Reunion 4: Day 2 – A: I Feel So Extraordinary

Day 2, July 16th, 2013

Day 2, 7:00AM

As the mid-summer sun broke over Inaba and the day began to start, the town stirred into action and went back to being the simple Japanese town it usually was. Shops opened, people moved into work, and everything seemed to be fine. However, in the Tatsumi household, there was still one man sleeping peacefully. A bubble emerged from his nostril with each snore. "Zzzzz… snozzzzzz…"

Fast asleep, his arms spread over the bed, Kanji continued to snore. He was completely in a deep sleep, and he liked it like that. It seemed nothing would snap him awake from his slumber….

Until his dreaded alarm clock broke the sleepy silence with a deafening sound. This time, it was a doo-wop style song from an American singer known as Billy Joel.

"She'll see I'm not so tough~ just because, I'm in love with an Uptown Girl~"

The song itself was a little pop ditty, but since Kanji tended to set his alarm to insanely loud levels for reasons that involved rocking out, the chanting vocals were enough to snap Kanji back into the waking world and force him up for another day. His upper body snapped itself upright, but the momentum caused his feet to kick up onto the sheet, getting them tied up. "Zzz- GAWAHAAARGH!" screamed Kanji, as his legs got tangled up again and he found himself falling face first onto the floor again. His nose slammed against the floor, and the tissues rolled up in his nose were once again soaked in blood.

Laid out on his stomach, Kanji's limbs twitched slowly, his body raked with pain. Not the best way to wake up. Made him feel like falling unconscious again… though he had plans today, couldn't leave his friends watch his body be dragged out in a stretcher.

After five minutes of twitching and bleeding, Kanji got up, cleaned himself up and began to ready himself for the day. He got dressed in his usual summer gear, but instead of wearing jeans, he instead put on some swimming trunks and sandals, and put on his shades to help shield his eyes from the sun. As annoying and lecherous Teddie was, he at least knew glasses that fit people, and to make things better, he even made sunglasses!

Once he had packed his stuff, Kanji then moved to the kitchen, had breakfast, made some lunch for all three of them, and went out the door. While he was looking forward to today, his face was back to its usual scowl, he was not going to get through this without having to go to the blood bank tonight. He would have prayed or even have chanted a Buddha prayer for mercy, but he wasn't a religious person at all. And even if he was, he was sure karma wasn't looking out for him any time soon.

Day 2, 9:10AM

The beach was only a bus trip away. And when Kanji looked around, it was only the three of them on the bus, bar the driver of course. Sat in the back, Teddie couldn't keep the smile off his face for some reason, and continued to bounce on the seat, while Naoto seemed to shrink back, grasping her knees and shifting her eyes, as if she were worried about the upcoming beach trip. Kanji held up his head with his hand, frowning and generally not looking very amused. His arm gripped a bag containing towels, sunscreen, umbrellas, and some food, while Naoto seemed to have brought some books with her. She even had one in her hands right now, and had just flipped the page of one.

Kanji glanced over at the covers of the books under her arm. One seemed to come straight out of a 1940's film noir movie, with a man leaning against a wall, the shadow from his hat covering his eyes. Another had what seemed to be a Western artist's impression of Sherlock Holmes, with the trademark cap and all, smoking a pipe. She was really into her books, real detective stuff even. Maybe if he were a reader, he would enjoy some of the books she loved so much… but he'd had enough murder mysteries to satisfy him for a long time.

He also noticed that she was in her summer outfit. A blue shirt, black pants and shoes, very conservative wear, with her blue shirt having a flat chest. Kanji had wondered if she ever tried to go out with her chest unbound, but considering her personality… probably never would.

To avoid the blood rushing to his cheeks, he stemmed himself away from those thoughts, and looked over to Teddie, who was bopping his head to the music from his MP3 player, singing to himself. The lyrics Teddie sang aloud were definitely from a pop song, probably Risette or any other idol that was currently 'the big thing'. His hand was gripping a bag from Junes, and from first glance, it didn't look like it had food in there. Kanji didn't like the look of that.

Kanji then tore his eyes away from Teddie, and looked straight ahead, at the road warping around them. The trip still had a few minutes left, to the point that the driver implied he was just going to stop and take a break at the next bus stop, which was their stop. Kanji looked down at his sandaled feet, then at Teddie's sandal clad feet, then at Naoto's shoed feet. Kanji pulled his head up at that; looked like one of them wasn't going to go in the water, after all, but at least there were lots of things to do.

Eventually, the bus pulled to a stop, and the whine of a bus door opening snapped Kanji to attention. He got up, almost hitting his head on the roof, and nudged his head over to the door. "Yo, we're here."

Naoto put a bookmark in between the pages of her book, and let the book slam to a close, while Teddie put his headphones away, "Yay~! We're here! I'm ready for a swim~!" he crowed.

Day 2, 9:40AM

The beach itself wasn't exactly the cleanest looking beach out there, but it wasn't a waste heap either. And that was just fine for the three of them. At least there was sand, rocks and sea, not to mention that there was plenty of shade. Teddie was the first to whip off his shirt and sandals to reveal blue board shorts, and then he took off for the beach. Naoto sat down by the shade, and continued to read her books. While Kanji tried to talk her into something as small as putting her feet in the water, she shook her head. Kanji didn't try to push her though, and just shrugged his shoulders. "Eh. Maybe you'll change yer mind or somethin'."

"We'll see," was her simple reply. There were both cut off from their conversation by the high-pitched squeal of delight coming from their other friend.

"BEAR-ZAI!" cried Teddie. Splash! The familiar sound of something hitting the water filled the air, and both heads were turned to see Teddie emerge from the water, flipping his hair back for dramatic effect. Droplets flew from the blonde strands of hair, and water clung to his smooth skin, making his skin look shiny when the sun shined down on him. The pretty boy looked up into the sky, then at his two friends, holding his hair with his hands as if he were some magazine model, before he cracked a big grin at the two.

"Come on you guys, the water's just bear-fect!" he stretched out his body, revealing his slim, slender form. There were no visible creases of abs or pectorals, which gave the Shadow a delicate shape. His arms were thin, without any sign of weight lifting or anything related to exercise. He looked really weak, but really appealing at the same time. Once he saw what was going on with Kanji, he grinned, giggling at the effect he had on the man.

He giggled as Kanji started to turn red again. Teddie took a sense of fun out of flirting with the delinquent, and otherwise using his looks to try and woo everyone he knew. Considering Kanji's problems with his orientation back then, and his habits, it was all fun and games for Teddie. He wasn't so much into guys, besides, he had his own honey to lay the real charm on! Naoto was a cutie for sure, but to Teddie, she was nothing compared to the gorgeous girl he was into.

Teddie stretched his arms out, and then jumped into the water, dog paddling around in the water. There were no tides or rips, and there were a wall built around the rocks to prevent people from being swept off into sea or bashed against the rocks, so Teddie didn't have to fear getting the stuffing beaten out of him by nature. He looked over at the two, treading water as he got deeper in the blue. "Aw, you guys aren't coming in? I'm bear-y disappointed in you two!" he pursed his lips into a frown.

Kanji snapped out of his brief trance, realized he was blushing, and shook his head. "Shut up, I'm coming in!" yelled Kanji, who quickly pulled his shirt off and let it fall to the floor, revealing his tight bare chest. Teddie giggled at his shirtless physique: while he was no Adonis chiseled from the greatest stone, if you looked at him, you would never be able to tell he had such soft hobbies like making plush animals and sewing. He had an attractive body… too bad his face was like a caveman's, and he had the temper of one too.

Kanji then ran straight towards the sea, his legs pacing back and forth, and then jumped into the water with a deep splash! Some water splashed onto Teddie, who giggled with glee, "Wee~ Kanji-kun, you arrived!"

Kanji whipped his head over as he came out from underwater, spreading droplets everywhere. He then looked over at Teddie, and began to splash, his feet planted on the sand firmly. "So… we're going to get her in?"

With the pretty boy and Kanji now in the water, splashing about, now they just needed to get the Detective Prince into the water, but even the bear knew it would be no easy task. As his arms treaded water, keeping his head afloat, Teddie looked around to see the Junes bag left by the beach, then remembered. A delighted grin fell on his face as he walked out from the sea, water flowing down his boy. He walked with a confident strut, and let sparkles fall, mimicking the models he saw on TV. Making sure to get Naoto's attention, he picked up the bag and swayed his way towards her, stopping when he saw her eyes locked on him with a look of confusion.

"Well Nao-chan, I got just the swimsuit for you! It's your size~" Teddie opened up the bag further, and dug in. Naoto didn't like the sounds of that one bit. Teddie had a rather perverted mind, and who knows what kind of revealing swimwear the guy thought to buy her.

Overhearing it, Kanji turned in the water and gasped, jaw dropped down to an almost comical length, "Eh!" the surprised Kanji gawked. His mind connected the dots almost immediately. Swimsuits and Naoto… his dream was coming true! Deep down, he knew Naoto would refuse on the spot, but he could always dream, or even hope that she would be willing, as big a pipedream as that was. His shoulders seemed to tense up, his body felt like it was on fire, his eyes narrowed down, energy seemed to surround him and supercharge him. Kanji was ready. Kanji was… burning up!

Soon enough, Teddie pulled a bikini from the bag, holding it spread out for all to see, "Ta-dah! A fresh, Junes brand swimsuit!"

The bikini itself was a dark blue bikini, with white outlines around the cups. It was sized so it could fit around Naoto's small frame, yet its cups seemed to be able to hold big breasts in it. And to make matters worse… it had a white polka dot pattern on the top and bottom. It looked utterly embarrassing and something that, while the color scheme would fit her, the polka dots just ruined it.

A look of sheer exasperation crossed over the androgynous girl's face. Naoto made a choking sound that sounded nothing like her cool, calm tone, once the swimsuit was unveiled for her to see. "What, what is that?" she almost screamed harshly.

Seemingly having no idea of the tone and words Naoto used, Teddie nodded with a cheeky smile printed on his lips, "A swimsuit! It's flexible, so it will fit around you! Not to worry, Nao-chan, you will be comfortable wearing this!"

"I will never wear that," Naoto said in a tone so stern, Teddie immediately flinched back at how cold it was. Like if he were to show the patterned swimsuit around, she would personally break him. Teddie slowly, and reluctantly, put the bikini back into the bag, disappointed over the turn of events. And to think he would get a shot at this!

But unfortunately for all of them, Kanji had already seen it. And his face seemed to be on fire. Steam even seemed to be visibly pouring from his ears from the water, his entire body from his mouth submerged, and the water seemed to be bubbling around him. Just imagining Naoto wearing that was enough to make his nose shoot blood straight into the water.

Then, in Kanji's mind, he had a vision of Naoto. He could see her looking around, her true shy nature coming out thanks to the exposing bikini. Her lips were parted, and her legs crossed, as her arms covered her chest. That made him so hot and bothered, that his blood almost seemed to burst into flames. Why did his mind tease him with such sensual images! His fingers clenched the ball of his nose, trying to block up the blood, but it only resulted in the blood swelling up the nostrils, causing a constricting pain before long. Kanji released, and the blood splashed down onto the water.

Naoto pulled her head back, and could feel heat rushing to her cheeks. Before the light hazy crimson could stark her face though, she looked away, pulling her cap so only her cropped hair could be seen. The bikini was bad enough, it was days like this that she wished she was a man, at least they didn't have to go around trying to cover everything, and it seemed so easy for them too. Not like she would go around in shorts like those guys did though.

Teddie frowned at Naoto's reluctance, but then he began to unclip the bikini anyway, and placed it against his small pectorals, as if he were measuring how it would fit around his own chest. "Well if Nao-chan won't wear it, then I will! I'll get pretty and become the bear-maid of Inaba! This bear-kini will not go to waste!"

Oh hell no.

"Like hell you will!" shouted Kanji, who leaped across the water to catch Teddie before he could crossdress again. He tackled Teddie and dragged him back into the water, causing him to drop the bikini onto the sand below. Seriously, seeing a man, even if it were a pretty son of a bitch like Teddie, in a bikini was the last thing Kanji wanted. Guys in dresses he could handle, but wearing a bikini was pushing it, and for more than one reason.

Teddie shouted out, thrashing his arms and legs to fight back Kanji, but Kanji soon overpowered him, hugging his body next to his own. Teddie squealed, feeling Kanji's hard body rub against his own soft skin, "Oh, Kanji-kun! I had no idea you wanted me so!"

"Get off!" Cue another blood rush to Kanji's cheeks. He tried to force the blood back, but Teddie, as annoying as he was, had the smooth body of a woman, with the anatomy of a man of course. Knowing this, Teddie then put his hands around Kanji's neck, and nuzzled his cheek against Kanji's collar, and he pressed his hip against Kanji's abs, all just to tease him. But Teddie then saw his entire world turn upside down, along with a roar of anger.

"Don't touch me ya dumb bear!" roared Kanji. Teddie found himself holstered on Kanji's muscular shoulder blades, and his neck and legs were held by Kanji's arms. He could see the blue sky and sun, and he couldn't help a grin seeing seagulls fly past in the sky.

"Hey, thanks for the view, Kanji-kun!"

He couldn't see the grin form on Kanji's lips. Had he seen it, he would have realized: "Now ya'll feel ta Burnin' Hammer!"

Teddie's eyes opened wide. "Burning wha-" then he was cut off by everything before him spinning. Kanji had thrown him up into the air, and then slammed him down onto the sea head first, causing Teddie to squeeze his eyes to avoid salt in his eyes. Teddie could tell from the momentum that Kanji hadn't used even a bit of his physical might, and his landing had been quite soft. Feeling Kanji's hands let go of his body, the blonde boy flipped over to his feet and emerged from the sea, behind Kanji. He had an innocent smile on his face, but his eyes sparked with a childish joy.

"Kanji-kun! So you wanted to wrestle, huh? Let's see who'll bear-come the New Bear Pro Wrestling heavyweight champion!"

Kanji couldn't help a confident grin cross his face, and his eyebrows narrowed at Teddie, "A man like me ain't gonna lose!" but before he could turn his head, he felt thin, dainty arms twist around his back and snagged onto his waist. Kanji grabbed them and grunted, Teddie had a tight grip when he wanted! He then felt Teddie try to lift him for a German Suplex, granted, he was able to get Kanji's feet off the sand, and was trying to make sure he landed on the deeper part for his safety. He jumped slightly into the air, giving Teddie the momentum he needed to lift him, and the tough guy felt his back hit the water softly.

Teddie grinned and pumped his fists in the air, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" but then, he felt his legs be taken out from under him, and his vision turn upside down. He felt his own back press against Kanji's, and his ankles were caught in a grip by Kanji's hands. He tried to wiggle his way out of the strong grip, squeezing his eyes shut, letting his body stretch and curl, his ankles felt like they were caught by the pincers of a crab! He didn't have a chance of escaping! Then Teddie was dropped into the water, and felt water clog up his nose.

The water cooled their bodies and made them feel like a million bucks. Kanji couldn't keep the grin off his face even if he tried. This was fun! He turned over to follow up his move on Teddie, but was surprised by an instant attack from Teddie, who jumped out from within the dark waters, got hold of Kanji's neck, turned himself around and leaped out of the water, sending Kanji face first into the water!

"Bear KO!" chanted Teddie cheerfully. He put his arms out and let his knees sink to the floor, as if he were soaking the glory of the crowd. The energy of the fictional crowd fueled him to win! Then he felt a hand touch his thigh, then got lifted into the sky and slammed gently down onto the water, thanks to a backdrop suplex from Kanji.

Kanji was now standing over Teddie's half-submerged body, looking rather mad, yet his eyes were smiling, "Damn, now I'm really gonna kick your ass!"

The pretty boy wiped his lip with the back of his fist, and narrowed his eyes confidently. "Come and bear it."

The two traded grapples, moves and taunts for the next hour, but eventually, as they took a break, both Kanji and Teddie's attention turned over to Naoto.

As much fun as it was now, Teddie had noticed that, for the last hour of play, Naoto had just been sitting by the trees, flipping through her novels. This made him sad: she had come all this way, and she was just going to spend her time in solitude, reading? That wouldn't do for Teddie. He was going to celebrate life with his friends when he could, that was his creed, and Naoto wasn't going to spend her vacation alone!

He then drifted his blue orbs to Kanji's, watching those small eyes with his own large eyes, "Guess we'll call it a draw, eh, Kanji-kun?" grinned Teddie. Kanji nodded slightly, and then put his hands underwater, letting himself relax. But Teddie spoke up again, and this time, seemed to be a little unhappy.

"I'm gonna see how she's bear-ing."

To his surprise (or lack of), Kanji got straight up to his feet and paused, standing rather awkwardly. His lips were in a half-frown, half-neutral cross, and his eyes darted back and forth, seemingly embarrassed, yet encouraged, by the idea of talking to the crossdresser; "I'll go see her, Ted."

Kanji then turned tail on Teddie and began to step towards Naoto, his shoulders hunched over. He seemed to hold his legs out, making his walk seem rather… strange. He walked over to the tree Naoto was sat in, and kept standing over her with a small frown printed on his face. Kanji's body language and his shaking legs implied he wanted to sit next to Naoto, but he didn't want to spook her out, so he just went for standing a few meters away from her, in order not to intrude her personal space.

"Yo. Naoto."

The novel tilted slightly, and a dark eye stared at him. "Yes, Kanji-kun?"

"Ever wanted to go swimmin'?" he muttered, half under his breath and half clearly. His hand swept past his hair.

The reply was instantaneous, with no hesitation. "No."

He leaned against the tree, slightly shrugging at the feeling of wood against his bare skin, and glanced at the leaves filtering the sunlight, the small breeze rustling the leaves slightly and exposing slight glares of light into his eyes. "Ya not much of a swimmer, huh?"

"Exactly," said Naoto, "is that a problem with you?"

Kanji immediately bit his lip and made a grunting sound in his throat, widening his eyes in surprise at her, "It ain't! Ev'a thought you might be missin' somethin' though?"

She flipped a page of her detective novel, and glanced at the first paragraph, before looking back at Kanji, "Can you see I am enjoying a good book?"

He nodded, taking note of what she was reading, "Yeah, but ya gotta give things a try, I guess..." Kanji crossed his arms, and stared back at the sea, as Teddie flopped around in the water, "I get ya don't want to wear swimsuits, but there should be somethin' that can hide your body." Thinking about Naoto's body, the delinquent then turned his head away from Naoto and covered his face with his hand, feeling his hand almost burn thanks to the heat in his blushing face.

Naoto sighed, and closed her bookmarked book, why wouldn't he just give up? "It's not just that."

Kanji heard those words, and taken by surprise, he looked right over at Naoto. His expression was rather interested, his eyebrows were arched up. "Eh?"

Now she had done it. Realizing her mistake, the young androgynous detective broke eye contact and tried to hide her face in shame, using both her hat and her dark hair to camouflage herself, even though her slightly tanned skin still stuck out. She had tried to be stubborn, to make it clear she was only interested in reading, but he was too pushy. Why was he so intent on making her get into the water? For all his stammering and blushing around her, Kanji was rather forceful when he wanted, especially when it came to his friends who weren't named Yu Narukami. So, she went back to what her upbringing told her, and decided to be bluntly honest, even if it meant a small blow to her pride.

"I… I can't swim…" she basically whispered. That didn't come out well. She gulped, feeling so small and embarrassed to having admitted that.

Kanji arched an eyebrow. "So what? Ya can't even tread water?"

She shook her head, and tilted her head down, so Kanji couldn't see her expression. "I… never learnt how to." It was humiliating as it was to admit it. And even worse to go somewhere where the whole idea was to swim. Or relax in the sun.

If only she could shrink back behind the tree and continue reading the adventures of her favorite detectives.

That very faint admission caused something to snap in Kanji. To hear that Naoto couldn't swim, well, maybe he should have seen it coming, but to him, the idea of being unable to swim sucked. His eyes actually opened in surprise, "Ya… dunno how to swim?"

She nodded, she tried to put on a serious expression, but Kanji could see it was failing, and her eyes were trying to avoid his gaze. "I… I thought I said that," countered Naoto, trying to sound like her usual self, but failing.

To Kanji, Naoto never did seem like the athletic type, well, back in high school, he never saw her around the pool. Given the boy's swimming costumes would have exposed her charade and showed a lot more of the guys' bodies then she was comfortable with… Hell, while he was good at athletics, not on Kou or Daisuke's level, but still decent, Kanji remembered Naoto struggling to keep up in track.

The glare he gave her seemed to get even more fired up, and he put his hand forward for Naoto to grab onto… even if the idea of holding hands with Naoto was enough to make blood rush to his head again. He tried to force that away though, and kept up his tough guy act to encourage her, "I'll teach ya then! It's easy!"

Naoto then pulled her head back and stared wide eyed at Kanji, her dark eyes giving him a look of surprise and disbelief. "Eh?" she choked in her desperation to say a word, much less a rebuttal. Naoto would have kicked herself now… she sounded like such a complete dolt that it wasn't funny in the slightest.

This had nothing on how Kanji reacted though.

He clenched his fist, feeling his manliness, his hope, his burning might pour into his being, Kanji could feel, no, he knew that this was the time to make himself a real man! "I'll teach ya how to swim! Come on, Naoto! We'll make men outta each other! Dun be afraid of the water! The water's afraid of you!"

Naoto tried to back away, but Kanji was much taller than her, and leaned over her with an intense spark of manliness and courage within his small eyes. She pulled herself back, and put her arm in front in a protective gesture, "D-Do I have anything resembling a choice here?" yelped Naoto, lampshading her fate.

"I said it's sink-or-swim, damnit! And yer gonna swim!"

Oh dear. Someone's determined to see Naoto swim!

Couldn't help the pro wrestling references there, lol. I could see Kanji being into puroresu, hence the Burning Hammer. Comments and feedback are much appreciated. I had intended to make this a whole bigger chapter, but as I said, things are getting busier, and I don't want to slack off.