The beach was chaos.
Good chaos.
Music played.
People were swimming.
Pizza boxes were everywhere.
Someone was playing volleyball.
Fred was racing his friends down the beach.
Takaba was trying to balance three beach balls on his head.
And Takeru?
Takeru was having the time of his life.
He was in the water with Yuji, splashing him.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Yuji laughed.
"You're not catching me!"
Takeru chased after him.
Then—
He stopped.
Completely.
Not slowing down.
Not looking around.
Just—
paused.
His foot remained planted in the shallow water.
His arms hung loosely at his sides.
His expression went blank.
Yuji stopped too.
"…Takeru?"
No response.
The waves rolled around Takeru's legs.
"Takeru?"
Still nothing.
On the beach, Megumi noticed.
"Something's wrong."
Nanami looked over.
Takeru hadn't moved.
Not even slightly.
The music continued.
People kept laughing.
The waves kept crashing.
But Takeru just stood there.
Yuji cautiously walked closer.
"Hey…"
Takeru's eyes shifted.
Slowly.
He looked toward the horizon.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he blinked.
Once.
Twice.
And suddenly—
"…"
He shook his head.
"…Sorry."
Yuji frowned.
"What happened?"
Takeru looked at him.
"Nothing."
"You sure?"
Takeru smiled.
"Yeah."
He splashed Yuji.
"Now get back here!"
Yuji jumped.
"HEY!"
Takeru immediately took off running through the water.
"COME ON!"
Yuji chased him.
The beach slowly returned to its laughter and noise.
But a few people kept watching Takeru.
Because for that brief moment…
he hadn't looked like someone enjoying a beach party.
He'd looked like someone who had suddenly remembered something.
Something he wasn't ready to talk about.
And then Takeru laughed again.
"YOU'RE TOO SLOW!"
Yuji shouted back.
"GET BACK HERE!"
The moment passed.
But everyone who had noticed it knew one thing.
Takeru's pause hadn't been normal.