Chapter 77

Fresh-white skin, a simple white bra, and white shorts. The shorts were the type with a skirt, but the lower half was made of a transparent lace material, so even the tops of her thighs were clearly visible. She was smaller than Nanase and Yua, but bigger than Haru, and nestled in her cleavage there was a single mole that floated like the first star in the night sky. Asuka usually had a sort of androgynous aura, but there was actually a girlish roundness to her upper arms, chest, waist, and butt, and that night in Tokyo appeared vividly in my mind. What if, back then, we’d…? I couldn’t help thinking. What if I had taken her in my arms? What if, someday, we…? I couldn’t help thinking. What if someone else touched that skin? …Man. I found myself reaching out, and I clenched my fists instead as I spoke. “You’re…beautiful.” Asuka looked at me, her expression bashful. “No offensive-sounding metaphors, like usual?” “I’m having trouble finding words right now.” “Well…” She grinned. “—I’m glad I came.” I was so happy to see that look on her face. It was maddening, adorable, and somehow made me writhe with sadness, my chest constricting. I wished I could cry, Don’t go! like a child. I wished I could tell her…to wait. But I didn’t have what it took just then. So I took the opportunity to go back to those simpler days… And the two of us kicked our feet softly in the surf. It seemed like Asuka had just slipped out to see me, but she said she’d return to the hotel immediately on the next bus. I saw her as far as the beach house, where the changing rooms were, and when I was walking back to join the others, I spotted Yua walking around and looking this way and that. For some reason, she was holding hands with a little girl. She looked up and noticed me, so I jogged over and spoke. “Yua, what’s up?” “It looks like this little girl is lost.” I had a feeling it was something like that. The girl had a short bob, and she clutched Yua’s hand tightly as she sniffled and sobbed. From a glance, I’d say she was about four or five years old. Yua sounded concerned. “Should I take her to the police box or something, do you think?” “I guess that’s what we’ll have to do in the end, but I didn’t see one nearby from the bus. I don’t know if there’s one within walking distance.” I squatted down in front of the girl and smiled. “Hi. What’s your name?” “—Waaah!!!” When I spoke to her, the kid screamed and hid behind Yua. “What should I do, Yua? The Chitose smile usually works on girls!” “Yeah, they say children can see through the lies of adults.” “What does that mean?!” But this was no time to goof around. I spoke to the girl again. “Hey, hey, do you know what a camel is?” “…Muh-huh.” Maybe it’s because she was crying, or her way of speaking was still immature, and she was a little hard to understand, but I felt like we could manage a conversation. To be honest, I have no idea when kids are capable of talking normally. “Then take a look at this.” Guessing what I was about to do, Yua also squatted down and put her hands on the girl’s shoulders. I stretched my right arm out in front of me. Then I spoke, pointing at it with my left hand. “This is the desert. Do you understand?” The girl shook her head. “It’s where Mr. Camel lives. There’s a lot more sand than here.” The girl nodded. “So can you and this lady both call ‘Mr. Camel!’ together?” When I said that, Yua leaned in to look at the girl. “When I say ready, set… Will you call together with me?” “…’kay!” “Ready, set…” ““Mr. Caaamel!!!”” I lifted my upper arm so that my fist, which looked like a camel’s head, was facing outward, and then I flexed. “Neigh!” I swung my fist from side to side. “Wow!” The girl clapped her hands. Okay, the distraction was successful. She’d stopped crying, at least. “Would you like to touch him?” “Uh-huh!” The girl, still leaning on Yua’s shoulder, approached and poked my fist. “It’s hard!” “Neigh!” I moved my fists, neighing and making the camel gallop. “Horseys say neigh.” “…Sorry, I don’t know what noise a camel makes.” “But you’re a grown-up.” “Weird, huh?” “Weird!” The girl giggled as she spoke. Yua and I exchanged looks and smiles. Then I asked the same question as before. “What’s your name?” “Chi!” “Chi. That’s a cute name. Did you come with your mommy?” “Daddy, too!” “Then when did Mommy and Daddy disappear? Just a little while ago? A long time ago?” Chi put her index finger to her cheek and thought. “Um! Chi was looking for seashells. Then Mommy and Daddy were gone.” That means, at the very least, there should be a low probability of them being off looking for her by car or heading to a police box. The beach was only long enough for a casual stroll from end to end, and it wasn’t as crowded as it would be on a weekend. If we looked around for her parents, we’d find them soon. Yua stood up. “Well then, let’s keep walking and look for them. Saku, I’m sorry for getting you involved, but would you come with us?” “Of course.” “Chi, can you tell us when you spot your mommy and daddy?” “Okay!” Chi took hold of Yua’s hand and held her other hand out to me. As I took that small hand, I asked, “Do you have a favorite song?” “Umm… ‘Twinkle, Twinkle.’” “Then would you sing it nice and loud with me?” “Okay!” Yua looked at me with a puzzled expression. I smiled. “It’ll be faster for them to find us like this, right?” “…Oh, I get it!” Compared with just the three of us blindly walking around here and there, the chances of getting noticed by Chi’s parents should be higher when we’re singing loud. “You sing, too, Yua.” “Er, but…” “It’ll be fine, come on! Ready?” “““Twinkle, twinkle, little star… ””” Yua, Chi, and I all raised our voices, singing loud enough to reach the stars, too. Suddenly, Chi looked up at us. “Are you married?” ““No!!!”” “Oh. You’re cute together!” Where did such a small child learn these things? It was just me, Chi, and Yua. All three of us, holding hands in a row… It definitely felt like we were a family. I glanced at Yua’s face. She was looking at me the same way, and we both laughed and blushed. Sure enough, after about five minutes of walking, Chi’s parents came running over. When Yua explained the situation, the parents bowed to us so many times that it got awkward, and then the mom, dad, and daughter left together. Right before we parted, Chi gave me a single, beautiful shell. Yua was examining it. “I’m glad we found her parents.” “Yeah.” “I’m glad you were there, Saku.” “I didn’t do anything,” I replied. “You always say that.” Yua chuckled. The nostalgic sound of her spilling laughter made me feel ticklish inside. “Well, I do think the camel idea was genius, if I say so myself.” “That’s not what I mean. If it was just me, we’d probably have kept wandering around aimlessly, holding hands.” “Never mind the details. I spotted you because you were holding her hand anyway.” “Maybe. You were heading this way, so I think you would have noticed anyway.” Don’t make it sound like more than it was, I thought. “Hey, Yua.” “Yes? “You look good in that swimsuit.” “Why bring that up now?” “You’re the only one I didn’t compliment yet.” “Thank you. That’s a very Saku thing to do.” “It’s okay to be embarrassed.” “Well, I know you compliment all the girls.” “I never thought I’d be criticized for paying compliments…” “I meant it in a good way.” “Really?” I smiled wryly. “Chi and her parents seemed happy.” “Yeah, they looked like a happy family, didn’t they?” Eventually, we found our friend group, and that was the end of our conversation. When we got back to the pop-up tent, everyone else was there except me and Yua. Yuuko, Nanase, Haru… I’d gotten used to them a little by this point, sure, but it was still embarrassing to look directly at them in swimsuits like this. Yuuko spoke with impatience. “Welcome back. We’ve been waiting for you two!” “I’m sorry,” said Yua. “There was a little girl who got separated from her parents. Saku just happened to walk by, so he helped us look for them.” “Huh? So you found them?” “Yep, it was all fine.” Yua spoke with relief. “Well, good work, you two. If it was me, I might have sat down on the sand and panicked with her.” “Well, I was quite flustered, too,” said Yua. After she and Yuuko chuckled over that, Yua continued. “You said you were waiting for us?” “Right, right!” After clapping her hands, Yuuko plunged her upper body into the pop-up tent. I looked away from the sight of her rear end sticking out, making eye contact with Kaito, who was having the same reaction as I was. Awkward. “Ta-daa!” As she spoke, Yuuko produced a large watermelon. ““Whoa!”” Yua and I ended up speaking at the same time. “What’s that for?” In response to my question, Yuuko handed me the watermelon. It was pretty heavy. “Weirdest thing, Kura just plopped it down and left it for us. He said something like, ‘Can’t come to the beach without splitting watermelons.’ And he left a wooden sword and a cloth for us, too.” “Huh? That’s unusually nice of him.” Hmm, still, it’s about what I’d expect of the old guy. It’s possible he just wanted a good excuse to come see the girls in their bikinis. On closer inspection, the price was written on the watermelon with a marker, so it might have been bought nearby. Yuuko lifted her hand in the air and yelped. “So let’s split the watermelon!!” “““““““Yeah!””””””” We yelled, all in unison. We selected a secluded spot and placed the watermelon on a plastic sheet. Then I held up the wooden sword and the cloth. “Okay, who’s going first?” “Me, me, me!” Yuuko raised her hand first. “I’ve never done it before, and I’m dying to try! Okay?” Looking around, I could see the others smiling and rolling their eyes. “Okay, then come over here.” When I gestured to a spot about thirty yards from the watermelon, Yuuko came running over. “I’m going to blindfold you, so can you turn your back for a sec?” I said. “Okey dokey.” Looking at her back as she abruptly turned away from me, I felt my breath catch. It sounds obvious, but bra straps aside, all I could see was her bare, soft skin. Drops of sweat slid provocatively down. I didn’t want to end up getting palpitations again, so I tied the towel over Yuuko’s eyes while being careful not to overthink. I brought both ends around the back of her head and tied a tight knot. “It doesn’t hurt, does it, Yuuko?” “I’m fine!” “Can’t see?” “I can’t see anything! Where are you, Saku?” Yuuko turned this way, tentatively. “…” I instinctively covered my mouth with my arm. In front of me was a beautiful woman, in a swimsuit, blindfolded, with her hands reaching tremulously. Somehow, I felt like I was doing something wrong. This seemed horrendously immoral. “Hey, Saku, don’t go feasting your eyes while Yuuko’s blindfolded!” Kaito called, his voice filled with cold reproach. “If I do anything at this distance, it’ll cost my life!” I called back. I took Yuuko’s hand and put the sword into it. “Spin around first,” Kazuki suggested. “Oh yeah, that’ll be good.” Still blindfolded, Yuuko tipped her head in confusion. “Saku, what does he mean, ‘spin around’?” “Could you hold the hilt of the wooden sword with both hands and thrust the tip into the sand?” “Like this?” “Yeah. Then put your forehead on the end of the handle.” “Um, like this?” Once she was in the right position, I spoke again. “Okay. Now I’m going to count to ten, so keep that position and spin around in circles.” “Clockwise, or…?” “Nah, either way is fine.” During this, the others gathered around us. I made eye contact with everyone before opening my mouth. “Okay, ready, set…” “““““Go!!””””” One, two… As we counted, Yuuko started spinning around with her butt sticking out. I was a bit worried this might lead to more erotic imaginings, but actually, she looked more comical than I’d expected, which was a relief. As her legs moved, Yuuko yelped. “Hey, this is kinda hard!” Three, four… She wasn’t kidding. It’s harder than it looks. Nanase spoke up, mischievously. “Yuuko, try to walk more daintily.” “Aw, c’mon!” Five, six… Haru was pointing a cheap water pistol at Yuuko. Wonder where she got that? She took aim and pulled the trigger. “Yeek! What was that?!” Seven, eight… Yua smiled a little. “Just a little more, Yuuko!” “Why are you the meanest one, Ucchi?!” Whirl, teeter… Yuuko, who finally stopped spinning, wobbled around using the wooden sword for balance. “This is dangerous! The world is spinning!” I spoke up first. “Okay, Yuuko, straight ahead.” I was guiding her in the direction of the watermelon. Kaito followed my lead and spoke next. “Yuuko, don’t let him trick you. Go right, right.” “Huh? Is it straight or right? Which way?” Kazuki grinned, too. “No, it’s behind you. Who are you gonna trust, Saku, Kaito, or me?” “You’re picking on me, too, Kazuki?!” We all looked at Yua, in cahoots. She knew what we expected of her right away. Rolling her eyes, she called out. “Yuuko, the watermelon’s on the left!” “All righty!” She believed Yua utterly, without even having to think about it. She lurched right, then left, then… —SPLOOSH. …she tripped and fell into the surf. We couldn’t hold back our laughter any longer. We were practically choking. Yua rushed over and took off Yuuko’s towel. “Are you okay, Yuuko?” Covered in sand, Yuuko’s shoulders trembled with indignation. “Ucchi! You’re the biggest traitor of all!” Wow, she was really yelling. Yua winced with guilt, failing to even look at Yuuko. “I’m sorry. I succumbed to peer pressure.” “You’re horrible! I trusted you, you know?!” “But I mean… This will make a great memory to look back on…” “Hmph, don’t think that’ll get you off the hook! You join me, too, Ucchi!” Yuuko grabbed Yua around the waist and pulled her down into the surf. Just then, a small wave came and washed over them as they rolled around in the shallows. After a moment, the two of them sat up and faced each other, laughing. “Yuuko, how could you?” “You betrayed me first, Ucchi!” “Is there somewhere I can dry my hair?” “There’s coin showers at the beach house, so it’s okay.” “Well, then…” Yua grinned. “Take that!”