Root Beer Float (Kaito x Meiko)

Nineteen

"Okay, here I go!" Len ran off the edge and jumped into the pool, splashing me with water.

"Len!" I complained, turning to see him. "You're getting me all wet!"

He swam up to the float I was lounged upon, pushing me to the other side. "Sorry, Auntie Mei, but it is a pool. You're gonna get wet. But here, you should be out of the way now."

"Thanks, bud," I patted his arm and laid my sunglasses back over my eyes.

Today was actually Miku's birthday, and she said she wanted to have a pool party. Kaito had gotten us hooked up with Gakupo, who gave us the code for his neighborhood pool. Not sure if it was allowed to have a party at a pool in a neighborhood you didn't even belong to, but we were doing it anyway. The group of us consisted of our family, of course, a couple of Miku's close friends, and Gakupo and Kaito, who had yet to show up.

Miku was usually quiet about the things she really wanted, so Luka was doing her best to go all out. She had spent most of the previous afternoon in the kitchen working on a special two-layered cake, which had teal frosting and was decorated in little white flowers. When I had gotten home from work, I helped her set up the rest of the food. Now it was all sitting on a table and Luka was putting two little braids into Rin's hair while talking to another mom. Miku was talking to her friends by the shallow end, and me and Len were just living our best lives.

The two guys finally showed up, and when I noticed Kaito was wearing nothing but trunks and a scarf I got out of the pool to talk to them.

"Woahh, miss Mei-chan! Looking good!" said Gakupo, giving me awkward finger guns.

"Don't call me that," I smiled at him before turning to Kaito. "Hey."

Kaito was red in the face. "He isn't wrong, you know."

"Yeah, well, you aren't so bad yourself," I said. He giggled bashfully. "But... is the scarf really necessary?"

"Oh, I don't know... it matches my shorts."

I brought my arms up, gently pulling the scarf away from his neck. "You'll get hot if you wear this, Kaito."

"No!" He yelled, pulling away. With his hands clasping the scarf, he noticed my startled reaction to his sudden outburst. "I just want to keep it on, that's all."

"Okay," I said quietly, and that was the end of it.

Now that I was thinking about it, I had never seen Kaito without a scarf around his neck. Why was he this attached to them?

I didn't have time to think of a logical answer, though, because when I looked over to Luka I saw Gakupo was trying to make a good impression on her. However, in return she was helping Rin braid his hair, which made me laugh.

"Hey, Uncle Gakky?" she asked.

The bizarre name had him chuckling. "Uncle Gakky? Where did that come from?"

"Well, you're our uncle too, right?" Rin's eyes were wide and innocent. "And 'Gakky' is like the first half of your name."

He smiled. "How about you just call me Gakupo."

"Okay," she said, wrapping the hair tie around his finished braid. "Hey, Gakupo."

"Yes, Rin?" he asked, turning to her.

She grabbed his hand, examined his fingers. "You should start wearing nail polish too. It would look nice on you. Just ask Kaito, we got him to do it."

"Alright, then," Gakupo looked amused. "What color would look best on me?"

"Well, purple, of course!" She exclaimed, which made Luka laugh.