The sun had already begun to dip, washing the beach in a mellow orange glow by the time I came back.
The air smelled of salt, grilled meat, and sunscreen. They're probably having dinner.
"Faulker!" Shimotsuki waved her arm wildly, as she noticed my silhouette approaching.
"Where'd you disappear to? You almost missed dinner!"
I raised a hand, forcing a faint smile. "Um... I just took a stroll, that's all."
Lyna tossed the volleyball in my direction, and I caught it.
"A stroll, huh? You look like you just wrestled the sea."
"Sand's tougher than it looks..." I said, sitting down beside the grill.
My throat still ached faintly where Death's kick landed.
I hid it with a cough, pretending the smoke was bothering me.
Shayne grinned. "You missed my perfect serve, man. I'm like, this close to going pro."
"You tripped over your own foot," Mari said lazily, lying on a towel nearby.
"That was part of the game!" Shayne countered.
The group's laughter melted into the rhythm of waves.
For a moment, everything felt loud, but alive.
Alejandro flipped the next round of meat while Shimotsuki kept the timer on her phone, ensuring they didn't burn again.
Mari was arranging paper plates in neat stacks; Lyna handed out drinks with a quiet smile.
I sat back and watched them all.
Clara chasing Nayuta who'd stolen her food, Sera snickering behind her sunglasses, Shayne messing with Mari again....
It's so stupid. Stupid, but I enjoy the moment.
"Hey," Nayuta called out, dodging another playful swing from Clara.
"You're spacing out again, Faulk."
"Just thinking," I said.
"About what?" he asked, dodging yet another one of Clara's swing.
I shrugged. "About... how we're all gonna survive the next semester."
He laughed. "Well, as long as all of us are together, we can go beyond everything, no?"
Clara pouted, cheeks puffed.
"Don't jinx it! Let's just eat before you say something weird again."
And so, we did.
Dinner rolled into the early evening.
The air had cooled down, and the sound of waves came softer now, brushing against the shore like slow breathing.
Most of us had drifted into our own little worlds. Shayne and Mari were arguing over who ate the last sausage.
Lyna and Sera were cleaning up the plates, Alejandro had already dozed off again, and Shimotsuki sat quietly by the edge of the deck, her gaze fixed somewhere far into the horizon.
Clara and Nayuta, though... they were still near the grill.
"Hey, you're not supposed to eat that yet." Nayuta said, trying to take back the half-cooked corn she had snatched.
"It's fine," Clara replied through a mouthful, "I've eaten worse."
He laughed, shaking his head. "You say that like you're proud."
"Of course I am! Food's food."
I watched them from the railing, pretending to check the charcoal.
The two of them were ridiculous, like a cat and a puppy arguing over scraps, neither realizing how close they were standing.
Clara's hair kept brushing against Nayuta's shoulder every time she leaned in to grab something. And each time, he'd flinch slightly, then grin as if to cover it up.
"You're going to burn your tongue if you keep at it." Nayuta said, handing her a drink.
"Calm down, I'll live," she said, taking it anyway.
"Yeah, but you'll complain for three days straight."
"Not true!"
"Totally true."
She puffed her cheeks again, glaring at him.
He just laughed harder.
Honestly, I've never seen Clara like this with Lyna and the rest, nor does Nayuta when he's with us.
I leaned against the railing, half-smiling. "You two look like a married couple," I said.
Both froze. Clara turned bright red. Nayuta blinked, then scratched his cheek, laughing nervously. "Wow, that's… that's a bold observation, Faulker."
Clara pointed at me with her fork. "Don't say weird stuff like that!"
I raised both hands. "I'm just pointing out what I see."
Nayuta grinned. "Well, if I had to get stuck with someone for life, I could do worse."
Clara choked on her drink. "W–what does that mean!?"
"I think he meant that you eat too much, but you make good company," he said simply.
She glared, but there was a tiny smile she tried to hide. "You're insufferable."
"Mhm, but here you are," Nayuta said, poking her forehead lightly.
They bickered again, voices blending with the sound of the tide.
The sight made me feel a little calmer, seeing my friends find something to hold onto, even if they didn't realize what it was yet.
I wish I could find it too.
Or maybe, I already did.
And that is exactly why I couldn't let someone like 1st Seat, Death and Apocalypse walk free.
I wonder if he's still watching us...
Not like I can stop him, anyway. But next time, I'm not letting him walk off again.
After that, night came.
The last of the light sank beneath the sea, and the beach was left bathed in a faint orange glow from the bonfire we'd built near the shoreline.
The waves shimmered each time the flames crackled, and the air smelled faintly of salt and smoke.
Shayne was the first to cheer when the first firework shot up.
"Here we go!" he yelled, waving a sparkler like a sword.
"This is the kind of vacation I'm talking about!"
"You're going to burn your hair off," Mari warned, sitting cross-legged by the fire.
"Then you could say I'm lit!" Shayne shouted back, spinning around like a maniac.
Clara laughed so hard she almost dropped her marshmallow stick.
"He's actually going to do it, someone stop him!"
"I say we don't," Nayuta said. "Let natural selection be the judge."
That got a chorus of laughter from the group.
Even Shimotsuki smiled faintly. Barely noticeable, but it was there.
She sat a little apart from everyone else. I could see the reflection of the fire dancing in her emerald eyes.
Lyna was next to her, feeding the fire small twigs and occasionally glancing toward the waves, her expression unreadable as always.
Alejandro laid on his back, arms crossed behind his head, staring at the sky. "You know," he said quietly, "I kind of forgot what stars looked like until tonight."
"It's nice, isn't it?" Sera said, floating lazily on an inflatable ring that she somehow dragged all the way from the water to the sand. "No deadlines, no rules, just… a bunch of idiots in one place."
"Yeah, true..." I said softly.
Another firework went off.
There was a streak of red and gold bursting into the night, scattering light across everyone's faces.
Clara gasped, clutching Nayuta's sleeve like a kid. He smiled, handing her a sparkler.
"Here," he said. "Now you have your own star."
She blinked, then grinned. "You're so cheesy."
"Guilty."
Lyna looked over at them, then to me. "You're quiet again, Faulker."
I shrugged, watching the fire. "It's not like I have anything to say in the first place."
"Or you do, but you just didn't" she said.
"Now, now. Whatever makes you think that?"
She smiled faintly, but didn't press.
Instead, she reached forward and drew shapes in the sand with a stick, letting the light play over her soft and warm feature.
Shayne threw another firework into the air, shouting, "Watch this!"
The fuse sparked, hissed… and exploded a few feet above him.
Everyone screamed and ducked.
"SHAYNE!" Mari shouted.
Shayne coughed through the smoke. "It was supposed to go higher!"
Clara burst out laughing, tears in her eyes. "You nearly blew yourself up!"
Nayuta clapped him on the back. "Atleast this smoke tasted better than vapes."
Most of them turned in after the fireworks ended.
Clara and Nayuta were the last to leave, still talking about which firework looked best.
Lyna doused the last of the embers with seawater before heading back inside with Sera.
Alejandro was already asleep on one of the mats, and Mari had dragged Shayne away by the ear after he almost burned another sparkler indoors.
That left just me and Shimotsuki.
She was still there, sitting on the same chair by the fading fire.
The moonlight touched her hair, making it shimmer faintly silver. She had her knees drawn close to her chest, eyes fixed on the waves.
I walked over and sat a few steps away, not wanting to break whatever quiet she was lost in.
For a while, there was only the sound of the sea.
"…You're still awake?" I asked eventually.
She nodded slightly. "I prefer the night. It's... silent. Helps me thinking, actually."
"Think about what?"
Shimotsuki didn't answer immediately.
Her gaze stayed on the horizon.
"People," she said finally.
"How they change. How they hide what they really feel. And how, even then, they still reach for each other."
I tilted my head. "You mean… our group?"
Her lips curved, faintly. "Perhaps. You all have something strange between you. Chaos, maybe. But it feels alive."
"You really think so?" I asked, half-smiling.
"Mhm. I do."
The tide rolled closer. I leaned back, resting my palms in the sand.
"You're part of that chaos now, you know."
She looked at me — really looked this time.
Her expression was unreadable.
Then she said, softly, "Maybe. But sometimes I still feel like an observer."
"You did," I said. "but that's only you. To them, you're already a friend..."
Her eyes lingered on me for a heartbeat longer before she turned back to the sea.
"You say that so easily."
"No, it's actually pretty embarrassing for me to say, too." I said, while trying to figure out what she's looking at.
"…You're different from what I expected, Faulk." she murmured after a while.
"When I first met you, I thought you were someone incompetent."
"I still am, honestly..." I admitted.
She nodded once. "But, you'll grow stronger each day."
Silence again. Only the waves answered us, slow and rhythmic.
Then, without warning, Shimotsuki stood and looked toward the far end of the dock.
"Follow me," she said.
I blinked. "Huh?"
She was already walking ahead. I got up, brushing off the sand, and followed.
The wooden planks of the dock creaked softly beneath our feet as we reached the edge, where a small white sailing boat rested, bobbing gently against its rope.
"Help me start it," she said.
I looked at her, confused.
"Wait—why? And whose boat even is this?"
She glanced over her shoulder, faintly smiling.
"You didn't read about this place beforehand, did you?"
"No," I admitted. "I just came along."
"Thought so." She sighed, amused.
"The boat comes with the beach house. Al mentioned it earlier. He wanted to take everyone sailing tomorrow morning."
"Oh." I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Then why are you trying to start it now?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Her gaze flickered toward the ocean, the calm reflection of the moon rippling across it.
Then, softly, almost hesitantly, she spoke.
"…I just wanted to find a reason to be alone with you."
I froze. "W–what?"
Her ears flushed faintly red.
"Do I really need to spell it out? Take a hint already." she muttered, turning away slightly.
I felt my face heat up.
I didn't know what to say. My mind blanked out completely.
"...Sure," I finally managed. "Just… give me a second."
Shimotsuki gave a quiet laugh — short and genuine, like she didn't expect me to agree so easily.
"I'm glad," she said. "Then help me untie the rope."
I stepped beside her, loosening the knot that kept the boat tethered to the dock.
She climbed in first, graceful as ever, and offered her hand to me.
I hesitated for a moment, but I took it. Her grip was surprisingly warm.
The tide rocked us gently as we drifted away from the shore.
We set our sails high.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Just the quiet sound of the sail catching wind and the soft rhythm of waves brushing the hull.
And even though my thoughts were still tangled, one thing felt clear.
That night, under the pale reflection of the moon, I realized how fragile the distance between the two of us were.