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Nakamura gulps thickly as he stares at himself in the mirror. He turns his head side to side, brushing and combing his hair one way and then another. He keeps brushing and checking, brushing and checking, making sure that he looks good…or at the very least presentable.
Why haven’t I gone to get a hair cut recently? My bangs are so long that I can barely see past them! Do I have time to go right now? No, I’m supposed to be leaving soon or else I’m going to be late! I can’t leave Hirose waiting! Nakamura panics on the inside.
He wastes another ten minutes with his hair and checking himself in the mirror. He didn’t have to worry too much about his outfit. As bratty as his little sister is, she has a very keen eye when it comes to fashion, and she offers him advice whenever she’s in the mood (or whenever he bribes her with things). Part of Nakamura’s closet was dedicated to outfits that Kana had picked out for him. Those outfits he wore whenever he was going out with his friends. He’s pretty sure he’s worn this in front of Hirose before and got a compliment, so Nakamura isn’t too worried about looking ridiculous.
He’s just nervous. After all this is the first weekend of the two of them being boyfriends, meaning that this is their first real official date. Nakamura’s face flusters and he takes several deep breaths to calm himself. No, he can’t feel like he’s about to pass out before he even goes out on it. He can’t freak out before he even leaves the house.
You’ve hung out with Hirose plenty of times before, Okuto. You’re a little nervous because you’ve been waiting to go on a date with him for literally years now, but this is your moment. You got this. It’s going to be an easy day today. All you’re doing is going out to the beach. You’re going to walk hand in hand with Hirose on the sand, do a little window shopping, maybe share a snow cone together and…
“Aaaahhhhh!” Nakamura squeals in the bathroom.
Him and Hirose…sharing a snow cone, sharing a spoon, feeding each other, sharing indirect kisses. Nakamura can’t wait! He finishes getting ready, putting on sunscreen and cologne, and makes sure his crossbody bag has everything he needs in it before finally leaving home. Nakamura sends Hirose a quick text that he is on his way and will see him soon as he walks towards the train station.
It’s a surprise to him when he gets there ten minutes later and sees his boyfriend already standing at their meeting spot. He is waiting by the shade of a tree, dressed up in an oversized tan Hawaiian shirt with pink flowers on it and a pair of orange shorts. Nakamura nearly stumbles over and has to clench his heart because of how cute his boyfriend looks. He regrets not wearing his own Hawaiian shirt right now or else the two of them could have been matching! Maybe it would have been too soon for that when they’ve been dating for less than a week, but it has always been Nakamura’s dream to wear matching clothes and pajamas with his boyfriend. Maybe one day soon it will come true.
“Ah! Nakamura! Hey!” Hirose jumps up and calls out when he notices his boyfriend.
Nakamura smiles shyly and waves once as he walks over. Hirose laughs as he meets him half way and wraps his arms around him for a big hug.
“Morning Nakamura, I’m so happy to see you.”
“H-Hirose! Hi, I-I am-m-me too.” Nakamura stutters out.
He moves his hands up to hug his boyfriend back, closing his eyes for a second to take an inhale of his scent. Nakamura can already imagine the beach from his boyfriend’s scent, so refreshing and tropical.
“You do know that we’re going to the beach today, right? Although you look pretty handsome, you’re also looking a little warm. Are you going to be alright?” Hirose asks as he pulls back.
His boyfriend was wearing a short sleeved shirt and shorts, but while Hirose’s shorts stopped above his knees, Nakamura’s were longer and stopped below them. He also had on an undershirt underneath his cute lemon printed collared one. At least he was wearing sandals and not shoes.
“Yes, I’m going to be fine. My clothes actually keep me pretty cool. I burn underneath the sun, not tan, so I can’t show off too much unless I completely cover myself in sunscreen. Thanks for your concern though, Hirose.”
Hirose hums and frowns a little bit, “did I know that? I should have brought an umbrella for you, or at least a fan. I’m sorry, Nakamura. Maybe going to the beach wasn’t the best date idea–”
“No, don’t say that! I’m really excited for today and couldn’t sleep at all last night! I’m really happy about going! I’ll be fine! I promise, Hirose!” Nakamura immediately interrupts him.
This is finally our beach date! I don’t want it to end before it even begins! Our walk along the beach! Our hand holding! Our sharing of a snow cone! I can’t miss it all!
Hirose blinks before a wide grin appears on his lips, “okay, Nakamura. You have to tell me if you feel too hot, or start to get dizzy, or anything like that, alright?”
“Alright, I promise. We should go now, come on.”
Nakamura grabs Hirose’s hand and squeezes it tightly as he leads the way. He doesn’t want to give his boyfriend a chance to change his mind. As soon as the two of them board their train it’ll be too late to go back. Nakamura leads the way on a mission to get to the train as soon as possible. He has no idea that trailing behind him Hirose is smiling brightly and staring at the back of his head tenderly.
Nakamura is really excited about our date, hahaha. I can’t let him down. This is going to be the best, most fun date ever!
“We’re here! Hellooooo beach!”
Hirose cheers as he walks over to the railing and calls out to the beautiful view in front of them. The weather is absolutely perfect with not a single cloud in the sky. The sandy beach looks so welcoming, the waves crashing on them so fun, and the ocean’s vast and endless blue so breathtaking. It seems to be sparkling right now underneath the sun’s rays. Hirose’s eyes completely brighten up as he takes in this view.
Nakamura’s eyes light up as well, but it’s for a different reason. The view in front of them is very beautiful, yes, but his boyfriend’s reaction is way more entertaining. Hirose calms down a bit and remembers the reason why he came here in the first place. He turns over to his boyfriend and smiles.
“Come on, Nakamura! Let’s go!”
“R-Right!”
Nakamura reaches out for Hirose’s hand, lacing their fingers together. The two of them start heading towards the beach, walking down the flight of stairs that leads to the pathway. The train dropped them off about a five minute walk away, this being the closest station to the beach. As Nakamura walks this path with Hirose he begins to notice just how hot it is. The sun is beating down directly above them and there isn’t any shade on the path. Nakamura feels a little warm and then a little hot as the minutes pass them by. Sweat starts to form on his forehead, which he’s able to wipe off with his free hand. When he starts to feel his palms get all clammy though, that’s not something Nakamura can wipe off easily, especially while holding his boyfriend’s hand.
My hands feel so wet right now! It’s gross! Why am I sweating so much? It can’t only be because of the sun. Are my nerves getting to me right now? I want to hold Hirose’s hand, but what if he thinks it’s disgusting because of how sweaty they are? I know he would never say it to my face, but I don’t want him to think that!
Nakamura scrunches his face together and slowly opens his hand. He slips it out of Hirose’s and moves it behind his back, crying inwardly since his image of holding hands with his boyfriend as they walk on the sandy beach completely shatters.
“Nakamura?” Hirose calls out his name.
“Ah, I-I’m sorry. It’s just-it’s really sunny, and I’m feeling warm, s-so holding hands is kinda making me warmer.” Nakamura stutters out his excuse.
“Oh, okay. Now that I mention it your face is a little red. Should we get something cool to drink?”
“N-no, I’m fine now, honest! I know you really want to see the beach, so let’s go there first! I want to walk across the sand with you.”
Just because one image ended up not coming true doesn’t mean that they can’t do all the other things that Nakamura thought of. Walking on the beach side by side can still be pretty romantic. Hirose nods his head, but has a small pout on his lips.
“Okay, you remember what you promised me though, right?”
“Yes, yes, I remember.”
“Good, I’ll be keeping an eye on you to make sure.”
Hirose smiles brightly at his boyfriend, which makes Nakamura’s poor heart skip a beat. He’s already making it race and their date has only just begun.
You’ve been waiting for this date for years now, Nakamura. Years and it’s finally happening, so make sure you make the most of it! Give it your all and enjoy yourself! Nakamura gives himself a small pep talk.
His first date with his first boyfriend. This is going to be a date that he’ll remember for the rest of his life, so he has to make sure that everything goes perfect.
Nakamura stares at the ocean waves crashing against the sand. The wind whips around in his face, completely ruining all the hard work that he did making his hair look nice. He would regret getting too close to the water if it wasn’t for the fact of Hirose smiling and laughing so happily as he runs around with the waves chasing after him. Seeing this heals a part of Nakamura’s inner soul. Hirose looks so carefree and childlike, his laughter sounding so pure. Nakamura could watch this scene for hours.
“Nakamura, are you really going to stand there this whole time?” Hirose calls out to him.
Nakamura flinches and sees Hirose frowning a little with his hands on his hips. He was teasing his boyfriend, of course. Hirose would never force Nakamura to do anything that he didn’t want to do, but he never said that he didn’t want to get his feet wet.
“Oh, ah, no, of course not. Um…” Nakamura panics a little bit as he’s put on the spot.
He walks over to where Hirose is, seeing a small wave rushing towards them. The water crashes against his feet up to his ankles and Nakamura gasps out. He quickly jumps back out of the water and shivers.
“The water is freezing!” He shouts.
“Hahaha, of course it is! It’s the ocean, Nakamura! Did it cool you down?!”
“It gave me chills.”
Hirose laughs as he walks back to his boyfriend, “don’t worry, you’ll get used to the cold. It actually feels pretty nice.”
Nakamura frowns. He doesn’t think walking around with wet sandals is actually a nice feeling. He doesn’t like the feeling of sand between his toes either, but he loves the feeling he gets seeing the smile on Hirose’s face and hearing his laughter.
“Nakamura? We can go back in and walk around the shops if you don’t want to play in the ocean.” Hirose suggests.
“Ah, no, it’s fine. It’s cold, but like you said I’ll get used to it. I just have to-ahh!”
Nakamura cries out and flinches again when he walks back towards the waves and the freezing water covers his feet again.
“Ah, I-I’m fine, totally fine! I’m getting used to it now.”
Hirose chuckles and shakes his head, “no you are not, Nakamura, haha. Come on, let’s head back.”
“No, it’s fine, let’s-let’s…tag, you’re it!”
Nakamura places his palm against Hirose’s chest and pushes it lightly before he turns around and runs down the beach. He thought of something to do quickly since he didn’t want Hirose’s fun to be cut short so soon. Nakamura looks behind him and sees his boyfriend still standing where he left him…and then he takes off running.
“Nakamura!”
“Ah!”
Nakamura yelps out, growing a bit scared at how fast Hirose was catching up to him. He looks back ahead of him and focuses on running again. Although he is a lot more athletic than he used to be in their first year, Nakamura never really focuses on leg day when he works out. He knows he can’t outrun Hirose, who is like a ball of pure energy, but he wants to make it fun for him and give him a good chase. Nakamura peeks behind his shoulder again and sees Hirose smile as he catches up to him.
The two of us running on the beach like this reminds me of a BL that I’ve read before. Actually, isn’t this a famous scene in a bunch of animes? It is usually shown in slow motion, a sunset in the background as the two characters run after each other smiling and laughing. Yeah, this scene definitely reminds me of that. We’re actually living out a really romantic-graaah!
Nakamura steps on some seaweed he didn’t see the waves swept in. He slips on the slippy seaweed and falls face first into the sand. Not even two seconds later the ocean waves hit him and completely soak his clothes.
“NAKAMURA!”
Nakamura doesn’t say anything. He wishes the waves would actually sweep him into the ocean and take him far, far away from here. This would be exactly his luck now too, wouldn’t it?
“Nakamura, are you okay?! Why aren’t you getting up? Are you hurt?!”
When Hirose finally reaches his boyfriend he quickly grabs his arm and pulls him up. He tries to help him stand back up so the ocean waves don’t continue to hit him and soak him even more. Nakamura has his face scrunched up because he can feel sand completely covering it. He starts to spit, tasting it in his mouth as well.
“Oh no, Nakamura, you’re completely soaked. Are you okay? Here, wait a second.”
Hirose pulls up the bottom of his shirt and rubs it against his boyfriend’s face, trying to get the sand off and out of his eyes. His heart is racing so fast right now in panic over his boyfriend. He seemed so happy before, the two of them enjoying themselves, and then all of a sudden Nakamura had fallen straight down. Hirose nearly had a heart attack as he raced over to help him. He checks over his boyfriend, trying to see if he might have scraped himself anywhere or started bleeding.
“Is that better?”
Nakamura tries to peek his eyes open, but they burn immediately as sand gets into them. He wipes his hands off on his wet shirt and rubs his eyes, not really knowing if he’s making it better or worse.
“Y-yeah, thank you, Hirose. I’m fin–”
“Do not say you’re fine, Nakamura. You don’t look fine at all. I’m so sorry.”
“None of this is your fault, Hirose. I tripped, it was an accident.”
“I know, but I was teasing you before when you looked perfectly content with enjoying the ocean from where you stood.”
If I never would have said anything then this wouldn’t have happened. This is all my fault. Hirose thinks to himself.
He shouldn’t just stand here sulking though; that isn’t going to help his boyfriend. First he needs to see if he’s hurt anywhere, help him dry off, and then have him sit down to relax for a moment. Hirose looks over Nakamura and sees most of his outfit soaked. He’s wearing two shirts, which might actually be a good thing now. If Nakamura takes his overshirt out and hangs it on a chair or bench then maybe it will dry fast enough for him to wear it and take his wet undershirt off.
“You should take off your collared shirt, Nakamura. Maybe if we hang it up somewhere it will dry faster in the sun.” Hirose tells him.
He reaches out his hands, planning on touching the collar to see just how soaked it was. They may have to wring it out first if it absorbed too much water. Right before Hirose can touch it though Nakamura quickly smacks it away.
“I’m fine, Hirose!”
Hirose flinches. Nakamura’s eyes grow wide and he quickly says right afterwards.
“I-I’m sorry, but I’m telling you I’m fine. I just…need to go to the restroom for a bit. I’m not hurt or anything, only a bit wet and covered in sand. I’m going to go clean myself up.”
Nakamura starts to walk away. He doesn’t wait for Hirose, too embarrassed and scared to look at him. He hadn’t meant to react that way at all. Hirose was only worrying about him, which he was allowed to do since they are dating. Nakamura shouldn’t have yelled at him like that. He started panicking all of a sudden though when he saw Hirose trying to reach for his neck. Nakamura’s face scrunches up as he places his hand right on the bottom of his neck, squeezing onto it tightly.
Their first ever date…is not going as Nakamura dreamed it would go at all. It wouldn’t be too far to say that he might have just ruined it.
Nakamura zips up his crossbody bag, happy that nothing inside of it got completely soaked. The bag itself was damp on the outside, but because of the material inside the water didn’t seem to leak through. Everything that he had was still dry, which was a miracle because he was able to clean and fix himself up. There is no longer sand burning his eyes or clinging to his face. He dusted himself off as best as he could, but there was little he could do about his wet clothes. Hopefully walking around under the sun would help them dry off eventually…although Nakamura doubts that they’re going to stay here much longer.
Not since this date turned into a disaster. Nothing at all was going how Nakamura imagined. He thought that he and Hirose would enjoy a nice beach date, holding hands, walking alongside the beach, sharing a snow cone together, and perhaps even enjoying the sunset too. Nakamura wasn’t able to hold his hand though because of how sweaty he got and he tripped and fell over as they were playing on the beach, completely ruining the mood. He made Hirose so worried over him, he’s probably going to suggest they head home now. Nakamura sighs out and grabs his shoulder.
You know what? Just because the date started off bad doesn’t mean it has to end bad. Maybe Hirose and I can still do something fun before leaving. Besides, it’s not like this is going to be our only date. It is the first of many. Next time will be better. We’ll go somewhere far away from water and I’ll pack an extra pair of clothes just in case something happens.
Nakamura tries to look on the bright side. He smiles lightly as he makes his way out of the restroom, unlocking the door as he leaves. He gives an apologetic bow to the line waiting outside, since he had just spent the last twenty minutes in there fixing himself up. Nakamura walks out onto the concrete path and looks around for his boyfriend.
“Hirose?” He calls out.
That’s strange, where is he? Nakamura thought he was right behind him. He saw him standing off to the side when he entered the restroom, so where was he now? Nakamura glances all around and even walks onto the other side of the restrooms to see if he was waiting over there, but he doesn’t spot him at all.
Oh no, he didn’t leave me behind, did he? No, no, no, this is Hirose. He wouldn’t do that to me. Maybe he went to the bathroom himself because I was taking too long. I’ll call him in a bit if he doesn’t show up soon. Nakamura thinks.
He sits down on one of the open benches, right under the sun in hopes of it warming him up and drying him off. Nakamura stares at the restroom doors. He sees them open and close multiple times, but doesn’t see his boyfriend exiting out of any of them. Nakamura lets out a tiny sigh after a few minutes pass. He still tries not to think of the worst, like his boyfriend leaving him behind, and instead decides to finally call him.
If Hirose doesn’t pick up…then he’ll think something terrible.
Nakamura digs inside of his bag and pulls out his phone. He pulls up Hirose’s profile and calls the number. As soon as it rings he hears a familiar ringtone as well. Nakamura perks up and looks around, finally spotting his boyfriend. He’s running over towards him holding a water bottle in one hand and…and!
Is that a snow cone?! Nakamura gasps.
He stands up immediately and hangs up the phone. Hirose meets his eyes and smiles lightly as he runs over.
“Nakamura, I was hoping that I would be back before you got out. I didn’t keep you waiting for too long, did I? Were you trying to call me?” Hirose asks, noticing the phone in his hand.
“Y-yeah, but it wasn’t for that long. Just a minute or two. I was worried about where you went.”
“I’m so sorry! I thought you might want some water to wash your mouth out, since I know the tap water here can’t be that clean. I also got this snow cone just in case you wanted the taste of sand out of your mouth too. I’m sorry it seems kind of random, but it was the first stall I saw while running around looking for water to buy.”
“No, no, not at all, Hirose. I love snow cones. I was hoping to eat one today. Th-thank you,” Nakamura thanks his boyfriend sincerely.
Hirose blinks, seeing the sweet smile that appears on his boyfriend's lips. He really looks so happy right now…over a snow cone. Hirose had no idea his boyfriend loved snow cones so much, but he makes a note of it now to never forget.
“Here, have the water first. We should sit down as we eat.”
“R-right, thank you, Hirose.”
Nakamura accepts the water and sits back down on the bench. He opens it up and starts to drink it, washing his mouth clean. He had spat in the restroom sink a lot to get rid of sand in his mouth, but this water does the trick of washing away the rest of it.
“Oh no.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“The worker only gave me one spoon. I thought I asked for two, but I wasn’t really paying attention since they wrapped the napkins around it.” Hirose frowns.
Nakamura’s eyes grow wide. One snow cone? With only one spoon? Is this fate? No, no, Nakamura doesn’t want to mess with fate anymore. Can he instead think of it as the universe trying its best to make sure this date doesn’t end on a bad note?
“I can run back and grab another one,” Hirose mumbles as he looks behind him.
“I-it’s fine! We-we’re dating, right? It-it’s okay for us to-to share…one.” Nakamura squeaks out. “I mean, w-we’ve shared chopsticks before too, haven’t we?”
Hirose blinks and looks back at him, “hmm, you’re right. It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you. Here you are, Nakamura. Say ah.”
“Ah,” Nakamura opens his mouth, but it’s not to say ah, but instead to gasp out loudly as his boyfriend just offered to feed him.
Hirose picks up the spoon and scoops some of the snow cone up before feeding it to his boyfriend. Nakamura’s mouth slams shut and he barely tastes the flavor of the snow cone as he watches his boyfriend pull the spoon back and grin.
“How is it? Good?”
Nakamura’s face turns bright red as he rapidly nods his head up and down over and over again. Hirose laughs and takes a bite of the snow cone himself.
“Hmmm, it is really good. Delicious!”
AHHHHH! WE SHARED AN INDIRECT KISS! WE SHARED AN INDIRECT KISS! Nakamura’s mind screams out.
Smoke would be coming out of his head if this were an anime right now because of how embarrassed he becomes. His face quickly flusters red and he drinks more water to try and cool himself down.
“I-I–” Nakamura takes a deep breath, “I appreciate you getting me all these things, Hirose. Thank you very much.”
“No need to thank me, Nakamura. I’m your boyfriend, I should do things like this for you. I felt completely useless trying to help you after you fell, I wanted to do something nice for you. I’m sorry that this was all that I could do. Truth be told, I was really nervous about today. It’s our first date as boyfriends and I really wanted for it to go well, but I don’t think I did a very good job making you happy and I was worried I might have upset you instead.”
“No, Hirose! I don’t feel that way at all. You helped me get back up and even wiped the sand away from my face so I could see again. You helped me a lot, Hirose, so don’t say that. None of it was your fault. You didn’t upset me, I upset myself since I was afraid that I might have ruined our date because of what happened.”
“Pfft, hahaha. We really are the same, aren’t we, Nakamura? I mean, I feel like this is our luck. Our confession ended up a mess and it looks like our first date did too.”
Nakamura blinks before he chuckles lightly and nods his head, “yeah, hahaha, but it’s a lot more interesting and fun.”
“You can say that again. I don’t think I’ll ever forget our first date.”
“Neither will I.”
Hirose grins brightly at Nakamura before offering another spoonful of snow cone. It wasn’t perfect, but then again, hardly anything is perfect in the world. Their date definitely had hiccups, but Nakamura doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the sight of Hirose offering him a bite of snowcone, or seeing his smile as he played in the water. He won’t forget his sweaty palms holding onto his boyfriend’s with the salty ocean scent flying in the wind or the way Hirose called out his name so lovingly. There are a lot of things that Nakamura is going to remember about today, both good and bad.
Most of all though, he’s going to remember the great first date he had with his boyfriend.