Sakaki's Birthday coming up! Begin Cat saga.

Note: I have no idea when Sakaki's real birthday is (and searching the internet yielded no results), so we are just going to put it in September, when this chapter is taking place.

…

Monday morning (beginning of September)

…

Chiyo woke up and stretched out.

"Good morning, Joe-san" Chiyo said in her usual happy way.

"Chiyo-chan, your body is still the same, but your head changed back!" Joe said.

Chiyo-chan looked down to see that she still had the body of a grown woman, but her head (and facial features) had changed back to that of a child.

Chiyo screamed.

…

Chiyo then snapped awake, and quickly sat up. She was sweating profusely, and was breathing hard.

She then checked her body. She had shrunk back down to her normal size (all of her). She let out a sigh of relief.

Then she gasped when she realized that, because she had shrunk, Sakaki's clothes no longer fit her, and she was sitting there with oversized clothing, which with one sneeze, would fall down.

"Hey, Chiyo-chan!" Joe screamed from the bathroom. "Yomi came by this morning, and dropped some of your clothes off! They're on my futon!"

Chiyo looked over to see her clothing, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"How could you tell I was awake?" Chiyo asked.

"Because I no longer heard you screaming from your nightmare!" Joe screamed back. Then it sounded like he was brushing his teeth. He, after all, had to walk with Sakaki in the morning.

Chiyo quickly put on her clothes, did her hair back into two pigtails, thanked Joe, left his house, and went for her usual run.

…

Timeskip: The next weekend

…

He had gone over to have some tea with Sakaki's mother, and to ask her when Sakaki's birthday was.

"Oh, it's on Friday of next week," Sakaki's mother said.

"Ah, is that so?" Joe said subtly, even though Joe's heart began to race. He had only a few days to get birthday presents.

Luckily, Sakaki-san is easy to buy for, Joe thought with a smile.

"Thank you again so much," Joe said, as he left Sakaki's parent's house.

Then Joe had a flashback that perked his curiosity.

Joe began running, with his target directly in mind.

…

It was always busy down at the police office. Kotake walked into his own office (with his name on it), and sat down at his desk that was cluttered with paperwork among other things.

His phone immediately rang. Kotake picked up to his boss yelling at him.

"Yes, sir" Kotake said like a machine recording. "Yes, sir"

A man walked up to the desk. Kotake looked up, and did a double take.

Joe was standing there, with a very serious look on his face.

"Look, chief, I'll have to talk to you later," Kotake said, and with that, hung up.

A moment of silence (even though the department was a place of chaos)

"Can I help you?" Kotake asked.

"When the state dropped the charges against Sakaki-san, the lawyer said something about "incriminating evidence that could release her" or something like that. What did he mean?" Joe asked.

Kotake sighed, and stood up.

"Come with me," Kotake said, as Joe followed him out of his office.

…

Joe was standing in what appeared to be a questioning room (The rooms with the one way glass). Joe sat down, as Kotake wheeled in a TV.

"This," Kotake said as he showed Joe a videotape "is what he was talking about."

"Don't you guys have DVD players yet?" Joe asked

"Not in the budget, kid" Kotake said, as he popped in the tape.

The video showed a bit of static at the start, followed by a close-up of an officer's face, who seemed to be adjusting something on the camera. By the looks of it, he was putting the camera somewhere up high.

As the officer on the video stepped back, Joe instantly recognized where the camera was.

"This camera was secretly placed in Sakaki-san's room so we could monitor her more closely." Kotake said.

Kotake then fast-forwarded the tape to the part where Sakaki, Kaorin, Chiyo, and Joe were all operating on Mayaa.

"This is what they were talking about," Kotake said. "To operate on her own cat with limited supplies to try and save its life. That is an utmost sign of love."

Joe stood up. He had the perfect idea for Sakaki's birthday.

"Thanks, Kotake," Joe said. "By the way, thanks also for showing me that building"

"No problem. I felt as if I owed to her for wrongly arresting her," Kotake said.

As Joe walked out of the room and down the hall to exit, Kotake watched the film a little more.

In the video, Joe suddenly fell to the floor.

"I'm just lucky that I was off camera when I chopped the back of his neck," Kotake said to himself.

…

Joe managed to tell the rest of the Azu-girls about Sakaki's birthday that day, so they would all manage to get gifts.

…

Another time skip: Sakaki's birthday

…

Sakaki sat in her bedroom. Only her parents had managed to remember her birthdays during her school years.

She heard her doorbell ring.

She went and opened the door.

"Surprise!" Everybody yelled. "Happy Birthday!"

Sakaki looked very seriously surprised at everybody being there, and she was happy that everybody remembered her birthday.

…

They all gathered around a table in Sakaki's house, and each of them put their presents behind them, so they could give it to Sakaki when the time came.

(Tomo and Osaka are sitting at one end of the table. Chiyo and Yomi are sitting at the other end of the table. Sakaki is sitting in the middle of Kaorin and Joe on one side, Kagura and Heiko are on the other side. Kaorin and Kagura are sitting closer to Tomo and Osaka; and Joe and Heiko are sitting closer to Chiyo and Yomi.

I had a diagram drawn here, but fanfiction didn't convert very well XP)

…

The one thing that everybody noticed, though, was that Osaka had a huge package behind her.

Chiyo was the first to give Sakaki her present.

It was simply a little ticket, so Sakaki read it.

"Good for a year's supply of meaty cat food," Sakaki read.

"I know that kind can be expensive," Chiyo said.

"Thank you," Sakaki said with a smile. But Joe sensed that it was almost a forced smile, like something was wrong, not with the present, but with something else.

Kagura and Heiko were next to give Sakaki her present.

"This is from the both of us," Kagura said.

Sakaki opened up, and pulled out Necoconeco sweatpants and sweatshirt.

"For exercising on cold days!"Heiko said in English

"Thank you" Sakaki said with a smile.

Tomo was the next to give her present. It was a small package.

"Cut back on your spending, Tomo?" Joe asked, slightly irritated.

"No, I think I got her the perfect gift," Tomo said with an open-mouth, closed-eyed smile.

This made everybody slightly nervous.

Sakaki opened the small package, and looked inside.

Instantly, Sakaki's face turned red in embarrassment.

In response to this, Joe and Kaorin leaned over and looked inside the package.

"Well, what do you think?" Tomo asked, still wearing that same smile.

"You idiot," Joe and Kaorin said, as they leaned back into their positions.

"Well, what she get her?" Chiyo asked.

Joe blushed in embarrassment.

"A pack of condoms" Joe muttered.

"Well, you two are dating. I think it's about time you two went at it!" Tomo said.

Kaorin began to fume. She hit Osaka's left curled up leg, which in turn made Osaka's right arm come up and hit Tomo square in the chin, knocking her back.

"Woah, how did you do that?" Kagura asked.

"Osaka's reflexes are a little screwed up," Koarin said with a smile.

"No kidding. I would have thought my left arm would have come up," Osaka said.

Everybody sweat-dropped.

As Tomo sat back up, Osaka handed Sakaki her super huge package.

Sakaki opened it up, took one look inside, and immediately looked at Osaka.

"Nondeyanen? (why the hell…?)" Sakaki asked.

"Well, they all wanted to package it up so nicely," Osaka said.

Sakaki almost had to jump in to get the tiny present that Osaka had in there.

"It's a video I went to Osaka and got," Osaka said.

Labeled on the DVD was "Manzai Men: Series 1"

(Note: in case you didn't know, Manzai is a form of Osakian comedy)

"I'll have to watch this tonight," Sakaki said. "Thank you"

She had this huge package for a tiny DVD? Everybody thought

Yomi was next.

"An Irimote information book…Thank you" Sakaki said, as she flipped through the pages.

"I had to have that mailed in from Okinawa," Yomi said.

Sakaki stopped on a particular page, and read one sentence: "Iriomote cats enjoy being outdoors"

Her eyes watered up.

"Sakaki-san, are you OK?" Joe asked.

"Mayaa has been locked up in my house since I got arrested." Sakaki said. "I can't let him out, as part of the restrictions on me."

Joe knew then, deep down in his heart, that he had gotten Sakaki the perfect gift.

Now it was Kaorin's turn.

She handed her tiny package off to Sakaki, and Sakaki opened it up to find Necoconeco earrings, with diamonds all around it.

It shined in Sakaki's eyes.

"Thank you very much, Kaorin-san" Sakaki said with a huge smile.

"I…I knew you'd like it," Kaorin said, blushing.

Joe then handed off his package to Sakaki.

Kaorin swallowed. All she would have to do is outdo Joe and she'd have brownie points with Sakaki.

Sakaki opened up the package to find a brown Iriomote Necoconeco t-shirt.

Kaorin looked like she was about to jump for joy.

Yes! I outdid him! Kaorin thought.

"I didn't know if it was big enough, so you may want to check that," Joe said.

Sakaki lifted up the shirt out of the package, so that it unfolded. A piece of paper came floating out of the shirt, and stopped right in front of Chiyo. She picked up the paper, and began to read it.

Sakaki (as well as everybody else) noticed this, and looked over at Chiyo.

Chiyo finished reading, and then looked over at Joe with the biggest smile on her face. She gave him a thumbs-up.

Perfect, she thought.

"I think you had better read this," Chiyo said, as she handed it off to Sakaki.

Sakaki began reading the document with a severe interest. As she read more, a smile began to form, and tears of happiness welled up in her eyes.

"What's it say, Chiyo-chan?" Yomi asked.

"It's really a lot of legal gibberish, but it all boils down to "Mayaa is now under the protective custody of Sakaki-san, and he is now able to go outside the house" Chiyo said.

Sakaki jumped right at Joe, arms wide. The document went flying out of her hand as she did so.

Kaorin sat there, eyes wide, gasping like a fish out of water as she watched Sakaki kiss Joe wildly. Tomo and Osaka leaned over to see the action that Chiyo and Yomi already had full view of.

"Woah, I think I see some tongue in there!" Tomo said.

"How can he breath when she does that?" Osaka asked.

Sakaki leaned back up, and breathed.

"Sorry, excitement," Sakaki said in her usual cool way.

Chiyo looked over at Joe, who was lying on the ground, with little hearts floating above his head, and that love-struck look on his face.

"I think you got her the perfect gift," Chiyo whispered.

"Yeah, I think so too," Joe said in a love-struck tone.

Yomi put her elbow on the table, her chin on her hand, and sighed.

"I'm jealous," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find some fat guy who likes you!" Tomo said.

Joe instantly lost the love struck look on his face. The little hearts above his head popped.

"Party's over," both Joe and Chiyo whispered.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Yomi screamed, as she jumped, arms stretched out, aimed for Tomo's neck.

…

After everything had settled down, Kagura, Heiko, Osaka, Tomo, Yomi, and Chiyo all left, leaving only Sakaki, Joe and Kaorin.

"Joe-san, May I have a moment with Sakaki-san?" Kaorin asked.

Joe just smiled, and left the room. He quickly slid around a corner and pulled out two things from his pocket. One was a side-view mirror that attached to his glasses, so he could see behind himself, and around corners. The other was his MP3 player. He put the earbud in his ear, but he put it in the wrong way, and went to "soundamplifier.exe" on his MP3 player. Now he could both hear and see what Kaorin and Sakaki were saying to each other.

Never leave home without your Q lab stuff, Joe thought with a smile.

Sakaki and Kaorin moved to the seats that Yomi and Chiyo had.

"Sakaki-san," Kaorin started, as she sighed heavily. "I've…I've…"

"Yes?" Sakaki asked.

"I've…always kind of liked you…in a way" Kaorin said.

"Well, I've liked you, too," Sakaki said, though not meaning it in the same way Kaorin was.

"No, as in…" Kaorin said.

She's holding back, probably in embarrassment. Guess I'll have to push it along, Joe thought.

"Sakaki-san, I've got chocolate cream all over my lips!" Joe yelled from the kitchen.

Kaorin gasped.

"Sakaki-san, I love you!!" Kaorin said, as she jumped right into Sakaki, and gave her a big kiss on the lips.

Joe didn't have time to reach for his tissues. Blood gushed from his nose.

Kaorin pulled back, now completely blushing.

"Ah…Ah…" Kaorin couldn't form words.

"So…you…love me…?" Sakaki said, slightly stunned.

"Yes," Kaorin said, now feeling better that Sakaki knew. "And…seeing you and Joe together has really been breaking my heart."

Sakaki started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Kaorin asked.

"Nothing," Sakaki said. "I just…never saw myself liking women…"

Now Kaorin started to giggle. It then turned into laughter from the both of them.

That's the way to handle it, Sakaki-san, Joe thought.

"But…" Sakaki said.

This got Kaorin's attention. Sakaki went up this time, and kissed Kaorin, this time leaving Kaorin stunned.

Joe's nose gushed blood again.

Sakaki pulled back.

"I don't really think I'm the right one for you," Sakaki said, in her cool voice. "You need to find the person that's right for you, weather it be man or woman, and go with it."

Kaorin's eyes glistened. She then kind of looked away, and seemed disappointed.

"Thank you, Sakaki-san," Kaorin said. "But…how will I…"

Sakaki understood what Kaorin was trying to say.

"You won't really know until you meet them. Until then, you just have to wait" Sakaki said.

Kaorin still couldn't look at Sakaki. Sakaki had chosen Joe over her. She could feel like her heart was breaking in two.

Her eyes began to water up. She stood up, and began walking out of Sakaki's house.

She reached the doorway, and stopped.

No, there's nothing I can say or do that will change her mind, Kaorin thought. She slowly walked out. A tear ran down her face.

Joe then quickly put his MP3 player and his side-view mirror back into his pocket.

After Kaorin left, Sakaki stood up, and walked into the kitchen where Joe was.

"What happened here?" Sakaki asked, as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Minor nosebleed," Joe said.

"But there's blood all over the floor!" Sakaki said, pointing to the puddle of blood that was underneath Joe.

"Like I said, minor nosebleed" Joe said.

…

After getting the mess cleaned up, Joe and Sakaki now sat in the living room.

"So," Joe broke the silence. "That seemed…a little awkward"

Sakaki nodded. "I didn't realize she had a thing for me"

Joe just smiled.

Then he remembered. "Ah, that's right!"

Joe pulled out two tickets from his back pocket.

"I didn't want to give you these until everybody left, but here," Joe said, as he handed Sakaki the tickets.

Right on the tickets, they said: "Okinawa"

"Trip for two to Okinawa for three days and two nights, and now we can even take Mayaa with us!" Joe said.

Sakaki eyes watered with happiness.

"Listen, Sakaki-san, I…" Joe said, and then he saw the happiness in Sakaki's eyes.

Guess I'll wait to tell her, Joe thought.

"Well, you'd better get packed. We're leaving as soon as you and Mayaa are ready!" Joe said.

Sakaki cleared her eyes, stood up, and ran to get both herself and Mayaa ready.

Mayaa went up to Joe, and stood there, staring at him.

"Looks like you get to go back home for a visit," Joe said, as he pets Mayaa.

…

Author's notes: I do plan on having most of the Azu-girls get a lover, but I've pushed that saga back into what would be spring in the story (as to be more fitting of the season). So Joe, Sakaki, Kagura, and Heiko will not be the only relationships in this story. (Yes, even Osaka gets one, for you Osaka fans out there.)

Also, I found out that Mayaa is actually a 'him' (through Wikipedia). Went and changed it in some of the previous chapters so that Mayaa is now a guy.

That was embarrassing!

Next Chapter: Off to Okinawa!