Chapter Text
A day turns into a week. That week turns into a month. Occasionally sneaking a lunch with them leads to grabbing snacks together after school. Before he realizes it, the rest of the term has flown by and he’s spending the class Summer trip with them.
Even though they’re miles away from school on a tropical island, it’s the three of them together. Yukizome Chisa never asks why Sakakura treats spending time with her and Munakata like a secret; she’s known about his reputation before they even started talking. It’s the reason she wanted to approach him in the first place: A person like him, single-mindedly focused on their talent, in a school focused on fostering that talent, could easily spend three years alone. What a waste! High school should be a celebration of youth; an opportunity to explore, to make mistakes!
To make friends.
Even if they don’t end up as besties, she doesn’t want any one of her classmates to look back and feel like they’ve missed out on something. Maybe that’s the freedom that comes from having a talent she doesn’t feel defined by. With boxing, there’s a clear goal, an indisputable top, a prize . The barrier to success is that much higher and he has to push himself that much harder to achieve it. While that’s the same for many of their classmates, she’d managed to bond with them. Through the year, she provided food, an attentive ear, her own strength and companionship, and as everyone around her opened up, they spread their wings and forged their own friendships. But one student eluded her. Even after all her research, there was no way to make Sakakura look at anything other than his goal. After he reached it, what lay beyond? That’s the part that worried her most.
Until Munakata Kyousuke came along.
She didn’t anticipate Sakakura’s reaction, but she couldn’t’ve imagined a better meeting for the two of them! A showdown in a classroom, right out of a shounen manga! Then, all it took was a little nudge from her to get the two of them alone in the infirmary. Keeping others out was the only way to get him to open up. But it’s fine if he wants to keep their friendship between the three of them: There’s no need for any of them to shout about it from the rooftops, because peacefully spending time together at all still feels like a dream.
After tidying Sakakura’s room and preparing fruit parfaits for the three of them (one with yogurt for the boxer watching his weight, since he glared daggers at the ice cream), she allows herself to relax. The refreshing sweetness of cream, sugar and fruit on her tongue adds an extra layer of bliss to an already blissful moment, sitting next to Munakata. It takes a while for him to notice, but when he finally looks up from his work, his question catches her off guard:
“Yukizome, are you sure you’re enjoying yourself?” His voice is a quiet undertone to the rhythm beat out by Sakakura’s fists, trying not to break his concentration.
“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” That’s the only answer, isn’t it? She wants to be with Munakata and Sakakura. There’s no reason to ask for more.
He pushes further, getting closer, “I mean it. It’s my responsibility to ensure this trip is a success for everyone, you included.”
The pounding of her heart could almost be mistaken for the sound of Sakakura at work, except he’s paused to grab the parfait she left on the table for him: “If you wanna go somewhere, you can take Munakata with you.”
The moment he hears his name, he looks a little lost, then curious, looking at Sakakura and then her for some kind of explanation. It’s cute in a way. She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t appreciate the suggestion, but the same time, she can almost smell Sakakura’s search for some kind of out.
The last thing she wants to do is leave him alone. Not after he’d made so much progress. Not after months of trying to get him to warm up to her and Munakata. Not after he’d grown on them , gruff stares and all.
“Oh, no.” She rises to her feet to shove both of them out the door, “You have to come with me. Both of you.”
They emerge from the cottage to see the sun fading into the purples of dusk; the air free of oppressive humidity and on the pleasant side of warm. Clearly, it’s the perfect weather for a twenty-minute hike uphill and down through a cave. It takes Munakata a little more time than Sakakura to make the trip, but when he emerges, cheeks flushed and just a little short of breath, the hint of a smile on his face is priceless. He treks across the isolated beach to get a better look at the moon reflecting on the waves, “Yukizome, how did you find this place?”
“You’re not the only one who did their research!” Being able to surprise him fills her with more pride than she could possibly imagine. At this point, she doesn’t expect disapproval from Sakakura either, but it never hurts to ask: “What d’you think? It’s already dark, and no one else is around. No complaints, right?”
Sakakura moves closer to the water’s edge, looking down the shoreline in both directions to make sure they’re really alone, “. . . I wanted a break, anyway.”
“It’s almost eight o’clock.”
“Yup!”
“What’s happening at eight?”
Distant shrieks pierce the calm of the night sky as fireworks rocket upward to answer Sakakura’s question, exploding in a rainbow of bursts. They sparkle and fade, only to be replaced by more. It’s hard to miss Sakakura standing to her right, and she knows Munakata is to her left, but it doesn’t feel. . . right. She wants to be close to them; to solidify the feeling that they’re on this beach, under the same moon, watching the same fireworks together. While she’s pushed them, prodded them and sometimes played a little too rough with them, up until this moment, she’d never done anything affectionate before. Making physical contact was never a problem, but a second of doubt makes her freeze: They aren’t really touchy-feely people. . . Would they hate it? This is what friends do, so it’s fine, right?
Heart pounding, she takes a deep breath and goes for it. As she draws them together by the arm, she can feel them tense and resist. In response, her hold on them loosens, though she keeps their arms linked, dead armed but hesitant to let go completely. Ah, this hurts. Even if she knows this was bound to happen, she can’t help hoping it’d go better. There’s a lead-heavy sensation in her chest, but before she can beat herself up over her mistake, Munakata shifts closer and soon after, Sakakura does the same. Contented and feeling a little more confident, she hugs their arms and allows herself to lean on Munakata.
She’s soaring, totally giddy over having them so near. It’s almost silly to think how Munakata would worry about her enjoying the trip when this is all she wanted from the start. Part of her wants to shout about her happiness atop the beach cliffs, but there’s something cool about keeping things between them: the moments when Munakata’s seriousness flusters him so much, it’s funny; the times when Sakakura relaxes and reveals bits of softness to them; this night on a moonlit beach, when they’ve surprised her with their warmth. The more she thinks about it, drinks in their closeness, the less she wants to share it with anyone else.
This is her summer secret.