Chapter 9 "End of a long day in Japan" Revised 7/23/08
Sakaki opened the front door with her key and pushed the door open. "Come in," she welcomed her guest. The two girls entered the apartment, followed by Mayaa. Sakaki locked the front door and headed along with her friend into the living room.
"Please make yourself at home; I have to feed Mayaa really quick," Sakaki gestured as she headed to the kitchen to prepare Mayaa's dinner
"May I use your phone? Local call."
"Sure."
Sakaki took out the groceries inside her bag and laid them out on the kitchen table. She took out a wrapped package of meat and unwrapped a portion for Mayaa's dinner and put it in a double dish along with some water. "Mayaa.." Sakaki called out while she laid the dish on the kitchen counter. Mayaa jumped up on the counter; sniffing at the food that was being served. "Here you go Mayaa," Sakaki said, petting Mayaa.
"I told my uncle where I'm at, so he won't wonder why I'm not home yet."
"Alright," Sakaki responded, putting away the groceries.
After putting away the groceries Sakaki took out two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with some water. She sat down at the kitchen table with the two glasses in hand. Putting down both glasses, one for her and one for her friend, she took a sip out of hers.
"That was so funny; the look on your face when you saw me!" Sakaki blushed at the comment her friend made; remembering their meeting that took place less then an hour ago...
"... .. ."
"Sakaki?" The person spoke.
Sakaki froze in fright at the voice calling her. She slowly turned her head to the source of the voice.
"Roar!!" the teen yelled, spreading out her hands in a pouncing stance, which caused Sakaki to jump inside the bushes.
"Man that was funny!" the teen responded, holding out her hand to the shaken Sakaki.
"Kagura?" Sakaki questioned.
"It's been over a year!" Kagura answered cheerfully with a smile as she helped Sakaki. Sakaki emerged from the bushes along with the tabby cat, who was biting her finger.
"No!" Kagura yelled sternly at the cat. She knelt down and hit the cat's head till it released its bite from Sakaki's finger. The cat retreated into the streets till he was lost in the shadows.
"You have to let these cats know who's boss," Kagura responded, standing back up. She headed toward the direction where the tabby cat ran off to. The cat was now on the sidewalk, looking at Kagura from the shadows. Kagura scanned the area till she saw the cat's shadow on the sidewalk. Slowly walking up to the cats location a sly grin spread across her face.
"Roar!!" she yelled, scaring away the cat. Sakaki's facial expressions changed into concern as Kagura came back.
"Shall we?" Kagura said, as she slowly headed down the street.
"Uh... sure." Sakaki responded as she and Mayaa slowly followed Kagura.
--o--
"Oh no you didn't, cheater!" Tomo exclaimed, turning the steering wheel with full force as she released the gas pedal. Dropping down gears, she made her car drift to the side, slamming the upcoming car.
"You can do better then that." laughing heartedly Yomi pulled to the side, shifting gears. She managed to get free from the slide that Tomo caused as she hit the tailgate of Tomo's car.
The two were playing video games for most of the hour at the local arcades after the movie finished. Tomo was far more into arcades and fighting games while Yomi was comfortable with puzzle and simulation games. Yomi showed great sportsmanship in challenges, as she was no stranger to arcades. Her other half called Tomo showed otherwise unfair sportsmanship, along with complaining and trickery.
"Bia!!" Tomo yelled, as her car began spinning out of control; letting Yomi's car pass through and take the lead. Yomi came in third, obtaining a 'continue' into the next race.
"Let's see, four wins for me, and zero for you," Yomi smirked, counting her fingers.
"Best out of ten!" Tomo yelled, putting in another credit.
"You're on." Yomi answered back
--o--
Kagura opened her bag of snacks and took a small handful while Sakaki took a sip of water from her cup. Resting the cup in her hands she turned her attention towards Kagura, "How have you been ?" Sakaki questioned.
"How forgetful of me," Kagura apologized, dropping a pretzel from her mouth. "I've been alright in terms of everyday living. Been busy with the YMCA stuff and work." Kagura took another bite, "It sure is nice in Sapporo; less congested than Tokyo.
"When did you move over here?" Sakaki asked.
"Oh no, I'm still living in Tokyo. I'm just visiting my uncle here in the city."
"Oh..."
"Yeah," Kagura answered back. The two turned their faces from each other while Kagura continued to snack and Sakaki looked into space.
"How's life been for you?" Kagura asked, breaking the silence.
"Oh...uh, it's been fine. College and work are a little stressful." Sakaki blushed. "The cats are still the same with me, except for Mayaa." she glanced to the left with a smile, looking over at Mayaa. "Maybe I'm not approaching them the correct way?"
"Bia, with the cats. Mayaa is all you need." Kagura reassured Sakaki, patting her shoulder while Sakaki nodded. The two continued their moment of silence.
--o--
"Crap," Yukari muttered, as she opened the restroom door, exiting out. Yukari didn't notice Minamo sleeping in front of the door on the outside and tripped over her.
-thump-
"Youu blockhead!" she shouted while she laid face first on the floor.
"Watch where you're going, Stupid!" Minamo protested to a kicking Yukari. "Move your feet!" she shouted, slapping Yukari's feet from her face. Yukari rolled over on her back with a moan.
"Youuu know... life can besh a bitch at times," she mumbled; sitting up. Minamo gave a quick glare before she turned her head to the left. "Yukari, can I ask you something?"
"By all means, yesh youuu may."
"What's going on at work?" Minamo said softly, turning her head to face Yukari. "I want you to tell me the truth."
"Hmm... yoush asked too much," Yukari responded getting up. "Ehg?" Yukari responded, feeling a tug on her arm. Yukari looked over as Minamo's hand gripped her arm. Minamo held a stern stare while she lightened her grip.
"Geesh... Nyamo, let go of my arm. The spirits in thish room will think weird about us..."
"What?"
"Thersh spirits in here.."Yukari said, making a shushing sign with her finger to her lips. "They say that this room ush to be haunted," she giggled. "Moans used to em- em- inate from thish room," she leaned over to whisper in Minamo's ear, "It was said that-that there was a lonely gym teacher an..."
"Screw you!" yelled out a very red and blushed Minamo. "Forget I asked you anything."
"It ish forgotten, my little gym teacher," Yukari said, patting Minamo's head
"Ask a dumb ass a question, receive a dumb ass response," Minamo huffed while she sat up. Yukari slowly made her way to the end of Minamo's bed where she slowly tilted her head with a smile.
"Well, itsh time for sleep!" Yukari squealed, jumping on the bed. "Goodnight Nyamo." she said, nesting herself inside the covers.
"Hey, that's not your bed Yukari." Minamo protested. "Yukari?" Yukari sat up right away in discomfort.
"That's my bed you're on,"Minamo said, crossing her arms. "Wrong side," Yukari said, flipping the pillow over. "Listen to me!" Minamo shouted. "There we go," Yukari said happily, while she laid back down. Moments later Yukari drifted off to sleep while Minamo stared angrily down at her.
"Forget it..." she sighed, resting back down on the floor. Minamo grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. "Kicked out of my own bed...Thanks allot Yukari!!"
--o--
Kagura finished her bag of snacks and crumbled the package in her hand. Staring in thought she looking down on the kitchen table. "I can trust her..." Kagura smiled, thinking on whether to tell Sakaki the truth of why she was in Sapporo.
"Da da ding..." came a melody chime.
"What was that?" Kagura questioned. She looked over to the source of the sound. "I think that's your cell phone."
"Sakaki?" Kagura looked over at Sakaki and noticed that her eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply. "Sakaki..." Kagura called out again, nudging her shoulder.
"Hmm..." Sakaki moaned lightly and opened her eyes. She turned her attention to the left and literally jumped up from the chair at the site of Kagura. "I'm sorry..." Sakaki apologized, blushing.
"Your cell went off."
Sakaki picked up the phone and checked her screen. "I have an e-mail."
"Oh..."
Sakaki sat back down in the chair. "Can you please excuse me for a moment? Most of the e-mails I get are from the doctor at my job."
"Sure.." Kagura said, while she tossed the crumbled wrapper from one hand to the other.
--
Sakaki went into her bedroom and turned on her computer. She sat down on the office chair and hovered her right hand over the mouse. After a good two minutes the desktop on the computer showed up, along with the background icons and wallpaper. Sakaki tilted her head softly and let out a faint smile at the wallpaper she had of two orange and white spotted kittens. She opened her web mail and checked her messages.
"Chiyo..." Sakaki said inwardly at the message from Chiyo. She blushed lightly while she opened the message.
--
Kagura emptied the snack wrapper in the wastebasket and filled herself a glass of water from the kitchen. Heading into the living room she was stopped by Sakaki. A look of great happiness washed over Sakaki's tired form.
"What's up?" Kagura asked.
"Please come.." Sakaki asked, reaching over to Kagura's hand as she lead her to her room.
--o--
"No, I've got to get going before I miss the last bus.."
"Just for a little while, please?"
"Ten minutes..." the voice spoke from the outside of the apartment. A few clicks were heard from inside the apartment as the door opened.
"Watch the first step," Tomo told Yomi as she tripped on the step.
"You tell me to watch the first step, yet you're the one tripping on it," Yomi said, giggling.
"Just to show an example, my dear Yomi."
The two went into the living room of the 'wild cats' den. "I see you unpacked the rest of your stuff," Yomi said, noticing the shelf on the wall filled with various things from their childhood to high school days. Yomi walked closer to the the shelf and inspected the objects. Her eyes looked down on one specific object. Reaching over, she picked up the object with a light hum. The object of her memory was a picture mug from a couple of years ago. The cup was from Magical Land. It was a souvenir picture, shot from the roller coaster ride that the gang, minus Yomi, got on. Yomi felt a little saddened at the picture, remembering how excited she was about the trip. She planned out everything so precise; even going out to buy a guide book on the park. Illness struck her the following night before the big day, which made her miss the trip.
-snap-
"Tomo?!" she question, realizing that she took a picture of her holding the cup.
"A Yomi moment..." Tomo fiddled with her camera, browsing the image on the LCD screen. "I shall call this image-- 'The Crying Clown'."
"Tomo, why are you acting so sophisticated?"
"Cause I can.." Without warning, Tomo reached over and pulled Yomi's glasses off and put them on. "We live in a sophisticated environment; such a great word in meaning, we can only interpret its true form." she said in a preppy tone. Yomi pulled off the glasses from Tomo's head, "First of all, neither a camera nor glasses will make anyone sophisticated; and second, do not pull my glasses like that again," she said sternly, readjusting her glasses. Looking back down, Yomi noticed two photo frames on the lower shelf which she had previously overlooked. She picked up the frame to the left while Tomo circled around her to see the picture.
"Now that was a fun trip, and our last one as a group," Yomi said to herself.
'A picture is worth a thousands words' can describe the thin paper, mixed with bleaching and developer chemicals, that is framed with touching memories.
From left to right in the picture was Kagura, posing with a peace sign. Next to Kagura was Sakaki and a blushing Kaorin, along with Chihiro. Kaorin and Chihiro were already at the park before the gang got there. It was a 'mystery' how the two groups happened to meet there, like it was fate. Chiyo stood in the front of Yomi and Tomo. Yomi had her hand rested on Chiyo's left shoulder while Tomo made some bunny ears on Chiyo's head. Last but not least was the local Space Cadet Ayumu, a.k.a Osaka, with a huge smile. It was that last time as a group they all hanged out. For must of them it was the second trip to Magical Land.
Yomi gently put back the picture frame with a smile, "Wow, over a year its been," commenting the picture as she picked up the other picture frame.
"Memories..." Tomo said resting her chin on Yomi's shoulder. Two young girls were centered in the picture. The background was a cherry blossom setting in a park. From the background of people picnicking and walking it looked like a celebration of some sort of holiday or tradition. Yomi and Tomo both stood on one leg near each other while they held each others shoulders. It was a kids' funny pose that the two did, being that they were around 8 years old in the picture, without a care in the world.
"Remember the jump in the lake?" Yomi asked
"Yeah, we both got grounded for a week," Tomo chuckled along with Yomi.
"Yeah," Yomi responded, putting back the picture. Tomo walked back a couple of steps with her hands behind her head. "Watcha wanna do?" Tomo asked, making a 180 degree turn to face Yomi.
"Not that much to do in 5 minutes Tomo, I have a lot of things to catch up on at home."
"Come on Yomi! It's rare that you ever come over to my place," Tomo pouted.
"I can tell..." Yomi responded taking a look around the place which she hadn't really noticed at first. "I have one word... Weird." Yomi looked up at the walls and the ceiling. The walls were filled with random posters practically covering up any evidence of paint on the walls. The ceiling had a hanging circular railroad track connected with a train on the tracks. Two white bulbs in the ceiling had been replaced with red bulbs and the strange unmatched furniture all together garnered the listing 'weird' in Yomi's book. On the floor were two mismatching bean chairs, along with a gray lawn chair. A cafeteria table was set toward the far left wall, along with the TV and other stuff set on it. Books and miscellaneous stuff was scattered in neat piles around the room, along with tinsel lined up around a cylinder block coffee table.
"Modern living. It's a fashionable den!"
"Well it's your den, not mine," Yomi shrugged.
"It's comfortable to me," Tomo responded, jumping on the bean chair. "When I was at home I had to follow a guideline on things. But since I'm on my own now I have freedom to do things whenever, wherever, and however I want." She snickered, shifting her body to face Yomi, "I've always wanted to use that line!"
"Can it, Tomo," Yomi said, turning around. "Times up, let's go. You're walking with me to the bus stop,"Yomi said, as she proceeded into the kitchen. It took Yomi less then three steps until something caught her attention; more like her foot garnered unwanted attention.
"Whaa?!" Yomi blurted out as she tilted forward and fell down. "Yomi?!"
"Owe, dammit!" Yomi howled in pain. "Remember Yomi, left foot right foot," Tomo laughed, looking in Yomi's direction.
"Tomo, help me! This isn't funny!... Owe!" Tomo got up and ran over to Yomi. She helped Yomi up from the floor and walked her to her bed. "What happened, Yomi?"
"I tripped over your stuff on the floor," Yomi said, as she reached over and touched her ankle. "I think I twisted it," she said, rubbing her ankle. Shooting a made look at Tomo she peered her eyes with sharp nails. "This wouldn't happen if you would have some adequate lighting," she sneered.
"Ice helps.." Tomo said blankly. Yomi stared at Tomo for a brief, few seconds.
"Right..." Tomo nodded, running into the kitchen to fetch some ice. After a minute Tomo came back with something else. "I'm out of ice, but I have this frozen meal, maybe your fat foot can defrost this for me," Tomo said chuckling. "I might also share the meal with you."
"Give me it!" Yomi angrily said, taking the frozen entrée and applying it lightly to her ankle. "Sometimes you can be a..." She closed her eyes and rested her head on the wall. "Forget it.." she yawned.
"Are you getting a head start?!" Tomo splattered out. "It's a challenge! I'll fall asleep first before y..."
"Shut up already!"
"Ehg?" Tomo questioned. "Laughter is the best medicine, Yomi. Stand by!" Tomo got up and ran over to her dresser. She rummaged through her clothes until she found her photo box; full of pictures. Closing the drawer, she headed back to the bed. Tomo then proceeded to trip over the same stash that Yomi had tripped over and stumbled; dropping the photo box as it landed on the bed.
"Adequate lighting.." Tomo said giggling. "Whoops, sorry Yomi... Yomi?" Tomo questioned, looking at Yomi, then at the photo box. The box found its way to its target. Yomi shook slightly at the intense pain from her ankle. "Tomo..." Yomi growled, biting her tongue.
"Darn!" Tomo yelped, picking up the photo box. She gathered some of the photos that had fallen out and put the box on the table. She picked up the frozen entrée from the bed and applied pressure to Yomi's ankle.
"AHHHOHH! AH!...STOP IT!!" Yomi screamed. Tomo applied heavy pressure by mistake on the ankle, causing muscle spasms around the foot. "I'm sorry," Tomo apologized.
"WHY!!... get it over already! Stop torturing me, just cut the foot!"
"We wouldn't want that Yomi. You wouldn't be able to walk off those fat calories now." Tomo said smiling. Immediately following, Tomo stopped smiling; remembering her friend's conscious weight problem. Yomi emitted an ice cold stare at Tomo. Tomo slowly looked away from Yomi's stare in embarrassment. Tomo's face was flushed like a child who had been scolded in front of everyone. Tomo turned her attention back to Yomi.
"Hey, I...I didn't mean that, what I meant wa..."
"If I stayed home, like I wanted to, I wouldn't be in this mess now. I could go back to work and school on Monday feeling fine; if I hadn't come here. I would have finished my homework by now and have the weekend free; if I hadn't come here. You see the pattern that's going on? Right? Not too hard to understand," Yomi paused. "I guess this is the consequences I pay for being your friend," Yomi grumbled. "I wonder if it's worth the payoff anymore..."
"Yomi.."
"Don't speak," Yomi said, taking off her glasses. "I'm going to bed now. Goodnight," she said bitterly, turning to her back to Tomo. Tomo continued to look at Yomi. Yomi turned over, faced Tomo and proceeded to get out of bed.
"Since this isn't 'my' bed, I'll sleep on the chair," she said, slowly hobbling over to the lawn chair.
"Yomi, you can sleep in my bed.."
"No Tomo, you caused enough trouble for one day. Please save your energy for tomorrow," Yomi said, closing her eyes. Tomo stayed still; looking over at Yomi. A piece of the train tipped off the hanging track and fell on Yomi's head. Yomi remained motionless, only breathing. Tomo swore she saw a small vein emerge from Yomi's forehead, but presumed it was her mind playing tricks on her.
"Goodnight," Tomo spoke softly, as she picked up the caboose cart and went to the balcony. Yomi opened one eye as she looked over at Tomo exiting to the balcony.
"Dam her..." Yomi rested back on the lawn chair as she gazed up at the ceiling. "Why?...She's always acting like this." Yomi looked over at Tomo again; seeing Tomo slouched over on the rail made her rethink the events. "It wasn't her fault, I should have just watched my step." Yomi sat up in the lawn chair and faced Tomo's direction. "Who am I kidding? I'm getting to soft on her," resting her thoughts as she rested back down on the chair. Yomi sighed in thought as her mood changed to forgiveness. "But...People mature as they get older, take me for example..." shifting her weight to the side, she turned her back to the balcony. "I wish she would just mature, at least a little." Smiling, Yomi closed her eyes."I should just let things rest for tonight. Tomorrow is a new day."
--
Tomo folded her arms and rested them on the railing while she stared intensely into the night skyline.
"Is it worth it..." Those four words made into a sentence echoed through out her head.
Sighing, she leaned off the railing as she looked up at the pale lit sky. "Its been ages since Yomi spent time at my place, and I screw it all up." She thought holding the train piece over her head, "Choo-choo..." she said hovering the train across her face. Leaning back up she looked into her apartment at the sleeping girl on the chair. "Please forgive me, Yomi. I'll make things up to you." Tomo thought with great spirit.
--o--
Ayumu jotted down some notes on a blank sheet of paper as she intensively read her text book. Studies were a major priority for Ayumu and she put full force into it. It was always a wonder how she managed to pass through high school, yet alone almost any grade. She took things into deep consideration and thought. She wasn't slow, but she would stay on one thing for awhile; which made her get numerous amounts of nicknames over the school years. After high school she started college within a couple of months after everyone she knew went their own way. It was hard for her to break into college at a social level; meeting new people all over again, as if it were another move.
"Ayumu," her father spoke, knocking on her door. "Leftovers are in the fridge if you get hungry. Remember, we're waking up early tomorrow, so I don't want no sleepyhead in the car with me. Get a good night's sleep. Goodnight."
"Night, Father.."
Ayumu continued on with her studies. After a brief time, she paused and looked at the wall. A small smile crept across her face at the random thoughts that were going through her mind.
"Tasted like sugar," she said to herself, as she slowly went back to her studies.
She continued again at her studies. Probably the most interesting thing that Ayumu thought about college was that people were more laid back than in high school. Another thing was that there was no uniform to wear so it was just 'come as you are' for some people, while the rest was just casual and normal wear. For some odd reason it was more lax to Ayumu, even though there was more studies and work.
She shifted her eyes away from her notes and gazed at the napkin on her desk. The napkin was from the Kuri Manju pastry she had earlier that day.
"Oh darn, I can't concentrate anymore," she thought, putting away the notes in her text book as she closed it up. Setting the textbook down on her table she looked over at her clock on the dresser.
"Ah, it started thirty minutes ago!" she exclaimed, heading over to her bed. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. "I overshot it by thirty minutes."
"We'll take a quick break. When we come back, Morning Musume will perform," the TV host said before cutting into commercials
Ayumu adjusted her pillow and rested her head back down. Muting the commercials she set aside all things in her mind except one important thought
"Why did I kiss him?" she thought, as her thoughts turned to Hotaka. "I guess we live life once. Might as well take advantage of it." Sitting up in bed a confronted expression engulfed Ayumu's face "I'm new to this 'relationship' stuff... Maybe Chiyo-chan and the others can help," she said, leaning back down. Resting the remote on her lap she closed her eyes. "Homerun..."
--
"Thanks for joining us tonight. We'll see you Monday. Goodnight Everyone!" the late night host said as the credits rolled. The TV's glow shined on Ayumu's sleeping body as visions of pigtails flew in her head.
Notes: Well I got Chapter 9 pushed out to the net. This chapter is the longest one I've made so far. Its been awhile but im hanging in there. Thank you for the reviews.
Revise Update: Shame on me for letting this one escape. I let this one out without a shake down. Thank you 'Chargone' for pointing out the errors.
Culture Notes:
A caboose is a North American term used for a manned rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train. They are seldom seen on trains now.
Morning Musume is a all girl J-pop group from Japan
