May God forgive me for stooping so low as to write a beach episode.

Chapter 28: Seaside Horizon

It's a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining, but not too brightly. The smell of the sea is crisp in the afternoon breeze that tickles the skin. The sands are as rich as can be, without too many people here on a Saturday afternoon. It should be the perfect day.

"Heeeeeey, Elly! Can you pass that over?" Lady Neptune yells from the volleyball court as the ball rolls up to where I am.

I scoop up the volleyball and throw it back over to the goddesses who are playing a game of volleyball before sitting back down next to an IF who has her legs curled up, her chin buried between her knees underneath the shade of our umbrella.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, it's not like you told them we were coming here." She says glumly, looking out at the sparkling sea. "I should've figured something would go wrong."

"Well, it's not like it cost us anything to come here since we didn't have to fly and we don't have a hotel, so, you know."

IF smiles, turning her head towards me. "I know, it's just that I was really looking forward to relaxing today."

Compared to the goddesses, who are dressed in… greatly varying degrees of exposure with their trendy swimsuits of colors matching their hair, IF is dressed in a dark blue and grey competition suit. Surprisingly, the most, um, eyecatching isn't Lady Vert's, but instead Lady Noire, who keeps glancing over as if to see if I'm paying attention to her.

"You can go play with them if you want."

"I came here for you, so I'll stay right here."

I try to keep myself calm, knowing the real surprise is later tonight. It does feel like a bit of a waste, though, to be just sitting here, but at the same time it's comfortable.

"You… ha, geez. So, how are things at the shop this week? I've been swamped with Guild work, so I haven't been able to drop in."

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. There's a lot more reporters now, though, so I always have to be at my best. No slacking, it seems."

"I still can't believe they're all over you. I figured they'd be covering Blanc's boyfriend."

"Well, I guess I did make a bigger splash and had a more controversial part." I say, IF laughing at that. "But it feels good to be back, and a lot of my customer base has returned, too, so I'm happy to still be that face on the block."

"That's good to hear."

"Ye—oomph!"

My sentence is cut short but a tackle-hug from behind, courtesy of what can only be Lady Ram, with her voice immediately proving me right.

"Hey, hey, it's the beach, what are you doing over here?!"

"Well, we're just a bit tired." I say as Lady Rom quietly waves, stepping into view with her sister. Both are dressed in frilly one-pieces that match their blue and pink color scheme.

"Booo, liar! You two have just been here the whole time!" Lady Ram says, pouting and stamping her feet. "Even our sister is playing volleyball instead of reading!"

"Ah… well…" I say, trailing off. "Um, is there something you wanted though, Ram?"

"U-um," Lady Rom says, speaking up. "Our sister said if we were going to go get ice cream, we needed someone to come with us."

"We can handle ourselves, but we'll get scolded later if we don't." Lady Ram says, her hands on her hips. "Can you come with us?"

I look to IF, who waves me along. "Well, alright then. Let's go with them, IF."

"Huh?"

I stand up, offering a hand to her. "Come on, let's go. I don't want to leave you all alone here."

"I'm fine, really."

"Come ooon! It's the beach!" Lady Ram says, trying to pull IF up to her feet.

"Fine, fine, just stop nagging…" IF says, getting up. I offer her a smile, IF sighing as the twins rocket ahead, waving us along. "Well, I could use a walk, anyways."

"I'll get some ice cream for you as well, my treat."

"You better hope they don't have an extra large." IF says, smiling as we start walking along.

We catch up to the twins as we get up onto the waterfront area. There's a wide sidewalk that has the occasional food cart vendor along with a bike path next to it that stretches to the point I can't see the end of it, but I'm well aware of where it leads.

"Hey, it's a bit crowded now, I don't want to lose sight of you two." I say, gesturing for Lady Ram and Rom to come closer. "Let's all stick together, okay?"

"O-okay…"

"Oooookay!"

"Wh—"

IF lets out a laugh at my surprise as Lady Ram and Lady Rom move to my left and right side, respectively, and grab onto my hand. "You look like a dad, Elliot."

"H-hey, I just said stick close…"

"But this way we won't get lost!"

"Totally a dad—whoa, hey!"

"You can't get lost either, IF!" Lady Ram says, having grabbed IF's hand and pulled her in.

"Your hand is kind of rough, Elliot…" Lady Rom says, her tiny hand struggling to fully take hold of mine.

"Ah, that's because of all the work I do. I should take better care of it." I say, looking down and offering her a comforting smile. "A-anyways, let's just keep going, shall we?"

I figure there's no real way of getting out of this, so the faster we stop being in this situation, the better. I hear IF sigh before agreeing with me, and so we all walk forward, hands locked. I can feel the heat on my cheeks that's definitely not from the sun shining down on us.

Everyone on the sidewalk gives us a little bit more space, seeing how we look like a family coming down the way. Lady Ram doesn't seem to have any issue with it, humming as we all walk along.

As we reach a food cart with some ice cream, run by what appears to be a kind old woman with what's either her son or grandson, I look down at Lady Ram and Rom and let go of their hands, telling them to go ahead and see what looks good to them.

"I guess we do kind of look like a family, huh? Maybe I should dye my hair so we don't get mistaken."

I hear IF chuckle at this. "Stay how you are, Elliot. Besides, you've already got a good image. But if you, make sure to dye it a nice lavender."

"...any particular reason?"

"It'd be hilarious." She says, flashing a bright smile.

"Oh, okay, I was expecting a nice touching backstory or something like that." I grumble back, IF snickering in return. Before I can say anything in reply, Lady Ram and Lady Rom come running back to us. I kneel down to be level with them. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Um… usually we have to check in with our sister before we get something, too." Lady Rom says. I think on it and that doesn't seem out of place for Lady Blanc, considering how she'd probably try to turn it into a lesson that they'll need to learn.

"Well, I'm not your sister, so go wild."

"Oh boy." IF mumbles.

"Er, not too wild, though. I don't want to make her mad."

Lady Ram giggles at that before turning back to her twin sister and running back towards the ice cream stand.

"Careful now, otherwise Blanc might get the idea to use you as the ball." IF says, nudging me in the ribs.

"You'll protect me, right?"

"Well, if she goes full goddess mode, then I'm not so sure."

After this, the twins come back, each of them holding onto a pair of plastic bowls that have a banana split in them, with vanilla ice cream, some hot fudge, whipped cream, and nuts sprinkled on top. Again, I kneel down, leveling off with them.

"U-um, the owner gave us two extra since she said we should share with the family!" Lady Rom says, hiding her face.

"But don't worry, we made sure to pay for it with a tip!"

I ruffle both of their heads, smiling. "I'll be sure to let your sister know you both did a great job. That's really responsible of you two."

I look up and then wave to the woman running the stall, who gives a friendly smile and waves back before we turn away. The banana splits are passed out among us, IF unusually silent as we walk along.

"Not a fan of vanilla?" I ask, keeping an eye on Lady Ram and Rom.

"No, it's just… do we really look like a family?"

"Well, we all do have brown hair, I guess. I'm just surprised they don't recognize them as, you know.."

"I guess everyone is swept away in the beachside atmosphere. Besides, I think people figure if they bother those two while they're on vacation, a very angry Blanc's going to be right on their heels. And trust me, no one wants that."

"Very true."

"But… I guess it's not so bad. I'll never say no to free ice cream. It is pretty good, too."

"Just make sure to watch your waist."

"Hey! I bet I can still outswim you, anyways."

"That's not a bet I'd ever take." I say back, IF snickering. "Oh, but you know, now that I'm back to normal, we can actually resume those cooking lessons we have. I hope you haven't forgotten how to make scrambled eggs."

"I'll have you know that I've graduated to being able to prepare an omelet." I turn to IF and give her an incredulous look. "Okay, fine, with an omelet maker! You don't have to give me that look. I'm going to quit if you can't make an omelet without one."

I laugh, smiling. "Well, the beach house does have a kitchen. I'll drop by the convenience store in the later part of the afternoon and pick up some eggs."

"Make sure to pick up a packet of bacon, too."

"Eggs and no bacon for breakfast? Over my dead body."

"Mooom, daaaad!"

IF and I almost simultaneously trip over our own feet, causing a laughing fit to emerge from Lady Ram. IF gives the mischievous twin a stern glare, which only serves to make her laugh harder. Lady Rom on the other hand, puts forth a peace offering of an apologetic smile.

"S-sorry, I should've stopped her, but Ram said she wanted to play a prank…"

"I'm telling your sister." IF says immediately, the enjoyment fading from Lady Ram's face almost instantly.

"Wha—hey, no faaaair!"

"A-bah-bah, nope, I'm not hearing it." IF says, striding right past a pouting Lady Ram. "You're going to get an earful, that's for sure."

I step by Lady Rom and ruffle her hair. "It's okay, I'll defend you. Come on, let's go and catch up to them."

While Blanc promises to… "punish" them for their misdeeds, I can't help but see the glimmer of amusement in her eyes as Lady Ram proudly confesses to her "crime". She is proud of them for tipping the difference for the free ice cream, though.

Since we came in the later part of the day, the sun starts to set, casting a bright orange tint on the ocean and sands. The goddesses and their siblings get ready to go back to their hotel, but they say they're going to be back with some beach fireworks and also load up for the evening barbeque. I get the feeling some of them wanted to stay behind in the house, but Lady Blanc forced everyone to come along saying that they all need to help out.

I smile as I wave them off before heading back to the beach house, which overlooks the rolling grey ocean waves. IF's changed back into her more normal clothes, but she's lacking the usual blue coat and is instead just wearing the black tank-top underneath along with a sporty pair of dark grey shorts with a white stripe running down each side, paired with a dark blue light sweater tied around her waist.

"Tired?" I ask her from the sliding doorway to the deck, as she's leaning on the deck railing while looking out at the ocean.

"Something like that."

"Tired enough not to go somewhere?"

IF turns around, an eyebrow raised. "I thought we were going to wait for them to get back for a barbeque."

"I can... leave a note on the door." I say, giving a knowing grin.

IF chuckles before pushing up from the railing, nudging me in the ribs as she makes her way inside. "Those three weeks with Vert made you a bit more mischievous, huh?"

"Hahaha, very funny. But I had this planned when I chose the beach."

"Okay, you've got me. You didn't mention it at all, so I'm sure you've been dying to spill all day."

I close the deck door behind us and lock it before going to put on my shoes. "Well, it's still a surprise, so let's just get going before we're interrupted."

The first stop, after leaving the house, is a bike rental stand that's open late. I go for a two seater, with only pedaling from the front. Not that I had much of a choice, since the dual pedaling ones were all taken.

"Hey, you sure you'll be fine?" IF asks as I board the bike after her. "I can pedal, you know."

"No, I got it. Besides, even I have my pride as a guy."

"Haha, well, alright then. Let's go see this surprise of yours."

The first few miles isn't so bad as I pedal along, with IF in tow. The pathway goes up in elevation just a bit, giving us an overview of the nighttime sea that sparkles with moonlight. I'm glad my deodorant is holding up, too, and that it's not too humid, so I'm not sweating so much.

"It's nice from up here, isn't it, huh?" IF asks as I keep pedaling. "Just wish it was a little closer by, unlike the mountain view."

I can't help but smile, looking to the side for a second. "Yeah, it's really pretty up here."

"Is this it, then?"

"No, of course not. Hold on, it's going to get pretty steep from here."

And pretty steep it does get, to the point I have to stand up and pedal, our pace considerably slowing down as I keep at it, refusing to give in. It's why I biked at the end of the day when I was with Lady Vert, knowing I wanted to be able to do this even after a long day's worth of exercise.

My breathing is steady, if a little loud, as I approach the top of the climb, when I hear IF say something.

"Did you… say something, IF?" I ask, glancing back a bit and finding her pulling her arm back. "Is something on my back?"

"Y-yeah, just a sort of large moth. I shooed it off." I hear her say, looking back at the ocean.

"Alright, well, hold on tight, it's downhill from here. And look ahead, too."

As the wind rushes past us, whistling in our ears as I let go of the brakes and have us speed down the path, I can hear IF laugh with some excitement as she sees the carnival that extends even onto the beach and boardwalk.

"Did we have to take such a long hike up?" I hear her say, imagining the smile on her face that I can feel without even having to look back.

"Well, it's nice to see it from up top. And I wanted to show off a bit."

I feel a light shove to my back and a snort of amusement. "Being with Lady Vert for too long definitely scrambled your brain a bit, but I'll take it."

"Hope you burned some calories today."

I hear another laugh from IF as we descend down, coming to a stop in front of a bike rental stand, of the same company as the one we rented from, so we're able to return the bike there in order to explore the carnival area. It's definitely lively, with plenty of people, though not as many kids due to the sun having already gone down.

"Wow, they've really got everything. Even a Ferris wheel, too."

"Wanna go?" I ask, checking for my wallet.

"Maybe in a bit. Seems like something to cap an evening off, right? So, what first?"

"Hmmm, let's just wander around and see if we can't find something good to eat."

"That's why we skipped out on their dinner, isn't it? And you should've let me bike, I could use the extra exercise." IF says, nudging me in the ribs. "You totally cheated."

"Guess you'll just have to run tomorrow morning while I sleep in, huh?"

"Why you little—!"

I can only start walking away, having a laugh as IF gives me a playful shove before falling into step next to me. We walk around for a while, trying to find a good place to eat, though end up stumbling into a cheesesteak grill area with some other menu items, so IF and I split up a loaded cheesesteak and a side order of golden fried shrimp, caught just today.

"Maybe we should go fishing another weekend." IF says as we split the sandwich, leaning on the pier railing.

"Already planning another vacation?"

"Well, you know, it's free. Camping Saturday evening, spend all of Sunday fishing, come home?"

"I don't know how to fish, though."

"Guess we'll learn."

"What, you don't know either?"

"It's been a while, I can relearn pretty fast. That, and we can always pack food in case it goes haywire."

At that, I snicker, IF rolling her eyes as she takes her half of the sandwich in her left hand, already using her right in grabbing a lemon, squeezing it over the grilled shrimp.

"Well, let's space it out so we don't burn ourselves out. Besides, we can resume your cooking classes. I'm thinking fried chicken."

"I thought we were going to cook healthy."

"Well, grilling chicken isn't hard, and breading is a good skill to know. That, and it's easy to pack into a lunch if you cut your meat small enough."

"Oh, I see. And by the way, think fast!"

I turn my head, where I see IF underhand toss a grilled shrimp at me. Moving my head just to the right, I catch it in my mouth just barely before chewing down on it. "Didn't you ever get taught not to waste food?"

"It wasn't a waste."

I roll my eyes, nudging IF who only smiles back before digging into her sandwich, looking out at the sparkling ocean that has the lights of the carnival dancing on its surface.

"You know, you should have tak—"

"IF." I say, feeling suddenly emboldened, and likely shocking her as IF raises an eyebrow. "Tonight's about you, alright? About us. This was our vacation, so let's not bring anyone else up."

I see IF pause for a second before a small smile paints its way across her face. "Alright, you got it. Sorry."

"Don't apologize, you're fine. But I'm taking the last shrimp, since we have nine of them."

"Not if I eat them first."

"Oh that's it—!"

Unfortunately, my fingers aren't as nimble as IF's, so she claims the last of the shrimps. However, I tell her she's on her own for milkshakes now, earning me a scowl in return.

"But, we shouldn't go home empty-handed, either. Up for any of the carnival games?" I ask, feeling a bit nervous about performing now.

"Couldn't hurt, yeah. Besides, could use the light exercise."

We wander around for a bit longer, looking for a booth that isn't too occupied or crowded. The smell of alcohol as the night drags on gets just a bit stronger as the college generation kids and young adults on vacation start to pour in. Fortunately, we're able to find a not-so-crowded booth due to it looking rather difficult.

It's a simple knock the cans over, but each of the cans is on its own separate pole and the distance is maybe about thirty feet, about half of what it is from the pitcher's mound to home plate. Knock out all four with five, that nets you one of the medium-but-on-the-larger-size plushies. Knock out four with four, you can get one of the large plushies.

I can feel myself shaking just a bit, getting a bit anxious as I'm handed the five balls to knock over four cans.

"Good luck." IF says, smiling from the side.

I weakly nod, suddenly no longer feeling as confident. It was one thing to be hitting the mound every day while I was at Lady Vert's place, but suddenly having to perform here and now, in front of someone… there's an odd pressure with it.

I take a deep breath, remembering the climb. It was the hardest part of today, the climb I had been training for. There's no way I should be getting chills over something easy.

Bringing the ball to my chest, I line up my routine with my breathing. Arms behind my head. Leg up. Breathe out. Breathe in.

In an explosive movement, I hurl the ball forward. There's the sound of impact along with a metallic ringing as something collides onto the hard ground. Everything fades away after that as I pick up the second ball. No crowds, no people taking videos with their phones, no voices, no music, none of it enters my brain. It almost feels like I've achieved enlightenment, here in a void with just me and the cans ahead.

"Horyah!"

A second explosive toss sends the can flying. Same for the third and four.

I exhale, feeling like everything's too loud as I return to the material world as the worker congratulates me. It's then I notice there were a few people with their phones out, likely recording what seemed like someone professional pitching away, even if that's not the case. It sure looks that way, though.

"Your pick." I say to IF, who gets a rather sizable golden retriever plushie from the worker after pointing it out. "Thank you."

After we're sent on our way, I get a hard hip check from IF. "You practiced, didn't you?"

"No…" I say, clearly knowing my lie will be seen through, which only causes IF to roll her eyes. "Okay, maybe a little."

"You were throwing pitches like an actual player, you can't say that's just a little!"

"I'm going to take the dog back if you're going to complain this much."

"Shutting up now." IF says, but she chuckles afterwards. "Did you really practice, though?"

"I used to play baseball in high school. Not like, on the team, but, I helped out the team every now and then when their pitchers needed a break. Besides, I was already working part time at the shop, so I didn't have the time to dedicate to being on the team. In Leanbox though, I was… let's say encouraged to go back to my roots and started practicing again."

"That was a pretty mean fastball, though." I see IF shuffle the dog around, which now obscures part of her face. "You know, I have some coworkers who would love to have you as a Little League coach if you want. Teach 'em a few tricks."

"Hahaha, I'm flattered, but like I said, I just helped. Besides, I couldn't help the batters, and well, that's how you score."

"I guess that's true, but hey, if you ever feel like it, offer's open."

"I'll think on it, then."

"But… if you did practice, I think we can aim to get a few more of these." IF says, a mischievous smile on her face. "Let's put your pitching skills to the test."

There's a few other pitching games, such as ones where you smash plates out from a distance, the usual knock over five bottles in a pyramid, and a few other tossing ones, from which we all walk away from triumphantly. Our total haul from throwing games alone ends up being at least eight rather large plush toys: four dogs, two bears, a cat, and a butterfly.

It was hard enough to carry that we actually ended up buying some souvenir bags to hold them in, but IF keeps the first dog I won in her hands.

Additionally, IF decides to try her hand at the strength games, such as the one where you slam the pad with a hammer to try to ring the bell. I don't think I even had time to blink between the point of impact and when the bell rang when she slammed it. Plus, I think the strongman running the attraction was a bit scared of IF as she decided to pick out a stuffed panda as her prize.

"We might need to call a cab, there's no way I can bike with all of this back." I say, getting a laugh from IF as we keep walking around, looking for other things to do.

She gives me an 'encouraging' pat on the back. "Oh, come on, you've got this, Elliot."

I hear her cough after that, causing me to stop, IF stopping in tow. "You okay?"

"Oh, it's nothing much. Probably just inhaled a bit of smoke, it's starting to pick up, is all."

"That's true." I say, glancing around, finding quite a lot of people. It is starting to get kind of crowded, and as the time's gone on by, the number of more… rambunctious people has increased too. "Is your phone still charged?"

IF takes it out and checks. "Almost out, maybe ten percent."

"Then, stay close. It'll be too hard to find each other if we get separated."

It suddenly becomes five hundred times harder to make conversation as IF stays close to me, with there being so many people that she's almost pressed up on me. The humid, summer beach air doesn't make it any easier, either, with what smells like a strangely sweet mix of shampoo and sweat hovering in the air around me.

"Watch out," I say, bring a hand up and pulling IF close to avoid some college guys bumbling through the crowd, clearing intoxicated.

"Oh, t… thanks." IF says as I realize my hand is still on her shoulder, quickly letting go. "I think I see a break in the crowd ahead."

I nod quietly, sticking close to her after that.

"Here."

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask, feeling IF's new grip on my arm as she leads us shaking.

"It's not too much further." IF says, not turning her head around, but I swear I can see some red by her ears. "I just don't want you to get lost."

"Alright."

Fortunately, it's a short fight out of the crowd, where we finally make it back near the ocean. The both of us lean up against the wooden railing, looking out towards the ocean.

"I guess we should've picked a better night, huh?" I ask, getting a laugh out of IF.

"Well, it wasn't so bad." She says back, giving a rather demure grin compared to her usual sort of confident one. "And um, sorry if I was a little rough."

"No, it was nice. Nice of you, I mean." I say, quickly backpedalling, the awkward air coming back in. "Oh, um… why don't we go and get a milkshake or something? It must've been burning with that many people around. Then…"

I check on my phone, which buzzes with a reminder that the fireworks show is in about forty five minutes.

"...we should get in line at the Ferris wheel. We don't want to you know, miss out because we stayed out too late."

"Oh, right. I hope the line isn't too long."

"I have a feeling most people are playing the games, so let's find something cold and get in line."

With freshly obtained matching vanilla milkshakes, complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top, we join the line to the Ferris wheel. I take a look at my phone, checking the time as we slowly make our way through the line. I wasn't planning on these coinciding, but… it'd be nice if we could get them to.

They do have a space to lock up any bags, but due to the… large amount and size of prizes we won, the workers offered to put it away from any prying eyes when we boarded the wheel.

The cars themselves are open air, but the sound still feels muffled as we go up high, seated side by side. It does smell sweet again, almost like a bit of perfume, or maybe it's IF's shampoo. I push any wayward thoughts out of my head, instead sipping on the milkshake in my hands to keep my heat in check.

"It's pretty from up here." IF says, breaking the silence. "I think I can even see the beach house."

"I forgot just how high these can go sometimes."

"What, afraid of heights?" IF asks, nudging me as best as she can.

"No, of course not."

"Don't look down."

"Okay, that is not helping." I say, getting a chuckle from IF.

"Relax, if anything happens, I'll catch you."

It's then that we hear a very loud creak'ing sort of noise, with our car coming slowly coming to a stop as we round the top of the wheel.

"You just had to open your mouth."

"I didn't do it, I swear!"

Down below I can hear a lot of shouting, likely as everyone tries to organize the effort to get the wheel moving again, or at least, get us down from here.

"Well, might as well get comfortaaaaa—" IF says, interrupted only by a yawn, which causes me to yawn in response. "Comfortable. It's not a strict emergency, but it'll still take a while for the firetruck with a ladder to make its way here. Assuming they don't fix the issue first."

"Ah, I see. Well… it's not too bad here. The seat could be a little more cushy, but… this isn't bad."

"Mhm."

For a while, we just sit in silence, drowning out the sound below. You really can see everything up here, and no doubt most of the attention is on the Ferris wheel due to word spreading and people already talking about it online.

"Hey."

"IF?"

"You, um… make a decision, by the way? About, you know… going."

"Not yet." I say, looking ahead into the sea. "There's still some things I want to do in Planeptune even if I want to go or if I even choose to go. So I won't disappear just yet."

"At least tell me when you're going to go, okay?"

"Of course. It'd hurt me too, if I just up and left randomly. Besides, you need some time to find a new coffee place, right?"

I see IF's pensive look melt into one with a soft grin. "Yeah. You can't leave me high and dry like that."

"Kind of like how you left us high and dry here?"

"Oh come on, it's humid at least, so we're not dry."

I roll my eyes at this, IF looking somewhat proud of her (hard fought) victory. As I open my mouth to speak, our eyes lock, and perhaps it's here that it really sets in just how close we are, with our shoulders pressed up against each other. It gets eerily quiet fast, with both of us just looking.

Suddenly my heartbeat spikes up, my hands feeling numb. IF doesn't say a thing, but just keeps looking ahead at me. Lady Vert's words about taking the lead echo through my head.

I take a quick, sudden and silent breath. The sounds of commotion down below are nothing to the sound of my ribcage nearly shattering from how hard my heart is shaking around in my chest. It might be ill-advised, maybe I haven't given it enough thought, but if there's any time to ask this question, knowing that how I'll move forward with the shop and how my life is going to go all depends on this—

"IF, I—"

IF's face lights up red, but not for the reason I thought it would, as the sound of fireworks in the air drowns out whatever I'm about to say. Both of us turn our heads towards the sea, where the sparkles of purples, blues, reds, and many other colors paint the clear night sky, the reflections rippling on the ocean waves.

For a while, it's just a world that contains us two, watching the exploding show as everything else fades away, including our struggles and worries. It's as if we've both been reverted back to a childhood state, where the only real worry was if you had to have spinach for dinner, and life was far simpler.

It's honestly beautiful, and I'm thankful that we could be up here, looking over the boardwalk, as cliche as it was to be in a stuck Ferris wheel right at the top.

The silence between us dissolves away naturally, at least until it's over. Neither of us says a word, perhaps because we're not sure what the first words to say after seeing something like that up close should be. For a while, we kind of just… are, looking out at where the fireworks just were, neither of us moving our heads.

"Hey…" IF says after about five minutes of pure quiet. "...what were you about to say?"

"Oh, just… I… I knew about the fireworks, so you know, something like, 'I'll show you something cool'."

IF laughs at this, but I note how she doesn't look at my face to tell if I'm lying.

"You didn't plan the wheel breaking, did you?"

"If I had been able to plan for sheer coincidences like that, I'd be out playing the stock market instead of running a coffee shop."

"Haha, that's true." IF says, finally turning her head back towards me a bit. "Thanks. You must have really gone out of your way to make this something special."

"Well… it's been a while since it was just us, right? Of course I'd want to go all out."

IF turns her head away, but I catch the small smile on her face. "Yeah, of course. You really do shine when you go all out, you know? The gala, coming out, and now this… it's amazing what can happen when you really go for it, huh?"

"It's only because you're there."

IF's head whips back around as I realize what I just said.

"Y-you know, you've… you've always been there. At the gala, I had your support. You went all out with Kei to make sure I had a fighting chance. I was a bit afraid to dance until I saw you give me some encouragement from the balcony, and figured if you thought I could do it, then yeah, I could. Coming out to the world, you were there supporting me, backstage and in the audience. I really couldn't have done any of it without you."

IF's face slowly turns redder and redder as I speak, with her using her free hand to cover herself up. "Geez… I forget how you can say things like that with a straight face. Some people would be really embarrassed to say that!"

"Well… it is a bit embarrassing, haha, but… I don't mind if it's explaining it to you."

I can feel my own face blazing up as I say that, but fortunately neither of us says a word after that. But somehow, it feels a little less suffocating despite the fact we're still squeezed together on this ride compared to ten minutes ago.

It's another ten minutes before we're brought down from the Ferris wheel, where we retrieve our things and decide that we're done for the night.

The bike stall is closed for the night, so it's either call a cab or of course, walk it down. It's only a few miles, so it should only take about an hour or so even if we leisurely walk back. At least, it'd be a bit easier if we didn't have bags of prizes to worry about. Fortunately, with the last of my phone battery, we're able to secure a cab.

Well… that should bring this adventure to a close soon enough...

"Can't sleep?"

"Well… it's been an exciting night, is all."

"It's two ten in the morning, you should go to bed." IF says, leaning up on the rail of the deck that I'm sitting on, looking out towards the sea.

"Why aren't you sleeping, then?" I ask with a smile, getting a huff from IF.

"I heard your door open and it didn't close after five minutes, so I came out to check on you."

"Ah, thanks. Well, it was an exciting night, I slept for about an hour, and then woke up. I closed my eyes, but after fifteen minutes I figured I'd just stand around until I got tired again. What about you?"

"Sort of the same, but I'm a light sleeper. It was a pretty wild night, huh? Want me to get you a drink from the fridge?"

"I'll be all right, don't bother."

"Got it."

The silence sets in once again, the rolling waves being the only sound. The sky is pitch black, save for the stars above, where the full moon shines down on the ocean.

I briefly consider asking again, but my heart feels too heavy. That, and maybe I was just a bit too hasty. I hadn't even… gotten any closure with everything regarding Lady Noire. Maybe I was hoping that… if IF had said yes, then I wouldn't have to face it head-on. But that's such a cowardly way of doing things, I guess… and it wouldn't sit right with me, in the end. I'm sure Lady Vert and Lady Blanc would greatly disapprove.

"Something on your mind? You've got your face all scrunched up."

"Just thinking that it's good to be back."

"Ha, haven't you been back for three weeks now?" IF says, perhaps picking up on the fact I don't want to talk about what's really on my mind.

"Yeah, but you know, it's… still good, you know? It's close to how things were before the gala hit, or at least as close as it's going to get."

"True enough. Your shop has been pretty packed though, now that I think about it."

"I'm hoping that it fades away, once interest in me dies out."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that it won't. It'd be one thing if you were just a passing glance, but you're pretty involved with them now, you know? And you're coffee's super good, it wouldn't surprise me if the lines start getting long—then you really won't be able to escape the spotlight."

"I might have to hire full time staff, huh…"

"You sound almost sad about that."

"Well, it's… it's not like success isn't something I enjoy. The exact opposite, actually. But there's a real joy in knowing my customers face to face and being friendly with them. While I wasn't the most successful shop owner ever, the fact I knew almost everyone who came into that shop and really getting to talk with people was the best part. Plus, I really do love baking and making coffee."

"Mhm." IF says, sensing I want to continue.

"If I hire people to man the counter while I just make coffee and bake, then I'll lose that connection I have with people. If I hire people in the back, then I'll lose out on getting to bake and make things myself. It's kind of selfish, but I can't help but wonder if there's a way to do it all."

I feel a light punch to my ribcage. "Could always have a kid. Seems like there's plenty of them gunning for you, with that kiss from Vert, too."

"It was only on the cheek, and she did that to mess with all of us…!" I grumble, IF laughing.

"You know, I wonder if goddesses can have kids…"

"We are not having this discussion."

IF laughs again at that, then stops, falling silent for a while. I notice she plays with her hair a bit, an uncharacteristically sort of feminine habit, for IF, anyways.

"Hey."

"Hm? What's up, IF?" I ask, turning towards her. Despite the fact it's dark outside, my eyes have somewhat adjusted to where I can see her face looks a bit flushed.

"Oh, it's… never mind."

"It doesn't sound like it's something I shouldn't mind."

"No, it really isn't anything major. I just…" IF takes about five seconds to follow up, as if she was trying to think of something. "...wanted to know if we were still on for that fireworks festival coming soon."

"Yeah, of course." I say, feeling like that's not what she wanted to talk about. "Are you sure that's all?"

"...yeah, that's all. Sorry, I must just be really tired." IF says, rubbing her eyes. "You know how it is, your brain gets all scrambled."

"You should go to sleep. Come on, I'll head inside too, so you don't have to worry about me." I say, turning around and dismounting from the railing, landing on the deck of the beach house. "Besides, we can sleep in tomorrow, since we don't have to check out or anything."

"Mhm."

With that, we head inside, locking the door behind us. I open the door to my room, finding IF having just opened hers.

"Good night, IF."

"Good night, Elliot. And... thanks. For everything."

"I should be saying that to you, instead." I say, flashing a smile in the dark. "See you in the morning."

"See you in the morning." She repeats, giving a small grin, waving as she enters her room and closes the door behind her. I then enter my room and close the door before flopping onto the bed.

I can't help but feel like I both won and lost today. But, I guess going into the future… I'll definitely take that leap of faith.

I promise myself, on the honor of Lapin House, as the summer season really comes into full swing, that by the time fall arrives, I'll have settled all of this. And perhaps there's no one better to help with that than Lady Neptune…

And the curtain rises upon the final act.

Yeah, so, I went ahead and pulled out all the stops in terms of cliches. Beach episode, fireworks watching, stuck on the Ferris wheel, you name it. GodDAMN even I felt like I needed a shower afterwards, haha.

Anyways if there's one regret I had about this chapter, it was probably that I didn't expand a bit more on the beach scene itself. However, this chapter was very IF centric and meant to be a more casual one after the sort of high tension in the last chapter, so I decided to just skip around.

Also man, a lot of you guys really wanted to have Blanc's boyfriend on screen. Not something I expected, haha, so unfortunately he didn't get to show up here as if I'm going to do that, it's going to be in a later chapter I haven't written yet. I felt it would kind of kill the pacing of this chapter to throw him in now, so I'll think about it.

But yeah, the entire biking scene was part of why I had Elliot bike in Vert's arc, haha, as I came up with this scene first, and thus wanted a viable way to reach it. In order to have that, I had Elliot learn to bike in Leanbox. Also, this chapter was inspired by a few songs from Weathering with You; namely "Voice of Wind", "Celebration", and "Fireworks Festival". In the original iteration in my head, Elliot and IF did a Wipeout! style competition where Elliot ran the home stretch, got tripped up on a balance beam with large bouncy balls swinging back and forth, and was hanging on the beam while the opposing team caught up and got ahead. However, with Vert's training in mind, he was able to claw his way back up and sprinted across the beam for the photo finish. But, that felt a bit over the top, so I tossed it out for something more grounded.

By the way, IF totally didn't say the whole "your back is a lot bigger than I thought" cliche line when she mumbled something on the bike.

Either way I think my favorite scene in this one definitely was the fireworks on the Ferris Wheel, as cliche as it was. Lastly, I wanted this arc to be less of a "Neptune" arc and more of an "IF/Nep/Compa" arc, as I'd like to give the OG Trio a good try. It seems kind of like full circle as well, as IF/Compa were the ones who caused Nep to show up, thus starting the entire main plotline, and thus we return to those three.

And with that, see you all next time! Thanks to everyone who left a review, it really helps me out in trying to adjust my course as best as I can. If there's anything you'd like to let me know, don't hesitate to leave a review. And of course, with all the craziness out there, stay safe as best as you can, from a random dude on the internet.