Lonely No More
by Cyberchao X

Chapter 42

Disclaimer: My ownership is still less than 100%.

*June*

"Arisa…?"

"Yes?"

"[What the hell were you thinking!?]"

"[Gaaah! What's wrong, Dylan-san?]"

"[You know full well what's wrong. Suzuka-chan's no longer happy with waiting. She said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that if I don't put out, it's over.]"

Arika cursed under her breath. "Of all the times for Suzuka to regain her moral compass… [That wasn't my idea! My plan was for…you know what, forget my plan. It was stupid and it would've probably ended your relationship anyway.]"

"[Go on.]"

"I say you should go for it. You'll never find a better girl."

"[Not interested in hearing your tales of her…prowess.]"

"[I didn't mean it that way.]"

"[…Well, you're not exactly unbiased.]"

"[Okay, you want to hear it? My plan would've had her just finding someone else to be her first heterosexual encounter, no break-ups necessary.]"

"[You mean cheating on me.]"

Arisa nodded. "[But apparently that's just not in her nature. Multiple partners is fine, but going behind a boyfriend's—or girlfriend's—back? Not so much so.]"

"[…You know the story, right? You and Suzuka share everything, so I imagine you must.]" Arisa nodded again. "[So then you know why I can't chance it. I can't leave behind a child in a foreign country, and the only 100% effective method of birth control is abstinence.]"

"…So then it's as we figured. You're only here for a year, and you're not planning on returning for university."

"Yeah. I mean, I'll probably do a year abroad in college, too, but it probably won't even be in Japan."

"Europe?"

"[No, definitely Asia. Probably one of the other countries in which the US waged a war in the mid-20th century. My Korean's not as good as my Japanese, but I'm working on it.]

"[Whythe fascination with Asia?]"

"[You mean besides your good looks?]" He grinned. "[Well, I guess it's because it's still somewhat of a mystery—though not so much Japan. Just a few decades ago, the United States' "greatest enemy" was Russia, but now they're every bit as amicable as the rest of Europe. The new "cold war" is with the likes of China and North Korea. Well, and Iran, but they're something completely different, whereas China and North Korea are both controlled by America's old enemies, the Communists.]"

"I'm not entirely sure I follow your reasoning."

"I'm not entirely sure I have reasoning."

"…So then what's the big deal? This relationship was never going to be permanent, anyway, was it?"

"I know, but…"

"She shouldn't hear it from me. If you break her heart, I will hunt you down, no matter where in the world you end up."

"…"

"Suzuka-chan…can you please reconsider? Just for…a little while?"

"…Dylan-san?"

"It's not like…our relationship could last for very long anyway. You know I'm only here for a year, right?"

"I suspected. So then…it's over?"

"Well, I was hoping not…I mean, I won't make you wait the whole year, but I can't exactly use 'I didn't want you to be hung up on me when I leave' as an excuse when I'm still here for more than 9 more months. Speaking of which…I'm going to be visiting home during summer break. I was hoping to bring you with me; got an extra ticket and everything. You know, before you made that call."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?!" Suzuka suddenly perked up and kissed Dylan.

"So shallow. Good to know you can be bribed."

"Hey, it's not often I get to visit another country. I've got to make sure my passport's in order!"

"So we're…"

"Still together? Yeah. You've at least earned a reprieve." "And I've earned an opportunity to find a guy I'll never see again for a guilt-free fling. Just like you wanted, right, Arisa-chan?"

*early July* (A/N: Ha! Still running ahead of the calendar!)

"I'll miss you! Take good care of Arisa for me, Suki-tan!"

"Mine!" Katsura saidpossessively, grabbing Suki's arm and sticking her tongue out. All four girls laughed.

"Glad to hear you're still thinking that way," Arisa smiled.

"…Huh? Did I do something to make you doubt my commitment?"

"No, nothing you've done has shaken my faith in you," Arisa said. "After all, it's Suki who has doubts. Any doubts of mine are put there by her."

"Ehehe, well, I promise I'll make some time for Arisa-chan, too." She covertly sent Arisa a one-word text: "nights". Arisa understood: Katsura's parents were still being a bit overprotective, so even if Suki and Katsura spent all day together, every day, they still wouldn't be spending many nights together. The nighttime, therefore, could be Arisa's time.

Arisa wondered just one thing. "How are you going to explain all of that?"

"What's there to explain? The fact that I'm not spending more time with you?"

"…Suki?"

"Funny story…see, the two of us have still been having more 'sleepovers' than Katsu-tan and I have had—even before the ban, it was fairly close. There really isn't much reason at all for my parents to suspect that she's my girlfriend, and I…I didn't exactly correct the misunderstanding. It's not like I don't still want you. Desperately."

Arisa frenched her right there. "Damnit, Suki, you can't be saying things like that. We both have other girlfriends. Though you've got me a bit confused…"

"I came out. Made sure that my parents were able to hear me when I laid out 'the rules' for Kasu-kun."

"…Does Katsu-chan know that you've got a new boyfriend?" Arisa asked.

Suki nodded. "She's surprisingly cool with it. Probably inwardly hoping for a threesome, though…she's so frustrated lately."

CCX: New rules! Since we're in America now, the "default" will be English. To avoid making it confusing, instead of [], conversations between Suzuka and Dylan in Japanese will be marked by {}.

*early July—Louisville International Airport*

"Hey, Dylan!"

"Dad? Hey!" Dylan ran up to his father. "I would've thought you'd still be at work."

"Took off early so I could pick you up. Jackson's team is still alive in the playoffs, so your mother couldn't be here."

"Really? That's great! Hopefully they can win again today so I can see them play."

Suzuka stood there nervously, uncertain as to whether or not she should interrupt this reunion. Dylan quickly remembered that Suzuka would probably wait for a proper introduction and took care of it. "Dad, this is my girlfriend, Suzuka Tsukimura. Suzuka, this is my father."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Keith." She bowed, knowing that it wasn't really the right tradition for America but a bit too nervous to try experimenting with customs she wasn't used to.

Mr. Keith let out a sigh of relief. "Good, you speak English. Pleasure to meet you, Suzuka."

Suzuka laughed nervously. "Enough to get by. My English isn't as good as Dylan's Japanese." She turned to Dylan. "{What were you and your father talking about? I caught some of it, but it went by too quickly.}"

"{Did it really? I've lapsed into English with you before and you've seemed to follow along just fine.}"

"{It's different. You probably don't even realize you're doing it, but you do slow down for me. Sometimes I miss little bits of conversations in English between you and Arisa, too. You understand, right? It's different when both sides of the conversation are speaking their native language?}"

"{Yeah, I guess it is. Wait, does that mean Arisa's 'native language' is actually English?}"

Suzuka laughed. "{Arisa's been raised to be fluent in both languages.}"

"{Ah. Anyway, I was just surprised to see my dad here instead of my mom, and Dad explained that my younger brother's baseball team went deeper into the playoffs this year than usual and so she's with him instead.}"

"Um, no offense, but…are there going to be a lot of these conversations that none of us are privy to?"

Suzuka smiled. "That depends on how often I need a translator. For example… {What does "privy" mean?}" Dylan explained the word, including other meanings that weren't necessarily relevant to this situation, making Suzuka laugh. "Okay, yeah, that's what I thought." She snickered. "More or less…"

Suddenly Mr. Keith wondered if by allowing their son to bring his girlfriend with him, they might as well not have him back home at all.

"You already got him? Straight out of work? Dad!"

"Sorry, Junior. Didn't realize you were that excited to see Dylan."

"Why else wouldn't I be with Mom and Julia?"

"I was at work; how was I to know that? Besides, you're a grown man now. You could've been with some girl."

"On that subject…Johnny, this is Suzuka. Suzuka, this is my older brother Johnny…I mean, John. Only family is still allowed to call him 'Johnny'."

"Oh, right, I forgot you were bringing a girl back with you. Nice to meet you, Suzuka."

He extended his hand for a handshake, which Suzuka nervously gave as she returned the greeting. "Sorry," she said afterwards, "I'm not used to American-style greetings."

"That's okay. You understood all of that between me and my dad?"

"Yes, though the words seemed to run together for me."

"So that means if I talk fast enough, you won't be able to understand me?" He grinned.

Suzuka smiled back. "Yes, there's a good chance of that. But I could still get some of what you say, while I can say almost anything to Dylan in front of all of you and none of you would even be able to guess what I'm saying. Other than to watch how he reacts, that is."

"…Did she just imply what I think she just implied?"

"I certainly hope not," Mr. Keith said.

"It's fine. She's bluffing; I don't know any 'naughty' Japanese words and my friends have made a point of not teaching them to me."

"{So then I guess you don't consider your teammates 'friends'? Because from what I've heard, they've taught you some pretty foul language. But I don't need 'naughty' words to talk dirty to you. I could just tell you how much I want to 'choke up on your bat', for example.}" She left her mouth open for a moment to make sure he knew that the word "up" was largely superfluous there.

Dylan turned red, and Suzuka smiled. "You were saying, little bro?"

"I stand by my statement of not knowing the words to 'properly' talk dirty. However, I may have underestimated the power of descriptive metaphors."

"I like your style, Suzuka."

"Thank you. Now, I'm just curious; your father called you 'Junior'. Does that mean that his given name is 'John' as well?"

"That's right. Dad's the real 'John Keith Jr.'; I'm actually John Keith III. But it's probably best if you continue to call him 'Mr. Keith'."

"No worries. Calling people by their family names is normal in Japan."

"Should we be calling you 'Tsukimura', then?" Mr. Keith asked.

"It's fine; this is America, so we're doing things American-style. I figured that out as soon as Dylan introduced me to you in Western order."

"'Western order?'"

"In most Asian countries, Japan included, the proper name order is family name, then given name. So the 'first name' actually would be the one that you would call them by. Of course, if you're sufficiently familiar with someone, like a close friend, then you can call them by their given name. Anyone that you're supposed to 'respect', though, must be referred to by the proper title. I've already committed what would be a huge gaffe in Japanese culture in the time I've been here, calling my older sibling by name."

"…Seriously?"

"Yeah. A younger sibling doesn't necessarily have to be called by their title, but I'd just have to call you 'big brother'."

"Um, Dylan? You were kind of moving too quickly for me to follow again."

"It's nothing you don't already know. Explaining the differences between our cultures."

"Wow. Barely back home two hours and you're already hooking up?"

"That's not it at all. You know full well I don't 'hook up', Jake." Dylan made sure Suzuka caught the name. "I just thought it would be nice to treat my girlfriend to a vacation in America."

"Ah—oh. Please don't tell me you made the same mistake I did."

"Not yet, but I'll wear him down eventually."

Jake just stared wide-eyed at Dylan, having become three different kinds of surprised. First, that Suzuka had understood him; second, that Dylan had shared his story with her; third, weren't Japanese women supposed to be more prim and proper than that? "You didn't…then she already…"

"Knows about you and Cassie? Yeah. Turns out that hormonal teenagers are every bit as hormonal in Japan. And our influence on them post-war has led to the old stereotype starting to fall by the wayside…"

"Oh my god. It's the 'Catholic schoolgirl' principle applied to an entire nation."

"That's…kind of crude, but perhaps not entirely inaccurate. Although I don't think the people I've come to associate with are exactly the norm. Sorry that I had to use you as a precautionary tale. And, Suzuka…{I can't believe you'd be that forward about your desires.}"

"{What's one more person? I basically confessed as much to far more people the first day we met, when I told Miki off.}"

"{…What?}"

"{Yeah, I know I said I wasn't going to teach you what that meant, but now I've changed my mind. What I said was, in rather crude terms, 'take out your aggression on someone whose babies I don't want to have'.}"

Dylan winced, remembering that his first encounter with Miki involved being kicked in the nuts. "{Your level of forwardness is definitely not average for Japan. Or even for America.}"

"Okay, now I feel left out. Care to clue me in on what's going on?"

"Just telling Suzuka how unbelievable she is."

"{That's what I keep wanting to show you, but you're too afraid to learn.}" Suzuka shot back with a grin. "Sorry. I'm just teasing Dylan a bit. It's rude to keep speaking in Japanese, though, and I…apologize for that."

"…T's'okay."

CCX: I did say "likely will have no real effect on anything to follow it." This trip to Kentucky wasn't exactly planned, and then suddenly I realized that we needed another summer vacation arc, and why not split the main cast up? More involving Arisa back in Japan while Suzuka's in America will probably come next chapter. Until then, this is Cyberchao X, signing off.