The Beach

"It's the beachhh!" Harumi hollered as she ran along the shore, feeling her toes dig into the warm movable sand with every step she took. A wave crashed near her and then receded, leaving a trail of seaweed and shells in its wake.

She turned back towards Amaya and pressed one hand against her hat lest the sea wind blow it off her head.

"This is how summer is supposed to feel like!"

Amaya jumped back with a small cry when a wave came swirling in a rush of white foam.

The sun was bright and hot in the sky, and all around them there were kids running, playing games and building castles out of sand. As far as the eye could see, tourists zigzagged among a sea of bright colored parasols planted all along the length of the shore.

Chiharu's figured emerged from the blue sea a few feet away from them, and she wiped the water off her face with one hand as she tossed her wet hair to the other side. All the men from their corner of the beach stared at her unblinkingly with awe-stricken faces, and then erupted into a collective nosebleed when she readjusted the bra of her bikini.

"I wish I had a body like hers," Harumi stated with a hand under her chin and eyes narrowed. "36-22-36. Height: 179cm. No wonder she's a model."

Amaya sweatdropped a little. "Have you been hanging out with Inui lately?"

Harumi was pensive. "Today I suddenly have a revelation as to how Inui feels. Maybe I shall finally accept his friend request on Facebook."

Chiharu spotted the two girls standing at the edge of the water and made her way towards them with a smile. A young man popped out of nowhere and went down on one knee as he offered her the dry towel draped across his forearm. Chiharu accepted the towel gracefully and blew him a kiss as thanks. The young man dropped face first into the sand with a love arrow piercing his forehead. His friends hurried to carry him away.

Chiharu stopped at Harumi and Amaya's level and spread the towel down on the sand before putting her sunglasses on and sitting down. "The water is good girls, you should go for a swim too."

"Later," Harumi affirmed as she squatted down beside Chiharu. Amaya also sat down beside them.

Chiharu started talking about her photoshoot, and pointed at a white van parked near the beach. Guys wearing blue shirts were carrying equipment from the van to a private section of the beach.

"Make sure you don't break too many hearts before the photoshoot," Amaya advised, lifting a fistful of sand and watching it slip out of her hand.

Chiharu looked around them at the guys still stealing glances her way, and threw her head back to laugh. "I missed this; being the center of attention and all. I have been inconspicuous for way too long." She winked at the girls. "Maybe I will find myself a boy today. You two can be my wing-women."

"You probably don't need any extra help from us," Harumi said. "You can choose anyone from the whole beach."

Chiharu sighed dramatically as she applied sunscreen on her arms. "They don't interest me. None of them do. I'm thinking of getting myself a nice guy for a change. A guy who will make ME his priority; a guy who will drop everything and come running to me if I need him. And most importantly, a guy who can handle me, since I know I'm a handful."

"Don't we all want someone like that?" Harumi answered as she distractedly traced figures in the sand with her finger.

Chiharu, however, seemed not to have heard her. "He doesn't need to be rich; he doesn't need to be the hottest guy on earth. I just need someone who can accept me, even the worst side of me. Neh, Harumi, do you reckon there's someone like that out there?"

Harumi peered at her face carefully. Then, she put a gentle hand on the red-haired girl's forearm. "I'm sure there is. Just be patient and he will come to you." She inched Chiharu's head up and made her look around her: "Maybe he's here on this very beach, amidst the crowd, just waiting to bump into you."

Chiharu gave a small smile. "You are so cheesy, Haru."

"I'm not!" Harumi rebutted. "Neh, Amaya, don't you agree that Chiharu's soulmate could be on this very beach?"

Receiving no response, Harumi turned towards the black-haired girl and saw her looking over their shoulders with a vacant look in her eyes. She followed Amaya's gaze and saw Oishi approaching them, followed closely by Fuji, Eiji, and a guy with long black hair pulled up into a ponytail.

Chiharu's eyes zoomed in on him. "Neh, who's that? He looks familiar, but I can't quite put a name to his face."

"That's Jiro-kun, Syusuke's friend from his photography club."

Chiharu rested her chin on her palm with a predatory glint in her eyes. "Hmmm… he's hot! Harumi, you better introduce me."

Harumi sweatdropped. "Focus, Chiharu. You need to find your soulmate, not another hot guy."

"Who says my soulmate can't be hot? That Jiro guy looks like soulmate material to me! Here he comes!" she readjusted her sunglasses and pulled up her bikini before standing up.

"You are hopeless, moh!"

"Gomennn, I'm late," a voice suddenly rose from behind them.

The three girls turned around to see Yuriko running towards them with two bags of cold drinks in her arms.

Chiharu rolled her eyes. "Remind me again why she's here?"

Harumi sighed. "Syusuke invited her along with Jiro-kun."

Yuriko arrived at their level and put down the bags on the sand before straightening up and wiping her brow. "Phew! I hope I didn't make you wait for too long."

"Not long enough," Chiharu whispered to Harumi, making her snort.

"No worries, just on time," Amaya told her with a smile. "Look, the guys have just arrived."

Yuriko shielded her eyes from the sun and peeked in direction of the approaching guys, and a look of approval painted itself on her face. "Quite the good looking bunch, I'd say. Girls, we are lucky to know them!"

Chiharu huffed a laugh. "I don't know about good looking, but most of them are a bunch of idiots upon closer inspection." She smirked at Yuriko. "I've known them for double the time you have, sweetie. Trust me on this."

Yuriko's eyes widened. "Really? I don't really know Kikumaru and Oishi, but Syusuke and Jiro are great people."

Amaya bit her lower lip. "Well, Oishi is the stupidest of them all."

Having said that, she took off her t-shirt and walked away into the sea in her bikini.

Yuriko saw her leave with confusion in her ruby eyes. She turned to Harumi: "Chiharu-chan might be right. I only know Jiro well among those four. I mean, I also know Syusuke from high school, but I can't say that I know him, if you know what I mean. He's a pretty private person sometimes."

She gauged Harumi's expression, but the latter just let out a disinterested "Heh…"

"Anyway," Yuriko resumed, seemingly disappointed with Harumi's lack of response, "I'm not well acquainted with the other two at all. Anything interesting to share about any of them?"

I really don't want to play this game with you.

"Why don't you find out for yourself after talking to them?" Harumi replied with an awkward smile.

"Hello, girls," Fuji greeted them with his usual smile.

Eiji gave a small wave at Harumi and Chiharu, and briefly introduced himself to Yuriko. However, Harumi could see that he did not seem that much at ease. After all, he was sandwiched between Fuji and Oishi, two people with whom his relationship was more than complicated at the moment.

Last came Jiro. He gave a nod to Yuriko and then his gaze fell on Harumi. Chiharu nudged Harumi in the ribs, and the honey-haired girl hurried to say: "Jiro-kun, this is Chiharu-chan. We are here today thanks to her."

Jiro's dark eyes fell on the redhead. He uttered a faint "nice to meet you" and let his gaze return to Harumi once more. Chiharu's mouth twisted up in a displeased pout upon seeing his lack of interest.

Harumi met Jiro's dark eyes and smiled tentatively, but Jiro didn't smile back; he simply continued staring at her intently.

Why is he always staring at me like this? Just like the first time I met him…

She remembered the day before when she had met Jiro for the first time. She was leaving Fuji's house when she encountered him walking up the alley to Fuji's residence. Fuji had introduced them, and Jiro had looked at her with the same intensity that he was displaying right now. She wondered if she had done something to make him hate her already. Knowing her, she probably had done something without being conscious of it.

She forced herself to stop looking at Jiro, and quickly went to Fuji. "You guys are late!"

Fuji planted a small kiss on her cheek. "Gomen. We were right behind you, but then traffic got too thick and our cars got separated."

Oishi was looking for Amaya, and seemed disappointed when he did not see her. Chiharu approached him and whispered: "She went for a swim. Don't worry, I'll make sure you get the chance to talk to her today."

Oishi addressed a grateful smile her way. Then, he turned around and crossed Eiji's eyes. The redhead looked away and took off his shirt.

"I'm going for a swim. The water looks good!" he said to no one in particular before walking towards the sea, leaving faint footprints in the sand.

Harumi sweatdropped a little at the atmosphere. It wasn't a good start. There were too many people who could not stand each other reunited in the same spot. She really hoped Chiharu knew what she was doing when she chose to invite everyone here. Harumi had been game with the whole getting Eiji, Oishi, and Amaya together thing, but what she had not expected was the presence of Jiro and Yuriko.

When she had mentioned the beach stay to Fuji, the latter had proposed that Yuriko and Jiro also come along. To take pictures, he had said. Harumi couldn't possibly have said no; she couldn't possibly tell Fuji that Yuriko made her uncomfortable, when it was clear that Fuji considered her to be one of his good friends.

Another reason why she had not complained about Yuriko and Jiro coming was because she had felt Fuji acting weird lately.

It had started that day when Fuji went to have dinner with his sister. He had said that he would call her right after dinner, but he never did. She had taken a bath with her phone close by, waiting for his call, and then she had fallen asleep with the phone clutched to her chest, but he had never ended up calling.

The next day, when she had asked him about it, he had said nonchalantly that he'd fallen asleep in the car on the way back home. She had accepted his answer and hadn't thought much of it until later that day when they had gone for a date in the park. He hadn't been talkative at all, and had seemed overall distant. When she'd asked him what was wrong, he had only smiled and said "nothing is wrong".

She watched him now as he busied himself with planting their parasol in the sand. She knew that this trip to the beach was also for her to work on her relationship with Fuji; to return to how things were before the mountain trip. This was her chance to fix whatever had gone awry since then.

Her eyes narrowed when Yuriko approached Fuji to ask him if he needed any help.

That damn Yuriko! She's always sticking to him like a leech.

Fuji was now telling Yuriko to hold the parasol in place as he planted it in the ground. Harumi let go of the blanket she was spreading on the sand, stood up and walked over to them.

"How are things going?" she asked.

"Almost there," Fuji grunted.

Finally, the parasol stabilized and Fuji let it go with a small sigh of satisfaction. Yuriko sat back and clapped her hands cheerfully. "Good job, Syusuke!"

Fuji wiped the sweat from his brow. He was about to stand up when Harumi plopped down and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Neh, do you want to go for a swim?" she whispered in his ear.

Fuji caressed her forearm. "Maybe later. We should put the drinks in the ice box before they become too warm."

She tightened her hold on him. "The drinks can wait. I need to cool down too. The sun is way too hot. Everyone's gone swimming. Neh?"

She let go of him to crouch down in front of him instead, and gave him her best imitation of Puss in Boots. "Please?"

Fuji eyed her for a second and sighed. "Very good. Why not?"

She did a happy dance with her arms. "Yay!"

She stepped out from under the parasol and Fuji followed her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Yuriko watching them with those ruby eyes of her, and pointed her tongue inwardly.

Chiharu would have been proud of my performance. Maybe her ways are rubbing off on me…

She sweatdropped internally at this, but then quickly reported her attention back onto her boyfriend.

Oh well, what's important is that I can finally spend some quality time with him now.

She smiled and took off her white t-shirt to reveal the purple bikini she wore underneath. Her cheeks flared a rosy red at the look of appreciation in Fuji's eyes. She clasped their hands together and pulled him towards the roaring waves. "Come on!"

"Hold on…" Fuji said, as he also took off his shirt.

Harumi arched an eyebrow. "I see someone's been working out lately."

Fuji let his bangs hide his eyes, and pulled her forward silently. She laughed at his embarrassment and let him pull her into the ocean. The water was cool, and made her scream out a little.

Fuji splashed sea water onto her back, making her scream. She twirled around and tried to splash him back, but only managed to recoil into deeper waters. Fuji held her back by the forearm and laughed at her face as she jumped out of the water with goosebumps all over her skin.

"Pwah! So salty!" she wiped at her mouth.

"Ocean water is supposed to be salty," he replied philosophically.

"Duh! No need to be a tensai to know that," she said before splashing him in the face.

She pointed a finger at his shocked face and dripping bangs, laughing, but quickly hopped away in the water when she detected a scary smile starting to sprout from his pressed lips. Sure enough, soon after that Fuji generated a tsunami wave that chased after her.

She screamed, splattered away and then let out a cry of victory when the wave only managed to splash her back. Her joy was short-lived, however, when she stepped on a slippery rock and fell backwards into the water. Fuji laughed and cupped up water in his hands, waiting to splash her in the face once she'd come back up to the surface.

However, after several seconds, there was still no trace of her.

"Harumi?" he called out as he scanned the waters.

Worry crossed his eyes at the still waters, and he plunged in after her. Under the water, he forced himself to open his eyes, wincing when the salt pickled at them.

However, when he did manage to see more clearly, all he saw were blobs of colors and moving seaweed, but no trace of Harumi. Suddenly, something rolled itself around his ankle and pulled him down. Letting bubbles out of his mouth in surprise, he twisted around and saw Harumi's hand around his ankle. Her hair was floating all around her like a fan, and she was smirking at him.

He bent over and grabbed her by the waist. Seconds later, they both emerged back up into open air, gasping for breath. Harumi clung to him as she dissolved into bouts of laughter.

"You were scared! Admit it!"

Fuji was still trying to recover his breath. "You are crazy, Harumi!" he panted.

Harumi stuck out her tongue at him. "I think I held my breath for one whole minute in there! My new record!"

Fuji tapped her on the head. "Stop doing such dangerous things? What if you really drowned? And what if I didn't know how to swim? I wouldn't have been able to go after you!"

Purple eyes blinked back at him. "Oh please! You aren't a tensai for nothing. There's nothing you don't know how to do."

They had drifted into deeper waters, away now from the bulk of swimmers. Fuji looked at her with piercing blue eyes. "You'd be surprised. I'm not as perfect as you think."

Harumi swam around him like a shark. "Really? For the record, I'm a great swimmer, so if you had dived after me without knowing how to swim, I would have saved you. It doesn't always have to be you doing the saving."

Fuji was spinning around on the spot, trying to keep her within his sight as she swam lithely around him like a fish. He was grinning now. "Would you really save me?"

Harumi swam towards him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Of course! I took first-aid courses in high school. I know all about CPR and all that."

Fuji coughed a little. "I think I might have some water in my lungs from your little stunt." He peeked at her from underneath his wet bangs. "So how does that CPR of yours work?"

Harumi bit her lower lip with a smile as her legs pedaled in the water. "Close your eyes."

Fuji obliged.

Harumi examined him closely. "They are REALLY closed, aren't they?"

Fuji sighed. "Of course."

Harumi gently grabbed a handful of his wet hair and pulled his head back a little. She looked at his closed eyes, the bridge of his nose, and the wet bangs plastered against his forehead. She threw a careful glance around them to make sure no one was watching, and then slowly closed the distance between their floating bodies. She approached her mouth to his and hovered there, so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. She remembered that being this close to him would have turned all her muscles jelly three years ago. But right now she was supposed to be the one saving him, so she had to be strong. In the back of her mind, she realized that it wasn't so hard to keep it together anymore. Maybe she was finally getting used to his charm.

Trying to further explore this feeling of control, she approached her mouth to his ear instead and murmured: "First, I need to drag you closer to shore, Fuji-san."

Fuji opened his eyes. "It's been a long time since I heard you call me that."

"I know."

She swam behind him, seized him by the armpits and started dragging him slowly towards more superficial waters.

Fuji kept his eyes open and stared up at the blueness of the sky above them as he slowly floated on the water. He could feel Harumi's hands under his arms as she puffed slightly behind him with the effort of dragging him. She really knew how to make him wait. Had she always been like this?

He was lost in thought, watching the few clouds drift by in the sky, when suddenly her face invaded his field of vision. His eyes focused on her face as she pinned a strand of wet hair behind one ear. She watched him with tenderness for a moment, and then her face inched closer to his. "Don't cheat," she whispered softly as she covered his eyes with one hand. A second later, her lips were finally touching his.

Fuji allowed her to nibble softly at his lower lip, before her mouth covered his and their lips moulded together. He lifted his head off the surface of the water and was surprised when his feet encountered the ocean floor. Harumi must have dragged him for quite some distance to more superficial waters.

He stood upright and felt her hand fall away from his eyes. He opened them and saw her beaming, her cheeks pink. "Are you alive now?" she asked.

"Not quite," he answered as he cupped her face with both hands and pulled her closer to him once more.

Harumi ran her hand slowly down his chest, tracing the muscles of his pecs and abs under the water. Fuji hugged her to him and planted a long kiss on her neck, followed by another, and then another, until he felt her breath quickening. He left a trail of wet kisses along the base of her neck, and then up to her ear, to her cheek, and finally to the corner of her mouth.

Harumi turned her head slightly and their mouths met again for another languorous kiss. Fuji's lips were warm on hers, and she felt that overwhelming feeling of turning into pudding again. Fuji lifted her up in his arms and she allowed her fingers to dig into his brown hair.

She felt Fuji's hand on her lower back, almost burning in contrast to the cool ocean water. She crossed both legs around his hips and let him carry her weight.

"I missed you, Fuji." She whispered in between kisses. "I have been wondering where you have gone to."

Fuji nudged her nose with his. "I'm here. I've always been here."

She brushed her lips against his and sighed against his mouth when his hand moved up to her shoulder blades.

"I love you, Harumi. Always remember that."

"I love you more," she smiled.

Ask him what was bothering him earlier.

The sudden thought made her startle. Fuji traced a finger down her cheek. "Daijoubu?"

"Yes… but I was wondering… you seemed pretty distant this past week. Is something on your mind? You know you can tell me anything."

They disentangled themselves and Harumi lowered her legs until her feet slowly touched the ocean floor again. A wave rolled past them, splashing water onto their faces. Fuji let out a small bout of laughter and laced his fingers with hers. "Come on, let's go back now."

Harumi allowed herself to be pulled behind him, but she still spoke up to the rolling muscles of his back: "You still haven't answered my question."

"It was nothing, Harumi."

Harumi pulled on his hand to a stop and swam in front of him. "Syusuke, I don't think it was nothing. I kept feeling as though I had done something to upset you."

Fuji passed a hand through his wet brown locks and sighed. "I feel stupid telling you about it now. I know you don't like it when I get jealous."

Harumi eyed him in confusion. "Jealous? Oh yes… in the parking lot under the mountains. Well… that's… I'm sorry… I was out of line when I said that to you." She fidgeted . "I can understand where you were coming from."

Fuji studied her face. "So you won't get mad at me again for being jealous?"

"Were you acting distant because you were jealous?"

She tried to think back to the past week, but could not remember being overly nice to a guy in front of Fuji.

Unless… it's about Eiji again? Crap! Did he find out about me going to Eiji's secret tennis practices with Kirihara?!

Fuji sighed again, looking embarrassed as well. "Remember that day when I had dinner with my sister?"

That day? Oh… when he said he'd call me, but never did. Oh no! That's when I played tennis with Eiji!

"Yeah…?" she let out, scared at where this was going.

Fuji cleared his throat. "Well, I called you before dinner and you said you were downtown. Later, I found out that you were there with Eiji. Harumi, I'm sorry, I know you see Eiji as a friend, but I can't help feeling a little jealous when you two are alone together. After all, you do have a history with him."

Harumi tried to process it all. She first felt relieved that Eiji's secret was still safe; she didn't want him to be ousted because of her. However…

"How did you know I was with him? I'm not saying you are wrong… we did bump into each other and go to a convenience store. But… I've never told you this until now because you never asked. So how did you know?"

Fuji scratched his temple with an uncomfortable expression. "Yes… actually, Yuriko mentioned seeing you together downtown."

I knew it was her outside the convenience store!

"What exactly did she say?" she asked louder than she intended.

"Nothing much, just that you were with him."

Harumi rolled her eyes and started quick-walking in the water towards the shore. Fuji hurried after her. "I knew it. You are mad, aren't you?"

"Yes, but not at you," she let out between clenched teeth.

"You shouldn't be mad at Yuriko either. She did not mean any harm, I'm sure. It's my fault for misinterpreting the information she gave me."

Harumi twirled around. "Why are you even defending her?" She pointed a finger at his chest. "Now that we are on the subject, what exactly is your relationship with her? Chiharu told me she has a crush on you; is that true?"

… there, I said it.

To her astonishment, he suddenly laughed. "Now who's the one being jealous, Harumi-chan?"

Harumi and Fuji had presently returned onto the beach. The honey-haired girl placed her hands on her hips. "It's a perfectly legit question. It's true, isn't it?"

Fuji closed his eyes and smiled. "Saa… maybe she has a crush on me. Maybe she doesn't."

Harumi wasn't about to let this go, but then Chiharu suddenly popped out of nowhere and interposed herself between them: "Harumi! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you! Ah… hi there, Fuji! Let me borrow her for awhile!"

Before any of them could respond, the fiery Chiharu had dragged Harumi away on the sand. Fuji watched them go, sweatdropping slightly. He saw Harumi throwing him a glance from above her shoulder, and her glare told him that their conversation was not over. When the girls were out of sight, he let out a sigh of relief. Internally, he thanked Chiharu for intervening at such an appropriate moment. He did not want to bring up the topic of Yuriko… yet.

Something cold pressed itself against his back, making him startle. He turned around to come face to face with Jiro. The long-haired boy stared at the tensai with his usual expressionless eyes, and then handed him a cold Ponta.

"Thank you, Jiro-kun," Fuji accepted the drink with a smile.

"She seems like a nice girl," Jiro spoke in an undertone, staring in the direction the girls had disappeared.

"Harumi?" Fuji asked.

Jiro nodded silently, and then his black irises came to rest on Fuji's face. Fuji clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't you set your eyes on her too, Jiro. I have enough competition as it is."

Jiro's eyes widened slightly. "No, that's not what I meant."

Fuji waved him off with a smile. "I know, I was simply joking." He started walking in direction of their parasol. "To be honest, I never thought I would experience the feeling of having to compete with anyone over her. Three years ago, she only had eyes for me. What do you think has changed? Is it her? Or is it me?"

Jiro took a sip of his drink silently.

Fuji turned his head slightly towards him, awaiting an answer. Jiro wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stated placidly: "Aren't you overthinking this, Fuji-kun? I don't see this competition that you speak of."

Fuji smiled his usual smile. "You are right. I must be overthinking things."


"What? WHAT? I was in the middle of a serious conversation!" Harumi shouted as she tried to break free of Chiharu's grip on her wrist.

However, the other girl didn't pay her any mind as she continued jogging across the beach, sometimes slipping due to the uneven sand under her feet. Harumi also tried her very best to keep pace with her as she tried not to fall face first into the first sand dune.

"Can you at least tell me where we are going?" Harumi asked between two pants, without much hope of a reply.

However, Chiharu surprised her by yelling: "The yacht, baka! It's leaving soon!"

"Yacht? WHAT YACHT? Are you sending me into exile?"

Chiharu rolled her eyes. "No! Did you forget the REAL purpose of today Haru? Ah, we are here!"

Harumi managed not to crash into Chiharu's back with the help of some superhuman reflexes. As she lifted her eyes, she saw a small white yacht anchored to a wooden port.

Eiji, Oishi and Amaya were standing in front of it, at respectable distance from each other. Upon seeing Harumi, Eiji's eyes filled with relief. "You are late!" he called out.

"Late? But nobody told me…"

Chiharu pushed her towards the group. "Hurry up! I only managed to rent the yacht for two hours, and we have already wasted five minutes!"

Chiharu signalled to an older guy already on the yacht. "Sorry, mister! We are ready to go!"

The older guy threw his cigarette in the water and readjusted his sunglasses. "Come onboard."

Amaya eyed Harumi, still dripping wet in her bikini. "Are you going to be okay? It's going to get windy on the yacht."

"It's not like I have a choice, moh! Chiharu didn't even give me time to grab a towel," she sighed as she pushed her hair back.

Something colorful fell over her head, and she grabbed at it until it fell down on her arms. It was the plaid shirt that Eiji had been wearing over his tshirt earlier. She gave him a small smile as thanks.

Amaya hid a giggle behind her hand. "Look at him, trying to act cool!"

Eiji closed an eye. "I'm always cool, neh, Harumi?"

Harumi slowly put on Eiji's plaid shirt over her bikini. It was warm, and still retained the smell of him. She suddenly flashbacked to that morning in Atobe's house three years ago, when she had woken up in Eiji's shirt. The night before, they had kissed for the first time in the cellar room by the pool.

What's going on? The other day too at the tennis court! Why is it that all of a sudden these memories are resurfacing? Even after three years… why does it feel like yesterday?

"Harumi?" Amaya's voice called out

"Oh… yes, I'm coming."

She tapped her cheeks forcefully and then ran onto the port, and then hopped onto the white yacht. The older guy ignited the engine, and soon the yacht slid away from the port and headed towards deeper waters, gaining speed as it skipped on the waves.

Amaya clung to the side rail and let out a fearful and yet excited scream as the yacht seemed to fly in the air for a couple of seconds before falling back on the water again.

Eiji made his way to the front and spread his arms wide and shouted nonsensical words at the top of his lungs. His enthusiasm wasn't dampened even when a huge wave splashed him wet from head to toe.

Harumi and Oishi sat down at the back and gripped the railings tight, generally more reserved, and each in their own thoughts.

The older guy drove the yacht far into the heart of the ocean, from where the shore only looked like a faint yellow line barely separating the two immense masses of blue that were the ocean and the sky. There, the waves were less rocky, and the waters were almost calm around them. He stopped the engine, and the little white boat fell silent.

"Excuse me, miss," the older guy said to Harumi, who stood up from her seat and made way for him to pass.

He went to fetch a fishing line, and a box of worms, and then went to sit at the back of the boat, where a box of cold beer was waiting. Readjusting his sunglasses on top of his nose, he threw his line and said out loud to no one in particular: "I'll be fishing here for awhile. Tell me when you are ready to leave."

The four young people looked at each other in silence, and then looked away.

Harumi looked around them with a feeling of apprehension. What was Chiharu thinking, dropping them in the middle of nowhere like this? She pulled on the edges of Eiji's plaid shirt, and sighed.

Eiji was still standing at the front of the yacht, looking away into the blue ocean. Oishi was still sitting at the back, looking down at his feet. She crossed Amaya's eyes, and saw fear in them. That look gave her the determination she needed. Taking in a deep breath, she sat back down beside Oishi, and said: "Eiji, Amaya, come here and sit."

Amaya let herself fall down beside her, facing Oishi, and Eiji slowly strolled to the back of the yacht, and sat facing Harumi.

Seeing that no one was speaking up, Harumi tapped Oishi's knee, making him jerk his head up. His eyes crossed those of Amaya, and turned sad. Amaya did not look away this time.

"Oishi," Harumi called out gently. "Tell us what happened. Don't omit anything. Don't lie."

Without looking away from Amaya's eyes, Oishi started in a low voice: "It was six months after Harumi left for France. Eiji was having trouble coping with… - he threw a brief glance towards Harumi – coping with the break up. On top of that, his family left him behind, and he had just started living by himself. I could see that he was not well, even though he kept telling everyone otherwise."

Harumi glanced at Eiji, and saw him listening with a frown.

"One day," Oishi pursued. "Eiji and I played a match against some kids from the neighborhood. We lost. We had never lost at street tennis before. So Eiji, I asked you to tell me the truth. And finally, you told me you wanted to speak to Harumi again."

Slowly, Eiji nodded.

"I did not know Harumi's number, and I did not know her email, so I promised Eiji I would ask Amaya and find out. Only, that day, Mai was at the tennis courts, and she had heard the whole conversation. On my way home, she intercepted me, and she told me that…" he looked down at his feet again.

"It's all right," Harumi reassured him. "I know it's a touchy subject, but we are all prepared to listen to this till the end."

Oishi clasped his hands together. "Mai told me that Eiji talking to Harumi again would only make matters worse, and at the time, her words made sense. I could see that my friend was hurting because he still could not get over Harumi. And Harumi, you had already chosen, and your choice wasn't Eiji. So I thought that talking to you, prolonging this unhealthy contact with you, would make it so that he would never be able to forget, and to move on. I didn't really know what to do about it, but Mai suggested the idea that I lie to Eiji, that I tell him that Harumi had said she did not wish to speak to him again."

He let out a bitter chuckle. "She told me that if I were truly Eiji's friend, I should be able to do it. Some lies, she said, are told out of love. And I could see that Eiji was spiralling downwards. His social life was suffering, and his tennis was suffering too. Sometimes, I did not even recognize my own friend. And so… I did as Mai told me. I made a bad call. I'm sorry, Eiji, for lying to you. I'm sorry, Harumi, for hurting you. I'm sorry, Amaya, for going behind your back and doing something so not me."

There were tears in his eyes as he finished speaking.

Tears were also streaming down Amaya's cheeks. "Baka," she said with a hand to her mouth. "You should have talked to me about it. It must have been hard, bearing this all by yourself."

Oishi slowly looked up at her. "I swear to you, Amaya, I'm never going to lie to you ever again. Not out of love, not out of anything. If there is one thing I learned out of this, it's that there are no good lies. You are the love of my life, Amaya. You deserve nothing but the truth, always."

Gently, Amaya grabbed his hands and nodded as more tears fell down.

"Do you forgive me?" Oishi asked.

Again, Amaya nodded.

Slowly, Harumi put a hand on Oishi's shoulder. "I'm sorry too, Oishi. It wasn't just your fault. If only I had not… done the most stupid thing I have ever done in my life… I'm sorry."

She stood up and walked to the front of the yacht, and gripped the railing as she tried to breathe.

Oishi's eyes crossed those of Eiji. The redhead smiled through his tears, and said: "Amaya is right, you were being stupid. But no matter what happens, you are my best friend, and that will never change."

Oishi eyes filled with emotion. "Eiji…"

The redhead clasped a hand on his friend's shoulder, and Oishi clasped his.

"Let's play a singles game against each other, you and I," Eiji proposed.

Oishi dried his tears with the back of his hand. "Yes, we will settle the score."

"I won't go easy on you."

"You better not, because I won't either."

The two boys smiled at each other, and then Oishi signalled to Harumi standing against the railing of the boat. Eiji looked over his shoulder, and then gave Oishi a loud clap on the shoulder before standing up and walking to Harumi.

Oishi reported his attention to Amaya, and the latter came to sit next to him. Hesitantly, he lifted an arm to drape over her shoulders, and she gently leaned against him. "I missed you," she said against his shirt. "I felt so lonely without you. I should have heard you out earlier. I'm sorry for being so immature."

Oishi tapped her gently on the shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You were right in being angry at me. Your forgiveness means everything."

She looked up at him with those clear green eyes of hers as he gently placed a strand of black hair behind her ear. He smiled lovingly down at her, and she smiled back.

In the meantime, Eiji leaned against the railing of the yacht, beside Harumi.

She was staring far away into the distance, her eyes still a bit red. The ocean wind was blowing her hair against her face, but she was paying it no heed. For a long moment, they just stayed there in silence.

"You said you were sorry for doing the most stupid you have done in your life. Did you mean picking beef ramen over seafood ramen as your favorite?"

Harumi did not laugh. Eiji sighed and nudged her. "Come on, don't be like this, Harumi."

"I was referring to saying yes to dating you back then…" she whispered. "No matter what Mai has done, she was right about this one thing."

Eiji froze beside her, and gripped the railing hard. "Really? I'm sorry to hear that."

Two wide purple eyes turned towards him. "No… it's not what you think. Those days spent with you, Eiji, that is not what I regret. I regret saying yes to dating you so soon, when I still had feeling for Fuji. It was a stupid thing to do, and it hurt you, and me, and all our friends."

The redhead looked down at the waves. "Well, I don't regret you saying yes to me. In spite of everything, those days spent with you have been some of the happiest days of my life."

Harumi held her breath for a second. He turned to look at her, and their eyes met.

"I have found myself thinking of the past a lot lately, and I know those were good days," she found herself confessing. "After hearing what Oishi said today about you, I can't help but regret bringing this upon you, because all this pain, it cannot be worth those few days of happiness."

"For me, it was worth it."

She shook her head. "You are just saying this to make me feel better."

He flicked her on the forehead. "Now you are just being self-centered. No, it's the truth. I never lie. I don't know how to lie, especially to you."

She massaged her forehead with a moody frown. A sea gull croaked above their heads, and Harumi looked up to see its white shape flapping its wings as it circled above them.

I've forgotten how generous Eiji can be.

"Our relationship started so suddenly, and ended so suddenly. It's such a waste… it could have been… it could have been different."

She blinked and looked at the redhead with unease in her chest, surprised at her own words. But Eiji was not looking at her, but at the ocean. His face seemed a little sad.

She had not meant to put that look on his face.

"E-Eiji…" She thought quickly. "Ah yes, do you remember the day you came to visit me before I left for France?"

His finger tapped on the railing. "When I said I'd let you go?"

"Y-yes."

No. No. NO, this topic is no better than the previous one!

"What about it?" he asked.

Well, since we are at it, better ask it, ask it and get it over with.

"Well, there's this one thing that's always bothered me a little bit. Before you said that… that you'd let me go, I got this feeling that you wanted to say something else."

It's so stupid. Maybe it was all in my head.

Eiji had a small smile. "Does it matter now?"

"So you did have something to say!"

He shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I did. But I thought better of it."

"Can I ask why?" she demanded quietly.

Eiji saw her worried expression and mussed up her still half wet hair. "Look at you, being so anxious about something that happened three years ago."

She did not look away. "It's because I still remember vividly that look you had in your eyes. If you had something to say then, then it matters to me. I want to hear it."

Eiji sighed and stretched his arms. "It was the opposite of what I said, that's what it was. I was about to be a selfish kid who only thought about himself. But luckily I remembered that you had chosen Fuji, so I didn't end up saying any of those things."

Harumi nervously closed Eiji's plaid shirt tighter over her body, lest the wind blew it open.

She heard herself ask in a quiet whisper: "And what if I hadn't chosen Fuji? What were those selfish words that you would have said then?"

Eiji studied her face for a long time after that, so long, it seemed, that the sea wind was about to dry her skin and crack her lips to pieces. Slowly, she wiped her hair out of her face and looked up at him earnestly.

He was there, towering over her, his red hair standing in spikes because of the salt and of the wind. There was that light in his eyes again, that same light that had been present when he had been in her room three years ago.

"Don't go. I'm not letting you go. I know that you have lost your parents. I know that your family is in shambles, and that your brother needs someone by his side. But going to some foreign country? What are you thinking? That is going to make everything worse. What remains of your life is here. Your friends are here. Those who love you are here. You can't run away from them all. I will bind you to your bed with the toughest rope, and I will pile your giant travel bag over your body, if you ever try to leave. I don't care what's the right thing to do. All I know is that I need you here, and here is where you will stay."

Without knowing, Harumi had let go of the plaid shirt to clasp her hands over her mouth. The wind blew open the shirt, revealing her purple two –piece.

Tears came unbidden to her eyes as her heart ached in her chest. She had yearned to hear those words back then; she had begged Fuji to ask her to stay, but he had chosen to do the right thing instead, by asking her to leave with her brother and her Aunt.

Eiji studied her for a moment longer, before he let out his usual cat grin. "Or something along those lines! Nice speech, eh? I just came up with it! Maybe it would have made you want to stay back then."

Harumi let her hands fall away from her mouth, her purple eyes huge. "Huh? What? WHAT?"

Eiji scratched his head unrepentantly. "Hoi, I totally don't remember what I was about to say back then, but you seemed so serious, so I felt I had to say some… ahh, wait!"

He leaned back just in time to avoid one of her punches.

"Eiji, youuuu!" she shouted as she aimed towards his face again.

The redhead jumped away with horror. "Wait! I'm sorry! That was in bad taste, I know! Please have mercy!"

There was a volcano erupting out of her eyes when she growled: "No mercy!" and jumped over him. She landed on him and pounded him to the ground, where she sat on top of him and pulled at his hair.

"Help!" Eiji cried out. "Amaya! Oishiiii! She's going to kill me!"

Eiji twisted himself on the floor of the yacht and managed to see Amaya and Oishi making out on the seats without paying him any attention. His heart sank when he realized he was doomed.

At that moment, the older man stepped over them placidly to reach the wheel of the yacht.

"Sit tight, youngsters. I'm going to drive back now."

When the boat lurched, Harumi lost her balance a bit and fell over him. Eiji quickly seized that opportunity to squeeze out from underneath her and crawl away.

Harumi stood back up behind him like a vengeance-seeking demon. Somehow, she had found a bat and was now holding it in both hands. "Matte, Eiji," she growled.

Eiji paled at the sight of her and started running madly around the yacht, wondering if he'd ever survive to see the shore again.


Yuriko was applying some more sunscreen, when Jiro sat down beside her quietly.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"The hospital called," he said.

She jerked up straight and gripped his arm hard. "What did they say?"

"Father has taken a turn for the worst."

She let her hand fall down, her eyes shaking. "It's not the first time. He will be fine."

"Still, I think it is best if we go see him."

She slowly shook her head. "No… no… it's going to be all right. We should be here. Tonight. Tonight is important."

Jiro's black expressionless eyes settled on her. "We should drop this. I know you have feelings for Fuji."

She slapped him on the cheek, and quickly eyed Fuji, who was busy fixing the parasol that kept falling.

Jiro did not let the slap deter him. "If you are not going to go see father, at least put your time to good use. That girl, Harumi Yamazaki, is not here right now."

Without paying him any more attention, Yuriko stood up and walked towards Fuji across the sand.

"Oh my! It fell again?"

Fuji turned to look at her, brushing at the sweat with the back of his hand. "Yes. It will not stay, no matter what I do."

She crouched down beside him. "Here, let me help."

Fuji smiled at her. "Thank you, Yuriko."

She smiled back. "Not at all."


Guuyys, I don't know what to say. I know it's been a longer eternity than last time before I updated this chapter! Ugh, I'm so sorry! I'd say it won't happen again, but that would probably be a lie XD. Real life is busy. Real busy. Busy like bees. So all I can say is... just write me comments and urge me to write. When I see them, there's this... giant bonfire that lights up underneath me and I feel compelled to let real life sit in the corner for a few hours and start typing again. So I will be counting on you, ok? :D

Guest: THANK YOUU :)

Kurosora: nice nickname, first of all! Black Sky in english? :) And thanks a lot for the review! Yes, yes, yes, your instincts are right on the spot! That was definitely about Harumi and Eiji on Fuji's phone ;) As you can see from this chapter, although he hasn't shown her the picture yet. As for your ideas for the plot development, all I can say is, what you have in mind for this story is VERY similar to what I have in mind ;) And I agree that they would make for excellent storylines.

Floofybunny: Hi there! Thank you so much for reading this! Much appreciated! Hope you liked this too! Ja ne!