Great Lakes and Expectations chp 4 draft post

“おはようございます。”

She roused at the sternest “good morning” call she could remember and reflexively mumbled something similar back. Ugh. Regina felt stiff and unhappy to sit up, but it was hard to sneak five more minutes of sleep when someone had come into your room and actually opened the windows to let in freezing cold air. And then waited around for you to get out of bed.

A maid she hadn't spoken to started folding up the bedding as soon as Regina crawled out of it. ADFD was holding a much fancier-looking kimono than yesterday's clothing.

Regina allowed herself to be wrapped up and arranged, bemused by the reason behind the process but more than willing to wear pretty clothes.  

'This isn't daily wear,' she guessed. 'FDD and his mother dress nicely, but I think this is a step above? So either I'm being assumed to have higher status than my house- unlikely- or there is something special going on today.'

She was leaning pretty heavily towards the special events theory throughout breakfast of miso soup, okayu, and tsukemono paired with hot barley tea. Regina recalled this was the exact menu she had eaten at a Buddhist temple on an English-language tour and found it a little comforting.

They went out after that. She tottered as gracefully as she could in the beautiful shoes, and did her best not to think of them as tall, fancy flip-flops. Even though they had an open top and were only held on by a v of fabric that met between her toes. Definitely not flip-flops.

ADFDF and a ….a guard, maybe? - took her to a very nice traditional home where a maid greeted them and had them seated before the woman she could only assume was her hostess came in.

Regina tried to look attentive, pleasant, and inoffensive.

The older woman was very short and had just a bit of the roundness that almost everyone gets after turning 50 or so. Her hair was still black even at the roots and she carried her age well, but didn't read as particularly friendly. She said something in an incongruously high voice that caused everyone else to leave the room. And then she fixed her dark, heavy-lidded eyes on Regina.

“Good morning,” she said, in a thick accent.

Regina stared a moment before she remembered to respond. “Good morning!” She said it a little more enthusiastically than was completely necessary, but she was feeling surprised in the best way. English. She was hearing English for the first time in weeks.

Her hostess bowed. “I am Shirogawa Tomiko,” she said. It came out rote and practiced. “It is nice to meet you.”

Regina bowed back, feeling the smile split her face. “I am Regina DFDFD. It is nice to meet you, too.” She swallowed, wondering how to ask. Well. When in Japan, do as the Japanese do…. “Your English is very good,” she complimented.  

...She didn't actually know yet if it was any good or not, but it would be too rude to ask 'why the hell do you speak my language and are you any good at it?'

Tomiko waved off the compliment. “No, no.” She did smile a little, showing that she had all her teeth and that they were only a little crooked. “My English is very poor. Many years ago I studied in E- Ing- イギリス。”

“Ah, is that so,” Regina said. England. Made sense, in a hallucination dimension where Japan was full of punch-wizards and hodge-podge Western influences. England would have been the first English-speaking country Japan had significant contact with. “That's interesting.”

“Have you ever been to England?” Tomiko put her hands on her lap.

Regina had to shake her head. “No, I haven't. I'm from America.”

Tomiko made a polite sound of comprehension. “I see.” She seemed to be working her way around to a question, mouth moving silently for a moment. “Are you… You are the daughter of Jiraiya-sama?”

Ah yikes, somehow the lie tasted worse in her native tongue. “I am,” Regina said, feeling all kinds of weird.

“But you have not lived in the Elemental Nations,” Tomiko observed. “Why do you come here now?”

'Her English is solid enough,' Regina judged. 'I think she has a relatively small knowledge base, but she's really good at what she knows.'  

On the outside, she put on a smile. If it came out queasy, well, that was situationally appropriate for all kinds of reasons. “I lived with my mother,” she said. The tone came out stiffly enough that Tomiko might guess it was not a happy cohabitation. “She has passed away, so I came to live with my father.”

Tomiko paused a moment before nodding along.

'Crap. She might not know 'passed away'. That's an Americanism. Did she guess? I think she's too dignified to ask me for clarification, but would I insult her by repeating myself?'

“How fortunate, for your father,” Tomiko hedged.

She was prepared for the possibility of something awkward, so she didn't even have to force down a laugh.

'She almost definitely did not know that euphemism. Maybe I should have corrected myself after all.'

But the moment had passed. It was too late to say anything. So she smiled and nodded. “I am interested to see his home and experience Japanese life,” Regina said. It was the blandest possible response she could think of, but it wasn't going to contradict Jiraiya's story.

She was already feeling uncomfortable in seiza. Her legs itched to move but she really did not want to.