Blank Pages

[dEaTh_bat_pRiDe]

About three years ago i wrote a small story over on Code Lyoko Veterans, I never really worked on it due to disinterest in my writing and the fact that i cant stand my stories taking so long to come into form. Downtime for me now has come in such large amounts that being able to focus on fleshing out story lines.

Blank Pages is something that isnt on a personal level. It's torn from books of Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, and various anime dealing with high school life/ daily interactions. It is also based off the The Album Leaf's A Chorus of Storytellers and the inspiration that i got from it. The story is also a journey of personal feelings about the country of Japan. I have dreams of one day teaching English in Japan as an ESL Teacher. You will see a lot of examples of such in chapters that have been inspired by J-Vloggers such as Gimmieaflakeman and Unrested, while blending my typical humor with culture. It is far from perfect, I wont claim to be a great writer, and I have no system of proofreading and most chapters are made up on the fly.


Note that all of this story is not from its original form, I have since lost the original form and have no intention of finding it. It is based off of General Ideas that i remember. This is a dual story. I dont care if you complain about the usage of Japanese in the stories.

Prologue

'Perro'

So it's official. My father's words never hit harder then what i heard last night.

'Look...I know this is hard, but Me and your Mother think it is for the best that you move to live with your uncle for a while.'

'But why? Why do I have to move for something that I didn't do?'

'It's either this, or a few years in juvie. Its really up to you.'

'This is a fuc.kin' joke right? You're really going to send your child overseas over a fight?"

"It was one or the other, we don't want to see you in jail. We hope you'll eventually understand this choice."

"I don't want to do this, I would rather rot in a cell then leave."

"We will not let you rot. You WILL go and you will do as we agreed with your uncle."

And so it happened. Within the next week, I was on a plane bound for Kyoto. I got into a fight with a few people and we ended up breaking a few things in a restaurant and It was my second offense and they gave us the offer of sending me overseas for some "rehabilitation" crap. It was really a huge excuse for my parents to offload me from their list of things to ditch. I'd give them a pat on the back if i could, but if they knew i was grateful, they would take everything back and throw me into Juvie..again.

It took 17 hours for our plane to arrive at Kansai International Airport. It was hell. Try being on a enclosed object with foreigners rapid-firing off words in a language that you barely understand in the first place. I come from a Japanese heritage and we've spoken it at formal parties and when my grandparents visited, but it was never a daily routine for me. After the Haruka Express to Kyoto,i managed to get my bearings to find myself at Shichihonmatsu Dori, a pretty small side street in the heart of Kyoto, to a place that was called "心の拠り所" [The Heart and Soul], a small pub like structure that was smushed beneath a small apartment, and squished between two large houses. 

I slid the large door open and a musty, damp, but sweet smelling aroma hit me in the face. A loud booming voice rung through the small bar "Yōkoso! Zaseki o go yōi kudasai. [Welcome! Please have a seat!]"

I closed the door behind me, and the booming voice rung out again 

"Sate. Saishūtekini arawareru koto o kimeta hito ni mieru!"

"Yes it has been a while hasn't it uncle?" I replied, and the man behind the bar begun to laugh. Rolling my two bags to the counter, he gave me a firm handshake and spoke in near perfect english.

"I'll help you with your stuff. Follow me."

I nodded quietly. I didn't want to cross and bump heads with my uncle, he's the main reason why i was aggressive in the first place. A large built man he was, my dad use to tell me all the time that he was formerly "Yakuza", which was the underground mafia of Japan. But it didn't take much to realize my uncle was just a normal man who just loved working out. 

I had never been to Japan. I'm only here because its the only other family that i have in the world. Do i want to be here? Of course not. I dont care about this place being mysterious since I've never stepped foot on its soil before. I just want to go home.

My uncle and I sat on the balcony above the bar, it must have been about 2 a.m., but everything around us was still full of life. He was smoking a Lucky Strike Cigarette, avoiding my face when he blew smoke into the air. 

"Your parents arranged for you to continue school here."

"I was expecting them to. Cant give up on the 'prodigy' " I joked to him, I was expecting him to laugh.

But he didn't laugh.

"I'll be blunt with you. Your mother told me what happened. While i don't condone violence, I am ashamed that you let it get the best of you. We wont expect much of you, but eventually you're going to have to get use to everything here." 

I sighed and laid back against the wall, looking up at the skyline. Lights. Bright lights that could blind you if you looked for too long.

"Better get to sleep. You wont start school until next week, but i need to get you familiar with the area before i let you go roaming off on your own."

Whatever. I just wanted to sleep and be alone. I got up and excused myself.

My room was about the size of 3 tatami mats, which is probably about 18 feet or so wide. It didn't even have a real bed, just a futon. No windows. It was about as cozy as a broom closet. I stuffed my backpack underneath of it and fell face first into the pillows. It was far from comfortable, but it would be enough to get me through the night. 

All of my 'friends', gone. 8,000 miles away. No hope of seeing them in the future. Everything i worked for, ruined. I'm starting over, here's to hoping i dont ruin this life.

I pulled the cord for the light and tried to get some sleep. 

But how can you sleep in a large city that gets no sleep.

[dEaTh_bat_pRiDe]

I applogize for the largely 1st person point of view writing, it'll eventually branch off.

チャプターワン [Chapter One]

'歯と爪' [Tooth and Claw]

Waking up was the easy part, but i just wanted to go back to sleep. But i knew i had to go out and about to get acclimated with this new world.

My uncle was waiting for me in the bar when i walked down stairs. The bar was completely empty compared to last night. The musty smell was gone, and all i could smell was a bit of fresh air coming from the window.

"Morning." he said to me as i yawned and collapsed onto the bar table.

"I dont think I've missed sleep this much since i was a child." 

"Enjoy it while you have it, we dont call this area sleepless for a reason. Im gonna show you around today, hopefully i can show you the school you'll be at, so look a little modest"

He referenced my scruffy hair and utter disregard for coordinated dress. I should have take the time to look a bit more...proper.

"I think i look fine. We wont be going anywhere where people will judge me right?"

"You can dress as you like," he said, laughing to himself while he opened the front door to the bar "But don't be surprised if people talk about you behind your back."

Talk behind my back? Nothing new to me.

Kyoto is calming to say the least. The neighborhood is actually quiet compared to my hometown, my only complain is how small the streets are and how many vending machines line the corners. My uncle explained that the school was about 30 minutes by walk, Katsura High School. It looked like a decent place, but i couldn't judge it from just looks alone. 

He also took the time to show me the local train station in kyoto, it'd be my main means of transportation for the time being. 

After being shown around, my uncle brought me back to the bar. 

"So..go explore or something. You know how to at least read a map right?"

I gave him a look, and he laughed.

"Oh im just joking with you. Enjoy the rest of the day."

Enjoy the rest of the day? What can i do? I dont know anyone around here and I sure as hell dont know where anything is except school, a few stores and the train station.

I found myself wandering around aimlessly for a few hours, passing by a few shops that didn't catch my eye at first hand, although i did try to buy a pack of cigarettes (to no avail obviously, i didnt have a 'Taspo' card, and the required age was 20 to buy.) After a little more walking, i came across a large mall complex that was very busy, so i headed inside to see what was around the shopping center.

"Irasshaimase!"

Everything was so vivid. Signs that i could barely read mixed with Latin letters and numbers spelling out the prices of objects. I was enticed with curiosity to go through each store to see what was inside of it. But every time i approached a shop, i got nervous about not knowing anything about proper shopping etiquette in Japan. So i idled outside of the stores, gazing through the large windows that were decorated with sale signs 本日のみ！ 400円のために10巻き寿司 (10 Sushi Rolls for 400 Yen! Today only!)

"Oi! Anata wa nani o nu uh none of that iru!"

I turned around to see a few kids, high school aged, glaring at me from another store. One approached me, looking at my figure and how i was dressed.

"Min'na, soreha-betsu no amerikahitodesu. Karera wa kite teishi suru koto wa arimasen."

I knew upon hearing 'amerika' that they were speaking about me being an outsider, not one of them. I stood there silently as they talked among themselves, laughing between hand blocked mouths. 

Trying so hard to keep a blank composure, i spoke in what little Japanese i knew, albeit it being awfully broken and terrible that I cant even repeat it now, something about 'Leaving me alone, let me be'

The tallest boy of the group stood forward, he was maybe around 6'1 and towered over me. 

"Why did you kamu to japan?"

Engrish. Great. I spoke slowly in the clearest i could muster

"My family sent me. Kazoku."

"They got rid of you? Hau pathetic you masuto be!"

"Look just please let me be" I said quickly as i tried to pass by him, but the group blocked my exit. This wasn't going the way i wanted it to. Why now? Is this what i really have to put up with for the rest of existence?

I should have stayed in bed.

[dEaTh_bat_pRiDe]

update: chapter two is coming soon. but not soon enough.

[dEaTh_bat_pRiDe]

Chapter Two

Distraction Days

Author note: This chapter took me nearly over a month so I could take the time to flesh out characters before I begin writing this story. I apologize for the delay. 

Thank you to Nick and Dan for helping me research more into Kyoto and the surrounding area. Without you guys, the story would have no real setting like I want it to.

 

 

If you could pick a time to die in a heartbeat, how would you die, and where would it be? I would prefer for my death to be right now. In front of all of these people I don’t know. A quick death, not a painful one. It would save me the embarrassment of these kids ganging up on me.  Why had I come here? I should have just stayed at the bar, where I didn’t have to be made fun of.

A boy a nudge shorter than the taller boy said aloud, “Kanojo no doresu wa, kanojo ga boro no tabada, hidoidesu.” And the group started laughing again. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I felt myself shaking, their laughs only growing louder as they went on. Wishing to be home, my home flashed in my head. This was not my home

“Min'na! Hitori de kanojo o nokosu!”

A girl’s voice rung out above the laughing, they all stopped and turned to a dark haired girl who was standing behind them, a boy beside her.  The group dispersed and scattered, except for the tall boy. He muttered something to the girl, spat at her feet, and walked away. The girl came forward and bowed before me.

                “I’m so very sorry about them. Please don’t take what they said to heart.” she spoke in near perfect English, a slight accent on a word or two, but English.

I brushed my arm and said “Thank you. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I don’t speak a whole lot of Japanese.” The girl titled her head and gave me a puzzled look. “I’m not from here. My parents sent me over here to live with my uncle.”

“That explains the lack of an accent in your English. But please, don’t mind them. They just act tough around each other so they can feel better about themselves. My name is Haruka.” She bowed once more and smiled as her head rose up.

Since we’re this far into my story. I might as well break it to you guys. I am a girl. I prefer not to be called out as a girl, or for anyone to talk about my lack of a girlish figure. But I’ll get into that detail a bit later.

“Avis.” I said quietly.  

“Well Avis. Welcome to Kyoto.”

I smiled and said “Thank you. “ Upon focusing on her, I realized her dress seemed familiar, it was the same uniform that was part of the dress code at Katsura. “You go to Katsura too?”

“Hai!” She said without delay. “How did you know?”

“My uncle had shown me what I would be wearing when I start attending the school.”

She lit up like a firework. “A foreigner at our school? Oh this will be the greatest thing!” she turned and the boy next to her, who had yet to say a single word in our conversation, spoke up.

                “Imōto. Naze anata wa kanojo ni hanashi o nu uh none of that iru?”

“Please forgive him. He doesn’t know English just yet, we’re both enrolled in the English class at the High School.”

I nodded to him and politely greeted him. He bowed back and spoke slowly

                “Watashinonamaeha Akemidesu”

Akemi. He looked a bit older then Haruka, but not by much.

She took her time to explain to me a few of the need to know things in the area, particularly the mall area. She kept obsessing over how simple and bland my clothes were, but I told her I wanted to keep them this way. I knew I would get attention for my boring dress, but I didn’t want to attract any unwanted affection from any local who wanted to be with a foreigner. She also taught me a few more basic words to help me understand, she had a rapid fire delivery on how she spoke and I had to ask her to repeat herself a few times before I knew what she was saying.

 

The sun was setting.

A few hours after our meeting, we all parted ways, diverging some contact information (I had given them the address and phone number to the bar, it was all I had) and I walked myself back to the bar. I didn’t look around me this time, I kept my head down and kept walking. Everyone around me seemed so occupied with what they were set on doing, so why did that group take the time out to torture me?  

I reached the bar as the sun had just disappeared over the horizon. It was busy, filed with people I had seen the night before. My uncle invited me to sit at the bar and he introduced me to a few of his friends. Older men, who looked like they had seen their fair share of life and could just quit at any moment. My uncle tried his best to translate what they were saying, but he knew I didn’t have an interest in it.

The time passed, people came in and out of the bar. I watched silently from the side of the bar counter and just minded my own business. I was tired. More than tired. I was exhausted. I still didn’t want to be here, I had zero interest in Japan. Why couldn’t they have put me in placement or through therapy?

 

It was around 1 am before I crashed. The futon he had provided me was decently comfortable after sleeping on it for a second time, I just wished it had been a little cooler in my room.

                I woke up to the sound of my uncle’s laughing come from the room outside of mine. He was speaking to someone. No. He was talking on the phone. He shot off a couple of things and said goodbye.

                Quietly, rolling out of my room and acting like I had not heard him on the phone, strolled into the room and yawned to myself. “Good morning” I said to him.

                “It’s about time you woke up. That was your friend Haruka. So I see you were cornered at the mall yesterday. Why didn’t you-“

                “ Because it was nothing. And what did she want?”

                “She’s waiting outside, she wants to show you around more.”

And with that,  the wheels started moving. My life was about to become something that I didn’t want, but it was something I needed.

http://goodgoingsystem.blogspot.com/2014/04/date-1-want-to-be-close.html Go behind the scenes of this chapter

[dEaTh_bat_pRiDe]

Chapter Three

 

New Days

Authors Note:  Shift of POV. 1^st person was jarring enough. I’ve always found 1^st person an easier way to tell a story, but it’s ultimately the worst way to go for storytelling.  This chapter is meant to better understand Haruka, since she really wasn’t explained in full detail last chapter. 


                Avis opened the front door to see a beaming, dark haired girl standing at the door. She blinked a few times before realizing it was her.  

“I don’t mean to be rude, but do you always look like…this?”

Haruka was referencing Avis’s un-kept look about herself. She was dressed in a long sleeve sweater that was tattered around the wrists, and had a pair of pants on that were as bland as stale liquor. She sighed and said

“Good morning to you too.”

Avis gently fluffed her hair, in the hopes that it would prevent another comment, but it ultimately ended up just looking like she was swatting a fly. Haruka smiled brightly once again and said

“Well it’s good to see that you start your day off wonderfully. I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat before I go to school.” There was a slight cheerfulness in her voice, but it wasn’t extremely bright or peppy.

‘Why was this girl here a day after we just met?’ Avis couldn’t grip that she was already being invited to go out with someone, she barely even knew this girl. What was the deal with all the formalities? She sighed before she answered ‘I’ll go with you, I guess.’

Haruka let out a little word of celebration before hugging her tightly, which Avis felt like she could have been choked to death if she had kept tugging on her. She released her grip and bowed politely before asking “Are you ready to go?” her eyes tailed down, glancing at Avis’s messy composure she called ‘clothing’

“Why yes.” Avis said, knowing she was looking at her clothing. “I am ready to go.” Haruka looked terrified.

They both stood out front of a small café that was situated on the corner of a street that went beneath street level. “Is it a club?” Avis asked her new ‘friend’, a look of anxiety on her face

“It’s only the best place to eat before going to school, please, it’s on me!” and she took her by the hand and almost pulled her down the steps. She flung the door open and loudly greeted everyone inside.

The café was laid out the same way as the bar, but even smaller. No windows, just bright lights and small tables with even smaller chairs. It could hold no more than 20 patrons in it’s entirely. Avis wondered how they could even fit a kitchen in here. A middle aged waitress greeted them politely and led them over to a table in the corner.

“So. Have you enjoyed your time here so far? Besides what happened at the mall yesterday.” Haruka said, her hands fiddling with the menu. “Truthfully, everything has been pretty peaceful so far. I don’t like this at all though, its weird being away from home.” Avis tried to avert her eyes from Haruka, she didn’t know if it was polite to look another person in the eyes. The waitress came back over to their table and took their orders, and she whisked herself off to the kitchen. Haruka reclined in the chair and yawned “I’m not entirely ready for school today, why do you get to start next Monday?”

Avis said puzzled “Truthfully, I don’t know. It’s only in two days so, I’m guessing it’s something he worked out with the school?” Haruka shrugged “Well it’s only the beginning of the semester, so you haven’t missed anything too important. Do you have your schedule?” “My uncle has it” Avis said “He was talking about this morning before I left.” “Did you read it?” she said, leaning forward with eager eyes. Avis shook her head, and Haruka slumped down in the chair. “But I was hoping to see if we would have classes together!”

Classes together? It’s the last thing she wanted. She wasn’t looking to have someone to be in every single class. Avis averted her eyes again.

The waitress brought out their food a few minutes later, Haruka huffed the food down in hopes of getting to school on time. Avis had barely finished hers when Haruka started pulling at her again to leave. They left swiftly and walked back onto the street. “I’m assuming you would want me to come with you to school.” Avis said to her, Haruka was about to say something but she changed her tone and said “I know you’re probably still tired, I wasn’t going to ask you anyway. Hopefully I’ll see you Monday!” She bowed and went running off in the other direction.

 

Avis spent the rest of the morning wondering aimlessly. The only interesting thing she found was a stray cat abandoned in an alleyway, she kneeled down next to it and sadly told it she didn’t have any money to get it food. Avis continued on her way to wonder, keeping an eye to not stray too far away from the train track system, since it was her only method of guiding her through the streets. She wondered if it would be daunting to get a train to school, would it be too crowded or full for the morning rush? All these ideas of her coming into class late after not being able to get on the train for it being too full were beginning to worry her. She quickly headed back to the bar to get some rest.

It wasn’t even noon when she got back to the bar; she immediately went upstairs and crawled back into bed. Her uncle was too busy getting ready to open up shop for him to notice her. Avis wondered if her uncle had even agreed to let her stay here. He was probably forced by her parents to take her in so she wouldn’t be such a burden on anyone else. She still wished she was in a jail cell back home, instead of overseas in the middle of a city she couldn’t understand. Was she expected to speak Japanese in her classes? There was no way she would be able to formally learn the language in just under two days. More problems to worry about that she would have to cope with in the coming days. She rummaged through her bags, looking for her music player. Buried underneath all of the clothing was the player, she took it out and pressed play. An ambient like song played as she closed her eyes, she tried to fall into sleep but nothing came to her. Avis thought to herself if this school thing was really worth it. Would she even have anyone to talk to, other than this girl who she barely knew?

The rest of the day had flown by before she knew it, time bled into the next day. It was early Saturday evening when she woke up. Taking the time to get something to eat, she went down stairs to the bar to join her uncle. The bar wasn’t too full, but a few of the men from a few nights ago were there again. Avis spoke to the one man in what little Japanese she knew, asking him what he did for a living.

“Watashi wa, kinzoku rōdō-shada. Kore wa, sedai no tame ni watashinokazoku ni sa rete imasu. Watashi wa musuko ni 1-nichi no te sore daun nu uh none of that to kangaete imasu. Kare wa kare no yūjin no 2 to bōken dete imasu.”

My uncle laughed at all the words he heard, he knew I didn’t understand a word of that. All he had to say was ‘Metal Worker’ and that his son was adventuring with his friends. Avis laughed to herself quietly. She didn’t want to seem disrespectful so she nodded and smiled to him. He resumed drinking shortly thereafter.  

The night went on, Avis watched patrons come through for hours. Some new, some she had seen before. But oddly, there were no teens, or young adults for that matter. It was all middle aged and older men. Her uncle told her “We’re situated between a financial and industrial center of town, there’s no way in hell a young college kid is going to come all the way out here just to get a drink.” Avis wondered if anyone would really take an interest in here. She was different looking from everyone, maybe they just preferred to ignore her since she was younger looking. She was happy for that, but she felt lonely. People only spoke to her when she spoke first, and she made terrible first impressions with her horrible grasp on the language.

She went back upstairs, crawled back into her bed, and tried to sleep. She was dreading school. She tossed and turned sleeplessly before finally falling asleep. A slither of hope was in her head that the day would go smoothly.

The first day never does.

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