Tenkuji Beach House

The Tenkuji Beach House…a cozy little beach house that rested on a rather small beach near a small town in Japan. Though the Beach House was only a small, family owned business run by Ryu Tenkuji and his son Takeru, along with a couple of family friends named Akari and Onari, the little Beach House was quite popular among the locals and was THE hang out spot for many teenagers during summer break.

"Onari!" shouted Takeru over a crowd of gabbing teenagers, his soft voice barely cutting through the loud noise "We need two Sunset Parfaits on the double."

Seeing Onari acknowledge him with a thumbs up before returning the burgers he was in the middle of cooking, Takeru grabbed a recently completed order that rested on the counter before all but dashing to the waiting customer, gliding past Akari, who was carrying another order, as if he were a gust of wind.

Reaching his destination, Takeru smiles at the three waiting customers, who were regulars at the Tenkuji Beach House, before greeting them "I'm sorry for the wait you guys! Here's your order!"

Resisting the urge to let out a squeal as Takeru placed a rather fancy looking bowel of ice cream in front of her, Kanon smiled and returned Takeru's greeting "Thank you Takeru! And don't worry, you were on time just like you always are."

Smiling at Kanon's comment, Takeru places the next food item, a cheese burger and fries, on the table in front of Kanon's brother Makato, who returned Takeru's greeting in a much more subtle smile and nod. He wasn't really one for words.

Placing the last plate of food, a plate of Takoyaki in front of Alain, the final member of the trio, Takeru matches the smile he receives from the boy before leaving the table, letting the regulars finish their meal.

It isn't long before another tray is being shoved in his hands by Akari, who mumbles which table the tray is supposes to go before walking off toward the kitchen to grab another. With Takeru's Dad sick and unable to work, there wasn't exactly time for small talk.

After what feels like hours, things finally begin to slow down long enough for the trio to finally take a break.

"Finally! A break!" cries Akari, falling into one of the now empty chairs in the Beach House "I can't believe we were hit with such a large rush of people today of all days! If only Shibuya and Narita started work this week instead of next…"

Takeru nodded in agreement before speaking "At least things worked out for us. I'm sure Dad'll be really proud of all the hard work we did."

Akari and Onari nod in agreement before allowing silence, which was quite rare during the sunlight hours, to overtake the room like a blanket warmed by the summer breeze. They didn't know how long the silence would last so they wanted to-

"Oy! Are you guys opened?"

…That was fast. Looking up at the same time, all three heads turned to the door of the Beach House to see a young boy with a pompadour and wearing only a pair of white board trunks.

Getting up from his seat, Takeru approaches the boy and nods "Yep! We're open! Come over here and I'll serve you."

Though the boy was already smiling, Takeru noticed the boy's smile grow even larger at Takeru's words "Really! Arigato!"

Following Takeru as he walks to the kitchen, the boy sits down at a bar stool as Takeru hands him a menu "So…What would you like?"

Still dripping slightly from swimming in the water, the boy wipes his brow as he looks over the menu, humming to himself. Takeru watches as the boy, locking on to two different food items, begins to bit his lip as he tries to figure out which one he wants.

Standing so close to the boy, who didn't look much older than he was, Takeru couldn't help but admire the dripping teenager's moist arms and abs, which both glistened rather brightly thanks to the sunlight that flashed into the room through the open windows. The saggy pompadour seemed to compliment the look rather well actually.

"So? Which one?"

Tensing up, Takeru blinks several times "Eh?"

"Didn't you hear me? I was asking which on you would recommend. The cheese burger or the barbeque?"

Hearing the question this time, Takeru lets out most of his tension in an exhale before answering the boy "If I had to guess…I'd say you're a cheese burger kinda guy. I'm not sure why but you look like a cheese burger kind of guy."

"Really? Cheese burger it is then!" says the boy, handing Takeru back the menu "Extra cheese please!"

Taking the menu with a smile, Takeru quickly begins work on his customer's order. As he puts the burger on, he begins to wonder whether or not he should just ask Onari to make the burger. While he knew how to make one, it was one of the many things his father taught him, he wasn't nearly as good as Onari was at the job and he really didn't want to mess up this customer's order. That would mean that this customer might not come back another time…

"It's probably the pompadour."

Turning around, Takeru was greeted by his customer's big smile, which was warm then any sun Takeru had ever been in. That was saying a lot, given his place of work.

"Pompadour?"

The boy nods, pointing to the hairstyle in question "Yep! My friend Kengo said that, because of my hairstyle, people just naturally associate me with things that are against the social norm, whether they realize it or not.

"He said that I'm just the kind of guy that really stands out in a crowd, which I think is really awesome. He had more to say but he started losing me after that, since he started going on and on about societal expectations and other stuff like that."

"Individuality is always nice" says Takeru "What's the point of living if you're just going to be like everyone else?"

"I know right!" shouts the boy, practically jumping out of his seat of his seat at Takeru's proclamation "As long as I have my Youthful heart, I don't care what other people say about me! I'll keep following my dream, no matter what happens!"

Hearing the boy's word, Takeru couldn't help but smile as he places the boy's food down in front of him "Good luck! I really hope your dream comes true someday!"

Thanking Takeru, the boy picks up his burger and takes a big bite out of it, giving Takeru a thumbs up to show his satisfaction with his food. The two sit in silence as the boy continues to eat his food, a dumb grin plastered on his face. Watching the boy eat, Takeru couldn't help but think of a cheerful but rather loud child who, after obtaining his favorite, has finally grown quiet. Honestly, it was a really cute sight.

More the just satisfied with his meal, the boy practically jumps out of his seat in order to thank Takeru for the food "That's was the best burger I've ever eaten! I really need to come back here sometime! Thanks for the food!"

"No problem" says Takeru, blushing at the boy's words "Thanks for choosing to eat here! I hope I'll see you around."

While Takeru expected the boy to turn around and leave, he was surprised when the boy held his hand out "Gentaro Kisaragi."

"Eh?"

"That's my name" says Gentaro "And I want you to help me with my dream."

"And what is your dream?"

"To be friends with everyone in the world!" says Gentaro.

"E-everyone in the world?" stutters Takeru.

"Yep" says Gentaro "The world's a pretty big place though, so I decided I'm going to start with just Japan first then, when I've become friends with everyone here, I'll move on to the next country."

For a couple of seconds, Takeru wanted to ask Gentaro if he understood just how big the world was and that it was completely unrealistic to be friends with everyone in an entire country, let alone the entire world. But, after the shock passed, he came to his sense and simply took Gentaro's still open hand.

"I'll gladly be friends with you" says Takeru "My name is Takeru Tenkuji and I wish you all the luck in the world as you shoot for your dream."

After performing a rather interesting handshake with Takeru, Gentaro turns and begins to leave the Beach House. Half way out the door though, he turns around and looks at Takeru "I'll see you around! Thanks for the food Takeru!"

Waving goodbye to Gentaro, Takeru could help but smile at the thought of Gentaro returning again someday. Gentaro Kisaragi… he could get used to a guy like that hanging out here more often.

Author's Note: Finally! I have this story done! I've been meaning to write a story with this pair for ages now and I'm glad I finally got something done. For some reason, I've been shipping these two together for a while now and, outside of the fact that like both Gentaro and Takeru, I'm glad that I finally found inspiration from an AU prompt I saw. It was simply known as "Beach" if I recall correctly.

While I'm happy with how it turned out, I really wish I could have found a way for them to kiss or did a bit more relationship foreshadowing. I'll have to fix that at some point… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story!