Hey, everyone, I know it's been a long while since I've updated this story, I just had to put it on hold for a bit to think of ideas and such. but, it's back, and this chapter proves it's not dead, I also be editing and checking through past chapters to fix mistakes and stuff while I continue bringing out chapters. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Fourth July, and Party Time

The day started off like any other, I woke up at around nine or ten o'clock and started on breakfast. It was Wednesday, but it wasn't a normal Wednesday though; it was fourth of July, which meant celebrating with my neighbors and friends at this years block party that would last pretty much the whole day.

...This was probably the reason why Ant' was up with me this early in the morning.

"Man, today is gonna be so awesome!" Antoine said from the table behind me in excitement. "I mean, Rika and Hanyu have never been to a block party, I'm sure it'll be fun for them, don't you think, Kev'?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the closest thing they have to a block party in probably the festivals in Hinamizawa. But, I don't thing it's anything like what we do in the city, especially not in America." I turned my head, glancing at him over my shoulder as I continued fixing breakfast, today I was thinking of cooking something a little different today instead of what I usually made; besides Rika loves spicy food so she'll love a good ol' Jamaican breakfast just like my grandma on my dad's side used to make before she past. "Just be sure you don't do anything, alright."

"Awe~ come on, what am I going to do that I haven't done already?" Ant' asked, with one eyebrow raised.

I turned to face him, crossing my arms. "That's what you said last year, remember, and what happens later, ya nearly set the neighbor's yard on fire with the fireworks you shot off."

"Hey, that was an accident! Besides, I apologized to Mr. Mark about that!" Ant' said.

I shrugged. "Still doesn't change the fact that it happened, does it."

"Psst~ whatever," Ant' pouted.

I signed and turned back to the stove. "Anyway, just make sure nothing like that happens, okay. I doubt Mr. Mark will be as forgiving if you burn up his new rosebush."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Watch where I shoot my fireworks," Ant' said, before adding a moment later. "So, Kev~ ...when are we going to wake the girls, I mean it's almost eleven-fifteen, they might sleep the whole day away if we don't. I'll do it since your busy cooking."

"Nah, they'll be fine," I said, continuing to cook the food, "just let them sleep for a little while longer."

The reason why Hanyu and Rika were still asleep, even though they would've usually been up at this time normally, was quite simple really ...video games. They stayed up the most of the night playing Left 4 Dead 2 on two player story mode, Hanyu didn't really play zombie games at night with the lights off, she more so into games like Animal Crossing and Mario bros., but Rika somehow talked her into it.

So, late night was filled with a lot of screaming and 'Auauau's~' ...I swear she's so cute, even when she's scared~.

"Okay, I guess I'd be tired too if I stay up till three in the morning playing video games," Antoine said with a smile, playing with his hair.

The kitchen got quiet, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of a sizzling pan and Ant' drumming his fingers on the top of the table. The past few days have been fun, more so then last summer, though that was a blast as well. We were all happy, and I had the feeling this summer was only going to get better.

"Yo, Ant', why don't you set up the table," I said, glancing at him. "The foods gonna be done in a little bit."

He nodded. "Sure ...hey, I've got a great idea," Ant' said, smiling. "Since your making such a great breakfast, and it is the fourth, why don't we play a bit of music? We haven't used that old stereo in a while."

I thought on it. It was true, we haven't used the old stereo since ...forever, it made me wonder if we should listen to some of mom's old classic hip-hop CD's. I gave him a nod. "Sure, what did you have in mind?"

Ant' got up from his seat and walked into the living, a few moments later he came back with the big, black stereo and a CD case. He placing the stereo on the counter next to the refrigerator and plugged it up, the red dot on the side showing it still worked fine. "Hmm ...let's see," he started in thought, "we've got Kid an' Play, The Jackson 5, or we could listen to Linkin Park or something, or we could listen to this." He finished, lifting up the CD in his hand.

"What is it?" I asked, in all truth I couldn't remember seeing a CD cover like that.

"Well~ you remember a year back when I brought that CD online?"

"Oh ...yeah, you mean the one you kept blasting all day until Kim yelled at you to turn it down?"

"Uh, yeah, that's the one," Ant' said. "I found it when I was looking through the old CD's, but we could listen to something else if ya want."

I shrugged at him. "Naw, that's fine ...wait, does that have the song on there that I said I liked? It was called, Cara-phia."

"You mean, Caraphernelia. Yeah, it's on there."

"Well, then what are you waiting for, put it on!" I said, grinning, pointing the spatula I was holding at ' had his own little groups he listened to, though he was more into rap then anything else, of course, unlike me he kept his bands to himself instead of telling others about them.

"Gotcha~!" He walked over to the stereo and put the CD in the player, closing it. He flipped through the red digital numbers until it got to track four, then he he the play button. The guitar solo started blasting through the speakers first, loud and smoothing, then Ant' started singing the lyrics.

Sunshine, there ain't a thing that you can do that's gonna ruin my night.
(But, there's just something about)
This dizzy dreamer and her bleeding little blue boy.
Licking your fingers like you're done and,
You've decided there is so much more than me.
And baby, honestly it's harder breathing next to you, I shake.
I brought a gun and as the preacher tried to stop me.
Hold my heart it's beating for you anyway.

Ant' didn't have the best voice in the world, but it wasn't exactly bad either. He walked over broom in the corner of the room and picked it up, moving his fingers across as if he was playing a guitar.

What if I can't forget you?
I'll burn your name into my throat.
I'll be the fire that'll catch you.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
None of the colors ever light up anymore in this hole.

As the lyrics stopped for a second, my little brother turned and pointed at me, smiling. "You're up, Kev~!"

I rolled my eyes at him, but started singing along nonetheless. Though, I had to wonder was turning the music up so loud really necessary.

Nobody prays for the heartless.
Nobody gives another penny for the selfish.
You're learning how to taste what you kill now.
Don't mind me, I'm just reaching for your necklace.
Talking to my mom about this little girl from Texas.

What if I can't forget you?
I'll burn your name into my throat.
I'll be the fire that'll catch you.
What's so good about picking up the pieces?
None of the colors ever light up anymore in this hole.

I stopped singing when I heard two pairs of foot steps walking down the steps in the living room, Ant' put the broom up and turned down the volume a little, just as our resident blue haired miko and cute goddess walked into the kitchen. I chuckled, seeing that they were still somewhat tired, wearing their pajama clothes.

"Ah~ so you two are finally awake, morning, girls!" I said with a small wave.

"Good morning, Kevin-san, Antoine," Rika said in her mature voice as she yawned a bit, sitting down at the table.

"M-morning ...how long were we sleep for?" Hanyu asked, taking the seat next to her.

I smiled at her, cutting off the stove. "Oh, it's only two in the afternoon."

"T-two in the afternoon ...auauau~ we didn't mean to s-sleep in that long!" The horned goddess stuttered out.

I laughed. "Ah ha ha, just kidding, it's only close to twelve. You must still be tried if you forgot the microwave has a digital clock on it."

"Auau~ that's really mean, Kevin-san," Hanyu pouted, before yawning. "But …I am still a little tied."

Antoine chuckled. "Well, that's what happens when you play games all night, though I can't really talk. Me and Kev' did the same thing the first time we got Halo 3, stayed up the whole night, was damn near late for school too."

Rika shrugged tiredly. "So, what were you two listening to anyway, it didn't sound like anything you showed me," she asked.

"It's a song called Caraphernelia," I answered. "I don't know the name of the band so you'll have to ask Ant' about that."

"The band Pierce The Veil or PTV, they're pretty good, I haven't listened to them in a while though," Antoine said, before turning to me. "Anyway, what did you fix to eat, I'm starving and the smells not making it any better."

"Yes, what did you make this time, Kevin-san?" Rika asked.

"Oh, nothing much," I said. I fixed four plates of food and put each one on the table, then took the oven mitts off I pointed to each dish on the plate as I told the girls what it was. Each dish fairly easy to make and still just as good as any long cooked meal. "This is ackee and saltfish, I made it mild since I know Hanyu hates really hot food, this right here in the bowl is vegetable run-up," I then pointed to the golden brown fried dumplings. "And these are Johnnycakes made with sweet butter and honey, try it, they're good."

Hanyu was the first one to take up my offer, just like I thought she would. The girl had a major sweet tooth, she pick up one of the dumplings and took a small bite, it only took a moment before I got a reaction out of her. If this were in the anime universe, she'd probably have stars in her eyes right now.

"Wow~ these are really good, Kevin-san!" She exclaimed, taking a few more bites, bigger then the last, before handing one out to the blue haired miko. "Rika, here, you have to try it!"

Rika took it and bit into it, nodding in approval. "She's right, this is good. Crunchy on the out side, but soft inside, and just the right amount of sweetness."

"Aha ha~ Thanks guys, that's really nice of you to say," I said smiling as I ate my ackee and saltfish. "My grandma taught me how to make that when she visited us a few years back, so of course it good, grandma was one of the best cooks I know, funny too."

"Does she live in the city, too?" Hanyu asked, I felt really lucky I made a lot of Johnnycakes because she was really putting them away in that black hole she called her stomach. More so then the other dishes, I should have expected as much.

I shook my head at her question, but Ant' was the one that answered. "No, she pasted away last year. But, our other relatives live in Kingston, Jamaica. We visit when we can, and call and write our cousins every once in a while."

"I'm sorry to hear that ...so, she lived in the islands, I didn't know that," Rika said.

"Yeah, most of my dad's family live in the islands, there are a few up here, though. Like, our uncle lives in New York, and our second cousin lives near the art museum." Ant' explained, "but to be honest, our grandma was the best cook. I remember this one time when we went to visit her with my parents, we were sitting at the dinner table about to chow down," he then motioned his head towards me. "Kev' over here started eating before everyone else, so she got up and slapped him on the back of the head yelling," he then changed his voice into a Jamaican accent. "'Wat's wrong wit cha, boy! You think you can just eat in me 'ouse and not say grace!'"

I grinned at the memory as Rika and Hanyu giggled at me. "Yeah, that's funny now. I didn't think so at the time, though."

"Aha ha! He never did that again, that's for sure," Ant' laughed.

The rest of breakfast was spent sharing stories much like my brother had told. Rika even told me a little about some things that hadn't been seen in the Higurashi anime or novel, like the time Satoko fell off her bike and hurt her knee, or the time Keiichi dressed in as a maid-cat girl costume when he lost in one of their club games. It was turning out to be a really great morning, but we weren't going to spend all day in the house.

"Oh yeah, Rika, Hanyu," I said suddenly. "I want you two to get dressed when were done eating, okay."

" ...Where are we going?" Rika asked.

"No where big, it's the fourth of July block party, so I wanted you two to come with me and Ant'," I answered. "There's gonna be dancing and food, games, a whole lot to do."

"Auau~ a party …? B-but, we aren't really from here," Hanyu said, shyly. "Are you sure that okay, Kevin-san?"

"Of course, it's fine," I said with a chuckled. "And, ya know, you and Rika don't have to keep calling me 'Kevin-san' we're all friends here, and you live with us ...just call me Kevin, hell, call me Kev', everyone else does!"

"S-sure, if you don't mind, then I'll call you Kevin," Hanyu said, giving a cute smile.

Rika smiled. "So, Kevin, is that the whole plan for today?"

I nodded, before getting from the table and stretching. "Yep, pretty much, I've got a surprise for you tonight, though. So be prepared!" The surprise was all of us going to the Penn's landing fireworks, I knew the girls would like it.

"Well, I'm gonna go feed Bern and get dressed," Ant' announced, getting up from the table and running upstairs.

I sighed, shaking my head, that boy would make any excuse to get out of helping clean the kitchen ...or anything for that matter. "I guess that leaves me with the cleaning."

"Auau~ I'll help you clean!" Hanyu said.

"Mii~ I'll help you, too, sir! No one should have to clean alone, we all ate after all!" Rika added, taking on her cute form with a big smile. "Niipa~!"

"Hehe ...thanks girls, you're a lifesaver," I thanked the two.

So with that we cleaned the whole kitchen from top to bottom, we did a way better job together then I would've done alone. Hanyu wiped down the table, Rika swept the floors, and I did the counter and the dishes. Before we knew it, we were finished and getting ready to start a fun day of partying.

~ ~(Part 2)~ ~

It was warm out, and the breeze blew lightly. It felt almost like spring rather then summer outside, the weather was always weird like that, it had a spring feel one moment, then it was incredibly hot the next. You couldn't ask for much better weather then this.

We all walked down the street, watching as everyone in the neighborhood played and had a good time. The really little kids were playing in sprinklers and kitty pools, those who were older rode bikes and played tag, and a few adults had their grills out. Today, I decided to wear a plain my black sandals, a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts. Ant' had on a tank-top, baggy pants and sneakers, and the girls both wore the sundresses that Erika had picked out during our shopping trip, Hanyu's was light blue and Rika had on a red one.

The entire street was blocked off for the day, and since my street only went one way, all someone did parked their van sideways up the street so no cars could come through. As we walked, a familiar elderly woman's voice called out to me and Ant' from my left.

"Ah~ Kevin, Antoine! It's nice to see you again!"

We both turned and saw that it was Mrs. Lee sitting on her porch in the shade, she was an old Chinese woman with long graying black hair and raven black eyes, she lived on the block even before we were born, and we hadn't seen her for the past few days because she had to go to the hospital for a hip injury. But, she seemed to be looking better then ever now.

"Mrs. Lee, hows your hip?" I asked, concerned, "are you sure you should be outside right now."

"Yeah, they said you had a really bad fall the other day," Ant' added.

She chuckled at us. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me, boys. I'll admit I'm not as young as I used to be, but it will take more then a hurt hip to keep this old woman down."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure. The doctor said to rest and stay off my feet for a while, so sitting here watching the fun is no problem." Mrs. Lee said with, tilting her head a little to look behind me. "And, who might these young ladies be?"

I smiled, moving to the side to introduce them. "They're friends of ours, their staying with us for a while because of some ...uh, problems," I said. "Go on, guys, say hi."

"Mii~ it's a pleasure to me you, sir, my name's Furude Rika," Rika said cutely, giving a small bow.

"And, I'm Furude Hanyu ...her cousin," Hanyu greeted, bowing also. "Auau~ I'm sorry about your hip, I hope out get better soon."

Mrs. Lee smiled at the girls. "Awe, thank you, dear. You're both very nice, polite, young ladies, it's a nice change from the hoodlums I see from time to time running around the neighborhood causing trouble."

"You don't have to worry about them, Mrs. Lee," Ant' said, throwing his arms other Rika and Hanyu's shoulder. "These two wouldn't cause trouble for anyone at all, especially, Hanyu. She probably let a bee out the house rather then kill it," he faced to Hanyu, smirking. "Isn't that right, honey-bunch?"

Hanyu blushed, looking down at her feet. Most likely embarrassed about being called 'honey-bunch' in pubic. "Auauau ...I-I don't know, I c-could kill a bee ...if I wanted to."

"Hehe~ you're so innocent, Hanyu, such a merciful person, even to small insects. That's why your my number one girl ...no offense, Rika."

Rika giggled at her companion's flustered face. "Mii~ none taken, sir."

"Is everyone ready to party!" Yelled a voice that sounded like it was coming through loudspeakers, me and Ant' looked down the street and saw that the Dj stand was already setup, which meant that they were about to start the music. "I know you twelfth street kids know who to throw down, am I right!"

"Yeah!" A good amount of kids yelled.

"Then let's start this fiesta off with party anthem of all anthems," the Dj said into the mic. "...Party rock!" The second he said that the beginning of LMFAO's Party rock Anthem started blasting out the speakers.

Party rock!
Yeah!
Whoa!
Let's go!

Party rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time (yeah)!

And we gonna make you lose your mind (whoa)!
Everybody just have a good time (clap)!

"Oh my god! I love this song!" Ant' exclaimed, before turning to the girls. "Do you guys wanna come dance with me?"

Rika shook her head. "I think I'll pass, thanks for asking though."

"Awe, man," he muttered, turning to Hanyu with a smile. "Hanyu, you have to come dance with me!"

"Auau~ I-I don't know."

"Come on, it'll be fun, trust me ...pretty please!"

"Mii~ you should go, Hanyu, it might be fun," Rika added in, smiling at her.

"But ...I-I can't dance like that," Hanyu said, glancing at some of the other kids.

"It doesn't matter if you can do the dance right or not, just have fun with it," I said, patting her head.

"O-okay, I guess I'll try."

"Yeah! lets get going. Don't worry, I'll teach you!" Antoine took the horned goddess by the hand and dragged her over to were a handful of kids were dancing in the street. I couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face as he dragged her along, even Rika giggled a bit.

"Anyway, Mrs. Lee, it was nice seeing you again," I said, smiling.

She nodded. "It was nice seeing you boys, too. And, make sure you keep your little brother out of trouble."

"I will."

The both of us crossed the street and sat down on one of the steps, sitting a little closer to were Hanyu and Ant' were. We were quiet for a while, just watching everyone do their own thing, usually during days like this I'd probably be grilling food too. But, not today, I just felt like relaxing for a while.

"Hey, Rika, can I ask you something," I asked suddenly.

The blue haired miko turned to me with a smile. "Of course, what is it?"

"You and Hanyu ...you guys are happy here, right?"

"Well, yes, why wouldn't we be," Rika answered. "I mine it's the first time we've ever survived until July, so yes, we are very happy, sir."

"I see ...so if I offered to let you guys stay here, permanently, would you? I mean, I know this is sorta sudden, but I just wanted to know ...that's all."

Rika's expression went from childish to serious pretty fast when I asked that, I could tell she was thinking about it. She just wasn't saying anything. "To tell the truth, I'd be tempted to stay," she answered after a moment. "But, as much as I want to, I can't. All of my friends, Satoko, everyone, they're all back in Hinamizawa, probably still suffering because of fate. I've thought about it for a while, maybe I'm just being selfish by staying here as long as I have, they're suffering while I sit around enjoying myself ...not fearing that death will come at every turn ...that my friends will turn and kill me like they have in countless worlds. I have to go back sometime, you know." She said, a saddened expression on her face. "I can't just sit here, knowing that they might be dying at this moment. Even if it means suffering for a hundred more years."

"I thought you'd say something like that," I sighed, sadly. "But, it can't be helped can it, I guess we'll have to find a way to send you back sooner and later."

"...Yeah," Rika agreed.

"Rika! Rika, look, I'm doing the dance!"

We both looked over and saw Hanyu dancing with Antoine and some of the other neighborhood kids. I couldn't help but smile at that, not in a million years would I have ever thought I'd see someone like her doing the Party rock shuffle, or at least the few moves of it she just learned from Ant', who was still helping her.

"Mii~ that's great! Keep it up!" Rika encouraged her. I leaned back on the steps, letting out a sigh as a light breeze blew against my face. Today was a good day.

That night, we all went on to go see the fireworks at Penn's landing, we even met up with Kim there since she was there on crowd control with a few other cops. I felt glad that the girls and Ant' had a good time, but I just couldn't get one thought out of my mind.

...Would things still be this great when the girls returned home, back to there own world.

Man, that was the most I've written in a good while. Remember to review and give suggestions, the next chapter will be out soon. So, until next time, peace~!