The sun soaked into your skin like honey, warm and thick as you drifted atop the pool on your floatie. Eyes closed, fingers lazily trailing the surface, you were perfectly content—until a sudden shift in the water told you you weren’t alone.

Then came the pause.

Nagumo’s fingers brushed against your calf. You didn’t need to look. That silence? That mischievous stillness? You knew it too well.

“I’m innocent,” he said, all soft deflection and a grin you could hear.

You cracked an eye open anyway. There he was, half-submerged and looking up at you like you were the moon hanging just out of reach. His tattoos shimmered faintly beneath the water, and his hair clung to his forehead in lazy strands. And then, with no further warning, he struck. A gasp tore from you as his hands gripped your hips and pulled you straight off your safe haven. The water rushed up around you in a cold shock, stealing your breath and your balance. Your hands instinctively reached for him, clutching his shoulders as he laughed, steadying you like he hadn’t just ambushed you.

“Nagumo!” you sputtered, “You were drifting too far,” he said smoothly, though you could still see the laughter tucked behind his eyes.

You pushed off him with a splash and swam to the edge of the pool, heart still pounding. Hauling yourself up, you perched there with a dramatic sigh, legs dangling in the water. He followed, of course—gliding through the pool with that lazy kind of grace that made everything he did look unintentional, even when you knew better.

“I’m calling a truce,” he said as he reached you, hands raised in mock surrender. “No more sneak attacks.” Your glare didn’t quite land. Especially not when his hands came to rest lightly on your thighs, thumbs brushing against your damp skin as he moved between them. His head settled against your leg, cheek pressed to your skin like he belonged there. And somehow, he did.

His arms wrapped around your legs loosely, like you were something fragile he didn’t want to let go of. “I like this bikini,” he murmured, almost to himself and lets out a contented sigh. The words melted into the air between you, soft and genuine. You looked down at him, at the ridiculous pout still tugging on his lips, at the way he fit so perfectly there like he was meant to rest in your gravity.