Chapter Twenty-Five

-Miku-

The second I wake up, I see Gumi… leaning over my face! "Gumi!" I shriek, climbing away from her like a spider. She lets out a laugh and flips her hair. Why is she already dressed? What's going on?

"Surprise!" she sings, throwing her eyes to the ceiling in frenzied excitement. She then pulls her sleeves down like a magician. "I hope you didn't have any plans today, because…" she starts mysteriously. Suddenly, Rin and Luka both jump into my room with huge smiles on their faces.

"We're going to the beach!" they all shout at once. I sit upright in confusion as they all erupt into giggles. How did…?

"We spent all morning planning that," Gumi says, pushing a laughing Rin off her shoulder. Hmm? Ah, yes. "And that's not even the half of it," she adds with a slight cackle.

"Huh?" Luka asks, "I thought that was it… wait, what?"

"Oh, no? What?" Gumi asks, her face suddenly innocent with a cute smile. "I didn't say anything," she adds, her grin widening. I watch in confusion as she gives Luka a wink. Luka still shakes her head in confusion.

"Mmkay," she says matter-of-factly, "Whatever. Well, Miku, you should probably take a shower and go get dressed into your swimsuit."

"You might want to wear a little something over it though," Rin adds, "See? We're all doing that!" She reaches under her thick tank top strap to pull out a thinner yellow and white striped swim top strap.

"So will it just be the four of us?" I ask, tilting my head.

"Nope," Gumi says deviously, "Piko's coming too. Oh, and Len." Suddenly, she directs her smirk at me. "Oh that's right, we also invited Kaito," she laughs manically. I let out a scoff.

"Why would you do that? Gumi!" I groan, smacking her shoulder.

"You'll thank us later," she giggles. "Now go get your swimsuit on, we've got a heck of a day in front of us!"

"So where are the boys?" I ask, sliding out of the car and closing the door behind me. Gumi, Luka and Rin do the same.

"Can't wait to see Kaito, I observe," Gumi laughs, pulling her white shorts up over her green and white polka dot bikini.

"T-That's not true," I stammer. Change the subject! "So what are you guys planning on doing?" I ask.

"I'm just going to tan," Luka shrugs, leaning our walk down to the shore, "I think I need it," she adds, holding out her hand to study her complexion.

"High five!" Gumi grins, slapping Luka's outstretched hand. "I'm just here to relax!" she sighs, throwing her head up to the cloudless vast blue sky.

"I don't see how you guys can go to the beach and not swim!" Rin complains, shaking her head.

"Maybe you and Len can swim together!" Gumi swoons, placing her hands over her heart and winking.

"I don't think so," Rin says, shaking her head. Why can't Rin and Len just get along anymore? I wasn't the only one who saw them the other day, right?

"There they are," chuckles a low voice. I snap my head up in attention to see Len, Kaito, and Piko making their way over to us. And there's Kaito… In all his shirtless glory…

"Hey," Luka says, waving. "How long were you guys waiting?" she asks coolly, adjusting her baggy jean jacket.

"Not long," Kaito shrugs, "Only about five minutes."

"Great," Luka smiles, tossing her long watery pink tresses behind her back.

"There's this cool smoothie shop over there," Piko suggests, jabbing his thumb behind his shoulder. He looks at me. "Miki and I used to go there all the time," he tells me with a raise of his eyebrows. When will he quit bringing up that girl? Something about her gives me a bad feeling…

"Oh, that's right!" Luka says, raising her chin, "I just saw Miki yesterday," she smiles. "You know she's a model at the company I'm working at?" she asks. Piko's eyebrows rise in interest.

"I saw her yesterday too! And… she's a model?" Piko asks. "She never told me that," he adds, his eyes creasing.

"Oh," Luka shrugs lightheartedly.

"Well, let's go get some smoothies!" Gumi laughs, walking on alongside the shore. Thank you, Gumi… You have no idea…

"Blech, I'm going in the water!" Rin interrupts, "Anyone wanna join me?" she asks. I follow her gaze to Len's eyes.

"I guess I'll go too," Len gives in, walking up next to her as they shuffle their feet across the smooth white sand.

"Hold on, guys," I say, bending down. I stretch down and pull both of my white flip-flops off my feet. I lay down my fuzzy teal towel and set them on it. "Aren't you guys going to set down your towels too?" I ask, shaking my head. Luka and Gumi exchange a glance at their silliness and roll out their matching towels. Yeah, when it comes to beachwear and accessories, we're pretty big on matching. Luka's towel is pink and white striped, while Gumi's is the same but accented in green.

"Can we go now?" asks Kaito, throwing a look to Piko. Why are you glaring at Piko? Nothing's his fault! From the corner of my eye, I swear I can see Gumi smirking and winking at Kaito. Must've been my imagination. This morning did not pass by without a scratch. "I bet this smoothie shop won't be nearly as fun as the ice-cream shop, right?" Kaito laughs, grinning at me. I force a short laugh.

"Right," I say, giving him a convincing smile.

"Aw, Kaito took you out for ice-cream?" Gumi purrs, "That's so cute!" Suddenly, her eyes widen. "I-I mean," she chuckles nervously, "That was so um… nice of him!" she corrects herself quickly. She then adjusts her pink googles awkwardly while Kaito gives an uneasy smile. I guess she couldn't even lose the goggles for three days.

"Hey, Miku," Piko says quietly, grabbing my attention, "Come here for a second." I furrow my eyebrows as he motions for me to follow him. I quicken my stride in confusion, catching up to him. I can't help but look back at a sour-faced Kaito and an eye-rolling Gumi. What's their problem?

"Yeah?" I ask, adjusting my teal and blue striped bikini straps.

"Happy birthday," Piko says, his face breaking out into a smile. That's all he wanted to say to me? "I got you a present. One sec, kay?" he grins, reaching into the trunk of his car. He got me a present?

"Y-You didn't need to get me a-" I start.

"No, it's okay. I wanted to," he says, his lenient two-toned eyes soothing me. He pulls a teal gift bag out of his trunk. "Here, follow me," he says fondly, "There's this place I think you'll love."

I follow him wordlessly, my eyes up to the endless cerulean sky, without a trace of clouds. My bare feet sink into the smooth tiny grains of soft white sand as the salt-splashed water bobs back and forth, tumbling onto the shore and back out again. Only now do I start to realize what a beautiful day it is… perfect.

I discern our surroundings as I follow Piko up a gravel path between rows of plants that increase in density and green color. I don't even stop to question where we're going as we begin our ascent up the grassy hill through a grove of trees.

"We're almost there," he grins, the gift bag draping from his forefinger delicately. He swings it around as we begin to take the last steps to the top of the peak. Where is he taking me? Why'd he want to give me my gift all the way up here? "You're gonna love it," he says almost inaudibly. What about our smoothies?

"Why'd you choose this hill?" I ask as he runs up to the top.

"You'll see!" he calls back with a chuckle, sitting down at the peak. Shaking my head with bemusement, I jog up to the very top to join him. Suddenly, I can't help but draw in a deep breath as I see it- the most amazing view of anything I've ever seen…

The beautiful, sparkling, vibrant blue ocean smiles back at me as the amazing cloudless sky stretches as far as I can see. More seagulls than I can count soar above our heads as the trees around us sway in the cool summer breeze. The scent of oranges and saltwater draft by as I let out a sigh, taking in everything.

"P-Piko…" I start in awe.

"Well…" he grins up at me, motioning for me to continue. The twinkle in his eyes is so dazzling it could challenge the sparkle of the sun tickling the horizon. I sit down on the right of him so that he doesn't have to look up at me. I'm almost tempted to lean on his shoulder… "Isn't it great?" he asks.

"It's… awesome," I say, placing my hands on my lap and leaning forward. As the wind blows the away from us, patches of warm sunlight softly touch our skin. The whole scene… right in front of my eyes… it's almost like something from a dream or a movie… "I seriously wish I had a camera right now," I say, spreading out my fingers into a rectangle in front of my face and squinting. I pretend to click.

"Happy birthday, Miku, and may all of your wishes come true," Piko chuckles, reaching into the teal gift bag. He pulls out a shiny black digital camera marked Canon.

"Oh my god, Piko!" I nearly shout, placing my hands over my neckline. "How did you-? What?" I manage to laugh. He laughs as well, his lips curving up into a playful smirk.

"Hey, it's yours," he reminds me, placing the bag and the camera in my lap. "But wait, that's not all," he suddenly adds, reaching across me. He fumbles around in the bag for something, pulling out a boxed… USB cord?

"What's that for?" I ask.

"When you take pictures, you can save them to your computer and stuff," he shrugs, "I just thought it might come in handy, you know?"

"Thanks, Piko," I say as he places it into my hands, "Really." I put it into the bag. "This…" I pause to take a breath as my cheeks flush with warmth. "…Is probably the best birthday ever," I smile.

"Seriously?" he asks curiously, "What made it so great?"

"Oh, I don't know…" I shrug, "I mean, I got to go to Paris… which totally isn't something you get to do every year for your birthday," I chuckle, my eyebrows raised. "I… I got to see you again," I add quietly, avoiding his eyes. I did not just say that… Oh no, there goes the blushing again…

"I guess I could say that was one of my highlights too," Piko chuckles lightheartedly. Suddenly, I can feel two soft fingers brushing against my right cheek, gently pulling my head in the other direction toward Piko… whose cheeks are stained with a bleached pink, bringing out his silvery white hair which falls across his eyes shyly. Too reluctant to say anything, I watch as he pushes his bangs away from his eyes. Those eyes…

Silently, almost happening too slowly, Piko leans forward toward me, sending my heart reeling out of my chest as I come into realization of his next move. However, I still don't say anything. Miku, he's going to… Suddenly, I lean forward and place my lips on his. Hah, other way around. It's not long before I find his strong hands pulling me closer to him.

Almost like a glistening clear river, memories of our childhood begin to flood my mind as our lips part. I remember Kaito teasing him about being a shota… Gumi and Rin did it too… Pretty much everyone did… But not me… Was it possible that even back then, I-

"So… how about those smoothies?" Piko interrupts with a raise of his eyebrows. A silence follows. Suddenly, we both burst into laughter and Piko leans over to peck at my cheek. I wave him away with a giggle, the spot where he kissed me filling with a blush. I push myself off the ground, camera in hand.

"Wait, I've gotta do something first," I say, turning on the camera and holding it out in front of my face. "This will make for a wonderful first photo," I grin. I click the button, capturing the beautiful endless ocean landscape in front of me. "Perfect," I whisper, my face breaking out into a smile.

"Yeah," he agrees quietly with a smile. As I look at him, his blush deepens as his heterochromatic eyes quickly dart from my gaze. I guess he's still a shota at heart. "You think they'll be wondering where we are?" he asks me, still not meeting my eyes.

"Meh," I shrug, leaning on his shoulders as we begin hiking down the hill. Soon, the sounds of seagulls calling are drowned out by our laughter and lighthearted chatter. Forget Kaito… I wasn't even happy with Kaito… This is pure happiness. Just me and Piko.

But what about Gumi?

Yeah, what about her Miku? What'cha gonna do 'bout that, eh?

Sorry, don't have time for eating/drinking/etc.!