Moonlight Sonata
By Luna Stop Swearing
A/N: Thank you for putting up with me so far, minna-san! Sentences in bold are the character's conscience communicating with him/her. Italicized sentences are the character responding to his/her conscience. (Did that make sense?)
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. The song used in the beginning of the chapter, These Living Arms, is off the Canadian band The Tea Party's album Triptych. Beautiful.
~*~*~*~
Episode 5: Scherzo
"But ain't it funny how the Fates work?
I feel cheated by the turn
Still this love it hovers over us
And the lessons that we've learned
Patience my love, it will be alright"
---These Living Arms, The Tea Party
Even though Tokyo was infamous for its noontime heat wave, today seemed to be itching to break a world record for hottest day recorded. It didn't help that Commissioner Sakurai had just announced that the school's centralized air-conditioning was on the fritz, but there was no need to worry, she said, since a technician had been contacted, and would be around shortly after lunch. Everyone had taken off at least two articles of clothing and were looking for ways to cool off. Urumi had undone her tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse and had taken off her shoes and socks, and was fanning herself with a makeshift paper fan made out of a centerfold she found lying around. Kikuchi had completely unbuttoned his polo shirt and was now leaning against the wall nearest the door, his eyes closed, trying to get shade from the shadow of the door. Yoshikawa and the rest of the boys followed suit, and soon all of their shoes were arranged in a neat line by the door, their socks stuffed in them. Kikuchi still had a cold can of Poccari Sweat, and they passed it around, placing it on their foreheads and necks and sighing with relief.
The guys were looking at Urumi, hoping it'd get hotter so she'd be left with nothing but her bra. After a while it really did hotter, and Urumi did unbutton her blouse some more, only to reveal that she was wearing a thin white T-shirt underneath (which read Screw Hikaru in blood red lettering), unlike most of the girls who usually wore those lacy, flowery bras, sometimes with matching underwear. The male contingent of the Onikumi was disappointed and was not afraid to show it. Kikuchi tried to remain passive, and ended up banged the top of his head against the wall. His demons were acting up again.
She smirked as she removed the buttons until she wore her blouse the same way the guys wore their polo shirts. "Very sorry, gentlemen. No strip tease today. I don't do that for free. Maybe next time, when you have more than 5,000 yen amongst yourselves?"
"Tease!" Kunio growled.
She laughed, and Kikuchi just closed his eyes again and stared into the black, his mind rewinding to a certain place at a certain time. The mental movie began, and he could see himself sitting by the swimming pool with Urumi during junior high. They had been laughing at Onizuka's antics (he, Kunio, Fujiyoshi, and Kusano jumped into the pool from a high beam), and Kikuchi had casually told her that she looked much better when she smiled. Gah, what's wrong with me? He groaned inwardly, staring at her exchange friendly banter with Kunio and the others.
Exactly, what's the friggin' matter with you, Yoshito? She's been your best friend…okay, good friend, since…forever! Will you throw that all away for the sake of your hormones? Just go jack off or something! Just don't act on what you feel! Before his ranting conscience could get the best of him, though, something (thankfully) interrupted it.
"I still cannot believe you got the idea of having a high school prom out of a porn movie," Kusano said in disbelief after Onizuka came out, stretching, yawning, and scratching his armpits, completely satisfied with his pornographic movie moment.
Onizuka-sensei shrugged and lit his fourth lunch cigarette (but his tenth for the day). "If it happens, it happens. And besides, I thought you kids liked these things. Asking your special someone out, getting dressed up, dancing, making out…romance! And has anyone realized that it's incredibly hot today? Feels like Morocco and not Tokyo!"
"Will you quit changing the subject?" Kunio grumbled.
"Well, it's not fun for me," Urumi mumbled. "I'd rather stay home and crunch numbers for okaa-san. Or even finish my thesis on the Philippine economy!"
"Maybe I didn't make your asshole wide enough*," Onizuka mused, eying the rear of her skirt with amusement.
Urumi was used to this, at least, around Onizuka and the Onikumi. She didn't mind it if they looked at her that way or made lewd jokes. She knew that they didn't mean anything wrong. They were just looking at her because they were men, because they had eyes. No shame in being human. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned around. Onizuka seemed disappointed, but shrugged it off. He'd had enough for the day, anyway.
"Isn't this all too time-consuming? I mean, I could work on my website more, or practice karate."
"The Prince of Ichijoji Gaming…has nothing to say concerning the matter."
"Well thank you all for being very optimistic about this! Why don't you all look on the bright side of things?" Onizuka winked knowingly. "It's all to your benefit, you know. You may not realize it now, but…"
"And how exactly is it 'to our benefit?' " Fujiyoshi demanded.
Onizuka only smiled that devil's-advocate smile of his that spoke volumes of mischief and of good times to come. "You'll see." He tilted his head back and blew a massive cloud of smoke above it. "So, who are you all planning to take to the prom? I won't tell. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my penis until it bleeds me dry…"
"That's why prom is going to be miserable for us," Kunio piped up. "We have no one to take…"
"Eh? That's a stupid excuse. There are 163 students in your batch. 78 of those are girls. It's all up to you to decide if you have the balls to ask someone out. Say, Kusano, what happened to that girl… the one whose urine sample you stole? Ai Tokiwa?"
Kusano blushed and looked away. He didn't want to be reminded of the first girl to ever smash his heart into a thousand pieces, eat the pieces, then regurgitate them. "She moved away after junior high, sensei. She's currently studying somewhere in the Kanagawa Prefecture, last I heard."
Kikuchi's ears also perked up at the mention of the girl's name. No matter how hard he tried to erase that memory, he simply could not forget the first girl that he had ever kissed (no thanks to Onizuka). And to ignore the attraction he felt towards her was easier said than done. Contrary to popular belief, Kikuchi was not a rock. He was only human, and still had the capacity to fall in love, or at least, feel love, although he chose not to act on it, because he felt that love just complicated things. The only time he had come close to breaking was shortly before junior high graduation, when he told himself that he really loved Ai Tokiwa. Before he could tell her this to her face, she moved to the Kanagawa Prefecture. Of course he had berated himself for missing such an opportunity, and went back to his original outlook on love. When he had stopped meditating on that, he realized that he had missed a lot of Onizuka's award-winning 'how-to-get-a-date' speech.
"Heh, that's the easiest part! Have a little faith in yourselves! Look at Yoshikawa. He was five centimeters shorter than Anko, but he scored! And he didn't even have twice the body strength you guys did! But look at him now!" Onizuka whacked him hard on the back and displayed him proudly, as if Yoshikawa was a prize pig that he had bred, raised, and trained (which was partially true). Needless to say, Yoshikawa didn't appreciate the sentiment much and merely frowned. Onizuka jabbed him in the ribs, rather painfully, and asked loudly, "How far have you two gone, huh? Have you been to first and a half base yet?"
Almost every day (or just whenever he felt like it), Onizuka would ask him the same question. And Yoshikawa's response was always the same-he would redden, turn away, and say, "SENSEI!" in a shocked, embarrassed, and annoyed tone. And Onizuka would always laugh, accompanied by a hearty slap on the back and words of encouragement to just go ahead to first and a half base, an Onizuka-ism which meant 'under the shirt and over the bra.' Shortly after the encouraging, Onizuka would always remind Yoshikawa to always 'bring protection,' which, in the case of first and a half base, was oven mitts.
"Oi! Seriously! Isn't anyone going to bother attending this thing? I planned it, after all." Onizuka made his Droopy face, which made everyone roll their eyes instead of eliciting compassion.
"We have a 'prom committee' meeting after lunch, whatever the hell that is," Fujiyoshi smirked.
"Oi, oi, you guys should suggest having a cosplay prom," Onizuka nodded. "That way, you don't have to dress up fancy, just come dressed as your favorite anime character. I can be Squall, no, wait… I'll be Doraemon!" He gave Murai, Kusano, and Fujiyoshi a thumbs-up, which meant that he had not forgotten the ordeal that they had put him through with the bowling balls.
Murai cringed as he remembered the jump off of Ichijoji Bridge and being hung from a tree while being punched by several goons, and flashed a finger in Onizuka's general direction in response. Their teacher laughed and returned the gesture. Kikuchi and Urumi shared a Look, reserved for just the two of them, exchanged only when they felt the dumbening down of people around them.
Sometimes it's just so hard being a genius, Urumi thought, leaning against the wall beside Kikuchi, using the now lukewarm softdrink can to massage her temples. You are ostracized by your peers for being different…they think you're an emotionless calculating machine or a living encyclopedia...or just a miracle of science. Which is true, for the most part. As if it isn't enough that I'm the daughter of a dead Russian-American uber-genius. It's nice to have someone like you who understands how you feel, who makes you feel normal, grounded…**
"Kusano?"
"What?"
"Don't eat me."
That simple statement made everyone stop bitching about how hot it was and made them focus on the boy lying face-down on the floor. Kusano stopped what he was doing, which was nothing, so it was relatively easy to stop, and stared at Fujiyoshi for a good few nanoseconds before responding. "What did you say, Fujiyoshi?"
"Don't eat me."
Kusano frowned. What's with Fujiyoshi? "Why shouldn't I eat you?"
Onizuka, who was now on his sixth lunch cigarette, cocked an eyebrow and immediately became concerned. "Ne, Fujiyoshi, you high or something? I told you not to smoke the leftovers last week!"
"Sensei, that was flour-"
"NOT ANOTHER WORD, KANZAKI!" Onizuka had bought some experimental drugs from Toshiyuki, his cop friend, over a week ago. There had been a pot session over the weekend at his 'pad,' and the Onikumi had been invited. Urumi bent down and stuck her finger in the open plastic bag and saucily sucked on it. Afterwards, she announced that it was flour. Onizuka wouldn't believe it though, and, to prove her wrong, smoked it. Flour or not, he got high, and Kunio, Kusano, and Fujiyoshi were convinced and started smoking it, too. Yoshikawa tried to leave, but they bullied him into at least trying it once (Anko found out and yelled at him, said that she wasn't going to date an addict, and broke up with him. They got back together on Monday). Needless to say, Kikuchi and Urumi did not partake in the festivities, and had in-depth discussions about Aristotle and Plato while their companions got stoned. Onizuka then elected Fujiyoshi as 'destroyer of evidence.' Many times, Urumi and Kikuchi tried to point out that it was just flour, but Onizuka kept ignoring them, and just told Fujiyoshi to dispose of the 'drugs' quickly, and not to use them. When they had all left, he went down to the precinct to punch Toshiyuki's lights out and get back his money.
"I'm soup!" Fujiyoshi exclaimed, flailing about as if he were in a swimming pool and not on the floor. "My testicles…they're… melting! THEY'RE MELTING! Save me, Kusano! Murai! KANZAKI!!!!"
"Heatstroke," Urumi said matter-of-factly, twirling her hair around her fingers. "You'd better take him to the clinic before he goes into convulsions…or says something incredibly stupid." As soon as she finished her sentence, Fujiyoshi started screaming something about Miyabi Aizawa and herbal shampoo. Apparently he felt very passionate about both. Urumi smirked. "Case in point."
"Miyabi Aizawa eh? Not a bad choice for you Fujiyoshi. Just as long as she doesn't bite your head off first," Onizuka nodded sagely, and resumed acting like Fujiyoshi was not flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water.
Kunio, Kikuchi, Yoshikawa, and Kusano quickly got up and tried subduing Fujiyoshi, who was now bordering on insanity, but Fujiyoshi started kicking them away. Urumi watched on in amusement.
"Cut it out, Fujiyoshi! We're trying to help you here!"
"THERE IS A BUY 1 TAKE 1 PROMO TODAY ON HERBAL SHAMPOO AT WATSON'S DRUGSTORE!!!!" Fujiyoshi screamed in response.
Onizuka got up and took a drag of his cigarette. Then, quickly and effortlessly, he wrestled the boy. Well, okay, it did take some effort, since Onizuka had to endure Fujiyoshi screaming about washing Miyabi's hair with herbal shampoo (The teacher also tried to ignore the sound of Urumi's laughter). As soon as his knees were resting on Fujiyoshi's stomach, Onizuka tied his sweat-soaked handkerchief around the boy's wrists, and he motioned Yoshikawa to do the same to his feet. When Yoshikawa was through (after getting kicked in the face by Fujiyoshi), Onizuka hoisted Fujiyoshi's upper body over his shoulder.
"Oi, oi, the least you guys could do is make yourselves useful," he complained. "Fujiyoshi's putting on a little weight here."
"But you can carry him by yourself!" Kunio protested.
The social studies teacher glared at him. "Do you want to write an essay on the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo?"
"And then I'm going to sing to Miyabi the song I wrote, about washing her hair with Palmolive Essentials Herbal Shampoo With Aloe Vera…"
Kunio wordlessly picked up one of Fujiyoshi's legs, and Kusano and Yoshikawa helped with the other one. They began their descent to the school clinic, followed by Urumi and Kikuchi. It looked like a funeral march, but instead of a coffin, they carried Fujiyoshi, who would just not shut the fuck up, down three long flights of stairs. He was currently singing the soundtrack of his and Miyabi's non-existent relationship. The current track was First Love by Utada Hikaru. It did not particularly help that Fujiyoshi's voice could kill small dogs and other animals of that size.
"Can someone do all of us a favor and shut him up?" Onizuka groaned when they had reached the second to the last floor. "It's bad enough that I know all the things he wants to do with Aizawa and herbal shampoo, but him singing…"
Urumi stuffed her handkerchief in Fujiyoshi's mouth.
"Hehe, good idea, Kanzaki."
She sighed. That was the most obvious of things to do… Unconsciously, she ran her palm along the smooth white wall, enjoying its coolness on her skin- a habit of hers, while she was walking along corridors; it was as if she were caressing a pet or a human face, treating the walls as if they could talk and express emotions. After all, she had spent a good part of her younger life talking to walls and telling them her secrets, hoping that they would do as a substitute for a negligent mother. Later in life, though, she realized that the walls were just like her mother, except that her mother was worse since she had the capacity for love and affection, but chose not to give it. While she was meditating on this, her conscience interrupted her. So, Urumi, Senior Prom… whoopee. Are you going?
To which Urumi responded, Depends. Do I really want to go to a stupid dance populated by the airhead cliquies of Seirin High? Sometimes she wondered whether this was schizophrenia. She did hear a voice. She conversed with it, too, albeit mentally. What was the difference between having a dispute with your conscience and actual schizophrenia?
You know you want to go. You're just scared… scared of having no one ask you to the prom, ne? You're such a silly girl, Urumi. Death doesn't frighten you, but being dateless does… what has society done to you?
Urumi frowned. She didn't like where this mental conversation was going. Shut up.
Or are you afraid that Kikuchi will ask someone else to go?
She stopped walking and stared at the wall, as if it were the one talking to her, and not her blasted conscience. Never say that to me again.
But that's what you're afraid of, isn't it?
Go away. Leave me alone. That's not true. Menteureuse!¹
Are you sure? You're lying.
Shut up. Go away… Que tu es emmerdant! ²
Then it must really affect you, Urumi-chan… you're arguing in French now… Anyway, Urumi-chan…have you thought up any schemes for the prom? Surely that would be a brilliant way to end your career as a high school student, ne?
Schemes… Truth be told, schemes had been the last thing on her mind. All she wanted right now was to graduate and take up Economics at Tokyo University. She didn't want to leave what she had and go to the land of the white man, America, to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She told her mother her plans, and even though Mrs. Kanzaki was a little disappointed that her daughter would not get the kind of education she felt Urumi needed, at least she would be happy. Schemes, schemes… How to end the school year properly…
She slumped back against the wall and started chewing her hair for quite some time (she did this a lot when she was in deep thought, and only if she was sure that she was alone) before an idea came to her. It didn't matter at all that it had taken a pretty long time to come up with the hows and the whens and the whos, the only thing that mattered was that she had a brilliant scheme. After rummaging around in her pockets for a few seconds, her hand came into contact with what she was looking for- a small notepad and a pen. She tore off several sheets and started writing.
~*~*~*~*~
The entourage soon reached the school clinic, and the hotheaded teacher started kicking at the door, since both of his hands were preoccupied. When still no one opened the door after a few seconds, he got really impatient and used Fujiyoshi's head to ram the door in.
"Oi, Moritaka-san! Moritaka-san!"
"You don't have to do that, you know," Kikuchi said, reaching over and opening the door.
"But this is an emergency!"
Kikuchi rolled his eyes. "There's still time to do things proper…ah, never mind."
The background music in the nurse's office was usually NUJAPAN 107, but even from outside, one could immediately say that the music was not from the popular rock station, but the sounds of moaning and pain, music only to a sadist's ears. The sight that greeted them was not a pleasant one, either. Like Eugène Delacroix's The Death of Sardanapalus or Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres's The Turkish Bath, bodies of students were strewn about haphazardly, at least 3 sharing each of the 5 beds in the clinic, and some were on the floor, hyperventilating and showing symptoms similar to Fujiyoshi's. Plastic yellow cups also littered the floor near the students. Naoko Moritaka was not at her desk, but putting ice on the heads of other students and cold compresses on their armpits, necks, and groins. Another thing that was noticeable about Moritaka-san was that she had taken off her doctor's coat, revealing her skimpy tank top and miniskirt.
At least something good came out of this, Kunio thought as he went inside the clinic.
Before Kikuchi could step inside the nurse's office, someone pulled him back into the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~
"Just place whoever that is on the floor," Naoko said in a tired voice as she forced some cold water into Mika Nakashima.
"What the hell?" Onizuka asked, dropping Fujiyoshi on the floor like a sack of potatoes. "What're all these kids doing here? How come they're all faking?"
Moritaka-san stood up and glared at him. "They're not faking. It's heatstroke." She tugged at her tank top. "It's just so hot today…and then the air conditioner broke… Who's my new patient?"
"Koji Fujiyoshi," Yoshikawa answered. "Year 3 Class 4."
"I know him. Just leave him…" Moritaka-san eyed the bodies piling up in her office, and the pleas for death and/or more water. It looked just like a concentration camp. All of a sudden, she didn't want to be a nurse anymore, childhood dream or not. "…somewhere… I have to call the hospital for reinforcements."
~*~*~*~*~
"What?"
"I need a favor from you."
"What is it?"
A shuffling of paper was heard, and she fished out three pieces of neatly folded notebook paper. "Deliver these to each of the presidents of the other three sections. Copy the note on the blackboard in our classroom."
"What are you up to this time? Look at me… look at me. Yes, you have that look again." The look of pure evil. What are you planning to do, Urumi? You know you can't hide anything from me.
"What do you think?"
"Something diabolical… something to do with our Seniors' Prom, am I right?"
"Oh, I could never put anything past you, Kikuchi-kun… you're a genius, after all," she replied dryly. Why are you always so mean to him, Urumi-chan? He's done nothing but be nice to you and protect you from yourself…
"What exactly are you planning?"
"Patience, Kikuchi-kun…" She smiled despicably, then turned to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with Rie Tanaka…"
Just as she had done earlier, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards him. If only he could reach inside his body and pull his telltale heart out so he could talk to Urumi properly, then he would have done that ages ago- his heartbeat was now irregularly fast. "Tell me."
Unfazed at their closeness, she calmly responded, "It's a surprise."
"I hate surprises."
"I know."
With that he gave up, and loosened his grip on her wrist. She slunk around the corner to attend her mysterious meeting with Rie Tanaka. When she was completely out of sight, he unfolded one of the papers and read its contents. After a few seconds (not much was written on it anyway), he nearly dropped the paper in surprise.
~*~*~*~*~
*Apparently if you have a small ass hole, it means that you're a coward, according to a Japanese idiom. Onizuka is referring to a scene in Volume 8 of the GTO manga where he is talking to Fujimori-sensei (Urumi's grade school teacher) and he says that her ass hole is too small, and that he'll widen it, i.e., make her braver.
**The Russian-American scientist Urumi is referring to is William Sidis, one of the most intelligent men who ever lived. His parents, Boris and Sarah Sidis were emigrant Jews who escaped anti-Semitic Russian pogroms and fled to America. William James Sidis started reading the New York Times at the age of 2, to surprise his father. He learned to spell efficiently when he was a year old. When he was 8 years old, he surpassed his father Boris (who was a genius with a Ph.D and an M.D.) in mathematics. At 11, he started lecturing about mathematics to college professors. His IQ is estimated as being from around 250-300. No, this is not Urumi's real father. This is just a speculation.
¹Feminine form of liar. Masculine version is menteur.
²"You really piss me off!" or You annoy me intensely!"
***A note on heatstroke: Causes of heatstroke include: exposure to high temperatures or humidity, dehydration, prolonged or excessive exercise, excess clothing, alcohol, medications, such as diuretics, neuroleptics, phenothiazines, and anticholinergics, cardiovascular disease, and sweat gland dysfunction. Symptoms of heatstroke include: fever (body temperature above 104 degrees F), irrational behavior, extreme confusion, dry, hot, and red skin, rapid, shallow breathing, rapid, weak pulse, seizures, and unconsciousness.
****French usage in chapters: Yes, there will be more. Actually, I was planning to have Urumi speak French only in later chapters, but I was inspired by Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (which I'm currently reading) probably the most beautiful love affair with the English language I've ever read (I'm currently on Chapter 11, not bad after a night's reading.) The beginning is so beautiful that I'm going to share it with you guys, like it or not (Yes! I have memorized it!): "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo-li-ta." If you've read Lolita, you'll know that Nabokov occasionally incorporates French into every few paragraphs or so. Anyway, apparently Urumi also thinks in French when she's harried (she speaks it whenever she feels like it), so expect more in the chapters to come.
~*~*~*~*~
What mischief does Urumi have up her sleeve this time? What exactly was inside the piece of paper that Kikuchi read? Why is Urumi's appointment with Rie Tanaka so important? Who is Rie Tanaka, anyway? For all this and more, stay tuned for the next episode of… Moonlight Sonata!
A/N: Whoo, what a chapter. If I were to give out awards for each one of my chapters, this one would receive 'Most Trouble To Write' or 'Most Revisions,' or simply "*$$#%*@(@))!!)?!!!##@#!!!" Sorry if the footnotes were a little messy. And do my eyes deceive me? No, there are more K/K fics! Four, to be exact. I checked the new ones out, and I particularly liked Then and Now by Miguel Artadi… ^__^ And hasn't anyone tried to guess the cultural references? *Pouts* Now, on to the reviews!
Riyuji.Raicho: The chapter title should give the content of the story away. Non troppo is a musical term that means 'not much.' Sorry you didn't like it much. If it helps, I didn't either. ^^;;
Scarlet: Well, not exactly morbid, but then again, maybe I'm just used to that. I must admit that that chapter was modeled after how my guy friends and I watch porn. ^^;; We've seen so much so parang wala lang. So, Urumi tolerates it kasi parang wala lang sa kanya 'yun. They've seen so much of it anyway, so same 'ol, same 'ol. Yeah, summer is indeed upon us… but I'm going to Beijing for a bit…
Shadow ScytheX: My reactions to this are somewhat related to Scarlet's. A. Not exactly true. I watch porn with my guy and girl friends. And we do talk a lot while watching. ^__^;;
Allence of the Weed: I'm still in the process of beta-ing your fic. I'm still not satisfied with my work as a beta reader, so it'll take a while.
Cryxxy-chan: Urumi and the rest of the guys have seen so much that it's like something normal for them. Thanks for reviewing!
Pyroteknix: Yeah, there's a shortage of GTO writers… so we've got to make do with what we have, ne?
Kairi21: Yes, I have four muses, my real life partners-in-crime. The complete list of names and what they do may be found in my Bio. And now, to answer your (next) question:
Where Did You Learn How To Speak Japanese? I am self-taught, since my parents won't allow me to attend a Japanese language program during the summer. I rely on books, Japanese sites, and the wonderful people on the animelyrics Japanese forum to help me understand things. Since you live in Manila, you may find these books helpful (they're what I use). They're easy to find, just look for them at National Bookstore, along with the dictionaries and thesauri:
Basic Japanese by Yukihiro Shimamura: Focuses more on the grammar aspect of Japanese. Includes basic phrases and dialogue, and translation exercises.
Lonely Planet Language Survival Kit: Japanese Phrasebook by Kam Y. Lau: This one is worth your money, and it's pocket-sized too. Has a hiragana/katakana table, a grammar section, Japanese customs, English phrases translated into Japanese with pronunciation guide, how to order food and get around Japan, and a glossary at the back of the book. It's really for tourists.
Japanese-English Dictionary Revised by Cyrus Publishing Inc.: Well, it's a Japanese-English dictionary. Nothing special. One of my first purchases.
Japanese: Every Topic by Maruyama Chiemi: Phrases for every situation: when you're out on a date, when you're talking to someone on the phone, renting a room (wink), shopping, when you're at the hospital, etc. Extremely helpful, no grammar though.
Read, Write Japanese by Persian Gulf Publications: Really, really basic hiragana, katakana, and kanji, with pictures.
It's better if you buy a real textbook though. If you want to learn for free, though, you can browse through the Japanese forum on the animelyrics forums. They have a sticky there where people post helpful Japanese learning sites. You can also attend a Japanese class over the summer. I was supposed to attend a class at this place in Manila. Sorry, I forgot the name… but when I remember I'll tell you. Hope this helped!
Seth7: I must also put in my two cents and say that that was probably the longest review I've ever received in my time as a fanfic writer. Yes, I'm aware that the legal age in Japan is 20, and there's such a thing as the Coming of Age festival. Also, I believe I mentioned in my chapter that Onizuka was purchasing/watching the stuff way before he was of legal age. As for the flopped marriage proposal flashback, I don't think it's going to happen. It's up to the reader to decide what happened when he tried to propose. And yes, gumi does mean 'group,' but 'kumi' also means 'class, group, set, team,' according to several resources. Thanks for the info on Onizuka's namesake, let me try to work him in. The tank Onizuka was reading was Volume 10, where Rei and Kira finally consummate their relationship. ^__^ Besides, I think Onizuka has a softer side to him, too, because, after all, he knows the tune and lyrics to Chokotto Love by Pucchimoni! Yes, Kanzaki is supposed to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after graduation. I know the correct Japanese way to write names, but I chose to use the Western way of writing names. Yes, I'm also aware that NA in applications means 'not applicable,' but it means something else to Onizuka, and that's what matters to him, so that's what he writes down. Since this is set three years after the manga/anime, Onizuka has found the time to rebuild his porn collection. It's not that hard, after all. Glad to know that you're half Filipino! Thank you for reviewing!
Aeris: Glad I haven't traumatized you yet! We missed you last last chapter! But anyway, thanks for reviewing!
duh-hikki-zealot: Hehe, great to have another person on the K/K ship! *High-fives*
Garnet-chan: Yep, magaling talaga tayong mga Noypi! Sana huwag naman maulit ang kagalingan natin noong 1998 ngayong 2004, diba?
arukas: Well, I've seen a few here and there… hehe. And the only review I remember with 'smoking' in it was related to Kikuchi. Yep, those after parties… very dangerous.
Until the next episode!