Chapter 1: Translations And Interpretations

There was the sound of a doorbell from the front door, and a key opening the lock with a click.

“I’m here.” A voice called, stepping in

She wasn’t soaked from the rain at all, and had neither an umbrella or a raincoat to hang up to dry, taking her shoes off and walking inside

“Hey, Rin!” Charm said

“Hey, Charm. Don’t you have work you should be doing? You have a project due soon, right?” Rin asked

“Errrr. Yes? Wait, there’s something else I asked you to come over for! This is who I was talking about.” Charm said, bringing Rin to the kitchen. They had just finished eating.

“All right, all right. Fine. Wh-Oh, is she mute?” Rin asked

“Yes. Her name is leaf. And she can’t write very well, either.” Charm said, frowning

“Well, lets see something, then. Here, leaf, do you know what I’m doing?” Rin asked, making gestures with her hands

Leaf nodded, brightening up, and making a few gestures herself.

“Well, that’s a relief. She knows ASL. That’s going to make it much easier. I’ll translate for you, out loud, so Charm can understand what you’re trying to say.” Rin said, sighing

“Where am I?” Leaf asked

“You’re in my house. Well, apartment, if you want to be precise.” Charm said

“That’s not what I mean. I mean where in the world am I? What conti-wait a minute. Leaf. Let me answer that. We’re in Japan.” Rin said

“Rin. This is America.” Charm said, laughing a little

“Huh? Oh! Right. I transferred here for college and work. Yeah. This is America.” Rin said

“I see. I knew I would be far away, but I didn’t think I’d end up all the way around the world.” Leaf said

“Leaf, where exactly did you live?” Rin asked

“Don’t worry about it. I can try to live here, somehow.” Leaf said

“Leaf, you don’t have any family here? And you didn’t have any paperwork or legal documents with you. I checked your bag.” Charm said, holding up a bag with a flashing red light.

Leafs eyes widened

Leaf flashed gestures rapidly to Rin, who quickly understood what was happening.

The bag started to beep.