About 30 pairs of eyes turned to look at me, and my stomach sank. I definitely couldn't do this. I wasn't even really listening to Faith as she dragged me into the classroom and started explaining something to the teacher. My brain was more focused on all the pairs of eyes watching me. I ripped my gaze away from all of my brand-new classmates and onto the teacher. He asked Faith something, who just rolled her eyes and responded with a comment that sounded pretty sarcastic. The teacher rolled his own eyes in response and motioned to me. My stomach dropped again: what did that mean?
Faith pushed me to the front of the class, quietly speaking to me in English, "In case you didn't understand any of the lovely conversation Mr. Koshiro and I had, you're supposed to introduce yourself to the entire class, and I'm going to translate any questions they have for you."
"Great. Alright, here goes nothing." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart before bowing slightly, "Kon'nichiwa, watashinonmanaeha aru amayadesu, watashi wa hijō ni sukoshi nihongo o shitte imasu. Gomen'nasai." My voice was still shaking a bit from my uncertainty about the pronunciation of the words. Faith must have added something about me answering any questions they had, because next thing I knew, a dozen or more hands shot up into the air.
"Oh my...word..." I breathed out, which provoked a "duh" look from Faith. "What?"
"You're from another country, what do you expect? Not to mention you're a 'commoner'. Everyone here, especially in this class, is super rich." Faith explained. "Now go ahead and pick someone for your first question."
About a million questions later, the teacher put an end to my interrogation and had two of us take a seat. He then explained something and started to write on the board.
"Um...Faith?" I poked her in the back, just hard enough to get her attention. "What did he just say?"
"He said we're going to be writing a novel." Just as my heart started to race, she quickly explained herself, "Just kidding, just kidding! We're going to be taking notes on what Mr. Koshiro writes on the board. I'm sure that if you asked after class, you could take a picture of the notes." Faith sighed, turning back to her own notebook and copying down the Japanese characters.
I took a look at the chalkboard and nearly died, 'Mom and Dad, I told you this was a bad idea...' I thought. The chalkboard was already presenting half a line of Japanese characters, written right to left, and growing longer with each passing second. I watched the teacher before attempting to write down what he was writing on the chalkboard. Little did I know that someone was already watching me with a concerned look...
~Time Skip to After Class~
"Are you ok?"
"Why am I here again?" I rested my head on my desk, wishing I was almost anywhere but here.
"...you can copy my notes during lunch," Faith offered, handing me her notes, "But I can't do that for you forever."
"I know."
"C'mon, let's go down to lunch," Faith grabbed my backpack and left the classroom with it tightly in her grasp.
"Hey!" After chasing Faith down the hallway and down the stairs, I managed to grab my backpack just as we reached the entrance to the cafeteria. There were so many kids already seated and eating their rich lunches. Faith let go of my bag and headed off with her friends.
"O-kay." I searched for an empty table, surprised when I actually found one. Taking a seat, I pulled out my pre-bagged lunch and a couple brand new sheets of notebook paper along with a pencil. Time to translate this into English. However, as I worked on this painstaking task, it felt like someone was staring at me. I started scanning the cafeteria for the culprit, my eyes landing on a handsome blonde guy, who was indeed staring at me. I wasn't sure how to solve this problem until the blonde blinked a couple times, then smiled at me.
I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I politely smiled back before turning back to my barely translated notes. He had just zoned out! This was ridiculous...I just wanted to stay home in the first place. I even contemplated banging my head on the table, but that would just bring about more unwanted attention and pain. I refocused my attention on my notes; only to be stopped by Faith approaching my semi-private study spot.
"Hey, you can come sit with me and my friends." She offered, "Honestly, I thought you were going to follow me over there anyway."
"Ok." I packed up my things and followed Faith to her normal lunch table. Faith introduced me to her friends and vice versa, but she was soon speaking in fluent Japanese with them.
Tired of the new language in general, I started to translate these stupid notes again at an agonizing speed. Every so often, I'd have to ask Faith for help. Thankfully, by the end of the lunch period, I had completely translated notes.
Faith and I had to split up, but this was the only class period we didn't have together. Faith had a type of computer design class while I had my independent music study. I gave Faith her notes back and we went our separate ways.
I started wandering around the school, reading the signs above the classrooms while wondering what ever happened about my promised tour of Ouran Academy from Faith. Oh, well. I'd just have to ask her about it later.
I eventually found a classroom with the sign "Music Room 3". Sighing in relief, the last thing I expected to be greeted with was a dark-haired student about my age, wearing the required school uniform and metal-framed glasses, sitting at a table and typing away on a laptop.
"Sumimasen ga, dokoni iru no ka wakarimasu ka?"1 The dark-haired guy readjusted his glasses, "Watashi wa 100-pāsento kakushin shite irunode kokode wa tadashiku arimasen."2
Why did Japan hate me so much?
1: Excuse me, but do you know where you're supposed to be?
2: Because I'm 100% sure here is not correct.
*Note: The dress in the picture is the back of Amaya's dress that she uses as her uniform.*
For the moment, Japanese will be in underlined italics and English will just be in normal text.
*Note: I used Google Translate for the Japanese words, so I know it will not be accurate.*
YOU ARE READING
Un Iris Parmi Roses
FanfictionAmaya Kumiko is a new student at Ouran Academy, attending this prestigious school via music scholarship for her piano skills. The only problem she has is little to no knowledge of the Japanese language. With a little help from a translator, will she...
