"You want to do what?!"
Hana looked in awe at Leo, mouth hanging open while Kuro and Haru, who was sitting next to her, threw their heads back, laughing. Mei, who was sitting next to Leo and Kuro at the lunch table in the cafeteria, just facepalmed.
A month had passed since the Black Market incident. Things have changed since then. The royal group and Mei's friends got even closer and spent almost every day together, either training or just eating together. Kaito wasn't too pleased but he stopped complaining after a few days and by the end of the month he actually started to get along with the others, or, as he would put it, he started to tolerate them.
Makoto was a different case. The boy tried to avoid them as much as possible but he did end up spending two or three lunch breaks with them. Of course, he participated in no conversations and he did not try to hide his displeasure of being there. Thankfully, he didn't participate in any of the training sessions. Mei didn't know if it was because he didn't want to or because Leo didn't invite him due to what happened last time. Either way, she was grateful. She knew Hana had forgiven Makoto, but her friends could not forgive nor forget so quickly.
They went two more times to the Black Market with Leo. The boys gambled, as usual, Kuro and Haru went against Krieg, who surprisingly was still there. They won and lost a few games, nothing special, unlike Kaito who won all his games which frustrated Krieg. Leo this time went only against Kaito. They struck a few friendly games, Leo tried to take his ring back, but of course, he lost every game.
The last time they went, Erika, Rin, and Elric joined them. The stress and fear of getting caught were at their highest point that day but so was the fun. They spent an entire day going from one corner of the Black Market to another. Seeing the royals surprised faces and reactions every time they found something odd or unknown to them was the most entertaining thing ever.
Even the gambling was fun. Elric and Rin had no interest in it, but Erika had the time of her life. The funniest thing was that she wiped the floor with Kuro, Haru, and Leo once she learned how the game worked. If they would have played on money, the boys would have basically been enslaved to her by the end of the day. However, as much fun as she had beating the three boys, nothing frustrated her more than losing to Kaito every single game they had. Elric and Rin had to intervene to stop her or else they would have spent the night there too because she just didn't want to admit defeat.
Besides the trip to the Black Market, they've done a lot of other things that Leo's and his friends would not normally do before, like pulling pranks on each other or their superiors or having a full-on water balloon fight.
It was obvious that the royals had fun like they never had before.
So they weren't really surprised when Leo asked them to do something new. What shocked them, was the request itself.
"I want to go skinny dipping."
Mei sighed. This one was her fault as well.
"Leo," The boy turned around to look at her, his green eyes traveling her face. Wait, were they blue actually? Mei could never figure out what color they were. "Do you even know what skinny dipping means?"
"Well, Elric said that it's a type of swimming. He didn't go into detail though."
Hana sighed in relief. The boy was just confused.
Mei chuckled. "Leo, skinny dipping means that you go swimming naked."
It took a second for Leo to process what Mei just said.
"Oh."
Kuro put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.
"Now, now, let's not dismiss his idea so quickly. He's royalty after all. If he says--"
Hana reached across the tabled and smacked Kuro's head.
"Pervs don't get the right to talk."
Kuro glared at her and reached for his hair to make sure it didn't get messed up.
"Well, let's just go skinny dipping, but with swimsuits!" Haru offered. He looked so excited like he just made the biggest discovery ever.
"So... just normal swimming?" Mei asked.
His smile faded away and blinked. "Y-Yeah... I guess that is just normal swimming."
"But, where could we go? There's no public lake or pool nearby."
Leo smiled widely and put a hand to his chest.
"Leave that to me, Hana. So, are you guys in?"
They all nodded.
"Let's see if we can make Kaido come with us," Hana said.
"Oh, don't worry," Kuro said and looked at Mei from the corner of his eye "I'm sure he will want to come."
* * *
The next day, Kaito, Mei, Kuro, Haru, and Hana were walking towards the entrance gate where the royal squad was waiting for them. They were wearing normal, casual clothes instead of their uniforms and each one of them was carrying a backpack.
They were expecting Rin, Erika, and Elric to come with Leo, however, when they got closer they noticed that there was another figure among them. A familiar one.
"What is he doing here?" Kuro whispered.
His glare was fixated on the green-haired man that was standing next to Rin with his arms across his chest.
Hana stopped and grabbed Kuro by the arm. Mei, Haru, and Kaito stopped and looked at Hana.
"Listen, I already forgave him. I get that you're being protective and I appreciate that very much. But, please try to get along. It's been almost two months since it happened. And while he did not apologize, he did not try to make the situation worse either." Hana looked for a moment at the boy and then back at her friends "I actually think he's feeling guilty."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. He did not get that from the noble's attitude. "Why makes you think that?"
Hana hesitated a bit. "Well, I know he's been avoiding us all, but for some reason, I feel like he's avoiding me more if that makes any sense. He hadn't looked into my eyes even once since that day and every time I talk he closes his eyes and makes a face as if he's remembering something that he regrets."
Kuro was surprised. "You noticed all that?"
Hana ignored him. "Moreover, he's not as snappy as before. Yes, he's not talking to us, but he's also not making snarky comments or insults us anymore."
Now that Mei was thinking about it, Hana was right. She was also very surprised that Hana was paying attention to all that.
"So, please, try to not say anything or start a fight, at least today. For me."
Hana looked at them pleadingly.
"Fine," Kuro said pointing a finger at her. "But if he so much as looks at you in a wrong way, you bet I'm sending his ass to the bottom of the pool."
Kaito nodded. "And I will make sure he stays there."
"And I" Haru wanted to be included "Will turn into stingray and pay him a visit."
"T-Thanks guys, but that's exactly the opposite of what I want to happen."
Mei smiled and put her arm around Hana's shoulders.
"Don't worry, Hana. These guys won't get to do anything. Because they won't get to him before I do."
Somehow, that didn't reassure Hana at all.
"Now, let's go. We don't want to make the royals wait for us."
* * *
They flew for about thirty minutes with Makoto leading them.
Once they reached their destination, they all got down from their brooms and studied the surroundings.
It was a lake with clear, sparkling water, that stretched so far, Mei could barely see the other side. It was surrounded by some tall trees giving it a feeling of intimacy and protection. She could not hear any animal sounds, only the singing of a few birds but it was coming for very far away.
"Wow, it's really beautiful."
"It is. Leo, how come there are no other people here?"
"Oh, that it is because it's private property. This side of the lake belongs to Makoto's grandfather."
"R-Really?"
Hana didn't know what to say anymore. And neither did her friends. None of them expected that.
Kuro decided to keep his promise to Hana so he swallowed his pride and went to Makoto to shake his hand.
"Thank you for letting us come here."
Makoto looked suspiciously at his hand then at Kuro. Hesitantly, he took Kuro's hand and shook it while nodding his head.
Mei and Hana smiled. This was a great improvement.
"Don't get it twisted, though. The only reason I am here is to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't trash the place."
Kuro struggled to keep the smile on his face and not tighten his grip on Makoto's hand. His left eye was twitching too.
Erika jumped from behind and put her hands on Makoto's shoulders. She had a similarly fake smile that matched Kuro's.
"Ahaha," Makoto felt the pressure of her fingers on his collar bones "how about we change to our swimsuits, hm?"
Taking his hand back, Kuro muttered a yes and turned around. Everyone placed their towels and bags down and started undressing. They already had their swimsuits on underneath their clothes.
All the boys were wearing black swimming trucks except for Leo and Makoto, who were wearing red and gold. Mei had a simple red and white bikini on and Hana was wearing a blue with white dots bikini. They were really simple compared to the pink bikini with gold specks that Erika was wearing and Rin's velvety purple bikini.
"Wow Rin, your swimsuit is really nice!" Hana exclaimed.
The girl immediately blushed and tried to cover herself with her hands.
"T-Thank you! I think yours is cute a-as well."
Erika sighed. She knew her friend hated to be the center of attention, especially when her body was on display.
"Come. Let's go in the water."
Rin gladly accepted.
Two hours later, everyone was in the water. Well, everyone except for Makoto who was sitting on the towel with a frown on his face.
Mei and Hana were standing with Rin watching Erika try to drown Elric after he made remarks about how Hana and Mei look in swimsuits. Even though they were nothing compared to what they would have heard coming from Kuro, it still made them blush, but mainly because the boy was extremely charming.
Although it wasn't the first time Mei had seen Erika fight with Elric because he was flirting with them, she still found the situation confusing. She knew that Erika was only fighting with her twin because Rin liked him, but it was really weird that Erika was more affected by his flirting than the silverette. Rin seemed actually more concerned with Erika hurting Elric than anything. Mei has to ask Erika about their situation one day, but she has to wait for a time when the boys are not around.
Behind them, the other four boys were having a contest. Leo, who was sitting on Kuro's shoulders, and Kaito, who was sitting on Haru's shoulders, were holding hands while trying to push the other in the water. Although Mei could hear curses coming from the boys, the contest was friendly.
Hana turned her head to look at the boy who was not in the water again. She had been glancing at him from time to time trying to gather her courage to approach him.
"E-Erika, you might want to raise his head. He's starting to turn purple."
At first, the sight was quite funny due to the height difference between the two, but after a while, Mei started to worry and wonder if Erika actually wanted to murder him.
"Erika!" Rin yelled at her friend.
"Oh, he's fine!" Erika said and raised her brother's head from the water. He immediately started to breathe heavily. "See, he's breathing."
Hana left Rin and Mei to argue that Elric was, in fact, not fine and that he was barely breathing, and headed towards Makoto.
She ignored the cold feeling that hit her once she was no longer in the water and walked until she reached the place where Makoto was sitting. Once she arrived in front of him, however, she realized that she did not know what to say.
He looked up at her. Wow, his stare was intense and cold.
"Um, so, uh," Hana was stuttering and she was trying to calm her nerves by playing with her hands. It was the first time they were talking since the training incident. "Do you-- Would you like to... come-- to join us--"
"No."
Hana blinked, her mouth still open. Wow, he did not even let her finish her sentence.
Realizing that she had nothing more to say, Makoto turned his eyes back on the ones inside the water when a splash of water hit him right in the face. Makoto closed his eyes. Hana's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with her hand.
Makoto reached for his glasses and took them off his nose. He grabbed a corner of the towel and started wiping his glasses.
"Ahh, sorry. That was my fault."
Kuro was waving at Makoto with a not-at-all-sorry look on his face. Leo was behind him trying not to laugh, while Haru and Kaito were laughing behind their hands.
Makoto put his glasses back on and said nothing. Instead, he gritted his teeth and raised a finger. Hana could see that he was muttering something but she couldn't hear him.
Suddenly, Kuro yelped and fell on his back. When Hana looked in his direction all she could see was his right leg that had a white thread around his ankle. It was one of Makoto's threads.Haru and Kaito laughed even harder and Leo joined them. Even Hana chuckled.
Kuro, however, when he got back up was not so amused.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play? Alright. Let's use our magic then."
Before Makoto or Hana could say anything, Kuro opened a portal behind the boy. Kuro's hands came out of it and dragged Makoto inside, pushing him underwater.
"Kuro!" That was all Hana could shout. She knew that he took it too far.
The other three boys stopped laughing. Makoto was slowly rising from the water. His head was down and his face was covered by his hair so no one could see his expression. Kuro visibly tensed as he was getting ready to protect himself from an attack. Kaido and Haru did the same behind him. Leo prepared himself to jump between his friend and Kuro.
Even Mei, Rin, Erika, and Elric turned their attention to the boys. Everyone was waiting to see what Makoto was about to do.
Makoto reached once again for his glasses, which made Kuro flinched for a second when he saw him raise his hand. The green-haired boy grabbed his glasses, folded them, and put them in his pocket.
Faster than anyone could see, Makoto dipped his hands underwater and with his hands covered in multiple strings so that he can get as much water as possible, threw water right at Kuro's head. He was hoping that that could ruin the annoying spikes in his hair.
Kuro, however, ducked in time. The water flew above his head and hit Kaito and Haru. Seeing Kaito's eyes, Kuro quickly swam to the side. He did not want to be in the middle of that.
Seeing that everyone else was using their magic, Kaito didn't see why he couldn't use it. So, he gathered enough water for a powerful yet not dangerous attack and threw it right at Makoto.
The green-haired boy did the exact same thing as Kuro did. He ducked.
"Hey! I especially asked you not to wet my hair!" Erika shouted. She was the unfortunate victim of Kaito's attack.
"Water fight!" As Haru yelled that, he transformed himself into a big fish and started swimming around, splashing everyone that was near him.
So, for the next thirty minutes, they all fought. Whether it was through splashes or straight up grabbing and pushing underwater, no one got sparred. No one had a clear target in mind, they all just splashed the first person they saw.
In time, some of them started subtracting themselves out of the fight saying that they give up or are taking a break. First, Elric and then Makoto, who seemed to quit way earlier than he did but he kept getting shots from Kuro and Leo and there was no way he was going to let them win. They were followed by Rin and Hana that choose to catch their breath so they got out of the water and sat on their respective towels.
Mei was just announcing that she was taking a break as well when she suddenly felt warm hands grab her by the waist. Leo suddenly appeared behind her. He was crouching down, trying to hid behind Mei.
The sudden touch and the feeling of Leo's wet hair on Mei's back made her feel weird and warm.
"L-Leo, what are you--"
Mei was cut off by a big wave hitting her in the face.
"Ah, sorry Mei," Erika said, "I was aiming for Leo."
The girl gave Mei a guilty smile before she got splashed by Kuro.
"Leo, when I get my hands on you--"
She turned around to grab the boy but he quickly got away from her. Laughing loudly he started running in the opposite direction. Deciding that she would not let him get away that easy, Mei submerged underwater and swam in his direction. Although her vision was blurry underwater, she somehow managed to keep an eye on Leo.
The boy looked back to see if Mei was following him, and stopped running once he realized that she was nowhere in sight.
Too late he realized that she was underwater. She jumped right when she reached him and grabbed him by his shoulders. Startled by her, Leo almost lost his balance. At the last moment, he shifted his weight onto his right foot and stopped Mei from pushing him underwater.
Since neither he nor she wanted to give up, they wrestled in the water for a couple of minutes. They tried to trip the other's feet or even tickle them to get them to surrender but neither managed to do it.
After a while, they both realized that it was pointless so when their eyes met, both of them burst out laughing.
After that, they were breathing heavily. Both of them still with amused smiles on their faces looked into each other's eyes. 'Right now, they're blue. Is it because of the water? Does it reflect in his eyes?'
Suddenly, Mei was very aware of how close she and Leo were. They started laughing while they were fighting so they didn't bother to break the formation. Her arms were wrapped around his neck while he had his hands holding her waist.
Before Leo could see the blush rising to her cheeks, she broke free from his arms. Taking a few steps back she cleared her throat.
"S-Should we call it a truce?"
Leo chuckled.
"Alright."
A few feet away, Kaito was clenching his fists glaring at the sight in front of him. He had seen the entire interaction between them and he was not happy.
"Yo, Kaito, I--"
Haru stopped in his tracks once he noticed the deadly stare of the man he was about to approach. Without saying another word, he turned around. He was not about to further upset an already angry water mage when they were in a lake.
Kaito was not happy at all.
