Work Text:
“Where’s your house Nonaka? Is it here? Doko doko?”
Ogata quickly scanned the area. There was this white speck of a house at far distance. That must be her house right?
“No silly! My house is leagues away from here!”
Ogata looked back at Nonaka.
“No?”
“No.” Nonaka repeated back at her, giggling.
Ogata must be wrong then.
“But you know,” Nonaka took a little hop forward and opened her arms wide. Kawaii. “It was just like this!”
Just like this, huh?
A gust of wind and the girl’s hair flew behind her, making the scene somewhat cinematic. Ogata also took a small hop to her side. Nonaka then began gesturing her hands all over, “You know, beyond the neat rows of houses the greens would spread just as wide as this. Sometimes my sister and I would just run across the green fields, the sun’s great and warm. It’s prettiest in spring.
“We would play tag until we’re breathless. Then we’d just lie on the grass, laughing and telling stories.” The girl said the “tag” in English and hummed some English rhyme which Ogata surely didn’t catch. But they’re now in America, so what! More than anything else, English was so cool, only Nonaka can speak it apart from Mitsui-san.
Ogata also looked across the field and imagined a tiny Nonaka playing in the middle of it. It must have been fun. It must be so cool to have lived in a place where most of them dreamed of.
Nonaka glanced at her, the hair against her face. She was beaming. She was so cool today.
To have this cool girl beside her made the experience even more fun, huh?
“Thank you!” She said in English, beaming back at her friend.
Nonaka laughed with her mouth open. The statement didn’t fit in anything she was saying, but maybe the American excitement was getting her friend to say anything at all, in English. Everyone else was.
“Let’s get ice cream?”
“Ice cream? Yeah! Ice cream!”
“Ikou!”
“Oy!”
Nonaka took Ogata’s hand, and together they ran. Somewhere along the way their hands parted, and instead raced to get first to the ice cream truck. But of course it was Nonaka who did talking to the vendor wholly in English, while Ogata just watched and expected her ice cream.
Nonaka then handed her icecream to her, and in Japanese she said, “Dozo!”
“Yes!”
Kakkoi. Tanoshii. Arigato.