Work Text:
A Day on the Beach With You
For ShuMako Slice of Summer 2023, day one; Beach Day/Road Trip
The day was hot but not too hot. The water was cold but not too cold. It was as perfect as a day in July could get, and it was on this beach, on this near perfect July afternoon, that one Akira Kurusu was arguing with a seagull.
"Don't get any closer, I'm a better thief than you."
The bird, which had clearly been desiring the sandwich Akira held in his hand, simply stared at the frizzy haired man and squawked in response. It was loud enough to make the brunette woman napping next to Akira start to stir awake and make an irritated sound.
He pointed a finger at the bird in an attempt to intimidate it. "I mean it, bird, my thieving skills are far more honed than you."
Another squawk, this one loud enough to make the woman fully wake up from her nap.
"Akira, stop fighting with the bird."
The woman was Makoto Niijima, Akira's girlfriend. Akira turned to her and smiled. He always smiled when he saw her. As he turned to look at her, he dropped his sandwich without realizing it.
"I'm not fighting with the bird, Mako, I'm defending us from the bird."
"You're fighting it."
"No, I am not. I'm not a fighter."
"Says the one fighting with me right now."
Akira opened his mouth but realized he had no good response. He looked away to continue fighting with the bird defending them from the bird, only to see his sandwich was no longer in his hand and the bird had now flown away, his lunch now in its possession.
A disheartened "Damn" was all he could say to that.
"Did you lose your sandwich?" Makoto asked.
Akira grumbled a little before answering with a quiet "Maybe."
Makoto sighed. Despite having just lost his lunch in the most devastating manner, Akira was back to smiling after hearing his girlfriend sigh. It was truly one of his favorite sounds in the entire world. She stretched her arms out and let out a big yawn and, after that, grabbed her phone to check the time. It was 5:30 PM now, almost time to leave the beach.
Makoto put her phone back into her pocket and stared at the ocean in front of them. They spent some time in the water earlier, Akira splashing her as much as he could, and while a part of her wanted to get back into, another, more rational part of her thought it would be a waste of time as they'd be leaving soon. She rested her head on her knees and let out another sigh.
They really needed this trip. College has been overwhelming for the two of them recently with Akira in his second year and Makoto in her third. They've had so little time for themselves lately, so something like this truly felt more special than it would normally. Thankfully, they were on summer break now and were using their free time to make up for all the time they hadn't spent together in the past few months.
On a whim, they decided to drive all the way to Inaba and spend a few days with some friends. Almost half a week spent in the countryside was exactly what they needed after one of the most stressful semesters of their lives. They were on their way back home now but decided to spend a few hours on a small beach before they arrived. It may not have been as large as the beach they usually visited during summer break with their friends, and it was certainly not as grand as the beach they visited in Waikiki all those years ago, but they had almost the entire place to themselves, a luxury they knew they might not receive again for a very long time and tried not to take for granted.
Once she was done thinking to herself, Makoto turned to her boyfriend, whom she noticed was suspiciously quiet. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking I should steal it back," he answered matter-of-factly.
Makoto rolled her eyes in response and shot him a skeptical look. "I'd love to see you try."
Akira grinned. "You'd love me regardless."
She sighed again. "I guess you're right."
He decided it was time to ask her a question. "What were you thinking about? While you were all quiet."
"Oh, me? Just… thinking about how much we've needed this break."
Akira sighed. "We did. We really fucking did."
The two of them sat there in peace for a while. Akira leaned his head into her right shoulder. "We should do this more often," he said, breaking the silence.
Makoto smiled. "We should."
"I wish we had more time for things like this."
She closed her eyes and nodded. "I know."
They sat there silently, looking toward the ocean for a little longer until Makoto decided it was her turn to break the silence, and stated, in a rather disappointed tone, "I think we should probably get going soon."
Akira took his head off her shoulder and rubbed her back. "Seems so. I still think I should try to get my sandwich back."
Makoto snickered. "Oh, that thing is looong gone by now."
He put his head down in exaggerated shame and whimpered, "I guess now I'll have to starve to death."
Makoto broke down in laughter after hearing that. Akira raised his head up and faced her, grinning like an idiot.
"Happy to know I'm still a good Joker even years after we stopped being Thieves."
At this point, she was laughing so hard she was crying. Once she finally calmed down and wiped off her tears, she said, "Well, I'm happy that even after all these years, I'm still your Queen."
Akira's face turned red, and he looked away to conceal his flustered reaction. That was something she had become very good at in the years since they started dating, being able to fluster him as much as he flustered her.
Makoto took hold of Akira's left hand with her right hand while he was distracted. Noticing this, he turned to her once more and looked into his Queen's eyes. They were so gorgeous. Like rubies on a crown. Every night, he prayed he'd never go blind as the idea of spending a single day without being able to see her eyes terrified him.
He brought his right arm up and cupped her left cheek and then drew her into a kiss. It wasn't too short or too long, only as perfect as the day they had spent together on the beach. Once their lips parted, he tilted her head down so he could kiss her forehead and then kissed her on the lips one last time.
After their lips parted, he ran his hand through her hair and asked, "Have I ever told you that it feels like I'm in Heaven every time we do that?"
Makoto rolled her eyes at his uber-cheesy remark, but she couldn't hide the soft shade of red her cheeks became after hearing that. "You're a walking cheese factory, you know that?"
Akira responded with a boyish grin. "Someday you're gonna admit that you like me."
The brunette rolled her eyes again. "Alright, loverboy. Time to go." She stood up and put her hand out to help him get up.
"Wait, just one more thing," Akira said as he got up next to her.
"What is it?" Makoto gave him a quizzical look and waited for an answer, but instead received a small peck on her cheek. They turned red once more.
Akira looked so satisfied with himself now. "Alright. Now we can go."
Once they finished gathering up their belongings, they began walking back to their car. On the way there, Akira noticed a familiar face standing on top of the vehicle.
"It's you, the little thief!"
It was the same seagull from before, who was now back for seconds.
"Ohhh, you look so satisfied with yourself, I wish I could just wipe that smile off your face."
The bird just stared at him.
"Unfortunately, it won't be me doing the intimidating this time, it'll be her."
He pointed toward the driver's side of the car and the bird turned around to see Makoto using a Niijima glare at 12% strength. The little thief flew away as fast as it could.
Akira raised his fist in the air and shouted, "Next time, don't wake up my girlfriend while she's napping, you got that you little punk!?"
Makoto snorted. "I think you might have to concede your title as the world's greatest thief after being outsmarted today."
"I'll just have to steal it back then. Besides, there's one thing I stole that I know for a fact nobody else can ever steal."
"My heart?"
"Your hear- hey, wait a minute, don't tell me you've heard that one before!"
She opened the door. "If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one…'
Her boyfriend finished her sentence with, "You'd have enough to buy me a nice big wedding dress." He got in the car and they drove off, the sun now starting to set. "How long till we get home?" He asked.
"Only about two or three hours." Makoto answered.
"Got it. Man, this really was one of the best days we've spent in a long time, wasn't it?"
Makoto hummed. "It certainly was. I just wish we weren't so caught up with everything else all the time."
"That would be nice… but it would make days like this feel less special."
She smiled. "You've got a point."
"Last I remember, your suit was the pointy one."
"Oh, haha."
"Hey, Queen?"
"Yes, Joker?"
"Can I let you in on a little secret?"
"Go ahead."
"I think I'm in love with you."
"That's funny."
"Why?"
"I think I'm in love with you too."
Fin