“Cheers, to many more good speeches.” Liz said all chipper, as she lifted her glass of malt beer towards Tristan.
“Cheers!” The other three lifted their own drinks against hers with a loud clang; a coke for Tristan and Sam, and a pale lager for Killian. They all took a big swig, then smiled and grinned.
“Man, I can’t wait for Paris.” Liz sighed, referring to the debate planned for two months from now.
“You hoping to find some good looking Paris lad?” Killian grinned, before sticking out his tongue.
“I’d even settle for a Paris lass if it includes dinner.” Liz said back, lifting her glass with a wink.
“I see you got your priorities in order. How about you Triss, looking forward to the French lads?” Killian gave Tristan a little prod with his elbows, but the latter just rolled his eyes.
“You’re awful obsessed with those, aren’t you?”
“A hole’s a hole, even in Paris, buddy.” Killian shared his eternal wisdom as he took another sip of beer. It caused Liz and Sam to have a rather sudden chuckle.
“I was planning on keeping it family friendly, actually, maybe practise a bit of French, and buy me some books.” Tristan continued, trying to counter the crudeness with a serious response.
“You’re not going to spend all your time in the library like last year, are you?”
“There is nothing wrong with spending time in the library.” Sam butted in.
At that stage, everyone got caught in a back and forth on the importance of libraries. It left Tristan a moment to let his gaze drift through the small pub. It was a typical pub: lots of wood and dark colours, walls covered in meaningless pictures and posters that all blended together in the background, and a long bar behind which a variety of liquors and beers were stalled out. Two bartenders were busying about to fill all the orders from the students gathered on a weekend night, and in general the pub was pleasantly crowded.

“Aren’t you getting warm in that suit?” Liz asked as she scooted over in front of him, leaving Killian and Sam to their debate. It pulled Tristan out of his mindless staring.
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m used to it.”
“I can hold onto your tie and jacket if you want at least?” She offered, showing him her purse like it would somehow function as a vault. Tristan undid his tie, rolling it up and handing it to her.
“I guess I’ll go casual tonight then.” He said with a smile.
“Maybe you should go wild for once and undo a button.” She said with a playful wink while carefully tucking his tie away.
Tristan sighed and undid the button on his collar, but then smiled and undid the second one as well.
“Is this wild enough?” He said with a smirk.
“Whew yeah, be careful with that, or otherwise you’ll confuse ‘An.” Liz grinned, fanning herself with one hand as she feigned checking him out. A moment later the both of them shared a good laugh, unable to keep up the act.

-

Once more Hibiki found himself in the back of a spacious car, although of a different model and make since it wasn't actually his parents’. Behind the wheel sat a well groomed Japanese man in his early thirties, clean shaven with his hair neatly parted down the middle. He wore a black suit, tie and black, soft leather gloves.
「You understand the rules, Yukimura-sama?」The man asked, occasionally glancing at Hibiki through the rear-view mirror.
Hibiki nodded and smiled.
「I will pick you up at midnight, no excuses.」A stern gaze was thrown at Hibiki, but he nonchalantly waved it away saying he understood – it didn't need to be repeated.

「 Oi, Zuzu, can I borrow your jacket?」

Hibiki signed a few moments later.
「Not if you ask it like that.」

「 Wouldn’t you please lend me your jacket, oh kind and benevolent Kazuo-san?」

He asked with as deep a bow as his seatbelt allowed for. Kazuo took a deep breath through his nose, attempting to focus on the road instead of the overly polite mockery.

「Why do you even want it, it's too big on you.」

「 Yes, that's exactly why.」

「Just wait till I've parked, please.」Kazuo relented.
With a wide grin Hibiki nodded, getting comfortable in the backseat while he played his puzzle game for the rest of the ride.

Kazuo turned around to parallel park, his hand resting on the passenger seat while he looked out of the rear window. He smiled at Hibiki ever so slightly, who looked up from his game and smiled back.
Once parked, Kazuo took off his suit jacket, still not really sure why it was necessary, since Hibiki had one tailored to his measurements. While he folded the jacket up, Hibiki tossed his own aside carelessly. With both hands, he took the oversized jacket and put it on instead.
「Why?」Kazuo asked again with a shake of his head.

「 Because I don't want to look like the kind of guy that wears a tailored suit.」

Hibiki signed, before he grabbed his dress shirt and pulled the ends out of his pants.
「You want to look like a punk?」
With a nod and a cheeky grin, he confirmed, as if proud of it. Kazuo just signed and shook his head, not sure he understood, but it didn't surprise him.
「Hibiki?」He asked more serious, just as Hibiki went for the door. The latter looked up and nodded, catching on to the serious tone. 「Please don’t get in trouble. Don't drink, but if you do, don't overdo it.」
Kazuo smiled, reached forward and ruffled Hibiki's hair. He puffed up his cheeks, and immediately tried to fix his hair again by running his fingers through.
「Oh, and definitely don't get anybody pregnant.」Kazuo added as an afterthought, which caused Hibiki to go wide eyed and shake his head fervently. 「Good. Now go have fun.」
Hibiki grinned and gave two thumbs up, before opening the door.

The moment he stepped out, Kazuya and Hideki were there beside him doing their best impression of two men failing to look casual. With a slight sigh, Hibiki turned around to both of them, and typed a message on his phone.

「 Would you please keep a bit of distance once inside? Just sit at the bar and keep an eye out?」

A bit disgruntled, they both nodded. Clearly they did not consider it ideal, but at least they seemed to understand and respect the request.

-

Tristan and Liz had just had their laugh, when Liz noticed Hibiki entering the pub. With a wide smile she waved him over, causing Tristan to look back and smile invitingly at him too. Hibiki smiled back, darting through the crowd. He had a significantly easier time with that than his bodyguards, who had to assertively bump people out of the way just to fit past.
Once Hibiki had made his way over to their table, Liz scooted back over next to Sam so he could sit down. With a smile and a lift of his hand he quickly greeted everyone before taking his seat.
“Do your cousins want to sit with us too?” Liz asked, as she looked up at the two men standing beside the table. Hibiki looked up as well, smiling and trying to get them to get the hint. Luckily Hideki caught on.
“I and him… go to bar?” Hideki said in broken English, gesturing at himself and Kazuya then pointing toward the bar, before lifting his hands and looking at Hibiki for help as he wasn't sure what he'd said himself. Hibiki nodded and smiled with a thumbs up, actually proud of his linguistically challenged bodyguard. With a nod, Hideki and Kazuya both left for the bar.
“Are they students too?” Killian asked rather incredulously, but Hibiki immediately shook his head and typed.

‘No, they’re police.’

Hibiki half-truthed, recalling what Kazuya and Hideki had done before getting employed as bodyguards.
“Oh really, what do they do?” Liz asked a little surprised as she glanced over at the backs of the two men as they fumbled their way through ordering a drink in English at the bar.

‘The big, mean one, Kazuya, he’s sort of like military police, and Hideki goes undercover in the Yakuza. The Japanese gangs.’

Hibiki explained to them, in a sort of lie close enough to the truth that he didn’t feel too bad about it.
“You wanted to do Criminology right? So you’re from a police family then?” Tristan asked, remembering that detail from their bathroom chat. Meanwhile Killian and Sam caught on as well, listening in, but Hibiki quickly shook his head and awkwardly laughed the question away.

‘Not at all, actually. More a coincidence. What do you guys study?’

Hibiki showed his message to everyone with a smile, eager to get to know them more.
“Third year of medicine.” Killian answered immediately with a grin.
“I’m in my second year of maths.” Liz said.
“Same as Liz, but I am double majoring in physics and maths.”
“Triss is the weird one out with his PPE stuff.” Killian commented, “You should join the science side.”
“Soft sciences are sciences too.” Tristan said back over a sip of his coke.

‘What’s PPE?’

Hibiki asked a little confused, not sure what the acronym meant.
“Philosophy, Politics and Economy. It’s sort of an interdisciplinary thing, that I need for my graduate degree in politics.” Tristan quickly explained.
“And you’re in psychology?” Sam asked to Hibiki, who nodded.

‘Law and psychology.’

“Unorthodox combination?” Killian commented after taking a quick sip of his beer while Hibiki typed.
“I mean, if he wants to go into Criminology it does seem like a good base.” Liz came to Hibiki’s defense.

‘Psychology doesn’t allow for a graduate degree in criminology, so I took law with it.’

“You think you can manage?” Tristan asked with a smile, and Hibiki nodded determinedly, typing quickly.

‘I have a really good memory, so I'm sure I will.’

“You can always decide to drop one of the two after the first term as well without losing any progress.” Sam advised with a gentle smile, and Hibiki nodded, even if he already knew that information.
“Would you like a drink by the by? I reckon I owe you one.” Tristan said with a smile as he stood up. The question caught Hibiki slightly off guard, but he looked up with a smile and nodded. “What do you fancy? Beer, pop, anything stronger?”
Hibiki put a finger to his lips and tapped a few times as he thought about what to do. Should I… I promised not to get in trouble but… can’t get in much trouble with two bodyguards?

‘If it’s okay, I’d like some whisky.’

With a grin Hibiki held his phone up for Tristan to read.
“I can do that, want ice with it?” Hibiki smiled at him and gave a quick shrug, not minding either way. “Right up.” He grinned back as he turned around to face the crowd around the bar.

While Tristan was gone, Hibiki smiled at everyone else. Liz took the lead, smiling back.
“Thanks for your help with Triss.”
Hibiki smiled and politely waved her gratitude away. Still now the topic came back up, his curiosity got the better of him.

'Does it happen often?’

“I think he's always been nervous?” Killian said, scratching his sideburns as he thought back on it. “It’s hard to notice because he’s formal, handshakes and smiles and all that. Takes a while before he's at ease and having fun.”
“He’s gotten better since last year, he's a little less timid. I think you just caught him in a bad moment.” Liz glanced at Tristan's back somewhat sympathetically, then smiled at Hibiki.

‘He seems nice. You all do. I'm glad to see he has good friends to fall back on.’

“How about you?” Killian said, pointing at him while simultaneously taking a sip of his beer. “You got any friends here?”
Hibiki shook his head.

'I don't really have friends yet? But a few people will stay with me.’

“Family?” Sam asked.

'No, just people who stay at my place.’

“Roommates?”

'Sort of, not friends though. I mean, I only just moved here, and it's rather difficult to make friends as a mute.’

“How about you just stick it out with us for a while then?” Killian offered with a grin, causing Hibiki to smile and nod enthusiastically.
“I think you're doing fine.” Liz smiled. “We just have to be patient so you can have your say too.”
“Is it really that difficult?” Killian asked, and Hibiki gave a slight nod.

‘Once you have people's attention, and they know, it's not so bad. But before that people often think you are rude, or strange. Luckily I can make noise, since I'm technically non-verbal, my vocal cords and such are fine.’

“You're not physically mute?”
Hibiki shook his head, pointing at his head as he repeated what he had told Tristan before.

'It's psychological.’

“Is it because you're uncomfortable?” Liz asked, trying to make sense of it, but Hibiki adamantly shook his head.

'It's a permanent thing. I just can't talk mentally?’

“That must be really frustrating.” Sam said, and Hibiki nodded, letting out a soft huff to emphasize how annoying it was.

‘I spent so much time on trying, and my parents spent a lot on psychologists. When I was around 14 years old we just settled on sign language.’

“So you can talk to deaf people?”

'If they know Japanese Sign Language, yes.’

Hibiki gave an apologetic smile, just as a glass of amber liquid with ice cubes was put down in front of him.

“Here you go.” A little surprised Hibiki looked over to see Tristan smile at him. In the soft, dim light there was a nearly ethereal quality to that smile, one that made his unprepared heart skip a beat. Before he could help it he was already smiling back, only to quickly looked down into the glass when he felt his cheeks burn. Fuck.
In an attempt to distract himself, he took a swig of whisky. Although the liquid was cool at first touch, it rapidly started to burn in his mouth. The heat combined with a heavy taste of grain and oak wood, and although he didn't mind the taste necessarily, he wasn't prepared for it. With some difficulty he swallowed, the burn sending a shiver down his spine. He realised everyone was watching, in the end only causing him to blush more.

“You just had about five quid's worth of a chug right there buddy, try fifty pence at a time.” Killian chuckled, having watched this small Japanese student struggle for the entirety of the swig with glee.
Hibiki simply answered with a few coughs, prompting Tristan to offer a few sips of coke. He took them out of desperation, the sweet, cold liquid managing to soothe the burn.
“Did you ever have any before?” Liz called his bluff, and he shook his head somewhat ashamed to get found out.

'In Japan the drinking age is 20, and I went to high school in America where it's 21.’

He admitted, red in the face and he wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or the alcohol, it could be both.
“You chugged that like a champ though.” Liz grinned, trying to cheer Hibiki up a little.
“How about we get you up to speed for student life?” Killian asked with a wide grin.
“What do you want to do?” Tristan asked somewhat cautiously, recognising the devilish look in Killian's eyes.
“A few rounds of truth or drink, get a few different flavour shots?”
“How about a beer?” Tristan suggested, not so sure if shots were the way to go.
“But that's boring.”

‘What’s truth or drink?’

Hibiki asked a little too eager for it to spell any good.
“Someone asks a question, and if you don't want to answer you have to take a shot.” Liz explained.
“You up?” Killian asked with a wide grin, and Hibiki nodded enthusiastically, already drunk on the rush of socialising.