[IC][Story][Arc 1] Ti Kallisti
07-22-2018, 04:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-22-2018, 08:55 PM by Labster.)
07-22-2018, 04:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-22-2018, 08:55 PM by Labster.)
"Ti Kallisti" (part 1 of 4)
====================
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Los Angeles International Airport
I was sitting in a brand new van, going nowhere. I was intending to go somewhere, of course, but as so many other L.A. stories go, I was stuck in traffic on an overpass. Leave it to L.A. to design an airport like a freeway, only fill it with too many cars.
The white van was decorated only with a single azure stripe which flowed into a wide elliptical hook shape on the front door, with a blue oval dotting the inside of the hook. It was one of those so-called 15 passenger vans, though I was pretty sure you couldn't fit fifteen Americans in there. Right now though, the van only had two passengers.
The van lurched to life, then came to a sudden stop ten seconds later. I rolled forward in my seat. "Athena," I chided, "You have to look at the cars in front of him, too. He's got nowhere to go, so there's no reason to jerk forward."
"Sorry, Brent," she frowned. I really wish that I had been able to teach Athena Glory to drive with a smaller car, but it was pretty clear we were going to need a big vehicle to transport all of the residents of our apartments for outings, even for something as simple as for shopping.
The choice to buy the van was proven right yesterday, when I was informed that we'd be getting seven new tenants to live in our complex. And what tenants they would be -- Chiyo, Osaka, Sakaki, Tomo, Yomi, Kagura, and Kaorin. Names that were already burned in my mind, as the students of Azumanga Daioh.
I was really excited to meet the characters of my favorite anime. At least, that's how I was supposed to feel, right? But I don't know though, I've never been much for fannish devotion. I've met famous actors and and Congressmembers, and they all just seem like ordinary folks to me; maybe they just shine a little more brightly.
So honestly, I was anxious. I wanted them to like me, and I wanted to like them. Liking someone on TV is not the same as knowing the real person. Real people have flaws and habits you don't see on-screen. But honestly honestly, I just wanted them to be happy here -- and I wanted to make Yomi and Tomo laugh.
When the van finally inched forward to the international terminal, Athena hopped out, and I got into the driver's seat. Someone had to wait for our new arrivals -- Athena was experienced at that, and not allowed to drive solo on a learner's permit. I pulled the van around and began to circle the airport. "Fun".
Athena, for her part, had shown pretty good aptitude for motor vehicles, so long as she could keep her concentration. Having spent her youth piloting larger vehicles than this while dodging motorboats, the only thing that still tripped her up was the engine's sudden power.
Athena carried a sign bearing the names of two of our passengers in large letters in two different scripts, lovingly written by our Japanese resident, Akari Mizunashi.
It turns out that writing kanji manages to be difficult even if you have an example in front of you, and that a practiced hand makes all the difference. It's kind of old school, holding up a sign for VIP pickup, but people still do it. The modern way wouldn't do; I truly doubted they had opted for an interuniversal cell phone plan.
Anyway, the names chosen were something of a social hack; from watching the anime, those were the two most likely to spot their names and react appropriately. The report forwarded from Sebastian indicated that Tomo Takino appeared to be the group's leader, which made me wonder exactly what led to that tragic misunderstanding. Unless they were entirely different from fiction, the only way Tomo gets to be the leader is under the Peter Principle.
Athena texted me to come pick them up, but it took me another five minutes to circle back around to the international terminal. When I arrived, I saw the silver-haired undine surrounded by seven Japanese young women in the shade of the wide concrete overhang. The tall one was conversing with Athena, while the rest of them looked appropriately bedraggled for passengers on a long flight from Singapore. Only one of them was chipper, and running around the group like a moron. I decided: nope, exact same Tomo as I would expect.
As I pulled the the curb, Athena yanked the car doors open. The shorter one with long brown hair asked, "Miss Athena, are you a gal?" She had the widest eyes I had ever seen on a person from East Asia. That would be Osaka, codename Ayumu Kasuga -- or is that backwards?
Athena did have light hair and tanned skin, but a closer inspection would have revealed only simple silver earrings and a complete lack of false fingernails. "Uh, yeah I guess?" she replied, ignorant of twentieth century fashion trends.
Kagura said, "Cool! It's going to be an laid-back place if they have gals working there." She was the tannest member of the group, though I was actually surprised that her swimmer's tan wasn't even darker, considering how late in the year it was. She definitely had the athletic arms of a practitioner of the aquatic arts.
Chiyo Mihama had the remnant of a recent sunburn on her neck and arms. She was dealing with the downside of pale skin, as exemplified by her twintails of orangish-red hair. I felt her pain -- repeatedly, given my own complexion. And certainly, the warm, dry Santa Ana wind today wasn't helping. She sat down and dutifully buckled her seatbelt, but then realized that she couldn't reach the precious A/C vent above her head to point it toward her.
Luckily Sakaki was tall enough to reach Chiyo's vent from her adjacent seat. For all of the build-up in the anime, Sakaki wasn't really all that tall in person; I still had a a half-head on her. But her dark hair, long legs, and larger build definitely made her look more imposing than the rest of these women. I just had the advantage of knowing she was a real softie at heart.
Kaori and Yomi looked as if the trip did not suit them, and the brunettes dragged themselves aboard the van. It looks like the trip had really worn them out, however they got to our world.
In contrast, Tomo hopped in the seat right behind me and asserted, "Take us to the beach resort, and step on it, my good man!" She, like every one of the new arrivals, was a Japanese teenager. Pushing 155 centimeters, she wasn't even a whole head taller than the tweenage Chiyo-chan -- and that gap would be closing pretty soon. Tomo had a round face, wide eyes and an open-mouthed smile; her arm gestured forward into another mass of traffic.
"The beach, we definitely got. The resort…" I lingered. Athena was already shaking her head in the negative. "Oh come on, it's not that bad!"
Athena shrugged. She closed the side door, then hopped into the front with me. She toggled the radio off, and told me, "All seven here, only two bags."
"Oh," I nodded. "Shopping trip later." Still at the wheel, I fought my way away from the curb, and towards the lanes of cars that were actually moving.
She pulled a lever underneath the seat, and turned the chair all the way around. "Good morning, ladies. My name is Athena Glory, and I'm one of your fellow residents at your new apartment. Driving the car is Brent Laabs, your apartment manager."
"Hi everyone," I waved, not really looking behind me to keep my focus on the traffic ahead instead.
I heard a few obligatory yoroshiku behind me.
"If you need some help, you'll be able to find him in room 1 of the apartments.
"Now, if you look to the left, you can see the Theme Building, an example of futuristic Googie architecture. Built in 1960, it was designed to resemble a flying saucer." Athena was actually giving a tour. Incredible. She'd been here all of two weeks and she already knew more about the place than I did.
Behind me, Osaka pointed out the window, "Whoa, UFO!!"
"Very Space Age," Chiyo remarked.
As we drove to the edge of the airport, Tomo blurted, "Holy freaking crap those are giant letters!"
"What's an X-A-L?" Osaka asked. I was really happy to let our tour guide do her job.
The tenant report from Sebastian was right: they did speak English. Actually, really well, well enough that they were speaking it without even thinking about it. Not even talking to each other in Japanese, except for the occasional word. Interesting.
Their rooms were ready enough for now, on the north side of the second floor. Akari had convinced me to buy futons for the new arrivals' rooms. That way, they could decide on their own mattress and bed set, if they wanted one, and we could reuse the futons for guests. The beds that I had bought in haste were not exactly a hit -- Athena wanted a firmer mattress, while little Alice wanted a softer mattress with no lumps in a four-poster.
The only thing that remained, then, was to partition the new group and hand out the keys.
"We have two bedroom apartments here, so you're going to have to pair up. Remember, it's not permanent, you can always switch later," I said. I watched with interest, because unlike the last time I couldn't anticipate exactly how this would go.
"Now who do I want to live with?" Yomi Mizuhara wondered aloud.
Tomo's hand shot up, "Ooh ooh me! Pick me!"
"Doesn't anyone want to room with me? Anyone at all?"
"Meeee!" Tomo's arms waved back and forth in front of Yomi's field of vision. "Pick me, meeee!"
Yomi sighed, "Fine. I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer Tomo."
"Yaaay!"
You could see the wheels turning in Kaorin's head, as her blush began radiating heat. She meekly offered, "Miss… Miss Saka…"
Tomo interjected, "Who's going to live with Chiyo-chan? We can't have her live alone, this is a dangerous, lawless country overrun by cowboy gangs with guns."
What, no tsukkomi from Yomi for that one?
"It's not that bad, Tomo," Chiyo explained, "I was already planning on living here."
"Don't worry Chiyo-chan, I will protect you," Sakaki declared.
A wide, innocent smile appeared on Chiyo's face, "Thank you so much, Miss Sakaki!"
"Miss Saka-aaah," Kaorin was clearly let down by this turn of events.
"Well, Ah guess that makes you'n me roomies. Please take real good care of me, Kagura," Osaka offered. Kagura returned her bow.
In the end, Tomo and Yomi got number 9, directly above my own apartment. Kaorin was next door in number 10, adjacent to Osaka and Kagura in number 11. Taking the other large corner apartment in number 12 were Sakaki and her ward Chiyo.
I was a little worried about one thing, though. "Are you okay with living alone, Kaorin?" Not that I had a solution or anything.
The short girl with her a perfectly angled shingle bob took her time to answer. "No, it's fine, I'm—" she paused, "I'm right in the middle of it all this time, so I'm not going to lose again!" She held her fists to her breast. "Oh, I'm sorry, don't mind me, I must be really tired or something."
I could have sworn I felt the heat radiating off her cheeks, but that was probably just a trick of the Devil Winds. "Nah, it's okay. Let me know if you need anything."
====================
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Los Angeles International Airport
I was sitting in a brand new van, going nowhere. I was intending to go somewhere, of course, but as so many other L.A. stories go, I was stuck in traffic on an overpass. Leave it to L.A. to design an airport like a freeway, only fill it with too many cars.
The white van was decorated only with a single azure stripe which flowed into a wide elliptical hook shape on the front door, with a blue oval dotting the inside of the hook. It was one of those so-called 15 passenger vans, though I was pretty sure you couldn't fit fifteen Americans in there. Right now though, the van only had two passengers.
The van lurched to life, then came to a sudden stop ten seconds later. I rolled forward in my seat. "Athena," I chided, "You have to look at the cars in front of him, too. He's got nowhere to go, so there's no reason to jerk forward."
"Sorry, Brent," she frowned. I really wish that I had been able to teach Athena Glory to drive with a smaller car, but it was pretty clear we were going to need a big vehicle to transport all of the residents of our apartments for outings, even for something as simple as for shopping.
The choice to buy the van was proven right yesterday, when I was informed that we'd be getting seven new tenants to live in our complex. And what tenants they would be -- Chiyo, Osaka, Sakaki, Tomo, Yomi, Kagura, and Kaorin. Names that were already burned in my mind, as the students of Azumanga Daioh.
I was really excited to meet the characters of my favorite anime. At least, that's how I was supposed to feel, right? But I don't know though, I've never been much for fannish devotion. I've met famous actors and and Congressmembers, and they all just seem like ordinary folks to me; maybe they just shine a little more brightly.
So honestly, I was anxious. I wanted them to like me, and I wanted to like them. Liking someone on TV is not the same as knowing the real person. Real people have flaws and habits you don't see on-screen. But honestly honestly, I just wanted them to be happy here -- and I wanted to make Yomi and Tomo laugh.
When the van finally inched forward to the international terminal, Athena hopped out, and I got into the driver's seat. Someone had to wait for our new arrivals -- Athena was experienced at that, and not allowed to drive solo on a learner's permit. I pulled the van around and began to circle the airport. "Fun".
Athena, for her part, had shown pretty good aptitude for motor vehicles, so long as she could keep her concentration. Having spent her youth piloting larger vehicles than this while dodging motorboats, the only thing that still tripped her up was the engine's sudden power.
Athena carried a sign bearing the names of two of our passengers in large letters in two different scripts, lovingly written by our Japanese resident, Akari Mizunashi.
Quote: 水原 MIZUHARA
榊 SAKAKI
It turns out that writing kanji manages to be difficult even if you have an example in front of you, and that a practiced hand makes all the difference. It's kind of old school, holding up a sign for VIP pickup, but people still do it. The modern way wouldn't do; I truly doubted they had opted for an interuniversal cell phone plan.
Anyway, the names chosen were something of a social hack; from watching the anime, those were the two most likely to spot their names and react appropriately. The report forwarded from Sebastian indicated that Tomo Takino appeared to be the group's leader, which made me wonder exactly what led to that tragic misunderstanding. Unless they were entirely different from fiction, the only way Tomo gets to be the leader is under the Peter Principle.
Athena texted me to come pick them up, but it took me another five minutes to circle back around to the international terminal. When I arrived, I saw the silver-haired undine surrounded by seven Japanese young women in the shade of the wide concrete overhang. The tall one was conversing with Athena, while the rest of them looked appropriately bedraggled for passengers on a long flight from Singapore. Only one of them was chipper, and running around the group like a moron. I decided: nope, exact same Tomo as I would expect.
As I pulled the the curb, Athena yanked the car doors open. The shorter one with long brown hair asked, "Miss Athena, are you a gal?" She had the widest eyes I had ever seen on a person from East Asia. That would be Osaka, codename Ayumu Kasuga -- or is that backwards?
Athena did have light hair and tanned skin, but a closer inspection would have revealed only simple silver earrings and a complete lack of false fingernails. "Uh, yeah I guess?" she replied, ignorant of twentieth century fashion trends.
Kagura said, "Cool! It's going to be an laid-back place if they have gals working there." She was the tannest member of the group, though I was actually surprised that her swimmer's tan wasn't even darker, considering how late in the year it was. She definitely had the athletic arms of a practitioner of the aquatic arts.
Chiyo Mihama had the remnant of a recent sunburn on her neck and arms. She was dealing with the downside of pale skin, as exemplified by her twintails of orangish-red hair. I felt her pain -- repeatedly, given my own complexion. And certainly, the warm, dry Santa Ana wind today wasn't helping. She sat down and dutifully buckled her seatbelt, but then realized that she couldn't reach the precious A/C vent above her head to point it toward her.
Luckily Sakaki was tall enough to reach Chiyo's vent from her adjacent seat. For all of the build-up in the anime, Sakaki wasn't really all that tall in person; I still had a a half-head on her. But her dark hair, long legs, and larger build definitely made her look more imposing than the rest of these women. I just had the advantage of knowing she was a real softie at heart.
Kaori and Yomi looked as if the trip did not suit them, and the brunettes dragged themselves aboard the van. It looks like the trip had really worn them out, however they got to our world.
In contrast, Tomo hopped in the seat right behind me and asserted, "Take us to the beach resort, and step on it, my good man!" She, like every one of the new arrivals, was a Japanese teenager. Pushing 155 centimeters, she wasn't even a whole head taller than the tweenage Chiyo-chan -- and that gap would be closing pretty soon. Tomo had a round face, wide eyes and an open-mouthed smile; her arm gestured forward into another mass of traffic.
"The beach, we definitely got. The resort…" I lingered. Athena was already shaking her head in the negative. "Oh come on, it's not that bad!"
Athena shrugged. She closed the side door, then hopped into the front with me. She toggled the radio off, and told me, "All seven here, only two bags."
"Oh," I nodded. "Shopping trip later." Still at the wheel, I fought my way away from the curb, and towards the lanes of cars that were actually moving.
She pulled a lever underneath the seat, and turned the chair all the way around. "Good morning, ladies. My name is Athena Glory, and I'm one of your fellow residents at your new apartment. Driving the car is Brent Laabs, your apartment manager."
"Hi everyone," I waved, not really looking behind me to keep my focus on the traffic ahead instead.
I heard a few obligatory yoroshiku behind me.
"If you need some help, you'll be able to find him in room 1 of the apartments.
"Now, if you look to the left, you can see the Theme Building, an example of futuristic Googie architecture. Built in 1960, it was designed to resemble a flying saucer." Athena was actually giving a tour. Incredible. She'd been here all of two weeks and she already knew more about the place than I did.
Behind me, Osaka pointed out the window, "Whoa, UFO!!"
"Very Space Age," Chiyo remarked.
As we drove to the edge of the airport, Tomo blurted, "Holy freaking crap those are giant letters!"
"What's an X-A-L?" Osaka asked. I was really happy to let our tour guide do her job.
The tenant report from Sebastian was right: they did speak English. Actually, really well, well enough that they were speaking it without even thinking about it. Not even talking to each other in Japanese, except for the occasional word. Interesting.
Their rooms were ready enough for now, on the north side of the second floor. Akari had convinced me to buy futons for the new arrivals' rooms. That way, they could decide on their own mattress and bed set, if they wanted one, and we could reuse the futons for guests. The beds that I had bought in haste were not exactly a hit -- Athena wanted a firmer mattress, while little Alice wanted a softer mattress with no lumps in a four-poster.
The only thing that remained, then, was to partition the new group and hand out the keys.
"We have two bedroom apartments here, so you're going to have to pair up. Remember, it's not permanent, you can always switch later," I said. I watched with interest, because unlike the last time I couldn't anticipate exactly how this would go.
"Now who do I want to live with?" Yomi Mizuhara wondered aloud.
Tomo's hand shot up, "Ooh ooh me! Pick me!"
"Doesn't anyone want to room with me? Anyone at all?"
"Meeee!" Tomo's arms waved back and forth in front of Yomi's field of vision. "Pick me, meeee!"
Yomi sighed, "Fine. I wouldn't want anyone else to suffer Tomo."
"Yaaay!"
You could see the wheels turning in Kaorin's head, as her blush began radiating heat. She meekly offered, "Miss… Miss Saka…"
Tomo interjected, "Who's going to live with Chiyo-chan? We can't have her live alone, this is a dangerous, lawless country overrun by cowboy gangs with guns."
What, no tsukkomi from Yomi for that one?
"It's not that bad, Tomo," Chiyo explained, "I was already planning on living here."
"Don't worry Chiyo-chan, I will protect you," Sakaki declared.
A wide, innocent smile appeared on Chiyo's face, "Thank you so much, Miss Sakaki!"
"Miss Saka-aaah," Kaorin was clearly let down by this turn of events.
"Well, Ah guess that makes you'n me roomies. Please take real good care of me, Kagura," Osaka offered. Kagura returned her bow.
In the end, Tomo and Yomi got number 9, directly above my own apartment. Kaorin was next door in number 10, adjacent to Osaka and Kagura in number 11. Taking the other large corner apartment in number 12 were Sakaki and her ward Chiyo.
I was a little worried about one thing, though. "Are you okay with living alone, Kaorin?" Not that I had a solution or anything.
The short girl with her a perfectly angled shingle bob took her time to answer. "No, it's fine, I'm—" she paused, "I'm right in the middle of it all this time, so I'm not going to lose again!" She held her fists to her breast. "Oh, I'm sorry, don't mind me, I must be really tired or something."
I could have sworn I felt the heat radiating off her cheeks, but that was probably just a trick of the Devil Winds. "Nah, it's okay. Let me know if you need anything."
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto