The next afternoon, the crew rose from their marathon slumber, and the consequences of their overexertion hit them like a truck.

"Stiff..." Pacifica was the first to voice a complaint. "Y-yeah, fuck," Shouri agreed. "Gambe..." Taika groaned.

"Warm water will probably help," Pacifica suggested as they all continued to lie there. "You think this MA Office has a hot tub or pools, for that matter?" Shouri pondered aloud. "Ooooh! You think so?! This city is big enough! I bet they have a nice pool!" The otter girl found her energy reserves at the prospect of swimming. "I don't remember if the Riva Solare office did. I know they had a sizable gym with water arenas," he informed his watery companion.

"I bet they do," Pacifica stated, wearing a determined smirk. "Let's approach this logically, hand me a tuner," Shouri requested of the currently upright Pacifica.

She grabbed the blue tuner she was bound to and passed it to her Maestro. He turned and lay on his back, with Taika allowing him only a second's reprieve before she clung to him once more, looking up at the screen held above her. Pacifica joined them from her side.

The first thing to do was to look up how to ease muscle soreness.

How to ease muscle pain - SEARCH x

1. Stretching. 2. Muscle massage. 3. Rest. 4. Ice to help reduce inflammation. 5. Heat to help increase blood flow to your muscles. 6. Over-the-counter (OTC) pain medicine

"Hmmm..." The three reviewed the list, deciding how they could accomplish these tasks.

Some more web searches yielded a couple of videos with leg stretches. Shouri cast the video to the room's television, and they followed the instructions as they played out. A course of pained whimpers followed as none present were used to their diminished flexibility.

Shouri returned to their list. "Okay, next." He played a video detailing what to do and not do when giving massages.

The trio looked from the screen at one another. "Taika and I could give you a massage first, then me and you to Taika, and Taika and you to me," Pacifica suggested.

"Uhhh, sure." Shouri nodded. Taika must have sensed his unease as she took up his hands in her own. She gave them a soft squeeze and smiled. "It'll be okay, Sho," she reassured him. "I mean, all three of us sleep cuddled up together, right?" she offered.

"Yeah," the boy chuckled sheepishly. What had his life become?

Focusing on performing the massages on one another was simple enough. The hard part was pushing down the fluster inspired by the pleasured sighs each recipient made. At the end of it all, the room fell to an awkward stillness.

Pacifica finally braved the veil of quiet that gripped her companions. "I think we should try the pool," she once more suggested. "Well, my legs do feel a bit better now. Heavy, but they don't hurt." Shouri stroked his chin in thought, thankful for the distraction. "I don't know how to swim. Also, don't we need bathing suits?" Taika asked.

The otter deflated as holes poked through her logic. She didn't want to leave Taika out. "I can teach you," she weakly offered.

"I know, but I don't have a bathing suit," Taika continued her protest. "We can fix that. This is a beach town," Pacifica countered.

At that point, the two Resonators deferred to their Maestro. He looked between Taika's apprehension and Pacifica's hope.

"Mmmrhhh..." He shuffled in place, not enjoying being in the hot seat. "On one hand, we really shouldn't spend any extra money until we do some hunts." Pacifica wilted instantly. "But-" She perked up with all the hope of a thirsty flower. "-denying Pacifica the chance to swim when she's an otter seems cruel." Said otter perked back up, right as rain.

"I don't have to swim," Taika pointed out. "But I want to swim with you!" Pacifica hugged Taika from the side. "Please! I promise I'll keep you safe!"

The fox couldn't help but feel bad – Pacifica really wanted to swim with her. The vixen was finally worn down. "F-fine..." she muttered.

The water Resonator jumped for joy. "Yay! I promise you won't regret it!"

Shouri chuckled, shaking his head. "I guess we're going shopping then." He referred to his tuner to find the nearest clothing store.

"Come on, Taika, you gotta show a little skin!" "But why? I... don't want to, it's so embarrassing." "Do it for Sho!" "For Sho?" "Well, yeah, you gotta give him something alluring to look at! Plus, everyone will be totally jealous of him!" "But why would other people be jealous?"

The two Resonators were in the swimwear section in one of the many clothing stores around town. Shouri had meandered off to find a swimsuit of his own whilst the girls worked on Taika's swimsuit (and Pacifica's night clothes).

Pacifica wrapped an arm around Taika and extended her other arm as if beckoning to an invisible audience. "Think about it – they see him with us and think to themselves: 'Man, look at that dude and his two beautiful Resonators, I wish I was him.' That's definitely what they're gonna be thinking when they see us."

Taika wilted. "I'm not beautiful." "Hush! Yes, you are!" Pacifica snapped back. "You have a great body and we're gonna make it known!" the otter declared. "Abbiate pietà di me, vi prego..."

Pacifica picked out a few swimsuits and shoved poor Taika into one of the changing rooms. The vixen stood alone with a handful of what appeared to be underwear, herself, and the judgmental mirror. Resigned to her fate, she decided to indulge her friend's whims and try some of them on.

The first one was a pretty simple bikini, black in color. Stripping down, the fox-girl slipped into the two-piece swimsuit. "She picked out the right size for me," Taika noted the comfort of the fit. After just about eighteen years of having mis-fitting clothing, it had become easy for her to tell when clothes were the right size for her.

But even with the correct fit, Taika still felt uncomfortable. Not physically mind you, but mentally. She was basically naked! People did this?! They just walked out into public, covering only the bare essentials?! What was modern society?!

"Taikaaaaa I know you have one on! Come on out!" Pacifica sang from the other side of the door. "Sei pazzo?!" "But I want to see!" "Allora puoi venga qui!" the fox hissed. "Fine fine, open up and let me in."

Covering herself with her jacket, she let Pacifica into the dressing room. It was a bit cramped, but they made it work. Taika still shielded herself with her jacket even behind the safety of the closed door.

"Lemme see," Pacifica demanded with a teasing lilt.

Despite her incredibly warm and red face, the vixen acquiesced to her pushy friend's demand and lowered her last line of defense.

Pacifica stared. Taika was definitely as in shape as she was. Thinking about it, the lunar Resonator never talked about her past. It had yet to be brought up. However, Pacifica was smart enough not to ask. Lunars weren't treated well for the most part, and she had a sneaking suspicion that Taika wasn't so fit because she was a health nut.

Upon closer inspection, she seemed a tad bit underweight. Just a bit. Shouri had mentioned that he and Taika had been together for about a month, and given they had been living in the lap of luxury until they began traveling, Pacifica could imagine Taika eating more than what was needed to sustain herself.

The otter-girl grinned. "I think you look great!" "I'm NAKED," Taika countered, resisting covering herself up as hard as she could. "Nuh-uh. You're wearing a bikini," Pacifica pointed out. "It's no different than my underwear!" "You gotta show some skin! I mean come on, look at what I wear daily."

Taika looked Pacifica up and down. It was honestly quite deceiving in how her outfit was implemented. On first inspection, it seemed as if she was wearing regular clothes, but on a second pass, it was clear she really was just clad in swimwear, wasn't she? How was she so confident in herself that she could parade around like that... even fight?

Pacifica sat on the wooden seat in the corner of the dressing room. "I really do think you look great. I'm not just paying you lip service."

Such honesty straight from the heart hit Taika hard. Tears welled up in her eyes. These people were too much. Shouri and Pacifica – they both genuinely liked her for who she was, and she simply couldn't understand why. What had she done for these people to appear in her life like this?

Of course, the ever-sharp Pacifica noticed her friend breaking down. "Hey hey, it's okay!" She stood up and hugged her lunar counterpart tightly. "It's in the past. We're here for you now." It was so strange how Pacifica knew exactly what to say and when to say it, even after only knowing Taika for less than a week. The teary vixen returned the hug, squeezing tightly and trembling.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"It's okay, it's okay. I promise it's okay," Pacifica breathed out, stroking Taika's hair while keeping hold of her with her other arm.

After a good cry, the two sat on the small seat in the dressing room. Taika rested her head on Pacifica's shoulder. "Thank you, Pacifica..." she sniffled.

"It's no problem." "No, I mean for becoming Sho's Resonator." "What do you mean?"

"I don't think I could do it alone. I wanted to be alone with him. But I couldn't protect him even two days after we were on our own," she admitted quietly, pushing herself against her companion more.

"I think you're stronger than you let on." Pacifica stroked the other girl's hair, a warm smile on her lips. "But I can't take any of the credit. That Maestro of ours is just so strange, I couldn't help myself."

"Why do you say that?" Taika questioned.

"Well you know, he doesn't see us like tools or things; he sees a couple of girls who want to be with him. He sees us as friends." She let out a contented sigh. "We really struck gold."

"You think so?" "I know so. I traveled a bunch, remember? I've seen all kinds of Maestros - guys, gals, non-binary pals, the whole gamut really. There are very few like Shouri. That Makani dude from last night didn't seem bad himself, but maybe that just comes with the territory." "Territory?"

Pacifica nodded. "It takes a special kind of Maestro to willingly take in a lunar. It takes someone seeing you as a person and not a thing."

"I haven't met many Maestros," admitted Taika. "But it's been a mixed bag," she added.

They both sat in each other's company for a little bit. That was until they heard their beloved Maestro's voice in their heads.

"Hey, are you two alright?" "Y-yeah Sho! Just still trying on swimsuits! Turn off that listener!" Pacifica shouted. "Fine, fine, was just worried." "We're fine, I promise!"

Silence in their brains once more, Pacifica exhaled. "Didn't expect to play therapist today, but if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. Please don't bottle it up."

The fox stared at the otter girl with bewilderment. "Why are you like this?" she muttered.

"I don't like seeing my friends sad." Pacifica wore a big grin as she said this. "I just want what's best for my friends."

Taika cracked a smile. "We're friends?" "Of course, silly!" She turned to the door, back towards her companion. "Why wouldn't I be friends with someone who saved my life?"

And with that, Pacifica left Taika alone in the dressing room.

"Amiche..."

Shouri, meanwhile, was all alone. He didn't want to hang out in the women's clothes section, so he stuck to the men's. It didn't take long for him to find a swimsuit – they had his preferred color and style, it turned out. That left him time to meander around and browse the internet. Mainly, he finally had a moment to look into those water spells.

"Idrante, Ghiacciolo; those are the basic water and ice spells. Pacifica is piercing, so I need to watch out for incoming slashing attributes," he noted the two spells even Pacifica herself knew. He looked up from his studies for a moment, digesting that thought while watching some of the worker Resonators fold some clothes.

Returning to his tuner, Shouri read on. "Mani Nell'acqua is just a utility spell, no in-battle merit, but it is our 'fill water bottles' spell, so I'm sure this will level quickly," another side note.

"Okay, Manga de Agua." Now was the spell he randomly blurted out when fighting that snake Scherzando. "So it does move faster and get bigger with higher ranks."

Moving on, the next spell on the list was: "L'onda di Tempesta," he read aloud. That was one of the spells that they didn't end up using against the snake. "Ah, this should combo nicely with Manga de Agua. This creates a river of water. Trap a target, hit it with the spout," he reasoned out. "Oh, you need special modifiers for this one. Accelerando pushes the water away from the user. Rallentando pulls the water towards the user."

He paused. "Now, why doesn't the tuner list those?"

The final spell Pacifica had in her arsenal was: "Meravigliare Bolla." This one was the most unusual of the bunch. "Oh, it's meant as a combo spell. I'll keep that in mind," he decided.

Considering his otter further, he realized he didn't know much about unique traits. He knew she could heal herself if she came in contact with water, but what else did she have?

"So she's faster in the water and can breathe underwater at the cost of some rhythm." He did recall she was able to swim against the rapids with little problem – it certainly saved Taika.

"Oh. I also get healed by water now." He hadn't realized she was passing that trait to him like Taika's night vision. Certainly useful to have. Probably could have saved some rhythm in the whole kidnapper attacking them ordeal yesterday if he had realized.

Pacifica was a fast attacker, especially if water got involved. Taika could support her and keep both of them healthy in battle. It was kind of nice how well the two of them could work together.

It was his job as the Maestro to guide them – to string together their combined pool of spells to win in combat. Yet he just couldn't yesterday against that man. Losing could have cost them everything.

"You ruined my life, now I'm going to ruin yours."

The boy shuddered. Running was one hundred percent the correct choice. Pacifica was right – they weren't ready to fight him head-on. Taika was only able to save them before because she had the element of surprise. Even the kidnapper knew that and made sure to immediately bind up the lunar fox on the second encounter. He let out a tired sigh. They were in town now, even if that man was still chasing them, he wouldn't dare try to pull something with all these people around… right?

"Shoooo!" Pacifica's voice freed him from his intrusive thoughts. "I'm over here!" he shouted back.

Appearing from the racks of clothes was Pacifica, in her typical attire, but she dragged an unwilling Taika, clad in swimwear of her own.

"I tried to get her to show more skin, but alas." Pacifica held the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically.

The vixen herself refused to comment as Shouri scrutinized her choice of swimwear. She was wearing a black, sleeveless crop top with a matching skirt, though the skirt had crescent moon patterns decorating it. Much more modest than he was expecting, given Pacifica's fashion sense. Though on closer inspection, the whole outfit seemed to be made of that meshy swimsuit material. The final thing he noticed was the longer he stared at Taika, the more she began to fidget.

"Is that even swimwear?" Shouri questioned, shooting a skeptical glance at Pacifica. "Absolutely!" the water-elemental insisted. To demonstrate this point, she lifted both the crop top and skirt, showing that the fabric was sewn onto a more traditional bikini set.

"Ti prego non fare così, Pacifica!!" Taika screeched, yanking her clothes back down and trying not to die from embarrassment. "You can at least let our Maestro appreciate you," Pacifica grumbled as an aside.

Shouri cleared his throat loudly, attempting to disregard the otter's comment. "Anyways, is that what you want, Taika?"

A moment of hesitation. "Si..."

A short nod from the Maestro. "And what about you – got good night clothes?" He turned to Pacifica.

"Yes, sir!" She held up a pair of baby blue pajamas adorned with seashells.

"Cool. I got my swim trunks too." He held up a pair of green and white swim shorts. Taika and Pacifica stared at the shorts, both of their minds running amok with impurity. To say they were both excited to go swimming was an understatement.

Much to Pacifica's disappointment, Taika refused to leave the store wearing the swimsuit. So after a short trip back to the dressing rooms, they made their way up to the front to pay for their selections.

The employee scanned the clothes, only pausing when they reached Taika's swimsuit. "Hmph, interesting," they commented to themselves, whilst minimizing contact with the garments in question. Pacifica caught the inflection and went to give a heated comment of her own, but Shouri stopped her just in time. She settled on glaring down the worker, instead.

"Why are people so frustrating!?" Pacifica finally let loose once they were out of the store. "It's not that big of a deal. I'm used to it," Taika muttered. Though she said this, her ears were folded back and her tail wrapped around her leg.

"You shouldn't have to be used to it!" Pacifica grabbed Taika's shoulders. Her eyes glowed with a slight red tint. After a moment of contemplation, she just hugged Taika, refusing to let her go. "It's not fair."

Taika returned the embrace in kind. "It's enough knowing some people care," she whispered. Pacifica squeezed tighter.

Shouri himself was just as frustrated as his otter. It just wasn't consistent. Some people were perfectly fine with Taika, while others turned their noses up at her as if she were any less of a person. It was exhausting.

He joined the group hug, much to the delight of his two Resonators. It didn't matter what other people thought. He was happy with his friends, and that's what truly mattered.

By the time they got back to the MA Office, it had gotten late. Wandering around the clothes store only exacerbated the stiffness in their legs, so they decided to take it easy and try again in the morning.

Pacifica didn't argue with the continuation of their sleeping arrangements that night. However, as she fell asleep, she finally understood a part of her parents' relationship. Being close to your Maestro was nice... heavenly even.

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