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I posted this a while back on good ol' FF.net, and I figured I might as well post it here, too. I do have some of the second chapter written... just need to finish it.
Spoiler
The ocean gleams with specks of white, some from foam, some reflected from the sun’s rays. The sun is bright, and shines without any resistance from pesky clouds. It’s the third day of summer, and the weatherman said that it would get up to 99 degrees, no humidity to amplify it. Rin’s grateful for that. Humidity always makes her hair stand up, and she cares enough to let it bother her, but not enough to take a straightener to it. The worst kind of ambivalence.
She looks to her left, and wishes that Kaito would stop texting for once. But there he is, nestled under the shade of an umbrella with his ever-present cell phone… and, she notices with an exasperated sigh, still wearing his absurd winter apparel. Scarf, long-sleeved jacket… check, check, check. She had even brought gallons of sunscreen, and he still didn’t want to go into the sun, the jerk.
“Are you done yet?” she asks, tapping her bare foot. The sand feels warm between her toes. “We’re here to have fun in the sun, not text our girlfriends.”
Kaito snaps the phone shut, looking around like it’s a voice in his head spawned by insanity talking to him instead of an annoyed teenage girl. “Uh… y-yeah, sorry ‘bout that. You know how Meiko is.”
She eyes the phone that he still has in his hands. “Can’t you just ignore her for, like, an hour?”
He tries to laugh her off, shoving the phone into a one of his many jacket pockets. “I just don’t like for her to worry. And believe me, if I didn’t text her, she’d get worried.”
A seagull caws from above, probably circling around searching for something to eat. Rin doesn’t bother to look up and check. “Right. So are you swimming or not?”
“Uh… about that…” Kaito’s got that sheepish look on his face, the one where he avoids eye contact and half-smiles nervously, usually followed by a shaky laugh. Just like this time. “I… kinda can’t do that today?”
Rin glares at him, wearing a golden one piece herself. “Ugh, Kaito! You promised!”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry! I just really can’t today, okay?” He takes the phone out of his pocket and for a second Rin thinks he’s going to text Meiko again, but instead he just sticks it in a tote bag. “But you go on ahead, though. Don’t let me ruin your fun.”
“You’re ruining my fun by not swimming! I even went and made Len get you a swimsuit, and I brought it with me, so you can’t use that excuse again.”
“I…”
“And there’s a porta-potty right around back near the rinse-off station for you to change.”
Kaito groans, unable to come up with a good response to her stubbornness except another “I’m sorry” followed by adjusting his scarf, a nervous habit of his.
Rin eyes the scarf. It’s light blue and soft, maybe cashmere, maybe wool. She can’t keep her fabrics straight. That’s a Miku thing. But whatever it is, it’s really good at capturing heat and expelling the cold. And Kaito, the idiot, he’s wearing it in 99 degree weather! People are staring at him, have been staring at him ever since the thermometer broke 60, like he’s some kind of circus freak. She can’t stand it. He’s not something for people to gawk at.
“At least take this off,” Rin murmurs more to herself than to Kaito, and makes a grab for one end of the scarf. She intends to use her other hand to lift it off his head, a surprise attack so he won’t be able to object.
But to her own surprise, she just grabs empty air.
Kaito’s scooted all the way to the other end of the towel, a good three feet away, clutching his scarf like it was his social security number. He looks at her as though she’s just tried to steal his identity. “Don’t.”
“It’s just a scarf! Not like it’ll kill you to take it off for fifteen minutes.” Honestly, she’s just shocked that he managed to move that fast. Kaito is not exactly known for his speed.
“You were going to just yank it off,” he says, tone unreadable. “That’s dangerous. Don’t you know you could strangle someone by doing that?”
“Whoa, Kaito, slow down! I’m practically your best friend. Why would I strangle you?”
Kaito seems to calm down, and relaxes his shoulders, but doesn’t release his grip on the scarf. “… no, that was just me being paranoid again. I know you’d never do something like that.”
“You’ve got some kind of complex, I swear.” She goes over and sits down next to him, noticing how cool the towel feels in comparison to the sand. “Probably ought to see a mind doctor or whatever they’re called.”
“Therapist?”
“Yeah, those.” She scooches closer to him, and leans her head on his shoulder as a peace offering.
He instinctively turns his head away. “Rin, that’s kind of-”
“Oh, shut up. I’m not interested, and you’re not a pedo. Your precious princess Meiko doesn’t have to worry about a damn thing.” The vibrations of her voice travel through his shoulder to the rest of his body.
He starts to protest again, but his voice falls short, and he instead puts his arm around Rin, resting it on her shoulder. They look almost like siblings from a distance, in this act of familiarity.
The unlikely friends sit in silence for a few moments, taking in the scenery before them. It really is a beautiful day. People walk around on the beach, carrying buckets of shells and calling out to their children to not go so far deep. It smells fresh and salty, with faint traces of a food stands back near the parking lot. There’s not much litter strewn about yet, but even if it is only a matter of time before the picturesque beauty of the beach is tainted for humans’ convenience, at least they can enjoy it now, in this moment of purity.
Then Kaito has to go and ruin it by asking, “So, you asked Len to get me a swimsuit?”
“Way to go, Sherlock.”
He chuckles. “I’ll bet that went well.”
“I told him to get you a Speedo.”
“You’re not serious!”
“Dead serious.” She grins. “And I told him to make sure that it was all shiny and shiz. The campiest one he could find.”
“Okay, that cinches it. Now I’m never going swimming.”
“Ah, don’t get your hopes up. He had pity on your poor soul and got you some trunks instead.” She pouts, and adjusts her head so that the bones of Kaito’s shoulder don’t jut into her skull. “They’re actually kinda cool-looking. Black, and there’s some blue trim or something on the sides.”
“Blue trim or something?”
“I dunno, I was too busy yelling at him because they weren’t Speedos. But you don’t want to see them, because you’re not going swimming, remember?”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Kaito starts to stand up, and Rin whines in annoyance as she’s moved aside, but accepts his hand to help bring her back to her feet.
“So… wanna go get some ice cream?” Rin suggests. “I swear I saw a stand back up by the parking lot, and it didn’t look expensive.”
Kaito nods so hard it looks like he’s headbanging to an intense Metallica song. “You really know me, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t take a genius to figure you out, honestly.” Then she smiles, almost gently. “But that’s a good thing.”
Kaito pulls a five-dollar bill out of a pocket on his jacket, and they make their way back to the parking lot, Rin complaining all the way about how her feet burn on the hot sand after having been pampered by the towel.
In the tote bag, the screen on Kaito’s phone suddenly glows and vibrates again. You have 6 unread messages.
She looks to her left, and wishes that Kaito would stop texting for once. But there he is, nestled under the shade of an umbrella with his ever-present cell phone… and, she notices with an exasperated sigh, still wearing his absurd winter apparel. Scarf, long-sleeved jacket… check, check, check. She had even brought gallons of sunscreen, and he still didn’t want to go into the sun, the jerk.
“Are you done yet?” she asks, tapping her bare foot. The sand feels warm between her toes. “We’re here to have fun in the sun, not text our girlfriends.”
Kaito snaps the phone shut, looking around like it’s a voice in his head spawned by insanity talking to him instead of an annoyed teenage girl. “Uh… y-yeah, sorry ‘bout that. You know how Meiko is.”
She eyes the phone that he still has in his hands. “Can’t you just ignore her for, like, an hour?”
He tries to laugh her off, shoving the phone into a one of his many jacket pockets. “I just don’t like for her to worry. And believe me, if I didn’t text her, she’d get worried.”
A seagull caws from above, probably circling around searching for something to eat. Rin doesn’t bother to look up and check. “Right. So are you swimming or not?”
“Uh… about that…” Kaito’s got that sheepish look on his face, the one where he avoids eye contact and half-smiles nervously, usually followed by a shaky laugh. Just like this time. “I… kinda can’t do that today?”
Rin glares at him, wearing a golden one piece herself. “Ugh, Kaito! You promised!”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry! I just really can’t today, okay?” He takes the phone out of his pocket and for a second Rin thinks he’s going to text Meiko again, but instead he just sticks it in a tote bag. “But you go on ahead, though. Don’t let me ruin your fun.”
“You’re ruining my fun by not swimming! I even went and made Len get you a swimsuit, and I brought it with me, so you can’t use that excuse again.”
“I…”
“And there’s a porta-potty right around back near the rinse-off station for you to change.”
Kaito groans, unable to come up with a good response to her stubbornness except another “I’m sorry” followed by adjusting his scarf, a nervous habit of his.
Rin eyes the scarf. It’s light blue and soft, maybe cashmere, maybe wool. She can’t keep her fabrics straight. That’s a Miku thing. But whatever it is, it’s really good at capturing heat and expelling the cold. And Kaito, the idiot, he’s wearing it in 99 degree weather! People are staring at him, have been staring at him ever since the thermometer broke 60, like he’s some kind of circus freak. She can’t stand it. He’s not something for people to gawk at.
“At least take this off,” Rin murmurs more to herself than to Kaito, and makes a grab for one end of the scarf. She intends to use her other hand to lift it off his head, a surprise attack so he won’t be able to object.
But to her own surprise, she just grabs empty air.
Kaito’s scooted all the way to the other end of the towel, a good three feet away, clutching his scarf like it was his social security number. He looks at her as though she’s just tried to steal his identity. “Don’t.”
“It’s just a scarf! Not like it’ll kill you to take it off for fifteen minutes.” Honestly, she’s just shocked that he managed to move that fast. Kaito is not exactly known for his speed.
“You were going to just yank it off,” he says, tone unreadable. “That’s dangerous. Don’t you know you could strangle someone by doing that?”
“Whoa, Kaito, slow down! I’m practically your best friend. Why would I strangle you?”
Kaito seems to calm down, and relaxes his shoulders, but doesn’t release his grip on the scarf. “… no, that was just me being paranoid again. I know you’d never do something like that.”
“You’ve got some kind of complex, I swear.” She goes over and sits down next to him, noticing how cool the towel feels in comparison to the sand. “Probably ought to see a mind doctor or whatever they’re called.”
“Therapist?”
“Yeah, those.” She scooches closer to him, and leans her head on his shoulder as a peace offering.
He instinctively turns his head away. “Rin, that’s kind of-”
“Oh, shut up. I’m not interested, and you’re not a pedo. Your precious princess Meiko doesn’t have to worry about a damn thing.” The vibrations of her voice travel through his shoulder to the rest of his body.
He starts to protest again, but his voice falls short, and he instead puts his arm around Rin, resting it on her shoulder. They look almost like siblings from a distance, in this act of familiarity.
The unlikely friends sit in silence for a few moments, taking in the scenery before them. It really is a beautiful day. People walk around on the beach, carrying buckets of shells and calling out to their children to not go so far deep. It smells fresh and salty, with faint traces of a food stands back near the parking lot. There’s not much litter strewn about yet, but even if it is only a matter of time before the picturesque beauty of the beach is tainted for humans’ convenience, at least they can enjoy it now, in this moment of purity.
Then Kaito has to go and ruin it by asking, “So, you asked Len to get me a swimsuit?”
“Way to go, Sherlock.”
He chuckles. “I’ll bet that went well.”
“I told him to get you a Speedo.”
“You’re not serious!”
“Dead serious.” She grins. “And I told him to make sure that it was all shiny and shiz. The campiest one he could find.”
“Okay, that cinches it. Now I’m never going swimming.”
“Ah, don’t get your hopes up. He had pity on your poor soul and got you some trunks instead.” She pouts, and adjusts her head so that the bones of Kaito’s shoulder don’t jut into her skull. “They’re actually kinda cool-looking. Black, and there’s some blue trim or something on the sides.”
“Blue trim or something?”
“I dunno, I was too busy yelling at him because they weren’t Speedos. But you don’t want to see them, because you’re not going swimming, remember?”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Kaito starts to stand up, and Rin whines in annoyance as she’s moved aside, but accepts his hand to help bring her back to her feet.
“So… wanna go get some ice cream?” Rin suggests. “I swear I saw a stand back up by the parking lot, and it didn’t look expensive.”
Kaito nods so hard it looks like he’s headbanging to an intense Metallica song. “You really know me, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t take a genius to figure you out, honestly.” Then she smiles, almost gently. “But that’s a good thing.”
Kaito pulls a five-dollar bill out of a pocket on his jacket, and they make their way back to the parking lot, Rin complaining all the way about how her feet burn on the hot sand after having been pampered by the towel.
In the tote bag, the screen on Kaito’s phone suddenly glows and vibrates again. You have 6 unread messages.
Feedback and critiques are much appreciated!
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I nevar knew you wrote fanfic! I like your characterization of Kaito, he seems like a really cool dood; extra points for listening to Metallica. Your style is clean, neat and descriptive.
