Chapter Text
Coming up on winter vacation in 1st year, Eugene was planning on going to Britain to stay in his grandmother's house, which was empty as his family doesn’t live there.
While sitting in Chemistry, Eugene wonders how dusty the house will be when he arrives. Plus, will it be worth it to try to clean it up if he’s alone and going to leave again anyway? The answer doesn’t come without thinking. The sun shines on his window desk warming his hands in the process. While fiddling them together he looks to his right seeing a sleeping Mogari not paying attention to Mr. Noir and his lectures. Eugene smiles lightly remembering the first time he decided to try out being friends with such a character like Mogari. He admits, he has grown fond of the other, appreciating everything he's done and everything he is.
I wonder what he’s doing for winter vacation. Maybe…No, he's probably got something going on.
The bell rings and students start to clear the classroom and head to lunch. Eugene gently shakes Mogari awake but ends up having to shake harder in order to wake him up. Is he dead or something? Eugene wonders to himself. Mogari then opens his eyes.
“The bell rang, it’s time for lunch.” Eugene says. Mogari then pressed his eyes close harder trying to enjoy the escaping rest. Regrettingly not wanting to open his eyes because he feels the sun, a shadow covers them. Mogari opens his eyes to see Eugene busying his hands and looking back at him. His hair is really red with the sun behind it, Morgari thinks to himself. He then lifts his head and stretches his arms in the air while Eugene gathers his possessions to be neat while they eat. Mogari looks to the front of the class, only a few students remain because they brought their own lunch. Mr. Noir seems to have left already too. Thank goodness he's gone, I don’t feel like getting yelled at for sleeping again. I can’t help getting more tired when I eat more evil spirits.
“You’ll let me copy your notes right?” Mogari asks, rather on a daily occurrence. Eugene laughs quietly as confirmation that he will let him copy. I mean he never says no to him does he. At this point in lunch they are walking down to where Tamon and Kanzaki usually occupy.
“You really need to go to bed earlier, you know. For your education and your health. I don’t know how you scored a 94 on the last test.” Eugene smiles while pulling Mogari down the hall to purchase their lunch. “It’s because I’m really smart, you guys just don’t believe it yet. And you needn’t worry ‘bout my health. I’m practically invincible!” Mogari smugly states. Eugene just rolls his eyes knowing well both statements are not fully true. Seeing Tamon and Kanzaki in the line, the two join them. While standing in line they talk.
“So, have you guys watched the live action of One Piece yet?” Kanzaki says. Eugene and Mogari look at each other knowing really well that they both haven’t. “Yup! It was great! Especially when that one guy said that one thing to the other guy.” Mogari tried to cover believing he successfully convinced Kanzaki, which failed. “I haven’t found time yet but I certainly will when I do have time.” Eugene didn’t lie because it wasn’t a lie, he was busy planning and studying.
Kanzaki looks at Mogari with a blank expression causing Morgari to tense a bit but doesn’t show it. “Well then what was the green haired samurai’s name then?” Kanzaki interrogates. Shit. Morgari swears. Tamon and Eugene just look away from the two and go about buying their lunch. They both know that a scene can be on the rise. “Well! His name was, well, it was, you know!” Mogari avoids. “I do know, do you?” “WOAH! Has the price went up on the warm biscuits? Wow, can you believe this Tamon?!” Mogari looks over for cover. Tamon looks at him like he hasn’t grown to know him, looking nauseous from this position of despair he had been put in. “Uh yeah, sure.” He says wobbly and looks away. Eugene laughs inwardly, at moments like these he's glad to be friends with them.
Kanzaki drops his interrogation but will most likely pester later about it. “So, what are you guys planning to do on winter vacation?” He asks. “I don’t yet, probably finding ways to avoid being sent back to the mountain.” Mogari shivers as he's reminded of such a thing. “I don’t think I have anything to do honestly. It will be a dread to come back anyway.” Tamon sulks. Kanzaki then looks at Eugene awaiting his response. “I plan to take a trip back to England just to check up on my grandmother’s house.” “Oh, doesn’t your dad live there?” Mogari questions. Yeah, he unfortunately does, doesn’t he. Eugene dreads the thought of being in a closer proximity to that part of his life.
“Yeah but I don’t plan to visit him.” Eugene says plainly. The others just go along with it not wanting to pry. Kanzaki goes on to say he's probably going to chill at his sisters apartment and avoid his sisters and her boyfriends activities. The group laughs at Kanzaki’s situation as they know what he is referring to.
Mogari and Eugene go back to their homeroom to eat as do the others.
Eugene continues to think about the trip. Which then caused him to think of his father. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that he’s the king of the United Kingdom. Although, I'm glad he has left me alone so far. I don’t want to be called a prince anytime soon and I most certainly don’t want to be treated as such. However, visiting my father shouldn’t be a bad thing should it? Maybe I'll at least text him that I'll be visiting England.
While Eugene is eating and thinking, Mogari is rushing to write down the chemistry notes. At times Mogari had to ask what he wrote because he struggled reading Eugene’s handwriting. His handwriting was legible, it was Mogari’s failure to understand new chemistry terms that messed him up.
Maybe I could bring Mogari and the others with me if they aren’t doing anything. Eugene smiles slightly.
After school in the club room the usual occurred. Kanzaki, once again, questioned Mogari who was desperately defending his ego and trying to change the topic in order to do so. Eugene was busy reviewing the plan he made for Mogari’s exorcisms and helping a bit with Tamon’s homework. Mr. Noir popped in to see if everything and everyone was in one piece. In which everything was but could later go in a different direction. He left after he scolded Mogari for his behavior in class. Mogari even showed Mr. Noir the notes he ‘took’ to which Eugene then got the attention of Mr. Noir. The older man was aware of the soft spot Eugene holds for Mogari and just sighed it off. This was a sign for Kanzaki and Tamon to reword their notes for when they copy Eugene again.
Eugene started, “Hey, I was wondering if you guys-” BAM! A girl then shot open the door. She looked quite stunned and was out of breath. “Please! You guys do exorcisms right?!” The girl hurried out. “Well-” Eugene was about to say something in order to keep their reputation as a serious club but then- “Yes! We do! What needs to be exercised?” Mogari asks eagerly. Eugene just defeatedly leaned back into his chair letting the interaction happen as he has no say in it anymore. Tamon directed her to a chair she desperately needed. Kanzaki, Mogari and Tamon surrounded her, letting her speak. Eugene sat back listening intently on what she had to say.
“Ah! Thank goddess. My name's Akari Hayashi and my friend, he’s, well, I don’t know how to describe it. He’s not himself! He suddenly started to act so prude towards our group and even started to fight with another friend of mine and he always has his baseball bat on him which makes it worse. I read up recently about how people can act about this when they're possessed.” Ah she’s superstitious. “So, I came here for help since I heard about how you’ve helped people before.” Mogari was a bit hesitant due to the last time he had to exercise somebody (that time he kissed that guy). The same with Kanzaki remembering when he got in trouble for being caught with the guy’s knife. “Can you tell us where we can find him?” Tamon asks while trying to avoid eye contact with Ms. Hayashi. “Today I last saw him in the baseball field practicing by himself.” She says a bit offended on why the boy won’t look at her. “Thank you! We’ll be sure to get your friend back to normal!” Mogari says happily. Eugene smiles at how easily it is for Mogari to help people but also thinks it’ll eventually be his downfall.
“Really?! Thank you so much!” The girl got up and thanked everyone again and left.
“Alright! Let’s go!” Mogari starts. “Wait! Let's think about this.” Eugene stops him. “We don’t know anything about him other than the fact that it has suddenly happened and he is currently armed with a baseball bat.” A silence falls over the enthusiasm that filled the room not that long ago. “Maybe we should just watch him for a minute before we jump to conclusions.” Kanzaki voiced reason as if he wasn’t set on jumping the guy as well. Although Eugene can’t see the spirits it doesn’t mean he hasn’t seen how they’ve affected his friends.
They head over to the baseball field and as they go up to it they just see the boy standing there with the bat ready to hit something that won’t come. Tamon and Mogari rest their hands upon Kanzaki’s shoulders. “Damn, he is possessed.” Kanzaki says, staring at the dark aura radiating from the boy. “I don't think we can talk this spirit out.” Tamon states. As they observe the boy from behind the fence they ponder on how to go about this, not wanting to jump in head first like last time.
“Is the spirit possessing him or is it an object?” suggests Eugene not wanting to have the guys get beaten up. The three then looked closer and Eugene was right, the bat was the one possessed but the boy was attached to it causing him to be aggressive. “So if we break the bat will it leave?” Mogari asks. “It should.” Tamon says.
Mogari then proceeds to approach the boy with no precaution in his step despite his friend’s protests. He's going to get hurt. Eugene thinks to himself. When approached, the boy started swinging in place causing Mogari to doge and run the other way. Heh, idiot. Kanzaki thinks. “Okay, we may need to find another way!” Mogari confirms.
“We could try to get it to leave his hands without touching him, like causing outside disturbances to him.” Tamon suggests. “That seems to be the greatest option.” Eugene confirms. They start to look for things around them that could help while the boy just stood there idly. Kanzaki then finds a bin full of basketballs outside. Kanzaki, Mogari and Tamon took position ready to pry the bat when ready and Eugene was responsible for rolling the balls towards the boy. When ready, Eugene tipped the basket sending the balls under the boys footing sending him off guard. While the boy had trouble regaining his footing, Kanzaki and Tamon then grab hold of the boy's arms while Mogari pulls the bat from the boy’s grasp. When the boy finally gave in, Mogari wasted no time and broke the bat that released an evil spirit that he then grabbed hold of and proceeded to eat like a buffet.
Tamon and Kanzaki were occupied in figuring out what was going on with the boy, not that he was separated from the spirit. Eugene walks over and kneels next to where Mogari sits. “Hey, are you okay after that? No bad feelings yet?” Eugene's concerns about Mogari. Mogari chuckled, “Yes, I’m fine. I told you you don’t need to worry about that.” Mogari smiles widely at the concern shown by his friend. “If you say so but if you start to feel bad tell me, Okay?” Eugene presses. “Okay okay, I will.”
The rest went on, the boy was unconscious for a bit but woke up with little memory of the previous event. Eugene suggested that he get plenty of rest and it would be best to apologize to his friends as well as thank Hayashi. The four then spent the rest of the club time gathering all of the basketballs and disposing of the broken bat. They then go back to their club room to gather their things. Maybe I should ask now.
“Hey guys, I was wondering if you guys would like to come with me to England this winter vacation? None of you have to say yes, it's just a suggestion.” Eugene asks sheepishly not wanting to create a weird atmosphere. “I could pay for the plane tickets and everything else you know since it’s a different country.” He further persuades. He then looks up at the others awaiting their answers.
“Eugene…THANK YOU!” Mogari exclaimed. “YOU'VE SAVED ME FROM MY FATHER ONCE MORE!”
“Wh-What?”
“I did NOT want to go back to that mountain anytime soon!”
“Uhm- Okay, that's good then.” Eugene smiles lightly and then looks at the other two.
Kanzaki was already on the phone with his older sister explaining his new plans and Tamon was on the phone doing the same with his father. “I’ll go!” Kanzaki says after hanging up. “I can come as well!” Tamon says brightly. Eugene’s mindset about the trip brightens up a bit knowing that he will be surrounded by his friends. “That’s great! Leave the rest to me. You all have passports right?”
They then walked and went their separate ways. Mogari and Eugene were the last to separate.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Eugene asks.
“Yes, I really am.” Mogari scoffs in defeat knowing that Eugene will always ask this question. “Now go home.” Mogari smiles. Eugene just nods and they say their goodbyes.
Walking home Eugene pulled out his phone and texted his father. It entailed about when he would be visiting and just how he thought he’d let him know and about his friends that will be there. The text was delivered in silence with only the sound of his own footsteps filling the air.
He opened the gate and door to his home allowing its still atmosphere to be interrupted by his moving. His mother has been away for work for a while and doesn’t plan on coming home anytime soon so it’s just Eugene. Moving up to his room he starts to think about the planning that goes into the trip now that he has companions accompanying him.
Eugene then spent the rest of his day covering the planning that involved typing a list to give to the others of what he suggests to pack. He also bought the plane tickets that night, getting them while they were still cheaper than they will be in a week. He also wrote a very persuasive letter that Mogari could send to his mountain if he is later on pestered about the trip. It would simply be along the lines of the benefits of international travel and how it could improve his abilities. Although, this letter is needed unless further notice. He then finished up his homework of the day not wanting his planning to cause him to fall behind. Winter vacation is next week so he made sure he sent the list that night to the others. He went to bed peacefully but was still pondering about future plans. Unfortunately, he still hasn’t started the first episode of the One Piece live action.
___
Over the course of the remainder of the week, Eugene had made sure that the other three were prepared for the trip and didn’t forget anything. This was especially prevalent when Eugene had to directly go to Mogari’s residence to make sure he didn’t forget anything. He had the least trust in him compared to Tamon and Kanzaki.
After school, Eugene enters the home looking around for a suitcase that is half-full. “Okay, so where did you say your suitcase was?” Eugene asks while putting down his school bag and roving his shoes at the door. “Right! Let me go get it!” Mogari days rushing his shoes off and running into the next room. They leave in the next two days so Eugene was glad he came to check on Mogari’s packing. This was because not too long after they arrived, Mogari appeared with an empty case. Eugene just sighed and chuckled a bit knowing this would've happened.
“Okay, now get out more than a week's worth of outfits.” Eugene demanded ready to organize the other’s things but not wanting to reach into the drawers.
For the next thirty minutes Eugene prepared Mogari for the trip. After they were finished they just sat and talked, Mogari brought up his complaints about having gone back home for winter vacation, He also mentioned his fear that if he did go back, he may never have returned. Eugene then becomes glad that he invited his friends.
There was then a knock on the door to which it opened without warning. Ren walked in and started to talk to Mogari, however once he spotted Eugene and the suitcase he went silent.
“Why is your suitcase packed? Ren then asked sternly.
“Oh! That!” Mogari states nervously but then just admits it. “I’m going to England for winter vacation.”
“What? Does your father know about this? You can’t leave the country, you have to continue exercising evil spirits.” Ren says quickly. Plus, it’ll finally be the perfect time to take care of my job. Wait, is he leaving because he knows that I plan to execute him? Possibly. Ren thinks to himself.
“Well-” Mogari tries but Eugene interrupts. “It’s actually beneficial for him to change locations for a little bit. For his goals, training and understanding of different spirit’s behaviors in different vicinities. Plus, depriving him of the outerworld is considerably cruel.” Dang, he turned on his smart voice for that. Mogari thought funnily.
Damn. This kid. Ren thought. “Sure, but what will happen when his father catches news that he’s out of the country without notice? What will happen then?” He refutes. Eugene then got up and walked over to the place where he placed his school page. He then took out the letter he wrote for this very scenario. “Then just send him this, it entails every point I just made and furthermore explains the benefits for Mogari and even himself.” Eugene hands the letter to Ren. The two then look at Eugene, Ren feeling a bit defeated and Mogari surprised, in a good way though. “Well, it's late and we have school tomorrow so I'll head home. Good night.” Eugene takes his leave. “See you tomorrow!” Mogari waves happily. The door closes.
“You know, I don’t understand why he’s so fond of someone like you, and vice versa.” Ren says, tucking the letter into his baggy sleeves. He also ruins my plans with his own plans. Maybe I’ll take him out first, then Mogari. If it's the only way I will. “I guess it's my irresistible charm!” Mogari says but then goes more serious. “I’m glad to have him, honestly he’s helped me a lot.” Mogari smiles to himself. Ren glances at the boy and feels for the letter. “If he’s that important to you, don’t end up hurting him. You're dangerous at times so don’t go berserk at some point.” Ren says with an outward sigh. “What? I’d never hurt him. Why would you suggest that?” Mogari was shocked by the sudden implication, “It’s just a warning, especially because of his... absence... of spiritual abilities. Be careful.” With that final remark, Ren left.
I’d never hurt Eugene. I know I can go overboard sometimes but I’ve never gone berserk! Plus,I’m already well aware of his void of spiritual abilities. However, that just makes me like him more, he's fresh air in all this family crap.
Mogari then calls it a night, not doing his homework and studying as usual.
The next day of school went by normally just with Mogari stuck on what Ren had said the previous night. Although, with great effort he put it behind him and continued on with his train of thought. However, it became increasingly harder whenever Eugene noticed and asked about the off-ness radiating from him. Mogari just told him he was fine but just tired from staying up too late. Eugene just says his famous line of “You know, you should go to bed earlier for your education and your health.” Classic. Mogari thought. The rest of the school day went by in a breeze.
_____
They met at the airport at 5 pm because their flight was a later flight at 6 pm. Mogari went straight up to Eugene with a sluggish walk. Tamon finished saying bye to his father as well as Kanzaki saying bye to his sister and her boyfriend. Tamon and Eugene had got up earlier that morning while Kanzaki and Mogari looked like they just got up. If they are tired now they will definitely be tired tomorrow. Eugene thinks as they approach the check-in desk.
“I'm so tired! And I even slept in…” Mogari exclaimed.
“You know if you sleep in later you’ll be even more tired than if you woke up earlier.” Tamon says.
“Is that true?” Kanzaki asks.
“Maybe.” Tamon says.
They engage in miscellaneous conversation as they get to the desk. Tamon sees the lady at the desk and shifts to the back of the group as he grows more nervous and nauseous. Eugene walks up to the desk with all four of their passports as he had made himself in charge of carrying the important possessions. He placed all of their passports into the fanny-pack that was around his shoulder, this was so they weren’t easily lost. Eugene was glad he kept his mother’s family name as his father’s may have been more troublesome. I mean well, who can blame people for being surprised at seeing a royal name on a passport and wanting to look further into it.
They then went through security which was on the rougher side of the trip so far. Eugene helped Mogari with the process of getting through security as he had never done this before. This causes the people behind them to be more impatient because of the new situation for Mogari. They paid very little mind to the bystanders. Another issue, well not an issue, just a pattern that was hard to ignore. Kanzaki was often stared at by people due to his scars. This he tried to ignore them but as it happened more often in line, it grew over bearing. It was also harder on him when the security guards paid extra attention to him due to his appearance. Which wasn’t a problem since he wasn’t doing anything he shouldn’t nor bringing anything he shouldn't but, it was making everything more troublesome and nerve racking for him. Tamon was also having a hard time because of the constant eye-contact he was making and trying to avoid. He was also nervous because due to his uneasy deminor, security became suspicious of the boy. Although, thankfully, nothing raised a red-flag other than their behavior and they were pushed through.
Once cleared, they head down to the luggage area where they would send their suitcases to the baggage boarding. After that, they then carried themselves and their carry-ons into navigating the airport to see where their gate was.
“It is now 5:35 so we could find the boarding gate and then look around the shops and food-courts. That is if you guys feel like it.” Eugene says as he looks back at the three who just went through something that shook them up.
“I’ll stay at the seats where the gate is.” Tamon says looking visibly uncomfortable with how many people were in the airport. Understandably there was a lot due to it now being winter vacation. “I’ll stay with him, I don’t feel like getting stared at even more to be honest.” Kanzaki says while running fingers through his hair.
“I can go look around!” Mogari says unfazed while smiling, ignorant of the other two’s moods.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.” Eugene nods.
They find their gate and Tamon and Kanzaki slump right into their seats. Mogari and Eugene then keep note of where the gate is and venture into the food-court.
“You just wanted to scout out where the food was, didn't you?” Eugene smiles and laughs following the eager boy in front of him.
“Of Course! I can always eat.” Mogari said. Mogari looks at Eugene, “Oh! Wait.” Mogari turned and faced Eugene, rather closely, in which he paused. “Your bag is open.” He reached up and started to zip it. Five passports? But, there’s four of us. “Why are there five passports?” Mogari says flipping through them in the bag. “Oh! I bought an old one of mine- just in case.” Eugene then quickly, but carefully because of Mogari’s fingers, closed the zipper. “Oh, okay. Anyways, I’m looking at the KFC chicken!” Mogari smiles brightly. Mogari starts to head in the direction of the vendor. Eugene sighs in relief that Mogari didn’t push a further explanation.
The extra passport was the passport Eugene received from his father, it was red with golden accents. It was a royal one that would allow Eugene special access. Although he vowed to not use it because he didn’t need to, he has no problem acting like a normal person and taking the economy. He had only brought it with him in case of emergencies.
Eugene and Mogari proceed to only order a small portion for the four of them and they bring it back to the others who were waiting. Tamon and Kanzaki seemed to have recovered themselves through conversation. They then ate all of their portions preparing for the 18 hour flight ahead of them. In the middle of the flight they’ll have a complimentary meal but that’ll be all. With the last five minutes remaining of them on the ground, Eugene distributed their seating arrangements. Since there are four of them and only three seats in a row, they pair off into two groups of two. Mogari wanted to sit next to Eugene because Eugene packed snacks in his backpack. Kanzaki wanted to sit next to Tamon so he could probe his brain about the live action of One Piece because he realized he had forgotten to interrogate Tamon at school. So, everything worked out, Eugene let Mogari have the window seat for Mogari’s entertainment, and he had no problem sitting next to a stranger. They then boarded the plane and stuffed their backpacks between their legs.
“Is this S 41, 42 and 43?” A stranger asked. “Yes it is.” Eugene answered while Mogari was engrossed in looking at the airport from a different perspective through the window. “Great!” The stranger said while sitting down in the aisle seat. The guy had dark-brown hair which was in a short style as well as dark-purple eyes. Well he's quite the looker. The stranger lifts his hand up for a shake, “Name’s Fujimoto.” He smiled. “Koreshiki.” said Eugene as he shook the boy's hand. Eugene smiled at him and then turned his attention towards Mogari. Who, surprisingly, was looking back at him.
“So, this flight is 18 hours long?” Mogari asked with little enthusiasm. It seemed his demeanor changed in the past minute.
“Yeah, it is but it should go faster once you fall asleep.” Eugene suggests. “But I assume you plan to utilize the mini-tvs.”
“Well, yes I do plan to.” Mogari smugly says.
The plane left not that long after everyone boarded. Mogari was astonished while looking out the window.
The rest of the flight was, well, uneventful. It was a montage of going back and forth between the tvs and looking out the window and staring at Eugene while he slept. It’s not often that Eugene takes his glasses off and puts his hair down. I’ve never seen anyone with red hair like his. I wonder if that's what they all look like in England. Mogari thought to himself.
At this point they were half way through the flight. Eugene was asleep and Kanzaki was as well. He could tell because he hadn't moved in a while in the seat in front of him. Mogari was looking around the plane just viewing the other characters as they idly and eagerly awaited the end of their flight.
Mogari noticed that the guy at the end of their row, Fujimoto, had often looked at Eugene as he rested his head. This then caused Mogari to pull Eugene’s head onto his shoulder. Giving him some control in this bothersome aspect of their trip. In the next hour, the flight attendant came by and provided everyone with satisfactory snacks. Mogari had to restrain himself from eating the one that was given to Eugene. Mogari averted his eyes between the seats in front of him where Kanzaki and Tamon sat. Kanzaki was in the middle seat not wanting Tamon to be nauseous whilst sitting next to another person for 18 hours. He was currently enjoying what the mini-tvs had to offer; some anime, live actions, shows and movies. Next to him however was Tamon who was slowly slouching down into his seat as he slept, despite the seat belts. Mogari had to fight the urge to kick the back of Kanzaki’s seat out of boredom. I mean, he would go to sleep since it's been over nine hours since they first departed but he didn’t want anything to happen whilst he slept. So, he decided to sleep once he got to wherever they’re going in England.
Eugene woke up not long later due to the turbulence of the plane. I guess he’s a light sleeper. Mogari figured. Eugene browsed the tvs but didn’t find anything of interest to him. At hour 11 it was dark outside since it was supposed to be 5 am but who knows what hour it will be when they arrive because of the time change. Tamon ended up leaning forward and hitting his head on the back of the seat in front of him. The three started to laugh quietly at Tamon who was rubbing his forehead. Another hour later, hour twelve, Eugene convinced Mogari to sleep. In which he didn’t wake up for the following four hours. During that Kanzaki was haunted by the thought of the spirit that was stuck on this plane, it had been wandering up and down the aisle for the last hours. He wanted to find a way to put it at peace but that would take a long time and he couldn’t cause a disturbance on the plane. He wondered how many spirits were wandering around England and if it’s more than the average of Japan’s spirits. He wanted to clear his head of this thought and went back to scrolling on the tv in front of him.
Tamon’s leg had been touching Kanzaki’s this whole time so he was also able to see the wandering spirit, it was unnerving but understood that it wasn’t a good opportunity to try to put it to rest. Eugene and Mogari had been, obviously, ignorant to the disturbance present to the other two in front of them. While Mogari was asleep, Fujimoto struck up a conversation with Eugene.
“So, what are you and your friend there going to England for? Sightseeing?” He asked.
“Well, yes, it’ll be his first time in England.” Eugene said. Eugene didn’t exactly want to give away a lot of details because he was still wary of the stranger’s presence. He didn’t mention the fact they were with the two in front of them nor what they were actually planning to do. “What about you? Are you sightseeing as well?” Eugene asked, trying to be friendly.
“I am visiting family friends actually. I haven’t seen them in a while.” Fujimoto smiled. “You know, It’d be funny if we ran into each other while we were there.”
“Yeah, that would be.” Eugene said calmly trying to hide his wary tone. It was an odd thing to say for someone he had just met but he disregarded it as a simple pleasantry statement. Eugene then glanced at Mogari who was still asleep.
For the rest of the flight, little conversations between Eugene and Fujimoto, who initiated them, disappeared when Mogari had woken up. Eugene felt slight relief because of that, the conversations just got more awkward on Eugene’s side.
Two hours later, they landed. They all prepared for deboarding the plane. Mogari made sure all the snacks he didn’t eat from Eugene’s bag were still there and Eugene put his glasses back on but he didn’t bother with the hair clips. Kanzaki made sure his bag was zipped and Tamon was trying to mentally prepare himself for the crowdedness of it. Before Kanzaki and Tamon stepped into the aisle, they made sure the spirit wasn’t in their path. They didn’t want to disturb it more than it already was. Fujimoto had gotten up first, of course, and put on his backpack.
“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you.” He smiled at Eugene.
“Yeah, same here.” Eugene said, trying not to show awkwardness in his voice as he stood up. Then, Fujimoto deboarded the plane. Mogari told Eugene to wait a little, letting the people in the back pass them before they got out of their seats. Mogari wanted a chance for that Fujimoto guy to be out of their hair before they deboarded, plus they weren’t on a time crunch so there was no need to rush. Once they had actually deboarded the plane, they checked their phones. In Japan right now, it was 12:25. However, their phone’s had gone eight hours back to the time in England, 4:25 am. This made the group of four groan collectively.
“Wait, so where are we staying?” Kanzaki asked.
“Oh, right. We’ll be staying at my grandmother’s house. And don’t worry, it’s been vacant ever since she passed.” Eugene said as he led the group towards the exit. I hope he doesn’t decide to show up at the door. Eugene dreaded thinking of his father. Out of the corner of his eye however, Eugene saw a lot of men who suspiciously are not dressed for the airport and surrounded them as the four walked. Wait, are they? Seriously… the secret service? That’s got to be overkill. Eugene thought. He recognized the movements of the men and their behavior. Although, this wasn’t unanticipated. He did tell his father of his arrival in the country. So, he did know this was his doing.
By the time they passed through all the security and baggage claims and such, the boys catch a taxi to the place they would be staying for a while. The house they arrive at is lively but desolate. The foliage around the front and sides of the house seem to be in very good shape. He must have had people keeping the house in shape. Although his father is weird, he isn’t heartless by a stretch. However, looking at all the plants, Eugene could tell that the snowing period in England is coming up.
“This is it.” Eugene said to the driver. He paid and thanked the driver as the others got their suitcases and then the taxi left.
“Well, this is it.” Eugene said to the others as he approached the house with the other boys behind him. “Wow, you grandmother loved plants huh?” Kanzaki said.
“You can say that again.” Eugene chuckled as he got his key out of his fanny pack. He opened the door with a bit of a budge. They all piled in and took in the warmer air. The house was on the bigger side, big hallways and open ceilings covered the property. There was even a sunroom in the backyard, the backyard that stretched quite far.
Damn, his family must be rich. The three boys thought collectively. They all got separate bedrooms because there were five bedrooms in the house. Which surprised the others as they were used to close-quarters in their homes. When they all settled in Eugene had suggested that they don’t go anywhere for today so they could rest up and adjust to the time-change. In which Mogari agreed heavily through the pillow he was already half way asleep on. The next day would be some local sightseeing.