Just another revision about one of my favorite couples that gets so little attention. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of its characters. I simply use them to further the enjoyment of all.
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Ami sat on her bed in utter boredom. She had finished all the work for her classes for the rest of the year, not that there was that much to do. It was nearing the end of the school year and a lot of the professors were giving less and less work for the students to do. Ami looked out her window, seeing the activity outside of it. It was a gorgeous day, but she had no one to share it with. Usagi was out of town, Rei had chores, and Makoto was shopping with Minako. They had asked her to go but shopping didn't really interest her and so she decided that instead of ruining their day she would just stay home. She thought of possibly taking a walk in the park but most likely she'd just end up sitting on a bench, reading.
She let out a loud groan of frustration. She was tired of being a book worm! She wanted to do something totally unrelated to books and school and anything that had to do with being smart.
She wished that she could think of something, be given some sort of sign that would lead her to interesting activity. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind then doorbell rang. She groaned and rolled of her bed to go answer it, annoyed that someone was disturbing her self-inflicted wallowing. She unlocked the door and threw it open, causing it to slam against the wall. When she saw who it was, all angry words died on her lips.
"Ryo-chan! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, hugging him enthusiastically. Ryo-chan smiled.
"I came here to see a certain girl genius!" he said as if it were something that he did every day. She released him from her grip, standing to the side to let him in.
"I'm so happy to see you! Come in!" She ushered him with her hand. "I was looking for something to do today. I'm so tired of being cooped up."
"It looks like I came at just the right time then. I came to ask you if you wanted to go swimming at the beach since the weather was so amazing today. It was a weekend so I convinced my parents to let me take the train to come see you," he explained. Moving away had made it hard to come see Ami. He missed her so much despite the short time that he had actually lived in the area. They talked frequently because he was one of the few people that knew her secret and the only one who knew that wasn't a sailor scout. Sometimes a non-scout to talk about sailor woes was exactly what she needed. Ryo-chan was happy to help.
"The beach sounds like a great idea," she told him, already looking forward to it. "I've had this book that I've wanted to read and-"
"No," he interrupted her, laying a finger on her lips. She looked at him surprised. "Today we're going to do something I know that neither of us has done," he told her, his finger still warm against her lips. "We are going to act like normal teenagers who go to the beach and swim and eat junk food and play beach volley ball; everything that's totally unrelated to being smart."
Well if this wasn't a sign she didn't know what was."Okay," she conceded, needing little persuasion. "You came at the perfect time, Ryo-chan; it was like you knew what was going to happen." She winked at him and they both chuckled at the joke. They both knew he had seen her get frustrated at life and school and, being the good friend that he was, had come to see her. "I'm just going to go upstairs and change." She ran upstairs, excited not only to be spending a day away from her schoolwork but, more importantly, to be spending it with Ryo-chan.
She had finally admitted to herself that she liked Ryo-kun, really liked him. She'd never liked a boy before because she'd never had the time or just been too shy to actually be able to do something about it. She still didn't have time for a boyfriend but she couldn't deny her feelings for Ryo-chan. Of all the things that Usagi-chan had taught her, she treasured that lesson the most.
As she dressed she contemplated how she would handle the situation. Should she tell him? Would she even have the courage to do so? She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. She would deal with it later. Right now all she needed to remember was that she was spending a day with Ryo-chan, at the beach. She could barely contain her excitement.
She came down a few minutes later wearing her blue swim suit and shorts. Ryo-chan turned around when she came down the stairs and his mouth dropped in shock. The bathing suit showed off how slim she was and the shorts made her legs look like they went on forever, despite her relatively short stature. It was a side of Ami-chan he had never seen before and he couldn't say that he wasn't enjoying it. Ami noticed his stare and blushed slightly.
"What?" she asked, very self-conscious. She had never had a guy look at her like Ryo-chan was right now.
"You look beautiful," he told her without thinking and he cursed silently to himself for letting it slip. He was usually very good at thinking before talking. He wasn't prone to unsystematic commentary, but when it came to Ami-chan he just couldn't help himself. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever met and she muddled all of his senses.
"You shouldn't say things you don't mean, Ryo-kun," she said as she stuffed a towel into a beach bag. Her comment stunned him more than her own. Did she truly believe that he hadn't meant it? That he didn't think she was the most gorgeous person he had ever seen in his entire life? He moved close to her and when she straightened their faces were inches apart.
"You, more then anyone, know that I wouldn't say something that I didn't mean." He said the words softly, letting her absorb the words. Finally he took a step back. "Let's go. At this rate it will be night before we reach the beach." He took her arm and led her out of the house.
--
Ami-chan stepped off the bus and inhaled the salt air. She loved the ocean. Swimming was one of her favorite things to do, though these days it seemed as if she had so little time to do it. It was simultaneously relaxing and invigorating and it was one of the few non-academic things she did, perhaps the only non- academic thing that she did.
They found a spot on the beach and Ami laid the blanket down on the sand. Ryo-kun took off his shirt and threw it on the blanket. Now Ami-chan couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of him and was glad that he was not paying attention to her. He was incredibly well muscled despite the fact that he pushed himself as hard academically as she did. She sighed a little, forgetting that she was staring as she admired him. He looked up and noticed her but instead of blushing, like she was profusely doing at the moment, he held her gaze and smiled. Ami was the first to drop her eyes.
"C'mon, let's go swimming," he suggested, chuckling.
"Right now? We just got here. Don't you want to -AH!"
Ryo-chan had picked her up and hefted her easily over his shoulder.
"Ryo-chan! You better put me down right now! RYO-CHAN!" She pounded his back playfully with her fists trying to get him to let her down, squirming as much as she could. When Ryo was about up to his mid-calves in water she started wiggling violently, trying to break his grip on her. Ryo-chan, not having much purchase on the wet sand, lost his footing and fell into the water, Ami and all.
Ami-chan sat up sputtering, wiping the water out of her eyes. Ryo-kun came up laughing, finding vast amusement in the whole situation. Ami, slightly angry, splashed him and stood up, ready to stalk off. Ryo-chan knew he couldn't let her have the last word so he grabbed her ankles, causing her to once more stumble and land in the water. Ami-chan lunged at him, knocking him backwards. He caught her and stood, Ami cradled in his arms and then walked further out to sea. When the water was hitting his thighs, he lifted her higher and then dropped her into the water. What he didn't expect was for Ami to drag him down with her. Finally, they worked their way back to shore, dunking and splashing each other the whole way, before finally collapsing on the beach at the shore line. Water lapped rhythmically over them. By that time Ami- chan was laughing hysterically, all traces of her previous anger erased.
"Let's go play volleyball, Ryo-chan!" She jumped up, brushed herself off and slid out of the shorts that she was still wearing. Ryo-chan was glad that the water was cold as he watched her strip down to just her swim suit.
"Ami-chan, aren't you the least bit tired?" he asked, closing his eyes as if to block out the sun but it was really to keep himself from staring at her. Ami-chan shook her head until she realized that he wasn't looking at her.
"No way! C'mon or I'm going to beat you to the net." She ran full speed to the group on the beach that was playing Volleyball. Ryo-chan sat up quickly.
"Hey, not fair! You had a head start!" He jumped to his feet and ran after her, pushing himself to catch up to her. She sped up when she saw he was following and soon they were both in a full sprint for the net. For awhile they were neck and neck but Ryo-chan pulled ahead just at the end, beating her, his hand wrapping around the pole of an empty volleyball net. "Ha! Even with a head start I still beat you," he taunted as her hand wrapped around his, mere seconds behind him.
"It's not nice to gloat you know."
"Well you beat me at everything else; it's nice to know I can win at something," he teased her, leaning in close, their hands still touching. "Now what do I get for a prize?"
Ami smiled, then leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Let's go, I want to beat you at volleyball."
Ryo stood there for a minute, huge grin on his face, barely believing that she had just done that. He shook his head and positioned himself on the other side of the net. She did beat him at volleyball, four times. After their game, they walked along the board walk or, rather, walked until they joined a group of kids to play tag. They ate their lunch, casually feeding eat other parts of their meal before moving onto other activities like making a sand castle and playing on the play ground. They swam some more and tried to see who could reach the buoys first; Ami won easily. Apparently swimming wasn't Ryo-kun's strong point. She was lying calmly on the beach, letting her skin absorb some sun, by the time he finally dragged himself out of the water. He plopped himself onto the blanket, lying next to her and breathing heavily.
"Hey, Ryo-chan?" she said, turning her head to look at him.
"Mmm?"
"Thanks for taking me to the beach," she said. Ryo smiled.
"Anytime, Ami-chan, anytime." He sat up and looked down at her, the late afternoon sun hitting her in such a way that it made her look all the more stunning. "We'd better get going. It's getting late," he said reluctantly, though reminded himself that he still had another day to spend with her before he had to go home. At least he hoped he would be able to spend it with her. Ami sat up with him and looked at the horizon where the sun was melding into blues, oranges and purples.
"Can't we stay a little longer? Everything is so gorgeous here."
"Yeah, I know."
Ami glanced at him and noticed that he had yet to look at the sunset but was looking at her as if nothing else existed for him.
"Ryo-chan," she whispered. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her, silencing her. The sun set behind the lovers and somewhere in the back of her mind Ami thought that she should do more things totally unrelated to school.
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This one is not as mushy as a lot of the other stuff I write. It's a little more slow-paced and not quite intense but I think that works well for the characters. They have shy personalities and I think things like this would be much simpler and more subtle. Ami-chan and Ryo-chan make the greatest couple. I wish more people wrote Fic for them.
