A/N: Hi, all of my faithful followers from the beginning as well as those who have joined this little story more recently. I absolutely can't believe that I'm up to 30 followers! I never would have thought that this silly little collection of fluff pieces would have so many people interested. I'm so sorry that I don't have any kind of update schedule, but I have so many things grappling for my attention that I rarely get the chance to sit down and write. Enough about me, here's your helping of fluff!
Sitting on a swaying train at mid-morning, Himeko bounced in her seat, unable to contain her excitement or her inexplicable nervousness. She wasn't sure why exactly she was so anxious when she spent nearly every spare moment in Chikane's company. But as she flattened the skirt of her sundress, she gave a mental shrug; she knew exactly why she was nervous. It's no big deal, Himeko assured herself, it's technically not even close to the first time Chikane-chan has seen you with so much skin exposed. Himeko tried to content herself with the little white lie to her own brain but she worried too. She hoped she hadn't changed too much from the old her that Chikane had known in their past life.
Himeko glanced out the window and cried out in childlike joy when she finally saw the great blue expanse of the ocean creeping around the corner.
"I can see it Chikane-chan, look!"
"It's so beautiful, Himeko," Chikane said, eyes sparkling. Himeko marveled at how similar Chikane's eyes were to the color of the shimmering sea water. Chikane caught Himeko staring and asked, "What?"
"Nothing!" Himeko denied, her blush ruining her poker face. Chikane just laughed and kissed her on the cheek.
"I'm so excited to go swimming with you," Chikane said, taking the Himeko's hand in her own.
"Me too," Himeko murmured shyly, thinking back to the hours she had spent agonizing over which bathing suit to wear. Does Chikane-chan go to such pains wondering what I think? Himeko wondered privately. I wonder if she thinks about me as much as I do about her.
"We're about to get off," Chikane reminded her, breaking her away from her confused wonderings. They stepped off the train and walked a short way down the road to arrive at the pristine beach. It was shockingly empty for such a fine day, and Himeko couldn't contain her childish urge to go romping and running through the warm sand. Chikane had to sit down for a minute because she laughed so hard at Himeko's antics.
"Let's go set up our towels and umbrella, shall we?" Chikane asked once she had recovered. Himeko's nervousness resurfaced as she realized that swim time was drawing close and she would soon have to take off the sundress. But as she walked around, feeling her back warmed by the bright sun and the warm, dry sand between her toes, she began to slowly feel more confident.
They picked a spot about fifty feet from the shoreline, and after setting up the oversized umbrella, Himeko boldly took the dress off. She had decided on a pink bathing suit the previous night, after finally eliminating a yellow one because she thought it would clash with her hair. It had ruffles, and was quite frankly a little girlish, but Himeko had thought that Chikane might like it. Judging from the look that crossed the tall girl's face when she turned around, Himeko hadn't been wrong.
"Himeko… you look so… uh... really good," Chikane said incoherently.
"Thank you," Himeko replied much more smoothly than she'd expected. She sat down to apply sun block as usual, but as she rubbed the lotion into her arms and legs, she got a daring idea.
"Chikane-chan, would you help me rub it into my back?" Himeko asked, proffering the bottle.
"Of course, Himeko," Chikane said, having regained her composure.
Not really sure what she was getting herself into, Himeko lay down on her stomach and undid the back of her bikini top, earning a sharp intake of breath from Chikane. Then the Chikane's piano-playing fingers, slick with lotion began to massage into her back. Himeko immediately relaxed into the pleasure of having her back caressed and rubbed. As the hands approached her lower back and brushed the top of her swim bottoms, Himeko could barely resist the urge to arch back up into the soft finger tips. Far too soon, the hands were removed and Himeko heard Chikane's slightly shaky voice say, "All done."
"Uh, thank you," Himeko said inelegantly, refastening the back of her top. She shook herself slightly to bring her head back down from the brilliant blue sky where it had been frolicking. What in the world has gotten into me, Himeko wondered. Although I can't truthfully say I didn't enjoy being a bit of a tease…
"Um, do you need some help?" Himeko asked coquettishly, proffering the bottle to the darker haired girl.
"No," Chikane said waving it away, "I'll do fine without. I've never burned before." Himeko pouted and chastised Chikane for not taking care of her skin, to which Chikane repeated that she'd never gotten a sunburn before. The taller girl then took off the dress she had been wearing, and Himeko felt her jaw drop.
"Do you like it?" Chikane asked coyly, blue eyes flashing. Chikane wore a black string swimsuit that showed nearly every inch of her figure. Himeko felt the blood come rushing to her face as she beheld the stark contrast of Chikane's lustrous skin against the black fabric. Absently, she thought to herself, I forgot how beautiful her body is. Realizing what she was thinking about, she blushed harder and realized that she still had yet to answer.
"You look… you're… amazing," Himeko finally spit out. "Let's… uh… let's go swimming then?"
Himeko wasn't sure what it was about that day that made everything different. Maybe it was the bright sun, the fact that they were practically alone, or the fact that both of them were acutely aware of just how exposed they were to each other. Either way, Himeko thought to herself later that both of them lost their inhibitions just a little bit… or a lot. There was an abundance of squealing, and splashing, and kissing happening that day. They built a fantastic sand fortress, or at least there were four tall lumps of sand with a wall of sorts in between. Himeko buried Chikane in the sand up to her waist and they took a picture of the "mermaid". Chikane, being the better swimmer, got all the way out to the pier and back in only one breath, while Himeko bobbed up and down like a cork trying to swim all the way there. When she touched the end of the pier in triumph, she looked behind her and there was no one in sight. Until she felt a hand grab her leg. She shrieked as Chikane surfaced, laughing until Himeko splashed her in the face.
Later in the day, Himeko was sitting at the edge of the surf, dabbling around in the water and the sand. Her fingers, buried deep in the sand, came across something hard. She dug it out and discovered an old, empty oyster shell, washed and polished by the relentless ocean water. She brought it back to Chikane who was relaxing and reading a book in the sunlight.
"Look what I found," she said, offering the shell to Chikane. The tall girl considered it for a moment, before smiling at the blonde, and twisting the two halves apart.
"One for you, and one for me," she said, handing the other half to Himeko. "It's so beautiful inside, just like you." Himeko smiled and knelt down to kiss Chikane.
"Your face is so warm Chikane-chan," Himeko said, breaking apart the kiss.
"Full of you, my beautiful sun," Chikane replied, nuzzling Himeko.
As the sun began to set, the two girls finally packed up their belongings and made their way back up the beach. Even after they had already dried off, and as Chikane had begun the trek back to the train station, Himeko couldn't resist splashing one last time through the water, earning herself a pair of very sandy feet. On the train the couple fell asleep, Himeko on Chikane's shoulder, with the raven hair covering blonde locks.
By the time they arrived back at their stop in Tokyo, the sun had set. Chikane's apartment was closest, so they headed there first, to drop off all of their belongings. Himeko flipped the lights on and turned to ask Chikane where the umbrella belonged, and was confronted by angry red flesh. Himeko dropped the umbrella in shock, crying, "Chikane-chan, your face!"
"What?"
"You're all sunburned! Everywhere, look at yourself!"
Chikane pressed her fingertips to her arm and hissed quietly as they left a white mark that faded back to the lobster red.
"No, that can't be right! I never get sunburned," Chikane grimaced, putting a hand to her face and quickly withdrawing it, "Ouch! That hurt."
"I told you that you should wear sunscreen Chikane-chan. Oh goodness, let's get you some aloe and to bed. "
"Okay," Chikane said, allowing herself to be led to her room, "What did I ever do to deserve you, Himeko?"
"Shh, just sleep. Put more aloe on in the morning and put some black tea bags on the worst parts to…" Himeko was cut off as Chikane pulled her down for a kiss.
"I've got it Himeko. I love you. Goodnight," Chikane murmured sleepily. Himeko sat with the dark-haired girl until they both ended up falling asleep.
End note: Please leave me reviews, favorites and follows? I get a huge, goofy smile on my face every time I get a notification about one! Hope to see you all again soon!