A/N: I'm going to be skipping some days that just have driving in them from here on out. It'll cut down on the filler, and also make finishing the story seem like a less-daunting task to me. This is especially true since they're going to be doing a lot of driving through the Great Plains, and five chapters of driving through prairie and cornfields might get boring.

BTW, the part where Chosaku thinks about throwing himself out of the car is based on a real-life vacation experience of mine, when I was trapped in a car with my boring grandparents.

Disclaimer: Ya know what, I think I'll stop putting in disclaimers in all the chapters now. They don't seem to be as mandated as they were when I first joined the site.

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3 DAYS LATER

Well, whoop-de-doo.

It was supposed to have only taken two days of driving to get to Yellowstone. Instead, it had been three and a half days of agonizing torture for Chosaku.

The trip had been drawn out because Mom insisted on driving all the "scenic" trails through the Rockies. They had learned that "scenic" often meant "poorly maintained". So there were a lot of potholes, hairpin turns, and really steep hills. To navigate this, they had had to drive at like .00000001 kilometers per hour or something. But it was all worth it, said Mom, because the mountains were so beautiful.

Driving through the mountains also meant that Jun kept getting carsick at regular intervals. So they kept having to stop to clean him up, and that just delayed things further.

And what did Chosaku have to entertain himself during this tedium? Nothing, that's what, and it was all Shoji's fault!

He'd have to beat up Shoji good when they finally got home. Shoji had made it so all of Chosaku's good magazines had been confiscated. Said magazines had been the only thing that made the vacation worthwhile. America had MUCH better dirty magazines than they had back home, even though they were more difficult to obtain. But it had been worth it, since the American magazines didn't keep censoring all the "below the waist" parts like the Japanese ones did.

And where exactly had Chosaku obtained these magazines? Well, he'd bought a whole bunch from a store in Vegas (Pretending to be 21 again), and managed to hide them among some kiddie magazines. It had been the perfect plan, until Shoji RUINED it! Now all he had were the loathsome kid-oriented publications, and even then Dad kept checking to make sure that they were "appropriate reading material", as he put it.

Sometimes, it got so boring that Chosaku contemplated throwing himself out of the car. Sure, all his bones would be broken, his internal organs would rupture, and he would most likely die, but it would all be worth it. He would have FREEDOM!

Then he remembered that the car was still going like .00000001 kilometers per hour, so he wouldn't get far before he was recaptured. He probably wouldn't be going fast enough to get any cool injuries either. Therefore, Chosaku was resigned to staying in the car like a civilized individual.

Then...just when Chosaku couldn't take it anymore...they arrived at their destination! Which turned out to be yet another boring national park. Oh boy, Chosaku couldn't wait.

He said as much to his mom, and she actually thought he meant it! Either that, or she was just ignoring the sarcasm to make Chosaku mad.

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Chosaku was reading the guidebook they had purchased, just to see the exact amounts of boredom this park contained.

Let's see...they had nature trails; a lake; some hot springs; and a bunch of animals. Yep, that sounded like a thrilling time all right.

Mom then said, "How about we go boating on the lake first? We can sit around and enjoy the scenery-it'll be so pleasant!"

Then she added, "It's so nice to see you taking an interest in this park, Chosaku! I told you it would be fun."

Chosaku rolled his eyes when Mom wasn't looking. But he made no objections to the boating idea. As long as they weren't expecting him to do anything dorky like help with the oars, he could just be free to think his own thoughts.

Thankfully, they rented a motor boat from the lake marina, so no one had to use oars after all. However, after approximately five minutes on the boat, Chosaku was officially bored out of his mind. Also, that smelly life jacket he had been forced to wear was getting on his nerves.

Jun, however, was occupied by the littlest things. He kept sticking his head over the side of the boat, so he could, in his own words, "pet fishies". However, the fish in the lake did not seem to want to be petted very much, and they stayed away from the boat.

Mom once lazily told Jun not to lean too far over the edge, but didn't pursue the issue further. She was too busy looking at the assortment of rocks and trees which she said were "scenic". They just looked like ordinary rocks and trees to Chosaku.

After a while, Jun started getting ticked off that the fish weren't racing over to cuddle with him. So he leaned as far as he could over the edge to get a better range.

Chosaku thought to himself that this wasn't going to end well for Jun. He considered warning his parents, but decided against it. Why should Jun be HIS problem?

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, there was a small cry and a splash.

Chosaku was going to just let Jun suffer for a while. Jun's head was above the surface of the water, and he was wearing the life jacket AND a pair of those inflatable wings, so he was in no immediate danger of drowning. However, Jun just so happened to fall right on front of where Chosaku was sitting. Mom barely had time to scream before Chosaku's reflexes kicked in, and he pulled Jun out of the water.

Dad immediately took the boat back to the shore, so they could dry Jun off. It was Mom's firm opinion that Jun would now be scarred for life, so she convinced Dad to take the rest of this day off. In fact, Jun seemed to get over it pretty quicky. Sure, he bawled annoyingly for a few minutes, but he was more shocked than hurt. By the time they were approaching the marins, Jun had stopped crying. He had started to gaze adoringly at Chosaku.

Chosaku got goosebumps. He did not like the look on Jun's face one bit.

Chosaku's premonitions proved correct. Jun clung on to his leg all the way back to the nearest lodge (where he got dried off), then all the way back to the van. He screamed as Dad tried to put him in his carseat. In the end, they could only get him to calm down by putting him on Chosaku's lap.

Now Chosaku would have to have Jun in his face all the way to one of the park's hotels-literally. Jun wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so he kept turning around and breathing right in Chosaku's face with his annoyingly hot breath. It drove the older boy CRAZY! At least Jun's diaper had been changed at the lodge. Chosaku would have probably died from the stench had it not been changed.

When they were walking to the hotel, Jun resumed the leg-clinging. This made walking quite difficult. Jun was by no means fat, but he wasn't a newborn baby anymore either. Chosaku thus tried to shake him off.

"Stop humping my leg, you little freak!" he said ever-so-kindly while trying to pry apart Jun's arms. Jun only responded by holding on more tightly.

Mom smiled.

"Aww, he likes you! I knew you all would get along someday. How about you look after him tomorrow? I'll pay you."

Chosaku started to emphatically refuse, but Dad glared at him. It looked like he had no choice. Tomorrow, while they spent all day at the park, he would have to BABYSIT!

He could have sworn he heard creepy music playing somewhere in the background...

TBC

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A/N: I decided to make this chapter be a two-parter as well, so I could update more quickly.

Just so you know, Jun isn't deliberately trying to be annoying for once. It's sort of like the whole "You saved our lives; we are eternally grateful." joke from Toy Story 2.