1Authoress here.

Hehe! I'm typing UBER slow today... New keyboard and all... Okay, there's a long and wonderful story behind this how "new keyboard" thing, and because I feel awesome today, you, lucky reader, get to hear it.

Okay, so I go to boot up Navi, and GUESS WHAT? He wasn't working. "System not found" I believe was his complaint...so I called in my father so he could get Navi up to story-writing capacity again.

This is when I understand the full meaning of the phrase: "This doesn't look good."

Yep. Navi's C: Drive has CRASHED. KO-ed. Or, at least that's the most logical explanation for the error. So now I'm ready to burst into childish tears and bawl for the loss of my beautiful stories...(cough "The one-thirty-six page novel and the other unfinished gem I was planning on taking the pains to publish...no lies...it was good shit! stories" cough) when I remembered it was Christmas.

Present opening ensued, and it was great fun, but muh STORIES! And then the whole fact my poor liddle compy Navi was dead...

And then I found the BOX.

The box to end all boxes.

I unwrap it...holding my breath...then break into loud, obnoxious, but totally time appropriate squealing as I see the blessed blue symbol of DELL.

DUDE! I got a brand new, I mean we're talking BRAND, SPANKING NEW DELL!

Yep. Authoress gots a purdy new toy... with Internet connection pending This means no more floppy uploads from Navi to Sir Arty downstairs...no more dealing with the painstaking slowness of Navi's processing... It's all right up in my desk, convenient as a spade to a weed-plagued gardener.

Now, to commence with the next chapter of Three Way!

Three Way Tie

Chapter Twelve: Sun, Sand, and Swimsuits


Gravitation

Aoyou groaned and rolled over, slapping her palm down on the top of her portable alarm clock. Its insistent beeping had snapped her from the fogged stupor of sleep, and she longed to drift off again. But, no. Yelling downstairs was growing louder, and announced Shuichi's fast approach. Aoyou groaned again, flinging back the covers in a fit of annoyance.

"Aoyou! Wake up! Get outa bed! C'mon!"

"This house had better be on fire," Aoyou griped. "Because if it's not, then you have no good reason to stop me from hitting my Snooze button for the next three hours. It's a Saturday, you know."

"I know." Shuichi's voice sounded right outside her door, and she had only a second to throw her robe on before the knob turned and he burst inside.

"Are you awake?" The teen's eyes shone excitedly.

"No." Aoyou rubbed the grit from the corners of her eyes, scowling heavily. "It's only eight in the morning."

"I know!" Shuichi said insistently. "What better time to get ready to go to the beach!"

"Beach!" Aoyou stared at him sleepily. "It's too cold for swimming."

"Not at the Ocean Dome!"

"The what?"

"The Ocean Dome. C'mon, Aoyou, you've had to of heard of it..." Shuichi plopped down on her bed, eyes wide and childlike. "It's this super huge Dome in downtown Tokyo that has the largest indoor water park around."

"Shuichi, do you really think that we should go swimming?"

"Why shouldn't we?"

"Well, it's been a little...tense over the past couple of days." Aoyou said carefully. You know, ever since we started molesting one another in the front doorway.

"So? Then isn't this the perfect time to go on an outing? To clear the air." Shuichi waved his hands around to emphasize his point.

"Okay, I'll bite." Aoyou sighed. "But I don't have...swimwear."

"That's why we gotta leave so early. I don't think Yuki has any swim trunks either. Come to think of it, I'm not sure where mine are either..." Shuichi scratched his chin. "But never mind, we'll pick some up on our way."

"What does Yuki think about this plan?"

"I don't know." Shuichi admitted. "He seemed a little grouchy this morning when I told him. But he's in the shower, so I guess he's planning on coming with us."

"Okay, I gotta get ready too."

"Cool." Shuichi didn't move.

"And if you don't get out of this room in the next five seconds, I'm gonna have to strip in front of you." Aoyou immediately regretted the words as she said them. It was a ploy that she used when her father came in to wake her up in the mornings, and it usually worked. But she wished she hadn't said I'm gonna have to strip in front of you to Shuichi.

Shuichi blushed bright red, and scampered from the room, making Aoyou groan again, this time in embarrassment.

Oh well. Aoyou thought grimly. It's not like I'll be here forever.

Half an hour later, Aoyou walked into the kitchen, a towel on her head and the sleep washed from her eyes. Yuki turned as she entered.

"Good morning, Aoyou." He faced foreword again, resting his elbows on the table and letting his eyes scan the newspaper he held.

"Good morning, Yuki." Aoyou hated the formality in their greetings. But there wasn't much she could do about it, so she shrugged unhappily and started to gather ingredients for French toast.

"You don't have to do that, you know." Yuki said, not turning to look at her.

"Do what?"

"Make every meal like you do."

"Why not?"

"Because, you're a guest here."

"Will you stop that!" Aoyou whirled around to face him angrily. "I know I'm a guest, but that doesn't mean I can't feel like I'm of any use around here!"

"Please lower your voice." Yuki said dispassionately.

"I won't lower my damn voice when you order me to like some child!" Aoyou nearly screamed.

Yuki quite calmly stood up, folding his newspaper slowly. Then, deliberately, he turned to face her. "Aoyou, calm down."

"I AM calm!" Aoyou glared at him.

"I highly doubt that." Yuki said smoothly, taking a step towards her.

"Highly doubt it, you say?" Aoyou spat at him. "Well, I highly doubt you're even human! You're some heartless, cold machine!"

"Resorting to petty insults now?" Yuki said, a hint of smugness in his voice. "Really, Aoyou, you're better than that."

"No, I really don't think I am better than that," Aoyou hissed out, "because it feels pretty damn good right now."

"You GUYS!" Shuichi's angry shout made them both turn around. The teen was standing at the doorway, tears threatening to overflow.

"You're always fighting, always bitching at one another! I try to plan one day, one day, that maybe we can all enjoy, and you two have to start it out with a cat fight!"

"Shu-" Yuki started, but Shuichi wasn't finished.

"Okay, so we all know that that night after Aoyou's boyfriend left was a little over the top, and we all know that it's been a little tense around here since then. But will you at least try to make things normal again!"

"Shuichi, I'm sorry." Aoyou said. She blew out a sigh. "It was a mistake to stay here in the first place, and I'm not helping anything by disagreeing with my host."

Aoyou gave a short bow to Yuki before spinning on her heel and stalking out of the kitchen.

Three hours later

"Woah." Aoyou stared up at the huge building in awe. A sign just outside the enormous parking lot declared that this was indeed the Ocean Dome Shuichi had been talking about.

Shuichi had recovered his good mood quickly. "C'mon, guys, lets get in there!"

"Uh, Shuichi, aren't you a little worried about people mobbing you?" Aoyou asked him.

"Nope!" Shuichi declared happily. "Today, the Dome is reserved for an American business party. About seventy foreign people will be here, and us. That's seventy people who won't have a single clue who I am."

"If it's reserved, how are we getting in?" Yuki questioned, a look of doubt hovering behind his brilliant blue eyes.

"Well, K spoke with the head of the Ocean Dome staff."

"Oh." That was all the answer any of them needed. Yuki knew from experience that K could be very persuasive, hand resting politely on the handle of his gun. Aoyou had heard the stories, even though she'd never met the man.

"Okay, I'm convinced." Aoyou announced.

"I am as well." Yuki sighed.

With an exuberant smile, Shuichi led them inside.

The woman at the front desk looked up and greeted them with a warm smile. "Welcome to Ocean Dome. You must be the Shindou party."

""That's us!" Shuichi said cheerfully. He handed over the tickets K had secured for them, and took the wristbands she extended to him. He passed them around to Yuki and Aoyou before slipping on his own.

"Women's changing room is directly to your left, and the men's changing room is to your right. Enjoy your stay!" The woman chirped, sounding as if she repeated this mantra over and over again.

Aoyou turned down the hallway to the left, and pushed open the door clearly marked with a female sign. She entered it cautiously, steam from the showers billowing out to greet her.

Rows upon rows of lockers greeted her vision, and half of them were being used by a large group of chattering American women. Aoyou was embarrassed by the strange looks she was receiving, and quickly chose a locker close to the door. It made sense, seeing as Aoyou was the only one present who knew nobody, but it still brought a flush to her cheeks.

Her embarrassment only mounted as she found that her swimsuit was about twice as revealing as most of the women there. She was one of the few wearing a two piece, and hers was hands-down the least modest.

She had picked it out due to its color. A spring-time green made up most of the material, and it had a light blue stripe running horizontally across it. She slipped into it with a grimace, covering herself quickly with a towel.

"Honey, d'you work with North?" A woman had come up to her, scrutinizing her closely. She had a pretty oval face, walnut-brown hair, and sparkling hazel eyes. The most defining feature about her, however, was her height. She appeared to be some sort of a model, with super-long legs and a trim figure. Aoyou hadn't noticed her before, and saw with a small rush of relief that she was also wearing a highly revealing swimsuit.

"Uh...no." Aoyou said, switching to English.

"Oh. Good. I didn't recognize you, and I'd feel just horrible if I had forgotten your name. I'm Rochelle Simkidlet, CEO at North Industrial. Who're you?"

"Aoyou Tsumaru. I'm here for my..uh...boyfriend's birthday party." Aoyou improvised.

"He must be quite rich if you two got in here during our party." Rochelle said.

"Um...you could say that." Aoyou muttered.

"Who is he? Would I know 'em?" Rochelle asked, face friendly.

"I actually don't think you would." Aoyou said truthfully. She was quite beginning to like this American woman.

"Oh well. Sorry to cut this short, Aoyou, but my coworker wanted to challenge me to a margarita-drinking contest. I'm planning on winning." Rochelle gave her a wink. "Have fun with your boyfriend."

With that, Rochelle turned on one heel and strode, runway-style, down the short hall leading to the main swimming park.

Feeling a bit more confident about her swimming suit choice, Aoyou took off the towel and threw it over her shoulder, scooping up her little bag of sun screen and sun glasses in the same motion. Shuichi had told her that there were tanning lights illuminating the Ocean Dome, making it akin to the real sun. Aoyou slipped the sunglasses onto her head and strode down the hall, following Rochelle's path, though hardly as sexily.

Shuichi and Yuki had changed lighting fast, as men are prone to do. They hurried out before the rest of the men, and claimed sun chairs, throwing towels down on another for Aoyou.

"Why do women take so long changing?" Shuichi complained.

"They're indecisive on what to wear." Yuki answered automatically.

"But she's only got one option."

"Long wardrobe changes are fixed in a woman's brain from the moment they learn how to dress themselves. It doesn't matter if they're in a walk in closet or in a swimming pool changing room." Yuki drawled.

"Oh."

"Or, they just like the effect of making men...wait..." Yuki let the words die in his mouth as a familiar figure came striding out from the women's changing room

"Whoa...is that Aoyou?" Shuichi squinted at the woman.

"Let's see," Yuki stood up, and lifted a hand into the air to call the woman over. She saw his hand and waved back, breaking into a jog and coming over.

"It IS Aoyou." Shuichi said in wonderment. "Who knew she looked like that in a swimsuit?"

Aoyou came up, a big grin on her face. "This is awesome, Shuichi!"

"I'll say," Yuki murmured.

"What?" Aoyou turned to look at him.

"You look wonderful." Yuki said smoothly.

"T-Thanks." Aoyou stammered, a flush coloring her cheeks. Shuichi and Yuki watched as her eyes slid over them both, her blush deepening as she did so. "Y-Y-You guys look g-good, too."

"Thanks." Yuki and Shuichi said in a single voice.

"Oh, you two are so cute when you do that!" Aoyou squealed, throwing her arms around their necks, drawing them both in close. Shuichi stiffened momentarily as his chest and hers bumped in the exchange.

"Now, lets do some swimming!" Aoyou declared.

Two hours later

Eiri Yuki

Sitting on the "beach" at Ocean Dome, watching Shuichi and Aoyou have a splash fight, and sipping a pinea colada resulted in me being the most relaxed I've felt in days. I sighed happily, taking another long pull of liquor from the straw.

Shuichi and Aoyou hauled themselves from the water, breathless, laughing, and utterly drenched. They scrambled up the beach, trading friendly insults before sinking into beach chairs next to me.

"Who won?"

"I did!" Aoyou and Shuichi answered together. They turned to look at each other.

"No, I did!" They said in unison.

"No, you didn't!"

I started to laugh, a deep, belly laugh that I couldn't hold in. The two were glaring at one another, both unwilling to admit defeat at the other's hand.

"Will you two grow up?"

"I totally won." Aoyou pouted.

"Liar." Shuichi sneered.

"Okay, children, kiss and make up." I said absently, leaning back in my beach chair, reveling in the warmth of the Dome. It really was nice.

Movement beside me made me look over. I shook my head, half surprised and half knowing. Shuichi was leaning over Aoyou , kneeling on the soft sand of the Dome floor. His forefinger was tilting her chin up, and her hand rested tenderly on his forearm. Their lips met simply, and both of their eyes were closed.

I smiled to myself, leaning over to gently massage Shuichi's hair, and my other hand started to smooth over Aoyou's back. They broke apart at my touch.

"I think," I said softly, my grin widening. "That we should continue this...at home."

Shuichi and Aoyou exchanged glances. Aoyou's face broke into a wide, mischievous smile, and Shuichi started to grin excitedly.

"Yes, lets."

End Chapter


Authoress here. HAH! LEMON COMING IN NEXT CHAPPIE!

Oh dear. I have some work to do...heh...

Haha, sorry to cliffhang a little bit there, but now that Aavi (my new computer-of course I'm naming it!) is right here in me room, it'll be easier to fire out chapters easier.

We're almost done! I planned originally on fifteen chapters, and it'll be (hopefully, if I don't get carried away) fifteen chapters when the story ends. ONLY THREE MORE TO GO!

Review, and a Happy New Year to y'all!