Life Will Change Book 2

Chapter 21: First Day in Sapporo

Begin!

~Normal POV

8/8 - Tuesday

After having to camp at a rest stop the previous night, they'd finally made it to Sapporo today. Just in time for Zenkichi's deadline too. Right away, their suspicions were confirmed by Sophia. There was indeed a Jail here. Now all they had to do was find the suspect Zenkichi mentioned. He didn't tell them to meet him anywhere just yet. Thus, after spending so many hours driving in the camper, they chose to stop at a nearby bathhouse to freshen up first. Makoto especially needed it. (She would never admit it, but all the driving was taking a toll on her physically.) Right now, the boys, minus Morgana, were relaxing in their side of the baths.

"Ahhh... now this is paradise..." Ryuji sighed, contentedly.

"I'll say. The heat has crept into my bones." Yusuke added.

"Really melts the stress away, huh?" Akira said.

"Damn right..." Ryuji replied. "Shame Mona didn't want to join us."

"Eh, he's scouting for intel," Akira said, dismissively. "Besides, he hates water. Giving him a regular bath is hard enough already..."

From the other side of the wall separating the men's baths from the women's, they could hear the girls talking loudly.

"Whoa! Ann, are those CGI?!" Futaba shouted.

Akira snorted at the comment; earning looks from Ryuji and Yusuke. "Sorry, it was the idea that she assumed Ann's weren't real. It's funny." He said, quietly.

"What cheat codes did you use to get those?" They heard Futaba add. "Dieting life-hacks? You're so skinny yet-"

"Will you shut up?" Ann shouted. "Go bother Haru- hers are no different!"

"Haru, not bad!" Futaba said, "You could knock someone flat!"

Akira and Yusuke turned to Ryuji with similar, silent, questioning looks. Ryuji didn't reply, he merely nodded.

"Futaba, I have a boyfriend-" They heard Haru say.

"I know!" Futaba interrupted. "And it ain't hard to see the perks that Ryuji likes best-" She added, jokingly.

"There's far more to it than that-!" Haru shouted.

"Same with you, Ann. Our leader is lucky to be dating a real model."

"Oh, totally, I'm living the dream..." Akira thought, smirking a bit.

"Futaba, be quiet." They heard Makoto say. "We're trying to relax here."

"You girls are so lucky. Meanwhile, I'm flat as a board!" Futaba said, before finally shutting up.

There was a pause before Yusuke said, quietly. "I'm adding that to the list of Things I Never Wanted to Hear Futaba Say..."

"I can imagine that's a long list," Akira said, chuckling. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd agree with everything on it."

~...

They met up outside once they'd finished refreshing themselves. Somehow the girls didn't seem to care that they'd been talking so loud. Perhaps they didn't think the boys could hear them. It didn't matter either way, since nobody would dare bring it up.

"Ahh, that bath was just what we needed," Haru said, contentedly. "Thanks for suggesting this place, Sophia!"

"No prob." Sophia chimed. "Glad I could be of service." Akira's phone started vibrating. "Akira, you have a call from Zenkichi."