Closed Two Worlds Collide pv Akihiko

Akihiko was always out and about. Today he was particularly restless, after having done a bunch of his school work that was assigned to him. Sitting inside for hours on such a nice day should have been a crime.

He was out on the grounds on this particular day, enjoying the warm weather that came with spring. Spring was his favorite season. All the colors returning after the stark cold winter, making everything seem just a tad bit brighter. The colors, blending together, making everyone feel welcome. Everything about spring made him want to be better. Push a little harder, break the limits.

Akihiko was dressed for the warm weather, sporting a pair of khaki shorts and a black polo shirt. Always one to look nice and put together, Akihiko. Growing up in his family house, he was always expected to be well groomed and presentable no matter the day, however boring and plain. Although he was well dressed, his hair was a little crazy, windswept and wavy. At home he used to slick it back with hair gel, but he had quickly learned that no one here did that sort of thing.

He was slowly adapting to life at Hogwarts, and there always seemed to be something happening. From a young age, he had dreamed of the school where everything happened. The school that produced great witches and wizards to do great things. He was thrilled to finally be where had dreamed of as a little boy. Something about the school felt freeing, as if his family didn’t quite as much anymore. Indeed, he had stopped thinking as hard about what his family would think of his actions and more of how he could put himself out there.

Akihiko continued forward, walking slowly towards nothing in particular. He kept his eyes peeled, and soon he noticed a girl looking a little sad, perhaps missing home. Maybe a risky move, but he continued onward to talk to her. “Hello?” He said, softly as to not startle the girl. He grinned at her, puzzling over which school she might be from. He thought Koldovstoretz, but it wouldn’t be clear until he heard her talk.

“I’m Akihiko,” he said when he had her attention. He wanted to ask her a bunch of questions, but she didn’t want to scare her away. Instead, he asked a simple question. “What’s your name?”

Reducio

As Roksana was playing with the blade of grass, she looked up at the grand castle and wondered how the students in there spent their daily lives. As she was pondering this, she noticed someone coming toward her out of the corner of her eye. She automatically sat on her hands and pretended not to notice them. She wasn't quite in the mood. She slowly, very slowly tilted her head to look up at him, cocking an eyebrow. It was a boy, and even though she was sitting on the grass, Roksana could still tell that he was very tall. He was either from Hogwarts or that Japanese school, Mahoutokoro, or whatever it was called. He was dressed casually but still looked quite sharp. Oh, why was she thinking that? It was spring, after all, where light hoodies were Roksana's best friend. He greeted her politely, and Roksana tried to hide her smirk. She learned that his name was Akihiko. He was probably from Mahoutokoro. She prayed that her tongue wouldn't get all slipped up while trying to tell someone her name. Roksana cleared her through and said, "Well, это....I-I mean, my name is Roksana. Roksana Nikolayev Volkov. And I'm from Koldovstoretz. And you?" Roksana didn't often speak English, there was no need to, but if she could barely stutter out her own name in English, then there was certainly work to be done. Still sitting on her hands, she looked Akihiko in the eye and tried to stare him down, but being 4'4 1/2 wasn't helping.

это= "um/you know/well"

Despite being near the girl in body, his mind was somewhere else.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the work waiting for him. What would his family say if they knew he was avoiding his work? 怠け者、彼のいとこと同じくらい悪い¹, that was for sure. トロフィーがあっても、働かなければ意味がない². That was true. But when work was all he did, surely it was okay if he took a break?

He refocused on the girl in front of him. She seemed nervous, and he grinned at her. "Well, это—” Was that Russian? He thought so. “—I-I mean, my name is Roksana. Roksana Nikolayev Volkov. And I'm from Koldovstoretz. And you?" Koldovstoretz, he had guessed her school correctly. And that was the Russian school (he thought) so he had guessed the language she had been speaking correctly. “Pretty name.” He was pretty sure he knew the meaning of the name. He racked his brain. “That means sunset, right?” He reconsidered. “No, it means dawn. Dawn, that’s my final answer.”

He would wait for her confirmation (or denial) before answering her questions. “I’m from the Japanese school, Mahoutokoro.” Despite how the school brought him a heavy burden, he blushed with pride. His parents had graduated from that school. He had top marks in that school. His gaze was elsewhere, thinking about his great fortune for being a student at Mahoutokoro. Even if Hogwarts was the school everyone talked about, Mahoutokoro would always be the best. Hogwarts was too crazy anyway, it always had something happening. He was so deep in thought that when he asked her another question, it was in the wrong language. “你在外面做什么?”³

Reducio

1) Lazy, as bad as his cousin
2) Trophies mean nothing if you don't work
3) what are you doing outside?

Was it just Roksana, or did the boy, Ahikiko, look a bit distracted? She couldn't quite tell, even though Roksana herself often got distracted when her grandparents were always talking about being a "respectable young lady" with "the right ideals" and the rest of that pureblood mumbo jumbo. Okay, now Roksana herself was distracted. She stooped thinking about other unimportant things and averted her attention back to Ahikiko.

"Thank you, I don't often get compliments on my name," Roksana said quickly. It would've been nice if she did, though..."Hmm, sunset? You're close....but not quite," Roksana added in response to Ahikiko trying to guess her name's meaning. "Dawn? Eh, close enough...it's really 'bright' or 'shining', but that was good enough." Roksana surprised herself with how well her English was right now.

It had taken her some time to salvage the right words though, she'd need to keep practicing. "You are from...Mahoutokoro? That's good, I guess..." Roksana said. She personally thought that Koldovstoretz didn't get enough attention, but then again, every school was biased that way, even though she personally thought that Koldovstoretz was undermined, underrated, and the greatest school, no matter how young it was.

"I'm sorry, what?" Roksana asked when Ahikiko said something in a language she did not recognize...Japanese, probably. She sometimes did that, accidentally speaking in her mother tongue, like just a few minutes ago. And then she'd be embarrassed and try to fix it, also like a few minutes ago, which were wasted on her mistake. She patiently waited for Ahikiko to do the same.

He tried to focus on the conversation at hand, and not the thoughts buzzing in his brain.

"Thank you, I don't often get compliments on my name," Roksana said pretty quickly. Akihiko studied her curiosity. "That’s a shame. It really is a nice name." No lie there. "Hmm, sunset? You're close....but not quite. Dawn? Eh, close enough...it's really 'bright' or 'shining', but that was good enough." He grinned. "I knew I was close! I read it in a name book or something like that." Something like that. Problem was, he had read too many books to know what book he had read it in. "ロクサナはヒロインの名前のように聞こえる!"¹ It really did. Part of him wondered if he had heard the name in a story book at some point…he racked his brain trying to think of it, not realizing he had said his thoughts in the wrong language.

The girl seemed halfhearted at best when she replied. "You are from...Mahoutokoro? That's good, I guess..." He realized that he had worn his pride on his sleeve, and hastened to change the topic. "What‘s your family like?" That was a topic he could easily talk about. He had so much family in one house, no matter what he would probably be able to connect with her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Roksana said, and he realized he had spoken in Japanese. He blushed a shade of pink and smiled. "What are you doing outside?" He repeated, in English this time. "天気は良いですが、それが唯一の理由ではありません。The weather is nice, but that's not the only reason." He said, first in Japanese jokingly, then in English. He was outside because it was nice, but also because he was restless.

Reducio

1) Roksana sounds like the name of a heroine!

When Ahikiko complimented Roksana's name again, she felt herself turning an uncharacteristic shade of pink this time. "Thank you..." she said. Whether her name was popular or common, she didn't know and she didn't really care. Too bad that Roksana couldn't understand Japanese because she didn't know what was being said next, but she didn't even bother trying.

Roksana was taken aback by the next question, which seemed to have come out of the blue. Why was she always asked that question, and why was it always brought up..."My family? Well, um, I'm a pureblood...most of my family went to either...Durmstrang or Koldovstoretz. I have 3 brothers and sisters, my 2 sisters go to Koldovstoretz with me, and...my little brother, we're not sure about yet. My grandparents live with my siblings and my parents in a..."

What was the word? Roksana couldn't remember what "mansion" or "manor" was in English, so she just stuck with, "In a very big house." Oh, that sounded foolish. But it was the best she could do. "I don't know much about you or your family. I would like you to tell me about yourself, if you don't mind." Roksana would be a lot better at this if she was speaking in her mother tongue, or even Bulgarian, and she'd also be less Anti sociable. Way for a first impression...

Roksana was criticizing herself in her mind, but she stopped when Ahikiko asked her what she was doing outside. There was something else he said in Japanese, and Roksana assumed that he said the same thing when switching back to English. She raised an eyebrow at his joke, a bit reluctant to share. "Okay, I'll tell you. This place is very different and not what I expected...and I'm having language problems, obviously...and, it's just weird, being in a different country a thousand miles from home."

Roksana sighed. That was the honest truth. But just talking about it felt very depressing, so on a happier note... "Теперь хватит обо мне. Вы спросили, что я здесь делаю, но как насчет вас?" Roksana said in Russian, very purposefully. her mind settled on the thought that if she ever saw Ahikiko again, then maybe this would become a clever joke. Roksana repeated what she said in English. "Now, enough about me. You asked what I'm doing here, but what about you?"

Roksana blushed, and it made Akihiko laugh. He nodded at her thank you, still trying to figure out where he had heard it from. "Roksana, Roksana, ロクサナ." He murmured, and with each repetition it sounded a little more Japanese, until he was speaking Japanese. "その名前はどこから来たのですか?"¹ He lamented, still trying to figure it out. He finally shrugged and moved on, although he would be puzzling over that later.

As she detailed her family he smiles, surprised to have so much in common with her. Her family was pureblood (he could relate), her grandparents lived with her and her family. Two things he could easily connect with. She paused, probably to puzzle out a word, before just settling on ‘a very big house’. Akihiko paused as he tried to figure out what she was really trying to say. "大邸宅? A mansion?" He said, first in Japanese, then in English once he noticed he had spoken in Japanese. "An apartment?" He asked as well, figuring it was worth the ask, although he was sure she was talking about a mansion.

When she asked about his family, he smiled. "I live with my entire family, much like you." His mind wandered as he began to detail his living structure. "My cousin, Bo, is also here. He lives with us in our mansion. Bo is a trickster. He likes playing pranks on me a lot." He grinned, hiding the hurt. Akihiko didn’t enjoy the pranks, but he refused to show it. As long as he didn’t react, Botan would eventually get bored. "家には20人、そして4世代がいます。とてもうるさいです。" He blushed when he realized he was speaking in Japanese again, and repeated it in English for her. "There are 20 people and 4 generations in the house. It's very noisy."

When Roksana opened up, his smile turned a lot softer, different from his usual grin. He could tell it was hard for her to share, and he was proud she did. "I know about language problems all too well. I speak three of them, it’s easy to get mixed up."

When she deflected the question back at him, and in two languages, no less, his grin returned. "Truthfully, I needed to get away from the schoolwork." Imagine my family knew what I was doing, he sighed, knowing what they would say. 時間を無駄にしないで!² As usual.

Reducio

1) Where did that name come from?
2) Don't waste your time!