Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction ❯ Life in the Pro League, or Lack Thereof! ❯ Heads up for Dumb Interviews! ( Chapter 5 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: DancingKirby 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.22.2006 | Updated On: 09.16.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 340 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.22.2006 | Updated On: 09.16.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 340 | Status: Completed
A/N: I found something that may be an error. The NBA season lasts from late October to June. However, Ryo is in the Pro League during the fall. I did think of one explanation, though-it could have been really early in the NBA season; possibly even an exhibition game. I just wanted to clarify that. It probably doesn’t matter to you, but I worried about it as soon as I realized the inconsistency.
There is a possiblity of OOCness in the beginning of the chapter, but it should be gone when Ryo goes for the interview.
Just for better understanding, I’m going to use a technique that I once saw in a novel about Chinese immigrants for this chapter. When people are speaking in Japanese, it will be typed in regular text. English dialogue will be in italics like this.
---------------------
Ryo did not sleep well. Of course, jet lag was a major problem. But he had just managed to drift off to sleep when his cell phone rang.
If Ryo had the resources, he would definitely have dropped that phone into a molten pit of lava. However, this hotel lacked lava of any kind, so Ryo had no choice but to answer the call.
Ryo turned the phone on and mumbled something that vaguely resembled a greeting.
His eardrums were instantly assaulted by the shrillest, loudest noise known to man. Ryo was familiar with this noise, and he did not want to hear it at 5 AM. In fact, he did not want to hear it anytime, unless he was in a good mood.
When Ryo finally got adjusted to the noise, he said, “Can’t you find someone else to annoy, Sho? It’s FIVE IN THE MORNING!”
There was a moment of silence, then that annoying voice continued. “Huh? Oh yeah, the time difference! It’s nine PM here! So what’s it like in America? Is it really cool? You’re lucky. I always wanted to go to America!”
Ryo couldn’t help but smile. He replied, “Sorry to disappoint you, but America is horrible.”
“Awww.....”
“You better save your money for something worthwhile. Speaking of which, have you been practicing your dueling techniques?”
“Yes.”
“And learning from your mistakes?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I really can’t talk anymore, so goodbye for now.”
“Nii-san?”
“WHAT?”
“Can you speak in English for me?”
“Uh...sure. How about: “My little brother sounds like a girl.”
“Wow, cool! I wish I could know what that meant! Well, ‘Bye.”
As soon as Sho hang up, Ryo started cracking up. He knew that what he did was mean, but the situation was just begging for it. He did know that he would be in big trouble if his mom found out.
No matter how hard Ryo tried, he couldn’t get to sleep after that. He finally got out of bed at seven. The interview would start at nine.
There were no tea bags in the lobby, so Ryo had to settle for that infamous American drink, coffee. He decided it was disgusting. He also wondered why there was no rice among the breakfast foods. How dumb could these Americans possibly get?
The bus ride over to the magazine studio was uneventful. Ryo had taken his English textbook with hin so he could fit in some final “cramming”. He hoped that he didn’t make any really dumb mistakes.
------------------
The agent was waiting at the bus stop. It was like last night’s events had never even happened. Beside him was a woman Ryo had never seen before. The agent explained that she was an interpreter for “just in case”.
They did not have to wait long for the interviewer. According to the receptionist, Ryo would be the cover story, so there was no way that the interviewer would be late.
When Ryo saw the interviewer, he was taken aback. It was a woman, and she was as far from the traditional Japanese woman as one could get. Ryo was no chauvinist, but he had been raised to expect a fairly large degree of submissiveness from women. This woman wore lots of makeup, had on brightly colored clothes, and had an unfortunate habit of leaning towards people when she was talking to them.
Ryo hadn’t been exactly sure what the questions would be like. He had assumed that there would be some rather personal questions. What he hadn’t guessed was that the whole interview would be personal questions!
In fact, the first question was, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Ryo answered immediately with a firm “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“At the Pro League Draft, you were spotted sitting next to an unknown girl. There is some speculation that she is your girlfriend. What do you have to say about that?”
The large number of words in that sentence made Ryo pause for a few minutes while he comprehended the words, formed an answer, and translated that answer into English. Finally, he said, “We are friends. That is all. I have no more comment. Comments. Whatever it is.”
The interviewer looked more than slightly disappointed, but went on to the next question. Thankfully, this one simply asked for an explanation of Duel Monsters. Ryo was more than happy to oblige.
30 minutes later....
“And those are basic rules. Do you want me to talk about the advanced things?”
The interviewer looked for all the world like she had fallen asleep. “Huh? Oh no, the stuff you talked about is enough. Now, next question: What is a hidden talent of yours?”
“I can bend my thumb back to my wrist”, said Ryo, and demonstrated. He hadn’t done that since he was eleven, when his mother had caught him in the act and grounded him. Then Ryo realized that the interviewer would probably want to hear that last part, so he told her. She did seem happy to get some additional information.
The next several questions were rather harmless. It asked what were his favorite books, favorite movies, etc. Then there were some questions about the differences between Japanese and American culture. Ryo was more than happy to answer these!
“Okay, just two more questions, then we’ll move on to the photo shoot! First question: what was the most embarrassing thing you ever did?”
For a short time, Ryo forgot what “embarrassing” meant. Then he remembered. He really wanted to say that it was this interview, but he didn’t think that would be acceptable. So he just provided some incident from his childhood that his mom had talked about, but he himself didn’t really remember.
“Okay, last question! Boxers or briefs?”
“Um...what does that mean?”
The interpreter whispered in Ryo’s ear. Ryo started laughing out of sheer disbelief. He would have never imagined a question THAT bold. Finally, he managed to gasp out, “I’ll have to pass on that question.”
Once again, the interviewer looked disappointed. But Ryo didn’t care. The interview was over! He would just have to survive the photo shoot, then he could finally go home.
This chapter is pretty long, so the photo shoot will be next chapter. Hmm...I wonder how Ryo will be tortured then? You’ll just have to wait and see!
There is a possiblity of OOCness in the beginning of the chapter, but it should be gone when Ryo goes for the interview.
Just for better understanding, I’m going to use a technique that I once saw in a novel about Chinese immigrants for this chapter. When people are speaking in Japanese, it will be typed in regular text. English dialogue will be in italics like this.
---------------------
Ryo did not sleep well. Of course, jet lag was a major problem. But he had just managed to drift off to sleep when his cell phone rang.
If Ryo had the resources, he would definitely have dropped that phone into a molten pit of lava. However, this hotel lacked lava of any kind, so Ryo had no choice but to answer the call.
Ryo turned the phone on and mumbled something that vaguely resembled a greeting.
His eardrums were instantly assaulted by the shrillest, loudest noise known to man. Ryo was familiar with this noise, and he did not want to hear it at 5 AM. In fact, he did not want to hear it anytime, unless he was in a good mood.
When Ryo finally got adjusted to the noise, he said, “Can’t you find someone else to annoy, Sho? It’s FIVE IN THE MORNING!”
There was a moment of silence, then that annoying voice continued. “Huh? Oh yeah, the time difference! It’s nine PM here! So what’s it like in America? Is it really cool? You’re lucky. I always wanted to go to America!”
Ryo couldn’t help but smile. He replied, “Sorry to disappoint you, but America is horrible.”
“Awww.....”
“You better save your money for something worthwhile. Speaking of which, have you been practicing your dueling techniques?”
“Yes.”
“And learning from your mistakes?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I really can’t talk anymore, so goodbye for now.”
“Nii-san?”
“WHAT?”
“Can you speak in English for me?”
“Uh...sure. How about: “My little brother sounds like a girl.”
“Wow, cool! I wish I could know what that meant! Well, ‘Bye.”
As soon as Sho hang up, Ryo started cracking up. He knew that what he did was mean, but the situation was just begging for it. He did know that he would be in big trouble if his mom found out.
No matter how hard Ryo tried, he couldn’t get to sleep after that. He finally got out of bed at seven. The interview would start at nine.
There were no tea bags in the lobby, so Ryo had to settle for that infamous American drink, coffee. He decided it was disgusting. He also wondered why there was no rice among the breakfast foods. How dumb could these Americans possibly get?
The bus ride over to the magazine studio was uneventful. Ryo had taken his English textbook with hin so he could fit in some final “cramming”. He hoped that he didn’t make any really dumb mistakes.
------------------
The agent was waiting at the bus stop. It was like last night’s events had never even happened. Beside him was a woman Ryo had never seen before. The agent explained that she was an interpreter for “just in case”.
They did not have to wait long for the interviewer. According to the receptionist, Ryo would be the cover story, so there was no way that the interviewer would be late.
When Ryo saw the interviewer, he was taken aback. It was a woman, and she was as far from the traditional Japanese woman as one could get. Ryo was no chauvinist, but he had been raised to expect a fairly large degree of submissiveness from women. This woman wore lots of makeup, had on brightly colored clothes, and had an unfortunate habit of leaning towards people when she was talking to them.
Ryo hadn’t been exactly sure what the questions would be like. He had assumed that there would be some rather personal questions. What he hadn’t guessed was that the whole interview would be personal questions!
In fact, the first question was, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Ryo answered immediately with a firm “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“At the Pro League Draft, you were spotted sitting next to an unknown girl. There is some speculation that she is your girlfriend. What do you have to say about that?”
The large number of words in that sentence made Ryo pause for a few minutes while he comprehended the words, formed an answer, and translated that answer into English. Finally, he said, “We are friends. That is all. I have no more comment. Comments. Whatever it is.”
The interviewer looked more than slightly disappointed, but went on to the next question. Thankfully, this one simply asked for an explanation of Duel Monsters. Ryo was more than happy to oblige.
30 minutes later....
“And those are basic rules. Do you want me to talk about the advanced things?”
The interviewer looked for all the world like she had fallen asleep. “Huh? Oh no, the stuff you talked about is enough. Now, next question: What is a hidden talent of yours?”
“I can bend my thumb back to my wrist”, said Ryo, and demonstrated. He hadn’t done that since he was eleven, when his mother had caught him in the act and grounded him. Then Ryo realized that the interviewer would probably want to hear that last part, so he told her. She did seem happy to get some additional information.
The next several questions were rather harmless. It asked what were his favorite books, favorite movies, etc. Then there were some questions about the differences between Japanese and American culture. Ryo was more than happy to answer these!
“Okay, just two more questions, then we’ll move on to the photo shoot! First question: what was the most embarrassing thing you ever did?”
For a short time, Ryo forgot what “embarrassing” meant. Then he remembered. He really wanted to say that it was this interview, but he didn’t think that would be acceptable. So he just provided some incident from his childhood that his mom had talked about, but he himself didn’t really remember.
“Okay, last question! Boxers or briefs?”
“Um...what does that mean?”
The interpreter whispered in Ryo’s ear. Ryo started laughing out of sheer disbelief. He would have never imagined a question THAT bold. Finally, he managed to gasp out, “I’ll have to pass on that question.”
Once again, the interviewer looked disappointed. But Ryo didn’t care. The interview was over! He would just have to survive the photo shoot, then he could finally go home.
This chapter is pretty long, so the photo shoot will be next chapter. Hmm...I wonder how Ryo will be tortured then? You’ll just have to wait and see!