Shinya absentmindedly kicked at the water in the swimming pool. There was some other people in the pool, mostly kids; they were chasing each other in the water. While he was absorbed in his own random thoughts, an inflated beach ball hit him on the head with a ‘bonk’ and bounced into the water.

" Hi, Shin-chan! Alone?"

Shinya thought he heard himself growl. He was not exactly in a cheerful mood and this was the last person he wanted to see now.

" What do you want, Die?" Shinya slipped into the water and attempted to swim away from the annoying guitarist.

" I wanna swim, what else?" He too hopped into the water.

Shinya swam to the opposite side Die was on in record time. The water felt refreshing to his skin even though the chlorine was really bad for his hair. The tall coconut tree shaded him from the bright morning sun as he leaned against the edge.

Ah, it was so relaxing, just lazing around in the pool, especially after the tiring gig they had earlier on.

Suddenly he was pulled into the water by a pair of hands. He came out spurting, half choking and gasping for air. Beside him was Die, laughing at him, his wet hair matted to his head. " What do you think you’re doing?!!! Are you trying to kill me?!"

" Aw, Shin-chan, you’re just too cute when you’re mad!" Die wrapped his arms around Shinya’s thin waist.

" Go away!!!" Shinya shouted at him. Several other swimmers cast a glance at the commotion the two men were making. The drummer tried desperately to squirm free of Die but was unsuccessful so he started hitting him with his fists. "Let me go, Die!"

" Ow! Okay, okay! Geez!"

Immediately after Die released him, he climbed out of the pool.

" Where are you going, Shinya?"

" Far away from you!" Shinya stated and grabbed his towel before fleeing.

Although the day was rather warm, Shinya shivered and wrapped the towel around his shoulders tighter. He left a beeline trail of his wet footsteps to the hotel lobby. He bumped into Toshiya as he was about to go into the elevator.

" Ah, going back so early? I’m just going for breakfast," Toshiya said.

" Yeah, stupid Die is bugging me at the pool," Shinya sneezed. "I hate him!"

Toshiya laughed. "No, you don’t. See you later!" The bassist patted him on the head and went out.

***

Toshiya slid into the rattan seat quietly, flicking a stray strands of thread on his black tights. He pursed his lips into a thin line as he trained his eyes on the man sitting in front of his. He could see violet hair peeping from above the daily papers.

" G’ morning, Kaoru."

Kaoru muttered something in response but kept on reading. Before they had a chance to say anything more, Kyo came to the table with his breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages and toast on a single plate and orange juice.

" You’re up early. That’s rare," Toshiya propped his elbows on the table, pouting as Kyo sat beside Kaoru.

" Yup, Kaoru promised to bring me snorkelling! Isn’t that great?!" Kyo gushed eagerly as he poked his fork into a sausage.

" Uh-huh." Toshiya narrowed his eyes to glare at Kaoru; if it was possible, a huge hole would have been burnt into the newspaper from the intensity of the glare.

***

" Who invited you along?!!"

" Do I need an invitation? Anyway, who said I’m following you guys? Snorkelling happens to be one of my favourite sports!" Toshiya stated and tied his hair into a ponytail.

Kaoru sat quietly in the corner of the yacht, putting the flippers on. " You guys never keep quiet, do you?"

" Hey, it’s not my fault!!" Toshiya said defensively.

Kyo sauntered over to Kaoru. " Kao-chan, you forgot your mask," he said, giggling as he slipped the accessory over the guitarist’s head and let his fingers linger longer just to annoy Toshiya.

Two metres away, Toshiya looked at them, getting angrier by the second.

***

Shinya was having room service for lunch in his hotel room. The chicken chop before him didn’t look very appetising but he cut it up slowly anyway, putting piece by piece into his mouth. The sunlight shone through the curtain at him but he was too lazy to close the drapes.

As he was dipping his chicken slice into the gravy, the doorbell rang. With the fork hanging in his mouth, he peeped through the door hole. A mass of red hair greeted him. Immediately he turned around and went back to his lunch. The man outside there was sure persistent. He pressed the bell until Shinya got angry enough to open the door.

" What?!!"

Die was leaning against the frame. "Why are you so angry every time you see me?"

" That’s precisely the reason why I’m angry- I see you!"

The drummer was ready to slam the door but Die stopped the closing door with a hand and barged into the room.

" What do you want, Die? Do you want to spoil my holiday too?" Shinya asked in a tired voice.

The guitarist turned to him with a sad look in his eyes. "Do I always spoil your time?"

" Yes, you do! Please get out!" Shinya ordered. "Now, I don’t even have appetite to eat anymore!" He closed the lid over the tray of chicken chop.

Die plopped himself down on the bed and sighed, his fingers rubbing the area between his eyes. "Shinya, I need to talk to you about something."

" I don’t want to talk to you."

Shinya turned away from Die and flipped through the hotel vouchers. Although his eyes were on the coloured pages, his mind was thinking of what he would say if Die said something to irritate him. But no words came from the guitarist. The only thing Shinya heard was the door clicking shut.

" Die?"

He looked behind and saw nothing but the crumpled sheets Die was sitting on.

***

" Ah-choo!" Toshiya sneezed. A cup of hot tea suddenly appeared in front of him." Kaoru?"

" You okay?"

" Yeah, I think I caught a cold." Toshiya sniffled. He dried his long black hair with a fluffy green towel with a big ‘Sunshine Resort’ written across it.

" It’s all your own fault for staying in the water so long," Kyo said.

" Gee, thanks for telling me that," Toshiya replied bitterly.

"Oh, Kaoru. I’m so cold!" The bassist clung onto Kaoru’s arm. Seeing the infuriated look on Kyo’s face, he stuck out his tongue. "Kyo’s jealous!"

The vocalist’s face turned as red as a tomato. "No, I’m not! Kaoru-chan, don’t believe this liar!"

While they were passing remarks to each other, Die entered Kyo’s hotel room. His face was dark and gloomy. Instantly, he dropped on the bed and ignored his three bandmates.

" Why the sulk, Die?" Kaoru asked.

" Nothing!"

" Maybe Die really wanted a vacation at a hot spring resort??" Kyo said.

Die continued pouting.

" Oh-hoh! I got it!" Toshiya grinned widely, showing off his uneven teeth.

" What?"

" You wanna know, Kaoru?" Kaoru nodded. The bassist whispered something into his ear and they both giggled.

" What?!" Kyo bounced around.

" I don’t want to tell you." Toshiya hugged Kaoru tighter.

" Wah, Toshiya bullies me!!!"

" Calm down…it’s…" Kaoru whispered to Kyo the ‘secret’ of Die’s sulking.

" Hohoho! You’re being naughty, Die-chan!" Kyo waved a finger in front of him.

" What?!!!" Die exclaimed at the three grinning faces. " I didn’t do anything with Shinya!"

"……"

Their grins grew lopsided and they turned to looks at each other. Toshiya scratched his head. They all stayed silent for a while before Kyo spoke. "Who said anything about Shinya?"

" We thought you liked those geisha at hot springs," Toshiya pointed out.

" Yeah…but, hey, now we know the truth!" Kaoru brightly said. "Die has a crush on Shinya! Wahahahah!"

" Grrr…you all…" Die said through gritted teeth. " What kind of friends are you guys??! Why? Why does this have to happen to me?!!" Die stomped around the room.

" What? Did Shinya spurn you?"

Die growled at Toshiya.

" Aha!" The bassist raised his eyebrows at Kyo and Kaoru. " I have a plan."

" What plan?" Die, Kyo and Kaoru voiced out together.

" It’s…xxxxxxxxxxxx! xxx….xxxxxxxxxxxxx!!!!"

" Ohhh…"