Author's Note:
This is one of my favorite chapters. Enjoy!
I did not fabricate these characters.
. . .
Kagura came to breakfast dressed in her bathing suit. Saiga barely looked conscious.
"I'm really excited about today!" She poured herself and Saiga a bowl of cereal.
"I can tell."
Saiga noticed, grudgingly, how much she did not look like a child in a bikini. Her hair was swept up, exposing her frail neck and shoulders. He turned away.
"I hope I can get a tan." She held out her arms.
"I hope it isn't too crowded."
. . .
"Woah." Saiga whistled.
Kagura tightened her grip on his hand. "I didn't expect so many people."
The sea extended past the sand, throwing up brightly colored waves—umbrellas and beach towels, and the people swarmed underneath them like an erratic school of fish.
Saiga carried their umbrella over his shoulder, and Kagura tucked the towels under one arm. She clung to his hand.
"Damn." Saiga shifted his feet. "I forgot how hot the sand could get."
After crawling around bodies for five or ten minutes, they found a patch of bare sand recently vacated by another couple. Saiga threw the umbrella into the ground and opened the top. Kagura spread out the towels, then sat cross-legged on hers to survey the land.
"This is so much better than I expected!"
"We just got here." Saiga replied and sat next to her.
"It's like a live magazine. Look at all the pretty girls and boys."
"Yeah, I'm sure they're saying the same about us."
They laughed. Saiga pulled his sunglasses over his eyes, and Kagura watched him, smiling.
He furrowed his brow. "What?"
"You look different, that's all; but it's a good kind of different. You look good. Oh, I almost forgot the sunscreen." Kagura cried. She shifted in her tote, pulled out a tube and held it out to Saiga. "Come on. You need some, too."
"I don't really want any."
She squeezed some onto his shoulder. "I read this horrible article about skin cancer and UV rays. They said if you don't put any sunscreen on, then the sun will burn your skin, and your skin will bubble up and get diseased later in life."
"They say all kinds of things," Saiga muttered as he rubbed lotion on his nose, "that I just can't swallow. I have a feeling I shouldn't have bought you those magazines."
"Oh, no. I've learned a lot since I read them."
"Hmph."
. . .
The heat lulled them both into sleep, stretched out on beach towels, elbows touching. Kagura napped deep enough not to notice the cat calls as boys walked by or the girls jealously noting her slim figure. Saiga drifted in and out of sleep, waking to turn his head and check on Kagura and forcing himself to count the number of stripes on the umbrella above his head rather than focus on the warmth from Kagura's body. Eventually she woke up, and Saiga decided to introduce her to people-watching.
"Isn't it rude to stare?" Kagura asked quietly.
"Out here they put themselves on display. You've got nothing to feel guilty about." Saiga studied a group of boys flexing their muscles. He glanced at Kagura. "See anything interesting?"
"There's a weird bird over there eating crackers out of a little girl's hand."
He chuckled. "I kind of meant the teenage boy scene."
"Huh?"
"Kagura, you can't tell me you're not checking out anyone."
"Checking out?"
He gaped. "You know… When you see someone attractive far away, and you… I don't know. You just check them out."
"Oh."
"So are you?"
"No, not really. Are you?"
"No, I… Nobody makes me… I'm not, no." He regretted asking.
Kagura laughed softly. "Saiga, you're so strange."
A tall, curvy blond walked in front of them. Kagura elbowed Saiga in the side.
"What about her?"
He snorted. "What about her?"
"Do you think she's attractive?"
"Why are you asking?"
"I'm curious. You never talk much about your tastes, and I just want to know."
"She's not my type."
"Well, what is your type, then?"
"Too young." He coughed. "I don't know. Tell me about what you like."
"I've never met anyone my age before, so I'm not sure. I guess I would want him to be something like you."
He jerked his head away ignored her comment. "There's an ice cream stand over there. Do you want some?"
"That sounds good."
He practically ran to the stand and bought two cones. They were already dripping over his hands when he got back to Kagura. She took hers gratefully.
"Mmm." She nibbled the top. "This is awesome."
Saiga lost his appetite. He stared out onto the horizon, letting his ice cream slowly melt, coating his fingers in a sticky mess.
'What am I doing? What is she doing? Does she have any idea how I feel and how uncomfortable she's making me feel? She should stop asking questions. I should act more like a father.' Saiga argued with himself, trying to let reason speak its piece and leave his twisted desires out of the picture.
"Saiga? Saiga…" Kagura waved empty fingers in front of his face. "Your ice cream is almost gone, and you haven't eaten a bite. Is something wrong?" She took his wrist and pulled it further into her view. "You're going to have to wash this off."
"Maybe it's time to get in the water." Saiga's sugar cone disappeared in a three bites.
. . .
The cool water contrasted luxuriously with their warm skin. They stood a few feet apart, letting the waves rush to their toes; with every lap, Kagura tiptoed further into the surf, and she giggled as the waves tickled her knees. Saiga pretended to be interested in a flock of birds floating overhead. As he held up his fingers to frame a shot, a cold splash slapped his side, and he looked around wildly for the source.
Kagura was inspecting a seashell—innocent.
Saiga narrowed his eyes but turned back to his shot. Again, as expected, he was sprayed with ocean water: he whirled just in time to catch Kagura scooping her hands full of water to throw at him. They froze momentarily.
"Aha," Saiga whispered.
She screamed as he lunged for her. "Saiga!" She laughed.
He picked her up by her waist and held her up out of the water. "You're gonna get it now!"
Carrying a squealing Kagura over his shoulders, he dragged himself deeper until the water was above his navel, then he took her from his shoulders and let her sink on her own feet in the water.
She was still snickering as he slapped the water with his open palm, sending a flare of spray in her direction. As he drew back his hand again, she caught it and laced her fingers through it. Saiga joined her laughter.
"This is so much fun." Kagura exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Saiga subconsciously pushed her bangs from her forehead. He drew back his hand, appalled at his brashness. "Yeah, it's fun."
She reached up and slicked his hair from his eyes. He grabbed her wrist and held it away, but his smile didn't waver. He shook his head slowly.
Kagura frowned. "What?"
Saiga only shook his head. "Come on; let's go sit on the shore."
With a confused expression on her face, she followed him back to the beach. She'd never understand him.
. . .
After another round of sunscreen and ice cream—which Saiga actually ate—they sprawled out on the beach towels and watched the sun wink at them through the mesh of the umbrella.
"Saiga…" Kagura's thoughts drifted, and she settled back into silence.
"I'm old." He said abruptly.
"What? Old?"
"So old."
She sat up to look at him. "You don't look old to me, Saiga."
He raised his sunglasses. "And you're very young."
"Do I look young to you?"
Saiga lowered his glasses. "No. But you are young."
"I don't understand where you're going with this, anyway. The only way you're old in my eyes is when you worry."
"Hmph."
"Are you just being awkward again?"
"Maybe. Just keep that in mind, okay? I'm old."
. . .
As the sun began to set, most of the other beach occupants packed up and left, leaving behind broken and breaking sandcastles and thousands of footprints. Kagura and Saiga didn't make a move to leave. After they woke up from another nap, they took a walk at the water's edge so she could find some shells to take back to the hotel.
"Look," Kagura breathed. She took Saiga's hand and turned it palm-up. A tiny starfish crawled from her hand into his. She grinned up at him. "It's still alive!"
He turned it upside down to show her its hundreds of squirming legs. "You should put it back in the water."
She picked it up gingerly and set it down as a wave rushed over the smooth sand. Saiga smiled in spite of himself.
Kagura returned to his side and muttered, "Isn't it a nice thought that even after all the trouble it's had today, that little starfish is free now? It can go home and be happy for the rest of its life."
Her hand brushed against his, and Saiga squeezed her fingers. "It's a nice thought."
. . .
The sun tucked itself into the ocean. The beach was vacant save for the pair of runaways. Kagura had a selection of shells spilled across the towel in front of her, and she arranged them in groups. Saiga watched her while he spun a lens on his camera.
"Kagura," he said softly. "I want to try something."
She glanced at his camera. "Okay."
He led her to the water and put the camera in her hands, stepping behind her and leaning over her shoulder to adjust the focus and exposure. Her finger gripped the shutter button. He wrapped his hands carefully over hers.
"Are you scared?" He asked.
"I trust you."
With one final check to make sure it was focused on the water, Saiga squeezed Kagura's hand, and she took the picture. They held their breath.
The camera clicked. The water remained unchanged.
Kagura gasped. "Saiga…"
He embraced her in disbelief. He'd taken the first picture since he'd been in that cursed club. "Kagura," he murmured. Shutting his eyes tightly, he kissed the back of her head. She sank further in his arms.
The world spun backwards on its axel.
. . .
Author's Note:
It's a nice thought.