Life's A Beach

Ah, the beach episode. The cliched seventh episode of any anime out there. Usually regarded as the filler episode or the laid back episode in a plot-heavy arc, it is the calm before the storm. It's a perfect opportunity to get some fanservice for those desperate weebs out there.

So I wasn't very surprised that we ended up going to Takeuchi-san's beach house in Shimoda.

The beach that we were having fun at was at Takeuchi-san's family's private beach. It was a small stretch of sand about half a football field long. Large rock formations on both sides of the beach blocked any sight from the public. Off in the horizon, a few yachts and sailboats floated in the deep blue Pacific. A couple of palm trees gave us shade from the sun that was bearing down on us. Behind us, a tall rocky hill towered over the cove. On the ridgeline sat a two-story house with a balcony on the second story. There was a set of stairs leading from the patio down to the beach, allowing us to climb up with ease. This place ain't wheelchair friendly I reckon.

It was pretty quiet in the cove. Takeuchi-san, Nakano-san, and Ono-chan were splashing around in the water. Takeuchi-san wore a white bikini with green bikini bottoms, while Ono-chan wore a red and blue pair. Nakano-san wore a pink pair with those ruffles which complemented Nakano-san's cute style.

Saito-san sat next to me. She wore a purple hoodie and a pair of leggings. For some reason, she didn't want to go into the water. She was reading a book. It had a blue cover with a sun. There was a silhouette of a girl in a dress in front of the sun. The title of the book was "For When I'm Gone". Meanwhile, I wore a yellow shirt and blue board shorts. I had a ukulele in my hands and was just quietly strumming some chords, the same chords that I kept hearing from a piano during lunchtime at school. A C major down to an A minor, then to an F major, then up to a G.

This ukulele wasn't mine. Yesterday, when I woke Ono-chan up to get ready for Takeuchi-san's chauffeur, who was going to bring us down here to Shimoda, I found a ukulele in her room. "It was a gift from my friend," she said, "He thought it was perfect for me." Ono-chan let me borrow it for this trip. She told me she didn't even know how to play the damn thing, so it just held an intrinsic value.

We got to Shimoda by car. Apparently, Takeuchi-san has her own chauffeur. I guess that's just one of the many perks of having successful business people as parents. Damn, she got it good. The car ride to Shimoda took us around four hours. We took stops every now and then, stretching our legs in Gotemba and Ito. The route actually took us near Mount Fuji, the tall mountain that is snow-capped all year long.

After that, we just stayed at Takeuchi-san's beach house on the cliff overlooking the cove at the end of the day. Apparently, there were only four bedrooms in the house (I shouldn't complain, I had to share a room with my brother and his crusty ass doesn't clean), so I volunteered to just sleep on the couch much to Takeuchi-san's dismay. While everyone was asleep, I stayed up playing that KFC Colonel Sanders dating sim that I had on my laptop. When Takeuchi-san found me asleep over the table in the morning, she made me sleep in her room for the next night, worried about my unhealthy sleeping habits, while she shared a room with Ono-chan. And that brings us to where we are now.

"So tell me," I asked, trying to break the silence as we watched the three frolic in the waves, "Why didn't you want to swim? You told us that you didn't even pack a swimsuit."

"W-well," said Saito-san, tugging on her sleeve like she usually does, albeit a little more this time for some reason, "The truth is that I wanted to get in the water, but there were no swimsuits that did not show much skin."

Oh, so it's just because she doesn't like to be promiscuous… That's a pretty big word that I only learned because of a class that I had to take... What was I talking about again?

"Oh yeah?" I suggested, "Why not get one of those long-sleeved rash guards that surfers use?"

"N-no," said Saito-san, "That just feels weird. I don't like it when water gets on my clothes. And the hassle of cleaning up afterward is just too much."

Ahead, the surprised yelps of Nakano-san echoed throughout the cove as Ono-chan splashed the salty seawater in her face while Takeuchi-san tried to stop her. The sound of waves gently crashing down onto the silky sand almost lulled me to sleep. The calming shrieks of the seagulls only made me want to sleep even more.

I didn't want to join them. Not because I don't wanna get in the water (because I do want to get in), but because Saito-san didn't want to get in. I didn't want to leave her alone.

Speaking of, Saito-san was reading intensely. Her brow was furrowed as she dug her nose deeper into her book, her eyes darting from right to left as she read each page word by word, line by line. She had that look of concentration that she always has whenever she was reading a book. Whether it is that Eye of Markov book that she loves or another interesting novel, she always tries to eat that book up.

It made her… cuter… in her own way.

"What are you reading?" I asked, wanting to talk a little more.

"O-oh," stammered Saito-san, putting her thumb to where her page is and took a look at the cover. "It's called For When I'm Gone. It's a teen romance that I found in the library."

"A romance?" I questioned, "I never thought you would read a romance. What's it about?"

"Uh," said Saito-san as she scanned the back of the book. She didn't reply for a second. "Sorry, I'm just trying to make sure I don't spoil it for you."

"That's okay, take your time."

After a second, she spoke. "Okay. It's about a girl who finds out that she had a fatal disease and she wanted to just spend her last days doing what she wants. And that included finding love before she left."

"Ah. Love. Is true love truly ever real? One of life's biggest mysteries."

"I am assuming you have not been in a relationship before?" asked Saito-san, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

"Nope! Only my brother. Who is now…" my voice trailed off, "You know what? Nevermind that. But yeah, I've never been in a relationship. Never really had the time, you know?"

"You never know. You may run out of time to find that special one. Like in this book," said Saito-san as she smiled. She opened up her novel again and started reading. I went back to plucking notes on Ono-chan's ukulele.

Later

"Hey Lee-san," said Takeuchi-san as she opened the pantry, "Do you think you can cook something for dinner?"

We were inside of Takeuchi-san's house on the cliff. The wooden offwhite walls with the paint seeming like it was peeling in certain areas made us feel like we were on a boat, just floating in the middle of the grand blue sea. There was a flat screen on a white wooden drawer. The couch was a black leather couch facing the TV. Facing the couch was a couple of black beanbag chairs. In between the couch and beanbag chairs was a glass table with silver stands on a blue carpet. Behind the couch was the stairs that led to the second floor. There was a kitchen behind the couch. White cabinets with silver handles, along with a dark grey refrigerator and black oven and stove. There was a white marble island with a sink, a bar attached.

I was sitting at one of the high chairs at the bar. I was just screwing around on my phone, just browsing through my feed on Reddit. Saito-san was sitting on the couch reading, while Nakano-san laid her head down on Saito-san's lap, her arms extended upwards as she read a manga. Meanwhile, Ono-chan was trying to play Jenga by herself on the glass table. Takeuchi-san was rummaging around the kitchen trying to find something to cook.

She pulled one item out of the pantry and placed it in front of me. It was a bag of romaine lettuce with tomatoes and carrots. She also pulled out a bottle of ranch.

"This is all we have," said Takeuchi-san, "Maybe we should go out to get some food."

"Yeah," I said, "It's gonna take a lot for me to eat salad for dinner. I'll go out and get something."

"You sure?" asked Takeuchi-san, "You still have to go a little far to get to the city." Her beach house was around a mile or so away from the closest markets, so I'm gonna have to walk a little far with bags. Maybe I can just get some help.

"I can help," said Nakano-san without looking away from her manga, "I'll go with Lee-san." It ain't like her to help me. She's the type of person to step on me. If she can drop me down to the ground, that is. Oh well, I don't need to be thinking about it too much. She wants to help, I'll let her help.

"Thanks Nakano-san," I simply said, shrugging off any thought as to why she wanted to help all of the sudden. "I'll just hail a cab on the way back."

"Alright," said Takeuchi-san, "There's a supermarket down the road a little more than a kilometer away. You can't miss it."

I stood up from my chair. The glass door that led to the driveway had the afternoon sun streaming in, the rays of light kissing the tile floor. I probably still have enough time to walk to the market and get home to cook something up.

Five minutes later, I set out with Nakano-san. She wore a light pink Vineyard Vines hoodie, matched with white short shorts. She wore a pair of white canvas shoes as well. Meanwhile, I was still dressed in what I wore at the beach.

We walked on the gravel next to the road. Nakano-san kept asking me what it was like back home. Was it hot in Hawaii? How were the beaches? Are the people nice? How was school there? All sorts of questions she kept asking just to fill the silence. I talked about what we got on Oahu. I told her about all of the things that she could do for fun over there. Hiking volcanoes, jumping from waterfalls, swimming at the beach. I told her about the things I did with my brother as well, singing karaoke, touring the aircraft carrier he was stationed on, meeting his otaku squadron mates.

We got to the grocery store at the edge of town in around 20 minutes. When we entered, I immediately went to the meat section. I roamed around the meat section until I saw these ground beef patties. I picked one package up.

I felt a tugging at my sleeve. I looked to who was pulling on my shirt. I looked down to see Nakano-san.

"I have an idea," said Nakano-san enthusiastically, "I'll make some cupcakes for desert!"

Cupcakes. That might take a while. But now that she's bringing it up, I'm kinda craving for some. I've had her cupcakes before and they were the best… You know what, I'll let her use the oven while I'm cooking. I only need the stove anyways.

"Alright," I said, "Go ahead and get what you need. I'll pay for them." Nakano-san shot me a slight smile and walked off to the dessert aisle. Meanwhile, I grabbed a couple of packages of patties. I roamed around some more and found some ground peppercorn and a small bottle of gravy. I also found some mashed potatoes. Maybe I'll make some Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes.

I also picked out some chives. With my shopping basket full, I met up with Nakano-san near the checkout area. She had her arms full of cupcake batter powder and icing. I held out my basket and let her put the stuff in the basket.

"Hey, Nakano-san," I said as I put the items on the conveyor belt, "See if you can hail a cab, will ya?"

"Alright," said Nakano-san, who walked out the automatic doors of the store, on her mission to call a taxi at the edge of town.

The man in front of me was taking forever to pay for his stuff. He was struggling to find his wallet. Whatever Sawyer, you're in no rush.

For some reason, I felt something was wrong. I can just feel it on the back of my neck. I always get this feeling whenever my sister gets into fights. It's like a sixth sense of mine. I don't know why I am feeling a sense right now though.

I felt a little impatient. I began drumming my fingers on the conveyor belt. Finally, for what felt like a lifetime, the man finished his purchase. I quickly finished mine. I grabbed my grocery bags and headed out the doors.

And that's when I found out that my sixth sense was right.

"Ugh, just leave me alone!" cried out a familiar voice. I looked towards the source of the voice and saw Nakano-san arguing with someone. The dude looked familiar. Where the hell have I seen him before?

"What are you gonna do?" taunted the dude, "Call your boyfriend or something?" Who the fuck is this guy?

I put the groceries down in a safe location and approached the two. "Ladies, ladies, what's the problem?" I met the dude's gaze. "I've seen you before. Were you in my gym class?" I've seen this guy before. I think he was in Nakano-san's class. Class 2-B to be exact. Remember, both classes are put together for PE. But I've never really seen this guy be like a dick. He just looked like any other dude back at school.

"Who the hell are you?" he challenged in an aggressive tone. What is with this guy?

"Woah there, bud," I said, "I'm not your enemy. We're all friends here."

Nakano-san stepped towards me and met my gaze, putting her hand on my chest. "Let's just leave him alone."

"Aw," the dude cooed sarcastically, "You got your boyfriend to stand up for you."

"Tch," said Nakano-san, gritting her teeth. She turned around and advanced towards the dude. Uh oh, she could start a fight.

I grabbed her on the shoulder and held her back. "Hold your horses there, partner," I said in English with a bit of a Western drawl, "We're not here for a fight."

"What are you," taunted the dude, "chicken?" This son of a bitch, I'm gonna gut him like a fish.

Calm down, I told myself, We're here on a vacation. Leave him.

"C'mon," I said, "They're waiting." I walked over to where I put my groceries and motioned Nakano-san to follow. She reluctantly walked towards me, ignoring the dude.

"You guys are leaving already?" taunted the dude, "Nakano-san, you're no better than your dad!"

Nakano-san seemed hurt by that comment. A little tear drop dripped down her cheek as she dropped her chin down into her collarbone. I just grabbed her wrist with my free hand sped up towards the road.

"Hey," I said in a calming voice, "You okay?" A few cars drove past, their tires creating that calming sound between the rubber and asphalt. The sun was setting, so we needed a cab. But first, I have to comfort Nakano-san, who was clinging to my arm, her face buried into my forearm.

She nodded yes without lifting her head against my arm. I felt a few wet tears on my arm, the salty droplets dribbling down to my elbow. She sniffled as well.

"Shh," I calmly said, "It's okay. I'm here." I embraced her in my arms. She buried her face into my chest and sobbed.

"I don't get it," she croaked in between the sniffles, "Why did he have to bring up my dad too? Why did he have to compare him to me?"

That touched a nerve of my own. Back home, my father and I didn't have a good relationship. We weren't very close to each other. I wish I could forget it. I'll just try to comfort Nakano-san.

I've never seen Nakano-san like this. Usually, she makes other people cry. Not the other way around. Looks like she does have a sensitive side after all.

"Hey," I said, trying to change the topic, "Let's get home quickly. I can't wait to have some of your cupcakes."

She nodded with her face still buried in my chest. "Let's just keep this to ourselves, okay?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

"Alright. I will."

I hailed a cab that was passing by. I loaded my groceries and we boarded the cab and sped off to the beach house.

"There you guys are," said Takeuchi-san as we walked through the doors. Nakano-san was able to calm herself down and was back to normal by the time we got back.

"I'll go start baking the cupcakes now," said Nakano-san, who hurried over to the oven.

"Yeah, we got dessert after dinner," I said, "I should start on dinner right now." I walked over to the island and placed the bags down onto the kitchen counter.

"What are we gonna have?" asked Ono-chan, who was laying down on the couch with her phone.

"Salisbury steak," I said, "Topped with chives, peppercorn, and gravy, with a side of mashed potatoes."

"An American dinner we are having, Lee-san?" asked Saito-san, who was reading her book on the floor next to Ono-chan.

"Pretty much," I said, "Hope you like beef."

"Uh," spoke Takeuchi-san, who propped her arm on the table next to me and leaned against it, "I'm vegetarian."

"O-oh… uh oh," I said, my face draining of any red, "I didn't get anything vegetarian."

She's vegetarian? Crap! I haven't noticed! I thought she was just a dietician.

"That's okay," said Takeuchi-san, who walked to the fridge and pulled out the bag of salad that she found earlier, "This is still good surprisingly."

"Yeah, I dunno. How long has that been in there?" I asked.

"My parents were here last week. A momentary break in the market over in the UK, so they came over here for the weather. Too bad they didn't come to see me."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," I said as I unpacked the meats that were in my bag.

"Nah, it's fine," said Takeuchi-san, "I'm used to living on my own." Yeesh. Maybe being rich does have its own struggles.

I prepared our dinner for about an hour. Putting some oil on a skillet and cooking the meat on the stove. After a bit, I added the chives (chopped up of course) and a dash of peppercorn. Let them grill until they were about medium well (I made mine medium rare) and drizzled the brown gravy on top.

Meanwhile, Nakano-san put the cupcake batter in the little paper cups. She put the cups in one of those metal cupcake holders. She popped them in the oven. After a bit, she took them out and added a little bit of frosting.

Takeuchi-san put the salad in a colander and mixed up the ingredients under the running sink using two wooden spoons. After running the salad under the water for about a minute, she put the ingredients into a wooden bowl. She also threw in a few croutons that she found as well.

As I was cooking the mashed potatoes, Takeuchi-san was adding the dressing. "Hey Lee-san," said Takeuchi-san, "Do you know why I'm vegetarian? I don't mean that like I'm bragging or anything."

"No?" I said, "Why? Animal cruelty or something?"

"Haha!" laughed Takeuchi-san, "No, I decided to start a couple of years ago after learning more about the Earth's climate… The carbon footprint of cultivating livestock is just unbelievable. Anyway, I decided it's not much of a personal sacrifice to just stop contributing to that whole mess."

I cocked my head to one side, puzzled. I've never heard that before. Then again, I'm not so much of a climate activist as some people are. Takeuchi-san saw that I was sort of confused and noticed.

"What, is that so strange a reason?" asked Takeuchi-san. "I guess a lot of people are more concerned about it being inhumane and all that… I don't really care about that part. It's weird, like we only care about killing the things that we personally relate to as a species. Most people are fine with killing bugs. And we kill billions of microorganisms daily without even giving it a thought. But suddenly, if they're just a bit bigger, it's murder! It just sounds like we're a pretty biased species."

"Well, we're all human," I shrugged.

"Hm," smiled Takeuchi-san, "Anyway, if you ever feel like making a small contribution to the planet, it doesn't hurt to choose veggies once in a while!"

"Yeah, no, I don't think I can," I joked, "After all, I'm a carnivore."

Takeuchi-san giggled. "Okay, my little tiger."

"Who are you calling little?" I smirked. "Pass the gravy, will you? The potatoes are almost done."

We ate our hearty dinner after that. Takeuchi-san enjoyed her vegetarian salad while we all munched on our American dinner. This was one of the only things I knew how to cook. Back home, I didn't use the kitchen as much. But my brother always tried to teach me how to improvise in the kitchen. He told me that you never know what can happen. So I learned how to cook a little. It's really just experimenting and improvising.

We then ate Nakano-san's cupcakes. The frosting made it seem like a beach, with yellow on one side and blue on another. They were actually pretty good. Nakano-san really had a knack for baking. Hell, maybe when she grows older, she can open up a bakery. Ooh, it could be one of those restaurants that make both meals and dessert and I'll be the cook and we'll run the business together as a couple… Nevermind, forget I said anything.

We all quickly got ready for bed right after dinner. I got into my uncle's old gray army PT shirt and sweatpants. Ono-chan wore light blue PJs, while Saito-san wore light purple. Nakano-san wore a ratty pink T-shirt with polka-dots, paired with short gym shorts. Takeuchi-san just wore a plain white T-shirt that was a few sizes bigger, which hid the short shorts that she wore under them. Actually, if she wasn't wearing pants, I wouldn't be able to tell. Hell, for all I know, she's really not wearing pants at all.

After brushing my teeth, I went to bed. While everyone was running around getting ready to bed, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I was exhausted that day.

I woke up from a dream in the middle of the night. Or at least, I thought it was in the middle of the night. I looked up and saw light streaming in from the hallway through the door. Is everyone still getting ready?

I grabbed my phone which was on the nightstand next to my bed. I turned it on and checked the time. 1:36 AM. Who the hell is still up?

I heard some footsteps on the stairs. Someone was padding around the house for a bit. After a bit, the lights turned off. My eyes adjusted to the dark easily. For some reason, however, my door opened. What the hell?

I saw Ono-chan shuffle into my room, her hair a mess and her bow missing. She looked half asleep still, her hand still rubbing her eyes. She groaned quietly and shuffled right to my bedside. Uh…

She grabbed the blanket that I was buried under and lifted it. She climbed into bed with me and let her head hit the pillow. Does she know what the hell she's doing?

If you thought I would've said something, think again. I ended up just staying as still as a statue as she climbed into bed. I had no idea what to do other than just stay still.

The bed was big enough to fit two people. Every bed in this house was big enough for two people. That's why Takeuchi-san was sharing a bed with Ono-chan. Until now, I guess.

I looked at Ono-chan. She was sleeping on her side, facing me. She had her hands under her head. Her eyes were gently shut closed. Her soft lips were parted slightly. Her body rose and fell periodically as she inhaled and exhaled. After a few minutes, she moved her top arm. She placed that arm right on top of my chest as if she was embracing me. That did little to control my heart that was wildly beating at this point.

I tried to fall asleep quickly so that I wouldn't feel so awkward, though my racing thoughts were keeping me awake. What if Ono-chan knew what she was doing and she just wanted to sleep here with me? Are we really that close?

I really needed to go to sleep quickly. I just did a technique that my brother learned in boot camp. I imagined myself laying in a canoe in the middle of a lake under a clear blue sky, as blue as Ono-chan's eyes. Damnit Sawyer! Just think about the canoe, not her eyes!

I quickly fell asleep as I thought of that canoe in the middle of a lake. I soon woke up with the sunshine kissing my face. Not the sunshine that was laying right next to me, that would be weird. I meant the sunshine from the actual sun, its rays of light tempting me to wake up. I opened my eyes and looked around. I turned my head to where Ono-chan was laying next to me, but she wasn't there. Oh God, last night was terrifying.

I rose from my covers and sat up. I grabbed my phone and took a look at the time. 10:17 AM. Today, we were going to go back home. I stood up and fixed the covers. I made sure everything was clean before I went downstairs.

I saw Saito-san and Nakano-san reading like they were yesterday on the couch. Meanwhile, Ono-chan was joyfully eating cereal out of a bowl at the table. Takeuchi-san was also eating cereal next to her. They both faced away from the kitchen. I walked over to the counter. There was an open box of Mini Wheats and a carton of milk. I grabbed a bowl and poured some Mini Wheats into the bowl and then poured in some milk afterwards. Nakano-san and Saito-san just noticed that I had gotten downstairs already.

"Good morning, Lee-san." "Hey, Lee-san." The pair spoke up.

Takeuchi-san heard and turned around. Ono-chan, meanwhile, kept munching on her breakfast. "Morning, Lee-san," said Takeuchi-san, "I got us some brekkie this morning."

I grabbed a spoon and put it into the bowl. I walked and sat in the chair opposite of Ono-chan, who was still chowing down on her cereal. I could see that she was blushing and smiling as I sat down. She looked up to face me and grinned. She had a little white milk mustache right above her lips. She also had her messed up bed-headed hair. I grinned.

I enjoyed that moment for as long as I could. Not because we were gonna leave later today, but because after tomorrow, I'll be on my way to the airport, on my way to Hawaii, to home. Those rainclouds I have been trying to keep in is finally going to let loose their tears and thunder.


Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)

-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.

-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.

-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.

-chan: Feminine version of -kun.

Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.

Sensei: Master.


Translation notes:

1. Shimoda is a coastal city on the Izu Penninsula just south of Tokyo.


A/N: Hey guys, it's me the author. Now what's on the news? I have my semester exams coming up, but I'll keep writing. My pretty much non-existent upload schedule is still active (bi-weekly, so you're not gonna get something next week). What next? Just one minor change. Instead of having Monika's beach house in Niigata, I decided to move it to Shimoda. Apparently, it would be around 60 to 70 degrees Farenheit in Niigata during the summer, which is pretty cold in my standards (where I live, the lowest we get is to 60 degress Farenheit). Shimoda has much better weather, not to mention the beautiful beaches.

I also realized that the story is going a little slow. I've pretty much stuffed everything with fluff. I did that for a purpose. You wanna know why? Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Ps: I'm gonna start crossposting this story on Ao3 because I keep getting trolls here. Seriously, I got one guy telling me that Harry Potter raped him too hard and another saying that he loves to shove his shit back up his ass. It's annoying and bad for my mental health, and I found out that Ao3 has a more active mod system, so I'm gonna see if that website is any better. Apparently, a lotta people hate DDLC and just start trolling.