"Big Sis, that is the ugliest swim suit I have ever seen. It's even worse then my school swimsuit," states Maria as she watches Kyoko put her toe into the pool to check the temperature. Ren, who is sitting at the edge of the pool with his legs in the water turns to check out said ugly suit. He quickly turn away and covers his mouth.
"Pffffftttt," escapes from his mouth as he tries to cover his laugh.
"Well, it is my school swimsuit. It's the only one I have. You shouldn't laugh at it, Tsuruga-san. We can't all be swimsuit models, now can we. Some of us are just destined to be plain."
His laughter dies and Ren turns back to the young actress.
"It's the suit that is ugly. Not the model," he stresses with a serious expression.
Maria chimes "Yeah, even Ren would look bad in that suit."
Now it is Kyoko's turn to laugh as she imagines her senpai in the girl's suit. Ren grimaces as he imagines the same thing. Hoping to dispel the unmanly image, the actor splashes the girls who squeal. Kyoko jumps into the pool showering Ren while Maria fights with her swim cap. With her hair finally covered, the young girl joins the fray.
Twenty minutes later, Ren finally calls uncle and pulls himself out of the pool. He reclines along the edge with his leg bent and his arm behind his head as he watches Kyoko and Maria target each other instead of him. Their giggles and horseplay continue to amuse him as he happily watches his two favorite girls enjoying their time together. Kyoko tosses Maria into the air one more time before paddling over to Ren.
Kyoko feels so relaxed and happy that her grudges decide to grab a quick nap. Lucky for them they buried so deep or they would have been scorched to death by the heavenly smile on Ren's face. For once, Kyoko smiles back which only ramps up her senpai's smile. For her peace of mind, Kyoko shields her eyes from the god along the water's edge and instead watches Maria putter around the deep end of the pool.
Ren's eyes watch the water drops slide down Kyoko's bare arms. He swallows as if parched as he imagines licking the drops from her body. Ren suddenly sits and crosses his arms. Not even an ugly swimming suit can curb his affections for the young actress. He takes a few steadying breathes but finds it wholly inadequate in curbing his desire. Instead of indulging, the actor summons the last of his strength and drops into the water. His powerful strokes dragging him farther from temptation, Ren concentrates on the physical movement of his body as he reaches the end of the pool. He ducks under the water and twists before pushing off the side and resuming his crawl stroke.
Kyoko watches his first couple of laps before sinking into thought. Maria floats by her on a small raft. Kyoko give the raft a spin for fun before pulling herself out the pool. Quietly, she pads over to a pile of thick towels that Sebastian had kindly placed on a lounge chair. The actress dries her hair before wrapping the luxurious towel around her body. She settles into a lounge chair, alone with her thoughts. Every once in a while, her hand rises to her left cheek and rubs it gently.
Some time later, Ren finally grabs the edge of the pool in the deep end and rests his head on his crossed arms as he tries to catch his breath. "I need more aerobic exercise," he thinks to himself as he realizes how long it is taking for his labored breathing to subside.
Maria putters up with her stomach on her raft and her little feet flutter kicking like a hummingbird's wings.
"There's something wrong with big sis," she whispers as she points over to the actress. He follows her motion to see what she means.
Across the room, the light almost seems to twist and turn in turmoil around the lounging teenager. In her mind's eye, five grudge Kyokos sit at a table wearing hard hats.
"I vote we blast the damn idea out with some dynamite," one suggests. She looks over at a hostage angel Kyoko who is tied with grudge tail rope. The angel's wings are bent and its halo has slipped precariously to the side. "We can tie it to that one over there and get rid of two birds with one stone."
"Not a bad idea but won't that blow up the thought too?" counters another one.
Malice raises her hand "Who cares? It will definitely knock loose the idea."
"Perhaps a more strategic attack would be preferred," advises Cunning. "I have always thought subtlety works wonders for achieving your goals. It was the kiss from that boy from Bridge Rock that uncovered this stupid thought. Maybe more of the same can uncover more."
The grudges at the table consider the idea. From a dark corner of the mind's eye, Revenge struts forward with a pretty good impression of her favorite targets arrogance. "Why are we even worried about this stupid thought? It's not like its going to help us bring about the fall of Shotaro, now is it?"
Cunning answer, "we don't know if it will help. Until we can pry it loose, we won't know what it can do for us."
"Yeah," speaks up Stubbornness who has a shiny circle glowing under her hard hat. "For all we know, this thought might be the rock to pierce the musician's armor."
Malice suddenly jumps on Stubbornness and rips off her hat. She grabs the vile halo and stomps it back into the pained grudge's chest. "Your Determination is leaking out, stupid. Keep better control of your other self or you'll be joining our friend over there," it threatens as it jerks a thumb towards their current hostage.
Stubbornness grabs her hard hat and slams it resolutely on back on her head. "Yes, Sir!"
Moving back to the table, the grudges suddenly look up as a panicking sentry grudge flops onto the table top.
"Hit the deck! It's a WGD!" screams Cunning as grudges dive under the table and into the darkened corners. A gleaming light cuts across the mind's eye, melts the rope around the hostage, and chars any exposed grudges. Bathing in the warmth, the angel Kyoko flutters above the table as it soaks up the rays before streaking away to find and hide with her other sisters.
"Mogami-san, are you okay?" asks the perpetrator of the Weapons of Grudge Destruction. He gently brushes Kyoko's mostly dry hair off her forehead. "Do you feel okay? Can I help with anything?"
Scrambling from the seat and scuttling away from her senpai, Kyoko panics. She trips over the edge of her towel in her haste and would have landed harshly against another lounge chair if Ren hadn't caught her about the waist.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something," she stammers as she quickly steps out of his reach. Her hands flutter between them as she repeats her statement and then apologizes. She keeps apologizing and retreating until she reaches the safety of the dressing room. Kyoko slams the door shut and rests against its closed safety. Her head starts spinning and she falls to the ground repeating "stupid, stupid, stupid," as she rolls around on the plush carpet.
"What are you doing, Big Sis?" questions Maria as she stares incredulously at the actress rolling ridiculously on the floor. Kyoko slowly stops her circuit and sits cross legged on the carpet. Like a three year old after a long tantrum, she sheepishly looks at the younger girl and admits "I'm not sure." Both girls stare at each other for a moment before dissolving into laughter.