Arthur sighed, looking down at the name and address Gilbert had given him. Kiku Honda. He wondered what sorts of things he would learn there, and also pondered the temperament of the owner of the name. As he plugged the address into his GPS, Arthur whispered a quick prayer that Kiku would be friendly toward him.

He groaned in agony upon finding out that Kiku's apartment was a five-hour drive from where he was. Sure, he enjoyed driving, but being on the road more often than not was starting to get old. Couldn't Alfred's friends live closer to each other? What was up with this wild goose chase anyway? It made him wonder what Alfred was trying to say by making him do all of this. Was Alfred trying to test his patience to see if he would follow instructions precisely? If anything, he was definitely testing his estranged friend's patience, that was for sure.

Grumbling under his breath, Arthur backed out of his parking space. With a small smile up toward Gilbert's apartment, he pulled out of the parking lot and began the next leg of his adventure.

.

Alfred groaned as he laid in bed and stared out the window. He had been left alone in the room after Toris had excused himself for a phone call. His mind crawled back to the peaceful days he had spent with Arthur back in junior high. Was it so wrong of him to want them back? Sometimes even he asked himself why he had to set up such an obstacle course for Arthur to return to his side. Would it truly be worth it? What if Arthur gave up halfway through? What would he do then?

"Sorry about that," Toris stated, coming back into the room. He sat down in a chair beside Alfred's bed and smiled. "I got some good news for you. That phone call was from Gilbert. Arthur just left his apartment and is on his way to Kiku's."

The blond felt his lips pull into a delighted smile as he turned his head to look at his friend. "That's great news!" he chirped. "That means he's one step closer to coming here." He closed his eyes and tried to imagine how things would go once Arthur arrived. In his mind, it would be as if nothing had ever happened between them.

Toris watched Alfred daydream, fighting back the harsh feelings of jealousy that stabbed into his heart. Why would he never be good enough? When Gilbert had told him only minutes ago that they were wrong about the type of person Arthur was, he almost hung up right then and there. Natalia had previously said the same thing. He refused to believe it. If Arthur wasn't a heartless person, then why was Alfred so agonized? There wasn't a proper explanation, so he decided to cling to the man he had never met being the villain.

"I'm so excited to see him again," Alfred sighed, a hopeful and innocent smile traced onto his face. "It's been so long. You'll like him, Toris. I know you will!"

"I'm sure I will," the other agreed, fighting back the urge to retch at such a suggestion. He had to be happy for Alfred, at least on the outside. After all, how much longer would the blond's happiness truly last?

.

"Are you going to talk to me today?" Elizaveta asked once Arthur answered the phone and plugged it into his hands-free device. "Because you've been oh so terribly busy lately." He could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "How's the search going? Did you find out anything?"

"Not yet," he sighed, passing a car on the highway. "I'm hoping to find out something at this next place. It's a name I've never heard before."

"Just give it up, Arthur," his girlfriend sighed. "Come back home. This whole thing is just ridiculous, and who's to say it'll even be worth it in the long run? I think you're just wasting your summer doing this when there are better things you could be doing."

"What, like hanging out with you and your obnoxious friends?" he bitterly replied. "This is better than that by a long shot."

"Look, I know you don't like my friends all that much, but you don't have to be saying things like that," she defended. "What's gotten into you? Something's different about you. You've changed ever since you left, and you haven't even been gone very long!" Elizaveta groaned in frustration. "Like, am I really talking to Arthur right now?"

"If all you're going to do is bitch at me, then I'm hanging up," Arthur told her, trying to avoid glaring at the road in annoyance.

"See? That! That's what I'm talking about, Arthur! Where is that even coming from? My Arthur would never say something like that to me!" Elizaveta raged. "It's like you don't even see yourself changing! It's scary!"

"I'll talk to you later, Liz," he said before pressing the button to hang up. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief once he heard the click of the hang up. If he was lucky, she wouldn't call back.

Was she really right, though? Had he changed in the past few days? If he had, it was because he was focused on his "mission". Nothing more than that. It was nothing to worry about. It wasn't like he was developing some new personality or something. Why worry about something she probably thought up? She was only saying those things to scare him into coming back home, and there was no way he was going to do that without getting some answers from Alfred. Though he didn't know how much longer it was going to take, he refused to give up part-way through.

.

A few hours later, Arthur pulled up outside of a small house in a big city. According to the address that Gilbert gave him, this was Kiku Honda's house. It made him smile to know that this person seemed well off financially. There weren't many around their age who were. Arthur put his car in park and sat for a moment to collect himself before finally getting out and walking up to the front door. His hand hesitated for a moment before ringing the doorbell.

A tall man with curly, dark hair answered the door, stifling a yawn. He had a small kitten perched comfortably on his shoulder. His green eyes blinked lazily at Arthur before he slowly turned his head to the blond's blind spot behind the door. "I believe this is the person you were expecting," he drawled in a quiet voice, as if speaking any louder or faster would exhaust him.

"Thank you," a much smaller man said, switching places with the man who had answered the door. He had ink black hair and kind, dark eyes. "You must be Arthur. I'm Kiku. I am pleased to meet you. Please come in."

Arthur stepped into the house, removing his shoes and placing them next to the door with the others. He marveled at how beautiful and clean Kiku's home was. The only house that he felt could rival it was Alfred's. Perhaps Kiku was also an ex of Alfred's? It would make sense. Either way, the apartment was impeccable, and Arthur mentally gave props to its inhabitants.

"This is a beautiful home you have here, Kiku," he complimented as the other man led him into the living room. His eyes widened as he saw five cats lazily lying about the living room. "And some nice cats."

"You aren't allergic, are you?" Kiku asked, picking up a cat to sit on the sofa where it had been lying. He placed the cat on his lap and began stroking it as it snuggled into him. "I would feel horrible if I were to find out that you were."

"Oh, no worries at all!" Arthur quickly assured. "I actually like cats, so I would be sad if I were allergic. You're good!" He felt relief when Kiku smiled kindly at him. "Don't worry, your cats won't bother me at all."

"That's good to know," the Japanese man answered with a nod. "I suppose we should get to what you came for, shouldn't we?" He made himself comfortable, scratching his cat behind its ears as Arthur got comfortable as well. "You see, I met Alfred Jones about six months after things went down with Gilbert. Charlie had convinced him to go to a party that I happened to be at that night. You know, come to think of it, that may have been the only party I ever went to in college." Kiku shrugged indifferently after taking in that knowledge. "I suppose that doesn't matter, does it? Anyway, he and I didn't meet in the most romantic of ways, but there was just something about him that I couldn't bring myself to forget."

.

Two Years Previous

"Charlie, I'm still not sure about this," Alfred sighed from the back seat of his best friend's brother's car. He felt sick at the idea of going to a college party, but after being assured there was no way Gilbert would be there, he had calmed down. "What if they find out that we're only in high school?"

"No one's going to find out if you keep your mouth shut," Tim Schmit sighed, rolling his eyes. "Look, kid, it's going to be fine. If anything starts to go wrong, I want one or both of you to come and find me, got it? You're going to be fine. I'll keep you safe. Besides, your mom and dad won't find out since you're supposed to be with us tonight anyway."

Charlotte reached into the back seat from her spot in the passenger's seat and held his hand in hers. "Don't worry, Alfie Jones. I have no plans of leaving your side."

He cracked a small smile at her. "You better not," he teased. "Otherwise I might end up having the worst night of my life."

Little did he know what was in store at the party.