Off to Okinawa!
…
Joe and Sakaki jumped on a plane to Okinawa, and then took a boat to reach Iriomote. They then looked out to the beachside.
Joe and Sakaki (with Mayaa in her arms) stood there, just staring at the peaceful ocean.
"Feels nice that we're going to be here for a while," Sakaki said.
"Yeah…" Joe said in almost a dreamy state. He wasn't watching the ocean. He was watching Sakaki, with the wind blowing her hair.
The bushes, which were about a good three feet away from Joe, rustled. An Iriomote cat jumped out of the bushes and jumped right up on Joe, who caught the cat with his arms.
Then Joe and Sakaki heard some angry yelling coming closer.
…
"I know that Iriomote cat came through here!" The angry man said, waving a kendo-type sword.
"Let's find him, and kill him for eating our chickens!" another man said, although he was waving a pitchfork.
Four men altogether ran past a couple who were staring out into the ocean, the girl had her head on the guy's shoulder.
Joe and Sakaki watched the guys continue running, and once the angry men were out of sight, Joe and Sakaki breathed a sigh of relief.
Joe set the Iriomote cat down.
"You know," Joe said to the Iriomote, "you really shouldn't anger people like that, even if you are protected. They will still try to kill you."
The Iriomote let out a meow, as if to agree with Joe.
Then the Iriomote stared past Joe, right into the eyes of Mayaa.
"That's a female Iriomote," Sakaki said.
Joe looked at the Iriomote, and then looked back at Sakaki.
"How can you tell just by looks alone?" Joe asked.
"I'm a vet, who specializes in Iriomote cat treatment," Sakaki said.
Mayaa now struggled to try and get out of Sakaki's grip, but Sakaki wouldn't let go.
"Uh, Sakaki-san, why are you holding Mayaa back? It's not like you to do that." Joe said.
"It's Iriomote mating season," Sakaki said, as Mayaa continued to struggle.
Joe looked back at the Iriomote cat in front of him.
"Girl, seriously, not your type," Joe said.
Joe then stood up, and left the Yamamayaa cat standing there, as he, Sakaki, and Mayaa walked off.
…
Joe, Sakaki, and Mayaa visited all around the island, much like Yukari's class had done when they took a field trip here.
…
Returning to the hotel, Joe, Sakaki, and Mayaa all walked in.
"I'm sorry," the receptionist said, "We don't allow the Yamamayaa in here."
Sakaki reached into her bag, and pulled out the piece of paper that Joe had given her for her birthday.
The receptionist read the document, even having to call a manager, who in turn had to read it for himself. After much reading, rereading, and re-rereading, they finally allowed Mayaa in.
"Wait, don't you recognize that girl, and that guy?" the manager said.
"Now that you mention it, yes. I think she was the one who was arrested for possessing a Yamamayaa, and the guy was the one who defended her. What are they doing here?" the receptionist said.
Joe and Sakaki went into the hotel room, and Sakaki let Mayaa down.
Room's layout: The bed was sideways straight in front of them, with the head at the wall. To the right was the bathroom, with a shower. And a few feet from the foot of the bed was a dresser, with a TV on top of it. On both sides of the bed, by the pillows, were nightstands, with a lamp on both of them.
Joe lay down on the bed on his side. Sakaki sat down on the bed on her side, and watched Mayaa jump up and curl up right next to her.
"Sakaki-san, what do you see in me?" Joe asked.
"Huh?" Sakaki asked, as she looked at Joe.
"Well, um,…" Joe started, unsure of how say it. "OK, I know what I see in you. You're a beautiful woman with very deep eyes, and making you happy just makes me happy."
Sakaki was still listening intently.
"But, I'm a computer nerd, with big thick glasses, a pale white complexion, and no muscle to speak of. I'm obsessed with video games, and to make matters worse, I'm often cruel to your friend, Tomo-chan!" Joe continued.
Not that I don't enjoy being cruel to Tomo, Joe thought.
Sakaki smiled.
"Well," Sakaki said. "You like cats, and I do to. But I guess the real reason is…I guess it's because…you called me cute."
"Huh?" Joe asked, slightly confused.
"All my life, I've wanted to be cute." Sakaki said. "All throughout my life, I was tall, athletic, and everybody called me cool, and I hated it."
Joe was now the intently listening one.
"You were the very first one to call me cute," Sakaki said, slightly blushing as she said it. "When I blush, you say I'm cute."
"And you know, I'm wrong," Joe said with a smile, "You're cute all the time."
This made Sakaki feel very happy inside.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Joe said. He sat up, picked up his laptop, opened up Microsoft Firefox, and went to a particular Website.
"Reminds you of what?" Sakaki asked.
"Hey, Sakaki-san, could you possibly bare your shoulders?" Joe asked.
"Uh…" Sakaki blushed in embarrassment.
"Just your shoulders. I want to see if this really works." Joe said.
Sakaki slowly pulled down the straps of her tank top. She was still slightly blushing in embarrassment.
I have to trust him. I mean, we are boyfriend and girlfriend, Sakaki thought.
Joe looked at Sakaki, who looked really tense.
She's still embarrassed about her sexuality, Joe thought.
Joe then turned himself to face Sakaki. Sakaki was sitting, facing off of the bed, so Joe had sight of her back.
Joe cracked his knuckles, took a deep breath, and then touched Sakaki's shoulders. Sakaki jumped slightly.
"Just relax, Sakaki-san. I'm not going to bite," Joe said.
Sakaki relaxed only a little bit, but having Joe's hands on her shoulders still made her a little nervous.
Joe then looked back at his computer screen, and began massaging Sakaki's shoulders.
Sakaki almost instantly relaxed. The massage…it felt…
"So, how does it feel?" Joe asked.
"Amazing," Sakaki said, in a completely relaxed tone.
Joe checked back on his computer screen, then moved up and began massaging Sakaki's temples gently with his middle fingers.
Sakaki closed her eyes. This was the most relaxed she had ever felt in her entire life.
Joe checked back on his computer screen, and then moved down to the neck.
"This is…from…the internet?" Sakaki asked. She was almost completely and totally relaxed.
"Yeah, found it while randomly searching one day," Joe said. "You can find anything on the Internet," he said with a laugh.
Sakaki chuckled slightly. Joe then put the straps of her tank top back on her shoulders, checked his computer screen again, and began massaging her arms.
After massaging her arms, Sakaki then laid down on the bed, face down.
"Does it say how to massage my back?" Sakaki asked.
Joe scrolled down the site.
"Yes, it does," Joe said. "Want me to?"
"Please," Sakaki said with a smile.
Joe checked his computer screen, and blushed.
"Um, Sakaki-san?" Joe said, "I need to have a completely bare back."
Sakaki sat back up, blushing slightly as she did, took off her tank top, laid back down on the bed face down, and undid her bra strap in the back, and then made sure to put her hands over the cup part (so Joe couldn't see anything)
Joe smiled, now that Sakaki finally put a bit more trust in him.
Joe double checked his computer screen, and then began massaging Sakaki's entire back.
About halfway down, it felt so good, and Sakaki felt so relaxed, that she just fell asleep.
Joe sighed when he heard Sakaki's deep breathing, and stopped.
"I'm just glad she finally trusts me a little more," Joe said to himself.
He stretched out, laid down on the bed next to Sakaki, and stared at her face.
She was smiling in her sleep.
Joe stared at the smiling, happy face of Sakaki's, and inside, felt happy and content himself.
He slowly drifted off into a deep slumber.
Mayaa, meanwhile, perked up, completely awake. He had been waiting for Joe and Sakaki to fall asleep.
Mayaa jumped off the bed, ran to the window, and pushed it open. He then jumped onto a tree branch that was by the window, jumped onto the ground, and ran off.
With the window open, a small breeze blew in, which made both Joe and Sakaki shiver slightly. They moved in and cuddled with each other for warmth.
…
Meanwhile, back at home
…
Chiyo was finishing her evening running when she stopped. Tomo was standing right in her path.
"Chiyo-chan, where did Sakaki and Joe go?" Tomo asked, with an open-mouth, closed-eyed smile.
"Um…" Chiyo said, touching the tips of her pointer fingers together, "They went out somewhere."
"Where exactly?" Tomo asked, still wearing that same smile on her face.
"Well, Joe-san took Sakaki-san out somewhere for her birthday…" Chiyo said.
Tomo took the opportunity to move up on Chiyo, and get her in the chokehold.
"I won't ask again. Where did they go?" Tomo asked, now wearing a very serious look on her face.
"ugh…" Chiyo said, trying to break Tomo's hold.
Tomo tightened her grip around Chiyo's throat.
"Where…did…they….go?" Tomo asked, and slightly lightened her grip on Chiyo's throat so she could speak.
"I'm…not…telling…" Chiyo said, trying as hard as she could to breath.
"Well, choking you obviously isn't working, so…" Tomo said with a grin.
Tomo grabbed Chiyo's right arm, bent it back, let Chiyo out of the chokehold, and pushed her to the ground.
Now she had Chiyo's face on the ground, and had Chiyo's right arm bent backward.
"Maybe this will work," Tomo said in an evil tone.
"OW! OW! OW!" Chiyo screamed, as Tomo bent her arm back further.
"Where are they?" Tomo said as she bent Chiyo's arm further.
"They…They're in Okinawa!!" Chiyo screamed.
Tomo instantly let go, and Chiyo grabbed hold of her own shoulder that Tomo had bent back.
"hehehe…With Joe that far away, I can enjoy torturing everybody for the next few days!" Tomo said with an evil laugh, and she ran off.
Oh, crap, I've got to stop her! OK, who would she run off to torture first? Chiyo thought.
Instant light bulb above head.
Yomi! Chiyo thought, and reached into her pocket for her cell phone.
"Where is it?!" Chiyo yelled, as she felt in her pocket, and couldn't find it. All she did find was a note with one word on it:
Yoink!
"Damn you, Tomo-chan!!" Chiyo screamed
…
Author's note: It should be noted here that Tomo didn't annoy or torture anybody that much with Joe around, due to the fact that he would often "punish" her for doing such things (see chapters 5, 10, and 22). Now with him gone, she's going to have all kinds of fun.
Oh, and many thanks to Wikipedia for giving me the information on Iriomote mating season.
Next Chapter: Tomo's day of fun
It's going to be hell for the Azu-girls.