Summer: Beach Trip, part 1
Kotoko leaned against the train window and watched the scenery fly past. Her hand was warm in Taketo's and his head rested drowsily on her shoulder. Jinko and Satomi and their dates were in similar positions.
It had been a month and a half since the fight outside the library and her subsequent rededication to Taketo. Not that it had been pleasant at home—Mrs. Irie had cried and remonstrated with her and in general tried every trick in the book to change Kotoko's mind. Even though Irie-kun was currently living away, he might as well have been there since Mrs. Irie mentioned him constantly. At least twice a week his mother had nagged him to come for dinner, invitations which he had declined, to Kotoko's relief. It was no wonder that he had taken a job at the country lodge belonging to Sudo-sempai's aunt.
Her father and Mr. Irie had wisely chosen to remain out of the line of fire, using noncommittal grunts and feigned incomprehension whenever Mrs. Irie asked for backup for her arguments. They also found it expedient to ignore her by hiding behind newspapers or becoming extremely interested in a televised sports event.
To Kotoko's surprise, Yuuki-kun appeared to be sympathetic to her situation. After the first few days of Mrs. Irie's incessant barrage, he stopped referring to her as "baka" whenever he encountered her and would sometimes loudly interrupt a tirade to ask for seconds at dinner. He would nod in response to her grateful smile afterwards.
The announcement that she and her friends and their boyfriends were taking an overnight trip to the beach had made the atmosphere even more unpleasant. She had managed to weather the storm at home, however, by garnering her father's permission ahead of time with her assurance that there would be separate rooms for the boys and girls. So she let nothing Mrs. Irie said break her calm, although it bothered her a little that she ceased railing after only two days. However, she optimistically decided to take it as a sign that Mrs. Irie was finally coming to terms with her new social life. She did wonder what Yuuki-kun meant when he whispered before she left to "watch her six". Six what? Six people? Six bentos? Boys could be so confusing, and Irie ones more than most.
Luckily, by the time their connecting bus deposited them at their hotel near Hayama-Isshiki beach, the rooms were already available. The young people lost no time in changing and heading for the beach, just a short hike away. After staking out a spot on the sand with bags and rented chairs, the group splashed around in the water, the more adventurous swimming out and the rest staying near shore.
After all partook of a snack at mid afternoon, they split up into couples. Jinko and Narasaki dug in the sand for shells, while Satomi and Ryo wandered down the beach hand in hand.
Kotoko and Taketo settled themselves in a pair of air rings and paddled out until they were beyond the toddlers and youngsters in the shallows. They floated lazily for some time; every now and then one of them would point to or comment on something happening on shore. After drifting apart for awhile, Taketo maneuvered his ring next to hers and took her hand. He rested his head on the ring and turned to smile at her.
"The sun will be setting in a couple of hours. Are you getting hungry?"
Kotoko laughed. "You know that I am always hungry, Take-kun. What's for dinner?"
He tugged her closer. "Silly. We're at the ocean. What else would we eat but seafood?"
She leaned toward him with a smile. "I knew tha—Ow!" A large beach ball hit her in the head, and they let go of each other's hands, startled.
"Sorry! So sorry!" A woman with a large hat covering improbably red hair and wearing oversized sunglasses shouted at them in a strange accent. "My mistake!"
Taketo retrieved the ball and heaved it her direction. "No problem!" he called.
He and Kotoko paddled until they could clasp hands again, but a few minutes later the same ball landed on Taketo's chest.
"What the—" he exclaimed. He threw the ball back at the same loudly apologetic woman. A few minutes later she struck again.
"What is her problem?" he muttered. "Kotoko-san, let's give this up. We'll never be able to relax while that uncoordinated person is around."
"Okay," she cheerfully agreed.
They turned over and kicked their way to shore and handed over the rings to Jinko and Narasaki, who decided to venture into the water despite Taketo's warning of beach ball attacks.
"Strange," he commented a quarter hour later. "Now that we're out of the water, she has disappeared. Just our luck."
"That's all right," Kotoko told him. "The water was making me a little chilled. I'm happy just to lie down in the sun."
"You're cold?" he asked in concern. "Here, scoot over". They lay side-by-side and he rested her head on his shoulder. "Now, warm up quickly, and take a little nap if you need to. We might check out the night life around here later."
"Okay," she agreed with a smile and closed her eyes. He did the same and was just drifting off when a large quantity of freezing cold liquid hit his abdomen.
"Son of a—!" He leapt up to see the red-headed lady in full retreat waving and calling out, "Sorry! Sorry!"
Kotoko sat up and reached for the towel before dropping it to laugh. "Take-kun, we have to go back in the ocean, we're sticky now!"
"Ah," he said, turning to her, "you got splashed too?"
"Not as much as you. Come on."
Hand in hand they ran and dunked themselves under. Jinko and Narasaki were headed to shore and met them as they rinsed themselves off.
"Who was that clumsy person? Narasaki asked. "We saw that pratfall halfway out the bay."
"I don't know," Taketo answered, "but between bouncing balls off us and spilling drinks I think she's trying to keep us apart."
Kotoko laughed, "Don't be silly. Who'd do that?"
Jinko became very still and looked in the direction the woman had headed. "I wonder…" she murmured.