A/N: Before you all read the rest, remember again that I had said that this story will have some anime cliques due to this being based on an anime game. I promise, it's all just for sh!ts and giggles, but there really is a story behind all of this. So no bulli pls. Also, translation notes will be at the bottom. Without further ado, let the Hunger Games begin... Oh crap, wrong fandom.
Update: Forgot to add translation notes 'cause I am in hell with school, so here's the fixed version.
Books and Baking
The next day
It was my second day of school here in Japan. Already, I have met two students who go here. First, there was Ono-san the hyper girl, then there was Takeuchi-san, the club president. Takeuchi-san asked me to join some club that meets every day after school and I agreed to have a look without knowing what kind of club. I'm gonna keep that promise and try to go after class.
To all the regular students who go to school, this was their third week. In Japan, the school year starts in April, when the cherry blossoms give off that anime vibe. Apparently, that was supposed to be an omen for good luck.
I arrived at school alongside Ono-san. She, of course, was as bubbly as ever. She was like a cinnamon roll; sweet, warm, and happy. She woke up late again today, though. I had to knock on her door and wake her up. Her parents weren't home, so I was throwing pebbles at her window. Jeez, doesn't this girl have an alarm clock? She told me she was trying to wake up early yesterday, but felt too lazy to get out of bed. I probably shouldn't have woke her up today because we just met and that would be rude, but she thanked me after waking her up, so that was fine, I think.
Anyways, I entered the gate with Ono-san at my side. The second day, here we go.
"Hey, Lee-san," beckoned Ono-san.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"You could say that we're friends, right?" she asked me.
"Ono-chan, of course, we are! I woke you up this morning. I would say that that is enough to say that I am your friend despite meeting you yesterday," I said, being sure to use a different honorific, "I also met another friend yesterday. She told me to go to a club after school."
"Oh, really? Which one?" asked Ono-chan.
"Well, the thing is, I don't know. I didn't ask. All I do know is that the person who told me to go there is the club president, Takeuchi-san."
"Oh! Monika? She's a good friend of mine. We even hang out together every once in a while!" Ono-chan exclaimed.
"Oh really? Do you know what club it is?"
"I don't remember what it was, but she is the founder of it," Ono-chan explained.
"Well, one way to find out. I'm dropping by after school anyway, so might as well."
I got to school later than yesterday, so the bell rang as soon as I walked through the door. In the hallway, Ono-san and I went to our lockers to get our things for the day, as well as drop all the dead weight that we didn't need until later. "Well, I'm off to class!" Ono-san exclaimed, running off to the opposite direction of where my homeroom was.
"See ya!" I exclaimed back.
I sat down at the desk that I sat yesterday. I took out my books from my Army bag. My homeroom was World History. To be honest, I am one of the brightest in my class back in Hawaii, especially in this subject. I can even name every battle of the European front of World War Two. I am such a big nerd.
Next to me sat Takeuchi-san. She was organizing her desk, putting papers into nice and neat stacks. She was also occasionally writing in a couple of papers with her pink pen. I didn't realize that I was staring at her until she brought it up.
"I know you're staring at me, Lee-san," Takeuchi-san said without looking up from her busy work. She flipped her paper to its backside and examined the writing.
"Wh-what do you mean?" I balked. Oh God, have I really been staring at her for a bit?
"Ah! So you were looking at me!" she exclaimed, putting down her pen and paper and looking at my flustered face.
"I- uh, I- um… Aw, jeez!" I exclaimed.
This woman laughed at me, giggling uncontrollably. "Oh, your reaction was as priceless as ever!" she snorted. But, of course, she still looks all prim and proper when she did that. I guess that's her quirk. Pristine and perfect is her personality.
She calmed down kinda quickly. She propped her right elbow onto her desk and rested her cheek on her hand.
"So, were you gonna ask me something?" she asked. Well yes, I was going to… Hold on.
"Uh, how do you know that I was going to do that?" I asked.
"I can read your mind very easily," she said, a sly smile forming on her face, "In fact, I can tell you're one of those people who want some sort of harem as if this is an anime."
I exclaimed, "Wha- no! I don't want a harem!" Yes, I do! I've been deprived of love since I can remember!
Damn, this woman's good! Oh, just you wait! I'll get back at you! One day!
"Hohohoho!" laughed Takeuchi-san. This time, she was losing her composure. She was slapping her knees, her face beet red.
After five straight minutes of purely laughing, she calmed down once more. "So, what were you going to ask me?"
"Huh? Oh yes! What club are you asking me to go to?" I asked.
"Oh, that one? That's the literature club! We write poems and short stories every day in that club!"
Literature club? Oh no, does that mean more work?
"It may sound boring at first, but trust me! It's really fun once you get the hang of writing poems and stories!" Takeuchi-san went on, "Please, just think about going to that club, will you? We really need to hit some sort of quota before the school shuts us down like they almost did last year. The person before you had unfortunately moved away."
"I… might go! At least, I should check it out and try it before I say no anyway!" I exclaimed.
"Perfect! In fact, the club meets in this classroom. Do you think you can swing by after class?" she asked.
"... Of course! Hey, I might even meet some more friends there!"
"Great! Oh, class is starting," Takeuchi-san stood up at attention as soon as the teacher opened the door and walked in, along with everyone else. I followed suit.
Lunchtime
Mr. Kobayashi was in a hurry to get to work early today, so he didn't have enough time to make a bento box for me. That's not a problem, though, because I never really eat much anyway. Instead of going to the cafeteria, I went down to the library to maybe look for a book.
As you can probably tell, I wasn't really the type of guy to write stories and poems, but I do like to read some. Except for Shakespeare. His dead body can suck my gargantuan gonad. I could barely read that mumbo jumbo sixteenth-century English. God, I hated that time when I had to read Romeo and Juliet for English class last year. I do love the story, just not the reading part.
After grabbing a bag of Doritos and a Coke from the vending machine, I walked into the doors of the library. Of course, the art of reading has not really been attracting a lot of people. The people who do are usually bookworms who can go through the Harry Potter books in one week. I can't do that, but I do enjoy reading from time to time. Sometimes I would read light novels.
I decided to go to the horror genre this time. I wanted to see if any books from Japan have the gall to try and scare me. I walked to the aisle with the horror books and took a look. I must've been looking for a book for a while.
I scanned the top bookshelf. There were not a lot of books there. I saw one book that was basically a collection of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, that American horror writer. I read all of his stories, with my favorite being The Tell-Tale Heart. Damn, that story was very detailed. Hell, it gave me an inside look of an insane person who was trying to kill an old man and hiding the body later. Gave me a perspective of a psychopath with his thoughts on death and knives.
I did not pick that book though. I read it many times. Another one caught my eye, though. It was a book with a red book jacket. On it read "Portrait of Markov" in big and black letters. I tried to reach the book, with me having to stand on my tiptoes to reach higher. I almost grabbed it until I felt another hand hit mine.
The person retracted her hand quickly. I look to see who it was.
This girl had long, dark, almost purple, hair. She also had the eyes to match. She wore purple barrettes on both sides of her head, positioned upon long strands of hair close to her bangs. She was about as tall as me. This girl also wore the same school uniform that Ono-chan wore. She seems to look like the quiet and sophisticated type by the way she was nervously holding her arm and tugging at her sleeve.
"Oh, um, sorry about that." I reached back up to the book and grabbed the spine. I pulled the book out and handed it to the girl. "Here ya are."
"O-oh no, it was my fault. I apologize." The girl bowed her head down like Ono-chan, but instead of begging for forgiveness, she stayed silent.
"No, no, no. It's fine," I said. The girl stood straight up.
She looks so… sophisticated. Like an aristocrat. Good God, thank you for letting me see Her Majesty Herself stand before me!
This girl must've noticed me staring because she started to turn red. "Y-you can read the book if you want. It's a great book," she stammered.
"But you were reaching for it. Don't worry, I'll find another book to read," I said, offering the book to the girl. But she shook her head.
"No, I've read it a million times anyway. Please, do read it," the girl pressured. I, being a gentleman, insisted that she take to book. But she was asking me to read it. Am I really the gentleman here?
"It looked like you wanted the book. Come on, I wouldn't take from a girl as pretty as you anyway," I said, trying to sound more confident. That didn't work though. She just turned as red as a tomato.
This girl looked away, nervously playing with her long hair. Was it because I called her pretty? It's not like you shouldn't say that in the first meeting, right? ...Oh God, did I just flirt with someone I just met?
"M-my, would you look at the time! Class is almost starting!" she exclaimed. She wheeled around and stormed off. I don't know if it was from anger or embarrassment. Well, there goes my chance to introduce myself.
Oh well. Maybe she's just shy around guys.
The bell rang soon after that. The class I had next was gym class. I had to get to the locker room to change into a shirt and shorts, so I put the book back where I found it and ran down there.
In the locker room
I had gym class with another one of the exchange student, an African American dude named Charlie Junior. The exchange students and I affectionately call him CJ because he acts like the protagonist of that one GTA game. Good God, he even acts like him. Although he acts like a hood, though, he does have one redeeming quality. He's smart as hell.
"Hey, CJ! What's up my brother?" I said in English. I put my arm back, getting ready to handshake/high five him. CJ was rummaging through his locker.
CJ slammed the locker door and turned to face me. "Nothin' much, bro. How 'bout'chu?" He returned the gesture.
CJ was a head taller than me. He had a little beard growing on his face. Hell, he even looked a little like that CJ guy from San Andreas.
"Ah, same old, same old. Our second day of school in Japan! How are you like it so far?" I asked.
"I'm gonna try out for the basketball team that they have here. Them ballas at them rival schools ain't gonna beat us with me with them." CJ pretended to shoot a basketball, making a very dramatic free throw.
"Hey, not to be racist or anything, but you're black and they're Asian. You are genetically taller than those guys. You can honestly dunk on them without having to jump," I joked with a straight face.
"Ey, cut them some slack, bro. Just cause we black doesn't mean we better. Those guys can literally use their anime powers and somehow juke the shit outta me."
"Watch your mouth, dude. Some guys do know how to speak English and you are representing the US. Chill," I said.
"A'ight. Whatever," CJ returned to getting dressed. I did the same. Five minutes later, we walked out onto the gym floor.
There was a huge number of people here. Because there is only one gym class and a ton of students, gym class is shared with another class. We are mixed with a second class, the juniors. Class 2-B to be exact. My class, on the other hand, is Class 3-E.
Most of the junior class was made up of guys. The senior class was also made up of mostly guys.
In Japan, you would stay with your classmates, with the teachers moving around to different classrooms, with the students only moving for lunch, cooking, gym, and any other classes that can't be held in the same classroom. That meant that I'm still with Takeuchi-san. CJ was also in my class.
Today, we were playing dodgeball. Simply enough, there were two sides: the juniors versus the seniors. The juniors were on one side of the court while we were on the other. At the half court line, there were red balls lined up, ready to be thrown.
"Ey, you ready to catch what they throw?" asked CJ, who was getting ready to run up and throw the first ball.
"Ready when you are," I answered. Just as I said that the coach blew his whistle to start the game.
I charged forward and slid to grab the closest ball as quick as I can. I grabbed a ball and right after, launched it at someone. "Aww, man!" the guy exclaimed. The first victim of the day.
I quickly stood back up and ran, the balls bouncing around the feet below me. I then turned around and picked up another ball off the ground and threw it anywhere. I ducked to dodge one ball and caught another, getting the thrower out of the game.
Looking around, I searched for a target. In front of the juniors was a short girl with short pink hair. She was picking up balls left, right, and center, throwing them with reckless abandon. She was my new target.
I aimed the ball and threw it harder than usual. The ball's path sped like a bullet, slamming into the girls face. Her head recoiled back, with her gritting her teeth. She opened her eyes and looked right at me. She regained control of her descent and caught her footing.
Oh crap, I thought as the petite girl stomped right at me. She stormed to where I was standing. I, on the other hand, learned from Ono-san. Get the hell out of the way when there is a girl charging right at you.
I ran away as bravely as I can… Okay, maybe I screamed like a little girl, but you gotta admit, this girl, although is cute, is very scary when she's pissed.
Everyone stopped throwing balls to watch this clusterfudge go down. Once again, I felt all their eyes on me. I saw a couple of people whispering to their friends next to them. "Oh no," said one of the juniors, barely audible from where I was, "He pissed off the Pink Piranha." I bravely hid behind CJ, asking him to save me.
"Naw, fool," he said, clicking his tongue, "You reap what you sow. Besides, this chick looks cute when she angry." He turned around and grabbed me. He put me in front of him, right in the way of this girl. He also made me face her.
This girl had a fire in her eyes. She looked as if she had been given the order of shoot to kill and she was a bloodthirsty bloodhound. CJ did not let go of my arms, keeping me there. I tried to fight back, but the guy was too strong.
"Aw, c'mon man! Let me go!" I begged, "I don't wanna die today!"
Too late.
This feisty little girl brought her leg right onto my knockers. Pain dispersed into my abdominal area as the feeling was going up. I cried out in pain.
Right where a man is sensitive! That's cheating!
As I clutched my manhood, my knees gave in from the pain. I collapsed down onto the hard wooden gym floor.
"Ow! That hurt!" I screamed.
"You hit me in the face with that ball. That hurts more!" the pink haired girl exclaimed.
"But you don't kick a guy's balls after he hit you with one!" I tried to explain, but that rebuttal sounded a little… off.
"Ew, as if!" this girl said, disgusted at my comment.
"Alright, that's enough of you, miss. I've had my fun," CJ finally tried to defend me. He picked me back up and let me use him as a crutch, my arm draped over his shoulder. "I'll take him to the nurse."
After class
Well, today was as eventful as yesterday. I scared off a really beautiful (and I guess I can say thick) girl, then had my children euthanized by another girl during gym class. I honestly wanted to go home, but I'm a man of my word. I forced myself to go to the literature club.
The sliding door was open, so I peeked my head in. "Hello?" I asked, "Is this the literature club?"
"Lee-kun!" a certain girl's voice rang out from inside the room.
"Ono-chan?" I asked as the energetic deredere girl hopped right up to where I stood.
"Turns out that I am in this club after all!" she exclaimed. She put on an embarrassed cocky grin, doing some sort of gesture where she put her two index fingers together. "Hehehe."
Inside the classroom, there was also Takeuchi-san. She was leaning on the far end wall of the room, happily reading a piece of paper. She noticed me then waved at me and smiled. There was also someone else who sat down in my desk. That someone had long, almost purple hair… Wait.
The girl turned her head in my direction. When she looked at me with those kind, nervous eyes, that's when I noticed who she was.
"H-hey," I stammered, smiling. The girl opened her mouth as if to talk but then turned back around to face forward.
"Aw, it's okay! Saito-san is kinda shy at first, but she's fun to talk to!" Ono-san exclaimed. When she said that, the girl who I'm assuming is Saito-san turned her head quickly to say something back.
"D-don't say that, Sayori!" she stammered.
"Sorry Yuri!" said Ono-chan. She then motioned me to come in. I followed Ono-chan, who walked over to Saito-san.
"Yuri, this is Lee Sawyer. He's one of the foreign exchange students from America. Lee-kun, this is Saito Yuri!" Ono-chan explained with much vigor. The only thing she couldn't see and comprehend that Saito-san was blushing and squirming.
"Hey, Saito-san! How are you?" I stretched out my hand, offering her a handshake.
"H-hello Lee-san. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Saito-san returned the handshake. Oh my God, she's so formal!
As we finished our introductions, Takeuchi-san walked over to us and joined the conversation. After five minutes of small talk, we heard someone else call out from the doorway.
"Sorry, I'm late! I had to finish up making the cupcakes!" exclaimed a voice coming from the open door.
I turned around to look who it is. There stood a girl carrying a pan with six little pink cupcakes with cute little cat ears. She wore the same uniform, with the usual blue skirt, the gray blazer, orange vest, white shirt, white knee highs, and blue uwabaki slippers. The girl was pretty short. She also had pink hair and eyes. I don't think that is a natural color, but maybe she dyed it and had color contacts. She also had little red ribbons in her hair. She looked familiar… Oh crap.
Our eyes met. Already, I saw the spark ignite in her eyes. I saw her close her eyes and took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling. She then walked over to the nearest desk, placed the tray down onto the wood, opened her eyes again, then stormed over to me.
Panic set in again. I can't hide behind CJ because he's over at the basketball team. And it would be cowardly to hide behind one of the girls, so I just accepted my fate.
I remembered to close my legs. Her kick hurts like hell. I watched her approach me, but then she stopped walking when she was face to face with me. Really, it was face to chest. She was pretty short, even for Japanese standards.
"Uh, Natsuki? What are you doing?" asked Ono-chan. The girl, Natsuki I assume, ignored her and looked right at me.
"I-I'm," she stammered, "I'm sorry about what happened in gym class. I just was not having a good day today. First, there were things at home, then getting back my tests, and then getting hit in the face." She looked away as if she was embarrassed. She was pouting a little as well, which I found kinda cute.
She's… apologizing? I thought to myself. I was expecting a punch to the gut, not a sincere apology.
"I-it's okay. I think I'm fine now," I tried to make her feel better.
She grimaced. She turned her head to face Takeuchi-san. "I apologized. Happy now, Monika?" she grumbled.
Takeuchi-san gave a burst of nervous laughter. "Natsuki, you did fine. You just have to look cuter when you say it so that they think you didn't mean too."
"I'm not cute," said the pink-haired girl.
Ono-chan slides up behind this girl and grabbed her sides. "You sure?" I heard her whisper in her ear, "Your cupcakes, your poems... Everything you do is just as cute as you."
I was just watching this whole thing unfold in front of me. To be honest, I think I was a little… nevermind.
"I'm not cute!" she squealed. Ono-chan let go and stepped aside, smirking. "You," the girl pointed at me, "get out! This is for the Literature Club! If you excuse me, I have some things to set up for the new member Sayori is bringing to us today!"
"Natsuki," said Ono-chan, pointing at me. The girl looked at me with disgust. She looked at Ono-chan and then back at me, then back at her, then back at me. "Do not tell me you brought another boy!" she exclaimed.
Ono-chan stayed silent. She let out a toothy, cheeky grin.
"And?" she exclaimed again.
"Well, you told me not to tell you that I brought another boy, so I'm not telling you that I brought another boy." Ono-chan laughed.
The girl put her hand right on her face. "Oh, this is the worst day of my life."
"N-Natsuki," stammered Saito-san.
"Whatever. Might as well introduce myself," the pink haired girl said, "I'm Nakano Natsuki," Nakano-san crossed her arms, trying to avoid my gaze.
"Hi. I'm Lee Sawyer. Nice to meet you."
"Well, now that introductions are over, let's start with what we do here," Takeuchi-san said, "Here at the Literature Club, we would read and examine books and poetry, both English and Japanese forms of art. After, when we go home, we would write a poem and then present it to each person the next day."
"That… sounds just fine to me," I said, "I guess I'll try it out!" To be honest, I guess writing poems isn't that hard.
"Okay, we get it, Monika," grumbled Nakano-san, "Can we just enjoy the cupcakes that I spent time making?"
"Okay, okay," said Takeuchi-san, "let's have these cupcakes to celebrate our new club member."
We moved the desks around to form a small table. The tray of cupcakes was in the middle. Each of us reached in to grab one. My cupcake was pink. It had little cat ears and cat whiskers. I didn't know where to bite, so I spent the next five minutes planning my angle of attack.
I decided to start from the ears, then lick off the icing. I took a bite and then instantly woke up. This… is really good! Holy moly, I will just keep coming for the cupcakes. Sign me the hell up!
"So, Lee-san," asked Takeuchi-san, "are you gonna keep coming to this club?" She propped her arm up and rested her chin on it.
You know, this will be fun after all. This club… is full of cute girls!
"Y-yeah! I think I'll have fun. Besides, these cupcakes are really delicious!" I exclaimed.
And thus, marks the day I sold my soul for a cupcake.
Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)
-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.
-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.
-chan: Feminine version of -kun.
Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.
Sensei: Master.
Translation notes:
1. Classes are formed up with the first number being the grade number (so the "3" in "3-E" stands for third year, while the letter/number that follows is the specific class).
2. Clusterfudge is me trying to say "clusterf ck" without actually saying the swear.
3. Deredere- Literally meaning lovey dovey, meaning energetic.
4. Names are reversed.
A/N: Hey, wassup y'all? Sanman here. I gotta say that I think this story really has some potential. I probably had let your expectations drop after the whole "Natsuki euthanizes my kids" thing, but as I said, there is going to be anime cliques. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Also, I will also introduce the other foreign exchange students aside from just CJ, so just stay tuned for the next chapter. They're really just side characters, but I do want to keep realism and Sawyer has to meet them anyway, so might as well introduce them. There are anime-esque antics, but the story will be realistic. There. I said it. Also, probably expect long-ass A/N's because I like to talk about myself. A'ight, I'm ending this note now. Peace.
