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If Haru had to compare himself to an animal, he’d say he was a house cat. Spending his days in the comfort and safety of his own home and occasionally going out at night to hunt. A simple life, but pleasant.
Which is why he was in such a state of misery now as he sat on the beach.
Only days before, Aki had been let out of school for summer break and Haru had been perfectly content. Aki was home full time now, they had all day to spend together and Haru didn’t have to share him with anyone.
Or so he had hoped.
Not even two days into summer break Miwa came over and offered to bring the two of them with her and Junko to her family’s summer home. Haru said no several times, but somehow he still found himself sitting on a blanket, under an umbrella on the beach. The sun was shining, the sand was warm and the water was crystal clear blue, and Haru loathed every moment of it.
It was boiling hot, the sand was rough and itchy against his skin, he would literally kill for a fan. The only thing that was keeping him from going back to the air conditioning in the house was Aki, who was happily playing in the water with Junko.
To Aki, this was a little slice of heaven. He’d never been to the beach before and it was just as pretty as it was on tv. The sand felt weird between his toes but not bad like how Haru had described it. The cold water felt amazing against his legs as he waded further in. Junko joined him to help him swim and just as he was getting the hang of it, a huge wave splashed him right in the face, giving him a mouth full of saltwater. Even though it was gross and made his eyes water, nothing could ruin his fun. He just wished that his brother would be able to enjoy himself too. This was their first vacation together!
Haru smiled and waved to Aki as he caught him looking back at him again. As long as he was happy, Haru could put up with a few days of “sun and fun”.
“You’re such a stick in the mud.”
Haru whipped around, pissed off that he hadn’t heard her approach, and saw Miwa standing behind him with a tray of sliced watermelon.
“I told you when you invited me that I wasn’t a beach person,” he grunted as she sat down next to him.
“Yeah, but I figured you’d at least try to play with your brother. Look at him! He really wants you to join him.”
All Haru saw was Aki batting a large beachball back and forth with Junko, he looked happy as could be. So what was wrong with watching from the sidelines?
“I’ve got watermelon!” Miwa called out to their swimmers. “Come take a break.”
Junkp playfully chased Aki out of the water and up to the blanket where he pounced onto Haru. The sticky salt water soaked his shirt and shorts, but he’d never turn down a hug, so he put Aki on his lap and powered through it. The four sat under the shade to eat and drink juice until they were full and messy. Before Haru could shudder about the sand clinging to his hands, Aki stood and pulled Haru up with him.
“Let’s go look for sea shells,” he said, smiling brighter than the boiling sun.
Honestly, Haru was hoping Aki would be tired enough after all of that swimming to take a nap on the blanket, but luck didn’t seem to be on his side lately. When Haru didn’t respond right away, Aki looked over to Junko for encouragement.
“We saw some pretty ones over there,” she said, pointing a little ways up the shore. “Didn’t you say you wanted to do something special with them?”
“Oh, yeah! I thought we could bring some back to Kuroda-san, as souvenirs.”
Aki also wanted to bring a really pretty one back for Shun, but there was no way he would ever tell Haru about that, he was already nervous when he told Junko about it. He knew his brother hadn’t really wanted to come, but maybe this would help him loosen up. Haru worked super hard all the time, he deserved a break and Aki was going to make sure he got one. Junko told him this would be a good way to start; Haru would spend time playing with him and she and Miwa could get some alone time.
“I don’t know kiddo…”
“Please! We don’t have to do it real long.”
As usual, Haru couldn’t find it in himself to say no and the sharp elbow jab he got from Miwa was hard to ignore as well.
“Alright, but come here first. You need more sunscreen.”
Aki whined but sat down anyway. Sunscreen felt so gross and slimy and it smelled weird too, but Haru had been reapplying it every hour on the hour without fail. Haru knew how fair skinned they both were, so he wasn’t taking any risk of either of them getting sunburned. Once they were both lathered in spf fifty and borrowed one of Miwa’s large sun hats, and a bucket, Aki led Haru to the spot where dozens of beautiful shells were scattered in the sand. Aki ended up doing most of the collecting while Haru held the bucket for him, occasionally pointing out some of the smaller shells that Aki missed. Another was a very large conch shell that he stubbed his toe on, but nonetheless he still reached down and picked it up to pass to Aki.
“Hold it up to your ear,” he instructed. Aki looked confused, but did as he was told. “Listen closely.”
Aki held the conch close to his ear and closed his eyes. Inside, he could hear the soft movement of waves, much quieter than the ones brushing against her feet. He giggled excitedly and held the shell up to Haru’s ear. It wasn’t as amazing to him, but it was still fun to play along. They spent a little more time gathering shells, pretending to let the waves knock them over and watching the boats out in the distance. Some smaller boats from the resorts nearby and a large fishing ship further out.
As the two sat back down on the blanket to sort their haul, Haru kept stealing glances at it. A boat that size would be big enough to live on, wouldn’t it? What would that be like? It probably wouldn’t be very stable and storm season would be beyond dangerous, but being able to live in that kind of isolation sounded peaceful. He and Aki could hide on a boat, miles and miles away from everything. Not another living soul around them, save for the fish swimming beneath them. Haru wished they could afford a place like Miwa’s summer home, as much as he disliked the beach, he knew Aki would be happy out here. But at the same time, this was too big for their bubble. He wanted to be in their little apartment, in their perfect little bubble as close as they could be.
Finally, Aki was tired enough to lay down and take a nap and curled up next to Haru. Miwa had taken Junko for a “romantic walk” so they had the space to themselves, allowing the two of them to get some peace and quiet at last. He placed a towel over Aki’s tummy and laid down next to him, letting the warm sand and the gentle sound of the waves lull them to sleep.
As Haru roused back into the waking world, he went to stretch but found his arms being weighed down. His legs too… everything, something was holding him down! He opened his eyes and frantically tried to push himself up until he heard laughter. Above him, Aki, Miwa and Junko stood with their phones, taking pictures of him. He looked down and saw the mountain of sand that covered him from the neck down, shaped like a fish tail.
“Oh, very funny,” he grumbled. “So hilarious, now get me out!”
“Sorry, nii-chan,” Miwa chuckled. “We couldn’t resist.”
“I helped draw the scales!” Aki cheered, very proud of himself.
“Please forgive us, Haru-san,” Junko said, stifling a snort behind her hand. “We didn’t want to wake you.”
Haru’s glare softened when he saw Aki laugh, happy tears gathering in the corners of his eyes and rolling down his chubby red cheeks-
Wait…
RED?
The new found adrenaline gave Haru the strength he needed to push himself out of the sand as he reached for Aki. Cupping his face gently in his hands, he flinched sympathetically as Aki did when his grainy hands brushed against his sensitive skin. His face, shoulders, chest and back were painted red by an angry sunburn.
“How long have I been asleep?” he asked, now noticing how low the sun had gotten.
“About three hours,” Junko said.
Three hours?! He hadn’t put sunscreen on Aki for three hours!
“Oh, kiddo,” Haru sighed, brushing Aki’s bangs out of his face, he desperately wanted to hug him, but he didn’t want to hurt him anymore. “I’m so sorry, bud. We need to get you a cool bath and some aloe.”
Too tired and fully processing how much pain he was in now that the laughter had worn off, Aki only nodded and lifted his arms to be carried. Reluctantly, Haru did so as carefully as possible and let Miwa led them inside.
The Mitsuboshi summer home was humongous, as Haru expected and it was way bigger than any house he thought he’d ever set foot it. Everyone had their own room that was the same size as their whole apartment, even though he and Aki would still share. All of the floors were made of shiny marble that they could see their reflections in and the windows reached all the way up from the floor to the ceiling. The smooth floor was a welcome change for their feet after walking all day on the burning sand.
Haru carried Aki down the hall to their room and into the ensuite bathroom to run a lukewarm bath. He hoped Aki wouldn’t get sick from this, for now all he could do was treat the burn and try to prevent any infection. The two of them rinsed off the remainders of the beach and got into the tub together. Aki shivered in the water, but he didn’t want to think about what a hot bath would feel like on his burn. Haru endured it as best he could, pouring water along Aki’s back and shoulders for him until the red began to fade a little bit. After the bath, Haru patted his little brother dry and sat him down on the bed to get their pajamas. He tossed him his pants and underwear, but kept his shirt in their bag.
“Put those on and lay down on your stomach,” he said as he got dressed. “I’m gonna get the aloe from Miwa.”
Haru opened the door and followed the sound of the girls voices to the kitchen where he found them cooking.
“Hey, nii-chan,” Miwa said. “Hungry.”
“Please stop calling me that,” Haru muttered.
“How’s Aki-chan?” Junko asked as she stared whatever was boiling in the pot on the stove.
“It’s pretty bad. It’ll probably blister.”
“Poor baby. The aloe is over there on the counter.”
“Thanks.”
Haru snatched the lotion off of the granite counter top and dashed back to their room, ignoring Miwa as she called out to him about dinner. Back in the room, Aki was patiently waiting on his stomach and playing on his phone, his little face was pinched with discomfort. He was still so hot and his skin felt too tight.
“Scoot over kiddo,” Haru said and sat down next to him. “This will make you feel better.”
He squeezed a liberal amount of aloe gel onto Aki’s back and massaged it in. Aki winced and squirmed at first, but eventually the cooling effects kicked in and settled, sighed in relief. Once the aloe dried on his back, Haru and him roll over to apply it to his face and chest. As he rubbed his little brother’s chest and stomach, he saw Aki’s eyes begin to droop. If he kept going he’d probably fall asleep, he’d had a big day after all, but they hadn’t had a proper lunch and he wanted Aki to eat something before bed.
Right on cue, there was a soft knock at the door, followed by Miwa swinging it wide open and going over to the bed.
“How’re you feeling, Akichi,” she asked as she sat down, uninvited.
“I’m okay,” Aki said and sat up. “Just stings.”
“Keep applying the aloe tonight and it should go away in no time.”
“‘Kay.”
“Come get dinner when you’re ready. We’ve got everything set up in the screening room so we can watch a movie while we eat.”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Haru said and shooed her out so Aki could finish getting dressed. When he got his shirt on, Haru set him on his feet and held his hand as they made their way to the girls. Despite his own feelings about their impromptu vacation, he hoped this hadn’t ruined his little brother’s experience.
“So… did you have fun today?” he asked.
“Yeah, lots!” Aki said and smiled widely. “I like the beach and playing with you and Miwa and Junko. I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had. Being here with you makes me really happy.”
Haru’s own smile grew wider, that’s what made the trip worth it. Even so, he couldn’t wait until it was all over and they could return to their bubble and shut the world out for the rest of the summer.