The beach was full of people when we arrived. People were running around and enjoying the sunshine. We followed Ms. Chou single file along the beach to the last building lining the coast. The beachside hotel was made from logs and looked well taken care of. It wasn't super busy, but the place wasn't lacking for customers. Ms. Chou led us inside. Cool air conditioning made me sigh with relief. The sun was too much for me sometimes.

"Nagisa-senpai?" Ms. Chou called," We're here."

A surprisingly tanned woman appeared from the upstairs. When she turned, I knew she was Aoi's aunt, just from the dark purple hair and the blue eyes.

"Asuka-san!"

The two hugged before Ms. Chou pointed to those of us standing around.

"These are the children. This is Emiko, Koji, Ichirou, and Mariko."

I flinched as Nagisa's eyes brightened when she looked at me. I began to feel rather awkward.

"It's nice to meet you all. You can find your rooms upstairs. The boys are staying in the first room down the hall, the girls in the second room."

The younger kids took off to see the rooms while I took my time heading for the stairs.

"Mariko-chan, Aoi is just cleaning outside. You should go see him after you put your things down."

The two older women giggled as I sighed and trudged up the stairs. I found Emiko had been put in the correct room by Koji and Ichirou. After putting my stuff down, I found a discontented Ichirou standing outside in the hall. He gave a dissatisfied huff.

"Hyoudou's sharing our room. I saw his stuff in the corner."

I grinned.

"You two will have time to bond."

Ichirou muttered "Doubt it" and went back into the room. I moved downstairs, leaving the distraught younger boy to his own thoughts. He could deal with his hatred alone; I had problems of my own to act through. I went out to the side of the hotel where one would apparently wash the sand off their body after being on the beach. I found Aoi scrubbing the showers with a mop. He was sweating profusely, obviously having been out there for awhile. I smiled, seeing him with a bandana around his head like a housemaid. He was also wearing blue swim trunks and a blue tank top. I stepped onto the edge of the showers.

"Aren't you going to tan if you keep this up?"

"Tell that to Nagisa-san. She's a slave driver."

Aoi turned and I was taken aback by how boyish he looked at that moment. He looked...handsome. I saw his face go red, which cued me in that he had guessed what I was thinking.

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Sorry!"

He pulled his bandana off and sighed. He scrutinized my outfit, a light blue t-shirt and a baby blue skirt with flip-flops. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Not going to go down to the beach?"

I shrugged, still trying to bury my embarrassment.

"I'm not the biggest fan of sand."

"So you bought a bathing suit for no reason? Typical. You of all people would let a cute outfit go to waste."

I ignored his comment and grabbed his mop.

"Need some help?"

He snatched it back. I had a feeling I had injured his pride.

"No."

"Aoi, you're so rude."

We both turned to see Nagisa watching us with a smile on her lips.

"That is no way to treat your girlfriend."

Aoi's shoulders tensed and his face turned bright red. He couldn't look at either of us. Nagisa went over and took the mop away from him, smacking him gentle on the butt with it.

"Why don't you take Mariko-chan down to the beach to have fun?"

"Fine!"

Aoi moved around Nagisa, grabbed my arm, and pulled me inside. I protested as he practically dragged me up the stairs and pushed me into the room. Emiko had to be with Ms. Chou as she wasn't in the room as Aoi snapped the door closed. He let out a heavy sigh before pulling his tank top off and collapsing onto the floor. His eyes closed as his body soaked in the cool air.

"Get into your bathing suit, idiot."

I frowned at him. I was beginning to wonder whether he enjoyed being in the room when I changed. He requested it much too freely and frequently. The boy spluttered as I dropped a blanket over his face.

"No peeking."

"Do we have to go through how much I don't want to watch you change?'

Since he couldn't see, I took that moment to stick my tongue out at him. I felt somewhat rebellious, but decided against doing anything else like kicking him or sitting on him. Instead I dug in my bag for my bathing suit. Instead of changing in the open, I slipped into the closet. Aoi audibly snorted at the sound of the closet door sliding open and then closed. I could have sworn I heard him mutter something about "self-conscious". After changing, I stepped back into the room to find Aoi sitting up with the blanket in his lap, his back facing me. He turned as I threw the clothes I had been wearing into my bag. Catching a glimpse of his face, I couldn't help but laugh. He was cringing slightly and his right eye was twitching. I looked down and smoothed out the gigantic worn-down grey t-shirt I was wearing over my bathing suit.

"What? I figured you wouldn't want any guys staring at me on the beach, boyfriend!"

I began laughing as Aoi ran at me. I dodged his attack. The two of us spent about two minutes running around until he grabbed me and forced me to the floor.

"Take it off," he growled, trying to pull the shirt up as I wiggled from between his legs.

"But it is comfy!"

"Never say that about anything grey!"

The door slid open as Aoi yanked the shirt up to my neck. We froze and stared at the door. Ichirou stood with a murderous glare on his face. Aoi's face was a blank slate as he looked up at the younger boy.

"Could you leave? We're not interested in having a third party join us..."

I did my best to keep from laughing out loud as Ichirou's hands curled into fists. The boy looked ready to explode. Before he could do anything harmful to himself or Aoi, I cleared my throat.

"Aoi-kun was just trying to convince me to go on the beach in my bathing suit without the t-shirt. Do you agree with him?"

Ichirou's eyes bounced between Aoi and me, before he nodded slowly. I smiled at him and sat up a big from under Aoi.

"Okay, two out of three means I'm overruled. Ichirou, while we're at the beach will you look out for Koji and make sure he actually does something fun while he is here instead of reading the stack of books he brought?"

The boy hesitated before murmuring his consent and moving back into the other room. He had backed off slightly since Aoi and I were "dating", but he still was openly hostile toward the other male. Aoi and I looked at each other before turning away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. At least, I assumed that much for him, but I definitely was. I slid out from under him and pulled the shirt off before tossing it over by my things.

"We can go now..." I said slowly.

Aoi didn't say anything, but he got up and moved toward the door. I followed quietly. When we got out to the beach, I was led over to an empty stretch of area that was just off to the side of where we were staying. I put my foot into the water to find it somewhat warm. I moved in a little farther, a smile on my face. Looking over at Aoi, I caught him staring out at the ocean, his eyes vacant. Moving over to him, I tilted my head to the right to peer into his face. He didn't move.

"Aoi?"

His reaction was comedic. A pinkish blush ran up from his neck to his face and he glared down at me. He backed away and pointed a finger at me.

"No!"

I rolled my eyes at him and looked down to look for seashells.

"You don't think the others won't find it peculiar that we're "dating" and not referring to each other with any familiarity outside the norm?"

I glanced at him to find him thinking about what I'd said. I found a seashell and pulled it out of the sand. I pouted with disappointment to find it was broken. As I tossed it back into the ocean, I was surprised to find a complete shell hanging in front of my face. Turning to look at Aoi, I found him smiling smugly as he dropped it into my hand. We began moving along the shore, the water only high enough to cover the tops of our feet.

"I suppose. But calling you Mari-chan would seem a bit typical, don't you think? And so many people call you Mariko..."

I felt my face heat up, something that Aoi obviously noticed because he gave me a questioning look. He then smirked and tugged at my cheek till I cried out in pain. I cradled my throbbing cheek as he chuckled.

"You have a name you want to be called. Spit it out!"

I glanced around to make sure no one was nearby. I then ran onto the dry sand and flopped down on it. Though sand stuck to me, irritating my need to feel sand-free, I patted the spot next to me. Aoi sat down as I ran my fingers over the shell he had found.

"I just...I thought that when I would get a boyfriend-"

"If you would get a boyfriend."

I pushed Aoi who just grinned and waved a hand at me to signal he had been kidding.

"I would want my boyfriend to call me...uhm...well...Ri-chan."

I felt like my face was going to melt with how warm it got in the hot sun. Even Aoi's cheeks tinted pink and he gave me an incredulous look.

"That is less like a pet name and more like something he would call you to get sexual."

"AOI-KUN!"

"I'm serious!"

I buried my face in my knees. I wondered if boys just made everything sexual even though it isn't supposed to be. I heard Aoi shift beside me and suddenly felt my head being lifted up. I jumped slightly from how close he suddenly was. He was giving me a somewhat dazed kind of look. He suddenly closed his eyes and I froze as he kissed my cheek, then kissed my jaw, before pressing his lips to my ear and whispering...

"Ri-chan."

I thought I had burst into flame. I felt Aoi's lips form a smirk against my ear as a shiver ran through my body and my heart beat wildly against my chest.

"See, Ri-chan," he continued in a breathy whisper," You're face just radiates heat and goosebumps are on your arm."

I couldn't move as his hand ran up my arm to my shoulder.

"And now you want me," he finished.

He pulled away and looked at my face. I stared into his sapphire eyes in a stupor. I didn't move as he began to lean in. His lips were inches from mine. Then he smiled. The satisfaction on his face instantly pissed me off and I pushed him. He laughed as he fell onto his back in the sand.

"Jeez, Ri-chan, you're so easy. You think I would actually kiss you? C'mon. How stupid would that be?"

His laughter ended abruptly as I slapped him as hard as I could across the face. I felt uncontrollable tears leave my eyes. Sobs came without me willing them to and my vision blurred. It was the worst moment of my life up until that point. I had wanted him to kiss me. Not because of a name I had never been called before. I had wanted him to kiss me because his eyes pulled me in. A crash of emotions had hit me as I had looked at him in that moment. I had feelings for Aoi. True feelings beyond friendship. And it was the most horrifying realization of my life. I knew he was a good person deep down, but the fact was that I had a crush on an abusive and sarcastic jerk of a teenager. I could hear Aoi cursing from the pain on his cheek while calling me derogatory names.

"I'm sorry," was all I could cough out through my sobs.

I didn't know what I was sorry for exactly. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. I wasn't completely sure I was saying sorry to him. Aoi's harsh words didn't last long as I felt his hands on my shoulders.

"Mariko-chan?" I heard him ask, quietly.

I was suddenly pulled off the sand and into an embrace. It wasn't Aoi who pulled me into their arms as I cried. I felt a jolt go through me as Ichirou went off like a bomb.

"Who the hell do you think you are? No man has the right to make a girl cry, you jerk! What kind of boyfriend do you think you are?"

"I di-"

"Just stay away from her! No one has the right to make my big sister cry! NO ONE! Mariko is a sweet person who only tries to help others and make them happy. Is it so hard to do the same for her? If you can't do that, you have no right to even be friends with her."

The entire time I kept mumbling to myself about how sorry I was. I couldn't even seen Aoi's face from Ichirou's yelling. I did begin to feel light-headed. The heat and the crying was truly getting to me. I could only remember both boys calling out my name as I slipped out of Ichirou's arms and onto the sand. After that, I didn't know what happened.