Chapter 1
I kneaded my toes in the warm sand under me, a pair of blue flip flops sitting next to me as I sat, listening to the water roar in the background. I took a deep breath of ocean air, loving the way it danced around my senses, the salt hanging heavy in the atmosphere. The warm sun beat down on my back, warming me inside and out. I pulled my legs up so I could rest my head on my knees and watch the waves.
I don't know how long I was in the trance for, the sound and repetitive action of the foaming water lulling me, and my eyes began to shut. I knew I should go, that I would just fall asleep if I stayed here, but I sighed with content as the warmth won, and I released my legs, laying back and resting my arm over my eyes.
I smiled a little as I sunk a little into the dry sand, the heat surrounding my body. Within seconds, I was in a light sleep, the sounds around me fading.
There was a short, bouncing noise and a ball made contact with the arm over my face, and I sat up quickly, my heart pounding as I looked around. A beach ball was laying innocently next to me, and I turned my gaze to search for the owner of the ball. My eyes fell on a pair of guilty looking twins, and I glared at them. "What the hell?" I shouted to them as they ran up the beach. I put a hand on the ball to show them they couldn't grab it back just yet.
They smiled nervously as they neared, their hands up in defense. I blinked at them, allowing my sight to get used to the brightness all over again. They both had swimming trunks on, the one on the right wore orange, and the one on the left wore turquoise. They had auburn hair, parted different ways, and golden amber eyes that were startlingly cat-like. "What was that for?" I said, my voice accusing.
"Sorry," they said in unison, taking a step towards me. "Lost control of the ball I guess."
I narrowed my eyes at the pair of them in annoyance and they stopped moving, then shook my head at them. I picked up the ball next to me and threw it back to them, letting out a breath of air and leaning back once again. "Just watch what you're doing, will you?" I growled, my voice grumpy. They caught the ball easily, but didn't move, still watching me. I laid my arm over my face to show them I was done with them, and tuned back into the waves to catch a couple more minutes of sleep.
"Going so soon?" voices sounded in my ears, one on each side.
I let out a surprised squeak and shot back up instantly. "What the hell!" I yelled at them, rubbing my ears like I could make the moment go away with the action. "You scared me half to death!"
"So?" they asked in unison, their voices showing no hints of remorse.
"So," I groaned, "Do you guys even know the meaning of personal space?"
"Oh, we know the meaning..." the one on my right began.
"...We just couldn't care less," the one on my left finished.
"Well I care," I said abruptly, grabbing my flip flops and standing up. Sheesh, what is their problem? I thought, brushing sand off myself and beginning to walk away.
"Hey, wait up," they said, catching up to me easily. "Where are you going?"
"Away from you," I snarled.
"Well that wasn't very nice," the one on my left spoke again.
I rounded on them, making them stop suddenly, almost tripping into the sand. I had to fight to hold back a smile that was prying at my lips. I did not want them thinking they amuse me. I stuck my hands to my hips, and spoke again, "Yeah, well, I'm not a nice person, what do you want?"
"Uh to start with..." the right.
"...you're name," the left.
"Do you guys always talk like that," I asked, my voice dull, but curiosity getting the better of me.
They tilted their heads simultaneously. "Like how?"
"Like that!" I said, my voice raised. I was getting really frustrated with these two.
"You're avoiding our question." I turned to look at the one on the left as he caught my gaze easily, his entire demeanor putting off a calm aura.
"You tell me your names first," I reasoned, crossing my arms.
"We asked you first," the right one said. He had the same cool stance as his brother, but with slightly more mischief.
I shrugged carelessly. "I guess you don't want to know then," I said, waving and beginning to walk up the beach slowly.
They caught up to me easily, and when I didn't stop moving forward, they walked backwards in front of me so I had to look at them.
"I'm Hikaru," the one on the right stated.
"And I'm Kaoru," said the one on the left.
I looked at them for a moment. They both had kind eyes, but the one on the right- Hikaru- had slightly harder, more guarded eyes. Kaoru seemed more open, but not by much, as he stood close to his brother. When I caught their eyes, they shifted away for the smallest fraction of a second, like they were afraid of something, but met mine again almost instantly.
I tilted my head at them, my gaze sad. "You guys are awfully friendly, but coming from someone who tends to push people away as well, I know when other people are guarded. It's one of the few things I know. You might as well leave me alone," I mutter the last part, pushing past them.
It took them a moment of silence before they were next to me, keeping pace with me. "We're not going anywhere," they said.
I groaned aloud. "Can't you see I want to be left alone," I told them, trying to speed up.
"We don't think you want to be left alone," the one on my right, I think it was Hikaru, said.
"Like you said, you know people who shut people out, right? Well, so do we," Kaoru finished.
"Not because we shut people out," Hikaru hurriedly added, his tone slightly obnoxious.
"Sure you don't. Trust me, I know, I'm pretty good at reading people, you can't lie to me," I snorted. "You can leave now," I shot at them, rather rudely.
"But you're forgetting something!" they said cheerily.
"What?"
"You owe us your name!" they said triumphantly.
I rolled my eyes at the two, "You guys are persistent."
"We told you our names," they complained. "You said you'd tell us yours."
"Ok, but now I want to know something else," I said, smirking a little.
They gave me a suspicious look, but nodded for me to continue. "I want to know if I'm right about you shutting people out," I said, my voice reasonable.
They didn't look surprised, but Kaoru shrugged. "If we shut people out, would we really tell you about it?"
I was about to argue, my mouth open, ready to send them a quick quip back, but I decided to say, "Fair enough."
They looked surprised, but not unpleasantly. "You still owe us your name, though, otherwise we'll be forced to come up with something like Beach Ball Girl," Hikaru snickered.
I shook my head. "Sorry, that information is confidential."
They shared a look and smirked. "What if we did something for you in return?"
"There is literally nothing you could say to make me change my mi-"
"How about ice cream?" they cheered in unison. When my mouth shut instantly, they grinned, knowing they hit a weak point. They moved away from me so that they were standing in front of me once again, leaning on each other.
"A-and why would I want to do that?" I stammered, trying to hold strong.
"Because then we'll tell you what you want to know," Kaoru hurriedly answered, with a short glance to his brother.
"Plus you get ice cream," Hikaru added, ignoring the words his brother had said.
I thought of how good ice cream sounded, especially on a day as hot as this, and sighed in exasperation. "Fine," I groaned. "But don't try anything funny."
"What," Hikaru started.
"Us?" Kaoru finished with a sneaky smile.
I groaned inwardly. Why did I accept their offer again? Oh yeah, ice cream, think of the ice cream.
"Come on," I muttered. "Let's get this over with."
"But wait, we still don't know you're name," Kaoru objected.
"Yeah, we have to know the name of the girl we're going to take to ice cream," Hikaru grinned widely.
"Ugh, what did I get myself into?" I muttered. Their smiles only grew. There was no way out of this. "Fine," I said, dragging the word out dramatically and hanging my arms in front of me in defeat. If I'm going to go down like this, might as well go down with some dignity, I thought, straightening up and holding out my hand."My name's Maiko. It's a pleasure," I drawled the word, "to meet you two."
They grinned right back, each of them taking my hand and shaking it enthusiastically.
Ok, so what did you guys think? Please leave a review and I will probably reupload another chapter soon! (I'm really excited.)
R&R?
