Fuselage

×~❄ Chapter 40 ❄~×

"Jesus Fuck." Katsuki hoisted his bag higher on his shoulder as he stepped out of the car. "It's fucking huge."

"Yeah." Tetsu chuckled, car door slamming shut. "It's America." He turned to the uber driver, thanking her with a polite bow.

"So?" Katsuki snapped, vehicle speeding off, eating some of the annoyed tone. "It's fucking gigantic. I thought this was a 'small college city'?"

"I mean, comparatively..." Tetsu adjusted his backpack as he started across the street towards campus.

"Compared to WHAT?" Katsuki yelled, following after. "China? All of Japan?"

"Oh my God." Tetsu covered the side of his face. "It's only got, like, 330,000 people here which is-"

"Only?" Katsuki chuckled. "Yeah. Okay. So, aside from how fucking tiny this place is... that drive though? Like... It took two hours. Two goddamned hours to drive 68 miles. That's the entire length of Japan-"

"It's not." Tetsu sighed, throwing his head back dramatically.

"No, it fucking is." Katsuki argued, "I checked!" He held out his phone, "See?! Osaka to Hino. Fucking, the entire length of Japan. Who needs this much SPACE?"

"Americans." Tetsu responded, smiling nervously at a group of college kids who were staring now. "Look, I understand the culture shock but could you tone it down a little with the aggression side of it-"

"Fuck you?" Katsuki sneered. "Fucking no?"

"I mean..." Tetsu shrugged. "They don't mind as much here I guess."

"The fuck they don't..." Katsuki looked around.

And fell silent.

Tetsu was right. In Japan he'd be getting looks, drawing a bit of a crowd but on campus no one was looking at him, not really. A couple people noticed the noise but with their backpacks and age they blended right in; looked like college kids.

"Holy shit, you're right." Katsuki grinned wickedly as they stepped over a curb, crossed the sidewalk and into a hallway. "Where the hell're we going anyway?"

"Well first we need to go drop you off." Tetsu flicked his wrist, a habit from wearing suits, and checked his watch. "I have to meet up with some business partners-"

"Business partners?" Katsuki's brow lifted incredulously. "I thought we were-"

"We are." Tetsu assured him, holding open the doors to one of the buildings, letting Katsuki enter first. "But I still have to garner supporters. We're a business first, the Clan is, I mean." Tetsu gave his head a quick shake as he followed in after Katsuki. "There's a kid here whose family is deeply invested in our company. They own 20%."

Katsuki whistled. "That's almost enough to take complete control."

Tetsu shrugged. "They wouldn't. Their mother is from Italy and she's separated from their father. They spend a lot of time trying to make amends right now and avoid the scandal. Plus they have a 'runaway' older brother-"

"Money is trouble." Katsuki shrugged.

"And I have an old friend to meet up with-" Tetsu continued, ignoring the jab.

"Oh no!" Katsuki snapped, turning to walk backwards before Tetsu, "You are not going to leave me here alone while you go schmoozing-"

A hand darted out, yanking Katsuki back so he collided with Tetsu's chest. "Don't walk backwards, idiot." Tetsu breathed, patting Katsuki's backpack awkwardly as he smiled apologetically at a passing student, bowing out of habit. "Fuck. That was..."