Chapter Text
The Thieves were on their last day of vacation at Hawaii, and Ryuji wanted to make all of it count.
“C’mon man, we gotta check out all the ladies!” Ryuji yelled, tugging on both Ren and Yusuke’s arms. “What kind of vacation would this be otherwise?”
“One that could be spent on much more enriching things,” Yusuke said. “We could explore the trails and enjoy the scenery, and I feel I could gain massive inspiration from it! We simply must look at all the tourist attractions!”
“No way, man!” Ryuji yelled again. “These hot chicks are only ever out on the beach! We won’t be able to see them if we’re… hiking, or something!”
“That is of no concern to me,” Yusuke shook his head. “I will go and find inspiration! I know something to inspire me can be found here, in a distant land far from home… I know there will be something! I shall go and find it!”
“Uh… Alright,” Ryuji said, almost like a question. “Mishima, you in?”
“I dunno…” Mishima said quietly. “I wouldn’t wanna be a bother…”
“C’mon, it’ll be fine!” Ryuji declared enthusiastically. “You’ll get to hang out with us and talk to some pretty girls! What’s not to like?”
“A- Alright…” Mishima nodded. “I don’t really have anything else to do, so I might as well come along…”
“Alright!” Ryuji cheered. “That’s two! Ren, you in?”
“I guess…” Ren said hesitantly. He didn’t exactly have anything better to do, so he might as well stick with his friends.
“How about you, Yusuke?” Ryuji asked eagerly, turning to him. Yusuke, however, was nowhere to be found.
“That’s odd… wasn’t he just here a minute ago?” Ryuji asked. Ren just shrugged, as Ryuji just shook his head. “Well, that’s enough. Let’s go!”
Ren followed the group around and stood around awkwardly as Ryuji and Mishima went up to various scantily-clad women and attempted to chat them up, to no avail. Their flirting ranged from trying to be coy to outright bluntly stating that they were hot, but all of them failed. Ren thought that he’d die of secondhand embarrassment, before the other two teenagers slumped.
“It’s no use…” Ryuji mumbled, downcast. “They didn’t even look at us for more than a few seconds…”
“It really is unfortunate,” Mishima agreed. “We’ll just have to try harder in the afternoon, then!”
“D’you think we’d have a chance if we mentioned we were Phantom Thieves? Ow!” Ryuji exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. Ann had walked up behind him and smacked him, before sighing.
“Ryuji, we’re not doing this for the fame, remember? We’re here to actually change society as a whole,” she scolded.
“Yeah, I know, I know…” Ryuji muttered.
“Well, if you’re not having any luck right now, why not get some lunch? It is around noon, after all.” Makoto said, brushing her hair behind her ear. “We may as well eat first, before we start going back to our activities.”
“Fine, I guess,” Ryuji slumped. “I am starving.”
“I mean, there’s a Big Bang Burger right there,” Mishima said, pointing. “Why don’t we go eat there?”
“Sure, why not?” Ren shrugged. “We can continue after we eat.”
The team walked into the Big Bang Burger, before Ren smirked.
“Hey, why don’t we all take the Big Bang Burger challenge? I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
“Ah, why not?! I’m hungry after all those agonizing failures!” Ryuji yelled. “Let’s do this!”
“I’m in!” Ann declared.
“We’ll all take the Big Bang Burger challenge,” Ren said to the waitress, who smiled in return.
“Absolutely!” she beamed. “Please find a seat, we’ll bring your orders to you momentarily.”
“Well,” Ren chuckled as he sat down. “Good luck, guys.”
“What’s the challenge?” Makoto asked.
“It’s where you have to eat a huge burger as fast as possible,” Ren said. “I’ve completed the first two challenges already, and I’m on the last one. You guys’ll start on the first level, which is still pretty damn big.”
“Here are your burgers!” The waitress trilled, bringing a tray laden with huge burgers on top, with one noticeably larger than the others. “You’ll all have half an hour to complete the challenge. Good luck!”
“These things are so big!” Ann gasped. “How would you even begin eating this thing?! And then look at Ren’s! It’s almost four times the size of ours!”
“You eat it like this!” Ryuji yelled, before taking a massive bite out of the burger. “This thing tastes amazing! Let’s get at it!”
“What I have gotten myself into…” Makoto muttered.
After half an hour, Ren and Ryuji were the ones who managed to finish their burgers. Mishima had a small bit left, while Ann and Makoto had left over half of the burger.
“Oh man,” Mishima groaned. “I almost had it! I was so close!”
“I don’t believe it would be best for me to finish this,” Makoto said. “I must watch what I eat.”
“I can’t finish all of this,” Ann muttered. “Not all this meat, at least.”
“Right, because you can probably eat triple that in pastries and crêpes,” Ryuji joked.
“S- Shut up!” Ann snapped back, embarrassed.
“I’m surprised Ryuji managed to finish! And Ren! His burger was quadruple the size of ours! He still finished it in half an hour!”
“And I regret it,” Ren groaned, letting his head fall onto the table with a thump . “But I’m done with all three now. I can finally get my Captain badge and be done with these challenges.”
“Congratulations, you two!” The waitress smiled. “Here is your Captain badge,” she said to Ren, “and you get the Second Mate badge.” she said to Ryuji.
“Well, let’s go, then,” Ann said, getting up from the table. Ren let out a muffled groan, before getting up again and following the group out.
“Ugh,” Ryuji muttered.
“What is it?” Ann asked.
“We’re in Hawaii, but we haven’t done anything out of the ordinary,” Ryuji grumbled. “We can just go to the beach back in Japan. We just ate at a Big Bang Burger, which is in Japan. I wanna do something unique! Something that we can’t do in Japan!”
“Well, why don’t we go look for something to do?” Makoto suggested. “We can all meet back here in half an hour. Let’s find something that we can’t do every day in Japan.”
“Sure,” Ren shrugged. “I’m game.”
The group split up to look for something to do. Ryuji wandered into town with Ann, Makoto went to find a tour guide, Mishima went back to the hotel to ask them about tourist attractions, and Ren wandered down to the beach to see if there were any events being held.
As Ren wandered along the shoreline of the beach, he could see an area of the beach that seemed to be cordoned off by a length of rope with what seemed like a little hut, and a sign on the rope discouraged going through unless they were part of a group.
Must be some sort of private beach. Ren mused. I should probably turn back.
Ren nodded to himself, turning around, before a ball hit him in the back of his head, knocking his glasses off his face. He shook his head, disoriented, before a cheerful voice sounded behind him.
“I’ll go get it!”
Ren tilted his head. That voice was familiar.
His suspicions were confirmed when a girl with vibrant red hair ran around the side of the building, looked at the ball, and, with a start, noticed Ren.
“Senpai?” Sumire gasped in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Ren didn’t respond, no, he couldn’t respond. How could he, with such a sight in front of him?
Sumire was wearing a red two-piece swimsuit that made her look absolutely divine. He couldn’t help but stare, and Sumire’s face pinkened a bit at the attention she was receiving.
“Senpai…?” Sumire questioned again shyly.
“Beautiful…” Ren whispered, in a trance-like state.
Sumire’s face flared red in embarrassment and shock.
“S-Senpai?!” Sumire cried, a full blush on her face. “You- You mean the scenery and everything, right? Yes, the beach and the ocean are definitely beautiful!”
“Sumire, what’s taking so long?” a girl called. When she walked around the hut, she was greeted with the sight of a stammering, beet-red Sumire, and a transfixed Ren.
“Well, well, well. What’s happening here?” she asked, with a teasing lilt to her voice.
Sumire’s head jerked towards the voice, startled.
“N- Nothing!” Sumire squeaked, shaking her head. “There’s nothing happening here, Kasumi!”
“Sure…” Kasumi smirked. “What do you have to say, Ren- senpai ?”
“Huh?” Ren asked, his head snapping towards Kasumi. “Uh, hi, Kasumi.”
“Hello to you too, Senpai ,” Kasumi said, speaking in a softer voice on the last word to sound more like Sumire. “What were you two up to?”
“Uh, I just stopped by, and got hit with a ball,” Ren said, blinking. He picked his glasses up and put them back on, before turning to face her. “Sumire just happened to come back around and I ran into her.”
“Yeah, but what did you say? ” Kasumi pressed. “Sumire almost never gets this flustered unless it’s about you.”
“I, uh, didn’t say anything,” Ren said shiftily. “I’ll, uh, be going now.”
“Wait!” Sumire called, a little too quickly. When Ren turned back to face her, she blushed again. “W- Would you like to stay for a bit? We need another player for beach volleyball, since Coach isn’t too fond of playing…”
“Um.” Ren’s brain stopped.
Playing beach volleyball with Sumire? Sounds like a dream…
“It- It’s okay if you can’t,” Sumire said, looking a little disappointed. “I know you’re also pretty busy-”
“NO! I mean, no,” Ren said quickly. “It’s not an issue. I’ll join.”
“Really?!” The way Sumire lit up made Ren’s entire day. “That’s great! Let’s go, Senpai!”
She grabbed Ren’s hand and dragged him around to the other end of the hut, and Kasumi followed with a smirk.
When Ren arrived behind the hut, he drew looks from the other people standing there. There were two black-haired girls who stared at Ren like he was some kind of alien, and two older women, one with a cyan tank top, and the other with an orange one.
“Well, this is a surprise,” the woman in a cyan tank top greeted Ren. “Who’re you?”
“This is Ren Amamiya, although Sumire usually just calls him Senpai,” Kasumi said, gesturing to Ren. “No last name or anything. It’s kinda cute.”
“W- well, I have to show him some respect!” Sumire protested.
“Then why not ‘Amamiya-senpai,’ or ‘Ren-senpai?’” Kasumi smirked. “You seem awfully fond of just calling him ‘your Senpai.’”
Sumire’s protests fell on deaf ears as the woman wearing the cyan tank top stepped forward.
“Ah, so this is Ren!” the woman said, before grabbing and shaking Ren’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Sumire has told me many, many great things about you.”
Ren cast an eye over to his kouhai, who had buried her face in her hands, her blush showing past what her hands could cover.
“Coach… not you too,” Sumire groaned.
“She talks about you almost every time we meet,” the coach continued on. “About how you’re a massive inspiration to her and how you’ve helped her to improve.”
“I’m honored to be thought of that way,” Ren said, placing a hand over his chest. “I want nothing but for Sumire to achieve her dream.”
“Well said,” the coach smiled. “I’m Coach Hiraguchi, the Yoshizawas’ coach. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amamiya-kun.”
“Same here, Hiraguchi-sensei,” Ren said, bowing. “I’ve heard nothing but compliments about you.”
“I’m glad,” Hiraguchi smiled, looking over to the sisters. “Would you like to join the game? You can take my spot, I’m not the fondest of volleyball.”
“I’m not sure if I can play to your level,” Ren shook his head. “The volleyball coach at school… let’s not talk about him.”
“I understand,” Hiraguchi nodded. “But it’s only for fun. Would you like to play?”
“Well, why not,” Ren shrugged. “I’ll join.”
“Excellent!” Kasumi shouted, pumping her fist. She cast an eye towards Ren, and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.
“Hey, Ren?” Kasumi called. Ren tilted his head, indicating that he was listening.
“It’s the beach, so it’s gotta be hot, right? You should change into your swimsuit. You can change in the little hut we have back there. We also go into the ocean for a bit every once in a while to cool off.”
“K- Kasumi!” Sumire shrieked, her face steadily turning red. “Don’t make him do something that he doesn’t want to do!”
“Sure,” Ren shrugged. “I’ll be right back.”
Ren went into the hut to change, while Sumire whirled on Kasumi.
“KASUMI!” Sumire shouted, her blush spreading to her whole face. “Y- you!”
“I what?” Kasumi asked, grinning broadly. “C’mon, you know you wanna see him like that. No shirt, nothing covering his well-defined chest… I know I do.”
“I- Well-” Sumire stammered, her face now as red as a strawberry. “I- No, of course not!”
“I dunno,” one of the other girls muttered. “He’s kinda cute, don’t you think?”
“Totally,” the other girl whispered back. “Do you think he and Sumire-chan are going out?”
Sumire overheard them and blushed again, the very thought of her and Ren being together enough to fluster her.
“My, my,” Kasumi smiled, leaning in. “What sort of naughty, depraved thoughts are running through that head of yours, Sumire?”
“N- nothing!” Sumire replied, shaking her head. “I’m fine!”
“Really?” Kasumi pressed, smirking. “Why’s your face so red, then?”
“No reason! I’m just- I’m just hot! Yeah!”
“Oh? Then maybe you should take a dip in the ocean with Ren,” Kasumi chuckled.
Sumire didn’t give an intelligible response after that, only covering her face and shaking her head rapidly to stave off the thoughts of her Senpai being shirtless.
It didn’t exactly help, considering Ren had chosen that moment to reappear from the little hut, changed into his swimsuit.
“Hey,” Ren greeted the group, looking strangely at Sumire, who had covered her extraordinarily red face with her hands. “Sumi, are you doing okay?”
Sumire squeaked and glanced up at him, only for her last functioning brain cell to finally shut down.
Her Senpai had taken off everything except for some blue swimming trunks, even his glasses, and God help her, he was hot.
She knew he worked out, of course. He told her that he went to the gym anywhere from twice to four times a week, and of course he’d built up even more muscle and stamina by working with her through her gymnastics drills, but…
For a person with such a lean frame, she didn’t expect him to have that much muscle. She gave an involuntary shudder as she stared at his chest, and felt herself grow even hotter under the sun. As Ren drew closer and closer, Sumire averted her eyes downward, which only sealed her fate. His torso was well defined, the outline of his abs starting to show, and a trail of dark hair leading downward to…
No, no, NO! Sumire shook her head frantically, her face feeling like it was on fire. Stop- Don’t think about that!
She heard Kasumi giggling in the background, shouts coming closer from somewhere beyond the little hut, as well as whispers from the other two girls, but all of the outside noise faded into nothing as Ren leaned down, put a finger under her chin, and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. Sumire’s face was definitely on fire, and maybe her whole body as well with her Senpai’s proximity to her.
“Are you okay?” Ren asked, his breath hitting her lips.
With her Senpai this close to her, being this intimate, wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks, Sumire did the only thing that was respectable to do in this situation.
She eeped in embarrassment, took a deep breath, and fainted into Ren’s arms.
_____________________
“Goddammit, what the hell’s taking Ren so long?!” Ryuji yelled, kicking at the sand.
“It’s not like Ren to be this late,” Mishima said, scratching his head. “Should we look for him?”
“He went down to the beach, right?” Makoto asked. “We may find him there.”
“Let’s go, then!” Ryuji yelled, tearing down to the beach.
“H- Hey! Wait up!” Ann called, running after him.
“REN!” Ryuji shouted. “REN, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”
“Ren!” Mishima called, cupping his hands to his mouth. “Ren, shout if you can hear us!”
“I’m gonna go check behind that hut over there, see if I can find him in some other part of the beach!” Ryuji called, pointing to the little hut.
“I’ll join you,” Mishima shouted, running after him. As Ryuji reached the side of the hut, however, he froze as he saw something on the other side.
“What is it?” Mishima asked, coming up behind him. He got to Ryuji’s side just in time to see a very flushed red-haired girl fall into Ren’s arms in what seemed to be a very… intimate hug. When Ren froze and tentatively put his arms around the girl, Ryuji turned to Mishima in despair.
“Mishima,” Ryuji said thickly. “I think we lost.”