The girl that loves the beach and the boy that loves the ocean Part 3

The room was silent; all that could be heard was Haruto's echoing words. They were soft, but had a hint of raspiness to them. Everyone stood there, almost dumbfounded at his declaration. 

Haruto? he wasn't one to take part in things like this. What's gotten into him? 

"Wha- Nakamura-kun, I couldn't ask you to do-"

"Let me help, please? It's the least I could do. Plus, if you want my honest opinion, you don't strike me as the type to take charge. "

Aoi shot a dejected gaze at Haruto, like the very words he said broke her world apart. 
Haruto placed a hand atop her shoulder, and he shook his head.

"It's fine, I have some business with him anyway." 

business? He's not doing some secret meetup with the basketball club, is he?

"Nakamura-kun, is that any way to talk to a girl in love? I know you're stupid, but show some tact!"

Haruto scratched his head, seemingly sensing how blunt his reaction was.

"O-oh, sorry, I didn't mean to come off insensitive, I meant it as I don't think you should do it alone."

"So why didn't you say that?" 

Haruto was about to speak up, but he held his tongue. In its stead, his gaze met the floor beneath him. 

He stood there like a log, not saying a word. For whatever reason, he was fragile, like a glass that had been smashed by rocks.

"..." 

"I was just trying to help..." He muttered under his breath.

Sensing Haruto's defeated expression, Futoshi placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"I wouldn't let her get to you, man. Believe me, she says worse things to me all the time." 

ugh... this means I'll get an earful about it later, great. Thanks, Haruto.

"So we're all good to head home then? Remember, it's Saturday, we're meeting up." Rin desperately tried to break the room free of its gloomy exterior.  

Everyone responded with a unanimous,

"We know!"

                                                                                    ***

Saturday had finally arrived. After everything that had happened thus far, summer break had greeted them with open arms.

A pitch-black abyss surrounded his vision, almost as if his very consciousness had been dragged to the darkest depths of the world under. For a moment, there was nothing. Futoshi had been in a deep slumber...

Just then, beams of light attacked his eyes. Red, yellow, green, and blue all entered his peripheral vision as if it were a coordinated attack in some game. 

Futoshi squinted his eyes before rubbing the sleep with the back of his hand, unsure of what to make of his surroundings. uh...what time is it?  He sluggishly grabbed his phone to check the time-

[09:00] 

"Crap, I need to hurry!" 

He jolted out of bed and got ready, brushing his teeth and showering. The usual stuff a boy like him would do. 
Gotta wait for Reina to come. I think she told me she'd be here at 10. And we all know how she is when she gets mad. 

Futoshi grabbed his phone before unlocking it. He and Reina had texted the plan to each other over MIME the night before 

MIME chat:

[Reina: Do you want to come round mine or should I just go to yours like always?]

[Futoshi: You know where I live, so just meet up at mine, I'll leave a key under the mat.]

[Reina: I'm not going in or anything! If this is one of your ways to get a girl into your house, then count me out, Pervoshi! ]

[Futoshi: If you wanna stand outside, then be my guest, but it's supposed to be cold in the morning. And drop that stupid nickname already!]

[ Reina: Pervoshi, pervoshi, pervoshi!] 

[Futoshi: You do realise how old that's getting?]

[Reina: And what makes you think I care what you think?]

[Futoshi: ugh... I'm done. Just meet me when you're ready]

[Reina: Kay, be round at 10. You'd best be ready before!]

Futoshi looked at the top of his screen.

[10:00]

Just then-

DING
great.

"Reina, the keys under the mat as I said!"

Reina rustled the key into the keyhole and unlocked the door, slamming it behind her. 

"You ready to go?" 

"U-uh yeah..." 

Reina twiddled with her fingers as she stood in the doorway of Futoshi's house. 

The two of them left the house and started to walk. Futoshi furrowed his brow. 

"Did we ever say where we were meeting up?"

"Oh, Rin texted me the location."

Rin? Since when did these guys become so close? And not even an honorific? Talk about being familiar!  Maybe they had been doing confessions without even confiding in Haruto or me, and over time, a blossoming friendship formed.  

As Futoshi reveled in his thoughts, Reina had a chipper expression on her face. A defined smile had made her lip curl. Her cheeks were flushed. 

"mhm, I wonder what swimsuit I'm gonna buy, should I go for the sexy ones and show some bod or keep it casual? Futoshi, what do you think? " Her eyes lit up as she directed her gaze toward him. 

Rather than boasting her usual flowy hair, she had it up in twin tails, extending from two black hair ties.  

"As if I'd give you my opinion." 

"Lighten up a bit, will you? It's not like I asked you anything bad, did I?"

"Yeah, well, I know whatever I say will come back to haunt me later." 

"Buzzkill!"

"Yeah, yeah, like I care."  Futoshi scoffed. He lowered his gaze before pushing his hands into his side pockets - a way to avoid confronting the question head-on.  

"Oh, as  for where we're going, it's the mall." 

I figured...

"Haruto and I will wait outside-"

"You can come into the store, y'know? loads of couples do it, we'll just frame it as a thruple date-"

"Can you get love off your brain for 5 minutes?" 

"No can do, not today, nuh uh."

Futoshi looked in Reina's general direction as they both continued to walk to the meeting place. 

So that's why she's in a good mood, huh?

Any other day, Reina and Futoshi would've already clashed with a few measly insults, courtesy of Reina, of course, but today was different. From what he could tell, Reina hadn't had one verbal outburst. Knowing the situation at play, he had most likely chalked it up to her 'romance-obsessed way of thinking. 

Knowing what he knew now about it, he felt more pity than anything else... not feeling you're worthy enough is a feeling he understood all too well...

"Reina over here!" Rin extended a hand upward so the pair could see her from a distance. By the looks of it, it seemed the two stood idly beside her- Haruto and  Aoi made it on time as well.

"You ready to go in, guys?"