The sumr vacation was about to end, and at such a ti, I received two ssages:
"Let's go to the pool."
"Let's go to the pool."
I received ssages with the exact sa content from Ryūen and Arisu, and they were sent at the sa ti. Honestly, I have no idea what might happen if I turn one of them down, and even if I refuse, I'll probably end up running into them eventually. I could choose not to go, but I also have a desire to try out the pool.
...What should I do?
I thought of a few options, but honestly, none of them seem to have a good outco. And why did they send their ssages at the sa ti? Could it be that their thought processes are similar?
For now, I decided to start getting ready and sent a reply.
.....
As I made my way to the eting spot while trying to cope with the gradually increasing sumr heat, I found that Ryūen, Alberto, Ishizaki, Shiina, and Ibuki were already there. When Shiina and Ishizaki spotted , they waved excitedly in my direction.
"Sorry I'm late."
"No, we just arrived a little while ago too."
As I ran up to everyone, I saw Shiina smiling with her usual gentle deanor. Ishizaki, on the other hand, was approaching with a sowhat intense expression and suddenly cornered .
"Hey, Hikigaya! Is one of your acquaintances a girl?!"
He asked in a hushed tone, trying to make sure the others didn't hear.
Yes, the choice I made was to accept both invitations. I had inford Ryūen and Arisu that I would be bringing acquaintances, so I wouldn't have to reject either invitation. More importantly, I felt that trying to manage the situation any other way would likely lead to more trouble, so I opted for the path that seed the least complicated.
"Well... yeah."
"Seriously?! There might be an opportunity for us too!"
"You're amazing, Hikigaya!"
When Ishizaki and the others learned that my acquaintance was a girl, they beca excited even though she hadn't arrived yet. It's impressive how eager they are for encounters.
"Hey. Are your acquaintances still not here?"
"They should be arriving soon."
When I answered Ryūen, who was looking at with a smile, I heard the sound of a cane tapping from the back.
"Sorry for the delay. Are these the people you know, Hachiman?"
Arisu, dressed in a sumry white dress and straw hat, was accompanied by Hashimoto, Kamuro, and another boy I didn't recognize.
Ryūen, seemingly knowing about Arisu, smiled happily. Shiina appeared to be frozen in place, while Ishizaki and the others were staring at Sakayanagi and Kamuro, shaking and exclaiming, "Aren't they beautiful?!"
"Hey, Sakayanagi. You're being even more of a queen than usual."
"Oh? What do you an by that, Ryūen-kun?"
"Hah, you won't be able to keep up with if you keep relying on others."
"You've certainly beco quite bold, Ryūen-kun. Do you think you can actually manage that?"
"It's not about whether I can or not. One king is enough."
"I agree with that, but whether you can compete with is another matter."
The two of them, exchanging smiles and seemingly locked in a competitive standoff, were radiating an intense pressure that made everyone around them hold their breath. Co on, we're just here to have fun today.
"But today we're just here to have fun, so let's keep the arguing to a minimum, okay?"
Arisu's words seed to calm Ryūen down, and we exchanged brief introductions. By the way, the other boy Arisu brought along was nad Kito Hayato. Finally, we set off for the pool. Ryūen and the others went ahead, so I followed...
"...What's wrong?"
Arisu, having handed her cane to Kamuro, suddenly hugged my arm tightly. Hashimoto and Ryūen looked at this scene with smirks as if they had found prey, while Shiina puffed out her cheeks for so reason.
"Is sothing wrong?"
"It's not that I mind, but..."
"Then there's no problem, is there?"
Arisu, smiling as if it were the most natural thing, clung even tighter to my arm. I'm not sure what's "no problem" here, but if she says it's fine, then it must be. Still, I'd prefer she didn't do this. The soft sensation on my right arm is quite distracting.
While I was heading toward the pool with Arisu happily hugging my right arm, Shiina suddenly clung to my left arm, her cheeks puffed and face flushed.
"Sh-Shiina?"
"...What is it?"
"No, I was just wondering why all of a sudden..."
"That's right, Shiina-san. Hachiman-kun looks uncomfortable."
Seeing Shiina hugging my arm, Sakayanagi asked with a smile, though she was glaring a bit.
"Why don't you just hold the cane, Sakayanagi-san?"
"Well, I have Hachiman-kun's permission, and I wanted to hug him."
"Then it's fine for to do this as well, right?"
Shiina said, hugging my arm even tighter. This only added to the soft sensation on my left arm, but Arisu's smile was accompanied by visible veins on her forehead, making nervous. Ryūen and Hashimoto watched with unsettling grins, and Ishizaki and the others seed to be on the verge of tears.
"Sakayanagi-san, wouldn't it be better if you held the cane?"
"And Shiina-san, do you really need to be hugging him?"
"Both of you, please calm down..."
""Be quiet.""
"...Okay."
My objections were quickly dismissed with terrifyingly cheerful smiles. With no other option, I tried to ignore the argunt on either side of and quickened my pace slightly, hoping to reach the pool a bit sooner.
.....
"Wow, it's so spacious, Ryūen-san!"
"Shut up, Ishizaki."
We had arrived at the pool, and now we were waiting for the girls. Looking around, I saw nurous recreational facilities. This pool is one of the most popular spots in the school's facilities, and with it being sumr vacation, there were quite a lot of people here.
While waiting for the girls, Ryūen and Hashimoto had teased quite a bit about earlier events, but Kito, who I t for the first ti today, offered so comforting words. Kito, you're such a great guy. I think we're going to get along well.
"I'm sorry for being late."
As I was feeling a strange sense of familiarity with Kito, the girls finally arrived and started walking towards us. Seeing them, I noticed that all the girls who ca with us were quite attractive, and most of the guys around were staring at them.
"How do you like it, Hachiman-kun?"
Arisu, exuding a captivating aura, approached and asked for my opinion. Arisu's swimsuit was a white one-piece, which suited her charm perfectly and looked great on her.
"...I think it suits you."
Even if I had a proper opinion, putting it into words was challenging. I was experiencing that difficulty firsthand.
"I'd like a more specific comnt."
She leaned in with an upward glance, which was a bit unfair of her.
"...I think you look beautiful."
"R-Really?"
When I gave my best complint, Arisu, who had seed so composed until now, blushed deeply and walked over to Kamuro. It was the first ti I had seen Arisu like that.
"So, how about it, Hikigaya-kun?"
Next, Shiina ca running up to , spun around in place, and asked for my opinion. Shiina was wearing a bikini with white frills, which suited her fair skin and matched her usual gentle deanor.
"...I think it looks very good on you."
"...Is that all?"
Shiina's face turned red as she waited for more, similar to Arisu. She moved closer to , so even though I couldn't give more specific praise, her body pressed against mine. This was getting problematic...
"I think you look very cute. But... this position is a bit..."
"Position?...!?"
Realizing only then that she was pressed against , Shiina's face turned a deep red, and she quickly pulled away from .
"I-I'm sorry! Was it uncomfortable...?"
Isn't that the most difficult question for a guy to answer? If I said "No, it's not uncomfortable at all," my school life would probably be over. I had to find a way to respond diplomatically.
While I was desperately trying to figure out how to handle this,
"Hey Hikigaya! We're playing volleyball, so co join us!"
I saw a glimr of hope from Ishizaki.
"Don't worry about what happened earlier. But be careful not to do things like that with others."
With that, I dashed towards Ishizaki and the others at full speed, hoping to escape the awkward situation. If Shiina's face was red at that mont, it was probably just my imagination.
"Ishizaki, we'll always be friends. I had faith in you."
"? Oh, yeah!"
....
As we were playing volleyball and enjoying the recreational facilities, lunchti ca around, and I started to feel hungry. I rembered there were so food stalls nearby, so I decided to buy sothing to eat. I called out to Hashimoto, who was nearby, and we headed towards the stalls.
"Wow..."
There were various stalls selling different kinds of food, and since this was my first ti at a food stall, I was a bit overwheld. While I was trying to decide what to buy, I accidentally bumped into a girl who was walking with a lot of items she had bought from the stalls. The jolt caused so of the drinks she was carrying to fall.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!"
"No, I'm sorry."
I helped pick up the spilled drinks, which had spilled a bit.
"Thank you for picking them up."
"No, it was my fault for not watching where I was going. I'd like to compensate you for what you lost."
"Eh... but..."
"I insist, it's my apology, so you need to accept it."
My insistence seed to surprise her at first, but she soon gave a refined smile and looked at again.
"Well then, I guess I'll accept. I'm Matsushita Chiaki."
"I'm relieved you accepted. I'm Hikigaya Hachiman."
After we introduced ourselves, we went to buy my food and Matsushita's drinks.
"By the way, why were you carrying so many drinks?"
The amount she was holding earlier seed a bit excessive for one person. She was barely managing to carry it with both hands.
"Well... actually, I ca here with so friends, and I lost a ga of rock-paper-scissors, so I had to buy drinks for everyone. The shopkeeper was very generous and gave a lot of extras."
Matsushita smiled wryly as she recalled the situation. So, the extra drinks were a result of the shopkeeper's generosity. Well, Matsushita is quite attractive, so it makes sense that she'd get so special treatnt.
"Well, since you're beautiful, it makes sense you'd get treated like that."
Oops, I accidentally voiced what I was thinking. It's definitely weird to comnt on soone's looks when eting them for the first ti.
"...Am I being hit on?"
She looked at a bit bashfully, and given my earlier behavior, it was understandable that she might think so.
"No... just forget it."
"Now that you've said it, I probably won't forget it~"
My attempt to dismiss the comnt was t with Matsushita's cheerful reaction. Feeling slightly embarrassed, I joined the line at the stalls with her.
...
"Sorry for making you carry my stuff too."
"No, it's no problem. It's just an extra."
It turned out that the drinks Matsushita bought were from a very popular stall, and there was an incredibly long line. Honestly, I thought I might faint from the heat. Who knew a single drink could generate such a long queue? Food stalls are not to be underestimated. After that, I carried Matsushita's bags while walking with her to where her friends were.
"Oh, there they are. My friends."
She pointed to a group of girls sitting under a parasol. When they saw us, they seed to be in a bit of a fluster.
"Matsushita-san!?"
"Eh? What?"
The girls, noticing with Matsushita, ran over and grabbed her shoulder, looking very flustered. Matsushita seed confused about the situation.
"Who is that person!? Is he your boyfriend!? Is he your boyfriend!?"
"Eh!? W-Wait, calm down!?"
They seed very excited, and I couldn't do much as I watched. Matsushita managed to calm them down and explained the situation thoroughly, clearing up the misunderstanding.
"Oh, I see~ Sorry for making you go alone."
"No, it's okay. I didn't mind."
"Um, Hikigaya-kun? I'm sorry for the misunderstanding too. Oh! I'm Sato Maya."
"No problem, it's okay."
I placed the bags under the parasol where Sato was sitting and tried to leave with my own things. At that mont, Matsushita asked to exchange contact information, so we did.
"If you're free, Hikigaya-kun, why don't you join us?"
Matsushita made an appealing suggestion from a romantic perspective. It seed that Sato, who was next to her, also agreed. However, I didn't want to stray further from my friends, as I wasn't sure what might happen if I stayed away for too long. So, I decided to decline.
"It's a tempting offer, but I'm here with friends today. I'd be happy if you invited next ti."
"Well, I guess it can't be helped."
She looked a bit disappointed, but I needed to get back to my group soon, so I started to leave when...
"I was really happy you called beautiful, you know?"
She whispered in my ear as she ca closer. I felt a jolt like an electric shock at her words and quickly covered my ears, feeling flustered by the suddenness of it all. I ended up running away in a panic.
"Huh? Matsushita-san, your face is red!"
"It's... nothing."
I heard voices from behind but didn't have the luxury to pay attention. I hurried back to where Ryūen and the others were.
It seed Hashimoto had taken a photo of with Matsushita, and now Arisu and Shiina were giving a silent but intense pressure with their smiles. I made an effort to cheer them up and promised to go out with them next ti. Sohow, they accepted my apology, but afterward, they continued to tease , giving knee pillows, feeding , and hugging . My life was quickly running out.
And then there was Hashimoto, smirking, and Ryūen, enjoying the scene.
I will never forget this.
=================================
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