(aka they are in high school and this is an excuse for me to use all the dumb tropes that I didn't actually use in the novel.... yes, this is going to be ridiculous and extremely unedited)
Enjoy!
Scene 1 Surprise Kiss
Chiko-chan appeared, large eyes bright and thin fingers delicately placed over her pink lips.
"Did Saeki-san upset you again?" she asked, her voice just a little too high pitched.
Kathleen frowned, wondering at her options. She went with, "I think I made him angry…."
Chiko-chan smiled, her neutral pose. "Don't worry about him! He's always angry. Cheer up! Today is a great day!"
Kathleen grunted, not amused. She looked up briefly from her game console, looking at the glowing sign marking the approaching trains station. She still had two more stops to go. Or she was pretty sure. She looked down at her screen, telling herself to calm down and not panic.
Chiko-chan was spouting useless lines of dialogue at her. "Some cute boy is totally going to ask you to the summer festival!" or "Don't worry about your homework! Tsutsumi-san looks like he wants to help!"
Kathleen scrolled through it, not really caring about how she responded. Girl Pure Love Story was just one of those dumb dating sim games that was stupidly popular in Japan. Kathleen really didn't understand why. All she had to do was wear the clothes the boys liked, go to the dating locations that the boys liked, and generally answer all the dialogue in a way that flattered the boys. It was idiotic.
However, her father had gotten it for her. A sort of 'hey, sorry for dragging you all the way to Japan and ruining your entire high school life. Here is a popular game and a new way for you to learn Japanese!' type of present.
Despite the idiotic premise and the fact that Kathleen was still a little pissed that her dad made her transfer from her totally normal high school in Illinois to some fancy international high school in Tokyo Japan, she did like games. She also liked winning.
So Kathleen would please this Saeki-san. Even though he was a total dick most of the time. It didn't matter to her that he was the 'prettiest' boy in school, or the richest. She was going to make this cheap game simulator love her.
Kathleen was halfway through trying to convince Saeki-san to walk her home, when she looked up again at the train stop.
She froze, staring at the mixture of Japanese characters and English words. Kathleen had been studying how to read Japanese for about six months now, but she felt hopelessly lost as she stared at the signs flashing overhead. She was pretty sure she had missed her stop. She was pretty sure she had missed her stop over twenty minutes ago.
She quickly stood, feeling her heart race and neck break out into a cold sweat. She closed her game and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She adjusted the strached blazer and pleated skirt of her school uniform. She had never worn a uniform in her life and it made her feel strangley dressed up and uncomfortable. She prepared to exit the train.
She stepped off at the next stop, pretending to look like she knew where she was going as she went to the nearest empty corner and tried to gather herself.
Her father had though Girl Pure Love Story would help Kathleen adapt to Japanese high school life, but the game didn't have a challenge of navigating a busy train station in the middle of rush hour. The game also had some overly attractive boy around every corner, waiting to save some hapless girl from her own stupidity. The game also had the added benefit of translating any Japanese when Kathleen prompted.
In the real world, Kathleen was forced to navigate the trains herself. She had never taken public transportation in her quiet town of Illinois. The first day of school, her father had guided her. Kathleen, however, was sixteen and not about to let her father escort her to school every day. She wasn't a child.
She stood in the middle of the station, looking at her phone. She tried looking up routes, but she didn't know the websites like her father did. She also wasn't really sure where she was at specifically.
"Kathleen!"
It was a bright, friendly call. Kathleen looked around, spotting a girl with long black hair running towards her. She recognized her as Ai Vellucci, a classmate who she had met yesterday. She sat across from her in homeroom and had been one of the few people to honestly seem nice to her.
Ai stopped at Kathleen, looking slightly breathless. "Are you on your way to school?" she asked.
Kathleen nodded. "Um, yeah."
Ai beamed. "We can go together then!" She turned and waved merrily into the crowd. "Yuriko! Kathleen is going to travel with us!"
Kathleen looked over Ai's shoulder to the other girl walking towards them. She was obviously not in a rush like Ai had been to greet Kathleen. Yuriko had her hair up in a high pony tail, but besides for that difference, her and Ai were identical.
Kathleen had never met identical twins before Ai and Yuriko. She honestly hadn't noticed they were twins until Ai introduced them both. Kathleen had been too intimidated by being in a new school in a new country to realize that the person sitting in front of her and beside her looked exactly the same.
Yuriko and Ai might share the same face, same sleek black hair, same blue eyes, but they seemed completely different otherwise. Ai was all smiles and friendliness, wearing colorful, beaded earrings, chunky plastic bracelets with little bows and fake gems. Her shoulder bag was covered in buttons and key rings, mostly of her favorite anime characters.
Yuriko dressed simpler, wearing the required school uniform with none of the frill that Ai had. She also looked at Kathleen like she was an idiot. Of course, Yuriko tended to look at everyone like they were idiots.
"Did you get lost?" Yuriko asked, her voice unimpressed.
Kathleen flushed. "Um, yeah, a little."
Ai looped her arm through Kathleen's. "Good thing we ran into each other!" She looked at Yuriko. "We better catch this next train if we don't want to be late."
Yuriko rolled her eyes and turned around, leading them through the growing mass of people. The station seemed to have doubled in size since Kathleen had left her own train.
Kathleen wasn't convinced if she had actually learned how to ride public transportation in America that it would prepare her for the rush hour of Tokyo, Japan.
Yuriko squeezed ahead of them, lining up in the mass of people to get on the arriving train. Kathleen was glad that Ai had her arm, keeping her from doing something stupid like walking into the wrong section and get swept away by the crush getting off the train.
The bells chimed, the doors of the train opening. There were announcements, a train leaving on the opposite tracks, people running, talking. Kathleen felt overwhelmed as Ai pushed her forward to get on the train.
Kathleen concentrated on Yuriko's swinging ponytail, not wanting it to leave her sight as she squeezed onto the train. Inside was nearly wall to wall business men and women, with a few students from different schools. Yuriko pushed her way to the far door and Kathleen found herself losing Ai in order to follow.
Yuriko grabbed a pole, pressing against the barrier between the seats and the closed door. Kathleen went to stand in front of her, turning to see where Ai was. However, more people were surging onto train. A large business women, holding a briefcase and a giant purse, bumped Kathleen into Yuriko.
Kathleen winced, one hand braced against the cold metal of the barrier. Not that it helped from keeping her pressed against Yuriko a little too close. She looked at Yuriko apologetically, but Yuriko was looking up, eyes bored. As if getting crushed by random classmates on the train was normal.
The doors closed and it abruptly went silent. No one talked on their phones or made more than whispered conversations. Kathleen tried to twist around, looking for Ai, but it only made her push against Yuriko. She stopped.
"Where is Ai?" Kathleen asked softly.
Yuriko motioned with her chin. "By the other door," she answered, just as quiet.
They fell into the silence. Yuriko wouldn't look at Kathleen, so Kathleen just stared down, trying to pretend this wasn't as awkward as it felt. This close, she could see that Yuriko had a necklace hidden underneath her uniform. It was gold, but mostly obscured.
"You're wearing a necklace?" Kathleen said, not thinking.
Yuriko turned to look at her and their noses nearly bumped. "Yes."
"Oh… what is it?"
Yuriko sighed and let go of the pole to tug at the chain. It was a strange, sort of crescent shape with a small purple stone set into it. The metal was worn, like Yuriko often touched it.
"That's pretty," Kathleen said, still not quite sure what it was.
Yuriko snorted softly, like she knew Kathleen didn't quite get it. "It's half a heart. Ai has the other half. The amethyst is our birthstone." She dropped the pendant, adjusting the chain again. "Our dad gave it to us when we were five."
A voice came overhead, announcing they were coming into a station. Kathleen wasn't sure exactly all the voice said, but she could already recognize the name of the stop. They still had a little ways to go, but Kathleen felt a little better knowing she was going the right direction.
She turned back to Yuriko, to ask more about the necklace, when the door chimed and opened. Everyone inside jostled around trying to leave or make room for more people to get on the train.
Kathleen only saw Yuriko's wide, blue eyes, before the woman behind her sudden;y moved, shoving Kathleen straight into Yuriko.
Their faces crushed together, lips mashing. Yuriko's free hand flew up, cupping against Kathleen's cheek, possibly to stop their teeth from chipping.
The woman moved away and Kathleen instantly took a step back, fingers pressed against her lips in surprise. She looked at Yuriko, who mirrored the motion. Kathleen felt her mind stuttered.
Had they just… kissed?
She felt her heart race, even as she told herself to calm down. It wasn't a kiss, it was an accident. Besides, kisses weren't supposed to hurt like that. Or be caused by a stranger pushing them.
However, Kathleen knew her face and neck were turning red. Yuriko's cheeks had even begun to turn pink, her eyes suddenly avoiding Kathleen's.
She felt someone press against her shoulder, and she heard Ai's bright voice. "Finally found my way over here!" She almost had to shout over the noise of people pushing back onto the train, the announcements blaring. Ai paused, smile fading as she looked between Yuriko and Kathleen "Did something happen?"
"N-no!" Kathleen squeaked, knowing she didn't sound believable at all.
Ai, eyes still wide, looked to Yuriko. Yuriko wasn't looking at either of them, turning away as the crush of people pushed them all together. "Okay, then," Ai eventually said.
When the doors closed, Yuriko was still turned away, though her shoulder was pressed into Kathleen's. Kathleen spent the rest of the trip trying to have a friendly conversation with Ai, but all she could feel was that thin, warm shoulder against hers.
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