Ranting across the phone, Hinata was about to give up at any minute. The argument had been going on for two hours, and it was becoming distinguishably clear he wasn't going to win this. In spite of how long it's been, his best friend wasn't any less passionate than from the start, and if the debate was observed, it was embarrassing how much of a difference their quality of evidence had. She had listed and promptly explained all the advantages of her side, and weighed them against all the advantages of his own, and did similar with the disadvantages, while he struggled to fight for his opinion,as he merely liked the look of what he was supporting, as well as about only two games.
Console wars with Nanami Chiaki were definitely more deadlier than he ever expected.
"Oh, right, I also forgot to mention that…" blah blahblah blahblah. Hinata didn't even know what she was talking about at this point, he really didn't know too much about the systems, as for all he knew, she could have been spouting nonsense that was worded to sound legit, and he would still be falling for it. He was inches from giving up, as she still welled up new evidence while the last of Hinata's burned out an hour ago.
There really wasn't much point to this. She also owned both consoles, so naturally she could make an actual comparison. To make matters worse, a certain boyfriend of his was following him around repeating something to him non-stop, almost as passionately as Chiaki was about the gaming consoles. It was as if Hinata didn't make it obvious that he was on the phone and couldn't talk.
"Yeah, alright, you're right, Chiaki", he huffed with impatience. Good god, how he wanted to punch Komaeda, but he knew he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Fine, we should have gotten your damn game console. It was Komaeda's choice, you know."
"You have mentioned that twice already, and we have gone over that. We both know in reality he wanted the one you preferred in order to make you happier, Hinata-kun." Chiaki smiled, knowing the sigh that followed was a sigh of defeat. Hinata decided there wasn't a way to win this. Plus, Komaeda was still-
"Look, Chiaki, can we finish this later? Komaeda's being a huge pain in the ass." The frustration in his voice was coherent enough, and Chiaki giggled. "Bye, Hinata-kun." He hung up and turned to his infuriating significant other. Komaeda took a second to take in the satisfaction of seeing his boyfriend's face, not at all caring that it was chock-full of raw agitation and rage.
"Oh my GOD, KOMAEDA what the HELL do you NEED can it not WAIT-" Hinata started, but the rest of his words failed to leave his mouth, mostly due to it being blocked by Komaeda's own. The kiss was quick, but it made a decent effort of calming down Hinata. He really couldn't stay mad at him when he did this.
He now observed the situation, noticing Komaeda donning a towel, beach umbrella and some buckets and shovels. Connecting that to Komaeda's constant mention of wanting to go to the beach all morning, the conclusion wasn't hard to find.
"Right now…?" he questioned, to be sure. Komaeda nodded enthusiastically. "Unless it inconveniences you of course, Hinata-kun, in that case you can forget about the whole thing…" On that note, the joy in Komaeda's voice dropped, and his smile wavered a tad. Truth be told, it inconvenienced Hinata quite a lot, but nothing bit at him with guilt like when he accidentally takes the cheer out of Komaeda. "N- No, I'm fine, let's go." The smile returned to Komaeda's face, and spread to Hinata's as well. Both lit up like a christmas tree. In his life, the white-haired boy's grin was omnipotent.
It was almost 40°c/104°F, yet Komaeda still wanted to go. They had no sunscreen, yet Komaeda STILL wanted to go. It's okay, Hinata thought to himself unhappily, I like getting fucking sunburned. The beach, surprisingly, wasn't crowded for once, so he was out of arguments.
"I guess we're just lucky, huh, Hinata-kun?" Komaeda was purely ecstatic at this point. Being around Komaeda though, he hadn't exactly become fond of good luck.
The brutal heat made it not surprising everyone was indoors, enjoying air conditioning. Hinata was burning up, and they hadn't been there for five minutes. Then again, his pale-as-a-sheet boyfriend could likely use some sun, he reasoned.
After setting up the umbrella, he took advantage of it's shade, as pathetic as it was against the temperature. Komaeda on the other hand scouted the shoreline for shells, occasionally holding one up for Hinata to see. Hinata felt like he was trapped in an oven, and yet Komaeda continued to stake out in the relentless sunlight, even in his fucking green hoodie. It's like he didn't even feel the heat.
After awhile, he realized he had been woken up. Never realizing he fell asleep in the first place, he looked around for the reason of his sudden consciousness. The source sat next to him, poking at him gently, with fingers that even here felt chilly. "Hinata-kuuun, will you build a sandcastle with me?" Komaeda practically pleaded. Hinata sighed for the thousandth time today. The other boy sat upright, a gleam of thrill in his eyes. What was he, six? That aside, he inevitably agreed anyways. It was that or see the look of disappointment in Komaeda again, and that option he would mentally slap himself if he even considered it.
The pair ran to the edge of the beach, and scooped up as much wet sand as their buckets could hold, both elated that they got to do so with the other. Komaeda rushed back, dragging Hinata with him even regardless that his bucket wasn't full. He watched as the other boy planted his bucket upside down, and lifting it expectantly. However, the should-have-been tower crumpled and fell, as did Komaeda's expression. Hinata pushed his bucket to Komaeda in an instant, and grabbed his pale hand, using it to pat the sand within down. "See, you gotta press on it, like this…" the demonstration likely didn't require taking Komaeda' hand, but he wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to do it. Slowly brightening again, he turned the bucket over and Hinata watched the spark of delight in his eyes as a perfect shape revealed itself. After another run, three hills of sand lay arranged on the area. Komaeda prepared the final one as Hinata filled his bucket with seawater. When all four towers were built, they made the sand around them nearby wet with the water to connect them. Eventually the entire castle was assembled, and Komaeda cheered with hilarious excitement, causing Hinata to chuckle. "You are so childish sometimes…"
"Oh, you see, I didn't really have much of a childhood, especially after my parents passed away." Komaeda responded coolly, as if it didn't at all bother him. Hinata however couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness and empathy for him, which the other sensed.
"You don't have to feel sorry for me, Hinata-kun, I'd gladly trade that away for being able to have the best, most hope-filled boyfriend I could ever not deserve." He stated, still jolly as ever. Hinata grinned, glad that at the very least he could make him happy now.
The sun was beginning to set, basking stretches of broad orange across the atmosphere. The air had cooled down significantly as well. Hinata lay on the sandy towel, watching as Komaeda continued to decorate the silly sandcastle with his variety of accumulated shells. Hinata frowned at the one corner that he himself had screwed up on that was missing a quarter of it, but Komaeda claimed the flaws added charm to it.
He slowly took down the umbrella after making it clear it was time to head home, against Komaeda's protests about wanting to stay.
"Why do you want to stay so badly, anyways?"
"I don't want the sandcastle to be gone tomorrow…" He murmured, evidently gaining an attachment to the structure.
"...we can always build another, Komaeda." He spun around, and looked wide-eyed at Hinata.
"Would you really be willing to…?"
Hinata took Komaeda's hands, and weaved his fingers around his, while moving closer to him. He gave his boyfriend a slight kiss on the cheek, and locked him in an embrace, nestling his head among the messy white strands. "Of course, anything for you."
Komaeda leapt out of the hug, full of cheer. "Let's come back tomorrow, then, Hinata-kun! And then the next day, and the day after that, and…" He trailed off, leading the way.
Hinata shook his head and smiled. "You really are something else, Komaeda."