Skythewood Translations: Please Leave Me Alone V3 Prologue & Chapter 1

[Chapter complete]

Translator: Pingas

Editor: Suu

Summer break in high school.

For a loner like me, it was supposed to be bonus time where I could laze around without a care… or so I thought.

"Seriously, why are you sleeping even though we came all the way to the beach?"

Dragged out to the beach by my time loop partner Hanamitsuji, and on top of that, I've been roped into the cultural festival committee thanks to being appointed by the class president, Shiramine, so now things are hectic.

Well, I figured I would just leave the annoying stuff to them and take it easy... but why is Shiramine the one getting left out instead of me!?

"Sorry, but please leave me alone."

…Seriously? Come on, that's supposed to be my line.

A second-round high school rom-com that's the worst and the best, and blindingly dazzling in the most frustrating way, Volume 3!

When a school rom-com hits summer break, there's a pretty high chance the cast will end up at the beach or a pool. The so-called swimsuit episode.

I mean, it's not like summer makes splashing around in the water a requirement. But hey, that's one of those age-old traditions that's been passed down since the dawn of time. I think even some Greek myths had an episode like "while playing in the water, the hero stumbles into a lucky perv scene!" …Or was it bathing, not swimming? Whatever, close enough.

Personally, I don't really care if there's a swimsuit chapter or not.

No, seriously. But if the author really insists on doing one, then as a reader, I'll gladly accept their will.

It's not like I need to see the heroine in a swimsuit or anything! Of course, if you're going to write it, I'll read it with gratitude. If it were a light novel, I might even complain, "Wait, it's a swimsuit chapter and you didn't make it a color illustration!?" But that's just loving encouragement, so forgive me. If I happen to hit a swimsuit illustration spread while reading on the train or in class, I'll just quietly flip past it there, and then give it a proper look once I'm home. I'm a reader who knows the proper time and place.

Ah, and I don't need to see the MC or his male friends in swimsuits. For some reason, they are always ridiculously muscular and honestly kinda scary. Why are these guys ripped even though they are in the going-home club or some artsy club? Even if they were athletes, they would still be on the buff side. Where did you get those pecs from? Stop secretly working out behind the readers' backs.

By the way, I'm an aspiring light novel author myself, with three rom-coms posted on a novel site. But all of them fizzled out before reaching summer break, so I've never actually written a swimsuit episode.

In fact, most of my stories started in April, and by the time Golden Week ended, I had already stopped updating. Is this what they call the May blues?

Mulling over such pointless thoughts, I closed my eyes. But soon, the sound of footsteps on sand drew closer. Not the hard ground of a schoolyard, but the soft, thick sand where each step with sandals sinks in.

Yeah, just like a beach.

"Hey, Nanamura-kun, are you sleeping?"

The footsteps stopped, and a calm voice drifted down from diagonally above me as I lay sprawled out. Pretending to stay asleep would probably be the easy way out here, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to.

Sighing inwardly, I slid my cap back from my face. From beneath the brim, my eyes met a beautiful face peeking down at me under the parasol.

Even against the backlight, her pale skin practically glowed, and her straight nose stood out with elegance. Her eyes, framed by long, sharp lashes, were widened in faint puzzlement. Her light-brown bob hair, loosely wavy, had a neat braid worked in at the side, held in place with a cute flower hairpin.

When my gaze drifted lower, I froze. Her white T-shirt, soaked through with water, clung tightly to her skin, outlining the graceful line from her shoulders down to her waist. Beneath it, a brightly colored bikini showed through, and by the time my eyes brushed her bare thighs, I panicked and squeezed my eyes shut.

I pushed myself up from the leisure sheet I had been sprawled on and turned toward the voice.

Sora Hanamitsuji. My classmate, the girl who, with me, had leapt through time from right before our third-year graduation back to the start of high school.

When she realized I was awake, Hanamitsuji puffed out her lips in a sulky little pout.

"Honestly, Nanamura-kun, why are you napping when we came all the way to the beach?"

"I wasn't napping. I was sunbathing."

"In the shade of a parasol?"

"That's the thing. I'm not the kind of guy who's bound by the preconceived notion of 'if you're at the beach, you have to play in the water.' I've got flexible thinking. The kind that makes me shine in an international company job interview."

"...There you go, saying nonsense again. You would get yourself fired from a results-driven multinational in no time flat."

Hanamitsuji sighed, her exasperation plain on her face. And, as always, she didn't forget to tack on a sharp little jab. She could stand to forget the jab, actually.

Her wet T-shirt clung in ways her school uniform never could, making her shoulders and chest visible, and bad for my heart. They say girls can always sense boys' gazes… so that means she's aware of exactly where I've been looking? That's terrifying. If boys and girls ever did a survival game, girls would win hands down. Even Golgo 13 probably struggles when his target's a woman. [TL: A manga about a professional hitman with 100% accuracy. It's the oldest manga still in publication.]

"Nanamura-kun, you're not thinking anything weird, are you?"

Suspicious, Hanamitsuji shot me a narrow-eyed glare as I fell silent.

"Nope, nothing. Not even the level of an ultimate lifeform exiled to outer space."

"…What?"

I threw out the first BS that came to mind and wrenched my eyes away from Hanamitsuji's swimsuit.

Instead, I fixed them on the bright blue sky, and the sea that looked blue enough from afar. Up close, though, it was more of a "plankton-packed, primordial soup of life" kind of color, something you couldn't call blue even if you rounded up. Then again, traffic lights are basically green and we still call them blue, so whatever.

"Hey! Sora-chan, Nanamura!"

Down in the shallows, where the waves lapped at her shins, a gal with a golden side-tail waved energetically. She, too, has thrown a white T-shirt over her swimsuit. That's Ruri Hoshigasaki, one of our classmates.

"Coming~"

Hanamitsuji waved back, and I half-heartedly tipped my cap in greeting. Hoshigasaki's smile grew even brighter, and then she turned toward the girl standing beside her.

That girl is Mashiro Shiramine, our class president. Usually she wears her long black hair down, but today it's tied up in a ponytail. She has a thin hoodie over her swimsuit.

"...Phew."

Everything I saw. Scenery, people, clothes. None of it suited a loner like me.

If anything, the very season of summer itself feels like it has a "no loners allowed" policy. What is this sunshine-worshipper-exclusive season? Unforgivable.

Well, winter's just as bad, with Christmas and New Year's shrine visits and all those people-gathering events, so that's a "no loners allowed" season too. In spring, class reshuffling and club recruitment make the whole school noisy, so there's no place for loners there either. And autumn is packed with cultural festivals and sports days, again, brutal for loners. In the end, all four seasons are harsh to loners. Then again, since the entire world is harsh to loners, maybe it's only natural.

I bet "loner" isn't a seasonal word for haiku. Still, that one goes, "Even coughing, alone." That's totally a loner haiku. Which part is the seasonal word? Probably "cough", but maybe, and here's the wild card, "alone"?

When I actually looked it up, it turned out to be "no seasonal word" at all. Wait, that's allowed? It's not even in 5-7-5.

If something like that can still be called a haiku, then haiku must have Mariana Trench–level depth of tolerance. Accepting a social misfit or two is nothing. If I can't make it as a light novel author, maybe I'll become a haiku poet. First goal: get featured on an Oi Ocha bottle label. That's the most famous haiku prize, right? It probably holds the same spot as the Dengeki Novel Prize does for light novels. So then, what's the GA Bunko Prize equivalent in haiku? [TL: ITO EN, the company behind Oi Ocha (basically the most famous bottled green tea you'll see in Japan), has an annual haiku contest where the winning poem gets featured on a bottle.]

I let my mind wander, doing whatever I could to hold on to my sanity under the blazing summer sky.

Out of the corner of my eye, swimsuits and bare skin kept flickering into view, so I pointlessly turned around.

And what I saw was a blond-haired guy chatting with a stallkeeper at the beach house.

Part of the reason I ended up stuck in this completely out-of-place summer beach scene is because of that guy.

"...So hot."

I was standing in my kitchen at home, face to face with a pot that was steadily bubbling away.

Every so often, I would jab a pair of chopsticks into the pot, stirring the curly Chinese noodles around and around. Steam rose in clouds from both pots, the one for noodles and the one for boiling eggs, so thick that even with the ventilation fan running, sweat poured down my face nonstop. The sauna at the super bathhouse I once braved was similar to this, I think. Just walking back and forth to the living room feels like it's "aligning my body and mind". Very cost-effective.

Doing this kind of thing in midsummer feels like it should count as ascetic training. Otherwise, it's not worth it. Unfortunately, it's just cooking. No matter how much I sweat, my experience points don't increase. I just edge closer to heatstroke.

"Onii-chan, is it ready yet?"

A voice came from the living room beside the kitchen. It's my little sister, Satsuki. Since she isn't bothering to show her face here, she's probably just sprawled out lazily on the sofa.

"If you can't wait, then come help me out~"

"I wuv you, onii-chan~"

Her declaration of love came in flat, broken Japanese that had zero emotion in it, and then she fell silent. Honestly, Zundamon or Hatsune Miku have way more expressive voices.

I was making chilled Chinese noodles, which have been sold all over Japan since last month. It's summer break for me and Satsuki, but our parents are working as usual, so we have to make our own lunches. And due to Satsuki's cooking skills being absolute zero, that means I end up making them every day.

I can't help but wonder what she will do if I ever get plans and can't be home at lunchtime. But so far, there has never been a case where I was out and she was in. Weird. The opposite, her being out while I'm in, happens all the time, though. Totally unfair.

Our menu is an infinite loop of chilled somen and chilled Chinese noodles. Both are perfect for summer, but during cooking, they produce ridiculous amounts of steam, so from the cook's perspective, they are not exactly summer-friendly.

Just before the timer beeped, I stopped it and turned off the burner.

I dumped the boiled noodles into a colander and rinsed them under running water. Immediately, I plunged them into a bowl of ice water, firming them up and rinsing off the starch. After draining them well, I set the noodles on a plate, arranged them neatly, then circled them with sliced cucumber, tomato, and ham. Since making shredded egg crepes was a hassle, I had boiled eggs in a separate pot, peeled them, and cut them in half as a substitute.

After that, pouring the packet of sauce was enough to complete a delicious chilled Chinese noodle dish for lunch. The Nanamura family's twist is to squeeze a little mountain of mayonnaise on the side of the plate.

When I brought it to the table in the living room, sure enough, Satsuki was sprawled out on the sofa.

The moment summer break started, she went full slacker mode. Yesterday she went to karaoke with her friends first thing in the morning. Today she's going to another friend's house in the afternoon.

Karaoke and friends' houses… those are alien worlds to me. They probably have games or trends I've never even heard of. As her older brother, I was worried, so I half-jokingly said I should tag along, only to get a dead-serious, "You would get arrested."

Oh. Right. A high school boy hanging around a group of middle-school girls would definitely get him arrested…

"Yay~"

Satsuki let out a cheer, not at me, but at the plate of chilled Chinese noodles I carried in.

"At least bring over the barley tea and some cups yourself."

"Geez, my big brother's such a slave driver."

"If this counts as slave driving, then what does that make me, sweating buckets just to cook lunch?"

"...A convenient guy?"

"Pretty sure you're using that term wrong."

If she was using "convenient guy" in the proper sense, that would actually be even worse.

"Don't people always say language is constantly changing? In that case, the way I, a young, vibrant teenage girl, use words should automatically be cutting-edge, right?"

"Until it catches on, it's just a misuse."

"My my, you're so strict with me, onii-chan, while being so lenient with yourself!"

Grumbling, Satsuki flapped off toward the kitchen. Watching her retreat back, I adjusted the electric fan so it blew straight at me. The sudden rush of cool air against my sweat-drenched skin felt amazing.

When Satsuki came back, I took the cups of barley tea and the chopsticks from her. We pressed our hands together with a "let's eat" and started eating.

Mm, the boiling time and cooling were both perfect. The sauce had just the right tartness, clinging to the chewy noodles. The cucumber and tomato added a fresh, summery touch. Even the overboiled eggs weren't bad once the yolk soaked up some of the sauce.

Somewhere nearby, a wind chime tinkled, drawing my eyes toward the window. Today is apparently yet another scorcher of a midsummer day, the kind where the air in the yard shimmers with heat.

The town I live in gets unusually hot in summer, thanks to either the Foehn phenomenon or the heat island effect. It's not as bad as the regions that compete for Japan's number-one high temperature, but my dad, who occasionally travels for work, often says, "This place is hotter than anywhere else in Japan."

Beyond the window, the blazing sun pours down, and the chorus of cicadas echoes even inside the house.

If only I had that kind of vocal power, I wouldn't have been chewed out by the female conductor during middle school chorus practice. I had actually been singing pretty earnestly, but for some reason, only I got told, "Nanamura, stop lip-syncing. The conductor can hear everything." Yeah, right. She didn't know a damn thing.

If people are going to think you're lip-syncing whether you sing or not, it's easier to just not sing. So after that, I proudly lip-synced every time.

Slurp. After noisily sucking in a mouthful of noodles, Satsuki glanced at my face.

"By the way, onii-chan… since summer break started, have you gone anywhere?"

There's a complicated look on her face. What was that? Pity?

"Let's see… convenience store, supermarket, bookstore. Oh, and the library."

"Sorry, none of those count as going somewhere."

"Why though?"

Japanese is hard, huh? Why, Japanese people? No, why, my little sister?

"What I meant was, you know, did you do anything summer-y?"

"Trying to extract that meaning from your question is harder than making friends."

"That's, like, super easy. Even kindergarteners can do it."

"So you're saying your big brother ranks below a kindergartener?"

When it comes to making friends, there seems to be a profound difference of opinion between us. Even siblings who share the same blood don't always see eye to eye. No wonder this world is full of conflict.

Satsuki let out a deep sigh, then jabbed her chopsticks straight at my face.

"For starters, all the places you listed are ones you go to even when it's not summer break."

"Hey, manners. Don't point your chopsticks at people."

She obediently lowered them, but her exasperated look didn't change. I opened my mouth to fumble out an excuse.

"Well, to me, summer vacation is just a period when it's hot and there's no school."

Come August, the culture festival committee, the FestCom, would start its work. Lately, though, I had been doing everything in my power to avert my eyes from that reality. I have even gone so far as to watch winter anime instead.

Just because summer break has started doesn't mean much has changed in my life.

All that happened was I stopped going to school. My personality and tastes haven't changed, so my lifestyle won't either. Just because it's summer doesn't mean I suddenly become a social butterfly or want to fall in love.

If I were a music fan, I might attend a summer festival. If I were a train enthusiast, perhaps I would ride distant rural lines with a Seishun 18 Ticket. [TL: A 3-day/5-day train pass that gives you unlimited rides on local and JR trains.]

But me? I'm still just the same loner who likes reading light novels and books. Among all hobbies, reading is probably top-tier in being unaffected by the seasons. Sure, some books feel nice to read in summer, but you can read them any time you want.

It's true that in all sorts of works of fiction, summer is given special meaning. But expecting that same meaning to show up in your own life is just painful. By the end of my previous high school life, I had already graduated from that kind of yearning.

"By the way, onii-chan, didn't you say not that long ago that you were going to 'meet some girls from your class at a family restaurant'? What happened with that?"

"Ahh..."

Right, there was that time I made Hanamitsuji and Hoshigasaki read my novel at a family restaurant on the weekend. Hoshigasaki gave me blunt feedback that barely even pretended to be sugarcoated, and Hanamitsuji laughed her head off. My brain's great at remembering all the bad stuff. Maybe the good memories slip away because they were good, and maybe I really did have friends once upon a time. Ugh, my head hurts…

Since summer vacation started, I have only gotten the occasional light novel impressions from Hoshigasaki via LINE, and from Hanamitsuji just a simple "You alive?" kind of check-in. Not a single invite to go anywhere.

"Nothing, really."

When I answered, Satsuki's face suddenly lit up with a sly grin.

She gulped down her barley tea, then leaned over and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"Onii-chan, don't mind it."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It's okay. That's how people grow, you know."

"I feel like you're massively misunderstanding something here..."

"If you want to cry, you can cry, onii-chan. Go ahead, in my arms... nah, that would be gross, so use those tissues instead. Also, watching my big brother cry over a broken heart is unbearable, so please do it when I'm not around."

"I'm not heartbroken! And stop treating my tears like they are some disgusting spectacle!"

Like some heartbreaking losing heroine sob scene, maybe my tears could move someone to cry too... nah, impossible.

Satsuki just laughed off my protests, stood up, and carried away her empty plate.

I popped the last scraps of cucumber and ham into my mouth, then brought my plate to the sink. Lunch prep is my job, dishwashing is Satsuki's. No matter how you look at it, the workload is totally unbalanced, but I have no choice but to let that slide. Oldest son's duty and all.

Over a week has already passed since summer break started.

This might come as a surprise, but I actually like summer vacation.

While everyone else is busy with club activities or cram school, lazing around in an air-conditioned room is pure bliss. Add some street interviews from the city that just set Japan's new highest temperature record as BGM, and it's perfect.

Koshien broadcasts, though, are so-so. Watching kids my own age get hyped up as stars just makes me feel this weird, creeping impatience. I'll never forget the shock when I realized those high school ballplayers I used to think were way older were suddenly the same age as me. It was like falling for some grand detective novel trick.

For the sake of mental peace, it's best not to let people my age who are way more amazing even enter my field of vision.

Some people might feel guilty about being lazy, but me? Not a bit. Maybe I have a talent for being unemployed. My dream career has to be either a NEET or a writer. From what I've read in light novels about light novel authors, being a full-time writer is pretty much the same thing as being a NEET anyway.

So, at the moment, I'm working through my backlog of light novels. This, too, is part of the effort to become a light novel author. Sakura Momoko once said that reading manga counts as work, so it's the same idea. [TL: Author of Chibi Maruko-chan.]

Lately, between getting dragged into the mess with Hoshigasaki and her friend Hiiragi, and being forced into the FestCom by Shiramine's scheming, I hadn't had a moment's rest. Only now, with summer break underway, was I finally in the proper condition to enjoy light novels without worry.

The story I'm reading is set deep in winter.

The characters are busy flailing around over Valentine's Day and White Day, completely unsummery. And that very disconnect, that feeling of "this is a different world from reality", was comfortable.

About an hour later, my throat started to feel dry, so I went to the kitchen.

After chugging down the barley tea in the fridge, I returned to my room. On my desk, my phone lit up with a new LINE message.

Probably just Mom sending me another "things to buy" list. She really needs to stop using my LINE like it's a notepad... I grumbled inwardly as I looked at the screen.

The sender is "Sora Hanamitsuji". The short message is fully visible in the notification bar:

<Nanamura-kun, are you free next Thursday?>

"Ughhh…"

The sound of annoyance slipped out before I could stop it.

If you're going to ask whether someone's free, say what it's for too. That's common courtesy. People complain about this online all the time.

The fact that she cared about my schedule made her message seem like an invitation. And that almost certainly meant I'm going to get dragged somewhere.

What a pain…

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I hate going out itself. It's not like I'm some kind of shut-in.

This very summer vacation, I've been making energetic trips to the convenience store and the bookstore. Going out on holidays without club or cram school commitments, that practically makes me a vitality powerhouse, right?

If I'm wandering around alone, I can choose when to leave and where to go entirely as I please. In hot weather like now, I can head out in the cooler evening or night. Once I'm done, I can head home right away. Hell, I can even cancel at the last second right before leaving or even mid-trip just by thinking, "Actually, nah, too much hassle." The flexibility of a loner is absurd.

But things change when you're going out with someone else.

If there's a meeting time, I need to adjust my departure accordingly. And when it's with friends, that usually means meeting in the heat of the morning or early afternoon. If I suddenly want to go somewhere else, leaving mid-way is awkward.

Granted, I do have a record of ducking out of my group on that last field trip, so with my strong mental fortitude, pulling an early exit isn't impossible. But awkward is awkward.

And this isn't some classmate I barely talk to- it's Hanamitsuji, someone I actually interact with. If I pull something weird, she could call me out on it later.

In short, going out with someone carries significant risks.

Which means the best option here is to wait and see. As long as I don't respond, nothing can move forward on its own.

Having reached that conclusion, I decided to leave Hanamitsuji's message unanswered and went back to my light novel.

After a few more pages, though-

Ping, ping, ping. A series of LINE notifications went off.

Oh, finally gave up? I thought, checking the notification bar with some hope.

<It's Nanamura-kun. Of course, he's free.>

<We're going to the beach. Hoshigasaki-san and Mashiro are coming, too.>

Not only had the conversation moved on entirely without me, but one of the words that popped up was utterly unexpected.

...Huh? The beach?

You mean, like, that thing next to the ridiculously huge mass of water? The one <One Piece> is set in?

I found myself reacting like someone who has only ever heard of the beach and the ocean through rumors. But seriously, that's how little connection I have to the place. Even when we went to an island on that school trip, that was a school event. Privately, it's a whole different story.

Besides, is it really okay for boys and girls who aren't even dating to go to the beach or the pool together? Sure, you see it all the time in rom-com light novels and manga, but I always thought that was on the same level of fantasy as "an all-powerful student council" or "a culture festival with a beauty contest". Even if hanging out with the opposite sex at the beach is standard, inviting me is the biggest mistake in casting possible. They would be better off bringing a skeleton model instead.

Anyway, there's no way in hell I'm going to the beach. I immediately fired back a refusal.

<Sorry, busy, so I'll pass.>

<There's no way you're busy.>

It's an outrageous assumption, tyrannical even. A refusal to communicate, that's what it was. No wonder people never understand each other… and I'll kindly ignore the fact that Hanamitsuji's accusation is technically correct. Just like in physics, air resistance and friction are often "ignored" in problems.

I was just about to figure out another way to refuse when this time my ringtone went off. Guess Hanamitsuji got tired of messaging.

Since I had just replied a moment ago, leaving her hanging would feel off. Even if I dodged her now, we would be face-to-face again in early August once the culture festival prep started anyway.

As my one token of resistance, I let it ring for about five seconds before reluctantly hitting the call button.

"Sigh…"

"You pick up the phone and sigh right away?"

Instead of saying hello, I gave a sigh. From the other end came Hanamitsuji's displeased voice, and just from her tone, I could picture the pout on her face. Come to think of it, it has been a while since I last heard her voice.

"Can't help it. I'm busy over here, too."

"Busy with what?"

"Reading light novels."

"That's the very definition of not busy."

"I don't read because I'm free. I free up time so I can read."

"Hmm… well, it's not my place to interfere with your hobbies."

It looks like she understood- or maybe she just gave up. Either way, for me, it made no difference.

Hanamitsuji promptly switched gears.

"So, about the beach-"

"Have fun, and don't get swept away by the waves."

"You're coming too."

"Why that group, though?"

"Because when I picked people I can talk to normally, and people you can talk to normally, this is who we ended up with."

I mean, fair point. Still, it's ridiculous that I'm included without so much as a consultation.

"I told you, I'm passing."

"Why?"

"Because I have never once in my life wanted to go to the beach or a pool. It's hot, it's crowded, and even if I go, I don't know what I'm supposed to do there."

Just the other day, a show had been featuring this massive pool complex in the neighboring prefecture, attached to an amusement park full of thrill rides. Apparently, the pool opens every summer, and I have even seen their commercials this time of year.

The footage showed a wave pool crammed with people in float rings at such an insane density that fish in a fish tank would have more room. The ocean's probably no different.

"Nanamura-kun, don't tell me you can't swim?"

"...That has nothing to do with it."

It's not the only reason, but yeah, swimming isn't exactly my strength. And of course, Hanamitsuji isn't the type to let the silence I left slip by.

Right in my ear, I heard her quietly exhale a laugh.

"Heh, I knew it. You can't swim."

"I can swim 25 meters in front crawl, as long as I don't breathe."

"That's just scary to watch, so don't do it."

Calling the desperate technique I picked up just to avoid remedial PE "scary" is pretty rude. Call it grit.

"It's not like going to the beach means you have to swim."

True enough. In light novels and manga, you don't see characters seriously swimming all that much, even in beach episodes. It's more watermelon-splitting, beach volleyball, that kind of sandy-shore play.

Huh? In that case, wouldn't the sandbox at the neighborhood park do just as well?

…Well, no. A bunch of high schoolers monopolizing a sandbox to split watermelons and bat around a beach ball would be terrifying. Plus, it would be unfair to the little kids who treat that sandbox as home turf.

"Anyway, I'm passing. I'll see you in August for FestCom work anyway, so that's good enough."

The bitter memory resurfaced when I was half-forced into the culture festival committee by Shiramine, our class president, during the first semester's member selection. Sometimes I still think, if I had just whined more pathetically back then, maybe I could have escaped…

My partner from Class A is Hoshigasaki, who has volunteered, and Hanamitsuji has also volunteered as Class F's rep. Once August rolled around, FestCom work would begin in earnest. So whether I liked it or not, I would end up seeing Hanamitsuji and Hoshigasaki anyway, Shiramine aside.

"Meeting for work and going to the beach to hang out are two different things."

"Maybe so, but still..."

Honestly, it isn't half bad, chatting idly with someone outside my family for once. But it's about time to wrap this up. The continuation of my light novel is calling.

"By the way, you know how <The Pillow Book> says, 'In summer, it's the nights'?" [TL: A collection of random essays and poems about daily observations by Sei Shonagon, a court lady in the Heian era.]

"And?"

Hanamitsuji's cautious reply came after my sudden change of topic. I could just imagine her narrowing her eyes suspiciously on the other end of the line.

"After that, it says something like, 'It's nice when fireflies are flying in the dark', right?"

"Yeah."

"Which means, if you're going to go out in summer, the best time is at night, somewhere near freshwater where fireflies live. Heading out to the beach in the blazing daytime heat is just plain wrong."

"There you go again with your nonsense…"

I could practically feel Hanamitsuji holding her head on the other end. For some reason, even without seeing her face, I could clearly picture her reactions from her words and intonation. I don't get it, but somehow I get it. Maybe I'm a Newtype.

"Hey, it's not me saying this, okay? These are the words of Lady Sei Shonagon herself. If a historical figure in the textbook says it, it can't be wrong."

"If Sei Shonagon were alive today, she would go swimming at the beach! She would play kickball on the sand!"

"...Hard to picture Sei Shonagon playing kickball on the beach. Hm?"

Wait. Summer, night, freshwater, that set of conditions described in <The Pillow Book>. In the modern day, there's something that fits perfectly.

Night pools. With all their glowing decorations scattered around, they even kind of resemble fireflies. Too bad. If Sei Shonagon liked night pools, we wouldn't be able to get along. I actually kind of like <The Pillow Book>.

"Y'know, if Sei Shonagon were a modern person, she might actually be into night pools."

"What are you even talking about, Nanamura-kun?"

My brilliant, insight-filled statement was dismissed just like that. Honestly, I could have built a college thesis out of it. Now I know how Galileo felt when they denied heliocentrism.

"Man, what a shame. If Sei Shonagon had written, 'In summer, the beach, rowdy normies making a racket are the most elegant thing', then I wouldn't have minded going to the sea either."

"You really won't come? Hoshigasaki-san was actually looking forward to you coming, you know."

"…Tell Hoshigasaki thanks from me. I'm not going, but I appreciate the invite. Later."

The more I thought about Hoshigasaki, the more I started feeling guilty, so I hurriedly cut the call.

Phew. What a pain, trying to disrupt my peace like that.

Once August begins, my time will get swallowed up by the committee, so this right now is my golden age. I don't know when Hanamitsuji's prime was, but mine is now.

Besides, lately it's been scorching hot day after day, and even the news is telling people, "Cancel outdoor exercise and stay somewhere cool."

Going to the beach means spending hours outside in the middle of the day. Impossible. What if I got a heatstroke?

Anyway, having regained my peace, I put my phone on silent mode this time to avoid further interruptions and went back to my light novel. Now, where was I again?

Oh right. The heroine living with the protagonist just couldn't quite bring herself to hand over her Valentine's chocolate, leaving the protagonist restless. Ahh, so that's how it goes…

…I ended up reading straight through to the afterword. Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, I flipped back over the cover and color illustrations for a while, soaking in the aftertaste, then closed the book.

Glancing up at the wall clock, I saw it was a little past three. I was about to grab a popsicle from the freezer when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my phone light up. Right, I had muted it earlier.

I'm getting notifications at a frequency unthinkable for a loner today. Could it be… I'm actually popular? So I mused idly, as I checked the screen.

The notification screen was packed full, but I caught a glimpse of the name Kouya Hoshigasaki. Instinctively, I tossed my phone onto the bed.

Thump. It sank into the blanket.

…Yeah, I'll just pretend I didn't see anything.

I was about to leave the room when, of course, the screen lit up again. Ahh, seriously, how annoying…

"Geez, what now?"

Grumbling, I picked the phone back up. It was a barrage of messages from Hoshigasaki's older brother, Kouya-san.

<We're hitting the beach this Thursday. You're coming too, right, Hodaka?> <My little sis's going, and Hanamitsuji-san's going too.> <You hate the ocean or what, bro?> <Heeey.> <We're going to the beach.> <Where should we meet up? At the station?> <If you don't have a swimsuit, I'll lend you mine.>

He also spammed me with stickers of a dog surfing, a tiny cutesy thing staring up with teary eyes that triggers violent cuteness-aggression, and a heroine from last season's anime clasping her hands together and saying "Please…"

His way of messaging was perfectly annoying. And there was no way in hell I was ever borrowing Kouya-san's swimsuit.

When you think about it in terms of fabric coverage, swimsuits are basically just underwear. Lending one out, or borrowing one, should be off-limits for all kinds of reasons. I mean, I even hesitate to borrow Dad's sandals because I worry about athlete's foot.

Faced with his borderline mentally ill message spam, I caved and replied.

<Oh, you finally replied.>

He must have been glued to his phone, because the response came instantly.

Driving his sister and her friends? Still the same sisco-n as ever.

<Don't you think you're spoiling her?>

<I'm working part-time at a beach house anyway. Makes everything easier.>

Working at a beach house, huh. Even if I became a college student, that would be a job I would never choose, right up there with moving companies and "cozy" izakayas.

Kouya-san is just as well-versed in light novels and anime as I am, but everything else, his looks, personality, and social skills, are entirely different. Blond, handsome, cheerful… If he weren't Hoshigasaki's brother, someone like me would have zero connection to someone like him. It's the same with idols or celebrities who openly talk about being into anime: when people like that exist, guys like me, the gloomy, plain, stereotypical otaku, end up looking even smaller. It's rough.

<Ruri's counting you as part of the headcount, though.>

<Don't worry, I'll pick you up right in front of your house.>

Not that he even knows where I live… right? He doesn't, does he? With normies' mysterious powers of initiative and social networking, I couldn't rule out the possibility. The thought was too scary to check directly.

<Oh, by the way, I've got a copy of your novel.>

I pulled the fastest 180 of my life. Quick decision-making. Ryotsu-san would be proud. [TL: Kankichi Ryotsu from Kochikame.]

The other day, I let him read my light novel, and his feedback was something like, "Wow, you wrote a lot of words, good for you!" It stung. About as encouraging as a "Good job staying alive today!" when you're not even depressed.

<Sorry, I didn't mean to threaten you.>

Honestly, I couldn't imagine my novel being brought up for any reason other than blackmail. …Wait, what kind of novel only comes up as blackmail material? What a cursed abomination. And yes, I was the one saying all this about my own work.

<It's just in your novel, every single scene takes place either at school or in your room, right?>

So it really wasn't a threat. He had another reason for bringing it up. Suspicious, I replied.

<Isn't that just how school rom-coms usually are?>

<Sorry, I was just stating the facts.>

Yeah, I was getting seriously roasted. No mistaking it. He was just like his gal little sister, totally incapable of sugarcoating. Maybe that's the secret to how they close the distance with people so easily.

<Basically, I'm saying if you try experiences different from your everyday life, you might be able to use them in your writing.>

<Well, yeah, I get that.>

…That's true enough. A grown man going alone to the beach or pool would need a lot of mental fortitude. Depending on the situation, there's even the risk of getting shaken down or questioned by the cops.

<Besides, wouldn't it be more fun for Ruri and Hanamitsuji-san if you were there? Just think of it as research.>

Kouya-san attacked from both the emotional and logical angles. So this is what people who are good with others are like, huh? No way I could ever pull that off.

Letting out one long sigh, I threw in the towel and typed a reply.

<Fine. I'll go.>

After finishing my chat with Kouya-san, I left my room and went downstairs. My throat was parched.

In the kitchen, I grabbed some barley tea from the fridge and quenched my thirst. Oh, right, before dealing with Kouya-san, I was about to get some ice cream. I opened the freezer's bottom drawer and pulled a random popsicle from the box of assorted flavors.

It's a purple-colored one. Grapes. A solid win.

With the popsicle between my lips, I walked into the living room. Satsuki, watching a midday talk show from the sofa, glanced back at me.

"Ah! Onii-chan, no fair!"

"It's not unfair."

"But I already had a second one…"

"Then put 50 yen down, problem solved."

In the Nanamura household, there's a standing rule for ice bars: one per day is free, but if you want a second, you leave 50 yen on the living room table. That money goes toward the next box of popsicles.

Satsuki groaned, wearing a pained expression, probably weighing her finances.

"Ugh…"

"Just give up if you don't have the money."

"50 yen, huh… ngh…"

Her face twisted in torment. You wouldn't think 50 yen could be such a tough decision… but then again, the allowance of a second-year middle schooler like Satsuki isn't the same as that of a first-year high schooler like me. 50 yen really does have a different value.

Well, technically, Satsuki gets more allowance than I did at her age. She somehow managed to leverage the recent rise in prices to negotiate an increase. She's seriously good at this survival game called life. Maybe she could handle my allowance negotiations for me as well.

After about 10 seconds of agonizing, Satsuki raised one finger and squeezed out her answer.

"…Onii-chan, get me an orange one. I'll leave the money later."

"Roger that."

I did as told and went back to the kitchen. Opening the freezer and digging out an orange bar, I suddenly realized- wait, why am I being bossed around like this so naturally?

Well, at this point, there was no choice but to bring it over.

"Here."

"Yaaay, thanks!"

I handed it to her still in the wrapper, and Satsuki eagerly tore it open. With the orange ice bar between her lips, she sighed, "Phew, what a paradise", looking satisfied.

Sometimes she really acts weirdly old-man-ish. Guess she takes after Dad. Not that I would ever say that to her face- she would kill me.

I absentmindedly licked my purple popsicle while half-watching the TV show playing.

As soon as I let my guard down, my thoughts drifted right back to my earlier exchange with Kouya-san.

Man, the beach really does sound like a hassle…

"Haa…"

"Huh, was that a sigh?"

Satsuki, popsicle still in her mouth, noticed the sigh that had slipped out unconsciously.

Say what you will, she does notice when something's off with her brother. I guess she really is a kind little sister…

"Hey, sighing while eating? That's disrespectful to the ice bar. If you're gonna eat it with that attitude, I'll take it off your hands, poor thing."

"Aren't you supposed to be comforting me?"

"Ah, but a half-licked ice bar? No thanks. Guess I don't want it after all."

"Why does it feel like I'm the one getting rejected here!?"

…Honestly, that kind of hurt. Then again, that's what real little sisters are like.

Maybe she picked up on my disappointment, because Satsuki softened her expression.

"Well, well, at least I'll listen to you."

"For real? Man, at the end of the day, all you really need is a sister…"

"Only if it's a funny story."

"No one could tell a funny story with the bar set that high! Even comedians would hate that condition."

"Ahaha, I'm joking. So? What happened?"

She waved her hand with a laugh, and I grimaced before answering.

"This Thursday… I'm going to the beach."

"…Eh?"

Silence fell over the living room. Satsuki froze with the popsicle still held near her mouth, eyes wide.

After several heavy seconds, she finally wore a stunned expression.

"You… at the beach…?"

Come on, what's with that reaction just because I said I'm going to the beach? She looked as shocked as a parent hearing, "I'm moving to Tokyo after high school to become a singer-songwriter."

Satsuki pressed a hand to her chin with a thoughtful hum, pretending to ponder.

"So, you mean… you're getting buried at sea?"

"Not even close! I'm talking about actual swimming!"

I'm not some lowlife who ran off with the mob's money.

"At least you're going with someone else, right?"

"Of course. I don't have a hobby of hitting up the beach alone."

"Good. Even if you did, for society's sake, please don't. Still… the fact that you have friends now is really moving. Maybe you should buy a lottery ticket."

So, me having friends is about as rare as winning the lottery, huh? Weren't you just saying even kindergartners can do it easily?

Actually, do I even count as their friend? I mean, I talk with Hoshigasaki about light novels a fair bit, so maybe. But having lived a life almost friendless, I'm not sure. "I lived my life with very few friends." That sounds like the opening line of a light novel.

In rom-coms and manga, you always see the line, "Hey, we're already friends, right?" But sometimes when I'm reading, I'm just like, "Wait, these guys are friends already?" Their standards feel suspiciously low.

That said, I'm sure the others are definitely friends with each other. No doubt they are chatting on LINE or hanging out behind my back. And I bet when I'm not there, I'm the butt of their jokes: "Man, Nanamura's such a-" Yeah… maybe I really am the only one who's not friends with them.

"Well, it's not so much that I'm their friend as… they are friends with each other and I just sort of tag along…"

"Onii-chan, make sure you don't bring too much money, okay? Take a decoy wallet you can hand over if you have to, and hide your return fare in your sock or something."

"That's what you do when you're traveling in some shady foreign country."

This sister of mine just naturally assumes her brother's going to get shaken down for cash. Honestly terrifying. Then again, given my lifelong lack of experience with actual friends, maybe I bear some responsibility.

"It's fine. They are not like that."

"Hmm, well, if you say so."

Satsuki took a bite of her ice popsicle, then pointed the exposed stick at me.

"But, you know… You at the beach kind of feels like blasphemy."

"Towards the ocean!?"

"If I saw you on the sand, it would be so surreal I would think I had wandered into some giant sandbox instead."

"No one's face should inspire that kind of reaction."

"You would probably get sued for obstructing business at the beach huts and lose."

"That's such a terrible thing to say, but now I'm actually scared…"

Maybe I should wear a mask or something. Although that would likely be considered obstructing business as well,but if they can't identify me, my lawsuit risk would decrease.

Not that it matters. I've never cared about the beach anyway. From a distance, it looks pretty, sure, but I've never wanted to play in the water. Fishing, maybe. That looks easy.

"Oh, right. Satsuki, I wanted to ask, would the swimsuit I use in P.E. be okay for the beach?"

"Of course not! Who the hell wears the same swimsuit for class and for private outings?"

"Ah, so you're supposed to separate pool-use and beach-use?"

"Not like that. It's all about designs and looks!"

Seriously? Now I actually need to buy one… what a pain.

In light novels and anime, it's not uncommon for characters to go to the beach in their school swimsuits. There's even a whole faction that thinks that's the best. Maybe if I wore my navy, skin-tight school-issue swimsuit, there would be some demand for it. …Not that I would want that.

"Oh, and stick to something simple. At most, just a few stripes. No dragons or weird English fonts."

"Hey, stop dissing the clothes I wore up through middle school."

Mom bought me those clothes, so I had no choice but to wear them. I still use some as loungewear, too.

Fine. Once it cools down a little, I'll check out the department store near school.

Just as I was making those plans, my phone buzzed with a LINE call.

It's Hanamitsuji.

I'm not even surprised. I figured she would reach out again before the day was over. Stepping into the hall, I tapped the call icon.

"Nanamura-kun, so you have finally decided to join us. Hoshigasaki-san told me."

"…You schemed this, didn't you?"

"It's not like I did anything that big. I just told Hoshigasaki-san that you were reluctant about going to the beach."

"You knew that would make her brother come after me."

Since Kouya-san's going to be driving them anyway, word of my refusal would have reached him sooner or later. And with how oddly fond he is of me, of course, he would try to drag me along.

"Well, that's not my fault. You're the one being difficult."

Hanamitsuji didn't sound the least bit guilty.

"I was just defending myself from getting caught up in a pain-in-the-ass situation."

"Once you actually go, it will end up being fun. Probably."

"Why are you so dead set on pulling me into this?"

"Because we made a promise on the day of the closing ceremony, remember?"

"…Huh?"

"I told you I would drag you out even if I had to force you."

The moment she said it, the memory came back.

Walking with Hanamitsuji down to the shoe lockers after the closing ceremony. The sticky summer heat on my skin. The shrill buzz of the cicadas. Even the faint scent of shampoo from her.

Yeah, she really had said that.

Though if I recall, I never actually replied, "Sure, invite me."

What a busybody. With the FestCom work looming, my outings were already guaranteed to be more frequent than a normal summer anyway.

"Just give in already."

"...Yeah, fine."

When I hung up, I let out a big breath. In the dim hallway, sunlight leaked in faintly from the entrance, and the cries of cicadas filtered through.

Let's see. Since I've never gone to the beach or pool with friends before, I'm not sure, but aside from a swimsuit, I'll need a towel, a change of clothes, and a water bottle, right?

…Ugh, what a pain. This is nothing like heading to a convenience store or bookstore.

Shaking my head in resignation, I started back toward the living room. But then, I locked eyes with Satsuki, who was peeking through the doorway, giving me this pitying look.

"What's up, Satsuki?"

"…Onii-chan. If you're pretending to be on the phone just to look cool in front of me, that's seriously painful to watch."

"I wasn't pretending."

"You should quit that stuff. It makes me want to pity you and treat you nicely."

"Treat me nice without the pity."

What the hell does this girl think her big brother is?

And so, Thursday arrived.

I stepped out of the car parked in the lot. As the salty sea breeze washed over me, I lifted my head and was hit with a blindingly blue sky, the glittering ocean reflecting the sun's rays. Scattered across the sandy beach are bursts of color, parasol after parasol dotting the shoreline.

Wearing a pale blue shirt tucked into a ridiculously high-waisted miniskirt, Hoshigasaki dashed towards the ocean with only a light rustle of her sandals in her step.

"Yay! The sea!"

"Ruri, it's dangerous to run around in sandals."

Hanamitsuji warned, her expression gentle, almost like a parent fussing over a child. Today she's wearing a long one-piece dress with a light blouse over it, topped off with a wide-brimmed hat.

Come to think of it, at some point, Hanamitsuji had switched to calling her "Ruri". Well, they did hang out together before the closing ceremony, and Hoshigasaki has been calling her "Sora-chan" from the start anyway. Seems like their bond had deepened somewhere outside my view.

Eyes sparkling, Hoshigasaki pointed excitedly at the sea.

"But Sora-chan! It's the ocean!"

"Hehe, anyone can see that."

Hanamitsuji chuckled softly, one hand holding her swaying hat in place.

A little ways behind them, Shiramine stretched her arms overhead, fingers laced together, as if to loosen up her stiff body. She's dressed in a snug T-shirt and shorts, wearing the same black cap she had on during the field trip.

"Mmm, the breeze feels nice."

"Well, we were stuck in the car this whole time, after all."

We went to a seaside swimming beach within the prefecture. Close enough, though it still took us about an hour and a half from the nearest station, in a rental car driven by Kouya-san.

The weather is almost maliciously perfect: blazing sun, cloudless sky. The short-sleeved shirt I have thrown on over my T-shirt already feels unbearable. I want to strip it off right away. Between that field trip and today, we have been unreasonably lucky with the weather. Maybe someone here is a weather maiden or something.

"You're not thinking it would've been better if it rained, are you?"

Shiramine glanced up at me, suspicion in her eyes, as if she had read something on my face. With a sigh, I jerked my chin toward the others.

"You think I'm enough of a bastard to look at them having fun and wish for rain?"

"Heh. So you do have a heart after all."

"Don't make it sound like I didn't until now."

"Ahaha, I'm just joking."

Shiramine gave me a mischievous grin.

Just then, from the trunk where he had been rummaging, Kouya-san called out.

"Hodaka, come here for a sec."

"What's wrong?"

Kouya-san flashed a refreshing smile. Dressed in a flashy aloha shirt, half-pants, and thin-framed sunglasses, he's the type I usually want to keep as much distance from as possible if I see him in a downtown crowd or at a station.

"Yo, not worn out, are you?"

"No, you're the one who should be worn out, Kouya-san."

"Haha, true enough."

And yet, not a trace of fatigue showed on his face. He had just driven us for an hour and a half, with only one short stop at a service area, but he looked way livelier than I, who had only been sitting in the passenger seat.

During the ride, he had mentioned being invited by a college friend to work a short-term live-in job at a beach house. Today happens to be his day off, so he would come back home the night before just to pick us up and drive us here. The guy really went out of his way for his sister's entourage.

"Thanks for the ride, though."

Not that I ever asked to be brought here. I added silently in my head.

Kouya-san chuckled at my words.

"Polite one, aren't ya?"

Then he handed me a massive pole-like object he had set on the ground. Folded up, I hadn't realized it was a beach parasol.

"Sorry, mind holding this?"

"Ah, sure."

No sooner than when I agreed, he started piling on a cooler box and a huge sports bag. I hadn't paid attention back when he picked us up at the station. But wow, that's a lot of stuff.

Like a coat rack, I just kept accepting whatever he handed me until, apparently, all the unloading was done. Hoisting the last bag himself, Kouya-san set off at a brisk pace.

"All right, everyone, let's move out and set up the parasol!"

At his call, the other three girls came over.

"Ah, onii-chan, Nanamura! Sorry for dumping all the bags on you! Want me to take something?"

"Yeah, could you grab this one?"

"Got it!"

I passed Hoshigasaki the sports bag as she came running over. Judging from the weight, it should just be towels and clothes inside. Nothing too heavy.

Hanamitsuji and Shiramine also offered to carry something, but what was left was only the parasol and the cooler box. If I gave those away, I would be walking empty-handed while the girls lugged everything, instantly becoming that kind of guy: the high school boy who makes the girls carry the load.

As tempting as it was to slack off, I couldn't bear the imaginary stares, so I just shook my head and walked on.

The beach began the moment we left the parking lot. The sand was more brownish than white, sinking my feet with every step, making it hard to walk. Grains poured in through every hole of my vented sandals. I should have just gone with beach sandals. Now I'm regretting it.

"It doesn't look all that crowded, huh?"

Just as Shiramine said, there's plenty of space between the parasols and leisure sheets. It's already fairly late in the morning, so it doesn't seem like the beach would suddenly flood with people after this.

When I thought of summer leisure spots, I had always pictured those TV images of pools crammed to the brim like sardine cans. Maybe it's because it's a weekday, but… maybe beaches and pools just have fundamentally different dynamics.

When I voiced that thought, Hanamitsuji nodded.

"Right. The beach definitely feels like more of a hurdle. You have to think about things like access, showers, the weather… and you need to bring more gear, like parasols and leisure sheets."

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've gone to the beach, too! Lucky for us, onii-chan's working at a beach house!"

Honestly, with that guy, I bet even if he wasn't working at a beach house, he would've gone along the moment his sister asked.

To avoid having to join in the conversation, I casually shifted behind the three of them. Loners develop a natural skill for stalking people's backs, no matter the situation. Personality tests tend to lump me into the "Artist" type, which is just a polite way of saying "loser", but if they had had an "Assassin" type, I'm sure that's where I would land. I'm plenty used to walking without making a sound.

The beachgoers are older than I had expected. Sure, there are younger people too, but it's families that really stand out.

"Hey, hey, where should we put the parasol?"

"Wherever you want, but I prefer somewhere I can see the beach house from."

Kouya-san jerked his chin toward the beach house as he answered Hoshigasaki's question.

"Huh? You're not hanging out *with us, onii-chan?"

"Not into playing around with high schoolers. I'll be lazing around at the beach house. You guys manage your own stuff."

In the end, we set up the parasol about halfway between the beach house and the waterline. Kouya-san stayed behind with it while the rest of us grabbed our personal bags and headed toward the changing rooms.

Now that I'm about to change into a swimsuit. It really hit me. I have actually come to the beach.

"Sigh, why the hell am I here…"

I sighed, and Shiramine glanced back with a look of exasperation.

"Even an elementary schooler being dragged to a grave visit would be making a less miserable face than you."

"It's fine. Nanamura-kun's summer break is just him lazing around at home anyway. He needs to be aired out under the sun every once in a while."

"Don't go airing me out without permission."

I shot back at her, and then I got smacked on the back by Hoshigasaki.

"Come on, come on. As long as we're all together, you'll definitely have fun, Nanamura!"

"…That's how it works, huh."

That kind of "togetherness" talk just doesn't sit right with a loner. When I hear "everyone together", what comes to mind are choir competitions, sports festivals, cultural festivals, and ball games. Basically, nothing but events designed to make life hell for loners. Being alone is way easier.

Still unconvinced, I stepped into the changing room, where we split up by gender to change.

The swimsuit I have brought is the kind that looks more like baggy half-pants. I bought it at a department store near school, following Satsuki's advice.

It's not like we're here for proper swimming lessons, so who cares about functionality anyway?

…Unavoidably, my mind drifted to the fact that on the other side of this wall, they were changing too. Damn it. Desire is such a nuisance.

If I dawdled any longer, my thoughts would definitely veer in a weird direction, so I quickly threw on a short-sleeved shirt and stepped back outside. The sun roasted my head, and it felt like my worldly desires got seared away along with it.

I waited in the shade, blankly staring at the ocean. After a few minutes-

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Nanamura-kun."

Hanamitsuji's voice came from behind me.

"Yeah, I waited for so long-"

I turned to see Hanamitsuji stepping out of the changing room, ahead of the others.

She has a thin white T-shirt over her swimsuit, but since it's so sheer, the swimsuit underneath is faintly visible.

Her swimsuit is a bikini, orange as the base color. A ribbon in the middle of the chest and little frills at the edges match her image perfectly. The bright tones suit her bob-cut brown hair and her fair yet healthy skin. With just the bikini bottoms underneath, her long, toned legs are entirely on display.

…Seriously, I have thought about it before, but this girl really has the body of a model.

After a moment's hesitation, I quickly averted my eyes.

Wow, the ocean sure is pretty, huh?

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

That's the kind of line you're supposed to say when someone's staring at your swimsuit, not when they are deliberately looking away.

"I went out of my way to buy this swimsuit for today, so the least you could do is say, 'It looks good on you, ' don't you think?"

"…You went out of your way to buy it?"

Well, so did I, but there's no way I'm admitting that out loud. Too embarrassing.

"Yup. We all went shopping for them together."

Apparently, I wasn't part of that "we". Then again, if I had been, that would've been even more awkward, so maybe it's for the best.

I stole another glance at Hanamitsuji's swimsuit. In her hair was a tropical-looking flower accessory, something that gives off the southern islands vibe.

"Hey, could you not stare so much?"

"That's unreasonable!"

"Ehehe, just kidding."

With an amused smile, she covered her mouth with her hand. …Yeah, I'm definitely getting dragged along at her pace here. Doesn't feel great. I considered getting payback by asking her to rate my swimsuit, but decided against it. No way that would end in praise.

"Sorry, we're late!"

"S-Sorry to keep you waiting…"

While we were talking, Hoshigasaki and Shiramine finally stepped out of the changing room.

Leading the way is Hoshigasaki. Under a loose white T-shirt that exposed a lot of her chest area, she's wearing a lavender bikini that gives off a cool, refreshing vibe. Around her shoulders and bust, frilly hibiscus patterns make it look distinctly like vacation wear. Her hair is styled differently than usual, with neat braids woven in. Her slender arms and legs stretched out in the sunlight, and for some reason, I feel like I'm seeing something I shouldn't.

"This swimsuit… I just bought it. How does it look…?"

Cheeks faintly red, Hoshigasaki asked the question softly, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.

Hanamitsuji had asked me the same thing earlier. Is there an unspoken rule that when you buy a new swimsuit, you must get a third party's opinion?

It's not like I'm a swimsuit sommelier. What's a swimsuit sommelier, anyway? Someone who can tell the brand and release year just by looking? Like those hardcore otaku who can identify an anime's title, episode number, and production studio from a single screenshot?

…Actually, that's kind of cool.

"Uh, well… I like how there's fabric around the shoulders. Looks like you won't catch a cold."

"That's not what I was asking~"

Hoshigasaki pouted, glaring up at me with half-lidded eyes. To make matters worse, Hanamitsuji gave me a frosty sidelong glance, too, making the whole situation pretty uncomfortable.

"A-Alright, fine. It suits you. Really. Feels very… Hoshigasaki."

"…Really? Hehe."

Her face softened into a warm, bashful smile. At least she seems satisfied.

"Come on, Prez, how long are you going to hide back there?"

"B-But…"

Shiramine, meanwhile, had been using Hoshigasaki's back as cover this whole time.

"Sigh. Well, you'll have to show it eventually anyway."

Resigned, Shiramine finally stepped out. Her long black hair is tied up in a ponytail. Over her swimsuit, she's wearing a thin white parka. Underneath, her swimsuit is a bikini in a shade so dark it's almost black-purple. And at the sides, there are these weird strings dangling.

What the hell are those for? Don't tell me the entire swimsuit is held together by those strings…?

Shiramine is carrying weapons that aren't exactly fitting for her height, so if you ask me, she would be better off in a swimsuit that prioritizes defense power. …And wow, what the hell am I even saying right now?

Shiramine herself didn't seem very confident. She folded her arms tightly across her chest, looking down with an embarrassed expression.

"Don't laugh, okay? I really don't think something like this suits me…"

"It's not that I think it doesn't suit you, but…"

"…Eh?"

"Well, yeah, it surprised me a little. But the color's calm and mature—kinda feels like you. I think it's nice."

"Ah, um… i-is that so…"

…Shoot.

After Hanamitsuji and then Hoshigasaki had asked for my opinion, I just kind of went with the flow and blurted out my thoughts on Shiramine's swimsuit, too. Thinking about it calmly, though, offering unsolicited swimsuit critiques makes me sound like some kind of depraved Swimsuit Sommelier. I want to bury myself in the sand and never come out.

Shiramine's face went bright red as she spun around.

"I-I'm changing back!"

"Ehh!? You look cute though, Prez!"

"Yeah. Mashiro, that swimsuit suits you well."

"It's not about whether it suits me or not, it's just… my stomach and back feel so drafty… Why is there no fabric here…?"

"That's just how swimsuits are! If you wear a rash guard over it, you won't feel chilly!"

"No, it's not really about being cold…"

"Come on, let's go already. Kouya-san's waiting."

Hanamitsuji, unfazed, started striding toward the parasols. Shiramine, resigned, followed after her.

As they walked, their conversation shifted to when the three of them had gone swimsuit shopping. Since I had no place in that story, I let myself drift a little behind the group.

From what I overheard, they had taken the train all the way into the city center. That must have been around the same time I ran into Hanamitsuji and Hoshigasaki the other weekend. For me, that place was nothing but rows of otaku-friendly shops, but apparently, it also has plenty of fashion buildings lined with apparel stores.

"New swimsuits really do lift your mood, don't they?"

"Right! We're high schoolers now, so of course I wanna wear something cute! Besides, my old ones from middle school don't even fit anymore…"

Of course, I figured it was about height, but you really shouldn't say that kind of thing in front of guys. If it weren't me, someone could get the wrong idea.

"Still, Mashiro, when you said you only had a school swimsuit, I was shocked. And that you actually intended to come to the beach in it."

"B-Because the one from middle school doesn't fit anymore…"

Please, stop that topic. I beg you.

"But, Prez, you were pretty excited at the store, weren't you?"

"Ugh… that's only because you two praised me. I just… ugh, I shouldn't have let myself be flattered into buying it..."

When Shiramine spoke bitterly, Hoshigasaki wagged her finger side to side.

"No good, Prez! Since it's the sea, you need a proper swimsuit. Otherwise, it's bad for the beach!"

"What kind of reasoning is that...?"

Shiramine muttered in confusion, while Hanamitsuji nodded along enthusiastically. She's just as bad.

"By the way, Nanamura, is your swimsuit new?"

"Huh? Ah, well, yeah."

"Hmm…"

Hoshigasaki spun around, stared at my swimsuit for a while, and fell silent.

"Somehow, yeah, you look like a local middle-aged man."

"Why not just do it straight if you're going to insult me!?"

"Ah, no, no, that's not it! It's more like... it really suits you? Or rather, it gives off this kind of laid-back vibe that actually fits you!"

Hoshigasaki scrambled to cover herself. Why is she always so bad at softening her words?

"But I get what Hoshigasaki-san means. You look like someone you would see at a ferry terminal."

"Nanamura-kun, weren't you at the souvenir shop on Fumiki Island during our field trip?"

"You guys..."

Shiramine and Hanamitsuji also joined in, amused. The three of them burst into laughter, and I sighed.

When we returned to the parasol, Kouya-san was lounging on a long chair beside the leisure sheet. The way he slid down his sunglasses to look at us suited him so well that it was like watching an actor in a movie.

"Thanks for waiting, onii-chan~"

"Yeah. Alright, I'll go move the car."

From his reclining posture, Kouya-san smoothly rose to his feet. Just from that, you could tell how athletic he is.

"Wouldn't it be fine to just leave it in that parking lot over there?"

"This parking lot's for customers. I'm an employee at the beach hut, so once we're done unloading stuff, I have to move the car over to the inn. That's the rule."

"Ah, I see."

That parking lot doesn't look very big. It would probably be filled just with cars from the house staff and liftguards if they didn't do it this way.

"I don't think anyone would notice if I broke the rule, but... rules are rules."

He looks flashy, but he's actually pretty serious. That part of him is similar to Hoshigasaki... no, maybe it's that Hoshigasaki takes after Kouya-san?

"I'm usually at the beach house. You know, the one with the red sign. Sometimes I come over here too, but if anything happens, just call me anytime."

"Thanks, onii-chan!"

"Yeah. There are drinks in the cooler, so keep hydrated. If you run out, come to the beach house. If I'm there, I'll give you something for free, and there's free water too."

With that, Kouya-san headed off toward the parking lot. He really is the kind of person who looks after others. Once we saw him off, Hoshigasaki rummaged through her waterproof bag and pulled out a light-blue container that looked like detergent.

"Okay, everyone, let's put on sunscreen!"

"Right. The sun's dangerous this time of year."

Hanamitsuji also pulled off the T-shirt she had been wearing, squeezed milky-white lotion from an orange bottle into her palm, and quickly spread it over her face, neck, and shoulders.

"Hey, Prez, want to do each other's backs?"

"No, I didn't bring sunscreen, so..."

"What!? You absolutely have to put it on!"

"She's right. Mashiro, you have got beautiful skin, so it would be a waste if you didn't protect it."

"B-Beautiful…?"

"See? I'll put it on for you!"

Hoshigasaki slathered her sunscreen-covered hands over Shiramine's back, who was completely flustered.

"Eek!"

"Ahaha, that's a funny sound."

"D-Don't do it all of a sudden!"

"Then I'll do your back, Ruri. Mashiro, can you do mine?"

"Y-Yeah… um, just like this?"

"Ah, eek!"

"Ruri, don't make weird sounds."

"No, it's just that Sora-chan's hands tickle... ugh, this is embarrassing..."

The three girls sat in a circle on the leisure sheet, slathering sunscreen all over each other. Their bursts of laughter echoed every so often, making me feel a weird itch inside.

T-This is awkward…

Trying not to let that scene into my field of vision, I walked away from the parasol. Maybe I should have gone with Kouya-san instead.

I mean, if you're going to put on that much sunscreen, just wear clothes... What are you doing in bikinis? Like, what if your stomachs get cold? Ah, I finally understand why grandmas are always trying to make kids wear belly warmers.

"Nanamura-kun, aren't you going to put on sunscreen too?"

At some point, the girls had finished rubbing it on each other. Hanamitsuji, now wearing a white T-shirt over her swimsuit, came up to me.

Looking over, I see that Hoshigasaki and Shiramine are still talking together. I thought they didn't have much contact in class, but maybe after study sessions and swimsuit shopping, they had gotten closer.

Well, Hoshigasaki is the type who closes the distance fast once she opens up. Come to think of it, I did tell her after the zoo incident that Shiramine was worried about her.

"I didn't bring any."

"I figured as much. Here, I'll lend you mine, so come over here."

"No, it's fine. I'm not planning on swimming anyway."

"It will hurt later when you take a bath, you know? Or are you the type who doesn't get burned that badly?"

"I'm the type who just endures it in the bath."

"So it does hurt..."

Hanamitsuji gave me a look of exasperation.

"What are you two talking about?"

From behind her, Hoshigasaki poked her face out while rummaging in her waterproof bag.

"Nanamura-kun said he doesn't have sunscreen, so I was lecturing him on being careless."

"So I was being lectured, huh?"

"I see. Then, Nanamura, give me your hand!"

"Huh?"

Doing as I was told, I held out my hand. Hoshigasaki turned the sunscreen bottle upside down.

"Here."

"Whoa, wait-"

With a burst, the lotion squirted out, splattering from my wrist down into my palm.

I don't know the going rate for sunscreen, but it would be wasteful to spill it... With no choice, I rubbed it over both arms and spread the leftover around my neck and stomach.

"Are there any other spots you'll burn? Your legs, maybe?"

"Ah, uh... no, it's fine! What you gave me earlier is more than enough."

I spread it thinly and rubbed some onto my legs as well. Come to think of it, when I was a kid, my mom used to put sunscreen on me like this. Was that just for a regular outing, or maybe a family trip? I was too young. I don't remember anymore.

As for my back, I've given up on it. I can't reach it myself. Well, I've got a shirt on anyway, so it probably won't burn much.

"Alright then, everyone, let's go!"

When I got back to the parasol, Hoshigasaki was already throwing her hand up in excitement.

Watching her with a gentle expression, Hanamitsuji said, "Before that, here," and pulled a plastic bottle from the cooler. It's the sports drink you always see in commercials.

"Heatstroke is scary, so let's drink this first."

"Okay!"

Hoshigasaki obediently gulped it down. Seeing her like that, Shiramine murmured:

"Hanamitsuji-san kind of looks like a mother, huh?"

I couldn’t agree more.

I saw the three of them off as they went to play in the sea, and then I laid down under the parasol. In this blazing heat, I don't know how they could even feel like playing.

From afar, I watched the three in swimsuits hesitantly step into the water. Before long, they got used to the chill and started happily splashing their arms and legs around.

And then, Hoshigasaki scooped up some water with her hands and flung it.

"Take this!"

"Kya!?"

The water hit Hanamitsuji square in the face. She blinked for a moment, then her lips curved into a fearless smile.

"You did it now…! Take this!"

"Ahaha! Sora-chan, that's cold!"

"Hehe, here's payback."

Hanamitsuji laughed as Hoshigasaki got splashed in return.

"In that case, me too!"

Hoshigasaki thrust both arms into the sea to scoop up water, but maybe she grabbed too much and ended up flinging it in the wrong direction.

Right toward Shiramine, who had been standing with her arms crossed, just watching.

"Ouch."

"Ahh, Prez!? Sorry!"

Soaked from head to toe, Shiramine stood dripping for a while. But just as the worried Hoshigasaki came closer, she suddenly scooped up water with force.

"Kya!"

"Ehehe, payback."

Seeing Hoshigasaki get drenched from the sneak attack, Shiramine grinned.

"A-A surprise attack isn't fair!"

"Mashiro, I'll back you up."

Hanamitsuji, who had been watching, joined in with an amused expression and started splashing Hoshigasaki as well.

"Waa! Two against one isn't fair! Stop- ahh!"

Sprayed from both sides, Hoshigasaki tried to run away, but tripped in the waves and landed on her backside.

Splash!

A huge spray of water went up.

Sitting in the shallows with water up to her chest, Hoshigasaki burst out laughing.

"...Pfft! Ahahaha!"

Seeing her, Hanamitsuji and Shiramine also started laughing.

"You two are so mean!"

Hoshigasaki protested through her laughter, and the other two walked toward her.

"No way. You were the one who started it, Hoshigasaki-san."

"That's right. It was self-defense for us."

"Ugh… fine, then help me up."

Still sitting in the water, Hoshigasaki stuck out both hands. With a sigh, the two of them reached out to her.

The moment they each grabbed her hands, Hoshigasaki grinned.

"Thanks- or not! Take this!"

"Hey, no way!" "Whoa!"

Pulled forward with force, Hanamitsuji and Shiramine both lost their balance, tumbling face-first into the sea.

Splash!

This time, two big splashes went up.

"Cough, cough, what are you even doing!?"

On all fours in the water, Shiramine hacked and sputtered.

Seeing that, Hoshigasaki laughed triumphantly.

"Ehehe, that's payback for before."

"Blergh… I've never swallowed this much seawater before. It really is salty..."

"Well, think of it as a good experience, Prez."

Then, without a word, Shiramine splashed water right into her face.

"Ueh!"

Beyond the dripping-wet Hoshigasaki, Hanamitsuji raised herself, water dripping steadily from her hair.

"Seriously, you got me good."

She muttered under her breath.

"Hehehe, Sora-chan's still got a long way to go."

"To think I, of all people, was tricked by Ruri... a once-in-a-lifetime disgrace..."

"Wait, are you two making fun of me?"

They locked eyes, and suddenly Hanamitsuji burst out laughing. Drawn in, Hoshigasaki and Shiramine also started laughing together, still half-submerged in the sea.

For a while, the three of them laughed and splashed around out in the water.

...Somehow, I had ended up watching the whole thing from start to finish. Then I snapped back to myself.

What the hell have I been staring at all this time?

I shut my eyes tightly and let out a yawn as I lie back on the folding lounge chair.

Fanning myself with the collar of my open shirt, I imagined myself joining in with those three.

Yeah, no way.

Being the only guy among three girls already sets the bar way too high. Even as fellow high schoolers, I would probably get hauled away without question.

Besides, I have never been good at letting loose and having fun like that.

The more others fool around, the more I become painfully aware of the distance, physically and mentally, between them and myself. It even makes me feel like I'm the one at fault for not being able to play along.

Maybe that's why I have always avoided this kind of thing on purpose.

I gazed absentmindedly up at the parasol's underside and the sky stretching beyond it.

I had brought a book just in case, but left it in the car because I didn't want it to get wet. I thought about fiddling with my phone, but given the setting, I was afraid I would get accused of taking sneak photos.

If only I had that classic light-novel-protagonist hobby of "people-watching" to fall back on. Too bad I don't have a godlike ability to observe others.

If it's characters in novels or movies, fine. But watching real people, what's fun about that? I would much rather watch clouds drifting across the sky, or ants carrying food back to their nest. Now that's entertainment. Guess I'm pretty sensitive. Maybe I could even be a novelist someday.

Still, it doesn't change the fact that I have nothing to do. I thought about building a sandcastle myself, but unfortunately, I'm no good at that kind of steady work.

As my gaze wandered, I noticed a notification pop up on my phone inside its waterproof case.

It's a text from Hinata Kadotani, self-proclaimed best friend (?) of Hanamitsuji.

Apparently, she had also been invited on this trip, but it overlapped with a Tennis Club match.

<Nanamura-san, are you at the beach?>

The message is simple. Probably during a break in her match.

I decided to reply to kill time. If I had a proper exchange in the log, then even if someone suspected me of sneak photography, I could just show the history.

...Too late for that. I mean, how are you supposed to go to the beach together and not see swimsuits? What does she expect?

When I didn't reply, another message popped up.

<I'll half-kill you.>

<Don't be unreasonable.>

<What?>

<I'm going to block you.>

How is it ethically okay for a guy to demand swimsuit shots of a female classmate?

<Ugh.> <Sorry.> <Forget this conversation ever happened.>

<Ughhhhh, but I really want to see Sora in a swimsuit too~> <Unfair.> <Why?> <What did I ever do to deserve this?> <If it had to be like this, I should have been born as grass or a tree.> <This world is wrong.>

Don't fall to the dark side over something like this.

Well, I guess not being able to hang out with friends during summer vacation is a big deal, at least in general terms. Hard to say for me, since not hanging out with friends is my default.

Might as well throw her a bone.

<Okay…> <I'll take tons of pics.>

Yeah, letting Kadotani and Hanamitsuji go to the pool just the two of them sounds like a bad idea. For Hanamitsuji's safety as well.

Just as that exchange wrapped up, someone walked toward the parasol.

"On your phone even at the beach, Nanamura-kun?"

It's Shiramine.

She held the end of her ponytail in both hands, droplets dripping down onto the sand. From all the water play earlier, her whole body was glittering with beads of water.

"Because a certain guardian is too busy having fun, I had to pick up the slack."

"What do you mean?"

Hanamitsuji herself is still out there in the water, shoulder-deep with Hoshigasaki. Well, since she looks like she's having fun, I figured I could at least listen to Kadotani's complaints.

"I have no idea what you're supposed to do at a place like this. I don't have enough experience playing with people."

"I see. I really didn't need to know that..."

Shiramine dried herself with a bath towel, then slipped on a hoodie. After spreading the towel out on the leisure sheet, she sat down.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Don't worry about me."

"It's not like I'm pitying you for being alone. In your case, you almost prefer it, don't you?"

"You know me well."

"And after that field trip incident, I learned that worrying about you only backfires."

"Look, I had my reasons for that."

"Hehe, I know."

Shiramine laughed with an amused look. Apparently, she was just teasing me.

I sighed and turned my gaze toward the sea.

Listening absentmindedly to the sound of waves rolling in, I finally realized what had felt off since I got here.

Right. At a beach, there are no trees or utility poles, so you hardly hear cicadas. Just a few weeks ago, that sound hadn't even been around. And now, I have gotten so used to it that not hearing it feels strange.

Thinking about it, this time around in high school, I've been walking a very different path. At first, my relationships with Hanamitsuji, Hoshigasaki, and Shiramine had felt completely out of place. But before I knew it, I had started to accept them as natural.

The brain really is convenient like that.

While I was lost in thought, Shiramine suddenly asked me a question.

"Nanamura-kun, you're on the FestCom, right?"

"Eh? Ah, yeah. Thanks to a certain someone dumping it on me."

"It was a good idea, though, wasn't it? Thanks to that, the discussions wrapped up quickly, and you even got yourself a perfect excuse to dodge class duties."

"Well, that's true, but..."

Admitting it felt irritating somehow.

Besides, up until my last life, even without being on the committee, I was never really entrusted with any class responsibilities. And the rare times I was, they were the sort of jobs that didn't matter even if I didn't do them. Guess that's what they call being sidelined. Maybe I should be grateful I wasn't exiled to some figurative broom closet.

Well, if they gave work to a loner and then ignored him, that would cause problems, too. I suppose you could call it risk management.

"Actually, I decided to join the FestCom as well."

"Huh?"

Shiramine's unexpected words caught me off guard.

"So, from August on, let's work together. I'm planning to tell Hoshigasaki-san later, but I figured I should let you know first."

"Wait, hold on. Our class already decided, me for the boys, Hoshigasaki for the girls. There's no need for you to join, Shiramine."

She shook her head firmly.

"The handout said they were also accepting volunteers in addition to the class representatives, remember?"

Now that she mentioned it, I vaguely recalled something like that being written. I had only paid attention to the parts that made it sound like a black company and hadn't thought much about the rest.

"I'm joining as a volunteer."

"You don't need to go out of your way to take on a hassle like that."

"It's not a hassle. I'm the type who feels a sense of purpose in that kind of work. And besides, there are benefits for me too."

Benefits of joining the committee? I thought about it, but nothing came to mind.

"...Like for your transcript or something?"

"Committee work won't help much with transcripts. Unless you're aiming to get into college by recommendation."

"True."

In my last year in high school, I didn't recall transcripts ever being useful for anything. I just took the regular entrance exams anyway.

I still have no clue. Seeing my expression, Shiramine smiled and decided to reveal the answer.

"Actually, I want to join the student council."

"The student council?"

"Yeah. At the end of October, about two weeks after the cultural festival, there will be an election for student council president. The rest of the members are either directly appointed by the new president or chosen from those who submit applications. At that point, being on the cultural festival committee makes for a good appeal."

Huh. I had no idea how our student council even worked. So not all the members are elected.

"Even so, does being on the FestCom really help?"

"Yeah. This year's committee chair is Kanbara-senpai, the student council secretary."

"Who's that?"

"She's a second-year with brown hair, semi-long. You have seen her up front at assemblies, right?"

"Nope. I don't look at the front during assemblies."

"How can you be on the committee and not know who the chair is... The decision was announced at the assembly before summer break."

Shiramine leaned forward, exasperated, but what I don't know, I don't know.

Now that she mentioned it, I vaguely recalled that at the first meeting before break, a male student council president had been leading things, then at some point, a girl was standing up front instead. Honestly, I hadn't paid attention. Back then, I was too preoccupied with the whole mess involving Hoshigasaki and Hiiragi to care about the committee. Not that I would have cared even without the mess.

It's not like I joined the committee because I wanted to. Who the chair is has nothing to do with us grunts. We're just there to get our effort squeezed out of us.

"Well, your attitude doesn't matter. The point is that Kanbara-senpai is the frontrunner for the next student council president. So I want to join the committee as a way to appeal."

"Heh, so you already know who the frontrunner is."

"Kanbara-senpai has both her student council track record and now the committee chair position. That puts her in front of the whole school more often, which is perfect publicity before the election."

"I see..."

If they have already tagged the next president, then working close by as a volunteer is a smart move. From the president's side, too, it's easier to appoint someone whose personality and work style you already know.

When I think about it, chances to see high school students doing administrative work are rare unless it's the cultural festival.

"So basically, you're aiming for a nepotism hire, huh?"

"Couldn't you put it a little differently?"

Sitting cross-legged beside me, Shiramine gave me a sharp look.

I thought for a moment, then opened my mouth.

"...Connections-based employment?"

"That's just a synonym."

"Then, how about backdoor admission?"

"That's enough already."

She sighed in exasperation. Well, I couldn't think of anything else, so what can you do?

As if to end the conversation, Shiramine turned her gaze back toward the sea. Hoshigasaki and Hanamitsuji are sitting in the shallows, laughing about something.

Glancing to my side, I saw a droplet run down from Shiramine's chin to her neck. I couldn't tell if it was sweat or seawater, but it merged with another droplet at her collarbone and fell toward her chest.

"Why do you try so hard, anyway?"

I looked forward again and muttered.

"FestCom, student council... to me, it all just seems like a hassle."

Both are about supporting student life or the cultural festival. They don't benefit you personally. It's work for someone else, not family, not close friends, just an unspecified mass of others.

For me, just managing my own life is already a struggle. I can't imagine having that kind of room in my heart. How many loops of high school would it take to get there, I wonder.

I know two is probably not going to be enough.

Even joining a club feels like it would yield a greater return for the same effort.

If Shiramine were lonely and looking for a place to belong, that would be one thing. But that's clearly not it. She talks plenty with her own group of friends in class, and outside of school, she hangs out with Hanamitsuji and Hoshigasaki, people she's not even close to in class. She's not lacking for a place.

When she heard my words, Shiramine didn't argue. The glance she sent my way wasn't critical, either.

Before long, she gave a soft smile and buried her face in her arms atop her knees.

"...Maybe it's something you just can't understand."

"Huh?"

Her words made even less sense to me. But I didn't feel like asking.

Anything further would have been sticking my nose in where it didn't belong. That was the sense I got.

Well, Shiramine has that sense of duty I lack, and her reason for wanting to join the student council is probably something like, "I want to help people". Honestly, she would fit right in with a service club... though come to think of it, those guys didn't really have much of a service spirit.

"Hey, Prez, Nanamura!"

Lost in thought, I looked up to see Hoshigasaki and Hanamitsuji walking back from the sea. Their sunlit silhouettes gleamed.

"Phew, playing around made me thirsty."

Hoshigasaki stepped into the shade of the parasol and wiped the sweat from her chin with the back of her hand. Even though she had been in the water, it must have been hot.

"Here, Ruri."

"Thanks!"

Hanamitsuji pressed a towel to her hair while pulling a plastic bottle from the cooler.

"Mashiro, Nanamura-kun, you two should drink something too."

She handed us bottles as well.

Shiramine got tea, I got cola. Both had been bought at the convenience store on the way here, our names written on them in marker before being tossed into the cooler.

"Thank you, Hanamitsuji-san."

"Thanks."

We each thanked her as we took them. Ice-cold, just what we needed.

I started to feel guilty, sitting under the parasol without even swimming, but it's too much trouble now to move into the sun.

For the time being, I stood up from the lounge chair and crouched down at the edge of the shade. Spotting the now-vacant chair, Hoshigasaki pointed.

"Ah, can I sit here?"

"Whatever."

"Yay!"

She flopped onto it with a thud. Watching her, I realized too late that I should've wiped the seat with a towel before she sat down. Too late now.

Hanamitsuji sat down on the leisure sheet beside her, letting out a small sigh. Watching her wipe the water off her body with the towel somehow made me feel awkward, so I turned my gaze inland.

Near the road, a cluster of beach houses has been built, with a shared food court-like dining area in the center. Above it, a canopy stretched out to provide shade. Looks like they are taking heatstroke prevention seriously.

"Come to think of it, Nanamura-kun, you haven't gone in the sea yet, have you?"

Suddenly addressed, I turned in surprise. Hanamitsuji's body had already dried for the most part, which was oddly relieving.

"Well, yeah."

"Ehh? Why not?"

Hoshigasaki sat up with a start, staring at me with wide eyes.

"I mean... I don't know what you're supposed to do in the ocean."

"Just going in feels cold and nice!"

"Ruri's right. On a hot day, nothing beats getting into the sea or the pool."

"Anyway, you're coming too, Nanamura! Oh, unless you're scared of the ocean? In that case, don't force yourself."

"...It's not like that."

I don't exactly feel drawn to the ocean, but I can't stand leaving them thinking I'm scared. I could put my face underwater just fine. With no choice, I stood up, left my shirt and holey sandals behind, and headed toward the sea.

The blazing sun scorched my back and neck, and even after just a short walk, sweat was already beading up. The hot sand made me quicken my pace.

When I reached the shoreline, a wave lapped against my feet, buried in the sand. It was cool, and yeah, I had to admit, it felt good.

From afar, the sea looks blue, but up close it's not really. Maybe from the waves or people's feet stirring it up, the water has a faint ochre tint.

Feeling the girls' eyes on me from behind, I slowly waded in. When the water reached above my knees, I crouched down, sitting kind of like in PE lessons, soaking myself up to the chest. At first glance, the waves looked calm, but the force when they hit my chest and shoulders was stronger than I had expected.

Rocked by the waves, the summer heat burning my body gradually cooled away, and a breath slipped out of me.

"...Phew. Yeah, this feels pretty good."

Once I tried it, it wasn't bad at all. It's about the same temperature as the cold bath at a bathhouse after the sauna. Honestly, this is about right. The ones at the bathhouse are way too cold.

"...Like a bath?"

"Doesn't this look like the old men and women walking for their health at the city pool?"

"Totally, Sora-chan!"

Don't "totally" me. You're just saying whatever you want... though, to be fair, I was just thinking it felt like something at the bathhouse, so they are not wrong.

Still, I have no idea what to do from here.

Should I splash water at Hoshigasaki or Hanamitsuji...? Yeah, not happening. That's way too off-character. If they laughed it off with a "Oh no, you got me!" then okay, but if they turned around all, "Huh? What's gotten into you?" I would want to crawl into a fishing net and let myself be hauled away.

Swimming isn't an option either. The only stroke I can do is a head-down crawl, and imagine someone doing that at the beach. It stands out in all the wrong ways.

Not to mention, head-down crawl doesn't use breathing. The air in your lungs just drains out, and near the end, your buoyancy drops, and you start to sink. That's seriously rough.

As I was zoning out with those thoughts, I heard a prim, honor-student sort of voice.

"Nanamura-kun."

"Huh? What- wah!"

The moment I turned around, something slammed into my face.

"Ugh, cough, cough."

"For crying out loud, why are you spacing out out there in the middle of the sea?"

For a second, I didn't even know what had happened. I wiped my face with my palm while coughing, and finally realized I had been splashed. Damn, is seawater really this salty?

Right behind Hanamitsuji, a smug-looking Shiramine stood holding a water gun. Its gaudy lime-green and sky-blue colors gleamed in the sun.

"Where did you get that, Mashiro?"

"Ehehe, Hoshigasaki-san's brother came over to the parasol earlier. He said he would watch our stuff so we could play, and he handed me a weapon on the way."

Looking toward the parasol, I spotted the blonde waving. That bastard.

"So then, Hanamitsuji-san, Hoshigasaki-san."

"Ara." "Ohhh!"

Shiramine handed out water guns to each of them. Hanamitsuji got a futuristic-looking pistol straight out of a Doraemon gadget, and Hoshigasaki got one with a huge tank attached.

…Wait, what about my gun?

Seeing me look longingly, Shiramine grinned mischievously.

"Nanamura-kun, you said you didn't know how to play at the beach, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I said that."

I have a bad feeling about this…

Hanamitsuji and Hoshigasaki, having overheard our exchange, started grinning as they filled their guns with water.

"Well then. We'll teach you. How people play when they come to the beach."

"Yup yup. If you come all the way to the beach and don't have fun, that's a waste!"

Isn't it a waste for you, not me? I don't have the fetish for enjoying that kind of scene, thank you very much.

"Hey, wait, if we just talk it out-"

I raised both hands and backed away, but Hanamitsuji smiled and aimed the barrel at me.

"Do you mean you'll be convinced and want to play with us?"

"No, that's not-"

"No questions asked. Nobody ever waited around after being told 'you'll understand if I explain it', right?"

That was a tad over the top, but my thoughts were cut off by a massive spray of water.

And then they taught me, in generous doses, how to "enjoy" the sea. Perhaps electrolyte replenishment helps prevent heatstroke, but seriously, seawater's salt concentration is ridiculous.

If this goes any further, can I at least claim compensation for emotional distress?

We are having lunch at the beach house where Kouya-san is working part-time.

And it's all on the house.

Everyone except his sister, Hoshigasaki, tried to refuse, but the owner said, "I can't take money from Kouya's family!" So we had no choice.

With his close-cropped brown hair, muscular build, and skin tanned pitch black, the man looked intimidating. No way anyone could defy him. Of course, I'm sure he's a good person deep down.

I had yakisoba topped with a fried egg, some karaage, and even a Blue Hawaii shaved ice.

After borrowing the restroom, I was just about to leave the beach hut when the owner called out to me.

As I walked over, he gave me a big grin.

"You're really living the dream, huh? Surrounded by girls. No, wait, 'both hands full of flowers' doesn't cut it, huh? More like you have got too many for both hands! Wahaha!"

"A-Ahaha…"

I had no idea how to respond, my smile twitching awkwardly.

Seriously, doesn't this kind of comment violate some compliance guideline? Some gossip rag or YouTuber will probably dig this up years later if I ever get famous.

Still carrying that awkwardness, I stepped outside only to find Hanamitsuji and the others gone. Figures. Even when I come to the beach with them, I get left behind like a ghost.

I wandered aimlessly for a bit until a familiar voice called out.

"Hey, Nanamura, over here!"

Hoshigasaki and Shiramine, both wearing T-shirts over their swimsuits, had gathered near some trees close to the road. A tall net stretched up to about head height. It looks like a beach volleyball court.

"We were just talking about playing beach volleyball!"

"Where's the ball then?"

When I asked, Shiramine pointed back toward the parasol. Following her gaze, I saw the tall figure of Hanamitsuji walking away, her bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hanamitsuji-san went to get it. She had one deflated in her bag."

"Huh. Well, good luck then."

As I started to walk away, the hem of my shorts was yanked back.

When I turned, Shiramine sighed dumbfoundedly.

"Of course you're playing too. It wouldn't be fair with just two against one."

"What about Kouya-san?"

"He's watching the luggage. Everyone's got their valuables with them, but still, just in case."

"But I have never played beach volleyball before."

"That's fine. I haven't either."

"Me too! I have only done regular volleyball in PE, though."

While we were talking, Hanamitsuji came back carrying the ball and a few plastic bottles.

Apparently, she had inflated the ball instantly with the beach house's compressor. Convenient.

For fairness, the teams are split into pairs: me and Shiramine versus Hanamitsuji and Hoshigasaki.

The rules are standard: keep the ball in play up to three touches before returning it across the net. If it hits the ground or goes out of bounds, that's a point lost.

I'm not exactly good at sports, but oh well.

Besides, Shiramine doesn't look like she's much of an athlete either. We would just have to lick each other's wounds and muddle through.

10 minutes later.

"Sorry, Sora-chan!"

"It's fine!"

Hoshigasaki barely managed to pop the ball up, and Hanamitsuji jumped in at just the right time to spike it. It wasn't especially powerful, but she aimed it neatly toward the corner of our court.

"Got it."

Shiramine slid in from almost the opposite corner, surprisingly light on her feet, and dug the ball up. The ball floated upward toward me, and I managed to slap it back into the air with my palm.

By then, Shiramine had already recovered her stance. With unexpected leaping ability, she sprang into the air and swung her arm down in a stunningly beautiful form.

"Here."

The ball shot down with force, landing right between Hoshigasaki and Hanamitsuji. Another point for us.

That brought their team's score to three, and ours to five. Come to think of it, I had no idea how many points we were supposed to play to. Did anyone here actually know?

No, the real problem is...

"Nice one, Mashiro! That was great!"

"Thanks, it was just luck."

Hanamitsuji, wringing the hem of her T-shirt like at a sports festival, clapped her hands in admiration. Hoshigasaki, still kneeling with both knees on the ground, stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"Prez, you're way too good! You're not secretly a pro, are you?"

"No, no. Like I said, outside of PE volleyball, this is my first time. But it's fun."

Shiramine brushed sand off her thighs with a refreshing smile.

I guess being smart doesn't automatically mean being bad at sports, but I never thought Shiramine would turn out to be the athletic type. I hadn't noticed in PE since it's separated by gender. Looks like Hoshigasaki, being in the same class, and Hanamitsuji, who had been her friend in our previous run through high school, already knew.

Thanks to that, my plan of licking each other's wounds as fellow unathletic types had completely collapsed.

We had the next serve, but my attempt didn't even hit the net. It went under it and dropped straight into the other court. Naturally, that gave them a point.

"Don't worry about it, Nanamura-kun."

"Y-Yeah, sorry…"

Shiramine offered gentle words, but I could barely answer.

H-How embarrassing…

With Shiramine being ridiculously good, my clumsiness stood out even more!

This is what I hate about team sports: the constant feeling that I'm dragging everyone down. Especially volleyball, where you're forced to touch the ball at certain times, like with serves. If this were soccer or basketball, I could just stand off in a corner and pretend to exist.

The serve passed to the other side. Hoshigasaki's turn.

"H-Here!"

She swung her arm in a wild underhand motion and somehow sent the ball flying backwards.

Ahh, that's a relief. This is the vibe I was waiting for. Next round, I want to team up with Hoshigasaki.

"You're not thinking something rude, are you?"

Shiramine gave me a sharp, knowing stare. Damn, guess my thoughts leaked out.

"Not really. I mean, Shiramine, you're actually good at sports?"

"Well, I can manage fairly well."

"Betrayal... I thought you were a fellow member of the 'bad at sports alliance'..."

I slumped my shoulders, and Shiramine looked at me with genuine exasperation.

"Don't lump me into some weird alliance without asking."

"But you don't really give off an athletic vibe, you know?"

"That's just your prejudice. There are plenty of class presidents who are good at sports."

Well, sure. But Shiramine has that long, straight black hair and prim honor-student aura. Sports just don't mesh with the image.

"And besides, your friend is… look."

"Hmm?"

Following her gaze, I saw Hoshigasaki, who had grabbed the ball, trip over the sand and tumble forward near the edge of the court.

"Ouch!"

"What are you doing?"

Hanamitsuji reached out a hand, half-dumbfounded, while Hoshigasaki gave an embarrassed little laugh.

Come to think of it, her serve earlier had also gone in a completely bizarre direction.

Shiramine mumbled quietly.

"Maybe you should ally yourself with Hoshigasaki-san instead."

"...Good point."

After that, time passed with things like my pair with Hoshigasaki getting utterly crushed in beach volleyball, spotting Kouya-san hanging out on a float with some women I had never seen before, and me lying under the parasol, only to get scolded by Hanamitsuji.

By the time the sun was starting to set, we decided to wrap it up.

"Come on, I still want to play more!"

"If we stay too late, it will be trouble for Dad and Mom, right? And besides, everyone's probably tired out. Better to rest early."

"Ugh… Well, if you say so, Onii-chan, guess I don't have a choice..."

Kouya-san soothed the reluctant Hoshigasaki, and we began packing up. We cleared away the parasol and our stuff, rinsed off the sweat and sand in the showers, then changed into fresh clothes.

On the ride back, I sat in the passenger seat while the other three sat lined up in the back.

Not long after we got onto the highway, the sound of soft breathing came from behind. Glancing back, I saw the three of them had dozed off, leaning against each other. Hanamitsuji, stuck in the middle, had both of them resting on her shoulders and was making a bit of a pained face.

"With how much they were horsing around, no wonder they are tired."

Kouya-san muttered, glancing at the rearview mirror.

Well, you weren't exactly resting either. Just what kind of stamina does this guy have?

"You were playing around with those women, too, weren't you? Were they friends of yours?"

"Ahh, just people I got to know at the beach house. We hit it off while talking."

How the hell do you just hit it off with strangers instantly? I couldn't even get close to classmates I had spent an entire year in the same room with.

"Hodaka, you're not sleepy?"

"Not really. I did nap under the parasol, after all."

"Ah, true. No wonder. Guess you don't get tired that way."

"I'm the type who saves up his energy for when it really matters."

"You save it up so much it probably expires, in your case."

Couldn't argue with that. But hey, that's just who I am. It's not like I dislike being that way.

I turned my gaze toward the window.

Past the cityscape flying by, the red evening sun is sinking toward the horizon.

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Please Leave Me Alone V3 Prologue & Chapter 1

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