Kaoru stepped off the plane, utterly exhausted. He was pretty sure that had to be a coincidently horrid night for the staff, as none of the flight attendants had responded to his inquiries/desires with much enthusiasm. He also hadn't slept a wink the entire ride to California, where he needed to transfer flights. Who'd ever heard of such a thing, anyway? Kaoru was more than frustrated, as he was stuck in a foreign airport for three hours while his flight was delayed. Poor Demon Dog was stuck in a pet carrier the entire time with cargo. He was already exhausted from preparing for his trip, and from the insanely over the top, surprise birthday party/going away party his mother and the host club had thrown for him and his brother. Tamaki had conspired a bit with their mother to go crazy with the French clown theme, and it was a cornucopia of noise and colors. Kaoru was excited about the festivities, but demanded no presents. However, a small silver clover charm now dangled from his neck.
"Sorry, Kaoru," Haruhi sounded anything but, as she handed one of the matching necklaces to Hikaru. "I know you said no gifts, but these came in pairs! I know they're not expensive, but I just thought they were so cute! So you have to take the other one for Hikaru."
Hikaru, of course, was overjoyed at the thoughtful present from his female friend, and even more overjoyed at the displeased scowls emanating from Tamaki nearby. Kaoru just smiled fondly at his brother and held out his hand for the matching necklace. "They are kind of cute," he admired, holding his up to the light before putting it on. "Why a clover?"
"Cause you guys are lucky to have each other, and we're lucky to know you!" Haruhi smiled in her rare, sweet way. "Happy birthday!"
"AAAAH!! HARUHI YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!" Tamaki gushed, hugging her tight against his chest and spinning around in circles.
"Hey! Put me down!!"
Kaoru had to smile remembering it all. 'Oh well, this too shall pass, as they say.'
But as each hour dragged on into another, "what the hell' was all he could think as he slowly tripped his way back up the ramp when he thought he finally heard his seat number called.
"Excuse me, sir," a foreign English voice snapped him out of his disgruntled reverie. "You've been randomly selected for a search. If you'd please step this way…" the employee gestured towards a rather unfriendly looking security guard with a metal detector.
"Oh, okay." Kaoru was too tired to fuss at this point. He walked over to the man with the grim look. "Hi, how are you doing?" he tried his best to make his English sound natural.
"Spread 'em," the guard said flatly.
"Uh, nani?"
The policeman just sighed, abruptly jerked Kaoru's arms in the air, and quickly scanned him with the detector. An obnoxious beep echoed around the room when it passed over his groin area.
'Oh, belt,' Kaoru quickly removed the offending object from under his shirt, and let the officer continue his job. He was trying his best not to feel utterly humiliated at the stares from the other passengers, suddenly wondering if Haruhi had to deal with things like this all the time back home. He doubted it.
"Clean," the security guard's voice was just as flat as previously. He gave Kaoru a small shove back towards the boarding line. Kaoru couldn't help but feel like a farm animal being herded, and without thinking, pushed the man's hand away from his shoulder in irritation. The policeman gave a slight guffaw at the motion and laughed. "Brat!" he sneered, turning back to the conversation he was having before the interruption.
'Commoner!' Kaoru seethed inwardly. He was trying his best to put on a brave face, but it was the first time he'd been completely surrounded by such unfamiliarity. The land, the people; he knew it would be different, but he didn't' expect it to be so disorienting. For the first time, he was beginning to regret having come here without Hikaru. He knew how much easier his brother would have made everything. He wouldn't have given the blank stares he was constantly receiving a second thought if his brother were at his side. In the very least, he could have chalked it up to just how fetching they looked together, but now, he didn't know what to do. Was he supposed to stare back? That didn't seem to go over big. Was he supposed to just ignore it? That seemed to work better.
Kaoru slumped down in his cushioned, yet still uncomfortable chair. Well, at least he was next to a window.
"Hey, dude, can I sit there. I get wicked sick unless I'm next to a window."
Kaoru stared at the native beach boy who had just accosted his ears. "Yes, okay…" he muttered, moving over to the middle seat.
"Thanks, Jap!"
Kaoru just pretended to not hear, and put on the headphones his brother had leant him for the trip. His stomach was already in knots. Maybe this was a really bad idea… Kaoru glanced at his watch and saw it was three in the morning back home. He leaned back in the uncomfortable seat and slowly started to doze. He didn't wake until his row mate began poking him.
"Little duuuuuude," he whispered, roughly. "Weeee're heeeeere."
Kaoru blearily opened his eyes, squinting. It was completely dark outside the plane windows. He slapped the hand rudely jabbing into his arm with a stern frown.
"Well, excuse me!" The Californian scoffed. He plowed passed Kaoru's legs to the main aisle, grabbing a duffle bag from overhead. Kaoru immediately regretted his actions, and sighed with his head hanging low.
'Quite the impression I'm making on my big debut to America,' he though unhappily. He then brightened as he realized he'd finally reached his destination. After most of the passengers had filed past his row, he quickly removed his one bag from the cargo overhead, and sided down the aisle. He couldn't see much outside, but he could already smell the incredibly hot and moist air. He walked limply through the tunnel to the outside gate, and rode the train to the baggage claim concourse, trying to stay brave. Everything was just so odd! Kaoru didn't really know what to make of the half deserted, 'Louis Armstrong Airport' as he lightly stepped through the corridors with his bags. He just hoped that when he reached the outside, his internet friend would be waiting for him.
Having 'claimed' Demon Dog, Kaoru let him run around outside on a long leash, up and down the empty sidewalk. As the minutes slowly ticked by, he found himself wondering about the person he'd be living with. He really didn't know that much about him. He didn't even know his real name, but he did know that 'tarranon' was a big reader, and seemed to put up with the slight language barrier. They hadn't discussed much besides books, but the American had sounded thrilled at the prospect of Kaoru visiting, and had offered him a place to stay if he wanted.
Kaoru tried to fight the anxiety of disappointment as he stood on an empty street outside baggage. He was fingering his cell phone, nervously, and finally speed dialed Hikaru.
"Hey!" Hikaru, still wide awake, yelled over the slight static. "Can you hear me all the way over there?! Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!" Kaoru laughed at the massive concern in his voice. "I'm in!"
"How was the flight?"
"It was alright," Kaoru lied. "I'm waiting for my ride now."
"Why don't you just call a cab?"
"Eh, he said he'd be here." Kaoru looked at the digital time on a display over his head. "I'll give him a few more minutes." He could hear Hikaru yawning on the other side. "It's pretty late over there, why don't you turn in."
"No way! Not until this guy shows up!" Hikaru challenged. "So, how does it look over there?"
"Well…" Kaoru glanced around the empty concrete. "Not like much in the dark."
"Hey, 'host6/9'?" an unfamiliar voice called. Kaoru quickly turned around to see a slightly older boy, with olive colored skin and dark, shaggy hair, staring at him expectantly. He unconsciously gripped the charm around his neck.
"Got to go," Kaoru whispered. "Call you tomorrow."
Before Hikaru could begin to protest, he quickly hung up his phone and directed his full attention to the somewhat scraggly looking youth. The boy laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, so it is you! Wow, this place is deserted late at night. I've never gotten to park in the front row before!" He seemed to be a little nervous, and glanced around, not knowing quite what to say. Neither did Kaoru, really. "Uh, so, the name's Matt! Welcome to the states, I guess! This is your first time here, right?" He thrust out his hand honestly. Kaoru grinned and gave it a firm shake.
"Yeah. Hitachiin, Kaoru."
"Wait!" Matt drew his hand away and spun his finger around trying to think. "Hitachiin's your last name, right? So, I call you Kaoru? Or do you go by your last name? Help me out here; I've been confusing myself with Japanese customs all afternoon!"
Kaoru chuckled. "Kaoru, just call me Kaoru. It's good to meet you!"
"You, too, there guy!" Matt grinned, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. He was slightly taller than Kaoru, but with the way he slouched, they were eye level. "Man, you don't look anything like I thought you would!" he blurted out. Kaoru tilted his head in a questioning way. "I mean, you have red hair! What the hell? And your clothes! They're really cool! I guess you must be part of the hip crowd back home, huh?"
Kaoru shrugged sheepishly, suddenly not trusting his English so much. Demon Dog came padding over to investigate the stranger. Matt drew back in a bit of shock at the sight of the dog. "God damn, that's an ugly dog, man!" he breathed. "Is that yours?"
Kaoru looked at his poor, constantly rejected pet, and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, eh, my dog, Demon Dog. No trouble, I promise!" Kaoru hoped that came out kind of right. The way Matt threw back his head and laughed heartily made him nervous. He stooped down and put his arm around Demon Dog, who just sat there panting with a dumb look.
"What a funny name! No worries, man! I've got a dog too! Pretty much everyone here does! I'll bet they'll be pals in no time." He stretched his arms above his head with a yawn and looked at his watch. "Ah, wow, look at the time! I'll bet you're exhausted! Come on!" he waved at him. "Car's over here." Kaoru quickly shouldered his bag and followed him.
"This is all kind of weird for me," Matt talked as he drove the shabby, broke down Ford Tempo. Every time the engine shuddered, Kaoru nervously looked to Matt for reassurance. When he'd first laid eyes on the car fifteen minutes ago, he had been doubtful the dilapidated thing would even start!
"Na- what?" he startled at the sudden conversation.
"Oh, just having a foreign student come stay at my place for a year. I dunno, sounded like fun when you mentioned it! And god knows I have nothing better to do! Besides, you seem like an okay guy, yeah?"
Kaoru laughed nervously, not quite sure what he meant. "And…what do you do, I mean, where do you work?" he queried.
"Oh, I'm a bartender down at a hole in the wall near the French Quarter. It's a pretty good gig, I was really lucky to get it right after turning 21. My mom knows the owner."
"Oh…" Kaoru nodded, wondering what was so lucky about being a bartender. "And…school, er, college?"
"Ha, school! I dropped out when I was 17 and never went back!"
"B-but you read a lot," Kaoru tried to reason out loud. "Why quit school?"
"Yeah, it's kind of weird when you put it that way…but I like to read. And I guess I do what I like most of the time, which is why school and I was never a good match. Does that make sense?" At Kaoru's blank stare, he just sighed as he veered toward their exit. "Ah, geez, don't get me wrong. I'm not a hooligan or anything. I don't know, I just didn't care about it. But let's talk about YOU! Tell me about yourself. I know you like to read novels, what else do you like to do?"
"Draw."
"Ah, wicked cool! An artist, huh? You'll fit right in here! This town is full of artists! Hey, we'll have to go sightseeing in the next couple days. After all, your school doesn't start for a few weeks, right?"
"Yeah."
"And I mostly work nights, so yeah! Ah, this is going to be so cool! I'm glad you decided to come here! I'm going to make sure this year is one you'll remember for the rest of your life, my friend!"
Kaoru wasn't aware at the time just how true those words would prove to be, but he smiled at the enthusiasm. After that, Matt asked him lots of questions about his family, and life in Japan, but Kaoru gave pretty vague answers to most of them. He could tell Matt was about as common as they got, and had no intention of bringing up his family's fortune and social standing. All he was willing to divulge was that his mother worked in the clothing industry and he had a brother.
"Oh, is your brother older or younger than you?"
"Older." It technically wasn't a lie, right?
"I see. I have four brothers, two older and one younger. They don't live around here anymore, though. So, what do you want to do tomorrow? I have the day off."
Kaoru thought about it for a moment.
"Shopping."
"Shopping?" Matt snorted. "What the hell for?"
"Clothes," Kaoru said simply.
Matt laughed nervously. "Uuuh, shopping for clothes… They didn't have clothes in Tokyo or something?"
"Not like yours, I want your clothes."
"Ah, come on, you don't want to flaunt your funky Asian style all over the place? It's kind of cool!"
"No!" Kaoru frowned. That was really the last thing he wanted.
"Alrighty!" Matt blinked at Kaoru's serious gaze and turned his eyes back to the empty highway. "Guess we're hitting up the Esplanade first thing tomorrow, then."
Matt didn't really know what to make of this weird, quiet, red-headed high school kid now riding in his car. He was obviously from a wealthy family, something he hadn't expected. He wondered why some rich kid would want to come here, especially to stay with some poor guy and go to a public school. Questions began to spark in his mind, but he quickly stomped them out. This whole affair was kind of a lark, after all, and he'd been feeling particularly bored as of late. Besides, he couldn't let his girlfriend think she had been right. She had smacked him upside the head when he told her a foreign exchange student was coming to live with him for a year.
"Come on, Rachel, it'll be fun!!" Matt had whined pitifully. "I've got nothing better to do! It'll be like having a baby! You know how you're always telling me you want one of those!" he joked.
"You're such a retard!!" Rachel practically screamed, smacking him in the shoulder. "How about you stop finding distractions, get a REAL job, and marry me like you promised!"
"Uhh, we were 15 when I promised that."
"Argh! You drive me insane!" she gripped her hands in her long black hair with frustration. "You're always doing the most random things, Matt!! Last week, you were obsessed with GO tournaments, and the week before that, all I heard about was how you were going to own an alpaca farm one day! You're like a psychotic butterfly flitting around all the time, and never actually doing anything!"
"Ouch!" Matt pouted. He then coyly wrapped his arms around her waist and put his chin on top her head. She sighed and leaned against his chest as he stroked her hair. He knew she always found that particularly irresistible.
"What parents in their right mind would let their son come live with you, anyway…" she muttered. He laughed, and ruffled her hair.
"Very distracted ones, I guess! Just from chatting with him, he seems to be quite the independent little fellow. He has pretty bright opinions too, for a seventeen year old."
"Matt," her voice was flat as she pulled away from him. "You better not teach this kid to be an irresponsible bum like you," she warned. "I swear to god, if I find out you've been giving him alcohol or keeping him up all night with your random parties, I'll call his parents and his little Asian butt will be back in China so fast, it'll make your head spin!"
Matt feigned a shocked look. "Who, me? Give an underage kid alcohol? I'm hurt you would even suggest such a thing! Oh, and he's from Japan, not China."
"Whatever!" she growled. "Matt, this kid's not your plaything. You need to grow up!"
Matt heaved a sigh as he pulled the car over to the side of some cracked, dimly lit road in front of a string of old, city houses. "Well, here we are! Home sweet home!" The driver side door popped open with a rusty creak. "Here, I'll help you with your bags."
Kaoru sleepily tumbled out of the car and let Demon Dog out of the backseat. He followed Matt, who had the rest of his luggage, up large stone steps to the front porch. He noticed how high the main level of the house stood from the ground, and asked Matt about it.
"Oh, that's because of the flooding." Matt explained in a quiet whisper. "New Orleans is below sea level, so floods can happen kind of easily. Luckily, I live on the top floor.'
Kaoru was surprised, but took the hint that other residents were sleeping and didn't say anything more after stepping through the front door. The first thing he noticed in the dark foyer was the strange smell of old wood, mold, and whatever someone had been cooking in the kitchen earlier that day. The second thing was the way his foot seemed to sink a little into the worn carpet with each step, accompanied by loud squeaking from the ancient floor boards underneath.
"Here, let me take Demon Dog. I'll go put him downstairs where my dog sleeps."
Kaoru handed Matt the leash, and tried to peer into the darkness around him. The walls were an odd, bright red color, and he could see the outlines of various picture frames covering them. It was hard to make the pictures out, though. In an adjoining room, there was an old antique chair with books scattered all around. Kaoru guessed it was a study/library of sorts. A strange table with handles lining either side in the middle of the room caught his attention. It seemed to be full of horizontal, metal bars, with wooden figurines lining them. Kaoru slowly turned one of the handles, and watched the little men in the corresponding row flip in circles.
'Very strange…' he mused.
"Oh, hey, you play Foosball?" Matt asked, having returned from the basement. Kaoru quickly stepped away from the table, shaking his head. "Oh, well. Come on, let me take you upstairs."
Kaoru followed Matt up a narrow flight of steps and he let them through a rickety wooden door at the top with an old brass key. He pushed open the door and shuffled through with the bags. "Alright, this is it!" his voice was louder now that they were behind a closed door. "It's not much, but, ya know. It's got everything you need."
Kaoru looked around in amazement at the golden colored room with beaded lamps and illustrated, Mardi Gras posters with local bar logos scattered about. An old record player stood next to sliding glass doors, which led to a small balcony overlooking the backyard. There was a strange, flat looking couch along the side of the wall with a little stand next to it, and a small bathroom opposite. Kaoru guessed the other door he saw led to the actual bedroom and on the other wall there was a small closet and a very old looking upright piano. The décor was haphazard, and the room small, but it was all rather cozy in a way. His host was already adjusting the couch so that it lay flat like a bed.
"Yay, futons!" he cheered, and grabbed some folded up, flowery bed sheets sitting on the floor. "Borrowed these from my girlfriend's mom's house," he spoke absent mindedly as he spread out the bottom sheet. "I know they're kind of fugly looking, but beggars can't be choosers, right?"
Kaoru caught the other side of the top sheet and helped put it on. He tried to stifle a laugh at the icky green coloring and course, synthetic feel. His mother would die before she let sheets like this into their house back home. "They are perfect, thanks!" he smiled.
"Oh, pillow!" Matt raced into the other room and returned with a pillow stuffed with goose feathers. "Here, this is a good one." He threw it to Kaoru on the other side of the bed, and then opened the sliding door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've been dying for a smoke since we left the airport."
"Ah!" Kaoru pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and held them up. He knew how seriously they took underage smoking in America, but he guessed someone like Matt wouldn't mind.
"Oh, a smoker, huh? I knew I liked you!" Matt bowed towards the door. Out on the balcony, Kaoru could hear only the noise of crickets chirping and a few cars speeding past the main highway in the distance. Looking over the railing, he could see Demon Dog and his new canine friend carrying on in the small fenced in yard below. The damp, quiet surroundings reminded him of the night he'd spent outside by the park after the accident, but somehow the thought didn't seem unpleasant.
"It is very peaceful here." he commented, gazing off into the distance.
Matt exhaled a stream of spoke and scratched at the tag on the back of his plain black T-shirt. "I guess that's a way of putting it. I always kind of liked it; can't really imagine living anywhere else. My brothers always couldn't wait to get out of here."
"Why?" Kaoru asked.
"They said this area was too depressed. And they're right, I suppose, but I don't know. I guess I just see more in it than that."
Kaoru looked at him curiously, as Matt dropped his cigarette butt in an empty beer can. He did likewise, and followed him back inside.
"Get to bed, now. You look like you're about to pass out. We'll talk more in the morning." The dark circles under his eyes were evident. Kaoru smiled gratefully, not knowing Matt well enough to realize just how out of character and paternal he was being. He yawned as he opened the door to his bedroom. "G'night!"
"Good night. Thanks for everything."
Kaoru clicked off the small table lamp, and curled up under the unfamiliar sheets like a cat. 'This is a nice pillow,' he thought drowsily, and he hugged it tightly, quickly drifting into a deep sleep.
