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I worte this to [livejournal.com profile] lilfluff's first prompt, "More Nai and/or Ha-Ri."

“Well,” allowed Harry, “I have lived here almost all my life, which accounts for the accent.”

“It would,”agreed his Economics classmate Su Tai as she sniffed appreciatively at the dish he was putting on the table in front of the group.  “So, Ha Ri, this is real Diutsic food?”  She managed not to stumble over the foreign word.

“It’s as real as my mother cooks,” confirmed Harry.  “I don’t know if all Diutsic cooking has cinnamon in rice all the time, but my mother can’t cook the stuff without putting it in.”

“Smells good,” commented Tang Jun.  “Do we have to use forks?  Wouldn’t chopsticks be easier?”

The rest of the table howled him down and Jun picked up a fork like the rest of them once he’d served himself from the common bowls.

Once the meal was over and the cleaning up was done, the group got down to studying.  After an hour of Economics, Shan Mei practised her Literature presentation in front of them.  As she was the only one doing Chuan poetry in this, their first, semester they were the perfect practice audience.  After the clapping and the suggestions for improvement they went back to Economics for another hour.  After that, the study group broke up so they could get enough sleep before classes in the morning.

“Ha Ri, will you be coming to the movie marathon at the Student Union on the weekend?”  Han Rei was a movie buff and was trying to induct his study group into the mysteries of the classic noir.

“Sorry, I can’t.”  Harry hoped that he’d hit just the right note of regret.  “I’m working, both days.”

“What is it that you do?”  Shan Mei looked at him, perplexed.  “You work most weekends, often both days, and sometimes in the middle of the week.  Which isn’t really that much but you can afford this place on your own.”  Harry’s one bedroom flat wasn’t very large but most of them were sharing something of a similar size.

“I’m a very junior assistant gi referee and I’m trying to live on my honorariums.”  There, he’d told them.  How were they going to react?

A moment’s silence then Han Rei asked, “So, why are you studying Economics?  And why are you here and not at one of the really prestigious schools?”

rix_scaedu: (Default)
I wrote this to [livejournal.com profile] lilfluff's fourth prompt, "More of Nai or her world."

Harry and his parents were discussing Harry’s future.  “You can stay with your grandparents for a year and study for the matriculation exams,” explained his father.  “If you work hard, you can go to Prederhoffen or Zeitell.  With an economics degree from either of those universities you could get a job with any trading company or corporation.”  Harry’s mother made encouraging noises.

“I thought I’d do tertiary school here,” countered Harry.  “All of the universities here in the capital have excellent economic schools and I could take science and literature strands too.”

“Harry,” his father was being firm, “we want you to get a proper degree from a school where you’ll be taught to think and not just parrot ‘the classics.’  That’s why you should go home to finish your education.”

“Dad, I don’t speak or read the language well enough to go to tertiary school over there.  Remember what it was like when you and Mum were transferred back and I spent a term in school there?  That was bad.  This would be worse.  At least I can understand the teachers here.”

His mother spoke up for the first time.  “That’s another reason for you to go home to study.  You’re more like a local than a trading company scion.  You need to improve your language skills and form connections with people who’ll be useful to your career in the future.”

“Why can’t the people I’d meet here be the ones that are useful to my career?”  Harry looked indignant.

“Because outside this country, no-one takes this country seriously,” snapped back his father, “except as a market.  None of the major trading companies have their head offices here and not one major global corporation was founded here.  To get a job with any of them you need a degree from somewhere else.  If you matriculate back home you can apply for a company-funded scholarship and with one of those you won’t have to borrow money to pay for your tuition.”

“I’ve already got enough to pay full tuition for my first year if I go to one of the universities here,” protested Harry.  “I realise that here tertiary school costs less than…” his voice trailed off at the expressions on his parents’ faces.

“Where,” his father asked, “did you get that sort of money?”  His mother looked just as shocked.

“My referee’s honorariums,” Harry explained.  “Even as a very junior assistant I get one and I’ve saved all of them in an interest bearing bank account.  Well, when I say ‘saved all,’ I’ve paid tax of course.  The accountant from the Illustrious Board of Referees said I wasn’t making enough to muck up your tax…”  He looked between his parents.  “How much trouble am I in?”

Both of Harry’s parents looked thoughtful.  “So if you leave the country, you lose your income stream,” commented his mother.  “That is an important point, now, isn’t it?”



rix_scaedu: (Default)
I have written this to [livejournal.com profile] lilfluff's fifth prompt.


Harry was on the floor.  The other sixteen year old boy was astride him, pinning him to the ground with ill intent.  He hadn’t gotten on with Shu Wan when they started school together and they still didn’t get on.  Reasonable people didn’t attack you when they were visiting another master’s gi school with their own master but it seemed that Shu Wan and his companion, Goh Jun, weren’t reasonable.  They were guests and even a foreigner like Harry knew there were things you couldn’t do to guests despite provocation.  Shu Wan was pulling back his hand in a two-pronged gesture of the fingers that was probably going to be an attack on his eyes.  Their masters taught different schools of gi so Harry wasn’t sure what it might be but it wasn’t going to be good.

“Ha Ri,” that was Master Won pronouncing Harry’s given name as he always had, as if it were a two word local name, surname and given, “you may fight back and you may hurt him.”

Palms flat on the floor underneath him, Harry bucked with his body and Shu Wan flew off while Harry proceeded to flick himself onto his feet.  While the other boy was scrambling to his feet with an indignant scowl, Harry erected the barrier to contain the energies they were playing with around them.  Then he sent an air blast at Shu Wan’s chest.  The other boy didn’t dodge and staggered.

Shu Wan’s response crossed with Harry’s next air blast but instead of dodging Harry blocked and the fireball spread out across the shield of dense, spinning air.  Frustrated, Shu Wan leapt across the floor to get at an unprotected angle, making Goh Jun dodge out of his way in the process.  Harry brought up a second, full length shield as he did so and then sent out another air blast to where he thought Shu Wan was going to wind up.  In the background Harry could hear the two masters saying something to each other but that wasn’t what he was paying attention to.

Shu Wan was pulling his arm back in a punch-like manoeuvre that was obviously going to do something, when Master Won declared, “Enough!”

The visiting master, Master Ling, added, “Shu Wan, be still!”  When his student complied and lowered his arm he added, “Master Won, I have seen enough thanks to my…student.  I will endorse your recommendation to the Illustrious Board of Referees that they accept Ha Ri for training.”

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