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Now that the dog days of summer were quickly approaching, so was Katsuo’s birthday, right at the start of July. He was excited for the trip that he and his friends had planned after their successful sleepover, which was to take place at Mamoru’s lake house just outside Tokyo.
The boys were all sharing a bus Mamoru had rented for the excursion and Katsuo was happily playing a game of Pokemon with Misha and Daiki who were losing. Horribly.
“Damnit! How are you so good at this?” asked Misha, green eyes narrowed at the screen in front of him.
“Practice,” laughed Katsuo, making his curls bounce in the air.
“Yeah, maybe if you weren’t studying all the time, you wouldn’t be terrible,” jibed Daiki. The blond elbowed Misha in the ribs.
Misha turned red and did not speak again for another hour.
Once they arrived at Lake Biwa, just outside Kyoto, Kohaku asked, “Where’s Moru-san’s house?”
“It’s not far, just a short walk.” explained Katsuo. “Actually, Tou-san proposed to Dad here, so it’s kinda special to us,”
“Aww,” said Jirou dreamily, “That’s sweet. Maybe I should add it to my list with Baba…”
The group of friends shared a laugh. It was no secret that Jirou and his grandmother had been planning Jirou’s dream wedding since age seven.
Katsuo turned around once they approached the house so that he could unlock it. Ushering them inside, he said, “Anyways, we’re planning on staying for a week then returning To Tokyo. Make yourselves comfortable,”
“Ooh, sounds fun!” said Sachi, rubbing his hands together, already forming numerous pranking plots. He sat in a black lounge chair, looking alternately between a map of Lake Biwa and the surrounding area as well as his phone,
Misha smacked Sachi, taking away the latter’s silver smartphone saying, “Stop plotting!”
The team burst into laughter.
“What am I but a schemer, my dear kotynok ?” pouted Sachi, reaching for his phone.
Misha turned pink but did not give Sachi his phone. “Shut up, mudak ,”
Now that they had enjoyed the previous night’s dinner at the lake house, everyone was excited for today. There was chatter all throughout the house of the sorts of things they’d get to do on the lake, but Sach had deferred most of the planning to Katsuo, as it was his birthday trip.
Katsuo shrugged, mouth full of breakfast, eggs and toast. “We could always go to the beach?” He swallowed, “I mean, that’s what me and Dad and Tou-san do,”
“Great idea!” said Daiki excitedly. The blond libero bounced up the stairs to change.
“Well, go follow Daiki’s example!” said Katsuo with a laugh. “Meet back here in ten,”
After that, they all went to change to get ready for their beach visit. AOnce they were actually on the shoreline of the beach, with the clear waters near them, Jirou suggested, “Why don’t we play water volleyball? Misha can referee ‘cause he’s the shortest,”
“So that’s a three on three?” asked Tenshin, putting up the umbrella.
Jirou rolled out the towels next to him. “Or are we playing against another group of people?”
Katsuo hummed, “I’m not sure,” adjusting his red water shoes that matched the rest of his outfit.“‘Cause even if Misha is refereeing, there’s still six of us,”
“Yeah, and you only need one to four players apiece, right?”
“So a three-on-three,” said Sachi, who was tugging on a tank top, “Mish will be fine refereeing for us,”
Misha sighed, rolling his eyes. “Sure. But I’m not giving your team any favors, Sachi,”
Sachi mock-gasped. “Your own boyfriend?! Misha, how could you!”
Kohaku snorted, helping Jirou pull his long brown hair into a bun. “Because he can, dude. You need to stop plotting so much,”
Sachi grumbled, “WOW. Rude!”
They all laughed again. This trip was more fun than any of them could ask for.
Now, they were all outside and Katsuo was going around and checking on everyone. He was especially making sure that the paler members of the septet (which was really just Sachi and Tenshin) were wearing sunscreen.
Misha had already begun to fuss over a loudly complaining Sachi, which made Katsuo’s job much easier. Instead of worrying about the hazel-eyed boy, Katsuo set his sights on a much more stubborn prey. One Suzukawa Tenshin, who was currently hiding under the picnic table in bright yellow swim trunks. Not the best if one wanted to blend in.
“Aw, c’mon, Katsuo! I’ll be fine,” whined Tenshin, trying to avoid Katsupo’s unnaturally long fingers underneath the table, until he smacked his head, mumbling, “Ow.” Jirou snorted, kicking his boyfriend.
“Hell no!” he said, “If you get sunburned, you’re gonna start whining,”
Tenshin grumbled, finally allowing Katsuo access to his person to slather sunscreen all over him. He didn’t like it when people touched him. Though that had far less to do with germs and more to do with the simple fact that Tenshin was extremely ticklish and found that particular facet of himself embarrassing.
“See? That wasn’t so bad,” said Katsuo gently, smoothing out the last of the sunscreen.
Tenshin blew his bangs out of his eyes to hide a snort. “That’s true, I guess. We gonna play?”
“Yeah, gimme a second to make sure we’re all ready,”
Once he was satisfied, Katsuo clapped his hands. “Okay, so this is how it’s gonna work. Sachi, you’re team captain for Team A. Kohaku, you’re the captain for Team B. Pick your players, I don’t mind what team I’m on. I’ll go scout a spot with Misha,”
The other five teens gave various nods of assent and Misha and Katsuo left them to their own devices. Generally, that was a bad idea, but with Kohaku there, Katsuo was hopeful he wouldn’t return to absolute insanity.
He loved the team, he really did. But sometimes, he wanted to take a page out of Kohaku’s book and just laze around.
Once they had chosen their spot in the lake itself, Katsuo returned to get the rest of the players. Jirou and Tenshin had been split, with Jirou taking Kohaku’s team with Daiki and Tenshin supporting Sachi. Katsuo smiled. He’d fit nicely with Sachi’s sneaky strategy.
Overlooking them all from the shade, Misha cackled. “All right, you little shits!” he shouted.
“Hey! We’re all taller than you!” complained Daiki, arms crossed.
“Fine. All right, you shits!” amended Misha, “Let’s get this game started!”
“YEAH!” cheered everyone.
And surrounded by friends, playing the sport he loved, in a place that meant so much to him, Katsuo felt...happy. So happy.
That night, as his friends shouted, “Happy Birthday Katsuo!” and dunked him in the lake, he was glad that they couldn’t see him crying. This really was the best birthday ever.
END