Hi all!
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Please note, this copyright notice is retroactive to all stories I have previously posted on Nifty. They are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License, Copyright (C) 2008.
DISCLAIMER
This story involves relationships between males aged 17-19. If you do not approve of this, why the hell are you even reading it now? If you are a parent reading through the Internet logs of your young child, do not punish your child for reading these stories. He/she clearly has some questions about his development, and it is YOUR responsibility to answer those questions truthfully and honestly. If this material is illegal in your area, leave now. Blah blah blah blah blah blah. You know the drill. If you aren't supposed to be reading this, Don't (although some flames would be lovely to publicly dissect :)).
FEEDBACK
I absolutely love feedback. Please submit your feedback, good or bad, lengthy or brief, in Japanese or in English, (although preferably English) to:
sakurakangen@gmail.com
You may also add me on Google Talk at the same address. I love talking to you.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu.
And now, without further adieu.....
========================================================================= FINDING YOU: CHAPTER SEVEN - The Fisherman and the Turtle =========================================================================
When we arrived at Urashima-kun's address, I was suprised to see that he actually owned a house in Tokyo, as opposed to an apartment. It was built in a traditional Japanese style, with a wide deck and wooden frame, no doubt with paper walls inside.
It would have cost a fortune - Urashima Tarou was moving up in the world.
As we proceeded up towards the deck, a young boy wearing a kimono walked up to us.
"Welcome! I am Saburou, of the House Urashima. My uncle is inside, do you have business with him?"
He was speaking in a very archaic style, I had a great deal of trouble understanding him.
Hayaka-san answered for us. "Sabu-chan, these boys are here to see Tarou. You can stop pretending to be some samurai and show them in now."
Saburou looked angry, "Obasan, please don't call me that! It's Saburou!"
Hayaka-san responded, smiling, "You will always be Sabu-chan, Sabu-chan. Now show the guests in."
Saburou bowed deeply. "Hai! Wakarimashita!" he shouted, before marching back towards the entranceway.
Hayaka-san turned to face us, "I have to go to my apartment now. Send Tarou my greetings!", she said as she walked hurriedly down the street.
We followed the kid up to the main entrance. He tried to slide open the door, but he was too short and couldn't push it properly. I opened it for him.
Saburou immediately bowed to us and said, "Sumimasen, I am very sorry!"
"Why?" I asked.
"I was unable to open the door for you. Please accept my apologies."
Tarou came to the door. "Sabu, what are you doing? Go back to your room."
Saburou didn't say anything but walked into the house.
Tarou did a doubletake when he saw me but quickly regained his composure.
"William-kun, ohisashiburi desune. Ogenki desuka?"
(William, it's been a long time. Are you well?)
"Hai, genki desu." I said.
(Yes, I am well.)
Tarou looked over at Chris. A puzzled expression came over his face.
"Sumimasen, namae wa nan desuka?" he said to him.
(Sorry, what is your name?)
Chris looked very confused and flustered.
"Sorry," I said to Tarou, "Chris does not speak Japanese."
"Oh", said Tarou, in perfect English, "Pleased to meet you, Chris. Are you William's boyfriend?"
...
No one said anything for a moment. Chris was looking around, with an increasingly terrified expression on his face. I suppose it's hard when you don't speak the language.
"Oh, no! He is just one of my good friends. We are actually here to find my boyfriend." I said.
"I see. Come in, come in." he said, opening the door wider to allow us to enter.
"It's all well and good that you like this guy, Callum, but the more important question is, what are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know, Dad. What do you think I should do?"
"Well, you said this kid has a gay brother, right?"
"Yeah.."
"So, he will be okay if you tell him you're gay, right?"
"I guess so..."
"So, why don't you do that first, and then once that's established, maybe you could ask him out later?"
"I see what you're saying," Callum said after a moment, "Take little steps, and eventually I'll achieve my goal, right?"
"That's the spirit!" Callum's dad said, "Now come on! I'll give you a ride to school!"
"So, yeah, essentially, we need to live here and rely on your financial support while we study for Toudai and try and find Will's.. uh.. boyfriend" Chris said, uncomfortably sitting around the Japanese low-set table. His green tea was untouched.
Tarou frowned for a moment, then said, "Do you know where my name comes from?"
I didn't really know what he was talking about, so I shook my head.
"It comes from a Japanese legend, about a fisherman named Urashima Tarou who came across a defenceless turtle being tormented by children. He rescues the turtle and is rewarded by the Gods."
"I see, that is interesting," I said, "But why do you mention this?"
"Well, I would hardly be living up to my name if I didn't rescue you, would I?" Tarou said, grinning, "Perhaps I would miss out on my rewards from the Gods!"
At that moment, a loud battle cry from Saburou could be heard, immediately followed by a loud clang, and then a thud, from a nearby room.
Tarou sighed, "Although, I guess in this case I'll be putting you into torment from a child, not rescuing you out of it... But so be it!" He got up and walked into another room, and came back carrying two brooms.
"Besides," he said, grinning, "Saburou doesn't make a very good housekeeper. It would be nice to have two more."
We groaned - suddenly the house became a whole lot larger.
Lunchtime again. Once again Jacob couldn't find his usual group of friends. Perhaps Callum's property of transitive homosexuality across fraternal bonds held true.
Callum was sitting alone at his table again, so Jacob decided he could sit with him again. He didn't say anything as he sat down, and just began throwing away half his lunch again. Callum sat and looked down.
"Hey, Callum!" Jacob said, "You look down. What's up?"
Callum didn't say anything. Jacob shrugged, "Suit yourself." and continued eating.
When the lunch period was almost over, Callum suddenly looked up.
"I'm Gay!" he blurted out.
Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you said you were straight just yesterday."
"Yeah, well, I changed my mind."
"Hm. What made you change your mind?" Jacob asked.
"Y..y.y..you did." Callum suddenly looked down again, then, quickly said, "As in, you made me think about it and I realised that I.. I.. like guys and.. yeah."
Callum was breathing heavily. Little Steps! Little Steps!
"Hm. Fair enough." Jacob said nonchalantly.
The bell to mark the end of lunch went, and Callum breathed a huge sigh of relief as he and Jacob parted company for the day.
And that's all for this chapter. I will try and update around once a week. Promise!
JAPANESE PHRASES USED IN THIS CHAPTER (which did not have inline english)
Hai! Wakarimashita! - Yes, understood!
Obasan - Aunt, or older female of one's parent's generation.
I absolutely love feedback. Please submit your feedback, good or bad, lengthy or brief, in Japanese or in English, (although preferably English) to:
sakurakangen@gmail.com
You may also add me on Google Talk at the same address. I love talking to you.
Doumo arigatou gozaimashita.
-SK (written in vi improved 7.2.. beats emacs any day)