Two

"Oi, Gakuto place these in the back room," said Akutagawa Jiroh writing a couple things down on a clip board.

"Only if you help me," snapped Mukahi Gakuto moving away from the cash register.

"Sure, we've got less than thirty-minutes to open up. There's no way you could get all those boxes in there by yourself," said Jiroh grinned goofily as he pointed to all the cardboard boxes.

'Yeah, yeah, just help me get all of them in there. Less talkin' and more movin'," said Gakuto lifting one of the boxes and going around the counter to go into the back room.

Jiroh smiled. They had been best friends since highschool and yet Gakuto hadn't changed a bit not even from moving from the cold streets of Tokyo to the US where this southern populated tourist city was. It had been a hard long journey but Gakuto and he were happy to get away from what was bothering them. Gakuto loved it here, despite there not being a lot of their own race out in Gatlinburg and it being extremely cold in the winter he loved it here.

Working at this store that sold Korean and Japanese imported goods was fun. Especially for Jiroh who had a huge obsession with manga, anime, and Pocky. Jiroh couldn't deny that he grew up in Japan and was obsessed with the materials but couldn't exactly get along with people and there were just problems and that was all there was to it. Gakuto and Jiroh knew the US was their getaway. How they figured out about Gatlinburg was from an old friend who told them that it was always busy and business would be good. Especially if they were selling anime and manga that had just came out in Japan. Tennessee had anime and manga but unlike California and New York they did not get things as quickly so this was a perfect opportunity for them.

Jiroh picked up two boxes and made his way into the back room and knew that today was going to be a very long day.

--

Atobe was the one who drove him up from the airport and brought him up to his apartment up a little ways from a couple cabins. Oshitari noticed that they were high up where probably you could see the lit up tower that was in the middle of various shops.

"It's nice. It's not like Tokyo but similar to it…but it's quieter," said Oshitari as he got his bags out of the back of Atobe's limo.

Atobe smirked and led Oshitari up various flights of stairs in the large building.

"But of course. This is not Tokyo; you're not there anymore Yuushi. It's common sense. Here we are," said Atobe handing Oshitari the cardkey.

The door clicked open as he slid the card through the slot and he set his bags down in the living room. There was already furniture and a flat screen TV in there and there would probably be a bed too.

"You have almost everything you need here so don't worry about furniture or anything else," said Atobe.

"Thank you Keigo," said Oshitari.

Atobe smiled and pulled the novelist over to the sofa and both sat down.

"Anything for an old highschool friend of mine."

"It's nice to see you again," Oshitari murmured.

"You too. You've changed. A lot," replied Atobe.

"And you haven't?" asked Oshitari.

"I guess we've had our fair share of change," answered Atobe shrugging.

Both looked at each other and then started laughing madly. It had really been a long time. Atobe and Oshitari had been best buddies in junior high and highschool. They were top of their class, went to wonderful places together and despite Oshitari roaming around everywhere in Japan, they had kept in contact. Even when Atobe left for the United States leaving Oshitari in Japan, Atobe was very rich, rich enough to make long distance calls everyday and talk for hours and hours to his best friend. And it wouldn't even dent his bank account.

Atobe's cell phone rang sharply ceasing both their laughter as Atobe flipped open the flat silver phone and answered it.

"I see… Yes I understand fully. It can't be helped. Alright I'll be over right away. Bye."

There was a click of the phone being shut.

"I'll have to go for now Yuushi; business with my father it seems. Anyway, I'll leave everything else to you. Relax and have fun, if you need any help all you need to do is call me," Atobe said.

Oshitari nodded but said almost as a joke, "I'm not a child anymore you know…"

Atobe chuckled and closed the door leaving Oshitari in the quiet and somehow lonely luxurious apartment complex. He made his way into the bedroom. It was absolutely amazing, the lighting was wonderful and one wall was actually windows. There was nothing but windows hidden by curtains at the time until he opened them. It was beautiful; you could see the glowing purple-ish green tower in the middle of the city, along with many lit shops, car lights, and the glittering multicolored lights carnivals down below.

He could see the whole city but could the whole city see him? He guessed not. He was so high up and so far away from the city that it was dark on all sides except straight. Oshitari made his way into the living room and into the kitchen which was obviously a dining room too that had an outside deck/balcony. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling above the small marble and wood table it looked Italian and was beautifully painted.

Oshitari made his way into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He should've expected it. No food what so ever anywhere. Not that Oshitari could live off of ice cubes until tomorrow morning but he was actually quite hungry from not having a decent meal for a day or two.

Oshitari used the kitchen phone and ordered some pizza from a random pizza place before going back to where his bags were and dragged them into his room. He placed his toothbrush and everything else that was needed for the bathroom into the bathroom. He decided until he actually got some hangers he'd leave his clothes in his suitcase. He placed his laptop on the desk that was in front of the wall next to the window but knew that the laptop would probably not stay at the desk for long because Oshitari tended to write everywhere.

That included parks and when he did take a bath in the bathroom be place the laptop on the edge of the bathtub's rim that made a perfect desk typed and made sure his hands were dry so he could type. He also prayed the laptop didn't fall into the bathtub, but it was a risk to take when you had a sudden idea come to your mind. Usually it wouldn't, it was one of the square tiled rimmed bathtubs. Only once was it close to falling and he had saved by pushing it backwards before it fell forwards. From the on he never had tried the bathtub setting again.

Still it proved that the laptop would not stay on the desk for long.

Finally the pizza arrived; Oshitari paid for it, and ate. Pizza here was better and did it paid off to know fluent English! People here most definitely had an accent, a slow nostalgic drawl that probably was the equivalent to a Kansai accent or an Okinawan accent in Japan. Back to the pizza. Finally a decent meal, it was takeout food but it tasted like heaven! Airplane peanuts and breakfast sucked, note to self to bring snacks next time. That or some instant ramen and a kettle!

(A/N: What do you guys think so far? -is nervous- This is my first time writing about Hyoutei and doing an AU! Ooh double threat! XD Next chapter: Oshitari meets Gakuto and Jiroh! Look forward to it!)