It was another hot sweltering hot day, but already Tsumura had a plan to combat the heat.
Her idea was to go to the beach, and the children were all in for it. Anywhere to get away from the unbearable heat.
As Tsumura was packing the ice box, red umbrella, and blankets into the back of the trunk, Nemesis and Ayano climbed into the backseat of the car.
"I've never been to the beach before." Ayano commented, smoothing down the floral dress she was wearing. "Mother didn't like going there." She Especially didn't like it when anyone looked at Papa...
Nemesis shrugged, trying to look disinterested but he was bouncing in excitement. "I've never been to the beach either-"
"Hey Ayano! Nemesis!"
To their surprise, the car door suddenly opened revealing a familiar tan boy with a sunny smile. It was Aso Rito, the boy they had met during the pool a few weeks back. Ayano looked out of the window, and there she could see Okabe Rito also holding an icebox, a large umbrella, and a large blue towel. The tanned woman was waving at a man inside a blue car, who was waving back before he drove off.
"Okabe-San!" Tsumura greeted as Aso climbed into the car and claimed a seat to the right of Ayano and babbled away about something or another. Nemesis glared at Osa. "It's been a while! I'm so glad you agreed to come with us to the beach!"
"How could I not accept? We're going to the beach!" Okabe exclaimed, before letting out a small sigh. "It's so hot that I had to cancel soccer practice. I doubt the children could practice in the heat like this, sometimes I can't help but be jealous of my husband. He's working in the air-conditioned gym.'
Tsumura giggled before helping Okabe pack her stuff in the trunk."
"Ayano! Ayano! Ayano!"
Ayano turned away from the woman to look at the excited blond-haired boy, who was practically shaking her back and forth.
"Are you excited to go the beach?" Aso exclaimed, his blue eyes practically sparkling. "I've been to the beach before, but that was like- Forever ago! But the ocean water is so much colder than the pool, and there's sand! We can make sand castles!"
"Who wants to make sand castles?" Nemesis grumbled, looking a little put out by the other boy who was grabbing all of Ayano's attention. "They get destroyed so easily..."
"But it's fun!" Aso practically yelled, turning to Nemesis with his sunny smile. "It may get destroyed in the end, but at least you had fun building it. Right?"
"That's exactly right, Aso-kun!" Okabe exclaimed as she took the passenger's seat. "It's not the end that should be satisfying but the journey!"
"Yeah!"
Tsumura slid into the driver's seat, turning the car on as she giggled.
"Everyone ready to go?"
"Yeah!" Aso and Okabe exclaimed, pumping their fist in the air.
"...Yeah." Ayano said later, copying Aso and Okabe.
"...." Nemesis just pouted.
"Aww they're so cute~" Okabe cooed as she looked back to check on the quiet children 20 minutes later.
Aso and Nemesis were fast asleep and laid their heads on Ayano, who was struggling to keep awake while she was trying to read a book she had cracked open during one of Aso's and Nemesis' one sided argument. Nemesis snored softly in his sleep, pressing his face closer to Ayano's shoulder as his head threatened to fall several times, he was also hugging her as if she was one of his teddy bears. And Aso had his mouth wide open, drool dripping from his mouth, luckily not falling onto Ayano, as he leaned fully against Ayano, one foot folded onto the seat.
Tsumura glanced at the children through the mirror and squealed quietly, making sure not to wake the children.
"Take a picture Okabe! Picture!"
"Way ahead of you sistah!"
Ayano, who glanced up to see the two woman squealing to each other quietly with Okabe holding a camera, just yawned and tried focusing on her book again. Her mouth turned into a pout when Aso and Nemesis leaned even more onto her.
They were so heavy and warm too...
"We're here~" Tsumura sang as she parked the car at the best possible space she found. It was right next to the beach, and from what she could see it was slowly getting full. She frowned. "Oh dear... I guess we're not the only one with plans to go to the beach. I hope we can find a good spot."
"Don't worry about it Sistah!" Okabe exclaimed as she quickly got out of the car. "I'll go find us the best spot ever! I'll meet you there!"
Tsumura huffed a laugh as she watched the tan woman practically barrel through the crowds of people, earning numerous complaints.
"Silly Okabe, now then... Wake up you three." Turning to the sleeping children, she started waking them up. "We've made it to the beach! Wake up!"
Ayano was the first to wake up from her small nap, and yawning she started nudging the two boys that were leaning onto her.
As Ayano dealt with the stubborn boys who wanted to continue sleeping on her, Tsumura started unpacking. Finally having enough of their stubbornness, Ayano decided to just leave them there. Unbuckling herself, she quickly slipped out of their hold and escaped, not seeing the two boys knock heads into each other and becoming full awake as they cried in pain, clutching their heads.
"W-What was that for?!" Nemesis growled, eyes tearing as he glared at Aso who grinned sheepishly.
"S-Sorry!" Aso stuck his tongue out, before looking around in confusion. "Hey? Where did Ayano go?"
"Thank you for helping me Ayano-Chan~" Tsumura cooed, "Such a polite child~ I wish my son was like you."
"M-Mom!" Nemesis blushed, quickly hopping out of the car.
Aso laughed and also exited, smiling brightly when he saw Ayano trying to juggle the two umbrellas in her hold.
"Here Ayano-Chan! I got your back!"
"Thank you Aso-kun." Ayano said listlessly.
Nemesis glared at Aso, his cheeks slightly puffed in annoyance. Tsumura giggled under her hand before handing Nemesis the large blankets to carry.
"Sistah! Over here!" Okabe exclaimed, waving and jumping up and down excitedly from where she was standing. "And I got the best spot ever!"
"That's amazing Okabe!" Tsumura praised, "And you got the best spot ever! Not too far from the water, but not to gravely either!"
Okabe blushed and scratched the back of her head, smiling very proudly. "Well, only the best for my friends and my son after all! Now let's set up and eat! I'm getting hungry!"
Quickly they set up the blankets and large umbrellas. And as soon as they were done with that, Aso cheered in excitement as he hastily removed his shirt, and grabbing Ayano's hand he tried to rush towards the waves that were calling out to him until his Mom suddenly pulled him back.
"Moooom!" Aso whined, trying to pull away from Okabe's tight grip, not realizing that Ayano had escaped from his grip via an annoyed Nemesis who scowled at him. "I want to go swim!"
"And you can, as soon as you put sunscreen on!" Okabe frowned.
Aso huffed, but not wanting to waste time arguing with his Mom he took the sunscreen she was holding in his hand and started slathering himself, putting more than necessary. But Aso didn't care, he just wasn't to get into the water!
"Okay! Sunscreen on! Now let's go swimming!" Osa cheered, grabbing Ayano who was applying some sunscreen onto her pale cheeks.
Nemesis, who had also taken off his shirt and started putting on sunscreen glared at Osa who was once again dragging Ayano towards the waves. But he didn't need to do anything when Tsumura plucked Ayano from the ground, making Aso pause.
"Huh? What's the hold up now?!" Aso huffed, his cheeks puffing.
"Just hold on Aso-kun, Ayano needs to change into her swimsuit." Tsumura explained, making the blond-haired boy frown.
"What's wrong with what she's wearing?" Aso pouted, not wanting to wait any longer. He really wanted to go swimming!
"You don't go swimming in dresses Aso," Okabe huffed at her son, before she smiled. "Why don't you take Nemesis? He's all ready for the waves!"
"What? No!" Nemesis protested. "I want to wait for Ayano-"
Aso, not wanting to hear anymore, grabbed Nemesis and started dragging him instead towards the waves, ignoring Nemesis yelling.
"Honestly, once he has his mind set on something he won't quit until he gets it." Okabe huffed, but one end of her lips lifted in a small smile.
Tsumura giggled watching Nemesis and Aso make their way towards the water, and even laughed when Aso practically dragged Nemesis into the cold water. Much to the other boy's disgruntlement. Tsumura than looked down at Ayano, who's usually blank eyes shone with want to join the other two.
"Alright Ayano, let's start changing okay?"
Looking up to Tsumura, she nodded.
"I wanted to wait for Ayano..." Nemesis grumbled, sitting cross-legged on the wet sand, ignoring the rising water that reached him in favor at glaring at Aso who looked at him pleadingly. "And why can't you go into the water yourself?"
"Because it's not fun if I'm by myself!" Aso argued, frowning. But like a ball, he bounced right back into a sunny smile. "But I don't mind waiting with you for Ayano! It'd be more fun if we're all together!"
Nemesis huffed, but said nothing else and looked away, drawing on the wet sand with his finger. Aso didn't mind Nemesis' sudden silence as he sat next to the other boy, spouting out random things or another. Nemesis refrained from glaring at Aso again and tried ignoring him.
Sigh... Where was Ayano when you needed her?
Even though she was so doll-like, with her strange blank stare and her soft voice, Nemesis didn't really find her weird. It was what made Ayano, Ayano. He liked her like that, though he kind of wished that she would smile more...
"Nemesis-kun. Aso-kun."
Speaking of her, she's finally here!
Turning to scold Ayano for taking too long, the words suddenly disappeared from his mouth when he faced her.
"A-A-Ayano..." He felt his face blushing bright red.
"You're so cute Ayano!" Aso exclaimed unabashedly, giving her two thumbs up.
"Thank you." Ayano replied, though there was a small blush on her cheeks when Aso praised her.
Ayano was wearing a two piece swimsuit. It was very cute and pink, with ruffles on them. And her hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a pink bow.
"A-A-Ayano..." Nemesis blushed, trying to compliment his best friend. "Y-You look r-really c-cu- Who the heck is that."
Whatever compliment Nemesis was trying to spit out also disappeared, and he glared at another boy that was standing behind Ayano, a small blush on his cheeks.
"This is Osano Najimi." Ayano introduced, pushing the taller boy forward.
Blushing even harder, he nodded at the other two in greeting.
Earlier-
After dressing up in the swimsuit Tsumura had gotten especially for her and putting on sunscreen, she was finally ready to go meet the other two boys- That was, until someone bumped into her.
"H-Hey! You should really watch where you're going!"
Honestly, Ayano should've said the same back to the boy with orange-hair, but instead she stared into wide orange-eyes. "Sorry."
Then picking herself up, she once again tried going over to where Nemesis was yelling at the laughing Aso for one thing or another, but suddenly the orange-haired boy caught her hands.
"I-It's you!" The boy blurted out. "You're the girl that helped me from the strawberry field- Not that I needed help in the first place! Dummy!"
Ayano took a closer look at the orange-haired boy, and indeed found him familiar. Then when he started speaking about the strawberry field, all she could remember was Nemesis eating most of the strawberries as they were heading back home, and the leftover few she had was given to her Papa who enjoyed them immensely, saying it had been a long while since he had last had strawberries.
But she did somewhat remember the red-faced boy crying.
"Oh," Ayano said flatly. "It's you."
"T-That's all you can say?!" The boy pouted, looking a little disappointed. He sighed and crossed his arms. "A-Anyway... I never got your name... M-My name is Osano Najimi!"
"Ayano Aishi."
Ayano stared at Osano, who was growing more red the longer she stared.
"W-What?!" He snapped.
"Do you want to come with me to the water?" Ayano asked, her head tilted slightly. "You're all dressed to go swimming..."
"I-I just don't feel like going into the water!" Osano snapped, his face turning redder as it reached his slightly reddened shoulder, telling Ayano how long Osano was out under the sun. "I-It's not like I'm afraid of it or anything, I just don't want to go!"
'So why do you keep looking at the water?' Ayano asked, watching Osano glance at the water every so often.
Staring at Osano for a little longer, she let out a small sigh. Grabbing his hand, ignoring his stammering and how he kept calling her dummy, but not really fighting her off, she continued to drag Osano towards where Nemesis and Aso were now sitting on the wet sand.
"Nemesis-kun. Aso-kun." She called out.
Instantly the two boys turned towards her, Nemesis mouth opened to say something, but a bright flush overtook his face as he stared at her, mouth agape. Aso, whose face just darkened with a blush that went unnoticed, smiled brightly and gave Ayano two thumbs up.
"You're so cute!"
Feeling her face heat up slightly, Ayano thanked him almost shyly.
"A-A-Ayano..." Nemesis gulped, trying to say something and looking very funny as his face turned even darker. Ayano had never seen Nemesis turn that red of shade before. "Y-You look r-really c-cu- Who the heck is that."
Whatever Nemesis was trying to say, he never finished and was instead glaring at Osano who was standing quietly behind her back.
"This is Osano Najimi." Ayano introduced, pushing the much taller boy forward who silently greeted them with a small nod, his face still slightly red.
The silence would've been awkward if it was left alone long enough, but Aso, the ever energetic kid, jumped up and greeted Osano with his cheerful smile.
"Hi Osano! My name is Aso Rito, and this is Nemesis Otoro! And you already know who Ayano is. Now that Ayano's finally here, let's go play! And you can join in to Osano! The more the merrier, as my Mom always says!"
"W-Wait- Why are you dragging me- IT'S COLD!" Nemesis howled and started chasing after Aso, not noticing the small smile Ayano hid behind her hand as she watched him. Osano just stared at the other two dumbfounded.
"Here you go Osano-kun~" Tsumura hummed, handing the orange-haired kid an ice pop, which he took shyly.
"T-Thank you O-Otoro-San..." Osano said shyly and started chewing on the flavored ice, a blissful look on his face.
Osano then turned to Ayano, and huffed to see that some of the juice of the ice pop she was eating drip down her chin. Taking his own napkin, he started cleaning the other off.
"Geez dummy, you're making a mess!"
Ayano stared at the orange-haired boy. "...Sorry."
Osano blushed when he realized what he was doing, but before he could say anything else, he stiffened when there was a bright flash of light. Whipping his head, he gaped at his Father who was smiling at him.
"D-Dad-!"
"Go get her son!" The man cheered, taking another picture of the blushing Osano and the deadpanned Ayano. "Come on Osano! Osano's girlfriend! Smile for the camera! I want to send this to your Mom Osano! Your Mom really wants cute pictures for her scrapbook!"
"DAD!"
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Okabe huffed, looking at the brunette man suspiciously.
"Oh, whoops sorry about that!" The man chuckled, scratching his cheek sheepishly. He pointed to himself. "My name is Shirai Najimi! I'm Osano's Father."
Shirai Najimi was a rather handsome man with light brown hair with a small ponytail, and he had burning orange eyes. He wore a sleeveless hoodie, shorts, and flip-flops, and around his neck was a camera.
"Oh, then it's very nice to meet you Shirai, would you like to join us for lunch?"
Shirai's eyes sparkled. "I would love too! Hold on, I'm gonna go get my stuff!"
And so, the small group grew by one more with an orange umbrella and an orange blanket joining the blue and red ones.
"So what brings you to the beach today Shirai?" Tsumura asked as she watched the children playin the water.
"Probably the reason why everyone else is here." Shirai said, focusing his camera to where Osano was smiling as he protected himself where Aso was throwing water at him. "But besides the heat, I just wanted to take Osano out somewhere. To get his mind off of his Mom."
"Did something happen to her?" Okabe asked with a frown.
Shirai didn't say anything, but then smiled sadly. "She's... Very sick. Has been for a long time, since Osano's been born. Most of the time she stays in the hospital for long periods of times, but her sickness is getting worse and it's taking effect on Osano. He's not really good at hiding his feelings, just like his Mom. So I decided that taking him away somewhere is the best way to keep his mind off of it! And it seems my idea is going well!"
Tsumura and Okabe looked at each other before back at the smiling man.
"And the pictures?"
"Just because she's in the hospital doesn't mean she wants to miss out on Osano's life. So I take a lot of pictures for her," Shirai said, "You should've seen the first couple of pictures I've taken. It was so bad that I'm not even sure what it was! But I've gotten better, it kind of makes me wish I've taken up photography earlier in life."
"Well then Shirai~" Tsumura smiled, "The day isn't over yet!"
"And I have loads of activities for the children to do!" Okabe exclaimed, "So don't hesitate to take any pictures! But also, don't forget to share it with us!"
Shirai beamed, "Of course!"
"H-Here Ayano, this is for you." Nemesis muttered, shoving a beautiful silver seashell into Ayano's hands. "Do you like it?"
"It's very pretty Nemesis," Ayano said, and though she wasn't smiling Nemesis could hear the gratitude in her voice. "Thank you."
"Y-You could smile you know..."
"...Sorry..."
"Here Ayano! I have a seashell for you too!" Aso exclaimed, waving the pure white shell around excitedly and breaking the silence between Nemesis and Ayano. Turning to Ayano, he gave it to her with a large smile. "You can have it!"
"Thank you."
"I-I also found one!" Osano exclaimed, showing the others a seashell, but it was more pinkish in color. Osano grinned, holding it tightly. "I'm gonna show it to Mom! Can you keep it for me Dad?"
"Of course! Mom will definitely like this!" Shirai smiled, and gently placed the seashell away in his bag under Osano's watch. "Shall we find more seashells?"
"Yeah!"
Though Nemesis had tried protesting earlier, he quieted down when Ayano was partnered up with him for the sand castle contest between them and Aso and Osano.
"Our castle's pretty small..." Ayano commented, looking between theirs and their competitor, where they were just shoveling sand into a large mountain.
Nemesis sneered. "Hmp, well at least ours look like a real sand castle! Theirs look like a mountain!"
"It's a mountain castle!" Aso laughed in reply.
"It can't be both!" Nemesis snapped, but Aso just laughed in reply again.
As Nemesis glared at Aso who continued laughing at him, Ayano looked over their small but nicely made sandcastle. But something missing...
"Ayano? What are you doing?" Nemesis asked, turning towards his friend.
"Putting the seashell you gave me here." Ayano answered simply, placing the seashell at the very top of their castle. She looked at Nemesis. "It looks nice, right?"
Nemesis grinned. "Good job Ayano! Hah, we got the best sandcastle ever!"
"Pthew! Why is the water is salty?!" Osano exclaimed, coughing out some water that he accidentally swallowed.
"Because it's the beach." Nemesis answered back with a blank tone.
Osano turned red. "S-Shut up! I knew that!"
"Then why did you ask?"
"SHUDDUP!"
"Hey guys?" Aso asked, looking uncharacteristically serious as he frowned. "Where's Ayano?"
The other two boys quieted, and started looking around, Nemesis paled.
"S-She was right besides me!" Nemesis exclaimed, now looking nervous when he couldn't see her anywhere. "I swear she was!"
"D-Do you think she got swept into the ocean?" Osano asked, paling.
Before the boys could go into a full blown panic and call for their parents, something suddenly rose from the water right next to Osano. Osano shrieked and jumped, bumping into Nemesis causing both boys to fall down with a yelp.
"Oh! There you are Ayano!" Aso sighed in relief. "Don't scare us like that!"
"Sorry." Ayano apologized, not at all bothered by the seaweed that covered her head. "I just wanted to see what it's like to swim like the fish. But my eyes hurt now..."
Before they realized it, the sun was setting and it was time to go home. Each parent was carrying their own respective children, except for Ayano who swayed where she stood using Tsumura as support, but refused to fall asleep. Tsumura giggled and asked if she wanted to be carried, but Ayano just shook her head.
"You know," Shirai said, crouching down to pat the listless girl on the head, sitting Osano on is knee who looked at Ayano tiredly. "There's nothing wrong with asking for help."
Ayano stared, and looked away with a small yawn.
Shirai chuckled, and stood up again, shifting his hold on Osano who buried his face into his shoulder. The Father turned to the other two Mothers and shook their hands.
"It was a pleasure to meet you both, thank you for letting my son join you two for the day."
"It's no problem Brother!" Okabe grinned, shaking his hand rather roughly without realizing it. "The more the merrier is what I always say, and besides, Aso had a lot of fun. We should do it again soon. You live nearby, right?"
Shirai nodded. "Yes, I live over in Buraza Town, just a few hours away from here."
"What a coincidence!" Tsumura exclaimed, wanting to bounce but she didn't want to disturb Nemesis and Ayano who was half asleep leaning against her. "We also live there too!"
"Wow, this definitely has to be fate then!" Shirai exclaimed, his eyes shining. "Maybe it's fate telling us that our children are meant to become friends! And even if it's not, it's nice to see Osano smiling again!"
"Nemesis-kun and Ayano-Chan definitely had fun, isn't that right Ayano-Chan?" Tsumura asked, looking down at Ayano who nodded. Tsumura nearly squealed when Ayano let out one of her rare cute smile.
"Quick! Picture! Picture!"
But it was too late, the smile slipped away when Ayano yawned. Her face set in a blank look again, she leaned against Tsumura's leg and closed her eyes. Tsumura pouted.
"Aww shoot~ So close too!"
"By the way, I never got to ask but does Ayano always look like that?" Okabe asked, frowning. "I don't see her smile or laugh a lot, it's a little strange isn't it?"
Tsumura smiled, "That's just Ayano-Chan. Her Father told me that she's always been like that, he said that she takes after her Mother that way."
"By the way, I never got to ask... Ah... No, it's none of my business." Okabe shrugged, "I shouldn't ask you."
Tsumura gave Okabe a questioning glance, but shrugged. Holding tightly onto Nemesis, and now heaving Ayano up into her arms, she was a very strong lady despite her rather skinny look, she and Okabe said their goodbyes to Shirai.
Arriving back tot he Otoro House, Okabe took her leave right away when she saw her husband waiting for them. With a cheerful goodbye, Okabe and the sleeping Aso left for him. Tatsui was the next to arrive minutes later. Tsumura gently transferred Ayano into his arms.
"Thank you for taking care of her again today, Tsumura-San." Tatsui said gratefully, hugging Ayano to him as she sleepily wrapped her arms around his neck. He bowed his head to Tsumura. "I bet she had a lot of fun today, didn't she?"
Tsumura giggled, "Definitely! She made a new friend today, and she even smiled today!"
"R-Really? Tatsui exclaimed, before sulking. "Aww... I wanted to see it..."
"So she rarely smiles around you too Tatsui?" Tsumura asked with a smile that was a little dimmer than the bright smiles that Tatsui was accustomed too. "Tatsui... Did something happen to Ayano?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I never really questioned it before since you told me this was normal, but... Has she always been like this?" Tsumura asked, now full out frowning. "She never really shows a lot of emotions, she rarely smiles and laughs or even cries... She's not like other children."
At that, Tatsui flinched, before he gave a heavy sigh. He should have expected her to ask that question one day. While Tsumura seemed pretty open-minded about a lot of things, he doubt she would understand his situation and the terrifying true nature of Ryoba Aishi.
"Nothing happened to her Tsumura-San," Tatsui said weakly, "Ayano has always been liked that, ever since she was born. She has a difficulty to show her emotions. She takes after her Mother that way, like in a lot of things. But I can only hope that it will change one day as she grows up. There's really nothing to worry about, but thank you for your concern. Ayano may not look it, but she will need a guiding hand as she grows up. When she was alive, Ryoba usually guided Ayano through everything..." For all the wrong reasons. "But Ryoba and I didn't really see eye to eye in the way to raise our daughter. And... I was just too young when I had Ayano. I don't know anything about parenting."
Tsumura eyed Tatsui, assessing him for a long time as her magenta eyes pierced through his brown ones, but then she smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Surprisingly, he didn't find it uncomfortable unlike when other females placed their hands on him flirtingly.
"Thank you for telling me this Tatsui, though you may not think of it, you really make a good Father." At that, Tatsui felt his eyes tear up but he quickly blinked away. Tsumura giggled, but said nothing about his tearing eyes. "Don't worry Tatsui, I'll make sure that Ayano knows I'm here too."
"Thank you Tsumura, for everything."