"I swear I still had a bottle laying around here somewhere…"
Haruto was digging into his closet to find a bottle of sunscreen that he would bring on his trip to the beach. After looking for a bit longer he found the bottle laying behind a box and quickly stuffed it into his bag.
Haruto looked at his stuff and mentally checked off the items that he needed to bring. He looked at the clock and saw that he still had a few minutes before meeting up with Mahiru, so he decided to message Hinata to see if he met up with Kageyama yet.
[So have you met up with Kageyama?]
[Not yet, I overslept because I was too excited for today.]
[What are you, 12?]
Haruto didn't know what to say after reading Hinata's response.
[Just make sure to message me if you guys are going to be late.]
[Don't worry if we have to, Kageyama and I will bike ourselves all the way there!]
[That's like 3 hours away, please don't.]
Haruto laughed quietly and ended his conversation with Hinata since he said he arrived at Kageyama's house. Haruto saw the clock and grabbed his things to make his way out so that he could meet up with Mahiru and leave.
He looked in the mirror and saw himself wearing brown linen pants with a cream colored t-shirt. He wore some black shoes and hung his sunglasses on the base of his shirt near the collar.
He lightly styled his hair as he was eventually going to get it wet, so he didn't bother with it too much.
"I wonder if she's ready yet."
Haruto mumbled to himself as he went out of his apartment and knocked on Mahiru's door a few minutes before their planned meetup time.
After waiting for a bit, the door opened and Mahiru came out wearing a beautiful summer dress.
It was a white summer dress that reached slightly past her knees exposing a little of her white legs. Light blue edges and straps hung on her exposed shoulders while she held onto a big white hat that was wrapped by a blue ribbon.
"How is it, does it look good?.."
Mahiru felt bashful and nervous after seeing how Haruto was staring at her as she had opened the door. She took a long time to decide what to wear in hopes she could impress Haruto when they meet up.
"..You look stunning Mahiru."
A warm smile spread across Haruto's face as he was genuinely surprised by Mahiru's lovely appearance. Mahiru's face lit up and a pink blush appeared on her cheeks after hearing his compliment.
"Come let's go, I want to see the sea as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry the sea won't go anywhere so no need to rush."
Mahiru grabbed Haruto's arm and wrapped hers around his. She gave an excited tone as this was the first time she's been to the beach with a large group of people and a person that she held affection for.
Haruto and Mahiru took a bus towards Sendai station so they could transfer to a train reaching the location of the beach they planned to go to. As they boarded the train Haruto couldn't help but notice the amount of stares that were being directed at them.
'Do we really stand out that much…'
"Haruto, look you could see part of the sea from here!"
Haruto cut off his thoughts as he saw the wide smile Mahiru had on her face as she pointed out the window of the train. The view had now changed from the normal city they were in to seeing the vast display of water that the sea brings.
"You can smell a bit of salt in the air."
Mahiru took in a big breath as they walked out of the train station. The station was surrounded by many buildings and crowds of people swept through the streets of these areas.
"Let's go and find where the rest of them are since they found a spot for all of us to sit at."
Haruto said to Mahiru as he read out the text message he got from Kuroo. He said that some people have already arrived such as some third and second years from Karasuno and people from the other schools as well.
Haruto held out his hand and Mahiru grabbed it with a smile as they tried to maneuver around the large flock of people.
Finally reaching the venue of the beach, Haruto read Kuroo's texts again trying to figure out where they were.
"Near the big shack with a sign on it…"
"Is that them under the big umbrella?"
Haruto looked towards where Mahiru pointed at and saw the faces of familiar people. Tanaka and Nishinoya were crowding around Kiyoko, while Kuroo tried pushing Daiki into talking to some girls that were near him.
The two of them made their way towards the growing group of people and greeted each one of them.
"Haruto, did you see how Daiki stiffened up like a board when he got a meter near those girls."
"Mahiru! Do you have any sunscreen I could borrow since this idiot forgot to bring it."
Haruto and Mahiru split up and made their way towards the people who were calling them. Haruto laughed with Kuroo who had tears in his eyes after seeing Daiki's first failure.
While Mahiru gave a wry smile as she saw how Fukurodani's managers Yukie and Kaori were trying to put the blame on each other.
"Come let's go and get changed into our swimsuits."
Kiyoko said to the girls as all of them arrived and they made their ways towards the changerooms. The guys who heard this also decided it was time for them to change too
"Kiyoko-san in a swimsuit…"
"Ryu! we have to do our best to prevent those sleazy guys from approaching our Goddess Kiyoko!"
Tanaka and Nishinoya, who came out of the changeroom and arrived at their spot, gave each other a handshake as their eyes shined with conviction to prevent playboys from approaching Kiyoko.
'What did Mahiru choose to wear..'
Haruto who heard their conversation began to imagine what type of swimsuit Mahiru would wear since she usually wears pretty modest clothes whenever they go out.
Haruto closed his eyes as he tried to think of the type of swimsuit that would fit Mahiru but he snapped out of it when he heard Tanaka's voice.
"Wheew~ You sure have some nice muscles."
Haruto opened his eyes and saw Tanaka staring at his shoulders and chest. Tanaka looked at his own body and felt like he shouldn't lose to an underclassman so he started to flex his biceps to show off.
"Haruto, don't let Ryu beat you!"
Nishinoya saw Tanaka's challenge and encouraged Haruto to beat him at his own game. He looked at the two of them and felt like it would be fun to do as they waited for the others so he got into a bodybuilding pose.
"HAAH! Saido Chesto!"
Haruto yelled out as he flexed his chest muscles. Tanaka and Nishinoya gave a happy applause as they didn't think he would actually follow along with them.
The other guys who were finished changing saw the mini show they were performing and joined along since they thought it was funny.
Seeing as they were changed, the guys began to rush towards the ocean, wanting to dip themselves into the cold water on this bright and hot day.
Haruto stayed back to help keep watch of their stuff as the others still haven't arrived yet. Tanaka and Nishinoya also stayed with him but it was for another reason of waiting for Kiyoko to return.
"Ah you guys could go to the water now, thanks for watching the stuff."
Kiyoko's voice spoke out from behind them and a group of girls started to approach.
Haruto didn't have the chance to reply as his gaze was stuck on Mahiru who shyly approached him.
She was still wearing her big hat but her choice in bikini made everyone who walked passed her stunned. She wore a white one piece bikini that had slits near the side of her figure. Small black ribbons were presented near her hips and near the center of her ample bust adding a cute look.
Her swimsuit clinged onto her slim figure which made her feel shy, but after seeing Haruto's stunned expression once again she felt glad that she made this choice.
"...Does it suit me?...."
Being a few inches apart Mahiru gave a quiet question wanting to hear the answer come out of Haruto's mouth.
She looked up to Haruto and also felt her ears burn as she was equally as shy seeing Haruto with his bare chest. She couldn't help but discreetly glance at his toned stomach.
"It suits you too well that I can't take my eyes off you…"
Haruto didn't know what to say but she looked even more radiant in her swimsuit. He felt like he needed to do his best in protecting her from shady guys who wanted to take advantage of the occasion.
"Mahiru, it seems like the choice we got was the right one."
Kiyoko whispered as she looked towards Haruto who was glaring at the direction of guys who were eyeballing Mahiru.
"But what happened to that other black string bikin-"
"WAHH!?!"
Mahiru quickly covered Yachi's mouth and looked towards Haruto to see if he had heard her. She gave a sigh of relief seeing that he wasn't paying attention to them and her face grew a bright red color.
"Hitoka, I think she would want to wear that one when it's just the two of them."
Kiyoko gave a grin as she saw the red faces of both Yachi and Mahiru, and felt like teasing them like this was more fun than she had thought.
****
Beach arc starts. I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu