When they got back to their room, Shizune laid down on her bed and sighed. "I feel so tired now, I guess jet lag is a real thing," she said after a few moments.

Mizuki agreed questioningly, "I guess so? Well, we have been awake for 16 hours now, but aren't you coming to supper?"

Reluctantly Shizune got up again, and they left their room and walked down to the place where the grill was set up. Shizune looked at the food for a moment, and then said tiredly, "I'm not really hungry. Do you care if I just go back and sleep? It's been a really long day."

Mizuki shrugged. "I guess not," she replied without protest.

Her own stomach felt empty at the sight of the food, so she started filling up a plate while Shizune headed back, and then she looked around. She spotted Sora sitting to one side and grinned.

Sora looked at her in surprise when she sat down beside him. After a moment he asked, "You're not eating with your sister?"

Mizuki shrugged but explained, "She's depressed, so she said that she's not hungry and went to bed." She looked at what he was drinking and asked, "You got a beer?"

He replied defensively, "I'm only having one." Then he gave her a sharp look and added, "And you're too young."

She frowned at him as she protested mildly, "I know that, but where did you get it? Did they have any other drinks?"

He pointed to a cooler that she'd missed and told her, "There were sodas and stuff too."

She set down her plate beside him, and went to look. After a moment she chose a bottle of cold tea.

When she returned, he looked at it and then asked, "Is there another one of those?"

She nodded and went back for another.

When she returned with it, he said, "Thanks."

She settled beside him and they ate quietly for a little bit and then she asked, "Why does it matter if you only have one?"

He sighed before replying, "It's a long story."

Mizuki suggested after a moment, "I like listening to you talk."

Sora laughed, but didn't say anything else for a while.

After a bit she said apologetically, "I was just curious, I'm sorry."

He sighed again and then admitted, "It's just embarrassing." He paused and collected his thoughts, before explaining, "I guess it started when my girlfriend of three years decided to marry someone else and I went drinking."

Mizuki looked up at him with a startled expression, and Sora explained bitterly, "I refused to buy her a car. She immediately got engaged to a man who would. I got a little drunk again on her wedding day and went to her wedding… and realized that I felt more sorry for the guy than jealous."

 She looked at him unhappily but she didn't know what to say. 

He went on after a moment, "And then I went home and got very very drunk. I went in to work the next day, still drunk, and got fired. I looked around and realized that I hadn't had a vacation in more than two years and said screw it."

Mizuki leaned against Sora tentatively and patted his arm. 

He looked down at her uncomfortably, but went on, "I figured I might as well go play around for a month or two, so I sold most of my stuff and my car. Threw the rest in storage and went to ask Takumi to come on vacation with me. Only I found out he has knocked up his girlfriend and is trying desperately to convince her to marry him, so he couldn't leave." He shrugged. "So I stayed with them for a week, and then came here alone. And when I go back, I need to look for a new job. And I decided that I wouldn't have gotten so drunk and been fired if I hadn't been in the habit of drinking too often anyway, so I'm limiting myself to one drink at a time." 

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Good idea," she complimented him. He gave her a look, and she apologized defensively, "Sorry, I know it's not my place to say, but I do think it sounds like a good idea?"

Sora shrugged again, and then he looked down at her leaning against his side and asked with quiet exasperation, "So now you know everything, can you just give up please?"

Mizuki sat up and objected, "I haven't said anything else tonight!" Then she looked up at him for a moment, grinned and added, "But I'm kind of glad you're still thinking about it."

He covered his face and groaned. She patted his arm again gently.

When she finished her food, Mizuki sighed and said wistfully, "I'd like to go look at the waves."

"So go," Sora suggested.

"I can't, I promised I wouldn't walk near the water alone," she muttered regretfully.

He sighed and said, "Fine, let's go." She looked up at him in surprise and then smiled happily. He shrugged as he told her, "I was going to go watch the water for awhile anyway."

They disposed of their plates and walked down to the water. The waves were growing dark in the evening light, but not as uniformly dark as Mizuki had imagined. They rolled and shimmered, and the water's transparency showed even in the low illumination. Sora picked a spot and sat down before they went very far. 

Mizuki stood beside him for a few minutes and then shivered. "I didn't expect it to feel so chilly at night, it was so hot during the day."

Sora glanced up at her. "It's the wind." He added dryly, "And now I suppose you'll want to sit in my lap."

Mizuki laughed and replied, "I'd love to, yes, but I won't unless you're okay with it."

"What the hell," he said after a moment, and spread his arms.

She didn't give him a chance to change his mind and sat quickly. He wrapped his arms loosely around her and then asked, "Warmer?"

She nodded. The bare skin of Sora's body was warm against Mizuki's back because his shirt was unbuttoned, but even more heat radiated up into her from below. She felt extremely aware of it and of everywhere that their skin touched.

They watched the dark waves glisten and roll in the lights from the low buildings for a while. He looked down at her after a bit and said, "You're still cold."

"I'm not at all cold," she objected quickly while tilting her head back to look up at his face.

"What's this then?" he asked and pointed to her breasts, where the evidence was visible in the dim light.

She repeated, "I'm not cold," but added with embarrassment, "I'm just turned on."

He shifted a little and warned her uncomfortably, "You shouldn't be sitting in my lap, I could molest you right now."

She grabbed his hands and placed them on herself. "You can, I want you to."

His hands caressed her breasts reflexively and she arched against him, but a moment later he stopped, and said, "No." 

He took his hands away as she demanded, "Why not?"

"You're still just a kid," he replied achingly.

Mizuki turned and rose to her knees in his lap, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.

"Stop, Mizuki-chan " Sora whispered.

"I don't want to, and I'm not a child!" she protested. She laid her hand against his bare stomach and tucked her fingers into his waistband. He froze and she insisted, "You can't pretend you don't want me at all when I've been being warmed by this since I sat in your lap Sora!"

He groaned, then grabbed her hand, and said firmly, "Mizuki don't."

"Why?" she asked plaintively.

"You want more than this," he told her harshly.

She closed her eyes and then admitted, "You're right, I won't lie to you. I do want more." She looked at him again as she told him seriously, "I really like you. I wish you'd date me. But if this is all I can have with you, I still want that." Then she begged, "Can't I have you for this week?"

"God Mizuki, I just can't win against you." He groaned and let go of her hand to cover his own face. She caressed him again, and he dropped his hands to her hips and pulled her roughly against him as he asked bitterly, "Is just a week really enough?"

She looked into his face for a moment. "I want more, but if that's all you can give me, then yes," she agreed. She swallowed and then promised, "I won't ask for more than that."

He kissed her hard before agreeing tightly, "Okay, one week."

She nodded, then bent down, and he gasped. A few minutes later he warned her, "I'm going to come."

Afterward he pulled her up and kissed her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and plastered herself against him. His hands ran down her back in a warm wave. He tucked them beneath her hips and lifted her into his kiss and probed her mouth with his tongue.

"Do you have a condom," she whispered achingly when he let her down a little and looked into her face.

"In my room," he replied hoarsely.

"I think we should go to your room," she told him after a moment.

He whispered, "Yes," and rolled to his feet somehow with her still wrapped around him. He cradled her in his arms, and they kissed hotly all the way to his room as he carried her.