Unrequited (Blue Flag Fanfic)

Beach

A/N: Hey, everyone! Here's Part 17! I just wanted to say that I realized I made a mistake in Part 12. I made Touma be the one to get the present in the mail instead of Taichi. It should have been Taichi, not Touma. I fixed it recently. I apologize for that!

Anyway, enjoy this! Things are getting exciting, folks!

~+~+~

The night after his plane landed, once he'd recuperated and resituated himself in his apartment, Touma arrived at the beach he remembered from high school.

He'd given Taichi the directions to get there safely. He'd come an hour early, just to admire the deep blue sky and the stars and the ocean, and maybe, although he hated to admit it, to collect himself and his thoughts before Taichi approached him with a possibly imperative inquiry, or maybe even an interrogation.

Had Touma done something wrong? He paced around the coast in circles pondering what kind of mistake he could have made, although he couldn't come up with any concrete ideas.

The sound of young kids squealing filled Touma's ears. The noise had come from behind him, so, his head on a swivel, he turned, only to find two children chasing each other, toppling over one another, their tiny feet gracing the ocean's waves. One was laughing, one was crying, and whom Touma assumed to be their mother was calling for them from the other side of the shore. Touma took his hands out of the pockets of his shorts and began to tap on his phone, moving a little farther away from the family to a place where he hoped he could find some peace and quiet.

The next few minutes passed by slowly. Touma picked up handfuls of sand and searched them for sea shells, opening his palms to the wind and letting the leftover grains whisk away under the moonlight. His shoes touched, and he placed his new discoveries gingerly on his toes, trying not to let them fall.

From his phone, he heard a ding.

He picked it up and wiped the debris away.

It was Taichi.

Here.

Touma picked his head up, looking from left to right. Nothing.

Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

His eyes widened. He jumped, immediately twisting around. There was Taichi, a small smile lining his lips, waving to him with a fair share of hesitance, his movements jerky and miniscule. Touma raised an eyebrow.

"Hi," Taichi began.

Touma noticed Taichi had trouble meeting his gaze. "Hi," he said back.

Taichi plopped down next to him, his weight comforted by the softness of the sand. He rested his elbow against his knee, his cheek against his fist. He huffed, and anyone would have thought it was excessive, over-exaggerated, but Touma wondered if maybe it was a means of pure exasperation. Maybe Taichi truly had that much on his plate, that much going on in his mind.

"The moon is pretty tonight, isn't it?" Taichi asked.

Touma glanced up. A crescent shape sat high in the sky, its size amplified by the clear horizon, the color an off-white. The ocean was illuminated by its fervent beauty.

"Yes," Touma concurred, "it is."

There was a pause.

"Can I hold your hand?"

Touma's mouth grew ajar. He began to stutter. "T-Taichi, we haven't done that since high school—"

"I know," Taichi started, cutting him off. "I know, which is exactly why I want to do it."

Touma's cheeks felt hot. At first a bit reluctantly, he reached out his hand, bracing his fingers to be held.

Taichi, now seated completely upright, linked himself to Touma.

The crashing of the waves and pulling of the currents overpowered the serene silence.

Touma dared to turn his head toward Taichi. Taichi was staring out into the ocean, not saying a word.

"Tell me," Touma uttered. "What is it you wanted to ask me?"

Taichi took a sharp breath. "I'll tell you, but please be honest with me, okay?"

Touma nodded. "Okay."

The breeze blew the short strands of Taichi's hair. He had his eyes scrunched tight, and one look at him and his pale face would lead anybody with common sense to believe he'd just seen a ghost.

"Do you like Sugawara?"

Touma froze.

His eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"Well," Taichi mumbled, "do you like him? Do you like Sugawara?"

"Y-You mean... Kenji Sugawara? My work friend?"

"Yes."

Touma felt a disconnect. Where had Taichi gotten this idea?

"Of course not," he said. "I have absolutely no romantic feelings for him. Everything I feel for him is platonic."

"You... really don't?" Taichi asked, voice raised. There seemed to be a hint of excitement, but Touma wasn't sure, and maybe he was grasping at straws.

"No," Touma replied. "I don't."

"Oh." Touma noticed Taichi's lips tugging upward in a way that was almost incessant. It was weird, really. It confused Touma. Maybe he was going crazy, but was Taichi happy about this?

No, Touma told himself. Don't think that way. You're just going to be let down.

Touma contemplated letting go of Taichi's hand. "Tai, is that what you wanted to ask me? What made you even start to think that?"

"That's all I wanted to ask you," Taichi murmured, his voice so low it was a whisper. "I... I thought in WacDonald's, when he wrapped his arm around your shoulder and you got all red, it meant you liked him." Taichi rubbed his forehead with his fingers. "I don't know, Touma. I don't know. I'm definitely being stupid. I'm sorry for dragging you all the way out here for that."

Touma was about to tell him the true reason why his cheeks were crimson that day. He was so close. So, so close. A croak from the back of his throat had managed to leave his lips when, right by the water, the couple of kids from before came barreling by the two of them, their shouts and hollers interrupting Touma's pattern of thought. He let out a hefty sigh, separating his hand from Taichi's.

Touma and Taichi glimpsed at each other. It seemed they had both come to the same consensus.

They simply couldn't stay here any longer.

"Taichi," Touma began, "could we possibly head back to your place and finish this conversation there? It's a lot closer than mine."

Taichi made fleeting eye contact. "O-Okay. That's fine with me."

And so, the beach was abandoned, and Touma and Taichi no longer found shelter in the darkness. Instead, they found shelter under the ceiling of Taichi's apartment.