Disclaimer to Masashi Kishimoto and the makers of She's the Man (this includes William Shakespeare) and Sanrio. …Yeah… Crazy chapter ahead.
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Of course, this meant that the two girls had to make sure that their swimsuits still fit them. In the case of the guys, it simply meant that they had to find something that resembled swimsuits which fit them. This meant Akatsuki capris.
For the girls, cut towels were found. Ritonno had one that converted to a backpack, Seiya a Tenorikuma towel. For the guys, anything would suffice and most of them didn't even bother trying to find cute towels; they used the ones they used the ones they used every day. Some of these had been stolen from hotels by Kakuzu.
Ritonno and Seiya made an expedition to town to pick up a few bottles of sunscreen, some stronger hair bands than the ones they currently had, some cheap pairs of spare goggles, and snack food. When they got back, Seiya toasted some cashews while Ritonno gathered the Akatsuki into the main room.
"Okay. Now, while we're there, there are some very basic rules. First, you don't wear a headband, any headband, in the salt water unless you plan to clean it yourself. Second, remember not to wear your slashed headbands. I don't care if you wear no headband at all, just remember that we want to stay neutral. Third, no killing while we're there. Or injuring, unless it's by accident. Then we get into the rules of the beach.
"The first rule of the beach is, if you get a sunburn, it's your fault. We're bringing three big tubes of sunscreen, so if you get a sunburn, you can't hold me accountable because I warned you. Seiya either. Second rule, never turn your back on the ocean. I fully acknowledge that you are all able-bodied swimmers, but the ocean is unpredictable and at any moment a big wave could come up and carry you into the deep water, and believe me, you don't want to try to fight the current. Third, try not to step on any jagged rocks. They'll cut your feet, and that's not fun. Fourth, no ninja-based rivalry, okay? The beach is neutral territory. And fifth, this one should be obvious, but try not to stare at attractive women. You can't know which are ninja and they might decide to punch your lights out. And no hitting on anyone, either! You can talk about cute girls to other members – or at least, I'm assuming that you're all straight – but it always feels uncomfortable when some guy comes up to you and starts hitting on you. Seiya, do you have anything to add?"
Seiya walked into the TV room, where the members were all assembled on the couches. "Yes. I'll give you each a bag of cashews. You can't take any from someone else's bag unless they give them to you. So, if I don't eat all of my cashews tomorrow, none of you are allowed to eat them just because I'm not done."
There were some mutterings of agreement, then finally Kisame asked, "So, can we go back to what we were doing now?"
"Sure. Get all your stuff together by tonight, though. You'll each need a towel, a swimsuit of some sort, your zori, and probably a pair of goggles. We have a couple of extra pairs. And some extra-strong headbands for those of you who have reason to care. But I want to look over your stuff tonight to make sure you have everything, okay? Oh! And you should take some sort of cover-up shirt. Heck, you can wear your towel around your shoulders if you want to, but have something! …And, if you want, you can bring a hat."
They split up. Ritonno went to her room to reread some of her manga and then to lie there thinking about nothing. Or, at least, until Deidara came to her room.
"Um, Ritonno-san? I have all my stuff together, yeah. And, when are you going to start dinner, yeah?"
"Ask Seiya. She said she'd do it tonight because I have more power in the Akatsuki, so I can make everyone get their stuff together."
"Um… That works, too, yeah."
"…So, let's see your stuff."
She followed him to his room. He had a white hotel towel folded up on his bed next to a pair of Akatsuki pants and his zori. "Um, you have goggles and hair bands, right, yeah? I don't want to lose my ribbon in the ocean."
"Yeah. I'll get them. Do you have some kind of a t-shirt or something?"
"Um, no, yeah. Why would I, yeah?"
"You never know when you'll need it. I have an old yukata I plan to wear. Do you want to borrow one?"
"Why do you need so many yukata, yeah?"
"Remember last summer? You can't wear black every day! Black can get really hot!"
"Oh… I guess so, yeah. I never had any problems, though, yeah…"
"You spent most of last summer in the Mist Village. It doesn't get hot there!"
"That's why I was lucky, yeah!"
"…And then there was the rest of us, who were over here in a remote corner of the Land of Fire in the sweltering summer heat. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go make Kisame pack for the beach."
"Sounds fine, yeah."
She proceeded to the room next to Deidara's.
"Hey, Kisame. You gonna pack any time soon?"
"I was planning to start after dinner."
"Well, it's never too early."
He glared at her, but then began to dig up a pair of capris from the tangle of clothes in the corner. "Okay, what happened to laundry?"
"It's in this pile."
"Um, how are they separated?"
"I can tell."
"Okay, then…" He passed her on his way to get a towel, then came back.
"Okay. I'm done."
"Whatever happened to a shirt?"
"You said we could use our towels."
"Goggles?"
"I'm half shark. I can breathe salt water if I want to; of course I can see in it."
"Okay, then. Bye."
She continued to Sasori's room, which was just down the hall. "Hey, Sasori! Got your stuff for tomorrow?"
"Right there." He didn't even look up from his book. In front of Ritonno were an organized pile of items: a towel, a pair of Akatsuki pants, and a light Akatsuki jacket. On top were his zori.
"Um… Do you want goggles?"
He looked up, giving her a look as though she were stupid. "You're asking a waterproof puppet if he wants goggles…? Are you sure you're sane?"
"Oh. Yeah, huh? 'Kay, then. Bye."
"'Bye."
She walked down the hall. Seiya was in the kitchen starting dinner, so Ritonno stopped to chat for a few minutes before continuing downstairs to Zetsu's room. "Zetsu! Do you have your stuff together?"
"Yes." "Come in, Ritonno-san."
She slid open the door. "Okay. Where's your stuff?"
"In the corner without dirt." "Would you please close the door, Ritonno-san?" "You're going to let all the heat out!"
"Okay! Calm down, Black-san! Oh… It would be hard for you to get a shirt that fits, huh?"
"Yes. We figured that out a long time ago." "It would be pretty hard… We managed to find a hat, though!" "We plan to photosynthesize, anyway."
"I guess you can do without too much sun protection… Do you plan to go swimming?"
"What, are you stupid?" "We don't like salt water very much."
"Okay. Beachcombing is fun, too."
"It's summer, huh?"
"Yeah…"
"I was wondering why I felt in-season." "It usually happens in Spring, but we're a little… different." "Just say it – we're freaks. We talk to humans." "There are much nicer ways to phrase it."
"Um… I'll leave you two to talk about that, okay? I'm going to go talk to Itachi now."
She passed by her room and went to Itachi's. "Itachi, do you have all your stuff together?"
"No."
He didn't move from his Icha-reading state.
She turned invisible and took his book.
"You get it back when you have all your stuff assembled. That includes swim trunks or something to swim in, a towel, some sort of shirt, probably goggles, and your zori."
He glared at the place her voice had come from. "…And what if I don't have a swimsuit?"
"You can wear your Akatsuki pants – I don't care – but just have something ready. We need to leave as early as possible tomorrow morning."
He grudgingly set out to get his things assembled. He got out a haori as a shirt and she whacked him on the back of the head. "Don't wear a nice shirt to the beach! You'll get it all sandy!"
"What am I supposed to wear, then?"
"Use your towel. Kakuzu knows where to go for free towels – they're pretty big."
"Okay. Can I have my book back, then?"
"I have two questions first. The first is, do you want a really good hair band for tomorrow? …Because you use those normal ones, but those snap easy."
"That would be very nice, thank you. Now, what's the other question?"
She made herself visible. "Why the heck do you like this junk?"
He snatched it from her. She let him and left to go to Kakuzu's room.
"Kakuzu! Do you have all your stuff?" She asked through the door.
"I have a towel, capris, zori, goggles, and a shirt."
"Um… Okay." apparently, he didn't want her in his room.
So, she went to Hidan's room. "Hidan, you got your stuff?"
"Where the heck am I supposed to get a shirt?"
"I don't care. It's common courtesy to wear one in public, though."
His door opened. "Only if you're a girl. People don't care when it's a guy."
"Yes, they do. Actually, no one gets any sort of pleasure from looking at you without a shirt. I'm tempted to let you go without one tomorrow and get sunburned. Bye."
His door closed behind her as she turned and went up two flights of stairs to Leader's room. "Rei-danna! To-chan! You two have your stuff together?"
"I do, Ritonno-chan! …And Rei-sama does, but he's not feeling so good right now."
"Um… Can I come in?"
"Go ahead." The voice was Leader's this time. So she did.
"Okay. You've got… You're planning to wear your Akatsuki stuff at the beach?!"
"Yeah… Is it hot there or something?"
"Not really, but… No one cares if you're shirtless at the beach or anything."
"Um… I really don't feel comfortable when I don't have everything on."
"Okay. I'll assume that I don't want to know."
"Thank you, Ritonno-kun."
"…Just don't blame me if you're freezing cold when you get out of the water." She started walking toward Leader, who was sitting with his back to her on his futon. "Rei-kun, stop it. You're acting like a little kid!"
"I don't care. I don't like the beach. I never have and I never will. If anyone splashes me, they'll find themselves dead relatively soon."
"Um… Do you have a towel to sit on?"
He held up the fluffy, black pillow that had been sitting next to him.
"Okay. I… guess I'll see you at dinner or tomorrow, okay?" She kissed the top of his head.
"Good night, Ritonno-chan."
She smiled as she left. It had been so long that Seiya was almost done with dinner. "Hey, Rit-chan, do you like potstickers?"
"Who doesn't? Thank you, Sei-chan!"
"…Well, I figure we're going to the beach tomorrow, so it must be special tonight!"
"Too bad Rei-kun won't be joining us… Ooh! Can I go ask how many he wants?"
"Heehee… Sure!"
Ritonno ran back up the steps. "Rei-kun, if you're not coming downstairs for dinner, how many potstickers do you want?"
There was a pause. A long pause.
"Rei-kun?"
He emerged from his room wearing his cloak. "Potstickers are a contest when there are eleven people. If you know me at all, you'll know that I love competition."
She ran to her room, proclaiming to the entire house that dinner that night was formal. She pulled on her cloak over her head, not pausing to mess with the zipper.
She got back upstairs just as Seiya was finishing. "It smells soooo good, Sei-chan!"
"Thanks!" Then she called down the hall, "Dei-chan! If you don't hurry up and put your cloak on, you'll miss dinner!" then ran downstairs to get the black yukata that Ritonno had given her on her first day in the commune. "Save me eight, okay, Rit-chan?"
"Sure!"
"Thanks!"
The entire Akatsuki assembled around the table a few seconds later. Seiya didn't need to worry – it was only when she set the food on the table that everyone started taking potstickers. No one really cared for the soy sauce except Leader; potstickers were good on their own.
The orgy continued until the two bags' worth of fried potstickers were gone. Then everyone pretty much disappeared. Unfortunately for Ritonno, this included Leader.
"Hey, Rit-chan. You wanna watch a movie with Dei-chan and me?"
"Um… sure, as long as you're sitting between us. Rei-kun doesn't seem all that social tonight. What are you watching?"
"'She's the Man.' It's hilarious."
"…Well, it probably can't hurt to ask…" She walked up the stairs to Leader's room and knocked on the door frame.
"Rei-kun? Do you want to want to watch 'She's the Man' with us?"
"Not particularly."
"Okay." She left.
She was just sitting down with them when he appeared in the kitchen door. "…I never said I wouldn't watch a movie with you, just that I don't particularly prefer this movie. Do you want to watch the movie with me?"
Instead of a verbal response, she bounded across the dining room and that part of the kitchen to glomp him. Or, at least, hug him with the strength used for glomping. He stayed completely steady and hugged her with one arm
It was harder than usual anyway, and it felt… amazing.
He slid his hand around her waist as they walked to the couch. The movie started. He glared at the screen, looked at Ritonno, and whispered to Ritonno, "I like you better." This made her giggle. "Yeah, and you get to see me in beach clothes tomorrow."
About halfway through the movie, when they were in a snuggling position and had been for some time, he asked her if she was uncomfortable. "No, of course not. But will you hug me hard again?"
So he did. And she smiled. And they paid very little regard to the movie after that.
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…So. I was hanging out with my boyfriend. And usually he hugs me the normal way, but at one point he hugged me harder than usual and it felt… well… amazing. No better word. …But of course, Ritonno is me turned partially demonic and much more bold, and I'm too shy to say something that sounds that silly. …But it really was nice…
What do I have to do to get him to get a DeviantART account? EVERYONE has a DeviantART account! The Witch from my cast of Into the Woods has a DeviantART account! …I still need to get her screenname… Anyway, if you like the Akatsuki and you're not reading this on DevART (I also have a account), then you might want an account, too. I have some relatively decent pictures. And it's the only place where you can access Ikachi, the ingenious story I'm writing with Pocky-machine about Itachi's transformation into a woman. …But that's on Chocolate-is-god. so… yeah…
I think I also want him to get an account so that he would read this comment. I feel sort of nervous, like I know that if he gets an account he's going to bring up the hug thing and I'll have absolutely no choice but to say it's true because, of course, it is.
…But then, he's also… I think he's at least six feet now. If not, he's darned close! …And I'm still 5'2"… I'm supposed to get to about 5'8' or 5'10" at some point, though… He'll always be taller than me in any case. It's nice to feel feminine once-in-awhile, though, y'know?