A Whale Shark's Ray (Free!)(SousukexOC)(Boyxboy)

Chapter 9

We walked down the streets towards the festival in a calm silence. It wasn't that we didn't need words or had nothing to say, but more like we couldn't bring ourselves to speak to the other. But it was a very calm silence.

As we neared the loud, lighted street of the festival, my head began to pound a little. The beginnings of a headache. I forced myself to ignore it as everyone came into view. They were all dressed in festival wear. It was surprising to see how everyone had aged. Rin was chatting with Nagisa, Rei standing close by almost possessively. Haru was next to Rin, their hands loosely interlocked. So they had become a couple, just like Nagisa and Rei.

Makoto stood slightly off to the side, watching everyone. His smile was more... lonely, than I remember. Satoshi himself stood between the two groups, and began waving excitedly when he saw us coming down the hill.

"Sousuke-kun!!! Munto!! You're finally here!"

His shout caught everyone's attention, and they all seemed to suddenly swarm me as we reached the group. It seemed like everyone was asking a thousand questions at once, bringing me into a panic. My shy nature still existed, after all. Satoshi slipped in front of me, batting his arms at everyone.

"Back, you beasts! You're terrifying my baby boy!"

That brought laughter to everyone's lips, even mine. We all began walking as a group, and I gladly answered everyone's questions now that they were calm. Playful hits and rolling eyes, things high schoolers would do more than grown adults. But hey, it was a festival. Eventually, we decided to split into groups. Of course, the couple paired up and wandered off. Makoto almost went off by himself, until I smacked Satoshi in the head and pushed him after the tall brunette. He grabbed onto the back of Makoto's yukata to stabilize himself and tried to yell at me. I just laughed, knowing he had a more-than-crush on the orca. The crowd quickly separated us from them. Us...? Oh.

In my excitement, I'd completely forgotten about Sousuke. I turned around in a panic, only to see him gone. My eyes flickered about hurriedly. Why was I so freaked out that he left me? I only stopped when I was suddenly turned around to meet turquoise eyes, which immediately calmed me down. I smiled and grabbed his hand without thinking, flickering from stall to stall like an excited child.

"Hurry! I wanna find the candy apples!"

I could hear his soft chuckle behind me amidst all the noise. It only made me smile more.

If only he laughed more often.

>>>>>>>>>>

I never did find my candy apple. After playing a few childish games and laughing at how badly we sucked at them, we somehow got separated. While I was looking for him, my headache resurfaced, a lot worse than usual. So now I was sitting on a bench in a spot somewhat removed from the festival. I could still see and hear it, but it was muted. I texted Sousuke where I was, in case he had his phone, and tried to focus on taking deep breaths.

Definitely needed to see the doctor now.

I slumped over, running a hand through my hair. My happiness over the festival was gone. All I wanted now was to curl up in my bed and sleep. I'm glad I don't have a job, or else this would be a lot harder. For some reason, I felt cold, though it was a warm night. I wasn't running a fever though, so this didn't make any sense. Nothing made any sense anymore... Not since Pops died.

"There you are. I was about ready to- Are you okay?"

I couldn't understand it. As soon as his hand met my shoulder, everything suddenly seemed to warm up. So I just looked up at him blankly.