Okinawa at last! The students of PK Academy lined up and entered the busses that awaited them in the airport. If he could choose, he would rather have been beside Emiko in the bus to avoid dealing with his troublesome group-mates, also, seeing her expertise in aviation electricals made him even more curious about her past. She gave him the gist of what happened, but details of what happened in between were unclear. How did she escape? Where were they situated? And how is it that he's never heard of an institution like that? What tests did they perform on her? He had so many questions. He's been as understanding as he can, holding in his anger and sadness for her sake. He can't begin to describe how terrible she must has felt which is why he never pushed the issue and just took whatever she told him.

"Saiki. Let's sit here." Kaido told him snapping Kusuo out of his thoughts. Right. Guys sit together, girls sit together.

"Mera, take the window seat." The psychic heard Emiko say.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I'm going to take a nap. I crammed packing my things last night so I slept pretty late."

"All right!"

Kusuo envied Emiko at the moment. She gets to nap when he on the other hand is bothered by a giant cockroach named Nendou asking if someone is dripping paint to the sea. What? In another part of the bus, Hairo is pumped up as usual and he's... Sweating? The bus is fully air-conditioned and he's... You know, never mind. He looked behind him and saw Emiko sleeping with her head resting on the palm of her hand. Her mouth was opened very slightly. He smiled inwardly and thought to himself that she looked

"She's so cute when she's sleeping!" His thoughts were cut off by one of his classmates exclaiming how Emiko looked in her sleep.

"Sssshhhh! You'll wake her up!" Another said.

People whose seats were near peeked at the pink haired girl.

"She looks like an angel!" Kokomi exclaimed. 'Oh my gosh, did I just say that?'

'You'd never think that she was wanted by the Dark Reunion with that innocent face.'

Kusuo was thinking of how to stop his classmates from peering at her like a zoo animal but Matsuzaki-Sensei was one step ahead of him. One reason was because no one should bother a resting student and the other reason was because she and Hairo were both class reps for this trip. It's hard to manage a big group out of school grounds, so she's taking charge of the girls and Hairo for the boys.

"Hey! Don't disturb her! Let her sleep." He scolded the students.

"Sorry, Sensei."

'You weren't bothering Sensei.' Saiki thought to himself.

It was quiet for a while until Kaido kept talking in the Okinawan dialect which impressed Teruhashi who asked him to teach her making Kaido proud of himself and now kept using it in everything he said. It was getting annoying.

They finally reached their destination which was a tourist district with lots of restaurants and souvenir shops and attractions.

"Emi! Wake up! It's time to eat!" Mera said excitedly.

"Oh.." A groggy Emiko woke up, stood up and stretched. "I am hungry."

Kusuo's group headed to a soba restaurant with Kaido saying Okinawan phrases every chance he gets.

With eyes still half closed, Emiko told Kaido

"Is that the Okinawan Dialect? You're a pro."

Kaido beamed once more and everyone in their group gave Emiko a death glare which she noticed and mouthed a silent 'What?'

'Thanks to you and Teruhashi, he won't stop.'

Emiko got what they meant when they had their soba. Everyone seems to have developed a new facial tick whenever Kaido said anything in the island's dialect. Emiko and Teruhashi shared a guilty look and slurped their noodles in a speed fifty times slower than Mera.

Emiko, having a talent in reading a room, and being the most blunt one of all spoke to Kaido gently.

"Kaido, too much of it is ippei kashimashi [*very obnoxious in the Okinawan dialect she learned from him]."

Getting the hint, he lessened his usage of it significantly.

After eating, the girls decided to look at souvenirs and Saiki opted to join them knowing he didn't want to see a death match between a Habu and a Mongoose he knew that the whole thing was probably a scam. He nearly left when he saw that Mera was finishing all the free samples of the pineapples with Chiyo trying to stop her and Teruhashi being swarmed by a group of guys. He lost sight of Emiko and decided to look for her. He was about to use his clairvoyance when saw a pottery shop and figured that she'd probably be there. He walked over and saw her figure with her back facing the door. She was having a chat with two young men inside who, by sound of their thoughts, seemed very much taken by his beautiful friend. Their chats was harmless and all three of them were very engaged in a conversation about pottery, but it wasn't a picnic to listen to what they were thinking (they weren't sexual, mind you). Hearing that each of them had a plan to ask her out for coffee, he decided to walk in the store and interrupt them before they could ask her out. No one except Emiko seemed to notice that he arrived.

"Kusuo, hi!" She greeted turning her body to face him. The guys she was talking to were suddenly surprised because they weren't aware that someone else entered the store.

'Seriously?' Kusuo thought a bit irked. He gave Emiko his signature nod.

"This is my friend Kusuo! Kusuo, this is Taka and this is Menma! They're the owners of this pottery shop. I was so excited to go to Okinawa because they have their own style of pottery and ceramics! They have a place here called the Tsuboya Pottery Village in the Naha district and their pieces are so unique!"

"Your friend here is quite intelligent. She really knows her history." Taka said.

"We'd love to hire her so that'd she'd never leave." Menma joked.

'That sounds awfully creepy.' Kusuo thought.

"I'd love to buy more, but I can't have heavy luggage and I'm really scared that I'll break it. I'll take three of these rice bowls. How much?"

"For you, free." Taka said to which he received a nudge from Menma.

"Kidding! Although we'd really love to give it to you for free, we'll go out of business. So what about a big discount so you come back?" Menma winked.

'These guys are laying it on quite thick.' Kusuo thought annoyed.

"No no! I'll pay for it with its existing price. It's not easy for me to return here anyway. I'm a plane and a bus ride away."

"Oh?" Both guys said visibly disappointed. The psychic wanted to smile seeing their faces. "How long are you staying?"

"Three days! And our itinerary is quite full."

"I see! Well, you can have the bowls for ninety percent off!"

'Why not just give it for free then?' Kusuo interjected in his mind.

"That's too much!" Emiko exclaimed. "Five percent!"

"Eighty percent!"

'You'll still go out of business with that discount.'

"Ten percent!"

'That's a far cry from what they wanted.'

"Fifty percent!"

"Fifteen percent!"

"Thirty percent!"

"Fifteen percent!"

'She said it again.'

"Twenty percent!"

"Fifteen!"

'Just please decide.'

This is the first time Kusuo has seen anyone bargain for a lower discount so it was a bit weird, but Emiko wasn't your usual person so maybe it wasn't entirely strange for her situation. Eventually, they settled on a seventeen percent discount. It was quite the haggle.

When they left the shop much to Saiki's relief and owners' disappointment, Emiko and Hairo got a message from Matsuzaki-Sensei to roundup the classmates she saw and have them enter the busses.

"I'm excited to see our hotel!" Emiko said.

'I already know what it looks like.' Kusuo said.

"There's no hiding things from you." She jokingly.

'Well, you're extremely good at it.'

Silence filled the gap between the two. For a while, Emiko didn't know what to say and Kusuo cursed his clumsiness for saying it out loud. He was used to telling her everything that it kind of just slipped out. It was very unlike him.

"Hey! Nara-san, Shizuka-san and Omura-san! Time to head to the bus!" Emiko called to her classmates in the pineapple store.

"Okay, Hiro-san!"

After that, walking back became a little more awkward.

"I-it's not that I-"

'It's okay. You don't have to tell me.' Kusuo cut in.

"Sshhh. It's not that I don't want to, it's just, I don't remember all of it."

'What?'

"It hurts sometimes, when I try to remember things. I told you gist of what happened because that's all I can think of. I don't bring up things up because I don't have an explanation for all of them."

'Oh.'

"I'm pretty sure my memory of the place was erased. Some of it. Things resurface when I'm faced with a similar situation. Like that airplane thing. I know how to fly and troubleshoot a plane and I remember snippets of my lessons about it."

'I see.'

"Sawatika-san! Head back to the bus!" She called and then turned back to Kusuo. "I'm trying... I'm really trying so hard to remember all of it because I need to right a wrong. I promise you that I want to tell you more but it's all so blurry in my head and all that is clear to me are the feelings that I felt then. I want you to know everything but there never seems to be a right time."

Kusuo was quiet for a while. 'I'm sorry for being inconsiderate.'

"It's okay. If I was in your place, I'd really be itching for answers as well... But anything you want to know, or ask, just do it. I'll do my best to answer you."

'My birthday.'

"What?"

'Tell me on my birthday. Everything you remember. No matter how messy it is. It's easier to set a time for it than do it spontaneously. At least setting a time might make it easier for you to gather and piece together all your thoughts.'

"W-why would you want a depressing topic on your birthday?"

'Well, it was on your birthday that you opened up to me. I want my birthday to be as special and learn more things about you.'

"That's..."

'Is that okay with you?'

"Who are you, and what did you do to my snarky best friend?" Emiko joked not knowing how to deal with this sudden tone of his.

'Well?'

"Okay." She gave him a nod. " Your birthday." They looked at each other for a while. On Emiko's face was a warm smile and on Kusuo's was his usual nonchalant face. "I'm lucky to have you, you know?"

'I know.'

She sighed. "I guess Sweet Kusuo has a time limit. Let's go look for our group-mates."

When they got back to the bus, Emiko had to say something about Kaido's luggage.

"Kaido... That's a lot of souvenirs. You bought more than all of us combined!" Emiko exclaimed when they were in the bus on the way to their hotel.

"I know!" He said sadly with tears running down his face.

"Can I.. Can I see what you have?" She asked.

"Sure..."

The girls in their group peered around Emiko because they were just as curious.

"Snake Away, The Lucky Snake Food Bits? What's this cute charm... is this a mongoose? No, it's a snake? Huh? This one is..." She muttered confused. "Mongoose on the Loose... What the hell is this?"

Chiyo borrowed the Mongoose on the Loose from Emiko and read what it was for. "Apparently, you sprinkle this on your trap if you want to catch a wild Mongoose."

"Can you eat a Mongoose?" Mera asked.

'Why would you ever need that in the city?' Kusuo asked.

Having no words to defend himself, Kaido sighed. "HE WAS THE ULTIMATE SALES TALKER!"

"You could have said no." Kokomi said sweetly.

"HE WOULDN'T EVEN LET ME SPEAK! I JUST YES TO SHUT HIM UP!"

"Quiet, Kaido!" Matsuzaki-Sensei told him.

'Maybe this will teach you not to buy stupid things in the future.' Kusuo thought to himself though he highly doubted it. Kaido even bought a necklace for thirty thousand yen once.

"We're here!" Yuuki exclaimed.

The rest of class cheered in excitement.

After they checked in, Hairo and Emiko gathered the class for announcements.

"Dinner is at six o' clock! Come to the dining hall on the first floor!" Hairo told them all. "Each class will have twenty minutes to bathe. Do not leave the hotel grounds during your free time!"

After the announcements, Emiko nudged Yuuki and whispered loud enough for their group of friends to hear. "Wow. Your boy really does make a good leader, no?"

Tora, Rei and Chiyo started to snicker.

Turning red, Yuuki lightly flicked Emiko's arm "Quiet! He'll hear you!"

Emiko offered a large grin. "Come on, let's head to the room I'm so glad we're all roommates!"

Kusuo on the other hand doesn't have the same sentiments about the people he's sharing a room with. He was with the three perverts who didn't seem to learn their lesson during Emiko's sleepover. No matter, it'll be easy to control the situation from here.

Dinner would have been a pleasant one if not for Mera's loud chewing and speed eating Kusuo thought. She was already in her eighth bowl of rice.

"More rice please!" She called out.

"Where are we going tomorrow?" Kokomi asked Chiyo.

"First, the pineapple garden!"

"Pineapple garden?" Mera asked.

"You're still hungry?" Kokomi exclaimed.

"The famous aquarium after!" Chiyo said.

"Fish! So tasty!" Mera said happily.

'They are not for food.' Saiki thought to himself.

Emiko, amused at the situation offered her salad to Mera.

"Hey. I can't finish this. Do you want it?"

"Of course!" Mera cried and grabbed it.

"You don't like salad?" Chiyo asked.

"I don't dislike it. I just never crave it. I eat it when it's there but if someone wants it more than I do, like in this case, I have no qualms about giving it away." She said cheerfully. Emiko turned her attention back to two of her classmates who were performing a skit on stage and started laughing. "They're really good!"

Kusuo, Nendou and Kaido headed to the onsen to relax though our psychic doubted he would.

As they dipped in the water, Saiki saw the Takahashi and crew whispering to each other as they all held periscopes in their hand. Why couldn't they use this form of dedication into being better people?

"Mera! Don't bring snacks in the water! Wait a minute, why do you have Pocky between your boo-Never mind. Eat after the onsen! No no no! Mera!"

Kusuo heard Emiko's voice from the other side and though he might have been amused on what the situation was, there was no way in hell he was going to allow the three perverts to peep on the other side. It isn't cool.

He controlled the periscopes so they would always point to Nendou causing frustration and confusion with the peeping Toms. Nendou was curious about what they were doing so he stepped out of the water to check making them see his, well, let's be blunt here, his genitals blessed in size. This immediately deflated the mood of the perverts as they made a vow never to make fun of him again.

After the onsen, Saiki made his way up the to their room in a bathrobe when he saw that Emiko had the same plan. They bumped into each other in the hallway.

"Hi, Kusuo. Had enough?"

He nodded. 'I'm tired.'

"I heard a commotion in the male's onsen. What happened?" Kusuo told her which made her burst out in laughter. It was then that he decided that he liked the way she laughed.

"You're really a hero among men! And that Nendou bit is so precious. Hahaha!"

'Why did you leave the onsen early?'

"Well, the teachers wanted to talk to me and Hairo about our plan tomorrow so we'd be better prepared in gathering you guys or whatever. We could have had the talk later but Hairo goes to bed at eight or something."

'It's no surprise.'

"Hey look! A vending machine! Can I treat you to a drink before we part ways for now?"

'Sure.'

"I'm gonna get the apple juice. You?"

'The chocolate milk.'

"All right, the number is..."

Kusuo watched as Emiko pressed the numbers and put her money into the machine. He noticed that she looked rosier seeing as she came from a hot bath. Objectively, she looks attractive (in a different way) with her wet hair dressed, only in a robe. It was probably at this moment that he realised why those three perverts insisted on peeping. Kusuo would like to remind the reader that he is only being objective about all of this and remind you that he still incapable of falling in love.

Emiko took two of the drinks she had bought and handed one to him.

"Here you go!"

Kusuo took it and opened it and looked once again at his lovely companion. She caught his glance and frowned. He hoped she wouldn't say anything about him staring when she said

"Your glasses are still a big fogged up." She took her handkerchief "Allow me."

She proceeded to wipe his classes when he held her wrist to stop her. Emiko felt her heart beat faster and hoped Kusuo wouldn't hear it. She also hoped her redness from the onsen would hide the blush that surely appeared on her face.

'Careful. If you looked directly into my eyes, you would have turned to stone.' He said softly.

They stood like that for a little while before he let go of her wrist. Not trusting her words, she nodded. Both proceeded to walk to their rooms before they came to a part where they had to part ways.

"Well, I gotta hurry. Don't want Hairo to yell at me for not respecting his eight o' clock bedtime."

'Okay.'

"Get some rest, although I think two of your admirers plan to invite you to play uno."

'Noted. I'll try to escape.'

"All right. Goodnight, that is, if I don't see you later."

'Pray you don't because I am grumpy when I'm tired. Goodnight, Emiko. Good luck with your meeting.'

"Thanks? Goodnight again, Kusuo. Let's hope for no more troubles today."

As they walked away, he hoped she was right.