A/N: I hadn't realized that it had been so long since I last updated...sorry about that.
This will probably be another filler chapter. I'm planning for the next stop on the trip to be Yellowstone National Park, but that's quite a distance away from Arizona. Therefore, since I don't want there to be two chapters in a row where they visit a national park, I'll devote this chapter to what happens when the family is just driving along.
Disclaimer: I don't own GX, which is probably what you all have come to expect by now.
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Everyone was quiet once they got back in the van. This might have been because they were all fast asleep from their long day at the Grand Canyon.
Mr. Manjoume was a bit jealous. His wife and kids got to take a nap, but did he ever get to do so? No, because he was driving. If he were to go to sleep, the car would crash.
Right now, Mr. Manjoume really wished that he had a cup of coffee. He had never liked the beverage in Japan, but had grown addicted to it because it was the only hot beverage that most of the hotels had. And the way the whole family had so quickly gotten adjusted to eating American food, Mr. Manjoume really shouldn't have been surprised that he'd take such a shine to coffee.
But the point was, there WAS no coffee in the van, and Mr. Manjoume was in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.
With that thought, Mr. Manjoume took the first exit he saw that had a hotel.
Everyone else in the van was more than a bit cranky about being woken up.
Some people, like Mrs. Manjoume, were subtle about being in a bad mood. Some, like Jun, were not. Mr. Manjoume now had a bite mark on his arm to prove that last fact.
Mr. Manjoume decided that he might have to have a talk with his wife about the need to discipline Jun some more.
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The rest of the night was uneventful. For the fourth night in a row, Jun refused to take a bath. That was another thing they'd have to work on soon, because Jun was starting to have a less-than-clean smell about him.
The next day found them back on the road. Their next planned destination was Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, so they had two days of virtually uninterrupted driving ahead of them. Since the kids were used to visiting at least one place per day, it wasn't too many hours before they began to show signs of boredom.
Mr. Manjoume would never be sure about when the trouble started. He was too busy focusing on the road to concentrate too much on what was happening in the back seat, and Mrs. Manjoume was taking a nap. At any rate, however, one of the kids somehow got it into his mind that it would be a great idea to pester one of the other siblings.
Mr. Manjoume began to suspect that something was going on when he started hearing whispers coming from the back seat. Said whispers went something like this:
"Stop poking me!"
"I didn't poke you."
"Yes you did!"
"Did not."
"Did too."
There then followed a long string of "Did not"s and "Did too"s.
At first, Mr. Manjoume ignored this. Chosaku and Shoji were getting to be big kids-Mr. Manjoume was sure that they'd find a mature way to settle this dispute. With that thought, he turned all his attention back to driving.
For the next few minutes, the van grew quiet again. Then:
"HEY! Why'd you do that?!"
"Well, YOU started it, remember?"
"No, YOU started it!"
Mr. Manjoume decided that it might be a good idea to end this conflict. He looked over the back of the seat and asked, "Just what is going on here?"
The older boys said simultaneously while pointing at each other, "HE STARTED IT!" Jun said nothing, but was pointing an accusing finger at each of his older brothers.
Mr. Manjoume replied, "It doesn't matter WHO started it, okay? Shoji and Chosaku, you know you're old enough to know better. Now...if you're bored, you should think up a game to play! How about you play 'I Spy'?."
After a brief pause, Chosaku said in a monotone, "How about we don't?"
Mr. Manjoume was taken aback. He demanded just what was wrong with that game.
Chosaku spat out, "It's a game for little kids. How do you expect me to enjoy a BABY GAME?"
Mr. Manjoume wasn't sure just why Chosaku thought he was too old to play "I Spy", yet young enough to get involved in poking wars with his younger brothers. Then again, the brains of teenagers could be very complex at times like this.
After that, Mr. Manjoume was finally beginning to think that things had calmed down. Shoji started up his handheld game device, and, judging by the rustling of paper that was audible, Chosaku was reading some sort of magazine.
However, apparently Mr. Manjoume had not learned his lesson last time...things NEVERstayed calm in this van.
The turmoil started anew when Shoji asked politely enough, "Hey, nii-san, what are you reading?"
Chosaku snapped back, "None of your business!"
Shoji was apparently used to Chosaku's rude behavior by now, so he remained relatively unperturbed. He asked once again if he could please see what Chosaku was reading.
And, once again, Chosaku answered with an emphatic refusal.
If he thought that would deter Shoji, he was wrong. In fact, it just seemed to make Shoji more interested in this mystery piece of reading material.
"Why won't you just let me see?" he implored.
"Because you're too young to appreciate it."
"No I'm not! I promise!"
"Yes...you ARE, Shoji."
Shoji finally sounded annoyed after Chosaku made that last remark. He said, "But I am old enough! Just let me see it! How bad could it be?"
Finally, Chosaku grudgingly agreed. Mr. Manjoume felt some relief now that the conflict had apparently been resolved.
However, just seconds after Chosaku passed the magazine to Shoji, the latter let out an exclamation of mixed disgust and amusement.
"EEEWWWWW! The woman in that picture is...HEY DAD, GUESS WHAT CHOSAKU WAS READING?!"
As Mr. Manjoume pulled over onto the side of the road, he hoped that this wasn't what he thought it was.
Most unfortunately, though, it was EXACTLY what he thought it was.
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To make a long story short, Chosaku was re-exiled to the last row of seats and grounded for yet another month. Jun found the magazine on the floor and started ripping pages out of it just for fun.
Not much else happened until they stopped for lunch, and Mrs. Manjoume finally woke up.
"Well, I hope you all did fine without me!" she half-joked. Then she saw the ripped-out magazine pages that were littering Jun's carseat and the floor.
"What's all that paper doing on the car floor?" she asked while pointing at it.
Mr. Manjoume hurriedly said, "Oh, it's nothing!" and gathered all the paper into one heap. He threw both it and the remains of the magazine into the dumpster at the back of the restaurant. He just hoped that the wind wouldn't blow all the pages around after they left.
Mrs. Manjoume raised an eyebrow at this strange behavior, but evidently decided it wasn't worth pursuing further as the family walked into the latest in their long line of family restaurant stops.
A/N: Probably not my best chapter, because Mr. Manjoume is kind of boring to write for. My favorites are Jun and Chosaku. Fortunately, their chapters are coming up next, so those might be funnier.