A few days later the usual four were riding the train towards the public pool. Ren and Mio were sitting next to each other whispering to each other and giggling. Eizan and Ome were sitting across from them watching the pair of girls. Eizan looked over at Ome and whispered. “I’m glad to see she’s doing well.”

Ome sighed. “Yeah, she’s still hasn’t completely gotten over it, but she seems to be doing a little better. I’m glad you invited us out today. I hope it takes her mind off of things.”

Eizan smiled as he watched his best friend gaze affectionately at Ren. “One of us needs to stick with the girls at all time. We don’t want any creeps approaching them.” Ome nodded.

A little while later Ome and Eizan were exiting the changing room at the public pool. Eizan had a dejected look on his face. Several other boys following the pair also had sour looks on their faces. Eizan glanced at his friend and thought “I thought I was a dragon among men but… if I have a katana dudes got an Odachi.” Ome smacked him on the back.

“Cheer up man this is going to be a great day.”

Eizan smiled weirdly at his friend. “Yeah, sure.” A few minutes later Mio and Ren walked out of the changing room. The two beautiful girls immediately drew the stares of all the men around. Eizan gazed affectionately at Mio and flinched when he saw Ren. He mumbled to himself. “Is she really going to be, ok?”

Mio puffed out her cheeks when she saw him. She bounced up to him and leaned towards him. “Why are you looking at her and not me?”

Eizan looked down at her and smiled. He beckoned her to come a little closer and whispered something into her ear. Mio’s eyes widened she turned her head towards Ren and Ome who started chatting with each other. She looked back and forth between the two with a worried look. Ren caught her staring and looked at her confusedly. “Is something wrong?”

Mio blushed and turned back to whisper something to Eizan. “Will she be, ok?”

Eizan shrugged. “We can only pray for her survival.”

Ren and Ome started to glare at them. Ome frowned. “What are you two whispering about?”

Eizan and Mio both straightened their backs and turned towards the pair who were giving them a suspicious look. Mio stuttered. “N-n-nothing.” She grabbed Eizan’s hand. “Let’s go to the water slide.” She began to drag him away as the other couple stared at them. While the four of them waited in line for the slide. Mio looked up at Eizan bashfully. “What do you think of my swimsuit?” In truth he had seen her in this black two-piece bikini before but she liked to be complimented when wearing it.

He looked her up and down and put his hand on his chin like he had to think about it. She puffed out her cheeks because she knew he was teasing her. He giggled a little. “You’re beautiful as always.”

Mio blushed. “You’re too good at that.”

After riding the water slide and swimming for a while they decided to lounge around on some chairs by the pool side. They had gotten something to eat. Mio had a mouth full of food and her cheeks were puffed up like a chipmunk. Eizan was staring at her, watching her eat with a small smile on his face. She swallowed the food and her mouth and glared at him. “What?”

Eizan laughed. “Nothing. I just realized how much I love you.”

Mio’s eyes widened and her face blushed. “I-I-I- love you too. But just don’t say it at random like that.”

Eizan tilted his head to the side and got a wry smile on his face. “But it’s cute watching you get so flustered.”

Mio puffed out her cheeks. “Besides were in public.”

Eizan laughed. “You think I care about that? Besides I would yell it out without a care in the world.” Eizan got a mischievous smile on his face. “Do you want me to yell it for everyone to hear?”

Mio frowned and glared at him. “Don’t you dare. That will be incredibly embarrassing.”

Eizan smiled. “Is it that bad for people to know were in a relationship?”

Mio shook her head and looked around at the people glaring at the four of them. “I think they know.” Eizan followed her gaze. There where quite a few people looking over at them. The glares from some of the men were evident. Eizan’s whole demeanor changed in an instant as he glared back at them one by one. Each one of them turned their heads to the side when they noticed his gaze. Mio sighed. “You doing that isn’t helping. You and your idiot friend have been doing that all day. Do you really need to intimidate all of them?”

Eizan started to laugh. “Of course. We already talked about it before we came here.”

Mio frowned and looked at two suspicious grown men she noticed following them from a distance. They seemed out of place even though they were just sitting in pool chairs. Two grown men going to the pool but never swimming was definitely suspicious. “And are they really necessary?”

Eizan smiled softly at her. “Yup.”

“Don’t they normally get fired if their noticed?”

Eizan shook his head. “Not those two. They work for me.”

Mio glared at him. “Since when did you employ guards?”

Eizan put I finger on his chin and acted like he had to think about it. “I wonder when I thought it might be necessary?”

Mio frowned. “Are they following you or me?”

Eizan laughed. “Do you really want to know?”

Mio sighed. “They are following me, aren’t they?”

“I wonder.” Mio stood up and stared at him. Before Eizan could even say another word, she started to walk away. The two men stood up from their chairs and started to follow. She stopped when she was about twenty meters away and turned back to look at them. She frowned as she walked back towards Eizan. The two men returned to their respective seats. Mio sat back down at the table and glared at him.

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“Don’t you think this is a little much?”

Eizan burst out laughing drawing the gaze of the random people around him. Ome and Ren who were sitting at the same table immersed in their own little world failed to notice what was going on until he started laughing. Ren could see the unhappy look on her friend’s face. “Mio, what’s wrong?”

She turned to Ren and puffed out her cheeks. “He’s having me followed.”

Ren and Ome both looked at Eizan with disapproving looks. He chuckled. “What?”

Ren started to scold him. “That’s not cool.”

Eizan shrugged. “She needs to get used to it. The two following me are a lot farther away. But I can defend myself.”

Mio was still glaring at him. “Still, I think you are being a little over protective.”

Eizan got a stern look on his face. “My own fiancé was taken away in front of my face because of my negligence. I’m not going to let it happen again. Besides I promised your mother I wouldn’t let it happen again.”

Mio could tell he was serious. She sighed. “Fine, we will talk about this later. But I’m still not happy about this.”

Eizan nodded. “Good.”

But then she got a small smile on her face. The look on her face confused Eizan. He could tell she was up to something. “If that’s the case, why do I need to stick close to you all day?” Eizan had a dumbfounded look on his face. Mio grabbed Ren’s hand and started to drag her away.

Ome and Eizan looked at the cute girls’ backsides as they walked away. Ome looked at Eizan. “To far man.”

Eizan chuckled. “What do you want me to do. She doesn’t realize how much of a target I became recently.”

Ome’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean by that?”

Eizan sighed. “Let’s not get into it here. But let’s just say the security around us is way tighter than it used to be.”

Eizan looked at the two girls who were getting some distance away and got a small smile on his face. He looked over at his friend. “Somehow, she can still surprise me. I don’t even know how she does it.”

Ome laughed. “Dude, no man can understand what’s going on in a woman’s head.”

Eizan chuckled and thought. “I normally can.”

Ome got a worried look on his face. “Should we go after them?”

Eizan took a sip of his drink. “Not yet. Give it a minute.”

Ome frowned. “What are you planning?”

Eizan gave him a mischievous smile. “What do you think will happen to two beautiful girls walking alone at a public pool.”

Ome suddenly stood up from his seat. “We need to go after them.”

Eizan started to laugh at his friend sudden outburst. “Calm down. We’ll swoop in and save them in a second.”

Meanwhile three teenage boys came up to the two girls. A tan boy with obviously died blonde hair was the first to talk. “Did you get into a fight with your boyfriends? Why don’t you come hang out with us for a little while.”

The guys next to him walked up and put his arm around Ren’s shoulder. “I’m sure I can show you a better time than that guy.”

Mio looked over at the guy holding a meek looking Ren. “You might want to let her go before he shows up.”

The guy grinned. “Oh, come on were just having a nice chat.”

Mio sighed.

Ren and Mio both had disgusted looks on their faces. But before she could say anything more the third boy froze. He stuttered to his friends. “You might want to let her go.”

His friend laughed. “Why?”

His buddy pointed behind him. When he turned around, he saw a very angry looking Ome. “If you want to keep that arm you better remove it.” Ome’s gaze sent shivers down his spine. “I won’t ask twice.”

The boy raised his hands above his head. “Woh man calm down. We were just having a nice chat.”

The blonde-haired boy still had a grin on his face as he stared at Eizan. “Who are you and why are you disturbing us?”

Eizan approached Mio from behind and wrapped his arms over her shoulders and smiled. “I’m her fiancé what’s it to you?” Mio blushed and puffed out her cheeks.

The boy’s smile faded. “Shit. Forget this let’s go.” He motioned for his friends to follow him and the three boys left. He whispered into her ear. “Did you miss me.” She hit his arm and sighed.

“You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

Eizan laughed. “I didn’t know you would storm off. But yeah, I knew this would happen once you did.”

Mio frowned. “Your guards didn’t do anything.”

Eizan smiled. “Did he touch you?”

“Well, no.”

“Well, there you go. I can’t just have them beating the crap out of anyone you talk to now, can I?”

She frowned. “They touched Ren though.”

Eizan sighed. “Sadly, he only told them to protect you. Ren is not included in that.”

“Did Grandpa put them up to this?”

Eizan raised an eyebrow. “Grandpa? You changed the way you refer to him.”

Mio smiled. “Well… he did have a hand in saving me the other day.” Eizan buried his head in her neck and gave her a kiss. She frowned and hit him on the top of the head. “Not here you perv.”

Eizan stuck out his bottom lip. “I don’t like it.”

Mio turned round with his arms still wrapped around her shoulders. “Is it that big of a deal?”

“He’s a demon.”

She chuckled. “You should look at yourself in the mirror.”

Eizan’s jaw dropped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She kissed him on the cheek and separated from him. She put her arms behind her back and leaned towards him in a cute suggestive pose. She then put a finger on her chin like she was thinking. “I wonder.” She turned and started to skip off alone leaving the other three standing there.

Eizan sighed. “Is she trying to get someone hurt. If someone touches her inappropriately, they’re in for a world of hurt.” He started to chase after her. Ome and Ren just watched as the flustered Eizan chased her down trying to prevent an incident from happening.

Ome was still hugging a slightly flustered Ren. He sighed as he watched them scamper away. “She really has him wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”

Ren chuckled. “Yup.”

Over the next twenty minutes Mio played a game of cat and mouse with him. She was hit on and touched by two different men. Both of them had that hand broken by one of the two large men following her. This caused them to have to leave the pool early, causing an exasperated Eizan to have a headache. They are currently riding the train home. Ome is sitting next to Ren who is leaning her head on his shoulder. Mio is sitting happily next to Eizan now that she had vented a little of her frustrations. Eizan is glaring at her like she was a little kid who had been causing problems. “Did you really have to do that? You might have taken things a little far.”

Mio looked at him and stuck out her tongue. “I was just conducting a little experiment. Plus, the look on your face was priceless.”

Eizan sighed, put a hand on his head, and shook his head back and forth. “I didn’t think you would use your guards to punish perverts at the pool. I just can’t figure out what you’re going to do next.”

Mio started to giggle. “That’s good I’ll make sure to keep you on your toes.”

Eizan leaned his head on her shoulder. “And here I thought I was the delinquent.”

Mio patted him on the head. “Don’t worry so much. Plus, I had a lot of fun. Did you?”

He replied in a defeated voice. “Yeah, it was fun until lunch.”

Mio consoled him by rubbing his head. “I’m glad.”

Ren and Ome were looking at the pair like they were aliens. Ren was staring at her normally shy and reserved friend. “I think he might be a bad influence on her. She was acting like a spoiled child. Did she know that anyone who touched her would get hurt? When did she become so mischievous?”