They had to have looked very amusing as they made their way to the beach. One with short black hair, tan skin, brown eyes, a very nice build, and in nothing but his dark red swim trunks. The other with long pink hair, very pale skin, pink and blue eyes, skinny with no muscle what-so-ever, and wearing several layers or J-rock clothing. Their looks were the complete opposite of eachother, and so were their attitudes.

"I told you I didn't want to come," the pale one said with a sigh.

"But I don't like going anywhere without you, Mari-chan," the other said as he put an arm around his companion.

"D-Don't call me that in public!" he protested. "And not Mariko, either. When we're out call me by my last name."

"But it's too long. Can't I shorten it?"

"No."

"Fine," he sighed. "Watanuki..." Mariko gave a victorious smirk and adjusted his bag's strap as it started to fall off his shoulder. His plain back bag full to bursting with manga, pens, pencils, and his sketchbook. It was easy to see he didn't come to the beach to play in the water or the sand, or even to get a tan. He came here because his boyfriend, Soichirou, loves the beach and wanted Mariko to come with him this time. Although he had to admit it wouldn't all be bad. He would never admit it, but he liked to see Soichirou work out and play sports. That secret is one of many that show his true personality, the one that only his family and Soichirou himself know about. So it was obvious that Mariko's time at the beach was going to be spent reading, drawing, and ogling his boyfriend. But Soichirou had other plans. However, he waited until they set up their spot near the now abandoned pier to put said plans into action.

"Come on Mari - I mean - Watanuki-chan," Soichirou whined a bit as he draped his arms over Mariko's shoulders from behind. "Atleast take off your shirt." He started to take one of Mariko's many layers of clothing off when he was quickly stopped by the flustered boy.

"Stop that!" he said with a squeak that sounded completely different from his usual low growl of a voice. "Agh! Stop!" He repeated himself with his voice back to normal, as if that was the only way he could regain his composure. He tried to pull his shirt back down, but knew Soichirou was much stronger than him and had no choice but to give up. Soichirou grinned then pulled both of Mariko's shirts off at once and quickly threw them out of reach. The pink-haired boy covered his pale, bare chest with a deep blush.

"M-Mori-kun!" he said angrily. "Give me back my clothes!" He tried to go for his shirts, but Soichirou quickly stopped him by hugging him around the waist from behind. His hands rested on Mariko's chest, and his chin on his shoulder. Mariko immediately stopped his struggling, cursing himself and Soichirou for that being his weakness. Any time Mariko protests against something Soichirou does he always knows how to stop him, and it couldn't be easier. All he had to do was kiss him or hug him - any small sign of affection, really - and he'd stop in his tracks. It was actually rather cute, as Soichirou has pointed out many times before. But to Mariko it was a weakness that he would never be able to control. "G-Get off," Mariko stuttered, only really able to wiggle a bit in resistance.

"But you're so cute," Soichirou said with a grin. "And...cold. What the hell?" He groped at his upper body, causing his blush to deepen considerably. "How are you cold? You had two layers of shirts on and we're at the beach!"

"I'm always cold," Mariko sighs. "You know that."

"But at the beach!?"

"Yes! I'm a freak of nature!" Mariko flailed, trying to get out of his partner's tight but gentle and warm embrace. He was still kind of groping at him, but only to tease him...and warm him up. "St-Stop!" he said, getting a high pitched tone to his voice again.

"Ooh, what was that I heard?" Soichirou asked as he nuzzled Mariko's neck. "Sounded kind of familiar. Was that...Mari-chan?" Mariko stopped struggling and silently damned his weakness yet again.

"I told you, last name in public!"

"Hnn...why are you so difficult?" Soichirou sighed then pulled Mariko close against him. "You love it when we're close like this. You even said so yourself."

"Just...not right now, okay?" Soichirou raised an eyebrow. He could sense something was wrong, but knew Mariko wouldn't tell him anything there. So unfortunately he had to let it go until he could question him later. "I...I love you," Mariko whispered very quietly. He then kissed Soichirou on the cheek and gave a small smile. The taller young man looked both surprised and a bit confused at the sudden sign of affection. "Now, why don't you go and have fun? I know how much you love to play in the waves." For a moment they both just stayed still, comfortable right where they were.

"Are you sure?" Soichirou finally asked. Eventhough he loved being like that with Mariko he had to admit, he came to the beach to play. He would have liked it much better if they had fun together, but he knew his boyfriend well - he hated the water, even just pool water. Mariko nodded with a soft chuckle in response to Soichirou's question.

"I don't want to be held responsible for ruining your fun. Besides, I've brought plenty to do." He gestured to his bag.

"O-Okay," Soichirou said, though he was still unsure. "But will you atleast walk down the beach with me later? We'll take all our stuff back to the car then walk barefoot where no one else is. Just you and me. Okay?" Mariko flustered at just the thought, so ofcourse he quickly agreed, nodding again and squeezing Soichirou's hand.

"That sounds wonderful." Soichirou grinned then gave Mariko a long, loving kiss before practically skipping to the ocean.

"It'll be a walk to remember, I promise!" he said as his feet hit the cold water. Mariko gave a happy sigh and watched him for a few moments before picking up the first manga he was going to read.

Soichirou played on the beach for hours, never seeming to run out of energy. He started with his favorite activity, wake boarding, because he was always too tired to do it later in the day. But when he grew tired of falling and bruises started to show up, he decided to move onto something a little less painful.

Building a sand castle was the first thing that came to his mind. He tried to get Mariko to join in, but ofcourse he said no. And because of that Soichirou only made a small castle before wanting to do something else.

He saw some guys playing beach volleyball and, being the fun and social guy he is, he decided to just go up and ask if he could join. Luckily the guys were nice and glad to have another player. They played for atleast an hour and Mariko actually put his manga down for once to watch his boyfriend. He was playing volleyball, shirtless, how could he not watch? But eventually the other guys had to leave and Soichirou reluctantly said goodbye to all of them, but not before getting all of their e-mail addresses.

Luckily he wasn't bored for very long because he knew exactly what to do next - collect sea shells. He attempted to get Mariko to join again, but all he got was another no. Mariko did, however, say he would watch the shells when Soichirou brought them back. That made him very excited to start collecting shells, and he ran off as cheerful as a little boy. Mariko giggled at him every time he brought back shells, because he would grin joyfully and say how pretty each shell was. There was one particular shell that was his favorite, though. It was flat, round, glistening, and had a strange silver and pink coloring. Soichirou said that it reminded him of Mariko, and that he'd turn it into a necklace later. That caused Mariko to blush and a bit of teasing from Soichirou.

When the sun was getting close to setting Mariko and Soichirou packed up there things and headed toward the car. "Ready for that romantic walk?" Soichirou asked after they were done putting all their things away. Mariko looked around and smiled because there were only a few cars left. He knew they would have a lot of time alone. A lot of time to hold hands, hug, and even kiss without worrying about anyone saying anything. Although they've never really cared before, it was more convenient when there were no people lecturing them or staring at them.

"I've been ready since you mentioned it this morning," Mariko said as he took Soichirou's hand. Without further ado they walked back down to the beach, both of them anxious to have their little romantic walk. For what seemed like hours they just walked in silence, looking into eachother's eyes. At one point they found the perfect spot to sit near the water and clearly watch the sunset. Soichirou pulled Mariko into his lap and wrapped his arms around him like he did earlier that day, but this time there was no struggling from Mariko. He gladly accepted his embrace and even leaned against him. "It's beautiful," Mariko sighed happily.

"But there's no way it can compare to you," Soichirou said with a smile as he nuzzled the neck of the young man in his lap. Mariko blushed deeply, but also giggled. "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry," Mariko chuckled. "That was just...really corny!" He broke out into a fit of laughter, holding his sides and grinning cutely. Soichirou pouted his lips, but was only pretending to be hurt. He knew it was corny but he wanted to say it anyway. But to get back at Mariko for laughing he suddenly flipped him onto his back and pinned his wrists to the sand, which caused him to stop laughing immediately and blush instead. "S-Sou-kun?"

"Yes?" Soichirou grinned and leaned closer to him. Mariko faltered for a moment.

"W-Wha...What are you - ?" But he was quickly cut off by Soichirou's kiss. He resisted only a bit before completely melting into it. Their long kiss finally ended and they looked up at eachother lovingly. In the setting sun Mariko's pink, blue tinted eyes looked amazing mixed with the red and oranges of the sun. Soichirou was lost in them for a long while, silent and running his fingers through his pink hair. But he was brought out of his trance when he heard a noise from Mariko; a noise only he was able to coax out. A small, soft purr. He chuckled then kissed Mariko on the fore head.

"You're too cute, Mari-chan."

"I'm not...not cute." Mariko blushed even more. Soichirou smiled then stood up and offered his hand to Mariko to help him up. He took his hand, but seemed confused as to why he suddenly decided to get up.

"We've been out here for a while," he said as he started to walk back down the beach. "I think it's time we went back." He added one more thing before Mariko could protest, because it seemed as if he was for a moment. "If we stay her any longer I'll probably be really tired when we get back to the car. Hmm, it looks like everyone else has left..." Just by that innocent statement Mariko knew exactly what he really meant. His eyes widened and his blush became the deepest it had that whole day. And now he practically dragged Soichirou across the beach.

"C-C'mon, let's go!" he said a bit desperately. "The faster we get there the sooner you can rest, right?"

"Rest? Who said I wanted to rest?" Soichirou smirked a bit, loving how nervous and adorably flustered he was making him. As they approached the car Soichirou unlocked it, but then he picked up Mariko bridal style and opened the door himself before setting him gently in the seat. He gave a small smile before he leaned the seat all the way back and then climbed ontop of Mariko before shutting the door. There were still a few cars around, but they didn't care. They had a perfect day, and what better way to end it? They loved eachother and no one could keep them from expressing it.