Communication Is Key! (Naozumi)

[Karashi Usaki]

Finally. Finally, she was going to be able to use her powers for her schoolwork. Sure, it was something trivial, but ever since she had arrived at the school, Karashi had wanted to try and use her powers. She had never gotten the chance until now, and boy was she going to take full advantage of it. Now, all she needed was some resources, and she knew exactly where to find those, as would any other good student would know: the library. Karashi was on her way there.

Karashi smiled to herself as she entered the library, taking in the smell of the books. God she loved that smell. She would never get tired of it. ‘Now, where do I start?’ She stood there for a second, frowning and thinking. Then she got an idea. For this project, she had to demonstrate the use of her power, and she had decided to go for a different route than usual. The language? American Sign Language! Yep, that’s exactly right! Karashi was going to completely talk in sign language.

Karashi couldn’t have been more excited. In fact, she was actually looking forward to doing this project. She had never tried sign language before with her power, so discovering how she would be able to do it would be fascinating to find out. She went straight to the section that had the language books, and after looking for a while, she selected a few books to read and headed to an empty space where there were a few computers. Karashi cracked her knuckles and began to work.

Karashi researched for what seemed like hours, but it really only ended up being one hour. She rubbed her eyes, and then stretched. She needed to really start learning this, so she decided to take a different approach to it. She pulled up Youtube.com and started researching videos. After about ten minutes, she smiled, and began to sign the words, as if it came naturally to her. She matched the signs on the video perfectly, and Karashi’s smile got even bigger. This was going to be a piece of cake.

[Deleted]

The library really was the best place on campus to study. It was quiet. And when people were loud, the librarians usually shushed them up before it went too far. Usually, there was an altercation a few days ago that stuck out in Nao's mind between two very good looking boys. Kissing was involved. Nao left after that, a mite perturbed at the sight.

But now he was back and searching through the language books section. Now that he had most of his homework done, he could finally get back to working on his Russian. It was…difficult. It was taking time, he didn't know anything else similar to compare it to. Chinese at least had similar writing, so reading had been a cinch. Spanish was like a simplified version of English. He just wished he had someone he could practice with, someone he could bounce conversation off of, to work on fluency.

Nao had picked up a couple of books and an audio cd and brought them to the computer terminals. He pulled out a pair of headphones so he could get his listening done without bothering people.

It was then that he noticed the girl sitting next to him, making hand movements that looked strangely similar to ASL. Nao had never considered that as a language to learn before….that was actually a pretty good idea, maybe he'd try and tackle that one next.

Of course, the slow-minded Nao didn't even realize that he'd been staring at her for quite a while. "Um…." he uttered after a time, hoping to get her attention.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi was really into the sign language videos and how she was doing the language without even having any experience that she didn’t even notice the kid sit next to her. When she was into researching something, she blocked the rest of the world out, and it was as if only she and whatever she was interacting with existed. It was how she got things done so quickly. The only thing that would bring Karashi out of this alternate world was if someone spoke to her.

Of course someone had to speak to her, and it took Karashi a moment to realize that someone had actually said something. She stopped her signing, stopped the video, and turned towards where the sound had come from. It was then that she noticed this boy, who didn’t look much older than twelve, maybe thirteen, who seemed to have an interest in what she was doing. She actually wondered how long he had been staring at her. Karashi smiled a small smile at the boy.

“It’s American Sign Language,” Karashi told him, signing what she was saying to show off a bit. “I haven’t studied it at all, so I figured I would learn, although with my talent, I’m not sure I even needed to do all of that research.” She then looked at the books he had picked out, and noticed Russian was amongst them. Her eyes lit up. Normally, Karashi wouldn’t be this open with a complete stranger, but since he shared an interest in her power, then it was beneficial for her.

Karashi decided to try and communicate with the boy in Russian, to see if he would reply, since he had the interest. “Zdravstvuyte , menya zovut Karashi Usaki ! A tebya?” She waited to see what he would do, if he would respond or not. She hoped he did. This could mean big things for her, including making a new friend, which Karashi desperately needed.

((Translation: Hello, my name is Karashi Usaki! What's yours?))

[Deleted]

Watching this girl - Nao couldn't tell if she was Japanese or not, but that probably didn't matter since America was a melting pot anyway - Naozumi found he was vastly entertained merely doing that. While he didn't know ASL, Nao had a logical mind, one that enjoyed solving puzzles and the like, so even just watching Nao could already pick out the patterns of the histrionic language. He didn't understand it, but he could probably figure it out given time.

Thankfully, Nao didn't have to stand there long before she noticed him staring. Also helpful was how she spoke as she signed like a pro. It helped him catch a few words, though he'd have to go more in depth to really pick it up. He nodded, acknowledging her statement, but unsure of what else he should say.

Luckily this girl seemed friendly enough to make the first move, and the second, which had him visually surprised with eyes widening slightly larger than normal. "<You speak Russian?>" he asked with a slight raise in his voice. "<....I'm Naozumi Makiguchi. It's nice to meet you.>"

Nao looked off to the side a moment, then back to the asian girl. "That's about the extent of my Russian though. I'm still barely learning."

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi smiled at the boy. Watching his eyes grow bigger extracted a chuckle from the girl, something that rarely ever happened. The girl was definitely not herself. What was it about this boy that made her come out of her shell? The only thing she could think of was the mutual love for different languages. Even if that was the only thing they had in common, it was still something. Karashi was glad that it was better than nothing, like she had about a week ago.

Karashi smiled as he replied to her in Russian. She was about to speak more Russian when he replied with what she assumed was his native language, to which she switched to as if it were hers as well (she wasn’t sure if it was Japanese, even though it sounded like it). “Well, I could help you if you want. Languages is actually my talent. Or ‘power’ if you will. I prefer to call it my talent. It just sounds much better that way.” Karashi smiled again.

Karashi pulled a chair next to her and patted it. “Sit down, those books look heavy.” She got up and took some of the books without even asking him to and set them on the desk in front of her. She then sat down and looked up at him. “Well? We don’t have all day silly!” She was eager to get started. Who knew? Karashi may have found her very first friend. If she could call him that.

[Deleted]

While Nao's face had already brightened to it's max(which still looked rather underwhelming), Nao was actually quite pleased and excited to hear this Karashi offer to help him with his conversation practice. And he was quite impressed to find out that languages themselves happened to be her power. "Talent….I never though of it that way before." It never occurred to Naozumi to call his power anything other than the words the school officials used.

Nao was, however, a little startled at her pushiness, and promptly sat down when she urged him to. "But that's cool. You can learn languages fast then?" He looked up at her with interested eyes. "I just like to learn them. It's a hobby." And since it was something he did anyway, he used it to make some cash on the side.

The quiet boy blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Are you Japanese?" He couldn't tell if she was or was like him, an american with japanese(or asian) heritage.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi smiled. “I’ve just always felt that using the word ‘power’ was a little… what’s the word… demanding? Let’s just say it has a negative connotation to it. Talent sounds better, as if it’s something special, which of course, it is!” She giggled. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this? She never, and by never, she meant NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would she act like this with someone she literally just met five minutes ago. Karashi actually kind of liked it.

Karashi smiled as he sat down beside her. Good. That meant that he was interested in learning with her. That was a first. Normally people thought that because she looked weird and wasn’t from around there that she was ‘contagious’, or at least that’s what she overheard from the bullies who made fun of her. She shook her head. Karashi couldn’t think about that now. She had a potential new friend right in front of her, and she couldn’t lose this opportunity.

“Well good! That’s my talent, so we’ll be good friends!” However, Karashi was completely unprepared for his question about her being Japanese. She smiled and nodded. “Hai! Let me guess. It was the eyes.” She giggled. Where was all of this coming from? Karashi was surprising even herself now.

[Deleted]

Naozumi never thought it had a negative connotation...but he supposed she was right. So far, he'd heard a few people avoid using that word, referring to it as "ability", while others pumped it up further to "super-power".

....this school was weird, he decided.

But at least Karashi was fun to listen to. Even if Nao didn't say a word, he still felt engaged by her explanations.

Nao's tiny smile formed on his lips. "It's not my 'talent', but languages are a hobby of mine. I like learning about them." They made sense to him. Not a whole lot of abstract thought went into them, they were patterns, puzzles, and Nao liked puzzles.

He laughed softly, which in actuality was just a single breathy escape of air. "Maybe. My family is Japanese, but we live in California." So he had wondered if she was Japanese-American like him(though he was born in Japan), or if she was from the country originally. It was hard to tell when she spoke English so smoothly as if it were her native.

Nao liked her. She was bright and bubbly. And her giggles were contagious, he didn't know if he could hear another without joining in himself. "Where in Japan are you from?" He wondered if it was anywhere near his grandmother's home.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi beamed. This boy was already great in her books. He liked learning about what she was going to the school for. Maybe this school wouldn’t be so bad after all. She knew it would get better if she had a friend to spend time with. That’s what her parents had wanted as well. She wanted to tell them right away, but knew that she had to give it time first. This boy had only met her today. Karashi needed a friend for at least a week before she would call her parents.

Karashi frowned. A Japanese family living in the United States? She had never really heard of that before. Her eyes lit up. “Really? What’s it like there? Is it anything like here?” She then stopped, covering her mouth. She looked away, turning red from embarrassment. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be bombarding you with questions.” However, Karashi was glad that he had an interest in both her talent and her heritage. He was the first person to even approach her, let alone talk to her.

Karashi smiled. “I live, well, I LIVED just right outside of Tokyo, about twenty miles from downtown actually.” She cocked her head a bit to the side, her long hair falling over her shoulder. “I know you live in California, but where are you from originally? Maybe we live close to each other!” She then frowned, wondering why he asked. “Why do you ask?” Karashi was just as curious about his heritage as she was his.

[Deleted]

Nao shallowly shook his head. "You can ask questions.  It doesn't bother me."  Nao looked to the ceiling as he thought over his words, trying to find the best ones to describe his home.  "California is really sunny.  But San Jose can get really foggy because it's right next to the ocean.  Even in the spring, it can be cold though."

Naozumi tried to picture the map of Tokyo in his head…..in actuality, he didn't know much about it, he'd never been there and it wasn't one of the places he bothered to learn about. And even if it were, Nao was notoriously without a sense of direction. There was no sense to the layout of the city, it would be impossible for him to remember.

All Nao knew was that Tokyo was nowhere near his birthplace. "I was born in Ishigaki, in Okinawa. That's where my mom and dad's families live." And where his grandparents had the family home. "I wanted to know. If we were close by, then we could get together over the summer. My family always goes back to visit during the summer." It was pricy, but it was something they saved up for all year. "But, it's really far." That was disappointing and his face dropped a bit.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi smiled. She was glad that he was willing to answer her questions. She had always been afraid that when she met someone (which she had thought would never happen), her million questions would scare them off. However, this boy was fine with her curiosity, and she was glad. She listened to him, her eyes going wide when she heard him explain about the sun and the fog. The fog she knew about. It was the sun that Karashi never got to see since she had been isolated.

Karashi nodded as he explained where he grew up, and then her eyes went wide. The realization of where he lived was hitting her like a brick wall. He lived close to her! “I live in Ishigaki too! Maybe Tokyo is a lot farther than I thought it was…” She giggled. She was horrible at directions. That was another problem when people tried to talk to her. They asked her for directions, and no matter what language they spoke in (which added to her problems), she still couldn’t give them directions. Karashi hated herself for it.

Karashi tilted her head and smiled. “Maybe we CAN get together during the summer! It would be nice to actually do something rather than sit in my room all summer. It’s gotten a bit boring the last few years.” That was sort of a lie considering she actually liked being in her room. It meant she didn’t have to deal with people in the outside world. However, it was nice to have a friend and change things up a bit. Karashi was glad for the change in pace and scenery.