Fun with Fanfiction
[As the title suggests, I've done nothing at all today except read fanfics...some good, some bad, the majority indifferent. Which would have been fine, except that reading fanfics invariably puts me into the mood to write my own (after a varying length of time, that is). So now that the plot bunnies are becoming active again (and this fact I attribute to the box of sharp cheddar cheezits and the half-gallon of milk, not to mention the 3 bananas and the apple) I'm actually going to attempt to return to my old writing habits...]
[This particular fic, assuming it ever takes off, was inspired by my friend's Inuyasha AU fics and by Jimmy Buffett's song "Love in the Library."]
[Here goes nothing!]
Half A World Away, Part I
Moving Stinks
Crash.
"...OWW!! Ow ow ow ow ow..." The raven-haired girl hopped on one foot, making an heroic but unsuccessful attempt to remain vertical while massaging her other toe. She turned a baleful glare on the offending box. "Stupid china," she spat.
Kagome stopped to think about those words. Her face paled noticeably as she bent down and hesitantly lifted the cardboard box. A subdued rattle confirmed her suspicions, and she set it back down with less than considerable gentleness.
"Shimattta..."
"So, how's everything going so far?"
Kagome sighed. "I think my mom is going to kill me. That, or ban me from coming within ten feet of anything breakable. I dropped two boxes of her china, and another one with framed pictures."
She could almost hear Sango wincing on the other end of the line. "Ouch. Hint for the wise: Run. Fast."
"Feh. I'm not running."
"Brave words."
"I'm stealing the car. That way I'm moving at ninety, and she can't follow me."
Sango chuckled. "Good luck with that one, my friend. Seriously though, how do you like it so far? I mean, America's supposed to be the best country around - is it?"
"It's...okay, I guess," Kagome said with a small sigh. "I mean, I've only been here a few hours, and Galveston certainly isn't the center of the country, so I really don't know, but it's...well, intimidating. I know I'm fluent in English and all, but there's a difference between understanding what people say and knowing what they mean. You know?"
"Eh...no, not really, but I'll just go with it."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm being serious, Sango! Everything here is just so strange. It's all mixed signals and broken traffic lights. I already miss home."
"Don't worry about it, Kagome," Sango assured her. "You'll get used to it. And everyone'll call you all the time. And as soon as you get the computer set up we can e-mail each other, too, and you can send us pictures of all your American friends."
"Yeah, I guess," Kagome said.
"Look, I've got to go before Miroku kills me - I'm on his cell phone, and you know how he is about his minutes. Sayonara."
"Sayonara, Sango," Kagome replied, and then the line went dead. She sighed again.
"Kagome?"
"Yes?"
Her mother's head appeared around the door, and she glanced at the room appraisingly. "You've certainly moved fast," she said, looking at the already unpacked boxes.
"I didn't feel like waiting until tomorrow," Kagome said, shrugging. Besides, it was dirty. I hate dirty.
"Anyway, Souta and I were thinking of going out for dinner, since we still haven't unearthed the kitchen stuff... Do you want to come?"
"Do I have a choice?" Kagome muttered under her breath. Then, more loudly, "Sure. Just let me grab my jacket, and change into something a little less...ah...dusty."
"Come to the living room when you're ready," her mom said, closing the door.
Kagome glanced at her current outfit and scowled. It was American-style jeans and a t-shirt, which she didn't mind, but it was dirty from her long day of carrying boxes back and forth. That she did mind. Rummaging through her semi-organized dresser, she found a pair of plain black slacks and comfortable light-blue blouse, thin but warm. It had been a gift from her one-time boyfriend Sesshoumaru. They had just gotten back together when her mom told her they were leaving the country; in order to make the departure a little less painful they had mutually agreed to break up.
Kagome slammed the door on that train of thought and snagged her sweater from the doorknob, brushing her hair out of her face as she walked to the living room.
Dinner was an akward affair. In a moment of extreme hyperness (and cuteness) Souta had managed to persuade their mother to take them to a local Mexican restaurant called Salsa's, so in addition to being uncomfortable with the American way of doing things they had to order from a menu that for the most part they couldn't read.
"What's a 'case-a-dila'?" Souta asked, peering at his menu.
"I think it's...um...it's..."
"The description is right under the title," Kagome said, sweatdropping.
"But I can't read it!"
Kagome sighed. It was going to be a long night...
"Please, Kagome? Tell me?"
"Look, they have hamburgers," her mom said, pointing to something on the back of the menu. "How about one of those, Souta?"
"All right! I love hamburgers!" The young boy's face lit up with a beaming smile, and he fairly bounced in his seat.
"What are you having, mother?"
The older woman glanced over the menu, brow furrowing in concentration. She was much less adept with the language than Kagome, and it didn't help that fully half of the text was in Spanish. "I think I'll try one of these," she said, pointing at something on the menu. Kagome leaned over to see, and promptly facevaulted.
"...That's a drink, mother."
"But it says right here - "
"Look up. It says 'Beverages'. Just trust me, it's a drink."
"...oh....then how about one of these?"
"That's an appetizer."
"Oh, you're right...well, how about this? An...how do you say...inch-a-lada?"
Kagome gave a small sigh of relief. Finally, something real... "Sounds good. I'm having a chimichanga, with a coke."
"Coke?"
Oh yes, it would be a long night indeed...
[Heh heh heh...methinks I could have fun with this ^_^]
[By the way, the comparitive speech capabilities are based on some of my dad's friends. When they immigrated the father could speak enough English to get by, the wife almost couldn't, the son could speak a fair bit, and the girl was relatively fluent.]
[Oh, and I realize they probably have soda in Japan, but I kinda figured Kagome's mom wouldn't be too familiar with the American way of pronouncing it. Unless it's the same, in which case that last bit is just not going to make sense. Oh well.]
[And yes, Galveston is a real place, and Salsa's is a real restaurant. I happen to go to both quite frequently. And no, I do not own either.]
[Oh, and before I go, a few questions: Whatever happened to Kagome's dad? And what's her last name? o.O;;]
"Sit, boy!"
- Kagome to Inuyasha
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