He was a long way from Russia. Very long. Mikhail took a deep breath. He was far from urban Japan as well. And those were the only two places he had ever been. But thanks to Shoko (and perhaps Haruto) he was now at the beach. They had just finished up a particularly rigorous bout of exams and everyone agreed they needed some downtime.

And that meant spending three days at Shoko's family villa that overlooked the beach. Being the prime minister's daughter had quite a few perks. Mikhail hadn't thought much about him having never gone to the beach. He did research prior to the trip to make sure he packed appropriately and that had been the end of it.

But being here now... The salt in the air, the crash of the waves that were so close. Mikhail's senses almost felt overwhelmed.

"Race you to the water!", Shoko shouted, speeding past him.

Mikhail refused to give chase and it seemed Haruto thought the same, for he calmly stepped beside him. He did smile at his childhood friend's excitement though. He and Haruto set up their things while Shoko splashed around with Marie. After the towels were down and the umbrella was up, Haruto shed his shirt and went out into the water.

"Cold!", he exclaimed when he stepped in.

Mikhail shook his head, getting comfortable on one of the towels and taking out a book to read. Shoko would try to beckon him to the water at times, but he simply shook his head. He wasn't interested in getting wet right now. This was his way of relaxing. At some point, Haruto came out of the ocean for a break and came to sit next to Mikhail.

He reached into the cooler and took out a drink. He took out a second and touched it to Mikhail's cheek, taking joy in the flinch of shock it caused in the other.

"Gotta stay hydrated."

"...Thanks."

Mikhail ignored the camera trained on him held by Marie. Haruto didn't ignore it, he was simply oblivious to it. But it was a lovely picture of two young men, smiling on the beach, enjoying their friendship that was on the cusp of something more.

As the sun began to set, they started packing up and making their way back to the beach house. Only Mikhail straggled behind, taking in the beauty of the sunset a little while longer. Haruto came to stand next to him, having put his shirt back on after drying a little.

Without a word, he reached out and grabbed Mikhail's hand.

Mikhail let him.