The curtain to the fitting room that Haruka had just gone into wasn’t fully closed. She was standing there with her upper body bare, having taken off her bikini top. I could see everything from where I was.
The second after I realized that, Haruka also removed the last remaining piece of fabric covering her. The secret part of her body that I couldn’t see no matter how much I craved it was now exposed.
Completely naked, Haruka was as beautiful as a goddess.
I knew I shouldn’t look, but it was so incredible I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Next, she turned her back toward me, and I could see her bottom. It was the cutest thing you could imagine.
And that was when I finally came to my senses and looked away. I may be her boyfriend, but it was too low for a guy to peek while a girl was getting changed.
I went to the men’s section, thinking that I’d keep watching her if I stayed where I was. However, the images I’d just seen were so shocking that it was impossible to get them out of my head…
“—Yuuma? Are you picking out clothes for yourself?”
I was wandering around the men’s clothes when Haruka seemed to appear from nowhere, having changed back into her school uniform. Unaware of what had transpired, she had a smile of pure innocence on her face…
“Y-yeah,” I replied.
“Can I choose something for you, then?”
“Uh, sure…”
Hearing my absent-minded response, Haruka seemed to sense something was off.
“What’s the matter?”
“H-huh? Nothing. Why?”
“You’re clearly acting strange. Did something happen that you can’t tell me?” she said, narrowing her eyes. Her tone sounded like she suspected me of cheating on her.
How should I explain this? Should I try to bluff? Or should I be honest and admit what happened and apologize…?
“We’re in a relationship, so you can’t hide things from me.”
“……”
It was an unforeseen accident. Surely, she wouldn’t kill me over it…
“…Calm down and listen to me. Just a minute ago, when you went into the fitting room? …Well, the curtain wasn’t closed properly…”
“—What?”
Having been suspicious of me cheating on her, Haruka looked stunned by my unexpected reply, but it didn’t take long for the gravity of the situation to sink in.
“D-don’t tell me…you s-saw me…changing from that swimsuit into my uniform…?”
I nodded silently.
“H-how much did you see…?”
“…Everything…”
“Huh…?!”
Haruka looked like it was the end of the world.
“When you say ‘everything’…you mean…?”
“…Sorry…”
That one word appeared to confirm her worst fears, and Haruka’s already red face turned a bright shade of crimson all the way to her ears.
“Y-you’re the worst!! You think I’ll forgive you for something like that?!”
“I couldn’t help it. It was an accident.”
“I’ll kill you, then kill myself!!”
“Calm down. That didn’t sound like a joke.”
“I’m serious!!”
Distraught, Haruka reached for my neck and attempted to strangle me. I grabbed her hands and tried to get her to stop. I had to find a way to calm her down.
“…Haruka, I’m really sorry. It was an accident, but I know I’ve committed a terrible crime. Maybe I do deserve the death penalty.”
“Exactly. Good-bye.”
Her grip around my neck became tighter.
Wasn’t she being too quick to judge?
“Um, don’t you feel sorry for me, getting killed all of a sudden?”
“I’m the one I feel sorry for, having a Peeping Tom watch me undress!!”
“R-right… But are you sure you should just kill a guy who committed a horrible crime like that? What about if you kept him alive and made him atone for his sins?”
“…Like how, for example…?”
“Well…I can’t come up with an example right off the bat.”
“That means you aren’t really trying to atone…!!”
Teary-eyed, Haruka glared at me with all her might.
I had to do something quickly…
“B-but hey, we’ll see each other naked every day if we get married…!!”
Backed into a corner, I hadn’t expected to say what suddenly came out of my mouth.
Maybe it was the word married that worked, but Haruka’s hands went limp.
Now’s my chance!
“Don’t you want to marry me, Haruka?”
“I…I wouldn’t go that far…”
Haruka stared at me, looking like she wanted to say something.
“…You saw every part of my body, so take responsibility and make me your bride, okay? I won’t forgive you if you ditch me for someone else.”
“I know.”
“I only want a monogamous relationship.”
“Of course.”
Thus, Haruka and I ended up promising to get married, and my life was safe for the time being.
Our other five dorm mates appeared to have finished choosing their clothes while Haruka and I had been arguing, and from there, we went to the same river we always did. We filled the drum bath and waited for the water to heat up, and it was only then that I realized it was almost four in the afternoon.
Mai and I exchanged a glance and went inside the tent, where we looked into each other’s eyes and said our words of love that came before kissing.
“Yuuma…I love you…”
“I love you, too… I can’t wait any longer…,” I said, internally mocking myself. I mean, honestly—I’d just been talking with Haruka about getting married, and here I was, setting out to kiss Mai.
But this was necessary to save Mai’s life, so I had to do my duty.
“Mai, you always look so beautiful…”
“Hee-hee…! It makes me happy to hear you say that… I want to kiss you so badly…”
I put my arms around her slender body. We leaned in and were about to kiss—but just then, Kamiji suddenly barged in.
“Are you two going to start making out again?” she said bluntly, giving us a suspicious look, and I reflexively pulled away from Mai.
“…We don’t have anything better to do now, so surely it can’t hurt for us to fool around a little, right?”
As I came up with that excuse, I told myself we were in the clear. Kamiji must have overheard our little exchange just a moment ago.
Surely now, she wouldn’t think we were just kissing and that there was nothing else going on—
“Hey, I have a question for you. Why do you two kiss every six hours on the dot?”
I’d never expected her to point that out.
Mai and I were clearly rattled, but Kamiji continued talking.