Izaya stayed in the shallow water, feeling weightless.
"You think there are sharks around?"
Shizuo scanned the azure line of the horizon. He did not seem particularly worried about it.
"I doubt it but if there are I'm sure you can punch them into submission. And at least Shark Boy isn't around."
"What's up with you and animal people?"
"My love is for humanity."
Izaya ducked underwater and returned to the surface to find Shizuo staring unwaveringly at him. Unnerving.
"I've heard you say that a bunch of times, guess I don't count as part of humanity?"
He splashed about to create some distance. Drifting to deeper waters.
"You're a case apart."
"Why?"
Izaya considered how to answer. And settled for the truth.
"It's a mistake to divide people into 'good' and 'bad', it could be even be said to be a category mistake: ethics is not the standard by which to evaluate humans. What makes them tick is what matters, assessing what that is essentially what I do. But you piss me off on a personal level apart from all analysis."
"Oh look, shark."
"Where?"
Izaya followed Shizuo's gaze, already geared to swim away as fast as he could. Arms locked around him before the adrenaline rush died on him.
"Tricked you. Easier than I thought."
Izaya had a terrible moment in which he was sure he was about to get drowned but he realized that Shizuo could keep him afloat, apparently just as easily as he could trick him. Annoyance flared up as he swallowed some salt water which caused him to cough and thus destroy a pointed remark that he had all ready.
"Shit- let go of me already!"
To Izaya's profound relief the hold on him relaxed but he could not bask for long. Suddenly the world became water and the pressure of lips on his was the way of grasping for breathable air- in a flash he remembered that he was literally surrounded by oxygen but human that he was he could not take into his lungs without panic signs surging through his body. Izaya went into survival model. Instinct alone dominated him. He clung to Shizuo without for once being aware of any hatred, breathing through him. Any semblance of a kiss was utterly lost on him and only when the muffled sounds of water pounding on his ears and his heartbeat beating madly subsided. His eyes were sewn shut. He blinked a few times until he could fully open them to find himself panting at the beach. Shizuo towered above him so that Izaya could only see his legs from where he sat. Izaya took a few deep breaths. He gathered his resolve. Then pulled down Shizuo's swimming trunks and hopped to the safety of dry sand, shrieking all the way.
"Oh no! It's a naked man!"
Izaya made sure to sound mortified. Already a group of people was gathering and pointing.
"How old are you again? And it's like the kettle calling the pot black, really."
In his distress and warped desire for revenge Izaya had somehow managed to miss the rather important point that in the commotion his speedo was missing and that he too stood in naked glory. A most definite disadvantage. Shizuo saw him falter for a millisecond. Izaya turned around and spread his arms widely, his best smile on. And nothing else.
"Everyone! Today is 'nakedness' awareness day! We are celebrating the human body!"
'We' was not precisely correct since Shizuo lost no time pulling up his shorts. But Izaya did not seem at all bothered, after all there was such a thing as the majestic plural. Linguistic nuances existed for a reason. Izaya noticed a few mothers covering their children's eyes.
"Kids shouldn't be taught to be ashamed of their own bodies. After all, we're all born unclothed. And this beautiful Okinawa beach is a pure Eden!"
Shizuo shook his head. There was a limit to how much a yearn a person could spin but apparently not so much for Izaya. A couple of foreigners, armed with cameras, approached Izaya timidly and asked him in English if this was some sort of Japanese costume. Izaya beamed.
"Nihon e, yokoso! I'm sure you have heard of the Japanese public bath, this is in the same spirit! You could say it's part of the cultural experience."
*Welcome to Japan!