Chapter 1 - Arrival at Mecchen House (cont.)

I had a feeling that what I’d said in English had somehow translated into a Japanese variant. Or something. My head was beginning to hurt, and I just wanted to get home and finish my project on time. I figured this was the right point to come out and tell her what I was thinking.

“My name is Kelly Forester, and these are my roommates, Nathan Gravina, and Jamie Harrison. I don’t know what Ogawa means, but we… seem to have arrived in a different world. Where we come from there is a dark green, three-story apartment complex where this place stands. We walked the same path back from our trip.”

Okay, so I still hadn’t really come to the point yet, but she seemed like a nice person, and I didn’t want to make her toss us out as crazy people ‘till we’d been given a chance. Nathan seemed to be calming down. The cooking woman shuffled her pan on the burner. The meat had begun to crackle and pop. She added onions. She turned and sat in the chair closest to her on the opposite side of the counter from us. The meat in the pan continued to crackle.

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, but I’ve heard a lot of stories about mystical happenings, so I have an open mind. But please, since you’ve introduced yourself to me, it’s only polite to reciprocate. My name is Ishida Aneko, and I’m basically the manager of Mecchen House. The house mother, so to speak.

“That’s why I was so surprised that the three of you showed up with that ad. This house is rented to girls. There are eight girls renting rooms at the moment. Most of them left to go shopping in the downtown shopping arcade. I think Ami is listening to music upstairs, and I know Nana and Katsumi are around. So, you say you come from a different world? Spirit world? Heaven world? God world? Other…?” Another word seemed to be on a tip of her tongue, but she restrained it with a smile. She bowed her head. “I deeply beg your pardon. But you’ve kindled my imagination.”

Nathan seemed warmed by her presence. “It’s quite alright, m’lady. Umm. We’re not from any of those places. I think. But yet, it’s very different from here… Could you explain, Kelly?”

Jamie huffed out through his folded arms on the table. “We’re from the Real World.”

This Aneko lady blinked a bit at Jamie. “The… Real… World? But this is the real world. This is reality.” Jamie shrugged a bit, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. “Well, our world is a little different. Everything isn’t drawn there. This is just an anime world. We’re not from an anime world.”

Aneko stood, stirred the meat in the pan a little, and added carrots and potatoes to the mix. “So, let me see if I follow. You used to live in an apartment, on this exact site. In another realm, which isn’t, as you say, ‘drawn’ like… anime? Only this world isn’t drawn, it’s flesh and blood. I’ve lived in it all my life. Anime is anime. It’s reminiscent of the world around us. It represents highlighted aspects. But this world is different. Furthermore, none of you look in any way different than anyone else I know. So, you’ll forgive me if your claims are a bit difficult for me to grasp. I’m not much of a philosopher. My apologies, as well, that I can’t really do much to help.” Her hair fluttered around her as she worked furiously to make sure the meat didn’t overcook. Jamie sniffed the air and looked intrigued. Nathan held his hands in his lap.

I bowed my head respectfully when she turned to look at us. I had no clue if I was screwing up Japanese procedures in conversation. I’d neglected all forms of honorifics, which could well be a bad thing, since I seemed to recall that implied a close friendship or even family connotation. I was sure we all seemed like foreigners.

But then it occurred to me we really had no idea if this was Japan, some variant of it filtered through an anime lens, or something else entirely. Nevertheless, I tested my knowledge of honorifics, “I am deeply, sincerely sorry my lady Ishida, for our intrusion. We’ll leave as soon as possible.”

She frowned back at me after she’d poured water in the pan. I was tempted to use Japanese, but I got the feeling at certain points that I might have said the same thing in Japanese. It was confusing. Not that Japanese is simple, from what I’d read. There were male and female ‘I’s and I wasn’t entirely clear which I’d used. Had I used a title like ‘san’? Was I supposed to? Did it correct itself with the subtlety of my tone? My head was beginning to hurt.

Aneko giggled and blushed after a few seconds of frowning. She went over to the rice cooker and served out rice onto four plates. “Oh my goodness! Do I really seem that old? I just finished college not too long ago. Thank you for your respect. But I’m not really much for all that. I get that from my mother. Respect is for Novelists and Queens.

“You three seem nice. You remind me of some of the girls here. Mr. Sleepy Harrison over there especially reminds me of myself long ago. And Mr. Gravina, you seem really sweet as well. Miki would love to challenge you to a race. And Mr. Forester, you especially remind me of Katsumi. I think you two would get along well.”

I had to admit, I was more than a little unsettled to be compared by her to a girl I hadn’t even met yet. So far as her self-comparison to Jamie, I didn’t see the connection. Jamie’s head was fully up and scanning. I could see a touch of red mixed into his cheeks, like red dye into hand lotion. From afar, I could hear stomping on the floor. I tensed up. Even Nathan hadn’t made footfalls like that.

Ms. Aneko seemed unconcerned. She added a thick, dark sauce to the meat in the pan. She turned to us. I cautiously turned to my left, towards the stomping. I could hear faint grumbling as well now.

A girl emerged from around the corner with her head down and her eyes closed. Her foot stomped one last time before settling. It shook my chair a little.

Her face was a full, pink oval, child-like, yet still womanly. She had on a badly-wrinkled, white sports shirt with a pink collar and cuffs. She wore navy gym shorts which hugged her spindly form. With a tilted look, I couldn’t tell if she had a girlish chest or if it was merely an incidental ruffle in her clothes. Still, I was pretty sure it was female. I think. She looked girlish. The long reddish-purple hair on her head seemed to be a dead giveaway. But I’d been fooled by plenty of bishounen in the past.

Her hair flowed in long side-burns that touched her shoulders. The rest of it curled in an ornately-tied, lavender bow past her behind. Her legs were long and exposed, but cute. Her feet were sock-less and bare with glimmering-pink nails. Her feet slapping on the wood would go a ways to explaining her noisy entrance. She had an adorably-tiny mark of a nose.

She stretched her neck and opened her eyes. She didn’t seem to notice us. “Is lunch ready yet, Ms. Ishida?” She began scratching at a particularly long lock of her hair, which in turn fussed up the whole thing. Not that it was perfect to begin with.

Ms. Ishida, as I found myself thinking of her as well, smirked and stirred the pan. “Shortly, Katsumi-chan. It’s almost done. Then I’ll be making something for our guests.”

I blinked at the girl in front of me. This was the girl that Ms. Ishida thought of when she looked at me? I did not see the resemblance.

Katsumi stretched her neck. “I’m finally done with my homework for the weekend. Calculus is such a pain. You mind if I watch something on TV, Ms. Ishida? Oh, and did you say guests? Where?”

The sauce in the pan had melted. Ms. Ishida shook her head, nodded, and then looked over her shoulder at us. Katsumi followed her gaze, and our eyes met. She had incredible green eyes like shimmering, emerald buttons.

Nothing happened at first. We just looked at each other. I raised a level hand as a courtesy. Nathan shyly waved a little himself. Jamie did a quick flip of his palm, which seemed more like he was pointing than saying hello.

These gestures were met with blinks by Katsumi. At first. She then arched up on one foot and cried out, “EEEK!!,” as though a trio of mice had suddenly crawled in front of her. The gesture looked ridiculous. She darted behind the table and just showed suspicious eyes and a patch of her bright hair.

She hissed, “Ms. Ishida! What are THEY doing here… These… BOYS?! How dare they be in the presence of this maiden sanctuary!”

Ms. Ishida reached over to pat Katsumi on the head. The motion made her flail around in shock and then tumble to the floor and out of sight with a ‘whomp!’ “Now Katsumi. Do be nice. They’re just here asking for information.”

I couldn’t help but feel a little irritated by Katsumi’s tone. I very much doubted this was the first time boys had ever been in this place.

Katsumi burst up in a feral leap. She darted a finger out at us with a whipping arm-motion. The air cracked like from a sonic boom. I raised an eyebrow. Nathan retreated in his chair and nearly fell off. Jamie rubbed his nose in mild boredom.

Her face screwed up in a scowl. “BE WARNED!! If any of you dare seek admission to this maiden realm, then I will bring flames of terror upon you all. You’ll scream and squirm and wish you were dead. Then I’ll make you the cutest little girl trio the world has ever seen. Forever!”