Okinawa, Here We Come - Day 3 - Sata Andagi

Author's note: The visit to Fukushu-en isn't canon. I made
up an activity to precede the "sata andagi" day. Anyway,
enjoy!

Yomi couldn't believe her ears. They were going to a what?

"Fukushu-en," Yukari repeated dismissively. "Apparently
it's some kind of Chinese-ish garden here in Naha," she
droned, reading from an index card, "built in 1992, 10th
anniversary of sister-city relationship with Fuzhou in
China's Fujian province, pera pera pera..."

Yukari carelessly tossed the card behind her.

"ANYway," said Yukari, now back to her normal self, "I'd
like you all to know another little bit of trivia about
Fukushu-en."

"What's that?" asked Yomi.

"That it was NYAMO'S idea to come here," said Yukari
sarcastically. "Honestly, who cares about a bunch of
flowers?"

"I do," murmured Sakaki. Sadly nobody heard her.

"Hey, Osaka," Yomi overheard Kagura whisper behind Yomi.

"Hi, Kagura, how are you?" Osaka whispered.

Kagura decided to skip over that. "Let's hang out with
Sakaki today. She knows a LOT about flowers," Kagura
whispered, having learned this from prior experience
about a year ago.

"'Kay," whispered Osaka.

"I guess I'll hang out with Sakaki too," thought Yomi.
"Flowers, huh? Never knew she was the type...oh wait, if I
go with Sakaki, Kagura, and Osaka, that'll leave Tomo alone
with Chiyo-chan. WHY am I always babysitting Tomo?"

"Nyamo isn't even taking her class to Fukushu-en and she's
still making me take you to this place," Yukari complained.
"Oh well, let's split into two groups." She noticed that
Sakaki was already the center of her four-person group.
"All right, you four will be one group," she said,
gesturing towards them. "Tomo, Chihuahua, you're with me."

"All RIGHT!" shouted Tomo, picking up Chiyo-chan and
hauling her on her shoulder like a sack of "taters". (Well,
that's what Osaka called 'em when she was wondering about
'em that morning. Don't ask.)

The seven oddballs began walking towards the garden.

Yomi watched Chiyo kicking and struggling on Tomo's
shoulder. It was cute, in an odd way.

"Toomoooo!" yelled Chiyo-chan.

"You're so cute when you yell like that," Tomo observed.

"Put me doowwn! I'm twelve, Tomo-chan, not six!" Chiyo-chan
accidentally kicked Tomo in the chest. "Tomo-chaaaan!"

"HEY!" Tomo yelled. "Watch where you're kicking, ya little
brat, THOSE happen to be my precious--hey, wait a sec!"
Tomo shifted Chiyo-chan to her other shoulder and kept on
walking. "Did you just call me Tomo-chan?"

Chiyo-chan turned red. "I-it slipped out! I-I-I thought if
I got your attention you'd put me down!" Chiyo-chan turned
to Tomo. "Tomo put me down!"

"Aww, what happened to Tomo-chan?" Tomo teased.

Much to Chiyo-chan's relief, Yukari finally turned around
and noticed the commotion.

"Tomo, put Chiyo-chan down." Tomo did. "Save your strength.
You'll need it when we throw Chiyo-chan into the ocean,"
she added, grinning evilly.

Yukari is insane, but even she has limits. When she said it
she meant throwing her from the seashore, and going in
after her if necessary. (So would Tomo.) But Chiyo-chan,
warped from yesterday's "Nago Bay Incident" with Tomo,
thought Yukari was going to throw her from Manzamo Cliff
(remember, it's a 50-metre drop). Thus Chiyo-chan freaked
out and hightailed it into the garden.

"Chiyo-chan's gotten faster since she started high school,"
observed Yomi, watching Chiyo-chan disappear among the
plants.

"I still don't know nothin' 'bout flowers," admitted Kagura
with a sheepish grin.

"It's all right," said Sakaki. "Most people don't. What a
shame."

"Well, you know which flowers I know about," said Kagura.
"Just sunflowers and morning glories. Don't see any around
here though."

"This is a Chinese garden, so they probably wouldn't have
any," said Yomi. "Anyway, that's better than what I can do.
All I know is the sakura."

Kagura's jaw dropped. "Wow? I'm actually BETTER than Yomi
at something? Awesome!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yomi shrugged.

"Wow, what a pretty pink rose!" said Osaka excitedly,
pointing to an indeed pretty flower.

Sakaki turned to the flower and smelled it. Such a lovely
aroma...

"It's actually a tree peony, Osaka," she finally said.
"Sorry."

"Awww..."

"It's all right," Sakaki reassured her. "Don't feel bad
about it. They DO look similar, and even I mix them up from
time to time."

"'Even I'?" Yomi asked. "Are you good with flowers or
something?"

"Damn straight," Kagura spoke up, knowing full well Sakaki
was too modest to say it on her own. "One time we walked to
school together, and she was like, bam! That's a lily! Or
something like that...and then we kept walking, and she was
like, bam! That's an azalea!" Kagura shrugged. "Not sure if
that's what she actually said, but you know what I mean."

Sakaki, of course, remembered the incident quite clearly,
including the flowers involved. But she didn't want to ruin
the moment.

"Sakaki, why don't you educate us about flowers?" Yomi said
brightly.

"Yeah...like if the peony's the king of the flowers, does
that mean there's a queen of the flowers?" asked Osaka.

Yomi's face went blank. She got a lot of mileage out of
that expression when Osaka was around. "Huh?"

Explanation...
peony ... kaou ... ka-ou ... flower-king
flower-queen ... ka-oujo ... kaoujo (not a word)

"Maybe," Sakaki answered, humoring Osaka even though Sakaki
knew there was no such flower. "I don't know which flower
that would be, though."

"How 'bout a pink rose?" Osaka suggested. "But then, when
the king and queen have kids, people will be like, hey,
which side of the family d'ya get your looks from?"

Sakaki grinned. "You have a very active imagination,
Osaka," she said. "It's no wonder Kagura likes you so
much."

"Does that mean what I think it means?" thought Yomi, who
still didn't know that Kagura and Osaka were going out. So
far the only ones who knew were Kagura and Osaka (of
course) and Sakaki. And Kaorin had probably overheard that
part when Kagura declined Sakaki.

"Anyway," said Yomi, "where do we start?"

"Well," said Sakaki carefully, "there's a lot to know about
flowers. It's not something I could just tell you in a few
minutes."

"Like what?"

"Like...well...for starters..." And Sakaki began to share
what she knew.

Four hours later, the girls left Fukushu-en with their
heads filled with more than they thought possible.

"Wow," was all Osaka could say.

"Awesome!" agreed Kagura.

"You're a pretty good teacher, Sakaki, once you relax,"
Yomi said with a smile. "Just be yourself."

Sakaki said nothing but blushed from the compliment.

After the trip to Fukushu-en, the class headed back to
Naha City, where they met up with Nyamo's and Kimura's
classes at the Makishi Public Market (Machigwaa in
Okinawan).

Suddenly a cry came from the far end of the market.

"Aahhhh!" Osaka yelled. "Look! Over here!"

The sign Osaka was pointing to clearly read SATA ANDAGI.

"I'm finally gonna try sata andagi!" Osaka yelled
excitedly, running towards the sata andagi shop.

"I wanna try it too!" Chiyo-chan called back, running to
join her friend.

"Buy me some!" Kagura expertly tossed a 100-yen coin to
Osaka (who caught it) before jogging towards the sata
andagi shop to join them.

After buying their sweet treats, the classes wandered out
to Kokusai Street.

"Mmm...this is WAY better than a hash brown," Osaka said
in her usual dreamy voice.

"So sweet..." she enthused (in English).

(Author's note: If you're following along with the manga,
vol 4 pgs 35-36 start here.)

"They sure are good when they're all fresh and warm, huh?"
said Chiyo-chan.

"They sure are," agreed Yomi, who had once again cast off
the shackles of her latest diet. (I think this one involved
carbs--hence no pastries--but I can't be sure.) So
sweet...

Tomo wandered up to them.

Tomo: "Hey what IS that? Some kinda donut?"

Chiyo-chan: "They're 'sata andagi'."

Osaka: "Sata andagi!"

Tomo: "How much were they?"

Chiyo-chan: "100 yen."

Osaka: "Sata andagi!"

Tomo: "Where did you buy--"

Osaka: "Sata andagi!"

Tomo: "Will you shut up!"

Osaka: "Sata andagi!"

The classes wandered up and down the street excitedly
discussing the day's events. Kaorin seemed particularly
eager to fill in Sakaki-san about the details of her day.

Kaorin ran up to Sakaki-san from behind.

"Sakaki-san!" she called out. Sakaki turned around. Did she
hear her name?

(Author's note: Notice Sakaki-san's startled expression on
page 36, in the first panel of "The Island of Dreams". Now
please return to the story.)

She was startled to see Kaorin running up to her. Kaorin,
of all people. The one who could barely muster up the
courage, ever, to approach Sakaki-san, was now calling her
name and running up to her.

Sakaki had to admit, Kaorin had a lot of guts running up to
her like that. Kaorin must've eaten an extra-large bowl of
Wheaties that morning, Sakaki reasoned. Still, Sakaki made
up her mind to hear Kaorin out.

"Yes?" Sakaki asked with her usual Aura of Cool. Kaorin was
freaking out inside, beyond her usual shyness. Would Sakaki
snap again? After that embarrassing "incident" in May (this
is July, by the way) Sakaki had returned to her usual self.

"I...ah...about that...in May..." Kaorin turned redder and
redder and touched her index fingertips together.

Sakaki turned pink. "It's fine." Pausing for a moment, she
added, "Thank you...for considering my feelings...and
backing off."

As we know, the real reason Kaorin backed off was because
she was scared shitless for days after the incident. But
she chose to focus on the fact that Sakaki didn't seem to
be pissed at her anymore.

Kaorin knew she had completely blown her chance with Sakaki
forever. But just before the Okinawa trip Kaorin had
decided to try to at least part ways on a neutral, if not
cordial, note. That was her new goal for the 12th grade.

We know, of course, that she achieved her goal.

Knowing she had been forgiven, Kaorin stood there for a
moment, her mind shifting to bliss-mode.

"Sakaki! Oi, Sakaki!" Yomi was calling from down the
street.

Sakaki turned to Yomi and nodded, then turned back to
Kaorin.

Sakaki figured Kaorin had come to say something else now
that she could actually talk to Sakaki (since Kaorin seemed
to know a good thing when she saw it). So Sakaki waited for
a moment before Kaorin drifted out of bliss-mode and back
to reality.

Kaorin looked up at Sakaki-san expectantly. "Ee too..." she
muttered, touching her index fingertips together again.

"Yes?"

Idea! Kaorin thought of something to say to Sakaki-san
before she rejoined Yomi.

"Ee too...ah...so, where are you all going on tomorrow's
'Island Getaway'?" Kaorin asked, hoping the two classes
would be travelling to the same island. Leave it to Kaorin
to never give up hope.

"We're going to Miyako Island," Kaorin added shyly.

"Ah...that's nice," Sakaki said quietly. "We're going to
Iriomote Island."

"Ah...what are you gonna do there?" Kaorin asked.

Sakaki continued to make polite conversation with Kaorin,
since Sakaki isn't really the type to hold grudges against
people. It was now two months since the "Sakaki-saaan
Incident" and Sakaki had pretty much gotten over it by now.
Her reticence around Kaorin had by this point shifted back
to her usual reticence, though Sakaki really hoped nothing
like that would ever happen again. Sakaki just wanted to
make it through the 12th grade without losing her cool
again.

We know, of course, that she achieved her goal.

(Author's note: How well did I resolve the "Sakaki-saaan
Incident"? Make your voice heard in a review! I read every
review, and your constructive criticism helps!)

Yomi overheard Sakaki reveal her ambition to see the
Iriomote Mountain Cat. Before Kaorin could ask what that
was, Kimura walked up.

"Um..." Yomi and Sakaki said together.

Kaorin was wearing a shirt that said UMIN-CHU (Okinawan for
"fisherman")...and so was Kimura.

"Aahhh! I'm gonna go change!" Kaorin ran off, and Kimura
ran after her.

"That Kimura is such a pervert," thought Yomi, stating the
obvious.

(Author's note: Manga ends here. Completely original
material follows once again.)

That night, at the hotel, Yukari threw open the door
between their hotel rooms.

Yukari and Nyamo had one room, and our six heroines were
sharing a second. The two rooms were adjoining. The rest of
Yukari's class, as well as Nyamo's class, and Kimura's
class, occupied several other rooms. Kimura himself had a
single room, much to his dismay.

Anyway...

"LIGHTS OUT!" Yukari yelled. "Nyamo and I--I mean, the
TEACHERS--are tryin' to get some sleep here!"

"Geez, like I'm gonna get any sleep with that idiot P.E.
teacher around," Yukari muttered. "Oh well."

"Ganbatte, Yukari-chan!" Tomo yelled with a wink as Yukari
slammed the door.

"Nyamo's an athlete in bed too," Yukari grumbled after
slamming the door and locking it. "How the HELL am I gonna
get any sleep tonight?" (Don't worry, it's a Western-style
hotel, so the walls are nice and thick. Our lasses won't
hear a thing.)

That night's bed pairings (chosen by lot) were:

Tomo/Sakaki
Kagura/Chiyo-chan
Yomi/Osaka

The six of them lay there in the dark.

"Don't worry, Chiyo-chan, I'll protect you from that IDIOT
Tomo," Kagura said.

"I heard that! I'll have you know I did better than you on
our last test!" Tomo retorted.

"You just HAD to start her up," said Yomi.

"Crap. Sorry everybody," said Kagura, remembering last
summer when Tomo terrorised everybody when they were trying
to sleep.

"Hey, guess what?" Tomo announced.

Nobody dared to answer. Not even Osaka.

"I gotta go to the bathroom!"

Nobody wanted to answer.

"Be right back!" Tomo bounced up onto the bed.

"Tomo, please," Sakaki said, "let us go to sleep."

Suddenly there was a loud CRASH!

"I ran off the bed in the wrong direction," Tomo admitted.

"Bathroom's the other way, Tomo," said Osaka.

"Good one," muttered Yomi.

Tomo climbed back onto the bed and started running across
the beds to get to the bathroom.

Sakaki: "Oof!"

Chiyo-chan didn't say anything. Tomo managed to miss her.

Kagura: "Ow, you numbnut!"

Yomi: "Tomo, that was my LEG!"

Osaka: "Huh?"

Tomo bounded off Yomi and Osaka's bed and landed like a
gymnast on the floor. A perfect 10.0, I must say.

"That was your leg?" Tomo shot back on her way to the
bathroom. "I thought that was the bed, 'cause it was soft
and squishy! FAATTT!"

"I am SO strangling you in the morning," Yomi threatened.
"Osaka, you have nothing to do, go knock some sense into
her.

"Mm...hai, hai..." (Mm...yeah, yeah...)

Osaka rolled over onto Yomi.

"Other way, Osaka."

Osaka rolled the other way and flopped off the bed. In the
dark, Yomi couldn't see that Osaka had no intention of
going after Tomo.

"Kagura," Osaka whispered in Kagura's ear, having appeared
by Kagura's side of the bed.

Startled, Kagura drew in a sharp breath.

"Kagura? Are you OK?" asked Chiyo-chan.

"Yeah, I'm fine...I just thought I saw Tomo sneaking up on
you," Kagura lied.

"Sh-she's not gonna scare me, is she?" Chiyo-chan asked,
now afraid.

Osaka kept quiet. Normally she would've comforted Chiyo-
chan, but right now she had a little "business" of her own.

"Tomo's still in the bathroom," stated Yomi levelly.

From the bathroom they heard Tomo's voice yelling "Kyaaaaa!
SPIDER!" and then several loud smacking sounds before the
room became deathly quiet.

"I sent Osaka after her but I have no idea where she went,"
Yomi finished.

"Ahh, she'll be fine," said Kagura.

"OK," said Chiyo-chan, not quite convinced that Tomo wasn't
going to scare her. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep."

"Good luck, Chiyo-chan," said Sakaki sincerely as she
stretched out on the bed and tried to get some sleep too.

Kagura turned her head to the side...and found herself
three centimetres from Osaka's wide brown eyes. Osaka was
kneeling by the side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Kagura whispered.

"I got somethin' for ya," Osaka whispered. Kagura could
just hear the lazy purr in Osaka's whisper.

"What's that?" Kagura whispered.

"This," Osaka whispered, kissing Kagura on the lips. She
resisted the urge to pull Kagura in because she didn't want
to rock the bed and wake Chiyo-chan.

The kiss was still, however, very satisfying.

"Happy one-month anniversary, Kagura," whispered Osaka. "I
love you."

Kagura blushed even deeper than her swimmer's tan.

"Happy one-month anniversary, Osaka," whispered Kagura. She
leaned in for a quick kiss. "I love you too," she whispered
as Osaka patted Kagura's hand and sneaked back to her own
bed, blushing all the way.

Chiyo-chan slept contentedly, completely unaware of what
just happened.

"Mmm...morning glories...wonder if they sell 'em back
home..." Kagura sleepily murmured almost inaudibly before
setting her own course for the Land of Dreams.