Kaoru wasn't sure exactly what a Hurricane was, but he thought they were very tasty, as he started on his second one in a dark, small bar room. As it was a weekday, the place where Matt worked was practically deserted. So they sat at a high top table in a dark corner, near the pool table. Much to Kaoru's liking, he was allowed to smoke at will inside, and proceeded to do so without hesitation. Matt seemed to be nursing his drink a little more slowly, trying to hide an evil grin. Sure, he had questions, and after his new roommate had finished that second Hurricane, he was pretty sure he'd get some.

"I do not understand your language at all!" Kaoru practically yelled above the jazz music playing in the background, as he swung around in circles on his bar stool. The music was loud, but it wasn't that loud.

"Oh, yeah?" Matt had to try really hard not to laugh. "Why?"

"Firstly," Kaoru held up his index finger for emphasis and leaned forward. "A lot of your words are the same, but they mean different things; for example, 'deer' and 'dear', 'flower' and 'flour'. That's really confusing!"

"Okay, sure, but I'm pretty certain you can ascertain the meaning from the context."

"Uhh, I do not understand what you said, but!" Kaoru held up a second finger, "Use of the word 'pretty'. How can you be 'pretty' anything?"

Matt rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ya know, I never thought about it, but you're right. It doesn't make sense, does it?"

"NO!"

Matt couldn't contain a chuckle. "Well, you get used to it. I'll help you out, of course. You'll learn all the colloquial terms in no time. Like, okay, I'll teach you something right now. Around here, we call what you're going to have tomorrow a 'wicked hangover' and you know why you'll have one?"

"Why?" Kaoru asked, still not sure what Matt was talking about.

"Because you obviously can't hold your liquor, and you guzzled that last Hurricane down like a Slush Puppie, or something."

"I'm not holding anything! Argh! What the hell is a slush puppie?! At this moment, I do not like your language!"

"Don't worry about it so much. Why don't we talk about something else, like why you're here," he saw Kaoru stiffen a little, but pretended not to see anything and continued on. "Why would a rich kid like you want to stay in a dump like this for a year? I mean, what you said to Rachel was that you wanted to live somewhere different, right?" Kaoru nodded, not looking up. Matt sighed, leaning back. His eyes narrowed. "So, let me see if I have this straight, you thought you'd live amongst the rats of the world for a while. I mean, what? Is this some weird little experiment for you? Were you that bored back home?"

"Ie- no!" Kaoru suddenly seemed frantically sincere. He had never heard Matt use this tone of voice, and it seemed irritated. "No! I think New Orleans is amazing! I think you are amazing too! You seem so wise and well-read! I thought that, if I were to live away from home, it should be here."

"Yeah, well, I read a lot, that's about it," Matt glanced away for a moment, secretly very flattered. "Why here, though? Seems like you would have been more at home in New York."

Kaoru now glanced away. "Um, yes, New York…"

"Not far enough, huh?"

"No."

"What's eating you, Kaoru?" at the confused glance he received, Matt shook his head. "What's bothering you so much, that you would come all the way down here?"

Kaoru sighed. He hadn't expected Matt to be so interested in his business so early on. But he should have expected it. Matt seemed like the inquisitive type.

"Back home," Kaoru started slowly, trying to choose words carefully, "I feel like I am someone I cannot escape from. I try to do what people expect me to do all the time, but I have changed. I am not the person my friends know anymore, and without leaving, I do not know how to tell them." Kaoru paused to let his words sink in. Had that come out kind of right?

Matt's eyebrows were furrowed, but then shot up in revelation. "Oh! I get it now!"

"Yeah!?" Kaoru's face lit up. That was easier than he thought.

"You're gay, and you can't tell anyone!"

"W-what?"

"Ah, dude, you don't have to worry about saying it to me! I know lots of gay people! And I understand how much someone in your position in life would be shunned if people knew. That's why you ran away!!"

"W-wait, that is not exactly what-," but it was too late, Matt was on a role.

"Oh what a tragic tale!! You couldn't summon the courage to come out to your family and friends, so you ran away to America to be free! Ah, it's so touching, I think I might cry! But wait a second…" Matt's face became serious again. "You know I'm not gay, right? So, you're kind of wasting your time if you think-"

"Shut up!!" Kaoru finally yelled. This startled Matt out of his train of thought, and he sat back without another word as a now agitated Kaoru rambled in his native tongue for a few seconds. "Damn it, I'm not sure why I am here, I just needed to get away from my family and friends for a while! I need to figure out who I am, and not just keep projecting that weak, sniveling creature they all think I am! And I need to get away from HIM!" the words burst out of him without thought. Matt was just staring at him. Finally, with a deep breath, Kaoru returned to English. "I am not a homosexual. It is complicated."

His tone was so calm and matter of fact, Matt burst out laughing. "Oh really, now? Man, I'd like to know what you were just yammering on about before! But whatever! You're here now, and you'll learn to blab in English soon enough!" but his mirth was soon cut short.

"What the fuck you doin' here, eh?" both Kaoru and Matt froze at the gruff, deep voice suddenly behind them.

"Ah, hah! God dammit, Sherrod!" Matt seemed to be a little more on edge as he spoke to the large, muscular, black man staring at him critically. Kaoru looked up and tried not to cower at the ominous looking figure dressed in, what used to be white, chef clothes and hat before him. "You scared the hell out of me, man!"

"Employees aren't supposed to loiter here on their days off, Matt," Sherrod's voice was overly ominous. Kaoru shrank back in his stool a little. "And how old is this kid?" he jerked a thumb in Kaoru's direction. "You bringing minors into my bar, son? What would your momma say about that? Didn't she teach you any better?"

"Heh, no!" Matt grinned. "I was her drinking buddy before she ran off, remember?"

"Ah, yeah…" Sherrod nodded, as if remembering something fondly. "Damn, I miss your mom. When's she commin' back this time?"

"Okay, for one, back off my mom there, guy. That is, unless you're ready to finally admit that you're my papa!"

Sherrod backed away with his arms up in a defense. "Heeellll no, son!"

"Oh, come on, PAPA!" Matt leapt from his chair onto Sherrod's back as he tried to make a hasty retreat. "You know it's true, you just can't ignore the striking similarities between us! Now, how about you let me borrow twenty bucks, dad?!"

"Get off me, you crazy cracker! I gave your punk ass a job, and that's all you're gonna' get from me!" Sherrod wheezed through Matt's neck hold before finally getting a good grip on Matt's arm and almost throwing him across the floor. He straightened out his hat and apron, and cleared his throat. "You should count yourself lucky. If it'd been anybody else bringing a little kid in here, I would have fired their ass on the spot!"

"Ah, I was the only one drinking! Isn't that right, Kaoru?" Matt crossed his legs on the floor where he had landed.

"Y-yes!" Kaoru nodded, frantically pushing the Hurricane glass as far away from himself as possible.

"In fact, this little turkey's living with me for the year and he needs a job. And you know, the bus boy walked out on us the other day. So, how about it?"

Sherrod stared at Kaoru for a moment before cracking up. "Matt, you're just crazy, son! Look at him! He won't last a week here! Too soft! Looks like he hasn't worked a day in his life!"

Kaoru objected strongly. "I have worked ONE day in my life!" he cried vehemently, slamming his palms on the table. Matt and Sherrod both looked at him in amazement.

"One day!?" they both echoed with disbelief.

"Yes!"

"Oh, yeah? Where?" Sherrod queried, his teeth flashing in a grin of suppressed mirth. Matt was busy just gaping at the absurdity.

"At an inn, in Karuizawa!"

Sherrod snorted. "And what did you do for this one day, at an inn, in Karuizawa?"

"Uuuh, well, there was a contest, between my friends and I" Kaoru tried to think of a way to explain it without sounding totally insane. "To see who could be the best…employee. And we won!"

"Whose 'we'?" Matt asked.

Kaoru cupped a hand over his mouth. "I mean, I won."

"So, you were employed at an Inn for a day, in a contest to win…what?"

"A room. They only had one left, and we all wanted to stay there."

Sherrod's right eyebrow shot high into the air. Matt himself was baffled at what the kid was talking about, but put on a bright smile.

"Ah, you see, Sherrod!? He won, 'cause he's competitive and a good worker just naturally. I'll bet if you gave him a chance, he'd be great here!"

Sherrod was silent for a moment, but then threw his hands up in the air with resignation. "God damn, you're a crazy kid!" he pointed at Matt, still sitting on the floor. "And you!!" he directed his attention to Kaoru, who suddenly sat up straight as a board, "You'd better not turn out like the last rich-snot brat I hired! And if I ever catch you in here drinking again, you're both fired! Got it?!"

"YES SIR!!" Kaoru and Matt both rose to their feet in attention.

"Now get the fuck out of my bar! Crazy-assed, white kids, come in here-" Sherrod muttered to himself as he disappeared in the back again. Matt let out a whoop and gave Kaoru a high-five. Kaoru winced and gave his arm a little shake after, but Matt was too happy/tipsy to notice.

"Well!" he crowed as they took to the hot, summer streets again, "That was easier than I thought it would be!"

"Is that why we came here today? So I could get a job?" Kaoru's eyes were wide with admiration.

"Of course not, but the thought crossed my mind at the moment, and I thought, why the hell not go for it. You need a job, right?"

"Yes, I did not know where I should work, but I'm happy I'll be working with you!"

"Ah, look at you, all using contractions!" Matt ruffled Kaoru's hair. Kaoru blushed a little at the open affection and smiled. That night, Wendy had stuffed artichokes and crawfish Étoufée ready for them when they got home. Kaoru loved it all.

The days slowly began to blend into each other, and Kaoru barely noticed the diminishing heat as fall approached. Slowly, he adjusted more and more to Matt and his world's schedule, as he followed him to work each day at the bar. At first, Kaoru thought gathering and washing dishes, and cleaning the tables, chairs, and floors would be easy, but soon discovered it could be grueling, not to mention filthy, work at times. And drunk people seemed to swing both ways. They could be pleasant, or very, very unpleasant, and Kaoru had witnessed Sherrod unceremoniously tossing out a few customers who crossed the line onto the street. But he soon fell into a rhythm of sorts, and Matt had a way of making really droll things always seem fun. Sometimes if Kaoru was finished with all of his work, he would sit at the bar and let Matt practice bartending tricks with him. As he was relatively new himself, a lot of these tricks ended in disaster, broken glass, and Sherrod yelling, but it was fun nevertheless.

Their time off was mostly spent either with Matt's girlfriend, sight seeing, or just goofing off in general. Kaoru often went on long walks on their days off around the water in City Park near Matt's home. At first, it was a necessity, as Matt would sometimes boot him quite unceremoniously out the house if Rachel came to 'visit'. Later on, he came to find the solitude refreshing, and would sometimes sit on the steps of the mausoleum near the lion statutes guarding the banks and read or draw, while Demon Dog had an absolute blast swimming around the pond, chasing the ducks. Often enough, Kaoru found himself just staring across the dark water and sprawling oak branches laden with Spanish moss, ignoring the many comments on just how ugly his dog was.

As promised, every Monday Matt drove him to a private doctor in a more upscale location of the city, and every Monday, Matt griped about having to get out of bed early after working Sunday.

"Damn, do all Japanese people go to the doctor every week?" Matt whined, practically slumping over his steering wheel in traffic. "I mean, are you sick or something?"

"No, just a check up." Kaoru sighed, looking out the window. "I'm sorry, I promised. I wouldn't go, otherwise."

"Oh, jeez, you don't have cancer, do you?!" Matt suddenly became alarmed. "You're not slowly dying or something, right? This isn't like, 'I came to America to die' is it? I don't know if I could handle that, man!"

Kaoru laughed loudly, something that was becoming more and more habitual. "Stop turning everything into one of your drama novels!" he sniffed, lighting a cigarette. "You're one of the biggest drama queens I ever met!"

"Not the biggest!?" Matt gasped in fake surprise. Kaoru felt a twinge of nostalgia as he thought about Tamaki.

"Not quite."

Whenever Kaoru thought of his friends back home, he felt a creeping sensation of guilt. It was enough to even temp him to avoid his brother's daily phone calls. Soon, however, Hikaru settled a bit and would only call every other day, and that made it all the easier to forget. Besides, Kaoru's school would be starting soon, and then he would have even less time to feel guilty. But even so, there was an unavoidable sadness that crept into his face whenever he thought of his brother. Rachel caught him drifting off one day while he absent mindedly scratched Demon Dog's ear, his other hand limply holding his leash. They were sitting on an outside patio at a local pizzeria in Mid City. Matt had run off, already late for work, but Kaoru wasn't scheduled that day, and was using the afternoon to purchase school supplies.

"Hey, Kaoru," Rachel called softly, stirring the ice in her cup with her straw. "Who are you thinking about?"

"What? Oh, nobody! Sorry!"

"Don't apologize!" Rachel laughed. "I know you must have left behind a girlfriend or something! You're too cute to be single!"

"No, no girlfriends."

"Oh, I see. Boyfriend?" Exasperation was written all over Kaoru's face, and Rachel quickly rebounded. "Wait, ok, not a boyfriend! Well, who then?"

Kaoru sighed. Rachel and Matt were always asking him so many questions about this sort of thing. Well, perhaps he had established his own person enough to warrant mentioning Hikaru by now.

"I was thinking about my brother. He really didn't want me to come here, but I came anyway."

"I see. Are you two really close?"

'Understatement of the year,' Kaoru thought to himself. "I guess you could say that."

"Well, I understand. I would be really sad if my younger sister moved away. I just think the world of her, and I would worry if I weren't around to watch over her."

"But, if she moved away and was happy, you wouldn't mind so much?"

"Are you happy, Kaoru?"

Kaoru looked away for a moment. "I think so. I miss my family and friends, but I don't want to go back."

"Well, as they say, for everything there is a season. Don't worry about it so much. I'm sure your brother understands. He's older than you, right?"

"Yeah."

Rachel stretched her tanned arms over her head. Her oversized, plastic bracelets clanked together when she did. "So, Matt's kind of like a replacement big brother for you, then."

She gave a yawn and took another sip of her iced tea. Kaoru felt the most foreign, bitter anger suddenly rise within him, but he knew she had meant no harm in the comment. He quickly realized the anger he felt was directed toward himself more than anyone, and began to mull it over in his mind.

Was she right? Kaoru guessed it wasn't beyond him to include another big brother in a recreation of his new self, but a replacement? Was that what Matt was; a replacement for Hikaru? His heart was torn with the thought of the injustice to Hikaru, and the disgust toward himself for reimagining the same life he was trying to leave behind. In a moment of clarity, Kaoru realized just how grown up Hikaru was behaving towards the situation. After all, Hikaru's personality always leaned towards the jealous side. Kaoru knew this, and when he recalled Hikaru's tone of ever-growing distance over the phone, he began to question what, exactly, he was looking for. Kaoru suddenly felt the overwhelming need to hear Hikaru's voice. He tried to suppress it, but it only made the feeling surge even more.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back. Stay!" Kaoru held his palm up to Demon Dog, already on his feet.

Rachel blinked in confusion as Kaoru hastily ran to the parking lot and speed dialed Hikaru's number. He knew it would be the early hours of the morning there, but he hoped he would answer anyway.

Several rings went by, and Kaoru was about to hang up when he heard a small click.

"Ugh, What?" Hikaru's non traditional greeting was full of annoyance.

"Hikaru, it's me. Sorry to call so early."

"So early…like the middle of the night early…" Hikaru grumbled. "Wait, is something wrong? Are you alright, Kaoru?" his tone had immediately changed to one of concern.

Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to hear you."

Hikaru didn't respond right away and the sound of sheets shuffling emanated from the phone. "Well, now you heard me. Sounds like you miss me or something."

"Of course I miss you."

"Then come home."

"I can't. Not yet."

"Well!" Hikaru's voice began to take on the haughtiness all too familiar to Kaoru. "Don't feel uneasy about me! I'm doing just fine!"

Kaoru winced a little inside. "Sorry for waking you up. I'll call back later."

"Kaoru, wait-!"

Pretending not to hear him, Kaoru snapped his phone shut. He knew this separation was going to hurt sometimes. Still, even though he had wanted to leave more than anything, he was surprised to find just how much it could hurt.

Rachel took one look at his face as he slumped back into his chair and cooed.

"Awww, you look so sad!" She leaned over and hugged his head to her chest. "There, there! You want some ice cream?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes as she did this, but couldn't suppress a smile. Having his face right next to an attractive girl's bosom did make him feel better. But before the feeling of comfort could turn into something else, he pushed away from her.

"Enough, enough! Let's go shopping!"

"Music to a girl's ears!" Rachel handed the black book with cash to the server, and they left.

"So, where do people buy school supplies around here?" Kaoru asked, after he'd finished putting Demon Dog back into the yard.

"Well, I guess Wal-mart."

"What's that?"

**

Kaoru stood at the entrance to the Wal-mart supercenter in a daze. "What the hell is this?!" he demanded. Rachel laughed.

"This is where you go to buy EVERYTHING if you're an American."

"All in one place?!"

"Yep!" Rachel said as she grabbed a basket. "So, school supplies…oh, there over there, come on!"

She started towards the seasonal isle and Kaoru trailed after her, still mystified. What should have been a quick trip turned into a two hour ordeal, as Kaoru insisted on perusing not only the school isle, but pretty much every isle in the store. For her part, Rachel was getting a kick out of Kaoru's enthusiasm over such a mundane place; and being seen with such a cute boy certainly didn't hurt either. They were currently in the home décor isle. Kaoru grabbed a lap desk and started towards electronics. Here was a place he didn't feel lost at all. He gazed at the Sony televisions for a moment, before grabbing a flat screen and trying to finagle it into the cart.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rachel quickly went to help him load it into the basket. "Are you really just buying a flat screen T.V.? Just like that?!"

"Matt-senpai doesn't have one."

"He doesn't even have a place to put it!!"

Kaoru thought about this for a moment, and then ran back to the furniture isle. He quickly returned with an entertainment cart. "Look at this! It has a slot for your video games! I love video games!"

"Matt doesn't have games!"

Kaoru looked to his left, and tossed an X-box 360 into the cart. "He does now." Rachel just gaped at him.

"Are you totally insane!? You can't just buy stuff like this on a whim!"

"Why not?"

"Be-because! Expensive stuff needs to be carefully thought about! I mean, if you're going to spend so much money, you should be sure about it, right?"

"So much money…" Kaoru repeated thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "I think I know what you mean… It's like haggling, except in your mind. So I need to stand here for ten minutes, trying to talk myself out of buying this stuff, before I just buy it anyway?"

Rachel blinked at him for a moment. "Um, well, no. I suppose not. God damn, I've never met such a secure shopper before! I mean, I've watched people agonize over a thirty dollar toaster at my job! Just how rich is your family!?"

"Hey, this is my money!" Kaoru said defensively as he scanned the games behind the locked, glass panel. "I worked for it! Well, part of it anyway. So, I should decide how to spend it! How do I open this?"

Rachel gave up at that point, and flagged down an employee. "Could you open this for us, please?"

The man stared wide eyed at their full shopping cart, and then back at them. Rachel knew what he was thinking; they looked way too poor to be buying all this stuff. Kaoru didn't even notice. Then man seemed to be weighing the consequences of stolen goods to him, and then shrugged as he unlocked the door. General apathy won again that day. Kaoru started plucking games like cherries from a tree, and then continued on.

"You know what would look really good in the living room? A rug!"

"Oh, dear god, you are one crazy, little, Japanese boy!" Rachel sighed.

Matt returned home that night to find the living room in his small apartment entirely redecorated, along with a very exhausted Rachel, slumped over in a new computer chair. Upon his entry, she sprang up in a panic.

"Matt! Thank god! You have to talk some sense into him!" she pointed frantically to Kaoru, who was busy plugging wires into the back of the new T.V.. "He was like a mad man! Look at this!!" she produced an extremely long receipt from the back pocket of her jeans. "Fifteen hundred dollars, Matthew!! FIFTEEN!!!"

Matt looked around in utter amazement for a few seconds, not saying anything, before his eyes fixed on the X-box on the floor. "Oh, snap! Is that an X-box?!" He ran over to the entertainment center Kaoru was assembling.

"Oh, Matt-senpai! Welcome home." Kaoru called from behind the large screen.

Matt's eyes were sparkling like a kid in a candy store. "Kaoru, what the hell, man!? This is so boss!!" He immediately started sifting through the games. Rachel almost screeched.

"MATHEW!!"

"Oh, come on, Rachel?! What's the big deal? So he wanted some toys, so what?"

"He practically refurnished your entire apartment!"

"Well…" Matt looked around at the new chairs, rug and curtains. "Kind of an improvement, don't you think?"

"AAARGH!!" Rachel vigorously ran her hands through her hair and then heaved a long sigh. "I'm going home now."

Kaoru popped up as she slammed the door. They could hear her cursing all the way to the front porch. Matt chuckled.

"Oh, don't mind her. Guess the whole living frugally thing was getting a bit too much for you, huh?"

"It's really not a lot," Kaoru muttered, sliding the console onto the shelf. "I don't know why she's freaking out."

"Well, it is a lot for people like us, remember?" Matt tilted his head inquisitively when Kaoru wouldn't look him in the eye. He then closed his eyes with a smile. "You're upset. That's why you bought all this crap. Not that I don't love it. We could totally have some swingin' parties in here now!"

Kaoru just snorted and Matt retrieved two beers from the miniature fridge in his room, and went onto the porch. Kaoru looked away for a moment, then gave up and followed him.

"Kanpai," Matt said rather flatly, as he handed Kaoru a beer. He waited to speak more until Kaoru had lit a cigarette. "So, what happened?"

"Nothing much."

"Uh-huh…" Matt's tone was skeptical as he lit his own cigarette. "I'm just gonna put this out there, I've been way more patient than most Americans would be. You always walk around looking like you're anywhere but here, and sometimes you look like someone's just slapped you in the face or something!" Kaouru just looked the other way again and Matt sighed. "Ok, look here. You know, sometimes it helps just to talk things out. Consider it a challenge of sorts."

***

Kyoya sighed, as tallied the numbers for the previous week in the music room after all the customers had left. Tamaki leaned over his shoulder, staring at the screen with large eyes. Kyoya frowned with irritation, and shut his laptop cover.

"Hey, I want to see! I am president, after all!"

"No one likes someone reading over their shoulder."

"Oh. Well, how did we do?"

"The numbers have started to marginally decrease in the past two weeks," Kyoya fixed his glasses. "General consensus is that the customers were satisfied for a while with the whole, 'I miss my brother' act, but they really are best together as a team."

"I see…" Tamaki glanced at Hikaru packing his homework in his book sling with swift, almost agitated movements. "Hikaru does seem a little angry today. I wonder what Kaoru said to him."

"Who knows," Kyoya shrugged. "I'm expecting Hikaru to quit altogether at this rate."

Tamaki frowned and said nothing more until Haruhi approached them.

"Tamaki-senpai, Kyoya-senpai, I'm going home for the day."

"Oh, Haruhi!" Tamaki suddenly hugged her head tightly to his chest. "You'll never leave us, will you?!"

"Such an idiot," Kyoya sighed, opening his lap top again.

"Ow… Tamaki-senpai, you can let go now."

Tamaki relinquished her head, and she put a hand through her hair in a disgruntled way. "Is something wrong?"

"We were just going over the books," Kyoya explained. "Haruhi, have you talked to Kaoru at all this past month?"

"Well, sure, a couple of times, I guess. He seems to be doing alright, although I think it's hard for him to be away for so long."

"And it's hard on Hikaru too," Tamaki added. "He seems to be growing more and more distant from all of us. And he was making such progress too!"

"Well of course he's upset right now, it is a big change after all," Haruhi straightened the tie on her uniform as she spoke. "But I stand behind Kaoru's decision. Let's just all try to remember that this is temporary."

"Temporary, right…" Tamaki echoed. Hikaru left without saying anything to anyone, and the rest of the host club flinched when he slammed the door. Tamaki then turned back to Kyoya. "Hey, Mommy, you have the address where Kaoru's staying, right?"

"But of course, Daddy."

Haruhi now frowned. "What are you two plotting?"

"Oh, nothing of course!" Tamaki smiled. "I just think that maybe a little pick-me-up visit is in order sometime in the near future."

**

Mmmm-kay…Think I'm trying to write a novel or something here, so I'm just going to cut this chapter short. Stick around for what happens when New Orleans high school starts and Hikaru comes to visit!