In the short time of a year, Kira and Roxas became best friends. The kind of best friends that did everything together, went everywhere together, and trusted everything with each other. And although it sometimes seemed to others that they're closeness meant more than just a friendship, it was not. They loved each other dearly, but not in the way that could result in dating or marriage or anything of the sort. They were simply best friends. Kira had made a lot of close friends in her first year of junior high, but none of them were as close as her and Roxas.
When summer came, almost nothing could stop the two from spending most of their vacation together, either at the beach or doing their favorite activity—going into town and eating sea-salt ice cream.
Kira pulled her long chocolate brown hair up in a lazy side ponytail and fell backwards on a couch in the Usual Spot. Roxas sighed heavily and plopped down on a beanbag chair, letting his head fall backwards as Kira said, "It's so hot out."
"I know," Roxas groaned. "And there's nothing, not a single thing, to do."
Kira's head shot up as she looked at her lethargic friend. "Well, there's a lot we can do…"
"Yeah, but it's to hot do do any of it," he replied dully. "Imagine a struggle match in this weather."
Kira sighed and agreed silently, looking at the clock. "And the ice cream shop doesn't open for another hour…"
"Guess we shouldn't have spent most of our munny at the beach yesterday, huh? I mean, yesterday wasn't even a particularly hot day," Roxas said quietly.
Kira nodded but smiled. "Yesterday was fun, though."
Roxas sat up. "Remember when Ven tried to ride the one wave—"
"But his boogie-board spazzed out on him—"
"And he flipped out and screamed like a little girl—"
"And plummeted into the sand—"
"And got a crab down his swim trunks?" Roxas finished, starting to laugh.
Kira joined in the laughter as they remembered countless funny incidents that happened on their trip to the beach, and pretty soon they were laughing so hard, they were clutching their stomachs and their cheeks hurt from the face-splitting grins.
They slowly began to calm down, but it was difficult to look at each other and not start laughing again. Eventually they were calm again, and sighed contently, massaging their cheeks to try and regain feeling in them.
Kira looked toward the clock and suddenly exclaimed, "The ice cream shop opens in five minutes!"
Roxas leaped up from the beanbag and said, "Let's start walking."
Kira nodded and also leapt up, lifting the curtain and walking out of it, Roxas quickly following.
They walked silently, side-by-side, to the ice cream shop. On their way, they saw a boy with bright, almost unnatural looking red hair, that was long and spiked outward in the back that looked like they could very easily poke an eye out, like a dozen red sythes coming out of his head.
Kira saw the teen and said to Roxas, "Look, it's Axel!"
Roxas looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Axel?"
Kira looked as if he had just pulled a block of swiss cheese out of his pocket and ask her, 'Mozzerella?' "Yeah, Axel. You know, he was in our homeroom all last year, sat right behind me?"
Roxas looked towards Axel and said, "Oh... Oh, yeah, I gues you're right."
Kira smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. "Come on, let's go say hi; he's my friend."
Roxas looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and said, "Who isn't your friend? You're friends with practically every single person in the school."
Laughing, Kira replied, "Nah, I think you're referring to Sora."
Which was true. Roxas's cousin was, in fact, friends with most of the school's population, apart from a few select people that had somehow gotten on Sora's very rare bad side.
"Hey Axel! Wait up!" Kira yelled toward the red head, jogging up to him; Roxas shrugged and also ran up to their classmate behind Kira.
Axel stopped and turned to see Kira. He smirked a little and said, "Hey Kira… and Roxas," he added, acknowleging the blonde boy running up behind her.
"Hey Axel!" Kira said again, cheerfully. The three continued walking, all going in the same direction. "Where are you headed?"
"Ice cream shop. I can't believe they don't open it sooner; it's too hot out, you know?"
"I know! It's just too darn hot out. We would've been out here hours ago if they didn't wait to open it at three in the afternoon."
Roxas spoke up; "It's actually a good business technique, though. I mean, waiting until the day is at it's hottest point to open up an ice cream shop, when practically everyone is dying for an ice cream?"
Kira waved an impatient hand at him. "You of all people, Rox. You practically worship the sea-salt ice cream, yet you're defending the shop that keeps you away from the stuff all day just for 'business techniques,'" she said, air quoting 'business ideas'. "You die in agony waiting for the shop to open so you can have your beloved sea-salt ice cream, but right when you're about to get it, you stop to admire how the shop kept you waiting because of what? Business techniques."
Roxas shrugged as Axel laughed in his loud, contagious laugh. "You like the sea-salt ice cream, eh?" Axel asked. He continued when Roxas nodded enthusiastically. "The one flavour I haven't tried yet. I'm assuming its good?"
Roxas smiled one of his semi-rare grins and said, "The best."
Kira smiled, looking back and fourth at her two friends, glad that they were getting along. Kira could tell that Roxas hadn't really known Axel that much, which wasn't surprising to her at all, because Roxas had always quite shy and to himself, and didn't smile as often as he should. But seeing him acting friendly with one of her other close friends made her happy.
They rounded the corner and saw the ice cream shop only 15 feet away. Kira glanced over at Roxas, who had an eager look on his face, bright blue eyes dancing with a gleam of hunger and desire. Looking over to Axel, Kira saw a anxious, but curious look in his jade green eyes. She giggled at her friend's expressions, reaching out and grabbing their hands, and pulling them into a jog towards the shop.
When they stepped into the small shop, they were instantly met with a cool breeze. The ice cream shop was always the coldest shop around town, obviously because of the abbundent stock of ice cream. Kira pulled Axel and Roxas up to the counter and, without hesitating, said, "Three sea-salt ice creams, please."
The ice cream shop manager quickly handed them three of the blue popcicles, snatching up the combined munny, and gruffly told them to get out before the rush of people came in.
When they were outside, Kira, Roxas and Axel found a shady spot to stand.
"Kira, are we going to…?" Roxas asked, letting his words drift into the hot, summer air.
Kira shook her head. "Naw, it's too hot out. By the time we get up there, the ice cream will either be eaten or melted," she said sadly.
Axel cocked an eyebrow at the two. "Where were you thinking of going?" he asked, slurping up some of the ice cream that had quickly begun to melt and slide down his hand.
"We like to go to the top of the clocktower and eat our ice cream. It has a really great view, and it's really calm and quiet," Roxas said.
"Well, let's go then!" Axel said cheerfully.
"But, our ice cream—" Kira started.
Axel interuppted her, waving a hand. "So what if our ice cream melts. It'll still be fun."
Kira glanced at Roxas, who merely shrugged. Smiling, Kira said, "Okay, sure."
Axel grinned at the two of them, and said, "To the clocktower!" He quickly began marching off in the direction the tower, leaving Kira and Roxas laughing softly and following.
By the time they had reached the top of the tower, Kira had been correct. The ice cream had begun to melt quickly, which resulted in the three friends inhaling their ice creams on the way to the clocktower. But that did not stop them. They sat down next to each other on the edge of the tower and looked out across the horizon. Roxas, looking peaceful and calm; Kira, smiling softly at the golden sun; and Axel, grinning wildly at the amazingly new sight.
Minutes passed, and the three were settled in a comfortable silence, leaving themselves to their thoughts.
"This is nice," Roxas said suddenly, talking in a dreamy voice.
Axel and Kira turned to look at him, but he continued to gaze peacefully into the lazy afternoon sky, so Axel and Kira returned to their own gazing.
"This is nice," Kira said, smiling wide. "We should do this more often."
"Definitely," Roxas and Axel said in unison. The three glanced at each other before bursting into laughter.
Kira extended her arms outward, like a bird, and wrapped them around her two friends' necks, pulling the three close together. "This, my friends, is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship."