"It's the sea!" A Jean in a bathing suit yelled as he posed, pointing to the massive body of water in front of him, making a reference that no one in this world would understand and not caring that a couple of people passing by looked at him with a curious expression.

"Was the pose necessary?" Well, maybe one person would understand it, but it was only because Jean had decided to share some of his valuable knowledge with that person.

"No, but I wanted to do it". He responded without a hint of embarrassment before standing normally again. "So now what? Do you plan to go swimming, or are you going to sunbathe?"

"I'll get some sun, and you?"

"I want to jump off the pier a couple of times, I also saw that there would be a fishing competition in an hour with a prize of 8000 jewels, so I will sign up"

"That sounds like fun; maybe I should sign up too"

"Well, you still have a while before registration closes; see you here in a bit". Jean said goodbye before running to the dock to jump at least ten times.

######

"This is not as fun as I thought". Jean said as he floated calmly in the water; in 10 minutes, he had jumped 33 times off the dock, and although he was excited the first few times, little by little, the fun diminished.

"I need a place higher than I can jump". He said out loud and then looked in all directions. "Yep, I think that place looks good". The boy pointed to a slope at least 80 meters high. "Okay, let's go". And then he began to swim to shore.

"One, two, one, two". Jean repeated as he climbed the slope until came across a tanned boy with sunglasses and ash blonde hair who seemed to be his similar age; he was held by a rope secured to a harness along with a girl of about 12 years with purple hair.

"Hey man, are you seriously climbing without any safety gear?" The tan boy greeted.

"Yeah, I didn't have anything like what you're wearing, but I decided to try it anyway"

"You have guts; that's cool! I'm John, and you?

"Jean, nice to meet you". Responding to the greeting, the brunette extended his hand for a handshake that the blonde accepted.

"Big bro, come on, I'll leave you behind!" The girl yelled as she continued to climb.

"Okay, just take it easy Marie". The blonde replied before turning to look at the boy he had just met. "I guess we'll see you on the top"

"Yes, see you". Jean replied before climbing back up.

Shortly after, Jean was standing on top as he admired the view.

"Yes, this could be fine; I'll jump from here 4 or 5 times". He said as he looked in the direction of the beach when the sound of rocks caught his attention; peeking over the edge, he saw John, so he held out his hand to help him up.

"Hey, thanks, dude, a little more and my body would not have endured"

"No problem, but what about her?" Jean responded by pointing to the girl that she was still climbing.

"Don't worry about her; this is the 3rd time we've been up together, so it shouldn't take her long, plus we have this". He said as he showed the rope attached to his harness and went to his sister's harness. "It's a good view, isn't it?"

"That's what I was thinking, and why did you come up here?

"Well, it's kind of a family tradition, the whole family came today, so I decided to hang out here"

"A family trip? Great, how many are you?

"My family is over there". John pointed into the distance as he produced a small pair of binoculars from a pocket on his harness and handed them to Jean.

"Wow, you are many". Jean said, noticing a group of at least 40 people.

"Yes, when we travel, we do it together; there are my parents, uncles, grandparents, and cousins"

"They seem to be having fun"

"Yes, and you? Came alone?"

"No, I came with a friend". Jean answered as he looked at the pier through the binoculars. "The blonde who is near the pier". He said as he handed the binoculars back to John.

"Wow, is that your friend?" Said the tan boy.

"Yes, she was complaining a few days ago that she had nothing to do and she was bored at home, so I invited her"

"She is single?"

"Eh?"

"Ask if your friend is single, you can presen-". John was interrupted when the little girl who had just finished climbing hit him on the head.

"Is enough, brother; mom has told you to stop bothering the girls who come to the beach"

"Ouch, ok ok, I won't use my local charms this time"

"Local charms?" Jean asked curiously.

"Oh, you know, showing the girls around, making up a little about the things that are done on this beach, stuff like that, most girls love it when you-" John broke off when he saw Jean writing on a pad. "What are you doing?"

"Writing down what you say, you never know when something like that might come in handy for me to get a girl in the future". Jean answered without looking up from her notebook.

"Hahahaha, you're a weird guy"

"People tell me often". Jean responded immediately before closing his book and bringing it closer to the necklace with a small sword that he was wearing; instantly, the small book was absorbed.

"Wow, are you a wizard?"

"Something like that; can you lend me the binoculars one more time?"

"Sure"

"Umm, I have no idea when the fishing contest will start"

"Oh, what are they doing on the pier? It should start in about 5 minutes"

"WHAT?!" Jean yelled in surprise. "I CAN'T HAVE TAKEN SO LONG SINCE I LEFT LUCY; I'M GOING TO LOSE BY DISQUALIFICATION! THANK YOU FOR THIS". He finished saying before throwing the binoculars at John and jumping into the water before the surprised look of the brothers.

"That guy is crazy!" Marie said as she watched him fall into the water.

"Now that's guts!" John added.

#####

"Where were you? A little more and you won't be on time"

"I climbed that to jump off the top when I got bored of jumping off the pier". Jean answered as he pointed up the slope.

Lucy massaged her temples as she sighed. "You know what? It doesn't matter; even if I told you it's dangerous, knowing you, you'll take it as a challenge and do it again". She said in a defeated tone.

"Are you all ready?! The competition is about to start! As many of you know, every year at this time we have the arrival of a huge number of Marivilus fish, which are extremely fast and strong, so magic is allowed as long as it is not water, and you can even jump into the water if you wish, whoever gets the most fish in 30 minutes wins! START!" Said a man with a megaphone.

"Alright, Jean, get ready because I'm going to-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Lucy was about to tell Jean that she would win, only to turn around and see him throwing swords into the water, one after another, at incredible speed; even some of the other contestants and the host couldn't help but watch with their mouths open.

"AHHHHHHH!" The boy yelled as his arms swung around, throwing swords.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT, YOU ARE TAKING THIS TOO SERIOUSLY!" The blonde yelled before running towards him, wrapping her arms around him from behind and starting to pull him away from the dock.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" Jean replied, stopping throwing swords.

"No, look at everyone's face". She told him before turning her head and looking at the presenter. "I'm sorry about that"

"Why did you stop him?" Replied the presenter.

"What?"

"That was the coolest thing anyone has ever done in the competition; I approve!" He clarified with a thumbs up.

"You see? First place trophy here I come!" Jean told Lucy as he ran back to the edge of the pier and started throwing swords like crazy again.

"You know what? Well! If no one cares, then I'll be serious too". She said before taking out a golden key from her bracelet. "Open, door of the giant crab: Cancer". And the next moment, a man with reddish skin, glasses, and six crab legs coming out of his back appeared.

"Lucy, what kind of haircut would you like today? Ebi"

"Not today; I need you to help me catch as many fish as possible". She responded by refusing the haircut.

"I understand". The spirit gives a short answer before giving Jean a brief look and jumping into the water.

"And besides that". She added, transforming her bracelet into a whip that snaked through the air following the will of her wearer until it entered the water.

#####

"Hahahaha, that was close". Jean said as he held up a golden trophy. "You stayed behind only by eight fish"

"It's not fair; using your skill like that is cheating"

"I could say the same for you; summoning Cancer to help you could be counted as cheating"

"It's not true, it's my magic, and the presenter said that as long as it wasn't water magic, it would be fine"

"Well, my thing is not magic, is it? And as you say, the only thing that was forbidden was water magic, so technically, I didn't cheat either, but that whetted my appetite a bit; shall we eat some of what mom sent?"

"Sure, but will you take that trophy with you for the rest of the day?"

"Nah, I'm going to drop him off at the personal care service, and I'll take the opportunity to buy an ice cream, do you want one?"

"A big chocolate, cherry, and mint one, with nuts and chocolate syrup". She answered without hesitation.

"Then I'll have a strawberry, blackberry, and vanilla with chocolate chips; meet us at the place we separated?"

"Ok"

And with that said, they both parted ways; it took only a couple of minutes for Jean to get to the place where she could rent a locker and leave his belongings; after that, he walked to the ice cream stand, and while waiting for his orders someone grabbed his shoulder for behind.

"Hey". A familiar voice greeted him, and when Jean turned around, he saw the same tan boy he had met climbing.

"John, hi, did you come for ice cream too?"

"No, actually, I came to invite you to eat with us; my little sister and I saw what you did in the fishing competition; you do take things very seriously"

"Yes, when it comes to competition, sometimes I tend to exaggerate a bit"

"Understatement of the century, bro"

"But my little sister is interested in the girl who came with you; you said her name was Lucy, right?"

"Your little sister?" Jean asked as he remembered the purple-haired girl. "Oh well, I don't think Lucy would move like that, least of all with a girl who looks 12 years old, but hey, I don't judge"

"What? I'm not talking about that; I was referring to her magic, Marie also uses celestial spirits, and she recognized that Lucy used one of the 12 of the zodiac and wanted to talk to her, so she asked our parents, and they said that we could invite both of you". John was quick to correct the misunderstanding.

For his part, Jean raised an eyebrow at the curious situation, and John, who saw this, incorrectly assumed what Jean thought, so he added. "Ah, don't worry about me; I promise not to do anything to your girl, I saw how she hugged you on the dock during the competition, and I'm not the type to get in the middle of two people; besides, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a hail of swords"

"Ah, actually-"

"Come on, as a favor to your beach friend, ok? You would really help me make my little sister happy". John added quickly without letting Jean speak.

"Ahh". Jean sighed; if John wouldn't let him explain, then so be it, maybe that way things would be easier, after all, even though Lucy liked a bit to brag about her looks and get compliments from time to time, every time Jean saw a guy approach her to flirt, she had subtly rebuffed him, there was even that persistent guy a couple of months ago who flew away courtesy of Taurus fist after he grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her; although, in Jean's opinion, that was going easy with the idiot.

"Okay, we'll be there in a minute; just let me talk to Lucy. Can you help us get our things? That way, we can take everything without having to come back"

"Sure, let's go"

And as they walked, they talked a bit; from their short conversation, Jean learned that only the females in John's family seemed to have magic, while the males were born with a slightly above-average physique.

'Eh, a curious feature; it looks like something out of some series where bloodlines bring benefits'. Jean thought when they finally got to where Lucy was and saw her surrounded by three tanned guys.

"Hey, pretty girl, why don't you join us and have some fun?"

"Yes, you won't regret it"

"If there is something we know how to do well, it is how to treat a girl"

John froze at this and slowly turned his neck to look at Jean. "H-hey, those are my cousins; please don't throw any swords at them"

"I'm not going to do anything to them". Jean replied, after all, attacking someone just for flirting with a girl would be a little excessive. "But if they keep bothering her, she will send them flying with one of her spirits". He said as he pointed to his friend's frown.

John immediately understood that even if Jean didn't kick his cousin's ass, the girl would do it; if she had any golden keys, she must be a capable mage, so he rushed to stop them.

"HEY, IDIOTS!" John yelled as he ran towards them.

"John". One of them saluted when he saw it.

"Now that John is here, he will convince the girl to come with us". Another boy celebrated.

"There's no one better than John to do that". The last finished saying.

"Don't bother that girl; her boyfriend is my friend". He said, pointing at Jean and making the three of them look at him. "Also, remember what we heard about the winner of the fishing competition?"

"About the guy who rained down... swords?" The three said when the implication hit them with the force of a train.

"That's right, and no one wants to experience that firsthand, right?" John finished saying.

Instantly the three boys turned pale and gave Lucy a perfect 90-degree bow as they spoke perfectly in sync. "We are sorry to have disturbed you; please accept our apologies". And then they turned around to do the same to Jean. "Sorry for disturbing your girlfriend"

Jean gave them a single look and then looked at Lucy, who was just as surprised, and they both had an exchange of words using only the gaze.

'What's supposed to be going on?'

'I do not have the slightest idea'

And after that, Jean looked down at the guys still bowing. "Sure, no problem". He told them and looked at Lucy, sending the message for her to get this over with before it got any weirder.

"Okay, just learn to understand what a girl doesn't like based on her expressions"

"Yes, ma'am, thank you, ma'am". The three said before turning around and leaving.

"Sorry about that; they're not bad people, just a bit airheaded". John apologized. "Now, shall we go?"

"Go?" Lucy asked, looking at Jean.

"Can you give us a moment to talk in private?"

"Yes, no problem". John replied before turning around and walking a few feet away.

"Well? What did you do now?"

"Why do I have to be the one who did something?"

"Because are you"

"Well, I guess that's a good argument". Jean shrugged. "But I didn't do anything this time; I met that boy and his little sister when I climbed the slope, they saw us at the fishing competition, and the boy's sister also uses celestial spirits, so she was excited to see cancer, and she wanted to talk with you, so they invited us to their family reunion"

"Really?" Lucy's face lit up when she heard that someone wanted to talk to her about her magic; after all, she loved the celestial spirit magic, although, after a few moments, she returned to normal and asked. "And what's that about being your girlfriend?"

"Ah, remember I told you they saw us at the fishing competition?" Jean received a nod in response.

"Well, he saw when you grabbed me from behind and thought you were hugging me, so he thought we were a couple, and considering he wanted to flirt with you before thinking that, and every time someone does it a lot, it seems to annoy you, I thought it would be fine just to let him think what he wanted, and seeing what happened with his cousins, I think it was a good decision, so, do you want to go?"

"Well, it looks like that trick of yours with the swords on the dock scared them off, so there shouldn't be a problem"

#####

"So you have four golden keys?!" Marie said with stars in her eyes. "That's incredible!"

"Yeah, having one would be weird, but 4? Do you want to get all 12 or something like that?" Added another tanned girl who looked a bit older than Lucy.

"It would be nice if I could get the 12 golden keys; of the ones I have, three are inheritances from my mother, and a while ago, I crossed paths with Taurus by chance"

"I only have two silver keys, Iscoris's and Nikora's, and my cousin Jenny has five silver keys". Marie said, pointing to the tanned girl.

"Really? I've always wanted to have Nikora's; he's super cute". Lucy replied.

"They seem to be having fun". Jean said as she watched the girls chat.

"Yes, Marie is quite enthusiastic about her magic". John replied.

"I don't blame her; she is literally doing something impossible for other people; for a child, it would be impossible not to get excited"

"Hey, we'll have a boat activity in 30 minutes; my cousins, a couple of uncles, and I are going; do you want to join?"

"Do you have boats?"

"Yes, three, we will do a little race"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Okay, so let's go to the locker room; we'll all take a shower to get the salt out of our hair"

And with that said, they both walked away, leaving the girls to talk.

#####

Although at first, this trip seemed a bit "noisy", now Lucy was quite enjoying it, after all, there were few things she liked more than talking about celestial spirit magic, and although she had gotten off to a rough start with this family, she was now quite comfortable, that is until she overheard a conversation several seats to her right.

"Did you see the friend John brought?" Said a girl with wavy nut-colored hair.

"He's hot". This time a girl with short black hair answered.

"Should I try something with him?" The girl's tone made it clear that she was a little excited.

'It seems like most people in this family have hormones raging enough to do this sort of thing'. Lucy thought, a little annoyed as she remembered how the boys who had now left with Jean tried to flirt with her.

"He has a girlfriend, the blonde over there". The short-haired girl said, giving her a quick look.

"Too bad, I would have liked to try some of that cake". The wavy-haired girl said dejectedly.

And with that, Lucy thought that everything would end, but.

"Even though we can't do anything drastic, I think a little mischief wouldn't hurt anyone; he went to the locker room with the others to shower and change; no one would blame us if we took a quick look, right?"

"Well said, Lia, let's go before we miss the show". And after that, they ran in the same direction where the boys had gone.

SLAM*

Lucy's palms hit the table, and she got up from her seat; now she was upset; even when they thought Jean had a girlfriend, they wanted to spy on him?

That was not correct, she knew Jean well, and she knew that he would think the same.

Even if she wasn't his girlfriend, she was still his best friend, and the idea of them spying on him bothered her more than she thought it would; plus, she knew if the situation were reversed, Jean would give voyeurs a fist if they try to spy at her.

Although on second thought, he would probably devise a plan where they would end up with hot sauce inside their underwear.

She wasn't as machiavellian, so all she would do was catch them before they spy on him and tell them to leave him alone.

#####

"So you do boat races once a month?" Jean asked as he washed his hair under the stream of water in the showers.

"Yes, and on top of that, we also make a small bet, the losing team always has to pay for the entire next trip we take, and the next destination is the capital; we will go to the summer festival that lasts a whole week"

"That sounds fun"

After finishing talking, they closed the shower and went to the dressing rooms with towels covering the lower part of their bodies.

"Hey Jean, are you ready?" Cheerfully asked one of John's cousins, Tomy, one of the three who had tried to flirt with Lucy.

"I'm always ready". Jean replied confidently while smiling; if he didn't count the first incident with Tomy and the others, they seemed like friendly people to him. "Magic is allowed for this competition?" He asked, having already in mind a pair of swords that could help him to win.

"No, this is a pure skill competition; that's why most of us who participate are the men; the girls also can participate as long as they promise not to use any kind of magic"

"Well, I have some confidence in my physical strength too, so I should keep up the pace"

"Well said, now-". John's words were interrupted by a noise from a side door.

"What is there?" Jean asked as he moved a little closer.

"It's the warehouse; there shouldn't be anyone there"

"Well, I think it would be best to see; maybe it's just an ani-". But Jean's words were cut off when the door was flung open, and someone fell in with hands raised, knocking Jean down and taking the towel he was covering himself.

#####

Lucy had been following the two girls to the back of the changing rooms where the boys had entered; she intended to catch them a moment before they spied on Jean, so she followed them silently and waited for her chance.

At one point, she saw them slip through a small window almost at ground level connected to a kind of basement, so she waited a dozen seconds and slipped away too.

Inside there, she began to walk as quietly as possible until she saw the girls looking at a door to her right, so she approached them and spoke in a low voice. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Both girls gave a small jump, and one of them, who had her hand on the knob, inadvertently turned it a little, and the other gave a soft hit to the wood with her elbow.

"Eh? W-what are you doing here?" The short-haired girl asked.

"Preventing Jean from being spied on"

"Don't be selfish; surely you can see him scantily clad whenever you want just by asking him; we promise not to try anything, so let us just give him a little glimpse". The girl with walnut-colored hair said.

"Me? The most I've ever done was see him in his underwear by mistake when I was 14, and I would never ask him for something like that, so let's get out of h-WAAAAAHHH". Lucy was saying as she approached them when she tripped over a small oil stain on the floor and ended up falling forward.

The two girls dodged her, leaving the blonde to slam the door open and fall on top of the person closest to the door.

#####

"L-lucy?" Asked a confused Jean as he looked at who was on top of his legs.

"Jean? What are you-". Once again, the blonde's words were interrupted as she looked up, seeing something she wished she hadn't.

When she had fallen, she ended up pulling Jean's towel and leaving him as dressed as he was when he came into the world; for that reason, she ended up looking at the Faure family jewels in all their splendor.

Lucy's eyes spiraled, her voice refused to come out, and from her neck to her head, the girl's face turned as red as humanly possible; after a few seconds, the spirit mage fell unconscious, and even the usually shameless Jean had a deep blush all over his face.

#####

"Umm…" Little by little, Lucy's eyes opened.

"You finally wake up". A voice sounded next to her, and when she turned her head, she met the familiar face of her friend, but he kept looking straight ahead without turning his face to see her directly.

"Jean? What happened?" And a second after completing her question, all the memories of what had happened came rushing back to her, and once again, her face turned red, but before she could say anything, Jean's voice reached her ears.

"Please don't go yelling; this is already embarrassing enough"

She resisted the urge to say something to him, but when she looked at him carefully, she noticed that his ears were red.

She never saw Jean embarrassed; not once before did she get to see him blush, so the surprise of this somewhat attenuated her own embarrassment and distracted her from the mental image that was still spinning inside her head.

"What happened after... you know"

"Well, I changed my clothes and got you out of there, then excused myself from the boat race and decided we'd just sit here until you woke up"

"Where we are?"

"On a small balcony on the pier, I rented it for a couple of hours; we have about 45 more minutes"

"I see"

"So, do you want to talk about it?"

"Only if you promise not to tell anyone"

"What? The fact that you're a pervert who got into the men's locker room?" Jean joked, trying to lighten the mood, and what he received was a karate chop to the head. "Ouch, why was that?"

"I wasn't trying to do that"

"I know, I know, I was just kidding; you know that when I don't know what to say, I throw bad jokes"

"Yes". Lucy answered as she sighed and seemed to remember something when a small smile formed on her face. "Although if you say it with red ears and refusing to look at me, it's not very convincing". She said with a bit of teasing.

Jean was startled to see that he had been found out, but what he liked was making fun of others, not being teased, so he swallowed his embarrassment and turned his head to see Lucy directly. "Well, at least with this, we are even"

And once again, a karate chop landed on his head.

"That's totally different; that time was your fault; who gets into someone's room without knocking?!"

"Well, I've been doing it for years. Besides, you kicked me in the face that time!"

"THAT WAS BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO GIVE ME A THUMBS UP AFTER SEEING ME!"

"IT WAS A COMPLIMENT! I THOUGHT DOING THAT WOULD LESSEN YOUR ANGER!"

"WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WOULD THINK THAT?!

"…"

"…"

They both yelled at each other until their foreheads were almost touching, then they were silent for a few seconds, and at the end.

"Pfff HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

They both started laughing quite loudly as they held their stomachs and fell back into their chairs; this lasted almost a minute before the laughter died.

"How long has it been since we argued like this?" Jean asked as he wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye.

"I think the last time was when I asked you to make a sled sword, and you ended up crashing into the fountain in that house"

"Ah, yes, that time the owner of that garden ended up letting his dogs go after us"

"Yeah, I can't believe we did something like that"

And after that short memory, they both stayed in comfortable silence for a few seconds once more until Jean spoke. "What should we do now? You were unconscious for almost an hour and a half, so we have just under a couple more hours of sunshine left"

"Do you want to go swimming?"

"Of course, of all the things you do when you go to the beach, it's the most common, and we haven't done it yet, although before we return, I definitely need to make a huge sandcastle"

"So, shall we go?"

"Why? We can just jump from here". Jean said before jumping off the balcony, falling straight into the ocean.

Lucy stared at where Jean had been for a moment before shrugging and smiling. "Oh, who cares". And after that, she ran and jumped off the balcony directly into the water too.

#####

"Come on, carefully, carefully, do it slowly". Jean said to himself as he placed a small branch with a leaf as a flag on his sandcastle.

"You finished?"

And just before it was over, Lucy's voice made his hand shake a little, the branch hit the top of the sandcastle, and in the end, the horribly made construction collapsed.

"That was cruel"

"Life isn't fair"

"Alright, alright, let's go get your things; I can't believe you left them on the balcony of the pier"

"I can't believe that even when you took it there, you didn't tell me they were there"

"Anyone could make a mistake, now let's go"

And as the two of them walked down the pier toward the balconies where they'd been earlier, they noticed small crowds forming at various points on the pier, all looking at something in the water and pointing from time to time.

"What's that? Let's see". Lucy pointed out as she moved closer to see

"Oh no, no, the last time I went to see what was making noise, I ended up naked and with an unconscious girl on top of me while a bunch of people I met that day watched"

"You promised that you wouldn't talk about it"

"No, you said that both of us would not tell anyone; plus at this distance, no one will hear us"

"Anyway, let's see, what's the worst that could haAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Lucy, who was approaching the edge of the pier, was caught by a giant white tentacle and pulled into the water.

"What the-?!" Jean said, surprised. "I told you that it wasn't a good idea!" He yelled as he followed the blonde and jumped into the water.

As soon as Jean submerged, he could see a giant squid and several girls trapped in its tentacles, but the most curious thing was that the squid seemed happy, and its cheeks were flushed.

'How the hell a squid can blush?'

Ignoring this clearly illogical fact, Jean began to swim at full speed, and as he did so, the squid surfaced in an apparent attempt to catch more girls.

"No, wait"

"W-where do you think you're touching?"

"Ahn"

"N-no, not there"

Each girl screamed in an absolute non-lewd manner as the squid held them up with its tentacles.

"I'm so jealo-no, I mean, how terrible". Jean said, following the stereotypes for this type of situation.

"Stop playing and help us! Ahn". Lucy yelled among all the girls until a tentacle apparently grazed a sensitive part, and as her bracelet and keys were together with her stuff on the balcony, she couldn't do much to free herself.

"I'm on it". Jean responded as a sword materialized in his right hand, and a single swing after, one tentacle that was holding a purple-haired girl was separated from the squid's body.

"Kyaaaaaa!" The girl's feminine scream stopped when Jean caught her in the middle of the air. "Eh?"

"I apologize for this in advance". Jean said before releasing her 2 meters from the water, the girl fell harmlessly, and after sticking her head out of the water, she gave the boy and the squid a brief look before swimming to shore.

Thus, in just over a dozen seconds, Jean was cutting the animal's tentacles and freeing the girls who were closer to him; curiously, Lucy was the one who was farthest and, therefore, the last to be saved.

Dodging two of the three remaining tentacles of the animal, Jean's left hand was covered with a silver-colored metallic glove that caught one of the tentacles; Jean tensed all the muscles of her arm and propelled herself towards the pointed head.

"Now, TAKE THIS!" Jean screamed as his right fist was covered with a metal glove too before hitting the squid in the middle of the eyes; the huge animal fell backward and released Lucy.

Jean jumped using the mollusk's body as a springboard, and in the end, he caught…

"That's not meeeeee!" Lucy yelled as Jean mistakenly caught a severed tentacle piece instead of her.

Jean let go of the animal's limb, and a dagger appeared in his hand; the small weapon was thrown at full speed past Lucy and stuck in a part where the sand was only a few centimeters below the water.

As Lucy fell, she watched as Jean approached her, but from one moment to another, he disappeared from her sight, and the next thing she knew, he had just caught her, but…

SQUEEZE*

A soft sensation settled in Jean's hand; Lucy opened her eyes slowly and saw Jean with a blank expression, then felt a soft squeeze and looked down, realizing where her friend's hand was.

"Ahhhhh!" She screamed and jumped out of Jean's grasp as she covered her chest her hands.

"W-what do you think you were doing?" She demanded the blonde, but Jean simply looked down at his hand and moved it as if he were squeezing something. "Hey, don't move your hand like that!" She cried out once more as her embarrassment grew.

"That was... something". Jean said before he looked up at her; Lucy took a step back on instinct and because of the serious look she was receiving.

"You…" Jean was saying when a noisy crowd surrounded them.

"That wizard beat the giant squid!"

"You saved my sister, thank you!"

"I don't know what I would do if my wife got hurt; thank you very much!"

"You saved us!"

One after another, the thanks came to Jean until someone in the crowd asked. "What will you do with the squid?"

"What do you mean?" Jean asked, not knowing who had asked the question.

"Yes, this beach is famous for giving some of the most delicious squids and octopus in the kingdom; please sell me a part of the squid"

"Me too"

"My restaurant will make delicious dishes with it"

"Just one tentacle is enough"

"Hey, I have no problem with them keeping everything; I wasn't going to take it with me"

All the restaurant owners chanted with joy at the gift.

#####

"Come on; you can't be upset for so long"

"Hmph"

"Come on"

"Hmph"

"I already apologized; besides, I didn't do it on purpose, it was just a coincidence to catch you at that speed"

"…."

"If you want, I can give you a score; maybe that calms you down-hye!" Jean was unable to finish when a fork stabbed between his legs, quite close to his private parts.

"Hey, fine, no more jokes, I promise". The boy excused himself by raising his hands.

"Okay, but I'm still upset"

"Come on, don't you think you're being a bit unfair? Or do you think I really did it on purpose?"

"I don't; I know it was an accident"

"Then?"

"It's still embarrassing"

"Buuuuuuut" Jean said.

"Why should there be a but?" Lucy asked, looking at the boy directly.

"…." Jean did the best puppy dog eye impression, which in the opinion of anyone with common sense would be very bad, but to Lucy, who had seen him do it a couple of times, it was funny enough to let out a small chuckle.

"Pfff". She blurted out in a low tone, but to her dismay, Jean managed to hear her.

"Oh, you laughed! That means that now everything is fine!"

"How can everything be alright?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"It's a world rule; if a girl is upset and you make her laugh, then the problem is solved". Jean crossed his arms and said confidently.

"What kind of rule is that?"

"Hey, I didn't invent it; I just follow it at my convenience"

And with that answer, Lucy sulked in her seat; the truth was that she was a little annoyed that Jean was right since after he made her laugh a little, her annoyance had greatly diminished.

"Sorry for the delay; here's your food". A new voice reached both and looking in that direction, they saw a waiter bringing a tray with steaming dishes.

"Our best salmon for the young lady". He said, putting the plate in front of the blonde.

"And an extra-large plate of fried squid for our kind sponsor". He said happily as putting a huge plate in front of Jean. "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me". The waiter gave a fast bow before leaving.

"Come on, if this doesn't lift your mood, I don't know what will". Jean said before picking up a fork and starting to eat.

Well, Lucy had to admit that this dispelled what slight annoyance she had left; after all the offers to buy the squid and Jean giving it away, the best restaurant on the beach offered her a free dinner with anything he wanted.

Jean accepted with the condition that the invitation is extended to her as well.

And it seemed the owner was happy enough to have some of that squid that he not only accepted right away but also gave them a private room with an ocean view that was more luxurious than Jean thought a beach restaurant would get.

"This is really tasty". She said after tasting the fish that had been served to her, she had Aed to prepare all the meals at home, and when she went to Jean's house there was Claire, they were both excellent cooks, even if her friend's mother did not dedicate herself to that, but the food at this restaurant was even more delicious than theirs.

"Ummm". Lucy looked up from her plate and saw Jean smiling as if she had won the conversation.

"What's happen?"

"You like the dish, so I'll take it as if I'm forgiven"

"Well, fine, I forgive you, happy?"

"Satisfied would be more accurate"

And after that, they both ate until they were satisfied, and before leaving, the restaurant owner gave Jean a cooler with a large piece of squid. Although obviously, Jean refused at first, he accepted when the man said that something like that was nothing since one of the girls he had saved was his daughter who had come to visit.

#####

"What a trip, isn't it?" Jean asked Lucy; they were sitting next to each other on the train, returning home.

"It was embarrassing for the most part". Lucy answered without looking at him.

"Buuuuuuuut"

Lucy rolled her eyes when she heard him use that phrase once more in less than a day, but she smiled just the same. "But it was fun, in its bizarre way"

"Heh, the but never fails". Jean said with a slightly smug tone before giving a big yawn. "Know something? I never understood why after going to the beach, people get sleepy"

Catching Jean's tiredness, Lucy also yawned. "Neither do I"

"It's about 3 hours to get to our station; do you want to take a nap?"

"Yeah… that… would be nice". Lucy said before falling asleep with her head resting on Jean's shoulder.

"Yeah, me too... I'll take... just a little nap". Jean replied before closing her eyes.

From that day, both of them were, perhaps, just a little more aware of each other.

---

Well, this was longer than I thought; at first, I was planning to make this just an omake of the previous chapter, but as I wrote, I noticed it was too long for that.

So I decided to turn it into a special chapter; I hope it was from your liking since 99% of the series I've seen have a beach chapter, and I also wanted to do one.

Besides, this won't be the only one I write because I plan to do another in the future, maybe at the end of arc 2 or 3.

In the next chapter, Lucy will finally find Jean, but whether he lets her accompany him or not is something different.

Remember that if you want to read what follows right now, you can go to my P-a-t-r-e-o-n (Rosasola); there are more chapters there, as well as some extra benefits, Ciao.