"Okay, Tachimukai. You can do this." Tachimukai looked at himself in the mirror and slapped his cheeks. He had just finished brushing his teeth and combing through his hair quick, and he had resisted the urge to shower and had settled for using up half of his deodorant instead.

He was sure he could do this. After all, Tsunami had told him it was only as hard as you made it... so why make it any harder than it has to be? Tachimukai took a deep breath and gripped the sides of the bathroom sink. "Well... it's now or never."

Tachimukai left the bathroom and headed downstairs. On his way, he passed the kitchen and saw the managers putting away the dishes. Aki noticed him, and she tapped Haruna on the shoulder and said something to her, and Haruna nodded and waved to her friend. Tachimukai hurried over to the front doors and quickly made his way outside. She was going to be out there soon... so he needed to get his act together, and fast.

As he waited, he closed his eyes, trying to think. What exactly was he going to do, anyway? It was starting to seem really stupid that he even asked her to do this in the first place and -

"Hey, Tachimukai!"

Tachimukai's eyes flew open and he saw Haruna walk outside. He didn't even hear the door open... he really needed to get it together. Haruna closed the door behind her and smiled.

"Hi," Tachimukai said. "Thanks for meeting me out here."

"Oh, it's no problem. So, what did you want?" Haruna asked.

Tachimukai took a deep breath. Okay... he thought. Just say it. "Well, I uh... I wanted to..." he paused for a bit, and Haruna raised an eyebrow. He reached down and grabbed her hand. "I want to show you something. Come on," he said. Haruna glanced down at his hand, but then she smiled.

"Okay, where is it?" she asked.

"Um... that's a good question..." Tachimukai mumbled. He honestly didn't know where he was going... he figured this would be a good way to buy him some time to think. He lead Haruna away from the cabin and headed down towards the beach. "Just follow me. I'm sure you'll like it."

-.-.-

When Tachimukai had asked her to meet him outside after diner, Haruna was a bit surprised, to say the least. She hadn't talked to him a whole lot after their training for Maou the Hand, so it seemed a bit odd that he'd come up to her out of the blue.

Not that she minded.

She wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but talking with him – even seeing him made her happy. It was actually a weird feeling. She didn't feel that way when she talked to her other friends, so she often wondered what it was about him that made her feel like that. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't really put her finger on what it was. All she knew is that something about him made her happy.

One day, Haruna had told Aki about this, as if she was expecting the older girl to give her an answer. But she had simply laughed at Haruna, and the younger girl demanded to know what was so funny.

"Sounds like you have a crush on him," Aki said.

Haruna shook her head and quickly denied it. "We're just friends!"

"Sure you are." Aki said, returning to the dishes she was doing. Haruna had let her words sink in a bit... but Tachimukai was just her friend.

Right?

Now, after she had met up with him outside, she found herself hand in hand with Tachimukai. He had said that he wanted to show her something... but what could it be? It was already sunset, so it would be getting dark soon, so she figured they didn't have much time. But holding hands like that felt... nice.

Maybe Aki was right.

The whole time they walked, Tachimukai was silent. He didn't look back at her, talk to her, or anything like that. Haruna thought it was kind of strange of him, since he wasn't the kind of person who was quiet like that. Maybe something was wrong.

"Hey, Tachimukai, is something going on?" Haruna asked. Tachimukai turned to face her and smiled.

"Oh, no! Everything's fine. What makes you ask that?" he said. Haruna noticed he looked kind of nervous.

"It's just you're awfully quiet. But if you say so..." she said. They continued to walk a little further until Tachimukai stopped them.

"Uh... here we are?" he said, but it sounded more like a question than anything. Haruna looked around the area, and she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"So... what is it?" she asked. "Everything looks normal."

"Um... I uh wanted to show you... this tree!" Tachimukai said. He pointed over to a palm tree that looked no different than the rest of them.

"Okay... what's so special about it?" Haruna asked.

"Well... it's a pretty nice tree, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess it is." Haruna said. She would be pretty disappointed if that was all he wanted... She looked down at her hand, as Tachimukai was still holding on to it. "Uh, you can let go of my hand now."

Tachimukai looked down too, and he quickly withdrew his hand. "Oh. Sorry about that."

"So... is this all you wanted, then?" Haruna asked. "You just wanted to show me this tree?"

Tachimukai looked down for a bit and was quiet. "No... I actually wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Tachimukai took a deep breath. "Well..."

-.-.-

Tsunami smirked to himself as he swam out further into the dark waters of the ocean. Even though Tachimukai had told him not to spy on them... he had said nothing about going out for a late swim. So there he was – neck deep in the cool water. It took him a while to figure out where Tachimukai and Haruna were, but he was confident that he had found them. He couldn't hear anything except for the waves and he could hardly see, but he was able to make out two figures on the beach, quite a ways ahead of him.

"C'mon, Tachi... don't mess this up!" he said to himself. The water was actually more rough than he had thought, and he struggled to keep his feet planted on the sand below him. The last thing he needed right now was to get washed up on shore...

The taller of the two figures – Tachimukai, Tsunami had guessed – held out their arm to the shorter one – Haruna, probably – and she took it, and the two started to walk down the beach.

Tsunami cursed to himself. He was in the perfect spot to spy... and now he had to risk getting washed away just so he could follow. Good thing he was an expert swimmer, as the waves were getting more rough each passing second. Tsunami knew that this was a sign of a storm approaching... and quickly, too.

-.-.-

He showed her a tree.

A tree.

Tachimukai mentally slapped himself. How could he do something that stupid? It was on a whim, but he could have picked anything remotely interesting, and he had settled for a tree... Haruna would probably think he was an idiot or something now, and he definitely did not need her thinking like that. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had just left for the cabin, but to his -pleasant- surprise, she remained there with him.

And now it was time for him to tell her. Before anything else could happen, he needed to tell her. Summoning every bit of courage he had, Tachimukai took a deep breath.

"Well..."

"...wait a sec. Did you feel that?" Haruna interrupted him and looked up at the sky.

"What is it?" Tachimukai asked, feeling a little bit irritated that he had been interrupted. Haruna squinted and stared up at the clouds. It was sunset, so the clouds should have been a nice pinkish color, but instead several of them looked gray and stormy.

"I think I felt a raindrop." she said. As if on cue, Tachimukai felt something wet plop on his face, and soon after several other raindrops had started to fall.

"Is is seriously raining?" Tachimukai said. He sighed in frustration. Was nature out to get him?

"We'd better get under something," Haruna said. She smiled. "Maybe we should go under your tree."

"Ha, very funny." Tachimukai said. He and Haruna ran to the tree, trying to shelter themselves from the rain. The sky was soon overrun by the dark storm clouds, and it had gotten a lot darker.

"You'd better make this quick. I don't think it's a good idea to stay out here much longer." Haruna said.

Tachimukai nodded. "Okay. Well, here goes nothing." he looked Haruna straight in the eye and took another deep breath. "I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to say this... so I'm just going to say it as it is. Haruna, I... I really like you."

"Tachimukai..."

"I know it's really sudden and all... but I just hope that you return my feelings. It's okay if you don't, really... but if you did-"

Tachimukai never got to finish his sentence, for Haruna had cut him off. With her lips.

The blue-haired girl had gotten on her tip toes and pressed her mouth against Tachimukai's, and he was... well, he was pretty shocked. This was the first time he had ever been kissed, so he had no idea what he should be doing. He was just to put his hands on Haruna's shoulders when she pulled away.

"Wh-what was that for?" Tachimukai asked.

"It was because... I like you too, Tachimukai." she said. Even though it was dark and cloudy, Tachimukai could tell that her face was a bright shade of pink, and his probably was too.

"Really?" Tachimukai asked. The kiss itself should have been enough proof for him, but Tachimukai still had a tough time believing it.

Haruna nodded. "Of course! I wouldn't have done that if I didn't."

"Well... that's true." Tachimukai said. The two of them stood there for a while, each with a red, smiling face. "So... what should we do now?"

"Get out of the rain, that's what." Haruna said. She laughed and grabbed Tachimukai's hand, and together they ran back to the cabin.

As they ran, Tachimukai couldn't stop smiling. This had gone great, and he was starting to forget why he was so nervous about this in the first place. He owed a lot to Tsunami...

He'd thank him later.

-.-.-

Tsunami spotted Tachimukai and Haruna again, and this time they were a lot closer than they used to be. He raised an eyebrow, but he continued to watch them from his little spot in the ocean. Then he saw Tachimukai bend down a bit, and he looked like he was... kissing Haruna. And not just a quick peck- this looked like serious business. Tsunami resisted the urge to call out to his friend, and he clamped a hand over his mouth. Just an hour or two earlier he was terrified of meeting up with her, and now this? The wind was starting to pick up and it had just started raining, and Tsunami wondered why they were still out in the open doing – you know. He wasn't enjoying the weather now (and that was saying something, since Tsunami didn't care about the weather as long as he was in the ocean) and he had no idea how they could possibly enjoy it either.

"AHHH!" Tsunami screamed. He must have underestimated the strength of the waves now, for a wave had just washed over him and he found that he was being tossed around the ocean like a piece of trash, struggling to keep his head above the water. He had no idea where he was going... heck, he didn't even know if he was right side up or not. But he was used to this feeling, as he was knocked from his surfboard many times in the past. He just hoped he didn't end up anywhere near Tachimukai... he'd never hear the end of it. Soon, his head resurfaced for a bit, and just as he took a breath he was back under. Tsunami felt around for his goggles – but they had been pushed off his face. He just closed his eyes tightly and hoped for the best.

His head resurfaced again, and this time he was glad to find that he was face-side up and looking at the sky. He was also surprised to find that the water he was in wasn't that deep – he was on his back and the water just washed over his stomach a bit. But he was horrified at the same time, because over to his right he noticed two pairs of shoes and their very shocked – and angry – owners.

"Tsunami!" One of them screamed. Only it wasn't Tachimukai. Or Haruna.

"Natsumi-san?" Tsunami said. He splashed around in an attempt to sit up. Natsumi clenched her fists and walked up to Tsunami, and unfortunately he wasn't fast enough on all fours to get away.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Natsumi demanded. She loomed over him, and Tsunami opened his mouth to say something.

"I uh, was out for a swim!" he said. "And I guess the waves were too much for me tonight, so I'm really sorry I washed up on you two and I swear I didn't see anything and I just want to go now-" but just as he scrambled to his feet, Natsumi grabbed a handful of his hair.

"Oh, no. You're not going anywhere until-"

"Eh, Natsumi?" The other person walked up to her, and Tsunami was surprised to see who it was.

"Hey... aren't you the goalkeeper from the Cotarl team?" Tsunami asked. "Rococo, right?"

The other person nodded and smiled. "Yep! You must be from the Japan team if Natsumi knows you. And speaking of Natsumi... Why are you so upset?"

Natsumi frowned. "Didn't you see him? He just.. well, he interrupted us!"

"I didn't mean to, I swear!" Tsunami said. "I think you kids are a little young for that sort of thing though-" Natsumi's hold tightened. "Can you please let go of my hair now?"

"No."

"C'mon, Natsumi, let him go. I'm sure he didn't mean to wash up right here. Besides, it's getting pretty nasty out. Do you really want to stand out in this?" Rococo said.

Natsumi gave Tsunami a hard look and sighed, letting go of his hair as she did so. "Alright, fine. But I still think it's kind of fishy that he'd be swimming out now in this terrible weather."

"What can I say? A man of the ocean is quite dedicated." Tsunami said with a smirk. "And if it's so terrible out here, then what are you doing out here?"

"I recommend that you leave when you still can," Natsumi said.

Tsunami knew better than to argue with her. He bowed to both of them and headed back to the cabins, running as fast as he could. While it hadn't been Tachimukai... he figured that running into him couldn't have been as bad as this.

"Wait... I don't trust that kid!" Natsumi called.

Oh great.

-.-.-

When the two of them had returned to the cabin, Tachimukai had suggested that they go to the kitchen and talk for a while. And this time, he was positive that they'd be all alone. The kitchen work was done and all the food was gone, so everyone would be up in their rooms.

The two of them sat across from each other at a table and chatted, and Tachimukai was having a good time. Talking with Haruna was always fun, but this time seemed different. In a good way, of course.

"Now... I'm wondering what I should call you." Haruna said.

"Eh?" Tachimukai didn't really understand the question at first. "You'd just call me by my name, of course."

"Yes, I know that. But... which one?"

"What do you mean- oh." Tachimukai blushed a bit. "Uh... you can call me Yuuki, if you want too."

Haruna smiled. "I think I will. You know, I've always liked that name. Yuuki..."

"You don't have to say it that much..." Tachimukai said. But hearing his name sounded nice. A girl had never called him by it before... aside from his own mother, of course. And hearing Haruna say it was even nicer.

They continued to talk for a while, but Tachimukai stopped when he heard a noise.

"What is it?" Haruna asked.

"I thought I heard..." A door opened, and several voices were now audible.

"And you had better stay in there! I don't want to see you out there again tonight, you little spy-"

"Natsumi! Just... let him go."

"Thank you! I'll see you two around then!"

"No you will not!"

The door closed, and Tachimukai frowned. If that was who he thought it was...

"Tsunami! Why were you outside?" Tachimukai asked as the surfer walked past the kitchen.

"Oh... hi you two! I take it everything went well out there?" Tsunami asked. "Hi, Haruna!"

"Um... hello."

"Hey, answer my question!" Tachimukai demanded. "Why were you out there?" If he had been spying... It actually seemed pretty likely. But Tachimukai had a feeling he didn't get the exact results he had wanted.

"Oh... just a late night swim." he flashed him a smile. "I wanted to squeeze one in. The weather's gonna be pretty nasty, so who knows when I can get out again?"

"Sure you were." Tachimukai said. "I don't think that's the only reason."

Tsunami waved a hand at him. "You're starting to sound like Natsumi."

"Wait... that was Natsumi-san out there?" Haruna asked.

"Ha, yeah it was. I kinda washed up on her and she wasn't really happy about it-"

"So you were spying!" Tachimukai said. "Tsunami... even after I asked you not to?"

Tsunami frowned. "Hey, when you say it like that it sounds... I'm sorry."

"You should be! I thought you'd give me a little more respect..." Tachimukai started.

"What's going on here, exactly?"

All three of the people in the dining room turned to the door and noticed a very tired looking Kidou, complete with the absence of his goggles and cape. He had his arms crossed, and his eyes shifted from Haruna to Tachimukai and back to Haruna.

"Oh, Onii-chan," Haruna said. "What are you doing down here?"

"I was going to get a drink." he said. "What are you doing down here?" he aimed the last sentence at Tachimukai, who went a whole new shade of red.

"Um. Well, I was just..." Haruna said. She smiled sheepishly and bowed her head. Tachimukai found himself doing the same. He had forgotten all about Kidou...

Tsunami looked like he was getting a real kick out of the whole scene. "Oh man... well, you three have fun down here! I'm just goin' on up to bed... let me know if anything good happens!" with a laugh, he turned and headed for the stairs.

Kidou frowned. "I'm pretty tired now. You two can tell me all about this tomorrow morning." he bid Haruna goodnight and gave Tachimukai a hard look before heading up to his own room.

Tachimukai sighed. Tomorrow's breakfast was going to be fun.

"Um... sorry about him. You know, he's kind of... yeah." Haruna apologized.

"Oh, it's okay. I mean, it's not your fault..." Tachimukai said.

Haruna shrugged. "Well... maybe we should be getting to bed, too." she held out her hand for Tachimukai, but he just stared at it. "What?"

"Um... what if..."

Haruna rolled her eyes. "Oh, relax. No one's going to see us." she took his hand, and together they left the dining room. Haruna led them up the stairs and to her room, and she paused before she opened the door.

"Goodnight, Yuuki." she said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight." Tachimukai said. Haruna then entered her room and closed the door behind her. Tachimukai started walking to his own room, and on his way he smiled.

The Kidou issue aside, he knew he was going to sleep well that night.

-.-.-

AN

Here's part two! I think I got a little carried away with the POVs... heh. Well, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Icee Suicune