“When we’re not alone like this, I’m too embarrassed to ask……how is it?”
The distance was close. Her breathing caressed his ear.
The swimsuit that suited her came into view.
The swell of her chest emphasized her femininity to an almost painful degree, and even without being conscious of it, it strangely stirred up sensual feelings. If anyone heard them having such a conversation during their strategy meeting, it would be bad. That tension also spurred on his emotional excitement.
Haruya had no choice but to look away.
“That won’t do……. I won’t move away until you answer me. ……After all, I wore the swimsuit that Akasaki-san said was cute……I need to hear your thoughts.”
Sara, who had appeared in her swimsuit for this moment, hadn’t asked for his opinion then.
She had really wanted to ask right away [How is it? Am I cute?] but had held back.
If she had asked when Kazamiya is around, Haruya saying [cute] would have been almost certain.
Sara didn’t want to get Haruya caught up in that flow.
She wanted to hear words like [cute] or [it suits you] from Haruya’s mouth specifically.
She had blocked responses like [I think the same as Kazamiya said] or [I think so too].
“Once more……am I cute? This is the swimsuit Akasaki-san chose for me.”
Cute. If approached like this, those words were bound to come out of his mouth.
They were about to come out.
That day. Just like when he went swimsuit shopping with Sara…….
Somewhat embarrassed but in a natural way.
Cute. When written out, it was just three characters.
Such a simple word to convey.
“C-cu——”
The moment he started to say it, his heart and body grew cold.
The instant Haruya saw Sara’s expression, that’s what happened to him.
It was true that his heart had been pounding, but all at once that feeling cooled down.
It was because he saw Sara’s face. Because he read the emotion of love hidden deep within that face.
Sara’s expression was that of a girl in love…….
But it was different from Sara’s usual self.
Up until now, Sara had directed expressions toward him that were somewhat like worship, closer to the nuance of reverence rather than love, but now it was somehow different.
It was an expression that showed [love] seen from an equal relationship.
Pure affection. Romantic feelings. When those were directed at him, Haruya’s heart grew cold.
This was probably because he recalled the content of the dream he had seen this morning.
“……A-Akasaki-san?”
Thinking something was strange, Sara tried to peer into his face.
Haruya said with his heart still cold:
“……Himekawa-san. I think you’re cute.”
He answered in a surprisingly flat tone. There was no inflection. It was a voice with composure.
“……!”
Hearing Haruya’s [cute], Sara froze for a moment before slowly forming a smile.
“Thank you very much.”
It was said in a way as if savoring something.
“Well then, Akasaki-san. ………shall we have a light strategy meeting?”
After a while, Sara smiled as if nothing had happened.
That smile seemed somewhat lonely, but it was probably just Haruya’s imagination.
The seawater, which had become slightly warm from the sun’s heat, felt like something very cold at that moment.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
After thoroughly enjoying beach volleyball, they now moved on to swimming.
His heart, which had grown cold, had returned to normal, and when he looked at Sara, she seemed to be her usual self. Good. Was he just overthinking it? Haruya let out a sigh of relief.
“……Are we competing in swimming too!? Takamori-san was too strong in beach volleyball……”
Unaware of Haruya’s feelings, Kazamiya smiled wryly.
“……W-well, it’s not that impressive.”
Yuna was scratching her cheek embarrassedly.
Indeed, Yuna’s performance had been remarkable. Whether in groups of three or two, she was always the top scorer, and the team with Yuna always won.
“You really were amazing, Yuna-san.”
“Yeah, you were amazing, Yuna-rin!”
And so Yuna received praise from Sara and Rin as well.
It was decided they would swim next, and while everyone agreed, Rin and Haruya spoke in unison.
“I’ll pass.” “I’m fine, so have fun.”
It was a coincidence. They had shown their intention not to participate in swimming at almost the same timing.
Haruya couldn’t get his hair wet to begin with.
As long as he carried the risk of his identity being exposed, he couldn’t let his eye area become visible.
“Hey hey. Is that okay……both Akasaki and Kohinata-san, isn’t that a waste?”
“No, I’m a bit tired so I’ll rest.”
“Same reason as Akasaki-kun, so I’ll pass.”
Kazamiya looked at them with concern.
Yuna seemed eager to swim and had started doing warm-up exercises.
It was fine if she was having fun, but wasn’t she a bit too fired up……?
Sara looked at Haruya and Rin with a somewhat complicated expression.
Had her feelings perhaps tilted toward not wanting to swim?
But Sara had already answered “swim” to Yuna and Kazamiya.
“Himekawa-san is going too. This time it’s a freestyle competition!”
Seeing Yuna and Kazamiya heading toward the sea, Sara also ran after them.
……A freestyle competition, are they elementary schoolers? He should probably hold back on such blunt remarks.
While sending such an exasperated look toward Kazamiya, Rin sitting in a gym sitting position next to him caught his eye.
She was wearing a hoodie, quietly hiding her face and mouth with her arms.
“Isn’t it hot? Would you like something to drink if that’s okay?”
He had brought frozen sports drinks and tea in plastic bottles to this beach as well.
“I haven’t touched the sports drink yet, so I thought I’d ask……”
“……T-then.”
Rin opened her mouth courageously.
“I’ll have a sip……”
He’s a kind person, she thought.
Rin could feel her heart beating hotly, thump thump.
(If he does things like this……it makes me even more conscious of him. He might think I’m easy, but I think anyone becomes easy when it comes to someone they’re interested in. From Akasaki-kun’s perspective, maybe he’s just making conversation because the silence was awkward. Even so, I was really happy.)
She received the plastic bottle he offered with “Here.”
She felt a little disappointed that it wasn’t an indirect kiss, but if she became conscious that it was something Akasaki-kun had put his mouth on, she probably wouldn’t be able to drink it. Really, she wanted to tease him leisurely with something like “Maybe you wanted an indirect kiss with me?” but……that still seemed too difficult.
While cursing her unreliable self, she looked at the three people swimming earnestly in front of her.
The three of them: Sara, Yuna, and Kazamiya.
Were they competing in swimming speed? They had no particular conversation and were swimming silently.
Yuna was in the lead. She seemed to be good at all sports as usual.
Rin couldn’t help but laugh with a giggle.
“……Akasaki-kun. Thanks for this.”
“No, it’s nothing……”
The sports drink she received had ice that had melted just right, giving it a crunchy texture. It was cool and very delicious.
(……I wish I could swim too, but ………unfortunately.)
Seeing Sara and Yuna swimming happily, she found herself wanting to swim too.
However, she wasn’t good at even pools. Swimming in the sea with waves and wind would be absolutely impossible.
Seeing Rin thinking such things, Haruya gasped.
(……Come to think of it, Kohinata-san. She said she wanted to swim but couldn’t……and that she wasn’t confident about her body shape either.)
Haruya suddenly remembered the conversation they had at the café.
He had heard that she had someone she liked.
Rin had approached him about love advice.
(I think she said she had a promise to go to the beach with that person……. Letting her go on a date without confidence would be a bit……)
Looking closely, Rin was occasionally sighing softly.
He wanted her to face her date with her crush with confidence.
Haruya sat down next to Rin.
“……Kohinata-san. If it’s okay with you, would you like to swim together?”
“……Eh.”
Her violet eyes widened greatly.
Rin looked at Haruya’s profile and froze.
“Well, how should I put it……I thought maybe Kohinata-san really wanted to swim. I’m not good at swimming, but I wondered if we might be companions in that.”
And,
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