Author's Note: Hi! Since I already finished the story already, I decided to upload everything now. Please read and review! Thank you so much! :D
Chapter 10: When We Get Home
The next day, Jeri woke up and saw that her room was color blue and the decorations were blue including all the stands. She wondered why she was here yet her room with Rika was white in color. She only realized that her room was somewhere down the hallway as she figured out that this was Ryo's room.
She took a look at the prone figure lying beside her. The scent that filled her nose became very odd to her.
Rika could not have that kind of smell! Jeri thought as she decided to investigate who was with her. It smelled like a guy!
When she sat up, she saw who was with her. To her surprise, a man with chestnut hair was lying beside her while being tucked under the blanket. She just realized that it was Takato who was sleeping next to her during the entire night!
"TAKATO!" Jeri screamed yet looked at herself. She was fortunate that she still had her clothes on and sighed in relief.
Instantly, Takato woke up at the tone of Jeri's voice. It was evident in his face that he was surprised with what just happened right now. He also examined himself if something happened between him and Jeri. Well, the answer was quite obvious because of the presence of his clothes.
"JERI?" Takato asked and surprised because he was sleeping right next to his girlfriend even if they only just got together a day ago. "What are you doing here?"
Jeri was even bothered with Takato's answer. "I don't know!" she added with a shrug.
With this, she decided that it was fishy that Takato was here as well. She remembered that she walked towards a room and fell asleep here afterwards.
"I'm gonna ask you the same thing, Takato," Jeri started. "Why are you here in Ryo's room?"
Takato only shrugged with Jeri's question. "I don't know!" he answered as well.
What the heck? Jeri thought as Takato only gave her a vague answer.
"If that's the case," Jeri trailed off and realized that her real roommate was somewhere else and sleeping. "Then where's Rika?"
Takato even had no idea and shook his head. He did not have any care with what happened. Last night, all of them were so drunk that they only entered the first room that their eyes had laid on.
"Was she even in your room?" he asked, trying to get information from Jeri.
"Was she?!" Jeri answered, with her voice apparently becoming more shocked.
Eventually, the brown-haired couple opened the door and went out of their room. When they got outside of their room, they immediately went towards Rika's room and opened the door. When they stepped inside, the two wore smiles on their faces. They were already seeing Henry and Rika sleeping together in one bed with Henry's arms on Rika's waist as well and Henry was seen spooning his former girlfriend. The sleeping couple was facing in one direction.
"They look cute, Takato!" Jeri said giddily quietly. "I wish things would go back to where they belong!"
"But the problem is… them," Takato whispered.
"Well, whatever that is… I just hope that they'll find each other's love once again." Jeri smiled. "Let's go before we might disturb them."
Eventually, they went out before the sleeping could get badly disturbed. When they were already standing in the hallway, they heard some snoring from another room.
"That's the most disturbing snore that I ever heard!" Jeri commented.
"I think I know who that was," Takato remarked as he thought of the only person who would snore in public.
The two tiptoed towards the room that contained the snoring person. When they peeked through the door, they saw that the person had brown hair and a blonde was right next to him.
"Looks like we're not the only ones who slept with girls last night!" Takato whispered.
Jeri suddenly found the remark to have a suggestive meaning. "Takato!" she warned gently. "That's bad!"
"Sorry, Jeri!" Takato whispered back sheepishly.
Eventually, they tried to make their entry as silent as possible. They saw that Ryo was in bed with his left arm draping around Alice. Now Jeri had a conclusion that her other friend's wish had came true last night.
"Couple number two… not snuggling but apparently fell asleep with each other on the side," Takato whispered as he observed his friends' behavior.
"Takato, you're so noisy!" Jeri whispered, trying his best not to ruin her friend's moment in her sleep. "Too bad we're going home later already."
"I agree. We should be on the coastline at two so we could board towards Shinjuku and arrive there at four." Takato nodded as they went back towards the door.
When they got out of the room, Jeri could only stifle a laugh with what she saw with Alice.
"But all in all, this vacation was the best!" Jeri whispered and hugged Takato. "Thank you, Takato! Thank you for everything!"
Eventually, she supplied the gesture with a kiss on his cheek. This made Takato blush a deep red in color.
"You're welcome, Jeri!" Takato smiled as he rubbed the spot where Jeri had kissed him.
"Let's go, Takato!" Jeri said as she pulled his hand so they could go down together.
That moment inside Rika's room, Rika woke up. She saw that two arms were encircled around her waist and she looked at her back. She saw that it was Henry all along who was with her. But the memories last night seemed to play like a video already and blushed at the thought of Henry being in the bed with her.
And as expected, Henry woke up but smiled as he saw his love sleeping next to him. He released his grip on Rika's waist as Rika propped herself and sat up. He eventually followed suit as Rika sat on her back with some pillows supporting her.
"What are you doing here in the bed with me?" Rika asked, trying to figure out what happened after their romantic moment last night. All that Rika could remember was that she and Henry had been making out fiercely last night. "Maybe you undressed me while I was sleeping and did the thing you wanted the most, huh?"
Henry only grinned. This caused Rika to believe that Henry took advantage of her last night.
"I don't know and I don't do kiss and tell stories. All I know is that nothing happened between us last night," Henry answered and eventually followed it with a smirk. "Unless, you wanted…"
Henry did not get to finish what he said because Rika threw a pillow at him. He only rubbed his head as he recovered from the smack that he reserved.
"You pervert!" Rika jested as she was holding the pillow and returned it back to where it belonged. "For the record, I know we're not that drunk from all the beer last night!"
"But did you ever wish that something happened?" Henry asked sincerely.
"No way!" Rika answered with a tease. "I don't want to lose it yet."
"If I know, you really wanted me to be in bed with you…" Henry teased her again. "And for the record, you're still mesmerized with my handsomeness."
Rika only kissed him in the cheeks order for him to stop talking.
"Not just your handsomeness," Rika corrected with a shy smile. "It's you that I'm mesmerized with."
"Thank you," Henry answered back and kissed her as well in the cheek. "I love you so much, Rika."
Rika sighed as she remembered what occurred last night. "I'm not yet really ready to be in a relationship again, Henry. With all the heartache I caused you years ago, I don't think I could go back to the same again. I'm so sorry."
"Then I'll help you return back to what you were," Henry assured her. "I'm not in a hurry after all."
With this, Rika smiled and hopped out of the bed. She saw that it was already 9:20 A.M. in the wall clock located above her.
"Gosh! It's late!" Rika said as she dusted her clothes. "We're supposed to leave at noon so we could go to the dock at two!"
"I agree," Henry answered and remembered that Ryo might be still asleep. "Let's go check on Ryo, Rika. Based from experience, I think he might wake up and yell at someone he's with."
"I can't imagine that kind of scene, Henry!" Rika remarked. "That would be disturbing!"
"And so is me," Henry answered with a laugh.
Eventually, he pulled Rika's hand with him and ran towards the room where Ryo might be in. They saw that a door was open and silently went inside it. They were taken aback when they saw Ryo and Alice lying together and fortunately, not naked.
"Ryo," Henry nudged Ryo gently and shook his arms. "It's already 9:20 A.M. We need to get ready so that we could leave Okinawa safe and sound."
"Later, Honey," Ryo answered in his sleep. "I'm still sleeping."
The couple only looked at each other with what Ryo just said. They were sure that Ryo was talking in his sleep.
"Honey?!" Rika and Henry chorused.
Eventually, Rika decided to take it from there so that she could wake Ryo up.
"Honey?!" Rika asked loudly. "Ryo, you don't have a wife or a girlfriend as of now. We have to get moving because we're supposed to go back to Shinjuku today!"
Eventually, Ryo's eyes opened wide as well as Alice and sat up. When the two looked at each other, they wore shocked looks and screamed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Ryo and Alice asked each other in surprise.
Rika decided to ask some questions to the couple. "Good thing you guys woke up. We almost thought you're enjoying yourselves in your sleep!"
"Hi, Rika! hi, Henry!" Ryo said, feeling embarrassed since he talked in his sleep with some offending words inside the sentence. And worse, he called Rika "honey" and she was taken already.
Alice only smiled sheepishly with what they just did. "Thanks for waking us, Rika and Henry. We owe you a lot!"
"Don't mention it, Alice," Rika answered with a smug grin.
When Ryo stood up, Alice, Rika and Henry could only do but cover their noses since Ryo had a heavy hangover and he smelled bad enough for a guy who drank so much alcohol in just one night.
"Ryo, why don't you go to the bathroom so you can take a bath?" Henry asked calmly. "You smelled as if you poured all the alcohol into your body!"
Ryo smelled himself even his chest. "Man, I do smell bad! Can I use the shower?" he exclaimed.
"Yes, you do, Jerk," Alice answered with a smug grin.
Ryo got out of the bed and walked groggily. The scent of the alcohol was really oozing out of his body and the others could not bear at the scent. Henry had the hypothesis that Ryo had consumed all of the drinks last night in the living room.
"Does he vomit whenever he has hangover?" Alice asked, sounding concerned with Ryo's present condition.
"Not really," Henry answered with a grin on his face. "He actually has a strong stomach to boot."
"Wow," Alice said in amazement. "He really is a hard-core liquor drinker. He's so amazing!"
"You won't believe it, Alice," Rika answered with a laugh. "Come on, girl!"
The trio went out of the room and walked downstairs. When they reached the bottom part of the stairs, they saw a very sleepy Kazu and Kenta standing there.
"Hi, guys!" they said with a chorus. Kazu eventually yawned and stretched his arms.
"Hello, dweebs!" Alice remarked as she saw the pair walking groggily. "Who lasted the bottles of beer yesterday?"
Kazu yawned once again and answered already. "It's Ryo. He was the last man standing!" he exclaimed. "Gosh! He's the best drunkard I've ever known!"
Henry and Rika only smacked their heads as they realized that it was Ryo's fault why he smelled like alcohol in the first place.
"Where's he?" Kenta asked as he noticed that Ryo was not with Alice.
"Oh, he just went to the bathroom and did some stuff," Alice answered since Kenta was looking at her direction. "You missed him, right?"
"No!" Kenta protested as he heard what Alice said.
"Gosh! How heavy my hangover is!" Kazu complained as he held his head. "I feel light yet I still want to sleep more."
"It's your fault for having told Takato about your plans to have beer, you dufuses," Rika replied sternly at the two dweebs. "If you didn't tell Gogglehead about your stupid plan of throwing a party, then he wouldn't bother organizing a beer party with you guys!"
"Sorry, Rika!" Kazu answered. "We can't even do it when we're in Shinjuku, you know?"
"You two are idiots, to say the least!" Alice added. "Come on! Before Takato gets up and throws us a fit of anger!"
But before they could say anything, Takato cleared his throat and went towards his friends.
"Hi, guys!" Takato smiled as Jeri went towards him. "You need me or anything?"
"A way to save yourself from embarrassment is what we need," Ryo answered back as he just got down from the bathroom with a towel on his hands. His hair was wet while he was wearing a pair of blue shorts and a white shirt. He looked like as if his drunken stupor was gone already.
"Ryo!" Kazu grinned. "You're the king of all drunkards! How'd it go?!"
"For me," Ryo answered with a smile. "It's the best beer party that I had gone to!"
Suddenly, they turned to Takato for directions in order for them to return to Shinjuku.
"We need to take a bath and have lunch so we could travel back to the dock and board the boat," Takato explained. "I hate to say it but our vacation is totally over already."
Moments later, Kai Urazoe and Minami Uehara went towards them and smiled. They laughed at the sight of Takato and his friends.
"Say, you guys sounded like you had a blast!" Kai remarked as his arm was draped around Minami's shoulder.
"I agree with Kai," Minami answered back. "You sounded as if you're gonna cry and laugh your hearts out with what you were singing."
However, their looks were now focused on Henry and Rika as they sang the duet of "Need You Now". Henry and Rika were startled with their faces.
"Uh… What's with you, guys?" Rika snorted.
"You two," Takato answered with a smile and pointed towards Rika and Henry. "Spill it out! Did you have the spark that you needed when you sang that song?"
Henry decided to answer since hearing it from Rika's mouth might offend her still.
"Yes, we still got that spark," Henry confirmed. "Right, Rika?"
Rika only responded by smacking Henry's arm playfully. Then, a loud cheer filled the air as they heard a new tale from the two new lovers once again.
"Congratulations!" Ryo greeted his boss and his once again girlfriend and suddenly remembered about his and Alice's night before. "Wait! I also have another announcement!"
Alice only smiled as Ryo referred to it as the day of their month anniversary.
"Alice and I are officially on!" Ryo smiled as he bent forward to pinch the face of his new girlfriend. "Alice is no longer my Baby Girl. But she is now my Babe as well!"
"Really?" Rika asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then why did you ask each other about being in the bed?"
"Because we didn't want you to know it immediately," Alice explained as she touched the cheek where Ryo had pinched. "We want it to be surprise!"
"So, we'll just wait if you guys get married, huh?" Jeri asked excitedly.
"You bet!" Alice smiled as she went towards the wet-looked Ryo.
"Looks like this vacation became a Valentine's Day for the couples!" Kazu chuckled as he saw three couples getting together. "Hope that you'll stay together!"
"Thanks!" the three pairs chorused with a smile.
Eventually, all of them decided to take a bath but there were only three bathrooms and there were eight visitors. One of them was already finished and that was Ryo. Rika was waiting for Alice to finish while Henry was waiting for Kenta to finish so both of them stayed in the terrace as well.
"Hey," Henry said to Rika, who just turned around and saw him.
"Hey yourself," Rika said and returned her gaze to the seascape that was before her eyes. "I can't believe that I'm going to be back at Shinjuku later on."
"Me either," Henry answered. "I'm gonna be my own boss at my own company once again."
"That's good," Rika replied as her hands were laid down on the railing of the terrace. "At least, I've got the vacation I'm looking forward to have for months."
Henry's face wore a smile as he saw that Rika was slowly regaining her strength once again. He wished that her recovery would be fast and permanent as well. He wanted her to live for herself, for everyone and… for him as well.
"I hope that you'll improve your lifestyle in the next few months," Henry said seriously. "Seriously, I'm going to be the one who'll bring you and feed you food everyday!"
Rika pinched Henry's cheek playfully. "You don't have to be my caretaker, Henry."
"I'm more than just that, you know?" Henry grinned.
"Fine," Rika answered, finally surrendering because Henry always gets it right.
However, they heard a voice calling them. When they turned around, they saw Takato.
"Hey, guys!" Takato went towards them and placed his arms on his friends' shoulders. "Wish you all the best!"
"Uh… Takato, we're not exactly a couple just like you and Jeri," Rika reminded the former goggle-head as she felt his arms crashing her shoulders.
"Yeah," Henry said sincerely. "Only you can know this because Jeri might get a stroke if she learns that we're not as hopeless romantic as you two."
"Don't worry!" Takato assured. "Your secret is safe with me!"
The couple nodded and gave Takato a smile. They returned back inside the house. When they were inside, they saw that Jeri and Alice were already finished taking a bath.
"Why don't you go ahead, Rika?" Henry offered. "I'm not in a rush either."
"Are you serious, Henry?" Rika asked as she grabbed her things to be used for her to take a bath.
"Yeah," Henry answered and with this permit, Rika ran towards the bathroom alone. As he saw her run, he could not help but smile. I love you, Rika Nonaka…
Not long after, the entire gang was ready to get home already. Takato's grandfather, Kai and Minami were walking with them towards the door.
"Just come back, okay?" Kai asked Takato with a smile. "We'll have again the Guilmon bread that you used to have when we're still kids!"
"Of course!" Takato smiled and shook his cousin's hand. "Thanks for everything, Kai!"
"Yeah! No biggie," Kai replied with a smile.
"Thanks, Grandpa!" Takato said with a smile and hugged his grandfather.
"Be back, my boy!" the older man remarked. "Say hi to Takehiro and Mie for me!"
"Oh yes, I will!" Takato promised.
The older man turned at his future granddaughter-in-law. "You, dear, take care of my grandson. He's very hopeless romantic so make him happy as always."
Jeri smiled and hugged also Takato's grandfather. "Thank you, Grandpa. I will."
"Thanks a lot in behalf of my friends, Grandpa, Kai and Minami," Takato said with a smile. "We shall be leaving soon for we don't want to miss the boat."
"Alright! Thanks for visiting, Takato!" Kai said as Grandpa also went with him.
The eight adults were already met by a van that would take them to the Okinawa Port. They rode one by one and bid Takato's relatives goodbye. Takato's relatives also smiled since they knew that they would meet again. the van started and eventually moved away from the residence.
Meanwhile, back at the eight adults, the couples sat together with the exception of Kazu and Kenta. Kazu decided to lighten the air with his new joke.
"Knock knock!" Kazu declared.
"Who's there?" they asked in unison.
"Jupiter," Kazu sneered.
"Jupiter who?" they asked again.
"Jupiter when I needed somebody… Jupiter the only one can help me… I have a picture of you in my mind!" Kazu sang the joke to the tune of "Picture Of You".
Almost all of the adults laughed sardonically for they found the joke to be severely corny and not new.
When they were finally awake, the driver was finding a spot where to stall for a moment so he could unload the eight friends. The couple could see that the airport was bustling with local and international travelers who were about to leave and enter Japan respectively. Then the van came to a stop.
"This is the nearest unloading station I could drop you, Sir!" the driver of the van said to Takato. "Enjoy your trip!"
Takato paid the taxi and thanked him. "Thank you. Come on, guys!" he said.
The friends alighted from the van and took their luggage from the trunk. When everything was clear, they walked inside the ferry boat. From there, they underwent check-ups from security and for their luggage as well. After they got cleared and their tickets inspected, they embarked into the boat.
"Gosh, Takato!" Kazu exclaimed. "This was the best vacation I had ever been to!"
"Thanks, Kazu! There'll be a lot of next times if you must know!" Takato answered with a grin.
Eventually, they walked towards the van that carried them to the port. Henry opened the van so that the girls would be able to get inside with the van first. But the girls insisted that they load first their things before entering the van. After loading their things, the girls went inside the van and were followed by the boys. The van was already moving from the port and towards the main city of Shinjuku.
"What a nice way to have a vacation!" Kazu remarked as he got inside. Like how they went to the Shinjuku Port, he was seated beside Ryo and Kenta.
"You said it!" Ryo agreed, grinning.
"Of course you'll say that it's nice!" Kenta snorted. "You just scored in being with Alice on the night we had karaoke!"
"Sorry, Kenta." Ryo smiled. "But don't worry! You and Kazu will have ladies in the future! Trust me!"
"Yeah! As if we'll trust you and Henry that much!" Kazu retorted.
At that very moment, the three young women were talking about their love lives respectively.
"It's a dream come true for me, Rika! Takato told me that he loved me after that dare!" Jeri said dreamily.
"Me too!" Alice chuckled. "That truth-or-dare thingy told me that Ryo had a thing for blondes? I felt nervous but at the same time happy because Ryo confirmed that it was me!"
Rika only smiled at her friends. She had a different story to tell because she told Henry that she loved him but they were not yet having a relationship with each other once again.
"Anyway, what about you and Henry, Rika?" Jeri asked teasingly. "We saw you two in bed so we assumed that everything went smooth and fun last night?"
Rika snorted since she was in bed with Henry with her clothes on. "Jeri, if you're talking about me having a one-night-stand with Henry, it didn't happen. We just slept next to each other."
"But you were really cuddling together!" Jeri squealed. "I just hope that after that comes a little you know?"
"Maybe I'll have it later in my life." Rika snorted once again. "But I'm still relearning my feelings for him. It's not easy that we're back again after six years."
"Don't worry, Rika!" Alice assured. "With Henry around, you won't have a problem adjusting to your emotions once again!"
"He's the ideal boyfriend and husband, Rika!" Jeri added. "He can provide you with anything! Money, love and even sex!"
Alice laughed while Rika coughed because of the last word. The auburn-haired remembered that she and Henry would have done the deed last night, if it was not for Henry who controlled everything even his emotions.
"I'll think about it," Rika said as she recovered. "But seriously, I'd rather explore with myself in a relationship rather than jumping to conclusions."
"Don't fret, Riks," Alice said with a smile. "You already have a responsible sweetheart. Just don't let it slide this time!"
Not long after, the van pulled to a stop as they realized where they were. They were already at the Matsuki residence because the traffic was not that harsh at all.
"We're here already!" Takato hollered. "Jeri, you told me that you want to stay at my place, huh?"
"Yeah!" Jeri exclaimed. "I'm going with you!"
Kazu and Kenta seemed to be hungry so they decided to stay at the Matsuki Bakery as well.
"Chumley and I are going also. We're hungry!" Kazu complained.
"Come on in!" Takato said as he stepped down from the van as well as Kazu.
Henry raised an eyebrow as he deduced that there was a conspiracy going on because the others were leaving and he was stuck with Rika, Alice and Ryo. Alice and Rika even changed seats just because of the vacancy of the other seats.
"Uh guys?" Ryo asked. "How are you going to get home?"
"It's easy, Ryo!" Kazu smirked. "Just enjoy your moments with your lovey dovey Alice McCoy!"
Ryo only shrugged as his friends stood in front of the bakery. "Okay. Come on, guys!" he added.
Eventually, Henry pulled his brakes and started the van once again.