*
Rice Ball-kun found a little mute girl.
The little mute girl couldn't speak, and Rice Ball-kun only spoke Rice Ball language.
The little mute girl: "..."
Rice Ball-kun: "Kelp."
The little mute girl: "."
Rice Ball-kun: "Bonito flakes."
The little mute girl: "?"
Rice Ball-kun: "Tuna mayonnaise!"
They communicated with one another despite every obstacle.
Thankfully, thanks to Rice Ball-kun's tireless efforts, the little mute girl finally spoke her first words to him.
"K-Kelp."
"..."
Oh no.
He'd taught her all wrong.
*
To help the little mute girl learn ordinary human speech, Rice Ball-kun had no choice but to ask one of his classmates from Jujutsu High to teach her how to talk normally.
With his classmate's selfless help, the little mute girl finally said her first words that weren't part of the Rice Ball language family.
"Panda."
Still an international language.
After entrusting the little mute girl to Panda-sensei, who could speak human language, Rice Ball-kun finally felt at ease and went on a mission with Maki.
Half a year later, the mission ended.
As soon as Rice Ball-kun returned to Jujutsu High, he saw the little mute girl crouching on the ground, tilting her head as she asked the Hedgehog's Divine Dog:
"Hello. Can you speak human language?"
*
The little mute girl met Rice Ball-kun.
Rice Ball-kun seemed to be a rice ball alien from some rice ball planet.
Because he only spoke Rice Ball language.
"Kelp, salmon, bonito flakes, cod roe, tuna mayonnaise!"
The little mute girl couldn't understand Rice Ball language and didn't like to talk.
But she still worked hard to learn it so she could communicate with Rice Ball-kun.
"Kelp" seemed to mean hello.
"Salmon" meant agreement or approval, but "salmon roe" meant a question.
"Kombu" and "mustard leaf" were both comforting phrases, meaning "Are you okay?"
"Tuna mayonnaise" meant something needed attention, something important that required action.
But sometimes Rice Ball-kun would shout, "Tuna mayonnaise!" when he was angry.
So Rice Ball-kun getting angry was something that needed attention.
Action was required.
Through her tireless efforts, the little mute girl finally worked out the meaning of every word in Rice Ball language.
To prove to Rice Ball-kun that she had mastered Rice Ball language, she gathered her courage and said her first sentence in it.
"K-Kelp."
But Rice Ball-kun didn't seem very happy.
Had she misunderstood what kelp meant?
PS:
· As the title suggests, there is very little dialogue and very few words in this story
· So it's a little short story
· The story is told primarily from the little mute girl's perspective
· The little mute girl has a name, but I haven't thought of one yet
· The title may change later
Blurb saved on July 28, 2024.
If I pick this up again later, please add it to your favorites before you go~
Theme: Researching and exploring differences in human languages
