Here is the thirty-eighth chapter in this story released in accordance with the release schedule. Swimsuits have been bought, bags, packed which means one thing, it's time to head to the beach! There is a mission but first it's a little fun in the sun for the Black Bulls, and showing off their new swimsuits of course. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no guest reviews that need a response, though I thank you for your support of my work, or questions to answer so I will end this here. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate. That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the thirty-eighth chapter in Akame ga Clover.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 38: Beach

"All right! Are we ready?" Magna asked the Squad as they gathered outside the front of the Hideout. "Because it's time for the beach!"

It was just after the crack of dawn and what looked like the entire Squad was present and ready to go. Most had brooms ready along with a simple bag containing all that they'd need for the few days they'd be gone. Still, it was early so there were a few yawns but otherwise they were rearing to get to the beach, just not as alert as Magna was at this time of day.

"Sorry Marie, I wish I could take you and spend the day at the beach together." Gauche said looking at a picture of his sister while smiling and having his usual nosebleed. "I will show you it my angel, I promise."

"I wonder, is a whale or a shark stronger." Luck pondered smiling as he always did when he was thinking about battle. "Because that's the one that I want to fight."

"Shark." Akame said simply while Gordon, who was oddly holding the inflatable thing that Grey had been blowing up the day before muttered about the roughness of a shark's skin in contrast to how smooth it looked. "At their biggest they're not as large as the larger whales but more aggressive especially if there's blood. We might see one or two later."

"Just make sure they're dealt with away from the civilians." Tatsumi made sure to not as Charmy snored on a floating pile of cotton. "But I'm more than ready for this. Closest we got to a beach were those lakes we fished in or that one time we relaxed by one when we were trying to split the Jaegers up."

"I remember." Akame said with a small smile as she though about that lake she'd taken Tatsumi to on his first full day as a member of Night Raid while Magna started protesting that Asta and Noelle were on his Crazy Cyclone broom without even bothering to ask permission. "I taught you killing skills in one, even if you only got a few fish, though I unfortunately couldn't be with you in the other."

"Yeah that was an interesting first day with the gang and those fish were hard to catch, a good challenge don't get me wrong but a few was good in my opinion." Tatsumi said recalling how he thought that Akame was about to strip naked before him while Asta and Noelle pointed out that they couldn't fly so they had to hitch a ride with Magna. "As for the other, well that was a little nerve wracking if I remember correctly."

"Nerve wracking?" Akame said while Magna continued to argue with Noelle who as usual pointed out her royal status and how honored Magna, a commoner, should be at her deigning to ride with him, not that that really mattered anymore. "How so?"

"Well…" Tatsumi said blushing at the memory and realizing the hole he was about to dig and quickly finding a way to dig out of it. "Leone and Chelsea wanted me to judge who looked better in their swimsuits but I couldn't answer because by that point I'd fallen for you so to me you looked the best and you weren't there, you were on the cliff with the boss and Mine."

"Oh…" Akame said going bright red and touched by that though she wasn't too happy that Chelsea and Leone were getting Tatsumi to judge them, she'd have to have words with the former next time she saw her. "I…that's very nice of you."

"Smooth." Vanessa said with a smirk as Akame continued to blush at the complement. "Well played Tatsumi. It's still strange seeing Akame get all giddy over a boy but so nice at the same time, you're really special to her."

"I know and she's special to me." Tatsumi said with a smile deepening Akame's blush.

"Hey, guys, where's Captain Yami?" Asta called out getting their attention before anyone could comment on that. "Is he still sleeping or something? I figured he'd be here with us for the trip to the beach."

"No, he told me that he was going on ahead to check on something so not to wait up on him." Finral said much to the surprise of many present. "Must be serious as he left before dawn."

"Wow so miracles really can happen, he's working?" Vanessa asked. "Who'd have thought that."

"That's our fearless leader Captain Yami!" Magna said. "So let's follow his lead!"

"It was a personal and top secret mission from the Wizard King with serious implications for the Kingdom." Akame pointed out. "He's taking this very seriously and so should we."

"That we should so let's get going Black Bulls!" Magna said leaping onto his ride and grabbing the horns of it as Noelle grabbed his shoulders and Asta grabbed hers. "The beach awaits us! Crazy Cyclone, go!"

With that Magna poured magic into his ride and shot off as both Asta and Noelle cheered and the rest of the Squad took to the air behind them. As always Akame just leapt into the air and created a long enough blade to stand on, which she then crouched on in her preferred flying style as it took to the sky, while Tatsumi just stood on a created shield rather than a broom and flew up so that he was flying next to her.

They were flying in a rough formation with Magna leading the group that was spread out in a triangle behind him but close enough to talk to each other. Their destination was Raquey, the seaside resort village in the Noble Realm right on the coast as a Magic Knight Squad being there wouldn't look out of place so it was the best place to set up their base camp while gathering intel on the Underwater Temple. As such, they were flying as the crow flew to get there.

Naturally it would have been easier to just use Finral's Spatial Magic to get there as that would only take moments rather than a few hours. However, as he pointed out he could only use it to visit places he'd already been and as he'd not been to Raquey, or the Underwater Temple, they couldn't take the quick way.

Gauche noted that flying was a waste of time and questioned the use of Finral, which Finral retorted that he was the superior in the Squad, though there was a good point as Vanessa noted it was surprising that Finral hadn't been to Raquey before what with all the babes in bikinis that were there. However, Finral pointed out that part of the fun was the anticipation of seeing it and he'd long anticipated this so he was going to see his lovely ladies soon.

That was a fair point and, well, no one expected Finral to be successful when he got there so it would be amusing to watch him strike out again, and again, and again while he was on the beach. Plus, at least this mission will add Raquey to his visited locations so he could transport them to it again in the future and Akame felt that it would be useful for serious fish hunting, under the guise of training Noelle of course, while Tatsumi was more interested in the romantic nature of the beach. Regardless, there were additional, supplemental, benefits to this trip that couldn't be overlooked.

What was overlooked, however, was Gordon. That was discovered well into their journey, they were well over the Common Realm by that point and nearing the border with the Noble Realm, when Noelle asked where the big guy who always blew smoke and growled was and Gordon responded to it. He then changed back into Grey who sank under his or her weight before changing back into Grey-Gordon and rejoining them in the formation.

That did beg the question of where was Gordon but they all trusted that he'd just fly on after them and join them at the beach as he liked had something to sort out himself before leaving. He wouldn't but that wouldn't be realized until much later as Gordon was currently back at the hideout wondering where everyone had gone.

That and they were getting closer and closer to the ocean though as few had actually been there they weren't actually sure what they were looking for. Still, they had to be near as they'd been flying for a good few hours.

"Alright, we should be seeing it any second now." Magna said to everyone as they continued to fly with only trees below them and a mass of blue water larger than any Magna had seen before on the horizon. "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Asta asked from behind him on the broom.

"Why the ocean Lil' Rasta, seeing as that's our destination what else would it be." Magna said. "I can't wait to see it; I've never seen it before."

"Yeah me neither." Asta said. "And we've been flying for ages so it has to be close. How much longer?"

"I mean I think we should have seen it by now." Magna said though he had no idea what he was actually looking for. "So yeah it's got to be close."

"Do you want to tell him or should I?" Tatsumi whispered as he flew over to be as close to Akame as was safe, and dropping down a bit given her crouched stance on her blade. "I may not have been there, and it's a whole lot larger than that massive river that we lost Bulat on which was the largest body of water that I'd seen before this, but even I know it."

"Nah." Akame said with a smile. "I can sense Noelle's ki, let her have the honors. She is between those two morons so she does have the right to point it out."

Tatsumi chuckled and nodded in agreement at that. He too could sense it and who was he to rain on Noelle's fun in this moment.

"What are you two idiots talking about?" Noelle asked clearly annoyed at the morons she was flying with. "You're staring at it already, it's literally right in front of you. You know, all that blue water before you. That's the ocean."

"No way, that's the ocean?" Asta asked his eyes white at the sheer expanse of it. "I was wonder what it was."

"This is it?" Magna asked.

"I never realized it was that big." Asta said. "It's amazing."

"It's more incredible than I could have ever imagined it would be." Magna said.

"It's the ocean!" The pair said in unison.

The rest just chuckled at that. None of them had been to it before, Noelle's family had but she hadn't been present on the trip or when her siblings went there as Magic Knights, but the rest had never made it to the ocean and many shared the wonder of it as they cheered at reaching it. Now all they had to do was find Raquey.

That wasn't hard and didn't take too long as they'd been flying as the crow flew straight to Raquey and while they were a little off course all they had to do was follow the white sandy beach, which Noelle confirmed was the beach, along the coast to find it. Soon enough they did find the seaside resort of Raquey nestled into a natural cove of sorts.

It was, as expected, a fancy resort town which was popular with royalty, nobility, and Magic Knight Squads, hence why it had been chosen as their beach base, and catered to all three. As such it didn't take long for them to be directed to the lodging that Captain Yami had arranged for them, part of why he'd gone on ahead.

From there it was just a matter of dropping their stuff off, including their grimoires as they didn't want them to get wet, and changing into swimwear. Once they were changed, there were separate areas for the men and women so it was easy to sort it out with a few of Vanessa's threads for added security for the girls, they headed to the beach though not all at once but basically when they were ready. Naturally Noelle hung back a bit and was one of the last to change as she was still self-conscious in her bikini.

The beach itself was part separated from the town that spread out on the hill behind them by a long, high, stone promenade that offered great views of the ocean though there were building roughly on the level of the beach behind the arches of the promenade showing that it was an expansive town. Palm trees were dotted around the top of the beach and people set up special beach chairs, blankets and umbrellas on the curved beach to enjoy the sun while others played in the water. To the edges were rocky outcroppings that helped keep the water calm but right now everyone was focused on the beach.

"Wow, I can't believe that we're really here." Asta said as he stood on the beach looking around it in just his blue swim trunks that he'd had to get at a store in Raquey because he forgot to buy them in Kikka while completely oblivious to the fact that Nero, who no one had noticed had tagged along, was sitting on his head which seemed to be the birds favorite perch. "It's enormous!"

At that Asta fell into a daydream about one day brining Yuno and the kids from the orphanage here to enjoy it too, naturally forgetting about Father Orsi, and of course brining Sister Lily as well. As always that led to him dreaming of being the Wizard King and using the beach to propose to Sister Lily and her finally accepting his proposal now that he was the Wizard King. It was the usual nonsense that Asta had when he was day dreaming given that Sister Lily would never forsake her vows but still Asta was in fantasy land so simple things like holy vows couldn't reach him there.

"I can just see it now, it's perfect." Asta said. "She'll say yes when I ask here, after I…"

"Snap out of it." Tatsumi said as he slapped Asta on the back jolting him from his fantasy as he joined his squadmate wearing a similar pair of blue swim trunks that were a darker blue. "Whatever that is, it's creepy for the beach and we already got Gauche for that. Not to mention Finral when he shows up later."

Tatsumi wasn't wrong, nearby Gauche was in a pair of purple swim trunks making a detailed and accurate sand sculpture of his sister while taking to Marie via a mirror and having his usual nosebleed. People were giving him a wide berth because of that and for good reason though if it hadn't have been so creepy it would have been an impressive sand sculpture.

"Oh right." Asta said a little sheepish at being snapped out of his fantasy. "Sorry, I was just thinking of how it would be great to propose to Sister Lily on the beach, especially after I become the Wizard King."

"Right, that persistent problem." Tatsumi said sighing, Asta was seriously dense on so many levels be it the fact that Sister Lily, whoever she was, could never marry him due to being a woman of the cloth or the fact that a stunning royal beauty was seriously into him to the point that even Tatsumi now noticed it, and currently hiding behind a palm tree behind them, but there was nothing that Tatsumi could do about that. "But you're right, a beach proposal isn't a bad idea if done right, there is a certain romance to the beach especially at sunset or midnight."

"Have you thought about that?" Asta asked looking at Tatsumi. "Proposing that is seeing as you've actually got a partner."

"Not yet, I want to but the time isn't right and we're not old enough to get married though as out love transcends lifetimes it will happen." Tatsumi said with a smile. "However, I want it to be special and beaches aren't something we visited back in the day so there's not special tie for us to one. Still working on what is best though."

"I don't get it but ok." Asta said as he drifted back into fantasy land. "I just know that Sister Lily will love this place, and the other will also love it of course."

"And we've lost you again." Tatsumi said with a sigh. "You're hopeless."

Meanwhile, behind the boys, and a palm tree, was Noelle. She was in the shade of tree and partially behind it as she spied on Asta, she'd not expected Tatsumi to approach him though other than Asta only Gauch and Grey currently were on the beach when she got here even though she left later than the others with Gauch being creepy and Grey floating in that ring thing on the water. Still, that wasn't the point right now. No, the point was that Noelle was here and she wanted to go out and be with Asta so that he could see her new swimsuit but her nature was causing issues, again.

It really didn't help that Asta had a stupid, goofy look on his face before Tatsumi snapped him out of it only for said look to return a few minutes later and Tatsumi seem to be resigned to it. Naturally Noelle's mind went straight to the worst thing she could imagine, that being the stupid kiss that Rebecca had given Asta the other day, and if it was that then Asta had better knock it off. That led to Noelle denying that she actually cared about it or wanted kiss him or anything of that sort, she'd especially not thought about kissing Asta that was for sure, not even once.

Still, he'd better not be thinking about Rebecca regardless of how she felt and as Noelle swung back so that her back was to the tree she played with the strap of her bikini thinking about everything. Perhaps it was time she gave Asta a proper eyeful of her new swimsuit that she'd bought.

Of course it wasn't because she wanted Asta to want her the way Tatsumi wanted Akame, and how Akame wanted Tatsumi, that would be ludicrous, but she did want to Asta to see that she was a more appealing woman that Rebecca. The denial ran so deep in Noelle that didn't realize that this was exactly what someone with a crush would want their crush to think, especially after a rival claimant made a bold move like Rebecca had.

With that resolve she peaked out around the tree again to see Asta and Tatsumi still chatting and tried to steel her nerves but failed as her embarrassment got the better of her again and she fell back against the tree. The suit wasn't bad, it was actually quite modest as bikinis went, but there was still a lot of skin on display, more than she was currently comfortable with, and plenty of cleavage so she was at war with herself. That came across clear as day in her ki, Akame had felt it from the moment Noelle's internal war began, and was already heading over to her friend.

"Conflicted about giving Asta an eyeful of how good you look in that thing?"

"Ah! Akame, you've got to stop sneaking up on me!" Noelle yelled as she noticed Akame standing before her and leapt up though the tree blocked her and the waves drowned out her shout so none of the Squad that was present noticed her actions. "It's rather unnerving."?

"While I can be sneaky, my training made me so and I won't lie I have snuck up on you in the past, I literally walked straight up to you Noelle." Akame pointed out as she stood before her friend. "You were so lost in your worries that you didn't notice me doing so."

"Yes well it's embarrassing ok." Noelle said as she finally got a look at Akame and noticed something off.

It wasn't in her attire, Akame was wearing a simple, pure white bikini with the tie at the front just like the red one she'd been wearing when she confronted Klaus in the swim suit store the day before only with no ruffles around the cups and a half ruffle on the bottoms around her left hip. In addition, the top was even more modest than Noelle's, which given that Akame was at least one if not two cup sizes bigger that Noelle was saying something, and the overall look really showed off Akame's lean musculature and deadly beauty.

Noelle knew that Akame was in peak physical shape, when it came to raw, non-magical, prowess she was fourth in the Black Bulls only Yami, Asta, and Tatsumi who all had greater raw strength but Noelle was always taken aback when she saw Akame out of her clothes be it in a bikini or naked when the girls bathed together in their smaller public bath. Still all that was just a glance for Noelle compared to what Akame was holding in her right hand, even the pair of white, what had to be waterproof, empty sheath things strapped to her thighs wasn't as odd as what Akame was holding.

"Um, Akame, what is that?" Noelle asked pointing to the long wooden pole with a metal spike at the top that had a nasty looking back hook to it and a grip portion which was what Akame had in her right hand as she rested the base of it in the sand. "I've never seen anything like that before."

"A harpoon." Akame said as if it was nothing and giving absolutely no explanation to what a harpoon was. "And you shouldn't need to be embarrassed, that bikini really suits you and your personality, I don't think anyone else but you could pull it off, so I'm sure Asta will like it."

"Sorry but why do you have a harpoon?" Noelle asked. "Also what is a harpoon? I take it that it's some kind of weapon but with magic few use weapons. You, Captain Yami, Tatsumi, and Asta are exceptions to that."

"Correct, it is a weapon and one that is specifically made for hunting big sea game." Akame said simply. "It's easier than using a sword underwater, especially when the sharks show, though I'll admit that I'm nowhere near as good with a spear or spear-like weapon as Tatsumi is. I'm still passable but I've always favored blades."

"Where did you get it?" Noelle asked still trying to understand why Akame felt the need to actually have something like that on her. "It doesn't look like a blade, which yeah I know you favor, so it's not magical, is it?"

"Nope, this is an ordinary harpoon." Akame admitted. "Picked it up in a store in town because I needed it for hunting though I'll bring it back and probably have Tatsumi use it to teach Asta the basics of spear play just in case he ends up with a spear or spear-like weapon similar to how I'll soon be teaching him how to properly wield a katana."

"Of course you'd plan that." Noelle said.

"It always pays to be prepared; you never know what you might need at a given moment." Akame said. "Alas, I didn't like their dive knives though, useful for gutting but I can control what I create so I just needed the sheathes."

With that a pair of handless blades, the kind that Akame could easily make without her grimoire, appeared out of the air next to Akame and moved down to slot into the sheathes on her thighs. Noelle just blinked at that more surprised that she wasn't as surprised as she should be at Akame showing up with a weapon and then making more despite being at the beach. Then again, she had after all threatened Klaus with a katana while only wearing a bikini the day before so Noelle really should have expected this.

"And you need all this because?" Noelle asked.

"I told you, hunting." Akame said. "I taught this stuff to Tatsumi the first day we spent together, in fact this is nearly the exact same bikini he saw me in back then though the fabric at least feels different, and I like to swim and hunt seafood at the same time. Figured this was a good place to try it out. Once you can get us deeper it will be even better as we can hunt for rarer, potentially more delectable, game."

"Wait, you showed Tatsumi your bikini that early?" Noelle asked if the only bit she got was that Akame had shown it to Tatsumi. "You were that bold with him?"

"I didn't have feelings for him yet, he needed to survive his first mission and frankly I didn't even know what romantic love was at that point, but yeah it wasn't a big deal." Akame said with a shrug. "Once he survived his first mission, and I stripped him to his underwear to prove he didn't have any cuts, I opened up and accepted him as a friend. From there I slowly began to fall for him though as the concept of romantic love was new to me it took a while. Take it from someone who once watched their love die before their eyes and then caught and held his bloody, broken, and still warm body, once you get your feelings in order don't wait to confess, Noelle."

"I…" Noelle began going bright red as she got what Akame was saying though it was probably the most she'd heard Akame say in one go which showed how serious it was about her feelings for Tatsumi.

"Just think on it Noelle." Akame said with a reassuring smile before she moved the harpoon to her left hand and patted Noelle gently on the shoulder. "And you do look stunning in that bikini, much better than that Rebecca girl would so show Asta even if it is embarrassing, and knowing him takes a while to notice you in it. Let him see what royal beauty looks like."

With that Akame walked past Noelle and spun the harpoon in her hand so that the tip was in the sand and dragging through it as she went to Tatsumi and Asta. Noelle was bright red at Akame's words, though the final bit did boost her confidence.

While what Akame had said sunk in, Noelle was still deeply in denial so it would be a long time before it all properly clicked. Regardless, Akame's support had emboldened Noelle a bit and knowing that Akame would get the boys' attention she finally took the step of sliding out from behind the tree so that she was in full view.

"Hey, Asta, have, have you seen my new swimsuit?" Noelle called out her face bright red as Akame approached the boys. "Wh, what do you think about it?"

"Check it out guys, y'all got nothing on this bad boy!"

The roar came from Magna of course and scared Noelle back behind the tree, though she did peak out from it, just as Akame reached Tatsumi and Asta. They'd been about to talk to her, and Tatsumi was going to really complement Akame on the suit because it was the same one, or close enough, to the one he'd seen on the first day when he thought she was stripping which he really liked. However, Magna's arrival, and shocking choice of attire, got their attention.

"Is that you swimsuit Magan?" Asta asked.

"That's certainly…bold." Tatsumi said unsure how else to phrase what he was looking at. "Leaves very little to the imagination."

"Even the excuses of suits that Vanessa had were less in your face than that, providing you had small areolas." Akame said. "That, that's something else entirely."

Said something else was nothing more than a white rope thing that was tied around Magna's waist and with a white flap of cloth over his groin. That was it though hopefully there was something under it that kept all that was there in one place and Akame at least did not want a look at the back.

"It's sexy, isn't it?" Magna said with a grin though from behind her tree Noelle thought that it was lame. "Instead of going traditional I figured I'd wear a loincloth the way that Captain Yami does. Real manly, I know."

"Sexy is not the word I'd use." Akame said as she put an arm around Tatsumi's waist, her fingers lightly brushing over his abs as she rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder just to make it clear to any girl, or guy if they were like Bulat, that Tatsumi was hers. "Now this, this is sexy."

"You're biased so your opinion doesn't matter." Magna said as Tatsumi took Akame's waist as well making it clear to the men, and probably some women, the same thing Akame was making with him. "Also why are you armed with some kind of spear and two blades."

"It's a harpoon and for hunting." Akame said as if it was obvious, which with her it was.

"Oh ok that makes sense." Magna said. "Should have expected that in fact."

"Just make sure you're safe and don't bring any sharks too close to the beach." Tatsumi said. "This is a place of recreation where children are after all."

"Of course my love, I already have my hunting plan figured out." Akame said grinning. "And in the water I'm the apex predator so I'll take any out."

"That's my girl now get us some tasty fish for dinner." Tatsumi said pulling Akame close and bending down as she lifted up at the same time to give him a lingering kiss on the lips before adding as they parted. "Good hunting my love."

Akame smiled at that and then turned and just walked straight into the ocean with her harpoon without a backwards glance or any pause in her steps. Once she was far enough out she took a deep breath and dove right in and began swimming searching for fish that would be good to eat.

"Well she may be doing it for different reasons but the idea is there." Magna said as he turned, showing that the back of his loincloth was just another rope tied to the one around his waist and along his ass crack, and gestured to it, which was a sight many of them, especially Noelle from behind her tree, really did not need to see. "Let's go swim in an ocean as large as our Captain's heart. You ready boys?"

"Ready, let's do it!" Asta said.

"Sure, a nice swim will be great." Tatsumi said. "Good bit of exercise and a nice way to cool down in this sun."

"Hey boys, what do you think of my new swimsuit." Vanessa called out to them getting their attention as she finally reached the beach and showed off a classic red bikini that was about as normal as can be imagined when it came to bikinis. "Well, looks pretty good don't you think?"

"Er that's basically what you normally look like." Magna said as Asta nodded. "So it's nothing we haven't seen before."

"It's actually more conservative than normal." Tatsumi pointed out. "And rather bland."

"Well Tatsumi gets it." Vanessa said her arms wide though Tatsumi did not actually get it. "But then again what would a virgin street punk like you get about it."

"I'm not a virgin street punk." Magna said with emphasis on the word virgin as Luck in a pair of teal swim trunks approached from behind Magna a grin on his face that meant that he was about to do something he found funny at Magna's expense. "And I'm just calling it how I see it."

"Well then, how about a race Magna?" Luck asked as he used a little lightning to set fire to the knot on the back of Magna's loincloth that was holding it together. "Let's see who's faster along the beach."

Magna instantly felt the fire on his lower back and began to run away screaming along the beach, the back of his loincloth burning as Luck laughed and ran on behind him. It was the expected shenanigans from the two of them.

"All right, Magna's on fire!" Asta cheered. "That's some serious speed."

"Literally." Tatsumi noted. "Why doesn't he just run into the water to put it out though? Probably some natural reaction I guess, fight or flight and what not."

"That's to be expected." Vanessa said as Gauche shouted at them for being children as he finished his sand statue of Marie and showed it to her. "I'm going to lounge in the chairs in the shade and see if any handsome men buy me drinks, present company excluded of course as I know both of you won't."

"Yeah that won't happen from me unless it's as friends and a group at a bar." Tatsumi said while Asta didn't hear as he'd already begun to walk into the water. "And Asta's, well…"

"Dense, yeah I've noticed as well, poor Noelle it will be a while I feel." Vanessa said with a smile and a glance at where Noelle was still hiding behind a tree. "Make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Also where's your hot girlfriend? Shouldn't she be here already?"

"She's in the water." Tatsumi said pointing. "Hunting."

"Of course she is." Vanessa said with a chuckle, Akame was beautiful but not the most ladylike girl out there though clearly that didn't bother Tatsumi at all and Vanessa did feel that it was all part of Akame's charm. "Which color did she go for?"

"Er, white." Tatsumi said not sure what the other color might be. "Same as the one I've seen her in, you know…"

"Right she explained that, well you're in for a treat with the other one as well." Vanessa said with a wink though she meant one of her special ones she'd lent Akame for when the couple had a private midnight swim and not the red one that she'd also bought the day before and had been wearing when she threatened Klaus. "Well it's cute the way you two are."

"Thanks." Tatsumi with a smile as Vanessa nodded and walked away, as she did Noelle finally had the courage to come up and get closer to Asta as he stood in the cold water and noted how cold it was so he was only ankle deep in it.

"Hey, er, um, I also got a new swimsuit as well, Asta." Noelle said as she stood next to Tatsumi while trying to get Asta's attention in her swimsuit. "You can turn around and check it out, you know, if you want. It looks good."

"Yeah he's not listening." Tatsumi said looking over to Noelle and blinking and the blinged out outfit that occasionally sparkled when the sun hit it just right. "Wow, that is shiny."

"Hey, I want Asta's eyes on it not yours." Noelle said defensively before going red the moment she realized what she'd said. "N, not like that and I know that you only have eyes for Akame so I wasn't implying anything and I don't want his eyes they way yours go for her but…"

"Keep digging Noelle." Tatsumi said with a chuckle. "I'm not far off Asta but even I can tell you want him to at least acknowledge that you're wearing it. It may take…"

However, before Tatsumi could finish, or Asta could turn around at the sound of Noelle's voice, a ray of mirror magic shot in from the side and at Asta. He barely managed to avoid it as he leapt forward, however, because of his position Asta ended up leaping deeper into the ocean where he belly flopped while Gauche, for it could only be Gauche, tsked at the miss. The reason for the attack, Marie had asked if Asta could come along with them when Gauche took her to the beach and no one was going to seduce Marie on his watch.

"Er I just realized something." Tatsumi said as Asta hit the water. "Did anyone check to see if Asta knows how to swim? Or Magna for that matter as he's in the same boat. Growing up in the sticks means that there's not many chances to learn short of a good river and those tend to be too cold. I only know from, well, my past experiences."

"No and if he can't than you'd better save him." Noelle said glaring at Tatsumi as Asta surfaced. "He still needs to look at my new swimsuit."

It turned out that in fact Asta could not swim, a fact revealed when he'd surfaced and showed that he'd ended up in an area he couldn't stand in and was now frantically trying to stay afloat while yelling about how salty it was and how he couldn't swim. Noelle, however, was just pissed that Asta wouldn't look at her now that she'd had the courage to come over so she only waded into the water to yell at him for it though she had at least told Tatsumi to save him.

Tatsumi just let out a sigh, these two were hopeless, as was Finral who'd finally reached the beach in a pair of green swim trunks and was now running around with Grey posing as his identical twin to flirt with as many ladies as possible. That was to be expected though and Tatsumi just left it to fail like Finral's flirting always did he dove into the water and swam out to where Asta was and grabbed him so that he wouldn't drown. The kid needed to learn how to swim but that would have to come later as Tatsumi dragged Asta out and onto the beach where he spluttered and coughed as he sat on the sand.

"Man that was close, thanks Tatsumi." Asta said as he panted and Noelle knelt down in the sand next to him to make sure that Asta was ok, and so that she was close enough that he couldn't miss her swimsuit. "I thought I was a goner there for a moment. "

"Hey, you know, this is new Asta." Noelle said certain that Asta was ok now and still trying to get him to notice her as Tatsumi backed up. "So? What do you think?"

However, before Asta could look yet another distraction came, this time in the form of a blindfolded and stick wielding Charmy who'd been trying to crack a watermelon that had been buried in the sand for some reason. It hadn't helped that while Vanessa was drinking and trying to help from a nearby lounge chair, Grey had transformed into Vanessa and had come over with conflicting advice as Grey was bored of helping Finral get rejected.

Regardless that had failed as Charmy ignored both of them and, after claiming to be one with the food, proceeded to confidently walk straight past the watermelon and brought the stick down hard on what she thought was the watermelon. It was, in fact, Asta's head.

"Gotcha!" Charmy roared in victory as she slammed the stick down with enough force to break the stick in half.

Asta yelled at that and leapt us before turning around and looking at Charmy with blood dribbling down the side of his head thanks to how hard he'd been it. That showed that it was an impressive hit as Asta had a thick skull.

"Charmy, you can't just go around hitting people in head with sticks, if that had been anyone else they'd be dead now." Asta yelled. "Be careful next time."

"I'd probably survive but I'd react to it and Charmy might not." Tatsumi said as more blood appeared and Charmy lifted her blindfold. "More reflex than anything else."

"Oh look, watermelon juice." Charmy said with a grin as blood spouted from Asta's head ignoring the two boys.

"My head's not a watermelon!" Asta protested as his head stopped bleeding.

"Hey, don't forget my swimsuit Asta." Noelle said getting even more annoyed as the situation devolved even more. "Stop getting distracted and pay attention to me."

"That's really not going to work." Tatsumi said as Grey, now transformed into Asta, appeared next to him and Tatsumi sighed again. "And somehow I feel like this is just going to add to it all."

"Look Asta, transforming into you reminds me how gross it is to be buff." Grey-Asta said with a laugh. "It's so strange being like this."

"Man you need to find better uses for that Transformation Magic, Grey." Asta said looking at his squadmate. "You're wasting it. Tatsumi, don't you know a good Transformation Mage who might be able to help Grey."

"Yeah, Chelsea, she's from the old days." Tatsumi said as Grey just laughed at that, no one in the Squad knew that she was actually a woman in her mid-20s or that she liked it when she pretended to be other people as her normal self was far too timid and shy to show her face around her friends. "She's arguably the best Transformation Mage in the Kingdom so she could certainly teach Grey a thing or two."

"Asta, about my swimsuit." Noelle said now more pissed at being ignored than embarrassed at being in said swim suit as a still on fire Magna being chased by Luck ran past them reminding them that that thing was still going on in the background. "Please look at it, insect."

"Oh hey, wait…" Asta began as he turned and Noelle thought he was finally going to look at her and hopefully give her a complement, not that she wanted one, but the turn had been because of Magna and Luck running which had reminded Asta of something he'd noticed as he suddenly began to run along the beach and yelled. "I knew it! This sand is awesome for leg training, feel the burn! I'm going to get so much training in here. This is great!"

"Well he does have a point." Tatsumi noted as Noelle got really pissed at that, she finally had the confidence to stand around Asta in her new swimsuit so he'd better look at her because this had taken a lot of courage to do. "Sand is great training."

"I don't care!" Noelle shouted as water formed on her fingertip because drastic times called for drastic measures to get Asta to actually pay attention to her. "Asta! You will look at me in my new swimsuit and you will look at me now!"

With that Noelle threw a ball of water at Asta's back to stop him running around and turn towards her. However, before it reached him it looped around and back between her and Tatsumi as Noelle was still leaning forward and proceeded to hit Magna in the chest as he ran up behind them with Luck laughing knocking him over and on his back. The good thing was that it finally extinguished the fire on the back of his loincloth.

"Well you hit someone at least." Tatsumi said. "Not the right Black Bulls though but still you actually hit a person which is an improvement."

"Man Noelle, you still haven't learned to control your magic?" Magna said as he got up while Luck complained at the end of the fun he was having with Magna. "I mean, I'm not complaining this time because it put the fire out but still, you've got to get on that."

"Again, valid point." Tatsumi said as he and Noelle turned to Magna. "You do still need offensive control Noelle."

"Sorry but I don't have my wand on me at the moment so all I can cast are local defense spells." Noelle said with a smile and a flick of her pigtails. "You're lucky I put that fire out for you though, you should be thanking me commoner."

"You're bragging about it?" Magna said stunned by Noelle's arrogance, not that he should have expected any less. "You missed your…"

Before Magna could finish the fire damage on his loincloth finally became too much for the rope to bear and it fell apart causing his loincloth to fully fall off giving Noelle and Tatsumi a full, uncensored, view of what was beneath it. Naturally Noelle screamed, went red, and her eyes closed as she instinctively blasted out jet of water from her finger and at Magna. This time however, she didn't miss and it slammed right into Magna's groin downing him with a groan of pain.

"Well you didn't miss that time." Tatsumi noted as Luck laughed. "So your definitely improving Noelle."

Noelle just huffed as she turned and looked away from Magna, she didn't want to see that thing at all. She still needed to get Asta's attention but he wasn't giving it to her as he ran along the beach so she had to find a way to get it while the other antics went on. Perhaps Vanessa could help with that and Noelle went over to chat with her while Tatsumi just watched the situation with a smile glad that they were all having fun.

"Ha, ha!" Sekke Bronzazza said as he stepped onto the beach in a red speedo with lighting bots on it that somehow left even less to the imagination than Magna's loincloth had, his boys Phati and Aphro in normal trunks with him. "So this is the Kingdom's famous Raquey beach, I've always wanted to come here as I can hear the ocean calling my name and today is the day I finally do."

"Is now really the time to be relaxing?" Phati asked. "You're a Magic Knight which means you shouldn't be relaxing."

"Yeah don't you have work to do?" Aphro said. "You know like that other new recruit with you, the girl who's actually good at her job."

"Well I've just accomplished so much lately, more than even Najenda has, that the Wizard King awarded me 100 stars." Sekke lied though at least some of what he said was partially true. "Even Captain Jack and my mentor in the Squad, Lubbock, have praised my hard efforts as of late. After all, it was thanks to me that dozens of children were rescued from an evil traitors clutches for I was the one who got the backup there and coordinated everything. Therefore, what's the harm in taking a well-deserved little break."

As Sekke spoke he heard a man flirting with some of the ladies and looked over to see a blond man try and hit on two cute ladies and strike out almost instantly. The ladies walked away and Sekke smiled at the sight.

"Well what do we have here, some creep prowling the beach for unsuspecting girls." Sekke said before turning to his boys with a smile. "That gives me an idea, why don't you two pick up some ladies of your own.? It is the place for it."

"With you?" Phati asked a little uneasy at Sekke's suggestion.

"Ha, ha, I could never do something as vulgar as that." Sekke said with dismissive wave of his hand. "No, I'll simply let you two show your suave skills and then meet back up with you once you've had success."

Phati and Aphro understood what that meant as Sekke gave them a thumbs up. It meant that Sekke was going to wander over and crash the party once they had said success, if they did that is. He'd then act like he was doing the favor and lie through his teeth to try and impress the ladies, and probably embarrass them as well as a way to make himself look good. Not for the first time did the pair question why they hung out with Sekke.

"Remember, the only reason that you two are here is because you have a friend in the Magic Knights who can get you into places like this." Sekke said. "Because only royals, nobles, and Magic Knights get to come here. I've given you two a killer opportunity so now off you go. I wish you good luck my friends."

"Do we have a choice?" Aphro asked though Sekke did make a good point, he could get them into places they otherwise couldn't get in so that was why they hung out with him.

"Ah, what was that?" Sekke said ignoring Aphro as a sudden flash of light out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to the source and grinned at what he saw. "Why I see the perfect targets for you right over there. Ha, ha, don't worry about me boys, you go get those ladies."

With that Sekke pushed them over to the girls and with a muttered 'jerk' from the pair they headed over to get rejected by Noelle and Vanessa as they didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. As they did, Sekke turned and saw a lone cutie in a white bikini with gorgeous, silky, black hair down to her knees standing and staring out to the ocean. He grinned, he may be sending the boys off to get some ladies but a solo lady, and one that lovely looking, was worth the effort despite what he'd told his boys so without paying attention to what was around him Sekke headed off towards that girl.

"What is Sekke doing?" Lubbock said as he looked through a pair of binoculars over the googles he had on. "And where is he going?"

"Why does it matter?" Najenda said not bothering to look over at Lubbock. "We do have this break and so long as you're here then it should be fine. There's no way that he can't get into that much trouble. Can he?"

Right now Najenda was lounging on a beach chair, one of those mirror things for tanning in her arms and on her flat and toned abdomen as she lay there getting some rays on her pale white skin. All she wore was a silver bikini that showed off plenty of cleavage and went well with her hair and Lubbock was trying hard not to look at her in it, well not too much but she smiled when she caught him looking. He couldn't tell when that happened as she had a large pair of shades on and was rearing a silver hooded cloak with the hood up over her short hair as they were incognito due to keeping an eye on Sekke from a distance.

In the same vein Lubbock had a green swim cap over his green hair to keep it hidden and which matched his forest green trunks were in keeping with his preferred color. Still, as Lubbock scanned the beach it was good that they were incognito because there was an additional issue that they really didn't want to deal with just yet.

"Well seeing as the Black Bulls are here for some reason, a lot." Lubbock said scanning as he picked out a few of the members running around the beach like morons while occasionally firing off spells but that was to be expected from the Black Bulls. "And that's not good for us either, we're still not ready as we don't know where Leone is."

"Yeah she's been frustratingly hard to find around our normal duties, which do come first, but right now not the issue." Najenda said as she lowered her tanning mirror. "What are they doing here? Isn't their base somewhere in the farthest reaches of the Common Realm?"

"No clue but they're just messing around." Lubbock said as he looked around and spotted a few more of the Black Bulls, two of the women in the group, rejecting Sekke's boys hard. "I'm trying to see if they're here but so far I can't see Tatsumi. Akame's on the water's edge though."

"Well still we should be careful." Najenda said. "I hate not revealing ourselves to them when we've both had our blocks broke like they have but we need everyone before we can do that and then go to the Wizard King about our…situation."

"Agreed so…" Lubbock began before going quite. "Oh shit."

"Oh shit?" Najenda asked noting the change in Lubbock's tone. "What's going on?"

"Sekke is approaching Akame." Lubbock said with a gulp. "And I think he's going to try and hit on her."

"Get his ass out of there now!" Najenda said her eyes wide under her shades as she sat up and the tanning mirror dropped to the ground next to her. "Even if she rejects him, Tatsumi could take issue and defend her honor. I doubt it but still."

"No I understand." Lubbock said as he put the goggles down and a strong but thin wire formed in his right hand. "She may also strike if he doesn't take no for an answer and she'd far deadlier that Tatsumi is."

With that Lubbock sent the wire right at Sekke to grab him and haul him away. They'd explain later, right now he had to get his squadmate out of harms way and with a gaggle of Black Bulls also causing some minor chaos nearby that knowing Sekke's luck could run into him as well this was the best course of action.

Grey, now transformed into Akame, just watched what was going on with her squadmates with an amused look. After Noelle had headed off to talk to Vanessa, and reject two morons who tried to hit on them, the others had begun running around the beach like idiots which had gotten Gauche involved. Tatsumi had had enough of this and just walked into the water to swim and so Grey decided to turn into Akame to see what it was like to be her for a bit.

She had to admit, the lean power the girl had was something else and while Grey didn't like being buff like Asta, being a strong woman was different but then again Grey was a woman as well so that might have something to do with it. The fact that Grey could even feel this though was impressive.

Grey couldn't explain it herself, but whenever she turned into someone it was complete, not just a cover but it was the same body structure, bone density, musculature, everything. The only things that she didn't get were the person's magic and any well-honed mental or physical skills so in Akame's case her exception swordsmanship.

Still, it was nice to be try her body out and she knew that Tatsumi would tell the difference between them right away. Grey also didn't know where Akame was so this at least kept her presence around if need be.

"Why hello beautiful, what brings a looker like you to the beach?"

The voice made Grey jump a bit but she was in Akame's body so she quickly put on Akame's cold persona to those she didn't know and turned her back to the man hoping that he got the hint. That was another advantage of being Akame, she could be cold to strangers without an issue and just ignore them.

That was why she didn't see a thin wire wrap around his waist as the man opened his mouth again to continue to try and chat her up and yank him back and away with a yelp. She did see that and turned to see a blond man in the air being hauled away while two figures too far away to make out ran ahead of him. Grey also didn't notice the two boys who'd been shot down by Noelle just sigh and run after their moronic friend as he was dragged away from the beach.

All Grey did was shrug and turn back to the water in time to see Tatsumi come out while the others continued to cause chaos around them and generally make a scene on the beach though how Charmy had ended up with the boys, or why she was eating a watermelon off Asta's head, was anyone's guess. For his part, Tatsumi just ignored them as walked over to Grey.

"Grey, I see you're in Akame's body now." Tatsumi said. "Interesting choice."

"It felt like the best way to not be annoyed given her persona." Grey-Akame said in Akame's voice. "It worked as well."

"That it does." Tatsumi said. "And better you as her getting hit on than Akame herself."

"Yes, she may take it the wrong way." Grey said. "Where is she by the way? Akame that is."

"Hunting but she should…" Tatsumi began as he looked out over the ocean and saw Akame's head pop up from the water her long hair now clinging to her. "Be back soon and she's got a light snack. Good."

"Um what is she holding?" Grey asked as she saw the spear-like weapon with several fish pierced on it at the end. "I've never seen something like that before."

"That would be a harpoon, it's a weapon designed for hunting in the sea." Tatsumi said as Akame sawm over to them and began to walk out of the water completely ignoring any stares at the fact that she was carrying a harpoon with impaled fish on it. "I see the hunting was good my love."

"That it was." Akame said with a smile. "There are some good rocky areas on either side of this beach away from people it so it was safer there. I swam over to then, hunted a bit, killed a shark so that other sharks could have their fill, and the came back with my prizes. Not much but a good, light, snack. I'll clean and gut them and then Charmy can cook them up for us."

"I concur." Tatsumi said. "We should get the others and…"

"Hey gang, we came here for the Magic Stone!" Asta yelled interrupting Tatsumi and getting his attention causing him to look over to see Asta, Magna, Luck, and Gauche all ran on the beach spells flying with Charmy still munching the watermelon on Asta's head. "What are we messing around for?"

"I'd call it relaxing but messing around does work." Tatsumi said as Asta suddenly leapt away from the others and had an inflatable ring around him and a beach ball. "But…and it's pain time."

"Like you're not messing around." Yami said as he kicked Asta in the back having appeared on the beach moments earlier during the chaos wearing his normal clothes and come over to sort his moronic Squad out. "Stop it."

"Oh, Captain Yami, we were wondering were you were." Asta said looking up at their Captain as the others around him did as well with Magna cupping his junk due to still being naked and Grey turning back into the big guy out of surprise at Yami's sudden arrival. "Where…"

Before Asta could finish there was a growl from Yami and in no time flat all 11 Black Bulls were buried up to their necks in the sand and looking up at their Captain standing over them while most of the beach gave them a really wide berth. Unlike his Squad, Yami had actually been busy sorting things out and it was time to let them know what the plan was as they'd had their fun.

"Alright you incompetent bunch of knuckleheads, listen up and listen close." Yami said looking at his Squad as he took a drag from his cigarette. "While you were goofing off on the beach, I was out getting us the intel we needed. Apparently the Underwater Temple isn't too far from here under the surface of the ocean, that was to be expected, but we didn't know the precise details of where it is or what the best approach was until now. Unfortunately, the mana-driven currents in the area are too strong so even a skilled Mage can't normally get near it, at least short of the Water Spirit. However, there is one time a month that the mana is weak enough to possible access it, the Full Moon, which again was to be expected and why we came to Raquey ahead of it."

"What!" Several of the squad gasped their eyes wide and mouths open. "Captain Yami's actually doing his job and he's serious about it."

"We did say that this was for the Wizard King." Akame noted as Yami put his boot on Asta's face to shut him up and grind it in. "So we should have expected this."

"Someday I'm really going to kill ya, now shut up." Yami said silencing any chatter as he removed his boot. "If ya didn't guess already, though there have been hints, the Underwater Temple is on the ocean floor so you need magic to get there. Noelle, you're the only Water Mage in the Squad so this is where your magic comes in."

"Huh?" Noelle asked her eyes wide; she'd heard snippets about it but the whole being in a swim suit around Asta, as well as getting said swimsuit, had been in the forefront of her mind and she'd not really paid attention to anything else. "Me?"

"Yup, we're going to hitch a ride on your Water Magic to get there." Yami said looking at the girl.

"But sir…" Noelle began as she realized the situation. "I'll need exceptional control over my magic if I was to manage something like that. I can't do it, please, find someone else. If I messed up and you were all relying on me then…"

"We die." Yami said. "Well die again in the case of Akame and Tatsumi but still that's the simple fact of the matter. You blow this Noelle and that's it for us. We'll get swallowed by the current and drown, likely no one will find our bodies. However, there is no one else, Noelle, this is a top secret mission that the Wizard King has entrusted to the Black Bulls alone. It's just us and you are the only one who can get us there. Just you. You've got a week, that's when the full moon is, which will be our only window of reaching the Underwater Temple. Push past your limits Noelle."

Noelle's eyes shook but she understood as a bead of swear ran down her face. They all did and if they could they'd be there for Noelle. They had a week to prepare, it was time to get to work and Noelle knew it would be hard but she'd do as Yami said, she'd push past her limits and learn to control her magic to protect her Squad. She had to and as night fell she headed to the beach to begin her training unaware of who else would be there or the greater implications that it would have as the week in Raquey began.

Ah, a nice, fun, relaxing trip to the beach for the Black Bulls, they'll need it with what is to come. They've now got a week before their brief window appears and it is all on Noelle's shoulders to master her magic and take them down to the Underwater Temple. There really isn't much more to say, y'all know what's coming next as we properly move into this arc and this was a straightforward, relaxing, chapter with an interesting cameo. As such that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you like my story then please follow, favorite, review, PM, etc. it is all appreciated and helps me get better and stay motivated to keep producing more content and any questions asked I will do my best to answer both privately and at the start of the next chapter. Until next time.

Stringdog