I'm sorry, everyone, but as I'm trying to get this chapter up as soon as possibly, there won't be any replies to reviewers this time! I swear I'll reply to everyone in Chapter Six, but I am really busy today, and I want to get this one up before Monday.

GOOD NEWS! I have tickets to Wicked!

BAD NEWS! It's not until April of next year. However, since it's so far away, they're really good seats, for a regular price.

--

In the Rough

Chapter Five: The Controversial and the Krunk

--

I arrived a little late for Hoshi's sleepover on Saturday (my mom wouldn't stop shoving extra toiletries on me, almost to the point where I could've survived in the wilderness for at least a week).

At the front door of her rather large house- this of course coming from a girl who was raised and still lives in a tiny, sandwiched apartment- I was greeted by a middle-aged woman with the same sad, gray eyes as Hoshi.

"Oh!" She smiled. "You're Hoshi's new friend, Yagami Hikari, aren't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, bowing politely.

Her smile widened. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing? I'm so glad Hoshi was able to make new friends, after the whole fiasco with that Oita girl…" She cleared her throat. "I'm Shimane Taka, Hoshi's mother."

Well, I had assumed that, but I smiled and walked inside the house as she stepped aside. "Pleased to meet you, Shimane-san…"

Suddenly, a loud thundering noise sounded, as many pairs of feet trampled down the winding staircase.

I recognized Hoshi's voice: "Ran, give me back my diary!"

A little girl of about four or five rushed to hide behind Shimane-san, who rolled her eyes.

"Ran, give the diary back to your sister before she blows a capillary."

I chuckled. Shimane-san almost reminded me of my own mother.

"Hi, Hikari!" Hoshi chirped, waving at me and snatching the pink notebook away from little Ran at the same time.

"Hello," I responded happily. I then noticed that there was not one, but two little brunette girls now giggling in conspiracy at the foot of the stairs. I definitely had not noticed that before.

Hoshi noted my confusion and explained, "They're my twin sisters; Ran is the one with the short hair, and Cho has pigtails. They're demon seeds, both of them."

"Hoshi!" snapped their mother. "I do not appreciate being called a demon, thank you!"

Hoshi and I both laughed, before she led me up to put my stuff away in her room.

"Your family is really nice," I told her, looking around at the spacious area. Several posters of various pop singers adorned the sea-green walls. It looked like what I had always wanted my room to look like. Of course, since we technically didn't own our apartment, I wasn't allowed to make any major changes to my room.

"Thanks," she said absently, pulling a few DVDs out of her closet. "I thought we could just hang out and watch some movies and anime tonight. That okay with you?"

"Sure!" I grinned toothily, knowing that it was a replica of my brother's own grin. We had exactly the same smile, and I know this because when I was ten, we spent, about half an hour in the bathroom, comparing smiles in the mirror.

Hoshi turned around with her anime collection. "My mom ordered out for pizza, so it should be here soon. You like pepperoni?"

"Sure do."

--

After eating pizza and watching Mononoke-hime, we played your basic two-person sleepover games like Truth or Dare. I found out that Hoshi had a minor phobia of grasshoppers. (Useful information to keep, as Tai would say.)

I really was glad Hoshi had invited me over… it was helping me get over the fact that I had lost my best friend because of stupid differences…

--

Sunday was my day with little Ichiro, so I carried him with me to the park, where Daisuke had asked me to meet him.

"Hikari-chan!" he exclaimed brightly when I reached the Pointless Brick Wall. "There you are! Lovely day, doncha think?"

"Yes…" I said slowly. "You seem happy."

"I AM!" he cried, twirling around with his arms out like an airplane. "I don't think I've ever been this happy before! And I have you to thank, Hikari-chan!"

"Me?" I asked dumbly, and had to secure Ichiro on my back as Daisuke threw his arms around me.

"Yes, you! If you hadn't turned me down on the offer to be my fake girlfriend, I never would've chosen Ken, and then I never would have gotten to where I am now!"

I smiled. "Glad I could be of assistance. Now, what's all this about, Dai?"

"Weeellll," he giggled. Not chuckled, 'mwahaha'd, or 'mufufu'd, like the Daisuke I knew well. Giggled. "I wanted you to help me pick out some… flowers."

"Flowers? You're buying flowers? How cute!" I smiled even wider, looping my arm with Dai's, and we set off in the direction of the Takenouchi Flower Shop. "Thank you for choosing me to help."

"Well, it was either you or Takeru," he grimaced comically, "and I don't want the butch meddling in my love life."

"Hey, now," I warned. "Lay off of TK. He's just trying to defend his place as the only straight guy left. It's a tough job, you know."

"Iori's straight," he said flippantly.

"Iori is innocent," I corrected, "and rightly so. He's just a freshman."

"Koushiro's straight, too. And Jyou." Daisuke seemed determined to prove me wrong for once.

"Okay, point taken," I laughed as we entered the small, but bright shop.

Sora sat behind the counter, twirling a strand of her red hair and snapping a piece of gum idly. She raised her eyes and grinned when she saw it was us.

"Hey, Kari, Daisuke-kun," she greeted, putting away the magazine she had been reading. "How's it goin'? Can I help you?"

"Dai needs some flowers," I pointed to my friend, who smiled at Sora (at one point he had been quite taken with her).

"Well, you've come to the right place."

We ended up choosing a half-dozen yellow roses (they were really pretty, and Sora even let me have one for free). Daisuke learned that yellow roses symbolized friendship, and he insisted that he wanted Ken to know that no matter what changed, they were still best friends underneath it all. I thought that this was really sweet of him.

As Daisuke scribbled a note into the card, Sora turned to talk to me.

"So," she began quietly. "Have you… have you heard from Mimi-chan lately?"

"Yes," I replied curiously. "In fact, I just spoke with her last night."

"Is she doing okay? Any new boyfriends?"

"Not that I know of."

An inexplicable look of relief washed over Sora's suntanned features.

"Oh, okay." Sora settled back. "I can't wait to see her in America… I hope she hasn't gone and dyed her hair again. It looks best when it's her natural color. Actually, I think it looks nice any color, but I…" Sora halted, blushing furiously. "Just forget I said anything."

Something clicked into place, and I smiled. "Don't worry. Mimi-san has very pretty hair. You're right."

"Okay, I'm done!" Daisuke announced proudly, paying for the flowers and handing them to Sora to be wrapped in white tissue.

"I'll see you guys later!" Our older friend walked us out, then returned to her spot at the counter.

I shook my head, smiling. Yamato definitely had nothing to worry about concerning Sora and Tai…

--

"I've got flooowers, oh, I've got flooowers!"

I couldn't help but laugh as Daisuke danced around his kitchen in his cartoon character slippers, tossing the bouquet up and down, almost as if he was the one receiving the roses, and not the one giving them.

"Hey, twerp, and friend-of-twerp…" An amused, female voice sounded.

I turned around to see a tall, thin girl with her fluffy, maroon hair down in twin pigtails for the day. Her teasing obviously affected Daisuke, who practically shoved the yellow flowers in his sister's startled face.

"I've got flooowers, they're for my boooyyfriend, and you don't haaaave one, because you're uuugly!"

"Hi, Jun," I piped up as she grabbed her brother in a headlock.

"So, squirt, you've got a boyfriend?" she asked. "Big deal. You get one every other week…"

Jun smiled fondly at Daisuke, ruffling his hair and releasing him.

Daisuke huffed, making sure the flowers were not damaged, before he held his chin up and declared, "Well, not this time, sis. Ken is my one and only."

Jun rolled her eyes, exactly the same dark brown as Dai's. She reached up to pull a strand of hair behind her ear, and that was when I noticed something sparkling on her finger.

"Hey, Jun… that's a very pretty ring…" I said slowly.

"Hmm?" she blinked, then held her hand out for me to see better. "Oh, thank you. Would you believe I actually found it? It must be worth--"

"A whole year's savings," I mumbled, grabbing her ring-finger and narrowing my eyes. "Jun-san, if you don't mind my asking, where exactly did you find this?"

"Oh, uh…" She scrunched her nose up. "It was at a Wolves concert. Yeah, I was there with some friends, and we were trying to get through the crowd to wave at Yamato-kun, when out of the blue, some big commotion starts, and I get pushed, and I fall on my butt, and then, out of nowhere, this really pretty ring rolls right into my hand!"

No doubt about it, no matter how impossible it seemed; there weren't very many Teenage Wolves fans who went around with sapphire rings on their fingers.

I tilted my head to look her in the eye. "Jun, I need this back."

"What?" she squawked, snatching her hand back defensively. "No way, Hikari, this is my ring!"

"No, it's not," I said calmly. "It's Yamato's."

Her eyes grew large, and she looked down at the ring in a whole new light.

"It… is?"

"Yes. Taichi gave it to him on their anniversary, and he really wants it back."

Jun raised an eyebrow at me. "How much?"

"H-how much what?"

"How much are you willing to pay for it?"

"Jun!" I sputtered indignantly, trying to grab the ring (I couldn't, though, as she just held it over my head… Jun is almost six feet tall). "That's Matt's ring!Do you want your idol to be upset?"

"How can you be sure it's even his? This could be a setup." Her eyes narrowed.

"Look at the inside, then," I said impatiently.

Daisuke moved closer, and all three of us looked curiously. Sure enough, right on the gold, was written in flowing script, Yamato and Taichi.

"… That could be any Yamato and Taichi," Jun tried weakly, holding the item close to her chest. "And you're not getting this ring for free. Even if it's not the real deal, I can still get a whole lot of money for it on EBay…"

"Jun!" cried Daisuke in horror. "That's low even for you!"

"Forget it," I grumbled, dragging my friend out the front door, leaving a smiling Jun in our wake.

"Where are we going?" asked Daisuke dimly.

"We're going to find the only person your sister will acknowledge."

"… My mom?"

--

"JUN HAS MY RING?!"

"Yeah, and she's holding it hostage!" Daisuke declared.

For once, it was a good thing that Yamato was already in a huffy mood, and Daisuke and I were doing our best to make him even angrier:

"She won't give it back!" I added in overdramatic despair.

"We tried to get it for you, but she's, like, really tall and stuff!"

"And now she's gonna sell it on EBay!"


"WHAT?"


With a scream at the injustice of it all, Yamato snatched his leather coat off the rack and stormed out the door, his jaw set furiously. I looked over at Daisuke hesitantly.

"Think we might have overdone it a little?"

We quickly ran after him, jumping into the backseat of his car.

--

"Oh, you're back, twerp. I thought-- YAMATO-KUN!"

Jun's eyes widened at the sudden apparition of her number-one crush right on her doorstep.

"Jun," Yamato began calmly, "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

"Oh, but, I… um…"

"Jun, please give me back my ring." The basic pleading was very obvious in the blonde's voice.

Jun suddenly got a wicked grin, and she put her hands in her pockets.

"I'll give it back to you… for a kiss."

Daisuke let out a snort. I sighed, knowing that this was quite typical of his sister.

Yamato, however, barely hesitated before grabbing Jun by the shoulders and laying an epically deep kiss on her, completely taking her breath away. He then released her, glaring.

"Wow…" she mumbled when it was over, her eyes glazed. "You're… you're a really good kisser, Yamato-kun…"

"Yeah, yeah," Yamato muttered, growing more impatient by the second, "so I've been told. Now can I please have the ring back?"

"Oh…" Jun blinked owlishly. "Sure, here; I really didn't want this old thing anyway. It clashes with my complexion."

She handed the small band back to Yamato, who couldn't stifle his cry of joy as he kissed it and then slipped it back on its rightful finger. I smiled, seeing that old happiness back in his bright eyes.

"Thank you, Jun," he said sincerely.

"No," she said with a playful grin as Yamato and I walked back to the car. "Thank you, Matt."

--

Things began to pick up a bit around me. An entire week and a half flew by, in which Miyako didn't speak a word to me. I began hanging around Hoshi quite a bit more, and the group really accepted her.

I was very surprised when a game ticket arrived in the mail the Thursday before we left for America over Fall Break, for a "Star Shimane".

There was a note attached:

Hika-pika-pika-pie (with 50 percent more pika!):

Word's gotten to me that you have another friend, name of Hoshi. Well, I pulled a few strings (Coach is a sucker for the ol' Yagami Brown Puppy Eyes), and she's now welcome to come with us, if her parents will let her.

p.s. - As you probably noticed, we (meaning Mimi, mostly, who's having fun "Americanizing" everyone's' names) changed Hoshi's name to Star on the tickets. Hope she doesn't mind, as that's the literal English translation.

Much love,

-Oniichan

I phoned Hoshi up immediately, and she was ecstatic at the chance to go, even if she knew next to nothing about soccer. Her mother was still at work at the time, but she was certain she would be allowed to go.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" she exclaimed breathlessly, and I could almost see her eyes sparkling over the phone. "Your brother is awesome, Kari!"

"Yeah," I smiled. "He is."

--

"Hikari…"

I looked up from the Pointless Brick Wall, eyes narrowed as the oh-so-familiar tall form of Inoue Miyako approached me.

"Yes?" I answered flatly, but my heart hammered in my chest.

Thirty seconds must have passed before she stopped rocking back and forth on her heels and blurted out, "I'm sorry."

That was a shocker.

I opened my mouth, then snapped it closed again as she rushed me and hugged me tight, clouding my vision with silky, purple hair.

"Kari-chan, I don't even know why I said those things. I'm over Ken; I swear! I just want for us to be friends again… I miss you, Kari-chan."

Suddenly I was overwhelmed with how much I, too, had missed my best friend, and I returned the embrace, grinning and saying, "I forgive you, Miya-chan… I'm sorry I kept the grudge going. That wasn't right of me. I'm so glad you came to apologize."

"It took me a while to work up the nerve," she admitted, pulling away after a long moment, "and, lets face it, it's kinda boring just hanging around with Iori all day."

I rolled my eyes. As we walked together, I made a mental note to go and dig Miyako's ticket out of the garbage…

--

Friday, and everyone was having jittery fits all over the place. Even Iori couldn't keep the huge grin off his face during lunch when Daisuke began ranting about all the super-cool "American" things he had read about.

"And we can go to the movies, and McDonald's, and--"

"Dai," Takeru interrupted skeptically, "we have McDonald's in Japan."

Daisuke waggled a finger. "True, but not an American McDonald's! And Abercrombie and Fitch, and…"

We were all infected with USA fever. My mother was singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" when I got home that night… albeit, almost incomprehensively, and totally off-key. She gave up after a while, but still bounced around the house.

I decided to throw Tai's journal into my bag too, just so I could tease him about that later.

--

5:00 a.m.

I may be a morning person…

But that is still an ungodly hour to be awake.

My mom shook me awake and left me to dress in the jeans and sweater I had laid out the night before, then grab the backpack I was taking on the plane with me.

Matt had arranged the night before for shuttle vans to pick everyone up and take them to the Tokyo International Airport. When I got there, Daisuke appeared to have passed out from sheer exhaustion in one of the chairs in the terminal, his head resting on Ken's shoulder while the bluenette absently ran his fingers through Dai's fluffy, spiky hair.

Miyako and Iori, surprisingly enough, were knitting a scarf together. I suddenly remembered when the school counselor recommended that Miyako take up a calming hobby. Good advice.

Hoshi was reading a book in the chair next to Ken, and Takeru and Yamato were playing cards. Yamato looked like he was trying very hard to keep up his "untouchable Mr. Sexy" demeanor in the all-black "casual elegance" ensemble when I knew very well that he was about to die with anticipation at the thought of seeing Taichi again.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash that came from the public restroom, and a tall, thin man with long hair and nervous, dark eyes darted out, a trail of toilet paper streaming from his left shoe.

"I swear I didn't do anything!" he defended when Yamato raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, actually, all I did was…"

"Jyou," the blonde sighed, "did you try to sanitize the inside of the napkin-dispensers again?"

"Matt, no one ever cleans those things! Who knows what kinds of bacteria are--"

"Jyou," someone interrupted humorously. "Calm down."

Jyou smiled sheepishly at the short, redheaded man on his laptop I hadn't noticed before. "You tell me that everyday, Izzy. What makes you think I'll start taking you're advice now?"

Koushiro smirked at the childish nickname he was stuck with, then returned to his work, his black eyes entirely focused on whatever it was he was doing.

So we were all here, except for one last person. I think Matt must've noticed this too, as he stood and brushed the non-existent dust off his slacks. "If Sora doesn't get here soon, we're just gonna have to go… I mean, the flight leaves in--"

"Thirty minutes," Koushiro interjected, looking at Yamato pointedly. "She has plenty of time."

Right on cue, my senses were jarred with the strong smell of fresh flowers, and next thing I knew, Sora had her arms around me.

"Hi again, Hikari!" The redheaded girl grinned, releasing me and turning to hug the others

She reached Yamato, and hesitated. "Um… hi, Matt…"

"Hello, Sora," he replied amiably enough, inclining his head.

Sora must have taken this as a peace offering, as her whole face lit up and she threw herself at Yamato, kissing his cheek and crying, "Matt, it's been so long since I've talked to you!"

The blonde didn't even move. "Yeah…"

Sora let Yamato go and gathered her luggage up, placing the heaviest on the conveyer belt.

We sat talking for the remaining time, until the ultra-generic female voice announced that Flight 56-D, leaving from Tokyo to New York City, was now boarding.

We were seated three to a row, with me in the middle, Hoshi to my left, and Miyako in the window-seat. In front of us, Takeru sat next to the window with Daisuke on his left and Ken in the aisle seat, and in the row to our right, Jyou and Koushiro had seats next to Iori, and in the row in front of them, a very annoyed-looking Yamato was in-between Sora and a girl who looked around my age, gazing at the singer in awe. I could've sworn I noticed a bit of drool on her chin.

"Good morning, passengers!" the pretty stewardess greeted us, and I could see Takeru and Daisuke sit up a little straighter in front of us, much to my amusement and Ken's obvious irritation. "Welcome to Flight 56-D! My name is Aika, and if you need anything, please feel free to ring for me!"

"I'd ring for her any day," Daisuke whispered to Takeru in conspiracy, and both chuckled. However, Daisuke's laughter was cut short as his boyfriend elbowed him sharply.

"Down, boy," Ken snapped.

"Enjoy your flight!" Aika said with a clinically-whitened smile, going back to the front of the plane and leaving Ken to glare at a nervously-giggling Dai.

"Hey, c'mon, Ken-chan," he laughed. "Just kidding… heheh…"

I rolled my eyes and looked back down at the page of the magazine Hoshi and I were reading together.

NEW WOLVES SONG RAISING EYEBROWS?

"Hey, Matt," I called out, and the blonde looked up from his book. "You're in the tabloids… again…"

"Hmm? What's this one about?" He looked up.

"They're saying that that one song of yours, "Please," is controversial."

"Controversial?" Yamato choked. "Since when is love controversial?"

"Well," Koushiro said mildly, and I assumed he had Googled the lyrics when he heard what we were discussing, "I would think that the media draws the line at something like "Breathing labored, hands on heated skin, no words needed, no--"

"Those are beautiful lyrics that took me forever to write!" Yamato defended. "The human sensuality is a very inspirational topic, for your information!"

I ignored the rest of the argument, as Koushiro turned redder and redder while continuing to read the lyrics out loud. I scanned over the rest of the article:

While the world is beginning to become accustomed to Ishida Yamato-san of the Teenage Wolves and his dry, brash sense of humor, nothing could've prepared today's youth for the newest ballad from the group, called "Please".

"My fourteen-year-old daughter used to admire this group!" one outraged mother exclaims. "And I was able to handle that their singer is… well, you know, until they released this trash into our children's hands!"

The song is a tribute, yet again, to Ishida's life partner, Yagami Taichi-san, also known as simply Tai, of the NYSW Whitehawks. This time, however, Ishida-san has crossed the line.

According to the owner of a rival record company, "The Wolves, though mainly through Ishida and his alternative lifestyle, are destroying the next generation. I can still remember a time when music was pure, and innocent… I am saddened by what is called "music" today."

I couldn't help but snort and hand the article to a Takeru, who had asked to see it.

"So, it's okay to have songs entirely about wild parties and "bitches gettin' krunk", but God forbid anyone write a piece about making love…" I muttered.

I was greatly startled as Daisuke burst out laughing in front of me. "Hikari, please tell me you did not just say 'bitches gettin' krunk'."

I flushed, not really realizing I had said that out loud. "Yeah, well, you should hear some of the rap songs they play on American radio."

"Bitches gettin' krunk… hahaha… I'm never gonna let you live that down…"

"Be quiet," I grumbled, pulling my iPod from my pocket and letting my acoustic girl-pop wash away Daisuke's stupidity.

But where would we all be without it?

--

Thirteen hours of sheer boredom passed us by, as we soon, one by one, began dozing off on the shoulders of our companions. Yamato looked none too pleased as he had his fangirl on one arm, and Sora on the other… but he was soon asleep too.

I was the last one to drift off (except for Koushiro, but no one really expected him to stop typing, anyway). I pulled my earphones out right as Aika announced we would be arriving in New York in five hours…

--

"Hikari… Hikari-chan, wake up…"

I opened my eyes blearily, then closed them against the blazing sunlight outside. Curse the fourteen-hour time difference; it should be nighttime already. I spent a whole day on an airplane.

"C'mon, Kari," Hoshi urged, helping me out of my seat. "We're there."

As we got our stuff and walked off the plane, Aika actually winked at Daisuke. Ken growled right back as her, dragging his flabbergasted significant other out the door and into the sunny terminal.

I immediately set about scanning the area for the fluffy head of brown hair I knew so well… but it was nowhere to be seen.

Then I caught sight of a young woman, about Tai and Matt's age, holding up a sign in Japanese script reading "YAMA-CHAN AND CO."

Yamato laughed, waving at her. The girl caught sight of him and grinned, dropping her sign and running towards us. Now that I got a good look at her, I could see the wiry muscles in the woman's arms, and it was obvious she was tougher than she first appeared.

She had a round, pleasant-looking face, suntanned and set with two hazel eyes, her long sheet of dark brown hair back in a braid. If her tattered jeans and stained tee shirt were anything to go by, this woman lived her life a bit freely.

"I'm Ann Hughes," she introduced herself, shaking Yamato's hand. "Tai's really sorry he couldn't make it to the airport to meet you guys here."

At lack of recognition, she added, "We're really good friends. I'm the only girl on the team."

"Oh!" Yamato said suddenly, smiling at her. "Yeah, I think Tai told me about you. Sorry- I'm Yamato Ishida. Call me Matt."

Ann's eyes widened, and she laughed out loud. "You're the famous Yama-chan? Wow, I must say this is an honor. Now I see what Tai was talking about when he gushed all day and night about how damn gorgeous you are."

Matt shrugged. "He likes to exaggerate. Um… here," he turned to introduce each of us. "This is Daisuke Motomiya, Ken Ichijouji, Takeru Takaishi- my younger brother; call him TK- Yolei Inoue, Joe Kido, Koushiro Izumi- call him Izzy- Star Shimane, Cody Hida, and Kari Yagami. She's Tai's little sister."

"Hello," I said with a smile, shaking her hand. I felt a little awkward at how it sounded, since my pronunciation was atrocious. Ann didn't seem to mind.

"I wouldn't have recognized you as Tai's sister if Matt hadn't pointed it out," she admitted. "You're really--"

"Different?" I tried not to sound rude as I said this, but it was getting a little old now. I know I really don't look or act like Tai. I am fully aware that I am the less desirable of the pair. Sad truth, but I've accepted it.

Ann kept smiling. "Actually… now that I hear you talk, I can definitely recognize it. And I think you might have the same ears."

Same ears? Hooray; I have the famous giant Yagami ears.

I decided to cheer up; I was not going to be upset at all during this trip, that was for sure!

As Ann led us to where several taxi cabs would take us to the hotel to meet Taichi after his meeting with the coach, Yamato politely translated for Iori and Hoshi (or, rather, Cody and Star) the whole way.

The hotel was enormous; again, my heard swelled at the thought that my brother had gone through all the trouble to make us comfortable.

And there, sitting on the front steps and grinning enormously as he waved at us in baggy cargos and a black tee shirt, was Yagami Taichi.

--

Not quite a cliffie, but still. This is actually more of a filler chapter than anything.

Ja,

Beezlee