Chapter 18: The Beach Episode (Yato)

  "NOW TAKE THIS!!!!" my character charged his hand in electricity and rushed to Liam with a lightning blade. Just as I got close he smiled.

  "Weak." 

  "Nani!" 

His character disappeared and reappeared behind me and with his body covered in a cloak of blue lightning he hit me with a deviating lariat. TKO.

  "Damn it, why is that dude so damn fast. Nobody should be able to just casually teleport behind a guy." Liam just gave me a sinister smile. "Your miso ability is broken man." 

  "And you are a human chem lab. Pretty hard to compete against."

  "True. Ah well. Wanna go another round?"

  "Nah your sister is heading to the beach remember. We don't have time."

  "Right right, should I leave my clothes?"

  "Ya I doubt my parents will be back anytime soon so you can stay a few more nights."

  "Awesome." I said while putting the game off."

We grabbed our beach clothes and headed out. Okina beach was magical, the ocean was a beautiful Sapphire and the sand was soft and warm to the touch. The amazing part about the beach was that it fell in a hotspot for Ether and with the life guards all being masters of some form of climate the beaches thirty kilometre stretch was always warm and sunny. Miso masters would use their ability to set a reality marble so the weather outside doesn't affect the inside. As we got close we saw the thin veil that was the marble. A lifeguard noticed our approach and recorded us in.

  "Ah Mr Kara-no-goki, when we heard that you booked a spot in the Marble we took the liberty of preparing a full course meal, chairs and blankets for you and your friends, all on us." 

  "Oh...you didn't have to do that." Liam chuckled uncomfortably.

  "No no it's our pleasure, please let me lead you in."

He walked us into the Marble and took us to a small beach house made out of palm trees. Vesta was already there enjoying Champaign while reading something and the kids were shooting water guns at one another.

  "I was hoping for a relatively normal day but ever since I won that tournament everywhere I go people want to be in my good graces."

  "Well ya, your portion of the family holds all the power. You could easily make their lives horrible just by simply speaking ill of them."

  "That's not...aaaaah never mind. Let's just enjoy the day hey?"

  "Alrighty then." I ran and tackled Chrys to the ground, he laughed and aimed his gun at me shooting water in my mouth. 

  "Gross man." I coughed out water.

  "Hey you tackled me, I had to do something." I got off of him and helped him stand. "Do you wanna make Liam suffer?" 

  "Hell yeah!" We decided to split up so that I could grab a gun...well cannon is more accurate. Liam was talking to Su and Beth, Chrys was on the rafters ready to blast them all. I gave him the okay and we rushed them. Liam teleported away as we blasted the twins.

  "YOU JERKS!" Yelled Beth. 

  "It's okay Beth, it's just a little water." Said Su.

We ran off to the bar area to hide behind the desk. "Liam knew what we were planning. We have to be careful."

  "Wait, Liam didn't have a gun when this started. He's probably heading for the stash." We both dashed for them only to see them all gone. That's when the nightmare began. The lights went out and the music in the bar turned off. "Damn it, he's hunting us. We need to split up." We went in separate directions, Chrys returning to the rafters while I hunted on the ground. I turned a corner to see Vesta still reading but now sitting in the sun. The room wasn't completely dark but thanks to a lack of windows in the bar area there were plenty of dark spots to hide in. Suddenly something wizzed right past me..(Liam's disk.) I turned and quickly ran after it into the lounge. I search for it then found it under the couch. (With this I can catch Liam off guard. Maybe he'll teleport to it. I readied myself waiting for him when suddenly "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH." A high pitched shrill rang through the wood. "Oh no, is Su okay?" I ran as fast as I could back to the main room only to find Chrys soaked in water, "SH-sh-he c-came o-out offffff, n-no wear." 

  "Dude you screamed like a little girl." I laughed. "Wait....she?" Then suddenly out of the ground someone jumped at me and aimed their gun into my ear. My eyes turned and there I saw it, sandy brown hair on a small frame. Eyes filled with murderous intent the face of 💀.

  "Fuuuuuu-" *Spray*

We sat in the bathroom as I cleaned out my ears still hearing the ocean. Liam sat across from me with a massive grin on his face. "What?" I asked 

  "I knew Su was effective but damn. Didn't know she'd put you through hell." He said while chuckling. 

  "Dude, that girl is a beast. How did you get her motivated like that?"

  "I made her an offer she couldn't refuse. A local carnival."

  "I'm sorry what? How the hell are you gonna..." He smiled at me wickedly. "Never mind, it's you. Of course you can make a new holiday a thing."

Once we finished cleaning we rejoined the others, Vesta was busy grilling some food for us as we approach. Su and Beth sat at the booth with hungry expressions. 

  "Big sis, what's on the menu?" 

  "Roasted fish and calamari."

  "No beetroot?" I asked 

  "My blood is thick enough as is, no need to add to it."

  "Cool." I sat down with Liam sitting next to me. Then suddenly Vesta pulled out a water pistol and shot Liam in the face sending him to a tumble.

  "Aaaah, whyyyyy?"

  "That's for bribing my sister and interrupting my book." She giggled. We all sat together and ate heartily. Once we finished we headed to the beach to play. Beth whispered something in Su's ear then shyly walked up to Liam and told him something. Liam smiled at me and ran for the beach. I ran after him stepping into the cold waters, "hey what's going on?" 

  "Well Su wanted a sea shell and since I'm their favourite brother they asked me to find one."

  "No you're not, I am." 

  "Oh really?"

  "Really." I looked him in the eye as I said so, those blood read pits staring back at me. 

  "Oh you are SO gonna lose." I rushed into the water and dove deep in swimming into the coral reefs. I hunted for a good few minutes before I stumbled upon a beautiful spiral shell with a purple and red pattern on it. I grabbed it and swam back up to see Liam with his own shell. A pure white clam, I presented mine to them and the smiled at it in awe. I gave Liam a smug expression as he accepted defeat. Beth nudged Su and she stepped forward.

  "Hey big brother." Said Su. "Can, can I have a sand castle?"

  "On it." We both said in unison. We both sprinted to the beach like a bat out of hell and began digging up wet sand. We looked at each other with spite as Liam hissed at me while I growled like a rabid dog. We worked tirelessly until we both finished. The twins came in to inspect my work. "A two foot set of hills with three rooftops and towers for my beautiful princesses." I said with pride.

  "Well it's good but still. It's pretty...plain." my heart shattered when Beth said that so casually.

  "I think it's kinda nice." Said Su. 

  "OH WOW LOOK AT THAT." Beth yelled as she ran towards Liam. His castle was...well...a castle! It was a full seven foot in height with an open walk in courtyard. The walls had all sorts of carvings into them, they weren't very clear but you could make out the intention. "It's beautiful..." Su said as she looked back at me "sorry Yato..." My heart disintegrated at that moment. 

  "Well done Liam, but man, I could really use a glass of water, wouldn't you Su?" Before she could even answer Liam dashed off and so did I...it was a long day. We played for a few more hours until the sun sank down and the kids began falling asleep. I carried Beth while Liam had Su. Chrys helped Vesta pack away the tents. 

  "You know I'm their favourite right." Liam said.

  "Nope I am." I responded quickly.

  "You both got played." Vesta chuckled as she walked by.

  "Liam I can understand but Yato, they get you every time." Said Chrys as he walked by.

Liam turned around to see that Su was awake and chuckling, so was Beth. 

  "Duuuuuude, agggg it's fine."

We all walked home together as we recounted the events of the day. Rain settled in heavily as we reached the suburbs. The area was filled with light and laughter as we turned the corner to go up the hill and reach our house. We walked in and quickly moved to get ourselves dry. Vesta walked into the kitchen and began preparing supper. Liam and I walked into my room to relax.

  "So, how often do you actually fall for their tricks?"

  "I'm their brother." I replied quickly.

Liam smiled "Good answer. Anyway make sure Vesta knows that I'll be getting the trucks together soon so she should hurry with finding a way into the garage."

  "Understood." 

  "Did...did you hear that?" Liam asked.

  "Hear what?"

  "An... explosion. Really far away."

  "I'm pretty sure I'd notice an explosion." 

  "Hmmmmm, alright." We left the room to each take a shower then met back in the dinning room. Chrys, Beth and Su were singing a sea shanty as we walked in to join them. Vesta had on an apron as she was finishing of making supper. She walked up to us and then said

  "Food is.." three knocks on the door. "Oh...who could that be at this hour?" Vesta walked to the door and opened to a bone chilling sight. Hidaka, bruised up and drenched in rain, her black hole for hair in an explosion of mess. Her eyes red with tears.

  "Please, you have to help me!" She yell in between sobs "MY BROTHER IS GOING TO DIE!"