“Mizuno!”
“Eek! …Oof! Ah-ha-ha!”
Sousuke passed the clear beachball over to Ai. She hit it with both hands, sending it flying over to Kaoru. Kaoru quickly clasped her hands together and received it, bumping it back into the air.
It bounced off her hands unsteadily and headed in the wrong direction. I was closest, so I did my best to keep it from hitting the ground, but…
“Oof!” I moved too quickly and tripped on the sand, face-planting right in the water.
Saltwater rushed up my nose, causing a sharp, burning sensation as it irritated my nostrils and the airways leading to my throat. Luckily, we had been playing in water that only reached our knees, so aside from my stinging skin, I was unscathed.
“Hey, you okay?” Sousuke grabbed my hand and helped me up.
“Y-yeah…”
“Sorry…” Kaoru’s shoulders slumped as she apologized for losing control of the ball.
“No worries.”
I waded into the sea up to my chest to retrieve the beachball before it drifted out into the open water.
We quickly re-inflated it and started passing it again, volleyball-style, trying to see how long we could keep it in the air. It wasn’t a competition, and no one got upset if one of us missed a pass. In fact, each mistake only added to the fun.
But despite how it might have looked, moving around in knee-deep water was challenging and required a lot of energy. I wasn’t exhausted or anything, but I could feel myself breathing harder than normal. The two girls seemed to be having fun, but I could tell their shoulders were heaving a bit. Sousuke was the only one who wasn’t fazed at all. He’d kept up his cheerful smile the whole time.
“You sure have a lot of stamina,” I commented.
“The lit club and the ‘going-home club’ don’t stand a chance against me!” he said, flashing me a toothy grin.
“Hey, I’ve got stamina!” Ai protested. “I walk a lot every day!”
“Yeah? Well, I run every day,” Sousuke shot back pleasantly.
Once again, I was impressed with his communication skills. He didn’t always pander to others; sometimes, he would tease them or show off, while never coming off as arrogant. No matter what he did, he seemed effortlessly cool.
I tossed the ball to him unexpectedly, hoping to catch him off guard.
“Whoa! Gimme a heads-up first!” He panicked for a split-second, but then passed the ball toward Kaoru with perfect form. “Did ya think I’d miss?” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“Man, you piss me off!” I said, and he burst out laughing.
This time, Kaoru’s pass went straight to me.
The ball was a little low, but I managed to hit it, sending it over to Ai. “Ai! Heads-up!”
I gave it a little too much oomph, however, and it went higher than I’d intended.
“Eek!”
Ai gave a surprised shriek as she watched the ball soar high into the sky. She quickly splashed through the water, trying to follow its trajectory. Then, she leaped up.
“Here it comes!” she said, hitting it with a graceful jump.
Her form was beautiful, and the ball arced perfectly toward Sousuke.
However, I wasn’t watching the ball, and apparently neither was he. It bonked him on the head with a soft fwump and then fell into the water with a splash.
“Hey!” Ai exclaimed. “Why were you just standing there spacing out?! I gave you a perfect pass!”
“Ah… Oh! Sorry, sorry!” Sousuke rushed to get the ball as the waves carried it away.
I sympathized with him. Can you really blame him?
After all, when Ai jumped up and made that beautiful pass, her breasts bounced as she landed. The way they moved communicated both their volume and their softness, leaving us two boys completely at their mercy.
“Well, now I’m embarrassed! I messed up right after showing off.” Sousuke came back with the ball in hand, scratching the back of his head.
“Serves you right! That’s what you get for mocking the going-home club!” Ai said jokingly, pretending to be upset.
Kaoru, however, shot us a sharp, disapproving glare.
“……”
“Well, let’s try again.” Sousuke served the ball to Kaoru.
She lifted up her arms and struck it with all her might, sending it flying directly toward my head.
“Oof!”
“Whoa! Are you okay?!” Sousuke shouted.
The ball hit me square in the face and caused me to fall backward and land right on my butt. The impact was softened a bit by the water, but hitting the hard sand still hurt quite a bit.
“Odajima, what are you—” Sousuke started to laugh at her, but then trailed off under the force of her glare.
Her gaze shifted to me. “You pervs!” she shouted.
Even Sousuke seemed a bit uncomfortable at that.
“What are you talking about?” he mumbled, seeming a bit out of character.
I wasn’t sure how to respond either, so I just awkwardly went to pick up the ball.
Only Ai remained oblivious, tilting her head and looking puzzled.
Even though it was simple, playing with the beach ball was a lot of fun and never got boring. We played for over an hour in the shallow water, laughing and shouting the whole time.
“I’m starting to get hungry!” Ai announced at last, bringing our game to an end. We decided to take a break for lunch.
Since we’d met up around eleven, it was the perfect time to eat.
We headed back to the cabana and used the coin-operated showers to rinse the sand off our bodies, then met back up.
The structure had a room with tatami mats, but several families had already claimed all the open spaces. It seemed like everyone was having lunch at the same time. There were some tables in front of the cabana as well, and one just happened to be open. There were exactly four chairs, so we went ahead and sat down.
We decided to order our lunch in shifts, so no one would take our table. The boys would go first, and then the girls would have their turn.
“It’s busy, so it might take a while!” the owner warned, but we chatted while we waited, and the time flew by.
“Your class is doing a takoyaki stand for the school festival, right? I’ve been craving takoyaki ever since I heard about it!” Ai said, a steaming plate of it now sitting in front of her.
Sousuke ordered the yakisoba, Kaoru got soy sauce ramen, and I got fried rice.
“Let’s eat!” Ai said, clasping her hands together. It seemed like she could barely wait to dig in.