Chapter 2

After P.E. the boys headed back to the locker room to change. Eiji sighed in relief as he changed.

"Hard first day?" Yut-Lung asked.

"I guess I was really nervous," Eiji chuckled a bit.

"You'll get used to it. You'll be lost for a bit but over time you'll learn." Yut-Lung chuckled as he finished up.

"You're right." Eiji smiled as he finished changing.

"Come." Yut-Lung said as he gathered his things and started walking.

Eiji quickly got his stuff and followed Yut-Lung who took him back to Ash and his friends who just finished changing.

"Hey Eiji ready?" Shorter asked.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Eiji asked.

"Yes come on. It will be fun." Ash chuckled as they all walked out of the school.

"And where are we going?" Yut-Lung asked.

"I'm thinking about the parks and museums for today." Ash said as they walked.

"We're gonna get kicked out again." Sing said.

"We get kicked out because you guys don't listen to the rules." Shorter snickered.

"It's pretty fun though." Cain smiled.

"You'll see soon enough that these guys are pretty goofy." Ash whispered to Eiji.

"Are you not goofy?" Eiji asks.

"I can make jokes but they're more on the goofy side. You'll see soon." Ash winked and smiled as they headed to the park first. As soon as they got there Ash saw two little bodies tackle Ash to the ground.

"Hey Ash!" Two young boys yelled happily. One had an black afro and brown eyes while the other had light brown hair and blue eyes.

Ash chuckled and rubbed the two boy's heads. "Skipper Michael what are you two doing here?"

"Mom brought us to the park!" Michael smiled.

"And we saw you guys so we came to surprise you." Skipper smiled.

"Haha I see." Ash sat up, "Say hi to Eiji, he transferred to our school from Japan and we're showing him around."

Skipper and Michael looked at Eiji who waved.

"Hello." Eiji smiled a bit.

"Hi!" Michael smiled shyly.

"Hi Eiji." Skipper went up to him. "I'm Skipper! That's Michael!"

"Nice to meet you both." Eiji smiled.

"Is this your first time in New York?" Skipper asked.

"Yeah. I moved with my uncle a few days ago." Eiji said.

"Skipper we can show him our fish friends." Michael said.

"Oh yeah! Come on Eiji we'll show you around." Skipper said as he and Michael each took one of Eiji's hands and pulled him towards the lake. Eiji smiled as he followed them.

"Well look at that, Michael must like him if he isn't scared." Cain pointed out.

"It's good though. Michael is starting to adjust more." Ash said.

"Come on we should help him before they run off." Shorter chuckled as they followed Eiji, Skipper, and Michael.

"If you put bread in the water they come out." Michael said as he gave Eiji some crumbs. "Wanna try?"

"Sure." Eiji smiled as he put some of the crumbs on the water as fish started to eat it. "That's really cool."

"Yeah! This one is Splish." Michael points to one of the bigger flish.

"And this one is Sploosh." Skipper points to a smaller fish.

"Do you know all the fish?" Eiji asked.

"Some of them. A lot of fish are shy so only some of them like us." Michael put some more crumbs in.

"But Splish and Sploosh always come when we bring bread to them." Skipper smiled, "They're our friends."

"They must like you two a lot then." Eiji smiled.

"Be careful to not overfeed them." Ash said behind Eiji who froze a bit.

"We know Ash." Skipper smiled, "We remember."

"I didn't hear you come behind me." Eiji said.

"I'm light on my feet." Ash chuckled. "Come on you two I'm buying hot dogs for everyone."

"Did you see mom?" Michael asked.

"Yeah she's with everyone right now. Come on." Ash smiled as Skipper and Michael ran off to find everyone else.

"They're very active." Eiji smiled.

"Yeah they are. I'm glad they like you. Skipper isn't picky with people but Michael is pretty shy. He has trouble making friends." Ash said.

"It must be nice to have a friend like you in his corner then." Eiji smiled, making Ash blush a bit.

"Um yeah well I live with his family so I guess he likes me." Ash said.

"Are you related?" Eiji asked.

"My brother and Michael's dad were army buddies. He took me in when my brother died." Ash said.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Eiji put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine. I'm over it. I like living with them, even if Max is annoying. Ah Max is Michael's dad." Ash said.

"Are you happy with them?" Eiji asked.

Ash smiled and patted Eiji's head, "Yeah but don't tell Max or Jessica they'll never let it go."

"Your secret is safe with me." Eiji smiled.

"Come on, let's get you a New Yorker hot dog. You'll love it." Ash smiled as they walked to the hot dog stand.

When they got there everyone was eating. A tall woman with blonde hair and blue eyes looked at Eiji.

"Ah so this is the new friend the boys were talking about." She smiled. "I'm Jessica, Michael's mom."

"Ah hello ma'am, I'm Eiji." Eiji smiled.

"The boys tell me you're from Japan. It's a very lovely country." Jessica said.

"Have you been before." Eiji asked.

"Yes before Michael was born my husband and I took a vacation there." Jessica said. "What part of Japan are you from?"

"Izumo. It's a small town in the Shimane prefecture." Eiji said. "Where did you visit?"

"Oh my all over I believe, we spent a few days in Tokyo, a few days in Osaka…" Jessica and Eiji talked about Japan as they rest listened in amazement.

"There's a lot of places in Japan huh?" Skipper said.

"Maybe we can visit it one day." Michael smiled as he ate his hot dog.

"I think Japan is really far." Sing said. "You have to be in a plane for like hours."

"We can do it. Right Skipper?" Michael said.

"Yeah we'll play games to pass the time." Skipper smiled as he ate his hot dog.

"I don't think you can be really loud in a plane." Cain said.

"Have you been on one?" Skipper asked.

"Nope. Maybe one day." Cain chuckled.

"Michael you've been on a plane before." Yut-Lung said.

"Yeah but I was sleepy so I don't remember much." Michael pouted a bit.

"Yut-Lung you travel to China a lot no?" Shorter asked.

"Yes for the holidays to visit family." Yut-Lung said.

"I like the drinks you make Yut." Michael smiled.

"I like the cookies more." Skipper said. "When are you gonna bring us more?"

"In a few days." Yut-Lung chuckled.

"Is that a promise?" Skipper and Michael asked at the same time.

"Yes I promise." Yut-Lung said.

"Gonna give us cookies Yut-Lung?" Shorter asked.

"You have those cookies in your restaurant." Yut-Lung pointed out.

"But yours taste good too." Shorter chuckled.

"He's right. Your cookies do taste good." Ash said as he held two hot dogs.

"Well if you insist that they're so good maybe I'll bring some for you guys." Yut-Lung said.

"I can't wait." Ash chuckled before going to Eiji. "Here a real New York hot dog."

"Ah thank you." Eiji smiled as he took a bite. He gasped and covered his nose. Everyone looked at him as Eiji chewed and swallowed. "The mustard is so strong." Eiji said as everyone laughed.

"Strong? Are you sure?" Ash chuckled.

"I think it might just be the spices in it. I'm not used to it." Eiji said.

"Do you like it Eiji?" Michael asked.

"I do. It's really good." Eiji smiled as Michael giggled.

"Take another bite then!" Skipper giggled.

Eiji smiled as he ate it even though he kept holding his nose causing the others to tease him.