Rather than cute, she was…
“You look really stylish,” I murmured, and her eyes widened in surprise.
Ai looked puzzled, and Sousuke turned to me, his mouth slightly open.
“What?” I asked.
Kaoru’s eyes darted around awkwardly. “It’s just a normal outfit …,” she said.
Sousuke suddenly unfroze and turned his attention back to Kaoru. “Come to think of it, you do look really stylish. You look all grown-up or something.” Naturally, he’d managed to explain it better than I could.
Kaoru blushed. “All right, that’s enough!”
I felt someone’s eyes on me and turned to see Ai staring at me intensely. Really intensely.
Why is she looking at me like that? I wondered, feeling a bit nervous.
“All right, time to head to the beach!” said Sousuke. “Everyone remembered their swimsuits, right?” He sounded upbeat—either he hadn’t noticed Ai and me staring at each other, or he was pretending not to.
Ai quickly shifted her gaze away and reverted to her playful self. “I’m already wearing my swimsuit under my dress!” she said, puffing out her chest.
“Maybe you’re a little too enthusiastic,” Sousuke said with a laugh, and then narrowed his eyes wickedly. “I hope you remembered to bring underwear.”
I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from saying, “What?!” I can’t believe he had the nerve to say that! Then again, I’d seen lots of tomboyish anime and manga characters make that very mistake, so I figured Sousuke was only joking around.
He probably just wanted to tease her. And if she really had forgotten, this would give her a chance to figure something out while she still had the chance. If I thought about it like that, he was actually being considerate. However…
“No worries! I have some in my bag!” Ai declared confidently, patting the bag slung over her shoulder.
Sousuke’s mouth flapped a few times as he stared at it.
“O-oh. Um, good,” he said awkwardly and nodded.
A lethal counterattack, I thought as I did my best not to stare at Ai’s bag, too.
When I looked away, Kaoru and I made eye contact. She was scowling at me and clicked her tongue loudly, so I could hear.
Sousuke awkwardly turned toward her and said, “C’mon! Let’s hurry up and go!”
Ai was the only one who didn’t seem to understand what was on everyone else’s mind.
Nevertheless, thanks to Sousuke’s encouragement, we all started walking together.
I followed slightly behind the group and stared at Kaoru’s back. She probably knew what I’d been thinking about, but that was no reason to glare at me like that… I mean, the information that Ai was wearing her swimsuit underneath her clothes and that she’d brought underwear along in her bag was way too stimulating for a teenage boy! I couldn’t help it!
As I continued to make up excuses, Ai timidly turned around to look at me from her spot beside Kaoru. She casually slowed her pace and fell into step next to me. I could feel her glancing my way, but she didn’t say anything.
I looked at her, confused, and she puffed her cheeks out into a pout, then moved closer to me so that our shoulders nearly touched.
“Wh-what?” I asked, unable to stand the silence any longer. I could smell some kind of sweet fragrance wafting off her.
She puffed out her chest, but stayed quiet. Since her dress was tight around her waist, the gesture wound up emphasizing her breasts. I quickly looked away.
As soon as I did, however, she got even closer.
“I said, what?!” I had no idea what she was doing, so I raised my voice.
“Hmph!” Ai snorted angrily. Then, she looked into my eyes and said, “What about me?”
“Huh?”
“What about my clothes?”
Only then did it hit me. “Ohh…” I sighed as she puffed out her cheeks even more.
“You only complimented Kaoru.”
“Well, I mean…”
“Aren’t I stylish, too?” Her questions were way too direct, leaving me flustered.
Of course Ai looked good, but there was a big difference for me between calling a girl “stylish” and calling her “cute.”
The reason I was able to comment on Kaoru’s outfit so quickly was probably because I wasn’t thinking about how cute she looked. The words had come out so naturally I hadn’t even thought of them as a compliment.
Both Ai and Kaoru’s outfits suited them, and they were both attractive. I began to feel frustrated at myself for having such a hard time saying the word “cute.” It felt childish.
“Yuzuru?” Ai peered into my face, her lips drawn tightly together. “Hm. I guess I’m not your type, then.”
“Wh-what?! I never said that!” I saw the gloomy look on her face and panicked. She urged me to continue with her eyes. “About your outfit… Rather than stylish, I thought it was…”
“Yes?”
“Well, I thought it was cu…”
“What?”
“……C-cute…” I said at last, my face beet red.
Ai stared at me, and then she began to blush, too.
“Oh!” she said, straightening up and then stumbling a bit.
I looked up and realized Sousuke and Kaoru were drifting further ahead. Ai’s silent attack had thrown me off so badly I’d started slowing down.
“Ohhh! Heh-heh…” She smiled shyly. “That’s sweet.”
“It…it looks good on you.”
“Does it? Yay!”
She seemed to be in a good mood now. Despite having to drag the compliment out of me, she looked genuinely happy. It was proof of how much she trusted what I’d told her.
I took several deep breaths to try to calm my heart, which was currently going at Mach 5. “S-sorry I didn’t tell you right away,” I said.
Ai stared at me and then broke into a smile. “It’s okay. Thanks for telling me.” She gently nudged my shoulder with hers. “To be honest, I had a feeling that’s what you were thinking, because you were staring at me a lot.” She shot me a mischievous grin, showing off her dimples. “Still, I wanted to hear you say it, you know?”
“…Yeah.”
“And once I heard you say it, I was, like, a hundred times happier!”
“I’m glad,” I said shyly.
She was so direct it always left me flustered, but it seemed she wanted me to be just as direct with her. If that was the case, I needed to get over my shyness and simply tell her how attractive I found her.
“Hey, Yuzuru?”
“Yeah?”
She skipped ahead of me, then turned around and walked backward, a dazzling smile on her face. “I want you to tell me all the things you like about me. And I’ll do the same for you!”
My heart contracted in my chest, and my whole body suddenly felt hot. I let out a deep, quiet breath in an attempt to cool myself down.
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “I’ll do my best.”
“Tee-hee. I know you can do it, Yuzuru!” She blushed, as if my shyness were contagious.
I realized this was a form of communication, too. If I told someone the things I liked about them and vice versa, we would be able to notice subtle gestures and feelings in each other and cherish them. Then, we could grow to know each other even better.
Once we accomplished that, it would become the strong foundation for a space all our own. And wouldn’t that mean we truly understood each other?
That was the kind of relationship I wanted with Ai.
I glanced up ahead and saw that Kaoru and Sousuke had stopped and were looking at us.
“Oh, they’re waiting for us,” I said. Ai quit walking backward and glanced over at them.
“Coming!” she shouted cheerily and waved.