(no subject)
Tachibana was a little confused. Chitose had been visiting him every chance he had, which hadn’t been unusual in Kyushu, but something about it seemed off. Chitose seemed a lot more deferential than he had ever been. More… concerned with his well being, though Tachibana had repeatedly told him that letting the ball hit him in the eye had been his own choice. He didn’t blame Chitose for that.
The object of his musing was currently sprawled across the floor next to him, constantly shifting to find a cooler spot. Tachibana’s small window fan tried valiantly to force a small breeze over the two sweaty boys. The effects of the ice cream they’d eaten nearly an hour ago were wearing off.
Chitose groaned and rolled over again, hairy leg bumping into Tachibana’s. “We should go swimming, Kippei. This weather sucks.”
“I’d love to, but the public pool is going to be crowded as hell right now. And we’re too far from the beach.”
“Damn it. And I don’t suppose any of your friends has a pool, huh?”
Tachibana snorted. If any of them had, he’d be there already. “No. I don’t think any of them are hiding a pool in their apartments.”
“Ah, well… any of them have a large bathtub? I could kind of submerge myself in one.”
Tachibana laughed at the mental image of Chitose trying to fit himself into a tub to swim, arms and legs askew like some hairy, demented water crab. He smiled. “Ah… not that I know of.”
Chitose poked him with his toes. “Share the joke.”
“Haha… just the image of you trying to swim in a tub with your arms and legs everywhere.”
Chitose blinked and chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Make fun of the tall guy. I get ya.”
“Only when you leave yourself open for it.” Tachibana grinned and shoved the foot away. It was too hot to be touching.
The comfortable silence went on for a while until Chitose yawned and rolled over again. “Way too damn hot. Got anymore ice cream?”
“Only if we go to the store for some. We’re out and An-chan will murder us if we touch her last frozen fruit bars.”
“Then lets go. I could eat a snowball right now. Or rub it all over myself. Mmmm… melting snowball.”
Tachibana opened and shut his mouth, not really sure what to say to that. “Yeah. I’ll go ask my mom for some cash.” He grabbed his tank top off the bed and pulled it back on. He begged some money from his mom who was watching the news from the couch with the large living room fan four feet away and on full blast. He wished they had air conditioning, but at least the heat worked in the winter.
He returned to his room to see that Chitose had at least tried to peel himself off the floor. He was now slouched all over Tachibana’s desk chair, his face directly against the fan and hair waving around like it was a live sea creature.
“Let’s go. There’s a corner store not too far from here.”
Chitose groaned. “Goodbye, beloved fan-chan. I shall return to your cool comfort soon.” He stood up and pulled on his threadbare, short, summer tunic. He gave the fan an affectionate pat.
Tachibana’s eyebrows knit together. “Now that you’re done molesting my fan, can we go?”
“The fan’s not what I want to molest…” Chitose’s low voice trailed off and Tachibana wasn’t sure he’d heard him right. He decided to ignore the remark for his sanity.
Chitose clomped down the stairs ahead of him. Tachibana waved to his mom as they left, promising that he’d bring her something too. They didn’t pass too many people on the street; most people were either at the pools or enjoying their air conditioning and fans.
At the store, Tachibana got a huge container of plain vanilla and he turned to look at what Chitose had chosen… But he could hardly see his friend because he had his head and upper body immersed in the ice cream case. Tachibana kicked his shin.
“Hey, stop that. The manager’s going to kick us out or something.”
Chitose groaned in a way that sent shivers up Tachibana’s spine. “But, Kippei~. It feels so nice~. Don’t make me come out yet.”
Tachibana turned red. “Just… hurry up and pick something.” He turned away and found some green tea frozen yogurt for his mom. He shut the case and felt a cold hand grab the nape of his neck. He gasped and shivered.
“Senri,” he growled out. “Knock it off.” The touch disappeared and Chitose chuckled as he moved in front of Kippei. A cold finger brushed over the mole on his forehead and he briefly went cross-eyed.
“Do you think we have enough to get a bag of ice too?”
Tachibana looked at the organic chocolate mint swirl Chitose held and did some swift mental calculations. “Yeah, we should have enough for a small bag. Just don’t stick any down my shirt.”
“Nah, I wouldn’t do that. It’d be a waste of the ice.” Chitose walked off to get the ice and they met at the checkout counter.
Tachibana didn’t know what plans Chitose had for the ice, but it probably involved melting it on himself some way, based on the snowball comment. The walk home didn’t take as long, despite the bags they held this time. Chitose was sucking on an ice cube along the way and popped one into Tachibana’s mouth too. His cheek was puffed out like a squirrel and the melting water did feel good going down his throat.
He handed his grateful mom the yogurt and shoved the ice cubes in the fridge for later. Tachibana and Chitose sat at the kitchen table and broke open their delicious treats. The appreciative sounds they made were almost obscene. An-chan had wandered in at one point to get one of her fruit bars. She shook her head at the boys in disgust at how much they were eating. “Boys are pigs,” she muttered and went back to her room. At the moment, Tachibana couldn’t disagree.