Sky blue as jade, water clear as glass; skin whiter than milk, softer than cream.
Leaning against the edge of the pool with more than half his body submerged, Kabe stared unblinkingly at the girls splashing and playing in the water.
His whole body felt hot and restless. He wanted nothing more than to launch himself into their midst and join the chaos.
Unfortunately, the wary glances the girls kept shooting his way forced him to give up on that very tempting idea.
"Siiigh~ This is absurd. They've completely taken over my pool and won't even let the owner swim. What kind of unreasonable guests are these…"
He deliberately raised his voice, theatrically lamenting the injustice of it all.
But the girls just kept doing their thing — some pelting each other with water, others waging all-out war with water balloons.
Not a single one spared him a reply.
Only Aries, wobbling along inside her swim ring, paddled clumsily over to him and answered:
"K-Kabe-sama, I… I haven't really gone in the water much before. If you don't mind, c-could you… teach me how to swim?"
Hearing that, Kabe gave her outfit a quick once-over.
Pink bikini. Almost no fabric. Lines for days.
His eyes lit up immediately, and he agreed in the most righteous tone he'd managed all day:
"Come, come, take the float off. I'll teach you personally, step by step."
As he spoke, his big hand slid right in to support her flat lower belly, blatantly taking advantage under the guise of "instruction."
Even though Aries' cheeks flushed pink in an instant from the intimate contact, for the sake of Kabe-sama's mood, she gritted her teeth and didn't push him away.
The other girls, seeing that he'd finally managed to score some benefits, all inhaled sharply through their teeth.
"Don't spoil him too much, Aries," Mira warned, hands on hips like a full-fledged veteran.
"Keep this up and he'll devour you bones and all sooner or later."
"Shoo, shoo, go play in your water. Who asked you to talk so much?"
Having gotten his way, Kabe didn't even let Aries answer. He just waved Mira off impatiently.
That made Mira's already impressive curves heave up and down with anger. In the end she snapped, grabbed a floating water balloon, and hurled it straight at him.
"Jerk! Did you forget your official girlfriends are standing right here?!"
As she shouted, she stalked toward him, flinging huge handfuls of water in his direction.
Erza also couldn't stand how smug he looked anymore and immediately joined the crusade.
Cana and Levy weren't about to miss out on a perfectly good "Beat Up Kabe" event either. They slowly formed a ring around him, and the pool exploded into all-out war.
Even though Kabe fought back with everything he had, he was still at a serious disadvantage surrounded on all sides.
Any thought of diving underwater to escape was immediately crushed by Juvia, whose command of water was greater than everyone else's combined. She simply controlled the currents and pushed him back up to the surface.
He'd barely broken through the water when Levy suddenly shouted:
"Take this— Secret Technique: Giant Water Ball Jutsu! "
A red water balloon the size of a palm smacked right into Kabe's face and exploded in a satisfying splash.
The girls practically doubled over with laughter, their giggles ringing out across the pool.
And that was the last straw.
Kabe finally got serious. What, did they really think the tiger wouldn't bite just because he'd been purring?
He locked his gaze on the one laughing the hardest — Levy, who'd just nailed him in the face.
With a powerful kick, he surged through the water toward her.
Levy startled and tried to back away, but Kabe was on her in an instant. He grabbed her arm, pulled her into his chest, and locked one arm around her tight.
The other girls, seeing this, didn't let up in the slightest — if anything, they upped the volume of their attacks.
"H-hey, stop! I'm a hostage!" Levy yelled, taking the brunt of the stray splashes.
Ignoring her plea, Kabe tightened his grip on her with one arm and kicked off again, charging toward the nearest Lisanna.
It didn't take long before Lisanna was "captured" too, ending up tucked under his other arm.
Seeing him with a girl in each hand, Juvia's eyes lit up with mischief.
"He can't fight back anymore— everyone, attack! "
As she shouted, a water sphere the size of a human head swelled into existence in her hands and flew toward Kabe.
Smack!
Kabe's tail whipped through the air like a live serpent, shattering the water sphere before it hit.
He grinned wickedly at the stunned Juvia, then turned his back to her as his tail suddenly spun like a propeller.
A man-made waterspout exploded up from the pool, sending every girl except Juvia tumbling, flipping, and scattering in all directions.
Their formation shattered completely.
An hour later, with everyone utterly exhausted, the poolside looked like a battlefield of salted fish — bodies sprawled everywhere.
Levy, face flushed, was using Levy's thigh as a pillow, mumbling weakly:
"It's been so long since I've gone this crazy… If it were possible, I'd love for things to stay like this forever…"
Kabe, whose tail was on the verge of cramping, rolled his eyes.
"What's with that 'tragic farewell' tone?
If you want to play, we can play anytime — you girls have already turned this place into a second guild headquarters anyway."
Levy flushed and stuck out her tongue, realizing her own wording really was a bit dramatic.
Laki sprawled out in a big X beside them, eyes half-closed as she enjoyed the warm sunlight, humming contentedly.
"It's so nice… Kabe, Erza, Mira — you three really have it good.
All S-Class, big houses of your own, and your relationships already confirmed nice and early…"