Lavender | Wakatoshi Ushijima

21 | Spring Sunburns

"I think I'll take you up on that offer." I say, laughing sheepishly.

He holds out his hand and slowly leads me into the water where Kiyo and Hayato are standing waist in. His hand is firm and reassuring, I can only focus on our palms that fit perfectly. I don't realize the water is making its way up my body, almost as if it's consuming me. I find myself losing balance, so I tighten my grip. The water is suddenly warm then cold again as we go deeper.

"You're almost there!" Kiyo shouts.

I turn around to look at Reon and Yusho preparing the food when a scream escapes my mouth on instinct. Loud, high pitched. I can't bite it back this time, I'm absolutely terrified. What was that? I felt something swift against my feet that were going into the sand, it caught me off guard. What was it, what could it be?

There's a bracing hand around my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Wakatoshi looks a bit concerned.

"I'm okay. I just felt something ticklish on my feet. It caught me off guard."

"Oh, it must be them." He looks down calmly.

Them? Who's them?

I look down and I see so many little fish swimming around our feet. So tiny, yet so many. Schools and schools on their way to god knows where and they're right next to me. Unbothered, careless, calm. They just swim around and I'm about to have a heart attack.

My balance fails me, my brain freezes and my hands become clammy. I'm going to be eaten alive.

While I almost fall over at the sight of them, that same arm tightens its grip around me. Over the span of being in the water, his arm and then his hand go further down to reach my waist, where they stay most of the time. I don't mind.

"They won't hurt us, don't worry." He turns to me with a tiny smile, his face closer.

Like he says, they don't harm us. It's truly amazing to see the little fish from the aquarium right next to my feet. They're free, not contained in tanks. If I moved my feet, I can touch them. I watch them. They're slim, dark, striped, and moving left and right with unpredictable movements that are more entertaining than anything else. They swim for a bit and then swiftly, they leave.

Slowly I get used to the water's temperature and the marvelous feeling of the sand, same with Wakatoshi's arm that keeps assuring my safety in all kinds of ways. Every time I'm startled or shivering at all, it wraps closer and tighter.

~

"Who wants to play chicken fight?" Goshiki screams from the shallow water.

"Count me in!" Yu says on his knees.

"I'll give it a go." Suzuki says.

"Care to join me?" Yunohama turns to Taichi.

"Let's do this." They shake hands. A new alliance has formed.

And so they begin this so called 'chicken fight'. Yu on Goshiki vs. Yunohama on Taichi, and Kiyo on Hayato vs. Jin on Tendō. It's hilarious watching them bicker. 'Move your leg', 'you're so heavy', 'get your hands off my hair', 'you're making my back age faster than the speed of light', 'can you not dance while you're sitting on me?' They all want to be prepared for this war that's going to break loose any time now. The four teams are awaiting the signal from Umeda, the peacemaker.

"Begin!" Umeda signals, his hand splitting the air in the middle. There's a millisecond of hesitation, then it sounds like a zoo.

Kai is neatly taping down the corners of the plastic table cloth, Yusho is plating the food, Reon is setting the table with him, while Shirabu is the only one on the white plastic chair under the umbrella.