Water Parks, Waves And Wedding Proposals

The sun was shining high up in the sky as they walked down the heated pavements away from the water slide they had just been on. It was midday and the sun was showing no mercy, making the floors almost too hot to walk on however, they persisted, after all, the water should help to cool them down.

It had been Natusya's idea to visit a waterpark when he returned to Japan and of course, Ikuya and Hiyori had readily agreed, seeing as the weather had been uncomfortably hot for the past few weeks. And after somehow surviving Natsuya's less than perfect driving on the way there, they had enjoyed the sun and the various water slides and rides and had now settled down to eat some lunch and have a rest, relaxing on sun loungers and reapplying suncream to give their food time to settle

"Where do you guys want to go next?" Natsuya asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"We're not going anywhere until you've put more suncream on," Nao chastised gently, flicking Natsuya's nose.

"We have only just eaten so maybe something not so strenuous," Hiyori suggested, rubbing suncream onto Ikuya's back

"How about we check out the wave pool?" Ikuya asked, gesturing over his shoulder to where the waves were lapping at the artificial beach.

"Sounds good to me," Nao agreed and Natsuya nodded, squirting more suncream onto his hands to cover his arms.

After they had all reapplied suncream and waited long enough for both the suncream to have soaked in and for their lunch to settle, they headed towards the sand-covered area.

The shallower parts of the water were mainly filled with children, mostly accompanied by parents and the further in they swam, the fewer people there were which was understandable considering not only the depth of the water but also the strength of the waves. However, they were all confident enough in their swimming abilities and in the worst-case scenario, there would always be lifeguards keeping an eye out.

They stayed where they were for a while, simply bobbing in the water with each wave before Natsuya began getting bored, choosing to dive under the water and use it as a disguise as he targetted Nao and Ikuya, poking them each in the ribs, knowing how ticklish they each were.

Hiyori only glanced over in confusion upon hearing the squeak that Ikuya let out and the splash of him trying to flick Natsuya's head.

"What on earth are you doing?" He asked, noticing Nao splashing a handful of water in Natsuya's direction now that he had surfaced.

"Nothing," Natsuya grinned "Hey, we should have a race,"

"In a wave pool?" Ikuya asked, doubtful about how well this would go.

"Yeah!" Natsuya sounded enthusiastic "Come on Hiyori, you'll race me right?"

"Uh...Okay?" He sounded unsure however, he couldn't see the harm in it

"You know what, I'll make you a deal," If Natsuya saw the way Ikuya and Nao sighed in exasperation he ignored it "If you beat me you have my permission to marry my little brother,"

"I'm sorry, what?" Ikuya piped up, glancing towards Nao for help who gave a sympathetic smile

"Natsuya," Nao warned, seeing how Hiyori looked strikingly like a deer in the headlights.

"It was a joke," Natsuya held his hands up in surrender "But hey you already agreed,"

"I suppose I did," Hiyori agreed "We can't do a proper race here though,"

"How about the first one the rocks and back," Nao suggested, pointing towards the fibreglass rocks towards the deepest part of the pool. "We'll stay here and judge who wins,"

"Sounds good," Natsuya grinned and Hiyori nodded, the two lining up where Ikuya and Nao would wait.

It would be somewhat harder as they were currently in the middle of the pool, leaving nothing for them to push off, however, it didn't seem to stop them as Nao called out for them to start.

"They're both idiots," Ikuya spoke fondly, watching as they both approached the wall and wondering absentmindedly how they would manage to turn with the uneven surface of the rocks.

Nao was squinting in order to see them and Ikuya had a moment of realisation, glancing back towards Hiyori.

"Hiyori won't be able to see where he's going,"

They had decided against bringing goggles altogether seeing as they wouldn't be able to use them on the water slides however, it did mean that both Hiyori and Nao were struggling to see, having to rely on the other two to read signs and maps.

And so, not only would both Natsuya and Hiyori struggle to see because of the chlorine in their eyes, but Hiyori also didn't have the help of prescription goggles.

"He's not crashed into the wall yet so maybe he'll be okay," Nao offered, struggling himself to see who was in the lead.

"I think Natsuya's in front," Ikuya clarified "Only just,"

The sounds of splashing from the almost aggressive strokes became louder as they got closer, and Ikuya noticed that Natsuya seemed to have slowed down slightly, as if he had forgotten that they were racing only, it had given Hiyori the perfect opportunity to pass him by mere centimetres.

They both surfaced after they were sure they had passed Ikuya and Nao, breathing heavily but smiling widely as they headed back to Ikuya and Nao.

"You got too cocky," Nao chastised, prodding Natsuya in the ribs with his elbow "That's why you lost,"

Natsuya didn't seem overly bothered by this, throwing an arm around Hiyori's shoulders.

"You're all getting too good, I think I'm going to have to get used to losing to you," He leaned in closer now and spoke in a hushed tone, glancing up to see Ikuya was busy talking to Nao "I meant what I said before though. Ikuya's clearly happy with you, and I like you Hiyori. I would definitely approve if you were to get married,"

And with that he released Hiyori, leaving him speechless, treading water as his mind replayed everything that Natsuya had said. He barely even noticed Ikuya approaching him until he felt a hand coming to rest on his arm.

"Hiyori? Are you alright?" He nodded in response to Ikuya's question however it didn't seem to be enough to satisfy him "Did Natsuya say something weird?"

And he supposed that wasn't too far from the truth

"Yeah," He turned to look at Ikuya, noticing the concern written on his face and giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile "Something like that. It's fine though"

"If you're sure..."