Not So Good First Impressions...

Posted on Wed Mar 13th, 2024 @ 9:35pm by Lieutenant Ami Rori & Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa & Ensign Ruby Kurosawa

1,406 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Junichi Koyama
Location: Gamma Zadnor

The away team materalised in a small and dingy back alleyway. Piles of garbage and boxes lined the walls amongst several rusty dumpsters. It was evident that even in the twenty-fourth century, most species still produced far too much trash and just left it 'out of sight'. A rather unsavoury smell filled the air as Kurumi wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Well, its out of the way at least..."

"Out of the way is one thing, this is another..." Ami sniffed delicately, then went nearly green as it hit and she covered her nose, "This spot should have been a lot neater and well.. Cleaner. Japanese culture doesn't LET this happen." She began to move towards the alleyway exit, "Let's get out of here."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "I agree..."

Kurumi took a quick glance around, they were indeed alone. "Lets head out towards the street." she suggested pointing down the alley towards what was described on maps as 'The High Street'.

Ami led the way out of the alley, taking a surreptitious glance each way before moving off to the right and taking a good look around what should be one of the main streets. The building fronts were rather droll and dull, could even be considered as run-down in comparison to many other cities she'd been in around the Federation. She spun in place as a tourist looking around may do, but the bright smile she'd started with had faded, "Oh my God..." She whispered to herself.

"These buildings look like something from World War Three," Kurumi commented as she looked around. "This doesn't look like the type of buildings that you find on advanced colonies...". The street around had several shops and establishments, most of them were what you would expect to find on the average high street.

They emerged opposite what seemed to be a small supermarket. "You two get some scans of these buildings. It seems they're either not well maintained, or built with cheap materials." Kurumi said as she approached the supermarket. The large windows of the shopfront showed several types of fruit and vegetables neatly aligned in rows.

"Or both." Ami made a show of digging in her purse for something as she checked out the display on her tricorder, "I'm seeing some minor faults in the structural material, nothing a few more minutes of work wouldn't have resolved." She pulled out a tube of lipstick and began to 'refresh' her lips before dropping it back into the purse. Her words were low, but still audible to Ruby, then looked around and grabbed the young woman's arm, "Oh look! They have 'Authentic Japanese Goods'! Let's see what they have?" This was a bit louder.

Ruby allowed herself to be pulled along. It seemed strange that the usual lethargic Chief Engineer had sudden energy. "Yeah lets check it out!" she said playing into the act.

Kurumi smiled as they made their way into the store.

As soon as they entered it seemed like they were being watched by a few members of the staff. Kurumi instantly noticed one thing upon entry. All of the staff were Human, and none of them looked like they were eastern in appearance.

"What is it you want?" a tall man said rudely as he approached them. "We're not open to people like you."

The caused a look of confusion on Ami's face as she looked around and looked at the closest items on the shelves, which did have a bit of a passing resemblance to some aspects of Japanese society, but were highly Westernized, as if it were say... A European's views of what Japanese culture should look like. "I- umm..." She forced a smile to the man, trying to make it look like she wasn't affected, "Hi, we're from Hokkaido and we've been touring parts of the Federation and we heard that Gamma Zednor was a beautiful planet and came for a visit. We saw your shop and wanted to see a bit of home while we were here!"

Kurumi's eyes narrowed at the man's attitude. She instantly didn't like how he was coming across.

"You come from Hokkaido huh..." The man said a hint of disgust in his voice. "Listen, we don't need 'your kind' in this store." he told them. "I suggest you leave."

"Why?" Kurumi asked. "What is it about us that makes it so bad that we want to shop here?"

"You're Jap!" he said his voice raised. "You're all Jap! You shouldn't even be in this part of town! I would have overlooked it if the Sakuragi's were still around because they protected your kind. But they're not, so get out!"

Kurumi took a step back from the man. She turned to Ami and Ruby. "Lets go guys. This guy is an asshole."

The look on Ami's face was as if someone had punched her in the gut, "Shouldn't be..." It was only when Kurumi physically turned her to guide her out of the shop that she finally got moving, "Right..." She trailed off, waiting until they were outside before speaking again, "I didn't think this was going to be... THAT bad.. He made it sound like we were VERMIN!"

"We knew from the intelligence reports that this might be happening. But I never expected it to be like this." Kurumi said with a slight growl. "This is not the society that The Federation stands for. Its like something from the darker times on Earth!" she said clenching her fist as she led them down the street.

Ruby meanwhile had kept rather quiet and was looking down at the floor. It was only when she looked up did she notice that people walking around them were giving them a 'wide berth' as if not to be associated with them.

"Shall we try here?" Kurumi asked pointing to a Ramen bar.

Ami nodded and waited to see if either of the other two women were going to go in first, but steeled herself when both hesitated. She didn't blame them either, but she led the way in and looked to where the hostess was standing and something finally eased her a bit.

In front of them, a young Japanese woman bowed to them respectfully, "Welcome to Haruka's, please, ladies, come in, come in!" She picked up a trio of menus and gestured widely towards what were immaculate tables that didn't seem to see much use, "Please, and may I interest you in some warm sake to whet your appetite?"

It was a pleasant change from the reception they had recieved in the supermarket earlier. The aroma of the Ramen bar was nice and it felt like home.

Kurumi couldn't help but perch on one of the stools along with Ruby. "I guess we'll take three servings of Ramen...?" She said.

"Trust me." Ami butted in as she looked at Ruby and Kurumi, a smile on her face, "Do you have a Yuzu Ramen with chicken and green onions?" It was a lighter type of ramen bowl, more refreshing because of the citrusy flavors that the yuzu provided. "And yes to the sake, please."

"Inspired choice." The hostess said with a gracious and polite smile, "It will be a few minutes for the ramen, we make it fresh daily, but your sake will be out momentarily." She bustled off and was back within forty seconds, placing a small decorative cup in front of each of them, then bowed again and left for the kitchen.

Ami reached out for her cup and sipped it, the slightly warm alcohol bringing her back to some of the real restaurants back in Osaka and Tokyo, "Genuine, definitely genuine."

"Thankyou," Kurumi said as she also took the cup and took a sip. She wasn't used to the alcohol, so she took it easy. "Wow, strong..."

"And unlike drinking cold alcohol, it doesn't numb the throat on the way down so you know that it's actually there." Ami took another sip and let herself enjoy that burn, "So, yeah... This isn't like I imagined it... I wonder who the Sakuragis were?"

The loud thud of a bottle being slammed down on the counter silenced the bar. "That... is a dangerous question." A rough voice said.

To be continued...

Mission Post By:

Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa
Chief Security Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Ami Rori
Chief Engineer
USS Myogi

Ensign Ruby Kurosawa
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Myogi

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