Yume Irido
“That was so cool! It was, like, completely blue!”
“I-Indeed! And then the fish were swimming right in front of us!”
“I’m so glad the weather was nice today! No matter where you looked, it was blue! It was like we melted into the ocean!”
After we finished snorkeling, we got back onto the boat, unzipped the tops of our wet suits, and began talking about our impressions. Akatsuki-san, Higashira-san, and I had picked out our bikinis together. In particular, Akatsuki-san had been very enthusiastic when we chose Higashira-san’s. And now, even though the target of Akatsuki-san’s fixation was right in front of her, she was too excited about the snorkeling experience to even look.
“I’ve never been to the beach before, but I kinda like it,” Minami-san said while looking at the bobbing surface of the ocean. “It’s just like you said, Yume-chan. It’s like we melted into it. It was like the small things didn’t even matter anymore. I might wanna save up to come here again. You too, right, Kawanami?”
She suddenly called out to him, but he wasn’t caught off guard at all. “Hell yeah! I wanna try ridin’ a surfboard next time!”
“Surfing?! You’re tryin’ way too hard to be a stereotypical cool kid!”
“Just you watch, I’m gonna become a real man of the sea—tanned and everything!”
“Cringe!”
Minami-san and Kawanami-kun began cackling. During that time, I decided to talk to Asuhain-san, who was sitting next to me.
“What did you think? Have fun?” I asked.
“Yes... I suppose I was deeply moved.” I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but she looked as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. “It’s just as Minami-san said; it’s as if all the small things I’d been carrying melted away into the water. It’s been a while since my mind has been so clear.”
Ever since what happened earlier today, Asuhain-san had begun talking to me a little bit more normally. But right now, she was especially loquacious. Is this the power of the great outdoors? For the record, Mizuto was leaning on the edge of the boat, staring off into the distance. Apparently, he was exhausted from snorkeling, since he wasn’t used to being too physically active. I’d heard that he’d picked this course out for Higashira-san in order to do something about her lack of exercise, but he was in pretty bad shape himself.
When our boat reached the shore, we were told we could play on the beach, using the free time we had before the banana boat course. That being said, I wasn’t exactly filled with energy, so I sat under a parasol while watching Yoshino-san’s group frolic on the beach.
“Here ya go!” Akatsuki-san said, bringing over a chilled canned drink.
“Thanks.” I took the can from her and pulled back the tab as she sat next to me.
Then, as soon as I started drinking, a teasing look crossed her face. “You got some smooth moves, if I do say so myself, Yume-chan.”
I could tell that she was hinting at something, so I suddenly stopped drinking. “Wh-What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that you were getting’ some lovey-dovey time with Irido-kun when Asuhain-san and Kawanami weren’t lookin’. You’ve gotten so crafty. Makes me sad.”
“You make me sound like some kind of mastermind...” I wryly smiled.
“But, y’know, you’re walkin’ a pretty tight rope. I know all about your little late-night pool rendezvous.”
“Huh?!”
How does she know about that? Sure, she might’ve figured out Mizuto and I met up, but she shouldn’t know the specific location. Was she the one hiding in the bushes?
“You should thank me! I stood guard for you, y’know?” she said.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I figured you were meeting Irido-kun at nine, so I went to the pool entrance about ten minutes earlier and watched you go into the pool. And then I coincidentally ran into Sakamizu-chan and the others, so we talked, and I kept an eye on the entrance to the pool. I mean, I didn’t want anyone to disturb your little rendezvous!”
Now that I think about it, we did hear other students on that floor. I guess that was Akatsuki-san and the others.
“Wait, that’s pretty much stalking.”
“Oopsie!”
To be honest, if I had been in her shoes, I might have done the same thing. After all, I’d be curious. Okay then, Akatsuki-san was waiting outside there the entire time we were talking. Hm? Wait.
“How long were you there for?” I asked.
“Until you left with Irido-kun.”
“Nobody else came in or out of the pool, right?”
“Well, of course not. I was there the entire time to make sure of that.”
How’s that possible? Then where did the person we saw go? There wasn’t another entrance to the pool. Thus, there wasn’t a place for the person to run off without Akatsuki-san seeing them. The culprit who’d gotten away from us should’ve been seen by Akatsuki-san.
But even so, Akatsuki-san was saying that she hadn’t seen anyone. She had her own alibi too since she was talking with Maki-san and the others. I was sure she wasn’t lying. In that case, where had the culprit gone? They couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air, right?
I thought about this new mystery as we finished off the day riding the banana boat. It remained on my mind even afterwards when we went to change back into our clothes.
Higashira-san let out a huge sigh of relief as she undid the zipper on her wet suit. “Phew... Free at last.”
“Yeah, that must’ve been rough, especially with so much of your top half jutting out like this!”
As usual, Akatsuki-san began getting close and personal with Higashira-san and started sliding the zipper even further sideways, revealing more of Higashira-san’s breasts. Then, after unzipping it enough, Akatsuki-san moved the neck out, up over Higashira-san’s head, and then took her arms out from the sleeves.
“Gaaah!” Akatsuki-san screamed as she was consequently flung back from Higashira-san’s now freed H cups. No, of course that’s not what actually happened. Akatsuki-san definitely wanted it to happen, so she dramatically flung herself back. Well, it is true that it’s hard to take it off by yourself when you have big boobs. It’s easier to have someone else to lend a hand.
“Do you want some help, Asuhain-san?” I asked.
“Huh? Uh... Yeah, thanks.”
I pulled on the zipper of her wet suit and came to the realization that it was a lot easier than when I’d done it myself. And then, just as Akatsuki-san had done, I pulled it over her head, and then off her arms. Then, while I was at it, I helped get the bottom half off too by rolling it. It kinda felt like I was taking care of a little sister, which was a little fun since I was an only child.
But that feeling immediately disappeared as soon as I saw her thigh. It wasn’t because I had dirty thoughts like Akatsuki-san, though—on her right leg, on the outer side of her thigh, I noticed a bandage.
“Asuhain-san...what happened here?”
“Oh...that?” It was as if it was hard to talk about for her. “That’s from yesterday. It’s mostly healed. Don’t worry.”
It took me a while before I finally said, “Oh...okay.”
I remember Mizuto saying that the person who’d seen us must’ve hurt themselves on the branch when running away. She took off the wet bandage, revealing a cut that fit someone who’d been clipped by a sharp tree branch.