russian intensifies

[constellates]

[When you wake up on this fine morning and check your Retrospec feed, you'll find... Russian spam? It begins - ]

Доброе утро. Меня зовут Аня. [ - and it continues on from there, resulting in a full paragraph.

For anyone who can read Cyrillic, they'll find the following message: Good morning. My name is Anya. Is anyone able to understand this? I recognize it as Cyrillic, as Russian, however I don't recall ever being able to speak this language. I woke up and suddenly it's all I knew. If the people on here remember horses, maybe they remember me speaking differently? Properly? Maybe? Please let me know.

In an entirely separate text, she tries again. In two more languages.]

おはようございます。私の名前はAnyaです。わかりますか？これは日本語です。でも昨日でAnyaは日本語を話しません。

[ - and that also goes on. An English message, with the same approximate fluency level as the Japanese, to explain the whole situation is finally provided at the end. Third try's the charm?]

good morning. my name is anya. i am sorry to try again but i am confused. today i know how to speak russian and japanese. the russian is easy but the japanese is harder. english is also harder now. even though yesterday i only spoke english?

??? why?

if the people here remember horses do they remember the anya that did not know russian? please help. please. thank you.

[ ACTION ]

[ a: авария

Normally Anya is full of life. There's a skip in her step, there's a smile on her face, there's a whole-hearted willingness to tackle the day and everything that it brings her. It was easy to call Anya cheerful and friendly.

That doesn't appear to be the case anymore.

She avoids her friends. She ducks her head and doesn't make eye contact at school. She doesn't open her mouth to speak once, brows furrowed and lips pressed into a thin line.

Yet with her head bowed as it is, it's hard to steer clear of others, isn't it? Which is why she bumps into you - somewhere. She still wanders, even if she isn't at her best. Whether it's at school, at the dance studio, wandering around the city, she seems to have accidentally run right into you.

Startled, she exclaims in smooth Russian:]

Извините! [Then her eyes widen and she seems to pause, having to take a sincere moment to recall the words she's looking for. Even now, a distinct Russian accent colors her words.] Ah, um... I'm sorry...

[There's no helping the sad, defeated look on her face - but Anya is still a very gentle girl. Even though she wants to be by herself, she finds herself looking up to whoever she ran into uncertainly.]

Are you okay...?

[ b: секрет

Distracted as she is, Anya isn't really noticing any of the secrets that are posted around today - or her own. So there's a neat little sign posted on her back, whether it's detailing something small like:]

i ) Anastasia sometimes sneaks out to climb the rooftop of her house even though her mother has told her not to.
ii ) Anastasia used to be a cheerleader.

[Or something a little bit more telling like:]

iii ) Anastasia doesn't like to be left alone.
iv ) Anastasia is too scared to be an idol anymore.

[ ooc: anya's regain was her canon language tick! an example can be found here! complete with sprinkles of Russian and accent. an additional note is that if you hover over the different alphabets, the exact translation should come up! AND FINALLY, Anya's hair used to be the lightest shade of the blonde in the world - and now it's gone full silver, but that's the least of her problems.]

Comments

action;

[meweh]

[He's neglected to check his phone until now, and it takes 0.5 second of gleaning a notification from the lock screen to suddenly collide into someone on the street. The collision is minor, gently pushing Hizuru back one or two steps. He lowers his phone, blinking. That'll teach him.

Was that Russian he just heard?]

Anya?

[constellates]

[Yes.

Yes, that is Russian that he heard.

Anya is blinking as she hears the familiar voice and - even though they just bumped into each other, she's definitely going to step forward again to throw her arms around Hizuru in a hug. Her hair is also silver so it might be a little bit hard to recognize her now at first? Oops.]

Nii-chan...!

[but at least that's the same.

she sounds a little troubled.]

[meweh]

[Normally, he hears Russian when Anya is practicing, not out of the blue in an everyday situation. Speaking of blue, her hair is a different color. Did she dye it? When, and why? So befuddled he may be, Hizuru still manages to return the hug, first patting Anya on the back before resting his hands on her shoulders. It's unsettling, how troubled she looks.]

What's wrong? [He pauses, remembering where they are.] Do you want to sit down and talk about it?

[constellates]

[There's a little nod - immediately. Out of everyone, Anya still responds the best to family and is the most open with her feelings. So she agrees.]

Да. Yes... please.

[There's a little furrow of her brows and she tilts her head.]

When I woke up today, things were very odd. время... I did not have time to tell nii-chan before school....

[meweh]

[He recognizes the first word, but not the second. With a nod, Hizuru gives their surroundings a once-over. The closest place to sit down is a bench down the street. Their homes aren't very far, either.]

Do you want to go home, or can we talk on that bench? You can tell me everything.

[constellates]

[ . . . admittedly, she thinks that she would prefer to sit on the bench so she can say everything immediately but. She shakes her head.]

Home.

[She can begin talking about the small things on the way there? She has to get used to people... well, looking at her a bit oddly enough.]

If that's okay?

[meweh]

Yeah.

[With one hand still on her shoulder, Hizuru turns to lead them on their way home. It's fortunate that he has no plans for the rest of the day, though he would have dropped them all the same. If Anya wants to start talking on the way back, he'll let her; however, he won't pressure her into doing so, as taken aback as he is.]

[constellates]

[Didn't mean to surprise you too, Hizuru...

Still though, she'll start her explanation on the way back, even as she reaches to take ahold of his hand. Holding hands with nii-chan at least feels familiar to her. So does this walk back home. It's just her words that feel.... foreign.]

I sound... необычный. Different, don't I?

Since I can speak Russian now. And... Oh! [She switches to speak in Japanese, complete with the -masus and -desus.] Japanese too. Nii-chan studies, right? So you can understand this too.

[meweh]

[If they're from Anya, he'll take surprises all year round.

Hizuru doesn't think twice. He close his fingers around Anya's hand as soon as he feels the contact. All of this is familiar, so it's second nature. Anya's words are harder to wrap his mind around. ]

I can. But I'm still learning. [Even now, the words sound awkward on his lips, and he has to make the effort to structure his responses appropriately. English is easier.] You sound fluent, though. How did that happen?

[It's both amazing and alarming. She wasn't this advanced in either language just last week.]

[constellates]

[It is familiar. She holds onto his hand just like she did when she was little, humming softly as she tries to gather her thoughts. She comprehends both languages easily and finds herself trying to parse out a similar response.

From Russian.]

I do not know. вдруг... It was like this in the morning.

[meweh]

[One doesn't simply wake up being fluent in two languages, much less at the cost of another native language. This is Anya, though, so Hizuru considers the given fact with the utmost seriousness. He glances at Anya, studying her face, then at the color sitting on her head by proximity.]

What about your hair? The color's different.

[constellates]

[There's a little nod at that too - and with her free hand, she pulls at the ends of her hair.]

Да... That too. I did not... mm. Salon? [What's the word she's looking for. What do they do at salons?] ... Color change?

[meweh]

[This is bad, very bad. Anya's difficulty with English is practically palpable, and not in a good way. He nods, however, to show that he understands.]

You didn't dye it. It just changed overnight?

[Hizuru isn't blind or deaf. He scarcely uses Retrospec, but the city doesn't only talk there. Recollé's been strange lately—it just hadn't caught up to him until now.]

[constellates]

Ah. Dye. Yes.

[it's nice to be given the word for it. So she nods at the question even as she holds onto Hizuru's hand just a little bit tighter.]

Внезапный... It is changing very fast.

[meweh]

[He nods. Yes, it's changed very fast. Is it still changing?]

Is there anything else?

[He wants to ask how she's feeling, if this is somehow a sign of something bad, but that can wait until they're home. He doesn't want to bombard her with questions. One at a time.]

[constellates]

[That manages to get her to shake her head.]

Languages... Hair...

Нет. That is all of it? I think.

[If there's... another change, she hasn't felt or noticed it? Oh.]

[meweh]

All right. We'll figure this out.

[Whatever this is. Hizuru hopes that it's just the languages and the hair.

They're close to home, the houses coming into view in the near distance. The rest of the conversation can happen indoors, and he assumes it'll be at her home unless Anya wants to go to his.]

[constellates]

[Anya matches his assumption, moving toward her house. Her mother isn't home yet but she can make snacks and things for herself and her nii-chan as they talk.

It's once they enter that she closes the door behind them and hums.]

Nii-chan...

Even though I am home now... I feel - потерянный? Lost...?

Does that make sense....

[meweh]

[At this rate, he's going to learn Russian while she relearns English, though that answers the question he'd been meaning to ask.]

I understand.

[It's a very basic answer, but she knows that he means anything he says. He doesn't know what it feels like to be lost the way she is, but he can surmise how isolating the changes must be. Hizuru glances in the direction of the kitchen. Keeping their hands busy with a mundane task sounds like a fair idea.]

Want to get something to eat while we talk?

[constellates]

[Miwa's always thinking forward, isn't he? Anya nods at the suggestion.]

Да. That would be good...

[and offering a smile]

Anya still gets hungry. That has not changed.