A/N: Don't own.

Kotoko's prediction that her father would have no objection to her response to Kinnosuke's advances was correct. Actually, she and Naoki had to do some fast talking to keep him from finding his address to 'give that pervert a piece of my mind!'

Kotoko reminded him of her many medals and, most importantly, the manner in which she had destroyed–and humiliated–the teenager in view of nearly the entire school.

"And besides, sir," Naoki added, "with his aggressive tendencies, he might even welcome the break in his disciplinary schedule for a bout of fisticuffs."

"At least," Mrs. Irie chirped, "he will be totally unavailable to spoil dear Kotoko-chan's summer. Oh, what plans I have for us!"

"Begging pardon, Obasama," Kotoko looked at her quizzically, "but I was not aware that you had made plans."

"Nonsense! Why drift your way through the break and accomplish nothing? This is a marvelous time for the two of us to become closer–almost like a mother and daughter." She winked at Naoki, who facepalmed then mouthed, 'I'm sorry' to Kotoko.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked hesitantly.

"I thought we could go through some recipe books, and I could teach you Onii-chan's favorite dishes."

"Cooking, Obasama?" She shook her head. "If we did that, then I am sure they would no longer be Naoki's favorites." She cast the stink-eye at her father, who was bent over in a coughing fit.

He straightened himself and then attempted to straighten out Mrs. Irie. "Missus, there's not a chef in the world who can teach my daughter. Not even how to boil water without burning it."

Kotoko crossed her arms and glowered. "It was one pan, Papa."

"And an expensive one, daughter!" he riposted. "No, Irie-san, for the love of Buddha keep Kotoko out of the kitchen. You might save your house from catching fire."

"Oh," Mrs. Irie's face drooped, "then, in that case, do you have any plans at all?"

"Yes, Obasama. Miyazawa-sensei is going to intensify my solo training in the mornings, and in the afternoons I will demonstrate moves to the younger classes with Kenichi-kun."

"Oh," Naoki's eyes brightened, "like Yuuki's class?" When she nodded he added, "I may have to drop by after tennis practice. I am eager to see more of you in action, as I am certain you only scratched the surface of your skills while dealing with the dolt this afternoon."

Mrs. Irie was still not placated. "All work and no play… Ah," her forefinger pointed to the ceiling, "I know! You must take at least some time to thank your two classmates for their testimony."

"We are going to meet one afternoon at a café," she explained, "and I thought I would treat them."

"Paltry!" Her hand waved then she riffled through a drawer in the sitting room. "Here they are!" She proffered a handful of cardboard. "Tickets to Splash Town–that new water park. Now that would make a wonderful outing." She waggled her eyebrows at her older son. "And you, young man, would do well to accompany them for protection in case that rapscallion escapes from his jailers."

"That would be unlikely," Naoki replied drily, "but Yuuki might enjoy an outing." He plucked two tickets from her hand.

"Oh, here," she shoved the rest at him, "take them. And let Yuuki-kun invite some of his friends, as well."

"Perhaps." He counted them with a frown. "Not that I'm really interested in watching a bunch of kids…" he muttered.

Unseen by him, Mrs. Irie gestured for Yuuki to follow her into the kitchen, holding a finger in front of her lips.

"Wow, Kotoko," Jinko grinned as the rest of the group tumbled out of the bus, "nice to see that you provided dates for all of us."

"It's just a shame they're a little young for my taste," Satomi added as she eyed the elementary schoolers staring at them.

"Yes," Naoki descended behind them, "Mom thought that watching over this group of heathens would make a fun day for me."

"I didn't think it was fair for Naoki to be the only one burdened," Kotoko explained with an apologetic expression, "so I offered to combine the two outings."

"Well," Jinko looked them over, "I have lots of younger siblings, so babysitting is nothing new to me."

"Babysitting?" Yuuki protested. "We can take care of ourselves. We've got our own entertainment."

"Yeah," a curly-haired friend added, "you'll never know we're around."

"I highly doubt that." Satomi's eyebrow rose.

"As do I," Naoki said. "But their presence should be mitigated by the product testing these 'volunteers' will be doing."

"Eh?" Jinko asked.

Once inside the park, Naoki opened his overlarge backpack and began handing out an assortment of water-based weapons. "Remember, only aim at each other. The other visitors did not pay good money to be assaulted by armed minions."

"Minion?" Yuuki snorted. "I'll show you a minion." A half second later his brother's hair clung to his head damply.

"Right. That's one strike," he growled, wiping his eyes.

"Aw-w-w!"

"No whining or I'll pack all this back up and cram you into the next bus."

"You wouldn't do that, Onii-chan," he wheedled as he moved closer to Kotoko. "Me and the guys are on guard duty."

"Guard duty?"

"Yeah." A boy with a crewcut tested the trigger sensitivity. "We heard Yuuki's onee-chan has a stalker pervert. If he starts anything…"

"…we'll finish it!" the crew cried in unison.

Jinko leaned on a nearby fence. "These kids are gunning for Kin-chan? Marvelous."

"As much as I'd enjoy witnessing that," Naoki stated once the surprise at his mother's plot wore off, "I am not sure if Pandai's association with this park would survive it. Besides, I'm sure that Tonan High is watching the, er, pervert quite closely."

Satomi's face darkened. "Never underestimate the wiliness of that idiot."

True enough, 'that idiot' had managed to overhear enough of the girls' conversation about the outing. Thus, on that fateful day, he secreted an envelope of hot pepper in his clothes. After it was released near his face, his sneezing fit and running nose was enough for that day's supervisor to throw a face mask and box of tissues at him after he shoved him out of the school.

Once out of sight, he headed to the nearest public restroom and ran water over his head, clearing away the last remnants of the irritating spice. He dried off under the hand dryer then fed the address into his phone.

"Darn Gintaro and Dozo for flakin' out on me." (In actuality, the two had declared that they had no interest in 'tasting concrete' and advised him to 'stay far away from Aihara'.) "Coupla pansies, them guys," he muttered before heading for the bus stop.

"You know," Satomi tilted sunglasses off her eyes and addressed her friends, "those rugrats are actually behaving pretty good."

Jinko shook her head. "Wish my brothers were so obedient."

"Yuuki-kun is an Irie, and even young as he is, he knows that you should maintain good relations with business associates." At the puzzled expressions headed her way, she continued, "Pandai is the supplier for the rental ring floats and also several branded souvenirs in the gift shop."

"So he's a mini-mogul?" Satomi asked.

"Not to that point yet," Kotoko smiled, "plus they are taking their guard duty seriously." She pointed to a table some ten meters away and slightly behind their loungers. "One of them is always watching over us."

"He-he," Jinko laughed, "our own midget army. Kin-chan doesn't know what's in store for him if he shows up."

Indeed, Kinnosuke was already experiencing difficulties as he had not properly researched the entry fee for Splash Town. The cashier was a millimeter away from calling security when a kind woman accompanied by a half dozen impatient grandchildren paid the deficit. After a quick 'Thanks!' he scurried away in search of his prey…um, quarry.

He had made it about halfway around the park. His progress was not as rapid as he had initially planned, due to frequent pauses to leer at women on recliners. He was busy fantasizing about the possible effect of the wave pool on skimpy bikini tops and did not realize that he had made those thoughts verbal.

Pressing forward in his quest, he paid no attention to the every-increasing murmurs which trailed him.

He spotted Satomi's distinctive height when she returned to the group with a ring float and barely managed to stifle an impulsive "Eureka!"

Stealthily he approached the cluster of loungers, eyes locked on the not-quite-oblivious Kotoko. His adoring eyes saw her raise one hand and snap her fingers unexpectedly.

Suddenly a blast of cold water hit his face and a second later filled his mouth when he opened it to express his shock. His body contorted as it was assaulted on all sides with harsh blows of projected liquid. He doubled over when his manly equipment spread the news of intense pain to his brain and heard a childish treble yell, "Bull's eye!"

It took several minutes for his tear-filled eyes to clear, and the first face he saw was not his lovely Kotoko, but a stern security guard.

"Okay, punk," the granite-faced man hauled him to his feet, "I've had a number of complaints about your behavior, and based on camera records you haven't even been in the park for half an hour."

"Whut?" he gasped.

"That's the one!" A voluptuous young woman cried as she clutched a beach wrap. "He stared at me so–so lasciviously," she shuddered, "that I didn't feel comfortable in just my swimsuit."

Another voice joined hers. "Me too! And if there's any place where you should feel safe wearing a swimsuit, it's a water park."

"And are you two the ones who arranged for the ambush with assault-level water rifles?" His lips twitched just a bit.

Naoki stood. "No, sir, that would be my brother and his friends." He frowned in their direction as he handed over a folded sheet of paper. "My father received prior permission for them to test out these prototypes, but they were supposed to use them only on each other and avoid innocent bystanders."

"But Onii-chan," Yuuki whined, "he isn't any sort of innocent. You heard those ladies," he waved an arm, "and me and my friends weren't going to let him try and do nasty things to a member of my family."

The officer placed a hand on Yuuki's shoulder. "Noble though your motives are, I do believe your brother has the wherewithal to defend himself."

"What?!" squawked Kinnosuke. "Ya ain't tryin' ta say I was after that bastard Irie, are ya? 'Cause I'll state right here 'n' now that I ain't no poof!"

Naoki pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why does this communication failure not surprise me?"

"No," Kotoko sighed, "I'm afraid that I am the one upon whom this person has focused his interest."

"She hasn't given him any encouragement," Satomi averred.

"Yeah," Jinko sniffed, "she's been turning him down for months, and he hasn't got the message yet!"

"I think I've heard enough. You, sir," he spoke to Kinnosuke, "have exactly five minutes to exit the park."

"Hey, I paid good money to get in!" he protested.

"According to my sources at the gate, not all of that money was yours originally. If I have to escort you off the premises, it will mean a ban for the rest of the season."

"Oi!"

"If you leave on your own, you will be welcomed back, provided you have the full admission price upon your return."

At that, Kinnosuke stomped away, muttering about 'damn wannabe cop lettin' power go to his head!'

Once he was out of sight, the officer turned back to Naoki. "About those weapons…"

"I apologize." Naoki gestured for the boys to come forward. "We will pack them away now. Unless you would like us to leave as well?"

"No, I am afraid this time it is you who has a misunderstanding." He held out a hand and Yuuki placed his rifle in it. He hefted it knowledgeably and asked, "What is the range for this baby?"

When Kotoko treated them all to ice cream after leaving the park, Yuuki and his friends declared there was nothing better than being her minions.