Our Beach Vacation

“How do you think I look?” I asked Miharu.

“Why are you in that?” She asked back.

I was looking in the mirror, admiring myself. I had recently decided to comb up my hair, which made my overall aesthetic a lot better. But the other thing of note was that I was in a brand new two-piece swimsuit I ordered recently.

It was a good color, red. I was admiring my figure too. I had to admit, my eating habits weren’t the best recently. But I guess I can’t complain that my metabolism was doing the heavy lifting for me. Plus, my job required me to move around a lot, so I guess that helped a bunch too.

Man. I haven’t felt this good about my looks in a long time. The extra money from the Yoshio job had allowed me to buy this swimsuit, and I was killing it. Miharu kept on staring at me for some reason, maybe she was just in awe of how I looked too.

“I mean. I don’t understand why you’d need to order a swimsuit for the job. Does someone need help at the beach?” Miharu asked.

“Well, we are going to the beach. But not for work. We’re going there for fun! I’ve been working hard these past weeks, so I think I deserve to treat myself with a beach day.”

Yamiyami wasn’t fully a coastal city, but there was a beach very close by. It was a pretty popular location for the locals, and there were even nice bustling food stands and games from what I remembered. I was mostly just looking for a place to relax.

“Right. And what about me?” Miharu asked. I looked at her a little bit confused, because I thought the answer was obvious.

“Well, you’re coming with me to the beach, right?” I asked back.

“Uh. I’m a ghost? I can’t really even interact with the world. I dunno if there’s anything for me to even do at the beach,” Miharu pouted.

Oh. Now I felt a little bit bad, as I hadn’t really considered that. But I didn’t want to sacrifice my trip to the beach either. “Come on, I’m sure there’s a lot of things you can do at the beach. So cheer up, I’ll let you possess me so you can experience things as well. Though first, we’ll need to get you into more fitting attire.”

“I’m still a ghost. I can’t just put on a swimsuit,” Miharu said.

“But you can shift that apparitional body of yours around. It’s like how you give me that cloak. Come on, let’s try it.”

Miharu rolled her eyes at my suggestion, but she caved in anyways. I was right. As a ghost, her clothes were kind of like part of her body, and she could morph it in any way she pleased. A few changes, a few tweaks, and I came up with something that we were both satisfied with.

It was a pink two-piecer. I liked two-piecers. A frilly top and a skirt bottom that made her look pretty cute, as especially as she floated there next to me. Miharu’s form was actually pretty shapely too, which complimented my own pretty nicely. We looked like two popular girls in school now. That was a feeling that I hadn’t had like, ever.

“See, it’s great. We look great,” I told Miharu. “Now, let me just put on some clothes over this and we’ll head to the beach. Our first vacation day is about to begin!”

***

Yamiyami had a pretty fun beach. There were lots of things to do, a great big and blue ocean, and lots of pretty guys and girls all about. I was a bit worried that a ghost at a beach would look a little bit out of place, but with all of the spirits hovering around the area, we didn’t look strange at all.

“Do you want to get some ice cream?” I asked Miharu, who was floating over me as I sunbathed on my back in my towel.

“I can’t eat,” Miharu responded.

I tied my swimsuit top back up and stood up from my rest. “That’s not a problem, I’ll let you possess me so you can share my taste buds.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. We can already share our eyes, hearing, and touch. So, why not taste?”

“Huh. I’m surprised I never thought of that. Then, sure. I’ll try some ice cream, it’s been a long time since I’ve had any.”

“Sweet.”

With a thumbs up, the two of us went to find an ice cream stand nearby the beach. It took a little bit of walking, but eventually we came across a small truck. With that, I ordered some ice cream. I’m a vanilla girl myself, but Miharu asked for chocolate. The frost elemental lady gave us our orders, and we turned around to enjoy our meal.

Though, we heard a little something before we began eating.

“Thank you my little dollies, be sure to catch me at the live show this weekend! Mwah!”

A familiar voice caught both of our attention before we began eating. Looking over, we saw a short girl with porcelain eyes smiling into a selfie stick, before turning over back to me. Her hair was long and fluffy, and she was in a purple one-piece.

“Is that Shiori?” Miharu asked me.

“Seems so,” I affirmed. “What a coincidence that we’d find her here.”

“You should talk to her. I wonder what she’s been up to lately, plus we still need to thank her for that shoutout,” Miharu said. I didn’t mind, so I headed up towards her and tapped on her shoulder.

“Yo.”

“Oh, Akina! It’s been a long time! How has the business been going?” Shiori turned around and threw her arms around me. Her shortness made it a little bit awkward, but it felt nice to be hugged like this.

“It’s… good to meet you too, Shiori. Thanks for the shoutout, things have been going well,” I said, letting her grab me and basically lift me up into the air. This girl was weirdly strong, especially since she said her magic wasn’t combat related.

“That’s great, that’s great. What about you, Miharu?” Shiori asked, looking at the ghost girl floating next to me.

“Mostly fine. We’re helping as many people as we can, because justice never sleeps,” Miharu said confidently. “What about you?”

“I was just doing a beach livestream. They get the most views for a reason,” Shiori winked and did a pose. “Gotta get people hyped for my upcoming live show, here in Yamiyami!”

“You’re doing a live show?” I asked, curious.

“Yup! All here, and half of the city is coming as well. You better believe it. Though, actually, since you’re here. I guess I wouldn’t mind paying you for another job.”

“Another job?”

“You and another friend of mine can be working for me as my personal guard. Keeping me safe from any unruly audience members or anything. Just make sure the entire show goes smoothly.”

I had to think about that for a moment. That seemed incredibly stressful, and if half of the city was going to be there, then there was going to be a lot to do. I’ve never taken this kind of job before…

“Sure! Anything for a friend!” Miharu made my decision for me.

“Miharu…” I sighed.

“What? She’s our first client, and she needs some help. Plus, it’s a pretty high profile job anyways so…”

“Great, your pay will be around one hundred and fifty thousand yen for the event, if that’s alright with you,” Shiori said.

My eyes immediately lit up when I heard the money reward. “Oh, yes. Absolutely ma’am. We’re always behind you.”

Miharu let out a sigh at my reaction, though I thought it was fair. However, she had one more question to ask. “You said a friend was coming along. Just, who exactly?”

“Oh, I was just talking to her earlier. She said she needed to go use the bathroom so…”

“Why doesn’t the beach clean the bathrooms? It’s a total mess and it stinks and it feels like some girls are just wild anima-”

A woman walked towards us in a black X-shaped bikini top and bottom. Her sharpened teeth, her feral look, her long black hair were all familiar.

““Azana?!””

“You!”

We pointed at each other. Azana’s nails immediately sharpened in a threatening maneuver, as we stared each other down.

“Oh, you already know each other? That’s good!” Shiori said innocently. “You both are gonna be working as my bodyguards, so that saves me the effort of introductions.”

“It’s less we know each other and more she tried to kill us…” Miharu said, awkwardly.

“And we’re business rivals! She made a fool of me back at the charity drive!” I added on.

“No? Are you dense? That was all your own fault. Don’t blame your pathetic failings on me,” Azana said. “And I have to work with you now?”

“Likewise. I don’t know why Shiori hired your incompetent ass for the job when I’m obviously way more qualified,” I shot back.

“You’ve been flailing by the seat of your pants ever since you got into this city. I’m not looking forward to having to babysit your stupidity.”

“You’re stupid.”

“No you are.”

Both of us began growling at each other, before Shiori walked in between us and pat us both on the head. It was a little bit patronizing, but we both calmed down.

“Now, now. No need to be childish,” Shiori said. “I’m sure you’re both professionals and can do this job fine. I’m inviting you both because I like having you guys around, so… can you both please get along. For me. Please?”

I sighed, and Miharu looked at me. I guess I would have to cooperate with this annoying soulhunter for the sake of my client. “Fine.”

“Whoever performs better gets a bonus,” Azana smugly suggested.

““What?”” Both Miharu and Shiori looked at her weirdly. But, I was down for that.

“Sure. I’d like more free money,” I responded.

“G-Guys…” Miharu said. “We should be focusing on the client here…”

“Well, I suppose competition breeds success. Though, uh. No sabotage. If any of you sabotage then I’m going to dock the bonus from you,” Shiori cleared up.

“Tch,” I gritted my teeth. There goes plan one. Well, we’re going to try our best anyways. I don’t think I’ll have a more satisfied client. “Well, thanks for the bonus. Miharu and I are gonna mess you up.”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” Azana responded.

Now, this was personal.