'My Trip to America is not as Expected'

Chapter 15: New York

We had the heat of the sportscar turned all the way up, in order to shield ourselves from the crisp late-fall New England we were cutting through at 95 miles an hour. And yet that was still not enough to make us feel warmer than death so Yukino and I were huddled together. Close.

"Nothing like man's natural heat source to bail us out, hm?"

It took me a second before I realized that I thought aloud there but that hardly seemed to matter because the sisters of heaven and hell (respectively) were caught in a debate of much more pressing urgency.

"Nee-san! I'm pretty sure we're breaking a whole host of road laws right now! Stop being so reckless!"

"Oh look at you, always being a stick in the mud! Relax. Listen. This is America. You've got to enjoy the freedom a little bit here!"

I chortled a little bit from my position behind the passenger's seat, I'll admit.

"Oho, look at Hachi-kun! He's really grown a pair on this trip, huh? I'm sure you would know all about the things going on down there, wouldn't you, Yuki-chan?~"

"W..w.. ?" was the best response Yukino could mutter.

"Anyways Yuki-chan, that's the other reason you shouldn't worry, the birdbrain you're huddled with probably broke double the traffic laws when he was out driving Miss Daisy and we're here alright! It's because nobody cares how you drive up here, just don't kill people!"

"You're not doing a good job convincing us of that part, Haruno, I've gotta say."

That wise remark was met with a wild swerve that brought us much closer to the car we were previously distanced 6 feet apart from.

We then continued on in silence for a good couple of hours cruising along the I-95. As we were entering the Bronx from neighboring New Rochelle, I couldn't help but pay attention to the song that was playing on the car's radio. We had the radio tuned on some light classic rock station, really taking in the Americana of it all. What was playing was Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water. It was a crushing song of swelling highs but a clear tumult throughout.

And as we entered Manhattan by crossing the Triborough Bridge, no one had anticipated that the troubled waters laid not beneath, but ahead of us.

Parking your car in Manhattan was, for one, its own disaster. We decided to park in prime New York City real estate, in the Upper East Side by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Finding a spot, interestingly enough, wasn't a problem. It was the price. For parking the car for 3 days, we paid a price for parking that disgusted me to my very bone. To give you an idea of how much it was, when I looked up at the prices posted on the wall of the garage, my eyes drifted down to the monthly rate…

'Wait that's the equivalent of 2 months' rent for a nice apartment in Chiba! What are these New Yorkers doing? Who would ever drive here?'

It was only later I learned that nobody drove here, at least not by choice.

I wasn't the only one shook by the price. Despite being the heiress of a multinational retail empire, Haruno Yukinoshita was clearly agitated by the price of parking. Honestly? Understandable.

"Hmph. Everyone finds some way to take your money in this city, and yet it's the parking guys that tick me off the most. Hmm…"

Haruno regained her typical cheerful (with an underlying sadist) demeanor as she turned towards Yukino and me.

"So, where do you guys want to go first? You're standing in every America-otaku's wet dream right now. The world is your oyster."

I thought for a moment. Then my stomach gave me the answer.

"Yeah I kind of just want Five Guys right now. That good with y'all?"

Haruno glared at me for a solid 5 seconds before she responded.

"Hachiman you are in maybe the food mecca of the western hemisphere. I can get you into any Michelin Star restaurant you want."

"Yeah, and?"

"I literally do not need to make a reservation in advance, do you understand? I know many of these chefs on a first-name basis. I can end their career with a word of displeasure."

"Good for you."

Haruno was visibly shaking with rage.

"Five Guys isn't even from here! It's from Virginia! Why would you ever choose some shitty commoner national train over the best restaurants in the world?!"

I didn't miss a beat.

"Because, Haruno, what else do you need in this life when you're hungry at lunchtime besides a large, quality hamburger and fries from, not one, not two, not three, not four, but five guys, their burger-cooking powers combined into a nirvana-inducing meal?"

Yukino had maybe the widest smile on her face in that moment, I think wider than any I had ever seen before and will ever see again. If I had to guess, it was that standing up to her sister's ceaseless vanity and crushing of the common man had really appealed to her.

Yukino was blushing now.

"Wow, Hachiman… You really owned Nee-san there. Quite chad of you."

'What does that… mean?'

"…Chad?"

I think it was only in that moment that Yukino realized that she revealed that she had some kind of knowledge that she would prefer we didn't know she had, and immediately tried to quash the subject.

"Oh, uh… never mind. Hachiman, I was also feeling kind of hungry, and I've never had the chance to try Five Guys. Let's go."

In that moment, Haruno knew she was defeated. While she would go to great lengths to try and win an exchange that thus far had been utterly humiliating for her, she also knew that she had no alternative. After all, she and I both knew that going to a Michelin Star restaurant by yourself, with no entourage, would be mocked openly by the other patrons and the waiters, and everyone would talk behind her back about how someone who apparently was some social lynchpin couldn't even convince a couple of friends on a lunch date for some Michelin Star food.

"Then I guess we're going to Five Guys. Fucking hell I hope you two grow some taste buds some day but I do not have high hopes."

The three of us proceeded to the nearest Five Guys and really went to town on the food. Yukino didn't realize just how large the portions were.

"Hachiman… this burger is huge. I thought this was a normal cheeseburger! This is bigger than a Big Mac!"

"Yup, Five Guys doesn't play around with delivering on the beef. Take a bite. Trust me. You'll be glad that they don't skimp."

She took a bite, and from the blissful look on her face, we both knew I was right.

After we finished our delicious lunches, we exited the fine establishment and stood of to the side on the street.

And in New York, with the street comes the people.

The people thronged the street, going about their lives, travelling to and from one obligation to another. Everyone was all close together, society's blanket for the frigid late November weather.

"So where to next?" I asked.

The psychologically (mostly) recovered Haruno Yukinoshita seemed to have a response already prepared.

"Mmm, I think I need to take a walk to burn off all this Five Guys. Can't have it sticking to my frame. I still am single after all!"

She gave a fake awkward smile but all three of us knew this woman was perpetually single by choice.

"Hmm, have anywhere in particular you wanted to walk to, Nee-san?"

Haruno feigned sincere thought for about three seconds before responding.

"Hmm, we're right near Central Park still! Let's take a stroll through!"

So we journeyed to the city's garden patch they call Central Park, and I must say, it was quite beautiful.

Autumn was on its last gasp and it was fully on display by the park's pond. The dark orange hue of the shedding trees was truly a sight to behold. It was strange to me how such a naturalistic wonder could exist right smack in the middle of a city that was anything but that.

Yet you could never truly forget that you were still in New York City. Besides the tall buildings practically enclosing the park that you could see beyond the perimeter, there was people. People, everywhere. Old. Young. Everything, everyone you could imagine in between, massed together.

'How many could be in this park right now? Ten thousand people? Maybe more?'

Who knew how many people were entering at any given moment, I sure couldn't count the sheer numbers. Who knew what kind of lives these people lived, most of them not only strangers to me but each other. The lives they led once they left the oasis in the concrete jungle seemed to completely branch off from one another.

And yet, I can't help but think that may not be so true. It's not just the binding of being in the same place at one time that connects these people. That's a part of it, sure. But all of these peoples' lives brought them to this city. Brought them to this park right now. And perhaps that same something brought me, brought Yukino here. And Haruno as well.

Yes, in that moment I felt I was being surrounded more by people, physically and emotionally, than I ever had in my life to that point. And strangely enough, I rather liked it.

A/N: So the next chapter of this story involving our merry band of rogues was going to bring us into New York City in any case. However, my lateness in writing this chapter has made it impossible for me to divorce it from the context of life right now, as you could probably tell at points throughout. It's our shared experience right now and will shape the way we look at everything going forward. However, it was my thought that this was as good a time to write the chapter as any, and I hope you all enjoyed. I hope you all are doing well right now and are staying healthy.