AN: Thank you for reviewing LT the 4th.

Suou was at the gate very early the next morning. Yoko was nowhere to be found, so Suou just entered school grounds. She pondered on whether she was too early or not--maybe Hei hadn't arrived yet. She wandered to the teacher's office nonchalantly, even though the empty isolated halls creeped her out. She peered into an open door of the teacher's office and indentified Hei at his desk. She beamed as her cheeks turned rosy. Suou meandered toward his direction.

Hei looked up when he apprehended the sound of her footsteps. A wide grin was spread across his face--he was in high spirits. Was he happy about her early arrival? Suou's whole face regressed to the shade of a tomato. She returned the smile."You can sit here to take the quiz." He said, getting up from his desk. Suou swallowed nervously and took his seat. A quiz paper was already laid down for her. She leaned over to get a pencil out of her bag. She sat, flustered for a moment before she began her quiz. She could still feel Hei's remaining body heat left on the chair.

Hei leaned over a coworker's desk and was grinning as if he was in his own little world. Suou glanced at him, agitated. Was he grinning that way because of her presence? Was he trying to give her another opportunity to make a move on him? It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to concentrate on taking the quiz. She did manage to finish, though she didn't feel very confident about the answers written down on her paper. "I'm finished, Hei-sensei." Suou said as she picked up her bag and stood up. "Thank you very much." She said with a smile full of gratitude.

"Ah--it's no problem at all, Suou." He moved back to his desk, finally snapped out of his daze. He picked up the quiz and examined Suou. "Do you think you did well?" Suou just let out a perturbed snicker in reply. Hei stared at her, for he could not stop smiling. "It's alright. I'm sure you did fine."

Suou smiled in relief. "I should head back to class." She said timidly, feeling like a loser for failing to cope again! Hei nodded and she hastily left the office. She made her way down the hall before making a small pause. She grasped a little onto the fabric of her shirt. "Ahh… he really is a flirt." She said turning red, an impassioned smile on her face.

Suou discovered in class that she had failed the quiz quite horribly. Hei continued to give out quizzes each week and Suou continued to do poorly. She made sure to hide each quiz from her mother. It didn't take long for the big history test to show up. Suou had done nothing but study for this. Full of anxiety, she took the test. She was the very last one to finish and jittered as she brought the test to Hei. "H-here you go, Hei-sensei…" She said, giving the test to him.

Hei looked up at her, a little worried. "Suou, I want to talk to you about something." Suou felt her heart leap into her throat as she nodded. "I noticed you haven't been doing very well on the quizzes. Have you been studying?" He asked her and folded his hands under his chin. She nodded a little, her heart skipping a beat. Hei rubbed his chin over his knuckles. "Well, then I won't mind tutoring you personally." Suou's bright emerald eyes widened. "But do go enjoy summer break, maybe clearing your head will help you out." Suou nodded again, saying her farewells to him.

She buoyantly jogged out of the classroom. This summer break was going to be so much fun! And then she would have Hei all to herself after break! It couldn't get much better than this!

---

Suou took her bag out of the car and stepped out into the sand and the bright sun. "Waaa! The ocean is so pretty!" Suou said, admiring the scenery of the glistening water. Sasha and Irina joined in the awe of the giant blue mass. Tanya laughed and patted Suou's back. Nika held a grimace because he had to carry all of the bags to the beach house. The girls giggled behind him, taunting him with remarks like, 'Ooh you're so strong' and Tanya aspired to get them to stop.

Nika had invited the girls because he knew Tanya wasn't ready to spend a week alone with him. It was hard to convince all of their parents to let them come along. Luckily, Nika's family owned a small house near a beach resort. There was going to be plenty of activities to do during the week.

Nika dropped the bags on the floor once he reached the house. He was already sweaty and exhausted when they hadn't even been there an hour. "Let's go to the beach!" Sasha hollered and ran further into the house. Irina giggled and Tanya suggested they decide on rooms and let Nika rest before they went out.

Suou checked over at her best friend, highly hoping to bunk with her. Tanya's approval was confirmed with a slight nod, and they picked up their bags, following Nika upstairs. He chose the room at the end of the hall, Tanya and Suou would be in the room next to his, and Sasha and Irina had picked the room by the stairs. The girls went into their rooms to change into their bathing suits, and Nika left to take a shower.

Tanya and Suou were the first downstairs and explored the house. They found a den with an extra bed, they looked through the fridge, found another full bath, sat on the couch in the living room, found the laundry room that looked like a closet, found a closet and then went back to the couch. Tanya pulled down her skirt, not bothering to wear a shirt over her bikini top. Suou had on some short shorts and a thin, transparent mesh shirt in which her bikini top was also visible.

"What is taking them so long?" Suou grumbled and crossed her arms. Sasha and Irina came down. Sasha wore a long button down shirt and Irina had a sarong on. "What is taking Nika so long?" She complained, now that the rest of the girls were down.

Nika came down in a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt. "Shut up, Suou." He said before he stuck his tongue out. Suou stuck hers out in reply, and they both burst out in laughter. The group put on their sandals and got a pile of towels. Nika took Tanya's hand and led everyone out. Suou walked behind the group and watched the magnificent waves sparkle. She wondered what Hei was doing during his vacation.

The group got to a stretch of the beach with umbrellas already set up and lot of other people. Irina picked a free umbrella close to the water. The group extended three towels onto the sand and left the rest for drying off. Irina sat down in the shade and opened the book she brought. Tanya helped Nika apply lotion onto his body and Suou did the same for Sasha, then they switched. Nika was as bright as a boiled lobster by the time they finished.

"Hey, tomorrow the tide will be out at night. Let's go to this haunted cave by the rock pile!" Nika proposed while he waited for the lotion to dry. All of the girls agreed except for Suou. She knew she was going to be the extra. Sasha and Irina told her that she could be with them as always. Suou's fear was alleviated.

Sasha challenged Nika to a race down the water and to the rock pier. Nika accepted, and they both zoomed off toward the water--this amused Tanya. Irina said she would stay and watch their belongings, so Suou and Tanya decided to keep walking down the beach. Tanya received a few whistles aimed at her, her cheeks reddening. Suou glared at the men who did that in defense of Tanya. Said girl grabbed Suou's arm and pointed out into the distance. "Look." Suou looked to where Tanya's finger was pointing and gasped.

---

Hei shifted the umbrella above his shoulder as he watched Gai guide Yin down the wooden stairs. He even went as far as to take the basket from her. Hei found it funny how Gai seemed to tread on eggshells around Yin, now that she was pregnant. Kiko was beside him, carrying a beach bag and towels.

"Oi, she's pregnant not crippled!" She screamed at the man helping Yin. Gai just made a face at Kiko. Yin thought it was nice that Gai always wanted to help her. He treated her oh-so delicately--as if she were a doll. They finally reached the beach, and Gai let go of her, still holding onto the basket. "Come on, come on! We gotta find a good spot!" Kiko shrieked and started to rush off. She found a not-so-crowded spot and directed Hei to put the umbrella in there. She spread out a blanket and put her towels and bag on it.

Yin took the basket from Gai and lay it onto the blanket. Kiko helped Yin adjust her mint colored bathing suit under her little white sun dress. Kiko was in a little white halter bikini top and red boy shorts with silver buttons on each hip. Gai was in orange trunks and a Hawaiian button down shirt. Hei was in plain dark blue swim trucks along with a white button down shirt. "You've had those shorts since college, Hei. Why don't you get new ones?" The pink haired otaku said annoyingly.

Hei laughed. "Well they still fit, and Yin is the one who needs new clothes--not me." He saw Kiko observing something over his shoulder with discomfort and distaste. He turned to see what Kiko was looking at and saw two of his students approaching.

Tanya was pushing a very edgy Suou toward Hei's path. Suou watched the group as she tried to figure out their ties to Hei. Obviously, they were his friends or they wouldn't be here with him. She looked at the two women. The pink haired one was holding onto the silver haired woman. They must be friends, also . She glanced at the brown haired man and remembered seeing him help the silver haired woman so tenderly. They must be married! She smiled uneasily at her seemingly single teacher.

"Suou? Tanya?" Hei asked a little bewildered that they were here and had spotted him. Suou noticed that Hei's shirt was unbuttoned and had a great body--especially those delicious collarbones...she felt very light-headed, enough to make her faint. Tanya shook the awe-struck redhead to try and get her to speak.

"Ah, Nika told us about this haunted cave. He said that we could explore it tomorrow night because of the tide." Suou was talking quite robotically, gripping the hem of her shirt. "Does that interest you?" She asked, sounding hopeful.

"It does sound interesting… I'll try to come, but it really depends on what we're doing." He said, motioning to his friends behind him. Suou understood and spun around. Tanya hugged her. Kiko smirked and reached over Yin to slap Gai.

"You were peeping at that girl's chest weren't you--you pervert!!!" She squealed. Gai winced and rubbed his cheek while Yin audibly giggled, as Kiko smiled. "Good thing your husband wasn't looking." She said with a smirk, causing Yin to turn her head to Hei's direction.

"Who where those girls, Hei?" Yin asked a little curious. "Were they students?"

"Yes, they were two of my students." Hei seized her hand and his stomach growled. Kiko laughed in unison with Gai. Yin pulled him down onto the blanket and moved the basket closer. She passed out water bottles and sandwiches.

---

Suou trailed back to their group's spot, hugging her best friend. "I can't believe I invited him to come!" She got into a fit and lay her head against Tanya's shoulder. "I can't wait for tomorrow night! It is going be sooo romantic." Her fluster accelerated as she pumped her fist. "I'll dress up...I'll try to be as cute as I can." Tanya laughed, conjoining arms with Suou.

"Suou...don't you think you are going a little over board with that daydream of yours?" She inquired playfully. Suou shook her head pertinaciously.

"No, Tanya! This is my chance… I think this will be the right time." She retaliated, wearing a coy smile.