Junpei's been in everyone's space since before they boarded the ferry, so loud and boisterous his ears are ringing. Minato's been subtly rolling his eyes at Akihiko as if to echo his own irritation, but his customary slight smirk is there too. He's somewhat tolerant, most of the time, but he's found himself seriously considering throwing the lanky teen overboard a few times.

And now that the boys are changing and heading to the beach, Iori throws a fit.

"Dude, seriously, you can't go out like this!"

Akihiko looks at him like he's insane. They're all wearing swimsuits, that's sort of the point.

"What's the problem now?"

Junpei is groaning like someone stepped on him, arms in the air in despair.

"Please, please put a shirt on or something, nobody's going to notice us if we're hanging around you."

He still doesn't get it and glances at himself. Perfectly normal. He looks at Minato quizzically, who raises an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth in amusement.

"You do kinda… stand out."

Iori sighs, discouraged and somewhat peeved.

"Seriously? It's not just the… I mean, you could grate some cheese on that board, I knew you trained a lot but maaan…"

He has definition, that was kind of expected. With a strict training regimen, focusing on strength and endurance, of course there'd be some side effects. Despite all the protein supplements, he doesn't have the bulk of someone like Shinji, but he's tall and muscular none the less. Akihiko shakes his head, who cares?

"Only if it gets you to finally shut up."

The breeze is simply amazing, the waves are not too strong and the sun is blazing overhead. It might feel great to just swim some laps and nap in the shade afterward. Just listening to the pull and crash of the sea is leeching Akihiko's tension away somewhat.

With the events preceding the start of their vacation, he was too distressed to catch up with her and she'd been helping their shy navigator shop for a swimsuit with Yukari. That was something he had to process on his own, punching the sparks out of his mind in his room, but they were here now, so far away from school, the dorm, Tartarus and everything else…

Just need to find the right moment.

"Ahh… Got my sandals on… Givin' my feet a chance to breathe… Yup! Summer's here!"

Junpei's bouncing like a kid next to him and he's trying to rile up Minato with his enthusiasm. Right on cue, Takeba's quipping in from the small path leading to the Kirijo mansion.

"Ugh, could he BE any louder…?"

Akihiko crosses his arms on his chest, eyes lost at sea, trying to tune the two of them out.

There we go again.

There's some shuffling and Yukari keeps at it.

"…Hey Junpei, what's the matter? You look even dumber than usual."

"Maaaaan… Talk about a feast for the eyes, haha. Yuka-tan's wearing a more aggressive model than I had imagined. Could her boldness come from the confidence that her club training has toned her bod?"

Could he even sound more pervy if he tried? What a child. Said girl huffs in irritation at him.

"And check out our leader!"

It's a reflex at his comment but he turns around and freezes.

"She's one cute mermaid herself! Those curves she usually keeps covered up are lookin' good! I can't tear my eyes away!"

Minato growls at that one and jabs Junpei in the ribs with a warning glance, his stare hard. For once, Akihiko has to agree with the resident lecherous-in-chief wholeheartedly.

He can't take his eyes away.

He also wants to strangle Iori, slowly.

She's laughing at Junpei like he's so ridiculous, calling him a creep teasingly as she hops along the path to join them.

She's radiant.

The copper in her hair is almost as red as her eyes. Always so expressive, she looks at the sea in wonder, taking a deep breath of the salty air in appreciation, exhales slowly as if she's savoring a slice of cake. He should know. Satisfied, she ruffles her brother's hair teasingly in passing before joining Takeba near the umbrella, Minato huffs in reply and puts his locks back in his face with a shake.

Akihiko clenches his hands nervously, his mind void of anything close to coherence, turns around and walks to the water until it reaches above his ankles. It's just damn hot today.

The commotion continues, Junpei laughing creepily a few times as Fuuka and Mitsuru stroll down the path to join the other girls.

There's a splash nearby as the boys react to the water's temperature and make their way closer to him. The first is still as bubbly and excited, the second simply nonchalant. Iori slides between them, a devious glint in his eye.

"Pssst, guys. Level with me… Which one's your type?"

Minato huffs a strand of hair out of his face, shaking his head in denial.

"Aww, c'mon!"

Blue eyes ponder and light up somewhat. There's the faintest of blushes on Minato's cheeks but he murmurs.

"Yukari…"

Huh.

Akihiko can't help but glance back over his shoulder absently. His eyes lock on her, vibrantly explaining something to the girls with her usual eloquence, there seems to be a lot of laughter involved. It almost seems like she catches his stare from the corner of her eye, but she doesn't move her gaze back to him and just keeps smiling through her exchange. It might be an illusion of the umbrella's shade, but her cheeks are almost the same color as her frilled attire.

"Huh!? Really?!"

Junpei's shocked outburst snaps him back around. Akihiko shakes his head, somewhat confused.

"What? I didn't say anything!"

But Iori is grinning directly at him, like an idiot, his eyebrows are wiggling too.

"Maaaan, really? No joke?"

Minato's somewhat chuckling at Junpei's reaction, but it's him he's looking at. There's an amused sparkle to his eyes he doesn't quite get.

"Aww man, this is just…"

Junpei's still laughing by himself and Akihiko is starting to feel a bit peeved so he just careens him face first into the water in one swooping motion.

"...Shut up."