A Day at the Beach

Yumiko watched Rizuka carefully, eyes just barely above the water line
as she snuck her way over to the red headed girl who was standing in
the warm water, looking out of place. Slowly, ever so slowly, she
reached out. Suddenly, Rizuka went under the water as Yumiko yanked on
the poor girl's leg, successfully dunking her.

Rizuka surfaced, sputtering, with a look of surprised outrage on her
face. Her expression was too funny, and Yumiko couldn't help doubling
over as she laughed loudly. Eyes closed in mirth, she didn't notice
Rizuka approaching her until it was too late.

Yumiko went flying from the quick shove and, with a loud squeal, disappeared under a
brilliantly timed wave. She stumbled to her feet, dumping her ears
clear of water, only to see Rizuka standing there with a strange look
on her face. Suddenly, the newest addition to the group emitted bright
peals of laughter that made Yumiko grin as well. Well, at least until
the next huge wave knocked her onto her arse once more.

Reimi blinked as she looked up at Neku before smiling. She held the water in her hands before it fell ut between them when she went to wrap around his arm.

"She's very sweet...is she your sister?" Yuki said.

"Well, I guess you could say that."

Neku blinked and grinned at Reimi behind his scarf. He gazed back at Yuki before holding out his hand, pointing at himself with another small smile, which, again, couldn't be seen in view "Still, thanks. I'm Neku, leader of this lil' crew of mine, nice ta' meet ya!"

Yuki smiled. "I'm Misaki Yuki. It's a pleasure to meet you." she said kindly.

Hisagi rubbed the back of his head. "Jeez...this is turning out to be a weird day..." he muttered to himself.

Reimi blinked as she looked out to the otehr three. She tugged onto Neku's arm and pointed to them, wanting to play with them.

"Huh? Oh!"

Neku turned and grinned, beckoning the rest of the crew over. Without a word a muscular blonde walked up from the water with a dripping wet redhead and a rather beautiful girl, who strangely, still wore a hat. The spiky haired blonde looked at them with cool and calm blue eyes before crossing his arms, awaiting for his "boss" to speak

The orange haired teen put his hand on Reimi's shoulder and smiled "Lil' sis here wants us to have fun together, so why don't we see if we can get her to grin!" He finished as Axel nodded and walked past Cloud, bending down to meet Reimi before he spoke

"Sure, we'll have some fun, or my name isn't Axel!"

He stood up before turning to Yuki and Hisagi, smirking

"Got it memorized?"

Yuki couldn't help but chuckle. "My, what a strange family you are." she said.

"Feh...more weirdos..." Hisagi muttered under his breath.

"Now Hisagi, that's rude." Yuki said, flicking his forehead.

"Itai! He was the one who tried to kill me over an accident!" Hisagi argued, crossing his arms and turning his back to all of them.

Reimi smiled before jumping up and latching her arms around Axel's arm. "Memorized!" she said with a smile.

"Emo boy-say-what." muttered Neku under his breath. Oh it was an accident, that he knew, but he just felt really protective over the smaller girl. She was innocent, something rarely seen in the world, and he wanted to make sure he could protect that. Call him stupid, call him an idiot, call him whatever. It didn't matter, as long as they didn't touch Reimi!

Axel could only hide a small grin from what Reimi said. He himself didn't really get the world, or anything around him. But, he was learning, and that phrase had stuck with him since he had heard it from Neku. So to hear this small girl say it was pretty amazing, and almost sent a warm sensation through his unseen heart

A vein apepared on Hisagi's head, his eye twitching in annoyance. He was less than a second from turning around and yelling, but he didn't want another problem to arise.

Reimi blinked and tilted her head as she saw Axel smile before grinning herself.

"Laharl, Masataka! What are you two standing there like idiots for?" Yuki said, turning and waving at them. "Come on, let's have some fun!"

Masataka turned away and snorted. He couldn't be bothered. He came here to deal with Laharl, but there were too many people around to even try. Thus he waved her off and began to walk away, heading over to one of the many set up chairs for a nap. Sometimes he felt his age, and this was one of those times.

Ugh...

Laharl on the otherhand blinked before nodding, trailing after Yuki without a word. He gazed over to Neku and his group, watching as they laughed together before setting out to the water. He could scarcly hear the orange haired boy shout loudly as footsteps began echoing

"Last one in the water, sucks zetta hard!"

"You're SOOOOOOOOOOO boring, Masataka." Saikah slurred as she rest her chip on his head. "Don't be a dull old geezer and just have some fun..."

Reimi started to run towards the water, only to trip on the way and faceplanting into the sand. She rubbed the sand off her face and made a pout before shes tood up nd ran again, jumping into the water.

"You know...it would be nice if we could have fun like this all the time..." Yuki said as she watched Neku and his gang.

Masataka could only roll his eyes before he sighed. He turned into a blur of Shunpo before he appeared behind Saikah without a word, his arms coming to wrap around her in a soft hug. He never said a word as he did this, but the relaxed stance he had pretty much said it all. Either way, there was no deniying the small smile that tugged on his lips

Laharl gave a brief nod as he crossed his arms, hiding a small grin at her comment. It was true that it was a nice day, and seeing that kid having fun reminded how innocent those days were in the past. Suddenly a spark shone in his eyes as he turned to Yuki and an almost cheeky tic ran through him. Without giving her time to say anything he launched at her with intent to..

Dump her in the ocean!

"Zetta waves!"

Neku twitched as he fell of his board and landed on the sand, his hair limp from the water. Slowy but surely his scarf fell down to reveal his younge face, and his almost innocent grin

"That was just swweeeet!"

Saikah froze when he disapepared, only to flinch as he hugged her from behind. "Oh...? I didn't realize how you suddenly went boring to lovey dovey, braniac." She said, letting out a sigh. "...you know, you were a hell lot hotter when you fucked up that experiment that changed your look...why don't you go back now? Otherwise, that serious face will scare that poor kid away~~~"

"Oy!" Yuki said, kicking him away. "Don't think I won't py back for what you did with your shikai!" She said as she kicked up some sand at his face. "Take this, shrimp!" She shouted as she attempted to push him into the water.

Reimi started to pour handfuls of sand on his body. she tilted her head as his scarf fell off. Soon, she took the scarf and ran off with it, turning around while she ran and stuck her tongue out at Neku.

"...."

Masataka froze as he flinched violently, as if he was slapped. Suddenly he let go of Saikah and turned away, slowly walking away from the girl without a word. He didn't even comment when a small girl ran past him, nor when Ichigo asked where he was going. In a flash of extreme speed he was gone, and only a certain Goddess of Flash could keep track of him.

"Waaah!"

Laharl's eyes went wide as he was pushed in the water with a loud splash. After a few seconds he surfaced and narrowed his eyes at Yuki before he broke out in chuckles. He stood up and slowly brought up his hands, the water twitching beneath him. He smiled before he spoke, his hands clenching

"Hey, Yuki, surfs up!"

With that a section of water exploded outwards like a wave and began to fall over her

"WOAAAH, Reimi! Give me back my scarf! Not cool!"

Neku wagged his arms wildly before he began dashing after the girl, a red tint across his face

Saikah stared at Masataka leaving, raising an eyebrow. "I was just joking....sheesh, you take things to seriously..." she mumbled to herself as she sat in the chair and fell asleep.....more like passed out due to excess drinking.

"NANI?!" Yuki cried as the water fell over her. As it washed away, she was surrounded by a prism of sorts that immediately turned to sand. "Baka! Are you trying to drow me?!" she said with a chuckling. She dove after him, pushing him back into the water.

"Mine!" Reimi said as she continue to run away from him, a giant grin painted on her face. She got ot the water and saw the others near by. "Axel, help!" She said as she hid behind Axel, sticking her tongue out at Neku.

Laharl could only smile as he went flying into the water once again. His red eyes gazed up at her from the water, just looking at her with a hint of warm emotion. He didn't know what he was feeling right now, but it felt beautiful nonetheless. He couldn't help it. He had been gone so long, and had missed so much. It just felt good to see her again.

He finally smiled and held up his hand

"Nice try, but no."

A second wave grew up behind Yuki once again, though rather smaller than the last.

%%%%%

Neku could only sigh as he rubbed his seen face. It felt strange. He had always had something hiding the lower section of his features, and thus a feeling of embarrassment grew quickly. He looked at Axel pleadingly, who gave a simply nod and held out his hand for the scarf

"Reimi..? That's Neku's scarf.."

"Gah!" Yuki cried as the wave hit her. "Jerk! I swear, one of these days..." She said, getting out of the water, glaring at him. "You're gonna drown me at this rate!"

Reimi pout, holding the scarf closer and tigher. After a moment, she huffed and handed Axel the scarf.

Without a word Axel handed Neku his scarf and then turned back to watching the waves. The orange haired boy grasped the scarf and outfitted it around his face, making sure to get it right before he turned to Reimi and crossed his arms. His blue eyes gazed at her for a few passing seconds before he laughed and bent down, tapping her nose before turning away

"Time to eat!"

He suddenly froze.

Infront of him stood a figure, and he seemed to be smiling. Yet, Neku didn't like the feeling he got from the guy...

"Ara, ara. Forgive me, stranger-san, but I forgot to introduce myself."

&&&&&&

"Bleh."

Laharl smirked and put out his tounge to the girl before turning back to the sea. Suddenly his hands twitched and a glow overtook his body, water lashing wildly around him as his gained purple lines in a flash. He had activated Bankai sliently and grasped his transformed blade, pointing it at the sea. Without a word it was like the water had begun to dance for his amusement.

She flinched as Neku tapped her nose before blinking at the man infront of him. Tilting her head, she hid behind Axel. There was something about the stranger that made her feel really uneasy.

"Moron..." Yuki muttered, crossing her arms as she sat down on the sand.

"Oy...."

She blinked and looked behind her to see Saikah holding her head. It was obvious she was having the hangover of her life right now.

"Either if you know where Masataka went?" she managed to say.

"uhhhh...." Yuki turned back to Laharl with a questionable gaze.

Yumiko popped above the waves once more, nose dripping water and eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Aaaah, water up my nose!! It burns! Get it out! Get it out!!!"

Hikari, Saiyuki, and Rizuka clutched their stomachs, roaring with laughter as the white haired Zaraki snorted ocean water out of her nasal cavity, hopping up and down because it burned her throat and nose.

Eyes watering and nose clear of water, Yumiko glared at the girls and pouted.

"It's not funny!" she cried, childishly stomping her foot for emphasis, but soon lost her stern front and gave way to small giggles herself when she realized how silly she must have looked. "C'mon guys, stop it already!"

Laharl stood and then shook his head, turning as he silently put away his Zanpakuto. He gazed at Saikah for a few seconds before his eyes closed, his mind coming to focus. In a blink of an eye he tried to find any sign of the genius with senses, but could only find dust. The Takayanagi was nowhere in the vicinity, and he never even left a trail

"He's gone. I presume you pissed him off?" He chuckled and turned back to the sea without a another word on the matter.

&&&&&&&&

"Oro? Is something the matter? I'm Kenshin, that I am."

Neku could only stare before he held up his hand and pointed at the straw-hat on his head

"So...uncool."

"Probably..." Saikah muttered as she sat down on the sand. "Can't remember...I hope he didn't take whatever I said too seriously..."

"..."Yuki looked at Laharl. A smile crept up her mouth as she pushed him back into the water. "You're so boring!"

--------------------------------

Reimi walked up to Kenshin, tilting her head at Kenshin. She looked at his hat. "Un....cool...?"

"Boring? You shall regret those words, my dear..."

Laharl stood up and his hands began twitching again, a cheeky grin coming across his face as a spec of water behind him began to shift again. Slowly but surely the short-Shinigami began to grin, his eyes flashing with crafty intent

&&&&&&&&&

"....Oro?"

Kenshin could only stare wide-eyed as he took off his hat and looked at the teens. Neku stared back and grinned cheekily before patting Reimi's head, commenting offhand

"Yup, uncool! His hat is soooo uncool."

The elder Shinigami could only bow his head and sigh

"Ara, ara. I should feel insulted, but I don't."

"Oh, no you donT!" Yuki yeleld, pulling his ear. "One more Tsunami and I'll trap you as a statue!"

---------------------------------------------------

Reimi blinked again before taking the hat out of his hand and looking t it. She turned it around and looked at every part of it before putting it on her head.

"....."

Laharl blinked and thought about it for a second.

"Meh."

Down came a tsunami, falling over Yuki with a loud splash.

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Oh my."

Kenshin could only smile softly at the younge girl as she wore his hat. Neku on the otherhand could only put a hand on his face and shake his head. It looked so uncool. The rest of the gang didn't seem to be all that bothered on the other hand.

"YOU ASS!" Yuki shouted as she tsunami swept her. She glared at him as she came out of the water, completely drenched. "You're just lucky I can't kill you..."

-------------------------------------

Reimi turned to Neku, tilting her head in confusion at the way he had his hando n his face. "Uncool?" She said, frowning with eyes that seem like to cry, even though she was mearly frowning.