Clouded Distance | Free! Fan Fiction

31. Eternal Summer

Clouded Distance
Chapter Thirty-One
Eternal Summer

The night was one of the most beautiful nights Hana had ever experienced.

Maybe she was being a little bias. Maybe that opinion also came from the fact that Haru was lying beside her and that they were alone in the middle of the forest, a stream softly running beside them, with no one else to tease them or interrupt their time together.

But it was such a beautiful night. The temperature was just right, and the weather was fair enough that they were able to sleep outside their tent. The night sky was cloudless, revealing a scattering of stars as far as Hana's could see. It was peaceful, too, secluded far away from any bustling city.

They'd finally made their small dream of camping under the stars together become reality. When Hana brought it up that night by the beach, it seemed so far away, but achievable. Around Regionals, it seemed nothing like a daydream or far-off fantasy.

But then school had finished and freedom was staring at the face, and they'd turned to each other and said, "Let's make it happen."

Freedom together before college, and also to celebrate the end of high school. The last few months of high school had been stressful, with almost every spare moment being filled with studying. Hana had finished her short story for the writing club; she had thought it her best work so far. She had named it Eternal Summer, and wrote it based on her experiences as a third year. She had retired from the writing club when she had handed in, with no regrets.

When the collection of short stories had been published in the school library, Hana had been strangely proud that it had made multiple people cry. She had put all effort and emotion into that story.

After many nights of pulling all-nighters and spending the entire day cramming with Makoto and Haru, exams had eventually passed. Hana had been ecstatic with her results. Her lowest result had been in maths, as she'd expected, but she'd passed all her subjects, and achieved the highest result in literature. Haru and Makoto had also received good results.

As soon as school was over she and Haru began making plans for their camping trip. A week later they had been packing up, carrying backpacks fit with all their supplies for three days of camping and were leaving Iwatobi, with Hana's mother yelling after them to be responsible. Hana had rolled her eyes at that.

Now they were camped out under the stars, lying so close side by side that they touched. Hana lay with one hand behind her head, a soft smile on her face as she gazed up at the heavens. That was a sight she could never tire of.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," she whispered.

"They are," Haru admitted. "But not as beautiful as you."

"Oh, shut up. That's so cheesy," Hana muttered, hitting him on the side. But her cheeks were bright red, and her face had split into a wide smile. She chuckled, and leaned back. "I can't believe we're in college now," she whispered. "It's so difficult to believe."

Haru hummed in agreement. "Tokyo is different to Iwatobi, isn't it?"

They'd stayed in Tokyo for a few days, to move their belongings into their new apartment they'd be living in together. It had felt strange, unpacking in a building without any adult supervision. They weren't yet sleeping in the same room, though, but maybe in the future they'd find that the time was right to do so.

"Very different," Hana agreed. They'd only slept in Tokyo for one night, but it had been so different to their sleepy, ocean-side town of Iwatobi: it was busier, brighter, noisier, and brighter. Tokyo was nice