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“Well, if you want, we could hang out...”
“...Huh?” Tachimukai looked up a little too quickly.
Tsunami scratched the back of his neck apprehensively. “Well, you know, 'cause Fuyuka's giving us another day off. You're not going to spend it training again, are you?”
“Oh, right!” Tachimukai glanced absent-mindedly down at his gloved hands, which were looking even more worn out than ever. “No...I'll take a break with everyone else. I wouldn't want to overwork myself.”
“Yeah, that wouldn't very like you at all, would it?” sneered the older boy, though his tone was playful. Tachimukai looked up at him with the tiniest of smirks.
“...Excuse me?”
Tsunami clapped his hands on the first-year's shoulders, which never failed to make him jump, even when he could see it coming. “Yeah, you heard me! So is that a yes?”
Tachimukai hesitated, his eyes wide. “Um...y-yes.”
His senior grinned. “Awesome!”
Tachimukai tensed. What was this weird feeling? He sometimes got butterflies before a match, or when he was faced with saving a really powerful shoot, but he wasn't quite sure that this was the same feeling...
***
“...it's gonna be so fun! Tachimukai, are you coming?”
“Huh?” Tachimukai jumped upon hearing his name. “Sorry...I wasn't listening,” he admitted sheepishly, having been daydreaming about yesterdays practice while his friends were talking. They gave him a quizzical look.
“He said, since we have a day off today, we're going to go to the beach! We're going to get ice-cream!” said Kabeyama excitedly. He was seated opposite Tachimukai, who watched him gorging his breakfast with a mixture of amazement and disgust, though he tried not to show it.
“Yeah, and we're gonna go swimming too!” added Kurimatsu earnestly. “And then we'll play soccer! You can be our goalkeeper!”
Kogure, who was sat to Tachimukai's left, said nothing, although it looked as if he was scheming. Probably thinking of all the pranks he'd be able to pull at the seaside, Tachimukai thought.
When Tachimukai didn't answer him, Kurimatsu continued, “You're coming with us, right? Since you spent your last day off training, you should come with us this time! It'll be really fun!”
“Um, I...that does sound really fun, but I have plans already,” said Tachimukai nervously. “I'm probably going to spend the day with Tsunami, so...”
Kurimatsu and Kabeyama exchanged confused looks. “That's fine, isn't it?” said Kurimatsu. “Tsunami can come too. He loves the beach!”
“Yeah, but...” Tachimukai trailed off, staring at Kurimatsu blankly. “He...he goes surfing every morning, so...he sees the beach all the time, I don't think he'd want to...you know...”
Kogure broke out of his stupor, giving Tachimukai a very suspicious look. “There's no way Tsunami wouldn't want to come to the beach. He never shuts up about the ocean. He's probably gonna pop the question any day now!” Kogure rounded this off with his trademark 'shishishishi!', much to the amusement of Kurimatsu and Kabeyama. Tachimukai, however, only seemed to be getting more flustered.
“H-hahaha...well anyway, I...I'd better get going.” Tachimukai stood up suddenly, doing his best to avoid the confused stares of his fellow first-years. “I'm all done with breakfast, so...I'll see you guys later! Maybe. Excuse me!” He hurriedly left the table, taking his empty plate with him.
The three remaining watched his retreating back.
“...Does Tachimukai seem a bit off to you?” asked Kurimatsu, looking concerned.
“Nope,” said Kogure bluntly, though the way he narrowed his eyes suggested that he thought otherwise. “Just Tachimukai being his regular old awkward self.”
“Why wouldn't he hang out with us, though?” asked Kabeyama, who was staring at his own empty plate morosely. “Tsunami likes us, doesn't he? What's the problem?”
“I guess Tachimukai just doesn't wanna hang around with us, huh...what a shame,” snickered Kogure.
“I'm sure that's not true,” said Kurimatsu, though he looked doubtful.
“Well, whatever!” said Kogure impatiently, looking at his downhearted companions. “We don't need that wet blanket to hang around with us. Come on, let's just go already!”
“Wait, I'm having seconds!” cried Kabeyama.
“I don't understand how you can eat so much at this hour of the morning,” sighed Kurimatsu. Kogure groaned, stamping his feet restlessly. “No wonder Tachimukai doesn't want to stick around with us, not with slowpoke Kabeyama around...Shishishishi.”
***
Tachimukai left the lodge, heading down to the beach alone. It was still early, so it was quite deserted. Still, he was sure that Tsunami would be here surfing, just like every morning.
Smiling at that thought, Tachimukai ambled through the sand, taking in the familiar surroundings. He saw Endou's tire contraption hanging from a nearby palm tree. Even though he knew it was their day off, it felt a little strange not seeing the captain himself down here training. Tachimukai walked over to the tire, a faint smile on his face. Giving it a try himself couldn't hurt – it was bigger tire than the ones he used to train with, but he was stronger than he was back then. Tachimukai reached forward and gave the tire a forceful shove, watching it reach the apex of its swing before it hurtled back towards him. He spread his hands out in front of him, bracing himself for the impact, knees bent – whack – he caught the tire neatly, pushed back a few inches by its weight. “I did it!” he gasped, smiling brightly though his hands were smarting. He guessed he shouldn't be so surprised. He had been training hard with Inazuma Japan, after all; if he couldn't even manage this, he ought to be worried.
Tachimukai stood back from the tire and stared out at the sea, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, which was slowly making its way through the sky. Sure enough, he could see the defender out there riding the waves. His hair did make him pretty impossible to miss.
“Yahoooooooo!”
Tachimukai had always been amazed at how Tsunami made surfing look so easy. He drifted atop the water as if it were air, the frothy sea foam like clouds below him. After a little while, Tsunami spotted his friend watching him. “Tachimukai! Yo!”
Tachimukai smiled and waved, but his smile faded slightly as he watched his friend lose his balance and topple into the water with a splash. Tsunami could go from a nimble surfer to a complete klutz in a matter of seconds. Still, he grinned as he swam to the shore, his dignity intact. As if he'd be put down by a tiny thing like that so early in the day.
***
“It probably would have made more sense to just wait here at the lodge in the first place...” said Tachimukai, just as he and Tsunami left it. They had come back so that Tsunami could change from his swimming trunks to his normal clothes, which consisted of a light blue t-shirt, brown three-quarter lengths and a pair of flip-flops. Tachimukai himself wore a plain white shirt, jeans and his soccer trainers. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually worn casual clothes outside the house.
“Eh, whatever. More importantly...” Tsunami came to a halt as they reached the gate, looking at Tachimukai expectantly, who quailed under his gaze.
“...Wh-what is it?”
“Any idea what we should actually...do?”
Tachimukai stared at him. “Not really...”
Tsunami sighed. “Well, I'm sure if we just walk, something'll work out.”
“Right,” nodded Tachimukai, following his lead. “I suppose we could go into the town centre and have a look around, or something like that.”
Tsunami looked at him doubtfully. “A look around? Like shopping, or what?”
“No,” said Tachimukai. Shopping didn't appeal to him much either. “What I mean is...Liocott Island is designed to encompass all kinds of cultures, right? So maybe there are some interesting landmarks to look at.”
“Oh, sightseeing,” said Tsunami, whose attention had started slipping at at the world 'encompass'. “That could be interesting, I guess...”
“We don't have to do it, it's just an idea, that's all,” said Tachimukai quickly, looking abashed.
Seeing the expression on his friend's face, Tsunami changed tact. “It's a good idea! Since we're here, we may as well have a look around. Right?” When Tachimukai's expression didn't change, he clapped him on the back. “Come on! It'll be fun!”
Tachimukai smiled weakly. He knew Tsunami was just saying that to make him feel better, but his smile was pretty contagious. Tachimukai tried not to think about how his friend would probably rather be back at the beach right now than hanging out with him.
Then again, it had been Tsunami who had asked to hang out in the first place...
“Hey, stop spacing out,” said Tsunami as they reached the street corner. “You're gonna walk into a truck or something, man.”
“Ahh! Sorry!” cried Tachimukai, snapping to attention as he saw the road stretched out in front of him.
“Jeez, quit apologizing for every little thing.” said Tsunami huffily, peering up the street. Almost immediately his expression brightened again. “Look, the bus! Let's go catch it!” He grabbed Tachimukai's arm and bolted towards said bus, turning the heads of early-risers as they went.
“Aagh, Tsunami-san, that hurts! The bus isn't going anywhere!” gasped Tachimukai, trying his best to keep up with the excitable surfer. A few seconds and several disgruntled passerbys later, they reached the bus, which was indeed very much stationary.
“We made it!” said Tsunami triumphantly, letting go of Tachimukai and stepping onto the bus.
“We didn't...have...to run,” panted Tachimukai, rubbing his arm ruefully as he followed suit and leaned by the doorway.
“I just wanted to be extra sure we didn't miss it!” said Tsunami, winking.
Tachimukai looked at him exasperatedly. “But it wasn't...we could've...you didn't...”
Tsunami grinned at him nonchalantly. Before he knew it, a smile had crept onto Tachimukai's face too and he began to laugh. Tsunami looked bemused for a moment, but then started to laugh too. As the doors whirred shut and the bus began to move, they stood there laughing, fully aware that all the other passengers were staring at them. Tachimukai didn't care. He didn't want to stop. He saw Tsunami bent double with laughter and laughed even harder. He laughed until he had tears in his eyes. Every time it seemed like one of them would stop laughing, they'd catch each other's eyes and start all over again. Tachimukai couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so freely. It was completely idiotic, but as he watched Tsunami wiping at his own sopping eyelids, he felt a kind of happiness he'd never felt before.
Maybe this day won't turn out to be a failure after all.
***
“So,” said Tsunami as they stepped off of the bus, “Where are we, exactly?”
“It looks like England's area,” said Tachimukai, trying hard not to catch Tsunami's eye as he rubbed his own, looking blearily around at their surroundings.
“Yawn,” said Tsunami. “Of all the places we could have ended up, it had to be England. We coulda at least wound up in...I dunno, Portugal's area or something.”
“Well, if you hadn't just jumped on a random bus, Tsunami-san...” Tachimukai clapped his hand to his mouth, holding back the giggles.
“Don't even think about starting up again,” said Tsunami, the sides of his mouth twitching.
“A-anyway,” said Tachimukai, regaining his composure, “England isn't so bad. It has some really interesting architecture.”
“Does it?”
“Well, take this building, for instance,” said Tachimukai, pointing up at the red-brick housing in front of them, “It's really...well...English. Like they have in England...”
“Wow. Hey, Tachimukai?”
Tachimukai turned to see Tsunami staring right at him, a playful smile on his face.“Wh-what?”
“I've never seen you laugh like that. I mean, like you did just now. You don't really laugh a lot, do you?”
Tachimukai blinked up at his friend. What could he say to that?
“I just thought that was cool,” said Tsunami, looking away and stretching absent-mindedly. “You always look so het up over something or other.” Tsunami paused, thinking about what he had just said. “Well I mean, you don't always look het up, but...”
Tachimukai averted his gaze from the other boy, frowning. “I do laugh sometimes. I laughed at you on the plane, remember?”
Tsunami's eyes snapped back to Tachimukai. “Yeah! That was horrible, you meanie!” he exclaimed, less than pleasant memories of the journey flooding back to him.
Tachimukai chuckled. “Say, I wonder if they have something like Big Ben in England's area?”
“What's Big Ben?” asked Tsunami blankly, wondering how this was relevant.
“It's a really big clock tower in London,” said Tachimukai, completely unsurprised by Tsunami's lack of worldly knowledge. “I mean, really tall.” He held up his arms for emphasis.
Tsunami narrowed his eyes. Tachimukai met them with his own innocent blue ones. “What are you trying to say?”
“It doesn't matter,” said Tachimukai vaguely, looking away. “Maybe we should get going, we've been stood here for a little while now...”
“Oh right, we have.” Tsunami looked around, still seemingly unconvinced by the wonders of English architecture. “Well...let's go, I guess.”
They set off down the street, past rows of cosy cafés and busy antique shops. Tachimukai felt extremely out of place in his casual wear compared to the English fans – they seemed so well dressed and dignified – though he was fairly sure that compared to Tsunami he was being paid next to no attention. His friend seemed generally unimpressed with everything and everyone, and was attracting disapproving stares as he went. “Jeez, these people need to loosen up. They're not riding it at all.”
“Tsunami, maybe you should keep it down...” murmured Tachimukai, half expecting the aristocrats to turn around and start shooing them back to their own area.
“I'm just telling the truth, that's all,” grumbled Tsunami, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.
After a few more minutes of walking down streets that all seemed to look the same, Tachimukai soon realised that they were rather lost. “Tsunami-san, do you have any idea where we are?”
“Trafalgar Street,” said Tsunami unhesitatingly.
“How did you...ah. Right.” Tachimukai followed his gaze. A sign on the wall across the street clearly displayed its name, but more importantly, below it was a map of England's area itself. Tachimukai wondered if they had ended up near the centre by mistake. Wanting a closer look at the map, he hurried to the other side of the street.
“Tachimukai! Don't you ever look both ways before you cross? Man!” Tsunami sighed as he crossed after him (the street was completely deserted).
“We're here,” said Tachimukai absent-mindedly, pointing to a dot on the map. He was right, they had wandered close to the town centre. “Oh, the base for Knights of Queen is there...and look, the clock tower is there...”
“I don't really get why you're so interested in this clock tower,” said Tsunami uncertainly. “Doesn't sound like that big a deal to me.”
“Don't you want to climb to the top, Tsunami-san?” said Tachimukai audaciously, looking up at his friend.
Tsunami continued to look confused for a few moments, until something clicked and he frowned. “Oh, I get it. You know, just because I don't like planes doesn't mean I'm afraid of heights, so quit mocking me. Those things don't even have anything to do with each other. You think I'm a scaredy cat or something?”
Tachimukai flinched at his friend's harsh tone. Had he really annoyed him? Come to think of it, he'd been acting insensitive to Tsunami all day, or at least for the past half hour, and all after Tsunami had offered to spend time with him!
“Um, Tsunami-san...” began Tachimukai nervously, watching his friend.
“Yeah?” replied Tsunami shortly, staring at the map in front of them.
“I'm...I'm really sorry for being so insolent!!” he clamoured, inclining his head. “I've said some nasty things to you without meaning to...I didn't mean to make you feel bad!”
Tsunami looked down at Tachimukai, taken aback. “Whoa whoa whoa, hold up,” he said, looking shocked. “You don't need to apologize for anything! You haven't even done anything!”
“I made fun of you for not liking planes...” said Tachimukai miserably, staring at his shoes.
Tsunami clapped a hand to his forehead in disbelief. “Tachimukai...” he sighed, watching the younger boy. Why are you so damn sensitive? he thought. We've known each other, like forever. We've even fought aliens together! And you get all mopey over something like this?
Tsunami clapped his hands down on the younger boy's shoulders. Predictably, Tachimukai jumped, looking up at him. Though Tsunami's expression had softened, his tone was stern.
“Tachimukai! Do you really think I'm bothered by something like that? Seriously. Compared to the vastness of the sea, a little teasing is nothing! I can handle that!”
Tachimukai stalled. “Y-yeah...” It was true, Tsunami wasn't as sensitive as he was, but that didn't excuse the mean things he had said to him. An uncomfortable silence followed. Tachimukai didn't know what to say. He didn't want to move away, but he found himself feeling...awkward. Tsunami's face was really close to his. And his eyes were staring right into his own. What was this weird feeling? It made Tachimukai want to run away and hide, but it also kind of made him want to stay here and stare at Tsunami's face forever. Because Tsunami's face was really ni-
“You know what?” said Tsunami huffily, crossing his arms and turning away, “Let's just go to this clock tower and I'll show you how I'm not afraid of heights!”
Tachimukai gaped. That...that...that wasn't even the problem in the first place!!
***
“This is it,” said Tachimukai, stopping and staring up at the clock tower. The walk there had been mostly a quiet one; Tsunami had been silently determined, and Tachimukai had no idea what to say to him. In any case, he wasn't so sure about this any more. If Tsunami really wasn't afraid of heights, then he'd just be dragging him up the tower for no reason. Even if he's not annoyed with me, I doubt he'll want to spend another day out with me after this...
“Alright!! Let's do this!” growled Tsunami, clasping Tachimukai's shoulder. “All the way to the top!”
“Right,” said Tachimukai weakly. Yeah, this was going to take forever.
Tsunami strode forward, roughly pushing the old wooden door open. It didn't give easily, and creaked loudly as Tsunami shoved at it.
“Is it really okay for us to just walk in like this?” murmured Tachimukai as Tsunami forced his way through the doorway. He nervously followed his highly-strung friend into the gloom. “I feel like there should be...I don't know, a supervisor or something...”
“What for? It's just a tower, it's not gonna walk off by itself,” quipped Tsunami irritably. He began to ascend the formidable winding staircase immediately ahead of them, closely followed by Tachimukai. Apart from their resounding footsteps, it was silent as the pair of them began the climb. Tachimukai wanted to break the silence, but again was lost for what to say; the tower itself certainly wasn't giving him any ideas. It was dusty and dark. He vaguely wondered when the tower had been built. All the teams had areas designed to match their home country, but for this tower to look so worn out already...maybe that was part of the design? But why would you want something to look old after just building it? Tachimukai was about to voice these thoughts to Tsunami when he realised his friend had stopped in place. “Tsunami-san?”
“...What was that?”
Tsunami's tone startled Tachimukai. His voice sounded more strained than usual. “What was what?”
“That sound...” Tsunami looked up, his eyes wide.
Tachimukai didn't reply right away, listening out for any sounds. He could hear a quiet shuffling above them. “It's the pigeons – look, they're up in the window shafts,” he said, pointing upwards.
“Oh,” said Tsunami.
“Tsunami-san, maybe we should go back-”
“We haven't even been that far yet!” cried Tsunami. “We're going to the top, I told you!” With that, he began to climb the stairs again, now with increased vigour.
“Tsunami-san...” Tachimukai followed him apprehensively. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to upset his friend any more than he already had. As they continued to ascend, Tachimukai peered over the banisters. The large drop below was enough to make him feel a bit funny, and he didn't have any particular problem with heights himself. He only hoped that Tsunami hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't afraid. Tachimukai stared at his own feet as he walked. This had all been his idea...
Several minutes of silence passed, aside from the monotonous thudding of their own footsteps. Even after we've reached the top, we're still going to have to go back down again, thought Tachimukai morosely.He supposed elevators were not really in the spirit of old English architecture. “Well, hopefully the view at the top will be worth it...” he muttered out loud.
Tsunami grunted in reply.
Tachimukai looked at his friend apprehensively. “Tsunami-san...”
Tsunami didn't answer this time, simply staring ahead resolutely without batting an eyelid.
“Tsunami-san, I'm really sorry...today was supposed to be our day off, but here we are walking round and round in circles in a dusty old tower...I should have picked something more interesting to do...”
Tsunami's brow furrowed. Tachimukai watched him nervously. Was he annoying him even more by talking? Tsunami was usually more patient with him...
“It's my fault we're here anyway,” said Tsunami finally, still not meeting Tachimukai's eyes. “We got on that bus because of me.”
“The bus ride was fun though,” said Tachimukai. “It all went wrong when I took over...”
“No, it didn't,” snapped Tsunami. “Anyway, there's no point in arguing about it now.”
Tachimukai watched his friend, concerned. He noticed that Tsunami was scratching at his arm a lot, occasionally fiddling with his shirt cuffs. His gaze wasn't just determined, but somewhat distant. Suddenly a thought hit Tachimukai; was Tsunami nervous? He wasn't being snappy because he was angry – he was being snappy because he was scared. That had to be it. Knowing so much about being nervous himself, Tachimukai couldn't believe he hadn't realised it sooner. “Tsunami-san, maybe we should go back.”
Tsunami took a few more steps upward before stopping, turning around to look behind him. His eyes widened and he froze, all emotion wiped from his face. Tachimukai followed his gaze. What he saw gave him a start - he couldn't even see the floor any more. Just the staircase twisting round and round, eventually fading into darkness. He looked back to Tsunami fearfully. His friend's face had gone a strange colour, just as it had on the plane. How could he have laughed back then? It scared him to see Tsunami look so distressed – it wasn't like him at all.
“I...I thought I'd be okay, but...” Tsunami gripped the sleeve of his shirt tightly, still staring at the staircase snaking away below them.
“Tsunami-san,” murmured Tachimukai nervously. “Don't look down there, look ahead like you were before.”
Tsunami slowly turned back around, dithering all the while. “I don't know why I just...I-don't-like-it,” he said huskily.
“I know,” said Tachimukai, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. “This is all my fault, I'm sorry...” Tachimukai blinked. Was it just him, or did Tsunami's expression soften a little? “Tsunami-san...what do you want to do now?”
Tsunami didn't reply right away. He took some slow breaths to calm down before speaking again. “Keep going.”
Tachimukai's eyes widened. “What?”
“I didn't come all this damn way to just go back. I'm going to climb this stupid goddamn tower!” growled Tsunami. Even so, his feet seemed to be firmly planted in place and were not planning on unsticking themselves.
“Tsunami-san...” Without thinking, Tachimukai tightened his grip on his friend's shoulder. Tsunami looked at him. His expression had changed. It was without its usual buoyancy, but his determination was still there. He smiled as their eyes met.
“When I look at you, I feel like I can do it.”
Tachimukai wasn't sure what to say. “...You do?”
Tsunami grinned. “It's like that in the matches too. When I see that you've got my back...it makes me feel all pumped up. Like I can defend anything.” He scratched his nose sheepishly. “I'm not the best defender ever, but when I remember I'm doing it for you and the rest of the team, it gets me...yeah, it gets me all fired up. Something like that.”
Tachimukai looked down, breaking eye contact with the older boy. “But you're really talking about Endou-san, aren't you? It's usually Endou-san protecting Inazuma Japan's goal.”
“Well, Endou is irreplaceable as Inazuma Japan's captain,” said Tsunami without missing a beat. “But I like having you as our goalkeeper.”
Tachimukai looked back up at him.
“...I mean, hell! Half your keeper techniques are thanks to me! Where would you be without me, huh?” It was Tsunami's turn to look away, a peculiar expression on his face.
“Yes...thank you for everything, Tsunami-san,” said Tachimukai honestly. “If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd be who I am today...well, I mean, that goes for everyone on the team, but...”
Tsunami looked back and their eyes met again. Tachimukai felt as if there was something he wanted to say, but he couldn't work out how to put it into words. It was somehow harder to formulate sentences when Tsunami was watching him so intently.
“I guess what I wanna say is...thanks for being my friend,” said Tsunami seriously.
There was a short pause. “Thank you,” replied Tachimukai, smiling dumbly. He realised that his hand was still on Tsunami's shoulder. He didn't seem to be able to move it.
After a few long moments, Tsunami swallowed and looked away. “Alright, I said I'd do it, so I'm gonna do it.” He gingerly took a few steps forward but Tachimukai could see him shaking. He took his hand off of Tsunami's shoulder and held it out.
Tsunami looked at Tachimukai, and then at his outstretched palm.
“We're going to reach the top together, right?” said Tachimukai, a twinkle in his eye. Tsunami stared at him blankly for a few moments, before breaking into a grin.
“Right!” Tsunami grabbed Tachimukai's hand with such force that the younger boy flinched. “INAZUMA SPIRIT!! YEAAAAAHH!!” he cried, setting off at a run and nearly tripping over himself in his haste.
“Y-yeah!” blustered Tachimukai as Tsunami dragged him up the staircase. “Tsunami-san, it's light up there!”
“I see it, I see it!” roared Tsunami.
Even with the end in sight, the last lot of stairs was a bigger challenge than they expected – it seemed to go on forever and ever. They clambered onwards and upwards, nearly tripping over their own feet as well as the stone steps several times, each time having to grab on to each other for balance. When they finally reached the belfry it was only just in time. Tsunami sank to his knees, yanking Tachimukai down with him and leaning on him roughly. “WE...MADE IT!” he hollered with the last of his energy. “I thought I was gonna die!”
“Then...why...did you...run?” gasped Tachimukai, panting exhaustedly. Right now he wanted almost nothing more than to curl up on the ground until he got his breath back, but at the same time, Tsunami hadn't let go of his hand yet, and he wasn't going to encourage that to happen...
“I had to,” murmured Tsunami. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “Ahhh...”
“We still have to go back down after this,” said Tachimukai quietly, massaging his throat.
“Never mind that now.” Tsunami grinned at him. Tachimukai smiled back exasperatedly. Tsunami was happy now. Tachimukai wasn't sure how the other boy had managed to turn his mood around so suddenly, but he had, and he was happy now. That was the important thing. The pair of them sat there for a few moments in what was almost total silence, apart from their own raspy breathing. Tachimukai took this time to look around the room, taking this time to prolong the time in which he could stop talking and let his lungs recover.
If he had been alone Tachimukai would have found it a little eerie in that belfry. Although warm light trickled in through the windows (which weren't so much windows than gaping archways, and Tachimukai briefly noted that Tsunami should definitely not look out of them), the place had a lifeless sort of feel to it, and it was caked with dust. Not only that but it was deadly quiet – it seemed not even the birds liked it up here. The bell itself looked rather lonely in the centre of the room. Tachimukai wondered if it had ever been struck.
“Tachimukai...” said Tsunami suddenly.
Tachimukai started. “Tsunami-san?”
“I'm gonna do something stupid,” Tsunami said, staring determinedly at the ceiling.
Tachimukai looked baffled. “What do you-”
“But I'm stupid all the time, right? So compared to that, this is just a small thing...” Tsunami smiled weakly. Tachimukai watched the older boy, wondering what was coming next.
“Aww, man,” sighed Tsunami, screwing up his eyes in frustration. “I'm too stupid to explain what I mean.” He looked back at Tachimukai sheepishly.
Tachimukai wanted to ask what on earth Tsunami was talking about, but the words didn't reach his mouth. Tsunami was wearing that peculiar expression again, that expression that somehow rendered him incapable of speech...
Tsunami leaned forwards. His fringe tickled Tachimukai's cheek.
“Tsunami-san,” said Tachimukai dumbly. It was the only thing he seemed to be able to say. Tsunami's hand tightened around his. In that moment of bewilderment Tachimukai briefly noted how warm Tsunami's breath was, how sombre his eyes were...there was no doubt about it, something about Tsunami really drew him in. ...In fact, he was starting to get impatient. The older boy had frozen now, staring at him blankly. What was he waiting for?
In a moment of daring, Tachimukai reached out with his free hand, resting it somewhat awkwardly on Tsunami's cheek. His face beet red, he shut his eyes and pressed his lips to the older boy's. He immediately wished he hadn't. Tachimukai had no idea what he was doing, but he was sure whatever it was, it wasn't good. Before he could dwell this for too long, Tsunami gently pushed him away, breaking the kiss. Tachimukai's eyes widened and he felt a mixture of overwhelming embarrassment and nervousness as Tsunami stared at him.
“What are you doing?” murmured the older boy jeeringly, regaining some of his spunk. “You're supposed to do it like this.” Grinning, Tsunami let go of Tachimukai's hand, placing both of his own on the younger boy's cheeks.
“H-huh?” Tachimukai didn't know whether to laugh or to cry at this point.
Catching the younger boy off-guard, Tsunami leaned forward to kiss him again, only this time significantly more tongue was involved. Letting out a yelp of surprise, Tachimukai shut his eyes tight. It was immediately clear to Tachimukai that Tsunami had no idea what he was doing either, though this didn't make the situation any less mortifying. He allowed the older boy to invade his mouth for a few moments more before pulling away wetly, his heart thumping so hard that he almost wondered if Tsunami could hear it. Wriggling out of the other boy's reach, Tachimukai put his hand to his mouth, unable to meet Tsunami's eyes. Did that just happen? How could Tsunami be so forward?!
Tsunami crawled closer to him, reaching out to run his fingers through his hair, which was a relievingly normal gesture. “Hey, where are you running off to?” He smiled gently. “So cute.” The words sounded foreign coming out of his mouth.
Tachimukai could not fathom a response, choosing instead to stare firmly at Tsunami's knees. After a few moments the older boy patted him roughly on the shoulder. “Hey, my face is up here, you know!”
Tachimukai looked up at him. Even though Tsunami's tone was teasing, his eyes were sympathetic. In fact, if Tachimukai wasn't mistaken, his eyes seemed to be saying, 'This is seriously weird to me too,' with a possible hint of 'You're not mad at me are you?'
“Tsunami-san?” Tachimukai piped up finally, a sheepish smile on his face.
“Yes?!” replied Tsunami expectantly.
Tachimukai smiled cheekily. “You're a bad kisser!” The younger boy stuck his tongue out. “Bleghhh!”
Tsunami gaped comically. “Whaaat?! Hey, I'm better than you!” He made to grab Tachimukai by the waist, who realised only too late what he was about to do. “No you don't!” Tsunami grunted as the younger boy tried to weasel out of his grip.
“Tsunami-san! N-no, that...tickles!” cried Tachimukai, as Tsunami pulled him closer and slipped his hands under his shirt, running his fingers over the younger boy's waist and belly, reducing him to incoherent laughter.
“That's what you get! Frickin' kids...” smirked Tsunami, halting his attack only when Tachimukai begged him to stop through tears of laughter. Exhausted for the second time that afternoon, Tachimukai slumped forwards, resting his chin on the older boy's shoulder.
“Don't do that, Tsunami-san.”
“Can't tell me what to do, little dude.”
“I can,” muttered Tachimukai under his breath. He wrapped his arms around Tsunami's chest, holding on tightly. The older boy followed suit, pulling Tachimukai into a tight hug. Tsunami was so warm, and so comfortable...
“Tsunami-san...” murmured Tachimukai sleepily, the musty warmth of the belfry finally getting to him.
“Mhm?” Tsunami did not seem to be sleepy, but he did look pleased with the current situation. “What is it?”
Tachimukai smiled mischievously as a thought occurred to him. “I wonder what the view from the window is like? Want to go and see?”
“Oh man, don't even go there. Don't even go there.” Tsunami laughed as he ruffled the younger boy's hair, if a little roughly. “By the way, you're going to be carrying me back down, since there's nooo way I'm gonna make it back down myself...”
“I'm not...” mumured Tachimukai, his eyes closing in spite of himself.
“...uh, yeah you are, man, and I'll be all like, draped in your arms like a princess...oh god, you're gonna have to make up a story to tell the others so I don't sound really stupid...I can see Fudou's face now, he'll be like...”
But Tachimukai didn't hear what Fudou would be like. He was fast asleep.