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After everything, it was finally time to relax, at least for a small bit. Makoto knew that… they weren’t done- not even close to it- but that didn’t mean they couldn’t take a day off. If anything, it was needed.
And what better way to spend the day than at their own private beach? Well, their private part of the beach Makoto was pretty sure. He… didn’t remember the exact details, as was the case with a lot of things.
But… today was not a day to focus on that. Today was a day to have fun, to relax. That was the only thing Makoto needed to remember right now.
“Makoto!” Leon waved at him from where he was in the water, a grin present on his face. “Ya coming in? The water’s real nice!”
Next to him, Sayaka nodded. “Mhm! It’s much warmer than before!”
“That’s… nice,” Makoto responded with a smile as he slowly started to get closer. He had… intended to wait for Kyoko, but it seemed like she and Byakuya still weren’t done with the call with her dad.
After a few steps he entered the water, which was only slightly chilly at first before his body got used to it. It didn’t take long for him to reach Sayaka and Leon, with the pair not being all that deep into the water, at least not like some others.
At this point, he could only barely make out where Hina was. She had gone really far into the water, being the first person to have entered it of course. Sakura was near her though, swimming along with her, while most likely also making sure Hina didn’t go too far.
Noticing what he was looking at, Sayaka softly laughed. “Those two… I don’t think they’ll get out of the water any time soon.”
“Hina sure isn’t gonna want to,” Leon responded. “Don’t think Taka will like that though, pretty sure he said something about the water not being fully warmed up yet.”
“If Mondo can keep him distracted, he might not notice,” The girl responded with a bright smile. “And I think he’ll like relaxing too… hopefully.”
“It is what he should do, though doesn’t mean he is gonna to.” Leon laughed, shaking his head softly. “He ain’t the only one though. Kyoko and Byakuya are still inside, and Celeste is not gonna put a swimsuit on, Toko too. That is what they said at least.”
At that, Makoto smiled a bit. His friends… were all so different, but all in good ways. And he knew one thing too- at the end of the day, all of them would’ve entered the water most likely. “I think Hifumi is trying to convince Celeste. Mentioned something about having made her a swimsuit.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me, the dude takes any opportunity to make something new. Like remember when I-” Leon suddenly paused, eyes widening as his grin grew. “There they are! Kyoko! Byakuya!”
Hearing that, Makoto immediately turned his head around. Just like Leon had said, the pair had finally left the house, wearing their swimming gear. Kyoko was wearing a light purple bikini- one she had gotten when shopping with Sayaka he was pretty sure- and a pair of black gloves. Then Byakuya had black swimming trunks, a matching jacket to go along with it.
The two of them said something to each other, something that caused Byakuya to roll his eyes while Kyoko gained a small smirk on her face. They split up soon after, with Byakuya walking over to one of the beach chairs, a book and towel floating behind him. Meanwhile Kyoko met eyes with him, the smirk on her face changing into something softer.
She took a few steps into the water, pausing momentarily before continuing, walking over next to Makoto. “I thought you were going to wait for me,” She teased as she softly grabbed Makoto’s hand. He immediately felt the warmth of it, the reminder that she was there.
“We called him over, Kiri. Not his fault you were late,” Leon responded as he put his arm around Makoto, pulling him over to the redhead and making Kyoko let go of him. “You had your chance though. Makoto is gonna spend the whole day with us now.”
“Oh, really now?” Kyoko’s look remained playful, a sign that she absolutely had something planned already. “Then I suppose it won’t be a problem if we trade,” She continued as she linked her hand with Sayaka’s. “You don’t mind, right, Sayaka?”
The girl shook her head, giggling softly. “Not in the slightest. If anything, I do need some time away from boys…” She responded while she started to walk away, still holding hands with Kyoko.
“Hey!” Leon clearly hadn’t expected this. “You can’t just kidnap my girlfriend!”
Kyoko turned around for a small moment. “You took my boyfriend first. Nor am I kidnapping Sayaka.”
“Ugh…” Leon deflated, pouting slightly. “This is so unfair… our girlfriends, gone!” He turned to Makoto. “Can you believe it?!”
“Well… it is what just happened,” Makoto responded with a light chuckle. “And we can just meet up with them later again.”
“That just sounds like you’re on their side too…” Leon playfully grumbled, kicking at the sand, something that only barely worked since his foot was in the water.
Makoto had missed moments like these though, moments where all of them would just joke around. It reminded him of when they were in the school before anything had happened. Before the bear attack, before Sayaka got controlled, before it went bad. Sure, they had been stuck in the school, but it had been… nice for the most part.
But now that was back, and it felt even nicer than before. All of them had gotten closer, that was sure.
“Well, if they’re gone...” Leon began, his mood suddenly having changed again. He was grinning again; arm still slumped around Makoto’s shoulders. “Wanna grab some drinks? I’m thirsty and, like… they’re near Byakuya. If I go alone, he’ll get mad at me.”
“So… you want to use me as a meat shield?” Makoto asked as he looked up at the other boy.
Leon nodded, still grinning. “Exactly! You get it! He’s not gonna hurt you.”
Technically, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Mostly because what Leon meant with ‘hurting’ was Byakuya using his powers on somebody, be that by lifting them up or throwing something at them.
Makoto has been the victim for both many times. Byakuya always says that it’s his own fault for being so ‘stubbornly annoyingly affectionate when that was not needed’.
“We both know that’s not true…” Makoto said before shaking his head. “Getting a drink does sound nice though.”
“Great! Go grab them then! And I’ll be right behind you,” Leon joked as he began to walk, dragging Makoto along with him.
The boy stumbled for a moment, almost losing his footing and falling before managing to catch himself. “L-Leon!” He cried out, though he couldn’t stop a grin starting to form on his face.
“Heh, sorry.” He did not sound apologetic in the slightest, instead just continuing to walk. “Ooohh, Chihiro and Hiro are building a sandcastle, dude!” Leon pointed to the pair, who were sitting not too far from where Byakuya was now reading on a chair.
Chihiro was wearing a light blue and yellow striped shirt over their swimwear, a concentrated expression on their face as they sat on the ground. Next to them, Hiro was wearing yellow swimming trunks together with a white and green Hawaiian type shirt.
He was sure if Celeste saw that, she would come outside immediately, if only to criticize Hiro for even thinking about wearing that.
But once they heard their footsteps, Chihiro looked up. “Oh, Makoto, Leon!” They smiled brightly. “You’ve already gone swimming?”
“Ah, no.” Makoto shook his head- he hadn’t actually gone swimming, right…? “Just gone into the water for a bit,” He answered, looking up at Leon a bit to see what his response would be.
He nodded. “Yup. We were gonna swim, but then Kyoko stole my girlfriend, so we went to grab some things from here,” Leon explained, pointing towards the cooled container with the drinks. “Just that Mr. Grumpy over there won’t just throw them at us when we try to grab them.”
“I can hear you, Kuwata,” Byakuya said as he glared at Leon. “Though, that might not be that bad of an idea…” His frown turned into a smirk.
“Oh, come on!” Leon let out another groan. “Now we can’t grab those drinks for sure…” He then turned to Chihiro. “Chihiro… could you maybe grab them? Even somebody like Byakuya can’t be mean to you!”
Was he… really trying to reuse that tactic again?
Though it did make a bit more sense this time- all things considered, Byakuya was quite… civil towards Chihiro, his mean remarks softening when it was about them. Even he couldn’t be mean to somebody as Chihiro, at least not in the way he acted towards everybody else. It was something really nice to see, even if it was just a small thing.
“Oh, sure!” Chihiro stood up, still smiling brightly as they wiped some sand of their legs. “What did you want?”
“The best drink ever, ‘course!” Leon answered with a grin. “Raspberry cherry coke.”
Makoto smiled slightly at that, thinking about how they had boxes full of that because Leon loved it and it apparently was going to be out of stock. “Just some water for me.”
“Okay! I’ll just go-” Chihiro suddenly interrupted themselves, crouching down just as a can whizzed through the air.
And hitting Leon square in the back of his head. “O-ow!” He complained, though Makoto was quite sure that the can hadn’t even hit him that hard. “Byakuya!”
“I saved Chihiro a walk.” Was all he responded, eyes moving down back to his book. “Besides, I was the one who bought all the boxes. If I wanted, I could just send them all to the mansion.”
“You won’t!” Leon responded. “Right…?”
Byakuya just hummed in response, letting a water bottle slowly float into Makoto’s hands. “Thank you,” Makoto said at the same time Leon whined out Byakuya’s name once again.
Chihiro let out a soft laugh. “I don’t think trying to aggravate him is a smart idea, Leon…” They said with a small shake of their head.
“Oh, no. Go ahead,” Byakuya said, speaking in such a tone that Makoto already knew Leon should stop right now. “You’re already wet, so you won’t mind going into the water again, right?”
“Come on, dude!” Leon put his hands up as a sign of surrender. “I was just joking around… like always! No need to throw me into the-” He was cut off as Byakuya waved his hand, sending Leon flying back into the water, though only the edge of it.
Hiro leaned down a bit. “You know, I don’t think a prediction was needed to see that would happen…”
“Hagakure.” Came Byakuya’s sharp voice. “Would you like to join Leon?”
At that, Hiro immediately shook his head. “No! No need to! Chihiro and I have a sandcastle that needs finishing!” He said as he suddenly knelt down in the sane. “See?”
“Do that in some resemblance of silence then.” Byakuya turned his gaze back to his novel, seemingly done with the conversation.
That… sure was something.
Though it was far from unexpected knowing Byakuya. He… didn’t like to be interrupted when reading, not in the slightest.
Makoto then shook his head. “Well, I’m gonna go now. Maybe help Leon up-” He said before seeing something in the distance- Hifumi and Celeste. “-or maybe help Hifumi convince Celeste.”
“Good luck with that, broski,” Hiro responded with a short laugh. “He’s been trying to convince her all day.”
“She should come outside though! It’s really nice outside now!” Chihiro said with another bright smile. “And we’ve got good sunscreen too, so there’s no real risked of getting burned.”
Makoto smiled in return. “I’ll see if I can convince her of that. It would be nice if all of us were here, outside…” He responded. “That goes for Toko too. I’ll also talk to her.”
“Good luck with that too.” Hiro repeated, his smile a bit more relaxed.
“Thanks,” Makoto said in response before waving them goodbye. It wasn’t long before he spotted the pair he had wanted to talk to first- Celeste and Hifumi. They were standing under the canopy attached to the house.
Hifumi held something out to Celeste. “Miss Ludenburg, I promise you’ll like it! It’s made from the finest materials and-”
“No.” Celeste cut him off, her voice curt. “I will not go into the sun and risk my delicate skin getting burned.”
There… was sunscreen though.
Not to mention that it even wasn’t even that hot. Then again… this was Celeste .
“Hifumi, Celeste,” Makoto greeted with a smile, interrupting their conversation. “Is there something going on?”
At that, Hifumi nodded, turning to him with a slightly desperate look in his eyes. “Mr. Naegi, it’s a beautiful day now, right?” He asked, eyes still wide with that slight desperation.
“Yes…” Makoto nodded, though he was slightly confused. That was… obvious to see, right?
“Aha!” Hifumi then turned back to Celeste. “See, Mr. Naegi thinks the same, as does practically everybody else! Even Mr. Togami is outside!”
Celeste let out a soft huff. “Just because everybody else is acting like mere idiots, it doesn’t mean I will. I am not going to repeat myself again, I will not let myself get sunburned.”
“But… you can just wear a jacket then, right? Like Byakuya and Hiro,” Makoto said, pointing to the two, lingering a bit longer on Hiro.
It was… a slightly backhanded tactic, one Makoto normally wouldn’t use, but… he wanted everybody to include the sun today. And from what Celeste herself had taught him, he could sense something other than annoyance from it.
She did want to go outside like everybody else, but was just… holding herself from it. There was a feeling buried beneath the annoyance.
As Celeste’s eyes landed on Hiro, her lips twitched. “What is he wearing? Even for Hiro that’s utterly disgusting.” She then turned to Hifumi, roughly grabbing the swimsuit out of his hands. “Very well. I will join you outside… if only to get him to change out of that.” Celeste turned around after that, heading into the house to change.
“Mr. Naegi! I can’t believe that worked!” Hifumi’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Now she’ll actually wear the swimsuit I made for her!”
He laughed slightly at that. “She just needed a reason. It wasn’t as if she really didn’t want to go out,” Makoto began to explain when his eyes suddenly landed on somebody behind the window, watching everybody else. “Unlike her…” He added.
“Who- Oh, Ms. Fukawa…” Hifumi said as he noticed where Makoto’s gaze was heading. “She has been inside all day, even more so than Ms. Ludenburg!”
“I’ll go see what that is about then. Being outside could be good for her too,” The boy responded before waving goodbye to Hifumi. “Talk to you later.”
He then entered the house, closing the door softly behind him. Not that it mattered though- Toko had already noticed him, and her eyes were on him. Or well, mostly on him. They were really just darting around, not focusing on anything.
“M-Makoto… you’re trying to make me come outside t-too, right? Like you just did with Celeste…?” She asked, a slight frown on her face.
Makoto didn’t let that deter him though and instead just nodded. “Yes. It would be nice if all of us were on the beach today,” He said as he sat down next to her. “Why aren’t you?”
“I’m not g-going to be fooled by your tricks…” Toko muttered, almost so softly that it was hard for Makoto to hear, making him wonder if he was even supposed to hear it. “There’s no w-way I’ll wear a swimsuit and g-go into that water!”
“You don’t have to,” He responded with a soft smile. “You can just wear normal clothes and just stay on the beach. I know Byakuya is just reading right now, and Hiro and Chihiro are building a sandcastle. Not everybody is in the water.”
Her eyes widened slightly at that. “O-oh…” She muttered as though she hadn’t considered that. “Fine then… B-but only so you people will stop bothering me!”
Makoto couldn’t help but chuckle softly at that. “Of course, Toko.”
The girl then stood up and left without another word, clutching to one of her braids, muttering things that Makoto couldn’t make it. But it did seem like she was going to join everybody else, so that was good.
That means everybody is here now.
Well, almost everybody. Mukuro wasn’t here, which was the case often. She at least did send letters, which made things a bit better. It meant that he at least knew she wasn’t in any problems.
“Makoto!” He was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard a shrill voice, one that could only belong to one person- well, bear. “Lucky! You gotta help me!”
He looked down at Monokuma, who had an angry expression on his face. “What’s going on?”
“I’m being overthrown! Those two-” He climbed on a chair so he could point out of the window, pointing at Sakura and Hina. “-are entering the no-no area’s! And my little brother isn’t doing anything about it!”
“And… I need to help you with this?” The boy asked, though he already knew the answer by now. Of course it was going to be a yes.
Monokuma nodded. “Exactly! So, go! Get those two rascals out of there!” After climbing down, he pushed Makoto’s leg, which did not make him move forwards in the slightest.
“Okay…” He agreed, letting out a soft chuckle, one that was too soft for Monokuma to hear. He knew that was the only way to make Monokuma satisfied, even if he wasn’t actually planning on helping him. After it, from the looks of it, Hina and Sakura weren’t even that deep in the water- they could still stand.
Despite that though, he walked over to the two of them, swimming slightly at times to get to them faster… which never really worked and just made him stumble. Luckily though, he never actually fell fully into the water, being able to catch himself with his arms.
“Hina, Sakura,” He greeted when he did eventually reach them, smiling. “How are you doing?”
“Wonderful,” Sakura responded with a soft smile of her own. Her white hair had been pulled up into a bun, though a few strands had come loose by now. It wasn’t hard to guess why. “The water is quite nice, don’t you think.”
Before he could response, Hina nodded. “It’s awesome! I’ve been waiting for a day like this! Now I can swim all day!”
He laughed slightly at that, his smile widening. “It really is nice,” Makoto agreed with a nod. “And everybody is outside now too.”
“That makes it even better,” Sakura responded. “Though, what are you doing out here, Makoto?” She asked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.
“Oh, well…” He looked away a bit. “Monokuma wanted me to… get you out of the water, I think? Because being in there so long isn’t safe… That’s what he said at least.”
“Well, back luck for him, I’m not getting out of here!” Hina said with a shake of her head. “It’s way too nice.”
He laughed again. “I wasn’t going to actually stop you, but you… know how Monokuma is.”
For a little bear, he could be very stubborn after all.
Sakura nodded in agreement, “He’s certainly… something.”
“How Byakuya can handle him…” Hina trailed off before shaking her head. “Well, it doesn’t matter.” She then grabbed Sakura’s hand. “Come, we gotta go in farther! I can barely feel the waves here.”
“Alright, dear, but let’s not go too far.” Sakura then turned back to look at Makoto. “We’ll talk later then.”
He nodded, “Of course. I’m just gonna have to… avoid Monokuma for now. You know how he is…” He said before shaking his head. “Don’t let that stop you though. Have fun swimming!”
The two girls left quickly after that, going deeper into the water due to Hina’s insistence.
That meant he could finally find Kyoko and relax, right?
“Makoto!” Just as he was back on the beach, Leon came running towards at him. “Ya gotta help me, dude! Mondo is going to kill me?”
“H-huh?” Makoto’s eyes turned wide. “What do you mean?”
That made Leon scratch the back of his head, an awkward look forming on his face. “Well, after the whole shit with Byakuya I might’ve gone back into the water and-”
“Almost fucking hurt Taks!” Mondo interrupted with an angry look, having stormed after Leon. “He can’t handle the water!”
“I didn’t know!” Leon swiftly protested as he turned to Mondo, the awkwardness turning into nervousness. “I-I was just trying to mess around?”
This… wasn’t good.
It was clear to Makoto that soon enough, this was going to escalate. While he doubted Mondo would actually seriously injure Leon, it was impossible to know when Taka was involved…
So, that meant he needed to step in. Literally.
Makoto stepped in between the two, separating them. “Okay… What happened?”
Just as he asked that, Taka appeared, frowning slightly. “Leon was ‘messing around’ with me and Mondo. He then almost pushed me off the floatie, causing me to fall in the water slightly. No serious damage was done though.”
“But that could’ve happened, Taks!” Mondo argued, his angry tone only fading slightly.
“But that wasn’t his intention, Mondo.” Taka gently put his hand on Mondo’s back.
Leon nodded. “Y-yeah! You know I would never, dude!”
“Ugh… suppose so…” Mondo muttered before looking back at Leon. “Ya better not do something that stupid again though…”
“Right, of course! No problemo!” Leon laughed nervously, nodding up and down.
“Then that’s settled,” Taka said as a soft smile slipped on his face. “Now, why don’t we get some drinks? I believe Chihiro was also building a sandcastle near there.”
After a few moments, Mondo nodded. “Some drinks sound nice.” He then turned back to Leon one last time. “I’m watching you.” And with that, they left.
Once they were out of sight, Leon let out a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair. “Really thought he was gonna kill me there…” He then suddenly grinned again. “Anyways, let’s go get our girlfriends again! I want some good things after everything I went through today.” He then grabbed hold of Makoto’s arm.
Makoto just let himself get dragged away, simply smiling. He certainly wouldn’t mind spending the rest of the day with Kyoko- it would be a nice way to relax. Especially after everything he had just done.
That had been worth it though. If there was one thing he enjoyed more than anything else, it was seeing his friends happy. And right now, that was exactly what they were.
Sakura and Hina were now swimming in the sea, splashing water at each other. Taka and Mondo had walked over to Chihiro and Hiro, their sandcastle almost done. Next to them, Byakuya was reading his book, glancing over at them slightly.
Then Toko was sitting in the shade, next to Celeste. Toko was writing things down in her notebook, still in her normal clothes. Celeste was wearing the black swimsuit Hifumi had given her- who Makoto could now see sitting next to the pair.
And finally, Sayaka and Kyoko were sitting near the water, talking and smiling.
While his friends were a handful, Makoto wouldn’t have it any other way. They were the best friends he could ever ask for.
And that was something he wouldn’t ever forget again.