Post by Nyarlath on Oct 13, 2012 16:19:52 GMT -5
Catching up on some homework, Aaron Sloan was surprised when a football crashed into the bench he was sitting on. At first, of course, he was just startled at the suddenness of it all. That would quickly fade, however, when he saw the item that had impacted just a few feet away.
"Gomennasai," said a Japanese boy who smirked at Aaron's confusion as he picked up the football. The boy turned and threw it to a friend before jogging off.
Aaron watched him, could see the football in the distance, and then looked down at his studies. He looked at the bench where the football had hit, and then back at his studies. In an instant he was gone, running with his books quickly folded up under his arms.
It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, but not too bright. Just the way Noriko liked it. She sang to herself as she walked from class, half humming a soft melody as pleasant as the days weather. It was a moment of perfect serenity, and as far as Noriko was concerned, one should try to have as many of those moments as possible.
However all moments are fleeting, and she began to realize that as she thought she heard shouting in the distance. At first she thought nothing of it, but then realized it was getting louder. She looked around and saw Aaron running at her, apparently yelling her name. She giggled at the sight of him.
"Noriko! Noriko!" He kept shouting until she started walking towards him. Soon enough he'd caught her and was now trying to catch his breath. She could tell he had something important to say, but had been running very hard for a long time.
"Oroka na shounen," she giggled as he caught his breath.
"Football, Noriko! It's here! Why didn't you tell me!"
"A-rone, slow down."
He took another few seconds to catch his breath. "So I was sitting at the park and-"
"Did you run all the way from the park?" she asked in her thick Japanese accent. Apparently from her reaction that was quite a long distance.
"Yeah!" His breath was finally coming back to him. "There were these kids playing football."
"Good for them."
"But you told me there was no football here in Japan, just soccer."
She shook her head, "No, I told you about the associated football team and you said you didn't want to play."
"When I mentioned football you showed me soccer. Everyone but Americans call it football."
"I know," she said as if telling him she didn't need the explanation. "Then I told you there was another team but you weren't interested."
"Because I'm not interested in soccer," he said. He then grabbed her by the shoulders. "Noriko, there was a kid playing with an American football. Does that mean it's popular here? Does this school have an American football team?"
"Hai."
"And those kids who were asking me to play football with them for the first few weeks of school weren't talking about soccer?"
"Hai."
He stood there in silence, blank face, blinking at her. It was as if time just stopped, as if something miraculous had happened but he didn't know what to do about it. Without warning he smiled and shouted, then gave her a big hug.
***
The problem with playing on a Japanese sports team is that he doesn't speak Japanese very well. Aaron got Noriko to help him talk to the coach, but there'd be no way he could use her to help him chat with the team. Many of them knew English, or enough to think they knew it, but he was an American. He'd only just started learning a second language, and he was terrible at it.
Football, though, he was good at. The coach said that he couldn't guarantee playing time, since Aaron would be starting during the season, but he wasn't going to turn down an American football player. Not that his boys were bad, but Americans just had this uncanny knack for the sport.
In fact, it was that knack that Aaron hoped would earn him a starting spot. He was taller than most of the players, lean and quick. Aaron hadn't been that great back home, but maybe here in Japan he'd be considered a better player. He tried out for Quarterback, a position he'd backed up for in his old school.
Quickly he proved he could throw the ball as well as anyone on the team, possibly better, but their starter, Tatsuya, had experience in games and was much faster than him. Aaron also lined us as a receiver to use his height to the teams advantage.
After a few weeks with the team Aaron started learning a bit more Japanese, and familiarizing himself with the other players. Once the rust came off he considered himself a much better passer than Tatsuya, though the coach still didn't use him as a quarterback. He continued to be a receiving threat on important plays, but was mostly on the sidelines.
Of course this upset him, he thought for sure he'd be seen for being a better quarterback and would be allowed to play. Before long he started hearing some phrases thrown his way. At first he thought they were just joking with him, but eventually he asked Noriko to tranlate. Her eyes bugged out and she refused, so he assumed the worst.
Unfortunately the worst offender was Tatsuya, the kid who's spot he was trying to take over. He realized they would never be friends. Oh well, he thought to himself, at least I'm playing football.
***
Later that week after a particularly terrible night of sleep, Aaron, who almost didn't come in, noticed that everyone was rather sad. He had no idea what was wrong and immediately started searching for Noriko, but she wasn't in the immediate area. She usually met him in the morning.
It took him a while to track her down, but when he did she was crying too while comforting another classmate. From the look on her face Noriko's tears were more empathetic than anything, and when she saw him she eventually came over.
"It's terrible," she said as she hugged him. There was something familiar in this hug, like she was also trying to comfort him.
"Noriko, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what's going on."
"I thought you would have known," she said. "Tatsuya committed suicide."
He didn't know what to think. He really hadn't known Tatsuya beyond trying to replace him if he could. They only just became rivals, and now he's dead. Strange coincidence, and it's a terrible tragedy, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think that he'd start at quarterback in the next game.
"Gomennasai," said a Japanese boy who smirked at Aaron's confusion as he picked up the football. The boy turned and threw it to a friend before jogging off.
Aaron watched him, could see the football in the distance, and then looked down at his studies. He looked at the bench where the football had hit, and then back at his studies. In an instant he was gone, running with his books quickly folded up under his arms.
It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, but not too bright. Just the way Noriko liked it. She sang to herself as she walked from class, half humming a soft melody as pleasant as the days weather. It was a moment of perfect serenity, and as far as Noriko was concerned, one should try to have as many of those moments as possible.
However all moments are fleeting, and she began to realize that as she thought she heard shouting in the distance. At first she thought nothing of it, but then realized it was getting louder. She looked around and saw Aaron running at her, apparently yelling her name. She giggled at the sight of him.
"Noriko! Noriko!" He kept shouting until she started walking towards him. Soon enough he'd caught her and was now trying to catch his breath. She could tell he had something important to say, but had been running very hard for a long time.
"Oroka na shounen," she giggled as he caught his breath.
"Football, Noriko! It's here! Why didn't you tell me!"
"A-rone, slow down."
He took another few seconds to catch his breath. "So I was sitting at the park and-"
"Did you run all the way from the park?" she asked in her thick Japanese accent. Apparently from her reaction that was quite a long distance.
"Yeah!" His breath was finally coming back to him. "There were these kids playing football."
"Good for them."
"But you told me there was no football here in Japan, just soccer."
She shook her head, "No, I told you about the associated football team and you said you didn't want to play."
"When I mentioned football you showed me soccer. Everyone but Americans call it football."
"I know," she said as if telling him she didn't need the explanation. "Then I told you there was another team but you weren't interested."
"Because I'm not interested in soccer," he said. He then grabbed her by the shoulders. "Noriko, there was a kid playing with an American football. Does that mean it's popular here? Does this school have an American football team?"
"Hai."
"And those kids who were asking me to play football with them for the first few weeks of school weren't talking about soccer?"
"Hai."
He stood there in silence, blank face, blinking at her. It was as if time just stopped, as if something miraculous had happened but he didn't know what to do about it. Without warning he smiled and shouted, then gave her a big hug.
***
The problem with playing on a Japanese sports team is that he doesn't speak Japanese very well. Aaron got Noriko to help him talk to the coach, but there'd be no way he could use her to help him chat with the team. Many of them knew English, or enough to think they knew it, but he was an American. He'd only just started learning a second language, and he was terrible at it.
Football, though, he was good at. The coach said that he couldn't guarantee playing time, since Aaron would be starting during the season, but he wasn't going to turn down an American football player. Not that his boys were bad, but Americans just had this uncanny knack for the sport.
In fact, it was that knack that Aaron hoped would earn him a starting spot. He was taller than most of the players, lean and quick. Aaron hadn't been that great back home, but maybe here in Japan he'd be considered a better player. He tried out for Quarterback, a position he'd backed up for in his old school.
Quickly he proved he could throw the ball as well as anyone on the team, possibly better, but their starter, Tatsuya, had experience in games and was much faster than him. Aaron also lined us as a receiver to use his height to the teams advantage.
After a few weeks with the team Aaron started learning a bit more Japanese, and familiarizing himself with the other players. Once the rust came off he considered himself a much better passer than Tatsuya, though the coach still didn't use him as a quarterback. He continued to be a receiving threat on important plays, but was mostly on the sidelines.
Of course this upset him, he thought for sure he'd be seen for being a better quarterback and would be allowed to play. Before long he started hearing some phrases thrown his way. At first he thought they were just joking with him, but eventually he asked Noriko to tranlate. Her eyes bugged out and she refused, so he assumed the worst.
Unfortunately the worst offender was Tatsuya, the kid who's spot he was trying to take over. He realized they would never be friends. Oh well, he thought to himself, at least I'm playing football.
***
Later that week after a particularly terrible night of sleep, Aaron, who almost didn't come in, noticed that everyone was rather sad. He had no idea what was wrong and immediately started searching for Noriko, but she wasn't in the immediate area. She usually met him in the morning.
It took him a while to track her down, but when he did she was crying too while comforting another classmate. From the look on her face Noriko's tears were more empathetic than anything, and when she saw him she eventually came over.
"It's terrible," she said as she hugged him. There was something familiar in this hug, like she was also trying to comfort him.
"Noriko, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what's going on."
"I thought you would have known," she said. "Tatsuya committed suicide."
He didn't know what to think. He really hadn't known Tatsuya beyond trying to replace him if he could. They only just became rivals, and now he's dead. Strange coincidence, and it's a terrible tragedy, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think that he'd start at quarterback in the next game.
