Chapter Text
Eiji was already regretting that choice he made in his old school’s counselor's office. He remembered signing the paperwork, agreeing to dedicate his next year of education to being an exchange student in America. Now as he sat on the shuttle leaving the airport in NYC, he was already having doubts. First off, he barely understood anything. Despite the fact he was a top English student at his school, he struggled to pick up on anything anyone was saying, or anything the English signs said. Maybe it was the nerves, or the jetlag, but he felt like everyone was speaking in gibberish.
Secondly, he looked quite different than everyone around him. He had always been told America was a “melting pot”, but as he looked around the shuttle he couldn’t find anyone who looked like him.
He checked the notes he had written down for himself on what to do.
- Get off the plane, and get baggage.
- Get on shuttle WX5, and stay on it until you get to the end of the line.
- Find the Lobo family, and go to them.
- Get into the car with them, and go to your new house.
It seemed easy enough, and as he felt the shuttle come to a halt, a voice said something along the lines of “blah blah last stop,” Eiji grabbed his bags and quickly stepped out of the shuttle.
As he looked around the airport deck, it was filled with people. Everyone was going somewhere, and the crowd slowly filled Eiji with an underlying anxiety. As he scanned through the masses of people, something caught his eye. A family with blonde hair that consisted of a mother, a father, and a little boy, stood still in the middle of the deck holding a sign with big bubble letters and colorful drawings that said, “Welcome Home Eiji!”
They seemed to also be looking for him, their faces sweeping back and forth across the waves of people, so Eiji rolled his suitcase forward, weaving around the adults who seemed like they had places to be. The mother was the first to see him, her face lighting up as she stepped forward with her arm outstretched. She called out with an angelic voice, “Eiji! Come here!”
Eiji understood her. Her calm voice was like a beacon in a sea of confusion. He picked up his pace and stood in front of her, reaching his own hand out to shake hers.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Lobo!” He said, just like he had practiced. She took his hand with both of hers, excitedly shaking it up and down, “Please, just call me Jessica!” She said with a smile.
The Father and their son stepped up to Eiji as well, welcoming him with beaming faces. The husband extended his hand to Eiji. “Call me Max, and this little guy is Michael,” he said while they shook hands.
“How are you enjoying America so far?” Jessica asked while taking Eiji’s bags and beginning to walk towards the door to the parking garage.
“It’s so cool, but scary,” Eiji said, following her. He was still struggling to put the right words together in the forgien language.
“Well I’m sure you’ll settle in nicely,” Max said from behind Eiji.
The car ride away from the airport was long, but fascinating. Eiji has never been outside of Japan, and everything was very different. As they drove through New York City to get to the more suburban areas of the state, Eiji’s eyes wandered on every building in person. He surprised himself with how many signs he could understand, but nevertheless he was still in the dark with most of the larger words.
But, soon the winding streets and towering buildings turned into green lawns and smaller homes. And, sooner or later the family turned down a peaceful street and pulled into the driveway of a little white house. Eiji opened the car door and stretched his legs, while Max got his suitcases out of the back of the car.
Jessica went to the front door with her keys, motioning for Eiji to follow her. He stepped onto the porch of the house, the rickety wood creaking beneath his sneakers. The porch is sparsely decorated, only a rocking chair, a welcome mat, and a cross hanging in the middle of the red door.
As Jessica turned the key and opened the door, Eiji was met with a slightly smaller than average home. Nothing particularly big stood out in it. There were dark hardwood floors, and the walls were covered in a beige paint. It was nothing like his home back in Japan, but it was just as he was expecting out of an American home.
“Welcome to the Lobo house!” Jessica said, slipping her shoes off at the door. Eiji followed suit, taking his converse off as well. “Let me give you a tour.” She said, grabbing Eiji by the wrist as he barely managed to squeak out an affirmation.
She pulled him along through the house, showing him the living room, the kitchen, the office, the backyard, the bathroom, and finally ending in the bedroom right beside Michael’s. It was barren aside from the bed frame and dresser. “This will be your room!” She said. “Exciting- right? A room all to yourself.”
It was at that moment Max came into the door frame holding Eiji’s suitcases while panting like a wet dog, mumbling something along the lines of “how much stuff can one teenage boy pack?” He slid the suitcases into Eiji’s new room. “Well let you get settled in, just holler if you need us.” Jessica said, closing the door behind her as she finished her sentence.
And Eiji is alone. He has 3 suitcases of stuff from home, so he gets to work. First, the clothing suitcase. He takes his clothes and unloads them into the dresser, sorting them by type of clothes and color, trying to stay even a little organized. Then, his “essentials” suitcases. This one had his bedsheets, shampoo, toothbrush, etc. And finally, the fun stuff. This is where he packed his posters, his Tamagotchi, and his camera.
After an hour or two, his room is finished. It's nothing too complicated, but it’s his. The last thing he has to do is pin-up his calendar, in which he has one particular date circled. Tomorrow, August 26 he will start his first day in American school.
He goes downstairs, and has a peaceful dinner with the Lobo family, and plays with Michael a little bit. Eiji has always had a way with young kids. They tried to have some casual conversation, and succeeded in a sense, but Eiji kept having to look up words to understand what they were saying.
The things he did learn were that Max and Jessica had been married for seven years, that Michael was 6 years old, and that Max served in the military before they were married. But, nevertheless the evening had come to an end and Eiji was already very tired from the long plane ride. So, he went to sleep around 9:00, ready for his first day of American school the next day.
Eiji awoke to the sound of an alarm clock clanging in his ear. As his eyes fluttered open, it took him a moment to remember that he was no longer in Japan. He looked around his new room to remind himself of his new setting, before sitting up and stretching out his back. It was around 7:00AM, and he had school today.
American schools are very different from schools in Japan. First off, there were no uniforms. So, the first thing Eiji did was pick out his best looking outfit. Next, you ride a bus to school, instead of walking or getting on a tram. Eiji knew the bus came in around 15 minutes, so we had a bit of time to get himself ready still. So, he took his time to do all the boring morning hygiene stuff. He brushed his teeth, styled his hair, put on cologne, and posed in the mirror trying to make himself feel cool.
His last step in his morning routine was to eat. As he left his room and turned down the hallway into the kitchen, he could already smell cooked food. He saw Max and Jessica sitting at the table waiting for him, a plate of toast and eggs already set out. Max looked up from his newspaper as Eiji walked in and gave him a light smile.
“Ready for your first day, kid?” Max asked as Eiji sat down and started eating.
Eiji put his hand over his mouth, and tried to answer. But between his accent and the food in his mouth, his response wasn’t far from ununderstandable.
Jessica seemed to nod along as if she understood, and in an attempt to keep conversation going she said, “Well, we got a bag with school supplies in it, so you should be fine. Just try to make friends, and don’t stress yourself out too much.” She pulled up a brown backpack that seemed to be stuffed with notebooks, pens, binders, etc, and she awkwardly passed it over the kitchen table to Eiji.
“Now, you don’t wanna miss the bus, better get going kiddo.” Max said. Eiji responded with a nod, quickly taking the final bite of his breakfast before grabbing the backpack, rushing to the front door, sliding on his red converse, and walking outside, waving goodbye to the Lobo family as he did.
He had a vague idea of where the bus would pick him up, so he started off in that direction. This American neighborhood was very different to his home in Japan. There was almost nobody outside, whereas in Japan the city would already be bustling by this time. But, the only person he saw was a guy laying in the grass beside the bus-stop sign.
Now this guy was very different to what Eiji was used to. He wore bright, baggy clothes, had a couple of piercings in his face, and had a bright purple mohawk. He looked older than Eiji, but not by much. He did have a backpack, so Eiji could assume that he was a highschool student.
Eiji stood awkward beside the guy in the grass, unsure if he was awake or not because he had sunglasses covering his eyes. So Eiji avoided looking at him. In Japan, Eiji was told that people with piercings and colored hair were bad news, so the last thing he wanted to do was provoke this guy.
It was painfully awkward. The two boys beside each other in complete silence. Eiji’s whole body was tense as he waited for the bus to arrive and finally put an end to this social disaster.
“I don’t recognize you. Are you new?” Eiji suddenly heard from below him. Ah. So the mohawk guy wasn’t asleep.
“Kind of, I am an exchange student. From Japan.” Eiji said, trying his best to sound casual.
“Japan? Man, that's so far. The farthest I’ve ever been away from home was when I went to Maine for a family reunion.” Mohawk Guy sputtered out, adjusting himself so he was now laying back on his forearms.
He extended his hand to Eiji, letting his sunglasses slide down his nose to reveal his eyes. “Call me Shorter.” He said with an unexpectedly friendly smile. Eiji took his hand and shook it in response, and upon closer inspection he noted the edges of Shorter’s eyes were tinted red- a clear sign of marijuana use.
“I’m Eiji.” He responded.
“Ay Jay? That's a cool name.” Shorter said, putting his hand in his pocket and standing up.
“Eh? No, it's Eiji. Like uh,” Eiji stuttered for a moment, “E-I-J-I.”
Shorter nodded along. “Eiji, huh?” He said. “Do you smoke?”
“I’ve never smoked.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
“Do you want to?”
“Not really.”
“Suit yourself.”
The boys carried on this new conversation until the bus rounded the corner, and Shorter bounded on like he had done it every day of his life. Eiji was more cautious though. As he walked down the bus, he noticed a plethora of different people.
Kids dressed in all black with scary makeup. He immediately walked by them. Someone who was asleep, could be a safe option for a seatmate, but then he heard a voice call, “Oi! Eiji! Come sit in the back!”
Shorter was standing on the seat looking right at him, so Eiji walked all the way down the line and parked himself in the seat beside Shorter.
The bus ride was about 15 minutes, and Eiji just let Shorter talk for most of the ride. And by god, did he talk. A couple other other kids hopped on along the ride and started casual conversation, and Eiji butted in every once in a while, but he remained relatively in the background for most of the ride.
Now was the hard part. The actual schooling. As they all got off the bus, Shorter ran off to talk to someone in the front lawn of the school, and everyone else dispersed off into their friend groups. Considering it was his first day, Eiji decided to start looking for his classroom considering it might take him a while to find it.
After a while of wandering the halls and running into people on accident, he finally found the class he was looking for. As he peaked in the room, there was already a half-full class in their seats, and kids trailing in every second. Then, he heard the bell.
So, he takes a deep breath and steps inside. Nobody turns to him. In fact, it seems like almost no one cares. They are all still chatting in their little groups. Unsure of where he was supposed to sit, he leaned up against the wall, and waited for the teacher.
Not even a minute passed until the classroom door swung open, and a tall- brown haired man entered. He was muscularly built, wearing a trench coat and slacks. He walked to the desk at the front of the room, setting his briefcase down and writing his name in big loopy writing on the chalkboard.
Mr. Blanca.
He spun around to face the class, catching Eiji in his side view, stopping himself to meet his eyes. “Ah, you must be that new exchange student i was told about.”
Eiji nodded, trying not to look awkward as he could feel all of the classes’ eyes on him.
“Well, don’t be shy, Introduce yourself.” Blanca said, motioning for Eiji to stand in front of the class, front and center. “We haven’t got all day.”
Eiji took the hint, pushing himself off of the wall he was leaning on and standing in front of the class. He finally got a chance to actually look over the class. It looked like a standard American school. Most students were sitting at attention, but the one that caught Eiji’s eye was a tuffle of shiny blonde hair asleep in the back row, seemingly uncaring about the fact they were at school.
Eiji cleared his throat, and did his best to introduce himself with as clear of speech as possible. It was a standard introduction, he said his name, age, that he was from Japan, and that he liked photography. Once he was done, the class let out a monotone, “Nice to meet you, Eiji.” And Blanca sent him to his seat.
The seat right next to that tuffle of blonde hair. As he sat down, his eyes couldn’t help but linger on the mysterious kid. But as he seemed to stare for upwards of 20 seconds, suddenly the head turned, and Eiji was met with a glaring emerald-green eye, clearing wanting to be left alone. So, Eiji looked away, continuing to unpack his things and scan the classroom.
The overhead speakers clicked on after a few minutes, and an overenthusiastic voice echoed through the classroom.
“Gooooooood Morning Riverbank High! It is a beautiful monday morning and i hope you are all ready for the new week!”
The class let out a groan.
“Now if i could ask all students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.”
“The What?” Eiji thought to himself, then the horor hit him. Every student in the room, including the previously presumed asleep blonde-haired boy stood and faced the front of the room, as if they were under some sort of mind control. They all placed their hands over their chests, and began to monotonously chant some sort of poem together.
Eiji was by all means terrified. As he looked across the sea of kids however, his eyes were once again drawn back to the blonde-haired boy. He stood nonchalantly, not bothering to chant along with the other kids. His hair fell ever so slightly over his face, framing his jawline and drawing interest to his face- putting focus onto his jade-green eyes. He was wearing some old denim pants,and a jacket that was clearly a size too big for him but it somehow fit him in a way that contrasted with his slender physique and created an all-together satisfying silhouette.
The class ended their mantra with a line about liberty or something, and the students all settled back into their seats, engaging in casual chatter as the man on the announcements started talking about the clubs meeting today. The blonde guy had leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed now, still not talking to anyone, and his leg bouncing with impatience. Eiji noted that he didn’t seem to have any notebooks, pencils, or even a backpack.
As the announcements came to a close, Mr. Blanca cleared his throat and the class shut up pretty quickly. “We are going to pick up where you all left off last year. So, take out your math notebooks, and turn to page 56. Work through question 16 with someone beside you, and ask me if you need any help.”
Kids quickly began digging through their bags, pulling out a textbook they all seemed to own. Just as Eiji was about to ask what he was supposed to do a voice from beside him gave guidance.
“The textbooks are at the front of the room.”
The blonde boy had talked to him. Eiji processed what he said for a moment, before rushing out a quick “Thank you-” and standing to get himself a book. Grabbing the textbook off of a shelf by Mr. Blanca’s desk, he went back to his seat and opened to page 56. He had a vague idea of what the problems were, so he decided to just work on his own.
The blonde-boy had already leaned his head back again, once again dozing off in his seat.
Eiji was about half way down the page, when he got to a problem he was absolutely stuck on. He stared at the paper, twirling his pencil in his hand, and holding his breath trying to wrap his brain around the equation. After a minute of nothing, he let out a frustrated sigh.
Eiji raised his hand, calling Mr. Blanca over to him. As Blanca arrived, he slapped his hand on the blonde-boy’s desk, waking him up. “Aslan, help your partner. And stop sleeping in my class.”
“My name’s Ash.” He responded, stretching.
“Fine, Ash, stop sleeping in my class, and help the new kid.” Blanca said.
“Sure.”
Ash got to his feet, and walked across the aisle to Eiji’s desk, and Blanca went back to the front of the room. He leaned over, inspecting the page for what Eiji was doing.
After a moment of Eiji awkwardly sitting there, and Ash looking at the textbook page in silence, he put his hand in Eiji’s direction. “Gimme your pencil.”
Eiji obliged, handing over his pencil and watching Ash scribble a couple things on the page. After he finished writing, he set the pencil down, and sat back in his own seat. “You just forgot to multiply the denominators. Rookie mistake.”
Ash let his head lean back again, showing he was done with this conversation. Eiji didn’t push him to answer any more questions, and instead he attempted to work through the rest of the textbook problems.
The class was torturous for Eiji. At least in math they were using the same symbols and whatnot, so Eiji could follow along at least a little bit, but once they moved on to other subjects, he quickly got lost. The teacher talked too fast, and used words he had never heard before. Not to mention, the class was already in the middle of a unit.
He really tried his best, but his notes by the middle of the day were unintelligible from chicken scratch. But, his savior came with the sound of the lunch bell ringing. The class stood up, and exited the classroom. Now this was something he had heard of. American schools didn’t eat lunch in the classrooms, they ate in the cafeteria.
So, he stood up and followed the crowd to the cafeteria. It was very intimidating. The room was nearly packed with screaming children. Everything from AP students cramming at a table in the corner, to a group of Athletic guys throwing a ball across the room back and forth to each other. Eiji vigorously scanned the crowd for a familiar face.
That's when he saw a diamond in the rough. Ash and Shorter, sitting at a table together, surrounded by a couple other kids of varying size and appearance. Ash’s legs were up on the table, and he was leaning on the back legs of the chair. Eiji made a beeline for them, having to duck under and dodge a few people on his way there. He stood at the last empty chair at the round lunch table, and the crowd looked up at him.
Ash’s face, which did have a shit-eating grin just a moment ago, turned to a look of confusion. Eiji flung his backpack off his shoulder, and held it in his hand, holding his lunch kit in the other.
“Can i sit?” He asked, looking around the group.
Shorter, who had been turned around staring at god-knows-what, flipped around and excitedly nodded. “Dude! Yeah, sure sit! Sit!” Eiji’s shoulders relaxed as he dumped his bag onto the floor and slammed his lunch onto the table.
Seated left of him was a girl with very scary dark clothes and makeup, and on the right there was a kid who looked way too young to be in high school.
“Shorter? D’you know this guy?” Ash asked, seemingly not acknowledging Eiji.
“Yeah dude, he’s my new neighbor.” Shorter said, a little too loud.
Eiji interjected whilst unpacking his boxed lunch the Lobos made for him. “I’m actually just an exchange student, I’m from Japan.”
“Yeah, I know you said at the beginning of class.,” Ash said nodding towards Eiji then motioning to the people around the table. “You seem to already know me and Shorter, to your left is Nadia, Shorter’s older sister,” She gave a little wave to Eiji, and he suddenly saw the resemblance. “And to your left is Sing, he skipped a few grades.”
So that's why he looks so young. Eiji thought to himself.
“And they aren’t here right now, but usually we have two more guys with us, Bones and Kong. They’re football players.”
The group nodded to Eiji. They all seemed to have Ash as their de-facto leader. There was a second of awkward exchanges of glances. So, Eiji opted to get rid of that awkwardness.
“So, uh, what are you guys eating?” he asked, unpacking his lunch to find a sandwich with some chips and fruit, an American classic.
Sing pulled out a small metal jar, and opened it to reveal some old spaghetti inside. It smelled awful, but Eiji was trying to get on these guys’ good side, so he kept quiet. “Leftovers from last night, my mom packed it for me.”
“Sing, i mean this in the nicest way possible, that was probably one of the least cool things you’ve said in a while.” Ash said with a scoff and a grin. Ash took his feet off the table, and reached across the table and grabbed Nadia’s bag of potato chips.
“You see, my lunch is a bag of chips I stole from the creepiest girl in our grade.” He added while snarkily opening the bag and taking a handful. Nadia rolled her eyes. “Didn’t want those chips anyways.’ Nadia said half-sarcastically.
“Why didn’t you bring your own lunch, Ash?” Eiji asked naively. Ash looked up and across the table at him. He appeared to be contemplating what to say, before bluntly responding: “Old man didn’t buy groceries this week.”
The table looked at Ash with a look of half shock, half confusion. “Why do all of you look like you just saw a dead body?” Ash annoyedly asked.
“We met this guy today and you're already talking about your dad?” Shorter asked. “I know you for 5 years before you even told me you had parents-” Shorter seemed dumbfounded. “I thought you were an orphan for all of middle school.”
“Yeah, what the hell dude,” Sing added.
Ash just shrugged and took another handful of chips. “I dunno,” he said, chewing with his mouth open, “Eiji just seems nice.”