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Leon hoisted the rock into his arms. It wasn't that heavy. Bigger than your average rock, but it wasn't much of a herculean task to try and lift it up.
With similar, minimal effort, he tossed it off the cliff, watching it plummet into the water below. A mere two and a half seconds later the rock caused a loud splash as specks of water shot up and caused a scatter of ripples in the aftermath of its descent.
"Fuck. Ok, I feel alive."
Rantaro didn't look up from his phone. This didn't faze him much, he simply gave Leon an affirming thumbs up.
"Good job. Can confirm that I'm supportive of this. Just don't like- knock anyone out with those rocks and we're good."
Subsequently, Ibuki proceeded to chuck nine medium-sized rocks into the water. She received another series of loud splashes, and a second approving thumbs up from Rantaro.
"Ok this is startin' to get stale. Are we just gonna throw rocks or?"
Leon rolled his eyes.
"What, are you suggesting we throw you? I'm willing to, if you're offering."
Rantaro shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the request.
"I mean sure, I'm not the ultimate adventurer for nothing. I can take on a challenge."
Leon grabbed Rantaro's phone and tossed it on the grass next to him, giving it a small kick. The phone wasn't damaged, and as per usual, Rantaro was unfazed. Leon wasn't, he was slightly lethargic from fatigue, but still just as riled up as he normally was.
"Ultimate adventurer my ass, dude. You've done nothing this past hour, get in on this action!"
Ibuki kneeled down next to the two, rock in hand.
"Yeah! Give it a go! It's super liberating, Ibuki's not felt this hyped up since this morning!" She attempted to jump up to straighten her legs, before tumbling face first into the grass. The rock fell out of her hand, rolling off the cliff and into the ocean. Ibuki cheered exuberantly. "Yes!! Hole in one! I didn't even have to try!!"
Rantaro shuffled to his feet, and sauntered towards the edge of the cliff. He picked up a smaller rock. This one was more flat and smooth, around the shape of a disk and the size of a small plate. He ran his thumb over it, his ring left a small, dark scratch along the surface.
He tossed the rock towards the water. It skimmed the surface about four times before submerging. He looked down at the ripples, echoes of where the stone had landed. Leon and Ibuki were looking down too, open mouthed.
"Yo. Where did you learn to skim stones, man? I didn't know you could do that."
Rantaro shrugged again.
"I guess me and my family were around the ocean often enough that it was a habit I kinda picked up easily, it's not that hard once you get the gist of it."
Ibuki clung to his arm, shaking his sleeve up and down.
"Teach me! Teach me!" She gave him a determined look. "Ibuki wants to know how to skim stones, too!"
Rantaro backed away slightly, holding his hands up to keep Ibuki at arm's length.
"Woah, easy there." His tone was light-hearted, but defiant. "I said it wasn't hard, never said it was easy. There's a certain pattern you gotta get into when doing it, and a whole lotta things to consider. It's not a skill that's easy to teach, that's what the internet's for though, right?"
"Aw, shucks. So harsh and yet so true," she kicked another rock off of the cliff in a gesture of exaggerated disappointment, "I guess I'll have to learn it some other way…"
Rantaro laughed and gave her another thumbs up.
"I believe in you, though."
Leon picked up another rock.
"Geez, this got cheesy fast." He chucked it over the edge of the cliff, by this point he'd gotten into something of a rhythm. It was a decent stress reliever, but had started to become uninspired. "Maybe you're right, dude. This is getting stale."
Leon fell back on the grass, looking up at the evening sky, a few barely noticeable stars speckled the deep blue expanse, and it dwindled into a soft orange as it stretched back to the horizon. Rantaro and Ibuki joined him.
Surprisingly, Rantaro was the one to initiate the conversation this time.
"Y'know, I never really expected you two to be the type to stargaze. Like, not to assume or anything, but that kinda contrasts with your whole image, does it not?"
Ibuki sat upright, folding her arms defiantly.
"You're kidding, right? Stargazing is totally hardcore!"
"Yeah, dumbass. Stop gatekeeping the fucking stars. They show up every night whether you like it or not, dipshit." Leon sat up, putting his hands to his sides in a display of exaggerated offence.
Rantaro chuckled.
"Well that's me told, I guess I stand corrected."
The exchange was followed by a long silence. Around twenty seconds later, Rantaro cleared his throat.
"Can I, like, real talk with you guys for a sec? Is that ok?"
Leon nodded.
"Yup. Real talk mode initiated, bud."
Two beats of nothingness.
"This is…probably the happiest I've been in a while. Like unironically. Is that bad?"
Rantaro felt a switch flick, and suddenly his throat dried up. It was rare for him to be open about his feelings in any capacity. Especially to people he could barely consider friends, they weren't even all in the same class. He'd lost track of what he was saying, and the moment he got back on track his own anxiety was catching up with him. It was too late to outrun it.
"...Nah, probably not bad bad. But I dunno. Shit's like that sometimes." Leon threw his hand up to emphasise his speech, before letting it flop onto the grass.
"Ibuki thinks that being with friends can make bad times seem better, and bad times can make it feel like things are always gonna be like that." She shuffled to sit up, looking down at Rantaro. "I'm not sure of your exact situation, but we're here for you no matter what!!" She gave him an enthusiastic smile and a supportive thumbs up. Rantaro smiled back, slightly subdued, but friendly regardless.
"Yeah man, she's right. When things get bad you kinda just end up talking to yourself in circles, plus I know you've got a shit ton on your plate with going on these…explorations or whatever they're called, but there's nothing wrong with settling down, y'know?"
Rantaro sighed.
"I guess, it's not that big of a deal if I'm being honest. Plus me travelling is mandatory to both my academic life and my personal life, I can't really…"settle down". I don't have time for that."
He bit back on saying anything more, if he overshared he could risk telling Leon and Ibuki information that could destroy their trust in him forever.
Ultimate adventurer or not, some risks weren't worth taking.
"Dude, look, we're not in your class. We don't know you that well. Most of the stuff I know about you is second-hand from Mukuro. Regardless of all that, you're literally one of the coolest people I know. That's genuine, m'kay? Take it as a rare compliment from me."
"I agree!! You're super level-headed and kind, and you're always so cool even when under pressure! Whatever's going on in your personal life, you can get through it!"
Rantaro laughed slightly, for once almost hoping they couldn't see his smile.
"Geez, that's…I'm- …thank you."
The next few minutes were silent again, the previous tension Rantaro felt had subsided.
By this point, the sun was just about sinking into the horizon, leaving the last few shreds of light dappled along the cliff and the surrounding areas.
Leon pushed himself upright, standing up and turning away from the others to leave.
"Well, this was dumb. Let's do it again sometime."
Ibuki haphazardly scrambled to her feet, trailing close behind Leon.
"Same time next week?"
Rantaro sat up, turning his head to see them off.
"Yeah, sounds good."
"Cool beans," Ibuki gave him a double thumbs up this time, "seeya later, alligators!"
She darted off before either could have an opportunity to respond.
"Later, loser." Leon said, giving him a much less endearing sentiment. He walked off without much of a second thought.
Rantaro decided to sit by the cliff's edge for a few minutes. He picked up another stone, slate grey and frisbee flat.
He flung it into the water below, watching it skim across the surface around three times before sinking with a small splash.
Perhaps one day he would teach Ibuki how to skim stones.