Shelter

Sun

After Shinomiya got over his cold, he only missed two days of school.

When he finally returned on the third day, everything had gone to pieces.

"Serinuma finally came out!!" One of his female classmates sighed in rapture. "She's a lesbian."

"WHAAT," he ran out of the class.

"Is it true??" He asked her, after finding her in the history club with Mutsumi.

"Is what true?"

"Are you," he got shy all of a sudden, "the l word?"

"Lost?"

"A lesbian!"

"Oh that," she giggled. "Yes, and I'm dating Nishina. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you, everything happened so fast."

Shi drooped over a nearby chair, crestfallen.

Serinuma kissed the boy on the cheek. "I'm sorry I can't return your feelings, Shinomiya."

"Ok," he replied, not knowing how to feel.

"We're all going to Nishina's beach house on Saturday though. You're a VIP with us, don't forget," she grinned.

"Everyone is coming?" He questioned. "Are Iga and Nana recovered?"

Serinuma shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they can finally realize their love for each other," she gasped, salivating. "I could set them up!"

"Bad idea," Shi tried, but she ran off to find Nishina.

"Oh yeah, I have a class," he remembered, trudging back.

~~~

The next days leading up to the beach day were mostly uneventful, despite Nishina and Serinuma's new relationship.

Surprisingly, it hadn't changed the group dynamic much. They were just less focused on impressing Serinuma, which was probably for the best.

Shinomiya packed his beach bag, making sure he brought money for ice cream.

When they arrived at the beach, Igarashi and Nanashima were the first ones to take off their shirts and get in the water.

Shi watched Mutsumi casually take his shirt off, revealing pale skin and blink-and-you-miss-them muscles.

He took off his own reluctantly, remembering how inadequate he felt the first time they all were shirtless at a beach.

Nishina and Serinuma chatted excitedly about a new anime as they set down towels close to each other on the sand.

Shinomiya decided to treat himself to an ice cream cone first thing.

He walked barefoot across the sand to the ice cream hut and bought a mint chocolate chip cone.

As he licked it contentedly, he turned around to watch Nanashima and Igarashi surf.

Shinomiya's eyes flickered back to where Serinuma and Nishina were happily talking.

"Please leave me alone," Mutsumi's voice close by interrupted his alone time.

"But you're so hot, don't you want to go out with me?" A girl pestered him further.

The ice cream began to melt over Shi's fingers holding the cone.

"I," Mutsumi's gaze found his, "I'm in a relationship. With him." He wrapped an arm around the startled shorter boy.

"Really?" The girl scoffed. "It looks fake."

"It's real," Shi tried to play along, but his breath faltered when Mu's fingers cupped his face.

The taller boy leaned down.

Mutsumi's lips slowly closed on Shi's lower lip, pulling back a centimeter and moving to kiss his top lip.

Shinomiya dropped the ice cream cone.