The girl that loves the beach and the boy that loves the ocean part 4

"Of course, I'm ready!"  Reina gestured for the group to follow her as she entered the mall.
Would she calm down? She's gonna make a scene! 

The group stepped into the mall, and a range of smells coursed around them, leaving Haruto's mouth drooling. 

"Guess someone's feeling better then?" Futoshi nudged Haruto, the two walking a bit behind the rest of the pack.

"Yeah, I guess," Haruto said as he scratched the back of his head.

Just then-

"Why don't we stop at the food court first?" Rin turned to face the rest of the group-Futoshi and Haruto included.

 Futoshi furrowed his brow at her preemptive question, clearly not wanting to go.

The food court? Are we making a day out of this? I just planned on going with them as I needed new trunks. Now I've been roped into this?

Futoshi fiddled with his bangs that were starting to get long in the front. He didn't hate how long they were, far from it. He just hated how his vision was being stripped away by them. 

"Futoshi, don't be spacing out!" 

As he stood there, taking it all in, Reina's shout brought him back down to earth. It wasn't a bad thing to be excited, but for Futoshi, being obnoxiously loud in public was a sin not even he could forgive. 

"Reina, would you quiet down?"

"Y-yeah, you just shouted in my ear..." Aoi covered her ears and agreed with Futoshi.

Four hands had raised at Rin's question. However you framed it, Futoshi couldn't get out of going with them.  

                                                                                 ***

"I'll have a Wcbig."

"I'll just have some fries."

"I-if you have it, could I get a Wcflurry..."

"May I have some fries?"

"I'll just get whatever, surprise me."

The group now stood outside WcDonalds, which was in the centre of the food court. They tried to find a seat, but to no one's surprise, it was packed.  The group had unanimously chalked it up to summer break, which, looking at the varying ages, checked out. 

The group looked around for ages, trying to scout out any available seats.

"There's a bench over here!" Haruto shouted, pointing at the nearby bench that was located under the stairwell. 

The mall had four stories, each separated by a stairwell; the floor the group had been on was the ground floor, or 'floor 0', and the swimsuit store was on the very top floor. 

Sitting down now, the group had started discussing the plans for their beach house trip. 

Reina started the group off, leaning into gauge Aoi's reaction.

"So, did you ask him? I mean, Yamada-kun?" 

Aoi fidgeted, clearly blushing from what she had been asked.

"Yeah, w-when I asked him, he said he'd love to come."

As he heard that, Haruto's expression changed. His gaze, which was filled with life a second prior, was now dejected, like all the life out of them had been sucked out. 

Futoshi looked at Haruto, observing the change first-hand. 

Maybe they have history? him and Yamada-kun? 

That was the first thing that came to mind when he saw how he acted. Haruto sat there, idly sipping on his soda as he watched the world go by; if Futoshi didn't know any better, you could even say he looked like a desperate guy waiting for some cute girl to approach him.

Even then, he wouldn't have been happy. 

Rin caught his gaze, unaware of what pain he might've been feeling; even so, she positioned herself next to him. 

I guess we'll see if the 'angel' can cheer him up. 

"You ok, Nakamura-kun?" Rin asked, her hair enveloping such a scent of pure bliss.

Or that's what it must feel like for Haruto right about now. 

She leaned in close, as if to gauge his reaction, placing a warm hand on his back. 

"No, not really, but don't worry, I'll be fine."

That was one thing, Haruto was good at; he wore his heart on his sleeve. The same quality couldn't be said about Futoshi, which, in all honesty, made him a bit conflicted. After all, he was the 'popular guy' in school, and keeping up appearances would start to take a toll on anyone.  

"What's up with him? Do you know?" In all the commotion, Reina had scooted by Futoshi, and the two gazed at the two who sat at the other side of the table, Rin and Haruto. 

The two had been giggling away and talking about sweet nothings 

"They really are the perfect match, huh?" 

As much as Futoshi hated that 'perfect couple' phrase, he couldn't deny the clear chemistry between the two of them. Reina sat there, starry-eyed. 

"You want some popcorn?" 

"Oh, be quiet, will you?" Reina's face flushed. 

Aoi sat there, fidgeting. She must've wanted a time to interject. Sensing her preemptiveness, Futoshi decided to get the conversation back on track. 

"Hey, lovebirds, get a room, will you?

As he said that, the two scooted  apart.

A wry smile tugged at Rin's lip. 

"I'm comforting him...Why don't you and Reina go on without us? We'll catch up. Isn't that right? Hajime-san, Nakamura-kun? " 

"I-i mean why should-"

"I'll tell you about it later, ok?" Rin muttered. She had placed her hand over Aoi's ear, whispering.
Her tone was sharp, but had an edge of kindness attached to it. The mask had been slipping for a while now; the cracks had been forming for a while; the only word for her left was 'split.'

Her posh girl persona and her normal one- they were like two people sharing  one consciousness.

"Yeah, we'll stay here." 

All Haruto could do was nod in agreement.

With that, Reina and Futoshi finished their food before heading up the stairs towards the swimsuit store. By all means, the two wouldn't of optionly choice this; they, or rather Futoshi, were dealt a bad hand.

Thanks, Ojino-senpai. Now I have to deal with this obnoxious creature. 

As much as Futoshi hated it, it was the way things had turned out...

                                                                                   ***

"So, hurry up and pick something!" 

"These things take time, y'know! Anyway, I bet you can't wait to see all those girls in those skimpy outfits!"

"What are you even talking about, Peraina!"

Reina cringed before laughing. The way she saw it, it was a poor attempt at getting her back.

"Ppph, it doesn't work when you do it. I mean, cmon Peraina? I know you can do a lot better than that." 

Reina smirked. She leaned forward, her hands placed behind her back.

"Cmon-"

Futoshi sighed. If it was between him being annoyed or not caring, he leaned more towards the latter. 

"Just pick something out, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to!"

They had entered the girls' section of the store, so his tension was at an all-time high; sweat dripped, hands shook. If anyone gave him weird looks, he'd understand. 

"Don't worry, loads of couples come here together! Did you go blind or something?"

Futoshi's gaze scanned the surrounding area; in Reina's defence, she was right. There were loads of couples, the couples ranged from anywhere from their age to some much older, so as for his prior worry, it had effectively been debunked. 

"That may be true, but it's still not a good look."

"So Mr. Popular is a prude..."

Reina pushed her fist against her palm.  Futoshi had been outed as a prude; such allegations could be detrimental to his popular guy persona, so he pushed back.

"Not a prude. Would a prude be as popular as I?" 

Futoshi boasted about being popular, but in reality, he was indifferent. It just so happens the angels above blessed him with a better-than-average face and a frame that was above average. If it were up to him, the burden of being popular would heavily outweigh the positives. 

Reina side-eyed him as he boasted about it, but contrary to how she acted, she had above-average grades and good looks to boot.

"Guess you got a point."

                                                                                  ***

After standing idly chatting, Reina had picked out a few items to try on, and she had gone over to the changing rooms located at the back of the store, leading Futoshi to wait outside. 

"Reina, you done in there?!"

She had been in there about 15 minutes, so Futoshi started to worry. 

She only had about 4 outfits. What is she doing?

Just then, a hand extended out of the changing room curtain, grabbing Futoshi by the sleeve of his shirt. 

"Wha-"

"Futoshi..."

The bright lights that covered the entire store floor dimmed. It was like he had been pulled into one dimension to another.

Although... this was no game.

There stood Reina... tears welling up in her eyes.