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An held up the keys in her hands.
“I borrowed my dad’s car. He said that we should celebrate our first summer after graduation by going on a beach trip!”
Akito choked on his coffee.
“What?! A beach trip?! With you?!”
Kohane tilted her head.
“It would be fun, Shinonome-kun.”
“Yeah Akito. Or is it because you’re afraid of the sun?” An snickered.
“Of course not.” He huffed. “I’ll come.”
“I think it's a good idea, Shiraishi.” Toya said.
“Then it’s decided! We’ll leave in 30 minutes.” She smiled.
“Thirty?!” Akito shouted. “An, you’re not giving us any time to pack.”
“We don’t need packing.” She shrugged. “I mean…you can go home and grab a few things, and we’ll meet here again in 30 minutes.” She started walking in the direction of the exit.
“Oh, and by the way Akito, if you’re late, we’re leaving you.” She chuckled.
Kohane hurried after her, leaving the cafe.
“That guy.” Akito hissed under his breath.
“C’mon, Toya. Let's go pack.” He gestured to his best friend.
“Okay! We’re all ready!” An stood in front of the back of the car, looking at the fully stuffed trunk.
“Who’ll drive?” Akito spoke up, his arms still crossed.
“I’ll drive.” An spun the keys on her finger. She went to the side of the car and opened the door, then she climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Can we trust her to drive…?” Akito whispered to Toya.
“I trust in Shiraishi, she takes responsibility well.” Toya replied, climbing into the backseat.
“Are we even talking about the same person?” Akito said, rolling his eyes, following after Toya.
Kohane sat in the passenger’s seat.
“Everybody ready? Let's go!” An started the car and stepped on the gas pedal. Instantly, the car jerked forward before stopping.
“You can’t just—” Before Akito could finish, the car already started speeding forward down Vivid Street. Akito slumped his head on the back of the car seat.
“Just don’t make us die, An.” He mumbled, closing his eyes.
An drove down the street into the bigger street, heading towards the highway.
“Um…Anyone want snacks?” Kohane spoke up, looking into the backseat.
Akito’s head shot up at the mention of snacks. “Bet.” He grabbed a bag of chips and tore them open immediately, popping the chips into his mouth.
Kohane giggled. “Aoyagi-kun?”
Toya turned from the window and looked into the grocery bag she held in her hands.
“I’ll take one. Thank you, Azusawa.” He also grabbed a bag of chips.
“Oh, and Toya?” An suddenly said as they drove up the highway.
“Hm?” Toya leaned forward to listen better at what An was saying.
An grabbed something from the front of the car and handed it backwards. “Here’s a camera I borrowed from dad. We’re going to go past some really good looking scenery later, you can take some pictures.”
Toya grabbed the camera with curiosity. “I will try my best.”
He pressed on the button on the top of the camera.
Snap.
“Ah…that's how you use it.” He muttered, looking at the picture he just took. Akito leaned over, looking over his shoulder.
“Dude…it's blurry.” He commented after he saw what Toya took.
“Oh…guess I’ll have to try harder.” Toya held the camera up to the window.
The car came to a stop.
“Bro what?” Akito complained.
An took out her phone and opened the GPS system app. “I thought I knew the way…but I think we’re on the wrong road…” She clicked on the screen and started the GPS system.
“Double-check next time, An. We’re not going to get anywhere if we keep up at this pace.”
“You should shut your mouth up for a minute, Akito.” She replied.
As she started driving again, a voice popped up from her phone.
“Hello everyone! What are you doing?”
The car came to a stop again.
“Miku-chan!” Kohane exclaimed.
“Hi! I just came to see what you’re up to!” The holographic image of Miku floated above An’s phone screen.
“We’re going to the beach!” An told her.
“The beach, the beach?” Rin’s voice said behind Miku. “Can we come too?”
An chuckled. “Of course.”
“But…it seems like you kids are a bit lost.” Miku’s voice said again.
“Huh?”
“You are going in the wrong direction…actually, let me just guide you guys.” Miku sighed.
“Ah…thank you, Miku-chan!” An closed the GPS system and turned to Miku.
“So…how do we get there?”
“Take a U-turn here first.”
An followed her instructions.
“And then you speed down this highway for about 9 kilometers.” Miku said again.
“I see. Thank you!”
“We should eat lunch now.” An pulled over to the side of the highway after an hour of driving.
“You packed lunch?” Kohane asked.
“Haha! Of course!” An said proudly. She jumped off the car and went to the back. Minutes later, she came back with 4 bento boxes and 4 pairs of chopsticks.
“I made these bentos this morning!” She handed them to the people in the backseat and then Kohane.
“Let's eat!”
This time, Akito didn’t complain as he took a bite of the fried chicken.
An and Ken-san do make the best food.
“Thank you for the food, Shiraishi.” Toya said after he finished his bento.
“No worries!” An replied.
“Ah, do you want some Pocari Sweats?” Kohane held out a bottle to the backseat.
“Thank you, Azusawa.” Toya took the bottle from Kohane.
“You still have about 3 hours until your destination.” Miku said after everyone cleaned up and was ready to go on the road again.
“3 hours?” Akito grumbled. “You better not kill us, An.”
“Trust in your teammate, Akito.”
She started the car again.
“I’ve reviewed the popular tourist spots of the beach we’re going to.” Toya said in the backseat, scrolling on his phone.
“You’re not going to get car sick?” Akito glanced at him through the corner of his eye.
“No, I’m pretty used to doing this on roadtrips…Oh, there’s this place where you can see corals.” He scrolled on his phone further. “It's located in an aquarium beside the beach.”
“Sounds nice.” An commented. “Corals are really pretty.”
“Then…shall we go when we get there?” Kohane asked.
“Of course. We can stay there the whole night.” An replied.
“The whole night?”
“Yeah. Well…actually we’ll be leaving around 10 pm since dad told us to come back before 3 am.”
“Thats plenty of time.” Toya said after calculating.
“Len wants to come see the corals with you too!” Len’s voice piped up from the speaker.
“How do the vocaloids always know when we’re doing something fun…” Akito grumbled.
“Cheer up, Akito. This is supposed to be a celebration.” Toya reminded him.
They sat in silence for a moment, with the only sound being Miku’s direction and An’s ‘thank you’s towards Miku.
“We’re almost there!” An announced after a few hours.
“Finally.” Akito grumbled.
The ocean is already in view from where they’re at for now.
“It's really pretty.” Kohane commented.
Toya raised the camera and took a picture.
“Wow! Rin has never seen an ocean this beautiful before!” Rin exclaimed, looking at the view through An’s phone.
An pulled into the beach parking lot and turned the car off. She glanced at the time.
“We have…6 hours until we have to go. Enjoy this to the best, guys!”
Kohane took something out of her bag.
A sunscreen bottle.
“Guys, make sure to put on sunscreen, or you’ll get sunburnt.” She said, pouring a huge amount of sunscreen on her palm. She handed it to Akito.
“Thanks.” Akito mumbled as he poured a tiny bit of sunscreen onto his finger.
“That's not enough, Akito.” Toya chuckled. “Your skin will be red by the end of the day.”
Akito glared at him. “Says the guy who gets sunburned every new year when we go to the shrines. Dude, you’re way paler than me.” Despite saying that on his tongue, he still poured another small amount of sunscreen onto his palm.
After spreading the sunscreen evenly on their skin, they clutched their bags and stepped out of the car.
The sunlight shone into their eyes.
Toya squinted under the sunlight.
“Here, sunglasses.”
He turned and saw Akito holding out a pair of sunglasses, wearing one himself.
“Thanks.” He took them from his partner and put them on.
“Okay! Where do you guys want to go first?” An asked, pulling out her direction system.
“Um…we can go to the aquarium Aoyagi-kun told us about first.” Kohane said, peering over An’s shoulder.
“Good idea! Let's head over there now.” She started walking out of the parking lot.
They reached the aquarium 10 minutes later, scanning the payment code and entering the building.
An enormous school of fish welcomed them inside the glass as they walked in.
There’s not many people here today, due to the weather being a bit too hot, so they got to take a lot of pretty pictures.
On the whole way, Len and Rin ‘ooo’ and ‘ahh’ed at the scenery, while Meiko and Miku tried to make them talk quieter.
The corals are located at the end of the aquarium.
The second they walked into the room, corals with bright, vibrant colors greeted them. Through the small clusters of corals, fishes swam through them.
“This fish is really cute, An-chan.” Kohane told her, pointing at a small clown fish.
“Ehh…they are!” She exclaimed. “Maybe I should convince dad to put a small fish tank in the cafe.” She said thoughtfully.
In the corner, Toya is trying to take a picture of Akito, but didn’t succeed due to the constant face-covering with his jacket that Akito kept on doing.
“There has been an…incident at the coffee shop.” Meiko said to them. Then she whispered, “Kaito has been stealing ice cream again.” With a wink, she popped off the phone.
“Well, now that the vocaloids aren’t here…do you guys want to get soda?” Kohane asked as they walked out of the aquarium. “There are some drink shops around her.” She pointed to the shops down the street.
“Yeah! We can go get some iced soda and then go to the beach.” An said, already pulling Kohane by the arm to drag her towards the shop.
The two boys followed after them, stepping into a nicely air-conditioned shop, all of them staring at the menu.
“Hm…oh! They have mint soda here!” She said excitedly. “I’ve been wanting to try mint soda for a long time.”
“Just make them yourself.” Akito commented.
An turned suddenly and put a finger to her lips to shush him. “You—stop talking like you know how to make these drinks.” Then she turned back to the waiter behind the counter, “I’ll have a middle-sized cup of mint soda please.”
“I’ll have lemonade soda.”
Akito stared at the menu for a second before responding, “I’ll have…iced latte with extra sugar and creamer.” He turned to Toya. “What do you want?”
“I’ll have an iced latte too…but don’t add anything for me.”
The waiter jotted down their orders and went behind to the kitchen to prepare their orders. An raised her phone to scan the payment code.
“Don’t worry, this is on me.” She said before anyone else can pay. Then she turned to Toya.
“Toya’s still drinking coffee at the beach? And bitter coffee? You must’ve loved coffee a lot.” An raised an eyebrow, surprised.
“Unlike Akito and Shiraishi-san, I don’t enjoy things that are particularly too sweet.” Toya replied. “All the things on this menu look a bit…too sweet.”
Their orders arrived a few minutes later.
An grabbed her mint soda immediately and took a sip out of it.
“Ahhh—this is so refreshing!” She exclaimed as she stepped out the door. “Want a sip?” She put the straw in front of Kohane. Kohane took a sip out of it.
“It is refreshing, though for me it’s a bit too spicy.” She replied after she finished.
“None of you guys get the attractiveness of mint.” An huffed. “It's the best plant in the world.”
“Well, I think tomatoes are the best.” Akito snapped back, knowing that it’ll get a reaction out of her.
“Tomatoes are the worst. Carrots are the best.” An glared at him, though she doesn’t like carrots much too. “We all know that you like desserts more than actual food.”
“Um…guys, not meaning to interrupt…but look at the ocean.” Kohane spoke, pointing in the direction of the coast.
Immediately, the argument was forgotten as they all glanced towards the coastline, watching the sunlight bounce off the waves that are crashing onto the sand.
“Woah…let’s go to the beach!” An said, already slipping off her shoes. Holding the soda in one hand and her shoes in the other, she ran down the side of the street and off the stairs leading onto the beach.
Kohane followed right after.
Akito and Toya glanced at each other before following them.
“The sand is so warm!” An exclaimed, running on the sand. She set the soda and her bag down on a nearby bench and started to walk into the ocean. The waves lapped up her leg before slipping down again back into the water.
“How does it feel, An-chan?” Kohane asked, also taking a careful step into the water.
“You’ll see!” An grabbed her wrist and led her further into the water.
Akito’s brows furrowed for a second, then relaxed as he turned to his partner. “Wanna set these off and go into the water too?”
Toya nodded. “Yeah, it will be a very nice experience.”
“Guyssss!!! Do you want some snacks?” An asked, sitting on the beach towel spread out on the sand that she brought for them. Handing out the bag, she took off her sunglasses.
Nearby, Kohane was curled up and asleep under the sun. She woke up at An’s sound and rubbed her eyes, then took a bag of gummies.
“No taking the taiyaki—hey! Akito! Give it back!” She leapt up from the towel as Akito grabbed the package and ran off, with an angry An chasing behind him.
Toya bent down and scooped up a handful of sand, studying them under the sunlight. Then he walked up to the waves and held the now empty plastic coffee cup in the water, scooping up a cup of salt water.
He trotted back to the empty space beside the towels and poured the water over the sand.
“What are you making, Aoyagi-kun?” Kohane’s voice said behind him.
He looked up. “Ah…you’re awake, Azusawa?”
Kohane nodded.
“I saw some videos online about making sandcastles. I have been wanting to try this out for a long time.” He continued, hands working on a pile of sand.
Kohane knelt down on the sand beside him. “Oh, I’ve made a lot of sand castles before. I can help.” She poured the last bit of water onto the sand and walked to the water again to fetch some.
“You guys made a sandcastle?” An exclaimed, bending over to examine the small sandcastle they just made.
Toya nodded. “Azusawa is really good at these kinds of things.”
Kohane smiled. “Hehe…though Aoyagi-kun is good too.”
“Woah…so this is what you guys did when Akito stole my snack…”
“What did they make?” Akito’s voice popped up behind them.
An turned sharply.
“You still didn’t give back my taiyaki.” She straightened up, her hands on her hips, standing aggressively.
Akito raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, I ate them already. What are you going to do about that?”
“Annoying.” An muttered under her breath, bending over again to look at Toya and Kohane’s handiwork.
“Anyways, it's getting late.” She glanced at the sky. “I’ll go back to the car to get the barbecue grill—one of you boys wants to come with me?”
“I’ll go.” Toya raised his hand.
“Okay, let's go.” She gestured for Toya to follow her. “And Kohane? There are some ingredients in my bag, you can prepare them before me and Toya get back.” With that, they turned and walked down the beach to the parking lot.
Kohane unzipped An’s bag.
Inside was a small cooler box.
She opened it and found pieces of meat inside.
“Meat?” Akito exclaimed behind her. “That guy…she always comes up with these ideas…”
Kohane chuckled and took out the pepper and oil.
“You guys ready?” An held out a pack of matches and a portable barbecue grill.
“Matches?” Akito huffed. “We’re living in the 2020s, we have lighters—”
“Matches it is.” An cut him off, already taking out a match.
She handed it to Toya. “Will you do the honor?”
Toya looked at the match between his fingers.
“Um…how do you—” He scraped the tip of the match on the rough surface at the side of the box. Instantly, the match came to life as a small fire appeared.
He got startled and dropped it on the sand.
“Ah…sorry about that…” He muttered, bending down to pick up the half-burnt match. “I’ll try again.”
Toya took out a new one and lit it, then he held it close to the bottom of the grill, lighting up the charcoal.
“Success!” An shouted. “Lets cook the meat!”
She used the oil brush to brush some oil onto the surface of the pieces of meat, then picking them up one by one with chopsticks to put them on the grill.
The meat sizzled as it made contact with the burning metal.
Instantly, an aromatic smell rose up into the air.
Akito sucked a breath in.
“Ah…meat always smells the best.” He commented with his eyes closed.
“Hey—don’t just stand there!” An shouted to him, crossing her arms. “You can go cut the peppers and prepare the shrimp.” She pointed to the cooler box again.
Akito took the empty first layer out and peered at the vegetables stored under. “No tomatoes?” He teased.
An twisted her head away from him.
“Next time, I will prepare carrots, just wait.” She snapped.
“Do people even grill carrots?” Akito whispered to Toya.
Toya shrugged.
“Ah—Toya, can you help with the meat? I’m going to go grab some water from the car, I think we forgot them a while ago.”
Toya nodded and picked up the chopsticks to flip the meat.
Akito grumbled something under his breath and lifted the knife to cut the peppers while Kohane cleaned the vegetables with the water spray.
A burnt smell rose into the air.
Akito turned his head sharply in the direction of the grill, where Toya was still standing, clutching the chopsticks and watching the meat sizzle.
“TOYA—” He dropped his knife and leaned forward to grab the chopsticks from Toya’s hand. Then he quickly bent down to flip the meat to the other side.
“Ah…I’m sorry…” Toya stared at the meat, already half burnt. (poor toya…he tried his best.)
Akito sighed. “Well…you gotta watch them constantly…”
He hesitated before saying, “Um…do you mind if I watch the meat and you take over cutting the peppers…?”
Toya nodded. “Yeah, it's probably safer if we let someone more skilled do the cooking part.” He picked up the knife Akito left on the board and started slicing the peppers.
A few minutes later, An ran back beside them, holding bags of bottled water.
“Bro, why do we need so much water?” Akito eyed the bag in her hands.
She wiped a sweat from her forehead and held up the bag proudly. “Gotta stay hydrated, everyone!”
“Thank you, An-chan.” Kohane said, setting down a half-washed onion and grabbed a bottle of water.
“Hm…it seems like the meat is almost ready. We can start grilling the vegetables now.”
She didn’t even question why Akito and Toya’s positions were switched.
About half an hour later, everything was set on paper plates and placed on the sand as everyone sat around them, taking pictures.
Akito grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks, tore them open, and grabbed a piece of meat.
“Wai—” An said, still holding her phone.
Before she could finish, Akito already stuffed the meat into his mouth with one bite and swallowed it.
“These are good, An.” He commented.
An took in a deep breath to calm herself before reaching for a pair of disposable chopsticks.
“Let's eat.”
“Thank you for the food—” They said in unison before digging into the food.
“I smell barbecue~”
“Ah—Kaito-san!” Kohane yelped in surprise as her phone vibrated in her pocket.
She quickly fished out her phone and set it in the middle of the plates.
Kaito stared at the food that they grilled, basically drooling over the sight.
Akito glared at him.
Kaito sighed.
“I wish that I could eat some of this too—But Meiko said that I can’t eat anything for the rest of the night since I ate the other ice cream…”
“Deserves it.” Akito mumbled.
Toya nudged him as a warning.
“Anyways—the sunset looks beautiful.” Kaito pointed in the direction of the edge of the sky.
They turned their heads towards the direction Kaito was pointing at.
Kohane gasped.
“Kaito-san’s right! It does look beautiful…”
Toya raised the camera (he somehow still has it) and took a picture.
The sky was painted with an intense shade of orange and fiery reds, the sun dipping below the horizon as the waves lapped onto the shore.
The entire world looks orange.
“I’ve never seen a sunset like this before.” An commented.
They stayed in silence for a moment, enjoying the view, before Kaito interrupted them.
“Kids…I have to go—” He was cut off by a shout in the background.
“Kaito!!! Where are you—” Meiko’s head popped up the screen, hands grabbing Kaito’s arm. “Oh, hi. He caused a bit of trouble again—so I’ll have to take him back.” She glanced at the sunset. “Nice view, by the way.” Then they sank back into the phone screen.
An giggled. “Well…next time I guess we’ll have to ask Meiko-san for permission if we want to hang out with Kaito-san.”
“That guy—” Akito started saying.
“Hush.” Toya shushed him.
They finished the food as the sky grew dark.
The street lights by the beach lit up, blending with the moon shining above, casting a silver light onto the sand.
They cleaned up their plates and stuffed them into a gigantic plastic bag to take home.
An glanced at her watch.
“We still have 3 hours, what do y’all want to do?” She asked them.
Akito pulled out something from his bag.
A few boxes of sparklers.
Kohane and An leaned forward to inspect it.
“These are some sparklers leftover from last year’s summer festival. Ena bought too much and these have been sitting in the corner of my room for almost a year.”
Ena had indeed been using his room as a place to store things, since Akito doesn’t have as much stuff as she does. Akito of course complained about it before, but why should Ena listen to him?
“I thought it would look nice if we lit them on the beach.” He finished.
“Good idea.” Kohane said, already taking one from the box.
“Can I have the match, An-chan?” She held out her hand.
An nodded and placed the matchbox in her hand.
She drew one and rubbed it on the side of the box.
A small spark started forming on the tip of the match.
Kohane held it up to the tip of the sparkler, watching the sparkler come to life with sparks. She blew on the match and threw it in the plastic bag.
“Woah!!” An exclaimed, staring at the sparkler in Kohane’s hand. “They do look pretty with the ocean!” She drew one from the box and held it up next to Kohane’s, the sparkler transmitting energy to the other one.
“I’ll take some~” An took a handful of sparklers and grabbed Kohane to run to the edge of the water.
“You’re not complaining this time.” Toya said with a faint smile.
“I don’t really care about these—” He got cut off as Toya stuffed one into his hand.
“Have you actually tried playing with them?” He asked, lighting it up with the match.
“I—ugh…just this one.” Akito mumbled, holding his sparkler up next to Toya’s.
The sparkler sizzled to life.
Akito widened his eyes.
Toya turned to him with a smile.
“I…” He waved it in the air a few times. “This is actually fun.” He mumbled.
Toya chuckled. “Yeah? Then you can light a few more.” He held the box out to Akito.
Akito took it and lit a second sparkler.
Toya watched him with a smile.
“Do you want to go further out?” He asked, head tilting towards the direction of the water.
Akito nodded.
“Let’s go then.”
An stumbled back, exhausted from all the running on the beach. In her grip was a handful of used sparklers. Kohane followed after her, dropping the spent-out sparklers into the plastic bag.
She sat down on the beach towel, eyes closed as she took a deep breath in. Kohane settled down on the towel beside her.
“It's almost time to go back…” An mumbled. “Where are these two guys…by the way?” She nudged Kohane.
Kohane lifted her head.
“Ah…they’re coming back.” She pointed in the direction of the shoreline, where two silhouettes were walking back.
“Tell them we have to go.” She yawned. “C’mon, let's clean this up.”
About 20 minutes later, they’re all in front of the car, with Akito and Toya stuffing the used things in the back trunk, since they’re stronger.
An slumped in the back seat, eyes closing immediately as her back hit the seat.
“Oi! Who will drive if you’re not—”
“You can drive…you have a license…right?” She held out the keys through the rolled down window.
Akito made a disgusted face and took the keys from her. “Fine. I’ll drive. But you better repay me for this.” He glared at her and climbed in the driver’s seat.
“Okay…I started the directions, we can go now, Akito.” Toya said beside him on the passenger’s seat.
Akito nodded and started the car. “Okay…let's go.”
“They really are tired, huh?” Toya said as they went on the highway.
Akito shrugged. “They didn’t even work that much…”
“That’s because we had coffee, Akito.” Toya reminded him.
Akito froze. “Oh right…” He let out a sigh as he rubbed his forehead with his palm.
“Guess who’s staying up late tonight.”