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Opening the car’s trunk with a loud thud, Seigi looked down at the group of items that him and Richard had packed for the day: wide parasols, a blue-tooth speaker, snacks, an empty glass, assorted fruits, cool drinks, some beach balls, and lots of sunscreen.
“Seigi.”
Shielding his eyes from the bright sun, Seigi looked towards the origin of the soft voice that called out his name. Dressed in a white linen button up and solid navy swim shorts that barely reached his knees, Richard approached him. He took off the tinted sunglasses he was donning and gently placed them onto Seigi’s face.
Seigi muttered a quiet thanks, heat from both the sun and the gesture creeping up his neck.
Having gathered their materials, the pair started to set up camp on the warm sand. They propped up two colorful parasols wide enough to provide enough coverage from the sun and laid out their reserves underneath the shade. The gentle sound of waves crashing on the beach accompanied by the distant cries of seagulls made for the perfect atmosphere.
After finishing, Seigi took a quick glance over their work and nodded his head with a content hum. Deciding that now was time to truly start enjoying their day off, he took his thin shirt off, setting it aside on a cooler. Richard called him over from where he sat on a beach towel laid out on the sand, in his hand was a bottle of sunscreen.
“Please sit down for a moment.” Richard patted the space in front of him with a small smile.
Obliging, Seigi silently walked over and made himself comfortable sitting with his back to the other man. He played with the fabric of the towel absent-mindedly but jumped at the sudden feeling of cold on his skin. Richard chuckled from behind him.
“A warning would’ve been nice!” Seigi light-heartedly complained, relaxing his shoulders as he was getting used to the sensation of the cold sunscreen being applied onto his back. He fixed his posture as his partner’s hands moved to his shoulders.
“Sorry. Now, turn around.”
As he turned around, he caught a mischievous twinkle in Richard’s eyes – he wasn’t completely sorry. The younger man playfully rolled his eyes.
He crossed his legs as he sat in front of Richard, their knees barely touching. Without having to be told, Seigi held out his forearms. After holding one of his arms and beginning to spread the sunblock on Seigi’s skin, Richard playfully ushered a warning, “It’ll be cold to the touch, by the way; don’t be too surprised.”
“Pfft. Thanks, Richard.” Seigi stifled a laugh, “I appreciate the heads up.”
“Of course.” Richard responded contentedly.
When he was finished with both arms, Richard moved on to his legs. Once done, he applied more sunscreen onto his hand and reached out to Seigi’s exposed chest. Their knees now touching as he leaned in. The touch was intimate as Richard’s hands made their way across Seigi’s skin, but both were simply basking in one another’s company, happy to be of service and happy to be taken care of.
Seigi sat still as Richard’s hands trailed up his chest and neck. Having his face held so caringly, he closed his eyes, content. “I could’ve done this myself, you know.” He mumbled softly as slender fingers slowly traced his features.
Richard hummed in response, “I know.” He took a moment to appreciate Seigi while both hands cradled his jaw. Richard’s heart swelled as he looked at Seigi’s face. They sat like this for a bit before Richard gave Seigi a quick peck on the lips, overcome with joy.
Fluttering his eyelashes open, a blush crept up Seigi’s cheeks. He watched Richard draw back and stand up, but caught his wrists to stop him in place, “Wait! Richard, let me return the favor.”
“No need, my dear.” He took Seigi’s hands in his own, “I had already put some on before we headed out. Thank you, though.”
Disappointed, Seigi frowned. He stood up alongside Richard and promised to help him next time. Richard nodded and squeezed his hand.
He didn’t sulk for any longer when he remembered that soon others would join them, “Has Akira or Naoya sent you a message?”
“About when they should arrive??” Richard looked to his phone, “No, but they should be here any minute.”
They walked out the shaded canopy hand-in-hand. Together, they spent the next few minutes building a sandcastle while they awaited the arrival of their friends.
Soon, almost as if in cue, a black sedan pulled up near the beach. Three figures emerged from the car. The one who sat in the passenger waved a hand to them as he stepped out.
Leading the group of three was Akira Takatsuki with a water gun in hand. The professor wore a black rash guard, matching swim shorts, and a baseball cap. Behind him followed Naoya Fukamachi and Kenji Sasakura. The younger of the two wore a linen button up and solid grey swim trunks, while the other simply had on a white sleeveless shirt paired with square-cut swim shorts that had a palm-tree print on it. Naoya held a volleyball while Sasakura carried a small cooler.
Approaching the pair, the trio exchanged greetings. They introduced Kenji: Akira gestured to the serious-looking man, “This is Kenji Sasakura! He’s a childhood friend of mine. Kenken usually accompanies Naoya and me when we are called in for on-field research.”
Kenji’s stoic face remained unchanged, his brows drawn together as he nodded his head in acknowledgement. He was taller than Akira – much taller than any of them, really – and very physically fit, his presence was intimidating to say the least. “Call me Sasakura,” He looked towards their shaded spot, “Should I leave this over there?” His voice expectedly deep for someone with his appearance.
Seigi was a bit confused on whether Kenji was dragged here against will by the professor or if he attended out of his own choice, “Uhh, yeah. Feel free to leave your stuff there.” He pointed to the parasols.
Akira’s smile faltered slightly, he apologetically looked to Richard and Seigi, “He always has a very serious expression, but he’s truly such a nice guy; He really is excited to be here.” The professor watched his best friend drop off the cooler and walk back to his side.
Meanwhile, Naoya sat down next to Seigi. He adjusted his glasses to inspect the work done on the sandcastle, it still being in it’s early stages. “Do you mind if I help?” He politely asked.
The pair on the sand responded in kind, “Sure!” “Be our guest; the more the merrier.”
As Akira and Kenji walked into the shade of the parasols, unpacking the snacks they brought, a question popped into Richard’s head. Looking over to the professor and then to the sky above, the blonde turned to Naoya.
“Fukamachi, will Akira be okay? There are a few birds circling in the sky, and they might be tempted to swoop down due to the food we brought.”
“Oh.” Naoya stopped mid construction to reach into his pocket for something. “He’ll be fine, I think. He has a baseball cap to limit his vision, and for some reason the birds are afraid of Sasakura - they won’t swoop down if he’s around.” Fishing out some wired earbuds, Naoya excused himself and stood up. Bringing them to Akira, the professor greatly thanked Naoya, a huge grin on display.
“I had nearly forgot,” He muttered as he returned to his place on the sand, “I also brought him some earbuds incase the sound of birds becomes too much for him; he can listen to music whenever to drown out the sound.”
“Wow, so thoughtful, Naoya! We also brought a speaker to play music.” Seigi reminded him. Turning his attention to Richard, Seigi tapped his finger on his partner’s forearm, “You think now is a good time to play some music?”
“I’d say it is.” Richard called out to everyone, ”Is there any song in specific that anyone would like to listen to?” After they all had input their recommendations, the speaker had a steady playlist of songs on queue to last them for the rest of the day.
-
The group greatly enjoyed their leisure time at the beach.
Games of volleyball lasted for hours, teams consistently switching up to keep each round exciting. In the end, the team with the most points earned was that of Kenji and Richard.
To cool off, they all took a swim in the salty water. The warm sun beamed down on them comfortably as they either swam or floated peacefully until they all agreed to play chicken fight. At first it was Seigi on Richard’s shoulders while they fought against Akira on Kenji’s, both teams knocked the other down with a gentle roughness, their competitive spirits attempting to take control as they tried to keep it friendly.
Naoya laughed, he watched them make fools of themselves as they fumbled and splashed into the water, but soon was forced to join when Richard called quits, needing a break from the chaos. He was reluctant at first, but happily participated upon seeing how happy the group was. Seigi scooped him up and had Naoya sitting on his shoulders. They yelled excitedly as they jousted, Seigi and Kenji holding tightly onto their duo’s legs.
Richard sat in the shallow water, listening to the music in the background as he watched Naoya get knocked down.
-
After they got tired out and the sun was at its harshest, they decided to have lunch. On the menu there were sandwiches, salad, and an assortment of fruit. As for refreshments, water and green tea were brought. But for dessert there was a cooler specifically set aside for popsicles and a cheesecake ready to be split between a certain pair of sweet-toothed individuals.
Sitting on their towels, they all huddled under the parasols’ shade to eat. This time around, catchy and easy-going songs in Spanish played as they ate. The sound of acoustic guitars from the boleros mixed perfectly with that of the waves.
-
The group’s downtime had begun upon finishing up their meals.
Kenji placed his beach towel outside the shade and laid down with his back exposed, sun bathing comfortably now that the sun had lowered a bit. Under the parasols, Naoya silently read a book on his phone while Richard and Akira devoured the cheesecake. Seigi slowly fell asleep next to Richard, his head lying on the jeweler’s lap.
-
An hour or so passed as they re-charged their energy. Waking up, Naoya found himself held down by a pair of limbs that were draped over his body; He’d fallen asleep with Akira clinging onto him like a koala, spooning him. Remembering their current surroundings, Naoya froze up, embarrassed at such a public display of affection. He peered over to see that the pair of jewelers were nowhere to be seen and that Kenji was laying stomach up, asleep still. He breathed out a sigh of relief.
Naoya tried to slip out of Akira’s grasp but failed, only resulting in being squeezed even tighter. Feeling defeated, he let his head fall back onto the towel. He resorted to bringing a hand up to Akira’s back, slowly tracing random figures and letters as he wondered where the other pair could’ve gone.
Next to him, Akira stirred. Naoya unconsciously began to trace little hearts. Then surprisingly, he felt the same thing on his own skin; Akira mirrored the action on Naoya’s arm, humming quietly. Naoya's breathing hitched, he tried again to free himself now that the professor was slowly waking up.
“Takatsuki, let me go.” He insisted.
Akira only buried his face deeper into Naoya’s hair. He made a protesting sound once more and finally let his pupil go after Naoya demanded his release.
“T-thanks...” His voice quivering slightly as he sat up, flustered.
The professor groggily sat up as well. Twisting his body, he reached behind him and grabbed Naoya’s glasses which had been set aside at some point. He handed them over with a yawn, muttering a small apology in the process, “I’m sorry, Fukamachi.”
Putting his glasses on, Naoya turned his head to see Akira’s tired eyes staring down at him earnestly. He was awaiting a response.
“It’s alright.” Naoya hid his embarrassment by averting his gaze. “Where did Seigi and Richard go?” He asked, changing the subject.
Akira looked to side to side, his fluffy hair now somewhat tangled from the salt water.
“Hmm. Seems they’re not back...” Standing up, Akira grabbed his baseball cap and stuffed it over his head. “Let’s wake Kenken up and look for them. Earlier they had said they were going to take a walk.”
“Then shouldn’t we just wait for them then??” Naoya asked, following the professor as they walked towards Kenji’s sleeping figure.
“Maybe, but I want to ask Richard something.”
Kenji had an arm over his eyes, blocking out the sun. His skin was warm and much more tanner than before. “Kenken!!” Akira playfully called out in a sing-song voice, putting his hands on his friend’s shoulder, shaking him slightly. But, when Sasakura refused, rolling onto his stomach, Akira huffed.
Naoya made note at the stubbornness both possessed.
Walking away, Akira left Naoya beside Kenji. Naoya gently poked at Kenji’s side once, earning a muffled noise from the raven-haired man.
‘Oh he’s annoyed.’ Thought Naoya, withdrawing his hand.
Then, he turned his attention to the sound of approaching footsteps; Akira returned but in his hand was a water gun. Raising and aiming the gun, he shot at the back of Kenji’s neck, the cold water instantly waking up the man up from his sleep.
Turning his head towards them, Kenji glared up at Akira.
Akira shot water at him once more and yelped when Kenji suddenly rose up, his already angry expression becoming more grave at Akira’s second offence. Running away from the taller man, Akira looked to escape in the waves. He would occasionally shoot the water gun at Kenji, laughing.
Kenji quickly caught up to Akira. The cop tackled the brunette and held him in a headlock. He ruffled his hair as Takatsuki profusely claimed that it wasn’t fair and that he was sorry, Naoya chuckled at the two.
Letting him go, Kenji rested his arm around Akira’s shoulder.
“Fukamachi, remind me to never try that again.” The professor smiled sheepishly.
“You’ll still do it anyways, sir.”
His brown eyes creased into crescents, “Yeah, probably!”
Sasakura looked at the darkening sky, the sun would set in a couple of hours - they’d have to leave soon. “Hey, where are the jewelers? Didn’t you have something to ask them, Akira?”
Naoya looked between the two in confusion, “Ask them what?”
“Well, it’s more of a question for Richard, actually. It’s about his family’s business, I think his cousin could’ve had worked with my uncle before.” He explained as such, index finger pointed up. He glanced at Sasakura and back to Naoya, he smiled as he paused for a moment before excitedly asking Naoya, “You wanted to visit England. What if we plan a visit??” His canines poking out slightly as he grinned. “We could even invite Seigi and Richard if you’d like! It’ll be a nice trip; they say travel is best when you’re young.”
That was true, he was the only one out the five that hadn’t yet travelled to England, Naoya thought to himself. “Yeah, I think I’d really like that. We could plan a trip for next year’s summer. I’m sure your uncle would appreciate the visit, sir.”
The image of a much older version of Akira flashed in Kenji’s mind.
-
Almost half an hour later, Seigi and Richard returned to the group. The sun was nearly about to start setting.
“Sorry we took so long! We were out scavenging.”
The pair showed off a few seashells and two pieces of sea glass: one being light blue and the other a light brown. But hanging out of one of Seigi’s pockets was a small jar filled with sand which Akira called it into attention.
“Oh! this is for my friend Tanimoto – she loves geology. I thought this would be a fun gift for her.” Seigi revealed, briefly bringing out the jar for them to see. Layers of sand, rocks, and even some seashells sat within the glass.
“Lovely!” Commented Akira.
A chilly breeze blew through and they all shivered.
“Well, I think its time about time we leave.” Richard reluctantly announced.
The group began cleaning up their spot on the beach: Trash was properly disposed of, sand shaken off towels, parasols folded, and coolers packed.
The sun started to sink into the horizon, marking the end of their beach day.
Before they parted into their respective cars, Akira approached Richard and Seigi. “The three of us are planning a trip to England, and we’d like for you two to join us if you’re able to; we plan on going sometime next year during summer.”
Seigi and Richard looked to one another before nodding their heads,
“We’d love to. We should be free to join, but we’ll get back to you when we have a more concrete schedule!” Richard smiled warmly, extending his thanks by holding out a hand out to Akira.
A wide grin of his own spread onto Akira’s face as he took Richard’s hand into his own, shaking it firmly with lots of enthusiasm. “Glad to hear that!”
“Even if we can’t be there the entire trip we’ll make sure to catch at least a day with y’all over there. Naoya’s never been, right? We could show him British museum! It has a fabulous minerology collection.” Seigi added.
“That would be perfect! I’ll make sure to tel-”
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have to leave now.” Sasakura walked up to the group, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder. He turned to Seigi and Richard, his eyes softening. “Thanks for today, it was really nice meeting you two. I hope we can all meet up like this again sometime soon.”
With that, the group of five all bid their goodbyes and promised to keep in contact. The prospect of a joint trip leaving them excited and hopeful for the future.
-
“Did you ever get to ask Richard your question, professor?”
Akira looked back to Naoya who sat in the backseat, the last of the sun’s rays shining a warm orange glow that reflected off the young man’s glasses.
“No, I can ask him that later. I really wanted to ask them about the trip instead, that is far more important.” He clasped his hands together, “They said they would like to join! Obviously, their schedule is up in the air right now, but that they’ll let us know.”
Kenji added himself into the conversation, his eyes still glued onto the road. “They want to show you around the rock exhibition of a museum.”
“Makes sense.” Naoya responded, a hint of a smile on his lips.