Akaashi clicked off his phone and stood up from his seat on the front porch. He had gone outside to enjoy the early afternoon peace at the beach since there usually weren't many people, but now it was nearly three o'clock, and the beach was starting to fill up more. The moment the amount of people surpassed fifteen, Akaashi decided he had had enough and texted Bokuto to tell him he was free. The boy had responded within a few minutes with a meeting point and Akaashi was quickly on his way.

As he walked across the beach, jittery butterflies bubbled in Akaashi's stomach, making him both nervous (even though he had no reason to be) and excited.

He approached the meeting point—the store Bokuto worked at—and a loud "Akaashiii!" tore through the air, the vowels stretched out dramatically. Bokuto ran up to Akaashi, a wide grin on his face.

"Hi."

Bokuto didn't waste any time for pleasantries. "So I was thinking we could go check out a few of the shops around town and end the day with ice cream. Does that sound good?"

"Sure," Akaashi said. "But I didn't bring any money. I can go get my wallet if you want."

"No, it's fine. I don't mind paying."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep! Especially for a cute boy like you," Bokuto added with a wink. "Alright, let's get on with our adventure! Follow me, Akaashi!"

With Bokuto a few steps ahead of Akaashi, the two set off to see the town. Akaashi found the silence between them somewhat awkward, but Bokuto didn't seem to mind one bit, which was comforting in its own way. Every now and then, Bokuto would stop walking, point out the buildings they were standing by, give some background on them, and maybe even run in to say hi to the employees—but they were always back on their way shortly.

Neither of the two bought anything, though Bokuto kept telling Akaashi he should get a souvenir, "or something." Akaashi had to keep reminding Bokuto he didn't bring his wallet, and then Bokuto would slouch his shoulders and frown, mumbling something about being upset he didn't bring enough money to buy something for Akaashi. Each time Bokuto fell into a mood like this, Akaashi would sigh and say, "You're already paying for the ice cream, you really don't need to buy me anything else." Bokuto only frowned harder at that, so Akaashi added, "If you really want to buy something for me, why don't you just get me something from your store?" and then, "You don't have to, though. I don't need anything. Souvenirs take up space."

At that, Bokuto perked up again and grinned, going back to dragging Akaashi along with reborn energy. Eventually, they were satisfied with how much of the town they had already seen, and Bokuto tugged Akaashi toward his favorite ice cream shop.

"Okay! Order whatever you want," Bokuto said with a grin. They had only just entered, and the single employee behind the counter was already moving, putting together a cone. "Wow, Konoha, you have my order memorized!"

"You come here all the time," the employee responded, his tone happy. "Who's your friend?"

"His name's Akaashi! He's visiting."

"Oh, cool!" The employee, Konoha, finished Bokuto's cone and handed it to him before sliding over to the side of the counter Akaashi was standing by. "What can I get for you, Akaashi?"

"I'll just have a vanilla cone, please."

"Just that? No sprinkles or anything?"

"No, thanks."

"Coming right up." He put the ice cream cone together quickly and handed it to Akaashi while Bokuto paid at the other end of the counter.

They sat down at a small, two-person table and started eating their cold treats. Bokuto kept the awkward silence at bay by telling story after story about some of his memories in the town, like how he found a giant octopus on the beach and the time he sprained his ankle from jumping out of a moving vehicle (he said it was a dare) when he was thirteen. To prove it, he moved his ankle around to show Akaashi how it had clicked ever since.

"You know how I said it was a dare?" he continued excitedly.

"Yeah," Akaashi said.

"Well, it was my friend Kuroo who dared me to jump! He was just like 'Hey, I bet you won't do it', and I'm no coward so I did it, but only after making him promise to do it with me. He ended up belly flopping 'cause he's stupid.Luckily, we were in the sand, so it was fine. And I still like him even though he's an idiot."

"Wow."

"I know, right? It was so cool!"

"That's not why I said wow, Bokuto."

"Mhm, sure. Anyway, Kuroo was sore for days after that. It was so hilarious." He finished his ice cream and stood up from his seat, ready to leave. Akaashi, who had finished minutes earlier, joined him.

Bokuto walked out the door and turned down the sidewalk, leaving Akaashi standing by the door and glancing the other way. When Bokuto waved at him to follow, Akaashi said, "We're supposed to go that way to get to the beach house, I think."

"I know," Bokuto said, "but there's something else I wanted to show you."

"Okay."

The two continued walking, this time going down the same path. Akaashi quickly fell into step with Bokuto and walked alongside him.

The sidewalk soon faded away into pale sand as they made their way onto the beach. By then, the sun was starting to sink through the sky, nearly below the horizon already. The sky was a combination of beautiful colors that reflected off of the ocean and made the clouds pink. Above the water, the moon was bright and rising.

The area of the beach they were at was mostly deserted and there were no buildings for almost the entire stretch of land Akaashi could see, though there were a few hills next to him. He took a moment to enjoy the serene nature before Bokuto called his name.

Akaashi turned to face him and saw him standing by the base of the closest hill. It curved upwards slowly, creating a nice, easy-to-climb hill with a flat top that stretched over its portion of the beach. The end overlooking the water was cut short, creating a harsh drop off.

"What?"

"Come here!" Bokuto said, stepping onto the hill and climbing up it. There were a few rocks he casually avoided, as if he knew the layout of the place by heart. "You won't regret it!"

Akaashi crossed his arms and did as told, following Bokuto across the sand and up the hill. Once they reached the top, it flattened out, making it safe enough to walk near the shear drop off without worrying about losing your balance. Bokuto practically danced his way to the edge, causing Akaashi to yell at him about being careful. He stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at him, at which Akaashi rolled his eyes.

Bokuto stopped jumping around recklessly once he reached the actual edge. He sat down and looked back at Akaashi, silently begging him to join.

Wary of the drop off, Akaashi cautiously inched his way towards Bokuto, hesitant to get closer. As soon as he was within Bokuto's reach, he held out his hand for Akaashi to take. He grabbed it and brought himself next to Bokuto, sitting down carefully as he squeezed his hand tightly in fear.

"Aw, are you scared of heights, Akaashi?" Bokuto asked in a half-concerned, half-teasing tone. His legs were hanging off the edge, kicking at the air like a child's.

"No," the other said, taking his hand back. "I just don't necessarily care for them."

"So you are scared of heights! Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

"Protect me from what? It's not like the fifty-foot drop is just going to come out and attack us."

"You can never be too sure."

"It's not a corporeal thing, Bokuto."

"What does that word even mean?"

"It doesn't have a body, so you can't fight it."

"Not with that attitude."

Akaashi sighed and rubbing his temple. "Well, thank you, I guess."

"No problem! The drop doesn't stand a chance against me."

A small chuckle escaped Akaashi's lips at the statement. "Whatever you say."

Bokuto grinned. "So, do you like it?"

"Yes, the cliff is fine. Why'd you take me up here, anyway?"

"I, uh, like to come here when I need some time away from everything. I know it's not a big part of the town so there's kind of no point to me showing you this, but I though it would be nice."

"Oh, thank you. I can see why you like it here so much. It's really peaceful."

"Yeah, it is. Especially when watching the sunset with a pretty boy," Bokuto said, staring out at the ocean. "Anyway, tell me about yourself."

"Um, what do you want to know?"

"Anything and everything that makes you, well, you. What movie practically made you the person you are today? What nicknames do you have and why? What do you do for fun? You know, that type of stuff."

Akaashi paused for a minute to think. "My favourite movie was The Lion King. I don't really have a lot of nicknames, though one person used to call me Red. I play volleyball and read in my free time."

"The Lion King is great—wait. You play volleyball?"

"Yes, I'm a setter."

"That's so cool! I'm the ace and captain. But I don't get to play much over the break because there aren't a lot of visitors who play volleyball and all of my teammates are out of town for the holiday."

"Do you play with your school?" Akaashi asked.

"Yeah. I'm a third year."

"Oh. I'm still a second year."

"What? I'm older than you? No way."

"I know, I don't believe it either."

Bokuto looked up at the darkening sky. The sun had fallen beneath the horizon almost entirely, so light was disappearing fast. "Should you get home soon?"

"Probably," Akaashi answered, waiting for Bokuto to stand up so he could take his hand for extra security. He just really didn't want to fall, which was completely reasonable.

"I'll walk you home so you don't get lost."

"You don't have to—"

"I want to."

The two descended the hill and walked all the way back to the beach house Akaashi was staying in. The walk took a little over twenty minutes, and by the time they finally found themselves there, the sun had disappeared from the sky completely.

"Do you want to stay the night?" Akaashi asked, glancing around at the darkness.

"No, it's alright. I know this place like the back of my hand; I'll be fine walking through the dark."

"Okay. Well, thank you for showing me around. It was really helpful."

"It was no problem. It was nice getting to talk to you," Bokuto said happily. "Plus I got to look at your pretty face more."

Akaashi silently thanked the lack of light so his blush wasn't visible. "Get home safely, Bokuto. Goodnight."