A/n : /screams/ finally wrote something after like months! I'm so sorry for being inactive but thanks so much for the reviews on my other stories! I really really appreciate them! Anyway, this chapter will just be a quick introduction to the plot and all. It's probably gonna be a little dry here, but I promise - i really do - that the subsequent ones will be great. but I'll probably take a really long time because life is so full of stuff. Either way, please enjoy!
"Snorkeling?" Seishuu repeated after the school headmaster. "It's allowed here?"
"Yep!" The school headmaster, Kazuyuki, replied with a smile. "We don't do it ver' often, but since the weather's been pretty nice lately, why not?"
Seishuu's eyes glowed and he nearly forgot he was holding onto the fishing rod and almost dropped it into the river.
"For real?!" Seishuu's eyes glowed even brighter under the hot sun.
"Fer real!"
"Then can I bring Naru and the others?" Seishuu asked, his enormous smile and glittery eyes still plastered onto his face.
"Sure, go 'head. But take Hiroshi along too, ta help ya take care of 'em kids," Kazuyuki advised as he kept his eyes on his rod.
"Of course!" Seishuu almost got up on his feet.
He had never in his life tried snorkeling, so when the topic came up all of a sudden in Kazuyuki's and his conversation, he felt like a won a lottery or something. Okay, fine, maybe that's too extreme, but still, he was extremely excited and eager to try it out. I mean, who wouldn't seize the opportunity to duck your head underwater and look at fishes up close? Come on.
After he caught some crayfish with the headmaster, he headed right on home to wait for Hiroshi to come deliver his lunch, and at the same time maybe help him cook his crayfish as well.
Before he could even get ready and put the crayfish down though, there was a knock on the door. Seishuu smiled to himself. He didn't need to open the door to know who it was. Hiroshi always knocked like that.
He glided to the door and slided it open.
Hiroshi greeted with his usual smile with a champon in one hand and another in his pocket.
"G'afternoon, sensei," Hiroshi said. Seishuu's heart skipped half a beat. It had always been like this. The usual. However for some reason, it felt different.
"Good afternoon..." Seishuu greeted. "Wait... Why are you coming through the front door?"
Hiroshi usually came from the back door. And Seishuu remembered that they even made a mutual verbal agreement on that.
It took Seishuu half a minute to figure it out, and he sighed when it all hit him. Before he could say anything, Naru, Miwa and Tamako popped out from behind Hiroshi. Heck, even Hina was there.
"Yo, sensei!"
"Good afternoon!"
"How ya doin'?"
"Good afternoon," it ended with Hina's greeting.
Seishuu groaned and said, "Why are you guys here?"
"Hey, that's not the way you should welcome people!" Miwa protested.
"I didn't even welcome you!"
"There, there, let's just go in," Hiroshi, being the 'mature' one, let himself in first, and naturally, the rest of the children followed and Seishuu just let them in anyway.
As Naru and Hina ran around the house playfully, and Miwa and Tamako played and gossiped among themselves, Hiroshi and Seishuu sat down at Seishuu's writing table.
"Sen—"
"Hiro!" Seishuu smacked the table with both hands with a thud, interrupting the blond. "I have something to tell you!"
Hiroshi was left stumped. So... So sudden...
"... What is it?"
"Er, erm, I heard from the school headmaster that it's possible to go snorkeling, so..." His voice trailed away and his fingers started to fidget.
Now, let me get this straight. It's not like Seishuu particularly wanted Hiroshi to go with him. I mean, if Hiroshi didn't want to go, then he couldn't bring Naru and the others along right? Yeah.
"You wanna go?" Seishuu popped the question.
"Snorkeling? Sure, why not? But are ya really okay with that? What about your calligraphy? Ya haven't been writin' for some time," Hiroshi surprisingly agreed to it pretty readily and casually.
"That's precisely the point!" Seishuu replied.
"Eh?! What?" Hiroshi, still pretty much taken aback, was feeling a little confused now.
"I mean, the reason why I haven't been writing for some time is because the inspiration haven't hit me yet. My hands aren't trembling... And I can't seem to put anything down on paper..." Seishuu's voice entered a decrescendo and eventually disappeared.
"So... Snorkeling will help?" Hiroshi simply summarized what Seishuu was trying to say for the past couple of minutes.
"Yes!" Seishuu glowed, before adding. "And I was thinking of bringing Naru and the others along. Besides, I didn't manage to go to the beach with them the other time, so I wanna make up for it."
Hiroshi, despite his unchanging expression, could feel his heart literally melt into a warm, pulsing mess inside his chest. When he didn't say anything — did not manage to, Seishuu quickly continued.
"Ah! I-I know it'll be a little too dangerous for them, but I think if we're around, it should be fine. There's also Miwa and Tama."
Hiroshi let out a little exhale and smiled a little, replying, "Yeah, 's true. So I guess everything's all set?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's go now."
Seishuu fell silent, and all of a sudden, the children's cries and voices became louder than they should be.
"Now?" He repeated slowly.
"Yep."
"Eh?! Bu-But isn't it too sudden?!" Seishuu grew flustered too quickly, causing his head to spin slightly. "And what if they already made plans for—"
Hiroshi didn't wait for Seishuu to finish pouring out all his questions before he turned to the others in the room and said loudly, catching their attention, "Heey! Sensei said he wanna bring ya guys on a snorkelin' trip!"
Naru, of course, was the first one to react, "Snorkeling?!" She scurried like a little hamster to Seishuu's side. "Are ya serious, sensei?!"
"Uwah!" Seishuu's mind hadn't registered what was happening and he snapped back to reality where Naru's face was plastered close to his and he got shocked. "Well, uh, yeah!"
"Why so sudden, sensei?" Miwa piped up.
"B-Because, that day I had a fever right? And I couldn't go to the beach with you guys, so I just thought..." Seishuu scratched the back of his head. "I just thought I should at least make up for it."
Seishuu was at least a hundred percent sure he felt the room become much warmer than usual, as big smiles and slightly rose-colored cheeks suddenly pounced towards him.
"Aawww, senseeei! You're so sweet!" Miwa patted his back several times with the biggest smile on her face.
"Th-Thank you!" Hina, on the other hand, tugged at his sleeve with tears glistening in her eyes as she said her thanks.
"Senseeei! I, Naru, will never forget this!" Naru said in an exaggerated manner as she hugged Seishuu's torso real hard and buried her face in his usual white t-shirt.
"Waaah, I've never snorkeled before! Thanks so much, sensei!" Tama pulled at his arm, her glasses brimming with gratitude.
"E-Eh?! What's with you guys suddenly?! And don't talk all at once, geez! Wai- Hey! Don't hit me! Naru, you too!" Seishuu was overwhelmed by the power of the girls coming at full force at one go, and he had no idea what to do to make them stop. He was at a loss for what to do and he flailed his arms in an attempt to push them away and put a halt to all the chaos. "Ah! Stop pulling me in all directions!"
Hiroshi chuckled to himself as he watched Seishuu struggle with the children. He had this urge to go ahead and pull at Seishuu too, but he decided against it.
Hiroshi inhaled a little and cleared his throat, spoiling the heartwarming atmosphere, and said, "Well, what's snorkeling without snorkeling gear?"
Immediately after the heartwarming atmosphere was gone, it was quickly replaced with an excited one as Naru leaped what seemed like five feet into the air, with a fist in the air.
"Oh, does everyone here have snorkeling gear?" Seishuu asked, also quickly back to business mode. All of them had one, except Hina, but Naru said she had an extra, so Hina was safe and ready to go. Once they get their snorkeling gear from their homes, of course.
"What about you, sensei?" Tamako asked in turn.
"... Ah," Seishuu came to a — pretty much shocking actually — realization after pausing for a moment. "I don't have one!"
Everyone sighed. They knew it. They knew it was coming at some point in time.
"H-Hiro! What do I do? Do they sell snorkeling gear on this island?!" Seishuu dropped to panic mode a little too fast, unfortunately.
"Relax, sensei!" Hiroshi calmed him down and scratched the back of his head, sighing. "I've an extra one, and it's 'round ya size, so it's gonna be alright."
With that, Seishuu sighed with relief, and leaned back on his hands. "Whew!" Then he sat back upright again. "So are we going to leave for the beach now?"
"Yep!" Hiroshi replied. "But it'll be a different beach this time."
"Eh? A different one?" Seishuu asked.
"Yeah!" Naru replied in place of Hiroshi. "There's one more on the outskirts of the island! I think my grandpa said you've 'een it 'fore!"
Seishuu fell silent and then lit up again. "Ah! You mean that one I saw when I first came to the island?"
"Dunno!" Naru simply shrugged. "Gramps didn't say!"
"I 'eard there's more fishes ta see there!" Miwa piped up.
"Really? Then that's great!" Tama grinned.
"Then let's go now!" Naru jumped up and clung onto Seishuu, urging him on.
Seishuu could not help but grin from ear to ear as the girls started to chatter among themselves excitedly and one by one, they began to leave through the door and run to their homes to get their snorkeling gear, getting ready for the impromptu trip to the sea.
Hiroshi and Seishuu were quickly left behind and just as Seishuu finally got his butt off the floor, Naru popped back in and informed, "Sensei! I'll go call Kenta and the others too!"
Before Seishuu could even react, she zoomed off like a bullet train. He sighed. Guess there's no helping it. Besides, the more, the merrier.
Hiroshi placed a hand gently on the small of Seishuu's back, pecked him on the cheek and said, "Come on," Hiroshi flashed his best smile. "Let's go."
Seishuu returned his smile with a light tinge of red coloring his cheeks and ruffled Hiroshi's blond hair casually. "Yeah."