• Mani and Mari are Japanese twins. If you just listened to their voices, you wouldn’t know. They speak English, because they were born in the U.S: in New Jersey. Mani also speaks Japanese because her dad (who is Japanese) taught her.
    Even though Mani and Mari’s dad is from Japan, their mom is American. Manila, their mom, went to Japan to learn about their culture. When she realized everyone there spoke Japanese, Kafka, their dad, was kind enough to be her translator for free. Later, they got married and Kafka moved to the U.S. with Manila.
    (Back to the twins) Now Mani and Mari are 15. They both are about 5’4 and have medium length, black hair, but Mani has dark blue eyes and Mari has black eyes. Besides Mani being the focused one and Mari being the playful one, they were pretty much the same.
    “Mani! Mari! Come down here, please!” Manila called. “Yeah!” Mari yelled. “Yeah!” Mari yelled. “Yeah? Get down here!” Manila called back. “Okay,” Mani answered for her sister.
    Mani ran downstairs, but Mari was nowhere to be found. Mani had on a red shirt with a black rose on it, blue jeans, and black and red sneakers.
    “Where’s Mari?” Manila sighed.
    “Right here!” Mari sang, coming downstairs, two stairs at a time. She jumped the last three steps. She had on a green shirt with pink and red roses on it, blue jeans, and pink and white sneakers.
    “Where are you two going?” Manila asked, observing their outfits.
    “To Rayne and Aunt Tina’s (Ti-nay) house,” Mani answered. Tina was Mani and Mari’s aunt (dad’s sister). She and her daughter, Rayne, moved to the U.S. about a year ago.
    “Yeah. Rayne has the new Three Doors Down CD,” Mari explained. “We’re gonna go listen to it.”
    “So, you’re okay with Rayne now, Mari?” Manila asked, with a raised eyebrow.
    Mari didn’t respond.
    “Can we go mom, please?” Mari begged, eagerly. She loved Three Doors Down. ‘It’s the best band in America!’ she had said.
    “Well, take the CD with you,” Manila said, “I have an ‘errand’ for you.”
    “But we already did our!” Mari whined.
    “You’ll get 25 dollars each,” Manila bribed, “Rayne, too.”
    “We’re in!” Mani and Mari said, at the same time.

    When they arrived at Rayne’s house, Mani, Mari, and Rayne shared information. While Rayne shared (the wonderful gift of) her Three Doors Down, Mani and Mari took turns telling Rayne about the ‘errand’.
    Rayne was wearing a blue shirt with no sleeves, which said, “Love doesn’t lie” in Japanese writing. She wore her black shorts and sneakers with it. Her golden brown hair fell like a waterfall but stopped past her shoulders. Her olive green eyes twinkled as she listened to the twins’ information.
    When they finished, Rayne said, “Hey, I could always use some extra green. Let’s do it!”
    While Rayne got the subway money from her mom, Mari waited impatiently with Mani.
    “I wonder who this guy is,” Mari pondered.
    “Yeah. Mom only that he would have our names in Japanese on a sign,” Mani recapped.
    “Yeah,” Rayne said, running towards them, “But first we to ride the subway to…where again?”
    “To…” Mari mumbled, looking at the piece of paper their mom had gave them.
    To Callergren St.,” Mani completed.
    “Let’s make some cash!” Rayne shouted.
    “Yeah!” they all cheered.

    “Um…guys, do you know where we are?” Rayne asked.
    “Um…Mani?” Mari mumbled.
    “We got off on Erinlow right? That’s right next to Callergren, right?” Mani said, checking the map. Then, she realized, “Oh! It was the next stop!”
    They all groaned. Thankfully, Rayne’s mom had given her extra money for times like this. They got back onboard.
    “To Callergren,” Mani said, flatly.
    “Yaay,” they groaned.

    When they finally arrived at Callergren, they walked out and dropped to the ground.
    “Finally!” Mari said, breathing as if she had ran there.
    “Guys,” Mani said, looking at something in awe. “Look.”
    “What?” Rayne asked, following her gaze.
    When they all looked, their mouths shot open. Uchida, Mani and Mari’s last name, was written on a sign in Japanese. A teenage boy was holding it.
    He had bluish black hair and olive green eyes. His hair fell over his eyes slightly. He had a black Linkin Park shirt on with blue jeans and black sneakers. Mari squealed slightly when she saw the Linkin Park shirt. Mari loved Linkin Park almost as much as Mani loved Three Doors Down. Almost.
    When they walked up to the boy, he said, “Are you Mari and Mani?” with a Japanese accent.
    “Yeah,” they said, but Rayne was silent.
    “I am Takahashi, your cousin. And this is?” he said, pointing at Rayne.
    “Rayne. I’m their cousin, too,” Rayne announced. “And apparently, yours.”
    “Yes, I can hear the accent in your voice,” Takahashi chuckled, “But why are you all so awe-struck?”
    Oh,” Mani said, blushing.
    “I guess we’re surprised that nothing else happened,” Mari shrugged.
    “What happened?” Takahashi asked.
    “Well…we kinda got lost,” Rayne said.
    “Oh, well, I hope I didn’t cause too much misfortune,” Takahashi said, kind of struggling when he said “misfortune”. You could tell he was still learning English.
    “No, we did,” Mani assured him.
    “Oh, alright. Shall we go to the house?” Takahashi asked.
    “We shall!” Mari said, recovering from being in awe. The rest of them had as well and they were ready to go.

    “Surprised?” Manila asked, half-laughing.
    “Well, not anymore,” Mari said, acting cool.
    “Good,” Manila said, “Well, Takahashi will live with us for a while.”
    “Alright, Taki!” Mani cheered, then blushed.
    “Taki…I like it,” Takahashi said, with interest.
    “Anyway, Mani, help Takahashi with his English, ’Kay?” Manila ordered.
    “Okay,” Mani responded.
    “Alright, Taki,” Rayne said, giggling, “It’s time to introduce you to American Rock!” She, then, played an imaginary guitar.
    “Three Doors Down?” Mani asked, hopefully.
    “Oh, yeah!” Rayne yelled.
    Mani and Mari pulled Takahashi upstairs, following Rayne to their room. Manila shook her head, wondering if Takahashi would last a week with them.


    ~~~~THE END~~~~
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