A/N: Not mine.
Yuuki shoved his brother aside and sat down on the bus seat next to Kotoko. "So, should I start calling you 'Nee-chan' now?" he teased.
Her nose wrinkled. "Honestly, it's a little disturbing when a middle aged woman advocates teenage sex. And with her son, at that!"
Naoki snorted. "Did she give you 'the talk'?"
"More like seduction techniques." She shuddered. "And that was after I stopped her from purchasing a thong bikini for me."
While Yuuki asked how sandals were part of a swimsuit, Naoki gave himself a mental smack. Don't even try to imagine that! Of course, whenever one is told not to think of something, the opposite usually happens. For the rest of the trip he was unable to meet Kotoko's eyes.
Kotoko's prediction of her classmate turning into a stalker proved to be accurate. He managed to locate the Irie residence by following the two home from summer practice and staked out the house in every spare moment. Thus far he had seen nothing more interesting than the two traveling to the tennis courts. However, this morning they were accompanied by a smaller version of the Tonan High student. Unable to figure out the situation, he decided to skip school that day to see what was going on.
When they reached their destination he almost drooled at the thought of seeing Kotoko in a swimsuit. His hopes dropped when he read the admission price and compared that to what was in his thin wallet. He was delayed for over two hours as he returned to his apartment to check under furniture and seat cushions. He even hit up some neighbors with a sob story about being low on rent money and eventually returned to the park entrance, slightly exhausted but with spirits high in anticipation.
"Have you two adrenaline junkies had enough of the Typhoon?" Naoki asked after their fifth time down the twisting pipes.
"I suppose we could try a ride more your speed," Kotoko teased.
He smacked the back of his younger brother's head for laughing as he corrected her assumption. "You will need to settle down some before eating or lunch won't settle."
"Now that you mention it, I am getting a bit peckish. How about you, Yuuki-kun?" she asked the boy.
"Yeah, Nee-chan," he ducked his brother's hand when it headed his way once more, "how about the Lazy River?"
"That sounds pretty calm" she agreed before turning. "Naoki?"
"Let's get our lunch basket from the locker, and then you two stake out a good spot while I rent us some ring floats."
She gave him two thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go!"
"Dammit!" Kinnosuke was sure that he had walked around the park twice and still hadn't caught sight of his quarry. He was wondering if he could convince the lifeguard that he needed an announcement to find his lost girlfriend when he finally hit pay dirt.
Kotoko, in a bright turquoise one-piece, was entering the water in a large inflated ring. And the flow was rather slow, so he could catch up. He hadn't even glanced at the rental fees for the floaties, as he was convinced that he could make better speed unencumbered by such an accessory.
Naoki handed Kotoko her ring then looked at his little brother shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Yuuki," he sighed, "do you need to visit the restroom?"
"Yeah, Onii-chan," he admitted. "We were having such fun that the urge kind of snuck up on me."
"Don't worry," he pointed to the sign a few meters away, "I'll be right here when you're done. Go ahead, Kotoko. We'll catch up with you in a few minutes."
"Okay!" She grinned and headed for the steps. Seeing the crowd already floating, she pondered, There are so many people with the same idea that it'll probably be a while before they find me. I'll just relax and look at the clouds until then.
In much less time than she had predicted, she felt a hand on one foot (That rascal! she thought) but by the time she lifted her head, no one was in sight. Hmm, she blinked, that's strange.
Then there was the sensation of something touching her back and even below her waist. With a loud startled sound, she flipped awkwardly out of the ring and stood on the floor of the pool. "Yuuki! What the–! "
A sleek head broke the surface of the pool and, instead of the energetic boy, she saw a widely grinning Kinnosuke. "Surprised to see me, Babe?"
"How! Many! Times! Have! I! Told! You!" she shouted one word with each smack of the inflatable to his head, "I! Am! Not! Your! Babe!"
About ten meters back, Yuuki turned to his brother. "That sounds like Kotoko."
Frowning, he replied, "It certainly does." He slipped sideways off the ring and handed it to the boy. "Hold onto this for me." He then made a horizontal dive and slipped between those in front of him and the sounds of anger, swimming rapidly underwater until he reached an area of turbulence.
He rose to see Kotoko berating the Idiot-Who-Couldn't-Take-A-Hint. She was fending him off fairly well with the swim ring, but the teenager's continued efforts to lay a slippery hand on her made him see red. His tennis-strengthened legs allowed him to leap several meters to land on Kinnosuke's back, forcing his face underwater. Naoki stood, hand firmly on the submerged head. "So, having fun with this attraction yet, Kotoko?" he asked, avoiding the flailing limbs.
She glared down at the sight, ignoring the whispers around them. "I was, until I was so rudely interrupted. I was floating along, minding my own business, when someone decided to grope me."
"Excuse me," a lifeguard waded over, "but you're going to have to let him breathe."
"Okay." Naoki snatched him up by the hair, and once Kinnosuke inhaled deeply a couple times, returned him to his previous position.
The lifeguard was astounded; the young man had seemed so reasonable. "You know, we have rules against intentional drowning here."
"And do you have rules against molesting members of the opposite sex?" he shot back.
"What!? Yes," he frowned, "that would be assault. Hand him over to me and I'll take him to the office." After Naoki gave him a brief history of their encounters with the miscreant, he asked, "Would you like to file charges?"
"No," Kotoko replied, "although I wouldn't mind if you make him think he's going to lock-up." She jerked her head towards Yuuki of the inquiring mind.
"We're here with my brother," Naoki explained, "and don't really want to spoil his fun. I'm certainly going to inform the school administration when classes start back though," he muttered to Kotoko.
"Good!" Her chin bobbed decisively. "Now, once that bumbling oaf is taken away, I'll be ready for lunch. The sight of him just turns my stomach."
"Honestly, Kotoko," Jinko patted her face mask, "I would have had the police haul his ass away."
"It was tempting, but the outing was for Yuuki-kun. Plus, it was almost lunchtime."
Satomi snorted, "Yes, just try and keep our Kotoko away from food. I at least hope that they scared him off from stalking you."
"Well," she gave a deep sigh, "we have seen neither hide nor hair of him since then. Of course, with school starting up next week, all bets are off."
"Don't worry," Jinko assured her, "we've got your back!"