Tea and Crossroads [Nana/Misha]

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A new roommate. Well, that was to be expected. Misha's placement into Reina's room was a temporary one anyways, though she had already moved back to her old room a month ago. Strangely, her old roommate wasn't assigned to her, and for that month she had sole dominion of her room. Still, Misha felt rather lonely, much to the baker's suprise. Even though Reina had a little issues with keeping tidy, Misha immensely enjoyed her company, so Misha was looking forward to having a new roommate.

Nana D'Rose.

That was the name that was written in the email sent to Misha. A Japanese first name...and an...Italian family name? Misha needed to consult with the rest of her family regarding it, and the conclusion was that whoever was, was likely in part Italian. Foreign students, wholly or partial, weren't uncommon, and one could make an argument that Misha was foreign herself. Still, with only a name, Misha could only speculate what her new roommate would be. She had seen the wide spectrum of possibilities through her classmates and her family's own stories.

In any case, a proper reception was in order. Between the three girls of the Kitamura family that were in Fukui, each of them had their own tea set that was used on a near daily basis. And today was a special day for Misha, so she had the hot water already keeping warm at the perfect temperature for green tea. On a tray nearby was a bevy of snacks. Pastries made by herself, gummy candies made by her cousin Mashiro, and several rice crackers, all handmade and expemlary speciments of the Shirayama Bakery and the Satou Confectionery.

All that was left to mind was the cleanliness of the room. Misha was given no timetable as to when Nana would arrive, so she had spend the day prior vaccuming, dusting, and organizing her room. Being the sole occupant for a month, she had used the other side of the room for storage. Thankfully, reorganizing her materials did not take too long and by the next day came, everything was spic and span as possible. All that was needed now was for Nana to arrive.

At the door came a knocking sound, to which Misha reflexively replied with, "Irrasaimase~". The baker chuckled at her reflex as she headed to the door, opening it with a smile. "Ah...Good Morning. You are D'Rosè-san?" Misha asked, slipping into a slight French accent.

tag(s): Nana D'Rose ━ words: 421 ━ notes:

by MIZO.❉ of ww

The building was a bit bigger than Nana first expected, so walking around so much while carrying her bag was certainly exhausting. Though it wasn't so bad after all, since on her way to the dorms she managed to look around. The place was different from her last school, this one looking more elegant and polished, while the last one had a rather Italian, rural theme to it, that always made her feel cozy and warm. Nana could already feel the melancholy building up in her chest, as she tried to mentally convince herself that she'll get used to the new environment eventually. Walking down the long hallway of one of the dorms section, she inspected every door looking for the number she was given. On the way, she was encountered with some girls coming in and out of their rooms from time to time, to which she hurriedly bowed to. Some months prior to her arrival in Japan she tried to learn proper Japanese manners, and bowing whenever you met someone was one of them, or at least that was what she understood from the books. However, some of the girls just passed by and didn't even glance at her, besides her head was starting to feel dizzy after greeting everyone she saw, so maybe she was overdoing it a bit with the politeness. Arriving at which seemed to be the door of her assigned room, she placed her bag on the floor and knocked on the door. A voice answered from inside in what she managed to recognize as Japanese after a few seconds. "I'm in Japan, of course they'll speak in Japanese", she thought, as she sighed and blamed her sometimes too dense personality. When she was about to place her hand on the doorknob, someone opened the door from the inside. A girl, certainly taller than her, and with beautiful silver hair stood at the doorframe. Nana wondered if the girl was also a foreigner, as she spoke with a slight French accent. "G-Good morning!" Nana answered and hurried to bow, "Uh- What was it?..." she mumbled in Italian, trying to remember the words, "Ah! Y-Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!" as she internally hoped her rather broken Japanese was intelligible enough for the girl to understand her. She straightened herself up with a shy smile on her face, "You must be... Shi... Shirayama-san?" She asked rather slowly, the name being a bit too complicated for her. She glanced over the girl's shoulder, carefully looking inside of the room from where a sweet smell came out, one that she could recognize anywhere. Her stomach grumbled maybe a bit too loud, making her cheeks blush. She hadn't eaten anything in hours besides some weird looking brownies the flight attendant gave her at the plane, so she was kind of starving. She finally decided to ask, "C-Can I come in?" as she picked up her bag once again. words:  +450 tag: Misha Shirayama Can’t ᴛᴀʟᴋ about it, but I can put it in a 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔– Maybe no one will 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝, but at least they’ll sing along

template by rem of WW

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The little quips of Italian, a language that the chef had no knowledge of, was enough to confirm to Misha that her new roommate was indeed from abroad. However, Nana's bowing came as a very pleasant surprise. While a lot of foreign students made a good-faith effort to learn Japanese culture, it was rare to go this far. But Misha appreciated it, returning the bow as she introduced herself in her regal Japanese tone. "Yes, yes, I am indeed Shirayama Misha. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Pivoting smartly on her heels, the baker retreated back unto the room, gesturing for Nana to follow, speaking in a calm and measured pace. "Please, come in, come in. This is your home too, so please, make yourself comfortable." Misha gestured to the tray of tea and sweets. "I have prepared some green tea, pastries, and some snacks. Feel free to eat as much as you wish, though..." Misha trailed off with a grin as she started to pour two cups of tea. "If you wish for a more proper meal, it may take a little while longer, but I would be happy to cook something for you."

The Russian picked up Nana's teacup and placed it on a saucer, then carried it over to Nana's desk

"And...do excuse my verbose introduction, there is...perhaps two matters I think would be good to seetle. Firstly, though our classes will be in Japanese, I would be loathe to have a language barrier between us. Unfortunately, I do not believe I am capable of understanding your mother tongue, but if English is more comfortable, then that is something we can pursue." Misha flashed Nana another smile before returning to sit in her chair on her side of the room. "Lastly, and it does tie to what language we will use, do you have a preferred moniker? I belive you have already noticed that...how we refer to each other is a bit different."

tag(s): Nana D'Rose ━ words: 334 ━ notes:

by MIZO.❉ of ww

A gentle smiled showed on Nana's lips as her new roommate invited her into the room. She listened intently to her as she put her bag away, then looked over to where Misha was standing, there was a tray full of the pastries that Nana loved very much.  Sitting on the chair, she noticed how the room had a very pleasant atmosphere,  everything tidy as it could be, plus the sweet aroma of pastries, it made her feel as if she never actually left home.  When Misha offered to cook a meal for her, she could feel the biggest relief in her chest, feeling as if the fact that her new roommate knew how to cook was a blessing. "Really? Thank you!" She answered with a smile and sparkly eyes full of joy. She listened carefully as her roommate spoke, nodding from time to time so that way Misha could know she was understanding, as she sipped her tea. She smiled once again, "Do you speak English? That's such a relief!" She said, in English, and squealed happily, "Yes, yes, I've tried to learn Japanese but it certainly is a difficult language" She sighed. "I'm glad we can speak freely in English". "And... Uh- well, I don't really have a nickname or anything... but feel free to call me by my first name." She smiled gently,  reaching for a small pastry. When she took a bite, she couldn't help but let out a gasp, "Ah! Delizioso! Did you make this? It is so good."  words:  +300 tag: Misha Shirayama Can’t ᴛᴀʟᴋ about it, but I can put it in a 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔– Maybe no one will 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝, but at least they’ll sing along

template by rem of WW

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Watching Nana's reaction to the food brought a wave of relief to Misha as she sat in her chair. It wasn't as if she wasn't confident in her art, it was just that some people Misha played host for did not have such an enthusiastic affinity for it. The other points that Misha had made also seemed to be taken into stride, and she was not surprised by the preference for given names over family names and the preference for English. Thankfully, the questions were answered without much of a fuss, hopefully minimizing any barrier between them.

"Very, well, 'Nana' it shall be. Thank you, Nana-san." Misha said, switching over to English. While she was still fluent, they way she rolled certain consonants had traces of her Russian accent. "And yes, the pastries were all made by me while the candies were made by my cousin. Please eat as much as you wish, and if there is anything more you'd like, please do tell me."

Misha chuckled softly, deciding to show off a bit. "Though to be fair, we have had a bit of practice. Our family runs The Shirayama Bakery and The Satou Confectionery respectively. both in Tokyo, and of course I must admit that this is my field of study here in Fukui."

Pale eyes looked softly at Nana, some curiosity starting to take over. Misha had run out of things to talk about that wasn't directly asking about Nana, so she thought now was perhaps the best time.

"Truthfully, when I recieved notice that you were to be moving in, I was given nothing more than a name and day of your arrival. Though I must say, your name seems to have quite a story behind it."

tag(s): Nana D'Rose ━ words: 296 ━ notes:

by MIZO.❉ of ww

Feeling more at ease, Nana chuckled softly and continued munching on the sweets, but intently listening to Misha as she talked warmingly. The atmosphere felt so easygoing that she couldn't believe how nervous she was when she arrived some hours ago, she dreaded the thought of having to share a room with a stranger in an unknown country, but Misha's welcoming words soon put an end to all of her worries.  "Wah~ A bakery and a confectionery? All of your family must be very talented, then." She said, eyes sparkling as she ate the pastries. "These are one of the best pastries I've ever had! Good job~" She couldn't help but acknowledge how good the food was, giving Misha an enthusiastic thumbs up.  As her new roommate spoke, once again, she looked up and batted her eyelashes as she was surprised that someone would be interested in her name, as the surname was kind of common back in her town.  "My name... Well, I believe it originally came from France!" She answered with a smile, "Though, I'm from Italy, and so is my father. My mother's from Japan, but she never actually mentioned anything about it so... I don't know much about Japan."  A sigh escaped her lips, "And I just arrived and, well... I'm glad you're my roommate". Nana chuckled, "I was afraid I could get paired up with a murderer..." And even if there was a small trace of a joke in there, the thought of having to share a room with a criminal actually crossed her mind many times, she was glad Misha's hobby was cooking. "Where are you from, Misha? I can tell you're a foreigner as well" She chuckled before continuing, "Do you think you could give me some tips about how to survive in here?"  words:  315 tag: Misha Shirayama Can’t ᴛᴀʟᴋ about it, but I can put it in a 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔– Maybe no one will 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝, but at least they’ll sing along

template by rem of WW

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Misha worried that she was giving Nana the wrong impression, but she managed to keep the maelstrom of confusion and emotion behind a contented smile. Where should she start? It was like a rapid-fire barrage of unintentional stabs. Indeed, Misha was proud of the businesses that the Shirayama and Satou families had established, but she still loved and cherished the Sonohara family as well, as well as the Sondrinov side. Or...what was left of it. And in true Japanese fashion, was feeling rather embarrassed by Nana's high praise. However, the facade started to crack as the mention of being a murder was far out of left field, causing Misha to raise an eyebrow in amusement.

Of course, Misha's statment about Nana's name was to subtly get her to talk about her own origins. So her roommate was from Italy, and the little bits of language that Misha was then Italian. But if the name did have French roots, then it made sense why Misha naturally accented it by focusing on the final syllable.

Unsurprisingly, the question got reflected back to the chef, but even so, it was the most painful and unintentional blow Nana had struck, and for that Misha seemed to wince. For all the Japanese-styled greetings, the flawless and sophisticated Japanese manner of speech...Misha was still pegged as a foreigner. Misha knew that one could argue that Nana was more Japanese than her, with her mother being Japanese. So where would the baker start?

"Well. You've put me in an odd spot. Despite what my appearance may suggest, I am actually a Japanese citizen. I grew up in Japan. Hachiouji City. That's in the Tokyo Metropolitan area." Misha explained, pausing with a sigh. "But, for advice, I would say...do not be afraid to ask for help. Most people here know English. And while we do have more formalities and manners...it is still okay to be yourself and to enjoy what is around you."

tag(s): @tsuga ━ words: 336 ━ notes:

by MIZO.❉ of ww