Despite being Japanese by blood, Minami Kotori, born and raised in France, goes to Japan for the first time as a foreign exchange student and lives with the Sonoda's for the meantime. The catch? She doesn't speak or understand much Japanese, and Sonoda Umi doesn't speak French, either.

author's note:

it me, zumi, filling up fanfiction,net with kotoumi fanfictions.

while writing business deal's new chapter, i suddenly had an idea and went "yeah itll be a nice little story"

some of the changes in this AU is that Mrs. Minami, Kotori's mom, isn't the principal but Eli's mom is, that the third years are second years in this story, and while muse isn't a thing, they're all friends here

inspired by that one video of a little korean boy and an american girl talking to each other despite not knowing each other's language uwu theyre so cute, hope they meet again in the future!!

as for this story, i might turn it into a two-shot? less than 10 chapters for sure. it depends but uwu i'll work on this story every time i get writer's block. it's a side project, so i won't prioritize this as much as business deal and baby maybe.

i will be using google translate for french here, so apologize to all those who know french because we know that google is never accurate oop but i will provide translations, of course. like this!

ex. "J'ai l'air stupide, non?" ("I look stupid, no?")

and unless stated, the rest of the dialogues are in japanese.

With that said, lez go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Live.

Chapter One: Nice To Meet You

Like any other day in Otonokizaka Girls' High School, the classrooms and corridors were filled with the chatter and giggles of teenage girls. A certain bluenette just stayed in the corner of the classroom, gazing out the window while her childhood friend rushes into the campus, late once again.

It's tiring, Umi thought, to have the same routine repeating again and again. There's nothing new about school, kyūdo and traditional arts. But, then again, there is a foreign exchange student coming from France, and the Sonoda's are the chosen host family.. so perhaps this would be a good change, right?

"Umi-chaaaan!"

And just like that, she snapped out of her thoughts and immediately began scolding her ginger friend, who would whine and mutter things under her breath in return.

As soon as the homeroom adviser walked in, everyone quieted down and rushed to their seats. The 'quiet' murmurs began when a new ashen-haired girl walked in with the French teacher, and the new student went in front of the board to write her name.

"Huh? She isn't writing it in hiragana at all.." Umi silently muttered to herself, straightening her back "She is the..?"

Kotori Minami

And in a rather unclear Japanese, the ashen-haired began to speak with a voice that -- in Umi's words -- sounded similar to the chirping of the birds every sunrise.

"Nice to meet you, I am Kotori Minami from France. I'm sorry, I do not understand much Japanese, but please treat me well."

"Like the little bird.."

She began speaking to the teacher in fluent French -- something that made the class murmur in awe ("I told you, French is a romantic language!" Honoka exclaimed) and the teacher nodded in return.

"She is Japanese, but her mother gave birth to her and raised her in France. She wasn't taught much Japanese other than the basics, and no, she doesn't know how to write or read Japanese either. May I ask, whose family is the host family for this year's foreign exchange student?"

"My family is, Sir," Umi stood up, raising her hand for a while. She let out a sigh, furrowing her eyebrows. It wasn't mentioned in the contract that the student doesn't know Japanese -- if she knew this earlier, she would've learned the basics of French at least "My only worry is that I don't understand French, and neither does anyone in my family. How will Minami-san and I talk?"

After a few moments of the French teacher and Kotori talking, he nodded and talked to Umi once again "She says she's great with acting out what she wants, so she thinks she can communicate with you that way. Anyway, the reason for her trip here is also for her to get used to Japan and learn Japanese, as her mother intends to move back to Japan after highschool, or when Kotori-san is ready. So Sonoda-san, please do try to teach her Japanese, who knows, you might learn a thing or two from her in return."

"Actions.. But Honoka said I'm not good at reading people's actions? Huh?"

"U-Understood."

"Mr. Hanazawa, could you tell Minami-san that her seat is beside Sonoda? So that they could get to know each other a bit, even with justactions. Kousaka, please move seats to the empty one just at the side."

With a slight whine and a pout, Honoka dragged her things -- but loudly (and proudly) said hi to Kotori in English before moving to the seat. Kotori, although confused, just waved in return and took her seat.

As she began to take out her book, Umi couldn't help but chuckle as she examined the newcomer's movements.

It was a gradeschool book for learning Japanese, but at least, Kotori is trying her best, right?

"W-What?" Kotori stammered, holding the book close to her chest to hide the title. She looked away with a pout and a flustered blush forming on her face "J'ai l'air stupide, non?" ("I look stupid, no?")

"Hey, she knows a few words.. wait, wait, did she just.. call me stupid? I recognize that word from English class!"

"A-Ahem.. Minami-san--"

"Ko-to-ri."

"I.. Okay then.. Kotori, I am Sonoda Umi," Umi reached out to shake Kotori's hand. Surely, this is a widely-known way of greeting each other, right?

Umi couldn't help but smile when Kotori enthusiastically shook her hand with a soft, heartwarming smile in return.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Umi-chan!"

"At least she knows a few things already.. She must've picked that up from animes and mangas."

From afar, (not so far, but Honoka likes to exaggerate) Honoka was already giving Umi that teasing smile. Yes, she definitely has to tell the others as soon as recess comes.

That finally, Umi may have her first love.

side-note:

like i said, this is a v short story, and will be about the girls in highschool unless i make an epilogue -- but anyways, i do hope you enjoy this. there are a few questions i expect, like, why didnt mrs. minami teach kotori japanese? why didn't this and that happened blah blah, surely they'll be answered in the upcoming chapters. once again, this is a side project, but i'll work on it when i'm suffering from writer's block (which happens often with two stories)

it should be wrapped up with less than 10-15 chapters. i hope you guys enjoy this brief and sudden little story! unlike my previous stories, which i mostly thought of and wrote the plot already, this came suddenly oop so it might be more messy than the others..

please leav a review, i sincerly appreciate it!

see ya next chapter! and take care!

- zumi