Writer's Note: This is an arc that takes place in New York; this is the first part. There are four pieces. If you do decide to review, at least have the courtesy to sign in and allow me to answer any and all accusations.

Shattered

Continuity: 021/100
Prompt: 001 - Beginnings
Summary: Eiji starts over.
Author's Notes: It's rather random.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.

New Beginnings

New York surprised him, how much it felt like Tokyo. The only thing different was that Eiji only understood a few words of the conversations around him.

The man who met him spoke Japanese, and he explained where Eiji would be living and how to get to work. Eiji listened closely, taking the papers the man gave him, looking them over as they drove toward the office. Eiji was at least used to the use of his first name, but he wondered how it would be for... Oishi. Or Tezuka.

"If there's anything we can do for you, just let us know," the man said as they got out of the car in front of a building. Eiji looked up at it.

"How safe is it if I decide to walk?" he asked as they walked inside.

The man pressed the up button on the elevator. "It should be okay," he said.

There was the typical security thing; a picture for an ID badge, paperwork – he was going to be a while, getting used to reading and writing from left to right – and various other things. By the time he was finished, he was getting very tired.

The same man took him out for a late lunch – something quick and very foreign – and then drove him to his apartment, and finally, he was alone. His suitcases stood just inside door, and after a weary look at them, he kicked off his shoes and went into the kitchen.

Whoever had furnished this apartment understood. Within minutes, he was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of his favorite tea in his hands. It was a soothing reminder of home.

Unfortunately, it was only mid-afternoon, so he didn't want to sleep. He resisted for about half an hour, but then made the mistake of settling in front of the TV. He woke up two hours later, curled on the couch, his cell phone ringing cheerfully. He dug it out of his pocket and answered it.

"Eiji. How was your trip?"

"Oishi," he said, pleased, and turned the TV off. "Hi." He sat up and yawned, stretching.

"Bad time?"

"No. Help me wake up."

Oishi laughed. "How do you like it there?"

"I don't know. I'm not… used to it yet." He leaned back into the couch. "It's… nya, Oishi, I'm not sure this was such a good idea." And then he heard what he'd said, and blinked. It had been years since he'd said any kind of nonsense. He must be more tired than he thought.

Oishi chuckled, but the words he spoke were quiet and somber. "Eiji," he said, "of course it was a good idea. It was a bad question. Well, no, just badly timed."

"Maybe," Eiji admitted, and sighed. "And I am tired."

"I can tell." There was laughter in his friend's voice again. "I bet you're hungry, too. Go eat, get to know your neighborhood, and then sleep. It'll look better in a week."

Eiji smiled. "Your advice is always good. I think I will follow it. Thanks, Oishi."

"I'll talk to you later," Oishi said, and Eiji could hear the smile in his voice.

On Eiji's first venture into his neighborhood he got himself lost. He was not particularly thrilled with the idea, but managed – like in the conversation with Oishi – to find the joy he'd had exploring in Junior High. He found a nice sushi place, although not as good as Taka's, and then managed to find his way home.

Work was slow, at first. He spent much of his time learning the phrases in English that he knew perfectly in Japanese. The man who'd helped him his first day – his name was Cole Parker – continued to work with him. He was a tall blonde man who would have stuck out on the streets of Tokyo, but Eiji was grateful for his help.

Slowly, the phrases came better. He worked on his pronunciation, adjusting it, perfecting it. And before he knew it, he'd been in New York six months, and had made some contributions to the company he now worked for.

It felt nice.

Continuity 22/100
Prompt: 060 - Drink
Summary: Eiji has drinks. It's very strange to him.
Author's Notes: I don't know. Remember, this was Nano. I was reaching. All over the place.

Drinks with the Boss

"You busy tonight?"

Eiji looked up from the document he was reading; he still had to read them to make sure he caught everything, but it was getting easier, and faster. Soon he'd be able to skim them. "No."

Three months after he'd started, Cole had informed him that the offices closed at 5:30, and everyone was expected to go home. Eiji would no longer be able to work there after hours. It had bothered him, what he would do in the evenings, until he just took his work home.

But Cole looked serious, standing in the entrance to Eiji's cubical (a strange place to work, but he'd gotten used to it), so he had responded the only way he felt he could.

"Good. Evan wants to take you out for drinks."

Eiji blinked. "What?"

"Meet him at the front doors at 5:30."

"But… why?"

Cole smiled. "Evaluation," he said. "He wants to see how you feel you've adjusted."

"Oh. Thank you."

So, at 5:30, he was at the main doors, waiting, and Evan - he was still uncomfortable calling his boss that, but Evan had insisted - arrived seconds after he did.

"We'll walk. It's faster."

Eiji had noticed that, even when taking the bus. It was crazy, this city! He nodded, though, and fell in next to Evan. They didn't speak - it was nearly impossible on the street - until they reached the small bar Evan preferred for such things. Eiji had been here only three months ago; maybe it was a regular thing, every quarter of a year.

"Cole says you're getting much better; he hasn't had to help you out lately," Evan started when they'd gotten their drinks.

Eiji nodded. "I've been working hard. I'm glad for his help," he added.

"Are you more comfortable?"

Eiji took a deep breath. "Some," he said after a moment. "It will, I think, take longer than six months. I do like your city, though. It reminds me of home."

"Not as old," Evan said.

"No," Eiji agreed.

There were more questions, about how he liked his work space, his co-workers, how he felt about the job he was doing. Eiji was used to it, this time, but still found it odd.

It is strange, he wrote to Oishi later that night. They evaluate their employees over drinks, after work. It is so different here… but I think that is just good, you know? I mean, I miss the food - it's so different, even the so-called Japanese food - but I found a passable sushi place (oh, I told you that, didn't I?). The best part, though, is there is nothing here to remind me of home. Or anything specific of home. I haven't thought of Fuji in weeks, I realized this morning, and it was so… nice. Really.

How is Tachibana? How did your visit to An and Akira go? Please write back soon; I begin to think I will forget how to speak Japanese by the time I'm ready to come back.

Continuity 23/100
Prompt: 037 - Sound
Summary: Eiji finds it hard to sleep.
Author's Notes: I wondered about this; it seems he lives from somewhere not so close to main traffic. It has to get to you, sometimes.

Traffic Noises

Some nights it was easy for Eiji to fall asleep; this was not one of them. For some reason, the traffic outside his window - even four stories up - was so loud that he could not fall asleep.

It was irritating.

He missed his home - his parents' house, if he were honest with himself; most of the places he'd lived since graduating High School had been anything but homes - and the quiet of the street he'd grown up on. His apartments had only been temporary places to sleep and eat. Including this one.

Finally, he got up and moved into the kitchen to make some tea, or something, and found it was much quieter in there. The problem? No real comfortable place to sleep. Eiji sighed softly, knowing he was just being ridiculous.

He hadn't been this ridiculous in a long time, either. The problem was, he didn't know if it was good or not. It was a painful memory of what he'd been, of what….

"Enough," he muttered, put the tea back in the cupboard, and walked back to bed.

The traffic had dulled; maybe he was more tired? He lay down, curled on his side, and closed his eyes. He thought, just before he fell asleep, he felt someone touch his cheek and whisper his name.

Continuity 24/100
Prompt: 034 - Not Enough
Summary: Lunch with Atobe.
Author's Notes: Atobe would never just let him... vanish without checking on him.

Visit from a... Friend

Eiji woke up, confused for a moment. Everything felt… wrong. He was alone, for one. Hadn't there been someone there last night?

And the angle of the room was wrong. Nothing looked familiar at all….

He sat up, and with something like a click, it was all right again.

He was in New York, he'd been there for months, now, and he was there because he was afraid….

He'd dreamed of Fuji last night. He was certain. He shouldn't have mentioned his former boyfriend to Oishi in his last email.

His shower helped wake him up, but did nothing for the feeling of disappointment of waking up alone. Not that he had ever actually woken up with someone, but for some reason…. He turned the water hotter, trying to get his mind off the strange sensation of loneliness that stuck with him.

It was an empty day, really, but he worked the best he could, trying to act normally. It seemed to be working, though; even after six months of being here, he was still foreign to most of these people. So he kept his head down and did was he was supposed to.

"You don't look so good, Kikumaru."

It took him a minute to realize that it had been his last name used, and the sentence was in Japanese, not English. And furthermore, the voice was a familiar one. "Atobe-san!" he exclaimed, more grateful to see the other man than he would have thought possible. Getting to his feet, he bowed. "What brings you here?"

"I was in town for business, and I thought I'd stop in and see how you were." He smirked. "You look awful."

"That's what you said," Eiji said.

"So, come to lunch with me and explain why."

It was automatic; he glanced at his watch. "Um… I think I can," Eiji said.

"Go," Cole said, peering over the cubical wall. "I'll tell Evan."

It was wonderful, to speak with Atobe in Japanese, to be able to reacquaint himself with the things he'd missed most from home; he didn't get to do it enough. He shrugged off Atobe's comment with an explanation that he'd been unable to sleep, something about the traffic seeming much louder than usual.

And for that short time, he forgot the strange feeling he'd woken up with. When Atobe was gone again, and he was back at his desk, he wondered why he would be missing Fuji so much anyway, since all his ex-boyfriend had ever done was hurt him.