Speaking of going to the beach to have fun, what part is Rhode most looking forward to? It's definitely not applying sunscreen.
Because that's just asking for trouble.
But when Mira lay on the beach mat and showed her smooth, fair back, turning her head to look at him, it was impossible to refuse.
Mira said, "Make sure to spread it evenly."
"Of course," Rhode took the small bottle, "Tie your hair up first."
Without waiting for Mira to respond, Rhode gathered her long hair, pinched it together, and conveniently tied it up with the small elastic band he had on his wrist.
He's getting more and more skilled at this task.
He pulled the long ponytail to the front, squeezed out some sunscreen, dotted it evenly on Mira's neck, and then smoothed it down with both hands.
Again and again, he spread it evenly as Mira instructed before moving to her shoulders and back.
The process was exactly the same, and it was perfectly reasonable when his hand slipped slightly to touch where it should.
"Rhode, your technique is not bad." Erza suddenly laid down next to Mira, "Want to help me too?"
Though he couldn't see Mira's expression, Rhode could see the beach mat being crumpled.
He decisively refused, "Mira's gonna take a while, you should find Natsu."
"You're right." Erza nodded, "Natsu, come help me."
"Ugh~~~ so troublesome." Natsu reluctantly moved over.
"Please, just do as Rhode does," Erza said, "And I can help you later."
"I'm not afraid of getting sunburned." Natsu watched Rhode's actions and mimicked him.
Rhode suddenly had a bold idea—Erza made Natsu learn his actions, so if he did something funny, would Natsu follow suit?
Mira turned her head, scrunching her nose at him, "Better not think of anything strange."
"How do you know?"
"Heh heh."
How else would she know? The pressure in his hands changed when he was distracted.
At this moment, Lucy was holding a bottle of sunscreen, looking somewhat awkward. She originally planned to help Mira or Erza mutually, now what should she do?
Ask Gray?
Letting a man who might strip at any moment help apply sunscreen—Lucy just couldn't bring herself to do that!
At the critical moment, Hapi stepped up: "Lucy, need help from me?"
Lucy looked at him: "Your smirk is all over your face."
"I'm not planning any pranks."
"Yeah, right."
Better to rely on oneself, Lucy pulled out a key: "Open the Gate of Virgo, Balrog!"
A flash of golden light, a pink-haired maid appeared, but this time she wasn't in her maid outfit, wearing a black swimsuit with white lace edges instead.
"Princess, is this time for beach training?"
"It's not!" Lucy questioned her outfit, "Why are you in a swimsuit?"
"Because I heard from brother that he gifted the princess a vacation voucher, so I was prepared for beach training."
Balrog kneeled properly in front of Lucy, "Shall we start the training now?"
"I said it's not training, just asking you for a favor..." Lucy belatedly noticed Balrog's address, "'Brother'? What's that about?"
"Lord Leo told me to call him that."
"That guy..." Lucy held her forehead, but this was how the Star Spirits got along, she didn't want to intervene, "Anyway, I'm counting on you."
"Yes, Princess." Balrog dutifully obliged.
Behind a coconut tree, Jubia, also wearing a swimsuit, squirmed uneasily: "What should I do, Gray is alone, such a great opportunity, but... ah, today I must..."
"You guys are really troublesome, since that's the case, Hapi and I will start playing." Gray signaled to Hapi, "First, a sandcastle building contest!"
"Aye!"
"Watch, Hapi, building a sandcastle is all about shaping with sand!"
"Aye!"
Gray's hands moved swiftly, creating something presentable.
Hapi piled up a mound of sand, roughly resembling a fish. Then he shrugged, "Already bored."
"So impatient!" Even while lying and waiting for Balrog to apply sunscreen, Lucy loudly complained, "It's only been a few minutes!"
Hapi drooped sadly, "Because no matter what, I can't be as good as Gray."
"You're discouraging Hapi, can't you ease up a bit?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Gray had a serious look, "This is a contest, a man's contest!"
"Hapi's only 6 years old, right?" Lucy was puzzled, "But wait, calculating by cat years, 6 is quite old, but Hapi isn't an ordinary cat..."
Judging from Hapi's usual behavior, he was like a mischievous kid. Coincidentally, so was Natsu.
"Don't give up, Hapi, I'll help you now!" Natsu finally managed to brush off Erza, immediately began a new sandcastle across from Gray's.
A sandcastle that could barely be called a castle quickly took shape.
Lucy felt Gray won this round: "Natsu's creation is more of a dragon's lair than a sandcastle."
Natsu was thrilled, "That's exactly it! You get it, Lucy!"
"No time for tangents, the next round starts now." Gray took big strides into the sea, swinging his arm to splash water onto Natsu's face, "Water fight!"
"You bastard, sneak attacking me!" Natsu immediately dove into the sea to fight back.
Even Hapi could join in, carrying a mini swim ring into the sea.
Mira, her face a little flushed, nudged Rhode: "Alright, I'll do my face myself, go have fun."
Rhode made a disdainful face, "I'm not that childish..."
A splash of water hit Rhode's face, soaking half his hair and the front of his shirt.
How did they manage to splash water this far?
Natsu laughed heartily, "Ahahaha! Rhode's drenched!"
Mira laughed into her hand at Rhode's sorry state.
Rhode wiped his face, smiled at her, "I'll be right back to handle a little something."
"Okay~"
"Prepare yourself, Natsu!" Rhode charged into the water, flinging his arms dramatically, "Eagle's Wings!"
"You're using that? Watch mine, Fire Dragon's Water Strike!"
"I'll join too, Water Machine Gun!"
Lucy just couldn't suppress her urge to complain: "Mr. Rhode's become childish too... and is there any difference in their moves?"
The three of them shouting excitedly, but it was just regular splashing—with ordinary power, a face full of water felt like being slapped hard.
"I... whoa!" The first victim was Hapi, who quickly became cannon fodder amidst the three-way battle, occasionally being splashed away with the water.
After a noisy tussle, the three of them were soaked and temporarily paused to change into their swim trunks.
"So unfair~" Hapi had a pitiful expression, feeling a little emotion.
Rhode summoned Warm, asking it to play with Hapi.
"Huff..." Warm crouched on the sand, unhappily looking at him.
Too hot, even hotter than the guild—wasn't summer summoning supposed to be during cooler times?
Rhode pulled out a big bill, "Want ice cream?"
"Purr~" Warm instantly brightened up.
When it comes to food, this kid had no principles.
Now Warm was as big as a pig, but rounder, Rhode could totally ride him around.
Carrying Hapi to buy some ice creams was no problem.
Today's ice cream was on Young Master Luo.