"Kamijou…? Kamijou, wake up."

Hiroki stirred and muttered incoherently in his sleep. He vaguely felt a hand shaking his shoulder.

"We're here."

Hiroki's eyes snapped open and he shot up into a sitting position. Shinobu was sitting in the free seat on the opposite side of Fuyumi, where he was feeding her formula and smiling at Hiroki. Miyagi was still in the seat across from the aisle, playing with Eiji's feet in his lap.

"Wha-? We're here?" Hiroki asked stupidly. He turned to the window and peered outside.

He couldn't suppress his gasp of surprise, and his mouth fell open.

All around the airport were hundreds upon hundreds of huge trees, all blanketed in snow. Big snowflakes drifted down from the skies, glinting in the winter sunlight. Hiroki pressed his nose against the window in wonder, absolutely entranced by the sheer number of trees around him.

"I've never seen so many trees in my life!"

"Welcome to Kalmar County," Miyagi commented from the opposite side of the aisle. "There's a lot of forest area here because it's so close to the Baltic."

"Amazing," Hiroki breathed in disbelief.

"We'll be heading more towards the inland, though. Me and Shinobu live in Kronoberg County, to the west," Miyagi said.

The pilot of the airplane announced their arrival, and the other passengers on the flight began filing down the aisle towards the exit of the plane.

"Come on, Kamijou. You'll see plenty of Sweden on the drive to Kronoberg," Shinobu coaxed as he buckled Fuyumi into her baby carrier and tucked her into a warm blanket. He put her panda hat on her little head.

"…Yeah," Hiroki murmured. It took some gently pulling from Shinobu to get him to stand and grab Fuyumi's character. Shinobu and Miyagi led him to the front of the plane. They stepped down the short staircase. Hiroki stumbled slightly, his legs shaking like jelly from sitting down for so long.

"Careful," Miyagi said with a grin. They walked towards the main building of the airport, rushing slightly to get out of the snow. Once inside, Hiroki gazed in wonder at all of the signs. He could hardly understand any of it, the strange letters of the Swedish language alien to his Japanese eyes. Shinobu and Miyagi, however, looked completely calm. They walked up to a desk, where a male receptionist smiled at them.

"Hej! Hur var din flygning?" the receptionist asked, smiling. Hiroki blinked, taken aback. He had to remind himself that he was in a different country. He glanced at Miyagi, who grinned back at the receptionist as he pulled his passport and some papers out of his pocket.

"Hej. Det var bra, men maten dålig!" Miyagi said cheerfully. The receptionist laughed heartily, taking Miyagi's papers and passport.

"Ja, ja, vi kommer att mycket!"

The receptionist grinned slightly at his monitor as he glanced at the papers and typed something into his computer. When he was finished, he handed Miyagi's passport back and kept the papers.

"Era papper verkar vara för," he said, giving Miyagi another kind smile. He then craned his neck to see Eiji in his baby carrier in Shinobu's hand. He pointed to Eiji and glanced up at Miyagi. "Vem är en mor?"

Miyagi and Shinobu both smiled gently, and Shinobu stepped forward to shake the receptionist's hand. Miyagi put an arm around Shinobu's shoulder and squeezed.

"Shinobu moder. Vi använde Append-X."

Hiroki perked up as he finally heard a word that he understood. He tensed, looking at the receptionist and waiting for the look of disgust. However, none came. Instead, he beamed.

"Jag ser, jag ser! Gratulationer!" the receptionist exclaimed happily. He then turned to Hiroki, his eyes resting on Fuyumi's baby carrier. "Vem är du?"

Hiroki went rigid, vaguely recognizing the phrase from his Swedish-to-Japanese dictionary. The man was asking him who he was.

"A-Ano…" Hiroki trailed off. He gulped. "…Mitt n-n-namn är Kamijou H-Hiroki."

The receptionist blinked and turned back to Miyagi.

"Kan han tala Svenska?"

"En liten, men inte mycket," Miyagi answered. Hiroki huffed.

"Miyagi, I can't understand a single thing that's being said!" he exclaimed. Miyagi grinned at him.

"Well yeah, you're in a completely new country. Don't worry, me and Shinobu will help you out."

"You should have seen him the first time we came here," Shinobu laughed, rolling his eyes. "He kept asking the receptionist for a smoke, thinking he was saying something about his passport."

"How the hell did you guys learn Swedish so fast?" Hiroki asked incredulously. "It's only been like, what, three months?"

"We had a bit of help," Shinobu said. Hiroki opened his mouth to say more, but Miyagi nudged him.

"He wants your passport and Fuyumi's papers, Kamijou," Miyagi said. Hiroki turned hurriedly to the receptionist and quickly handed him the passport and papers. The receptionist smiled and turned to his computer.

"Är detta er första gången i Sverige?" he asked with a smile. Hiroki glanced at Miyagi questioningly.

"He asked if it's your first time in Sweden," Miyagi whispered. Hiroki nodded and turned back to the receptionist.

"Ja," he replied quickly. The receptionist smiled, stamped Hiroki's passport, and handed it back to him.

"Välkommen till Sverige!"


"So, are we going to ride a bus or a taxi or what? This is a lot of luggage!" Hiroki said, gesturing to the huge luggage bags that surrounded him, Shinobu, and Miyagi.

"Actually, we-" Shinobu began. He glanced at something over Hiroki's shoulder and burst into a wide smile. "Alrik! Hej!"

Hiroki blinked and looked over his shoulder. A man who appeared to be a little older than Miyagi was running towards them, waving. His golden, windswept hair bounced atop his head as he ran, and energetic, bright green eyes flickered with joy. He skidded to a halt in front of Miyagi and Shinobu, panting.

"Hej!" he exclaimed, flashing the small group a huge, dazzling smile. Hiroki peeked out from behind Miyagi's shoulder, eyeing the man. He had an incredibly athletic build, but although his muscles were big, they were made less intimidating by his kind, gentle face. His nose was dusted a light pink color, and freckles were sprinkled all over his cheeks. His attire was similar to Nowaki's: dark.

"Kamijou, this is Alrik Hedman. He's our friend, and the man who taught us Swedish," Miyagi said, reaching behind him to grab Hiroki and force him out into the open. Hiroki squealed and clutched Fuyumi's carrier to him. "Alrik, detta är Kamijou Hiroki."

"You speak Swedish?" Alrik asked in stiff, slightly mispronounced Japanese. Hiroki blinked.

"Uh… not a lot of it. I know some common phrases," Hiroki replied.

"I see. Will speak Japanese so you understand, ja?"

"Um… yeah. Ja."

Alrik turned to Miyagi and Shinobu and smiled at Eiji.

"You had baby! Where is twin?" Alrik asked, glancing at Fuyumi. "That twin?"

Shinobu frowned and Miyagi sighed.

"He was stillborn, Alrik," Miyagi said solemnly. Alrik's smile faded and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What you say? Twin was what?"

Shinobu said something in quiet, grim Swedish. Alrik's eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his mouth.

"Oh! Am so sorry!"

"It's alright. We have Eiji," Miyagi said, smiling gently at his Swedish friend. Shinobu smiled as well and lifted Eiji's carrier for Alrik to see.

"Eiji? He a boy, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, gratulationer! Han är mycket söta!" Alrik exclaimed. He then paused and turned to Hiroki. "Am sorry, I mean that Eiji is very cute."

Alrik then looked at Fuyumi and smiled.

"What is baby's name? Boy or girl?"

"She's a girl. Her name is Fuyumi."

"She very cute, too!" Alrik said. He glanced around. "Where is wife? She here?"

Miyagi reached out and put a hand on Alrik's shoulder.

"Kamijou är homosexuell. His lover is back in Japan. He came here for the same reason we did."

Alrik frowned.

"His house torched, too?"

"No. He was axe raided."

"Oh. Kamijou has man for lover? He use Append-X, also?" Alrik asked, tilting his head. Hiroki flushed scarlet, whipping his steely gaze to Miyagi.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that you were gay, Kamijou. Stop worrying so much. We're in a tolerant country, now," Miyagi replied, putting a reassuring hand on Hiroki's shoulder. Hiroki gulped and turned shyly to Alrik.

"J-Ja… I gave birth to Fuyumi. I used Append-X," he said, almost sheepishly. There was a pause.

"That very cool! Very, very cool! It amazing how far science has come, ja?"

Hiroki blinked up at Alrik. A slow, shy smile spread across his face.

"Yeah… it really is."

Alrik grinned and turned back to Miyagi and Shinobu.

"So? Let's get luggage to van, ja? Roads are little icy today, but no worry, I am good driver."

"Wait. Kamijou, what's your address?" Miyagi asked. Hiroki blinked and dug around in his pocket. He retrieved a piece of folded paper and handed it to Miyagi, who unfolded it and quickly skimmed it.

Then skimmed over it again.

"No fuckin' way," Miyagi said in disbelief. Hiroki blinked.

"What is it?" Hiroki asked fearfully. Miyagi snickered.

"Shinobu, check this out," he said. Shinobu craned his neck to read the address, and he burst into a wide smile.

"Who would've guessed?"

"What is it?" Hiroki demanded angrily. Miyagi smirked at him.

"Say 'hej' to your new next door neighbors."