucked it behind the same ear the last one had been. Finally reaching Sora's cabin, she found the door unlocked, opening it to find a couple making out with the shades drawn.