Our World

by Ash Mio

  Note from the author:

  Hello, thank you for giving “Our World” a chance. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. There may be a few small inaccuracies, but the cultural and language portions are correct to my understanding. I’ve studied Japanese language and culture for years at university, so hopefully there aren’t any errors.

  Here are a few notes on some of the honorifics used in this book. Honorifics are used widely in Japanese culture to show relationships and politeness. They’re an important and unique part of the language and culture. They’re typically attached to the end of a name unlike English honorifics such as Mr. and Mrs. which are attached at the beginning. These will be explained again in the book, but just in case, here they are:

  -san: Used in formal speech, for adults older than you, or as a term of politeness (male and female)

  -kun: Used for younger boys

  -chan: Used for younger girls

  -tan: cute way of saying “chan”

  -sensei: teacher

  -senpai: upperclassman

  Our World

  By

  Ash Mio

  Ch. 1 Hikari

  He’s looking at me. The foreign exchange student is looking at me. He’s been turned around in his seat for minutes now completely oblivious to the please-go- away vibes I’ve been emitting. Take a hint dumbass. Your face is too damn close to be considered normal acceptable social conduct. Sighs. I guess I should say something or I won’t get any of that social isolation I value so much.

  “Will, you’re too close. I’ve been pretending to read here.” He nods but doesn’t back away. “Sorry,” he says. Don’t apologize! Just turn back around! I’m not sure what he’s waiting for. Is he waiting for that to happen again? He didn’t seem really interested when he saw it last week…

  Let’s go back to last week at the start of the new term. (Here in Japan, school starts in April and the academic year is split into trimesters).

  Like every year, the students were walking beneath a cloud of pink cherry blossoms. They caught on the students’ hair like snow. This was my favorite part of the year before the exams, before the classmates, and before the whispering that was always mixed in with the cherry blossoms. I always liked watching the streaks of brown and black hair change in sunlight. However, this year was different. This year, there were flecks of gold in this pink and black and brown scene. It sparkled brilliantly.

  It was pretty. I don’t really have a better word to describe it. That was my initial thought, and the girls seemed to agree with me. They were openly staring at it and murmuring. “Wow look! Blonde hair.”

  “It’s not dyed is it?”

  “He’s so handsome.”

  The boys joined in. “A foreigner?”

  “I hope he’s in our class.”

  And I’m sure he can hear you guys because you’re not even trying to whisper. He took a small bow to people staring at him. The guy looked uncomfortable. I felt sorry for him. He’s going to get stared at a lot with a pretty face like that. He stopped to look up at the cherry blossoms. “Good luck blonde guy.” I think telepathically.

  My goal for this year is to avoid everyone, especially if I didn’t want my condition being found out. It gets troublesome every year. People point and talk, which would be okay if they didn’t interrupt my reading time. It may not even matter this year though. “Oh, it’s that guy, he….” I heard people say when I walked into the room. I saw people from my class from last year. I guess that makes things easier if they already knew.

  “Hey, you shouldn’t talk about people,” another kid said. His friend made a face.

  “I wasn’t trying to be mean. It’s just interesting.” His friend hushed him.

  Really. Learn to whisper guys.

  I sat down at the desk farthest to the back near the window, where I could watch the cherry blossoms. The girls began to squeal in excitement. The blonde guy was in our class, and he had just walked through the door. He greeted everyone quietly. It seemed like he was accustomed to Japanese culture, whether through experience or anime.

  It’s like the start of some manga, isn’t it? I think I’ve read too many shoujo manga (comics typically made for girls). And what’s wrong with that? Just because I was born with a dick, I have to be macho?

  He looked around for a desk and opted for the seat in front of me. Oh god. He’s going to draw in a lot of attention isn’t he? He’ll be like the sun, drawing in all noisy, social people in class with his sunny disposition.

  “Hello, my name is Will Thompson. Nice to meet you.” The exchange student had just spoken to me, and what’s more, he had spoken to me in beautiful Japanese. His voice is smooth and velvety. Up close, his face did resemble a comic book character. “I’m …” I tried to introduce myself.

  “Hello!” Someone interrupts in English. A few people come over to Will-san.

  “Are you a exchange student?” One of the girls asks in broken English. Will-san turned around surprised. “Ah yes.” He introduces himself. “Actually, I lived in Japan when I was younger, so you can speak to me in Japanese.” Everyone was thoroughly impressed. “ Wow. So cool.”

  “Your Japanese is better than mine.” They laugh.

  “I’m Higuchi Takaya.”

  “I’m Fumiko Mimi.” Everyone started introducing themselves. Of course, he won’t remember all of that, you dummies. He nods politely at each introduction. Everyone hurries to their seats at the homeroom teacher comes into the classroom.

  The homeroom teacher, Terada sensei , does his introduction. “Today, we’ll review procedures and do introductions. Next week, we’ll pick class representatives, so keep that in mind.” He opened his roster and started calling roll. My name is somewhere in the middle, so I zone out a little bit. “…-Ishiki Mei.”

  “Here.”

  “Hoshimura Hikari.” Shit. That’s me. “Here.”

  Will turns around and stares at me curiously. Should I smile? Americans smile to show friendliness right? Or is that presumptuous? “It’s nice to meet you.” I smile as best and as humanly as I could, but I hadn’t used my mouth muscles like this in quite some time. He seemed quite surprised but just chuckled and nodded. Was it that weird?

  When it was Will-san’s turn to do introductions, he said to just call him by his first name without any honorifics. (Honorifics are attached at the end of a person’s name to show politeness, respect, or closeness. San is used for someone older or in a high position. Kun is usually used for boys. Chan is used for girls or boys as an insult. People typically call people by last names in Japan unless they are close to that person. A first name without an honorific usually signifies familiarity). Call him Will he says. Both your first and last name are fucking hard to pronounce. Most of us will probably pronounce it Wi-ru because we don’t have really have the double “L” sound in the Japanese alphabet or the “mp” sound in Thompson.

  At break, Will was bombarded with questions. “How is your Japanese so good?” He politely answered them all. I would have told them to fuck off. Good job representing America exchange student. I bet that’s tiring.

  “When I was younger, my dad got transferred here for work. I lived here for three years, so I picked up the language.” They all nodded engrossed in his story.

  “Do you have a girlfriend?” Seems like a lot of people wanted to know the answer to this question. It’s the start of every shoujo manga. I wonder if he’ll run into a girl in the hallway and incidentally kiss her. Then, they start a intercultural romance.

  “I don’t, but I don’t think I want one. I’d really like to focus on my studies.” There was a wave of disappointed faces. I wonder how many girls would confess to Will by the end of the semester. All of them? Poor guy. Even if you say you don’t want a girl
friend, they will come for you. I can just imagine the calculating, diamond-shaped little sparkle in every single girl’s eyes.

  “Hikari, we’re in the same class again.” Emi, my childhood friend and one of the very few people I could stand, gave me a slap on the back as a greeting.

  “Ow.” I rubbed my shoulder as she laughed.

  “You’re still so skinny and cute.” She ruffled my hair.

  A guy from Will’s group was looking at us angrily. His name was Yamaguchi Shun, an asshole .

  “Hey Will, want to see something interesting?” Will thought for a moment. “Sure?”

  Well shit. I had a pretty good idea of what Yamaguchi wanted to show him. It was too predictable. He pointed to me. “This guy has a pretty interesting condition.” Everyone stops talking to stare at me. “His skin is super white, but when he gets nervous, it turns a bright red tomato color.”

  Will was confused. “Isn’t that just normal?”

  I think that’s the first time someone said it was normal.

  “His face and his hands even, but it’s not a normal blush. It’s bright red.” The others stare again, hoping to see it happen. Damn it, you little shit Yamaguchi. Why are you such a typical high school bully? You’re a cliché you dumbass. Believe it or not, I used to call him Shun, but we’re not that close anymore. He’d probably beat me up if I did.

  “Come on Hikari, show them.” He egged. This rude little shit.

  By the way, my mom was a super huge fan of yakuza movies. She bought a whole bunch of yakuza mangas as well and we both adopted the cussing. I actually found that it relaxes me and helps me not blush as much plus people tend to leave you alone when you’re rude as fuck. Emi says I can’t really pull of the cussing with the way I look though.

  Anyways, back to my current predicament. Luckily for me, my condition isn’t as severe as other people’s. It doesn’t react to everything like Yamaguchi’s egging. “Come on Hikari, it’s not a big deal right?” Emi was angry. “Stop it Shun.”

  “Actually, I’m not really that interested.” Will smiled politely. People turned to him instead of me. Oh you wonderful attention drawing sun.

  “My cousin has sensitive skin too. She blushes when temperatures get too hot or cold and she’s really self-conscious about it. She even cries sometimes because of people’s insensitive remarks. It’s just something that happens and she can’t help it.”

  Was there such a condition? This story sounds suspiciously fake.

  The other kids sympathized.

  “That must be hard on her.”

  “Poor girl.”

  “That’s right. We should be careful of what we say to other people.”

  Well, aren’t you guys understanding?

  “Yeah, and I really don’t like people who bullies others because of something they have no control over.” Will smiled towards Yamaguchi. That seemed to shut him up. Yamaguchi looked slightly ashamed.

  Someone cleared their throat. “We should go back to our seats. The math teacher is scary.”

  “That’s because you suck at math.”

  “Shut up!”

  And just like that, the air lightened, and the classroom went back to a happy murmur. This was the first time things ended without much of a fuss at all. This was the first time it didn’t seem like much of a big deal. The classroom is still a very peaceful place.

  I should thank him. I made a drawing on paper and threw it over his desk. It hit him slightly. He opened it and laughed. It was the kind of laugh that made you all happy inside.

  Really, he was just like the main character in a comic.

  Ch. 2 Will

  Honestly, Japan is super beautiful in the spring. I’m glad I was able to convince my parents to let me study here. The peaceful landscapes calm my very soul. There’s just one thing that’s a bit overwhelming: everywhere I go, I get stared at. Is it really that strange to see a white guy in Japan? I know I’m a head taller than mostly everyone and I have blonde hair but you can find tons of white people in California. And all these questions. Is my life story that interesting?

  I really want to go to a dog or cat café to relieve stress. I have to be polite though. It’s a big thing in Japanese culture. Plus if I behave like a punk, it’ll reflect badly on Americans right?

  I’m a junior this year and almost 17. The timeline was a little hard to pin down since schools in the states go from August to May.

  I get into my classroom and greet everyone. I hear them talking around me, although I’m not sure if they know I can understand them. The desk farthest to the back is already taken by a guy wearing glasses with bangs covering his face. He’s small and skinny for a teenager. He isn’t interacting with anyone else in the class either.

  “Hi….” I introduce myself and wait for him to do the same. He only stares at me. Is he surprised? He hasn’t said anything for a minute. He starts to introduce himself but is interrupted.

  “Hello!” Someone tries to speak English to me but the thick accent makes it hard to understand. I tell them that they can use Japanese. They’re impressed and introduce themselves all at once. What was the girl’s name? Yumiko? No that’s not right.

  Thankfully, the teacher began class before I could offend anyone.

  The guy behind me still hadn’t introduced himself. He seems interesting, and the air around him is so….refreshing.

  “Ishiki Mei.”

  “Here.”

  “Hoshimura Hikari.” There was a pause.

  “Here.”

  He sounded like he was caught by surprise. So his name is Hikari. Hikari as in “light” right? Somehow it doesn’t fit his image… I realized I was staring at him.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled. It was the worst smile I’d ever seen. Super forced and robotic. Are you trying to be American? He’s hilarious.

  “Thompson, Will?”

  “Here.”

  “Will-kun since you’re a foreign exchange student, can you introduce yourself a little bit? I heard your Japanese is excellent.”

  Sensei…I think I stick out enough as it is… but I don’t have a choice. I stand up and introduce myself.

  “My name is Thompson Will. You can call me Will since we call each other by our first names in the states…It’d be easier for me too if I could call everyone by their first name. I hope that it isn’t too rude.” Everyone looks happy and agrees readily. That makes it easier for me.

  “I’ll be here for a 10 month exchange, and I’m from California…”

  I thought they’d get tired of me by break, but I was still being asked a lot of questions.

  “I don’t have a girlfriend…” I’ve dated in the past and that was one traumatizing experience. A cute girl with brown hair and a ponytail approached Hikari. She was the only one to do so since class school started I think. Shun-kun (maybe?) suddenly asks “Hey Will, want to see something interesting?”

  Wonder what got into him all of a sudden. “Sure?”

  He makes an effort to gesture to Hikari. Does he know him well?

  “His skin is super white, but when he gets nervous, it turns a bright red tomato color….Come on Hikari, show them.”

  Hey now. Aren’t you just bullying the guy? Why bring this up all of a sudden?

  Hikari has a stony face, but I’m sure it bothers him. I’ve heard of kids with severe blushing conditions that create anxiety issues.

  “Actually, I’m not really that interested.” Well that’s a lie. I really want to know more about it. How. Why. What. “My cousin...” who doesn’t exist “…has sensitive skin too…” does this fake condition exist? I hope no one fact checks me.

  The story seems to work though and their focus moves away from Hikari.

  “We should go back to our seats. The math teacher is scary…”

  The strange tension lifts. People seem to have lost interest in Hikari.

  I’ve never been more thankful for math in my life! I’m not sure why Shun did that, but that really wasn’t co
ol of him.

  A few moments later, something hits the back of my neck. I open it to see a drawing of me with shiny anime eyes and wearing a cape.

  “My hero. Thank you.” I laugh. It sounds sarcastic, but I had a feeling he was being sincere about it. I smooth out the paper and tuck it safely in my blazer pocket.

  He really is an interesting guy.

  ………………………………………………….

  The class wanted to go to karaoke together, but I declined since there was a place I wanted to go much much more: a dog café!. I would have settled for a cat café, but lucky for me this city had a rare dog café between my school and my home.

  The GPS led me to a tall building with glass windows and a bubbly sign. Roughly translated, it was called “Dog House.”

  I opened the door and was greeted by the staff. They did a bit of a double take. I guess I should get used to being stared at.

  “Hello, I’d like to do an hour session.” They looked shocked at my language proficiency.

  “Ah. Excuse me. I’m the shop owner. Shimura.”

  “Hello.”

  Shimura-san is a small lady in her mid-40’s. She has a gentleness about her.

  “Is this your first time?” she asks.

  “Yes, please guide me.”

  “My, your Japanese is excellent and such a handsome face.” She covers her laugh. “Please sanitize your hands before going to the dog area. There are two adjoining rooms with many different breeds of dogs. There is also a place with snacks if you’d like. Photos are allowed but without flash.” Shimura-san led me to the dog area and gestured in. “Please enjoy.”

  “Thank you.” I opened the door to my heaven. My dog radar was going off the charts. Dogs and more dogs everywhere with their poufy tails and everything. Bless Japan and its cute dogs. The room was themed with dog houses and people were taking photos inside with the dogs. They had shibas, poodles, and beagles. I had a golden retriever at home named Ginger, but I couldn’t take her along. She looked really sad when I left (well that’s how I choose to interpret her going back to eat her kibble).