Stay with me;

"Hey! Look, it's them!"

An unusually excitable suki ran up to the two girls, uniform flying as she ran forward to meet them: the twins who stood there, hand in hand. and the rest; all sitting in their respective poses by the window, watching all of the seemingly endless flights take off, tried to glance quickly and inconspicuously at the two: neither in uniform, both holding each other within an unusually close proximity.

"Ah…you seem strangely alive, suki."

"Hey, hey! So guys…you grew up in japan, right?!"

The girls exchanged slightly flustered looks, and sayuri let her eyes fall to the ground, then letting her gaze slide down to the hem of her sisters' blue-green skirt. Yumi kept composure; clearing her throat, and taking a long steadying breath before answering.

"Well, yeah…you could say that."

Now, the reality of the atmosphere seemed to hit suki: as an ashamed looked crossed over the length of her face. A low murmur came over from sayuri then, as she slowly raised her eyes to meet her classmates; running between the faces slowly, cautiously.

"…what I remember from…back then, if you need help speaking to the locals…I can…do that much for you,"

"Yu-Chan—"

Suki smiled secretively at them both: knowing the bond between the girls was something that she couldn't very well break into, much less understand—yet, she knew sayuri. She was sometimes painfully transparent in her words and actions, as was her older sister, yumi. Perhaps yumi…was even more so.

"I'll take you up on that,"

A blonde girl with small, pouting lips and fair skin made her way over to them now, jumping down from her place on the deeply in-set window sill. She joined suki at her right side and folded her hands behind her back, and curiously then, she started.

"Sayuri…yumi…just wondering, would you speak Japanese for us…? I mean, the fact that you're twins—it would…uh…sound…rather cool, I think,"

"Should we, yu-Chan?"

"…hai, mi-Chan…"

The group; even the one male watched with througou intrigue as they began to speak in unison now.

"Ah—there was a candy you liked, wasn't there?"

"You too, mi-Chan,"

"Bunny-Chan…"

"He used to work there! But, when was it?"

The flight was called over the loudspeaker, and the one boy: who'd placed fifth overall in final testing, ushered them out towards the gate, closer to their actual plane departure area, eyes nervously watching his happily ticking watch face.

Somewhat unnerved by the sudden show of fluent speaking, he then led them unto the place of loading: staying silent as the girls prattled on, between English and Japanese almost carelessly. The two girls: suki and Anna sparkled with excitement as they watched the show: his companions for the trip could sure talk! And, as they finally went to take their seats on the modest liner, a revelation of sorts shook him. There would be no Moki around, for the purpose of quieting them. He was an admittedly calming element in their usual little trio. And with this thought in mind, it was surely going to be a long flight for Jordan, who sat just in front of the prattling twins, one lying across the other one's shoulders: another letting her head rest there with an affection pat of the head.

Twins was truly an astonishing element that he would probably have to start getting used to from here on in.

"…come on, you stupid! We're here already!"

Anna, pouting lips now even more so frowning, stood beside Jordan's seat on an basically empty plane, where only the little class group of five and a couple of other passengers were left sitting, with groggy looks on their tired faces, and yawns moving audibly in the air around them.

"That's it, Jordan. Get up slow so your muscles don't stop relaxing from all that sleep…geez! 2 transfers of complete and utter sleep! Just how do you do it?!"

"Don't scold him too much, Anna. Yu-Chan slept the whole first layover and transfers herself…"

The two girls walked by, now arm in arm as they hoisted their luggage from the above head carriages and made to walk down the little blue-carpeted aisle leading to the inside of the Tokyo airport. Sayuri's face flushed with embarrassment.

"Who are you talking about huh?! That was so you!"

"Yeah, yeah…now let's get going…"

"Suki~! Tell her!"

Suki had since reached the very border of the plane's terminal connection, one foot still on the plane floor. Reluctantly, she peeked backward and turned her head to see the two girls: suddenly nervous.

"Really…you guys are so immature sometimes…you were both sleeping."

"Ah! There's no way! Remember, there was a bird next to the window, and I was watching it the entire time! You saw it too!"

"A bird couldn't possibly fly next the window of a plane, especially the wings! You should know that by now!"

Yumi glanced over at her sister, suddenly contemplative, searching her mind for clues.

"My bags are getting heavy, here. Do you think we can get out of here?"

"Eh…? But, the bird—it…ah…"

"The flight attendants are probably going to start getting mad; we'll talk about your boring dreams later,"

Eventually, the five Boston students exited the plane and stepped into Tokyo airport.

Unexpectedly, the twins trailed behind a good distance, keeping their group members just enough within sight, that a good sprint could close the distants if needs be, just far enough that the group remained out of earshot from their again, up until this movement: mostly silent words.

"It's…that…isn't it, yumi?"

"Auntie would…take us here to meet clients, and eventually….you stopped tagging along with us, so…yeah, it's just that."

Sayuri gripped her shoulder strap on a long, gray duffel and smiled softly. It was rather rare for her sister to show this side…and when she did, it was done in such a way that she would only merely skim the topic of interest, rather than even attempting to delve further into her well-hidden metaphorical bruises.

"…I can't disappear anymore, yumi…I hope…that you realize that,"

It was difficult not to be dazzled by all of the glittering, wonderful trinkets and machines that existed all throughout the half of the spacious airport that they were currently traversing, but all five purses stayed shut, up until suki decided to sample fresh sushi and chocolate treats with the first of her free spending money—intended for some more, admittedly academic or physical requirement for food.

"Huh…ramen…well, I won't say anything but—"

"It's called being frugal to conserve what we have left for the week, Jordan. So I don't want to hear it."

"Besides, that is saying something, you know."

Jordan shifted backward away from them now; the twins eating simple cup ramen with forks they'd taken from the nearest shopkeeper. They'd spoken in unison again: in quite a scary, blatant way that he just couldn't quite get the grasp of. They even ate alike—twisting the noodles like spaghetti and slurping up the hot noodles, like a bird swallowing whole worms in a single gulp. He slumped back, defeated with his arms resting on a nearby wall decoration; currently serving as a horizontal support post.

"Ah ha ha ! You're really scared by them, aren't you? Tell me!"

"You're enjoying this too much, suki. Isn't it normal to be a little unnerved at first? I mean…they're just too much alike…I can't even tell who's who anymore!"

Yumi quietly sipped the last bit of her ramen broth, and melded her gaze there to the floor. Sayuri gulped down the last bit of broth, and let the paper cup hang there in her low-hanging hands and slightly hunched shoulders, in a similar fashion. She sat at an angle on the little bench seats they'd parked on for the moment, for the purposes of lunch only.

"Just look at them, you idiot! Can't you see you said something wrong?"

"No…it's okay, really."

"It is not okay, yumi! Jordan is an insensitive idiot with no sense of atmosphere!"

The two girls both straightened up, sayuri still angled along the bench at a slight degree, one leg flopping over to one side, the other crossing her chest and touching the seat itself. Yumi let out a sigh, and then they spoke.

"Jordan is an idiot with no sense of atmosphere,"

"we are in japan now, so at least speak the language if you're going to scold him,"

Jordan fell backward now, somewhat more violently than before. The wall caught him before he could fall right to the floor. After a moment, they grinned at one another and continued to speak: watching his expressions with a level of amusement, as they entertained themselves now, so clearly at his expense.

"Mi-Chan…let's go shopping. We have an hour left, and an idiots purse…"

"Well, maybe we should ask him first…"

"Jordan, will you buy us something as an apology?"

"Yeah, yeah! For being so rude!"

He held the thing close to his chest and felt himself suddenly moving from his seat on the bench to accompany all the girls for a scoop of frozen yogurt—costing the first half of his food allowance money for the week.

"I guess we'll have to reimburse you for this,"

"Right…we were just making a point, you idiot boy."

"Anna…you…"

Money from four of the five purses went to his own; and yumi reluctantly counted its remainder.

"So much for being frugal…"

"Mi-Chan, that was really expensive dairy…ah, but…so worth it…"

From behind yumi's shoulder, came a sudden tap. Surprise lit her voice, as the purse fell with a small thud to the ground below, where it gleamed of fluorescence and floor wax.

When she turned, defenses now on; she saw a very familiar face—with large brown eyes and a slim figure, small arms; and an accomplished look on her face.

"I overheard you two talking…frankly, I'm surprised—but it's really you two after all…"

Sayuri bounded over from her place in the little ring of a circle they'd invented around the subject of the small prank, smile wide and voice high with excitement. She stopped herself just in front of the young woman, excitement riddling on her every thought.

"Haruhi-Chan! I told you we'd come to visit when we had the chance,"

"…Haruhi…after 2 years,"

"Well, don't look so shocked, Mi-chan! You had to realize-"

Yumi stumbled back a moment, and looked at her sister with utterly shocked eyes: they fell between both the somewhat oblivious party who stood behind them, and the small, accomplished smile of her virtual look-a-like of a sister.

"D-don't tell me...you guys...you didn't p-plan...?"

Jordan looked almost bemused by the whole encounter: it was rare to be able to surprise someone like yumi; he almost wished now, that he had been a part of it. Alas, all he could do was to stand there and watch as 'Yu-Chan' teased her sister to no end, the young woman haruhi apparently trying very hard not to laugh.

"Hey...I recognize that...yes, I recognize that person,"

"Of course you do-she attended school with us for a full year; just around the time the twins appeared,"

Anna shook her long, blonde curls and let out a little sigh. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes as the apparent feelings of surprise and vague recognition filled up his face; he really hadn't remembered her. Suki echoed her little resemblance of a sigh, and pulled on Jordan's jacket sleeve, drawing the attention to her small, unusually fond seeming face as she proceeded to explain.

"We were in middle school back then, remember?"

"Ah...somewhat, yeah."

"Haruhi was the first person they spoke to for any real length of time after they came over from Japan. Somehow, they glued themselves next to her and those boys with no real trouble at all..."

Jordan looked curiously back over at the three girls now; yumi had regained control of herself now, and was openly grilling her sister; who'd raised her hands in the hopes of admitting defeat, but to no avail. The girl haruhi's face was laughing now, as they started at each other with a stream of almost unintelligible Japanese, a few English words slipping here and there.