Veikko Ryynänen (Roo-nah-nen) was aware of floating with the remains of his motorized sailboat in the seemingly endless Pacific Ocean. The wind blew hard enough to cause huge swells that seemed to be as tall as a house to him. The last thing he remembered was the sensation of the sea after his motorized sailboat was torn apart by the squall that had blown up while he was being tossed around inside it.

For what seemed an eternity he continued to bob around. He wondered if he was going to die out here.

As the morning progressed, the sun shone through the clouds for a bit, before disappearing behind more cloud cover once again. The wind had dropped considerably so that it was a moderate wind. The swells were much lower now at just a few feet.

Veikko wondered what to do. Wondered if he would just float here until he got eaten by sharks or a giant squid. He looked around to see if he could see an island. A difficult thing to do when repeatedly bobbing up and down so that the waves obscured his vision. But he saw nothing.

And with nothing to lose, he began to swim.

And swim . . .

The day dragged ever onward. Minutes seemed like hours. His arms and legs continued moving. Whether he swam against the current or with it, he cannot know. He just kept swimming. But Veikko never thought about it. All he thought about was swimming.

Swimming until he died.

The day gradually grew brighter until it leveled off. Afterwards, it eventually grew dimmer. Twilight now graced the horizon as the water grew darker.

Finally, the night came and all he could see around him was darkness. His limbs began to grow weary and soreness started to creep in. Maybe if he just took a rest.

No! No rest! Swim! Swim until his limbs fell off! He will not give up! He is a Finn! And being a Finn means having the will to continue!

He will swim!

The night truly seems eternal. The sky is black, meaning that it must still be cloudy. At least the water was warm, being so near the tropics.

His limbs began to ache and exhaustion crept in. Time lost all meaning as all he was aware of was water and burning pain. His mind began to drift in and out of consciousness. He hallucinated sometimes. A huge tentacle had shot out of the water toward him, only to disappear upon being startled to reality.

Still, he kept swimming.

After he snapped out of a moment from a Great White Shark swallowing him whole, Veikko discovered it was dawn. He swam in his sleep! The pain crashed home as his limbs felt as if encased in lead and seemed to burn enough to boil the ocean around him.

He noticed something tiny far away. For the first time since he started swimming, he finally stopped. At that instance, his limbs seized up painfully. He focused on that tiny object. Was it a ship! An island! It was still too far away to see details, so he continued swimming. His limbs moved slower this time, yet his resolve was further strengthened. The pain seemed to lessen.

Onward, he swam. The dawn grew brighter. The sky was still overcast, yet the wind was mild and no rain fell. The waves were small enough not to interfere with his line of vision. It finally headed into daytime and the island still seemed no closer. The soreness and stiffness began to return. Again, he wouldn't quit.

Like yesterday, the day grew brighter. The object eventually grew larger. Yet he did not stop to take notice. No, not until he was right upon it because he knew that to stop now would mean being unable to swim for quite a while.

He must keep swimming. His exhaustion increased and again threatened to take away his consciousness. He knew that he would once again fall asleep, and this time he might not wake up for hours and remain stationary for that time.

Veikko snapped out of his last stupor to finally notice something in front of him. He was now close enough to see that it was an island. A small island. He grimaced from the shock of hot pain that seared through his muscles, causing him to gasp. His limbs suddenly felt as if they weighed a hundred pounds. He started to hyperventilate when he hadn't breathed that hard before then. He knew that if he didn't get to shore soon, he was going to faint. He did a quick look around.

It was a small island, probably half a mile across, maybe less. High walls adorned with windows seem to surround the island. This meant that the place was occupied. Good! That also meant he was saved! But he first had to get the attention of the occupants by getting onto that island.

But there was no shoreline, at least none that he could see. There had to be a way onto that island and he began to swim around it. Already, his muscles felt as if they were being torn from his bones with each movement he made. At least he was not going to fall asleep while in pain. Yet his limbs moved with even greater slowness.

After what seemed like eternity, he rounded a corner and could make out a wharf. This was good because now he could climb up a ladder. Who knows? Maybe somebody might be on that wharf.

Veikko swam toward that wharf. It very slowly grew closer. He began to wonder if he was ever going to reach it before it got too dark. He could make out the ladders leading up it. Closer and closer he got to one of those ladders.

He grabbed the cool metal ladder and breathed a huge sigh of relief, then discovered that his throat was raw from thirst. He only became aware of just how thirsty he was. He was so focused on swimming that he had forgotten he was thirsty! This knowledge seemed to sap more of his strength and made his pain and soreness more intense.

Veikko clasped a rung with both hands and with a deep breath he pulled himself up, then grunted with intense pain and immediately let go as it felt as if his biceps had torn away from his bones. He gasped and grunted as he rubbed his upper arms. He knew he needed to take this nice and easy or risk damaging his muscles.

Ever so carefully, he lifted a leg and placed it onto the lowest rung, then lifted an arm to clasp a rung just above him. Then repeated it slowly, being certain to keep his limbs in sync to spread the work out between them. Slowly but surely, he climbed up the ladder. His consciousness wavered at times and it seemed as if he might fall back into the ocean. Veikko reached the top and looked over the wharf. Now it got more difficult because there was nothing to grab onto, so he had to crawl across the wharf while using his legs to get him the rest of the way. He did so, slowly, painfully, until he was fully across the warm wooden planking and continued to crawl until he was well away from the ladder.

Veikko dug deep into himself, summoning forth his will and struggled to his feet. Never had his muscles ached so much and never had he felt so weak. A moment of lightheadedness overcame him and his vision blackened for an instance as lights danced before his eyes. He bent over to clear his head, then slowly looked up once again toward that huge wall covered in windows. He saw a pair of steps leading up from the wharf to a platform, where he could make out a door.

He began walking toward them; staggered actually, because it seemed to him that his feet were encased in one hundred pound weights.

He trudged along that wharf and up to those stairs. It seemed such a long distance to him. And he was so sore and tired. He stopped at the base of the first set of stairs and took a moment to stare up them. The steps looked to be as high as hills, and the top as high as a mountain. But he lifted first one leg, then another, and repeated. He reached the last set of stairs and again it looked like it did as the first set did to him. But that didn't deter him.

Once he got upon the platform, he continued to stagger along and reached that door. It was a steel door. He checked the handle on it to find it locked.

Veikko was about to wonder what to do next, but was startled by the sudden appearance of somebody dropping down near him. That somebody was a girl with blond hair and wearing a long chain that shackled her wrists together. She was tall and shapely with her white blouse opened to reveal her racy brassiere and full figure. She wore a miniskirt with a belt slung low on her waist full of double eyelets. A collar was around her neck and she also wore stockings with tears in them, along with flashy ankle-length high-heel boots. She would be a pretty girl if her dark eyes had not looked hard. She said nothing but frowned slightly as she too looked him over with bewilderment.

He tried to speak, but between his intense exhaustion, pain, and thirst, he cannot. The girl suddenly walked up to him and gently pulled him aside, in which he complied. He watched her as she stood there for a moment; she suddenly made a screech as she delivered a thrust kick to it. Veikko gasped at the sight of that door going flying, followed by the ringing crash it made as it bounced along the ground.

The girl turned to look up at him for a few seconds, then crouched low and jumped. She literally flew up. Veikko craned his neck to see her path of flight. He sneered as he tilted his head about curiously while still staring upward with a bewildered but tired expression. He kept staring upward to see if he could see her, wondering if this isn't a hallucination over that girl's physical prowess.

He heard the sound of excited talking. There was something familiar about their talking, but his mind was too addled with exhaustion and bewilderment to make any sense of it yet. He staggered through that open doorway and saw four black-haired girls with their backs turned to him as they examined the door that laid twenty feet away. Two of those girls were wearing red berets and the other two were bareheaded. Yet they all wore identical uniforms. One of those bareheaded girls did a double take at him.

"Nya, gaijin!"

Japanese . . . ? He knew Japanese!

They talked amongst themselves in an excited manner. With his exhaustion and wavering consciousness, he couldn't keep up with what they were saying.

One of those girls suddenly spoke to him in a gentle tone. She was a pretty girl with long hair and not wearing the beret and armband either. Her eyes beheld a gentleness in them. He didn't understand English that well, but he thought that she was asking him if he were okay. Japanese on the other hand he is fluent in. The other girl spoke up. He could have sworn she had said nya a number of times.

Veikko felt his consciousness fading and knew he had to act fast.

"Search . . . this . . . pocket," he proclaimed in Japanese, pointing at the pocket on his right leg.


Veikko is now aware of being warm, dry, and well rested as he is nestled between soft linens and a soft mattress. It would have been better if not for his dry throat and full bladder.

He opens his eyes to see a white vinyl curtain surrounding him and his bed. The dimness of the light suggests that it must be early morning. There is distant muffled chatter, meaning a closed door, so he cannot make out what they are saying. He remembers all that had transpired up until he blacked out. He thinks about that blond girl. Was she Japanese too?

He looks down himself to see that he is lying in a bed with white sheets up around him, but his right arm is uncovered with an IV needle protruding from the back of his hand with a tube connected to it that runs from an IV bag next to him. He notices the miniature monitor tucked into a pocket on his left side and is able to see the wire leading from it to his chest underneath the gown, which end in electrodes attached to his skin. He notices the gown he is wearing, then feels around with his left arm that is still covered up to find that he is without underwear and blushes, knowing what it means.

Veikko slowly sits up as he softly groans. He wants to let them know that he is up, but first has to get his bearings. He checks the IV bag next to him to see that it is a simple drip bag on a metal rack. It is not the electronic type. The bag is empty and he decides to remove the tube, but removes only the tube itself instead of the needle head.

He carefully gets up and moves the curtain aside to see that he is in a simple room with a window to one side. He moves the curtain on the other side to see a LED clock mounted on the wall that reads, six twenty, with the dot on AM.

He finally gets up and walks in his bare feet on the cool floor. He notices the closed door over to his room with the window in it. At the moment, he doesn't see anyone passing by. There are two doors along either side of it facing the other.

Veikko goes over to the window to look out. He sees that he is on the third floor and has a view of the Pacific Ocean. On the island itself, he sees various buildings and the wall surrounding this place. There is a clock tower nearby and he can see the hands also reading the same time. He can also see school girls walking around, since they are wearing identical uniforms. He can make out some of them wearing that red beret. He watches girls greet each other with bows, showing their subordination.

That is when he does a double take back at the tower to see a girl standing there. She is too distant to make out her face, but he can see that her hair is like his own. He stares more intently as his irises shrink. It must be that girl. She is looking off to one side when suddenly she stares directly at him. Did she just sense that she was being watched!

Can she see me! He thought.

The staring continues for a minute longer before he decides to go empty his bladder. He goes over to the doors facing each other and first opens one by having to slide it open to find that it is a very small shower room, too small to leave anything dry inside. He was bemused by this at first, knowing that the typical Japanese bathroom is larger and consists of a tub, a faucet near it set low to the floor, a stool, and bucket. First it's the pre wash, then the soaking in a tub full of hot water. He figured that it must be the straightforwardness of this facility along with the need for space.

He opens the other door as it swings inward to find the toilet. It is a small state of the art one with a control panel on it.

Before going in, he takes a peek out the window to see nurses and some patients here and there. None of them notice him at first and he quickly ducks away, not wanting them to know that he is now up. He saw a lot of females though.

He uses the toilet, relieved to find a lock on the door. It is an unusual toilet, but not a hard one to use. There is even a bidet function on it too. A good thing.

Veikko eventually emerges and decides to now let them know that he is awake. He clasps the doorknob and takes a deep breath, knowing that he is about to expose himself to them. Steeling himself, he opens the door and steps out into the threshold.

All activity comes to an immediate stop as all heads turn toward him. Veikko feels like wanting to hurry back inside and hide behind those curtains, but he stands his ground. He looks around to see that they are indeed all female and all Japanese, both medical staff and patients alike.

He has a flashback to when he first visited Japan when he was eleven years old . . . that incident with that all-girl's high school . . .

Those females all start talking.

" . . . Look! The foreigner's awake . . . !"

" . . . He's big . . . !"

" . . . Gorgeous too . . . !"

" . . . So cute . . . !"

"I understand Japanese," Veikko finally spoke up, rasping through his dry throat. "I do not understand English very well."

" . . . Eh! He doesn't know much English, but understands Japanese . . . ?"

" . . . He's from Finland, they speak Finnish . . . !"

" . . . Someone get Doctor Tsuda . . . !"

Now that he has their attention, he returns inside to sit upon the bed, glad to be hidden. Ever since that incident in Japan at such a young age, he has since become painfully aware of his good looks and the attentions that females give him. Being shy and introverted like most Finns also play a role as well. Even if his hair and irises were pitch-black and he had a darker skin tone, he would still be a very good-looking man. But his pale blond hair, bright grey eyes, and milk pale skin enhances his exoticness toward these people for whom jet-black hair and irises, and a yellowish skin tone, is normal.

A minute later, a female physician enters with a pair of nurses.

"So you finally woke up," she said to him. "Now then, your first name is Vey-ko?"

"Yes."

"And your surname is Rye-nan-nen?"

"It's pronounced, ROO-nah-nen."

"I am Doctor Tsuda by the way. You were mildly dehydrated, Ryynänen-san, but your fluids should be fully replenished by now, so a drink of water should fix that dry throat of yours." She then orders one of the nurses to go and get a large glass of water.

The nurse returns with a large glass of water and carefully hands it to him, then gives him a slight bow. Veikko thanks her and drinks the water, which is lukewarm. Yet he finds it to be easier to drink at that temperature than cold.

"That's better," he gasped after drinking the cool refreshing water. "Now then, Doctor Tsuda . . . I know that I'm on a small island, but what is this place called exactly?"

"The Amazon Academy."

"What's that?"

"An educational institution for Japanese girls."

Veikko tightens his lips momentarily.

"Do you remember what had happened to you?" Doctor Tsuda asked.

"Yes, of course." And he explains all that had transpired.

"So you really did swim for that long?" Dr. Tsuda said with amazement.

"Unfortunately, yes," he answered in a casual manner.

"You clearly are an extremely tough man to accomplish such a feat!"

"I . . . suppose," Veikko answered in a somewhat embarrassed manner. "I also remember being helped by a girl who kicked the door to the island off its hinges so I could get in."

"Describe her?"

"She was blond like me."

"I see," Dr. Tsuda said seriously as she looks to the nurses with a dour look.

"It must've been a bleach job anyway because she was one of you," Veikko answered with a dismissive tone. "Her wrists were shackled together too. If you meet her, tell her I said thanks."

"We'll do that," Dr. Tsuda answered, then places her stethoscope in her ears. "Now then, Ryynänen-san, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling much better. Best sleep I've ever had, actually."

"I should hope so," as she places the end of her stethoscope under his gown to press against his back. "Because you were asleep for twelve hours."

She listens to his breathing, telling him to take deep breaths as she places the stethoscope on several different areas of his back. She next takes out a light and shines it into one of his eyes, then takes out a tongue depressor and gets him to open his mouth wide to look down his throat.

The doctor stares silently at him for a moment.

"I think that monitor and needle head in your arm can be removed," she finally answered, causing the nurses do just that. "A meal will be brought in later. Do you have any questions?"

"Is it possible for me to take a shower?" Veikko asked.

"Certainly. In the meantime, a meal is being prepared for you and your clothes will be sent to you after you have cleaned up."

The curtain is pushed back up against the other side of the wall. Out in the hallway, there are already some girls, notably patients, staring at him from around the door all smiles. Upon seeing him, they muffle squeals and giggles. Already he is feeling uneasy.

" . . . Waa, he's so cute . . . !"

" . . . So hot . . . !"

" . . . Gorgeous . . . !"

" . . . Really sexy . . . !"

"You will be returning back to your rooms unless you want to be discharged today," Doctor Tsuda said to them in an icy manner.

The girls quickly leave and Veikko goes to take a shower. He did feel a little loss over not being able to get into a sauna.

Veikko gets the right water temperature and gets himself wet. A small vial of shampoo and a small bar of soap was provided. He then turns off the water and washes first his hair then the rest of himself over. He frequently keeps checking that door behind him. Unlike the toilet room, there is no lock on this door. He keeps wondering if one of those girls will suddenly slide that door open to gawk at him. Come to think of it, any of those nurses can simply do that too; citing it as their duty to check and see if he's okay.

That is when a knock occurs, startling him momentarily.

"Yes!" He called out.

"I have a towel here in front of the door for you, Ryynänen-san," a nurse called out. "And your clothes have been cleaned and are lying on the bed."

"Th-Thank you!"

Veikko then winces slightly over forgetting to ask her on just simply leave them by his door, along with his towel, so that he can easily reach out and take them. So it is going to have to be that gown he left by the door. No wait, that nurse would've taken it with her, so he will need to resort to wearing that towel around his waist.

He turns the shower back on and rinses down thoroughly. After doing so, he turns off the shower once again and slicks his hair back and rubs water off his face. He slowly cracks the door open, causing the chill air to come rushing in, just enough for him to reach out while crouching down and takes the towel. He pulls it back inside, closes the door, and starts drying off. With no comb, he carefully dries his hair without ruffling it so as not to tangle it up.

After he finishes drying down, he wrings the towel out and wraps it around his waist tightly. He cracks the shower door open and discovers to his dismay that the nurse didn't close the outside door. If he walks out there now, he will be momentarily exposed; so he will need to be quick about this.

Cautiously, he opens the door while looking out toward the hallway. He does not see anyone there, so now is his chance. He slides the door open fully and scuttles toward where his clothing is while looking toward the door. When he is several feet from the shower, he turns to continue his walk.

Veikko is stopped by the presence of four girls, all patients due to their gowns, standing there all grins and giggles between him and his clothing. He glances back to see two more grinning girls blocking his path to the toilet and shower.

"Hey there, blonde-chan," one of the girls at the front of the group blocking access to his clothes said in a playful manner, and clasps her hands behind her back as she leans forward slightly. "Let's have a little chat."