Chapter 14: Cooling Down

The two lied back down on the bed, still trying to recuperate from their invigorating sexual experience. Ichigo lied down right next to Lettuce so the two could look each other in the face. They smiled at each other.

While they knew in the back of their mind that they'll have to deal with their newfound love for each other once they leave the resort, for now, they were content with just lying in bed, enjoying this new feeling going through their bodies.

…

…

"Wait, hold on! "

"Hold on for what?! They've been gone a long time! "

Some time had passed before there was a commotion outside their door. Ichigo and Lettuce jumped as it was two voices that sounded very familiar to them.

Then…the door handle began jiggling.

"Oh no…" worried Ichigo.

"Not now!" cried Lettuce.

The two wasted no time jumping out of bed and finding a place to hide.

The door opened up…and in walked Minto and Zakuro. "Hello? Are you guys in here?!" Minto called out.

"Maybe we should look for them at the buffet?" Zakuro said, trying to distract Minto.

But Minto was certain that Ichigo and Lettuce were in the room.

And yet, when Minto inspected their room, Ichigo and Lettuce were nowhere to be seen! "They're not here," Minto said, confused.

"They aren't?" Zakuro asked.

Minto and Zakuro looked around the room, but couldn't find them. "I could have sworn they would have been in here," said Minto.

Little did they know, Ichigo and Lettuce were hiding in the closet nearby. They peered through the shutter doors, watching Minto and Zakuro walk around the room. They held their breaths and covered their mouths, desperately hoping that they would go away and not notice the wet spots on the sheets.

"Maybe they are at the buffet?" suggested Zakuro. "Or they went back to the beach and we just missed them?"

Minto crossed her arms and scanned the room. "It just seems odd they would be gone for so long," she said.

"I'm sure there's a good reason," said Zakuro. "Let's hurry back before they find us missing and they start asking questions about us."

Minto still had her suspicions. It was not lost to her that only one of the beds had displaced sheets while she and Zakuro's were freshly made. She could also smell a faint hint of sweat and body odor.

But she decided to go along with Zakuro.

"Alright, let's keep looking," conceded Minto.

Ichigo and Lettuce were relieved to see Minto and Zakuro walk out of the room, seemingly unaware of where they were hiding.

As soon as they heard the door close shut, Ichigo and Lettuce stumbled out from the hiding place. "That was too close," sighed Ichigo.

"I was afraid that would happen," worried Lettuce. "Do you think they know? Minto seemed really suspicious."

"I hope not," said Ichigo. "Anyway, we better clean up and meet up with them."

Wasting no time, Ichigo went to fix the bed sheets while Lettuce took a shower.

Again.

Once they cleaned up, Ichigo and Lettuce left the room and made their way back to the beach. On the way, they stopped by the restaurant and picked up a few ice cream cones for themselves and for Minto and Zakuro.

Naturally, Ichigo got herself a strawberry swirl cone and Lettuce a vanilla one. They got two chocolate ones for Minto and Zakuro.

"Now when they ask us where we went," explained Ichigo, "we can say we went to get them ice cream!"

"I just hope they don't melt before we get to the beach," worried Lettuce.

They walked all around the resort but had trouble finding the path that went down towards the beach. "I could have sworn it was this way," murmured Ichigo.

"It figures you of all people would get lost, Ichigo," said a voice.

Ichigo and Lettuce quickly turned around and saw Minto and Zakuro walking up behind them. "Ah!" shrieked Lettuce. "Uh, I mean…hi!"

"You're awfully jumpy," said Minto, "we've been looking everywhere for you two!"

Zakuro then saw the ice cream cones in their hands. "Oh! You were getting ice cream?"

"Yeah, that's right," butted in Ichigo. "It was Lettuce's idea. We wanted to surprise you with some ice cream. But then…"

"Yes, I know. You then got hopelessly lost."

"Hey, I wasn't lost!" snapped Ichigo. "I just…got confused a little bit."

"Perhaps it was a good thing we found you two," laughed Zakuro.

Ichigo and Lettuce handed them their ice cream cones. The four of them began walking back to the beach, with Zakuro leading the way.

"So, I'm guessing you're feeling better now, Lettuce?" asked Minto.

"Huh?"

"Didn't you have a stomachache?"

It took a while for Lettuce to remember the story Zakuro made up for her. "Oh right! Yes, I feel much better now," she said. "I don't know what was wrong with me."

"Probably all that food you and Ichigo ate for breakfast," teased Minto.

"But I didn't get sick!" argued Ichigo.

"With how long you were gone, I thought you had gotten sick too."

Ichigo tensed up as she struggled to come up with an excuse. "I just wanted to make sure that Lettuce felt better."

But Minto still had her suspicions. "Are you sure you two weren't fooling around behind our backs?" she accused.

Ichigo and Lettuce then froze up. "N-no, we wouldn't do that!" protested Lettuce.

"Y-yeah, we're both girls!" said Ichigo. "That would just be weird!"

Minto looked at them confused. "What do you two being girls have to do with anything?" she asked.

Zakuro let out a small cough. "Listen, the important thing is Lettuce is well again, so we can all continue our day at the beach together."

Eventually, the four Mew Mews arrived back at their spot on the beach. Amazingly, they still had the beach to themselves, with hardly anyone else around.

They sat down on their beach towels under their umbrellas. They all watched the ocean waves cascading onto the shore as they finished off the rest of their ice cream.

"It's so peaceful," commented Ichigo.

"I like it," agreed Lettuce.

"I especially like it's just us," added Minto, "the beach is not overcrowded with people."

"This is just one of the many reasons why I love coming here," said Zakuro, "I just wish it wasn't so busy during the summer."

The girls all sighed heavenly as another gust of wind passed through. "That feels nice," said Lettuce.

"The wind feels so much better when you're nude, doesn't it?" asked Zakuro.

Eventually, the Mew Mews finished their ice cream. "Alright, I'm gonna go swimming now!" Ichigo said, cheerfully.

She then got up and ran off into the ocean. "I believe I'm long overdue for a skinny dip in the ocean," said Minto. She then chased after Ichigo.

Lettuce then stood up from her towel. "Wait for me!" she called out.

Suddenly, Zakuro grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Hold on, Lettuce!" she said defiantly.

"Oh! Do you want to join us?" Lettuce asked, kindly.

"In a little bit," she replied, "but first, I wanna talk to you."

Lettuce was confused. "About what?"

Zakuro waited until Ichigo and Minto were far enough into the ocean so they wouldn't be able to hear her or Lettuce.

"What did you want to talk about, Zakuro?" asked Lettuce.

"It's about…you and Ichigo," Zakuro finally answered.

Lettuce froze up.

Meanwhile, Ichigo swam out to sea, far enough to where her toes barely touched the bottom and she was able to float. "This feels so good," she sighed, heavenly. "No people. No swimsuits. This is the life!"

Minto was nearby, also floating on her back, relaxing and enjoying herself.

Or…at least she was trying to.

But her mind kept wandering. Minto couldn't shake off the feeling that something had happened between Ichigo and Lettuce while they were alone.

"Is something wrong, Minto?" asked Ichigo.

"I…I've just been thinking," said Minto.

Minto turned to face Ichigo. "May I ask you something?" she asked, sternly.

"Uh, what is it?" replied Ichigo, nervously.

"It's about you and Lettuce."

Ichigo froze up.

"So did you manage to finish?" asked Zakuro.

Lettuce gulped. "Z-Z-Zakuro!" she stammered, embarrassed.

"It's okay. It's only us two. You don't even have to give a detailed answer. Just a yes or no ."

Lettuce looked away. "I…I almost did," she said, meekly, "but…Ichigo…"

Lettuce didn't even need to finish her sentence. Zakuro knew what happened.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I tried to stall Ichigo, but she insisted on checking on you. It must have been really awkward for the both of you."

"Y-yes, it was," Lettuce said. "But it's fine! We worked it all out!"

"Oh? You did?" Zakuro asked, curiously. "How?"

Lettuce hesitated. She wouldn't dare say anything about her and Ichigo. And even though Zakuro has proven to be trustworthy, she still was nervous telling her about her and Ichigo having sex.

"Well…we just sat there quietly, afraid to talk to each other about what happened. But then, we talked about it. She said sorry and promised not to tell anyone."

"That's good," said Zakuro, "Ichigo is a good friend, isn't she?"

"Oh yes," said Lettuce.

Moments from their bedroom experience flashed in her mind. "A… really good friend," she said, her face getting hot.

Zakuro noticed Lettuce suddenly getting hot and bothered. But she decided not to ask any further.

"So what did you and Lettuce actually do when you were alone?" Minto asked Ichigo.

Ichigo gulped. "N-n-nothing!" she stuttered. "I mean, I went to check on her! She got better! Then we went to get you and Zakuro ice cream! End of story!"

Ichigo became more and more nervous as Minto raised her eyebrow. "Interesting," she said, "because we went into the room and the sheets on your bed were all over the place. Why's that?"

Ichigo struggled to think of a good answer. "I…I don't know!" she said. "That's just how it was when I got there!"

But Minto wasn't buying Ichigo's story. "I know something's going on," she said, "I don't know what, but I know it's something."

"And what's that?" Ichigo asked, defensively.

"Two girls running off by themselves for a long time without telling anyone? There's only one thing that could happen!"

Ichigo then fired back. "So…you and Zakuro then?" she said. "You two ran off by yourselves last night! Remember?"

Now it was Minto's turn to tense up. "No! I mean, yes!" stammered Minto. "But all we did was talk and look at the stars!"

"So then what did you talk about?"

"I told you earlier! It's none of your business!"

Ichigo leaned in closer to Minto's face, staring right into her eyes. "And why not? Why so secretive?"

Minto then splashed water in Ichigo's face. "I don't have to deal with this!" she said.

Minto then swam away from Ichigo. "You started it!" argued Ichigo.

Eventually, Lettuce hopped into the water and joined Ichigo and Minto. Zakuro remained on the shore, watching the others playfully splash each other with water.

She especially kept a close eye on Ichigo and Lettuce. She was curious as to what took place between the two. Much like Minto, it wasn't lost on her that they had been gone for a while.

She also noticed that their bedsheets were displaced and the room had a faint sweaty smell in the air.

Judging by how hot Lettuce's face was getting, she had a pretty good idea of what happened.

She took a deep breath as she felt the sun beating down on her bare skin. She let out a small gasp as the wind grazed her vagina.

Making sure no one was paying attention, she gently ran her finger over her womanhood. She checked her finger and saw that it was coated with a thin coat of fluid.

" I'm getting turned on, " she thought. " Everyone has had a chance to come but me. "

She wiped her finger off on the side of her hip. With the others busy swimming and no one else looking, it took all of her willpower to not pleasure herself right then and there.

" Maybe I can take care of that later today. "

Suddenly, there came a familiar voice. "Looks like everyone is having fun now."

Zakuro took off her sunglasses and saw Aimi walking up to her with a platter of drinks in her hand. "Oh, hello Aimi! Your mom has you delivering drinks?"

Aimi laughed. "I thought I'd check on you guys and see if you want anything?"

"I always like those cranberry pineapple drinks your mom makes."

"Coming right up! I'll even bring some for your friends!"

It was then that Zakuro had an idea.

"Oh! One more thing!" she said, stopping Aimi in her tracks.

"Yes?" Aimi asked, happily.

Zakuro leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Is the campsite open tonight?" she asked.

Aimi looked at Zakuro with a coy smile on her face. "The one deep in the forest by the hills?" she asked. "The one far away from the resort where hardly anyone goes?"

"That's the one," confirmed Zakuro.

"So you want to step it up with them?" Aimi asked, excitedly.

"I want them to feel more… comfortable with their bodies," replied Zakuro. "And what better way than by camping nude outside? And besides, the stars are sure to look pretty tonight."

Aimi nodded her head slowly. "Alright, I'll have everything ready by this afternoon," she said.

Zakuro then went back to sunbathing as Aimi went to grab their drinks.

Zakuro's heart began pounding as she was excited and nervous for what would transpire later that day.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I was originally planning to end the story here, as it's been almost two years since I first started and I've been struggling with the last few chapters. But a comment left by ChavezzL encouraged me to keep on going.

Next thing you know, I'm now suddenly getting a ton of other ideas for this story going forward.

But we'll see how everything plays out.