Chapter 17: Lifeguard on Duty
"Fire on fire would normally kill us
With this much desire, together, we're winners
They say that we're out of control and some say we're sinners
But don't let them ruin our beautiful rhythms
'Cause when you unfold me and tell me you love me
And look in my eyes.
You are perfection, my only direction
It's fire on fire,
It's fire on fire."
-Fire on Fire by Sam Smith
July 25, 2011
Although it is exhaustingly hot on the beach, with the sun beating down mercilessly, there is a group that is not affected by the heat at all.
A little girl with white hair could be seen sitting near the waves, making a sand lump. She pushed the grains of sand together, but it didn't seem to be getting any taller, only wider. Sort of puzzled, she continued to attempt to build a castle.
As Tatara and Izumo watch their princess playing in the sand, Izumo comments, "It's days like these where it'd be good if you had a camera."
"Hm?" Tatara smiled, "It's fine, it's fine. The heart's camera will take perfect pictures!"
A few days ago, Mikoto and Anna had been out and about while Tatara and the rest of the group were helping a local fisherman. Hana liked to tease them that it was a "date" and watch Anna blush and hide her face. It was adorable!
During the "date," it seemed like the film got stuck and by accident, Mikoto broke it.
The rest of HOMRA wasn't as laid-back as Tatara and Izumo.
Tatara and Izumo's conversation was interrupted by Shohei, who was beyond excited, "IT'S THE SEA! We've finally come this year!" His eyes sparkled not because he was fascinated with the sea… but because beaches meant cute girls.
Hearing Shohei, Tatara hesitated. "Rather, for all of us to gather like this in public is kinda…"
Izumo agreed, "That's true… coming to the beach with a bunch of rowdy boys that all have the same tattoo will make people wonder…"
On the other hand, Shohei and Bando were still hyped up. "YES! Time to get some chicks, some chicks!"
"You… that's all you think about?" Masaomi, with his derby hat and sunglasses, deadpanned.
"Last year, due to Kamamoto, the whole summer went to waste. I have to make up for it this year!"
He was referencing the time when Kamamoto lost a few dozen pounds and attracted too many girls. The boys ended up wasting their entire summer trying to fatten him back up.
Shohei tried to get Izumo to pick up some girls with him, "Kusanagi-san! Let's go!"
"Ahaha." Izumo chuckled a bit, "Ah, I'm fine… At this age I can't be that direct." He talked as if he was an old man, but in reality Izumo is only 25 years old.
Shohei turned to Tatara, "Totsuka-san…"
"I only have her in my eyes!" Tatara replied, being vague and yet his surroundings sparkled with stars and hearts as he smiled.
"EH~" Then Shohei stared at Masaomi who had been watching the spectacle with wide eyes. As soon as they made eye contact, Masaomi immediately looked away. It seemed like he didn't want any part in the fiasco that was going to happen.
"No choice… Let's go Bandou!" Shohei had a serious expression on his face as Bandou ripped open his jacket to reveal his bare skin.
"YEAH!" Bandou agreed. You could see his HOMRA mark on his abdomen which would probably work to scare ladies away rather than attract them.
"San-chan, you mark's in such a strange place."
"It's fine. Ever since I got the symbol from Mikoto-san, I've never once had a stomach-ache." A proud gleam sparkled in his eye. It was as if this power was more impressive than the power to call up fire on command.
The two boys went off trying to talk to girls as Yata, Kamamoto, and Kosuke did their own thing at the beach.
Masaomi and Kosuke taught Eric how to swim, while Mikoto and Izumo lounged under the umbrella.
"The brats are so energetic." Izumo took a swig from his beer.
"You talk like an old man Kusanagi-san." Tatara teased.
"Well, dontcha try to berate me. Ya don't sound any better. Even though Hana sends us those postcards, we're all tryin to stay positive." An unspoken amount of worry always surrounded their wild card.
"Hai hai, it's okay. We know she's doing well. She's been sending those postcards. It seems like she's been pretty busy… I wonder what she's doing in Hokkaido, and then traveling down South to Okinawa."
"Anna, do you want to get in the water?"
"... If it's only my feet."
As Anna and Tatara stood around in the shallow part of the beach, Anna apologized for breaking his camera. A few days ago, Anna and Mikoto had gone off with Tatara's camera while he was on a fishing trip and accidentally broke it. It seemed like she was still feeling guilty about it.
Surprised, Tatara responded, "What? Anna, you can't still be fretting over it."
"But everyone's having fun today." She looked down towards her feet. The salty water was up to her ankles as her toes curled into the sand. There was an unmistakable note of regret in her voice. "...Even though it's such a beautiful memory. We can't capture it with anything."
"I see.. So you want to leave a memory. Do you want to film it with a PDA?"
Anna shook her head. It wouldn't be the same.
Tatara leaned down, "Anna, if you liked my camera that much, then let's buy a camera like that again."
Too happy to express herself in words, Anna jumped onto Tatara, sending them both flying into the water.
"Uwa! Geez… what are you doing all of a sudden?" Tatara took off his jacket, as it had been drenched. For revenge, he splashed Anna back.
They laughed as they played in the water.
They went a bit deeper, chasing after the waves, and seeing little fishes swimming in the shallow water. They played a game where they would attempt to catch the fish with their hands. Tatara almost caught one, but at the last second, it slipped away.
Suddenly they both froze as a shrill whistle sounded next to them.
A lady in a red swimsuit was running towards them. She wore a typical lifeguard outfit, a tight two piece with a white cross on it, and the word "LIFEGUARD" blazed on the front.
Her red cap with a lifeguard logo protected her face from the sun as a pair of polarized sunglasses covered half her face. Her hair was tied up in a tight ponytail and swishing behind her as she jogged towards them.
She grabbed both of their hands and gently guided them out of the water and onto the sand.
"...Is there a problem miss?" Tatara asked, unsure of why they were hauled out of the water.
"Where do you two think you are? Do you know how far you two drifted with the current?"
As they took a look around them, they realized that they had been playing so much, they didn't realize they were half a mile away from the rest of the group.
"Wha? But we were just… just over there? We were in the shallow water. How did we get so far?"
Anna's shoulders were trembling as she stared down at the sand. Unbeknownst to Tatara, she had a large smile on her face and was shaking from holding in her laughter.
The lifeguard continued to berate Tatara, "That's what I thought. There are strong currents, even in the shallow water that forces you to drift. If you two had drifted any further, you may have hit a dangerous rip current that could have pulled you out to sea. Most people are aware of when they're getting pulled away from where they were, but you were in your own little world. Now, what do you have to say for yourself, you baka."
That lecture tone sounded familiar.
"...baka? Wait, Hana is that you?" Tatara looked incredulously at the tanned woman standing in front of them.
"Ahahaha! Took you long enough!" Hana laughed as she ripped off her large sunglasses and bent down to accept Anna's jump-hug. Anna had realized right off the bat who the lifeguard was, because she can "see" auras.
Our unrestrained laughter was due to Tatara's bewildered face.
"Wha… but… you look so different!" It has been almost a year since they had seen Hana. She stayed the night after she healed Mikoto because she was exhausted, but left at 4AM the next day, leaving only a note behind.
"The tan and long hair is a bit of recent look, and you've never seen me in a swimsuit before. I've been out and about this past year, I'm sorry I couldn't stop by. But you enjoyed my postcards right? It's great you're all at the beach, the sun will do you some good. Come on, I'm on break, let's get you two back with the rest of the boys. It's been too long since I've seen everyone together. I didn't expect all of you to come to the beach though."
"How did you recognize us though?" Tatara, still curious, asked.
"Well at first I didn't, but with that rowdy group of boys…" We all looked pointedly at the HOMRA boys messing around on the beach a half mile away. Some were attempting to hit on girls, while all other beach-goers gave them a wide berth. Misaki had started a fight with Kamamoto, his red aura clearly on display.
"Ahh…"
Flashback
August 13, 2010
HOMRA bar, the day Hana healed Mikoto's Sanctum
Izumo was a very observant person. It was hard to tell from his demeanor, but being a bartender meant that you were always observing and analyzing what is happening around you.
Thus, it didn't take him long to realize what had happened when Hana walked downstairs, exhausted and had immediately retreated for a hug from the resident pacifist.
When she later snuck out that morning, she was surprised to find a bottle of Izumo's finest resting on the bar table.
Flipping over the small note attached, Hana read with a smile:
"Don't down it all without us." -IK
The boys on the other hand, are not as subtle.
July 25, 2011
Back to the Beach:
"ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!"
It must've been a weird scene. A group of men with matching tattoos and menacing auras all bowing to a pink-haired girl.
Flustered, Hana shook her head rapidly and waved her hands, "Guys, guys it's okay! You're welcome! Now, please stop it. People are staring!"
"Aww, but we feel bad."
"You left so quickly after you healed our King's sanctum."
"You've done so much for us, and now we're even more truly in your debt."
"We didn't realize what you'd done until we used our aura again, it was so powerful! And so much easier to use and control." The boys fistpumped their hands into the air in agreement.
"And knowing our King, although he was grateful, he probably didn't say a word of thanks!"
A bout of laughter spread amongst the boys.
"Oi, you brats. You're so loud, shut up." The boys who were laughing the loudest froze at Mikoto's voice.
However, Tatara came to their rescue.
"Maa maa, no need to get embarrassed Mikoto. The boys just wanna express their gratitude! See, even Anna agrees." The happy-go-lucky Tatara teased.
Laughter and smiles went around, and Hana wondered, how much longer can we savor this sweet memory?
~Sunset~
"Now close your eyes. I know you always come and go like a breeze on a warm summer day, so I've always kept this on me." Tatara carefully pulled out a delicate bracelet and clasped it onto Hana's wrist. "Now open your eyes."
When Hana did so, she couldn't help but be dumbstruck at the gift. They had been sitting side by side on the beach, watching the waves crash onto the warm sand. The dying rays of the sun reflected on the water, casting an orange-pink glow on both the water's surface and in the sky.
Now the rays caught and sparkled on another object: a ruby flower bracelet. The maroon-colored gems were inlaid in a gold flower design.
Tatara wrapped the chain around Hana's wrist as she admired the beauty and meaning behind it. She was speechless.
Rubies represent good fortune, pure love, and loyalty. To some, it is considered the queen of stones and the stone of kings, more valuable than a diamond. And yet, it was delicately inlaid in a beautiful gold flower. True to her namesake, Hana understood exactly how much meaning, thought, and feelings were behind this gift.
Wordlessly, Hana tackled Tatara with a warm hug as Tatara stroked the back of her head. If someone claimed she had tears leaking out, she would deny deny deny and then secretly light their clothes on fire.
A/N: Sorry for being MIA for so long! In the past few months I applied to Medical school, applied to a pretty intense scholarship program, completed a few medical school interviews, and got admitted to the medical school I want to go to! As always, I am procrastinating from my life and taking a nice break, so here is an update!
S/O to zamzym, bloodyhell99, Cnidri, Seithr-Kairy, Starkiller2468, Azone139, Artistpoppy, silvermoon95, Leyzar101, Rina Dragonfly, silvermoon95, WeDeserveASoftEpilogue, shivercat, Cocokitten12, Ice of Serenity, n1ghtdr34m3r, & Rosalix Archangel for the fav/follow!
Thank you to kikikitsune18, Lau, and Cnidri for the reviews! kikikitsune18 I decided to incorporate your idea in, thanks for the suggestion!
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