the sound of waves (akito&sana); short
The Sound of Waves

On one of their dates, he took her to the beach (at the sound advice from the excellent Fuka).

As usual, she had gone completely overboard—the car was filled with stuff. He had only his sunglasses, his swimming trunks, and a towel. The rest—sunscreen, panchos, umbrella, beach chairs, a picnic basket, three pounds of chocolate, three swimming suits, slippers, shampoo, conditioner, soap, three gallons of water, her nori nori machine, her (SUPER BATTERY POWERED!) radio, her microphone...

What the hell did she need that microphone for? He crinkled his nose as she dumped some more sunscreen in his arms to stuff into the car. And that radio? After a moment, he thought that it was pretty sad that he didn't even question the fact that she brought the nori nori machine.

She hummed happily as she put on her sunglasses. She sang loudly as they drove. He finally told her, "Shut up. You're off tune, and it's hurting my ears." She stuck out her tongue and only sang louder. When they pulled into the parking lot, he ran out the car like there was no tomorrow.

"YOU'RE SO MEANNNNN," she whined loudly. "COME BACK. NOW."

He did—slowly. "Here," she said, and pulled a pancho over his head. She then proceeded to smear his face with sunscreen.

"Sick," he complained, but stood obediently. "You got some in my hair."

"Oh hush," she said, and dumped some more stuff in his arms. "There."

"What are the panchos for?" he asked, pulling at the blue sleeves.

"In case it rains," she said, as if it made sense.

He didn't question this, even though there wasn't a cloud in sight. Instead, he trudged slowly through the sand to find an unoccupied space.

"HAYAMA! YOO-HOO! OVER HERE!"

He turned to his left where Sana was waving at him enthusiastically. He trudged over resentfully. "You know, there's a reason why people don't put their stuff so close to the ocean," he said dryly as the waves lapped and kissed his feet.

She didn't respond, just plucked the radio from his arms, wrapped it with her pancho, and set it down. She had plugged the microphone into the radio and now pulled it out carefully, cradling it in her palm. She sat down directly on the sand, and he followed her lead wordlessly.

They spent the afternoon like that; sitting very close to the ocean, while the waves washed sand and kelp over and around them, and the wind blew salt and mist into their eyes until Sana's eyes watered, and she cried softly.

He stared at her incredulously, and then, without ceremony, pushed her into the waves. "Idiot," he said as she flailed wildly and spat out salt water. "What the hell is wrong with you? One minute you're all hyper and the next you're crying..."

Sana scrambled up, infuriated and splashed water at him. He ducked easily, then wrapped the pancho around his head until he was wrapped in blue.

She stopped and blinked at him. "Can you breathe like that?" she asked curiously. He opened his mouth, but then, grabbing his throat, he motioned crazily and keeled over. She pulled the pancho forcibly from his head. Wow. He had turned blue. "I guess not," she shrugged, and dragged him back to the car.

--

He woke to the sound of waves and the faint laughter of children.

Sana was driving; he looked out the window. They were already very close to the city; the ocean was now a quiet memory.

"I recorded it with the stereo," Sana said, matter-of-factly. "It's so pretty isn't it?" He said nothing.

All of a sudden, Sana's voice drowned the gentle sounds of the ocean and blasted from the speakers. "HIIIII KIDS! SANA ONEE-CHAN WILL NOW PERFORM A RAP FOR YOU!"

Akito's eyes almost popped out his head, and he resisted (unsuccessfully) the urge to gag.

Sana had stars in her eyes. "I'll make a copy for you!" she said excitedly. "This was my best rap ever!"

Notes: written for 30_kisses; #29; the sound of waves.