Destined to be Lovers

The jockeying between Winfield and Sommer for the Talbot girl's attention continued to provide entertainment for us all. I guess I was just like Winfield and Sommer during my teen years and early twenty's. Somewhere in the past five years or so, I seem to have out grown the skirt chasing, hormone driven pursuit of female companionship. Not that I didn't care for female companionship anymore. I enjoy sex just as much as most guys. However I had found that love and feelings for my partner made sex so much more enjoyable. That sex without a meaningful relationship with your partner was little better than masturbating, and emotionally unfulfilling.

The Winfield/Sommer competition continued unabated. The two guys flanked the Talbot girl wherever she went. It was as if she had a pair of body guards. And she reveled in all of the attention that she was getting. But it seemed as if she was beginning to favor Winfield. I just hoped that the loser wouldn't cause a scene in front of the rest of the group. Although I think we all expected some sort of blow up to take place sooner or later.

Sayuri had kept up an almost non-stop dialogue, explaining the various sights to us as well as answering all of our questions. For the most part, the questions were what one would expect. Such as, what was that interesting building that we had just passed. Where was the imperial compound? How big was Tokyo? That sort of stuff. Until Jimmy Sommer, asked if Sayuri was single and available for a date? That caused everyone to laugh and shake their heads. Sommer's question also revealed that he had given up on the Talbot girl.

Sayuri smiled and replied, "Thank you for asking but sorry, I have boy friend." And she then looked at me and smiled.

I was surprised and uncertain if she really did have a boyfriend but then remembered what she had said about her past relationships. As I continued to look at her, Sayuri nodded her head and smiled again. It made me feel happy and I smiled and nodded my head in return.

Our tour bus deposited us at the Shinjuku Train Station. Sayuri led us through the building and got us all onto the departure platform. She had us form up behind a four foot long yellow line painted on the side of the platform, explaining that our car would be stopping and its door would open right there. And after existing passengers got out of the car, that we would have about two minutes to get on.

Talk about efficiency; our train pulled in to the station almost exactly to the minute that it was supposed to. And, our car stopped right in front of us and the door opened right in front of the yellow line. Wow!

We all managed to get on board and seated within the time allotted to us. Seating in our car was really nice. The seats were double seats on both sides of the car with high backs and an arm in between. Very comfortable. It was similar to sitting in an airplane.

Winfield had apparently just told Sommer to sit where the Talbot girl was supposed to sit and it was very apparent that he wasn't happy about that at all. So he dropped himself into an empty seat and glared at the twosome. Oh well. Life is tough.

I found my seat up towards the front of the car. It was the window seat of the two in that row. Sayuri was busy trying to make sure that everyone was seated before she plopped herself down next to me.

"Peter-san, okay I sit with you?" she asked.

"Most definitely. Please." I replied.

As she sat, our train eased out of the station and began making its way north. Sayuri referred to some of her notes, then let all of us know that our next stop would be in Hachinohe where we would overnight before catching a local express to Sapporo. She explained that the Shinkansen bullet train line did not extend beyond Hachinohe hence the need to transfer over to a local. Our luggage would be waiting for us at the hotel.

She also let us know that we could move around the car if we wanted to, and that our lunch would be served shortly. And it was. We had a choice of a delicious chicken croissant sandwich and salad, or a lunch box with fish and chicken. I chose the croissant sandwich and found it to be surprisingly good. I was expecting the type of food that an airline would normally feed its passengers and I was happily surprised by its quality.

After lunch, Sayuri and I had a few moments to chat with each other.

"You ride Shinkansen before?" she asked.

"Hai. I've ridden it from Tokyo to Fukuoka several times over the years."

"Fukuoka? Why you go Fukuoka?"

"To visit my ojisan (uncle) and his family."

"You have family in Fukuoka?"

"Yes. My uncle had accompanied obaachan (grandmother) to visit family in Japan just before the war broke out. He is the oldest son in the family so obaachan asked him to bring her to Japan to visit our relatives. He was here in Japan when the war broke out. Because he was an American citizen, obaachan's family hid him for most of the war. It would have been trouble if he had been discovered, even if he was only a teenager at the time."

"Yes, I understand, would be big trouble."

"Well, uncle met aunty during the war and they fell in love and they married, and he decided to stay here. Obaachan returned home to us after the war. My parents and I try to bring obaachan to visit every year."

"Your obaachan lucky to have good family bring her to visit."

"It is the right thing to do. Obaachan is very old and I don't think she'll be able to travel much in a year or two. And my ojisan enjoys our visits very much also. He has a large family so it's very expensive for him to bring his family to Hawaii to visit."

With that, Sayuri got up to see how the rest of our group was doing as well as to answer any questions that they might have. As she walked along the aisle, Sommer asked her if she would be interested in having dinner with him when we got into Hachinohe.

"Mr. Sommer, thank you for asking. But as I say before, I have boyfriend already. Okay?"

I could see Sommer pouting; expressing his disappointment or frustration at his lack of female companionship. I couldn't blame him for trying for a date with Sayuri as she really is a beautiful woman.

About ten or fifteen minutes later, Sayuri returned to sit next to me. As she did, she lifted the arm rest between our chairs and slid over. I took her hand in mine, and glanced at her. She looked at our joined hands, then intertwined our fingers and smiled back at me.

Sommer chose to make his appearance at that moment.

"So is he your 'boyfriend?'"

"Hai, Peter is boyfriend."

"No way. I saw him come out of the terminal. He's just a tourist just like the rest of us."

"But, he is my boyfriend. Ok?"

"B-b-but......"

"Mr. Sommer, Sekimura-san is my boyfriend. He come visit and see Sapporo, too. You don't like? I'm sorry. But Peter is my boyfriend. Now, please don't bother. You understand?"

It was as if Sommer's balloon finally popped. His male ego appropriately bruised and chastised, he dragged his tail back to his seat. But Sayuri was a little put out by Sommer's attitude. Her body language and the tightness of her grip of my hand were indications of how upset she had become.

"I'm sorry Sayuri."

"Peter, you don't apologize. Sometime men like Sommer-san come tour. I have to handle. Don't like but happens."

"But still,....."

"Peter, you are gentleman. Sommer-san not. In short time I know you, I like you very much. Ok with you be my boyfriend?"

I smiled at her, "only if it's ok with you to be my girlfriend."

Sayuri smiled back and impulsively gave me a quick peck on my lips. "Is very ok."

The rest of our trip to Hachinohe was uneventful. Prior to our arrival in Hachinohe, Sayuri explained to all of us that the train station was attached to the lobby of the hotel that we would be staying overnight in. So all we needed to do would be to walk over to the hotel and check in. And that's what we did.

Our train arrived on time and it took all of us less than five minutes to walk through the train station and into the hotel lobby. Registration was a non-event again as everything seemed to be ready and waiting for us.

I held back and let others register before me. Sayuri was darting back and forth, making sure that everyone got their rooms. And before I knew it, it was just Sayuri and me left to check in.

So I went up to the Registration Counter and checked in. As the desk clerk was handing me my key envelope, Sayuri took it and briefly looked at my room assignment. After a quick verbal exchange between the desk clerk and Sayuri, my key envelope was exchanged for another.

"I change your room, Peter."

"Oh?"

"Yes, this room better."

"You didn't have to do that, Sayuri. Any room would do."

"No, this room better. Next to my room." She smiled.

I smiled back at her and grabbed her around her waist. She squealed in surprise before I was able to give her a quick kiss which made her blush furiously.

"Peter, not here."

"Why not?" I could see the desk clerk smiling broadly at Sayuri's embarrassment.

"Everyone can see."

"And?" I countered before I hugged her to me again and kissed her again; this time taking my time. As we kissed, I could feel the tension caused by our first kiss to drain out of her. She stood limply in my arms. Her eyes closed slowly as she leaned into our kiss; molding her body against mine, her arms now comfortably hugging me.

As we broke apart, she leaned her forehead against my chin for a few moments before she looked into my eyes and smiled, "I think I like be your girlfriend."

With that, we left the lobby and went up to our rooms. We went to her room first and walked in. Her luggage was already in her room. She had a nice view out her window of the mountain side surrounding Hachinohe. As she stood before the window, I took her in my arms and we kissed again.

"Peter, ....... please. I enjoy ..... this. But I have to be tour guide. So maybe later we kiss? Ok?"

I smiled, then quickly kissed her again, "I understand Sayuri. Work comes first. But afterwards...." and I wiggled my eyebrows as I left that statement unfinished.

She laughed, "Not that easy get into my panties."

"Oh? Get into your panties? What a great idea.... Hmmm."

She laughed again then kissed me. "I like my boyfriend. He funny and gentleman ..... I hope."

We went to my room next door where I dropped off my carry-on's. After that, we proceeded downstairs to one of the floor level restaurants where our entire group was supposed to be assembling for dinner. And what a dinner it was.

The restaurant we dined at was well known for its seafood. And, there was no shortage of crab, scallops, shrimp and fish dishes that night. I was overwhelmed by the spread that had been prepared for us! We ate like royalty.

After dinner, Sayuri let everyone know to come back to the hotel restaurant for breakfast by 7:00am. We should be packed and have our bags outside our doors before going down to breakfast as porters would be picking up our bags for transport to Sapporo as we ate.

And with that, everyone was free to roam. Sayuri and I ended up strolling through the train station's mall. It was more like a large shopping mall with several levels of all sorts of stores and restaurants. We weren't out for more than an hour when Sayuri suggested that we return to our hotel and sleep as we had an early start the next morning. So we did.

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We returned to our hotel and I escorted her back to her room. As she unlocked her door, she turned, "I had good time today. Thank you Peter."

"I really enjoyed our time together also. May I?" I asked as I hugged her and slowly brought our lips together. Our kiss was soft and gentle, and as her lips parted, our tongues came together, prolonging our kiss.

When we finally came up for air, Sayuri's face was flush. "Peter...." she whispered, "I ..... I ....." leaving her sentence unfinished as she searched for the right words to use.

"I think the English word is 'Wow'" I smiled in return.

Sayuri nodded her head and smiled. "Hai. That right word." Then she smiled mischievously as she brought her lips next to my ear and whispered, "I was tell you, you make panties wet." Then she quickly kissed my ear, smiled broadly, retreated into her room and closed her door as she laughed.

I burst out laughing in the hallway! I liked this woman. I really did! She definitely had the 'joie de vivre' in her. I made her panties wet! Ha! That was funny, exciting, erotic and sexy all rolled together. She made me hard with that simple statement!

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We were up bright and early the next day. Everyone met for breakfast and then we were off to catch our local express train up to Sapporo. The trip to Sapporo took about an hour and a half and as before; excruciatingly on time. I know that others joke about how you can set your watch by the trains in Japan, but they really are that dependable. Upon arrival in Sapporo, we took a bus to our hotel and arrived just before lunch time.

As we checked into the hotel, Sayuri informed us that we would be meeting in the hotel restaurant in about an hour so we could have lunch. Then she would conduct a briefing of what we would be doing over the next three days. After that, we would be leaving on a city tour with a tram ride up to the top of Mt. Moiwa for a dazzling view of the city prior to our return to the hotel for dinner.

As before, Sayuri made sure that our rooms would be next to each other's. And so they were when we went up to the room to refresh ourselves before returning to the lobby. I saw Sayuri to her door and gave her a quick kiss before I went to my room to freshen up a bit.

I entered my room and was pleased that it had a view of the snow covered mountain range just outside of Sapporo. I pulled the drapes back and could see several ski resorts off in the distance. As I was admiring the view, I heard knocking at my door.

I went to the door and opened it and found no one outside. Puzzling ..... but the knocking continued, this time with muffled laughter; and it seemed that the knocking was coming from inside my room. Spinning around, I then noticed that there was a door set in the wall that usually meant that there was an adjoining room. Pulling it open I found a laughing Sayuri!

"Was anyone there?" she laughed.

I laughed with her and lunged to grab her around her waist and brought her quickly into an embrace. I smiled as she put her arms around my neck.

"I can see that I have a live one here." I replied.

"Live one? How you mean?" she asked.

"Live one as someone who enjoys her life."

She looked me in my eyes and replied, "Hai. Yes. I try enjoy my life as I can. Otherwise is sad, no?"

Then we kissed. A quick, soft meeting of our lips; a momentary pullback as we looked at each other for a long moment, before our lips and tongues met again for an extended caress.

"Peter," she whispered as our lips finally parted, "you make me wet again."

"How wet?" I asked.

"Very. I must change."

"Can I help?" I asked.

She laughed and pushed me away. "No. You must behave. Ok? Otherwise I must shut door."

I gave her my best 'sad puppy' look as I replied "ok,.... I'll behave," before I grabbed her again and kissed her. And she kissed me back.

"Ok, I'll let you freshen up before we meet up with others. Do you want me to close this door?"

She gave me a long look before replying, "Peter, you gentleman. I trust you. So keep door open between our rooms." So we did for the duration of our stay.

She freshened up and did change her panties, although she used her bathroom to do that. I used the time to use the facilities myself before unpacking and hanging some of my clothes up. She came into my room when she finished and we hugged.

"Come my boyfriend. Let's go."

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We met up with everyone in the hotel restaurant and had a quick meal. We then proceeded to the lobby where we loaded onto a bus for our city tour. The bus took us all over Sapporo as Sayuri once again took up her tour agent responsibilities. Her running narrative informed us of all the sights to take in as we passed by.

Our first stop was at Yomiuri Square where they had a series of magnificent ice carvings. The city sponsors an ice carving contest each year and invites everyone to enter. These particular carvings were of zoo animals; bears, zebras, penguins, snow leopards, and lions. They were very well done and magnificently displayed with the afternoon sun sparkling off of the icy surfaces.

Then we stopped off at the Mt. Moiwa tramway and rode it up the mountain where we were treated to a spectacular view of Sapporo. I could see that it would also be a fantastic view at night with the lights of the city providing a blanket of twinkling lights.

Our next stop was at the Winter Food Park whose ice carving displays featured the work of a local elementary school each year. This year the kids had made a series of hentai-like (Japanese cartoon) likenesses of the students who made up their student council, with captions written in ice underneath. And it looked as if there were several girl figures who were driving a boy figure crazy. Sayuri explained that the student council members were all girls except for the vice president who, as the lone boy, was tormented unceasingly by the girls. We all had a good laugh with that. With that, Sayuri let the group roam through the park for the next hour.

The food park featured a series of food booths that featured many local specialties. Sayuri encouraged me to sample as many of them as I could. So I did. I think my favorite was the grilled scallop on a half shell. Although I have to say that the braised salmon with local vegetables came in a very close second.

We were leisurely strolling back to the bus and were just about to pass a fortune teller's shop when Sayuri grabbed my hand and dragged me into the shop.

"Konbanwa (hello)," she called out as we entered the store front.

A muted reply came from the back of the shop followed by an old woman who appeared a few moments later.

"May we have fortune told?" Sayuri asked.

Now if there's one thing that almost all Asians are fanatical about, it's having their fortune told. Most Asians tend to be obsessed when it comes to wanting to know their future. Whether it was going to be good or if there were storm clouds on their horizon, they wanted to know what the future held for them. And Sayuri was no different.

The old woman led us to several comfortable chairs that surrounded a circular glass table and asked to see Sayuri's hands. She peered at them; tracing several lines in her palms. Then she gestured for my hands as well.

She took them and gazed at my palms, then quickly reached for and brought one of Sayuri's hands next to mine. After starring at both of our hands for more than a few minutes she released our hands and sat back in her chair.

"You," and she pointed to both of us, "you together. You marry?" she asked.

Sayuri blushed, "no we just meet. But we friends."

The old woman smiled, "good you meet. Your hands say, you belong each other. See?"

And she proceeded to point out the similarities between our palms; lines which traversed our palms, lines that stopped, and lines that merged with others. What they meant; good and bad. Sayuri was taking all of this in quite seriously. I really wasn't sure what to think.

The old woman sensed that I remained skeptical so asked for our birthdates. It was then that I discovered that Sayuri was four years younger than I was. The old woman wrote our birthdates down then went to the back of her store and returned a few minutes later with an old, worn, leather bound book; its pages yellowed by age and edges frayed from years of use.

"This book very old. My grandmother give my mother. My mother give me when she die," the old woman explained as she opened the book. She carefully leafed through the book and looked up Sayuri's birth date first and bookmarked it. Then she checked what she had written down as my birth date, turned to that page, and excitedly exclaimed, "so ka! (that is so)." She looked at us with happy eyes. Sayuri leaned forward expectantly waiting for the old woman to say something.