I never used to like summer at all. Summer made the already suffocating tomb of Mugenjou that much more unbearable, reducing the dank and dusty passageways to miniature ovens of sticky humidity and more quickly rotting garbage. I hated the way, even in the darkest and coolest places, I could still sit and feel the sweat trickle down my spine.

Now, though, I'm finding that summer is everything that is free and open in the world.

Laying on my back in the long grass and letting it tickle my nose, I feel like I could gaze up at the sky and watch the clouds drift by for hours. The breeze is so... sweet... it makes me feel like I'd never breathed until I left that place with Ban-chan at my side.

As his name crosses my mind, I glance over at him, but his eyes are closed, his hands folded behind his head, and I find that I can't help but grin just watching him, breathing in...and out...and in...and out... Most people would think it's impossible for Ban-chan to look so peaceful and happy, but I know better.

Ban-chan suddenly cracks one eye open as if he knows I'm thinking about him, and I smile at him, rolling onto my side and leaning my head in my hand. "Ginji...?" he murmurs at me softly, asking me more with expression than voice.

"Just thinking..." I start. Despite the fact that Ban-chan always smacks me around for being absent-minded, I really do think about a lot of things, and this phrase is a standard beginning to my sentences, more and more lately. Ban-chan says nothing, he simply opens his other eye and watches me watching him.

Some people are afraid of Ban-chan's eyes, and I know he is quick to look away from most people who peer at him in curiosity. He never yells at me for staring though, and I do, time and time again. That blue is my favorite color, somewhere between the midnight and daytime skies, and when Ban-chan meets my eyes and smiles in that way I never see him smile for anyone else, it makes my toes tingle.

This time I've been staring too long, though, and he startles me by rolling onto his side, reaching out with the back of his fist to tap my forehead lightly. "I don't know how you can think so hard with so much empty space up there," he teases me.

"Ban-chan!" I complain, swatting his hand away, but he ruffles my hair instead. He knows I don't mind the teasing a bit, and I often think that's the thing about Ban-chan that most people will never understand - why he treats me the way he does. It's true that he mocks me and beats up on me all the time, but deep down I know he would do anything at all for me... he already has.

It was only last night, sprawled across the sheets of our bed with the moon and the streetlamps looking in on us that he said something that actually surprised me. I had been lost in one of my melancholy fits, and he had suddenly reached out one hand, one finger, to tickle me, in the one very ticklish place I have. I had no idea how he'd even known it was exactly that spot, but in a split second he'd straddled me, one hand pinning my hands, the other tickling me relentlessly until I practically screamed mercy from his mischievous grin.

He'd leaned down to kiss me then, much softer and warmer than you'd ever expect when you look at him, and ruffled my hair. He likes to do that. I remember what he'd murmured in my ear when I demanded to know the cause of my torture...

Anything to make you smile.

"Ginji? ...Ginji?" A hand waves in front of my face and I blink, coloring slightly as he laughs at me. "What the heck are you thinking about? I asked you if you wanted ice cream and you just stared at me like you didn't hear a word I was saying!"

Ah, Ban-chan... if I told you I was thinking about the sky and the sunshine, you'd probably just nod and smile. And if I told you I was thinking about you, about your eyes being like the sky, your smile being like the sunshine... you'd shake your head, laugh at me trying to be poetic, and tell me you weren't interesting enough to waste so much time thinking about. And so I don't tell you any of this, but merely smile and shrug. "I was thinking about what flavor I wanted..."

"Well, hurry and make up your mind... it's getting too hot out here."

"I'll never get tired of the sunshine," I reply with a grin, scooting closer. We fall into a familiar pose, my head resting on his stomach, his hand running carelessly through my hair, and I know we'll find some excuse to stay like this awhile longer. We always do.