It really would be nice if Hanai's swimming pool was attached to the school, at the very least, instead of being a separate building, was what I was thinking as I hurried into the foyer. And it would be equally nice if it was closer to the front doors, instead of back behind all the athletic fields! But I suppose-

"Ah, there y'are." Kento's voice interrupted my thought and I looked over to see him standing near the front doors. "How'd it go?"

"Not bad. My trio of little ones was glad to see me, anyway." I stopped beside him and set my backpack down to zip it securely; I'd been in too much of a hurry to bother with it. "So what do you think of Hanai?"

"Big," Kento said thoughtfully. "Red-"

I laughed. "I told you."

"You did. You also warned me about the crazy English teacher, and you were sure right about that, too." He shook his head, still looking thoughtful. "But better her than that History fellow you talked about. I like it," he concluded. "It's interesting, it's different without being completely freaky, and it's not all rigid-formal."

"Your kind of place," I agreed, standing up and slinging the backpack over my shoulder. Then I looked out the open doors, grimacing as much at the sound of bus engines starting as the smell of their exhaust. "I guess we'd better go." I tried to hide the sudden drop of my mood, but it seemed unfair. Five minutes in the morning, forty minutes at lunch, two minutes at the end of the day...it wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind when I encouraged Kento to 'come to Hanai so we can still be friends.' 

All the time at home- in Hagi- had spoiled me. I was being unrealistic. I had known we wouldn't actually see each other much, especially when we were taking different activities. Maybe I should drop swimming and take kendo...

"Yeah, don't wanna have to walk. Say, listen, Cye, the folks told Grandfather about you- y'know- and he really wants to meet you. So-" He shrugged. "What say you get on my bus?"

I blinked at him, taken by surprise. It hadn't occurred to me that Kento's parents would take their 'obligation' to me quite so far- but maybe I should have expected it, after what had been said about the whole family being at my service. Naturally Kento's grandfather, as head of the family, would feel obligated to express his gratitude as well, preferably in person. That meant meeting him might be a bit embarrassing, but on the other hand... The thought having another hour or two with my friend made up my mind for me. "Um, all right, sure." I smiled, my mood growing lighter. "I'd like to meet him too, and it's a good day for it. Not much homework to worry about." 

Kento nodded, smiling. "Exactly. And then you know where his place is in relation to yours. Might be useful sometime."

"Yes, that's true too." Feeling much more cheerful, I followed him out the door and down the rank of busses until he found the correct one, walking right past my own bus on the way. We took the last empty seat; I sat by the window and tried to pay as much attention to the route as to Kento when we got under way. It didn't work, though. We wove around so much that I eventually gave it up and decided just to look it up on a map some other time. Busses aren't known for taking direct routes. 

Kento's stop must have been one of the last, for the bus was very nearly empty when it pulled away. "That's lucky," I said quietly as the three giggling senior girls who had gotten off with us scampered up the block. "Getting on first in the morning, you get a good seat."

"Yep! And I don't really get up much earlier than anyone else, since Grandfather's house is just a block away," he said happily. 

"Oh, you are lucky! That'll be very handy this winter." I followed him down the block, looking around with curiosity. It was residential, but the street was very busy and none of the houses had much to speak of in the way of front yards. That was doubly surprising since most of the homes were made of wood, meaning they were very old. Usually, old homes and yards with gardens go together. "No gardens," I observed curiously.

"Yeah, Grandfather says there was a major uproar about that some years back. The government needed to widen the road so commercial trucks could get down it, which meant confiscating the land, compensating the owners, and tearing up a lot of former yard-space to pave it all over. The locals were incensed, but there wasn't much they could do except get the best price possible." Kento shook his head. "They cut down a lot of trees, too, and made the sidewalks these little dinky affairs."

I looked rather sourly at the four-lane road beside me. "I'm not against convenience, but there's a line between that and unecessary."

"I'm with you," my friend agreed. "What's the sense of insisting we appreciate beauty when we go do ugliness like this, just so people can get into more traffic jams faster?"

"Well said," I told him, and then we stopped talking to cross the busy intersection. 

At the second doorway in the new block, Kento stopped and gestured. "Here we are. He used to have a fence and a gate, but-" he shrugged.

The yard was as uniformly small as the rest of them, but it was nicely decorated. There was a tiny pink-marble fountain near one corner, surrounded by ferns, with a bird-feeder hanging from a black pole beside it. A row of white lilies lined either side of the narrow brick walkway that led to the door. The rest of the 'yard' was white and black gravel, intermixed in patterns, which I thought was very original. The house itself was a very soft gray-green, a color I liked, and the door and window-shutters were gleaming white. "It's like a flower- like the lilies, isn't it?" I mused. Kento grinned at me, then opened the door, stepped inside, and slid off his shoes. I followed a little hesitantly.

"Tadaima, Grandfather- I brought Shin!"

"Okeiri, grandson, and welcome to you too, Mouri-san," a deep voice replied. An elderly man appeared a second or two later from behind the white-silk curtain that hung between the entry and the rest of the house, and bowed. He was short and round, his hair was all white and his skin deeply brown and wrinkled with age, but his eyes were bright and sharp behind rimless glasses and his smile was very pleasant. I bowed respectfully and greeted him. 

"I told him you wanted to meet him and he said today seemed like a good day, since we didn't get much homework yet," Kento explained. 

"Very sensible, and it is a deep pleasure to make your acquaintence so quickly. Come, come, I have tea ready, come sit and talk with me. How was the day, Lei Fan?"

So we sat on velvety cushions at the tea-table in the living room, Kento and I on one side and the old man on the other, and talked. First about school, then about the Shu family's vacation in Hagi, and then about a number of random things that happened to come up. I enjoyed it tremendously; the old man had a sense of humor very similar to Kento's and I soon felt comfortable enough to ask him to call me Cye. Explaining that led us back to school subjects, and it was about then that I noticed how the room was growing dark and shadows were falling across the floor and table. "Oh, it must be nearly six," I sighed. "I should get back, I'm supposed to help in the kitchen."

"You mean someone's supposed to help you in the kitchen while you do the majority of the work," Kento corrected me, lifting an eyebrow in that way he had. 

"Close enough. I get to order them around, anyway." I smiled and put down the teacup reluctantly. 

Kento glanced at his grandfather, who gave a very slow, slight inclination of his head and said in a thoughtful tone, "And there are six of you?"

"Yes, three in each room."

"That is too many boys in one room," the old man mused. "Cye, this big grandson of mine has taken one of my guest rooms, but there are two more, and there are only the two of us to use all of this empty space. We rattle like peas. We would be most pleased to have you stay with us while you are in the city."

I think my mouth fell open; I know I blushed, because I felt my face go very hot all of a sudden. "Oh," I said faintly, fighting with myself. Kento was grinning fit to burst and I knew, somehow, that he was behind this. "Oh, sir, I- I could not, I- it- it's too much, too generous-" I wanted to, oh, how I wanted to, but I musn't. 

"Besides, your roommates'll be glad to get the extra room," Kento pointed out, just as if I was on the edge of agreeing. He must have seen from my face how tempted I was. But it wouldn't be right. I had paid the rent already, and my things were there, and- but still, he was right that- no, I mustn't. They were so kind and my friend- no, I had obligations to my roommates... Didn't I?

"D-demo..." I gulped and stared at the table. "They- they expect me...the cooking...I signed..." 

Kento lost his smile and put his hand on my shoulder. "The owners can get someone else easily enough if they really want to," he said softly. "You don't like staying there, they fight and you get homesick... Stay here, Shin-chan. Please?" 

I looked at him, knowing I'd lost. Then I looked across the table at the old man, who reached over and pressed the empty cup of tea into my hand. He poured a measure from his own teacup into mine, raised his to his lips...and waited. I recognized the ritual: if we drank together, the decision was agreed upon. My hand shook a little as I lifted the cup and took a long drink of the hot, sweet tea. When I lowered the cup, Kento was beaming again; he gave me a sudden tackle-hug that nearly made me spill the rest of the tea all over him. 

"I- I don't know how to thank you," I said a little shakily to them both, putting my free arm around Kento. My heart was thumping hard and I felt as though I might just float away, from pure happiness. 

Kento's happiness added to my own can get pretty intoxicating. Even when our minds aren't inadvertently joined.

"Oh, we are selfish," the old man said, looking very pleased with himself and chuckling a little at Kento. "We mean to keep you, Cye, you will be a good person to have here. I will have pleasant young company to make me feel younger again, and Lei Fan will have his good friend. You, on the other hand, will have to gather up your things and bring them here, and explain a few things to some people- that is not so convenient for you." He paused, then added, "I will ask of you only what I ask of my grandson here; he will tell you. For now, show him the room, grandson, while I begin cooking."

Kento let go of me, nodding, and scooted over to help his grandfather stand up; I got up too and started gathering up the tea-things, still half in a daze. Staying. Staying here, in this pretty house, with my best friend... if I wasn't dreaming, I was going to be one of the most content kids in Hanai. Maybe in all Toyama.

Kento took me up the stairs to the bedrooms a few minutes later, still grinning 'at the top of his lungs', so to speak. He showed me the large, clean guest room that would be mine, pushing back the heavy dark-green-velvet drapes to let in the last of the sunset. I followed him to the window and we looked down at the tiny, fenced-in back yard for a moment. Then he helped me unfold the futon and spread it with crisp white sheets and a soft, lighter-green comforter with dark-green stripes. "This was your idea, wasn't it?" I whispered when we were done, crouching beside the bed. 

"It was, but he didn't waste any time making it his own personal cause. He said he wanted to meet you first and if he felt you'd fit- and from what I told him, he thought you would- then he'd offer. He's lonely here, most of his friends- he's outlived them," Kento concluded more somberly. "It'll be good for him, I think, having others around, even if we are just kids." He grinned again. "He likes you- you and your traditional ways."

"Does he know about-?" I patted my pocket.

Kento shook his head, then stood up and said, more conversationally, "Let me show you the rest of the place." 

'The rest of the place' upstairs was the bathroom and towel-cupboard, the other guest room (which was much smaller and all in white, giving it somewhat of the appearence of a snow-globe), the toilet niche (these usually are different rooms in the older houses; the 'bathroom' is simply the shower and the bathtub. Newer houses save the space and do it American style, toilet and tub together) and lastly, Kento's room. It was a bit bigger than mine and had a desk in it, and it was decorated in shades of rose instead of green. "It's a big desk," my friend observed, truthfully. "We can bring another chair up and you can sit at the end. That way if I have a question, I won't have to come down the hall after you." He paused as I put my arm around him, and I felt him pat my back. "You're sure, now," he said, suddenly sounding a little anxious. "We didn't, like, bulldoze you into it or anything, right? 'Cause if you really would rather..."

"I'd rather-" I lost track of what I was about to say, suddenly remembering- on the beach, that last night, something he'd said about...younger brothers? Pests. Tagalongs, yes. He'd been a little unsure of himself, not wanting to impose himself on me. "Remember the day I told you about this school?" I asked, looking at him. He nodded, his eyes curious. "When I went to sleep- well, to bed- that night, I lay awake thinking how nice it would be if you would decide to come here. And then I remembered that two of my roommates- not the two in my room, two of the others- talked about perhaps finding someplace else to room this semester. And I thought how perfect it would be if they did and you could-"

I didn't get to finish; he hugged me again and I put both my arms around him.

"But this is better, far better," I added when he let go of me. "This is perfect."

"Well, not quite perfect. Not till we get your stuff in here," he answered, smiling and relaxed. "Seriously, now, I don't think things are going to be perfect," he added with a thoughful look as we walked slowly back towards the steps. "They usually aren't. But I think it'll be good, real good- a lot better than you being all alone in that crowd and grandfather and I being all alone more literally." 

I nodded, not surprised by his sensible insight. Kento's a lot more sensible, and insightful, than most people give him credit for being. 

Getting my 'stuff' from the rented house to Kento's was a bit of an adventure, complicated by the fact that Kento's grandfather- like many Japanese- didn't own a car. It's often that way in the cities. In a spread-out place like Hagi, people have farther to go to get places, and also more room to park a vehicle. People in cities rarely have a place to put a car, and don't really need one anyway with such efficient public transportation. And where public transportation won't take you, a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle- or even your own to feet- will. Or a taxi, if necessary.

We utilized two methods. The first, after a prolonged study of the bus schedule and a local map, was to walk six blocks to the nearest city bus stop and catch a bus that took us to within a block of the rental house. The second was to use the house's phone to call a taxi and have ourselves and my stuff returned to Kento's house.

Simple enough, if not entirely pleasant. 

When we got off the bus, I stood on the sidewalk for a moment, looking up at the big building. Every window was lit up (despite the fact that the sun had only just set) and at least a few of them were open, for I could hear angry voices drifting out into the evening air. I was a little too far away to tell who was shouting at whom for what, but as we got closer, I recognized Boo's voice. And Cor's. And at least one, perhaps two others. I didn't quite get the gist of the fight, but apparently Kento did, for he snorted softly as we paused on the steps. "You want me to come in with you?" he asked.

"Yes, please," I said. "I may need some help carrying things. And two are quicker than one." And I led the way up the steps, feeling most oddly...determined. Or resolved, or something- I still haven't figured that one out. Either my temper was starting to stir, making me indifferent to confrontation, or I had already put that house and the people in it aside as 'no longer any of my business'. Either way it was as well I felt that way, because walking into the middle of a five-person...well, not a brawl but not far from it... was not a pleasant experience. They didn't even pause as I went into the bedroom, but they did pause when Kento- who'd stopped to take off his shoes the way a polite person does- came in after me. 

"Who are you?" one of the boys across the hall demanded.

"A friend of Cye's," Kento replied cheerfully. "Don't let it bother you, we'll be out of here in about five minutes. Go on ahead with your yelling; didn't mean to interrupt."

No one said a word, which made me grin rather sourly as I gathered up my few things. There are advantages to living out of a suitcase... though being able to zip it up and depart with it is the only one I can think of right now. 

"What are you doing?" Boo asked after a moment, from the doorway.

"My friend has offered me a place in his home, and I have accepted," I replied, not turning around. "You'll have more room in here now." 

"You're leaving? But who's going to cook for us?" Cor demanded. 

"Whichever of you wants to," I told him, standing up. "I taught you all, and you do know how to read cookbooks." Beside me, Kento was looking seriously annoyed. "Are your hosts here?"

Silence, probably because I had said 'your' instead of 'our'.

"Trust you to ask a question so difficult no one can answer," Kento remarked. He was supposedly speaking to me, but his words were really for them. "I guess we'll just have to search the place." 

"That will not be necessary." 

I turned and bowed to the younger of the homeowners, who had just come down from the upper floor. "Sir."

"Mouri-san," he replied, bowing as well. "I came to see why things grew so quiet. So, you are to leave us?"

"I am, sir."

He grunted. "Well. I won't say I'm pleased, but I wish you fortune. If you will wait a moment, we will attend to the contract."

I nodded as he turned to go back up the stairs, taking a firmer grip on my suitcase-handle. Mother had paid the twelve-week rent plus the damage deposit, and I had signed a contract. Now I was breaking it, and I wasn't at all sure Mother would get her money back. If not... if not, I might have to stay anyway... Why was he taking so long?

At last he came back down the stairs, carrying a small envelope and a piece of paper. He handed them to me and bowed; taken off guard, I quickly bowed too. "In the future, a bit more notice would be useful," he observed.

"I will remember that-" I began.

"My family's fault, there were some issues, details, to be handled," Kento overrode me. 

Details? I thought, trying not to laugh. Oh yes; details like meeting the old one, and actually being asked...small, unimportant stuff like that...

"It should have been done in a more timely manner. Our thanks for your undertanding in the matter," Kento concluded, bowing. 

"Of course, of course. Something always goes wrong, doesn't it?" my former host said more amiably. "It has been a pleasure having you, Mouri-san."

A few formalities later we were back on the sidewalk, each of us carrying one of my suitcases and me with an armful of pillow as well. Fortunately the suitcases both had wheels on them, so once we got past the steps, it was only a matter of pulling them. None of my former roommates said a word as we departed; I wondered what they were thinking, then dismissed it from my mind. It wasn't likely they'd tell me even if I asked. I also wondered if my mild friendship with Boo and Cor had just reached an abrupt end, though there was no particular reason for it to do so. It wasn't as though we wouldn't see each other in class and at lunch.

But if it had- if I had traded them for Kento- then I was well ahead of the game, as Rowen would say. (Not that I knew Rowen and his expressions then, but that was about how I was feeling.) I looked over at Kento as we stopped at the curb to wait for the taxi and smiled when I saw him looking at me. The sky was dark now, and the streetlights had come on; my stomach was growling for the meal the Grandfather was preparing for us and I thought happily of stretching out on the comfortable bed in my own room afterwards. I shifted the pillow under my arm, then put it down on top of the suitcase beside me and grinned at Kento. "Details, is it?" I teased.

"Details, yep," he agreed, and we laughed together.