Kagami no Crossing

The rain was absolutely relentless. It beat down in horrid sheets against the roof, windows, and windshield of the car as the desperately aged automobile trudged along. Up until this point, the ride had been a silent one, save for the sound of the rain, of course. When the husky voice of the turtle seated within the driver's seat began to converse, cutting through the quiet and speaking in a sort of foreign dialect, it had nearly given his passenger a start.

"Some rain we're havin', huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Are ye fond o' the rain?" the driver insisted on asking.

"I don't mind it."

"Aye...say, do ye have a name, lad? I've been meanin' to ask ya, but ye looked to be lost in yer thoughts. Didn't feel like intrudin'."

"Kagami..." he answered with hesitance, "Kagami Taiga."

"Kagami Taiga, eh? That's quite a long one, ya know?"

"...You think?"

"Aye, I do. Most of the lads and lassies that I drive 'round don't have names, why...why longer than seven letters, I would imagine." After a brief pause and a sharp left turn, the driver continued by asking, "So, Kagami, if I can call ye that fer short, where are ye headed to again? I don't think ye ever addressed it."

"Ah! I have it written down somewhere..."

As Kagami frantically searched through his bags, his driver couldn't help himself from giving out a hearty laugh. "Har, har, har! Such youth! Are ye sure yer ready to set off on yer own, Kagami? Knowing where yer goin' to be livin' ought to be on the very top of yer list, or else-"

"It is, it is!" Kagami interrupted. "I have it right here, it's uh...Kiseki? Kiseki Village?"

"Kiseki, eh? Good place, good place. Only heard good things 'bout it."

Kagami breathed and audible sigh of relief. He knew he should have done some more research on the town before setting off on his journey, but truth be told, there was a sort of excitement with an air of mystery; the venturing off into lands of unknown. Kagami was a notorious risk taker, and moving away from home at the ripe age of sixteen was his biggest risk yet.

"Oh, would ye look at that. The rain be lettin' up. And we should be pullin' into Kiseki any moment now. What luck ye have, lad!"

Kagami hadn't paid much heed to the status of the rain until his driver had mentioned it. Just as he was about to get a better look from his side of the windows, the car had entered into a narrow tunnel, swapping out the sky for a deep shade of black. Although the tunnel had been abrupt, it was reasonably short-lived.

A bright cast of unexpected light forced Kagami to squint. In an effort to correct his vision, he rubbed both of his eyes and shook his head from side to side. Suddenly, the car had jerked into a halt.

"Here we be! Good 'ole Kiseki Village!" Shooting his passenger a glance in the rear-view mirror, the driver had found himself quickly amused. Kagami was all to busy fussing about, trying to collect up his bags, while at the same time trying to untangle himself from the constrictive means known as a seatbelt. "Ye need any help back there?"

"No, no," Kagami protested, "I've got it," and with a metallic pop, he was free. Getting out of the car, nearly tripping over his own two feet in the process, Kagami took a moment to drink in his surroundings. The air smelt of early March, and the trees and plant-life all looked to be blossoming quite nicely. Everything was so rural and quaint. It was...nice. Nice until a loud honk from his driver's horn had nearly given him a heart attack, that is.

"If ye ever need a ride somewhere, just give me a shout," he offered. "Me name is Kapp'n, and I've been navigatin' these roads fer long enough to know all the which-ways and in-outs."

"Will do..." Kagami nodded uncertainly, though he had to admit that Kapp'n's eccentricity did make the trip a bit more enjoyable.

"See ya, lad," Kapp'n smiled - or at least that's what it had appeared to be to Kagami - and with a puff of black exhaust, he drove out of sight.

Alone and unaware, Kagami first looked to his left, then to his right, and when he finally took the time to look behind himself, he noticed that he was standing just within walking distance of a rather large, rather interesting looking building. 'That place seems...important,' he thought, and with hurried steps, Kagami hauled his luggage and went to go and check it out.

Upon his entrance, a small bell chimed and a personable-looking pelican assumed her post at what appeared to be a duel-counter. Straightening out her bowtie and puffing up her feathers, she greeted, "Welcome to town hall! You must be Kagami Taiga, correct?"

Kagami set his bags aside for the time being and nodded. "Yes, that's me," he answered.

"How splendid!" the pelican beamed. "My name is Pelly, and no need to worry! Tom Nook has already told me so much about you!"

"Oh, you know Mr. Nook?" Mr. Nook, also known as Tom Nook, was Kagami's somewhat-of-a real-estate-agent. At least, that was the impression Mr. Nook had imposed, when they spoke over the phone a few weeks ago.

Pelly giggled quite girlishly. "Oh, yes, yes. Everyone knows Tom Nook, dear. And you know, I'm sure he's absolutely anxious to meet with you!"

"Really? Where can I meet him?" Kagami asked.

"His shop is just up the hillside," Pelly informed. "Nook n' Cranny is it's name, but I'm sure you're eager to see your new house first. After all, that luggage must be rather cumbersome to carry around with you."

Eyeing his bags, Kagami agreed with a nod. However, there was just one problem. "Um, as much as I'd love to do that, I have absolutely no idea where my house is..." he confessed rather bashfully.

"Oh dear!" Pelly gasped. "Of course you don't! I haven't given you your map yet! Silly me, silly me!" As the pelican ran off to fetch him a map, Kagami couldn't help but notice the elderly turtle that was sitting - moreso sleeping - at a desk placed off into the corner. Even with being a turtle, and, in a sense, of the same species, the sleeping entity gave off a more refined flare than Kapp'n had. With this in mind, Kagami concluded that he must have been someone of power.

"Here we are, here we are!" Pelly chanted, rushing back to her original position at the counter. Offering Kagami his map, she explained, "I circled the location of your residence, but it shouldn't be too hard to find it! Climb over the hill, cross the bridge, then continue south and you should make it there just fine."

Giving the map a once over, Kagami looked to Pelly and nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem, dear. Oh! And if you ever need to mail a letter-" Pelly quickly scampered over to the second window of the counter, "-the town hall also serves as a post office!"

Knowing that his mother would be dying to hear from him, Kagami chuckled and said, "That could come in handy, thanks."

Gathering up his bags, Kagami waved to Pelly and took his leave. Outside, he opened up his map once again and grew thoughful. "Okay..." he planned to himself. "She said to climb over the hill, cross the bridge, and continue south. Seems simple enough." And thankfully, it was.

On route to his house, Kagami had ended up passing by Nook n' Cranny, but listening to Pelly's advice, he knew it would be in his best interest to drop his bags off at his house before he began walking intrusively into stores; even if those stores did give off the appearance of something rather...shabby.

While crossing the bridge, Kagami stopped for a moment to look into the river water. "No fish, huh?" he snickered, slowly continuing south.

After walking for what felt like a quarter to a half mile, Kagami could make out the faint impression of a small house. And when he got closer, he realized it was just that: a small house. "Is this really where I'm going to be living?" he muttered under his breath, still struck with disbelief and maybe even a hint of disappointment.

Moving to the front door, he shifted one of his bags from his forearm to his shoulder and attempted to unlock the knob when he realized he was missing something. "Wait a second...I don't have-"

"Your keys?"

Jumping, maybe even panicing a little, Kagami spun around to face the owner of a voice he had not been expecting to hear. "C-can I help you?"

"Ho, ho, ho! Help me, you say? No, but I can help you!"

Standing before Kagami was a stout raccoon with a pointed nose, tattered blue apron, and eyes that looked far too tired for his chiper way of speech. "Help me...?" he drew out in question.

"Why, yes! Do you not remember? Ho, ho, ho! We spoke over the telephone just a few weeks ago!"

At first, nothing about this creature had rung a bell, but suddenly, something in that distinctive laughter had made Kagami realize just who it was that he was speaking with. "Would you happen to be Mr. Nook, by any chance?"

"Yes, yes! Indeed, that is me. And you are Kagami Taiga, yes?"

Hello there! Chappy here! And welcome to...(drumroll please)...my very first crossover story! :D

This idea was something that really, truthfully, and honestly started off as a joke idea in my head, but look at me now! Here I am, publishing my joke ideas for all of you to read! :D

I have mostly everything already planned out for this story, so you can expect it to be a multi-chapter fanfic! I hope to do my best!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! (:

- Chappy