𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘

CHAPTER 42

TW: thoughts of suicide & gore

☆  ☆  ☆

Kai
2 years ago

I hate to admit how close the three of us had gotten. It didn't take much. Just the ocean, a board, a redheaded idiot, and his twin sister.

I picked up surfing pretty quickly. We were at the beach every morning when the sun broke the horizon 'till it fell behind the ocean. I got to be just as good as Souta. He knew it, too. Just didn't want to admit it.

I had almost forgotten all about my parents. About All For One. Because when my toes hit the sand at six in the morning, all of my anxiety washed away with the waves. I didn't have to question whether what I was doing was right or wrong. I didn't question who I was.

I was free.

It was March thirtieth, the last day of school for the twins, which also meant: ditch day.

Every year on the last day of school, the Tanaka twins made it a tradition to wake up two hours early and hit the waves for an all-day event. This year, I got to be a part of it.

We spent nine hours on the south side of the beach, getting fried by the sun's rays, surfing until our muscles trembled, and until our feet bled from treading on sand. Asa and I had gotten three shades darker while Souta got ten shades redder. Our cheeks and noses were so red and shiny that they burned to the touch. But I wouldn't change a thing.

Fun was limited in my house. "Fun" consisted of sewing the holes in my combat suit and shooting blood arrows at Itsuki's head.

But this... this was fun.

"I think I'm dying," Souta whined before plopping down on the sand. I pulled my sunglasses down my nose to flash him an amused look.

"Boy, you're redder than the speedo you're wearin'!" Asa laughed, raising from her beach towel to her elbows.

"For the thousandth time, IT'S NOT A SPEEDO!" Souta yelled, throwing his hands in the hair and gripping at nothing. "They're just smaller than I remember!"

"Mmmhm," Asa and I laughed.

"Quit laughing at me!" Souta grumbled, whipping around to throw a handful of sand at us.

"Oh, Souta!" I yelped when the sand fell into my hair and mouth.

"Goddammit, So! What the hell?!"

"You got it in our hair!" As I spoke, the roughness of tiny grains of sand crunched between my teeth. I stuck my tongue out and spit the bits from my mouth. "Great..."

Asa jumped to her feet and dusted the sand from her body. She then reached up to her hair and shook the sand from her scalp. "Ah wonderful, now I gotta wash this shit out."

"You're actin' like you didn't already have hella sand in there from the hours of surfing we've done already," Souta stood too, his bright red skin becoming even more noticeable.

I laughed maybe a little too hard. "Damn, Red! You're really living up to your nickname now. That whole bottle of sunscreen didn't help?"

"Shut up, Stiff," he sneered at me.

"Whether we're out here five minutes or five hours, it's proper etiquette to not throw sand at people," Asa wiped her hands before smacking her brother on the back of the head.

"Oi!" He whimpered, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

"I think it's time we head home. Gotta clean the house before Dad gets home," Asa sighed, bending over to grab her sand-infested towel from the beach.