Chapter 392

“Just one bite.”

I asked Miyuki, who was eating a small ice cream cone, and she readily held it out to me.

I opened my mouth wide and swallowed the entire scoop of ice cream right off the top of the cone...

“H-Huh...?”

Letting out a startled gasp, Miyuki stared blankly at the empty cone before shooting me a dumbfounded glare.

“What are you doing...!”

“It's good.”

“You swallowed it already...? Don't you have brain freeze?”

“Nope.”

“Simpleton...”

Letting out a helpless laugh, Miyuki reached over and wiped the smeared soft serve from the corner of my mouth.

‘Hmm... This feels just like a scene from a peaceful, sweet rom-com.’

‘Sure, it's a bit cliché, but a trash game like Doki-Aka needs these kinds of cookie-cutter tropes to stay alive.’

I threw my arm around Miyuki's shoulders as she licked the last remnants of ice cream from the cone, and we strolled through the downtown area, taking in the faint, salty sea breeze.

We eventually headed back to the Hotel at a decent hour.

Miyuki's legs seemed to be aching a bit; she sat on a sofa in the corner of the lobby and rubbed her calves.

I sat down next to her, lifted her legs onto my lap, and took over massaging them as I spoke.

“Do you have to do any Student Council work or something today?”

“Nope. Not today.”

“Then do you want to head to the beach, get some fresh air, and grab lunch?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

“Should we bring Mitsushima and Asahina along too?”

“Why the two of them all of a sudden?”

“I thought it would be fun to hang out together.”

“You think so...?”

Miyuki trailed off, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

It was a gaze meant to suss out my true intentions.

I just casually kept massaging her legs, and eventually, a positive answer slipped from her lips.

“Alright then.”

For someone who had been constantly keeping Hiyori in check, it was a surprisingly willing agreement.

‘Why? Because of my attitude that was compared to Tetsuya's this morning?’

‘Or did she start seeing her differently because Hiyori thanked her from time to time?’

‘Whatever it was, this change of heart from Miyuki was very welcome.’

‘It wasn't a drastic change, but compared to the last time when she treated Hiyori like a thorn in her side, it was a massive leap forward.’

‘Of course, Miyuki might have an ulterior motive, but for now, this was enough.’

“Then should we grab a bigger mat?”

At Miyuki's follow-up question, I shrugged and replied.

“We can just put two together. Or just sit on the sand.”

“But then sand will get into our underwear.”

“I'll wash it off for you.”

“Oh, whatever...!”

Catching the sudden dirty joke, Miyuki shoved my arm.

‘Judging by her tone, she actually seemed to be looking forward to it. If I focused on foreplay tonight, she would probably be extremely satisfied.’

With that in mind, I left a message for Hiyori as Miyuki and I headed back to the room to change.

[Where are you?]

[The beach. Hanging out with friends.]

[We're heading out in about 20 minutes. I'll rent a Parasol and let you know where we are, so come over when you're done hanging out.]

[I'll come over around then.]

[I said come when you're done. I'd feel bad for your friends.]

[I'm done hanging out.]

[Are you lying?]

[I'm not? I'm seriously done hanging out, so what do you want me to do!]

[Why are you getting mad?]

[Sorry♥]

Her acting like a crazy person was both funny and cute.

‘I had a feeling she was cutting her time with her friends short, but since she said she was done, it should be fine.’

‘Hiyori's friends, especially the guys, would probably be disappointed, but I didn't care.’

‘I had no intention of looking out for losers who got left behind.’

‘And after seeing how Tetsuya acted today, that sentiment only grew stronger.’

[See you in 20 minutes then.]

“This spot is really nice. I thought places like this would all be taken.”

That was Miyuki's impression as she looked out at the sea from beneath our rented Parasol.

Sitting in the shade and laying out the various snacks we'd bought, I replied.

“We got lucky and it was still open. I guess that shrine offering we made at the Shrine last time paid off.”

“You sure have a lot of faith, don't you?”

“Just saying.”

“When are the others coming?”

“They should be here soon. You want some snacks?”

“I'll pass for now. Oh, here they come.”

Two girls were approaching from the direction Miyuki was pointing.

The combination of blonde and light brown hair was quite striking.

Both were wearing plain white T-shirts and shorts, and neither looked very wet.

‘Were they just hanging out and talking?’

‘I wasn't sure about Miho, but Hiyori was definitely wearing a swimsuit underneath.’

‘It already felt like I could see right through Hiyori's T-shirt.’

“Hello, Hanazawa sunbae-nim.”

Was she pleased that Miho bowed deeply the moment she arrived?

Miyuki smiled brightly and accepted the greeting.

“Hi there.”

‘Her bright reaction was true to form for Miyuki, who thought highly of Miho.’

‘What if I seduced Miho too and we had a foursome?’

‘If she and I became the bridge between Miyuki and Hiyori, wouldn't that paint an incredibly arousing picture?’

Pondering that for a moment, I shot Hiyori a look, signaling her to say hello.

At that, Hiyori gave a curt nod and spoke.

“Hellooo.”

“Yeah. Hello to you too.”

‘She's actually giving Hiyori a relatively gentle reply, huh.’

‘I wouldn't call it perfectly harmonious, but it was a far cry from the hostile atmosphere on the first day.’

‘Good job, Miyuki.’

“Come sit down.”

At my words, I nonchalantly patted the mat, and Miho and Hiyori sat down side by side.

When I took out a board game, Hiyori's eyes filled with disbelief.

“What's that?”

“A board game.”

“Why a board game all of a sudden?”

“Have you played this before?”

“No...?”

“It'll be fun.”

“No... Who comes all the way to the beach to play this? We could just play board games in the Hotel lobby.”

“There's no atmosphere there.”

“You sound like an old man.”

Bringing my index finger to my lips in a gesture for her to be quiet, I opened the box.

Unlike Hiyori, who was grumbling with a sullen expression, Miho seemed interested in the board game.

‘Does she like wholesome games? She might turn out to be really good at it.’

‘If we just went straight to playing in the water, a clash between Hiyori and Miyuki might break out.’

‘Like splashing water hard at each other while pretending it wasn't on purpose.’

‘They're getting closer, little by little, so there's no need to rush things.’

‘Sure, just like Hiyori said, it's not exactly a fitting game to play on a beach with the sea breeze blowing, but they'd enjoy it once we got started.’

“It's because I can't swim.”

That was Miyuki speaking, resting her hand on my leg.

Hiyori's eyes widened at that.

“You can't swim? Like, you've never been able to?”

“It's not that, but I was almost in a terrible accident at the sea a long time ago. Ever since then, I've been reluctant to go in the water. Even when I do go in, I only stay in the shallows.”

“Really...? I didn't know that.”

Nodding slowly in understanding, Hiyori cast her eyes down at the board game manual as if she had no other choice.

‘She was somewhat reluctant, but should I call her praiseworthy for yielding anyway?’

‘I'll have to reward her later with some deep kneading right on her solar plexus.’

“Ah, why do you keep putting your dice only on my casino! You're doing that on purpose, aren't you!? You're trying to make me go broke!”

Hiyori shrieked in anger.

Giving her a patronizing smile, Miyuki said.

“This is a completely logical move, though?”

“You should be trying to win! Why are you just trying to keep me in check!?”

“I am playing to win. When all the rounds are over, I'll probably have the most money, right?”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“You've played this before, haven't you?”

“Nope. It's my first time too.”

“That sounds like a lie.”

“It's Mitsushima's first time too, and she's doing great.”

“Are you calling me stupid?”

“That's not what I meant. Why are you reading into it like that?”

Pouting, Hiyori urged me to start the next round quickly.

‘I was glad she was genuinely immersed in the game, unlike her sullen attitude from earlier, but contrary to what I'd hoped, the situation was unfolding in a way where Miyuki had no choice but to keep checking Hiyori.’

‘At this rate, Hiyori would just keep huffing and puffing.’

‘If only she'd use her brain just a little bit more... It was quite a pity.’

Right in the middle of those thoughts— “Huh...?”

When the round ended and we checked everyone's money, my mouth hung open slightly upon seeing that my share was the smallest.

‘How did it end up like this? Was it a huge blow when Miyuki stealthily kept me in check at the end?’

“What the? I have more than you!”

Having narrowly avoided last place, Hiyori's voice was brimming with mockery.

Scratching the back of my head, I smacked my lips and voiced my regret.

‘I guess the one who needed to use their brain wasn't Hiyori, but me.’

“It looks like Matsuda-kun has to take the penalty, huh?”

At Miyuki's sympathetic words, I slowly stood up, told everyone I'd be right back, and headed toward the cafe above the beach to buy the penalty drinks.

‘It made me a bit anxious to leave the three of them alone without me, but seeing how they played the game, Hiyori and Miyuki actually got along quite well.’

‘They even seemed to be joking around.’

‘The problem was that those jokes were meant to needle each other, but with Miho there as a relief pitcher, there shouldn't be any major issues.’

After buying the drinks everyone requested and returning to the beach, I noticed that our spot had gotten quite noisy.

“We already said no, so why do you keep clinging to us...!”

Hiyori was visibly disgusted by a group of guys who had approached the mat.

‘Were they dealing with a street pickup? There were three pretty girls hanging out without any guys, and our spot was in a prime location to draw attention, so it made sense that a bunch of desperate guys would flock over.’

‘But Hiyori's reaction was a bit harsh.’

“Look, I said I don't want to, my friend doesn't want to, and my senior doesn't want to either. Hurry up and leave.”

“Don't be like that. There are three of us too, so we could all...”

“If you want a street pickup, go try it on someone else tonight. Stop acting so pathetic.”

She was outright displaying her disdain for the shirtless men.

‘It wasn't that her attitude was bad.’

‘Because it was incredibly effective at shaking off losers.’

‘However, acting like that towards a group of guys full of bravado who liked to act tough in packs—like the ones approaching them now—could easily invite trouble.’

‘Miyuki must have expressed her refusal as well, but she hadn't spoken as forcefully as Hiyori, which was probably how things led to this situation.’

‘At first glance, it did look to me like Hiyori was protecting Miho and Miyuki.’

‘Which meant there was plenty of room for the two of them to grow even closer because of this incident.’

‘But the event was just far too typical of a trash game.’

‘From Hiyori's friend yesterday, to Tetsuya today, and now this...’

‘Why did only frown-inducing events keep happening?’

‘Could I not expect a wholesome... event that didn't involve other guys?’

‘Instead of this outdated street pickup cliché, it would have been a much better picture if Hiyori got a cramp in waist-deep water and was floundering, and Miyuki overcame her trauma to rescue her...’

‘Our foolish God probably hadn't played many different dating sims, so they couldn't have thought that far ahead. I should just be generous and understand.’

‘Besides, once this grueling ordeal was over, I was sure they would serve up a warm, sweet event right on a silver platter.’

With those thoughts in mind, I picked up my pace and headed toward the three of them.