Silence | Book 1

1-7: Ride

Once they walked out of the alley, which in Hibiki's case was more of a wave from left to right occasionally corrected by Tristan, they were met by the sight of a black, business class Audi and a similar BMW. It was rather unmistakable as their ride, since another Japanese man leant against the side of the Audi, scrolling through something on his phone. He wasn't wearing a suit jacket, but he didn't seem to mind the chill that much.
Tristan was in slight awe, but quickly put himself over it and composed himself in the knowledge that he was an extra in this scene. The Japanese man looked up as they approached, the two bodyguards now right behind them. Immediately at attention, the man who Tristan assumed to be the driver, bowed quick but deeply to Hibiki, and similarly quick but slightly less deep to Tristan.
"I er... I'm sorry but he had a bit too much? So I decided to stick around and see him home." Tristan quickly explained himself, trying to sound confident despite hardly feeling like that at all. At the mention of being drunk, Hibiki just let out a loud huff and shook his head, as if he could pretend he wasn't despite swaying.
"Thank you for returning Yukimura-sama." The Japanese man smiled at him, then went to open the door for Hibiki. The latter just made a few gestures with his hands, that Tristan couldn't follow, but the man nodded and asked a question back in Japanese. Hibiki gestured again, which included a point at him, and once more the man nodded before smiling at him as well.
"Yukimura-sama says you live close by sir?" The extreme politeness combined with being called sir made Tristan feel somewhat uncomfortable, as he wasn't usually on the receiving side of those formalities. Still he nodded, figuring he may as well run with it now he was here.
"Yes, if you turn right onto the next big roundabout and then follow the road for half a mile there'll be a large apartment block on the left." While he pointed in the direction of where to go, Hibiki got in the car, perhaps with more effort than it should usually take. Once the driver had repeated the directions to be sure, he gestured for Tristan to join with a polite smile.

Still feeling slightly awkward, Tristan sat down on the leather back seat and strapped himself in. In the meanwhile the man closed the door and walked around to the driver's seat. Tristan still wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten himself into this situation, but he was well aware that there were worse places to be – like walking home alone on the side of the road.
"Was it a good night out?" The driver asked in English, making eye contact with both Tristan and Hibiki through the rear view mirror. The latter nodded enthusiastically, then leant back in the leather seat with a happy grin.
"We had fun." Tristan said with a far more restrained, polite smile as the driver started up the car. With a soft purr of the engine, the vehicle sprung to life. He noticed that the headlights of the other car also turned on in tandem, and realised that was where Hideki and Kazuya had gone.
The driver said something in Japanese to Hibiki, which he apparently did not agree with as he puffed up his cheeks and gestured quickly. The driver gave a firm answer back, undeterred by Hibiki.
A second later a phone dropped into Tristan's lap.

'Don't mind Kazuo'
Tristan quietly handed the phone back to Hibiki and smiled, not sure what to do with that information other than retain it.

'I'll try to join debate.'
"Brilliant, I think you'll find it interesting. We have some good speakers this term." He reassured Hibiki with a proud smile, while simultaneously trying not to sound like he was bragging. Hibiki just gave a glassy grin back, and he wasn't sure if it meant he was interested in the speakers, or just joining in general – perhaps he was too drunk to really know himself.
Once more a silence fell, and although Hibiki tried his best to type he seemed to struggle. He blew a loud, frustrated raspberry as he gave up again.
"Are you okay?" Tristan asked a little concerned, which made Hibiki sigh and gesture at the rear-view mirror. Kazuo caught up on it, his gaze darting between the mirror and the road ahead.
"He says that it is like he has type on two phones now."
"I'm sorry, I really should have watched how much you had."
Hibiki immediately held two hands up in Tristan's direction, telling him to stop, then pointed at himself. Although it didn't necessarily need a translation, Kazuo still gave it.
"It was his own responsibility."
"But you didn't know what you were getting into." Tristan said back, still in part feeling responsible. The only answer he got from Hibiki was a shrug and a cock of his head.
"Yukimura-sama knows well the ways of trouble." Kazuo commented, and Tristan caught a glimpse of his smirk from the side, which the rear-view mirror didn't show. Hibiki responded by blowing a loud raspberry and flipping Kazuo off, heavily disagreeing with that assessment of character. It made Tristan chuckle for a short moment, before he caught himself in the act and tried to look serious again.
"Is that your home?" Kazuo stated, as a large, five floor building came in sight downhill. Although hard to see in the dark, it was clearly little more than a residential box with windows, like you would be able to find anywhere. Tristan smiled and nodded.
"Not all of it. You can drop me off somewhere about here." Beside him he heard Hibiki let out a small giggle, but Kazuo didn't seem to catch on to his remark. The man instead nodded and focussed on parking the car safely on the side of the fairly busy thoroughfare.