Huge Splash

“Haru, there's no need to rush. Just be gentle with me.”

“Are you sure you’re ok with this?”

“Yeah let me help you loosen my top.”

“No, just leave it. I’m almost done anyway.”

“Wow… that was a lot quicker than I thought it would be.”

“How long was I supposed to take to put sunscreen on that small delicate back of yours?”

“I just expected you to try to drag it out and use the opportunity to start flirting.”

“I’m trying my best to behave today, but I must admit that the swimsuit you’re wearing looks great on you.”

She looks over at him with a vulnerable expression across her face.

“Haru, would you mind going all the way down until you get my legs too?”

He immediately gets excited and picks the sunscreen back up.

“Yeah I can do that.”

Just as he starts ogling her body, she tosses a sunscreen spray can at him.

“Thanks a bunch, just make sure you use this one instead.”

She bursts out in laughter.

“Aww you didn’t think I meant for you to use your hands did you?”

“Well I’m certainly open to that option if it's available.”

“Oh I know. I saw those eyes of yours wandering. You’ll have to finish that little fantasy of yours in your dreams.”

You must enjoy teasing me huh?

I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I do enjoy having your undivided attention sometimes as long as it's on my terms. You know, just for a mere moment.

He gives her an unamused glare.

You sound like a house cat that asks to be pet and then scratches you.

Hey! I guess that doesn’t sound too far off from me.

She smirked as he finished spraying her legs.

“So what is it that you have planned today Haru?”

“What makes you think I have anything more than this planned?”

She rolls her eyes.

“Of course you would have more than just this planned, you won't miss a single chance for us to try out something thrilling.”

He smiles and snickers.

“Ok you caught me. I may have two things I wanted us to do. Whenever you're done sunbathing of course.”

“We’ve been here long enough, let's get started with your shenanigans.”

“Great, let's just find a spot where no one will be in our way. Oh right over there! Come on Minori.”

Now at the more secluded part of the beach, they began their usual prep with the help of Minori’s magic.

“Here are the pictures of things we need.”

He hands her his cellphone with a preorganized folder of pictures on screen.

“So you need fourteen of these buoy things?”

“Yup, five yellow ones, five red ones, and 4 checkered ones.”

“Why exactly so many though?”

“We need them to navigate the course layout.”

“We could just go straight.”

She rolled her eyes as she continued making the buoys anyway. She then made a pair of jet skis with life jackets to match. Hers was decorated with a chibi styled grim reaper and his with a takoyaki octopus mascot with a shriveled up face.

“Oh don’t tell me you’re still sour over that little prank I pulled on you a few days ago?”

She made a highly expressive face in order to childishly mimic him speaking before she stuck her tongue out at him.

It was too adorable for Haru to remain composed. His face lit up as he laughed at her expression.

“Aww I told you I promised not to do anything like that again.”

“Yeah yeah but that doesn’t change the fact that it happened.”

“Well if you beat me at the competitions we will be doing today I’ll delete that picture.”

“That sounds good, but what happens if I lose?”

A devious smile grew on his face.

“Well I was thinking that you might be so kind as to spend a night camping with me in a few days?”

“Overnight? I’ll agree to your terms since I won't be letting you beat me anyway.”

“Well just have to wait and see about that.”

Haru takes off in the jet ski with the buoys in tow so he can prepare the obstacle course.

“Ok Minori I’m going to explain the rules of this race really quick so we can get this loss of yours over with.”

“Just shut up and explain.”

“The course starts between these two checkered buoys and finishes between the other pair at the end. The red buoy indicates a left turn and the yellow buoy is for a right turn. We’ll start off side by side and I’ll let you do the countdown. Just try not to crash or flip.”

“You must have forgotten that it was you that miserably lost our last race. “

“That was just some freak accident. This time it’ll be different.”

“Haha. Let's just get started. One!”

“Wait, are we starting on three or go!”

“Two!”

“Minori!”

“Three!”

Minori took advantage of his confusion and sped off for a head start with him following behind.

“Oh, someone doesn’t care about cheating today.”

They took off bouncing along the current like two giant skipping stones. With the wind in their hair and water splashing from each other's jet skis, they serpentined through the buoys one by one. Despite her head start they remained neck and neck for the majority of the course all the way through the finish line.

“ I can’t believe you couldn’t beat me with that head start you cheated with.”

“You and I both.”

“So why don’t we break the draw with our next activity.”

“Ok should we go back to shore first?”

“Nope this is the perfect spot. Do you know the basics of kendo?”

“We are literally in the middle of the ocean right now Haru! Where would we possibly have a duel?”

“Don’t worry about that part. So you understand the basics right?”

“Yeah yeah I do, but I can’t make a floating dojo with my magic. So I hope that wasn’t your plan.”

“That would be cool but my idea is better. Can you alter the materials of the items you make?”

“Yeah as long as it's a feasible option.”

“Cool, is it ok if I try writing it out this time?”

“I’ll let you try it out just for today, but don’t make me regret it.”

She transforms her kanzashi into its brush form and hands it to him. He turns away from her and starts writing away.

“Thank you Minori. Here, take all of this.”

He handed her back her brush along with a kendo helmet, a flyboard, and a shinai made of the same cylindrical foam as a pool noodle.

“What in the world is all this?”

“I never said it would be a normal kendo duel. I think I’m going to call this ocean kendo. I outfitted the handle of the shinai with the flyboard remote control. Now we just need to connect the hoses to the jet skis and we can use the flyboard to float around for our duel.”

“So is the entire ocean within bounds?”

“We can count crashing into the water as out of bounds.”

“Ok I hope you’re ready to lose.”

They flew around a bit diving in and out of the water in order to get used to their maneuverability before entering their starting positions in front of each other.

“Let's start.”

They flew past each other striking and guarding as if they were fighting to the death. Haru eventually began to recognize her fighting pattern and got a whopping 17 valid strikes on her.

“Ha! I told you that You would be the one losing today.”

Minori glared over at him as she released a hand from her shinai in order to grab her kanzashi. Before he could even say anything she lunged at him as it transformed into her scythe. Slicing through the air below him she cut off the hose connecting the flyboard to the jet ski which caused Haru to crash into the water below making a huge splash.

“See I was just using the wrong weapon!”

“You are such a sore loser. I hope you know that I still won. And that means I get to keep my picture. And we’ll be having a nice camping trip soon too.”

“Yeah I know. I just wanted to get at least one point in before we head back to shore. This was definitely a lot of fun though.”

“Yeah I had a lot of fun too, and not just because I beat you so badly.”

“Do you think we can try something underwater next time?”

“Yeah of course, why don’t we do that tomorrow?”

“Sounds like a great plan to me!”