Ah, the beach. There is nothing on this big blue Earth quite like it. The warm breeze, the small of the salty sea, the golden sand under your toes, the freedom and thrill, the leisure and calm... No, nothing else could quite match the beach.
And today, like usual, the beach was a rather busy place. People filled the sandy shore lounging about on blankets with large sun umbrellas, sun bathing on folding chairs, playing games or frolicking in the cool ocean water. In the distance a few tiny fishing boats could just be made out sitting on the horizon just a ways off shore. The sun was high in the sky and though there was a gentle breeze it did little to affect the heat and humidity-- in fact it only seemed to push the heat around. The beach itself was noisy but not extremely so, not as much so as one would expect from the size of the crowd. Another busy day.
The Lemon Beach House was no exception to this business. Sitting along one of the wooden boardwalks near the top of the beach this little snack bar was quite the happening place. Nearly all of the seats at the tables were taken, people were standing near the front counter waiting for seats or to pay for their order, and workers frantically went about their duties cooking, cleaning, serving and overall making a pleasant experience for the customers. The Lemon Beach House had gotten rather popular as of late, much more so than it had been in the years past. Many familiar faces still worked there... Eiko Aizawa, now the primary owner of the snack bar in the couple years the first appearance of a certain squidy individual, was behind the counter directing traffic. Chizuru Aizawa, now in the middle of college, had less time to spend at the Lemon Beach House but still popped in occasionally to help out, and was there now helping out the cook that had been hired to replace her. Takeru Aizawa was in middle school now but was a regular waiter at the Lemon during Summer break. Yes, even Sanae Nagatsuki was still around, now a part-timer at the Lemon. Gorō Arashiyama was now one the leading life guards on the beach and Nagisa Saitō was still a full-time waitress.
Yes, so much seemed to still be set in stone despite the time that the passed for better or for worse.
Due to the increased popularity of the Lemon Beach House they had acquired some new help: a new cook to replace Chizuru when she was too help and a new waiter by the name of Hiroyuki Tachibana. A bright young man of eighteen, he was tall and fit, slightly muscular, with a well-built frame and a handsome face. His skin was pale, he had a mess of short black hair with blue-dyed highlights, and bright crystal blue eyes that seemed to shimmer in the light. He wore the usual snack bar uniform of a yellow T-shirt with a small lemon icon to the left of the chest, black shorts and tan and white sneakers with short white socks. Hiroyuki, however, had one other addition to his uniform: a small teardrop-shaped blue crystal attached to a black thread strap around his neck, a good luck charm of sorts.
Hiroyuki had, in fact, started working at the Lemon Beach House the previous Summer as a part-time waiter but this Summer he had taken up the position full-time. It could be hectic at times, true, and the pay wasn't anything special or all that much, but he found it to be an enjoyable job nonetheless. And it got him away from his father who always seemed to have a screw loose so that was another plus.
"One sushi plate to table two!" Eiko called out from her place behind the cash register. "And a squid salad to table five!"
"Right, I'm on it!" Hiroyuki called back and quickly made his way to the kitchen window where two plates were waiting for him.
"Hey, could we get some more water over here?" called a young woman from table three just moments after Hiroyuki had retrieved the two plates and hastily delivered them to their respective tables.
"Two waters, coming right up," Hiroyuki replied. Yup, another busy day.
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