This World

Jacob

"Sounds like we're all staying over then." Jacob said as he clasped his hands together.

"You only say that Orion because you want to do it yourself. Well not with Amy," Zach teased, taking his beer from him. She took a sip of it.

"I never denied it," Orion told Zach with a smirk as he took a gulp of his beer. He laughed, "What about you? You want to jump in anyone's bones?"

Sayo, Jennifer

Sayo groaned as he saw nearly all his friends starting to drink. "Didn't we all agree not to drink any beer? Or at least, most of us did?"

"Oh come on Sayo, don't be such a prude!" Jennifer said, poking the boy in his side. "Come on, drink with us!"

Jacob

"It's not my fault that your Aunt is inspiring others to be ignore your rules, Sayo." Jacob pointed out as he grabbed his half-empty can of beer from the coffee table so he could take a gulp out of it.

Zach took Orion's drink again and shook her head.

"No more beer for you," she said taking a large gulp. She had to resist the urge to gag. "And no I have not. I like to focus on other things."

Amy looked at her friends and wondered if she should begin to drink as well. But she heard what Zach and Sayo had said before and decided to not.

"It's ok Sayo. I'm not drinking either."

Sayo, Jennifer

"That's good." Sayo assured Amy, smiling at her. Good thing she wouldn't, too. They had tried pretty hard to preserve the innocence that Amy had, and Sayo wasn't about to let all that hard work be for nothing.

"We should do something to pass the time, until the power comes back on." Sayo suggested. Jennifer agreed completely.

"Great idea, Nephew! Hm, how 'bout an orgy?" Jennifer suggested with a suggestive smile.

"Aunt Jennifer!" Sayo cried with mortification. She laughed in response.

"I'm only kidding, Sayo. Besides, I'm not that drunk yet, kiddo. Geez, you're so easy to fluster. Though, I have to admit, your friend over there is kinda cute." Jennifer said with a teasing grin, nodding at Jacob for a moment.

"Oh! I know!" Jennifer quickly continued. "I could teach you guys a fun game I learned while in Japan."

"You were in Japan," Zach asked, moving the beer to and fro, sloshing some of it on the ground. "That's awesome."

"What kind of game is it?"

Orion, who was looking longingly at the drink his girlfriend took away, nodded in agreement. He smiirked, "Is it something nice and fun, you know, the type Sayo wouldn't approve of because of the stick up his..."

He took a glance at Amy and finished with a small sigh, "Butt."

Jacob

"I'm game." Jacob said quietly with a crooked smile. Even though he had no idea what game Jennifer was talking about, he was pretty sure that it was going to be awesome.

Sayo, Jennifer

"Well, we're gonna need some handcuffs, duct tape....oh wait, wrong kind of game. And yeah, I've been to Japan. I pretty much live there nowadays. I do come back to the States every once in awhile, though. I've seen some pretty interesting stuff there, to say the least. Hm, you know what? How 'bout I tell you all a story instead? I think that'd be much more interesting. I could tell you about an interesting person I met in Japan." Jennifer said.

"Can we still play a game," Amy asked. "Though I want to here the story first."

"Sure we can play one," Zach said, as she nodded at Jennifer. "But yeah let's hear the story first."

Jacob

"Well ok then..." JAcob muttered, slightly disappointed as he sat down.

Jennifer

"Great! Settle down, kiddes." Jennifer said. The older woman took a seat on a nearby couch and began to tell them the story.

"In Tokyo, Japan, there lived a young Japanese high-school student named Takeru. He was pretty much like your average youth in that country, though he was...different in several ways. Young Takeru had lived with his aunt and uncle for much of his life, after his mother had abandoned him. Even with that tragic event, however, Takeru continued to live a full and happy life. He had great friends, a caring, loving family, nearly everything a person could hope for in life. His life still wasn't satisfactory to Takeru, however. He always wanted something more, but he could never really figure out what. Then his life was completely changed when he met...her."

Jennifer paused in her tale to allow the kids to register it in their minds.

"Let me, guess abusive girlfriend?" Orion ventured with a grin, attempting to make a joke to kill the silence.

Jacob

"Were you the abusive girlfriend, Jennifer?" JAcob asked with a smirk on his face as he played along with Orion.

"Guys the story doesn't have to be a sad one," Zach said. "Whoever she was she could have been good for him. Let her finish."

Jennifer, Sayo

Jennifer chuckled at Jacob and Orion's comments. "Sorry, but no. 'Sides, I didn't meet Takeru until later. And the girl Takeru met was definitely not abusive. Far from it. One day Takeru and his friend, Ryo, where driving past a nearby forest when an orb of light descended from the sky. It crossed their path for just a moment, before it split into two and went into the forest. Their curiousity peaked, Takeru and Ryo went to go check it out. They found one of the orbs hovering on the branches of a tree. Takeru then said 'hikari'--which is the Japanese word for 'light'--and a second later, the orb turned into a woman, of all things."

Jennifer paused again, this time to take another sip of her beer.

"Did they find the other orb," Amy asked. "I mean both of them went into the forest right?"

"Ssh Amy. Let her continue," Zach said. She was really interested in the story though she doubted it was real.

Orion frowned, for once not liking where Sayo's aunt was going. Was this going to be some story that she made up to connect Amy to? That would be rather mean, but Jennifer seemed nice. He waited eagerly for her to continue.

Jacob

"I thought you were telling us something that actually happened? This sounds like something straight out of Disney or some crappy anime."

Jennifer, Sayo

"I'm having to have to agree with Jacob." Sayo admitted, speaking up.

"Hey! Whether or not you believe me is your call to make. I still hold that these events were real, but feel free to disagree with me. And don't worry Amy, we'll get into that other orb soon enough. Well, once the girl descended from the tree--now called 'Hikari', since Takeru had named her, in a way--another series of strange events occured. I won't bore you with the details of that. Maybe another time. Anyway, Takeru and Ryo eventually helped Hikari to Takeru's house, where she stayed for the night. After a misunderstanding between Takeru and his guardians occured after they saw Hikari, they ended up letting Hikari stay with them, so long as Takeru made sure to look after her.

A few days later, Ryo went looking in the forest to find the other orb of light. He did after some time had passed, but it had already turned into a woman, though she appeared to be a few years younger than Hikari. Ryo ended up taking her in--naming her 'Akari', the Japanese word for 'hope', I think--and raised her alongside his little sister. These girls seemed to be good influences to both of the friends, and Hikari and Akari were well liked by nearly everyone. I am to Japan shortly before Akari was found, since a rather interesting...animal corpse had been found--I'm a scientist, by the way. Forgot to mention that--, and I eventually ended up living as a tenent in the house of Takeru's aunt and uncle.

As for what happened then, well...I think I'll leave the story there for now, and continue later. I think it'd be better if I told the story one part at a time." Jennifer said.

A moment later the power came back on, and the movie started to play again.

Zach and Amy both closed their eyes against the sudden blinding light.

"Wow that was kind of creepy," Zach said putting the beer down. She wasn't going to drink anymore tonight. "But that was an interesting story. I can't wait to here the rest."

"I believe you Jennifer," Amy said softly.

Jacob

"You!? You're a scientist?" Jacob asked incredulously after Jennifer was finished. "I thought scientists were supposed to be old, and...nerdy. You're kind of...too hot for me to believe that, almost."

"Booo!!!! That story sucked!" Orion shouted into his hands, smirking a little. He had to find out if Sayo's temper was a family trait, after all.