A new morning had arisen over the luscious town of Animal Village. For some it meant a new chance to catch bugs, go fishing, find fossils, live life to the fullest. For James, it meant going back to work for Tom Nook.
"Alright Jay-Jay, I'm headed out. Thanks for the pancakes; they were delicious!" James' sister, with her messy hair and blotches of flour all over her apron, waved back and wished her brother, "Good luck with your job today! You're gonna need it!"
James' eyebrows furrowed in confusion and disbelief at his sister's comment, wondering how she got to be so—to put in the nicest way possible—blunt.
"Uhh... thanks?" And with that, he went outside, closing the door behind him. He didn't even reach his mailbox before he heard a familiar voice addressing him. "So, you like the house then, hm?" James turned around and saw his employer/landlord Tom Nook, standing on the lawn. "Oh! Yes, it's a lovely house, though I do wish that it was a little bit bigger—not that I'm complaining." The raccoon simply laughed. "Oh, ho ho ho ho! I understand. It's not easy fitting 3 people inside such a small house (and to be honest, I never had that many residents living in the same house before). But like I told your sister yesterday, you can upgrade your house so that you can make even bigger, as much as possible."
James was excited about this; maybe then he wouldn't have to sleep in the living room anymore. "That's great! When can we start?"
"As soon as you pay off your smallish loan of 120,000 bells."
"Wait, WHAT?!"
------INTRO SONG------
------12:00 PM------
"♪Waves crashing down, upon the river's sweet sound. Woah woah woah, something's calling out to me...♪" James sang softly to himself while he swept the tile floor in the small convenience shop. There were no deliveries to be made today, and Ai, Tom Nook's other employee, had the day off, so it was just him. But he didn't mind; he loved it.
"James," the raccoon called. "Coming, Mr. Nook," James replied as he set the broom down. "Is there anything you need for me to do?" "Why yes. I need you to make a delivery to Ai. You see, the Spring Sports Fair is next week, and this year, we're going to have a soccer match." "So I've heard," said James. Tom Nook continued. "Since I'm sponsoring her team this year, I made an order to the Able Sisters for some sports shirts." He reached into his pocket and handed him a slip of paper with the order on it. "Once you're done, you can have the rest of the day off."
"Wow! Really?" James said excitedly. "Of course James. I think you should have some time to explore the town, make it your home. Have fun today. I'm a generous raccoon, yes?"
I don't think that last bit was necessary, James commented, though internally. James put the order in his pocket and dashed out the door. "Thanks Mr. Nook! I'll see you tomorrow!" "See you then!" the raccoon shouted back. "And don't dilly dally with that order! Take care!" When James was out of earshot, Tom Nook sighed and muttered to himself, "I'm glad that that Ai suggested that he have half the day off, but now who will be in charge of the deliveries?" He looked around, seeing that there was no one else but him in there. "Looks like it's just me; just like old times, hmm Tom?"
--------Meanwhile--------
Ai walked down the dirt road, admiring the pine trees she had planted two years ago. The rays of the sun crept through the leaves, warming her joyous face, as a few butterflies flew by as if to greet her with their beauty. Although the spring day lavished itself upon her, begging her to reminisce in its splendor, she had to keep walking to complete her mission. She was determined to make her new neighbors as welcome as possible, and her little mind thought of the brilliant idea of including them in a practice game of soccer, which was being held at noon. It was the perfect icebreaker.
She arrived at the new family's house quite quickly. As she looked at it, she noted how much smaller it was from her own house; it clearly wasn't built for multiple people. But then again, not many villagers had families living with them—in fact, no one did—so how could Tom Nook expect to build a house big enough?
She knocked on the door. Then it swung wide open, revealing a frazzled Jay-Jay with matted hair, a stained apron, mop, and...was that a pancake in her hair?
"James, I thought you--EEEEK!" Jay-Jay screamed, then slammed the door with a loud BANG, leaving a startled and confused Ai.
As quick as it had closed, the door opened, only this time it there was a Jay-Jay with designer clothes, fixed hair, make-up, and an energetic smile.
"Wha...? How did you...?" Ai questioned. Jay-Jay just evaded the answer with a large, "Hello! I wasn't expecting company! Come on in."
"Thank you," Ai replied courteously. As she walked in, she noticed that the family hadn't really been unpacking that much. There was still quite a few boxes laying around, and there was only a few pieces of furniture laying around.
"Sorry about the mess. We still haven't finished unpacking," Jay-Jay explained. "Oh, no worries," Ai said. "I didn't finish unpacking until after a month, but I've heard that some villagers unpack in only a day!" "I wished I knew their secret, and then it wouldn't look like such a pigsty," Jay-Jay expressed.
And then, out of nowhere, Jay-Jay called loudly, "Kyle! We have a guest!"
No answer.
Jay-Jay smiled sheepishly at Ai, then yelled again. "Kyle?"
Still no answer.
"KYLE ROBERTSON, GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE THIS INST--"
And he got his butt down there that instant, more out of fear of what might happen to it if he didn't.
"Ah there you are! You remember Ai from yesterday?" said Jay-Jay, switching into her cheery voice.
(Ai narrowed her eyes and formed a sort of "eh?" face, wondering, Is she always like this?)
Kyle didn't respond either way. He just stared at Ai, just like yesterday. Ai shifted uncomfortably at his stare (again) and tried her best to greet him with as much warmth as possible.
"Hi there. Nice to see you again, Kyle."
"...hi," Kyle said, his voice sounding like the coo of a dove. Then, his manner of expression changed completely from timidity to pure excitement. "Do you like bugs? I have a whole collection I caught in our old house! C'mon I'll show you!" He grabbed Ai's hand before she could say anything.
"Goodness," Jay-Jay astounded, "He's never warmed up to anyone like this before!" Then she recollected herself, and yelled back, "Wait Kyle! Maybe Ai doesn't want to--"
"It's okay," Ai called back, being dragged along by the 8-year-old. "I'll be back in a minu--woah! Slow down!"
--------Meanwhile--------
James headed over to the town square with a package on the back of his bike. He had gotten a tip from the Able Sisters—the two porcupines that ran the clothing store near Nook 'N' Go—that Ai's team was meeting near there. When he could see the town hall off in the distance, he didn't see her there, but rather the orange crocodile and the cerulean cat—better known as Alfonso and Rosie—that spied on him in the town hall yesterday. They looked in his direction and mistook him for Yū, their teammate.
"Hey Yū!" Alfonso waved, "Did you find Ai?"
"Huh?" James said to himself, then answered back, "No, I didn't. Do you know where she is?"
"Nope!" Rosie called back. "That's why we sent you to look for her, Yū."
Now he was more puzzled. Not only did they started addressing him as "you", but now they were making up stuff. "What's going on?" he wondered.
As James came closer and closer, Alfonso realized that it wasn't Yū. Yū didn't look that good in a 1920s hat. James stopped in front of them, leaving both of them in confusion. "Heyyyy... you're not Yū," Alfonso asserted. "Who else would I be? I am me," James responded, even adding more to their confusion.
Alfonso: "No you're not. You're James."
"Right."
Rosie: "Then where is Yū?"
"I think the grammatically correct phrase is,
'Where are you.' And I'm standing right here."
Alfonso: "No not you. Yū."
"Yes, me. And I'm right here."
Rosie: "Not you, you. The other Yū."
"As far as I know, there's no other me."
Both: "NO. YŪ!"
"Yes me!" said James, now irritated.
Both: "Couldn't be!"
"THEN WHO?!"
"That would be me."
All three looked towards the direction of the voice. Standing there was a boy, about Ai's age. He had green eyes; brown hair with three spikes poking out; a sporty headband; a number 3 tee; soccer socks; and a pair of yellow sneakers.
"Wait, who are you?" James asked. "Correct," replied Yū. "I'm Yū, from the other village nearby. Sometimes I come here to play."
"You're not m--ohhhh... you're name is Yū," James realized. "You just figured that out? Boy, you must be really dense," Rosie said, with a mix of energy and frustration. James just stared as a cool breeze flew by, followed by a stunned silence.
"Did you find Ai?" Alfonso asked Yū. "Not yet. We were supposed to meet here for the soccer practice fifteen minutes ago. I don't know where she could've gone. By the way," Yū said, turning to James, "I don't think I've seen you before. Who are you?"
"Oh! Where are my manners? I'm James. I just moved here yesterday." "Where from?" Yū questioned. "From the city." "Whoa! What's it like?" Yū inched closer and closer in excitement to hear more. "Were there candy stores? Planetariums? Cops chasing bank robbers? Amusement parks? Were the animals there friendly? Isn't there a fountain with a goddess in it?" James looked nervously at Yū, wishing for him to stop getting so close and interrogating. Then, as if an answer to prayer, Ai came up the road, followed by Kyle. "Oh Yū, always asking so many questions." A sigh of relief escaped from James' mouth.
"Ai!" exclaimed Rosie, Alfonso, and Yū, running up to her. "Where have you been? We've wondering where you were," Rosie asked. "Who's the little guy?" Yū wondered, looking at Kyle. "Oh, this is Kyle. Rosie, Alfonso, you remember him. This is James' little brother." "Huh?" Yū pondered. "James, I didn't know you had a brother."
"I actually have two siblings," he explained. "A sister and a brother."
"Kyle," Ai introduced, "this is Yū, the boy I mentioned earlier? the one who also likes catching bugs?" Kyle looked at Yū, who had his big, charming smile on (which made him kind of shy). "You should see Kyle's collection. It's huge!" Ai bragged. "I told him he should show it to Blathers at the museum."
"Boy, wouldn't he love that?" Yū nudged Alfonso's arm as a small smirk rested on his face, which meant that a childish prank was forming in his head. Unbeknownst to Ai, Yū knew that Blathers, in fact, had a very large phobia of insects; even butterflies. "We'll definitely show it to him, together with my collection." "Really? That would be wonderful!" Ai encouraged, not realizing the consequences of what she just sanctioned.
Kyle tugged on Ai's skirt and motioned her to come down. He whispered something in her ear, to which she responded, "Oh of course. I was just getting to that.
"Kyle wants to know when we can start playing soccer and stop talking," Ai repeated. Yū laughed and said, "Well, I guess this is as good as time as any! How about we start then?"
--------------------
Author's Note
Don't worry, part two will come out. But I couldn't decide on how to end it, so do you want a sneak preview of the next part?
Are you sure?
Are you REALLLLY sure?
Okay. But the text you see will be in the next part, so don't get mad if you read it again...
Part 2 (PREVIEW)
"HEYYYY YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!"