Satoko's Star

So, I had an interesting dream this morning, and wrote it down, thinking it would make a good story. Problem is, I have absolutely no idea where the story is headed. Can you guys please read it, and then give your suggestions for how to answer the questions at the bottom?

It was the first day of school—and this school was huge! The classroom looked more like an auditorium. Feeling overwhelmed by all the noise, I spotted an open seat with no one seated beside it, and hurried over there. I sat down, pulled my jacket hood back up, and slipped my hands over my ears, staring at the table blankly.

Just as the noise was starting to lessen, an Oriental girl accompanied by a young boy—probably her brother—came hurrying up. As she approached, she spoke rapid-fire to the boy, and to my surprise, I recognized the language as Japanese. Then she sat down beside me. She said something rapidly in Japanese to me, but I didn’t catch a single word. Did she speak English, or would we have to try to communicate in Japanese?

“Hello. You’re seated next to me.” She said, smiling. She had a noticeable accent, but was clearly fluent. She pulled a strange star-shaped flower and set it on the table between us. “If we’re friends, I’ll give you this star.” She said, and before I could ask what she meant, she fired some more Japanese at the boy and hurried off.

The boy sat in her chair, and I stared at the flower. Did she mean that I should take it if I wanted to be friends with her? If so, she might be offended if I didn’t take it. But what if she didn’t mean that at all? Then taking the flower would be stealing. I considered asking the little boy, but he looked really young—five or so. He probably wouldn’t know what I was talking about. And what if he didn’t know English? It would be embarrassing trying to talk to him if he had no clue what I was saying.

The girl returned and spoke to her brother, who left. She glanced at the flower and it glowed, sending a tiny flying star in my general direction. Realizing this was the ‘star’ she’d mentioned, I quickly reached out and caught it on the tip of my finger. It slid straight in, leaving a little red mark. I stared at it in wonder, and then glanced back at the girl, who beamed.

Presumably we were friends now. “What’s your name?” I asked, realizing immediately that I should’ve spoken in Japanese. I knew how to say that in Japanese—namori desu-ka? Or wait, was it namoi, instead?

“Namoi.” She said, and I felt a flash of panic. Did she mishear me, and think I was asking how to say that in Japanese? Or was that really her name?

Deciding on the first option, I hesitantly said: “Namoi desu-ka?”

She beamed.“Satoko-des.”

I tapped myself and said: “Stephanie-des.”

“You speak Japanese, Stephanie?” Satoko asked.

“A little.” I said. “I watch a lot of subtitled anime, so I’ve picked up some phrases.

“Your accent is very good.” Satoko replied. “So, what anime do you like?” Before I could reply, the class started up. Both of us fell silent and looked forward.

So, what's that weird friendship flower? And what is Satoko - she's pretty clearly supernatural, but in what way? How will absorbing the little star thing affect the protagonist? (By the way, the protagonist is mildly autistic, mainly because I am.)

The only not-completely-obvious thing I could think:

The girl has some kind of Blessed with Suck power/curse. The only way to get rid of it is to pass it to someone else. (Alternatively, the girl is just "recruiting".)

However, the power is too dangerous/difficult to control to just give it to anyone. That's why the boy, who has some kind of ability to "know people" (by empathy/mind reading/something more interesting) first has to detect the right person. Maybe he's older than he looks, and acts like her big brother/supervisor.

Perhaps the autism bit helps someone control the power?

edited 11th Oct '10 12:13:27 PM by Dealan