“We have a reservation under the name Andou!”
When we arrived at the beach, we saw a line of cabanas some distance away from the shore. We went inside one and a cheerful, muscular man came out to greet us.
Wow, Sousuke even made reservations, I thought. Thanks to him, we were able to use the changing rooms with no problem and had a safe place to store our things. Once again, I was impressed by how prepared he was.
“All right. Let’s meet outside once we’re done changing!” Sousuke said, then he and I went into the men’s changing room.
The whole structure wasn’t that large, and I could hear Ai’s excited voice as she talked to Kaoru on the other side of the wall.
“Damn, I’m so pumped!” Sousuke said as he energetically whipped off his clothes and got into his swimming trunks.
I glanced at his body. Since he was an athlete, he was pretty muscular. Even as another guy, I was impressed.
He’d taken off his underwear and gotten into his swimming trunks surprisingly quickly. I pointed at his abs.
“Nice muscles. I can tell you work out,” I said.
He stared at me blankly for a beat, then burst out laughing.
“You don’t have to compliment me, you know!”
“I was just being honest…”
“You should’ve been honest with Mizuno!” Sousuke grinned. I whacked him on the chest, which only made him laugh more. “I’m joking, I’m joking!” he said, waving a hand back and forth. “That’s part of your charm though, Yuzuru.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hard to explain… But everyone knows that when you say something, it’s because you really mean it.” He scratched the tip of his nose, looking slightly bashful.
Then, without warning, he whacked me on the back.
“Ouch!”
“But you’re too scrawny, ya know that?”
“Y-yeah, I do, actually…”
“You need to put on a little bit of weight and start building up muscle. Guys built like sticks don’t get any girls!” Sousuke said with a smile, then left the changing room.
“Geez…” I muttered, then I scratched my nose, just like Sousuke had a moment before. “First you get all shy, then you go off without me.”
I supposed it was embarrassing to receive a compliment from someone you respected as a friend. But it didn’t seem fair to just run off like that. As I thought about this, I looked down at myself. Compared to Sousuke, I really did look scrawny.
“Maybe I should try to build up some muscle,” I murmured as I left the changing room behind.
✦ ✦ ✦
Back outside, I chatted with Sousuke for a while as we absentmindedly stared at people playing on the beach.
Eventually, I heard a voice from behind say, “Sorry to keep you waiting!”
I turned around and saw Ai and Kaoru, now changed into their swimsuits.
Well, Kaoru was wearing a baggy hoodie zipped up all the way to the top, but since her bare legs were poking out from the bottom, I was pretty sure she had on her swimsuit underneath.
“Whoa! You look really great! Almost too good!” Sousuke said immediately.
“Tee-hee!” Ai smiled.
She wore a pure white bikini. The top was divided into two triangle shapes, showing off her chest. There was a bow in the middle and frills along the sides. It was both sexy and cute.
I thought she looked great, but honestly, I wasn’t sure where to point my eyes.
“Thanks for the compliment,” she said to Sousuke, before turning to me.
She twirled around. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her exposed back and healthy behind. Then, she tipped her head to the side like a bird.
“Well?” she asked.
I felt my cheeks burn as I nodded. “You look good.”
“Cute?”
“Yes. Very cute.”
“Ah-ha! Yaaay!” Ai’s face lit up. She’d left her hat in the dressing room, so the summer sun shone directly on skin. Her smile always looked like it was sparkling, but it seemed especially bright today.
She grinned with satisfaction, then turned toward Kaoru. Kaoru had been making a sour expression the entire time and clearly flinched when she realized Ai was now staring at her.
“Kaoruuu…” Ai approached Kaoru and made grabby hands.
“Wh-what?”
“C’mon, you went to the effort of putting on a swimsuit, so take off your hoodie!”
“No, the sun is too— H-hey, wait!”
Kaoru began to mumble an excuse, but Ai interrupted her and grabbed her zipper, pulling it all the way down. Her hoodie fell to the ground, and Ai snatched it away triumphantly, then put one hand on her hip.
Sousuke stared at Kaoru for a few seconds without saying anything. I did the same. I couldn’t help it.
Kaoru was wearing a black, frilled bikini top. Like Ai’s, it was a two-piece, but the top wasn’t as revealing thanks to its large ruffles. It was a stylish swimsuit, with a plant pattern in shades of black and gray.
I’d begun to realize that black actually suited Kaoru quite well. I’d never noticed it before, because at school she always wore the same pink cardigan.
“W-wow, I had a hard time imagining Odajima in a swimsuit…,” Sousuke stammered. “You look way better than I expected.”
“Wh-what the heck does that mean?” Kaoru asked, shyly covering her chest with both hands.
“Right? Right?!” Ai crowed triumphantly.
Kaoru glanced over at me and fidgeted a bit. “I-I just wore whatever swimsuit I had at home, okay?”
Ai stared at her blankly from behind, then exclaimed, “What?! We bought it together yesterday! Why are you lying?”
“Shut up, Ai!”
“You don’t have to hide it. You agonized over which one to choose for hours, remember?”
Kaoru turned bright red. “You don’t have to tell them everything!”
“Why not?” Ai said with a pout. “Don’t you want them to appreciate it?”
“And gimme back my hoodie.”
“Why? We’re going swimming, so you don’t need it. It’ll be a pain to lug it around everywhere. I’ll just put it in the changing room.” Ai trotted back to the cabana.
“Ugh…” Kaoru groaned, waving her right arm back and forth. “I can’t believe her!” She stamped her foot, kicking sand up into the air.
“I didn’t know you were such a shy person,” Sousuke said.
Kaoru glared at him. “Shut up. I just don’t wanna get a sunburn.”
“Didn’t you put on sunscreen?”
“…I did.”
“Then you’ll be fine.”
I’d heard of people still getting burned despite wearing sunscreen, but I could tell that wasn’t Sousuke’s point. It was obvious to everyone here that Kaoru’s real concern wasn’t getting a sunburn.
I took another look at her swimsuit.
Sousuke was right. From the way Kaoru normally behaved, it was hard for me to imagine her frolicking cheerfully around the beach in a swimsuit. But now that she was wearing one right in front of me, I had to admit she looked great.
“I don’t know what you’re so worried about,” I said. “I think it really suits you.”
Her eyes darted around nervously, and she frowned. “You don’t have to force yourself to flatter me.”
“You look so different from usu—”
“Enough, already!” she said, turning bright red and glaring at me. Then, she stomped off toward the water.
Sousuke quietly watched her go and then turned back to me. “Are you a player or something, Yuzuru?”
“Huh? Why would you think that?”
“Uh, isn’t it obvious?” He let out an exasperated sigh. “You get all awkward when it comes to Mizuno, so why is it so easy for you to compliment Odajima? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Well, I guess that wouldn’t be much better… You need to be able to compliment them both!”
“I can’t,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow as if to ask why.
“It’s too…nerve-wracking to do that with Ai,” I said.
This time, he raised both eyebrows in surprise. Then, he smiled a little sadly. “…Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Just feeling sorry for myself and Odajima.”
“What’s that supposed to—?”
Sousuke interrupted me by pressing a fist against my chest. “Think about it,” he said with a smile, then looked back at Kaoru, who had already reached the shore. “Hey! Don’t leave us behind!” he shouted cheerfully, running after her.
As I watched him go, I tried to figure out what he’d meant.
Just then, Ai returned from putting away Kaoru’s hoodie.
“Huh? They already left?” she asked.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Okay!”
The two of us jogged to catch up to them.