CH 1: First meeting

Kiku waited for his shift to finally end. Almost 8 hours of scanning items at the checkout, finally only 20 minutes remained. He looked up as the stores' jingle played and a draft of cold air rushed in. Kiku bowed and greeted the two customers they walked in, the first let out a loud exclamation, ignoring the welcome, and rushed down an aisle the second politely bowed in return.

"Bro! BRO! Come, look at this!" The loud foreign mans' voice carried across the small store to where his companion stood close to the entrance, warming his ungloved hands staring decisively at the selection of comics up front. Kiku tried to avoid staring rudely, but he was sure he'd seen the man at near the entrance before. Kiku quickly tried made himself busy at the other end of the counter before he could make any awkward eye contact.

"Brooooooooooo~!"

The man sighed and ceased his browsing, muttering under his breath. He walked over to excited man now next to the section full of quick meals. Kiku easily heard the louder mans' voice from over the aisles, not that it would help considering they were conversing in English. The second man worked on quieting his giddy friend. After a few minutes of excited chatter on the foreign mans' part the duo made their way to the register.

The loud mouthed one ungracefully clunked his items on the counter. Kiku proceeded to ring up various candies and snacks.

"Ah Mattie this is SO COOL~ I can't believe I get to visit you in JAPAN!"

"Alfred I told you, try not to be so loud..." The second man gave Kiku an apologetic nod." hurry up and pay for your snacks so I can pay for the food. I still need to return the rental car once we drop your luggage at my place". He walked over to the comics with his items in hand, browsing once more while he waited for his friend to finish.

"Anno…Your total… is… 4,390 yen" Kiku struggled with this embarrassment as he tried his best to speak understandable English. The man paid no mind to the accented English and started digging through his wallet.

"Ahhhh, bro you're gonna be so pissed at me". The loud man turned to his friend rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling sheepishly "I completely forgot to exchange my money…"

The man sighed irritated and returned to the checkout. He pulled out his own walled and placed his items on the counter as his friend moved over to look at some of the magazines near the entrance. "These too please".

Kiku was relieved to hear the man speaking Japanese. "Yes. Your total is 6,790 yen". The man placed his money on the tray and Kiku finished the purchase. "Alright, here is your change and receipt" Kiku looked up from handing the man his change to find them mans gaze concentrated on him. "Ano…I'm sorry is there something wrong…?"

The man started a bit. He lowered his gaze and grabbed his bags from the counter "Ahh sorry I'm being rude… Honda-san… Honda Kiku, right? I believe we have some classes together"

Kiku stared uncertainly for a few moments. "Ah yes that's right. You're Williams-san. Forgive me I did not recognize you".

"Haha yes, I almost didn't recognize you either in that uniform" Matthew chuckled softly. "I usually only come here in the mornings, that must be why I never see you"

"Ah yes"

"Hey bro are you done yet? I'm supper hungry" The man rejoined Matthew at the counter.

"Yeah, one sec". Matthew turned back to Kiku "Honda-san this is my brother Alfred. He's here visiting me for a while." Matthew gestured towards the man beside him. Alfred greeted Kiku with a cheesy grin and heavily accented Japanese, no better than Kiku's English to say the least. Kiku bowed and greeted him. "Al this is Kiku Honda, he's a classmate." Matthew looked at his wrist watch. "Ah well we better get going… It was nice to see you Honda-san." The brothers made their way to the exit

"Yes. Good evening Williams-san" Kiku thanked them for shopping and bowed as they left the shop.

Kiku went back to waiting for his shift to end… Five minutes He let out a sigh of relief as his coworker Mori entered the store to relieve him of his post. "Sorry for running late Ki-kun, I had to cook dinner for my little sister."

"Ah… no problem" Kiku cringed a bit internally at Mori's nickname. Kiku took off his apron, moving out of Mori's way and into the staff room.

"Any crazy costumers today?" Kiku came back out of the staff room adjusting his cream scarf. "Did the crazy old lady from the other day come back?!" Mori asked excitedly, already leaning on the counters lazily.

"No, but some foreigners came in. One was really loud too, he sounded American"

"Really~!? No way." Mori perked up.

"Really, you probably passed them on your way in without even realizing it." Kiku made his way to the door, buttoning his coat up.

"Ahhh… No fair, you always get the fun costumers~" Mori whined and slouched back onto the counter. "Going home already… … Thanks for your hard work" The delinquent looking boy mumbled, the side of his face mushed against the counter

"Yeah. Thanks. Goodnight. I'll see you Monday then Mori-kun".

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight". Kiku braced himself and exited the store. He breathed into his cupped hands and then quickly shoved them into his coat pockets to preserve some of the warmth. Kiku hurriedly made his way down the street, already anxious to get home and into his warm bed.