(A/N: Hello again folks. It's been a while since I've visited this fandom and this fic. I do admit that aside from having a hectic schedule at work, I was also roped into finishing my other WIPs in other fandoms so it took me a while before going back here. But here I am now and hopefully you guys are still around until the end of this fic as I've decided to make this an 8-chapter fic only. So, we still have remaining 3 chapters to fulfill before the very end. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter as much as I did upon writing it).


Chapter 5

By: Aztec999


Mikey tried not to gape at the sight in front of him.

He wasn't easily surprised nor flustered at the surroundings nor at the other people around him.

It wasn't the first time that he had seen a human figure wearing a swimsuit or beach shorts for that matter. Heck, it was the usual sight for him whenever he will have a vacation trip with Draken, Kazutora, Pah-Chin, Baji, Mitsuya and the others on a beach.

But seeing Senju in front of him, smiling down at him while holding a tanning lotion in a classic vintage style one-piece blue swimsuit made the thought processes inside his head grinded into a screeching halt.

Senju and a swimsuit in one sentence?

If Mikey was presented with that kind of image and idea in the past, he would've burst out laughing because Senju would've probably eaten shards of glasses rather than to wear a swimsuit or any other feminine skimpy clothing because that woman would rather wear baggy clothes than wear that kind of clothes. The only time that he had seen her wore a skirt everyday was during weekdays when she was attending at the academy wearing a standard sailor school uniform.

But now…

…what the fuck was going on?!

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Mikey blurted out intelligently and he wanted to smack himself on how stupid he sounded at that question. Of course, Senju was one of the guests here by his grandpa so she can lounge or swim by the pool if she wanted to.

Mikey resisted the urge to blush in front of her but he could feel the tips of his ears getting warm and be surrounded by pinkish hues.

"I wanted to swim of course." Senju answered in an amused voice. "But I also wanted to lounge in the sun lounger first before doing so…and maybe you can help me in putting on the tanning lotion to my back if that's okay?" Senju asked in a saccharine voice.

Mikey narrowed his eyes and looked at her in askance.

It's not everyday that Senju was this nice and sweet at him. But then again…she asked nicely and he didn't want his grandpa to know that he was rude to his guests.

'Or maybe you're charmed by her looks already?' His mind supplied teasingly and he wanted to smack his head sometimes for proposing such ridiculous notions.

"Alright… Just lie on the lounger so that I can put it on." Mikey conceded as he turned away and focused his attention to the pool ladder to climb out of the pool.

He missed the victorious smirk gracing around Senju's lips upon hearing his response.

"Okay!" Senju answered in a peppy voice as she made her way towards the lounger and lied on it in a prone position with her arms resting on her chin and watched Mikey made his way towards her direction.

Senju totally ignored the rivulets of water that dripped down from his body slowly and the way his black shorts clung to his thighs like a second skin, accentuating the firmness of his muscles and his toned body. It gave him a look that he could pass as a model who stepped out from a summer edition of the GQ magazine.

Nope.

Senju didn't ogle at him and had her mouth ran dry because of that tempestuous sight under the bright rays of the sun.

No. It didn't happen.

She averted her eyes towards the swimming pool and looked at it nonchalantly.

"What made you decide to swim early this morning midget?" Mikey asked casually as he sat down beside her on the lounger and took the bottle of the tanning lotion and opened it, squeezing an ample amount into his palm and started spreading it on her exposed back.

Senju resisted the urge to make a smart, aleck remark just like she used to. She needed to remember her goal and her plan on seducing him. But for fuck's sake, her patience was being tested and was wearing thin whenever Mikey had to add a jab about her goddamn height.

As she prepared a response inside her head, her thoughts came into a screeching halt when she felt Mikey's cold fingers brushing along her skin. His hands were cold due to him rising from the pool recently but it sent an electrifying sensation across her veins and her heart somersaulting like crazy inside her chest. She suppressed a shudder and kept still on the lounger, not wanting to give an idea to the other of how much he affected her by just having his hands running along her back with the damn tanning lotion.

Meanwhile, Mikey kept the usual blank expression on his face although a scintillating sensation ran through his veins upon feeling the smooth and supple skin of Senju around his fingertips. The soft glide of his hands around her backside did wonders on Mikey's entire being and his mind glitching at the wonderful feeling that was starting to envelop him slowly. He tried to get his mind out of the gutter and berated himself.

For fuck's sake! Why was he acting like some loser teenager who haven't touch grass since ages?! He had touched a girl's skin for crying out loud so there's no reason for him to be acting like some mongrel who ascended towards heaven just because he successfully touched Senju's back by spreading some lotion on her. If Draken was here, he'd probably smack his head to bring back his common sense because of how pathetic he was acting.

'Calm the fuck down Manjiro. Get your shit together.' He berated himself inwardly.

"No reason you dwarf. Last time I remembered, there is no curfew time in using the pool." Senju scoffed lightly and her voice brought back Mikey to the present.

"Now there's the Senju that I know. You being nice earlier is creeping me out." Mikey shot back easily.

"Well, if you keep being an annoying prick it's hard not being testy with you." Senju seethed but immediately tried to calm herself down.

Fuck. This was harder than she thought. She needed to get her shit and patience together or the plan to seduce him will fall apart. But with Mikey continuously testing her patience, she was this close in smacking her fists right into his face.

'Patience Senju. Patience. Just try to think of accomplishing your promise to Emma quickly so that you can get this over with.' Her mind tried to placate her.

As Mikey was prepared to retort, a familiar voice and sight that caught not only his attention but also Senju's that had them both whipping their heads towards that direction with eyes wide as saucers.

"Good morning!" The female figure waved brightly at them.

'Carol?!' They both thought in unison, genuine surprise etched across their faces.

For Mikey, there was a mixture of surprise, confusion, and a bit of admiration in his eyes as his gaze travelled towards Carol's figure from head to toe. It's a normal reaction of a man upon seeing a blonde with a voluptuous figure and a gorgeous face with a winning smile directed at him.

Mikey cannot deny that his childhood friend had grown into a full-fledged woman with all the right curves and shape in her body. Even though he was slightly taken aback by her confidence and boldness, Mikey can still appreciate that trait as it showed on how the woman had changed over the years when they were apart and how she had grown to be more cosmopolitan and vibrant.

Nevertheless…

…that electrifying feeling didn't course through his veins unlike when he saw Senju earlier and awakened something inside of him like an electric touch.

The feeling that he was simply having was a normal admiration of a guy towards a young, beautiful woman like Carol in front of him and nothing else. It didn't make his nerves skyrocket around his veins nor his heart leapt wildly inside his chest just like it did when he saw Senju earlier.

He gave himself an internal shake.

Just because he didn't feel the same way with Carol the first time seeing her in a swimsuit just like with Senju, it didn't mean that he should delved deeper into it.

Heck, if Pah-Chin or Kazutora were here, they'd probably teased him relentlessly and tell him to get laid or some shit to get rid of these weird reactions inside his body.

Fuck. He needed to get his shit together and get this over with.

Mikey tried to wave back and smiled congenially. "Good morning as well!" He greeted back, trying to inflect some enthusiasm in his voice, hoping that it masked the internal turmoil that he was currently having.

Carol jogged over their direction and stopped in front of him.

Senju's brows twitched slightly in annoyance but kept the smile frozen on her face.

Senju inadvertently gripped the handle of the armrest tightly as her gaze followed the woman who was strutting like a model into the poolside. Her two-piece swimsuit was racy and too revealing as her perky buttocks was displayed on her thong and her well-endowed chests that she surmised was a G-cup size which could almost spill at the skimpy red string bikini that she was wearing.

She begrudgingly admitted that the woman looked flawless and sexy and she couldn't find any fault to her figure as she had long and shapely legs, a toned backside, and an hourglass figure that any woman would die for just to have it. The doubt and insecurity began to fester inside of her.

'What the hell is she doing here?' Senju seethed inwardly. Did she know about her and Emma's plans today at the pool with Mikey?

There's no way that Emma would've snitched on her as that woman was itching to get rid of Carol from his brother's life.

Regardless, Senju didn't have time to dwell on that as she noticed that Carol was getting closer to Mikey and she didn't want the other to get the upper hand of the situation.

Senju ignored that pang that had risen inside her heart at the sight and focus on turning the situation around in her favor.

"Good morning to you too Carol!" Senju tried to greet her enthusiastically even though her jaw was straining from keeping her smile intact on her face when all she wanted to do was to scowl at the woman herself.

"Well, good morning to you too…" Carol greeted back at her with a smile but she could she the way her eyes narrowed at her presence as if she was an irritating afterthought in the background.

An imaginary electric current passed over them as their gazes met which had Mikey sweat a little.

"Okay… so are we gonna—."

"Swim!" Senju cut him off cheerfully as she grinned at him.

"Swim?" Mikey seemed confused for a moment.

"Yep! That's what we're here for right? And you're already done applying lotion to me anyway. So, we're gonna swim now c'mon." Senju took ahold of his wrist and walked past Carol to get into the swimming pool with Mikey in tow.

Now time for her to reenact her plan which was very simple: swim with Mikey around the pool and challenge him playfully for a swimming contest and attempt to flirt with him afterwards.

Easy, right?

'Okay you got this Senju.' She tried to encourage herself as she finally let go of his hand and jumped gracefully at the pool.

She casually rose from the water and gave him a challenging smirk. "Wanna race to the end of the pool?"

Mikey blinked a few times as he stared at her face. There was something in that foxy grin of hers that did something inside of him and made his heart flipped erratically inside his chest. And he couldn't help but to rise to the challenge seeing on how competitive he was.

"You're on. Although you're gonna regret it because it's my win anyway." He smirked back at her.

"Are you sure about that? You need to practice kneeling to me after this because I'm the one who's gonna win." She sang.

Mikey then leapt into the pool; a small splash of water formed on his direction before his head rose from the water.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

They both swam swiftly towards the end of the pool; their graceful and precise strokes surrounded the water as they both try to outswim each other.

At first, they're on the same length and neither of them were ahead of each other that was until Mikey's legs propelled strongly and lent an advantage to him as he was finally ahead of her.

Senju tried to catch up to him but since Mikey was faster and dexterous than her, he was able to reach the end after a few minutes. She managed to reach the end afterwards and tried to catch her breath.

'Damn it. I have to remember that Mikey was goddamn gifted in physical kinesthetic and spatial awareness so of course he would win this.' Senju thought ruefully but she knew that getting his attention focus on her was still achieved so it's still a win for her.

"Ha! Told you I would win!" Mikey held a triumphant look on his face as grinned down at her while standing at the edge of the pool and Senju would've smiled and congratulate him playfully if the annoying woman at the other side didn't insert herself at their situation again.

"Great job Mikey! I knew you'd win because you're talented like that!" Carol's enthusiastic voice and round of applause caught both of their attention and faced her.

Senju resisted the urge to roll her eyes but a small sigh slipped past her lips.

"Thanks." Mikey replied simply and smiled at her as her praise sounded normal to his ears because he was used to hearing that kind of compliments from the other people as well.

Maybe Senju should've left this place seeing that this woman was a leech and did nothing but foil their plans and bright day.

Just as Senju was getting ready to rise from the pool using the ladder, a sudden cramp went towards one of her legs that made her twitched uncomfortably and slipped right back into the water haphazardly.

Senju tried not to panic and swim her way towards the ladder but the painful twitch of her muscles in her leg made her gasped under the water and froze on the spot. Her hands flailed around the pool to signal that she wanted help as she was close in drowning.

She was slowly losing consciousness and the air to breathe, her eyes fluttering shut before she felt someone grabbed her by the shoulders and scooped her body steadily into a pair of robust arms.

"Senju! Senju! Do you hear me? Senju!" Mikey's frantic voice rang around the poolside before she felt a pair of warm lips crashing against her pale and cold ones.

It was supposed to be a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but the hot breaths combined with the soft pair of lips enveloping against her own, sent her mind and body reeling back into consciousness.

Her eyes grew wide as saucers as she came face to face with Mikey who was currently performing a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to her on the floor.

Heat immediately flooded her cheeks as she suddenly pushed him away, coughing out water from her mouth.

"Oh my God Senju! Are you okay?" Emma's frantic and worried voice reached her ears and made her looked at her blearily.

When did she get here?

"I'm o-okay…" She stuttered out as she heaved a deep breath.

"I'm glad that you're okay Senju." There was something in Mikey's voice that caught her attention and looked at him, a flit of unrecognizable emotion on his onyx irises before it was gone in an instant for her to decipher on what it was.

"Yeah… T-thank you for saving me…" She muttered as she looked down, the loud beating of her heart almost deafened her.

"Let's get you cleaned up and take some rest in my room for the meantime." Emma said decisively as she wrapped a towel on her frame and helped her in standing up.

She faced her brother afterwards. "We'll be going upstairs now Mikey as Senju needs to rest for a while."

Mikey could only nod in silence and watched them go, not trusting his voice yet as he could still feel his heart pounding loudly inside his chest.

On the other hand, Carol watched them quietly. Although there was a sliver of concern marring her features earlier there was also something else which made her heart pricked inside of her as she glanced at Mikey's expression, her mouth curling downwards at the sight.


Meanwhile, Senju was silent as she finally reached Emma's bathroom and closed the door behind her.

She sagged on the floor and closed her eyes, her fingertip brushing along her lips as she could still feel a tingling sensation around her body.

"I'm in deep shit." She mumbled hoarsely to herself as a realization finally dawned on her that day.