"Are you sure they'd be okay with me coming along with you?" Hoshiko spoke into the phone, pressing it snug between her shoulder and ear as she helped clean up another disaster of a science fair project.
"Absolutely, they're the ones who offered me the plus one." Cherry's voice responded from the other line. "It'll be like a little weekend getaway. Even while I'm attending to business, there's tons of stuff you could go do there. Including a supposed wonderful hot springs."
"It's certainly tempting, don't get me wrong." She giggled, throwing the reminiscent of said project into the trash. Noticing that she'd definitely stained one of her nice button ups in the process. How convenient. "..You said it's just for the weekend, right? I'd be back by Sunday night?"
"Mhm." He hummed. "Wouldn't have to use any vacation time or sick leave for work."
Those seeming like more than enough excuses to tag along with Cherry on his little business venture. She might not have been totally sure what all he had to accomplish while there, but he had promised he wouldn't be busy the whole time - and the two of them could see some of the cute little shops in the area, maybe visit that supposed hot spring and just spend the majority of their time relaxing. A well deserved break for the both of them, they figured.
So this morning they boarded the ferry from Okinawa to Miyakojima. Ocean breeze tangled it's way through Hoshiko's hair, she had spent most of her time leaning against a near by guard rail, letting her attention drift into the sea below. Periodically checking in with her friend who had been hiding away in the shade of the ship. He mentioned his skin always seemed to burn easily, so he preferred to stay away from the sun's rays as long as he could. It was understandable, and she would've spent all of her time with him in the shade, frankly she wouldn't have minded it too much. A minuscule sacrifice to make, but he was insistent she do whatever made her heart content. So, every so often she'd return to this spot on the side of the ferry, allowing her limbs to hang off the side while they sailed through the ocean.
After abandoning S so quickly when the cops arrived, Cherry felt a tinge of guilt. He knew Hoshiko was an adult, one perfectly capable of getting herself out of situation like that - but he couldn't help but feel bad that he was so quick to leave her behind, despite that. Truly relieved to hear she'd made it home okay, Joe was actually the one to tell him in the first place. Sarcastically thanking the pink haired man for waiting up for them. Joe made sure Cherry was aware that he was the one who saved her tail, but he hadn't seemed too happy to be saying it. Which lead Cherry to believe that something must've happened that he wasn't yet aware of. He had already wanted to bring Hoshiko on this short trip with him, seeing as he genuinely enjoyed her company and considered her a good friend. But he also wouldn't deny, he was hoping to see Hoshiko's side of things. Maybe understand why she seemed to look on the water with such sad eyes, and why Joe had been more irritable than normal.
"It's time to wake up! Ten minutes until arrival."
"Thank you, Carla." Cherry mumbled out to his wristwatch, and Hoshiko soon joined his side upon hearing her tone echo through the air.
"Wait. I know that voice." An all too familiar gruff voice spoke up, causing Hoshiko to freeze in her tracks. Slowly, she looked up and there he was; Joe was seriously here, of all places, right now. "Ah great! What the hell are you doing here?"
He was talking to Cherry in that disappointed tone, hadn't yet noticed the white haired woman standing still behind him. She almost convinced herself that like a dinosaur, if she didn't move a muscle, he couldn't see her.
"I could ask you the same, damn jiggalo." Cherry retorted. The fact the man himself was here right now really put a damper on things. "I'm here on business, what about you?"
"Vacay all day." Joe replied with a wink, pulling the two women wrapped around his arms, impossibly closer to his body.
"Going to hot springs." Another voice called out, causing Hoshiko to peer over Joe's shoulder and finally take notice to the crowd of people in front of him.
Truly why wouldn't Langa, Reki, Miya and Shadow all be here right now?
"Yeah, same." Miya nodded, agreeing with Langa's previous statement.
"I'm.." Shadow sighed, looking less like himself than ever with his hair parted in the middle while wearing a white and pink t-shirt. "Babysitting."
"Well, looks like we're almost all here." Reki spoke up with a weak chuckle. "Now all we need is Ms. Saito and we've got the complete set.."
"She's here too, you idiot." Cherry replied, pinching the bridge of his nose while he exhaled in disappointment.
"H-Hoshiko's here?" Joe stammered out, taken completely off guard at the news. The two stranger's that were held in his arm's looked up to him, quite frankly, confused. "You mean, right now?"
"No, she's here, but later." Cherry rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping in his tone. "Of course I mean she's here right now, you baboon!"
Cherry's finger pointed to his right, aiming directly to the women in question as she stare the group with her mouth slightly agape. Unsure exactly what the ring thing to say was, especially as her eye's met with Joe's and they instinctively snapped between him and the two girl's he was hanging onto. She tried to look away, pretend it didn't bother her as much as it did, she pressed a smile to her face and the gave the group a subtle wave.
"We should really stop meeting like this." The words were genuine. It was beginning to become absurd how often she ran into these various individuals.
"No, she's right." Cherry huffed, irritated. "We definitely should."
Exiting the ferry was a relatively easy task. The hard part was watching Joe wear a cheerful smile as he waved goodbye to the girl's from earlier. One planting a kiss to his cheek before she rushed off. Hoshiko shouldn't have been surprised to see something like this happen. Shokichi tried to be a good friend and warn her before it ever had the chance to happen, and yet she still fed into it. Maybe she deserved this. The disappointment that welled in her chest as she tugged her overnight bag over her shoulder. That was right; she was supposed to be on a vacation. A weekend get away with a good friend. A time to relax.
She decided, that's exactly what she was going to do.
"Think we should head to the inn first and drop everything off." Shadow began to announce today's itinerary to the boy's as they crowded around a pile of their bags. Hoshiko wasn't sure they knew what packing light meant, or if they were really staying for longer than just a weekend. "Then we can go get some grub, and-"
"Wahoo!" Reki shouted, sailing ahead of the group on his skate. Holding a bandage arm to the sky - he at least didn't have to deal with the sling anymore, which meant he was probably approaching the end stages of his healing process.
"Moron!" Shadow shouted out to the boy as he grew further and further away. "Aren't you here to nurse your injuries?"
"There's no point in using logic with idiots." Miya shrugged, hopping onto his own board and riding straight past Shadow without a second thought.
"If you're hanging with morons," Joe began, skating past Shadow with a chuckle. "well what does that make you?"
"Alpha Moron, maybe?" Cherry prompted, Carla beneath his feet as he race ahead as well.
"Hey, wait a second!" Shadow screamed at the group as they pulled ahead. "What about all of your stuff?"
With Langa and Hoshiko as the only two remaining, they hesitantly glanced to one another. Langa clapped his hands together, thanked Shadow for his help and sped off before the man could respond. Hoshiko was not about to be pulled into becoming mother goose again, so she was not far behind the boy as she dropped her own board to the ground and sped off.
Poor Shadow.
She considered it a sort of karma for all the times he used little bombs and other unnecessary tricks while skating.
It didn't take long for them to catch up with the group. Palms trees lined the sides of the unbelievably smooth sidewalk - it was like it was made for skateboarding against. No divots, cracks or pebbles in site. Completely and utterly flat. Hoshiko swayed herself from side to side, using a spare hair tie to bunch up and tie off the end of her sundress - with the wind going against her, she didn't want to risk it riding up. So keeping it snug against her leg felt like the best option.
Langa and Reki took the lead of the group so quickly, laughing with one another as they attempted to pull little tricks with the small amount of space they shared. Cherry held an umbrella above his head, keeping the sun from burning his body while Joe completely ditched his t-shirt all together - tying it around his waist, showing off his muscles and his tribal style tattoo.
"Why do you have a parasol?" Miya questioned the pink haired man, taking notice to the maroon umbrella.
"Precious here doesn't want to get a tan." Joe retorted, laughter ripping from his throat at what he considered a really funny joke. "He's delicate."
"Where are your clothes, bro?" Miya sighed out, sending a disgusted glance to the emerald haired man as he began to flex his arms.
"Not in front of the kids, now." Hoshiko giggled, skating up behind Miya and gently placing her hands in front of boy's eyes. Earning a quiet shriek in surprise from Miya, until he calmed himself upon realizing who it was. "Joe's an odd one, for sure. Better to not question him, that's what I've learned."
"He's charring his chesticles for locals in heat." Cherry retorted, sending a snide glance to the man himself as Hoshiko began to laugh uncontrollably. Her board wobbling at first from not paying attention to where she was going. "Such a thirsty gorilla."
"Huh?" Joe clapped back, clenching a fist and throwing it to the sky as the girl began to laugh at him and at Cherry's joke. "Who's thirsty?"
Horn blaring behind them, it appeared Shadow had finally caught up with the group in the car he rented. Bags packed snugly into the backseat, he shouted for someone to switch out with him. Insisting it was his turn to skateboard.
"Seriously, there's three other adults here. All of you are older than me!" Shadow protested. "Someone else's turn to drive!"
"Hoshiko, you're the teacher." Joe shrugged. "Think she should do it. She's the most responsible."
"You're the elder, why don't you?" Cherry snapped back, raising an eyebrow to the man as he began to race ahead.
"Nice try, but I'm not adulting today!"
With those as his final words, Joe skated far ahead of the group, surpassing Reki and Langa within seconds. The man pressed one foot to the ground and launched himself high above a near by rock, hollering in excitement as he begun to spun through the air. Sun sitting behind him outlined his figure perfectly, and Hoshiko was sure the image had managed to become burned into her brain. He looked so.. carefree, content and so, so happy. Deciding to take a page from his book, Hoshiko pushed herself ahead. Laughter spilling from her mouth as swayed side to side.
"What're you kids waiting for?" She questioned, glancing between Reki and Langa as she soon passed them up too.
With an oncoming stairwell steadily approaching, using her foot as leverage, she leapt herself and her board into the air. Performing a kickflip as she planted herself onto the guardrail, grinding all the way down until her board managed to find solid ground once more. She let out a chuckle as the board almost knocked from beneath her feet upon landing. A spike of adrenaline rushing through her veins as she slowed down, allowing the group to catch back up.
"That was.." Langa began, staring at his teacher with wide eyes. "I've never seen any of you skate before, that was really cool."
"I've only seen her once, I'm still not over it." Reki almost gushed as he caught back up. "That was sick, Ms. Saito! I can't wait to go on and try-"
"Reki, no." Langa grabbed the boy by his good wrist, holding him back before he had the chance to race ahead. "You're here to recover. Don't make this a worthless trip."
"Are you my mom now?" Reki sighed out, clearly disappointed he couldn't quite join in on the fun.
"He has a point." Cherry added. "You came out here to get better."
"We just care" Hoshiko nodded along. "And you should too, Reki. I'll stop doing reckless stuff too. Recovering should be your main focus on this trip. The faster it's over with, the faster you'll get back out there."
"Yeah, yeah.."
"Reki! Look, on your left! " Langa interjected, excitedly pointing toward the sea as the sun beams seemed to gleam against the water. "It's a beach!"
"Yup." Joe shrugged, everyone soon distracted by the glistening water. "That's what it is."
"He's new." Miya tried to explain.
"Moved here from the mountains." Reki continued. "So I doubt he's seen the ocean much."
"I can't imagine." Hoshiko mumbled out, mesmerized by the water herself. She always had been. Imagining a world where she didn't see it almost everyday felt so.. strange. "So let's take him then."
"A real beach!" Langa exclaimed, shooting himself ahead of the group as quickly as she managed to utter those words. Apparently, the boy had been planning on going there whether or not his little friend group decided to join. She tried to stifle her little laugh as the boy rushed toward it.
This could be fun.
__________________________________________
Thankful she brought her bag on her back, Hoshiko disappeared to the public restrooms to get changed. Even trying to egg Cherry on to come join her in the water, but the man was pretty persistent on relaxing by the shore under his parasol as he had been. Nevertheless, just wanted his friend to enjoy her time. When she returned from the washroom, the kids had already made their way into the water. The way Langa's eyes gleamed as he splashed around made her heart feel so full, seeing them so happy. They deserved that.
Taking a seat on the spare Towel that Cherry had lied beside him, she noticed the pink haired man had already managed to get himself comfortable enough. Snagging a lawn chair for his own and retrieving a good book to read to keep himself occupied. Soon enough she was holding her stomach in uncontrollable laughter as Shadow launched Miya into the air, surprising the boy by coming up behind him. While Shadow was taunting the poor kid, Reki had come up behind him and pushed him into the water. All the while, Langa happily floated atop an innertube.
"What's so funny, Hoshiko?" A voice came from behind her, latching it's arms around her bare waist and hoisting her into the air. "Laughing at other people getting dunked, I think it's your turn."
"Put me down!" She protested, hands frantically hitting Joe's back as he laughed it off. "Seriously, put me down!"
"I mean, if you insist." He replied, smug look on his face as he dropped her directly into the water.
As she emerged, a pissed look on her face as she pushed her now wet hair from her eyes, he gulped.
All of the boys gulped, with the exception of Cherry, who only smiled as he assumed Joe would get what's coming to him.
"Run!" Reki shouted, scrambling forward as he tripped over the water. "Run for your lives!"
"What're you kids so scared of?" Joe continued laughing on as the woman slowly approached him. "Come on and face her like a man!"
Like a man.
"You really screwed up this time!" Shadow shouted, mouth dropped as he high tailed it out of there.
To Shadow, this was no joke. The man grabbed Miya so fast, and sprinted out of the sea with Langa and Reki trailing close behind them. All shooting horrified glances to one another as Hoshiko leapt onto Joe's back, taking the man down as he was distracted by their frantic screaming.
"Like a man!" The woman shouted, wrapping her legs around Joe's neck as she pushed him deeper beneath the sea. "Face me like a man, Kojiro!"
As sinister as it might've sounded or seemed, Joe was laughing his heart out. Eventually having enough of her antics, he pulled himself above the water, the woman still sitting on his shoulders. He shoved her off, letting her smack into the ocean as he laughed uncontrollably. The two began to wrestle with one another, fingers interlocked as they pushed against the other. Soon Reki and Langa had come up from behind the both of them, pulling their feet from under their bodies and letting them plop back into the ocean.
It really was a lot of fun.
When Hoshiko returned to the shore, she asked Cherry once more if he was for certain he hadn't wanted to join in, but it appeared the man was half asleep within his chair. Book pressed tightly to his chest, sweat on his brow from the heat. He at least appeared comfortable. So he wiped a loose strand of hair from his forehead, and left him to relax by visiting the spot Shadow had set up for the boy's. If she were honest, she was relieved to see they'd come all this way with an adult. Even if her and Shadow didn't always see eye to eye, he appeared responsible enough. Handing each of the kid's a bottle of water from the cooler he'd brought with.
Langa was fidgeting with Reki's bandages, having a tough time managing to get the news one to stick to the boy's damp skin. Hoshiko came in clutch, asking for permission to help, the kid's agreed. She used a spare towel to pat dry Reki's arm, as gentle as she could not to hurt the kid. Slowly, she unraveled the bandages and began to wrap Reki's arm back up for him. All the while, Miya happily played on his Nintendo Switch while snacking on a popsicle.
"Hey, have you guys seen Joe?" Shadow questioned the group, sitting himself onto the sand while he ate away at the blueberry snowcone he purchased.
"He's over there." Reki replied, pointing a finger with his free hand while rolling his eyes.
Once more, surrounded by beautiful woman.
All happily tugging on his shoulder with pretty pink smiles present on their lips.
Jealousy was such an ugly thing.
"Damn his abs." Shadow muttered out, fist clenched as he looked to the man. "And right in front of you like that. I mean, seriously?"
Hoshiko felt the air leave her lungs.
"Right in front of who?" Reki questioned, raising his brow. "He does that sort of thing in front of us all the time. We're pretty used to it by now."
"Not you, you brat." Shadow rolled his eyes, snagging another bite. "In front of Star."
"What?" All three of the boy's questioned in unison, staring toward the woman with a confused look as she tried her best not to meet their watchful eye. Trying to hurry along and finish bandaging Reki's injury so she could go back to hiding with Cherry.
"Think you've got it all wrong, Shadow." She replied, forcing a weak chuckle from her lips. "It doesn't bother me at all, really. I mean, why would it?"
"You for serious?" He replied, clearly not convinced. "No way. I'm so gonna go over there!"
"Don't go over there." Reki sighed out. "You'll just make it worse."
"By doing what?"
"Help! Joe! That old guy scares me!" Reki called out, making his voice super high-pitched in an attempt to impersonate one of the women. Hanging onto Langa's shoulder, the poor boy didn't realize he was supposed to be playing along with Reki's little show. "Joe? Are you listening to me? I'm scared."
"Oh!" Langa shook his head, grabbing back at Reki with a stern face before dropping his own voice a couple octaves. "Don't worry, bae. I'll protect you."
Shadow didn't seem too impressed by their performance, but Hoshiko was heeling over in laughter after they finished. Applauding the boy's on a job well done, she went to put the spare bandages away by the cooler. While she was there, asking Miya how was his video game was going and if he needed another water while she was up. The boy stared at her for a moment, slowly nodding upon the offer of a water and accepting it.
For a brief moment, her eyes found their way back to Joe. Still surrounded by those same women with his infamous smirk plastered on his face. Shadow was still mumbling about his ridiculous it was - insisting Hoshiko go over there and beat him up, or something. She tried to keep it all jokes at first, until it felt like too much to keep listening to.
"Just let it be." Her sudden sternness caused the man to sit still. "We aren't like that, I said it already. He can flirt with whoever he wants. Doesn't bother me none."
If it wasn't obvious before that it bothered her, it certainly was now.
"So dumb.." Miya blurted, pushing himself from the sand and marching his way toward Joe without a second thought.
"Where are you?" Reki began, watching the boy walk away as Hoshiko wandered her way back over to Cherry. Not a clue in her head about what the boy was about to do. "Miya, what're you doing?"
In the midst of his flirting, Joe was just about to ask two of the girl's out for dinner later. Running fingers through his damp hair, they seemed more than accepting of the idea when all of a sudden, there was a tug at the edge of his swim trunks.
"Daddy!" Miya called out to the man, crouched onto the ground next to him to appear smaller than he already was.
The three adults froze in their tracks, the two women sending a concerned and confused glance toward Joe.
"Mommy's mad." Miya spoke up, pointing a finger across the beach to one person in particular. "She said if you don't come back, she'll kill you."
Reluctantly, Joe's eyes followed to where the young boy had been pointing; a woman with pale skin, hands slowly tracing against her body as she applied more sunscreen to her skin. His gaze had managed to get caught against her collarbone as she wiped the last of the cream against her neck, fingers snaking up to pull her damp white locks up and out of her face.
A blush so red burned against the man's cheeks as he found himself ogling the stranger. The women to his left more than disappointed in not only this newfound discovery, but his reaction to the women in question. As his eyes found their way to her own pale grey ones, they made eye contact. Hoshiko. Upon noticing his stare, she was blushing too. Ripping the towel from the sand, she wrapped it tightly around herself. Chucking the bottle of sunscreen directly at the man.
"That is so not your mom!" Joe shouted to the kid, letting out an audible grunt as the sunscreen managed to hit him right in the gut. Reki and Shadow quietly cheered from the sidelines at her impeccable aim.
"Dude's a dad." One of the woman whispered to the other. Unimpressed and unenthused by the man in front of him, muttering about how cruel it was to try and cheat right in front of his kid and his wife.
"He's not my kid." Joe tried to defend himself, a weak laugh escaping his lips as a water bottle was chucked at the back of his head. "Ow!"
"Please!" Miya called out, latching onto Joe's shoulder for dear life. Faking tears in his eyes. "Don't take Daddy away!"
"What is wrong with you? Is this a prank, you damn kid?" He retorted, trying his best to pull Miya from off of him. "Wait! Come back! Senoritas.. please."
With the two women now far away, not daring to look back. Joe was brought to his knees, sulking in the sand as Miya finally unclipped himself from the man. Shadow and Reki weren't far behind at all, chanting and cheering for this victory while Miya appeared to be wearing some sort of victorious grin. Yet, the boy tore his gaze from Joe. Seeing as he won. Instead he glanced over to Hoshiko, who had already managed to pack up most of her things and was waking Cherry up so they could leave.
"You idiot." Miya blurted, slapping Joe directly on the back. "You really hurt her feelings."
"What're you talking about, kid?" Joe retorted. "You just hurt mine! Lost the chance of bagging two seriously hot babes because of your little stunt."
"If you want to keep flirting with girls, be my guest. At least have the decency not to do it around her."
"W-What?" Joe was confused at first, until he glanced up to where Miya was looking. Noticing the white haired girl still wrapped up in a towel as she trudged away from the beach with her skateboard hanging off of her shoulder, not even waiting for Cherry to catch up with her.
"She deserves better than that." Miya muttered while pushing his hood back onto his heed, retrieving his Switch from it's spot and plopping himself back onto the blanket. "Can't believe I'm surrounded by such stupid slime."