Life in Retail

Translation Error

Work is almost easy now, despite it starting to get busy for the holidays. I already had not one, but two people ask about Christmas stuff. I personally like to wait until December before jumping into the gift giving season, but then again, this is my first time working retail.

I did have someone interesting come in though.

*Ding-a-ling*

"Welcome to Convenience!" I wave the customer in.

He nods. "Hey! Where's your Halloween stuff?"

I point it out. "Right there in aisle six. Let me know if you need help finding something in particular."

He brings a finger to his mouth, staring up thoughtfully. "Actually, I'm not sure it'll be in there now that I'm thinking about it. Do you sell bibles here?"

I tilt my head, a bit confused, but don't question it. It's not exactly the strangest question I've ever been asked, and I doubt it'll be the last. "We might have one or two in the book section." I come out from behind the counter and lead him to it. "It tends to get really unorganized in there. Let me see if I can't find one for you."

"Thank you." He nods, following me to our small book section.

The two of us search for a while and he manages to find one. He looks it over and shakes his head. "I was really hoping to be more authentic. Say, would you have the King James bible in Japanese?"

I pause, even more confused. "Excuse me?"

He chuckles a bit. "I'm going as the exorcist at work and I think he uses a King James bible. I was hoping you had one in Japanese though. If I'm not taking you from anything, I'd love your help finding any other possible strays mixed up in here."

I stare at him blankly, not fully understanding why it sounds weird that he's asking for a King James bible in Japanese. I'm pretty sure the one he has is the only one in Japanese, but how would I know? Is there a King James bible in Japanese?

I nervously laugh a couple of times and pull out my phone. "Give me one second. I'm going to pull up a picture and see if that helps me spot it easier."

He nods encouragingly before returning to his hunt. "Good idea."

I Google it.

Huh. The more you know.

I slide the phone into my pocket and wonder how best it is to bring this up to him. Apparently, the King James bible isn't just a version, but the translation, which I guess makes sense, but since King James didn't speak Japanese, it wouldn't be in Japanese.

"Any luck?" He turns to me.

I figure it's best to feign ignorance and save him the embarrassment, offering him a smile. "Actually, I don't remember seeing one here. If it's here, I think it's in English."

He snaps his fingers once. "Darn." He looks over the Japanese one and shrugs. "Well, guess I'll just get this one then."

-----

"Wait, wait, wait." Karma laughs hysterically, holding his stomach and folding over his knees next to me on the bench outside Convenience. "So, you didn't realize that 'King James' automatically meant it was in English?"

I puff out my cheeks, annoyed. "So?"

Akari on the other side of me covers her mouth, a few giggles escaping.

"Really? You too?" I turn to her, feeling betrayed.

"Well..." She rolls her eyes and holds out her hand to the side. "It's not called the King James translation because it's in a language other than his native one. Seriously, Nagisa, you can be really cute sometimes."

I blush, lowering my head. It's a good thing you're cute too or I'd be more annoyed with you.

"What are you dressed as anyway?" Karma wipes a tear from his eye, looking me over carefully.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto." I face him, throwing him a quick glare before letting it go. "It's supposed to be a joke. Since he's a ninja, right now, that makes me a—"

"A ninja assassin!" Akari claps a few times and laughs. "That's genius!"

"Eh, I've seen better." Karma waves at me dismissively.

"Oh, be nice!" Akari sticks her tongue out at him, making me laugh.

It's his turn to roll his eyes this time. "So what're you doing for your themed costumes at the end of the month?"

"I don't know yet." I admit, wondering how far Taki's willing to even go. He made it pretty clear that he didn't want to do anything extreme like a full-out costume.

Akari gets a twinkle in her eye and briefly looks away. "I have the perfect idea."

"Oh yeah?" Karma and I synonymously ask.

She looks directly at Karma and stands up, moving to the other side of him. Suddenly, I don't trust my own girlfriend, a pit growing in the depths of my stomach.

Karma listens intently as she whispers in his ear, a devilish smile growing on his lips. Then they both look at me with matching expressions.

"I'm in." He says, his tone dark.

I shrink down into myself a bit. I'm not gonna like this much, am I?

*****

End Note: Originally supposed to be posted on Oct 8th. Next update on Thursday. See you then!