Volume 2 - CH 1.4

After riding the train for thirty minutes, we finally arrived at our destination, the swimming pool.

It was one of the largest swimming pools in the whole Kanto Region, located in Kiryu City. In the past, I went there once with my family and I remembered that the place was really large and it was fun playing around there. However, the place was quite crowded currently, most likely because it was summer vacation.

“Ugh, it’s so crowded…”

Said Hina while smiling wryly. To that, Shinji responded while fanning his face with his hand,

“Let’s get in quickly. I can’t stand the heat anymore.”

“Same.”

The heat was starting to eat our soul away.

“It’s great that this place is an indoor pool. If it was outdoor, I’d surely die of dehydration.”

“Straighten your back, Shinji, you look so disheveled.”

“This heat melted my spine, I can’t straighten it back.”

After checking on Shinji and Yuuka, who were talking to each other, I checked on Shiina.

“P-People… T-There are… T-Too many…”

She was about to faint. Not because of heatstroke, but because of the crowd.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t normally come to crowded places like this…”

She grabbed my sleeve as she said that. If it was any other girl who did it, I’d suspect that she was trying to seduce me somehow, but since it was Shiina, who wouldn’t even think of doing it, I just let her do whatever she wanted.

“Well, it’s only the entrance that’s this crowded. It should be better when we get inside.”

Shiina nodded after hearing my words.

*   *   *

After that, we bought our tickets, entered the facility and headed to the changing rooms.

Since the changing rooms were separated by gender, obviously, only Shinji went with me.

“Ah, I’m excited!”

“What for?”

“You know what I’m talking about, c’mon!”

He poked me on the shoulder.

I guess he was talking about the girls’ swimsuits. I saw Hina’s and Shiina’s just the other day.

Even so, I still felt nervous by the thought of them wearing their swimsuits somehow.

“Summer is all about swimsuits!”

“It’s about the beach or the pool. You’re too straightforward, dude.”

I retorted while changing my clothes. Hearing my response, he chided me and said, “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Look, ultimately, as long as we get to see the girls in their swimsuits, everything else shouldn’t matter.”

“That’s a little bit too far…”

“What? Are you still a man? Or have you turned into an ascetic already?”

“I don’t get why are you so hyped up about this? You’re used to seeing girls in nude, aren’t you? Why do swimsuits make you this excited?”

“Idiot! That is that and this is this!”

I left the changing room after changing my clothes, ignoring Shinji who started to rant about something irrelevant.

Rather than listening to his dumb speech, I’d rather meet up with the girls first.

Anyway, the inside of the facility was less crowded than the entrance.

Shiina would be able to play around in peace now, good for her.

“Oi oi, don’t leave me!”

Sadly, before I was reunited with the girls, Shinji caught up to me first.

Well, even after all those unnecessary chatters, we boys changed quicker than the girls, so this was a given, I guess.

“Oh, I sense a beautiful girl over there! Over there too! There’s an Onee-san in a bikini over there!”

“Stop that.”

This guy just turned into a full-blown pervert.

“Uwah…”

I heard a disappointed voice from behind, so I turned around. There, I found the three girls in their swimsuits. Yuuka was looking at Shinji with a disappointed gaze, Hina was giggling beside her and Shiina looked nervous because of the crowd.

“I regret bringing him with me.”

Said Yuuka. She was wearing a black bikini and it showed more skin than the other two did. Perhaps because she heard Shinji talking about an Onee-san in a bikini, she looked uncomfortable when looking at him.

“But, didn’t Shinji pick out your swimsuit for you?”

Hina tilted her head. In that instant, Yuuka’s face turned red.

“Don’t say anything unnecessary!”

“Ah, h-hey! Ahaha! S-Stop tickling me! H-Haha!”

Yuuka tickled Hina’s side, while the latter tried to escape from the former’s grasp.

…Hina’s chest shook wildly because of that. Gotta say, this was a nice sight.

“So, it was you who picked that swimsuit.”

“It fits her. She looks cute in it and with that kind of smooth skin, she can pull off the look easily.”

“But, it’s the swimming pool. People are going to stare at her, you know? Are you okay with that?”

Shinji thought for a moment before answering,

“I’ll let them off the hook for now.”

“…Why are YOU the one who decides that?”

Yuuka glared at Shinji as he said that, but her glare lacked the usual hostility behind it.

I noticed that Shiina had been silent for a while, so I glanced toward her direction… Only to find her touching her own chest. What the hell is she doing?

“S-Shiina?”

When I called out to her, she panicked and put her hands away.

“D-Don’t mind me!”

“W-What were you doing with your chest?…”

“I-I didn’t do anything! I-I was just… Jealous…”

She whispered before turning her gaze to Hina and Yuuka.

I see. Compared to her, Hina got an outrageously big chest and Yuuka got something close to that. If it was her previous body, Shiina might get a fighting chance, but with her current body, it was her complete defeat.

“…Boys like it bigger, don’t they?”

Shiina asked me with a look of despair. I gotta say something to her, quickly!

“W-Well, generally, yes?”

I turned my face away and answered her question.

“I see…”

She let out a deep sigh.

I continued,

“But, I personally don’t care much about it… Small chests have their own charm…”

I said that without thinking. Seriously, why the hell were we talking about this in the first place?!

“Really?”

She was probably staring at my face really hard now.

I wouldn’t know because I was trying really hard not to look at her. I felt her gaze on me, though.

“Why are you staring at me like this?”

“Because you won’t look me in the eye!”

I had no choice but to make eye contact with her.

She was as beautiful as ever today. 

Objectively beautiful, okay? Not subjectively.

“Satisfied now?”

When I asked, Shiina nodded.

“Yes. Lately, you kept avoiding making eye contact with me…”

Shiina giggled as she said that. I couldn’t say anything to her.

“Let’s stop talking and have some fun!”

Said Yuuka with a cheerful voice. It seemed like she was done messing around with Hina.

Thank God, she didn’t hear our embarrassing conversation.

…Well, Shinji seemed to hear us, but I pretended not to notice him.

*   *   *

Before doing anything, we spread a sheet near the edge of the room and secured a place to sit on.

Yuuka and Hina prepared the area well. After we were done placing our luggages on the sheet, Hina held her hand to the sky and said energetically,

“Let’s go to the flowing pool!”

Everyone raised their hands in unison, including Shiina, though she wasn’t as energetic as the rest of us.

We then headed toward the flowing pool. Shiina had a float in her arm.

“What’s a flowing pool anyway?”

“Hm… It’s a donut-looking pool with a stream of water running through it.”

I didn’t know the details, but it sounded about right.

“Do you swim there?”

“If you want to. There’s a stream there, so it’s enough to just float around. The pool itself is shallow, so you can stand there. You don’t need to worry about drowning. If you’re still scared, you can just hold on to your float.”

“G-Got it…”

Shiina clenched her fists and placed them in front of her chest.

You don’t need that kind of determination to go there.

Meanwhile, Yuuka and Hina jumped into the water while screaming. Shinji followed along while sitting on a float while floating lazily inside the pool. 

Shiina tried to get into the water, but got scared when her toe touched it. She then looked at me with teary eyes.

“If you don’t get in there quickly, everyone will leave you behind.”

“I-I know! It’s all gonna be okay… It’s okay…”

Her voice was trembling. Was she really okay?

I entered the water first and offered my hand to her. She took my hand as she slowly got into the water. What a troublesome woman.

When I let out a sigh, I felt a soft sensation on my right arm. Almost instantly, my heart started to beat faster.

“H-Hey! I-Idiot, why are you clinging to me?!”

“I-I’m scared, okay!”

“Calm down first! I told you the pool is shallow! You can stand in the water!”

After I said that, she noticed that her feet actually touched the bottom of the pool. Then, she immediately scurried away from me with a red face. I felt lukewarm gazes all around us. Help me…

“Here’s your float.”

I placed the float on her head and pulled it down to her waist. While scowling, Shiina grabbed the sides of the float and started to float away following the stream.

“W-Waah, I-I’m being swept away!”

“Let it be. You’ll get used to it quickly.”

I placed my hand on her float and floated next to her while occasionally dodging people around us. Shiina looked nervous for a while, but her expression gradually turned relaxed.

“It feels good.”

“Good for you. I feel tired already.”

When I said that while shrugging my shoulders, Shiina apologized,

“I’m sorry… I troubled you so much today…”

…C’mon, if you apologize earnestly like that, I’d feel bad.

It felt like I was guilt tripping her somehow.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re friends.”

When I said that, she beamed.

“Thank you.”

Right at that moment, someone came out of the water right in front of us.

“Pwah! Heya~ Doing good?”

She was wearing a pair of goggles, but I could tell that she was Hina.

“You’re too energetic, you know that? Take a look at Shinji, he’s enjoying life properly over there.”

I pointed at Shinji, who was floating lazily while gazing at the sky. Seriously, what the hell was he doing?

“Are you having fun, Mai-chan?”

“Yes, I’m having fun. Though, I was a little scared at first…”

Hina looked puzzled, so I explained to her,

“She can’t swim.”

“Eh?! Then, you didn’t need to force yourself to follow us!”

“No, it’s fine… If I don’t do this, I won’t be able to have fun with everyone…”

Perhaps she was moved by Shiina’s words, Hina’s eyes twinkled.

“Mai-chan! I love you!”

Then, she tackled Shiina and hugged her.

After that, came a big splash of water.

The float turned upside down. Not long after both of them came out from below it.

“Oi, don’t do that. She’ll drown.”

I warned, but Hina didn’t listen to me at all.

The two girls stared at each other and laughed soon after. I don’t understand those two.

Looking at her like this, Shiina looked like a normal high school girl.

“C’mon, you should join us too!”

“What are you doing?! It’s going to flip— Woah!”

Meanwhile in front of us, Yuuka forcibly pulled Shinji away from his float.

Soon after that, there was a big splash of water. Yuuka turned toward us and gave us a peace sign.

Then, Shinji appeared from the water, grabbed her shoulders and dragged her down into the water. Another big splash of water appeared as both Shiina and Hina laughed at the sight. 

Everyone was having fun, good for them.

…By the way, both Yuuka and Shinji seemed to not mind touching each other. They were scuffling in the water, though from my position, they seemed to be hugging instead. How envious.

Meanwhile, I felt nervous whenever Shiina touched me.

“Everyone, let’s go to the slide!”

Taking Hina’s words as a cue, we left the flowing pool. Both Hina and Yuuka energetically went to the slide. Meanwhile Shiina…

“That… I don’t think I can…”

“Well, you can’t swim, so you shouldn’t push yourself.”

“No, I’m bad with things like that in the first place… I can’t even ride a roller coaster…”

“You flew with a broomstick back in your previous life. What are you so scared about?”

It wasn’t like she was afraid of heights. Shiina’s lips twitched as she spoke,

“I can control my broomstick, but I can’t control those!”

I see…

I don’t understand at all.

“Besides, I’m tired.”

“Alright, let’s just stay here until everyone comes back.”

“Mm… I’m going to the toilet first.”

She said before going to the toilet by herself. I sat down and enjoyed this quiet time by myself.

Then, suddenly Shinji came to me with a can of coffee in both arms. He threw one of them at me.

“You’re not going to the slide?”

I caught the can and opened it.

“Nope, not in the mood for it.”

He sat down next to me and wiped his hair with a towel.

“Shiina-san is so attached to you.”

“…You think so too, huh?”

I guess that was what it looked like from an outsider’s perspective.

“No matter how you look at it, you two look like an idiotic couple, flirting in front of everyone like that.”

“Ugh…”

His words stung my heart.

I had a feeling that we looked like that from everyone else’s perspective, but when someone actually pointed it out at me, it felt really embarrassing.

This all happened because Shiina didn’t have a sense of distance. I should teach her quickly about this. If she were to treat everyone like she treated me, people would be bound to misunderstand her.

“So, what are you going to do about this?”

I didn’t know what he meant by that question.

Even so, at least I knew that he was being serious.

Normally, he’d laugh carefreely in this kind of situation, but right now, he stared at me without any hint of being playful.

“…What do you mean?”

I thought about it, but I still couldn’t understand his question.

So, I asked back. Shinji placed his coffee down silently.

Silence enveloped us. After a while, he opened his mouth to speak,

“Looking at you two like that, it’s hurting Hina, don’t you know that?”

“…Are you sure she isn’t just sick or something?”

We’ve known each other since we were kids, so I knew that Hina had been forcing herself for a while now.

She always tried to act a little more cheerful whenever she was feeling down.

But, unlike the guy beside me, I wasn’t that perceptive, I didn’t know the reason why she was feeling down in the first place.

Shinji said that she was hurt, but I simply couldn’t understand why.

He stared at my troubled face. It seemed like he understood what was in my mind, so he told me,

“I know you’re dense and all, but before I’m telling you everything, you have to sort out your feelings first.”

…His answer only made me even more confused.

I trusted his words, though. Based on my experience, he was never wrong in this kind of situation.

“…Huh, Kudou-san is here too?”

At that moment, Shiina returned from the toilet.

“Yeah. I’m getting old, I get tired quickly.”

“…Aren’t we the same age?”

Shiina giggled at Shinji’s joke before sitting down next to me.

Lately, this girl has become more comfortable with our group of friends as she was able to talk with the others normally. Though, it didn’t seem like she’s going to drop the honorifics on everyone’s names.

“I’m an old man mentally.”

Both of us remained silent after hearing that joke. He was taken aback by our reaction. I mean, both of us had memories from our previous lives, so we didn’t find the joke funny.

…Rather, the fact that he was more mature than us was funnier than the joke.

I whispered to Shiina,

“…If we were to count our ages from our previous lives, we’d be over thirty right now.”

I felt like an old man now.

“N-No, that’s not how it works. We didn’t immediately remember our previous lives, so we can’t just add our total ages like that!”

Said Shiina in a trembling voice.

What she was saying was correct, but it wasn’t convincing because of her rapid fire speech.

“In the first place, Shiina Mai and Cerys Flores are two different people! You said so, didn’t you?!”

“Don’t use my inspirational speech to make yourself sound younger!”

“I’m not old! Don’t you dare call me old!”

While we were arguing, Shinji shrugged his shoulders.

“Stop flirting in front of me…”

“W-We are not!”

I glanced at Shiina while denying his claim. For some reason, her cheeks were flushed.

Seeing her like that made me feel embarrassed too.

After seeing us, Shinji held his forehead.

He probably didn’t know what to say to us.