The address was unfamiliar, but the moment he pulled open the envelope and began to read, he broke out into a grin. He recognized the formal phrases and careful hand that drew those characters with precision. Dojima came in and saw him still kneeling at the table, poring over the letter. He sighed. "Guess you finally got that letter from my sister, huh?"

Yu nodded. Dojima kneeled across from him, smoking some puffs from his cigar. "You know, you remind me a lot of her,"

"Hm?" Yu looked up, immensely curious. His mom never spoke much about her life in Inaba or where she came from.

"Mostly the daze. Get that look off your face, I know you are dazed a lot. She was much the same. A lot going on inside, not much outside."

Yu laughed and folded up the letter. "Everything is just so interesting here!"

"Oneesan was always different. We grew up on a farm, did you know that? Our family was big but we were the only children. We helped cultivate and pick rice every day. Oneesan didn't like that though. She always insisted she was made for something bigger than that. In the summers I would find her laying in the patties with her kimono tucked into Father's pants and fabric on her head to tie back her hair, covered in mud. Once I asked her what she was doing and she said she was looking for bugs. She loved insects. Caught a bunch and let them roam free in her room and fed them sugar-water. Every time Father tried to squash one he found in the crops, she'd swoop in and steal it and tell him no,"

He nodded, folding his hands under his chin. Dojima smoked some more.

"She could be girly too though. On her thirteenth birthday, one of our relatives gifted her this simple set of gold hair pins. I doubt they were real. But her face lit up like they were. Never took them out of her hair after that and even invented a new style where she puffed out her hair and stuck pins into it,"

Yu remembered the photo he still kept on his dresser of them, his mom having hair just like that.

"We married her off to another farmer who moved around a lot but had recently settled in the big city. She was smitten and never looked back. The only time I saw her after her marriage was after you were born and she visited to show me,"

"And now she's studying insects with Dad overseas," Yu finished, thinking that was a logical conclusion.

"Yeah. You don't look at all like her, but you have her attitude." Dojima sighed. "Things were always so easy for her. I remember when I married my own wife and had Nanako-chan I thought that maybe things would be easy for me too, but they weren't. She died and ever since then I've been struggling with having a daughter. Several times I considered asking Oneesan to move here and help, but I couldn't do that to her. She wasn't made for the country."

"Your wife is dead?!" Yu asked in surprise, only registering that part of the sentence. "How?!"

"She was out walking one day when a hammer came flying from a nearby construction site. Killed her on impact. The strangest thing is nobody knows who did it or why or where it even came from specifically. I've tried to figure it out myself, but…" He trailed off, and Yu felt like that was the most open his uncle had ever been with him in that moment. Dojima blew smoke out of his mouth and let it hang over the table in a cloud. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all personal like that. I'm sure you don't care about the troubles of an old man like me,"

"I liked hearing about my mom. She never talks about her life here. And I'm sorry about your wife,"

Dojima said nothing, merely stood up. Yu kept staring at the letter in his hands, wondering what suddenly compelled Dojima to be so open.

"I think you're doing good with Nanako-chan. She's sweet and curious, like any child should be!"

Dojima waved him away, but Yu could've sworn he saw the faintest of smiles form on his face.

Somehow, Chie had convinced Yukiko and her parents to let her eat lunch during school hours with the others, a feat Yu wasn't sure how she even pulled that off. For most of the time, Yukiko sat there in awe, looking around at everything and asking what they were. She asked about the lockers, the chalkboard, the sports and art offerings, the different teachers, even the outhouse in the back.

"Even an outhouse! At the inn, we all just use chamber pots." She said matter-of-factly.

"I'd rather a chamber pot than that outhouse. They only have one and the lines are stupid! At least a chamber pot lets you go whenever!" Yosuke said.

"Not when I'm eating!" Chie scolded.

"It's the truth! Most days I have to wait until I get home!"

Yu ate his own food, thinking about how weirdly dispersed the water in Inaba was. The Dojimas were lucky enough to have a pump in their own backyard, but from what he could see, everyone else in town had to make do with the pump in the middle of the shopping district, even if they lived far away. He worried about his friends in the winter, having the image of them struggling to walk on ice and spilling a bucket of water everywhere. The communal bathhouse was far away too, and not drinkable. He wondered why the town was planned that way. Maybe it was much smaller in the past, but now he felt they could put out more pumps to service the bigger crowds.

"The rainy season is coming up, so we're going to have to read the tabloids every day," Yukiko said suddenly.

"That'll be a pain." Yosuke groaned, leaning back in his seat. "At least the camping trip won't be canceled! I'm looking forward to that!"

"Why? You know it's going to be super boring, right?" Chie said. "They only do it to teach us respect for nature."

"Still, we get to go outside instead of being cramped in here all day."

"I mean, it has its merits. We sleep in tents and cook our own meals like soldiers, and even swim in the lake!"

"You can go swimming?!" Yosuke suddenly jumped up. "That's great news!"

Chie just stared at him. Yukiko set her chopsticks down.

"My parents gave permission for me to go, but I'm still nervous. Will I need anything special?"

"You shouldn't."

Yu finished his own meal and blinked a few times, feeling himself starting to drift away into his own thoughts. He had a bad habit of doing that, his uncle was right. He needed to stop doing it so much.

"I'm sure it'll be fun regardless! I'd love to take any sort of trip. My old school didn't do them,"

"Really? Not once?" Yosuke asked in disbelief. Yu shook his head.

"No. The closest we had was doing a military march through the city streets, but that's it. And you weren't forced to do it," He had a memory of Shuuhei complaining about the fact he wanted to wear a snazzy suit like he saw the Germans wear and their teacher saying it was an informal event, and Ayumu trying to diffuse the situation. Yu himself just marched near the middle, almost tripping near the end because someone kicked his ankle out of formation. It was a decent time, but nothing too memorable. He couldn't wait for this trip.

"Seriously?! What kind of school did you go to?!" Yosuke asked in disbelief.

"A boy's one,"

"That's not what I was asking!"

Yu laughed.

After school, Yu was in the middle of getting his things together when Yosuke strode up to him at the lockers. "Hey, do you have a bike yet?"

"Like a bicycle?"

"Yeah! But a cool bicycle! Once we have them, we can actually visit other places and see more girls! Girls dig Western stuff like bicycles, trust me!"

Yu smiled. "So it's a scheme to pick up girls?"

"It's just an idea!" Yosuke said. "I'm going to try and convince Dad to buy me a newer model. The one I have is from '85! That's old and lame. I need the newest model,"

"I wonder if Uncle Ryotaro will let me have one," Yu mused. Maybe if he was able to explain how useful they were. In the city back home, he and his friends didn't use any sort of bicycle but took the street trolley everywhere. There was no need for a bike. They also had a reputation of being dangerous, which he knew would make his uncle pause, but that was the point behind the safety bicycles, was it not? It couldn't hurt to ask him at least.

"Then we'll be smooth-sailing! Any pick of girls that we want!" Yosuke grinned. "At least think about it. You can't go wrong!"

Yu nodded, determined to bring it up with Dojima once he got back.

And indeed, when he got home, Dojima was there, eating dinner with Adachi.

"Evening! We're having eel tonight! Can you believe that? Basically a delicacy!" Adachi grinned.

"I just got tired of hearing him slurp broth loudly every single day and told him he needed a real meal. So I told him to come here," Dojima sighed.

"Even Nanako-chan loved it! I thought she'd savor it more but she went right into her room after she ate to do her homework!"

Yu stepped closer to the table. "Can I have a bicycle?"

"A bicycle? You mean one of those spinning big wheels? Where you fly off the handlebars?" Dojima raised an eyebrow.

"No, the newer model!" Maybe he should've brought a visual to help his case better. "They're much safer,"

Dojima stared at him. "And what would you need one for?"

"To travel around fast with,"

"Come on, let the kid have some harmless fun! I totally get it. It's boring to walk around everywhere." Adachi said.

Dojima sighed. "Do you really want this? Do you genuinely want to have a bicycle?"

Yu nodded. "I think I'm responsible enough for one!"

"Well, let me ask Oneesan. She's the one who will smack me if I let anything happen to you,"

He clasped his hands together. "Thank you! I didn't think you'd actually say yes!"

"I think you're responsible, but again it's up to my sister. She's your mother after all,"

Yu had no doubts his mom would agree to this, knowing the way she was. He thought his uncle would be the harder of the two to convince and was pleasantly surprised it went so well.

He was another step closer to finally feeling like he belonged in Inaba.

A few days later, Yu found a message from Dojima at home that said to meet him at the transportation station, and confused, he did so, finding him standing there.

"Your mother said yes," He said as Adachi wheeled a bright red bike over. It had two seats next to each other, which Yu stared at. "You like? It's a sociable bicycle. I hear a lot of kids your age are into that sort of thing, so here,"

Yu looked it over, noticing nothing odd except the two seats.

"You could find a lady friend and sit next to her on this and brush your feet together as you both pedal!" Adachi teased. "It's great you have a ride now! Imagine if that suspicious guy we're chasing had a bike. He could just jump on and pedal away and we'd never catch him!"

"Suspicious guy?" Yu asked.

"Yeah, some guy the police were asked to deal with. He knows the back alleys of this town really well so we're worried he's doing illicit stuff-"

"Adachi! Don't you ever shut up? Go back to the station!" Dojima scolded, making Adachi bow in apology and run off. "Sorry about that. I do hope you enjoy your new bike though, even if it's not exactly what you pictured."

"It's perfect, thank you!" He would park it right in front of their house so he'd always remember where it was. He wondered where Yosuke put his.

"You know, once when I was about your age, I stole a cart from a nearby farm and ran it down a hill, jumping into the back to feel the thrill. The cart slammed against a rock and completely broke apart and I had no way to hide what I did, so I just confessed. Father hit me so hard I had a black eye for a week. Oneesan never let me live that down,"

Yu laughed a bit before he caught himself, but Dojima smiled.

"Enjoy your youth while you can, you won't have it forever. And, uh, maybe not tell Nanako-chan about that,"

He nodded in understanding and walked his bike down the street, pedaling up and down it several times to get used to the feeling. The bike was wobbly and sometimes dipped too far to the left or right when he tried to turn due to there being no weight on the other side. When the sun set, he felt he had the basics down, but knew the bike was tricky to use without another person.

He would ask one of the girls, but who? Maybe Chie. Yukiko seemed like she wouldn't enjoy riding bikes much, but Chie might. Either way, the day was over. He walked the bike back to Dojima's and carefully laid it against the front wall of the house, letting it lean there.

-Even if a student swore off education and never went to school, they were still highly encouraged and invited to go on field trips for enrichment and get a taste of the atmosphere. The hopeful goal was they'd be inspired to go to school, but most still didn't. Thus, both Yukiko and Kanji are allowed to go on the school field trips due to parental permission in this fanfic.

-Safety bicycles were the name given to what we'd nowadays recognize as a modern bike, while what we now call penny-farthings were just referred to as bikes. Penny-farthings were high up, very hard to stop, built up speed way too fast, and thus most riders ran the risk of flying off the handlebars. Biking was seen as an extreme sport for rebellious men. The safety bike, first invented in 1885, was named due to the design being much safer and easier to use, and helped get women into the sport too. For those unaware of the terms, the penny-farthing is the quintessential bike associated with the Victorian era, the super tall one with the huge front wheel.

-A sociable bike is a bike with two seats next to each other where two people pedal together and can chat, hence the name. I'm ready to admit I'm cheating by mentioning this in the fanfic, as they didn't officially appear until 1893, however patents do date back to the 1880's, so I thought I could get away with it here. They were a popular choice for women who wanted to bike but were uncomfortable with the 'risqué' nature of it or tearing their clothes. Which lucky girl will get to ride in tandem with Yu?

I'm finally free of school for the semester! This means I can devote far more time to this fanfic, especially because, believe it or not, I feel the last few chapters aren't up to my usual quality because I had to juggle assignments with this story, but now, no longer!