A/N : It was only when I finished writing this chapter that I realized that this was the 49th and that the next would be the 50th Chapter of Resonance.
Honestly I'm so blown away with this that I don't know what to say other than thank you and I hope that you'll bear with me for a few more chapters.
" The Beach ? ", Kazuya repeated unsure if he'd heard correctly.
"Yeah ", Chizuru nodded .
"The Beach? ",Kazuya asked again .
"How many times are you going to ask ? ", she responded with a put-on grumpiness .
"No , I heard you ", he answered and just about stopped himself from asking once again ,
"The Beach???? "
After their spur of the moment decision to a sudden trip , Kazuya and Chizuru were now surfing online trying to find out where they could go on such short notice .
And after scrolling through various travel blogs , Chizuru had suddenly made this suggestion which was surprising to say the least ,
"How about we go to a nearby beach ? "
The urge to question her again danced on the tip of the tongue but somehow he drew it back in and decided, rather wisely , to opt for some tact instead (or at least what he assumed was tact ) .
She had turned her attention back to the screen and so he nudged her on the shoulder before asking ?
"Umm , Chizuru, you know it's January, right ? "
"What sort of question is that ? ", she asked , without taking her eyes off the screen .
"Well ... it's just ... you do realize that it's still winter and way too cold to go to the beach ? "
She turned back to him with a slightly irritated raised eyebrow before poking him on his cheek .
"I just thought you'd forgotten or something ", he replied indignantly.
"Like I've been trying to tell you in between your questions ", she started , with a sigh .
"Any regular vacation spot will be fully booked out , there's no way we'd even get a room to stay in
Or did you forget ", she paused to poke him again ,
"That we're trying to plan a trip a couple of hours before we leave ? "
Kazuya shook his head , a little unsteadily before she continued,
"That's why I thought about going to the beach , precisely because it is winter . It's guaranteed to be almost deserted , we'll definitely get a place to stay in , and even though there may not be the usual tourist attractions or amenities, I'm sure we can find a way to enjoy ourselves.
Now if only someone would stop questioning me " she ended with sarcastic annoyance before she attempted to poke him again
This time Kazuya caught Chizuru's hand before she could .
"Ok, that's some smart thinking ", he admitted , squeezing her hand in appreciation.
She beamed at his praise before continuing,
"You are right though, it'll be quite cold ,so I'm trying to find out which nearby beach is comparatively warmer but either way we should avoid going into the water unless we want to freeze to death ".
"Yeah ", Kazuya agreed before suddenly wondering in his mind ,
"Wait , no water plus freezing cold equals... no swimsuit ? "
"Yep , no swimsuits this time ", Chizuru told him .
"Huh ? No , what ? ", Kazuya panicked .
"I didn't even say it out loud, how'd you know that's what I was thinking ?
"It couldn't have been more obvious, you idiot ", she answered with a laugh .
"You got that suspicious expression on your face and then you gave me a once-over and then you turned bright red " .
"S...So what ? ", a flustered Kazuya sputtered.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to see my girlfriend in a swimsuit ".
"There isn't ", Chizuru agreed still laughing before dropping her voice down and whispering ,
"Next time , okay ?
Chizuru turned back to the laptop , still laughing about how easily she'd embarrassed her boyfriend to the point of silence .
"I'm glad, though ", she thought to herself through her mirth.
"I'm still able to understand him ... maybe even better than before .
And ... I'm also glad ... that he didn't try to hide what he was thinking.
There's no way he would have admitted that even a few weeks ago .
I'm glad that he's not hiding his desire ... his attraction.
After all , I'm his ... ".
She paused only for a second , not out of doubt , rather to reinforce her thoughts.
"Girlfriend " .
It was only a few minutes later when she wanted to type something that she realized that Kazuya hadn't let go of her hand .
He wasn't holding it too tight , if she wanted to , she could have easily wriggled free .
"I can type with one hand ", she decided with a little red in her own cheeks now .
She quickly focused back to the matter at hand , intensifying her search until she found what she was looking for , a beach nearby , relatively warmer than the others.
There was just one problem .
It was Shimoda Beach .
She immediately turned towards Kazuya whose face mirrored her own expression as he stared at the screen .
He looked at her and they both simultaneously shook their heads in complete agreement .
It might have been almost two years since they had been there but neither of them wanted to go back there , even though it was a place that held such huge significance , the place where their bond had been hardened in the molten iron of a life-and-death experience.
It was a special place , a special memory but right now what they wanted was somewhere new , somewhere where there was no baggage , either the good or the bad.
And soon they found that place .
"Kamakura ", Kazuya read off the screen .
"Yeah ", Chizuru told him , excited once again .
It's just an hour and a half away, it's a good spot but not too popular , especially in winter and it has a bunch of sites in the city like shrines and stuff that we could visit other than the beach. There are a couple of resorts that are still open as well.
I think we found it ".
Kazuya smiled enthusiastically as he told her ,
"It's perfect " .
It didn't take them too long to change ,book a room to stay in , pack and leave . Chizuru booked their tickets for the JR Shonan Shinjuku Line ("Just 940 yen each ", she'd remarked approvingly " and before they knew it they'd reached their destination.
Kamakura , the old capital of Japan .
They got into a taxi at the station and from there it took barely ten minutes to get to the Ryokan that they had booked .
(Note : A Ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn)
They walked into the establishment and found a young woman in her thirties in a kimono , at the reception counter .
The second she saw then, she got up and bowed slightly before greeting them with a warm smile ,
"Welcome , my name is Fuyuko , I run this Ryokan along with my mother .
How may I help you ? " .
Kazuya and Chizuru greeted her back before Chizuru told her ,
"We'd made a reservation for a double room ".
"Yes , Ichinose-san right ? ", Fuyuko asked .
"Yes , that's right ", Chizuru answered , slightly surprised to which Fuyuko explained with a slight chuckle ,
"I only remembered because we don't get too many guests in January, let alone ones who make a reservation just a few hours in advance".
Both Kazuya and Chizuru smiled apologetically at that sentence before the door behind Fuyuko suddenly swung open and an older woman, clearly her mother, dressed in a matching regal kimono stepped out and greeted them as well , introducing herself as Hibiki-san .
"This is the couple who just booked a room ", Fuyuko told her mother .
"Oh , Mr and Mrs Ichinose ", the older woman exclaimed .
Immediately both Kazuya and Chizuru turned beet-red
"N... no , we we're not ", Kazuya managed to squawk before an equally flustered Chizuru stammered out ,
"Not ...m...married ".
"You're not ? What a shame ! ", Hibiki-san exclaimed indignantly.
She then stepped closer to them and peered at them with an enthusiasm shining in her eyes that seemed to defy her age as she told them ,
"A wonderful young couple like you shouldn't wait around like this , in fact if you want , we can arrange for a...
"Alright , Mother , don't trouble them too much", Fuyuko admonished with a sigh before turning back to Kazuya and Chizuru .
"Follow me please , I'll take you to your room " .
They were soon led to a double room at the end of the first floor . The room itself wasn't too big or intricately decorated but it seemed comfortable, cozy and warm .
Just what they wanted .
"Of course , your room comes with a private bathroom but we have a wonderful Hot Springs here as well if you wish to use it . We can serve dinner in your own room if you wish as well ", Fuyuko explained to them .
She then beckoned them towards the balcony, telling them ,
"This is the real highlight of this room ".
She pushed open the sliding doors to reveal a balcony with a gorgeous view of the Yuigahama Beach .
"Wow ! " , a breath-taken Chizuru exclaimed.
"Those steps you see there, lead directly to the beach ", Fuyuko told them before suggesting,
"If I may , you could walk down to the beach right now and spend some time there before admiring the beautiful sunset".
"That sounds really good ", Kazuya remarked before Chizuru nodded in agreement .
About fifteen minutes later , they were walking along the beach , holding hands , almost compelled by the scenery around them .
It wasn't a bright sunny day but it wasn't grey either , the descending winter sun still cast off a brilliant hue that was just transitioning from yellow to orange.
The Beach was all but deserted , just a few people walking around here and there , mostly locals and the odd restaurant that was open.
They walked around and ate some local snacks like chocolate filled croquettes and sushi served in a cup before renting a picnic blanket and settling down on a rather sloping mound of sand, waiting for the sunset.
They were sitting just close enough to the water that the faintest mist would surround them just as the tide came in .
They were silent for some time as they sat next to each other before Kazuya remarked ,
"It's really quite here , huh ? "
"I like it ", she told him .
"It feels like it's just us here " .
The wind suddenly seemed to get a bit colder , almost rattling their bones as it blew into them .
They both instinctively pressed a little closer to each other before Chizuru remarked ,
"It's getting cold " .
Kazuya took the hint and slipped his arm around her , she responded , snuggling closer to him.
They stayed like that without talking , without moving , watching the sun descend gracefully into the horizon , bathing them in orange and red , both of them acutely aware that they were holding onto each other much more tightly than they needed to .
"Thank you ", Kazuya told her after a while .
"This was such a great idea ,it's amazing we really needed this ".
Chizuru didn't reply straight away but when she did , her voice was softer , delicately lined with affection
"Thank you ", she told him.
"For still wanting to come with me.. after everything. " .
They looked at each other and instantly they both had the same sense of what the other wanted .
After all it was a perfect location and the perfect mood and so they both leaned in .
But then suddenly, Kazuya felt something slithering in his shoe . Maybe it was an insect , maybe just some sand or stones ,maybe something more , maybe nothing at all , but he didn't know and so he instinctively yelled out and got up .
He struggled with himself desperately trying to force off his shoe while a confused Chizuru stood up , trying to understand what was going on
Finally he succeeded and threw his shoe away but in his relief at having gotten it off , Kazuya hadn't realized that he had stumbled quite a few steps back .
Chizuru saw it coming and tried to warn him but it was too late , Kazuya was hit by the ocean tide.
The water came only up to his knee but it's freezing cold power knocked Kazuya to the ground , thoroughly soaking him .
Chizuru was sprayed as well , although considerably less .
He coughed a bit and a panicked Chizuru immediately hurried towards him before kneeling down over him .
"Are you alright ? ", she cried out , clearly worried .
"Yeah , yeah , I'm fine " , Kazuya assured her , smiling now .
Chizuru sighed with relief before smiling herself and wiping some of the water off her forehead .
"Why did you suddenly start acting crazy ? ", she asked , her smile giving way to a giggle .
"I thought there was something in my shoe" , he replied indignantly before seeing the funny side of things and laughing as well .
It was just then a memory struck Kazuya, a memory where he saw and felt exactly what he was seeing and feeling now .
Chizuru kneeling over him , the blood-red sky behind her , the weight of the water in his bones , the smell and taste of salt on his lips .
"It's just like that time ", he whispered.
"Shimoda, when I woke up after you saved me".
Chizuru gasped as she too saw what she'd seen then , as she too felt what she'd felt then .
She then smiled gently before whispering back ,
"Did the water get in your brain or something?
You saved me " .
"You did too ", he stubbornly replied .
She didn't argue back , instead she remarked ,
"Just like last time ...
Expect for ... ", her voice trailed off but her actions were loud and clear .
She descended on him , her hands on his cheeks , not giving him even a second before she kissed him deeply .
His arms came around her waist ,pulling her in as he returned the kiss and more .
"Should we have gone to Shimoda after all? ", Chizuru asked slyly after taking a minute to catch her breath.
"As long as I'm... ", Kazuya began before she interrupted, teasingly asking him ,
"Do you really think a cheesy line like that will work on me ? "
Completely ignoring her , he continued firmly,
"As long as I'm with you , I'm happy anywhere ".
A loud gasp escaped her chest , one which was clearly unintended given the look of beaten pride on her face.
She punched him playfully before leaning in again .
Only for the tide to drench them again.
They coughed, they sputtered , they shivered, they laughed , they even shed a tear or two thanks to the salt in their eyes ,but even as they crawled away from the reach of the ocean ,
They were happy .
A/N : Kazuya and Chizuru plan and reach their destination before beginning their trip with some fun .
Next time: In a special Chapter 50 of Resonance, Kazuya and Chizuru head to the hot spring before night falls and they...
