“Hey, let’s go ride the banana boat!” Sousuke said loudly as we finished up our lunch.
Kaoru frowned, but Ai’s face lit up with excitement.
“You mean that thing?” Ai pointed toward the ocean, where a water scooter was pulling a yellow inflatable boat across the waves at high speed. There was a group of five or six young people sitting on top of it in a row, clinging to the handles.
“Looks like fun, right?” Sousuke said.
“Yeah! I wanna try it!” Ai exclaimed.
“Hmmm…” Kaoru, however, seemed hesitant. She narrowed her eyes as she watched the boat speed across the water.
“What, are you scared?” Sousuke teased, and she glared at him.
“I never said that!”
“Then, you should come with us. You in, Yuzuru?”
“Oh? Uh… Hmmm…”
His sudden invitation caught me off guard. If everyone wanted to go, I wouldn’t mind, but Kaoru didn’t seem too crazy about the idea. She’d acted defensive when Sousuke challenged her, but maybe she really was afraid.
Still, everyone would be wearing life jackets, so I figured it couldn’t be that dangerous.
As I thought about what to do, I remembered an exchange we’d had right before the start of summer break.
Yeah, that should work.
I nodded to myself and looked at Kaoru. “If Kaoru’s going, then I guess I’m in.”
She blinked a few times in surprise, then seemed to realize what I was doing. She sucked in a sharp breath and glared at me, blushing. “You’re so mean!”
“Ah-ha-ha. So, are you in?”
“Fine, fine! I’ll go!” she said, annoyed, then leaned close to me and whispered, “Now we’re even about the band thing, right?”
I smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
“You really piss me off,” she muttered.
I remembered how Kaoru had felt bad about pressuring me into the band, and I thought the best way to resolve things was to get even with her. She would’ve refused if she was truly afraid. I knew she wasn’t the type of person to sacrifice her own comfort just to go along with the crowd.
Now that everything was settled, we all headed for the dock. It had seemed pretty far, but as we walked there, I realized it was even farther than I’d thought. It made me realize how big the beach was. Despite the distance, we chatted along the way, and were there in no time.
We must have timed it just right, because we were able to get a whole boat to ourselves.
“I think we should pair up for the ride!” said Sousuke enthusiastically.
We’d be sitting in a line, and he insisted that we go boy-girl, boy-girl instead of the boys and the girls sitting together. No one objected, so we decided the pairs with a game of rock, paper, scissors. I ended up next to Kaoru, with Sousuke next to Ai.
“Yesss!” Sousuke cheered, visibly excited to be paired with Ai.
She smiled gently and said, “Let’s have lots of fun!”
“I can’t believe I let myself get dragged into this,” Kaoru muttered, looking down. “Fine, let’s go.”
“Yeah, let’s do it,” I said. I was relieved that we’d ended up together. I didn’t want to abandon Kaoru after roping her into the boat ride.
We listened to the driver’s instructions and then put on our life jackets. It was my first time wearing one, and I was surprised by how heavy it was. Sousuke and I played another game of rock, paper, scissors to determine who’d sit at the front. He won, so he took the front seat with Ai behind him.
I climbed onto the boat next.
“Whoa!” It was a lot more wobbly than I expected, and I struggled to get my balance. I had to keep adjusting my position, causing the rubber boat to squeak, until I finally began to feel stable.
At last, it was Kaoru’s turn, and she hesitantly stepped onto the boat.
“Eek!” She nearly lost her balance, but a staff member grabbed her arm and calmly told her to take her time. She was a bit nervous, and just like me, it took a minute for her to find her balance.
“All right, let’s start!” The driver called out enthusiastically. “Girls, feel free to hold onto the boy in front of you! You’ll quickly find out if he’s someone you can count on!” he added mischievously.
I heard Sousuke laughing. “What do you think? I don’t mind at all.”
“I’ll grab onto you if I think I might fall!” Ai said brightly.
“Here we go!” The driver shouted, and the boat began to move.
Sousuke and Ai cheered, but Kaoru and I were silent in the back.
The boat was rocking up and down and side to side a lot more wildly than I’d anticipated. I was worried about Kaoru and tried to turn around to see if she was all right.
But then, I felt something soft pressing against my back.
My body tensed up as pale, slender arms wrapped around my chest from behind.
Then, I heard a voice whisper near my right ear. “I’m afraid I’ll fall.”
“O-okay, go right ahead. And be careful!”
“Just remember, if you fall, you’ll be taking me down with you.”
“Ha-ha. I think we’ll be okay…” I tried to sound casual, but my voice kept trembling.
My back felt so warm with Kaoru holding onto me—her grip was a lot tighter than I’d expected. “Clinging” might be a better description, actually. Her upper body was pressed against mine, drawing all my attention to my back.
How should I put it…? Her body felt soft—specifically in one particular area.
My heart raced as the boat picked up speed. The faster we went, the more the wind whipped against my body, and the tighter I gripped the boat’s tiny handles to avoid falling off.
Sousuke and Ai shouted with excitement, but Kaoru and I stayed quiet.
I could see Ai right in front of me, but my focus kept returning to the feeling against my back.
“Yuzu,” Kaoru whispered. I could hear her, even over the rushing wind. “Stop staring at Ai and look at me instead.”
“Huh?”
The moment I turned around, the driver yelled, “Sharp turn ahead!”
The boat jerked to the side, and I lost my grip. “Whoa!” My wet hands slipped off the handles, and I quickly let go. I felt my body lifting up from the boat.
“Aaah!” Kaoru screamed as we both plunged into the water. But the buoyant life jackets brought us back up right away.
“Bwuh!”
We both resurfaced at the same time.
“Ugh! I can’t believe you!” Kaoru yelled, grabbing my life jacket. “I told you not to fall off!”
“Well, you’re the one who startled me!”
We both argued back and forth, and then…
“Ha-ha…”
“Heh-heh…”
“Bwa-ha-ha!”
We burst into laughter.
I could see the boat in the distance, slowing down and turning back toward us.
“Finally, we have a moment alone,” Kaoru said, her wet face shimmering as it reflected the sunlight.
“They’ll be back soon,” I said awkwardly.
She giggled. “I don’t care. We’re alone now, even if it’s just for a moment.” She smiled at me and, with an expression so alluring it made my heart leap, she said, “I want you to look at me and nobody else.”
“U-um, well…”
“Look at me.”
“I-I am looking!”
“Heh-heh. Yes, you are.”
I didn’t know what else to do. For a moment, we floated in the water, just gazing into each other’s eyes.
“Hey! You two all right?” Sousuke called as the boat approached.
The driver guided the craft toward us and said, “You okay?” Then, he smirked for some reason and said, “Good going!”
Kaoru and I both blushed as we struggled to climb back into our seats.
Ai turned around to face me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Did you have fun?” she asked innocently, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure how to answer.
But then, I smiled and said, “It kinda felt like I was flying there for a second.”
She giggled. “Hey, that sounds fun! I wish I could fly over the ocean! You’re so lucky!” Then, she added half-jokingly, “Maybe I should try falling in next time.”
“Don’t!” I said, a little anxiously.
The boat began to move again. I could still feel Kaoru’s warmth on my back, but neither of us said anything.
When we returned to the docks, Kaoru casually pulled away from me without a word.