HP characters (though they haven't shown up yet o.o; ), magical creatures (Clabberts, Kneazle), etc., (c) J. K. Rowling (duh! .)
All original characters (Auspey, her family, etc.) (c) OkamiKo Ginkiba (a.k.a. SesshysSheWolf)
Mood: Happy :D! {I just got my new puppy from a rescue center (she's a 3-4 month old, black, lab-shepherd mix). We named her Arwen }
Listening to: "It's Gonna Rain" (from Rurouni Kenshin)
= Division 1 . Propriety =
Auspey was a nice, respectable girl, most of the time. Most everyone who knew the raven-haired, gray-eyed girl said so. She obeyed her parents, and listened to and took the advice of her elders and superiors, more often than not. The sixteen-year-old was matured far past her own age, and made top marks in school. She was quiet, though typically broodingly so, but could still speak her mind superbly when she wanted to. And, despite gloomy past family affairs, Auspey managed not to get too burdened down with them. However...when the girl wanted something considerably, she usually figured out a way to get it. This time, though, things weren't working out the way she wanted...
"Douzo yoroshiku, chichi! [Father, you just can't...!]" {A-N: "douzo yoroshiku" is a rather polite "please", & "chichi" is "father"; also, whenever you see [brackets], that means the person is speaking in Japanese}
"[Yuki, I really don't...]" The graying American his rubbed his temples as he settled into his Lazy Boy with The Tokyo Oracle. "[Yuki--wait, no...]Auspey...I've made up my mind. I've already got the papers filled out and they've been signed by the officials; there's no going back now."
"But, Father...!"
"No, Auspey."
"But I like it right here in Japan! I don't want to leave!"
"....."
"Onegai...!" ={A-N: Very formal "Please", meaning something along the lines of "my prayer"}=
"Auspey, would you have your mother bring some strong sake? It was a long day at the Ministry, and I'm exhausted." {A-N: sake [sah-keh] is rice wine}
Sigh. "Yes, Father..." The teenage girl knew he wouldn't discuss it anymore at that point, so she left him to his paper.
In the kitchen she nearly ran into her slim, Japanese stepmother, about to leave with a cup of rich, brown sake.
"[Oh, Yuki!]" She smiled in a knowing way. "[Your father looked tired, so I thought I'd better prepare this, just in case.]"
"[Yeah, he wanted some,]" Auspey said sulkily. "Haha...[can't you make him change his mind? He'll listen to you.]" {A-N: haha is mother}
"[I could, but I won't. This should be a good experience for you; it will help you develop your magic further, as well as your language skills.]"
"My English skills are perfectly fine, Mother. Maybe you should go to Britain instead, so you can develop yours."
Her stepmother quirked an eyebrow. "[I'll assume that wasn't something cheeky, despite your tone.]" She nodded her head in leave. "[Your father will be wanting his sake. Oh, make sure to feed the Clabberts tonight; I caught them trying to get into Mrs. Tanaka's yard the other day, trying to get at her birds--they must be getting hungry again.]" {A-N: For more info. on Clabberts and other creatures in this fanfic, see "Fantastical Beasts & Where To Find Them" by Newt Scamander/J. K. Rowling}
"[Yes, ma'am, I'll do it in a bit...]"
Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Auspey made her way back to her room and threw herself onto a corner of her bed. Stacks of schoolbooks and papers littered the rest of the four-post, and boxes of personal belongs covered most of the rest of her room. Movie and anime advertisements, portraits of her favorite Quidditch heroes in action, and seemingly random posters cloaked her wall, the odd motionless picture mixed in here and there with the shifting ones. Her bookshelves were filled to bursting with everything from a large manga collection, to Caring For a Clabbert and More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Pet Moke!, to a dusty pile of Chocolate Frog cards and empty Bertie Bott's bags. In the far corner of the room lay a small TV and video game console, the surrounding floor littered with games and entertainment guides. Opposite of the television was a section of strange odds and ends--some shining different colors, some fizzing, and still others hovering or whirling impossibly--as well as a wand, and a large cage made out of some smoky, glass-like substance.
After a while Auspey sat up, pulling one of the schoolbooks toward her and grabbing a spare brush and roll of rice-paper. Reaching under her bed, she pulled a rather cranky-looking, silver lizard that was nearly as long as her arm up over the side. She plopped it down on her mattress, upon which it promptly shrank to the size of a mouse and scrambled under Mahou no Tsue to Ken: Wizardry in Japan's Feudal Era.={A-N: The title is "Magic Wand and Sword"}
"Gensou!" Lifting the book, Auspey peered at the tiny Moke, curled up in a fold of covers. She rolled her eyes, replacing the book on its stack. "[Gensou, if you can't even behave here, how will you behave in Britain?]" {A-N: "gensou" means "fantasy" or "illusion"}
She gave up when the cheeky lizard shriveled in size so that he could sit on a quarter and started snoozing, instead turning her attention to an essay she had started earlier. It was to be on the bloodthirsty Kappa demons and how they effected Muggles' awareness of magical creatures in the fifteenth century, assigned to her by Professor Watsuki, the dull yet eccentric Mythical Beasts teacher. She paused several moments, then dabbed her brush against an ink block and lowered it to her rice-paper, connecting the separate strokes together to become the complicated kanji characters. She worked silently, listening to the soft, almost purr-ing sound the sleeping Moke made. Occasionally the croak-like screech of a Clabbert drifting through her open window from the garden. When the other sounds faded and gradually stopped, she concentrated instead on the slight "swish-scratch" of her brush.
Finally the silence was too much to bear, and she shoved her books over to one side. She sat still for a full minute, but then suddenly balled up her fist and punched her pillow as hard as she could. Gensou the Moke shrank instinctively as he woke with a start, then irately jumped onto the windowsill, growing larger as he did.
Auspey lay down and sank into her pillow, trying not to imagine what her soon-to-be new school would be like, but all she could think was "two days..."
={A-N: Nyaa, it's kinda boring so far, but it'll get better -- I promise! Also, I'm still trying to flesh out Auspey's personality...I think I presented her as being too mopey ;;. She's really not usually like this, and she'll get better in later chapters. Also, if you couldn't tell from all the clues, she lives in Japan; however, though she speaks Japanese, too, she is not Japanese XP. Don't worry about it, you'll find out it later chapters.}=