The Inconveniences of: one-piece suits

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Mai blushed fiercely as she stumbled out of the changing room. She wrapped her fluffy blue towel around her shoulders and walked stiffly to their spot on the sand.

A huge umbrella was opened over two chairs. Their beach towels spread out over the white sand, bottles once full of sunscreen now half emptied.

Bou-san was the first to see her. He waved wildly, motioning to the limp volley ball he was blowing up. "Want to play after we eat, Mai?" The said girl nodded shyly. Ayako turned, her eyes hidden by sun glasses. She smiled widely.

"Hey, Mai! Put on some protection. It'll be bad if you get burned."

Mai blanched, reluctant to release her towel and be seen. The miko blinked confused, but then laughed. "Come on, Mai. Let us see your swim suit!"

This statement caught Naru's attention. He marked with his finger his place in the book he had been preoccupied with, and turned his gaze upwards over to the girls.

She shook her head persistently, wrapping it tighter around herself. "It's so embarrassing, though…"

Yasuhara suddenly came towards them with materials for building a sand castle. He let them fall from his arms and grabbed onto Mai's towel. "There," he said proudly as he ripped it out of her arms, revealing her…quite modest bathing suit. "I don't see what there's to be so self-conscious about. You're as flat as a board. No sex appeal at all."

She wore her school swim suit, as embarrassing as it was. She had been practically broke for the last few days. She had yet to get her paycheck that week (that 5 yen coin she used for the lottery was the last of her money). She didn't have enough money to buy a swim suit.

Naru was…disappointed to say the least. Although he could see he curves just fine through the navy blue fabric, he'd rather see her pale, creamy skin. He'd just have to be satisfie–No! What was he thinking? He narrowed his eyes at Yasuhara's words, though, thinking that it was simply not true.

Mai was very attractive (and sexy), whether she realized it herself or not.

Mai wrapped her arms around herself, blushing. She glared at the glasses man, turning away from their gazes. "Sh–Shut up!"

"But Mai," Takigawa started, laughing, "you're so cute!"

Mai decided it was time to change the subject as Ayako's expression formed into quite an angry one. "Uh, where's Masako?"

"In bed; something about not feeling too well. John's with her." Naru flipped the page with little difficulty, his eyes moving continuously across the page even though he was talking.

"What about Keiko and Michi–?"

"Here!"

Mai was suddenly glomped from behind. She turned around to look at her friend face to face. "Mi–Michiru?"

Michiru smiled, moving backwards so that she could pull her hair back into a ponytail without elbowing Mai in the face. She looked at Mai's suite. "I like the new look. Do you like mine?" she inquired, sucking in her stomach to flaunt off her new two-piece.

They laughed together as Mai punched her friend's abdomen. "Stop sucking in, you freaking twig."

Michiru turned around, "Keiko is getting the food. I kind of left her there."

"You better go get her before she starts throwing a fit," Mai said, chuckling at her friend's horrified facial expression.

"Yeah…I'll go do that."

And with that, Michiru was off in a flash. Mai laughed to herself.

Ayako handed her a brand new bottle of sunscreen. "I'm not going to pamper you if you get sunburn," she huffed.

"Don't worry, Ayako. It's very unlikely that I'll burn, but I do tan like crazy," Mai rolled her eyes at the lazy older woman.

Ayako frowned, lying in the chair next to Naru. She sighed, letting her body go limp. "You're lucky you don't have to try. It's hard for girls like me with such fair skin," the miko bragged.

"If it were me, I'd rather not get a tan, but it's not like I can help it."

Shouts from his right were heard as Bou-san and Yasuhara threw the blow-up volley ball in the air, attempting a competitive game of keep-it-up.

Naru tried to ignore everything around him, concentrating mainly on his book, but when Mai and Ayako continued to talk he lost his reading place. He looked up to glare at the two, just in time for him to catch Mai pulling down her straps, lathering the white SPF 40 on her shoulder and then down, down, right above her...

His eyes widened, refocusing themselves quickly on his book. They wandered the page for some time, but he could not seem to process the information.

The self-styled priestess looked over at him in confusion. "Were you about to say something?" she inquired, flicking up her sun glasses to get a better look at his pink face.

"No, not at all."

Ayako and Mai both shrugged at each other.

-

Mai bounced giddily as she and Naru walked back to the hotel by themselves. Her boss's story was that everyone had decided to head back and leave them behind to rest for tomorrow while Mai was still in the changing room. Of course, Naru felt it too dangerous to let Mai walk back alone, so he stayed behind to wait for her.

And there they were, walking together in such a romantic setting…but neither of them seemed to notice, especially the ever oblivious Mai.

The fading orange rays of the sun sprayed across the white sand, saying its last good-byes as they kissed the faces of lovers who continued to stay on the beach.

Mai smiled at the grand sun set. "Are you having fun, Naru?"

He scowled down at his hot-blooded assistant and then looked away, earning a glare from said woman. "Well, if you're not, there's no need to act like you are now. It's impolite, Naru. You should stop sulking and have fun for once in your life."

"I'm not sulking," he interjected.

Mai laughed at how he denied himself. "So, you're not sulking, but you're not having fun?"

Naru rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe how much Mai and his mother had in common; both so persistent and fiery. She also reminded him of Gene who took after his mom. He himself, of course, took after his dad indulging himself in books and work.

"Places like these hold no interest for me, but that doesn't mean I'm sulking."

Mai frowned, bumping into him purposely. "Aw, but you should come swimming with us tomorrow! We didn't have time to go in the water today."

He glared down at her and crossed his arms. "No."

"What?" she exclaimed, letting her arms flail in the air, over-exaggerating her exasperation, "but why not, Naru?"

"Swimming is just not my forte, Mai."

Her mouth hung open in surprise, but she continued walking, a few strands of hair falling in front of her face. "Are you saying you can't swim?" she inquired slyly, a smirk playing on her lips. She nudged him in the ribs.

Naru formed a smirk to match his assistant's. "I never said anything about and inability to swim."

"Then you'd have nothing against swimming tomorrow."

With that, she quickened her pace, leaving him in a trail of her dust. Naru stopped for a second.

"You're on."

-

Mai shouted with joy as she kicked the clear blue salt water at her best friend.

"Hey," Michiru warned, attempting to shield herself. This resulted in a splashing fight which could not be stopped. People nearby laughed at their foolishness, as while Naru glared at them.

There he stood, knee-high in ocean and as foul as ever, but even more so today since he had been forced by Mai to borrow one of Bou-san's swim trunks and go swimming with them.

Naru was admired and adored by many ladies across the beach due to his beauty, and also hated for it. Boyfriends of those many women glared daggers at him from afar. Though, Naru himself didn't notice. He was too busy keeping up with his child-like assistant.

Today, though, Naru decided to make an exception to being an ass since her friend let her borrow quite a revealing two-piece.

It was snug, but it was just right, though Keiko was a size smaller.

Everyone was actually quite impressed that Mai was able to wear something so showy. But he wasn't complaining.

Bou-san and Ayako interrupted them with smiles. "Let's go really deep, okay? Can both of you swim well?" the monk inquired the youngest of the adventurous group.

"Yes," Michiru replied confidently. Mai then turned to her boss with a smug smirk as if she were challenging him. Naru, being Naru, would never give in to such a plain trick.

He matched her expression with a smug one of his own, walking deeper into the water. She followed him crawling on the ocean floor, her body swaying with the waves.

Soon it got to the point where water reached their waists. Mai scrunched her face her mind filling with thoughts of different sea creatures and the danger they held. She opened her eyes to look and Bou-san and Naru who were both ahead of her, Ayako, and Michiru. They seemed unfazed.

"There aren't any jellyfish or stingrays in this water, right?"

The monk turned and shrugged with a smile. Ayako slapped his shoulder. "Are there? If I swear, if I have to go to the hospital, I'm pressing charges!"

He laughed and rubbed the patch of red on his skin. "Relax girls. I'm sure there's nothing too dangerous out here."

Naru rolled his eyes and continued waking despite Mai's whimpering.

Finally, the water reached Naru's collarbone. The amount people had reduced dramatically as they made their way farther into the ocean.

He looked back to check on Mai, throwing her a questioning look as she paused. "T–The ocean floor is really cold…I can't walk any more. It's scary," she admitted, her lips quivering with every word.

"It's only natural, Ma–"

He stopped talking. Mai's eyes widened.

"KYA!" she screamed, fastening herself onto his neck. "There's something in the water!" Naru was taken back by her sudden outburst and fought to keep himself above the water. His arms instinctively wrapped around his assistant's waist.

Michiru paused at her friend's words, but instead of risking herself, quickly jumped back. Of course, she was reasonable, and thought happy thoughts. It could be something other than…a living creature. Like seaweed, for instance!

Ayako clung to Bou-san's arm, earning a laugh from him.

Mai situated herself in a more comfortable position and wrapped her legs around Naru's waist, hiding her face in the crook of his neck to conceal her look of shame. She hugged him tighter.

Naru flushed in embarrassment due their closeness. What's worse (or better for any NaruXMai fans out there (hell, this is a freaking NaruXMai fanfic)) was that she was dripping wet. The pressure of her breasts on his pale skin caused him to tense.

"We'll…go back," he said to her slowly, nervously patting her head in a comforting motion.

Bou-san laughed at his awkward condition. "Yeah, we're going back."

-

Wee! I hope you liked the wet NaruXMai goodness! I know I did.

Next time on The Inconveniences…The inconvenience of bugs!

Eek.