“We’re finally here… It’s the beach…” So pretty, it almost brings a tear to my eye.
Normally, I would never want to go to the beach. I’m more of the indoor type, after all. But under these circumstances, knowing I get to ss around with my girls wearing swimsuits… It’s a totally different story!
“Where do we put our stuff? Can we set up anywhere, Iroha?” Miyuki helped carry our stuff.
“Should be fine, right?”
Along the south coast of Three Records, we found ourselves to the west. It was to the west where our beaches and most fun stuff were, away from the harbor and city center to the east.
We arrived at the sand with our swimsuits already on, carrying a handful of bags with our stuff for the day and a couple beach umbrellas. It was relatively early in the afternoon, and our first goal was to find sowhere to set up, like Miyuki pointed out.
Hehehe… And that’s right… Miyuki’s here too… I invited her on a whim after we bought Sarasa and Ririna their swimsuits, and now everyone’s here!
I have a slight feeling sothing will go wrong here, but for so reason, I’m really excited to see what happens…
“Hey…” Sarasa walked next to Carol while we were searching for a spot together. Her voice wasn’t particularly quiet, but only those of us nearby could hear her. “Is this all of them? Are all the girls here Iroha’s girlfriends?”
“Shhh!” Carol covered her mouth. “It’s not everyone… The only ones are you, , Ririna, and Hecate. That girl over there.” She pointed. “The others are just friends. Keep it a secret from them. Don’t even ntion it!”
“What? We’re out here dressed like this, and we’re supposed to act like there’s nothing between us? How la…” Sarasa sighed. “So the other three aren’t girlfriends…” She glanced between Katja, Narumi, and Miyuki to morize their faces. “Potential targets, then?”
“Huh?! No! Are you stupid?” Carol raised her voice at her when she noticed I could hear them. “There’s no way, you hear . Don’t even think about it. I’ll actually kill you if you do that…”
Going to the beach is synonymous with sand, sun, swimming, and threats. Apparently… “Ahahahaha… Don’t get mad at … I haven’t done anything…” Not yet…
Wait, is that even true? Miyuki is already one of my girlfriends… Hmm… Not exactly… We’re not officially dating. She’s… waiting for the right mont? When’s that gonna be?
“How about here?” Katja was a couple steps ahead of us when she turned around and raised her voice. “Seems like a nice spot.”
“Anywhere is good…” Narumi sighed and dropped her bags. “Let’s hurry this up and go for a swim! The sun’s killing
already!”
“Why not? Seems fine.” I didn’t have much of a preference, so I went along with them. No one had any objections, so we got to work. We laid down our towels and created so shade for us to enjoy.
Physical labor out of the way, now was ti for introductions. Our current group was a weird mishmash of people who didn’t all know each other. We sat around in a circle under the shade, and…
“It’s nice to et you. My na is Miyuki Eis.” She waved with an approachable, bubbly smile. She gave off the vibe of a perfect beauty. Or rather, she was a perfect beauty. “I’m Iroha’s classmate together with Carol and Katja. I’m a normal girl who likes interesting stuff!”
She showed off one final smile. Normal girl who’s able to see the future. Only sotis, though. I won’t nitpick about her liking interesting stuff with how easily she buys new styles of outfits… Not that this applies to her swimsuit… She kept it simple yet elegant… A black bikini to contrast with her cool, silver hair, sitting beautifully on her smooth, pale skin. She was easily the palest among us.
“Wow…” Reactions were mixed, and Ririna was stunned by her appearance. “She’s pretty…”
Hecate nodded in agreent and muttered a response. “Unnaturally so… Is she a goddess from your world? I could easily believe that.”
Ririna shook her head, and at the sa ti… “Interesting stuff? What does that an…?” The last part caught Narumi’s attention. “Whatever, I like interesting stuff too! Let’s get along!”
“Wait right there!” Sarasa interrupted as Narumi shook Miyuki’s hand. “My na is Sarasa F. Dremsa! I too am a connoisseur of interesting stuff!” She stood up with a hand over her chest in a gallant way. Who the hell is she trying to be?
“Connoisseur?” Ahh… A complicated word turned off Narumi’s brain, and she tilted her head.
“*Sigh…* Gotta start there, huh?” She sat back down. “It ans I like interesting stuff too! Let’s do lots of interesting stuff!” She extended a hand. “It cos natural to
since I am an adventure-” Forbidden word. Carol pinched her thigh. “-venturous girl!”
She stuck the landing…
“Ahahaha… Guess it’s my turn next…” Ririna took a deep breath. “I’m Ririna Windfiel. Both Sarasa and I are friends with Iroha, Carol, and Hecate. It’s nice to et you.”
“It’s nice to et you too.” Katja subtly smiled. “Carol and Hecate are longti friends to both
and Narumi. When did you et and how? It’s interesting I haven’t heard of you two before…”
“H- how? Uhmm… What am I supposed to…”
Sigh… Why does Katja have to be so sharp? Making things complicated… “They’re just normal friends… We t by chance at so point and beca friends after getting along. Nothing special.”
I was just trying to get her off our case, but… “Ehhh…? That’s the norm… How interesting…” Is she interested in making friends? She’s friends with Reia, that weird nurse girl who made my Matching Weapon… She can’t be that lonely, can she?
The conversation continued with Ririna asking why Katja wanted to know. The others then asked questions of both her and Miyuki, who fit in surprisingly well with Narumi.
The only two not involved were Sarasa and Hecate. “So you’re the new one… What a curious thing you are… I find that cats have a certain mysticism to them. What do you think?”
“I- I don’t really know…? I’m not exactly a cat, so that doesn’t apply to , right?” Hecate’s presence was intense. So much so that even Sarasa couldn’t help but be nervous. “Either way, you’re Hecate, right? Nice to et you! Let’s do our best as Iroha’s love slaves!”
“Slaves?” Hecate brought a hand to her cheek. “No… That’s not right… Our relationship with her is that of equals… Unless that’s what you’re into. In which case, think of yourself however you please.”
“Unless it’s what I’m into? Well…” She grabbed her chin, pretending to be in deep thought. “I wouldn’t mind trying it once or twice, I guess.”
Sarasa was cracking jokes, but Hecate wasn’t having it. A normal smile remained on her face while she looked the girl up and down.
“Wh- what’s wrong?”
Hecate sighed. “I don’t an to judge Iroha’s tastes, but…” Less than stellar, she refrained from saying. “You strike
as the type of person who sucks up to everyone you et in a very shallow way for your own benefit.” She giggled. “But I’m sure I’m just imagining things.”
“Wow!” I was stunned. “You actually nailed it!”
“Wha?!” Sarasa was also shocked. I was ready to hear a retort, but… “What the hell, Iroha, is this chick clairvoyant!?”
She’s not even denying it…
“Enough talking!” Narumi clapped, drawing everyone’s attention. “Let’s do sothing fun now!”
“Sothing fun? Sounds good!” Miyuki was the first to reply, followed by Sarasa, who had to press on her head so her hat wouldn’t fall off. “I have no clue what’s fun about a beach, but I’m in!”
We all turned to her. Hecate then spoke. “And what could this sothing fun you’re suggesting be?”
“It’s hot… We need to get in the water right away, so let’s go for a swim!” Narumi was riding high when she stopped and doubted herself. “Actually, swimming normally is boring… We need sothing else… Oh! I know! Let’s go surf!”
“Surf?” That ca out of nowhere… “Do you even know how to surf?”
By the ti we noticed, she was already holding a surfboard with her… Where the hell did she pull that from? “Huh? What do you an? Don’t you just need to balance on top of the board?”
She was completely clueless… “Really…? You think it’s that simple?” She better not say that to an actual surfer…
“I’m not opposed to the idea, but…” Katja shook her head. “I’m sorry, where did that board co from?”
“Oh, this? I bought it just now.”
“Just like that…?”
“Don’t start with , Katja! It’s my money, and I can spend it however I want, okay?” I know she dislikes thinking properly about things, but… Maybe she could make an exception when it cos to money…
“Surf… What’s surf? Is it a monster?”
Sarasa asked jokingly, but the word alard Katja. Monster ant a lot of things, so she let it go.
“Surfing is obviously not a monster, you idiot. How did you even arrive at that conclusion…?” Carol was the one to correct her, but she was acting strangely calm… And strangely nice… “Surfing’s an activity where…”
Carol explained what it was and how it worked. Ririna and Sarasa listened closely. “Ahh… I see… Sounds easy… I said before I’m in, and I’m still in!”
“Let’s go with Narumi’s suggestion then.” Katja giggled. “Most of us are fairly athletic, so we might be able to make it work.”
She looked at
and the other girls of the house, and this sohow lighted Sarasa’s competitive spirit. “I’m athletic too! No one’s more agile and dexterous than !”
“Oh… Really…?” Katja’s interest was piqued. “I’ll judge that for myself…”
“I’ll try it too.” Ririna raised her hand. “I’m not very athletic, but if everyone’s trying, I wanna try.”
“That’s everyone then! I’ll go first! It’s my board, after all…” Narumi gave us no room for objection. She grabbed her board and ran toward the waves. We followed her lead and stepped into the water, both to refresh ourselves and to watch from up close.
“Uhmm… Miyuki?” The only one lagging behind was her. She was so into it earlier… “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong… I was just expecting sothing more interesting when she suggested doing sothing fun… Surfing is… too much effort…”
“What? You scared?” Surfing’s not the most common thing, so it’s probably her first ti for her too. There’s a good chance she’ll fall, so I don’t bla her. “It’s okay if you don’t wanna join. We’re just doing this for fun. It doesn’t matter if you succeed or not. Plus, I’ll rescue you if sothing goes wrong, so don’t get scared.”
“It’s not that I’m scared, Iroha, don’t get the wrong idea!” She sounded insulted all of a sudden. This is like how Carol would react. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and continued. “This idea is just… too childish… too crude… Not sothing to be getting excited about…”
Why is she suddenly acting all haughty? It’s beneath her to surf? What a sorry excuse… “Just give it a try, okay?”
“Iroha? Wait!” I grabbed her hand and brought her to the others.
And so, we all took turns getting on the board and trying to surf without any prior experience. I had a terrible feeling about it, but for so strange reason, Narumi was right.
It was easy…
We were all able to get out there, get up, and catch so waves.
“Woohoo! How was that?” Sarasa returned while holding her hat as she jumped off the board. “Ready to admit defeat, Katja? I even did a flip there at the end just for you. Let’s see you do that now.”
“I’ll admit… I wasn’t expecting you to be able to move that well without any experience… I’ll try experinting more next ti, but now it’s Ririna’s turn.”
“It’s my turn?” Ririna stood up after spending the previous minute rubbing her legs… “I’m ready.”
“Ririna, huh…? No way Ririna can do it, nyahahahaha!” Sarasa wrapped her arm around her shoulder while handing her the board. “Here you go, show us so funny falls!”
“Hmm… You’re underestimating , you know…?” Ririna received the board with a confident smile.
“No… I’m correctestimating you. You can’t even climb a tree without struggling.” Sarasa kept mocking her, but what happened next shut her up… “No way…”
“See?” Ririna returned with a triumphant grin. “I told you I could do it. My flip was even better than yours!”
“No way… How did Ririna of all people…” Was it that much of a shock for her?
Katja applauded. “That was amazing! Is this really your first ti? You two are really good at this… Do you do any sports?”
“Ahahahaha… It was just luck! The next one is Miyuki… right?”
“Yeah… I guess so…” Miyuki hesitantly took the board from Ririna’s hands. “Not sure how this is gonna end, but… Have it your way…”
She slowly laid down on the board and swam forward to catch a wave. At the sa ti, Ririna stopped by my side. “Ririna… Did you cheat?”
“Huh?! ?” She whispered back. “Wh- why do you say that?”
“I saw you… You put sothing on your legs, didn’t you?”
“I- I… what are you talking about? It’s Miyuki’s turn now… Pay attention to her, okay?” I knew it…
Well, I guess the alchemist is allowed to use alchemists’ tricks. It’s part of what makes her cute.
And so, Miyuki’s turn finally arrived. She waited for a wave to appear, and when it did, she stood up. Maybe she’s got thi- “Wh- what now?” I could hear her panic… She stood up too early, and the wave hit her head-on.
*SPLASH!* She’s not the first to go for a dive, but she made the biggest, funniest splash, her legs falling last.
She resurfaced right away and got on the board again, brushing the hair from her forehead. “Guhhh… I won’t hold back anymore.” She muttered to herself.
Another wave showed up, and ti seed to slow down. I watched her get up in slow motion, at the perfect ti to catch the wave. Is she actually…
The wave picked up speed, she skillfully flexed her knees and controlled the impact, getting carried forward by the water. I could finally breathe normally again. She did it! She actually di- *SPLASH!* Next mont, the board flew out from under her feet like it had a mind of its own.
Well… “That’s was a good try…” She was back. I patted her shoulder to reassure her. We all did. “Cheer up!”
“Iroha’s right! You started off pretty well. With so training, you’ll be able to do it too!” Katja chid in. She was kneeling in silence with her shoulders trembling.
“Dammit! Not like this… I did not sign up to get condescended to!”
Ahahahahaha! I think we just found one of her weaknesses…
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