Our Summer
Ash and Eiji only had one summer together, but it was a long summer and Eiji would never forget it.
Out of School
Eiji had always loved summer in Japan. The sun, the beach. Friendship. Everything was warm. This trip to Cape Cod with Ash reminded him of those times. They just ran away together, two days, three days. Ash must have let the others know they were gone, but he surprised Eiji, pulling up in that Benz outside their apartment. White T-shirt and torn jeans that gave a tantalizing peak at his thighs. He called for the other to get in and they drove off. The freedom of summer.
2) Shopping for bathing suit
Neither of them owned swim trunks, but there was a small touristy shop with wooden floorboards and inviting outdoor racks intent on fixing that. The two boys enjoyed trying things on. Ash making fun of Eiji's loud taste as the other tried on a large straw sunhat and geometric sunglasses. Eiji snorted, and proceeded to pick out a pair of swim trunks for Ash. The shorts were blue and green with palm trees on them. Eiji bought a white pair with fishbones.
3) Day at the beach
When they got to the beach, Ash shimmied out of his jeans and changed in the car. Eiji blushed. Ash caught the look and grinned as he slipped the white swim trunks on. "Hey! Those are mine,"
"We wear the same size, and the other ones you picked out are ugly,"
"American's are so rude,"
In the passenger seat Eiji slipped into the palm tree shorts. They were snug around his hips and butt. "We do no wear the same size."
Ash chuckled, "I think it looks good on you,"
The sand beneath his feet was refreshing, and the warm waves washed away his cares. They swam and splashed in the water. They lay on the beach in each other's company. Where Ash had taken them there was no people. They stayed alone into the sunset.
4) Beach Towel
The beach towels they bought were huge. One was more than big enough for the both of them to sit on. As the sun began to set and the breeze picked up they huddled under the second large towel watching the light fade.
Ash's body was so close to his. His warmth. Ash leaned his head on his shoulder, and he couldn't help but be fascinated by how the glow caught his golden hair.
4) Sunburn & Broken air conditioning
They both came back sunburned. Eiji whined as his reddened skin protested any movement. His entire back was burnt, but it was nothing compared to the sun's toll on Ash's fair skin. After the first day of sunburn Ash had bought a few bottles of aloe.
Eiji was sitting on the couch, spreading the aloe on the other's skin.
Ash grunted as a spot behind his shoulder blade was jostled.
"Japanese clutz,"
6) Ice Cream
Ash had to be teasing him. Those green eyes twinkling as they watched him blush and avoid contact. They sat at a picnic table at the board walk. Ash seductively, mischievously, licked the cone. Eiji swallowed. Their shoulders were touching. Ash seemed to be getting exasperated that his teasing wasn't eliciting any kind of reaction. He gripped the other's wrist and leaned over to take a lick of Eiji's cone.
Eiji flinched, watching the beautiful man look him dead in the eye and mouth the treat in his hand.
"Mmmm, it's really good," Ash giggled.
Eiji grumbled pushed the other back. "You have your own,"
7) Fireflies
When they were at Ash's house, one of the nice things was watching the fireflies. It was the end of the day. Max and Shorter were sitting on the porch. Ash and him had wandered off over one of the hills, long grass waving in the wind. The warm air of the mainland mixed with the ocean breeze.
They lay in the grass, gazing at the stars. The rest of the world was so far away. He didn't know Ash very well back then, this was the start of summer, but he could tell the boy was in an unspeakable amount of pain.
They talked about if the stars still looked the same in Japan, and about a few good memories Ash had of this place. Ash rolled over to look at him while telling a particularly heartfelt story, and a small yellow dot winked between them.
"Hotaru" Eiji stared perplexed at the small orb bobbing and flickering away. When he was done watching the firefly, he turned to see Ash was watching him with the same amount of curiosity. As if he, Eiji, was some illusive ethereal being.
Eiji blushed, "Hotaru… Is firefly. In Japan folklore they are souls of those who died."
"So when I die, I get to become a firefly?"
"Ah-um. It not always mean someone dies. They are also common in love poetry."
Ash leaned forward, "Passionate love?" He grinned and licked his lips.
"Yes, on nights just like this. Are you trying to seduce me?" Eiji crossed his arms in mock offense.
"I think you're the one I need to worry about, Eiji. Keep that up and I could really fall for you."
"Keep what up?"
"You're so earnest,"
"I am not Ernest."
8) Fourth of July & Barbeque
Eiji was excited to celebrate the 4th of July, the all-American holiday. Celebrating freedom and triumph of the underdog. Alex had bought him an American flag printed T-shirt, and Kong and Bones gave him a few small fireworks.
He was curious why Ash wasn't excited, but assumed it had to do with past memories, things he never had, or things he lost.
The boy's were casually hanging out at Ash's apartment and complaining that Eiji couldn't make American barbeque. Eiji was getting frustrated. Why would he know? How would he know? One of the boys had even dragged a small grill to the building. Eiji had set it up on the balcony assuming the one who brought it would use it.
Apparently not. Apparently cooking was his job, which was fine on most occasions when he couldn't do anything else, but this was a vacation. It's not like he liked cooking.
They assured him cooking was easy, but he wasn't sure where to start. The boys had shoved him out on the balcony with tongs, an a few packages of hotdogs, hamburgers, and an apron. He didn't want to not do it, that would be giving in to a challenge.
After several minutes of fumbling, the glass door slid open. Ash grinned, cheap beer in one hand, and handed him a serving platter.
"You'll need this,"
"How I supposed to know what need? I not done this before!?"
"You're English gets bad when you're frustrated,"
Eiji swore at him in Japanese.
Ash reached around him and adjusted the temperature on the grill.
"Unwrap the meat and put it on the lower rack. I'll get salt and pepper for the burgers,"
"You don't know how to cook."
"No, I don't. But this isn't hard," He left, coming back with apparently the only American seasonings in the apartment, and another beer for Eiji.
They stood outside away from the party, filling up the serving tray. Ash showed him how to toast buns in the grill. After his first beer Eiji was tipsy. He gazed, perplexed, by the tall muscular man next to him
They brought the food in to the guys. The apartment was loud and rambunctious. Somebody wanted to shoot bottle rockets off the balcony. Ash stopped that before it started, that would be a pathetic reason to have the cops called.
They sat on the couch together.
As the sun began to slip away, fireworks began to tease the sky. Large spouts of gold, blue, red, and green sparkled across the water, glittering against the skyline. The entire apartment gathered on the balcony, a squashed mass of elbows and shoulders. Eiji was easily one of the smallest. Ash had slight build except for his height but was afforded room due to being the boss.
Ash pulled the Japanese boy in front of him, bracing hands on the railing on either side of him.
Eiji leaned into Ash's chest as he watched the fireworks. Ash teased him about how short he was.
9) At a public pool
The summer was scorching. New York city had no trees to absorb the heat. Eiji pestered Ash to go to the public pool with him. The other boys would have liked to, but Eiji felt like Ash needed to be out of the apartment. He had been working on the banana fish case so much lately…
Eiji wanted to go to the public pool.
Ash smiled at the girl's attention.
Ash whirled around, grabbing the man's wrist.