"Summer vacation is almost here, isn't it?"
It was a casual remark after we finished eating.
It was long past lunchtime in the student cafeteria. Isshiki Iroha sat directly opposite me at a four-person table. It was a familiar sight by now.
"So, when vacation starts, let's go to the beach! The beach!"
"Absolutely not..."
I replied instantly, with zero-second thought time.
Summer vacation, or rather, the summer break itself, was an exciting prospect. However, going to the beach was not an option.
"Oh, why not?"
"Well, I've got a lot of shifts for my part-time job during the break, so I'll be busy."
"But you won't be working all the time, right?"
"That's true, but... Isshiki."
When I called her name in a serious tone, her large, innocent eyes fixed on me.
"Summer, beach, hot, crowded. It's a parade of everything I hate. I'm absolutely not going."
"Ugh, you're such a pain... Don't you want to see me in a swimsuit?"
"... ...Not really?"
"What was that pause just now? It's fine, just for one day."
"No, first of all, I don't even have a swimsuit here. It'd be too much trouble to go all the way back home to get it."
"Then why don't you have Komachi bring it when she comes to visit?"
"Eh? What? That's a great idea."
Komachi, bringing me things when she comes to visit Tokyo. The moment she arrives at my room, she'd complain, "Oh, Onii-chan, your room is so messy!" and then clean it up...
No, that wouldn't happen. Because I don't usually make my room that messy, and when Isshiki comes, she sometimes cleans it for me.
Lately, she's even started bringing her own cup, and at this rate, she'll probably bring her toothbrush and sanitary pads soon. If Komachi saw something like that, she'd get an unnecessary misunderstanding and shock, like, "What, Onii-chan got a girlfriend...?"
"No, that's still no good. Komachi's studying for her exams."
"Oh, come to think of it... It's been that long already."
Isshiki said that wistfully after hearing my words.
Komachi and Isshiki first met right after Komachi decided to enroll in Soubu High School, so time really does fly when you think about it.
"Then shall we go shopping for one? You can even pick out a swimsuit you'd like me to wear while we're there."
"I'm not going..."
"You say that, but...?"
"I said I'm not going... You're being a bit persistent."
"Mmm..."
When I said that with a sigh, Isshiki's expression clearly became sulky. After giving me a long, wet glare, she suddenly stood up.
"I won't give up, you know."
Isshiki said, as if leaving a parting shot, and walked off with her tray.
When she says that much, I get a bad feeling...
Thinking such thoughts, I watched Isshiki leave without a word.
—-------
That evening.
"Hm...?"
After finishing my part-time job and entering my apartment room, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Looking at the caller ID, it was Tetsuya-san. It might be the first time he's called me directly, not through Discord.
"Hello?"
"Hikigaya-kun, let's go to the beach."
"Huh?"
The words I heard from the other end of the line were so out of the blue, I didn't know what else to call them.
Tetsuya-san was a hardcore indoor person, just like me. He had never once invited me to go out and do something outdoors.
"No, I'm not going."
"You're too quick to refuse. More importantly, it'll be bad if we don't go."
"Um, what do you mean by that...?"
"Apex will be taken from us. Nene said if I don't take Hikigaya-kun to the beach, she'll forbid it."
"Ah..."
I understood then. This meant Isshiki and Nene-san were secretly in cahoots.
Or rather, both of them are brutal with their methods... If they took away my hobby time, what would I have to look forward to in my daily life?
"We can't be too picky, can we...?"
"It helps that you understand quickly. But, there's one problem."
Tetsuya-san's relieved voice on the phone quickly turned serious, making the phone speaker vibrate.
What in the world is it? What could possibly make Tetsuya-san, who is always calm and collected both in Apex and in real life, sound so grim?
Perhaps... it concerns Isshiki. It's possible that besides just taking me to the beach, there are even higher demands being made behind the scenes.
"W-what is it? The problem?"
Don't tell me, watermelon smashing on the beach—no, too dangerous. I can only see my head being split open.
Or being buried in the sand and having a female body sculpted around me, followed by typical "poo-kuku" laughter—no, too dangerous. As someone who loves saunas, there's even a possibility that after escaping the sand, I'd cool down in the vast ocean-sized cold bath and get all "refreshed" from one set of outdoor air bathing. No, not that. Definitely not that at a summer beach.
With such worries in my heart, I held my breath, waiting for his next words.
And Tetsuya-san's answer was—
"I don't have a swimsuit."
"Give me back my worry!"
By the way, the next day, I went swimsuit shopping with Tetsuya-san. The end.
—-------
And so, the second summer vacation of my university life arrived.
"Nene-san, opening!"
"Whoa! You got me~!"
The bursting sun. The sparkling sea.
As promised, we had come to the beach.
"...They look like they're having fun."
"Yeah."
Frolicking under the midsummer sun were two bikini-clad beauties.
My junior, the cunningly cute one, was showing off her amazing figure, as if saying, "I'm incredible when I take it off," in a white bikini. Nene-san, who was also in a bikini, was generously displaying her glamorous body.
On the other hand, the two guys were sitting cross-legged under a parasol. Because it was hot outside...
But, even so—
"...They're bouncing around, aren't they?"
"Quite a lot."
"..."
"Should we have invited Yoshiteru-kun too?"
"Do you think he'd come?"
"No."
"Right?"
"..."
"..."
As we engaged in idle conversation, our gaze was fixed not on a beach ball... but on the joyful figures of Isshiki and Nene-san.
Just as I was thinking how troublesome it was for them to be too much of a feast for the eyes, they both turned to look at us.
"Hey, Tetchi~~!"
"Senpai, let's go into the sea together!"
" "No, I'm (I'm) good." "
We were perfectly in sync.
Seeing us, Isshiki made a face that said, "What's wrong with these guys?" Nene-san, smiling next to her, splashed water on Isshiki, and the two bikini-clad college girls' playful wrestling resumed.
Anyway, me at the beach was utterly out of place. Especially such a bustling beach, it's easily in my top three places I'd never choose to go.
After all, the summer sea is full of dangers. Heatstroke from the heat, and endless marine accidents. You might get stung by a jellyfish even playing in shallow water, and in places like this, there are also pick-up artists—
"Ah."
Just as I was thinking that, two guys were talking to Isshiki and Nene-san.
A brown-haired guy and a curly-haired guy who looked like he had a perm. From their vibe, it was clearly a pick-up attempt. From a distance, I could tell Isshiki's expression said, "What the hell do you want?"
"Tetsuya-san, let's go stop that—"
When I turned to Tetsuya-san to say that, he was no longer there. Looking towards the sea, I saw Tetsuya-san sprinting at a speed as if he was playing beach flags alone in the distance.
So fast...! Where did that person get such explosive power?
"Are you okay?"
By the time I rushed over to Isshiki, Tetsuya-san had already chased off the pick-up artists.
Even though I knew it was safe, I still spoke, but Isshiki looked displeased.
"It's nice that you came, but you're slow."
Grabbing my wrist, Isshiki puffed out her cheeks.
Hmm, this is cunning. She's at a level where I'd give her eighty thousand cuteness points.
"Tetsuya-san is just too fast. ...But well, I'm sorry if I scared you."
When I said that, Isshiki looked bewildered.
But it was only for a moment. Her lips quickly formed a crescent, and she flashed a triumphant, mischievous smile.
"That's right. To take responsibility for leaving us two alone—"
Still gripping my hand, Isshiki leaned back into the shallow water as if throwing herself in. Naturally, I was pulled along, and my whole body was submerged in the sea with a splash. A salty taste spread in my mouth.
"Pfft. Whoa, what are you doing?"
"You should have done this from the beginning!"
Then she splashed water on me again, and my seaweed-like hair got wet with seawater again. You did it, you bastard.
"Isshiki... Do you know the content of the Code of Hammurabi?"
"Of course, I know, you!"
"What...! Cough, cough."
She splashed seawater on me again, and it went up my nose, making me cough lightly.
I couldn't stand it anymore. Hachiman is angry!
"Hah!"
"Kya..."
With a cute shriek, Isshiki glared at me with eyes that seemed a little teary, for some reason.
But I must not flinch. I know all the tricks of my cunningly cute junior.
"What's wrong, is that all you've got?"
"Senpai, you're really mean when you're like this... aren't you!"
Even as she said that, Isshiki suddenly scooped water again in a surprise attack.
Splashes of water reflecting the sunlight.
Wet, healthy skin.
A bursting smile—
Summer is great!
—--------
"I-I'm tired..."
"No, Senpai, you went too hard..."
By the time we got back to the beach, I was exhausted.
Tetsuya-san and the others weren't under the parasol we had headed for. Looking back at the sea, I could see them floating on a boat far out, which they must have rented somewhere.
"Something like that would be nice..."
The words slipped out, as if my exhaustion had turned into sound. Isshiki, who heard it clearly, looked up at me as she sat down on the leisure sheet with a thud.
"Did you want to ride a boat with me?"
"That's not what I meant..."
If we were going to play in the sea anyway, I was just saying that a more relaxed feeling like that suited my personality better.
If I were to get on something like that, skin would touch skin, and various things would go wrong. I imagined myself trying not to be conscious of it, but ending up being horribly conscious, acting completely unnatural, and being completely put off.
"Well, but if you're tired then..."
The moment I tried to sit down next to Isshiki, who said that.
"Whoa!"
My arm was grabbed, and before I knew it, my head was resting on Isshiki's lap. I felt like this had happened recently...
"You can rest your head on my lap, you know?"
"No, it's quite, um..."
When I tried to get up, she pressed on my forehead, stopping me. When I looked at Isshiki's eyes, as if asking "What are you doing?", her smile only deepened.
No, I was just thinking that skin-to-skin contact is bad! Trying to deceive my racing heart, I said to Isshiki.
"...Spoiling me won't lead to anything good, you know."
"I know. Your dream is to be a househusband, isn't it?"
To bring that up now, Isshiki is truly spiteful.
When I averted my gaze, the hand that was pressing my forehead gently stroked my hair. My hair, damp and smelling of the sea, was softly parted.
"But this is nice too, isn't it?"
"...What is?"
The face I looked up at held an even gentler smile than before. Was it just my imagination that I felt a faint sorrow in that expression?
"Playing at the beach, relaxing under a parasol. We couldn't do things like this in high school, could we?"
With those words, I understood Isshiki's expression. Perhaps this was one of the things Isshiki had always wanted to do.
That in itself felt endearing, and if a caring act like a lap pillow was included in that wish, it felt somewhat embarrassing.
However.
However.
While such sentimental conversation wasn't bad, the posture was simply not good.
Being on her lap, I looked up at Isshiki's face. And Isshiki was in a bikini. As soon as I looked at her face, there was always, unavoidably, something that entered my field of vision.
No, really... It's grown splendidly... No, not that. This is seriously bad. If I were to say how bad it is in Tobe-style, it would be "Be-be-be-be-bebe" bad.
"...Hey, that's enough now."
When I said that and tried to lift my head, she pressed my forehead again, stopping me.
"What are you doing?" I looked at Isshiki again, and a faint, triumphant smile played on her lips.
"Senpai, you're a pervert."
Oh, really... Isshiki-san...
I averted my eyes from Isshiki again and looked at the cumulonimbus clouds beyond the horizon, and thought.
...Summer is scary.
================
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