Well, would you look at that! My first fiction! ... Let's just go to the point.

English is not my mother tongue, (It's french) so if you see a mistake, please leave a comment so I can correct it. Thank you!

Now, for the story! It takes place in Japan. Again, maybe you're better informed than me, so don't be shy and tell me if I'm bullshitting about japanese culture. Note that everyone talks in japanese except when indicated (But I'll never put any japanese word in there like "Kawaii!" the only exception being names.) Here's how:

"Italics" Thoughts

"Bold" Character speaking in english or french (If there's a really long sentence, I'll put the translation a the bottom of the page.)

And now for the Warning: 1: Swearing. A lot. I like swearing, and since I speak french, english swears aren't that offensive to me. 2: Also, there will be homosexuality in this story so if you don't like that, please leave. So yes, Homosexuality (between girls) but not a lot of description about it. No sex scene (ever...) or intense make out (ever...) Really, it's going to be an innocent love. Note that the romance story will come much later.
3: Racism. It won't be that intense though. I guess xenophobia would be the correct term... 4: Sexual harrasment, but only in the first chapter. I don't think I'll bring it back later, but if I do, I'll let you guys know. 5: Not really a warning but... if you're not bothered by homosexuality, don't expect long confession and flowers and serenades. I like simple love stories, so that's what you're going to get. Later.

I believe I'm done... please enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Strangers in Strange Lands

Chapter 1

"Please, make this stop..." September had come at last, and the second trimester was starting today. Teenagers were invading the streets with their colorful uniforms and their complaints on how summer wasn't long enough and how they didn't get to go to the festival. The metro was overcrowded, as it usually was in the morning. You could smell the scent of bodies rubbing together as the metro moved along the tracks. A man talking on the phone, a bunch of students over there... everyone was minding their own business. No one was looking. No one knew, or cared, that a 17 years old girl was mercilessly pressed against the wall, just next to the door. No one cared that the man behind her had slipped his hand under her skirt and refused to leave her alone. In Japan, no one ever cared.

Her name was Yamane Ami.

"Just go away... Someone, make him go away." It wasn't the first time. It first started last trimester, in June. The first time, he just groped her butt over her skirt. She had stood still, had tried to keep the tears from running down her cheeks, and then told herself next time she would stand in a corner so that wouldn't happen again. It didn't work. It was worse. Much worse. He had stood there, right in front of her, face to face, his body pressed against her this time. He hadn't even tried to look innocent; his eyes were looking straight into hers while he used his left hand to caress her butt and the right for her breast. And no one had cared. So now she was standing as close as possible to the door just to get away from this as soon as the metro stopped.

Ami looked up to her right (avoiding looking at the pervert) to look at the passengers. Her eyes rested on a guy she knew well, for he went to school with her. He was with two of his friends and none of them had noticed her presence. She would be surprised if he knew she existed. His name was Nomura Akira, and she'd had a crush on him for the last two years. Sometimes, she let herself stare at him through the whole ride in hope he'll notice her and come to her rescue.

He had never noticed her until today.

It didn't matter what made his head turned, Ami just thanked whoever was above. She looked at Akira with pleading and teary eyes. "Help me" she mouthed to him. You could read confusion all over his face. He stared at her for a while, looked at the pervert, then back to her, then...

...Turned his head back toward his friends and ignored her for the rest of the ride. And tears rapidly escaped her eyes.

There was still 15 minutes left before her stop. 15 long minutes of humiliation. The metro stopped (3 station left until freedom.) About a third of the passengers got off only to be immediately replaced by the same amount of strangers. The pervert didn't even bother to take away his hand to make sure none of the new passengers would see him. A pre-recorded message echoed through the station; "The doors are about to close, please stay behind the white line."

The pervert suddenly took his hand away.

Ami felt a strong hand on her shoulder forcing her to turn around. For a moment she thought it was the pervert (and now she really feared for her life,) but just as she was forced to turn, she saw him stumble out the metro a second before the door closed. Then Ami's face was forced into her saviour's neck and arms tightened around her shoulders as the pervert, now on the other side of the door, shouted every insult and swearing he knew. The metro moved again, and the voice faded away.

She hugged the stranger back, crying every tear in her body, relieved that someone finally came and helped her. Before she was forced in her savior's arm, she was convinced it was Akira, who maybe had finally realized what was going on and came for her... But now that they were hugging each other, it was obvious that she had been saved by a girl. She didn't bother questioning her identity; it was probably a girl from school who recognized her, maybe a delinquent with compassion. Yeah, it was probably a delinquent since no one else would dare to push the man off the metro. Ami promised herself she would do everything to express her gratitude.

Once the tears dried and her breathing came back to normal, she took the time to examine the girl. She was still keeping Ami's face in her neck, softly brushing her hair with her finger to calm her down, and since it was really soothing, she didn't dare to raise her head. It was fine; Ami could still learn some things about this girl without looking at her. The arms around her, which felt so strong and solid a moment ago were now really cautious as they embraced her. She could feel the tip of her skirt on her knee. The only girls in her school who didn't roll their skirts were usually outcasts, so that sure helped her believe she was a delinquent. She was taller and thinner than Ami, but had obvious curves. Ami tried to see her hair, but it didn't fall on her shoulder. And her scent... She smelled like...

She smelled... wrong... somehow.

It was a weird mix. She could clearly smell peppermint, but she couldn't figure out what the other thing was. Ami took a deep breath, but still couldn't figure it out. It was a scent she knew she would never recognize, for she smelled like... somewhere else.

She gently pushed the girl away to have a good look at her face and... Oh... Oh, she did not expect that.

She clearly wasn't Asian.

"W-who is she?" The girl's hair was pitch black, so short it barely got past her jaw. Straight nose, pink cheeks and blue eyes. BLUE eyes. Blue NOT-SLANTED eyes. The strange girl looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" Her accent was so thick it made Ami's hair stand on her neck. Ugh... she looked American... She was saved by an immigrant.

"I'm fine..."

"Are you sure?" What a strange accent... "You didn't even try to push him away."

"I'm fine!" Ami pushed her away, wanting to put as much distance between them as possible. The stranger collided with one of the passengers as Ami retreated in the corner. "Just leave me alone! You're just a freak."

She looked stunned for a moment but quickly recovered. An ironic laugh escaped her mouth, followed by words in a language she could not understand. Then she turned around, squeezed between the passengers and went back to her friend. "How on earth did this freak get a friend?" Ami knew her; her name was Tetsuya Hana. She'd missed two trimesters last year because she was on a trip or something like that, and when she'd came back at the end of June, she wasn't the same. She had become... weird. "You HAVE to be weird to be friend with that freak..."

The rest of the ride was strangely peaceful... thanks to the pervert's departure.

There. Firts chapter. Done. 1 200 words is good, not too long but not too short. I'm happy. Please tell me how you feel about it!