Chapter 11: Relax
"Open up," Takumi held up a spoon full of scrambled eggs. Misaki still refused to lift up her head. "Misa-Chan, just one bite." He pushed the spoon next to her lips. She turned her head away and ignored him. "Honestly Misa," He sighed, putting down the spoon. "Are you going to act like this every time we have-"
"Shut up, Takumi," His wife grumbled as heat crept up to her face. She dug her fork into the sausage in front of her, muttering incomprehensible things under her breath. She harshly shoved the piece of food into her mouth. She tried very hard to push last night's memory out of her head. "I swear to god, Takumi, bring that up again, you're dead."
A small chuckle escaped Takumi's lips, "Alright fine." He picked up his coffee and looked out the large clear windows. The morning scenery showed the light blue waves of the sea, and the green leaved trees lightly swaying by the morning breeze. "Let's go to the beach later," He suggested.
"Yeah," Misaki agreed, following his gaze. Set her fork down, wiping her mouth with a napkin. She looked up at Takumi, who was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. Today was one of the few days that Takumi somehow convinced her that they both got to choose what the other person was wearing. She smiled a little, admiring her own work. She picked out a loose white button up shirt, paired with a pair of light blue shorts. His hair was messy, but it fitted the look.
"Staring is rude, you know," Takumi's voice cut in.
"I-I know," Misaki stuttered. "I wasn't staring…"
"Oh really?" He leaned in, resting his chin on his fist. "I would be staring too, if I were you."
She let out a huff, "You're so narcissistic." She crossed her arms, forming a pout on her lips.
"I'm not," He countered. "Because I think you're more beautiful." He had chosen a loose and silky pink sundress that ended just below her knees.
"I swear, Takumi," She muttered. "One more word from you, you're so dead." Takumi raised an eyebrow and shrugged, a large smile stuck on his face. "Let's go," Misaki finally said. "I wanna see the beach." He nodded, getting up along with her. He offered his hand and she gladly took it, intertwining their fingers.
They took their sandals off, wiggling their feet in the warm, golden sand. Misaki took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh ocean air. Her smile widened as she gazed up at the clear blue sky. "It's so clear," She sighed. "Let's go over there!" There was no response. She turned her head, staring at Takumi. "Why aren't you responding?"
He raised an eyebrow, "You did say you were going to kill me if I said another word."
She scoffed, "And that totally stopped you before."
He chuckled, nuzzling his nose at the crook of her neck. "So," He sighed, "sea?"
"See?" Misaki stared at him, confused. "See what?"
Takumi laughed heartily, "Not 'see'. I meant the sea." He nudged his wife playfully, "You're so cute." This, of course, earned him a glare. The couple walked near the water, watching the waves crash onto the shore. Misaki took a small step into the water, feeling the coolness on her feet. She closed her eyes, taking in the nature around her, slowing relaxing her muscles, and enjoying sunlight.
Suddenly she felt a push from behind, and then she fell into coldness. She fumbled, but quickly stood up, drenched, "TAKUMI!" She turned around, ready to smack him in the head, but found nothing, just the peaceful waves rolling onto the beach. She stopped moving. She turned again, still finding nothing, "Takumi?" Now, she started to panic, "Takumi?! Where are you?" She walked inched deeper in the water, "Takumi?" She felt her face getting hot as her heart started pounding. She waded deeper, until the water reached her thighs. Where did he go? A 6 foot tall person can't just disappear. Was it even Takumi that pushed her? She turned her hand around frantically. "Where did he go," She mutters to herself.
Just then, she felt something close in on her ankle. She bit down a scream as the grip tightens. Her eyes flickered down at the water, but before she could see what it was, she lost her balance. Before she could process everything, she was already in the water- again. She fumbled a bit, swinging her arms and kicking her legs to bring herself back to the surface before her feet found the ground again. She stood up, welcomed by the sound of laughter. Wiping the water away from her face, she saw Takumi, wet from head to toe, clutching his stomach laughing. "Takumi!" She screamed. "What on earth!"
Her husband wadded over and gave her a wet hug, "You're so cute."
"Takumi!" She pushed him away. "There's nothing cute about you disappearing and me freaking out." She waded out of the water, grumbling under her breath. She brushed the wet strands of hair away from her face and swinging the hem of her dress, hoping that it would help it dry faster. Takumi followed her suit, ruffling his hair, water beads flying everywhere.
Misaki looked over to him, "Now we're- " She stopped, her eyes widened. She quickly looked away, heat creeping up to her cheeks. Takumi raised an eyebrow, "Hm?" She cleared her throat, avoiding his eye, and straightened up. Takumi looked down and laughed. His shirt was wet and stuck to his lean figure. He pulled on it, walking up behind Misaki, "Like what you see?"
"Stop," she mumbled, placing her cool hands against her hot cheeks. She plopped down on the warm sand, stretching out her legs. Takumi settled down next to her, "Don't worry, it'll dry up soon."
"W-What are you talking about," Misaki blushed, looking everywhere but him. She dug her fingers into the golden sand nervously.
Takumi leaned on her shoulder lazuily, "Wanna go sightseeing after?"
"Where?"
"I heard there's an interesting rain forest on the other side of the island." Takumi muttered.
The burnette whiped her head around excitedly, "Really? There's a rain forest here too? That's so cool!"
Her husband chuckled, "And there's all these tropical animals there, though there won't be a large variety since the rainforest itself isn't that large."
"Does it matter?" Misaki said enthusiastically, "It's a tropical forest!"
Takumi paused for a moment before continuing on. "Yes. About it being just a normal tropical forest," He seemed to be trying to choose his words very carefully.
"Spill it out, Takumi," Misaki said impatiently.
"I heard it's like Japan's Aokigahara, the famous suicide forest," Takumi muttered.
Misaki crossed her arms, "Yeah right. You're pulling my leg again." She narrowed her eyes at her husband, "It's just a rainforest. Aokigahara is geographically dangerous with rocky, ice caverns, so it's easy to slip. Since their ground is mainly volcanic rocks, it's very hard. So falling from a higher area and hitting the ground would obviously cause serious injuries or death. It's also very dense so it's easy to get lost." The pointed at Takumi's nose, as if accusing him of a crime. "The rainforest is dense, sure, but not rocky. There's just lots of trees and plants. The only danger it can cause is poisonous plants, angry animals, and getting lost."
Takumi chuckled, lightly pushing her finger away from his face, "I see that my wife is very knowledgable."
She crossed her arms, "Only general knowledge."
"Alright, it's settled," Takumi pushed himself up and helped Misaki stand as well. "Let's go have some lunch and then we'll go visit the rainforest."
Nodding, Misaki took his hand, walking slowly towards the mansion once again to replenish themselves before going to the rainforest. "I just hope Gerard's stories aren't true," Takumi whispered to Misaki.
"Are you serious?" Misaki growled, "Gerard loves telling ghost stories. You shouldn't believe him."
"But they weren't ghost stories," Takumi said in a grave tone. "He said the only reason why he was hesitant to buy this island was because of the rumors going around surrounding that rainforest. It's true that it's not geographically dangerous, but they do say that someone lives deep in the forest. And that person is a serial killer whom can never be caught."
Misaki slapped Takumi's arm, "Stop! I'm not hearing that!" She tightened her grip on his hand, her heart racing. "I-I'm not buying it! Who would live in a rainforest?" She shook her head multiple times, "Nope. It's not true. You can't fool me, Takumi."
"Hm," The blonde looked up at the clear blue sky. "I sure hope so."
