the flight took longer as the brunet expected after a pitstop to Hawaii, he was tired and all, but the trip worth the penny, Masahiro checked the world clock after hopping out of the gate and luckily he set the respective time of the country he has been or he's gonna have a field day for it.
Masahiro collected his luggage by the carousel and meeting up with the Immigration, he's all set to the Arrivals Area to check if someone's looking for him, he saw the Jewish Doctor again and waved at him until he was disappeared in the group of tourists, in which the brunet hopped in the Concourse B and finally reached at the Arrivals Area, after instructions given by the airport sec
group of blondes was holding a sign that read "Masahiro Kishinuma, by the Collins Family". the patriarch of the family resembled a man of his mid 40's with brown hair and a hint of grey due to age, wore a plaid shirt and jeans with sneakers, the matriarch of the family resembled a blonde woman in her late 40's, her hair had an A-Line cut with a slight hint of greying, she has a white polo shirt with skinny jeans and faux fur boots.
for Masahiro meanwhile, he wore a white long sleeves shirt with black stripes and a black shirt with short sleeves, regular jeans, and Checkered Converses, the white jacket with black stripes, was the school's Mascot (a Tasmanian Devil wore the school jersey and a football in between his legs) with the team name on Kanji.
"Konnichiwa, Mr. Kishinuma. how's your flight, little man!" the patriarch boomed
"oh, hello Mr. Collins! thanks for the heads up" Masahiro replied shyly
"so, you must be the foreign student that Mr. E, told us about. I'm Sheryl by the way and he's my husband, Robert" Sheryl said while nodding her head to him
"yes, and who's Mr. E?" he asked
"I can't tell, how about we go back to our house? you must be tired from your trip" Robert replied
"yes sir" Masahiro yawned
they led Masahiro into the parking lot, in which the two drove a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban SUV with a blackish grey paint job, used but not abused, tinted windows that can see the outside while blocking the rays from the inside, the storage box was assisted by airport security due to it's the weight of the Vox AC-30BM Amplifier (around 70kg) and the Kishinuma Amplifier (roughly around 41.5 kg) combined. the trip lasted for one hour from Romulus County to Oakland County due to a stopover at a fast-food chain, in which the Japanese traveler ate along the way. the Collins were in relief as Masahiro wasn't a picky eater nor a vegan, as they drove to Arby's, which the Japanese heard about it because his dad tried it out and it's delicious, sad thing was, it was closed for nearly thirty years, he once heard a rumor about the Arby's location was opened at Camp Foster in Okinawa, it's quite far from Yokohama, so tough luck.
the SUV made it back to a two-story house with a tangerine door, it looks likes it can accommodate a ratio of ten girls and one boy in one roof, but the Tennant's of the place has five girls and three boys, two of which moved out, one moved to San Diego and the other booked to Miami, one of them was enlisted in the Marines and destined to Iraq and Afghanistan, then he was moved to Camp Mujuk in South Korea, he was a fine man.
the room that the rocker stayed in was the guest room, it was cleaned out and ready to be filled with his necessities, they had two bathrooms from top to bottom, which Masahiro doesn't want to wait in line during the morning. it's 3:45 A.M, he's desperate for shut-eye and he snuck in bed, wore a tank top and light blue shorts with white socks on, not bothering to remove it.
the next morning, Masahiro slightly opened his eye to see a cheeky grin of an eleven-year-old boy, wearing his white pajamas with Lightning McQueen and Strip "The King" Weathers on each part of the fabric, then he blared the air-horn that he's holding, in which waked the absolute shit out of the Japanese and fell off the bed. he got up and he's not amused
"good morning, sleepyhead!" the kid said gleefully
"good morning!? more like bad morning!" Masahiro retorted
"come on! Mom and Dad cooked breakfast, let's go!"
the kid is not wrong either, the aroma of the crispy bacon and the mellow scent of pancakes. Masahiro got up and went downstairs with a fresh change of clothes after brushing his teeth, the dining table was filled with plates of warm pancakes with either sunny side up eggs or scrambled, crispy bacon, and a hot mug of coffee or a cold pint of orange juice.
the Japanese glares at the kid with daggers after waking him up with an air-horn that ruined his morning yet he can't blame the kid for doing it.
"good morning, kid. did you sleep well?" Robert asked Masahiro while reading the newspaper
"fine and all but he blared the air-horn at me" he groggily replied while eating eggs and bacon.
"Riley! that's not a good way to wake him up" he lightly scolded Riley
"Sorry Dad, I tried to wake him up silently as a ninja, but I resorted to Plan B," Riley said
"well, don't do that again or I'll wake you up with the same thing you did to me this morning" Masahiro shrugged off
Sheryl came in with a plate full of Buttermilk Pancakes with a slab of butter and a healthy puddle of maple syrup in it, which Masahiro got a fiver of it while the kid had the same number. after breakfast was cleared, Masahiro sat down to watch tv, nothing good was on, and decided to stroll in the garage.
the garage was indeed packed with numerous objects and tools, some were used for woodshop and the other for fixing anything else in the house, it was placed uniformly while some with sharp edges are placed something that Riley isn't capable of reaching while harming himself, then Masahiro saw a mountain bike, the back tire was flat and the other was filled with air but the pressure is inadequate, he quickly found a manual air pump and filled the tires with proper air and pinched the tires for a quick check, it's ready to roll.
today is Saturday, the brunet asked Robert if he's allowed to bike to buy school supplies, he said yes while instructed him to watch out for geezers and asked if he wore his helmet (which he did), told him to return before lunch, in which Masahiro brought along the Satchel he got and biked through the neighborhood, then he took a stop at a nearby mall and treat himself a snack at the food court, after ordering what he liked, Masahiro went to the table and ate, then he suddenly busts a song called Somebody To Love by Queen in acapella
"ooh, each morning I get up and die a little, can barely stand on my feet" Masahiro sang to his heart
"(take a look at yourself!)
Take a look in the mirror and cry (and cry!)
Lord, what you're doing to me (yeah, yeah)" the choir sang back
"I have spent all my years in believing you
But I still can't get no relief, Lord!
Somebody (somebody), ooh somebody (somebody)
Can anyone find me? Somebody to Love!" they both sang together
at the food court were flabbergasted about the unexpected performance, they thought they prepared for it but it all happened by accident as Masahiro sing a song, then the choir came along
"I work hard (he works hard!) every day of my life
I work 'til I ache in my bones
At the end (at the end of the day!)
I take home my hard-earned pay all on my own" the choir sang melodically
"I get down (down) on my knees (knees) and I start to pray
'till the tears run down on my eyes!
Lord! Somebody (somebody!) ooh somebody! (please!)
Can anybody find me? Somebody to love!" Masahiro sing the long note
the crowd stood up and applauded the singing duo after the long note, they even recorded the whole time and posted on social media, while both parties parted ways and they tried to offer Masahiro a choir gig but he politely declined, the leader of the pack said it was alright, the song he sang from the start was their warm-up music because their choir leader was a huge fan of Queen at his age.
the Japanese left the mall after shopping for school supplies, he peddled back to the house on-time for lunch. the lunch that the Collins cooked was Clam Chowder (New England style) and American Goulash on the go, everyone gathered around the table, but they have to pray first before eating and began eating.
"so, Masahiro, how's your day went?" Robert asked Masahiro
"it's alright, you can call me Hiro if you want to, my friends tend to call me that" Masahiro replied
"okay Hiro, how long did you play the guitar?"
"since fourth grade, why?"
"I heard about what happened to you, it reached online, the kid who got his guitar destroyed by a religious zealot in front of the crowd, I would have a word with him for destroying a guitar just for the word of God? I'm as embarrassed as I flashed myself in a park for a dare"
Robert himself saw the article about Masahiro's unfortunate event that broke his heart before he reached America, he also listened to Rock Music when he was at his age, his parents at the time were religious conservatives, which they opposed the music he chooses rather than the bible, Robert decided to hide his rock paraphernalia (from The Beatles to Led Zeppelin) at his friend's house to avoid getting in hot shit or sending to religious camps "to make close contact with the Lord", the religious intervention seemed to decline when he was enrolled in college, his parents apologized him for being a fool to praise God by constraining his freedom of choice, yet he had forgiven them for committing a mistake just to protect them for fear of the unknown, without knowing it's unhealthy for quite a long time.
they never talk again after dinner, Masahiro went to his room, thinking about what happened to him while playing with his PSP, a minute later, he knocked on the door and asked the brunet if he's ready for school and he said yes, Masahiro turned off the PSP and switched to his phone to play The Great Pretender by Freddie Mercury
"Oh yes I'm the great pretender (ooh ooh)
Pretending I'm doing well (ooh ooh)
My need is such I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell
Oh yes I'm the great pretender (ooh ooh)
Adrift in a world of my own (ooh ooh)
I play the game but to my real shame
You've left me to dream all alone
Too real is this feeling of make-believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
Ooh Ooh yes I'm the great pretender (ooh ooh)
Just laughing and gay like a clown (ooh ooh)
I seem to be what I'm not (you see)
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're still around
Yeah ooh hoo
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
(Interlude)
Oh yes I'm the great pretender
Just laughing and gay like a clown (ooh ooh)
I seem to be what I'm not you see
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're
Pretending that you're still around"
the song ended and played another song called Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow by the same singer, not only he's troubled by the Yoyogi Park fiasco he's been having an interest in Shizuoka Kaminari, the pretty girl of Class 2-4 and the other was Kenji Yamashita, the school Captain of the baseball team yet he didn't confess his sexuality or he will be a social Pariah to his school and around him, neither to his parents and relatives.
Sheryl quietly peeked at his door after Masahiro went to sleep, she knows what's been troubling to the Japanese other than being homesick, she already knows what's been bothering him, but tomorrow morning she's gonna surprise him with something that would relieve his worries out in the morning.
"Robert, can I ask you something?" Sheryl asked
"of course Honey, what would it be?" he said
"It's Hiro, something's been bothering him lately since he came, probably homesick or he's gay?" Sheryl wondered
"I mean, he's either homesick or closeted, but I can't blame the kid, he's got a sample of the harsh truth of our faith from a zealot who destroyed his guitar, I wanna punch the living shit out of him if I met him" Robert replied while fuming
"sad isn't it? let's discuss this tomorrow morning" Sheryl sighed
Sheryl turned off the lampshade and went to bed after their chat, everything was quiet on the Collins Estate and tomorrow will be the big day for Masahiro