21: Beach Dares
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Oh my Goodness.
These girls. I should've known.
Sure, they're from the Orange Dorm, and at least they're one of the nicest persons I've met.
But what I was quite peeved about was how they admired Aomine.
Aomine this, Aomine that.
I should tell them to shut up.
But still, I should've known.
"Hey, Kaede-san? How is it being in the same room as Aomine-san?"
"It's fine, I guess. Really."
A knock on the door interrupted their swarm of questions, and I was more than grateful to skip to the door and open it.
"Yes?" I chirped. But soon my expression turned to that of a curious one, because the Head Representative of the Orange Dorm, Junichi, stood in front of me, a clipboard tucked under his arm. A polite smile was plastered on his face. And judging by a few brief encounters of mine with him, he's probably one of the most nicest ones here.
"Hey there, Kaede," he started. "I'm just here to inform you that there'll be a party tomorrow night. Everyone is invited, and it's optional for attendance. And," he pulled out a slip of paper; handing it to me. "This, is only for you. Present this to the bouncer later on." And with that, he gave me another polite smile and he was off.
Feeling awkwardness creeping through me, I quietly thanked him and closed the door. Back inside, both girls were busy squealing over the mesmerizing view of the beach, which gave me the chance to actually hide the paper. I didn't dare to tell them.
"Hey, Kaede!" Akira cheered, skipping back to me. "Everyone's coming down to the beach! Let's go!"
"Oh, sure!" I replied, smiling quite enthusiastically. "Let me just grab essentials."
"Mhm. In the meantime, we'll go get changed, and we'll go out together!"
I smiled, even though it didn't reach my eyes. "Alright."
After I packed all my essentials into a small pouch and changed into some more suitable clothes, I slipped into my flops and walked down with both Akira and Haruka.
The first thing that hit me right in between the eyes was the wind, which whipped my hair back. Thankfully, the sleeveless jacket I was wearing kept me warm, at least not leaving me chilling in the wind.
Both Haruka and Akira had already laid towels and pitched up umbrellas, and they stripped off their blouses and headed straight into the sea in their bikinis. I casually trudged to the empty spot that they had set up, sat down, and opened my book.
Well, about to.
"Aren't you going to swim?" The oh-so-familiar deep voice drawled out from my left. When I turned, I saw him smirking down at me. But what caught my attention was his body.
He was definitely hot.
No joke.
Water droplets trickled down his abs, framing them perfectly. His biceps contracted and relaxed, which added more to the ogle. His well-built chest was perfect against his tanned skin, making me wanna touchー
"Done ogling me again?" His smirk turned wider as I snapped out of it. Pink dusted my face, and I quickly buried my nose in my book. I skimmed through the paragraphs, just enough to take my eyes off him.
"I was not!" I retorted, still blushing. "And no, I don't have a swimsuit."
Aomine squatted down beside me and placed his mouth right beside my ear. I could feel his breath tingling down my neck, making me inwardly shiver and lost my track of the sentences of the book. "Oh, I totally wanna see you in those bikinis. We'll do dares. Whoever gets to do a dare without hesitance wins. If I do, you wear a bikini, but if you do, you can choose to do whatever you want. Come on, baby." He challenged me, his voice mocking.
Did he just call me baby?
What the whaaaaaat?
Oh, that's so it.
I slammed my book close and pushed myself up, glaring up at him. Grabbing my wallet, I gritted out, "Oh, you're so on, Mr. Tanned Blueberry."
Did I just called him a tanned blueberry..?
What the hell is wrong with me?
"I'll start first." I pondered. "Why don't you... shove your finger down a girl's cleavage?"
"Hmph. Baby, see what I can do." He smirked before arrogantly walking towards a random girl suntanning on beach towels, whispering something in her ear. She gave a giggle, and nodded. Aomine then, giving his sexy smirk, sneakily dipped his finger down the girl's cleavage. By then, I felt all anger surge through me and just blast this girl off to space.
Aomine came back to me with all the pride in the world, smirking down. "My turn. Skinny dip."
My jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"
He lowered his head till his mouth was at the level of my ears, and whispered with the husky low voice of his. "Skinny dip, or go in bikinis."
I stood my ground. Oh no way in am I going skinny dip. There's a reason why I don't wanna be in bikinis, and that is to show of my pale(in my opinion) skin. That's why I don't even want to strip till a bikini. But it's either that, or naked.
I grumbled. "Fine. I'll take the bikinis."
"That's my girl." And I could've sworn he nuzzled and breathed out onto my neck, making me shiver slightly. Goddamnit. With a reluctant stomp, I walked away, to the nearest store that sells anything related to beaches.
When I pushed the door open, the bells chimed sweetly, echoing around the room. The store was fairly empty, except for some walked through the aisles with their heads popping above them and some at the cash register paying for their stuff.
I went to the bikini section, walking slowly, checking if there were any of my size. A (thankgod)female salesperson came up to me, complete with the polite smile that warms her forested green eyes and her hands entwined behind her back. "Here to find a bikini for yourself, Ms?"
"U-Uh.. Yeah.." I stuttered.
"Size?"
"38C • UK.." I smiled rather sheepishly. A shocked expression passed through the delicate features of the female salesperson before she nodded.
"I'll check if we have any of that." I nodded as she went to the storeroom.
After a few minutes, she came back, my "essential" in hand. "Here you go, miss." She beamed, "38C • UK. Although the pattern is a bit out, but this is the only one I could find.."
I stared at the piece of thing on her hand. It was plain black, with just hems of white, the soft material threading through my hands.
"Oh, that's okay, really! I'll go pay for it immediately." We both went to the cash register and I paid, making sure to pay her extra for her kindness and effort. People like her are hard to find these days.
I quickly got to the nearest bathroom and changed, but made sure to cover it with the jacket. I tied the strings, before zipping up the jacket and slipping on my shorts.
As expected, Aomine was at the same spot as just now, waiting for me. When I was face to face with him, I stood my ground.
"Well, you sure do took your time, princess." He smirked at me. "Ready?"
I didn't have to reply. I unzipped my jacket and slipped out my shorts in front of him. A few boys passing by saw and their jaws hung, their eyes about to pop from their sockets. A few wolf whistles were sent my way, but Aomine was too stunned and staring at me to even react. The girl that he had shoved his finger down her cleavage glanced at me with full of hatred, but I didn't care.
I gave him my full-on smirk and raised my eyebrows daringly, almost flipping in joy seeing Aomine's speechless expression. Priceless. This is the first time I'd ever see him make that kind of expression. When he sensed the boys still ogling my body, he turned to them, and only the glare was sufficient for them to scram.
Aomine picked up my jacket and wrapped it around me, his lips purposefully brushing against my ear. He whispered something that I didn't understand, before walking off.
Even when I got back to my previous spot, the words still lingered in my mind. And again, it was with the mantra. I don't know what he's doing with me, just by his words. I don't know what else he could do if he did more than that.
"The only one who can see you like this is me."
*-*-*-*
"Guys, I'm going outside." I turned back, interrupting both Akira and Haruka from their magazine-giggling time. I was clad in my red skirt with huge white hibiscus prints, and a bright yellow t-shirt Kise gave me yet again.
Akira's long lush red curls bounced as she nodded, smiling. "Okay. Do you have your phone with you?"
Sometimes, they're good friends.
"Yeah." I waved it to them. "Bye."
"Take care!" And off I went, getting some fresh air.
I actually was expecting some peace, since I discovered that I was into too much stress since Aomine came.
"You have to take care of yourself, Kaede." The personal Doctor, Dr. Mochizuki told me.
"Why..?" I was reluctant to ask, but did it anyway. I need to know what's bothering me and why I feel so tired all day long. Even after sufficient eight hours of sleep.
"Are you having too much schoolwork?"
"No, the usual."
"How about exams? When are they?"
"Not until Winter."
"How are your studies?"
"It's fine, it's been the usual." I replied with a slight edgy voice. "Why, Doctor?"
"Hm.. This is quite unusual. You're actually undergoing a lot of stress." He said, tapping the papers. "Real lots. You need to take a break from time to time. I've added some prescriptions for you, take them daily and meditate, walk around the park, anything to make you feel relaxed. If you need anything else, come directly to my clinic. Take care of yourself, okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Doctor."
I descended the stairs, feeling the cold air outside trailing goosebumps down my skin. When I reached outside, I gave of a sigh and stretched, before continuing my walk into the beach.
I didn't notice a figure sitting quite a close distance with me, staring out into the murky depths of the sea. It was when I heard him speak when I saw his presence there.
"Cool night, huh?"
".. Ichi?"
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A/N: AND I FINALLY UPDATED OHMIGOODNESS HOW MANY DAYS DID I MISS? I'M SO SORRY I HAD TO TAKE ANOTHER SET OF EXAMS WHICH HAS 23 PAPERS AND LASTS FOR TWO MORE WEEKS.
Q a Q My brain is really stressed out...
Don't worry, after next week, updates will (hopefully) return to normal! //slowly sobs because she thinks herself as a failure.
By the way, the injuries Kaede sustained has healed around 88%, that's why she was so confident to strip to her bikinis. Go show him something, Kaede!
OH OH OOOOH. I CAN NEVER THANK HER ENOUGH. SPECIALLY THANKS TO Levee_Ayzis FOR MAKING THAT BEAUTIFUL AWESOME COVER THAT I'M USING NOW. Obviously the old one was crappy. >_>
That's all, I'll be hearing all of your lovely and kind and everything positive and whatnots soon! Looking forward to it. I'm off to tackle Maths right now.
(ㅠ_ㅠ)
With love,
- Lynn♡