YEAH! YA! KU! SHI! MA! I hope you all enjoy!
July 20, 2009, Monday, Daytime
After coming to the island of Yakushima by boat, both S.E.E.S. and Heiwa arrived at the vacation home they would be staying at for the next few days.
"Wow…" Fuuka looked around, admiring the resort.
"It's like we're on an episode of The Lifestyle of the Rich and Fabulous!" Junpei said.
"Took the words right outta my mouth, Junpei." Daichi said.
"I wonder if places like this lose their luster the more the one percent visit them…" Seth murmured to himself.
A pair of maids approached them and bowed to Mitsuru, who was at the front of the group.
"Welcome back, Milday." The maids greeted in unison.
"And you must be her schoolmates, correct? Welcome to the Kirijo vacation home." One of the maids said. "Please follow me."
"Uh…" Yukari was a little flabbergasted and thought this couldn't be real. "Is this the right place?"
"Dude, real-life maids…" Junpei whispered excitedly.
"I knew Kirijo-san came from a wealthy family, but this definitely confirms it." Fuuka said.
The two maids were just about to guide the teenagers to their rooms, but stopped upon seeing a man in a suit with a scary face and an eye patch approach and they bowed to him. As the man passed by, Mitsuru looked toward him.
"It's good to see you." Mitsuru said to the man.
The man didn't respond and continued walking in the opposite direction.
*Was that Mitsuru's father?* Seth thought. *That was pretty cold of him… Although…* He covered his mouth so nobody could notice his smile. *He looks so silly! It's like he's a villain out of a spy flick!*
The rest of the group seemed to have come to the conclusion that he was her father as well.
"He's not gonna make us walk the plank, is he?" Junpei asked.
Seth couldn't contain his laughter much longer and let out an audible giggle.
"Don't be stupid…" Akihiko said to Junpei.
Mitsuru chuckled. "We won't be here for long, but make yourself at home."
"Sweet!" Junpei pumped his fists in excitement. "This is gonna rock! Hey, wanna go to the beach? It's right there!"
"I second that motion!" Daichi quickly agreed.
"Already?" Yukari questioned.
"Okay, but let's get changed first!" Homura said excitedly. "It's been so long since I went swimming!"
After changing, all of the guys except for Seth and Luke were already at the beach and ready to have some fun. Daichi was wearing white trunks with two black stripes on each side and Nobuo was in plain gray trunks. Luke didn't want to change with the other guys, so Seth stayed behind so he could guide him to the beach when he finished.
"Aw yeah! THIS is summer!" Junpei said.
As the S.E.E.S. men talked, Daichi turned to Nobuo, who had been lost in thought for a while now.
"Something wrong, Nobuo?" Daichi asked. "You haven't spoken since we got to our rooms and changed."
Nobuo snapped back and looked at Daichi with a chuckle. "Sorry, just a bit distracted."
When Junpei ran off, Daichi and Nobuo turned their attention in that direction and the former ran next to Junpei to see Yukari come by in a bikini.
"Say hello to contestant number one, Yukari Takeba!" Junpei began talking like an emcee. "As you can see, she's chosen quite the bold and unexpected design! It takes a lot of confidence to pull it off!"
"You look great, Yukari." Minato said with a smile.
"Oh, th-thanks, Minato." Yukari replied.
"I hope Mitsuru and Homura come out soon…" Daichi's mouth salivated. "Just thinking about those two… Heheheheh…" A creepy expression appeared on Daichi's face.
"Please don't do that…" Nobuo cringed at the sight of his friend's perverted face.
They then heard footsteps approaching them.
"And here comes contestant number tw-!" Junpei was about to say.
However, instead of one of the other girls coming up to them, it was Seth and Luke, the former was in half-black, half-yellow trunks and the latter was in plain red trunks and a blue swim tee.
"Are we doing a swimsuit contest or something?" Seth asked before talking like an announcer. "Most of us guys are keeping it simple, but Luke is showing way too much modesty for a summer's day."
"I don't like people seeing my body!" Luke looked down shyly and blushed.
Seth could feel someone staring from behind a nearby tree and looked over to see Emi partially hiding from them.
"Come out, Emi!" Seth called out to her.
Although she was reluctant to come out into the sunlight, because she didn't like the sun at all, but she eventually came out and showed her pitch-black bikini with a camisole top.
"And heeeere we have contestant number two, Emi Tsukino!" Daichi matched Junpei's beauty pageant theatrics. "Her black bikini compliments not only her gothic personality, but also her creamy and lovely skin!"
"Thanks." Emi said in her typical voice. "And that's genuine gratitude. So what do you think, Seth? Do you like?"
As Emi posed seductively, Luke turned around and looked toward the water and away from the girls.
"Why're you lookin' away, Luke?" Junpei questioned. "This is a man's dream come true!"
"I… I don't want my eyes to wander…" Luke said quietly, but loudly enough to be heard by everyone.
"Luke's such a gentleman, even if it IS rather extreme." Seth stated.
Fuuka then came by in a creamy green bikini with a skirt with the bottom.
"Is that umbrella taken?" Fuuka pointed at the umbrella that was sticking out of the sand near Minato.
"Next up is contestant number three, Fuuka Yamagishi!" Junpei continued. As he further examined Fuuka, he started blushing. "Wow, Fuuka… I had no idea you were so… Er, I mean, you should wear a swimsuit more often!"
"Huh?" Fuuka was a bit confused until she looked down at the swimsuit she was wearing and gasped in shock, prompting her to hide behind Yukari.
"Come on, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." Junpei said. "Heheh."
"Okay, that's enough, guys." Seth tried to break them up. "I'm all for appreciating the female form as the rest of you, but not to the point of frightening the poor girls."
"I'm sorry I took so long!" Homura shouted from the direction of the vacation home.
The voice drew everyone's attention and the jaws of Seth, Junpei and Daichi dropped when they saw Homura. She was in a purple bikini that looked kind of tight and accentuated her very large breasts.
"I had some problems getting into my swimsuit!" Homura said.
She continued running until she had reached the group and everyone just stared at her, except for Luke who was still looking away.
"H… Homura…" Seth was blushing barely able to speak.
"Um…" Homura squirmed bashfully. "You… you look really good… Seth…"
"Y-yeah…" Seth stuttered. "You… do, too…"
The two just stared at each other in silence, completely forgetting everyone else around them.
"Woo!" Daichi roared. "And here's contestant-! Mumfer fou!"
Seth quickly placed his hand over Daichi's mouth to keep him quiet. Meanwhile, Luke was slouching on his knees and drawing circles in the sand.
"I'm going to die old and alone with 35 cats all named 'Neko'…" Luke muttered depressingly.
"Seth, is your brother… always like this?" Minato inquired even though Seth still wasn't paying attention to him.
Junpei could hear another set of footsteps approaching them. "And here comes our final contestant!"
Everyone, aside from the disheartened Luke, looked in the direction of the footsteps to see Mitsuru walking up to them casually, wearing a white bikini with a matching, nontransparent sarong and a beautiful red flower on the left side of the top.
"… Hm?" Mitsuru spoke out of slight confusion. "Is something wrong?"
Fuuka walked up to the S.E.E.S. leader and glanced over her features. "Wow… Mitsuru-senpai, you're beautiful…"
Yukari agreed. "Yeah, your skin is flawless! Did you already put on sunscreen?"
As the Fuuka and Yukari began talking to Mitsuru, Daichi just kept staring at her.
*… Okay, I'll admit that Mitsuru has everyone beat in terms of overall beauty…* He thought. *Buuuuut…* His eyes were focused on Homura's breasts. *Hottie Homura has everyone beat in terms of busts!*
"I had a feeling you guys were going to compare us girls!" Kasumi's voice called out from out of nowhere. "So I figured if I wanted to have the biggest impact, the best should be saved for last!"
"Where's Kasumi?" Nobuo looked around. "I hear her, but can't see her!"
"How come you haven't commented until now?" Daichi questioned.
"Up here!"
Everyone looked up to see something falling from a nearby tree and once it landed, a cloud of sand was kicked up. With their vision obscured, they had to wait for the dust to subside before they could finally see Kasumi standing proudly and wearing a bikini top that was red on the right cup and yellow on the left and orange bottoms, both showing off her ample figure and furthering the already established impression that she looked a few years older than she actually was.
"How do I look, boys? Hot?" Kasumi asked.
"Are you sure you're still in junior high?" Junpei questioned.
Junpei turned to Daichi to see that he was looking away from Kasumi.
"Why're you being like Luke NOW?" Junpei asked.
"Hm?" Kasumi looked over and saw Luke still twirling his finger around in the sand.
"My brother gets the sweetest girl and I get a bunch of cats…" Luke kept mumbling. "I can't marry cats…"
"Why are you so gloomy, Luke-kun?" Kasumi asked. "And why aren't you showing any skin?"
"Because he's self-conscious, too much of a gentleman and a pessimistic romantic…" Seth replied nervously.
"Yeah, but he's bigger than his brother…" Emi said.
The majority of the group there had no idea how to react to Emi's comment. The closest thing to an internal response Seth felt was a bit of surprise and the only concrete response was a bit of blood dripping from Kasumi's nose. She wiped off the blood and immediately walked in front of Luke.
"Come on, Luke, don't look so glum!" She smiled proudly. "You're at a beach resort and surrounded by friends and beautiful women! A lot of people would kill for this kind of experience! So buck up, have some fun and…" She reached for the bottom of Luke's swim tee. "Take off this shirt!"
Once Kasumi took off Luke's swim tee, he got out of his depressed state and screamed while covering his chest with his arms.
"Give me back my shirt!" Luke shouted.
"If you want it, you gotta catch me!" Kasumi started running off into the water while waving the swim tee around. "And why're you covering your chest? You're not a girl!"
Everyone just stared at the strangeness that was going on between the two young teens, but that was broken when Homura started laughing.
"Kasumi's right!" Homura said. "We're here to have fun, so let's have fun!"
Homura dashed toward the water and Seth soon followed after her. Eventually, everyone else started to join the fun in the water or relax in the chairs.
July 20, 2009, Monday, Late Night
After having fun at the beach all day, Mitsuru's father, Takeharu Kirijo, confirmed everyone's suspicions that defeating the full moon Shadows would get rid of the Dark Hour via a video left behind by Yukari's father, Eiichiro Takeba. Understandably, Yukari got upset and Minato went to check up on her.
In the meantime, the Heiwa guys all went into their room, which was right next to the room where the men of S.E.E.S. were staying in.
"So Luke, did you have fun today?" Seth asked.
"I probably would have, if Kasumi wasn't harassing me." Luke answered.
"Dude!" Daichi became particularly exasperated. "You had a hot girl's attention for a full day! She clearly likes you!"
"It's a façade…" Luke said. "She's just pretending so she can make fun of me later."
"You're a real downer, you know that?" Nobuo asked.
"Besides, she's too much for me, anyway." Luke continued.
"Then what kind of girl DO you like?" Daichi asked.
"Does it really matter?" Luke questioned. "It's not like they're going to like me back, but Seth can't seem to get that through his skull!"
"What's wrong with wanting my little brother happy?" Seth asked as he got up to his brother. "You're a kind and gentle person and you deserve to find love."
"Just because I deserve something doesn't mean I'll get it!" Luke argued. "I've had bad luck with girls from the moment I was born, what makes you think things will be different now or in the future?"
"You think you're the only one that hasn't been a hit with the ladies?!" Daichi snapped.
Everyone looked at Daichi in surprise and he walked up to Luke and held him up by the collar of his shirt.
"I've flirted with girls every day since I was in middle school!" Daichi began ranting. "And every time ended in failure, but does that stop me? No! I keep trying and trying and never lose hope that one day I'll find someone! All I can tell you is to not give up hope that someday you'll find that special girl and stop being hard on yourself! If you're anything like your brother says you are, then you'll find love far sooner than me! We're still young, so we've got plenty of time and no reason to rush it!"
The whole room went quiet and Luke remained silent and motionless during the whole thing.
"… Well?!" Daichi growled.
"Daichi, that's enough!" Seth shouted and gripped Daichi's wrist. "It's been a long day. I think we should all go to bed now."
"What-" Daichi was about to say.
However, Daichi stopped talking when he saw Seth giving him a frightening death glare. Daichi let go of Luke's collar and walked over to his bed, as did everyone else before officially turning in for the night.
The Dark Hour had long passed when Kasumi got up in the middle of the night. However, when she looked toward the window, she could make out someone sitting on a log at the beach and decided to check who it was. The moment she got close enough, she saw that the mysterious person was just Luke and walked over to him.
"What brings you out so late?" Kasumi asked.
Luke looked at Kasumi as she sat down next to him.
"I've j-just been thinking and c-couldn't sleep." Luke answered while looking away from her.
"Look, if it's about me taking your shirt earlier, I'm sorry." Kasumi apologized.
"N-no, I'm over that. I'm just considering that… my brother and his friends might be right."
"What would they be right about?"
"That my constant rejection is making me pessimistic about romance far too soon."
"Yeah, can't argue with that."
"So it's not just them…"
"You're 14, not 70!" She somewhat laughed. "And even then, it's still possible to find love."
There was nothing but silence between the two for the next few seconds, the only sounds being those of the waves.
"… There's something I want to tell you, but you've got to promise me you won't tell anyone."
Luke nodded.
"My father… is very strict on how I live my life." Kasumi said sadly. "All he has me do is train and study, with very little breaks in between to have fun or be myself and I never got a chance to make friends in school. I always have to be the formal daughter of the director whenever I'm around him or other Heiwa officials. He won't even let me have a boyfriend and even if he did, he'd have to meet very specific criteria. So consider yourself lucky, Luke. At least you have a choice when it comes to your love life… unlike me…"
"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that, Kasumi…" Luke said sullenly.
"It wasn't so bad, because I always knew I would eventually meet people who would accept me for who I was and let me be myself."
Luke wasn't sure what else he could say to her, so he remained silent.
"That's the outlook you should have. Eventually, you'll find someone you like who shares your feelings."
"… Th-thank you, Kasumi…"
Kasumi smiled happily and cutely.
"By the way… Why are you up?" He asked.
Kasumi realized the reason she had woken up and started to feel strained.
"A-are you okay?"
"… I had to use the ladies' room!" Kasumi squealed before running back to the vacation home.
Luke just stared off at her and sighed in exasperation.
"That girl is something else…" Luke said before looking up at the starry night sky. "But she's right… Eventually it'll happen… Someday…"
July 21, 2009, Tuesday, Daytime
It was almost noon and Luke decided to sleep in since he didn't get much of it the night before. In the meantime, Seth took the rest of Heiwa, minus Daichi, to a secluded area of the beach so the girls wouldn't be bothered by him or Junpei like yesterday. Luke finally woke up and as he was brushing his teeth, he could hear a phone ringing in the room. He spat out the toothpaste and walked over to see it was his brother's phone that was going off.
"Hello?" He picked it up.
"Luke, where is your brother?" Mitsuru's voice called out. "Are you with him or Arisato?"
"I-I'm alone in our room. Seth, Nobuo and the girls went to another part of the beach."
"This is an emergency! An anti-Shadow weapon is loose on the island! I need you to contact your brother and gather everyone to search for it!"
"O-okay! I'm heading out now! Just call me on this phone if-f anything happens!"
Luke got dressed, put the phone in his pocket and ran out the door.
A/N: Finally done! I'm sure you all know what the weapon is, but I felt like it was a dramatic enough note to end the chapter on. I'm sure some of you want Luke to end up with someone by the end of the story and Kasumi is one of the two possible love interests I have in mind. Who's the other? I'm keeping that secret until she shows up. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!