"Yeah, no kidding," said Eiji. He didn't want to think about what a pain in the butt it would have been to fly back by himself.

"Kyoto? Hey, nothing wrong with that! They've got really pretty leaves in the fall. Gion Matsuri's cool, too." He paused. "If you travel around to box, though, you must be pretty good. Are you on the school team or something?"

"Oh yeah -- cities really aren't that much different from towns. You have to pay more attention, but people can live just about anywhere. You know?"