A boy sat alone in a first class seat with a scowl on his face. He looked to be about twelve years old, with short, jet black hair and deep brown eyes. Other boys his age would be playing a hand-held game system to occupy their flight, but Kiku had with him a slim laptop, a book titled "The Rapid Evolution of Nanotechnology," and a newspaper that he was now bringing up to read. His throat went dry and his scowl grew more intense as the headline of the front page screamed at him "Crisis in Japan: Escalating Danger and Mayhem." He was now glaring a burning hole into the picture accompanied with the header. It depicted a wide shot of a town -or at least once was- now in rubble. Kiku furiously turned the page to rid himself of the site. "Radiation Levels Increasing in Sendai." Kiku tore the newspaper with a loud rip, getting up from his seat abruptly.

"Honda-san, is there anything I can do for y-" a flight attendant began, but was cut of as the young boy pushed past her.

Kiku burst into the tight compartment, a poor excuse for a bathroom. He stood over the metallic sink, beginning to sweat, his hand clamped over his mouth as he glared into the bowl.

"Ngh!" There it came. Burning bile worked its way up Kiku's throat, into the sink, clouding the shiny sink with something far less pleasant. "Dammit...!" Kiku muttered under his breath. He smashed a fist into the rectangular box to his right that held the paper towels. The boy gave a grunt as his knuckles scuffed up against a protruding bolt, tearing his flesh.

He was in the tiny restroom for another ten minutes before he came out again, considerably more composed that when he had gone in, neglecting the gash across his knuckles save for a legth of toilet paper wrapped around his hand.

"Honda-san?" It was the same voice from a few minutes before. "Can...I get you something to drink? Perhaps some water? You're looking a bit...peaky."

Kiku narrowed his eyes at the woman in irritation. "Tea. Black." he waved her away as he returned to his seat. He gave a low sigh as he sank into 12D, leaning his forehead against the small window as he looked out at the fluffy whiteness. At least the seats weren't cramped in together like they were in the Economy section.

"Honda-san?" came the voice for the third time. "Your tea, sir."

Kiku's eyes shifted to his left to glance at the attendant as if she were an unwelcome fly. He took the drink without a word and set it in the cup holder beside him and laid his forehead against the cool glass of the window again.

Honda Kiku was a twelve year old boy who came from a wealthy family in Japan. He didn't talk much and didn't like to be around others, well besides his dog, Todoshiro, but even the small dog was out of his reach now. Kiku had been attending an elite private academy whose annual tuition was more than the salary of some people. He had acquaintances at the academy, but they were for networking purposes only. If there was one thing his father urged it was to make connections for when he would head the family business. Being the son of a wealthy businessman and an aristocratic mother made Kiku something of a spoiled boy. There was one boy who visited him somewhat regularly, the son of one of his father's business partners from South Korea. The boy would always copy him and ask him to do his homework and when Kiku gave in the boy took all the credit for the work himself. Besides that he was an extremely energetic young boy who never seemed to take things seriously. In other words, he annoyed the hell out of Kiku. But he was the closest thing Kiku had to a friend.

But now everything was going to be different. He was going to a new country, a place with new people, new food, new customs, new languages, new everything. He hated his father for sending him away; or at least he wished he could convince himself of that. He had already felt the quake, he had already seen the tsunami, and his father would not allow him to risk experiencing the radiation that was spewing from the nuclear power plant that was not fifteen miles from their home. So Kiku's mother and father enrolled him in a foreign exchange program after pulling some strings and put him on a plane to America. Just what he needed... Not only was it bad enough that he had to leave the comfort of his home, but he had to go to the loudest, rudest, most obnoxious country there was. Fantastic...

"Attention passengers, we will be landing in Brooklyn, New York in ten minutes, please be seated with your seat belts fastened." came a smooth voice over the intercom, waking Kiku from his doze. He lazily packed his things into his carry on and watched the window with heavily lidded eyes. He watched the bustling, smoggy city below grow closer and closer. He saw the giant green woman in the middle of the ocean. Damn, he really was here... As they touched down with a jolt onto the runway Kiku gave a sigh. Nope, it definitely wasn't a bad dream. He had to accept that fact that he left everything familiar thousands of miles away across an ocean. One thing was for sure though. This would never be his home.

Never. He repeated the word in his mind as he walked through the long passage and through the terminal. He walked into the large hall full of conveyor belts and walked to the one that his bags would be on. There were four in total. He waited a good ten minutes before luggage even started showing up through the flaps in the wall. There was the small black one. Another few minutes. There was the maroon one, and soon after the bigger black one. Another five minutes passed and still he did not see the last of his bags. But before he could even think about going to the missing luggage office a great force pounced on him from behind.

"Ah-!" Kiku gasped in surprise, almost losing his balance. Whoever it was had their arms draped over his shoulders from behind, so he lunged forward to loosen the grasp and turned quickly to shove the assaulter. He found himself fiercely glaring into a pair of gleaming blue eyes and his face loosened as his heart pounded. Such dazzling eyes... Kiku gave his head a quick, single shake and went right back to glaring at the person.

"'Sup, bro?"

"I beg your pardon?" Kiku shot. "Who the hell are you and what are you trying to do by attacking me like that?" he demanded, dusting himself off as if the mere physical contact had dirtied him.

"Dude, chill, I's just givin' ya the normal patriotic greeting," he smiled brightly. "Uh, you are Kiku, right?"

Kiku's face slackened a bit and he blinked a few times. "Wait, don't tell me.."

"I'm here to pick you up, dude!" the boy slapped Kiku on the back in a friendly gesture and he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "So, you're just here to help me carry my bags...right?" Kiku said the last word as if it were a plead.

"Nah, man, I'm Alfred Jones, part of yer host family!"

"..." Kiku was speechless. This obnoxious brat would be living under the same roof as him?

"Oh hey!" Alfred rushed forward to the conveyor belt. "This one's yours, isn't it?" he lugged a huge black suitcase from the moving panels.

Kiku blinked. "Er, yes, how did you know?"

"Uh, duh," Alfred pointed at the tag on the handle. "Your name is right here.

"You...read kanji...?" Kiku asked slowly in surprise.

"Er, well, no, but I was practicing so I would know how to spell your name," Alfred pulled the luggage back to them. Kiku was taken aback. Not only was the boy able to lift that gigantic bag, he took the time to learn how to write Kiku's name... "Well, don't just gawk! C'mon, let's head to my place!"

"What about your parents?" Kiku inquired.

"Oh, they're at work, didn't I mention, we'll be taking the bus home."

Kiku's eyes went wide. A bus? In this city? It was final, this boy was completely off his rocket.