I know it has been a very, very long time since I last updated, and I am very sorry about that . It's going to be a lot harder for me to regularly update anything from now on anyway ,since I have started 6th Form and I have to do more studying and I get more homework…you get the idea.
Anyway , enough of me and my babbling/complaining. Time for the final chapter ^^
" place is yours, Yuki-Chan?" Crow asked.
"It's Riva." She stated not-so-discreetly "And technically, it belonged to some relative of my father's , until that relative died and inherited it.A family friend of ours , Yoko-San , looks after it when we don't stay ."
"Cool."
As everyone pulled out their suitcases, Riva went over to talk to her father. Aki glanced at the two quickly. They seemed friendly enough, but also a bit tense, awkward. Soon, Riva had waved her dad off, and they faced the red front door. From the pocket of her denim shorts, Riva pulled a set of keys, and opened it.
They all spilled inside.
"Yoko-san? Are you here? Yoko-san?"
Silence . Then , a movement could be heard from inside a room. A woman of about 55 years of age wearing grey trousers and a dark green top came out .Her hands were floury , as if she'd been baking , and this gave Aki reason to believe that Yoko had come from the kitchen.
"Riva –Chan!You have grown! " The girl was pulled into a soft and floury hug before Yoko looked at the rest of the group.
"These are your friends?"
"Yes, they are. Meet Delphine, Emmy, Lily , Sayuri , Amy , Aki , Yusei and Crow. Emmy-sempai and Lily-sempai are siblings. Aki-sempai and Yusei-sempai are together. " Riva put emphasis on that last word , and Yoko nodded.
"I see. " The woman looked as if she was thinking of her first memories of young love.
"What rooms should we use , Yoko-san ? " Delphine asked.
"Well." Yoko replied "I'm all for romance: Riva –Chan will tell you that , but since you are minors…Yusei-Kun and Crow-Kun , share one room ,And since there are 7 of you girls , I guess you can decide how best to split up yourselves." Yoko failed to notice Aki's embarrassed blushing or the vaguely confused-looking face of Yusei.
"Sounds' fine to me " Riva turned to the group. "I'll give you a tour. Then we can come down for dinner, because it is getting a bit late now , yes?"
"I was making dinner when I heard your keys , Riva-Chan .Go , go , get yourselves comfy."
…
"That bedroom there is the one I use all the time .That one is Mum and Dad's."
At the end of the tour, they were now debating bedrooms.
"Yusei and Crow are the only boys in our little harem, so maybe they should use the loft bedroom." Lily suggested.
"Why?"
"Because, dummy, there will be less chance of the pair of you bursting in on us in the bathroom."
Yusei signed something rapidly in response to this.
Everyone blinked.
"He said that he'd knock anyway. " Crow and Aki translated at the same time. A look was exchanged , and Aki giggled quietly.
Yusei signed again and this time Aki did the translation herself.
"The loft room is fine . He speaks for both ."
Crow pulled a face.
"There is nothing wrong with the room. It's awesome, you know." Emmy said.
"It isn't the room…"
Delphine kicked Crow.
"You, Crow Hogan, are an official pervert. Anyway, Since the whole point of this trip is to be together, Riva can share your room with 2 of us , and the rest will share the other. "
In the end, Aki, Riva and Emmy were together, and Delphine, Lily, Sayuri and Amy were in the same room together.
Riva's room was a colourful place. The walls were covered in different squares of paper in various colours and patterns, and on closer inspection some were actually wrapping paper and not wallpaper. It was neatly done, and The final effect was like a patchwork quilt. The carpet was white and calmer. There were two beds .One, which was clearly Riva's, had a real patchwork quilt , and the other had pink covers.
Riva reached underneath the pink bed and pulled out a bag... She opened it, and a sleeping bag fell out.
Aki volunteered to use the sleeping bag. She had never used one.
After they'd had a quick shower and change, they all went to eat.
…
"Mmmmmm that was the best dinner in a while!"
"Yoko-san has always been a good cook!"
"You are one lucky girl, Riva-Chan!"
"Hey, hey , what are we gonna do tomorrow?"
"Study in the morning, beach and fun after that."
"Auuu…"
"Shut up, Lily! That's what we came here for anyway remember."
"Whatever."
"I'm not really that lucky anyway. I don't actually live here you know."
"You are lucky to have it. "
"Yeah."
"Anyone got any chocolate?"
"You STILL hungry?"
"…"
"Well?"
"What are we studying tomorrow?"
"No idea."
"Dunno, whatever we feel like ."
The threads of random conversation whirled around Aki and Yusei who hung behind, talking (or rather, not-talking) and walking together. After an age of silence between them, Yusei quietly asked.
"How do you feel?" It wasn't a routine question.
"Like I am finally a normal 16 year old."
"You do realise that before, you weren't 16? " Yusei pointed out.
Aki gave him a look. "I know that. You knew what I meant."
*Yeah, I know. I know how it feels.* he signed back.
"Hey, you two, get over here!" Lily yelled before the conversation could be lengthened.
…
The study session the next morning started surprisingly smoothly. Between them, they decided that Aki, Yusei and Delphine were the smarter ones, and should take over the bulk of the "teaching". Both Aki and Yusei gave each other a look at this decision, but got on with it all the same.
"Can you tell me what….the function of valves are?" Aki didn't really feel cut out to teaching , she wasn't really sure if she was doing it right.
"Backflow? Prevent Backflow?"
"Correct…Crow! Where are you going?"
"I , umm….nowhere in particular , just over there…."
Aki rolled her eyes.
"Get back to the biology. And remember: Always be specific when you lie."
Crow pulled a face.
Delphine reached over and slapped him around the back of the head, and continued to teach.
After a couple of hours of peaceful studying with no real disturbances, Emmy stood up, yawned and stretched.
"Ok, how about we stop all this now and hit the beach?!"
The suggestion was met with glee, everyone instantly shutting their books and heading back to their rooms.
…
Aki pulled her red swimsuit from her suitcase and regarded it with some apprehension. She knew (because of being told many times in the past year) that her body figure was a good one, and the swimsuit would flatter it, but she still felt a bit awkward.
Riva, who had already changed, casually walked over.
"You know, although it is real sunny, sometimes the wind can make the beach a bit cold." Then she picked up a small bag and her flip-flops, and went to the door.
"I'll see you downstairs. "She added before leaving.
Aki smiled to herself, and pulled out a red-black button-down shirt.
In 5 minutes, she was downstairs along with everybody else.
…
Delphine laid out all the towels, picked up the various bags and pairs of shoes that had been discarded by the others dumped them into a pile at the corner of their towels and sat down, sighing loudly.
Aki laughed.
"Want me to carry out revenge?"
"Please do. I'm just going to have a nap. OH , and tell Crow that if he splashes me, I will kill him 18 different ways. With a paperclip."
Aki raised an eyebrow.
Delphine shrugged.
"I've always wanted to say that. "
It was Aki's turn to shrug, and then she took off her button-down shirt (she was using it as a cardigan), and went into the water. Within seconds they were all splashing each other and shrieking with laughter .Well all of them except for Delphine and Yusei. Yusei was standing there, looking as if he wanted to go in and join the fun, but wasn't sure how to.
Aki splashed Crow again, then left the water and went to Yusei.
*What's Wrong?* She signed.
After a hesitation, he lifted his hands to reply.
*Not sure.*
Aki nodded .Thought a while. Then she took his hand in hers.
"Baby steps." She said simply, before they went to join their friends.
Emmy spotted them and grinned.
"Now we can have a game! Yusei, Crow in one team! Us girls in the other. "
"What game?" Aki wanted to know.
Emmy grinned "I have no idea. Let's just get the ball and see what happens."
Everyone rolled their eyes .
"We're still kind outnumbered. Me and Crow." Yusei pointed out.
"Don't be spoilsports. " Lily accompanied this statement with some hideous face pulling.
"Wasn't going to be."
"Good."
Aki went and got the ball. When she got back, Emmy and Lily were in the middle of an argument that was being carried out in English. Aki listened, and when she stopped following the meaning, she got bored and chucked the ball at the pair of them . It hit Lily , who squawked in surprise and instantly threw it back at Aki , who smartly dodged it , causing it to hit Amy. She then threw it at Crow, and it wasn't long before everyone had been hit multiple times-and they were still laughing.
They got out of the water eventually , and went over to where Delphine was sitting . Aki dried herself off and then put on the shirt , buttoning the two top buttons.
"Anyone got anything to eat?" She asked
"Delphine does." Crow said.
Delphine gave a glare as she sat up to unpack it.
"So do you. You have to share too. "
Crow grinned.
"Didn't say I would not."
Riva asked "Do you two ever not argue?"
Emmy laughed.
"No, they don't. But they still love each other. "
"Love may be too strong a word." Crow muttered. Everyone laughed, and after a long pause , so did Delphine.
"Watch your house after we get back , you may find a fish on your doorstep. " She said between laughs.
Everyone except for Yusei and Riva looked blankly.
"You all are so un-read.!" Delphine declared. Aki laughed, thinking of her bookshelf.
The rest of the day went by in a similar manner. Thankfully, there were no food fights, but Aki had a feeling one would be there soon.
When they went back to Riva's summer home, the sun was about to set.
"We definitely need to do more studies." Aki pointed out.
"Yes, yes we do." Riva agreed.
"How about we go to the beach after lunch instead of before?"
"That's a good idea, Yusei. "
The others agreed.
…
The next couple of days passed well. Although each day was filled with both useful learning and tons of laughter and silliness, nothing stood out in particular. Except for the fact that Aki didn't get much time to be with just Yusei. The few moments they had, someone always came along about a minute later. Usually Crow, Lily or sometimes Emmy. But they had spent a lot of their time outside of this holiday, so neither of them really minded.
On the last night, Yoko baked a cake. A chocolate cake.
"Yoko-san, you shouldn't have. " Aki exclaimed in surprise at seeing it.
Yoko shook her head.
"No trouble at all , little one. I have no kids or husband or grandkids to be baking for , so I will bake for you all , since you are Riva-Chan's friends. Besides, I like to bake. It's just a bit of fun. "
"Well , thank you. "
"Yeah , thanks."
"This is awesome, good dinner and excellent cake. "
In other words , the cake was met with enthusiasm and was another high point of the trip.
…
Aki couldn't sleep. She had got into bed at 9pm, and now her phone told her it was 11:30pm.
Annoying.
She sighed, then quietly shuffled out of her sleeping bag , carefully looked around in the cupboard for her slippers and a fleece , and then quietly left the room and padded down to the beach.
The moon was bright, and made the sea sparkle. She found a smooth rock to sit on , and watched the sparkling a while.
Everything was still, until she noticed a figure standing at the water, who also looked as if watching something.
Aki got up and walked a few steps. Then she noticed the silhouetted person had spiky hair.
"Yusei?" She whispered.
He turned and walked to her. They went back to her smooth rock , and she shuffled up so there was space for both.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked.
Yusei shrugged. Then he said.
"You wouldn't be able to see a view like this at home."
Aki thought about this.
Then she rested her head on Yusei's shoulder.
"You're right."
After that , they didn't say anything to eachother as they watched the moon. They didn't need to.
…
She was surprised to wake up and find that she was still at the beach , that it was morning , and that Yusei was there too, awake and blinking.
Crow and Riva were standing in front of them with quizzical expressions.
"So , this is where you went off to!" Crow exclaimed.
Aki blushed.
"You better get back and start packing. Everyone will be waking up soon u know…and we leave at lunchtime. "
Yusei stood up and yawned , before nodding at Crow and walking back up towards the house.
"I did most fo my packing yesterday." Aki said.
"Smart." Riva commented.
Crow pulled a face.
"Well ….wait until I tell the others what the two of you have been up to." He gave an evil grin before sauntering away.
"You don't even KNOW!" Aki half-yelled, half laughed , as she and Riva began to run back to the house.
She felt a bit sad , thinking about the end of the trip , But ,Just because the trip had ended , it didn't mean that the fun , laughter , friendship and love had to.
PHEW!The story is finished. The promised epilogue will still be uploaded….not soon, but it will be.
Anyway, I chucked in a couple of references to one of my favourite TV Shows and a favourite book . Good luck with spotting them
I will put the answers in an author's note at the end of the Epilogue if anyone is interested/curious.
Please leave feedback!
