Sheraton Academy

Less Stress, Not No Stress

Rating: G

Warnings: None

Jen was bopping along the grounds to the music constantly playing in his head when he heard it: a soft, nasal voice muttering to itself in Japanese. Jen paused, looking around to try to place the sound. The other student had to have been closeby for Jen to hear him mumbling like that.

He pinpointed the voice to the student moving his lips along with his headphones. It flowed like the lyrics to a song, but it wasn't one Jen knew, and the other boy was speaking, not singing. Jen frowned.

"Hey, white boy! You speak Japanese?"

The boy – who was indeed white, with long black hair and bright blue eyes and an Attack on Titan t-shirt, ew, the definition of a weeaboo – started and looked up, slipping his headphones off.

"A little," he stammered in stilted Japanese. Maybe he thought Jen didn't speak English? Whatever, his problem, not Jen's.

"Where'd you learn?" Jen asked. "Naruto?"

The boy had the sense to look a little ashamed. "Fullmetal Alchemist."

Jen snorted derisively. "I can tell," he said. "You don't talk right. You talk like an otaku."

"Thank –­"

"That's not a compliment."

"Do you speak English?" the boy asked. "My Japanese isn't good enough to carry on a conversation."

"Not if you learned from anime, it isn't," Jen said. "Yes," he continued, in fluent, if accented, English. "I do."

"Are you from Japan?" the boy asked next. Jen nodded and crossed his arms over his chest as he took a few steps closer, peering down at the boy's book.

"I'm Josselin," he said.

"Jen."

"That's an interesting name."

"It's a nickname. My legal name's Atreyu, but nobody calls me that."

"I thought you said you were from Japan?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jen bit. Josselin started and pushed back into the wall he sat against.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense. Although I guess that was pretty offensive. I'm really sorry."

Jen's shoulders relaxed and he leaned against the wall beside Josselin, but didn't sit down beside him. "It's okay. Mum's English. I grew up in Japan but Mum's from here. We moved when I was twelve or so."

"To go to school?"

"Not here. But yes. Dad's pretty laid back and didn't want me going through all the stress of Japanese school like he did. Mum agreed." Jen shrugged. "So we're here."

"For not wanting you to go through any stress, they sure picked a competitive school."

"Less stress," Jen said. "Not no stress." Originally, the school they'd picked out hadn't been a boarding school and hadn't been so competitive. But Josselin didn't need to know the ins and outs of how Jen got here. He was here. That was enough.

Josselin chuckled and closed his book, using his thumb to mark his place. Jen glanced down at the cover. Pretty Soldier Sailormoon, volume three of the re-release. In Japanese.

"You understand that?" Jen asked, nodding down at the book. "Or you just looking at the pictures?"

"I understand most of it," Josselin said. "I understand all of the characters, if that's what you mean. I just don't always get all the words." He picked up another book by his hip and showed it to Jen. It was a Japanese-English dictionary. "Usually I can put it together through context, but that's what this is for."

"You some kind of otaku?" Jen asked. Josselin shook his head.

"These are just the easiest materials to get," Josselin said. "Up in my room I also have some novels, some children's books, and even a few cookbooks. A couple magazines I found online." He looked up at Jen with an open, hopeful smile. "I'm hoping to work as a translator one day, so I want to know as many languages as my head can fit."

Jen's posture softened and a smile finally came to his lips. He unfolded his arms and slipped his hands in his pockets.

"Well, you're going about it all wrong. People in real life don't talk like they do in anime and manga. Try finding some dramas if you want video, or live-action movies not based on anime. Anime's fun and all, but it's not an accurate representation of how we speak."

Josselin nodded, staring up intently at Jen, soaking up every word. He looked like he'd be taking notes if he had a pencil. Jen preened a little. It was nice to have someone listen, even about something like this.

"I can teach you, if you want –"

"Yes!" Josselin interrupted, jumping to his feet. He stumbled a little and righted himself. He gripped one book tight in each hand, looking every inch like a protagonist in the books he read. "Yes," he repeated, a little more controlled. "I would love that."

"Okay," Jen grinned. "Come into the cafeteria with me. I was going to see if they're still selling coffee."