Zach arrived at the video store a little before nine to find Yuki already waiting, or, to be more exact, he found her her borrowed bicycle in circles on the parking lot.

He waved and she tried to reciprocate, losing her balance and only barely managing to catch herself on her foot.

“Where is your bike?” she wanted to know when Zach was close enough to not have to yell.

“We’re buying a car,” Zach said blankly, “Well I am anyway.”

“So?”

“So, I can’t ride a bike a drive a car at the same time, can I?”

“You could put it in the trunk.”

Zach hadn’t thought of that, but recovered quickly, “Depends on the trunk space, doesn’t it?”

Yuki shrugged, getting off the bike and locked it next to the video store. She put up a finger to instruct Zach to wait a moment, then popped inside briefly to yell something.

“What was that?” Zach asked when she came back outside.

“Mister O’Donnell likes to know where I am… in case mother calls.”

Zach didn’t respond. Both stood silently staring at each other.

“Lead the way?” Yuki suggested.

“Oh, right,” Zach mumbled sheepishly, then did as told.

“It’s only a short walk,” Zach said, “Well, if they’re done with the bridge.”

They didn’t have to walk far to find out ‘they’ weren’t.

“Should have brought a bike,” Yuki teased.

Zach shrugged, pointing down the road, “It’s not that far and it’s a nice day. All we have to do is cross the Bridge of Doom…”

“The what?”

“Something my sister made up.”

“Ah…” she said, falling into step with him.

“Hey, Yuki,” Zach said a few minutes later, “Why are you in America anyway? Are the schools in Japan bad?”

Yuki smirked, biting back a retort, before answering, “Father made me go. He said…”

Whatever Yuki’s father said was a mystery to Zach, as the girl finished her sentence in Japanese.

“I have no idea what you just said,” he said to end the expectant smile on her face.

Yuki winked and stuck her tongue out, “Maybe it’s a secret.”

“Have you been bad?” Zach tried to tease, feeling gross as soon as the words left his mouth, “What did you do?”

Yuki took two skips forward, turned on her heel and put her hands on back, then leaned forward, “Do you want to know?”

“If you want to tell me.”

Yuki bounced back on her feet, shaking her head, “Then no.”

“Why not?”

“Your answer is too passive. Try a little harder.”

“How?”

“Well,” she started, then stopped, seeming to think. Almost unnoticeable, she took a few steps backwards, then around and started to run.

“If you can catch me!” she called over her shoulder, flashing him a peace sign.

Zach sighed, setting off after her.

He didn’t know how long they had run, but he had to stop to catch his breath, which was Yuki’s cue to turn around and run backwards for a few steps and finally a sudden stop.

“This means I win!” she yelled triumphantly.

“Sure, Yuki…” Zach panted and dropped himself down in the dirt along the road, “I need a minute…”

She lazily returned to him and lightly poked him in the rib with her toes, “You need to exercise more.”

“You’ll get along with Coach Reinhardt just fine,” Zach breathed heavily.

“I thought you wanted to be a karate champion?”

Zach resisted the urge to flip her off and slowly sat up, “So, I guess I won’t know your secret backstory.”

“You really want to know?”

“Too passive,” she smiled, grabbing his hand to pull him on it, “Come on, up!”

Zach sighed, letting himself be pulled up and stumbled forward for a bit.

“Because I feel bad for you now, I will tell you,” she giggled, “I am here because my father is a pol… What is the word?”

“Policeman?”

Yuki shook her head, thinking briefly, before smiling when she found the missing word, “Politician! He has an important election and does not want me to be in the papers, because it will embarrass him.”

“Embarrass your father? You?”

“He thinks I will pick fights, which will reflect bad on him.”

“Huh,” was Zach’s reply, wincing at the stinging sensation in his side. Yuki did seem to be on the wilder side, but he couldn’t imagine her getting in fights, let alone picking them.”

“Why does he think that?”

“Because of your favorite TV show,” Yuki laughed, “I started watching Sukeban Deka and he thinks it will be a bad influence. Maybe I see that and think ‘I want to be a sukeban now’, so he sent me here… But it is nice. I want to see Hollywood.”

“Hollywood?” Zach laughed, biting his lip to hide another wince, “That’s the other side of the country.”

Yuki shrugged, “I will see it before I go back.”

Zach nodded, not arguing with her determination.

“So, you came from the big city. …I think, is Osaka big?”

Yuki nodded, “Oo means big after all.”

“Oo? Is that slang?”

Yuki smirked and stopped, much to Zach’s relief. She put her toes in the dirt and used her foot to very deliberately draw a shape; 大。

“That is the Oo in Osaka, it means ‘big’, but what did you want to say?”

“I wanted to say,” Zach continued, taking a moment to remember what it was, “Ah, I wanted to say that you came from the big city, wanting to go to Hollywood… And now you’re here. Sounds disappointing.

“I am here because mother knows Mister O'Donnell. Father was very angry.”

“Why?”

“Because mister O'Donnell and mother dated before she met my father.”

“Ah. Still, must suck for you to be stuck here.”

“It is only for a year and I can practice my English.”

“So you can get the lead in a major Hollywood movie?”

Yuki stuck out her tongue, then pointed to something along the road, “What is that?”

“I’m going to say that’s a washing machine,” Zach replied, observing the white cube in the dirt.

“Why is it there?”

Zach shrugged, vaguely reminded of the dishwasher he and Tara had found, “I don’t know and I don’t want to know.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Again, too passive,” Yuki giggled, “Are you sure?”

“Very,” he said, taking her hand to pull her to the other side of the road, “Might be hobos.”

“What is ‘hobos’?”

“Homeless people. Some are dangerous.”

“That is silly.”

“Why?”

“Why would a homeless person have a washing machine? Where would they put it?”

Zach scanned the bushes, then pointed to where he thought the old ranch was, “They’re probably making a home there.”

“Then they can not be homeless,” Yuki insisted.

Zach had to admit she had a point, but insisted on pulling her away from the appliance, surprised to find she let him, but even more surprised that even in eighty degree weather, she still had cold hands.

When they were well away from the appliance, Zach finally let go, feeling a slight disappointment, but deliberately put his hand in his pocket. He nodded to the bridge they were approaching, “Look the Bridge of Doom.”

“It does look unsafe,” Yuki agreed, watching a truck pass over it, holding her breath in case it would sink through.

“We definitely weigh less than him, so we can pass over,” Zach laughed, “They’re repairing the bridges, so they’ll probably get around to this one soon.”

Yuki shrugged, following Zach across, but keeping well away from the railing.

Thirty minutes later, they found themselves in the junkyard, where Kevin pointed them to the latest shipment. The worked had apologetically told Zach that pretty much everything that came in the day before was on two wheels, mopes, motorcycles, and a bunch of regular bicycles. The only ‘Good thing’ that had come in according to Kevin was a trans-am, which excited Zach, but was soon left disillusioned with the vehicle. It had fewer wheels than the other vehicles and at least the motorcycles hadn’t burned out.

“It’s definitely in my budget,” he quipped to Yuki, who was studying a pile of ovens.”

“Your father owns this?”

“Yup.”

“He is the king of junk?”

“Beats being a politician,” Zach threw back, slightly angrier than he had intended, “At least it’s honest..”

“You have not seen Used Ca…” Yuki started, then was distracted by one of the motorcycles among a complement of others, “Hey, look!”

“What?”

“Look! The Kawasaki!”

Zach looked blankly at the motorbikes.

“The green one!” Yuki sighed, heading for the vehicle. Zach followed, wondering what was so special about this one that it had attracted Yuki’s attention.

“Definitely a motorcycle,” he agreed.

“Aho,” she laughed, confusing Zach who had no idea what the word meant, but before he could ask for a clarification, she continued.

“It is the same as Saki rides!”

“Saki’s is white and blue…”

“Paint it if you want. You should get it!”

“Why?”

Yuki pulled the motorcycle free and brought it to the path, looking at him with a twinkle in her eyes that had fast become familiar to Zach.

“So,” she giggled, “You can be Zachy.”

“Zachy?” he laughed awkwardly, “Sure…”

He looked at the bike. Weird references to foreign TV shows aside, it definitely was a cool ride.

“Does it start?” he asked.

Yuki tried the ignition. There was an annoyed sputter from the engine, then a soft clang of metal falling to the dirt.

“I am going to say ‘no’.”

Zach looked dubiously at it….

“You could repair it?”

“You think I know how to fix a bike?”

“Well, you know nothing about karate and that does not stop you.”

Zach folded his arms, squatting down to study the broken engine, “I guess mom could help.”

“Not your father?”

“Mom used to hang with some biker club. She knows more than dad.”

“So, you will buy it? Take me for a ride?”

“I guess,” Zach mumbled, “if I can fix it.”

He got to his feet and started to where about he thought his house was, sighing.

“That’s going to be a long walk.”

“It is a better use of your time than learning karade.”

Zach was surprised to hear her end the word the way he said it, instead of the usual native pronunciation.

“Don’t you mean kara-tay?” he asked.

“No,” she giggled, “DEE-EE, As in Germany.”

Zach stared blankly, not registered the odd joke as such.

“Whatever you say, Yuki. … Guess I’ll go pay Kevin and see if he has a bag to put all the loose crap in.”

Yuki smiled innocently, took the handlebars in hand and followed Zach, pushing the motorcycle along.

Accompanied by Yuki, who carried a duffle bag that seemed to get something new in it every mile, Zach had pushed the broken motorcycle home. He had started wondering if this wasn’t a terrible waste of forty dollars.

“Hey, Zach…” Yuki suddenly said after they had been quiet for fifteen minutes, lost in the effort of moving the bike.

“Hm?”

“If you’re going to be like Saki…”

“Yeah?”

“You should have a cool special weapon like she does.”

“Like a yo-yo?”

“No,” she laughed, “But one of the girls in season two has marbles. Maybe you can think of something for yourself.”

“Maybe…” Zach shrugged, pushing his bike into the garage, then turning to frown at Yuki, unsure what to say to her next.

“Thanks for the help,” he chose the safest option, “Hope you’re not too tired.”

“A short walk,” she smiled, making Zach feel like she was mocking him, “More fun than running alone.”

“Just drop the bag anywhere,” he continued, then looked up when a pea soup colored car pulled into the driveway.

“My mom,” he informed Yuki.

“Ah…”

With the broken motorcycle littering her parking spot in the garage, Mrs Brooks stopped in the middle of the driveway, getting out of the car. She smiled at Zach, briefly exchanged introductions with Yuki, then very pointedly went for the motorcycle, studying it carefully.

“Piece of junk,” was her expert opinion, “But it’s fixable.”

“Do you know how?”

“Yes, honey, but you bought this junk, so you’re going to be the one to do it.”

“I know, mom..”

“More importantly,” Mrs Brooks went on, “Is your friend staying for dinner?”

Yuki shook her head before Zach could answer, “I have to get going. Mister O'Donnell is probably starting to get worried.”

“Well, see you later then,” Zach said and watched Yuki wave, before lazily jogging out of the cul-de-sac.

“Cute,” his mother said when she was sure the girl was out of earshot, “But isn’t that one too much for you, honey?”

“Mom,” was all Zach had to say, ending it with an annoyed sigh.

Mrs Brooks didn’t pursue the subject. Instead, she giggled girlishly and collected the groceries from the backseat.

“I’m sure you know best, honey,” she said, balancing two heavy paper bags into the house.

“Sure, mom…”