Chapter Fifteen: Sailing Home:

I left the island this morning. The girls and I made a going-away breakfast. It was my idea for some strange reason. I woke up and decided that I wanted pancakes. Noiz happened to have knocked on my door as that thought crossed my mind.

“Good morning,” she said. “Did you sleep well?”

“I want pancakes,” I said.

“Excuse me?”

I looked at her with a childlike look on my face. “Could I please have pancakes before I leave today?”

Noiz smiled as she leaned on the door frame. “Sure.” I flopped back onto the bed, squealing. My cousin laughed at my reaction, but I didn’t care. Cooking with these women made me like them a little bit more. They may have been crazy and too energetic for my taste, but they were pretty chill once you get to know them.

“What kind of pancakes do you want, Bri?” Noiz asked. I tilted my head, thinking.

“Uh… Do we have any chocolate chips?” I asked. “Or cinnamon?” I expected them to say no. To my surprise, Kyoko smiled with a V-sign.

“I’ll see what I have,” she said. In about two minutes, she managed to pull out cinnamon from her cabinet and chocolate chips from her fridge.

“So we are going with chocolate cinnamon?” I asked.

“Is that okay with you?” Ruriko asked. I found myself nodding with intrigue.

“Yeah,” I said. “I actually want to see where this goes.”

“Okay,” Kyoko said. “You know where the aprons are.”

“Yes, I do,” I said. I grabbed the black and red apron I had been using for two weeks. I have to admit; I have actually come to like cooking now. I used to be so lazy and stuff something in the microwave or let my mom do the cooking. Now, I might try to cook some of the recipes when I get back to Washington DC. The scent of the pancakes drew the boys downstairs. I greeted them in the dining room.

“Good morning!” I said. “You’re just in time for breakfast.”

“What are we having?” Tommy asked.

“Chocolate-cinnamon pancakes,” I said. That woke them up with drooling mouths. Breakfast felt like a predictable morning since we first came to stay at Kyoko’s house. Noiz put down her fork.

“So, Bri,” she said. “How did you like the whole Aka-Usagi Island experience?” I smiled as I finished chewing.

“I actually enjoyed it,” I answered.

“Looks like we came here at a great time,” my cousin said.

“Yep.” I took another bite of my breakfast. Funny thing, I actually think that I going to miss these people. They were a bit annoying at first, but they were quite the characters. I am going to miss the beach, catching fish in that small pond, the fireworks, and all of Noiz and Mosh’s new friends. I set down my glass.

“Can we do this again next year?” I asked. All eyes fell on me. I have no idea why I asked this. It just sort of came out.

“Why yes,” Noiz said. “If that is okay with Kyoko-san here.” The hostess of the house put down her fork on her empty plate.

“Of course,” she said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I felt like flying away into the clouds throughout the rest of breakfast.

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Mosh and Noiz accompanied me to the dock for the boat ride home. My cousin looked over her shoulder.

“Did you call your mom?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“That’s good.”

I pushed my hair behind my ear. “What are you going to do when you get back to the mainland?”

“Work.”

I frowned. “That all?”

“Pretty much.”

“Hum.” We didn’t speak as we walked down the now tame street. This island looked so much different now that the festival was over. I wondered what it would be like to vacation on this island during a normal time.

“Hey, Noiz,” I spoke up.

“Yes?” my cousin asked.

“Could we come back to Aka-Usagi when there isn’t a festival?”

“May I ask why?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I just want to see this island when there isn’t a festival.”

Noiz smiled after she gave it some thought. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Nice,” I said. We made it down to the dock just as the boat was pulling up. Mosh, Noiz, and I boarded without a word. As we sailed back to mainland Japan, I couldn’t help but smile. My first summer outside of the states wasn’t bad to be honest with you. I will have to ask my mom if I can come back to Japan and see Noiz and Mosh again. Hey, maybe I could try and stay on the mainland for a little bit before going back to Aka-Usagi. I had to cover my mouth as I giggled at the possibilities.