The Color of the Traffic Lights
In the club room after school, as usual.Pres, who was reading a shounen manga magazine, spoke suddenly. "Hey, what is the color of the traffic lights?"
"Huh?" Kyouya asked back while reading a magazine. His eyes were still locked into the manga on the magazine. Two magazines were sold today, so he had to finish reading his magazine before Pres finished hers.
A few seconds later, Pres said something again.
"I was referring to the color of the light that indicates 'go'."
At this moment, Kyouya finally understood what Pres was saying, and so he said the answer.
"Isn't it turquoise?" (TL/N : Traffic light colors in Japan used to be referred as 青, 黄色, 赤 which is blue/turquoise, yellow, and red respectively. However, the "blue/turquoise" color is a misnomer because the color is actually supposed to be green, and thus later that signal is referred to as 緑, which is the Japanese word for the color green. Confusing, I know. From here on, the term 'turquoise light' refers to the 'go' signal.)
"But isn't it green in color?"
"Well, since it's the turquoise light, then of course it's turquoise in color."
"No, it isn't turquoise at all!"
Pres placed the manga on the table, and assumed a pose that showed she was not going down in this discussion without a fight.
Kyouya could only put the magazine down and talk to Pres face-to-face.
"I've always felt it's weird how everyone else say that it's turquoise in color. No matter how you look at it, it's green! Turquoise should be more vibrant, like the color of turquoise Hawaiian shaved ice or something."
"Speaking of shaved ice, I like the strawberry flavor the most."
"Nobody asked you about that. Ah, I know, the turquoise light is the same color as a honeydew, so it's green!"
"Well, honeydews should also be turquoise in color then... Pres! Ouch ouch ouch!"
Kyouya was thinking if Pres would bite him, and she really did.
"Why is it so? That's so strange."
Pres finally slackened her jaw so Kyouya rubbed the hand that was bitten while saying that.
Pres, who had always started strange conversation topics, was also specially stubborn about it today.
"However, since everyone else says it's turquoise, we should also call it turquoise, shouldn't we?"
"I don't wanna. Even if the entire world says 'YES', I will also say 'NO'! Humph!"
Pres folded her arms and turned her head aside.
"Er..."
Kyouya then looked around the club room for help.
He started from Shion-senpai.
She normally has this attitude that showed how little she cared about it on her face. She would wave him away since "dealing with Mao is Kyouya's job." Today, however, she placed her coffee cup on her plate and helped him out.
"If we look at international standards, the color of the 'go' signal should be green. It has been the same for Japan for a long time now, but since everyone calls it the 'turquoise light', so the term 'turquoise light' came to mean it. Actually, Japanese culture doesn't seem to take turquoise and green as two completely different colors. Think about it. If we use the word 'bright turquoise' to describe honeydews, it doesn't sound that weird, does it?"
Shion-senpai's answer is both intellectual and graceful. It sounds like what a well-read person like her would say. Kyouya agreed with her answer.
"I see, so even if we mix up turquoise and green light signals it wouldn't be weird at all. So Pres, it doesn't matter if it's turquoise or green!"
"I don't wanna! I have to know if it's really turquoise or green. We have to settle the winner for this, we have to settle if it's green or turquoise!"
Pres did not agree.
They could only move onto the next answer. This time it was from Kirara-senpai.
"Kirara, is the color of the 'go' signal turquoise or green?"
Kirara-senpai sat on the sofa in the club room, eating meat as usual. She raised her head when her name was called. She had not heard any of the discussion that had happened just now, so Kyouya had to explain the whole thing to her again.
After some explanation, Kirara finally nodded, as if to say that she understood.
"The color of the 'go' signal, has a smell like safety."
"A smell like safety, huh? Pres, do you accept this answer, then?"
"I don't understand what does that mean at all!"
This answer was also a no-go.
Finally, it was Megumi's turn.
Megumi heard their discussion while she was pouring tea for everyone, so they did not need to explain the whole thing to her again.
 |
"The person inside the light?"
"Yeah, like this..."
Megumi made the pose of a person walking or standing still.
"Ah, you're talking about the person inside the pedestrian traffic signal, right?"
"This is a tough one!"
Pres exclaimed. The conversation topic had changed and nobody seemed to notice.
The GJ Club was laid-back as usual. The GJ Club today is the "Traffic Light Questions Review Committee".
