"I didn't think you had to pay extra to use a rental." Komachi commented, stepping beside Soushi as they made their way into the parking structure.

"I'm under twenty five, so yeah. But, I turn eighteen today." Soushi only shrugged. "It's the same in the States. I think they charge about five hundred extra bucks. But, the minimum age to drive isn't eighteen. We can drive when we're sixteen and get our learner's permit then, too."

He really couldn't stand how people had a stick up their ass here. If he wasn't turning eighteen today-wasn't eighteen, he would have had to use the damn public transportation system.

There's no way in hell he was going to get around by using the subway or buses. The subways were a mad dash. You couldn't look at anyone in the cars, it was weird to give up your seat for someone elderly or pregnant-since they had their own areas. You couldn't eat, and couldn't really fiddle around with your phone either. It was awkward, stupid, and just too much. Not to mention people pushed and shoved.

It was too much.

Too fucking much.

If someone pushed him or shoved him, he was going to swing.

I'm not going to look at the floor or shoes for two hours.

He'd rather pay ten thousand yen a day to rent a car than deal with that freak show. He'd get up to offer his seat to someone who's pushing ninety five and he'd get weird looks or scowls. It was such a crime to do that. He'd rather not be known as the foreign freak show that gave up his seat for some old lady that was trembling every step of the way.

It was all good, he didn't have to deal with that.

"Five hundred?" Yui gasped.

"I'm surprised people are allowed to drive at such a young age." Yukino commented.

Why are they so surprised by that? Soushi asked himself, looking at the orange haired girl for a second. He turned his focus onto Yukino.

He wasn't sure who to answer first, but Yukino's comment seemed much more pressing than Yui's. "I'll answer you first, Yukino. A lot of people drop out of high school and work from that point. They get a GED or Equivalent later on, but they got too much going on at home or in life, while they're in high school. We need transportation to get to our jobs and school, too. Schools aren't within walking distance or a subway ride like they are here, and young people actually work full time jobs. They just don't go to school, some don't have that uxury. No car means no money. No money means no home. No home means you're out on the street."

"I guess that makes sense." Yukino conceded.

Hikigaya took over. "It's not that surprising. Teenagers are delusional and cling to this thing called youth. But, it's really ignorance and hypocrisy. They think they can't die or death will never touch them, despite their reckless actions."

"Well, I guess." Yui conceded, wincing.

Apparently, Hikigaya's comment struck a nerve or just made her uncomfortable.

Brutally honest.

"You want to hear a story?" Soushi ventured, looking at Yui.

"Um, sure."

His story could help Yui understand better than his cousin's. Hikigaya was chalking it all up in a broad spectrum, and while that did make sense, and was true, there were events and moments that were just off the wall.

"That depends. Is it a story about you?" Yukino ventured.

Soushi leaned his arm against the rent a car that would be his for the next few weeks. Yukino was seriously off putting. He wasn't a people person by any stretch of the imagination, but this girl had serious issues. Either she was always the center of attention growing up-making her a brat, or she tried to be the center of attention growing up, but never succeeded, but was still a brat.

"No, it has nothing to do with me."

"Then I will listen."

"Yukino..." Komachi's brows were tightened in annoyance. "That was rude."

"That wasn't my intention."

Komachi was practically glowering-she liked Yukino a lot, but Soushi was her cousin-she loved him. He was family. "Then just don't talk."

Hikigaya shook his head. He was under the assumption that Yukino could actually distinguish between the two. Being a bitch on purpose, or being a bitch on accident. Truthfully, she was always bitchy and had to act like one. Her crude assumption of him ogling her at best, modest bust, was a clear sign of that. Snobbish and ridiculous.

"Be more corrigible, would you?" Hikigaya asked, shortly.

Soushi looked at everyone gathered, and sighed to himself. He knew people tended to think the Japanese were so polite and well mannered, but he knew better. Japanese could be the rudest people. They wouldn't say what they thought to your face, for instance. In the States-the phrase would be called, talking shit behind someone's back. If your Japanese were terrible, they'd smile and say you did great-when it was total shit. They were into flattery.

He never cared for flattery. People in the States would do the same thing, and he hated it. They dripped of insincerity.. Glib. They were quick to smile in your face, and then talk behind your back. Not everyone was this way in Japan-or the world in general.

However...

Yukino was a living embodiment of that.

She'd be the type to call someone a bitch behind their back, and talk about them for months. When she was confronted-she would likely admit it, she seemed like the proud type that wanted to be all up in your face.

"I'll tell it to you guys while driving. Let's get going before it gets dark. I don't want to deal with the Tokyo nightlife."

A loud ring startled everyone-Yui displayed it the most.

Hikigaya rummaged through his pocket, pulling out his phone. "It's my dad."

It kept ringing.

"If your old man is the same as he was the last time we met, it's probably better to answer that." Soushi said.

Hikigaya nodded shortly, answering the call. "I guess you're right." He pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Did you meet Soushi at the airport?" His father asked, short, as always.

"Yeah, we're about to get in the rent a car."

"Your mother and I won't be home for three weeks. We have a lot of meetings and business to take care of. We're also going overseas in the States for work. We're going to visit my sister and her husband while we're there." His father cleared his throat.

"Can you put Soushi on?"

"I'm driving." Soushi said quickly, not in the mood to hear his uncle's voice.

The man treated Hikigaya like dirt, and he treated him the same. Unless it was Komachi-Hikigaya's father, mother, and grandparents couldn't care less. His parents weren't like that at all, but for whatever reasons...Hikigaya's and Komachi's parents were.

Hikigaya shoved the phone in his face, and Soushi took it with a growl. He never liked his uncle-the man was a fucking prick. "I'm driving. What do you want old man?"

"You are to not get close to Komachi. I will kill any man that tries to get close to her. That includes Hikigaya and you. This is your only warning."

Soushi felt his rage flare, and he clenched the phone tightly. He hated being threatened. This prick thought he was going to do it, just because he was family?

Never that.

"Keep your petty threats, old man. I'll bust a cap in your ass if you ever come at me like that. Don't ever threaten me. If I don't bust a cap in your ass I'll buy a katana and stab your fucking eye. My mom will and father will rip you limb from fucking limb. They'll take the next plane here and raise hell where you work. You don't need to worry about Komachi. I don't plan on getting close to her."

"As long as you stay away from Komachi-"

"I get it, you old bag of bones. I'm driving, and you're a gigantic pain in the ass. Traffic is ridiculous." Soushi almost snapped, teeth gritting. "We're done here."

"Put Hikigaya back on."

Soushi snorted, ready to end the call, and he was about to. "He's sleeping now, bye."

"We won't be home for a few weeks, so-"

Soushi ended the call.

Hikigaya took the phone, pocketing it. His father never liked Soushi. Hell, his father couldn't stand him and he was his son-how would he stand his own nephew? It always left Soushi feeling bitter, and more than that, it drew the ire of his sister and brother in law. They had zero tolerance for his father's ways, and more than once, did they chew him out.

They would come here and raise hell where his parents work.

"You haven't changed a bit." Hikigaya said-some mirth shining in his fish-dead eyes.

"I tell it like it is. He isn't going to threaten me like that, I don't care if he's my uncle. Who the fuck does he think he is issuing a death threat to me?"

Soushi adjusted quickly enough to driving in the busy country. He laid on his horn whenever somebody was going to slow or cut him off. He shut people down that tried to speed past him. It took roughly a half hour to get out of the tangle of interstates and freeways that surrounded Narita Airport. Once he was clear, he let off the gas a little bit, maintaining a high speed.

"Are you going to tell me that story?" Komachi prodded.

Soushi laughed shortly, putting his foot down on the gas.

"S-Slow down!" Yui stuttered.

"I think you should go faster!" Kmoachi exclaimed.

"N-No! No!" Yui said quickly.

"I'm going five about the speed limit, no big deal. I won't push it. All right, onto my crazy story. Someone's mom got a rental. She put down her son's name on the paper, to drive it. She paid the extra five hundred. Now-I know subways and trains are preferred here, so I'm not sure if you guys know how this rent a car stuff works. You pay by the day. This mom got a Corvette, somehow. That was about eleven hundred dollars, plus the five hundred bonus of having someone under age driving it. Her son was a mess, he smoke, he drank, he popped pills, he did all of that."

"He totaled the Corvette." Hikigaya concluded.

"Worse. He bent that shit around a street pole. Knocked the street pole over, and went flying through the front of the gas station just across the street."

Yui was blooming with concern. "Did...Did he die?"

Soushi changed lanes, taking the car to just over one hundred miles per hour-beat the line of cars ahead of him, and began to turn towards the exit ramp. From here on, he'd be battling through the main and side streets. "Yeah, he did. Said situation. Blood tests found he had weed, Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Morphine, Alcohol, and Cocaine in his system."

"And, was he a friend of yours?" Yukino ventured.

"It must have been devastating if it was." Yui seconded.

"That's not the type of person who should be considered a friend." Yukino quickly added.

"He wasn't my friend. I didn't even know the guy."

"Oh?" Hikigaya raised an eyebrow, looking a tad confused. "Then how did you know this happened? Was it on the news?"

"I lived about five houses down from the intersection where the street pole was, and across the street from the gas station. I was out there..." Soushi trailed off.

It probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention he had been smoking and drinking himself. Yukino's image of him was already poor, not that he cared the slightest. However, he didn't want her treating him like a villain. Yui would be more shocked, and probably inclined to keep her distance from him based on principle alone. She was a good girl, and being around someone like him-her parents wouldn't stand for that. But, she wouldn't cause her parents grief, she'd just avoid him.

It's the same reason he wasn't blaring the speakers of this car with his gangster rap and other songs he kept on his phone and on CD. He wasn't going to walk across the birdge of Yukino saying anything out of pocket about his choice of music. He liked what he liked and that was that-he didn't need to hear bullshit remarks like with the fast food.

"I was out there when it happened, fucking around with my friends." Soushi finished.

Komachi had absorbed every word with the single minded determination she'd use whenever she would steal her brother's old projects to use them. It still didn't explain why there was such a hefty fee to be paid. "I don't get it."

"Hikigaya's explanation should suffice, considering my story." Soushi concluded.

Hikigaya looked behind him, eyes dull as he focused on the three girls. He was riding shotgun. Yui looked a bit shaken up by the story. Yukino was completely indifferent. Komachi had furrowed brows, like she was pondering something. "He was a naïve and delusional youth. Precautions have to be made in order to combat the consequences of reckless teenagers."

"That's a little harsh, Hikki." Yui murmured, looking at her thighs.

Soushi moved his head from side to side, humming for a second. "I guess. It's those fucking suburban kids. They got more money than they know what to do with. They're in their parent's pill cabinets. The mom is fucking someone else in her room. The father is out in a country club somewhere, drunk and riding around with three girls on his arm in a golf cart. The mom tells her son to shut up, he knows she's fucking upstairs in her room, and he just gets turned up with his friends."

"Turned up?" Yukino questioned, brows furrowed. "What does that even mean?"

Soushi laughed shortly. Maybe Yukino's sense of humor was macabre. Wouldn't be that far fetched. "Think of drinking ten bottles of sake, a case of beer, smoking a half ounce of some good weed, and taking a whole bottle of pills."

"I can't fathom doing something so foolish." Yukino admitted.

"Who would do that?" Yui asked.

It sounded like the person was just trying to kill themselves. Drinking that much alcohol would cause alcohol poisoning. Smoking that much would cause someone to cough profusely. Taking that many pills at once...She couldn't begin to imagine the kind of hell that wrought on a person's body. People drank and smoked, and took pills in Japan, but she didn't hang out with those people.

She was ignorant of that reality.

"It ain't ever enough, at that point." Soushi said. "Someone who used to be my friend was taking four of five Methadone a day-he was throwing up every day, and I mean every day, for a month straight."

"Are...You joking?" Yui looked shocked.

"I don't joke about that sort of stuff. I watched him run to the bathroom a couple of times during the day." Soushi replied.

"Ain't, isn't a word." Yukino said.

"Anyways...Enough about that crazy nonsense." Soushi said, quickly turning the focus onto his cousins. He wasn't going to get into this old age argument. "Anything new with you, Hikigaya? Komachi?"

"I recently had a project for class. I took one of my brother's to help me out." Komachi explained, no shame at all evident.

"You took the whole thing and just swapped a few things out." Hikigaya remarked.

"The teacher don't know, so who cares?" Komachi said.

"That's cheating, Komachi." Yui admonished.

"So what?!"

"I used Wikipedia for reports and stuff." Soushi defended Komachi.

"That's not a credible site or source for infomation." Yukino stated.

"Got me a B plus on a paper for English class, though."

Yukino was exasperated. "You two are unbelievable."

Komachi threw up the peace sign, grinning wide. "I give myself a lot of points for that!"

"You fool." Hikigaya muttered, but smiled nonetheless.

"What about you, Hachi?" Soushi ventured.

"Nothing new, really." Hikigaya replied, shoving the side of his face into his palm. "I was forced into the service club, that's how I met Yukino."

"How did you meet Yui?"

Hikigaya remembered that day way too well. "Her dog almost got hit by a car...I jumped in front of the car, saving its life. She came running to me about thirty seconds later, crying."

"I give him a zillion points for that one!" Komachi exclaimed happily. "My brother is the best!"

Soushi had been ready to say something else, that zillion wasn't a number, but had to ease on the brake. No matter where you went in the world, there were always jackass and asshole drivers. Japan was no different, and since there were so many packed into such a small island-the assholes and jackasses ran rampant. He couldn't count how many brake lights he seen, how many hit bumper to bumper, and how many people just couldn't use the damn gas pedal.

Soushi hissed in agitation-someone cut him off, and decided to go slow.

He sped ahead of them, fruious. "Stupid asshole! How hard is it to use a gas pedal!"

Yui startled, looking around with wide eyes.

Hikigaya kept his laugh down-he missed his cousin's blunt way of speaking. He was as blunt as he was, and just as harsh. He was the realest person he knew-no facades, no false images, he didn't care what anyone thought of him. He did what he did and said what he said, and that was that.

"Who am I dropping off first?" Soushi asked, pulling to a stop.

"My apartment is closer." Yukino said, giving him the directions.

They arrived shortly after, and she exited the car.

She looked at Hikigaya, then turned her gaze onto Souji. "Thank you for the ride, Soushi-san. I'll see you both in school tomorrow."

She stared at Soushi. "Right?"

"I don't know about me, but you'll see my cousin." Soushi said.

"Pardon me?"

Soushi didn't look the least bit amused. "I got shit to do other than shoving my nose in a book and wearing a damned stupid uniform. Bills."

"I understand."

Yukino bid farewell.

"Thanks for the ride, Harris-"

Soushi raised his hand, face calm. He normally wouldn't have cut Yui off, but he had to nip this in the bud, quick. "Call me Soushi. Use san, kun, or any other honorifics you want. It's weird, but...I don't mind that too much. And, please don't call me by last name. I know it's how you guys do things here, but don't do it with me. Call me Soushi, okay?"

"W-Well if you insist..." Yui was a little flustered, moving her feet around. She blushed a little as she spoke. "Soushi-san."

"Yui-san." Soushi echoed, smiling a for a second. "That's nice, ain't it?"

"Mmm." Yui nodded, still blushing.

"My cousin is such a lady's man, isn't he, Yui!?" Komachi asked, grinning. "He's got you blushing!"

"I-It's not like that!"

Hikigaya glared at Komachi. "Stop before you make her pass out."

Yui's home was a bit further away, but not too out of the way. Hikigaya got out of the car and walked her to the door. After a moment of conversation, he returned to the car, shutting the door.

He sighed.

"What's the matter with you?" Soushi questioned.

"Tired."

His cousin snorted. "I was on a plane for like thirteen damn hours. Anyways-you guys want anything? I heard Taco Bell opened up here and there's a Pizza Hut, too. I don't know about mayonnaise on pizza, but don't knock until you try it, as that saying goes."

"I want Pizza Hut!" Komachi threw her hands up. "Pizza Hut!"

"Fool." Hikigaya groused.

She almost whacked him across the side of the head just now.

"You don't want any pizza?" Soushi ventured, looking at Hikigaya.

"I do!" Komachi snapped.

"I can get both-"

"No! Pizza!"

Soushi almost slammed his foot on the brake, but discipline kept him from doing so. He had forgotten how spunky Komachi could be, especially when she wanted to get her way. She always did love pizza, though.

Hikigaya glared at her, just keeping his sigh down. "I don't mind Pizza Hut. They put too much wasabi on some of those tacos, anyways."

"Before I forget..." Soushi's tone dropped, growing serious. "Do you guys have any toilet paper at your house? And, do your toilets have all of those buttons?"

Hikigaya blinked, surprised for a second.

He laughed.

Komachi only laughed.

"We don't have a squat toilet." Hikigaya replied, still laughing. "We have toilet paper, though. You might want to take your own if you have to use the bathroom in a public place, they don't always supply it."

"I can live with that." Soushi nodded, satisfied. "As long as water isn't shooting up my ass."

Komachi laughed louder. "I wanted to see and hear your reaction to that! You're no fun, Soushi!"

"The thought just makes me a little uncomfortable. In the shower, I get it." Soushi admitted.

"All the more reason it would have been funny to me."

Hikigaya snorted, but smiled. "You really are a fool. A demented little fool."

"Right." Soushi agreed.

The place was extremely spacious. Soushi twisted and turned trying to get a view of everything. Stepping up two flights of stairs. He kept his strides less than what they could be so he didn't leave his cousins too far behind.

"This is your room. Mine is right across." Hikigaya pointed at his door.

Soushi nodded slowly, carefully handling the pizza as Hikigaya opened the door and gestured for him to enter first. Soushi stepped in quickly, and set the pizzas down on the nearest platform-a computer stand.

It was very basic but roomy. There was light colored carpet. There's a large TV stand with drawers, a computer stand, a few bookshelves, and that was about it. There were windows situated on both sides of the room, allowing light to shimmer through.

There was also a mini fridge.

I need to hit one of the stores and fill this baby up with some food.

Soushi rummaged through his pockets, pulling out small bottles of alcohol.

"Where did you get those?" Komachi asked, frowning just a little.

"Probably on the airplane." Hikigaya remarked.

"Yeah, took them during the flight." Soushi admitted with little shame.

"Here are the keys to the house. You have two. Keep one as back up." Hikigaya finished.

He handed Soushi the key chain while giving him quite the stern look. People did tend to lose their keys. They could forget them without even realizing it, but he knew Soushi was prudent with these things. A key to a house was his safe haven where he had grown up. "I'll have a fresh futon up in a few hours, unless you want to buy your own furniture."

"I'd prefer a bed, but I won't be picky." Soushi said.

"Being as tall as you are, that'd be a good idea." Hikigaya agreed.

"You guys want a bed, too?" Soushi ventured, finding a seat on the floor.

He opened one of the pizza boxes and took a slice.

Hikigaya smirked to himself. "It'd help my back after lugging around those books. Maybe you could get me one of those beds that you can adjust with that remote?"

"Big brother, you're such a mooch." Komachi admonished, already on her third slice of pizza.

She found a seat next to Soushi, smiling.

"Hey, he offered. Besides, Sobu High School is nothing but slave labor. I should file a report to the Prime Minister. My bag is a thousand pounds, and that doesn't include my laptop. I need a sophisticated bed."

Komachi looked less than impressed. "You over exaggerate, big brother."

"Anyways..." Hikigaya turned his focus onto Soushi's duffel bag-obnoxiously huge and oxy. "What did you bring?"

Komachi was immediately in the duffel bag, half of her body vanishing. "Did you bring all of your Gojira movies?"

"Get out of there!" Soushi snapped the second he heard those words, wrestling with his duffel bag. Komachi came flopping out, two DVD cases in hand. "If you get a smudge on those movies, Komachi! I swear..."

"They're in the case! Calm down!"

"They better stay in the case. I know how you are."

"You got Rodan and War Of The Gargantuas, too!?" Komachi's eyes were like stars. "My cousin Soushi is such a nerd!"

"I'm a collector-those movies cost me sixty bucks. I got them as a bundle set."

Hikigaya rummaged through the bag. "You can't be serious."

"I am. I got the DVDs with the Japanese subtitles and the English dub. I'm not sure if they have the audio commentary, though-"

"Nerd!"

Soushi jolted from Komachi's loud shout, falling into his duffel bag.

"Need some help?" Hikigaya offered.

Soushi looked flustered for a second, eyes on the cases in Komachi's hand as he brought himself out from the cluttered bag.

Hikigaya swore his cousin was going to die of a panic attack.

"Sure."

"Komachi..."

"Yes?"

Soushi snatched his DVDs out of her hand. "I don't want these to be damaged. Help out with this..."

Komachi stuck out her tongue. "Fine, fine."

After about forty minutes later and they just about got all of Soushi's belongings organized and in order. Shirts are stacked and folded on one end of the wall with pants and boxers. Socks and shorts were folded and paired right under them. Hikigaya and Soushi made sure to give the DVD and tape collection its own space along with my DVD player and VCR. The laptop also had its own little space and lastly Soushi's skateboard was situated against the wall.

Komachi sighed happily, and let herself fall on the floor spreading her arms out to her sides. "It just feels good to relax, I'm pooped!"

"Jet lag is terrible." Soushi found himself on the floor, eyes transfixed on the ceiling.

He took a bite out of his pizza. "You know, the mayonnaise isn't that bad, I guess. It taste different, sort of."

"I'm so tired." Hikigaya plopped himself down next to the two, he munched on his own slice of pizza.

"You didn't even do anything." Komachi commented.

He just shrugged before lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. "Cab ride to the airport, ride from the airport, dealing with you, Yui-san, and Yukino-san on the way there...I also helped him with his things. I'd give myself a lot of points for that."

"You're so vain, sometimes." Komachi remarked. "I sure wish we had a TV in here, though."

"We got the house to ourselves, let's hook up his DVD player to the TV downstairs." Hikigaya suggested.

"A zillion more points for you, big brother!"