Happy

A familiar jingle came from the loudspeakers all over the store, being immediately followed by a pre-recorded message announcing the day's special sales. Since he had begun his shift that day, it was already the sixth or third time Daisuke heard about the sale on ice cream. He couldn't help but mumble it to himself, mimicking the almost robotic tone to near perfection. He rubbed his hands against the fabric of his work apron, then crouching down to pick up a heavy cardboard box containing several cans of soup that he was supposed to lay out in a display, placing them in a pyramid next to the sign that announced a sale on them.

It had been only few weeks since Daisuke had taken the part-time job at LuckyLand, yet he was already beginning to grow tired of it. Mostly, he was in charge of restocking the shelves and placing products on displays, like he was doing then, but he had once taken the role of cashier... for all of an hour, until his supervisor had decided he wasn't fit for it in any capacity. Even if he hadn't been told why that was, Yukino had later informed him, struggling to contain her laughter, that he had been rejected because two separate old ladies had called him "intimidating" and "scary-looking".

He reached the intended place, laying the box on the edge of the table and then starting to pull the cans from inside it, carefully placing them into the pyramid shape. As he did, he couldn't help but snicker at the thought of how absurd it was that he was making small pyramids out of canned goods, when months prior, he had entered a version of that building that had itself been transformed into a pyramid. Were it not for the fear of him and his friends dying, he'd much rather be battling Shadows in that pyramid, rather than stacking cans like he was now.

"Aw, shit!"

He cursed louder than he would've liked, garnering some looks from customers passing by. He had accidentally knocked one of the cans, making it fall straight on top of his foot. For something that didn't seem all that heavy, it sure made his foot throb with pain. He looked to his side, still jumping on one foot, seeing the can roll along the recently cleaned floor until it was stopped by a foot. As his eyes drifted upwards, he found Yukino's face, as she smirked at him, loving the absurd spectacle he was putting up.

"You really are a walking disaster," she joked, kneeling down to pick up the deadly can of soup, "Catch."

He did so, catching the can in the air as she threw it, trying to wipe way the image of his clumsiness by passing the can behind his back with unnecessary flair, before placing it back down on the pyramid. Even as he did, he couldn't help but wonder why he had made himself look like an even bigger tool.

"Was that supposed to look cool?" Yukino giggled, putting her hand in front of her mouth.

"I'm not even sure, myself," he made an awkward smile, turning back to the pyramid, placing the last few cans in place, "Are you still on your shift?"

"It just ended," she said, pulling the sleeve of her striped shirt to look at her watch, "Shouldn't you be out by now too?"

"Yeah," he nodded, picking up the empty box, "I'll just go throw this out and I'll meet you outside."

Yukino agreed as they parted ways, Daisuke going out to the back of the store, leaving by a staff only door into a backstreet, where he folded the box, before throwing it over inside one of the large rubbish bins. Cleaning his hands, he moved back into the store, making his way across the packed isles, and into the staff room, as he took out his store sanctioned cream and blue apron, leaving it in his locker.

"Ichijou-kun."

Daisuke recognised the voice, turning around, closing his locker. A man in a sports blazer had just entered the staff area. He was a bit shorter than Daisuke, and more heavily built, with short and straight black hair and oval glasses. It wasn't immediately recognizable, but upon a longer look, one would start to see similarities, and come to the conclusion that man was Yukino's father, Taro Yamaguchi.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, my shift's just over," the youth said, "Do you want something, sir?"

"No, no. It's nothing," Yamaguchi-san said with a dismissive gesture, not saying anything while Daisuke prepared to leave, before finally talking again, "Although… Yukino told me that she will go with you to Nanjo tomorrow?"

"Oh, huh, yeah," Daisuke mumbled, "We and the rest of our friends wanted to go to the beach there."

"Hum… I see," the man nodded, more to himself than to him, "Just so you know, I think that you are a good lad, and I'm glad my daughter found good friends this year."

"Huh, thank you, sir."

"That being said," he furrowed his brow, "I hope that you two keep your clothes on during this trip."

Daisuke didn't even know how to react to that. He felt his face become redder with embarrassment, and his mouth open a bit from shock, but overall, his head was a mess, as a multitude of ideas passed by his head, some of them, that Yamaguchi-san had implanted there, clearly against his agenda. Does he...? Does he think we're dating? Does he think we're not only dating, but already THAT FAR into it?

"You got what I meant, didn't you?" Yamaguchi-san was serious in his tone, but seemingly also completely aware of how awkward the situation was, "If you want my blessing, I expect you two to behave. My girl deserves respect."

"Hey, why are you taking so lo—Oh, dad."

Yukino had walked in from the other door, clearly exasperated from waiting for Daisuke, but then surprised in finding her father there. She looked from one to the other, trying to decipher the tone of their talk from the awkward look on the faces' of them both. It seemed like she was unsure if she should even bother asking or not, but finally she bit the bullet:

"What's going on…?"

"Oh, nothing, Yuuki-chan," her father laughed, a laugh so force it could put even the worst clown to shame, "I was checking something with Ichijou-kun."

Yukino looked to Daisuke who nodded immediately, trying his best to assume a more normal expression with mixed results, judging by the look the girl gave him. Still, after a quick talk with her father, telling him she would be back later, Yukino left with her friend. As Daisuke looked behind his back, Yamaguchi-san left him with another stern look. Another clear warning that he wouldn't tolerate tomfoolery between them. Daisuke sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, continuing along.

"So… Where do you wanna go?" Yukino asked, as the both of them left the store's doors.

"I have no idea," he shrugged, avoiding looking at her, "Do you know if Tatsuya or Riko are busy?"

"Not sure, they probably are also on their part-times," she leaned her head to the side, "Either that, or getting ready for the trip… Oh!" She stopped, remembering something as she looked at him, "Did you invite Shiro-san?"

"I didn't even think about it," he admitted, "Tatsuya was the one organizing the whole thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if he 'forgot' to invite him. Then again, maybe he's too busy."

"Oh…" Yukino looked down. As she looked back up, she had a fun smile on her face, "This is supposed to be our summer vacation, where we can just relax and have fun. And we got ourselves into work. It's kinda funny, really... Well, at least, the killer hasn't done anything since Maki-chan's kidnapping."

He hadn't, that was true. Ever since Shiro had shown Daisuke and the others the file on Kyohei Akaashi, he had been on the lookout for him. While they still had been in classes, he had even ventured into the third floor of Budoga a few times just to try and catch a glimpse of their prime suspect. Rarely had he found him, but when he did, Akaashi was almost always by himself, only sometimes was he accompanied by someone else. More often than not, his company was Satsuki Toriumi, the student council president. He couldn't tell if they were friends, or if Toriumi checked on him as part of her duties, but as far as he knew, she was the only student who didn't steer away from him. Oddly enough, Daisuke had been running into the student president quite a few times as of late, not only during school either, he had twice found her amidst LuckyLand's isles, seemingly browsing, but never actually looking invested in her shopping. As he thought more about it, he recalled Shiro's warning that Asuka could try and get someone to keep tabs on him. Could Toriumi be acting as a spy, or was he just being an egomaniac?

"Daicchi."

Daisuke was startled as Yukino snapped her fingers in front of his face. Apparently, he had become so enthralled in his thoughts that he had stopped well before his friend, who was now looking at him in a mixture of curiosity and worry:

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something," he answered dismissively, "I think I'll send Shiro a text, asking him if he wants to come tomorrow."

"You know Tatsu won't be too happy to have him come along," Yukino said, "But I guess that him not being there would be unfair. He is part of the team, now."

And I need to ask him about Toriumi and Akaashi, Daisuke completed mentally, as he took his phone from his pocket, quickly typing away a question. It only took for him to take a few more steps before his phone buzzed with an answer: "Sounds fun. I'll try and join you."

"I'm surprised he's so eager about it," Yukino opined, as Daisuke showed her the text, "Last time that we all hung out, he almost died from food poisoning."

"Maybe the trauma blocked it from his memory," he shrugged, "I didn't even eat the curry and I instantly feel a chill in my spin when I see Keiko Nakamura."

"Well, at least you didn't actually have to sleep in the same tent as her," she sighed, "Before dinner she kept talking about how Shiro-san was so dreamy. She also talked about you and Tatsuya. Don't tell him that, though, he would not shut up about it."

"Really? What did she say?"

"I don't remember, maybe I also blocked it," she looked away for a moment, before adding in a lower tone of voice, "She probably just wanted to annoy me and Riko. But, at least, she seemed to get a bit more self-aware after that disaster, she didn't speak nearly as much during the night."

Daisuke nodded distractedly, looking around them before something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, he saw a glimpse of someone that seemed to be watching them from near one of the shops. Before Daisuke could get a good look at the person, however, they had disappeared into a side street, walking away briskly.

"Did you see that?" He asked, looking at Yukino quickly and then back to the previous, now empty, spot.

"See what?" She turned to follow where he pointed.

"Someone was spying on us," he took a spring in his step, speeding up his march towards the place, looking around the corner, but finding nobody there. The streets forked into various other side streets, and it was anyone's guess as to wherever the person had gone to, if there even was a person at all and Daisuke didn't imagine them. He followed along into the fork, looking to each of the streets, but there was no sign of anybody. Whomever it was, if someone was there, had disappeared.

"Damn it," he cursed, striking the wall with his hand in frustration.

"Are you sure you saw someone?" Yukino asked concerned, catching up to him.

"No, but… Damn it!" He tried to recall what he had seen. It was only from the corner of his eye, so being certain was nearly impossible, yet still, he had a hunch, a hunch that was burning up inside him so much that he couldn't ignore it, "I think it was Akaashi."

"Akaashi?" Yukino looked at him, her grey eyes flickering, "But if it's him…"

"That means he's onto us."

"Here we are: Nanjo!"

Tatsuya opened his arms as he left the train, prompting a few looks of curiosity and amusement from the other passengers. As Daisuke stepped off the train, adjusting his bag to his shoulder, he could see that the station was actually smaller than Morioh's, but the building was much more open, allowing the light and the pleasant summer breeze to greet the new visitors. Still, he was forced to use his free hand to shield his eyes from the sun's intense rays.

Tatsuya took the lead, as he began to exist the station, Riko and Yukino following right behind him, with Maki and Ryoji after them, closing the line, Daisuke walked next to Shiro, while Garm's head poked from out of his bag.

"Wow… There's so many people here," the canine commented, putting his paws over the side of the bag to look around, "Thanks for bringing me!"

"No problem," Daisuke smiled at his companion, then taking a look around, "Just, hum… Be careful to not do, you know, 'non-dog things'."

Garm agreed happily, as he continued to scout around, enthralled by the town. Nanjo was about a third of the way between Moriohcho and S-City, being a popular place for vacations for many of the City's inhabitants, and apparently, from Moriohnites as well. Most houses weren't inhabited outside the summer, serving only as vacation retreats, that, combined with the local shops and the hotels gave the town a very touristic feel, very different from Morioh's rustic, stopped in time look. At the edge of the town, the sea seemed to go on forever, gentle waves slowly rolling into the light sand, where a large number of parasols and towels were laid out, as tourists and locals alike enjoyed the delights of the beach.

"Wow…" Maki looked on towards the sea in awe, getting on her tippy toes, "It's so pretty."

"I've seen pictures of the "Nanjo Sunset" before, but I'm looking forward to seeing it in person," Ryoji added, his arms stretched forward, using his fingers to make a 'frame', "Paint it too."

As they got closer to the beach, the changing tents came into view, being separated into two camps, with the men's tents being closer to where they were, while the women ones were further away, next to another entrance.

"We'll be going then," Riko said, using her thumb to point behind her to the tents, "Let's meet up by that watermelon stand."

Agreeing to it, the group split up, Maki and Yukino following Riko towards the women's tents, with the boys walking inside the men's. Daisuke found the actual private changing area to be cramped, barely allowing any lateral movement, it was, however tall, allowing him to stand up straight and not have to bend down to not hit his head. In a few moments, his street clothes were stored in the bag and he was now only wearing black trunks that came to just about his knees and had navy trim. As he took a glance at his reflection in the small, slightly dirty mirror, he noticed that his adventures in the Shadow World and kendo practice had helped him get a better physique, but at the cost of a few bruises and scars, one of them, on his left side, was quite long even if it was thin. Yukino's stand had done wonders to heal his wounds, but they still had left markings on him. They were a gruesome reminder that he wasn't invincible.

"Mate, are you taking the piss, right now?" Tatsuya asked as soon as they met, exiting the tents, "Can you wear anything other than black? Are you allergic to colours?"

Tatsuya and Ryoji stood next to each other, the blonde boy wore trunks that were yellow at his waist and gradually became white until ending at his mid thighs. Like Daisuke, Tatsuya also had a few bruises and scratches on him, and while still having the physique of an habitual athlete, he was a bit skinnier than his friend. Ryoji by his side, wore a baggy white t-shirt, instead of having a bare chest like the two others, seemingly to protect himself and his easily burnt pale skin. His trunks were of a lime green colour, with a white polka dot pattern.

"What's wrong with me wearing black?" Daisuke asked, "You always wear yellow."

"Not always," he shook his head, "Besides, yellow doesn't make me look like an edgelord."

"I don't look like an edgelord."

"You kind of do, senpai," Ryoji opined, half-flinching when Daisuke turned to face him, "Perhaps a bit of colour could help."

"Don't listen to them."

Shiro exited the changing tents then, walking up to them. His trunks were shorter, like Ryoji's, of an off-white colour, with a single beige stripe on the sides. His build was much closer to the other two second years, rather than Ryoji. As he neared them, he took a hair band from his wrist, catching some of his hair in a messy bun.

"That's your unique style," he said in a snarky tone, "From what I understood, some of my admirers turned to his because they liked his dark and broody look."

"Shut up, that's not true," Tatsuya said, exasperated, "Who would have a crush on this guy?"

"More people than on you, it seems." Garm said, jumping from Daisuke's bag, out onto the street.

Tatsuya opened his mouth to reply, finger in the air, but from as the others all began to laugh, he seemingly saw it as a lost cause and said no reply, instead grumbling that they should get going to the meeting place. They ended up agreeing with the disgruntled Tatsuya, following him. Daisuke kept looking around, as his curiosity was peaked. It had been at least a few years since he and his parents had last visited Nanjo, but everything seemed to be generally the same, if one did not count the larger influx of people, of course. He wondered if the town had become so popular of a tourism spot, that people from around the country were now coming there.

"How do you walk in this place?" Garm asked, frustrated as his paws kept sinking into the sand as he struggled to keep pace with the others, "It's so agonizing."

"Want me to pick you up?" Daisuke suggested.

"No!" Garm shook his head energetically, "I won't let this 'beach' defeat me."

Daisuke shrugged, continuing behind Tatsuya until they finally came to a stop. They were sensibly halfway between the two groups of changing tents, next to them was a cart where a middle-aged man with a moustache peddled his fresh watermelons, still untouched or already in slices, and a variety of other fruits. As they arrived, there was no sign of the girls.

"Typical," Tatsuya said, "Always late."

"You're always late for everything," Daisuke rebutted, "Not like you have much of a moral high ground."

"Yeah, yeah..." the blond grumbled, arms crossed. He turned his head back onto the beach, his gaze wondering around, longingly in some cases, "You know, we don't need 'em. There's plenty of hot girls around here, anyway."

"So that was your plan all along, senpai…" Ryoji sighed, looking down.

"What?" Tatsuya looked at him, "I meant it when I said this would be a cool thing for us to do."

"And watching the girls in swimsuits wasn't a factor?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Well... yeah, it was," Tatsuya admitted, before raising his head again, "So what? It's still a fun trip for all of us."

"For all of us or for you, Tatsuya Mikado?"

Tatsuya froze in place, recognizing the voice behind him, seeing the look on his friends' faces before he turned away to see that the girls had not only just arrived, they had heard his admission of guilt. It had been Riko who talked, standing in front of the other girls, her face red in a mixture of embarrassment and rage. She wore a two-piece swimsuit, with the top being striped in white and orange, while the bottoms were akin to shorts and were of a solid orange. Oddly enough, being in the middle, she was exactly the middle ground between the two others, in terms of heigh, but also build. To her right, Maki seemed to be dying of embarrassment, her face completely red, the short girl trying to cover her face with a straw hat she wore. Her swimsuit was light pink, with white dots that became bigger as they went down, ending in frills. Due to her normally baggy street clothes, it was hard to notice, but she was much more curvaceous than would expect. Ryoji, noticeably, had his gaze fixed on her. Yukino was the last one to arrive, stepping up to Riko's left, she had tied her hair in a loose braid over her shoulder, and she immediately drew Daisuke's eyes: like Riko's her swimsuit was a two piece, the top was dark-blue with a white trim, while the bottoms were a frilly white skirt. Tried as he might, Daisuke couldn't help but let his gaze wander as he stared at her. Even if her chest was less imposing than the others', her figure, with her slim waist, wide hips and long legs could not shake his eyes. As she noticed him staring, she made an annoyed "hmpf!", her cheeks reddening, forcing him to look away at the sand. Well there goes my moral high ground...

"I knew it was a scheme to begin with," Riko said, crossing her arms, half to demonstrate her annoyance, half to cover her chest from potential perverted gazes, "But good to know that you admitted it."

"I was kidding!" Tatsuya said, a lie so obvious it was almost funny. He looked nervously to the others, but none of them dared to say a word, as afraid of repercussions as he was. He chuckled nervously, "You look great, by the way."

"Ugh, grow up!" Riko scoffed, even if the sudden compliment had startled her a bit. She turned around towards the other two, "Come on, let's go for a walk, away from these jerks."

"We didn't do anything!" Ryoji lamented.

"You went along with his plan," Yukino responded, looking over her shoulder, "Come with us, Garm-chan. Let's go have fun without them."

"Don't you dare betray us," Tatsuya looked down at him with brow furrowed.

Garm looked to Tatsuya first, then to Daisuke and then Tatsuya again, before grinning and barking happily is a followed along after the girls, as they went near the water, walking away, leaving the four boys behind, watching them as they went. Shiro let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"That literal son of a bitch, how dare he," Tatsuya mouthed, angrily, before turning to the others, "Ok, guys, change of plans."

"Your scheme got them angry with us, you nob," Daisuke replied, folding his arms, "Do you want to rub salt in the wound too?"

"I want to actually do anything that's not staring at your ugly mugs," he replied, "So here's the plan: We go on a babe hunt."

"A what?" Ryoji looked like he could die from second and first hand embarrassment.

"Does your perversion know no bounds?" Shiro asked.

"Don't be party poopers," he complained, "Come on, let's try and find some girls to hang out with us. When Riko and the others see us they'll be so jealous…"

Even with none of them actually having a chance to agree or disagree, Tatsuya had already slithered amidst the towels and the parasols, on the prowl. As the others traded disgruntled looks amongst them, they decided to follow him, more on a wave of damage control, than actual wish to partake in his strange diversion, that would surely make their female friends more annoyed.

"Hey… Look, there we go." Tatsuya announced, pointing out two girls by the sea. Even if neither of them were really his type, even if he wasn't too sure what his type even was, Daisuke found both of them attractive, "Ok, guys, watch and learn."

Tatsuya strode forward with absolute confidence. The girls didn't seem to notice him at first, until he spoke, making them turn to him with raised eyebrows. By Daisuke's side, Ryoji covered his eyes awaiting disaster. They had stayed a few meters away, making hearing the conversation a bit hard, but from the expressions on the girls faces, Tatsuya's wooing operation seemed to be going as well as expected. Finally, Tatsuya watched on as the girls left, almost mirroring what their friends had done just before.

"No luck, eh?" Daisuke asked as they caught up to him.

"Called me a kid," he replied, looking down, "You can say no and not hurt my pride, damn it."

"Ready to call it quits and apologize to the girls?" Daisuke's words, more than a question where a plea.

"Do you think I'd give up at the first hurdle?" Tatsuya smirked, "Now, come on, you guys help out too. Think of this as making friends. Hot friends, but friends."

Tatsuya was on the move again before they could protest. What followed was a time where they systemically went around the beach, trying to talk to girls around their age, trying to get them to hang out with them, all the while trying their hardest to not look like the loser creeps that they probably were, by that point. After a second failed attempt by Tatsuya, Ryoji had been sent forth, his 'teacher' banking on his friendly disposition and artist talk to score points. However, Ryoji froze completely as soon as he approached the girl he was meant to talk to, mumbling so much that she thought he was having some sort of mental breakdown, until he eventually set off running away. Daisuke was tasked with the next try, going along with it purely so Tatsuya wouldn't complain again. As he neared the girls that Tatsuya pointed out, they instantly backed off, assuming he was trying to mug them. Even as he tried to talk, they still kept their distance, and he eventually gave up, returning to the group, with his self-esteemed closer to the gutter yet again.

"Well at least it's not just me," Tatsuya said, hands on his hips, head shaking, "Fine… We are losers. I give up."

"Shiro-san?"

Shiro seemed to freeze in place as all the others looked behind him, towards a familiar voice. Keiko Nakamura was waving at them with a large smile on her face. Unlike her usual pigtails, she had her strawberry blonde hair down, falling on her bare shoulders. She wore a grey bikini swimsuit that emphasized her great shape, while also not having her body covered in small bruises and scars like their friends. Even if he didn't like the girl as a person, Daisuke could not deny how attractive she was.

"Nakamura-san," Shiro finally said, with a smile that was as fake as they come.

"Hey, hum…" she looked to the side, towards the sea, momentarily, before looking back at him. Her expression was one that they had never seen on her before, "I just wanted to apologize, for the camping trip. I was a real pain to you. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Shiro looked legitimately surprised, and he wasn't the only one. From what they knew of the girl, she did not seem like the type to ever apologize, "It's ok, don't worry about it."

"Still, I'm sorry," she smiled. She looked quickly at Shiro's companions, making a curious face, "Are you on a boys-only trip? Shouldn't Yamaguchi and Kida be with you?"

"We are."

Almost as if on cue, the girls walked closer to them, approaching from the edge of the sea. Riko and Yukino walked side by side, while Maki was just after them, holding Garm in her arms, the dog seemed to have enjoyed his time with the girls tremendously. They seemed to have calmed down and were prepared to talk to them again, but as they noticed with whom they were talking to, Riko's face seemed to grow cranky or, more appropriately, tired again.

"You're back!" Tatsuya said in what was a mixture of a cheer and an announcement of regret.

"Do you want something, Nakamura?" Riko asked, not hiding some distaste on her voice.

"No, not really. I just happened your friends, and knew I had to apologize to Shiro-san for the camping trip," she looked away. She still didn't seem to fond of Riko and the other girls, but seemed like the bad experience on the mountains had in fact taken its toll on her, and calmed some of her worse traits, "Look, I don't want to be a bother. It's just that since I'm here with my parents, I rarely get to hang out with people my age... I'll leave if you want."

"No, it's ok," Yukino was the one to answer, not Riko. The girl with auburn hair looked at her from the side, but ended up sighing, letting Yukino continue: "You're welcome to stay with us, Keiko-san. Besides, this makes us an even number."

"What does our number have to do with anything…?" Tatsuya asked, perking up, nearly forgetting himself.

"We found an open net by the entrance," Maki said, still holding tight onto Garm, "Riko-senpai said that we could play together."

"Are you serious?" Tatsuya's eyes lit up, "Let's go then!"

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Riko countered, raising her hand.

"Huh…?" He looked confused for a second, as the eyes of all the others focused on him. As he understood, he sighed, putting his hand to his face, "Fine… I'm an ass. I'm sorry."

Riko looked at him with a critical eye and an eyebrow raised, waiting until Tatsuya did a rigid bow, and even then, she only conceded after Maki and Yukino told her it was fine. Still, as they walked together away, Riko still mumbled a "Stupid Tatsuya" under her breath. As they began to walk together again, Daisuke found Yukino by his side, she kept taking sideways glances at him, waiting him to say something, until he finally apologized. She granted him a smile that dispelled any hard feelings, and they continued on. The promised net was found by an ice cream stand. The court around it was only big enough for two versus two play, and was built with dark blue tape, with weights on the corners. As the others set their beach towels by the side of the court, Tatsuya hurriedly took the volleyball he had brought with him from his bag.

"Alright then!" Tatsuya made the yellow and blue ball spin around with his fingers, stepping into the court, "This net is made for two v twos, so which of the lovely ladies wants to be my partner?" He stopped the ball from spinning with dexterity, tossing it up in the air, grabbing it as it came down, "And yes, we are four gents to four damsels, so it's only natural we have mixed te—."

"Fine, just shut up," Riko said, getting up from laying her towel and walking by him. She punched him lightly on the shoulder, "I have my eyes on you, Bakatsuya."

"Yes, ma'am," he said immediately, saluting rigidly. He grinned as he noticed Riko make a half-smile behind him, and then look at the others: "Well, ok, then. Than the settles that: Tatsuya and Riko, we're Team Awesome. So… Ryo and Maki, you two are Team Kids."

"We're only a year younger than you, senpai…" Maki said, still petting Garm.

"You're kids to me," he snickered, turning away, "So that leaves us with Team Crazy and Team Outsiders."

"Team Crazy?" Daisuke and Yukino asked in unison. They looked at each other quickly, taken aback by the unintentional synchronicity. Yukino, continued: "Why are we 'Team Crazy', exactly?"

"I appreciate that you two immediately knew who I meant, even without pointing at you," the blond said, throwing the ball at Daisuke, "Send me a killer serve, crow."

He caught the ball, spinning it in his hands and then trading a glance with Yukino once again, they went along, stepping inside the tape that marked the dimensions of the court. Daisuke however, went further back, exiting the court again at the far end, to prepare his serve. As he did, he noticed the ones on the outside cheering them on, as they awaited their turn to play. As he looked forward, he saw Riko and Tatsuya awaiting for the serve, both of them with their game faces on, they would play to win. Yukino looked back at him and nodded, she didn't want to lose either. He smirked, tossing the ball in the air and jumping for the serve.

He didn't quite know for how long they played, but Daisuke felt like time was running at twice or thrice the regular speed. Even if him and Yukino had ended up losing their first match, unable to contain Tatsuya's obvious talent and experience at the game, he had had a blast while playing, and even outside the court, as he sat and watched the others play. Ryoji and Maki's height of height and coordination made them the obvious worse team, yet both of them still laughed away and sometimes even did surprisingly well, as when they nearly beat Shiro and Keiko, who had actually formed an interesting partnership, despite the girl's old chattiness returning. For the first time in a long time, the killer was far away from his mind, as was school, the Shadows, and anything else. As they later dived into the cold, but refreshing sea and got to play inside, like they were just children again, he realized that was the most fun he could remember having. Not fighting, unlike what he used to believe, but hanging around with his friends.

With his messy hair and his shorts soaked, he sat back down on is towel, arms around his knees as he looked forward out into the sea, as the sky began to turn orange and the sun began to set. He noticed Ryoji hastily setting up to paint the famous Nanjo sunset, as Maki and Garm helped him, by bringing him the stuff he needed. Shiro sat a few meters ahead of him, a book on his lap, as Keiko, sitting by his side, tried to get him to talk about it. Tatsuya distractedly rolled the ball with his foot, while he and Riko by his side had what seemed to be an impossible to follow, but amicable argument, almost mocking their earlier spat, rather than repeat it.

"You're smiling a lot."

Daisuke looked to his side to Yukino who was just sitting down, after putting on a sky-blue hoodie, leaving it unzipped.

"You normally are a lot more broody," she said, tugging at threads of her hood.

"Heard it's part of my charm," he mocked, smirking.

"Kind of," she chuckled, before adding, in a tone that was barely more than a whisper, "But I really like to see you smile."

For a while, they didn't speak again. As all of them just looked forward, towards the setting sun, as the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing against the sand droned on. As Yukino slowly leaned against his arm, head on his shoulder, he couldn't help but think that, whatever the killer could do tomorrow, or the day after, at least nothing could take away those memories. They were his to keep. And he was happy.