THE GREAT SHIZUMA
Chapter Eight
The Beach!
When Yaya was a first year she never knew about the summer trip to the beach until it was too late. By the time she had found out, she was already doing horribly in her classes. So the little brunette couldn't go, and had to attend summer school. Had she known about the trip earlier, she would have done better. And so in her second year at Spica, she pulled herself together and got to go to the beach.
This year, her fourth year, was a fairly special year to go to the beach. She would be rooming with Tsubomi. Last year, she roomed with Hikari. It had been a bittersweet experience as she had had feelings for the baby-faced blonde, but the blonde had not been for her.
This year, however, would be one hundred percent sweetness. This would be the first time that Yaya and Tsubomi room together. Staying in a room with her overnight, thought Yaya, who knows what she and I could do? She couldn't stop a smile spreading across her blushing face.
"What are you grinning about?" Tsubomi asked next to her on the bus.
Yaya snickered. "I'm still laughing at how you nearly fell down the stairs this morning."
Tsubomi huffed. "Will you stop going on about that? I wasn't about to fall."
"Yeah, you were. Missing a step, squealing, and grabbing fast at the banister falls within the definition of 'nearly falls down the stairs.'"
A pause. Then, Tsubomi: "…What?"
"I said . . . Uhmm . . . What was I saying? I forget…"
The pink-haired Spican turned her attention back toward the window, sighing, "Yaya-senpai is such an idiot…"
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot," Yaya laughed heartily as she threw her arm about her kohai s shoulders. She was happy. She couldn't remember a time when she was so exuberantly happy. Tsubomi scowled and muttered something about the other girls on the bus and public displays of affection. This only made Yaya happier as her heart swelled with a deeply felt warmth for the little pinkette. "Aw, c'mere, you little wiseass! I love you!"
Tsubomi gave a startled squeak as Yaya pulled her close. The second year warmed up to the embrace before pulling away, murmuring, "I think we should wait until we're alone in our room before engaging in such lewd acts."
Yaya laughed. "Tsubomi-chan, if you think a cuddle is lewd, how blasphemous will you find what we're going to do one of these nights?"
Tsubomi's jaw dropped and the older girl laughed harder. Once again, Yaya had rendered the second grader completely speechless. Tsubomi hated it when she did that. Blushing, she turned away, dismissing their argument.
---
The two Spicans hadn't been in their room long when Chikaru came in. The Lulim President bore with her her Bristol pad, her pencils, and her astrology book.
Yaya shut her suitcase and straightened. "Hey, there," she greeted with a friendly smile.
"Hey, Yaya-chan. Tsubomi-chan." She stretched her arms and sighed happily. "Ah, how I love this time of year. The fresh air is so sweet here. It's like there's different air here than in Astraea Hill." She set her astrology book down on Tsubomi's nightstand. "Not why I'm here, though, in your room." She held up her Bristol pad. "I'm working on a portfolio for college and I'd like to sketch both of you. Do you mind?"
"Not at all," Yaya responded.
"…Tsubomi-chan?" asked Chikaru.
"Sure," the young Spican replied with a smile.
"Great. Thanks." Chikaru sat down on a chair and opened up her Bristol pad. "Which one of you will be first?"
The two Spicans looked at each other. Yaya raised her shoulders in a small shrug. Tsubomi raised her hand: "I'll go."
"Alright," Chikaru smiled as Yaya seated herself on Tsubomi's bed. "I'd like you to pose for me."
"Um, okay." This was going to be awkward. "Any particular pose you have in mind?"
"Yes, actually. I want you to sort of lean forward aggressively, paw the floor with your foot. Oh, and affect a scary look on your face. Not ugly-scary, but still, like, 'Grr, I'll eat you.'"
Yaya laughed. "Chikaru-san, you don't have to instruct Tsubomi to do that. She scares people with her face all the time!"
"I do not!" Tsubomi protested, hands on her hips.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Chikaru exclaimed. "Hold it!"
The pinkette held her pose, and continued to bicker with Yaya.
"I'm not scary. I'm…totally loveable."
"Yeah? So how DID Julius Caesar go? I heard you had the first years scared shitless."
Tsubomi huffed. "I demand a second opinion. Those are lies! Dirty ones! Who told you that I scared the first years?"
"Kizuna-chan."
"Well . . . She lied."
"I dunno, Tsubomi-chan, it's not so far-fetched," Yaya chuckled. "Those first years are impressionable, and your face is a fright sometimes, even to me."
"My face is a fright? Hah! I saw your face in a horror movie once; it gave my grandfather a heart attack!"
"My face is lovely. I don't know what you're talking about. The Nantos are a beautiful family."
"They still don't compete with the stately Okuwakas, that's for sure."
"Pfft. The Okuwakas are nothing but a bunch of cut-up-hotdog faces. You're a prime example."
"You've only met me from the Okuwaka clan."
"Yeesh," Yaya cringed. "If they're sending you as their representative, they must be a hideous bunch."
"This coming from... from... slobberchops herself." Tsubomi was having a hard time coming up with insults. Yaya laughed.
"I know I'm gorgeous. My great-grandmother once said, 'Show me a beautiful Nanto and I can die happy.' So Mom and Dad brought me to her. She's still living!"
"At least I'm not an idiot. You have to be the world's stupidest person in history!"
"So, I have a question," said Chikaru. "Are all your arguments this dumb? As a third party, I can say that you both sound pretty stupid."
The two Spicans fell silent, their faces bright red. Tsubomi inquired, "Erm, Chikaru-senpai? Why do you want me to pose like this?"
"It's part of my theme."
The second year raised an eyebrow. "Which is...?"
"Astrology."
Yaya noticed the book on Tsubomi's nightstand. She grabbed it and flipped through it as Chikaru continued to explain.
"Tsubomi-chan, your birthday is May 16th. That makes you a Taurus."
"...The sign of the bull," Yaya observed, flipping to the chapter about Taurus. She read it aloud. "Taurus is quiet, affectionate, patient, stable, determined and practical, stubborn and resistant to change. Well, that last part is certainly true." She read a bit to herself, and then laughed. "Okay, listen to this: Living with Taurus isn't always easy. You can be dogmatic, secretive, stingy, and suspicious... Everybody knows you have a temper."
Tsubomi fumed, but held her silence. If she reacted, Yaya would only laugh more.
Chikaru nodded. "There's a lot to be said about the bull symbolizing Taurus. A bull can be a truly kind animal until you antagonize it. In that light, Taurus people can be the sweetest so-and-so's around until you cross them. The key trait to a Taurus is his or her disinclination to forgive."
"Have you read this whole book?" Tsubomi asked. "Cover to cover?"
The Lulim President shook her head. "I've just read bits about each sun sign, enough to get me by."
Yaya hummed. "This is interesting. Listen to this-"
"Is it another barb against my 'temper?'" the pinkette asked hotly. "'Cause if it is, I don't want to hear it."
"It's not," said the fourth year. "Apparently, different signs in the zodiac rule different parts of the body. Taurus rules the neck and throat. It says: 'Many Taurus people have beautiful singing and speaking voices.' Interesting, considering you're in choir."
"That is interesting."
"That book," said Chikaru, "can also tell you what diseases you're more likely to get, based on your sign. Since Taurus rules the throat, people born under that sign may get colds or laryngitis. Also, since Taurus rules the neck, that is his or her erogenous zone."
Yaya smirked. It was true. She herself had noticed that whenever she and Tsubomi hugged, the younger girl had a tendency to elongate her neck. During an embrace once, Yaya had nuzzled Tsubomi's neck, and she gave a positive reaction to it. It was almost scary how accurate astrology can be.
"What about you, Yaya-chan?" the second year asked. "What parts of the body does your sign rule?"
Yaya flipped to the Scorpio chapter, looked for the section on health. She read it to herself and suddenly exploded with laughter.
"What's so funny?" Tsubomi asked.
"'Part of the body ruled by Scorpio: the genitals.'"
"Hm. I guess we know what diseases YOU'RE susceptible to."
"Yaya-chan," said Chikaru. "Would you like to pose now?"
"Sure." She passed the book to Tsubomi and stood before Chikaru.
The Lulim President nibbled her pencil eraser pensively. "Your pose has to suggest Scorpio... Don't pose like that!" she laughed as Yaya struck a tarty pose with her hand between her legs. The sight made Tsubomi's cheeks flush and her nose bleed.
---
The beach house they were all staying at was two stories high. On the first floor was the living room and the kitchen; both in one room. There were two sets of stairs on opposite ends of the room. One of them led to the dorms in which the girls from Spica stayed. The other led to the rooms for Miator and Lulim. They all shared the living room/kitchen.
That night Yaya and Tsubomi padded through the main room on cat's feet to the Miator/Lulim side. They were going to meet Chiyo and go to Tamao and Nagisa's room for tea. The rules regarding the curfew were a lot less strict at the beach, but still, no one wants to get caught outside her room in the middle of the night.
Tsubomi knocked on the door and Chiyo immediately threw it open.
"Oh, it's just you," she frowned.
Yaya affected an expression of mock hurt. "Well… It's just you, too."
"Are you gonna come with us for tea?" Tsubomi asked.
Chiyo smiled. "Sorry, ladies, but I won't be going. I've got a hot date tonight."
The two Spicans exchanged a glance. Date? Since when did Chiyo date? No one even knew she liked anybody, except maybe Nagisa.
Yaya asked, "A hot date with some collage you're working on?"
Chiyo shook her head.
"A hot date with a two-thousand-piece puzzle depicting the Bluenose II?" Tsubomi asked.
The Miator librarian rolled her blue eyes. "Okay, you mean it's never occurred to you that I might actually have a date?"
They immediately jumped in with responses.
"Oh no! It's not like that at all! Eheheheh…"
"You're a hell of a catch!"
"Damn fine woman, Chiyo, damn fine."
Chiyo huffed and donned her jacket. "Whatever. I have to go meet her out at the beach now, so move over, bitches." And she walked off.
Yaya and Tsubomi watched her go until she disappeared down the stairs. The younger girl looked at her senpai inquiringly. Yaya shrugged and they made their way to Tamao and Nagisa's room.
"She totally just swore at us!" Tsubomi whispered, incredulous.
"So? I swear at you all the time. It's not like it should offend you at this point."
"I'm not offended by it, you doof," the pink-haired girl scowled. "But, you know, it's Chiyo! She doesn't swear. She told me herself when we were first years that she had taken a vow of abstinence from swearing."
"Well, obviously, she's decided to break her vow."
"And this doesn't worry you?"
Yaya shook her head. "I'm more curious about this 'hot date.'"
"Me, too!" Tsubomi hissed, her topaz eyes bright. "Do you think there's a connection? Between the date and the swearing?"
The older girl shrugged. "Possibly. Maybe this girl's a bad influence on Chiyo-chan."
They fell silent for a moment, the recent event weighing heavily on their brains. When Tsubomi next spoke, she voiced the thought on both hers and Yaya's minds.
"Who is this mysterious girl?"
---
The next day was a beautiful one - warm, but with an occasional cool breeze made it better. Chikaru was right about what she said about the air. It was fresh and sweet, so sweet, and so pleasant to breathe. Naturally, everybody changed into bathing suits and headed out to the beach.
Kizuna and Remon tried to go surfing, but couldn't because the waves weren't so big today. Kagome and Chiyo went on a hunt for the numerous pink rocks that decorated the shore. Shion and Chikaru sat under an umbrella; the former doing MadLibs, the latter working on her sketches. Tamao and Nagisa went for a walk along the shoreline. And Yaya and Tsubomi sat together under their own umbrella - Yaya was sleeping, and Tsubomi was reading Of Mice and Men.
The pink-haired Spican became aware of a presence to the right of her. She looked up, up, up right into the narrow eyes of Kenjou Kaname. Tsubomi forced a smile and muttered a shy hello.
Rather than saying hello back, Kaname kneeled and said, "Tell me something. Do you know what Archimedes' Principle is?" She didn't wait for Tsubomi to answer. "Well, I'll tell you. According to Archimedes' Principle, the faster air moves, the lower the pressure. Inversely, the slower air moves, the higher the pressure." Kaname got a creepy grin on her face. "So imagine how formidable the pressure would be in a vacuum. Do you know what would happen if you take off your helmet in outer space?"
"Your head would implode," Tsubomi interrupted. "I know."
Kaname frowned.
"Kaname-kun!" Momomi approached her from behind. "What are you doing?"
"Just…making intellectual conversation with this nice young lady…"
The brown-haired girl looked at Tsubomi. "Using metaphors again?"
Tsubomi nodded.
Momomi sighed and pulled Kaname up on her feet. "Kaname-kun, how many times have I told you to stop quoting Wikipedia? It's not even accurate."
"You're wrong!" Kaname cried. "It's scarily accurate!"
They turned to go when Tsubomi called Kaname's name. The short-haired girl spun around.
Tsubomi smirked, "That scientific principle you told me about is actually Bernoulli's Law. Archimedes' Principle states that the weight of water an object displaces is equal to the weight of the object itself."
Kaname stared at her, aghast. "You're wrong! It has to be Archimedes' Principle! It must!" She fumed. "What do you know? You're only ten!"
"Thirteen. And my mother majored in physics. You tend to be a science nerd when your mother works in that field."
Kaname started to cry and Momomi pulled her along toward the beach house, mumbling something about a relaxing bath.
---
"Here's what you do…" Tamao said. She and Nagisa were further down the beach, in a private, secluded area. The poet was standing behind her girl, using her hands to position Nagisa correctly. "You align your shoulders with the shore. Raise your left knee until your left foot is in line with your right knee." On Nagisa's left hand was a glove. She clutched a softball in her right hand. "Step forward on your left foot when you throw. You ready?"
The redhead smiled and nodded. "Hai."
"Okay." Tamao grabbed her titanium softball bat and ran a distance from Nagisa. "Can you throw this far?" she called. "Or should I move closer?"
"No, this is good."
Tamao hefted her bat over her shoulder, bending her knees. "Put 'er right over the plate!"
"What plate?" Nagisa laughed.
The poet removed her baseball cap and dropped it in the sand next to her. It was a blue and white cap, with the Kanji for "Panthers" on it. "This plate."
Nagisa threw a few lousy pitches. Tamao couldn't even hit any of them. She knew a bum pitch when she saw one, and when she saw one, she stepped back away from the plate. If they were playing an actual game, the poet would've walked maybe ten times. Once Tamao had to actually jump away from the plate to avoid getting brained.
Finally, Nagisa threw a decent pitch. There was a sticatto metallic bink! as Tamao's bat struck the ball, sending it so high, it could've gone into outer space. The redhead's garnet eyes followed the path of the softball - out, out, out, until it landed with a little splash in the water.
"Aw, Tamao-chan! Now we can't play anymore! Did you do that just to show off?"
"No." The poet approached Nagisa and wrapped her arms around her waist. "If I wanted to show off, I would've hit a bunt."
"A who?"
"When you hold the bat out in front of you and lightly tap the ball."
The redhead huffed as Tamao pulled her closer. "Hmph. You and your softball terminology." She put her arms around Tamao's neck and pressed her cheek against the poet's, the two of them gazing out at the ocean. "Hey, have you gotten taller or something?"
"Hm?" Tamao looked up, for she had spaced out in their romantic moment. "Have I?"
"Well, you seem to have. I don't remember me having to reach upward to hug you."
"I guess I have, then."
Nagisa hummed and rocked a little. "I wonder when I'm going to grow?"
Tamao snickered. "Never," she answered in a mock dramatic voice. "Worse - you'll shrink! I'll have to carry you in my pocket." She laughed at the thought of it. That would be so much fun.
The redhead sighed and leaned her head on Tamao's chest. "Sheesh, Tamao-chan. You're always teasing me."
"It's fun. You should try it sometime."
"Mm, not my style," Nagisa murmured, enjoying the light vibrations from the poet's throat above her head. She closed her eyes, feeling oddly drowsy. The tangible feeling of Tamao's body pressed against hers melted into a warm, floating feeling. It was like they had entered a vacuum where time didn't exist.
"Don't you wish this moment could last forever?" Nagisa whispered, turning her eyes upward.
Tamao's eyes remained closed, and she grinned. "This moment with your face in my boob?"
Nagisa's eyes snapped open wide. She jumped back, her face as red as her hair, while Tamao laughed. "That was more your moment than mine, Nagisa-chan!"
"It was an accident!" Flustered, Nagisa turned away, hiding her face in her hands. Behind her, Tamao giggled and pulled her close to her.
"Jeez, Tamao-chan," the redhead muttered, her face hot with humiliation. They sat down, and when the poet cuddled her again, Nagisa made sure to lean her head on Tamao's shoulder this time.
"It's okay." Tamao ran her fingers along Nagisa's bare back. "Yeah, this is a moment I could live with."
Nagisa moaned a little. "That feels so good."
"Does it?" Tamao traced her fingernails up and down her spine, scratching it lightly. Nagisa felt a fuzzy chill sprout in her thighs and she shivered. Hot jolts shot down her spine. Her breath started coming faster. She could feel her heartbeat in every part of her body. She smiled softly. "I…think I need to lay down…with you."
The redhead sprawled on her back and Tamao sat lightly upon her. Nagisa shuddered as she felt the front strands of the poet's cerulean hair tickle her collarbone. Tamao's opalescent eyes swam and her cheeks pinkened as she leaned forward, bringing her face closer to her girlfriend's.
"Tamao…" Nagisa whispered as the poet's lips hovered achingly close to her own. The desire pulsing within her was tremendous - the desire to feel Tamao, all of her, in her and around her.
Tamao shivered at the feeling of her bare thighs hugging Nagisa's bare torso. The urge to tear off - literally just rip off - her bikini and make love to her until they both exploded was so great that it scared Tamao a little.
Nagisa moaned as Tamao gently brushed her lips against hers, whispering softly. Her arms felt pulpy and weak. Her arms - the redhead suddenly remembered something. She moved her hands over to Tamao's and teased the insides of her wrists with her fingertips. The poet grunted and shifted into a lying position, leaving her palms open for stimulation. That was what Nagisa was waiting for; she grabbed the back of Tamao's head and pulled her in for a full, warm kiss. The sudden movement spiked Tamao's libido and she began to rub her body against Nagisa's.
God, I've waited long enough, the redhead thought. It was the last thought she remembered having that afternoon. I need to do this right now.
Making a slow, yet aggressive movement, she turned them over so that she was on top of Tamao, smothering the poet with tender, affectionate kisses. She started leading the trail downward and the poet gasped a little, knowing what was going to happen. There was nothing for her to do besides close her eyes and wait for it. When what she was waiting for came to happen, she gave a soft, girly squeal.
"Nagisa. Oh, God. Nagisa…"
The redhead didn't stop. She had pulled off the bottom of Tamao's bikini and was doing something that, well, let's just say the poet had wrung out this fantasy several times before going to bed at night. With every beat of her heart, erotic sensations were shooting out to her palms; she flexed them and that heightened the sensations. She bucked, feeling as if a storm were building within her. Eventually Nagisa couldn't take anymore. Neither could Tamao as her orgasm grabbed her by the throat, by her heart, and she sobbed her beloved's name.
"Nagisa!" she cried as something erupted within her, causing one last shudder to course through her body. Nagisa popped her head up, her face bright red, lips swollen, eyes bright and heated. Sighing, Tamao rolled onto her side. Just when she thought this whole experience couldn't get any better, Nagisa spooned her. Within minutes, they were both asleep.