The morning fog still hung heavy in the air, clinging to their clothes and faces. The sun was still trying to rising past the mountains, to bathe the damp rural area in its morning glow. A small bus stop stood solitary in the rural area, its old wood smelling strongly after the turbulent rain of last night. And within was a great pile of cardboard, covering up something that was just now starting to move.
The blonde hair tied into a thin ponytail, her clothes worn for three days in a row now, a girl rose from beneath the cardboard, sitting straight up and rubbing the night sand from the corner of her eyes. Her mouth was terribly dry and she quickly reached under the wooden bench that doubled as their night's rest and grabbed a bottle of water. Half full… I better leave some, though. Drinking too greedily, she swallowed the wrong way and started coughing. But she felt more alive now. Looking around, she pulled out her cellphone and looked at the clock. Ugh… it's not even seven am. Why the heck am I awake?
"Suzu?" Turning to the person by her side, Torako looked at her sleeping face. She's like a hamster. Remembering the last time this has happened, Torako's face turned into that of an evil imp. Her right hand slowly reaching for Suzu's nose, the tiger stopped just short of actually doing it. Instead, she bend downward, pushing away her own ponytail the moment it fell over her shoulder. And again she stopped. Sitting straight up again, abruptly so, she looked in every direction. All clear. Quickly bending down again, she passed a morning kiss to the girl by her side. Eww…. Her lips are all dry and crusty. And I can still taste that damn… what was it… curry… curry something bread. It tastes like seafood gone back.
Aw, my head itches… I can't believe my ticket won. I was just submitting it as a joke, too. That damn balding principal and his lotteries! Shit, shit… hm… although this does give me some opportunity to mess with the others. "Suzu, wake up already."
Mumbling indecipherable things about food in her half-sleep, Suzu rose up with her eyes still closed. And then they flew wide open and locked on to the blonde sitting next to her. "Torako." She didn't need a spoken reply, just her looking was enough. "Kiss."
"You already got one! Don't be so damn greedy!" Torako shoved the cardboard covers off herself and Suzu, pulling the hair tie and undoing her ponytail, before running her fingers through her hair like crazy before she pulled it back together and into the ponytail. "You're banned from eating that curry seafood bread stuff again!"
"Why?" Suzu reached under her side of the bench and couldn't find what she was looking for. "Torako, where's the water?"
Handing the now mostly empty bottle over, Torako got up on her feet and started to stretch. "It tastes disgusting, that's why. I'm not gonna kiss you anymore if you keep eating that stuff."
Suzu emptied the water bottle and got up as well. They had a long trek ahead of them today, but at least she was lucky enough to be with her girlfriend. "Still one curry seafood bread left."
Torako didn't like wasting food, especially not here, like this, with Suzu by her side. "Ah, fine, eat it! But wash it down with something that covers the taste! It feels like I kissed a fish marinated in chilli!"
"Fish marinated in chilli..." Repeating after Torako, Suzu's stomach growled, like it always did in the morning. Reaching under the bench, Suzu took the rucksack and she pulled out her XXL sized breakfast – the curry seafood mix bread that Torako had complained about. Taking a large bite out of it, Suzu chewed with her cheeks full. "You hate this?"
"I don't know how you can eat that." Torako took the rucksack from Suzu and rummaged through it herself, pulling out some prepackaged yakisoba bread. Tearing off the wrapper, she sat down at the other end of the bench and lied down on Suzu's lap., reminiscing briefly about how Suzu had taken her first kiss, months and months before they got together. "Which way are we gonna go next?"
"Food?"
"We got enough to last us till tomorrow evening." Torako put Suzu's mind at ease and then started to toss her head. "Suzu, what the heck, you're getting crumbs all over my face!" But she refused to get her head off of Suzu's lap. It was their special position, only available when nobody was around to watch them. They weren't secretive about going out, but they didn't really showcase it at school.
"Sorry." Suzu leaned back just a little so the crumbs wouldn't fall down on Torako. Things between them were not that different from before – Suzu had always been terribly attached to Torako and a while ago, she had just asked if they could be more than just friends.
"This is just like that time when we missed the entrance ceremony." Torako found that to be quite funny. "Except this time we're actually at school instead of skipping it."
Suzu put her bread down for a moment, getting a bottle of green tea from their rucksack. She still didn't say much and that was unlikely to ever change. She was never going to be the talkative type, like Torako. "Want some?" After taking a big sip from the bottle, Suzu offered it to her girlfriend.
Putting the yakisoba bread down and taking the bottle without saying anything, Torako got too greedy and some of the tea spilled on her, running down her throat and under her jacket. Feeling grossed out by it, Torako got up and pulled off her jacket, revealing a thin tank top underneath. "Ew… it ran all the way down."
The blonde immediately struggled when Suzu pulled her top all the way up to her arms, making her sit around with just underwear on up top in public. "Suzu, what the hell do you think- hey, woah, woah, stop-!" Dragged backwards, back in their special position, Torako blushed like crazy when Suzu started licking the trail of tea off of Torako's almost naked upper body. Starting at the single green drop that had run all the way to her navel, her tongue slowly erased the mildly cold and wet trail and left one of her own. Her fingers just lightly lifting up Torako's bra at the part between her breasts, her tongue slid under for just a moment, then continued on between her breasts.
During all of this, Torako was just frozen, hoping that the world continued to be a reasonable place and nobody came by. After Suzu stopped right next to her lips and let her go, Torako quickly sat up and pulled down her top but left off the jacket. "Don't just do that when we're out in the middle of… wherever the heck this is!"
"Nobody is watching." Suzu licked her lips. Torako is so shy. She never wants to do anything if I don't do it. She didn't talk much, but Suzu was not an empty minded person.
"Is it me or are you, like, getting really perverted lately? Kissing and licking and fumbling about 'n stuff!" Torako didn't mind; that was not why she said. While Suzu was honest to her desires and acted on them, Torako was the same.
"Not really." Suzu continued eating breakfast as if nothing had happened.
"No, you totally are! You've been groping me so much I had to buy new bras and everything!"
"I had to too."
"I'm just returning the favor is all!"
"Torako."
"W-What?" Torako covered her chest. "Don't you go starting groping me now!"
"I won't." Suzu was almost done with her bread and kept looking at Torako. "You're showing your stomach."
"Eh? Is that lewd?" Torako looked down on herself. "I think Nene would probably shout oh my god and start to have nosebleeds though." Grabbing her jacket, Torako put it back on and finally got to the rest of her breakfast. "You know, I wonder what the others are doing."
"Tatsuki and Ayumi?"
"I bet Nene is totally putting her hands on the poor girl she got paired with. Like, all over. There and there and doing this and that. Her partner is probably in tears. And when I think about Ooba… I can't even imagine how much she's cried by now."
Ignored… Suzu continued eating.
"How long are you gonna take eating- woah, what's this strange deja vu?" Torako shoved the rest of the yakisoba bread in her mouth. "Suzu. Could it we're in a time loop? You know, like that Haruhi something chick! I actually turned back time!"
Torako… what are you saying? Suzu ate a little faster now and emptied most of the bottle of green tea. Nagato is the time traveler. Haruhi is… I don't know.
"It's still early but should we get on the road?" Torako stretched in the morning sun, feeling mostly alive. "I bet we're way in the lead. We got experience with this. We're like experts on running away from home!"
"Experts!" Torako & Suzume – Escaping from Home, registered professionals. Suzu liked to indulge in fantasies as much as Torako did, but hers were more inside her head. Suzu quickly gnawed away at the bread and swallowed the last third almost whole, washing it down with what was left of the green tea.
Getting on the road really just meant walking. Suzu carried their large backpack which contained what money they had, as well as a single change of clothes, food, drinks and their team identification pass. They were on the road for fifteen minutes in relative silence before Torako got bored. "I still can't believe we're doing this."
"Why?" Suzu didn't dislike it at all. It gave her time alone with Torako which usually came at a premium at school since there were always other people around. Not that she really minded that, but they were girlfriends. Even though they didn't really behave like girlfriends very much.
"Why you say… because it's really crazy? Who ever heard of a school using a school trip and having their students trek across the country?"
"Okinawa." I can't wait to see Torako in her swimsuit. I don't understand why I couldn't bring my school swimsuit though. Everyone nagged me to buy a new one. Touching her own chest, Suzu made some rubbing motions as she walked. I wonder if all that special massaging that Torako did had some effect?
"The ocean! No, wait a damn second, that's not what I meant! Why couldn't they just let us go from school? It's already like 3 hours by car from school to Akune and that's not counting the boat ride to Ishigaki and then another to Taketomi! No, they had to put us on a train, get us to Tokyo and then tell us we're supposed to get to Akune in two weeks! Well, at least we don't have to go to school during that time. Viva la revolution!" Shouting as they walked through the middle of nowhere, Torako wondered if they would meet any of the others during their adventure.
That was what their trip really was called. The Great Kamizono School Trip Adventure – Journey to the South. For the first day, Torako had constantly made monkey king jokes but gotten tired of it on the second day. Suzu was not someone that was very entertaining but she couldn't imagine someone better as her partner. And certainly no one she'd rather sleep next to.
"No… no school lunch." Suzu's stomach growled in objection to that fact.
"We just ate! How damn hungry can you be?!" Torako recalled something she thought that was clever. "Your fuel efficiency is way too bad!"
"S-Sorry."
"Eh, I didn't mean it like that." Walking just the tiniest bit slower so she could get behind Suzu, Torako opened up the backpack and took out another one of those super big breads; this one chilli flavored. "Why did you only buy strange flavor ones?"
"I like them." And you have funny reactions when we kiss.
Handing the bread to Suzu, who just ate as they walked, Torako was immediately bored again. "Should we stop at a hot spring? Are there any nearby? Come to think of it, where the heck are we?!"
"Aichi." Suzu led the backpack slide over one arm and wore it backwards, pulling their map out while it hung from her chest. "Hot springs… here." Suzu pointed at a purple dot on the map. "Toyota. Sanaga Hot Springs." She had spent two days prior to the trip marking a lot of important things, such as hot springs and all you can eat places.
"You're so dependable, Suzu. How much money do we have on us?"
"16000 yen."
"The first handout is in Nagoya, right?"
Suzu nodded. There were a few places that students could check in with to get some extra money. How much they got depended on specific restrictions such as no trains, no ferries, no planes or even no hitchhiking. Bathing with Torako… we haven't bathed together since we evolved!
"I wonder how much we'll get! They said you get more the less you use transportation stuff, right?" Torako was excited. "Maybe we'll have enough to take the train to Akune!"
"We have to pay for the boat trip." Suzu put a pin in Torako's idea.
"Eh. Seriously?"
"Hm."
"No, no, no, seriously seriously? Like, a general Zod serious?"
"Zod?" Suzu didn't recognize that name.
"You don't know-" Torako couldn't finish her sentence because her butt started vibrating. "Hold that thought!" She quickly pulled out her cellphone from her back pocket. They both wore jeans pants because skirts were not practical for a trip across the country. "Takki? Hm, hm. Eh?" Holding the phone away from her head, Torako gestured for Suzu to walk closer. "Wait, lemme look at the map."
"Someone in trouble?" Suzu could be almost psychic at times.
"Huh? Yeah. No, not you Takki. What do you mean? Takki has always been Takki. Or do you prefer Tatsun?" Torako smirked. "Tatsun." There was a lot of shouting on the other end of the phone and Torako dangled the device in front of her like it was radioactive. "Tatsun, there's no need to be so upset! Like I said, Tatsun-" Torako kept repeating her name like that on purpose to drive her up a wall. "Hello? Tatsun, are you still there? Huh? Ayu? Ayuyu? Ayumimi?" There was some distinct embarrassment on the other end before the conversation continued. "I see, I see. Eh, that's a bother though? Yes, yes, I guess. Oh, welcome back Tatsun." The conversation continued like that for a little longer before Torako hung up. "Captain Suzu!"
"Yes." Suzu saluted while walking and accidentally hit her forehead. Ow.
"We're going on a rescue mission for private Kobayashi."
"Kobayashi?" Suzu was not that good at remembering the last names of her classmates and certainly not good at remembering the names of other people in her grade.
"Kansai girl!" Torako said so with pride.
Oh, her. "Rescue?"
"It looks like she got into an accident. Oh, and she's with Tsubomiya."
"Sadako!" Suzu still called her that. She was very bad with scary stuff. "One of her… curses backfired?"
"You know Suzu… you're really persistent about that curse thing. Not that she's helping things with that dark look. But you kinda need to cut it out with calling her Sadako. Ino's not bad people."
"But… she's scary."
"How?!" Torako put away her cellphone and took the map from Suzu. "Hm… okay. I see." Turning the map around, Torako stared at it for a few seconds. "Suzu."
"Hm?"
"How the heck do you read this damn thing?"
She could just use her cellphone GPS. Suzu took the map from Torako. "Where are we going?"
=== If you are rescued by a Tiger, you must endure its moods ===
"Seriously, thanks for helping us out." Koma had been so thankful that she paid for Torako and Suzu to visit a cheap bathhouse with them. "I was worrying what's gonna happen to us if they called the cops or something."
"Why does it feel like that's something that could totally happen to you. For different reasons though." Like drug dealing or something! Like in that movie… er, what's the name again… Torako was happy to soak in the hot water and get clean. Taking baths every day was something people took for granted way too easily, she realized.
"I do give off that kind of image, right? Makunouchi said that to me a week ago or so." Koma stretched underwater. "How long since your last bath? I thought you two were kinda smelly when you showed up to pay our bill."
So we did stink. No wonder though. "Not since we left, so today would be the fourth day." Torako moved to the side and pulled Suzu by her hand. The quiet girl had been doing the usual – being very quiet – at little by the side, half asleep at the edge of the big wooden tub. "She's lucky though, all she ever smells like is bread or snacks. When I don't bathe I start to smell like rotting oranges or something."
Rotten oranges? I think she's got that whole illegal substances thing down way better than me! "Doesn't your hair get sticky when you don't bathe? I got kinda short hair so I'm lucky."
"Eh, if I keep untangling it in the morning and put it in a ponytail it works okay. Suzu's kinda bummed out when she can't do her trademark Suzu hairstyle."
Is she talking about those bell like things she usually ties with her hair? "Ino is a serious piece of work though. I mean, I do her hair every morning, but it's so long-"
Koma was rudely interrupted by Torako before she could finish what she was saying. "Seriously? You do her hair?" Torako turned around to where Tsubomiya was sitting, outside the tub, still washing her hair. "Every day?"
"Uh, yeah. She kinda depends on me. I let her do it a few times herself but no matter how well I teach her, it kinda turns into… bad. Like, horror movie bad. So I figured I might as well do it. She's a really nice girl so it's fine."
"Eh eh eh eh, is that all? You aren't making her pay you for it? You're the kind of girl that'd have money money money all over their background in a manga." Torako was just openly mocking the girl that usually wore a dozen too many small accessories.
"Not really. It's not like you have Suzu-nyan pay you either."
"No, no, I don't do her hair. That's way too much effort. And to begin with, we're dating."
"So no difference."
"No, no, no, I mean seriously, she's my girlfriend."
"Eh?"
"Ehhh?"
"No, I mean… you do know we're going out, right?"
Torako slapped Koma's collarbones with the back of her hand. "There you go away, feeding me nonsense!"
"Torako, you didn't know?" Suzu was still half asleep.
Looking at her girlfriend for a short moment, Torako lost her composure. "Eh? Wait, seriously?" Looking back at Koma, she continued to lose it. "You're seriously going out with Ino?"
"Now look here..." Koma was a little annoyed by Torako's brashness.
"I bet it's Nene." Torako made a fist and raised it in front of her.
"Huh? You lost me, Tora-chan."
"Nene's always lusting after girls! First she got to me and Suzu, now she's brainwashed you two!"
"I don't think that's how this works, you know."
"She's like some kind of pervert alien that turns everyone bi!"
I'm pretty sure I'm not into guys though. "If you say that stuff to Nene she's gonna go… I don't know, Nene is kind of strange."
"Right? Since your girl can curse people, and Chie can build super robots it's totally not strange to think that Nene's got the power to make people go for chicks!"
"The nonsense aside, how did you two get here?"
"We were sleeping at some bus stop in… I have no idea actually, some bus station way out in the middle of nowhere. Sakaue or something?"
"That was our fourth stop." Suzu helped and then got away from Torako. All the running around in the morning had made her a bit tired. And there would be more running soon.
Torako watched with big eyes as the tall Tsubomiya waded through the water and sat down next to Koma. "Yo, Ino."
"Thank you for helping us out, Torako." Inori's hair was as long as ever and there was no way for her to tie it up tightly enough to keep it out of the water so she just left it down. Being all wet, she kept the obfuscating front bangs out of her face however.
"Eh, you already paid me back, so it's no biggie. But I'm impressed you two had the money to eat at a family restaurant."
"He he he… don't underestimate my money making skills!" Good thing I was prepared and shot a ton of pictures of everyone in their casual clothes on the way to Tokyo. I even maxed out the secondary SD card I brought.
"You know… Ino..."
"Yes?"
"You're mighty stacked."
"H-Huh?"
"I bet they're bigger than Ayu's. No, they gotta be. Hey Koma, you think they're as big as Ooba's?" Torako looked like she was ready to take Nene's position as the class pervert, leaned forward and ready to grope.
"If you stare any more than that, I'll charge you." Koma moved slightly in front of Ino to stop Torako from leering.
But that was wholly unnecessary. Suzu returned, grabbed Torako's hands and put them firmly against her own breasts while glaring at Ino for a moment. After that moment, she was back to being a little afraid of the girl that could, supposedly, curse people.
"Woah, what the heck are you doing Suzu? Lemme go!" Trying to wrestle free from the super strong girl, Torako and Suzu both last balance and dove in the somewhat shallow water, coming up and spitting bath water. "Ewch, Suzu, give it a rest."
"Don't leer at other girl's breasts."
"You two are seriously my pace, aren't you." Koma didn't pose this like a question. "So you got here with a bus?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah. We took one because we'd still be on the way now if we hadn't and you would be scrubbing dishes at the back – or sit at the police box!"
"No, I don't think that'd be what would happen."
"I wanted to call you… but Koma said we should call some responsible first." Ino could easily look over Koma's head, even sitting in the water.
"Hey! I'm like super responsible!" Torako splashed about, quickly earned the ire of the other customers and stopped.
"How?" Koma had called their homeroom teacher. The school could track all the student pairs via GPS signal. Only two teams were close, the Kageyama and Saotome pair as well as the Iizuka and Nonomura pair, and the latter was already on their way out of the city as it turned out.
"You know Koma..."
"What?"
"Does Ino not massage your boobs or anything?"
"Tora-chan… you hang around Nene too much."
"You think?"
"Yeah."
"Hm… maybe. I have been having lewd thoughts lately."
No, I'm pretty sure that's normal. What ain't normal is you talking about Ino's boobs and then mine.
Suzu was staring really intensely at Koma while all of this was going on and the second the two went quiet, she showed the girl a thumbs up. "You're one of us."
"Whatever you're talking about, I don't think it's making me happy."
"Okay. Suzu, let's get out of here before we get all pruney and wrinkly."
"Torako… there's a bicycle shop not far from here. They let you rent here and turn it in at Kameyama for a small extra fee." Ino was well informed about the region, having spent a bunch of time looking up routes before the trip.
"Oh, nice! Thank you!" Getting out of the tub and covering herself with a towel, Torako was followed closely by Suzu. Koma and Ino were left behind on their own.
"I wish we could have gone with them." Ino liked the company of the girl that shone so super brightly. Even if she could say some inappropriate things sometimes.
=== Tigers are both good and bad with the heat ===
Available on AO3 only due to mature content (how mature is up for discussion but due to harassment, I moved the segment out)
=== Tigers might be cats but are not nocturnal ===
Torako yawned and stopped. "I can't walk another step." Sitting down right by the roadside, she yawned again and rested her sore feet. They were a few kilometers out of Kumakogen, south of Matsuyama, on their way to Yawatahama to take the ferry there, taking them to Kyushu. The sun was burning down on them like an uncaring lord from hell, the humidity was off the charts even this far inland and, worst of all, they were all out of food. They had dragged their feet a little too much the past two days and figured they had enough food. But Torako still underestimated her girlfriend's appetite.
The tall grass behind her was rustling in the wind, too faint to qualify as a cooling breeze. Cicada's were crying louder than a brass ensemble on tour, a deafening, high pitched noise that wouldn't go away. The street itself was like a river of fire, the asphalt heated up by the relentless sun, too hot to walk on. Sitting on the dry grass right by the road, Torako felt annoyed with everything around her.
Suzu was a few steps ahead. "Torako… do you want me to carry you?" Suzu had eaten the last extra large bread just a little while ago and was still running on full.
Torako just put up her arms and made a buzzing noise in agreement. Moments later, Suzu carried her girlfriend piggyback while the latter yawned yet again and pulled her cellphone out of her pants pocket. "Ew… it's almost 8 and still this bright and hot. Nature is trying to cook us."
Suzu didn't say anything and just kept walking. Torako didn't have the energy to keep complaining either. Thirty minutes later, they were on top of a hill, looking down at how far they still had to go. "I guess we're going to camp outside today." Torako wasn't a fan of sleeping outside. If it started to rain, they would be really screwed. And they were hungry, too.
"I want some tonkatsu. Ramen. Riceballs. Sandwich… Pasta… Natto…" Suzu was just fantasizing about food out loud.
Meanwhile, Torako had picked up on some rather unusual sound. There were voices piercing the deafening sound of the cicadas, coming from somewhere close by. Walking back and forth on the top of the hill, she spotted someone down by the road that led into the very small farming village that they were close to. Someone she recognized even from afar. There's not many girls that tall and… distinct. "Hey! Delinquent!" Torako shouted as loud as she could and waved with both hands wildly over her head. And sure enough, they noticed her – and promptly ignored her.
That rubbed Torako the wrong way really strongly. "Delinquent spotted! Suzu, let's go. I bet we can ste- buy some food off those two!"
"Tonkatsu!" Suzu jumped to her feed, motivated by the thought of food.
Running down the rather steep hill, Torako looked triumphant when she arrived next to Makunouchi and Ooba, the former not happy to see her, the latter very much so. "Torako!" Minato welcomed her with open arms, literally.
"Woah, stop, I'm all sweaty already!" Torako freed herself from the tall brown skinned girl. "Yo, delinquent."
"Will you stop calling me that, seriously? You're worse than I am, you know?" Ushio didn't really want to see that girl right now. And there is the bottomless stomach girl. "Yo, Saotome."
Suzu's stomach growled in response and Torako didn't lose any time and just came out and asked. "You got any food you can spare? We got a bit lost and ran out of food this afternoon. I think Suzu is gonna eat me if I don't feed her."
"You got lost? Pft, hah, serves you right." Ushio was dressed rather spectacularly, considering what their normal uniform looked like. A jeans jacket, black trousers that had holes in them all over, a black t-shirt from some heavy metal band and a way too big brown jacket around her hips that had to belong to Ooba. All of this was finished up by short black leather boots.
"Ushio, we're still lost too!" Minato was still honest to a fault and dressed strangely in her own way. A white blouse, a black checkered skirt and a weird mixture of pumps and sandals.
"We got lost, we just took a wrong turn. We know exactly where we are now though." Torako boasted as if it was a phenomenal feat to be not be lost.
"I know exactly where we are, too! Like, Yawatahama is that direction!" Ushio pointed east-north-east, which was practically the complete opposite direction of where she had to go.
"Heh." Torako just mocked her with a sneering laugh. "You go that way then. I'm sure you'll get to Yawatahama in no time flat."
"Fine then, tell me where to go! It's damn obvious I have no idea how to read a damn map and Mina has no idea either!"
How did they even get this far without being able to read a map, no, seriously? "Directions for food!"
Minato was carrying a large hand bag and pulled out a large cylinder-shaped pack of cookies. "Here!"
Suzu received the cookies like they were an imperial treasure and immediately got to work on them.
"You got any… real food?" Torako wasn't keen on stuffing herself with snacks. That was not gonna last very long. "Suzu, hold still for a sec." Pulling their map from the backpack that Suzu carried, Torako realized that she had to rely on Suzu for this. "My lovely, show them where we are."
"So you can't read the damn thing either!" Ushio got loud and Torako's pride was wounded.
But even Torako knew better than to try and pretend she could read a map and get them seriously lost. "Yeah, I can't, but at least I got a reliable girlfriend! Yours brought cookies instead of riceballs or anything else real to eat!"
"Who the hell's my girlfriend?!" Ushio opened her mouth in reflex and immediately regretted it. The tall girl next to Suzu was instantly near tears "Mina, sorry, I didn't mean that. That stupid meat-head always gets to me!"
"Who are you calling a meat-head you damn delinquent? Where's your motorcycle anyway? A delinquent ought to travel the country on a motorcycle! You disappointment to delinquents anywhere!"
"You got any idea how expensive that is?!" Ushio had a license but couldn't afford an actual bike.
"Eh? What, that's the issue?"
"Huh? What did you think the issue was?"
"You know, driving a motorcycle being the issue? You can't have a license until you're like, eighteen."
"Are you stupid or something? That's for heavy bikes. There's smaller ones you can get licenses for way earlier. I can drive one, but the gas alone would cost more than we get for this trip you bucket-head!"
"Who you're calling bucket-head?! You leather freak!"
"Only my damn boots are leather!"
"Torako… food..." Suzu had finished explaining to Minato where they actually were. "And I'm sleepy. Are we gonna sleep outside?"
"Outside? What are you, homeless people?" Ushio couldn't believe those two.
"Woah, Inns aren't free you know! Try feeding Suzu for a week straight and you'll see how tough it is to keep your money together!" Torako still had some money left but the next money handout was at Yawatahama and that was like 70 kilometers away.
"You two gorillas can sleep outside just fine, but just imagine me trying to have Mina sleep at a bus stop or something!"
Torako turned around and looked at the by far prettiest girl out of the four of them. "Uh. Yeah. Okay, I concede that point. She probably wouldn't fit on a bench. And if I were her, I wouldn't trust you to keep your delinquent paws to yourself."
"I don't want to hear that from you! How stupid do you think everyone in class is? We all notice the hickeys you constantly leave on Saotome's neck."
"W-What?" Torako turned red like a blister. "Seriously?!"
"I can't believe you're so stupid that you think everyone else wouldn't figure out that you're the one causing those to multiply like rabbits."
"Torako..." Suzu was pulling on the blonde's arm now. "Let's go… I'm hungry… Let's go to that village down that road…" They have to have some place we can buy something to eat.
"What are you two gonna do?" Torako wasn't gonna ignore Suzu's plight any longer.
"Ushio, let's go with them!" Minato was happy to have found some company other than Ushio, even though she really loved being with Ushio all day.
"Eh, you wanna go with them?" Ushio sounded really annoyed.
"N-No good?" Teary-eyed Minato convinced the delinquent in an instant.
And so, about ten minutes later, four girls were melting as they descended the super hot asphalt road towards that tiny village in the Kumakogen distinct, in Ehime prefecture. It was past nine when they finally got there, tired, smelly and hungry. Everything but the local convenience store was closed but that was enough for them to load their bags with drinks and food, spending a whole bunch of money on it.
While Suzu was outright devouring a special discounted super extra large set of riceballs that were about to expire, Torako counted their money. "Hey, punk, how much do you guys have left?"
"7820 yen." Ushio was making due with just a can of iced coffee for now. It was too hot to eat something real.
"We have 4895 yen. Wanna share a room at the Inn?"
"Share a room? With you?"
"Hm. What, you think I'll jump your pretty girl at night or something? I'm not Nene."
"Who did that pervert get paired with again?"
"Uh…" Torako flapped her lips and tried to remember. "Robo-girl?"
"You mean Suzugasaki? No, she was with… I can't recall her name, shit. But not the pervert class prez."
"Beats me then."
"You meet anyone else from class on the trip? We came across some people from 1-4 and 1-2."
"Koma and Ino."
"You know, I can't imagine that quiet ghost girl doing a road trip..."
"Apparently they're spending a bunch of money on public bathhouses and stuff. You know, with her four metric tons of hair."
"You got any idea of how much a metric ton is?"
"A lot."
"Yeah, real smart. So what did you wanna do? Split costs on an Inn?"
"Well, yeah. I think we were just gonna sleep in a stable or something somewhere in town. You know, like billy the kid! Or Bonnie and Clyde!"
"I don't know how that brain of yours works."
"So? Share?"
"Mina, what do you think?"
"Sure!" Mina had been watching Suzu eat with great interest, finding it very funny how she ate so quickly that it looked like she was inhaling the rice.
"Well, there you go. Where are you guys gonna do tomorrow?"
"Straight west towards our goal! If we move in a straight line, we can't get lost."
"We're gonna go north to Matsuyama. They have a bike rental service there. That's how we went from Yokkaichi to Wakayama, too."
"Wait, you seriously can drive a bike?"
"What, is that so hard to believe?"
"What about Ooba?"
"Small bikes can't be ridden together but they have option for a side car."
"I bet you would lose it if you rode together. That huge squishy chest against your back for hours."
"You're as bad as Andou!"
"Woah, am not!" Torako remembered something. "Come to think of it, we did the whole vehicle renting too. Only bicycles though. Suzu is like Mikoto Shino… shino… whatever!"
"Shinozaki."
"Suzu, finish up, we're gonna sleep like kings tonight!"
"Seriously, where have you been sleeping until now?" Ushio couldn't even imagine sleeping outside every day.
A good hour later, after a nice bath, the four of them shared a tiny room for two. Without the four of them constituting two couples, that would have not worked out at all. Minato was asleep first, looking happy because she got to share a futon with Ushio, who was much less happy and way overexcited because they hadn't really gone past kissing yet. It was way too embarrassing for her.
Torako and Suzu on the other hand were too tired to go for anything and it took them scarcely five minutes to fully fall asleep.
=== Roaming freely is what tigers do best ===
"Torako, I'm hungry." Suzu pulled the brakes and slowed down, driving next to her girlfriend. It was just after two in the afternoon and they had already eaten an early lunch.
They were well on their way out of Oita prefecture, heading for Kumamoto and Kumamoto city to hand over their bicycles. They had gotten them for free because the shop owner needed people to get bicycles over there and didn't want to pay for a truck – too many customers going the other way.
Slowing down more and more, Torako stopped by the river that fed into Taketa dam. They had made a bit of a detour, driving along the river because it was a lot cooler than in the blazing sun. The road would eventually lead back to where they had to go and they still had a bunch of time to get to Akune.
Suzu stopped a few meters ahead of Torako and quickly got off her bicycle. Taking their bicycles off the road and down by the water, Torako sat down first and then slapped the grass to signal Suzu to sit next to her. "Are we still good on food?"
"We got plenty. What do you want?"
"Hm… you pick." Torako leaned against Suzu, looked left and right and stole a kiss from her when she couldn't spot anyone around. "Our old record was eight days, right?"
"We're not running away from home."
"You know, I always found it a bit weird that you came along with me. Made me really happy though."
"I always want to be with you."
Torako blushed. "D-Damn, a high school girl ought to blush saying that! Not make her girlfriend blush!"
"Blush?"
"No, that's my bad. I'm asking the impossible here."
Suzu pinched her own cheeks really hard and they turned red. "Blushing."
Torako fell into the grass, laughing so hard that her stomach hurt. Suzu was already eating when she recovered. "You didn't pack a school swimsuit for when we get to Okinawa, right?"
"I wanted to but you said I couldn't..."
"Now look, we finally got some real curves, we can't wear that same old stuff from middle school anymore! We're like, real babes now!"
"I don't understand you."
Reaching and groping Suzu in broad daylight, Torako enjoyed the squishy sensation. "All that food is finally going to the right place!"
"It's not because of the special massage?"
"Huh? Oh. That. Yeah, that's gotta be it! My magic fingers!" Picking up the bread that Suzu had picked out for her, Torako was not unhappy with it. "Custard bread? There really is a bread of everything."
"We're all out of rice balls..."
"Well, they don't really have a huge shelf life." Ripping open the wrapping, Torako took a large bite and then offered the next bite to Suzu. She still didn't eat much, but Suzu always took care of all her leftovers. "I hope they put us in the same room in Ta… Ta… where the heck are we going again?"
"Taketomi." Suzu was ever helpful in situations like this.
"If they put us in single rooms, I'll sneak out like double-O seven!" When nobody was watching or listening, Torako was quite bold.
"All you can eat buffet..." Suzu was thinking about that every day. "Do you think it's better than school lunch?"
"It's a resort. It's probably all high class and stuff." Suzu's eyes gleamed with anticipation after hearing that. "Just don't eat so much that you'll sink into the ocean."
"… no more pulling my leg." Suzu still remembered that time at the wave pool.
"I apologized for that over and over already! And you need to learn how to swim already!"
"Teach me."
"Eh? I don't mind, but why me? Takki or Ayuyu are probably better at that than me."
"They're not my girlfriend." Suzu finished the melon bread and pulled out a yakisoba bread. Before she could even tear off the wrapper, Torako swiped some crumbs from the corner of her mouth.
"Don't you think there's been some kind of Nene virus going around?"
"Virus?"
"No, seriously, think about it. Nene is always lusting after the girls and lately, there's all sorts of girl-girl couples, right? Gotta be a Nene virus! There's us, but we don't count. Koma and Ino… how that happened I still don't understand. I wonder if Koma is selling pics of Ino on the side. I think she's got a lot of fans, now that she always has those bangs out of her face."
"Is Sadako your type?"
"No, no. Too tall. Too gloomy. And you're still calling her that?"
"She probably cursed Kobayashi..."
"I kinda doubt… no, maybe… no, no, no, what are you making me think? There is also Ushio and Ooba. I can kinda see why that happened, but I still bet Nene's possessed one of them to make that happen."
"Nene is still single, too."
"Yeah, that's the strangest thing actually." Torako suddenly started to look like a demon. "You think I should try and set Takki up with Nene? I bet that'd be hilarious. Or Ayuyu maybe. Remember Nene flipped her skirt when they first met!"
"Pervert class president." Suzu wolfed down the second bread and pulled out a bottle of tea. It was more than just lukewarm, which was a little gross but she was thirsty.
"Let's make a bet whether I can set up Nene with Takki or Ayuyu."
"You shouldn't do that. That's too much as a prank."
"Hm… I guess you're right. It's really funny though. Maybe just a little setting up? Like getting them paired up for a test of courage or something."
"Torako, you're evil."
"I'd be a first class super villain!" Watching Suzu finish most of the bottle, Torako got what was left and hesitated. "Drinking from the same bottle is kinda an indirect kiss." Before she could turn that comment into a joke, Suzu leaned to the side and kissed her, much more strongly than Torako had kissed her before.
"You taste weird." Suzu licked her lips. "I kinda want pudding now."
"Pudding? Do I taste like pudding?" Torako had a revelation and grabbed her own chest. "Pudding!" Laughing at her own joke, Torako fell backwards into the grass. "It sounded like a huge drag to trek across the country… well, it kind of is, but… it's also fun. I gotta admit it's a bit boring. You don't really talk a lot and it's not as fun without someone to bother."
"Should I try to talk more?"
"Hm, you're fine the way you are. I usually don't get bored if we also got Takki or Ayuyu with us. Or any of the others. You're like… hm… I don't really know. You've been with me so long, it's like you're just part of me."
"Is that a good thing?"
"Yeah. Don't worry." Torako experienced a strange deja vu, saying those exact words while she looked up at Suzu.
"How far do we go today?"
"As far as we can get. But don't leave me behind again! You pedal like crazy!"
"Aim for the tour de france." Suzu raised her right arm a little. "Woah."
Torako rolled over in the grass several times, laughing at the terrible impression of herself. "Do I sound like that?!"
When we tried out clubs, you did. And you really bullied Tatsuki. "Hm."
"You know, I've been wondering if we shouldn't have joined some club. It's not like I'm ever in a hurry to go home." Lying in the grass about two meters away from Suzu, Torako rolled over on purpose until she bumped into her girlfriend. "Maybe we should think about it again. No sports though, you're too dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"You're way too strong. Remember what happened to teach when we got him to duel one versus one with you in dodge ball? It's like using a killer robot from the future against people!"
"That's kind of mean, Torako."
"I didn't mean it that way. You in a sports club would be like using professional players against students. It's cheating."
"Cooking club?"
"I think you actually have to cook there, not just eat."
"T… Tasting club?" Suzu's stomach growled a little despite the two large breads she had just eaten.
"Maybe home economics will let you be their tasting judge!" Getting out of the grass and sitting up, she then got on her feet and held out her hand to Suzu. "Let's go before we get all sleepy from eating."
=== Tigers are very big cats but they're not afraid of water ===
"Get back here this instant!" Tatsuki chased after Torako at full speed, shouting with a red face. A screeching slide around a corner, she just couldn't catch up to the blonde that was swinging around her swimsuit, a deep blue and just minimally risque one piece.
"I'll stop if you try it on right here!" Torako shouted back, dashing past an embarrassed looking Ayumi that just stood on deck in her pure white swimsuit, a new bikini. Suzu stood next to her, in yellow sport bikini, a surfing top and girl trunks.
"Torako-san…" Ayu had suffered a similar fate as Tatsuki did. Torako had barged into their room on the boat, it was basically rude to call it a ferry with how big it was, and things just went their usual way. The boat was almost a small yacht, owned privately by the principal of the academy – making round trips to the island as often as permitted and able.
"I'm glad that's not me..." Suzugasaki Chie walked towards the two girls that were pointlessly in swimsuits.
"Is it just you? Where is Matsuri-san?" Ayumi had seen the two of them board the boat together.
"She heard that Kageyama-san was on board, so she is refusing to come up on deck. I can understand why." I'm glad that she locked the room. I wouldn't want her to run around with my swimsuit.
Everyone had packed big bags of luggage before the trip and they had been shipped to a storage facility in Akune where they could pick up their things to board the ferry slash boat. Bringing a swimsuit had been on the list of mandatory things, such as a few changes of clothes and other likes one needed for a vacation.
Tatsuki jumped and landed a drop kick right on Torako's back, sending her crashing to the floor with a loud gasp. Taking back her swimsuit, Tatsuki walked off like an angry warlord that none should cross. Walking past Ayumi, Tatsuki backed up and looked at her. "Ayumi, how long are you going to stand there?"
Ayumi followed Tatsuki below deck and Chie went after them as well, far away from Torako's willful clutches.
"Ow… Takki can be so violent." Torako rubbed her back and got to Suzu, who was still standing around in her swimsuit. Why… did she even change into that? "Where did Ayuyu go?"
"She went with Tatsuki." Suzu's stomach growled. "Torako, I'm hungry."
"They got a small kitchen down below, I think. Let's go and hunt something! And… wear something normal."
Suzu tugged on her surf top. "This isn't normal?"
"On the beach, yeah, but we're kinda on a ship."
"But there is water all around."
"That's kinda not the point Suzu. Eh, whatever. Let's go get something to eat."
Finding their way down to the small cafeteria, they found some unexpected faces. Sitting in the back were Ino and Koma, the former enjoying spaghetti, the latter eating fried rice. Popping in on them, Torako leaned over an empty chair. "Yo."
"Tora-chan?" Koma looked up. "Finally got here?"
"Eh, what do you mean finally?"
"Ino got seasick and it kept her up all night so we kind of slept through departure… we got here two and a half days ago, you know."
"How the heck did you get here before us?" Torako sat down and noticed that Suzu was missing. Probably plundering the kitchen or ordering the entire menu.
"We saved up and got on a boat in Wakayama and went all the way to Miyazaki."
"I… got seasick there too… but I am over it now." Ino looked happy. With the hair out of her face, daily courtesy of Koma, she was a lot more approachable and not scary. Although Suzu was still seemingly traumatized around her.
"Good for you. Hey, was anyone else on the boat the last trip?"
"No one from our class I think." Koma's cellphone rang. "Gimme a sec."
"Ino, what's it like, dating Koma?" Torako just popped a really private question without hesitation.
"She is really nice and cares about me. She always does my hair for me. And… she has really soft hands."
"Woah, I didn't need to know about that last part!"
Koma paused her call. "You know that is not what she meant. Yes, yes, yes. What? Uh… that might be a little… I don't think we should sell those. Hm… no, I really think this might get us into trouble. Swimsuits is kinda… ah, yes, yes, yes, that could work." She hung up right after.
Torako saw Suzu carry two separate trays, loaded to the brim, towards her. "Suzu!" Calling her over, the ever hungry girl sat down next to Ino. "Behold the magical girl with the bottomless stomach!"
"Torako, they have so much stuff!" Suzu looked really excited, almost passionate.
"Heaven after eating bread for two weeks, right?" Torako was looking forward to some good old quality ramen. Nothing fancy, just shouyu ramen. But it would be a fantastic meal. "What have you two been eating?"
"A lot of bread… sandwich bread, melon bread, yakisoba bread..." Ino didn't look unhappy at all with that choice of diet.
"Hm… I'll go get something too." Bolting from the table, Torako found that the kitchen staff was working overtime to meet all of Suzu's orders. Just how much does she want to eat? It's free but… come on Suzu, you'll eat them out of a job!
Sitting back at the table and waiting for her shouyu ramen, Torako was already bored again. "You girls brought swimsuits, right?"
"Yes. Koma and I went to buy new ones a few weeks ago… It was my first time buying my own clothes. It made me… really happy." With the new hairstyle and her happiness came a new smile. The fifteen years of having no friends were long gone now.
"I still don't get how you two got together. I mean, Koma, aren't you kinda supposed to fall in love with that upperclassman of yours that also does the photo thing?"
"What kind of cliché expectation is that…? Nah, we just both love money. That's all." Koma looked at Suzume finishing her third dish and felt full just from seeing her eat. "You know, I always thought you eat a lot, but this is kinda..."
"Her lack of fuel efficiency is shocking, right?" Torako recycled her old joke and hoped it would go over better that time – it didn't. Nobody really reacted to her gag.
Ino was finished with eating and so was Koma now. It didn't take long for them to leave the table. "See you later, Tora-chan."
Torako waited until they were out of ear-shot before she turned to Suzu with the vilest and most evil of all expressions that a high school girl could make. "This is gonna be fun."
"Torako… don't bully them too much."
"Bully anyone? Me?! You must have me mistaken." Torako snickered for a moment and then relaxed. "Nah, don't worry. Nothing I wouldn't do to Takki."
"I liked running away with you."
Torako was often caught off guard by these confessions – and even when she wasn't, they were hard to deal with without being a bit embarrassed. "We said we were done with it though. So… this was our last hurrah with that, right?"
"Your sister will be really worried if we run away again."
"Yeah… so lets not do that anymore. We're in high school now!" And I don't wanna anymore super embarrassing scenes in front of everyone. Ah, just remembering that makes me want to hide!
"All you can eat buffet..." Suzu focused on thinking about just that for now. And despite having already eaten a number of full sized dishes, her stomach growled.
"One day you'll be some kind of eating champion, Suzu. You're like one of those dojo challengers that take their sign! Except you take all their food." Torako leaned back in her chair. "I can't wait to run through the hot sand and jump into the water. Suzu, who do you think is gonna pull the most guys around them? I'm betting that it's Nene because she brought some ridiculous adult bikini or something."
"I don't know." Suzu didn't really care enough to think about that.
Leaning back even further, Torako saw Tatsuki and Ayumi enter the cafeteria. "Takki! Ayu! Over here!" Waving from her chair, and nearly falling with it backwards, Torako could already foresee a very entertaining school trip begin in earnest.
=== Tigers are not patient creatures so do not make them wait ===