Chips and Soda

Chapter Four

The lake water was cold. Not ice cold much to the group's relief. The hot weather seemed to be good for something at least. Kirishima reluctantly dipped a toe into the water and retreated almost immediately, his hand instinctively reaching out to grab hold of the object nearest to him, which consequently happened to be the short, pink haired girl who stood next to him, an amused smile on her round face.

"I didn't expect it to be so-," his sentence was cut off by what could only be described as high pitched screaming. Kirishima snapped his head in the direction of the unexpected noise, his body tensing as he prepared to jump into defense mode. Instead of seeing the expected "Killer coming out of the woods with an ax" scenario, he saw a group thrashing around in the water, some sending waves at their friends while others tried to escape the cascade of lake water. A small and quiet laugh came through his parted lips as he relaxed, bringing his attention back to his own group.

His friends stood on both sides of him, all idly chatting as they sat their things on the sand that sat around the lake. Kirishima curled his toes as he glanced down at the sun bleached color of the grainy substance beneath him. It had originally been grass but after the endless complaints about the mud left behind by rainy summer days, someone finally decided to lay down the much-welcomed sand. No longer did people get stuck knee deep in mud after climbing out of the water.

Kirishima looked up once again and scanned his surroundings. The lake's waves lapped gently at the sand with every brush of wind and the tall, deep green trees surrounding the body of water provided patches of shade. People were littered here and there. Some stood in groups by the water, the distinct sound of chatter drifting through the wind while some only sat with one other person. Those people were pressed close together in the shade of trees, an arm slung over one another's shoulders or their fingers intertwined. Kirishima watched one couple for a brief moment, though he quickly dropped his gaze to the ground when they smiled at each other and leaned in close together, their lips passionately meeting in a expeditious kiss. Though he turned, it wasn't quick enough to avoid the pang he felt stab his heart.

"So, like, are we swimming or are we gonna stare at the sand?" Kaminari's voice was enough to distract him from his thoughts. Kirishima grabbed the hem of his white T-shirt and hurled it at him, flashing a grin at him before turning his attention to Sero.

"Hey Sero, get him off my case would ya?" Sero looked up from his backpack, a package of thin mints dangling from his mouth, his eyes filled with confusion.

He only shrugged when he gained hold of the situation, his eyes lingering on Kaminari longer than necessary. Kirishima rolled his eyes, a smile spreading across his face. He was happy for his friend. In his years of knowing Sero, Kirishima had never known him to develop feelings for anyone, so when he caught on to how Sero couldn't keep his eyes off the oblivious Kaminari, he couldn't help but be elated.

Kaminari tossed Kirishima's shirt back to him, the teen taking his own loose-fitting, grey shirt off as well. While Kaminari had his shirt over his head, Sero sent a quick glance at the boys torso, seeming to take in every curve of muscle there was to see. With a sly grin, Kirishima looked to Mina and wiggled his eyebrows in a playful manner. In return, she clasped a hand over her mouth and giggled into it, trying to avoid whatever withering look Sero would give her.

As they all got ready to head to the water, Kirishima found himself feeling dejected. Though he had told himself the night before that he wouldn't care if Bakugou accepted his invite, he couldn't stifle the feeling of disappointment when the blonde didn't show.

Sighing, Kirishima tucked his feelings away and put on an excited smile, instead focusing on the water just a ways off. He walked beside Mina, sliding into the conversation they were all having.

"So what are we doing first, swimming or the good ole' rope swing," Sero questioned, his arm resting over Kaminari's shoulders in a friendly manner as he leaned towards Kirishima.

Kirishima thought about it for a moment before grinning, "Definitely the rope swing." The main reason he came to the lake most summer's was because of the main attraction, the rope swing. While it wasn't anything but a thick rope attached to a sturdy tree branch, the experience was exhilarating and always made Kirishima feel as if he was flying. Of course that's before he is greeted by the shockingly cold water.

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By the time the group made it to the top of the hill that sported the rope swing they had been splashed countless times and had come across at least three groups of wild kids who crossed their path. With the amount of people they ran into you'd think that they were at a beach and not a lake. It would surely look like that to everyone else.

Kirishima couldn't help but look around the sandy area, his eyes scanning every head in search of familiar ash blonde hair accompanied by a pair of enticing red eyes. His heart soared for a moment when he caught sight of what he thought to be his new friend but his hopes were quickly squandered when he saw that other than a youthful, angry teenager, a woman with strikingly similar features stood squabbling with a man who sat snuggly on a towel, a seemingly apologetic smile on his face.

He snickered at the couple and turned back to his group who stood gathered around the rope. Much to each of their surprise, there wasn't a herd of other people around the holy grail of the lake. They didn't complain though. Who the hell would? Kirishima elected to be the last to go, letting his friends go ahead of them. He peered over the edge of the sloping drop as each of his friends plummeted from the fifteen to twenty foot drop, all of them dropping into the water with a resounding splash.

All seemed well until Kaminari's drop. Instead of falling feet first into the water, the teen smacked into the water belly first, the smack that seemed louder than a gun shot echoing across the water and making everyone who heard wince. He took it like a champ though, with only minimal complaining that he directed at Sero, who had jumped in after him once he finished his laughing fit.

Once it was finally his turn, Kirishima couldn't help but be ecstatic. He'd done this countless times and he still felt his stomach do flips when he got a jogging start and latched onto the rope, his hands gripping the material tight. He waited for the perfect moment, his eyes downcast as he surveyed the waters. Letting go was the hardest part. His brain tells him to not do it, to hang on for dear life while his body tells him to drop like a rock into the gentle waves below. When he reached the end of his outward swing he let go, despite those mental warnings. The drop lasted a split second but felt like an eternity.

He took everything in, the wind rushing past him, the prickly sensations as the first of his skin touched the cold water, the feeling of water encasing him like a blanket. The moment was over too fast though and quickly he resurfaced, his legs treading water beneath him as he swiped water and hair from his face. He looked around and his eyes landed on Mina, who's pink hair now sat soaking wet and slicked back against her head.

The grin on his face made his cheeks hurt but he didn't care, instead he swam towards her, a giddy laugh breaking through his lips, as he asked the question he knew the answer for, "Again?"

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Hey guys, first, sorry about the late update. Broken phone and such. Deleted this chapters progress, yada yada. Really pissed me off in the beginning but I'm pretty happy with this chapter even if the ending is a bit rushed.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, if so, good. Have a good day/night you hoots.