GUYS I WATCHED THE LIVE ACTION OF BEAUTY AND THE BEAST WITH THREE FRIENDS TODAY IT WAS SO AMAZING GO WATCH IT. NOW.
I'm so sorry for not updating for… what, two months?! Gah, I'm such an awful person.
Shoutout to my bae bee (aka arrowbee) since our birthdays were March 7th and also we swapped instagrams a while ago and it's so nice talking to her all the time :')
My apologies for the disappointingly short chapter y'all. I've actually got the rest of the story mapped and planned out now so… more frequent updates!
Also since the beauty and the beast live action was SO. GOOD. I will be updating The Thorns of Love soon! ;;
-o-
"Takumi, why won't you tell me where we're going yet?" Misaki complained, throwing her head back and childishly groaning. Takumi chuckled at her impatience.
"We're almost there, Misaki. Just a little further," he promised with a wink. She rolled her eyes at his futile attempt at flirting.
Walking faster as to catch up with him, she quickly gripped the picnic basket held in his right hand and yanked it out of his grasp. "Seriously, you should let me carry something too," she mumbled, triumphantly lifting the picnic basket up before letting it hang beside her.
Takumi smirked. "Such a man, Misaki," he chuckled, before taking hold of the basket as well. "Well, unfortunately for you, as the gentleman I am, I must carry this for you. It'd be improper to allow a beautiful lady such as yourself hold this heavy basket."
Misaki glared at him, only tightening her grip on the woven straw-like material, feeling little jabs in her hand. "Are you calling me weak? Incompetent?" she challenged, well-knowing that Takumi didn't mean any of that stuff, but only wanting to get a reaction out of him. After all, their little walk had been rather uneventful so far.
He raised an eyebrow at her antics. "If it means you letting go of the basket, then yes," he said with a shrug of his right shoulder. Misaki frowned, tugging the basket towards herself roughly.
"You're mean," she insulted, childishly sticking her tongue out at him. Takumi smirked, quickly jabbing her nose, causing her hands to instinctively fly up to cover it.
"What the hell was that for, Taku—" she was about to go off, until she spotted the object in his hand. "Give me the basket back," she demanded. She mentally cursed him for being so damn sneaky—he knew her too well, either that or she was just predictable, and snatched the basket when she let go.
"You're the one who let go of it," he states, giving her a smug grin before walking off ahead of her. What the hell. It's hot, I'm tired, I have no clue where we're going or how much further it is, and now I'm not even allowed to carry a basket, she mentally complained, listing off all her discomforts.
The couple continued to trudge up a large hill, Misaki having to occasionally jog to keep up with Takumi's speed. She cursed him for having such long legs.
Five minutes of absolute silence passed between the two, which Misaki didn't mind much as it allowed her to enjoy the beautiful scenery around them, before Takumi abruptly stopped. The raven haired female, too caught up in the world around her, promptly crashed into Takumi's back, sending her down to the ground only to land on her butt.
"Ouch," she hissed, "my butt hurts."
Takumi turned around immediately, flashing her a smirk. "Would you like me to massage it for you? Maybe that'll help ease the pain," he offered seductively. Misaki turned red.
"N-No!" she exclaimed, getting up and dusting off the back of her shorts. "Geez, you're seriously too much for me sometimes," she huffed, rolling her eyes and lightly punching him in the shoulder. "Anyway, why did you stop so suddenly?"
Takumi, deciding not to pursue the previous matter any longer, dropped the topic and instead answered her question. "That, my dear Misaki, would be because we have arrived at our destination."
Misaki ignored the fact that he'd called her his dear, as she glanced around the area they were in skeptically. Sure, it was pretty, being surrounded by trees and such, but… "Takumi, why are we by the edge of a cliff…?"
They stared each other dead in the eyes for a few moments, and for a second Misaki wondered if she'd said something wrong. Her suspicions were confirmed when Takumi cracked a smile, before bursting out into laughter.
Misaki blushed. "W-What's so funny?" she demanded. Takumi continued to grin.
"We're going to go swimming, silly," he stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Misaki's eye twitched.
"I'm sorry, but where the hell is the water?" she inquired, only to be answered by Takumi pointing down at the bottom of the cliff.
Her eyes followed his finger, as her look of confusion and smugness soon became one of fear. She swore her eyes were going to pop from their sockets at the sight
Sure, the cliff wasn't that terrifyingly tall; after all, it couldn't have been any worse than her jumping down that staircase. Still, the idea of jumping off a cliff still scared her more than she'd like to admit.
"U-Uh," she stammered. "Actually, I think I'll stay up here. In fact, you should too," she added, fearing for his safety as well as hers. He chuckled.
"It'll be fun," he promised. "Unless...you're scared?"
Something in her mind clicked at that moment, as she turned to him angrily and fumed.
"Scared? Me? Ha, sure!" she laughed haughtily. "But, well, it appears I have no swimsuit, since I didn't know we were coming here, so—"
"Oh," Takumi said, successfully cutting her off. "There's no need to worry about that. I brought along some swimwear for us."
Misaki hoped he was just joking, but the moment he pulled a red floral print bikini out from his bag, she knew she was doomed. Thinking up a quick excuse, she blurted, "There's no way I'm wearing that in public! If you brought along a one-piece then I would've gladly cooperated, but…"
Takumi sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot," he muttered, feigning disappointment, before pulling out a backless, jet black one piece. "Though I knew you wouldn't wear the bikini, so I brought this."
Misaki gaped. "What are you, a freaking magician?" she asked in disbelief. Realizing he wasn't giving up anytime soon, Misaki quickly snatched the article of clothing from his hands, before wandering to a large tree and standing behind it.
"What are you doing?" Takumi inquired. Misaki pulled at the hem of her shirt.
"Uh, changing? What do you think I'm doing?" she asked a matter-a-factly, glancing around to make sure it was definitely vacant before quickly pulling her shirt over her head.
"But Misaki," he whined. "Why can't you just change here? After all, we're practically a married coup—"
Misaki turned red in the face, quickly finishing up faster than he'd expected as he soon found her standing before him. "We are not like a married couple!" she exclaimed.
He raised an eyebrow. "Explain how we aren't? We even bicker like we're married~" he hummed happily.
"Takumi!" she yelled angrily, before completely losing it and pushing him playfully...a little too roughly, straight off the cliff and into the water.
She gasped in horror, quickly scrambling to her knees and peeking off the edge. She saw him pummeling down, before a huge splash appeared and quickly disappeared.
She held her breath as she waited for him to resurface. After a few seconds, she began to panic. Did he even know how to swim?
Without thinking, her body moved on its own and sent her down into the water after him. She held her breath, allowing the very cold, yet quite refreshing contrast to the previous heat, to submerge her entire being.
The relaxation she felt, however, only lasted a good couple seconds or so, as she quickly remembered the task at hand. She flailed her arms around, helping lift herself to the surface as fast as possible.
As soon as her head popped up from beneath the water's surface, she forced her stinging eyes open and looked around frantically. "Takumi! Takumi, where are you?!"
She thrashed around a bit, turning her head every direction to find him. Misaki felt a pair of hands touch her waist, and let out a yelp.
"Misaki, calm down. I'm fine—"
"TAKUMI!" she cried in relief. Spinning around to face him, she threw her arms around his neck. "Don't scare me like that! I-I thought I hurt you!"
Takumi wrapped an arm around her, wide-eyed. He did stay underwater longer than needed just to joke around with her, but he didn't intend for her to react like this. "I'm sorry," he apologized.
Misaki lifted her head from his chest, staring directly into his eyes with her glossy ones. "I-It's okay. But, how are we going to get back up..?" she asked. Misaki was up always for adventures and new experiences, but she wasn't quite fond of the idea that they had to climb an extremely tall cliff after falling into a body of water.
Takumi chuckled dryly, his humorous mood long gone. "This is a common place for tourists to come hang out and swim, so don't worry, it's not dangerous. I know where the path is to head back up," he explained.
Misaki nodded, allowing him to lead the way. They didn't have to swim very far at all before they came along a small piece of land with a stone path leading all the way back up to the top of the cliff.
When they arrived at the top, Misaki was welcomed with a white, fluffy towel in her face. She took it off, enabling her ability to see again, before realizing that Takumi had given it to her in order to dry off. A small smile appeared on her face. He really did care about her a lot.
"Thanks," she said. "Did you bring one for yourself?"
"A towel? Yes, I have an extra, don't worry about me," he replied. Misaki finished drying her hair off, before glancing at Takumi and turning red in the face.
He was now completely topless, giving her a fantastic view of his abs. She'd seen his bare torso plenty of times in the past, but no matter how many times she did, it never seemed to get old.
"What do you think you're doing?!" she exclaimed. He smirked at her embarrassment.
"We're going swimming, of course. You didn't think that was it, did you?"
Misaki looked at her feet. "I-I don't really want to go down again," she admitted.
Takumi's smile faded, as he reached out to pat her arm. He knew why she didn't want to go back down, and he felt bad. "Hey, I won't try anything like that again, okay?"
She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. She suddenly felt reassured by his genuine tone. "Okay."
-o-
After another hour or so of swimming, bickering, and play-fighting, Misaki and Takumi were ready to return home. He slid his large t-shirt over her head, which reach halfway down her thighs, and began their journey back.
"Hey, Takumi," she began.
"Hmm?"
She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Aren't you gonna miss it here?"
Slipping an arm behind her knees and one to support her back, he swept her off the ground like a princess. "Of course I am, but you shouldn't be so sad," he smiled. "We'll make brand new memories back in L.A."
Misaki found herself grinning like an idiot halfway through his sentence. Somehow, just hearing the words come out of his mouth made her feel much better.
"You're right. Thank you, Takumi. And, uh, could you put me down?"