Author's Notes: Can't say I didn't miss this story; it was so much fun writing it then and it's still fun revising it now! You guys have also been real supportive with this revitalization XD thank you! Here it is, Read, Review, Rejoice!
~oOo~
Chapter 4:
To The Beach (Again)!
Without the need for air conditioning, the wind carried a comfortably cool breeze through the large guest room. The moon bathed the room in its subtle glow. Even the beds were made of some plush, expensive feeling material. Everything was absolutely perfect!
So why then couldn't Nagisa sleep?
She tried her hardest, looking over at a peaceful looking Tamao from across the room as the blunette lightly snored away in what seemed to be a sweet sleep. The red-head wished she could get her eyes to close that easily. She wished her mind could be put at ease, but right now, every time she closed her eyes, images of Shizuma and Shino would assault her in the momentary pitch-darkness.
So Nagisa was left with one option; she sat in a fetal position, her back against the headboard, watching the clock above the door tick away in hopes that its lulling metronome would put her to sleep. Her lids were heavy, but her body tortured itself with not allowing the weights to fall.
Time crawled by slowly. It seemed like she had been awake for days before her body eventually gave out to fatigue and exhaustion. At around five in the morning, she was finally able to slip between her sheets and force herself to sleep. Even then, her fantasies were engulfed in nightmares. Horrible nightmares that caused Nagisa to awake in fits of panic and whimpering. Nightmares that mostly involved Shizuma leaving in some way or form, and never turning back. It was heart wrenching for her! Still, she continued to desperately fight for a peaceful slumber, pushing herself to fall asleep every time she launched up from another nightmare.
During a particularly long nap, Nagisa was awakened by something other than a bad dream. This time, a knock at the door caused her to stir.
"Tamao-chan, can you get that?" she whined.
After no response and the knock on the door sounding again, Nagisa was growing impatient. She groaned as she got up lazily, wiping away whatever crusts found itself into the corner her eyes. Grumbling to herself, Nagisa pulled the door open to reveal Miyuki standing in the doorway, wearing a blue sundress and a pair of shades that rested atop her head.
"Nagisa, you're not ready yet?" Miyuki asked in her usual motherly tone. "We woke you up more than an hour and a half-ago."
Nagisa shrieked, "You mean that wasn't a dream!"
Miyuki groaned and rubbed her temples. "Well you need to hurry up, we can only wait about thirty minutes more. You didn't forget we were going to the beach did you?"
Yes. She totally forgot. In fact at this point, Nagisa found that the beach was the furthest thing from her mind. But she dared not to tell that to Miyuki and risk getting a lecture that would suck up what little time she had left.
Nagisa bowed graciously. "Thank you for checking up on me. I probably wouldn't have been waking up on my own anytime soon." Miyuki nodded with a smile and turned, leaving the red-head to her preparations.
Nagisa rushed out the room and bolted towards the bathroom, deciding to take a quick shower rather than a bath to avoid wasting precious time. Taking off her clothes and stepping into the large shower, she pulled the curtains across and allowed the refreshing, steamy hot water to cleanse her skin. As the steam caressed her skin she giggled to herself. "I wonder if there'll be a bakery near this beach too. I miss cake already!"
When they were all in the guest room yesterday, she remembered Shizuma mentioning something about wanting to check out another beach this time, claiming that it would be boring to go to the same beach every time. Apparently, the one she had in mind would be a bit of a drive from where they were, but she said it'd be worth it.
Suddenly, Nagisa found that her smile fell into a frown as all the painful feelings from last night snuck up on her. Under her breath, she pleaded, "Shizuma, please don't leave me." She did her best to shake off the negative feelings of depression and turned off the water. She dried off and changed into a cherry red dress.
As she brushed her teeth in the mirror, she heard a knock at the bathroom door. Nagisa rinsed out her mouth and spat into the sink before yelling, "Come in!" The door cracked open slightly and Nagisa could see Shino's reflection from the mirror.
Surprised, she turned towards him and started spouting nonsensical words. "Oh sorry, did I do something wrong?" Shino asked with a slight panic in his voice.
"Uh no, I was just surprised that it was you... is all." ending with a nervous giggle, thinking of how silly she must have just seemed.
"Is that so?" Shino sighed in genuine relief. "Anyway, Miyuki sent me to warn you; ten minutes before we leave."
"Only ten! That took longer than I thought it would!" she yelled as she raced past Shino, barely brushing him.
She ran back to the guest room to retrieve everything she'd need. When she got there, she met Tamao already packed up and heading out. Panicking, she threw all the things out her drawers in search of something. Tamao watched questionably as the frantic red-head threw all her things about the room recklessly.
"Umm, Nagisa-chan-"
"Can't talk now! Must find it!" She didn't take her focus off her search for a second.
"What are you looking for?"
Nagisa let out a frustrated groan and fell back to the floor. "I can't find it." she breathed, defeated.
"Find what?"
"Remember when we were buying our new bathing suits and we both ended up getting two? I said the other one would be a spare."
"Yes, you couldn't decide between the ones you wore yesterday and that set that sort of looked like mine with the cherry print skirt, so you bought both." Tamao recalled the time. "Why?"
"I can't find it. And I didn't wash the other one because I knew I had this spare to rely on. That's what I thought anyway."
Tamao put her finger to her chin thoughtfully before wisely pointing out, "Nagisa, are you sure you took it out your bag yesterday when we were unpacking? It could be in there."
Embarrassed, Nagisa made a dive under the bed to grab one of her bags, the one she was sure she packed the bathing suits in. As soon as she opened it, she noticed the red fabric sticking out of the corner of the bag, still neatly folded in its place.
…
Meanwhile, Shizuma, Miyuki, and Shino were sitting in the limousine parked in the driveway, waiting for Nagisa and Tamao. Of course, some were far more patient than others.
Shizuma hung her feet out the open car door, tapping an impatient rhythm on the concrete beneath them. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her arms were crossed, a small pout gracing her features. She looked like a child being told to wait before she could go to the toy store, except a little more vicious.
Suddenly, Shuizuma roared, "What is taking them so long!?"
Shino rested his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, though it obviously wasn't working. "Don't worry, they still have a few minutes and it's not like the beach is going anywhere." he laughed.
"That's not the problem here." Shizuma whined.
"That's not why she's upset at all Shino." Miyuki pointed out knowingly. "She's only acting like a spoiled child because Nagisa's with Tamao right now."
"It's not that I don't trust Nagisa! It's Tamao that I don't trust!" Shizuma clarified. "We've all seen the way she looks at Nagisa." Shizuma stepped out of the limo and decided, "I'm going to go check on them."
As soon as Shizuma made a move to turn, she felt herself get yanked back into the seat by her wrist. "Geez Miyuki, that actually hurt."
"Stay here Shizuma, anyone but you can go." Miyuki ordered.
"What are you trying to imply my dear Miyuki-chan? That could hurt my feelings." she replied sarcastically with a sly smirk on her face.
"I can't trust you to go. Heaven knows what kind of trouble you'll cause."
Shino stretched over Shizuma and got out of the limo. As he noticed their stares, he felt the need to explain himself. "It's best if I go. Miyuki doesn't trust Shizuma to go, and honestly I don't blame her-"
"Hey!"
"Plus I know that between me and Miyuki, she's the only one that can control Shizuma. You two have been friends for a long time after all." Shizuma sighed while Miyuki nodded her head approvingly, so Shino set off to check on the two girls.
…
Nagisa was almost finished packing and was raring to go. She was relieved when she thought of finally being able to rest after all that rushing around. I mean, what better place to relax than on the beach! Everyone else had already finished and was just waiting on her. Thankfully, Tamao stayed behind long enough to help her decide what she was going to bring which saved her a lot of time.
"I'll go on ahead first and tell them that you'll be on your way shortly." Tamao waved as she exited the room.
Nagisa happily hummed to herself, thinking of all the fun they were going to have on the beach. We'll probably do a lot of swimming, and maybe even some watermelon splitting, considering how eccentric Shizuma can get about these things. Shizuma would probably end up perving around a whole lot too. Remembering the look Shizuma gave her when they first saw each other at the beach, Nagisa started to space out.
Suddenly, a knock on the door snapped her out of her trance-like state. "It's open!", she announced, trying to stuff in the last few things she wanted to bring in her bag.
The door was pushed open slowly, revealing Shino. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he spoke, "Shizuma's getting really impatient and I don't know how long Miyuki can hold her." he laughed. "Are you finished?"
Nagisa giggled as she thought of the irritated face Shizuma must be making right now. She knew how the silver-haired girl got when she was kept waiting too long. Zipping up her bag, she slung it on her shoulder and assured, "I'm ready, let's go!"
…
At the time, Shizuma was acting like a cat that had been locked in a car. Well, it was half-true considering that Rokujou had her on lockdown in the limo. More and more, the silver-haired girl grew impatient and she was finally at the point where it looked like she would explode in a ball of nervous energy any second now. She tried everything to keep herself pre-occupied but now there was no distracting her. Even Miyuki had attempted some random conversation in hopes that it would help, but somehow Shizuma always brought the topics round to Nagisa. Eventually, even the former student council president gave up on this seemingly lost cause. She watched questionably as Shizuma leaned her head against the tinted windows, scratching her nails irritatingly across the glass. Now she really did look like a cat.
Soon the sound of approaching footsteps was able to get her back to normal. "Nagisa?" she exclaimed with all the excitement of a dog as his master returned home. Her smiling face was replaced with a scowl however when Tamao opened the door of the limousine.
"No, it's just me. Nagisa is just about finished though, she'll be out in no ti-" Tamao flinched at the sound of the limousine door being slammed behind an angered Shizuma.
The girl left the vehicle with with a huff and was about to march inside before her path was cut by a gentleman in a black suit. "Lady Shizuma, we must leave immediately. I cannot continue to wait any longer."
"Just give them a few more seconds, I'll drag them out here if I have to."
"Lady Shizuma please, you must understand that I have a prior engagement with your parents and I must hurry now if I intend to reach there on time." The man pleaded with her for cooperation. "I will call another driver to pick up your friend and Master Shino, but I have no more time to waste."
He opened the limo doors for Shizuma and, hesitantly enough, Shizuma sat back into the leather seats. Her eyebrows furrowed yet again and her arms returned to their folded position beneath her chest while she leaned into the door with a pout.
