A/N: The final American Adventure, yay! Sorry for the long wait for chapters, been really out of sync with this story for a while and haven't been able to come up with any movement in the story... But enjoy this here!


Sayo's American Adventures #5: Relapse

After having to spend both Christmas and New Years alone, Sayo had been dwelling on her thoughts of home again. More so than ever before. In fact, she was pretty sure she was fed up with America. She found no fun in her daily life, and only worked when she had to. Nothing was exciting her anymore. She hardly looked forward to anything anymore. Not working in the club, singing at weddings, or even dance competitions. There were no parties to attend, no friends to go see, no family to hug.

She was getting depressed, and Yoshida was noticing it big time. Especially after what he saw Christmas night.


Yoshida and Melissa were on yet another date, leaving Sayo home alone once more. However, this time, Sayo had decided that, after telling Yoshida that she wanted to return home, she should talk to someone about what she had been thinking about. For the longest time, she had been thinking about this. She really needed to get this off her chest. It was suffocating her.

Kandi happened to be free today, so Sayo asked her if she would spend some time with her today. Kandi, of course, rushed right over to spend some girl time with Sayo.

"Hey, girl," Kandi greeted Sayo as she entered the apartment.

"Hey," Sayo tried to smile, but the heaviness of what was on her mind was taking a toll on her emotionally.

Kandi noticed this. Instantly, she wanted Sayo to ease the tension that was plainly visible on the girl's face. "What's wrong?"

Sayo looked surprised for a moment, then couldn't answer and gazed down at the carpeted flooring in the living room of the apartment.

"I'm here to listen to you, aren't I?" Kandi asked, making her way over to the sofa and sitting on it. Sayo looked over at her companion, and Kandi patted the cushion next to her. "Come on, let's talk about it."

"…" Sayo contemplated for a moment or so. Then something hit her. She had called Kandi over here precisely for the reason of getting this off her chest. To talk about it with her. Damn it all, she would talk about it. Because she knew she definitely couldn't talk about this with Yoshida. "Okay."

Sayo sat on the cushion next to Kandi and turned off the TV.

"This must be serious if we're not gonna have the TV on," Kandi blinked a couple times at Sayo, then smiled.

Sayo smirked at Kandi's light humor. "You know that Yoshida-kun and I are returning to Japan soon, right?"

"Yeah," Kandi nodded her head. This made her sad in a way, she wouldn't have her friend with her anymore. But, on the other hand, she wouldn't have this amazing rival to always beat her. She'd be able to win for a change.

"Well, I had an ulterior motive for coming to America in the first place…" Sayo confessed, having this feeling that Kandi would take that in the wrong way.

"What!?" Kandi exclaimed. "You came here for another reason?"

Sayo only nodded her head, waiting to hear what Kandi thought her ulterior motive was.

"What, did you come here to sabotage me? Or maybe you wanted to spy on the competition?"

Sayo could only laugh out loud to those ridiculous accusations. Kandi blinked at the reaction. If that wasn't why she came, then why?

"So what was it?" Kandi asked, curiosity spilling onto her face.

"I…" Sayo felt herself start to choke on her words. Damn it, she needed to say it! "I was running away from confronting my own feelings…"

Kandi blinked at Sayo. This answer confused her. "What do you mean?"

"See, there's this guy…" Sayo started, in typical girl manner.

"Oh, a guy, I see," Kandi waggled her eyebrows suggestively, with a smirk to complete the look.

"Yeah…" Sayo sighed.

"Is he hot? Do you have a picture of him that I can see?" Kandi asked her questions in rapid fire. "Oh, don't tell me he's married or has a girlfriend you'd have to fight over him for."

"Depends on your definition of hot, yes…" Sayo answered the first two questions, reluctantly. "No, and no!"

"Well, then, show me!" Kandi demanded.

"Okay, give me a minute…" Sayo got up and entered her bedroom. She cursed at herself over and over. She'd have to look at that picture again. Why did the only picture she had of him have to be that picture!?

"Hurry!" Kandi called to Sayo from the sofa. "I must see!"

"Stop being so overdramatic…" Sayo muttered to herself as she slowly looked for the picture in her cell phone gallery.

"Come on, don't be so greedy!" Kandi pouted like a child.

"I'm coming!" Sayo called back to Kandi as her finger hovered over the Enter button she had to press in order to view the image. She decided to wait until she was back on the sofa before she pressed it.

"Hurry up," Kandi whined as Sayo sat back down next to her, cell phone in hand. "My curiosity is killing me!"

"I can tell…" Sayo scoffed as she finally pressed the button. Just before the image loaded on the screen, she turned it to Kandi so she wouldn't have to see it.

"…" Kandi sat there, gazing at the image. She blinked a couple times, but never moved her gaze. "Wow, where'd you find him?"

Sayo pursed her lips as Kandi finally moved her eyes from Sayo's phone to her companion. "He went to the high school that was across the street from mine…" Sayo answered as she pulled her phone back away from Kandi, who looked very hungry right now, and took a short glance at the image of Ryu's sleeping face before returning to her phone's homepage.

"Wow, what a find," Kandi sat back on the couch, relaxed after seeing that serene face. "He really is a looker."

Sayo had to stop herself from laughing. She tried so hard that her body was beginning to shake. She wouldn't be able to hold it in much longer, she knew. If Kandi said anything else, it'd be all over.

"Where can I find one like that?" Kandi looked at Sayo with puppy dog eyes.

Sayo was done. She began to laugh so hard she couldn't stand it. Kandi couldn't stop herself from joining in either. After all, laughter was contagious.

Eventually, their laughter subsided.

"So, why were you running away from your feelings for this guy?" Kandi asked, leaning back on the arm of the sofa behind her. She was getting comfortable.

Sayo tensed for a moment and glanced over at the black TV screen. She pursed her lips before beginning her explanation. "I was scared…"

"Scared that he wouldn't like you or what?" Kandi asked. "I mean, if he didn't like you, how'd you get a picture of his sleeping face on your cell phone?"

"Well, you see…" Sayo looked down at her lap, a blush creeping onto her face. "His roommate took that picture last August and sent it to my cousin, who sent it to me."

"Oh yeah," Kandi nodded her head with a smirk on her lips.

"She only sent that to me after I sent her that picture we took on the beach," Sayo continued with this explanation. "My guess is she sent it to her boyfriend, who sent it to him…"

"Ah, so you played chain letter," Kandi nodded her head again, understanding this now.

"But, I was just scared in general," Sayo confessed, gazing intently at the sofa cushion under her legs.

"Scared of what?" Kandi asked, feeling a bit confused.

"Scared of what I was feeling…" Sayo elaborated. "Of what I am feeling…" she added in a smaller voice.

"You mean…" Kandi blinked in surprise. To think, not only was Sayo a virgin, but she had never actually been in love.

"I've liked guys before, sure," Sayo shrugged her shoulders, remembering all of her celebrity crushes, and her first ever crush on a guy that wasn't of celebrity status… "But, this was the first time I'd ever felt this way…"

"That's so cute, Sayo-chan's first love," Kandi smiled.

"Yeah…" Sayo sighed. "I thought I'd be able to avoid confronting these feelings, and maybe they'd even go away, if I came here…"

"Nope, that's not how love works," Kandi shook her head.

Sayo looked up at Kandi, curiosity in her eyes, that small blush still lingering on her cheeks. "What?"

"Come on Sayo, haven't you ever watched a romance movie before?" Kandi smirked as she leaned forward a little.

"I have watched romantic movies before, but they don't apply to my situation," Sayo huffed a little bit, feeling childish all of a sudden, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Okay, so why did you run away instead of confronting him about your feelings?" Kandi asked, moving their conversation right along. Don't let her get distracted.

"Well, he's not really a romantic kind of guy, you know?" Sayo shrunk a little bit. "I mean, he's a quiet guy, who keeps to himself a lot, and doesn't really show his emotions much at all, if ever…"

"You fell for a rebel?" Kandi looked at Sayo incredulously. That, she couldn't believe.

"Yeah, I guess…" Sayo sighed, bringing one hand up to that special earring without even realizing it. "He and his friends would always be fighting while they were in high school…"

"I see," Kandi nodded, letting Sayo continue.

"I didn't want to look stupid, confessing to him that I really liked him if he didn't even feel anything for me…" Sayo continued to think about it, still playing with the earring.

"Yeah, that's a syndrome most girls get…" Kandi muttered, noticing Sayo playing with that earring now.

"Then, I started having dreams about him…" Sayo muttered out, completely embarrassed of having said that out loud. After all, she'd only told Saya about that one dream she had, years ago…

"Oh?"

"Yeah…" Sayo nodded her head.

"…" Kandi watched as Sayo continued to play with that earring. "I saw that earring before, last year."

"Huh?" Sayo jerked her head up, taken by surprise at the sudden change of subject.

"You told me it was a gift from a dear friend," Kandi started to think hard. "Was it possibly a gift from him?"

Sayo could only blink at Kandi. How did she piece that together so quickly!? "Uh…"

"So I'm right," Kandi smirked.

Sayo regained her composure, to a point. "Yeah," she nodded. "It was a Christmas gift from him the year Yoshida-kun and I left Japan."

"Oh," Kandi nodded her head, a smirk coming onto her lips again.


"By the way," Kandi turned to Sayo before she left the apartment.

"Yeah?" Sayo smiled.

"I'm going with you two," Kandi informed her friend.

"What?" Sayo was now confused.

"Yeah, I'm buying the ticket to Japan myself for my birthday," Kandi explained. "And I'll be there for a few months."

Sayo smiled widely at this information. "Maybe then you can meet him."

"Maybe," Kandi smirked. "And maybe I can find one for myself, too."

And with that, Kandi left Sayo to herself in the apartment. It had been a really long conversation.


Later that night, Sayo found herself unable to sleep. She had talked about home so much today, and realized she hadn't told Saya that she was coming home yet. Instead of texting or e-mailing her, Sayo figured she would call her cousin.

Three rings later, Saya answered her phone. "Hello?"

"Saya," Sayo greeted playfully.

"Oh my gosh, Sayo!" Saya exclaimed on the other end of the phone. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good," Sayo smiled nostalgically. In just a month, she'd be able to be in her cousin's presence. "How are you?"

"I'm the same as usual," Saya laughed a little bit.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'll be returning to Japan next month," Sayo smiled widely. She was so happy to be able to say that out loud. Home next month. It felt great.

"Really!?" Saya practically screamed into the phone.

"Yeah, for good," Sayo chuckled at her cousin's behavior. "So let the girls and my parents know, okay?"

"I can do that, absolutely!" Saya squealed. "I'm so happy you're coming home!"

"Me too," Sayo smiled again. A nostalgic smile. Just one month. She could do this.

"Well, I've gotta get to class," Saya didn't want it to end, but it had to. After all, it was late for Sayo, and Saya didn't need to be late to class. "I'll see you next month."

"Yeah, see you then."

The two hung up. Sayo felt that she'd be able to sleep peacefully tonight after all.