Chapter 394

“Asahina, you shouldn't go in the ocean.”

That was Miyuki's warning to Hiyori, who had grabbed her swim tube.

Her voice sounded like a mother looking after an immature daughter, prompting Hiyori to look down at the seated Miyuki with a sullen expression.

“Why not?”

“You hurt your foot yesterday.”

“But the wound healed, didn't it?”

“It doesn't completely heal in just one day. If you go in the seawater, it's going to hurt a lot.”

“I put on a waterproof bandage, so I'm fine.”

“Waterproof bandages aren't invincible. I heard the water is warm today too, so if seawater gets into the wound, you might catch Vibrio sepsis.”

“What's that?”

“It's a disease where your blood rots. If dirty seawater gets into a wound...”

Miyuki explained the disease with a serious expression.

I couldn't tell if she was genuinely worried or just trying to tease Hiyori.

Either way, Miyuki's warning didn't get through to Hiyori at all.

The longer the explanation went on, the more obvious the look of sheer exasperation on her face became.

With her mouth slightly agape, much like when she was being nagged earlier, Hiyori raised a hand to stop the endlessly talking Miyuki, signaling that she was fine.

“I'm good. Even if I catch it, I'll just recover anyway.”

“That's a severe lack of safety awareness. Let's wait until this afternoon, and if your wound looks okay, you can go in then...”

“Ugh, I don't want to!”

“Did you just get mad?”

“I just have a loud voice, okay.”

Mmhmm. It was exactly like a daughter who slammed her door after fighting with her mother, only to claim the wind blew it shut when her angry mother demanded an explanation.

“Stop nagging already. My ears are starting to ring.”

At Hiyori's complaint, Miyuki shamelessly shrugged her shoulders and replied.

“I haven't even started yet, you know.”

“Ugh, whatever. I'm going to hang out with Miho, so follow us if you want.”

“I already told you I can't swim.”

“You can just stay in the shallow water.”

So she was still trying to be considerate in her own way. How admirable.

Without any further nagging, Miyuki started to clean up the picnic mat, which was littered with fruit scraps and empty plastic bottles.

Seeing that, Miho put down her swim tube and helped Miyuki.

It seemed she wanted to at least help Miyuki out before going off to play.

Watching them, I felt like we were on a family vacation.

Miyuki and I were the parents, Miho was the mature eldest daughter, and Hiyori was the childish youngest.

The picture matched perfectly.

What would it be like if Renka and Chinami were here too?

I didn't dare to imagine it, but I really did miss them.

Anyway, even though Miyuki still didn't like Hiyori, it felt like they had entered a temporary truce after the street pickup incident.

When bitter enemies reconcile, they tend to become closer than anyone else.

Holding onto that belief, I gestured toward Hiyori, who was already standing around blankly with her swim tube around her waist, telling her to come over and help clean up.

“Annoying.”

Grumbling under her breath, Hiyori waddled over with her swim tube bouncing around.

She bent down just like that to put the trash from the mat into a bag, when—

Boop.

“Ah...!”

She accidentally smacked the nearby Miyuki in the head with her swim tube, knocking her aside.

Suddenly falling flat on her rear from her crouching position, Miyuki frowned slightly.

“What are you doing...?”

“It was a mistake. Sorry.”

“There's absolutely zero sincerity in that apology. Was it really a mistake?”

“I seriously didn't do it on purpose.”

Things were going so well, but chaos was about to erupt again.

They couldn't let their relationship sour over something this trivial... Even knowing that nothing comes easy, this felt like a forced event.

Squeezing my eyes shut to suppress my throbbing headache, I spoke up.

“Don't fight. Asahina, take off your swim tube first. What if you knock over the water nearby?”

“I'm being careful not to hit it.”

Hearing Hiyori's sullen reply, Miyuki tried to mutter something in passing.

“You hit me instead of the...”

I quickly patted the small of Miyuki's back to make her close her mouth, careful not to let the fire spread any further, and finished organizing the mat.

Later, as I watched Hiyori and Miho giggling in the shallow water, I gently nudged Miyuki beside me.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“What's that Vib... whatever sepsis?”

“Vibrio sepsis.”

“Right. Wasn't that going a bit too far? How is that any different from starving yourself because you're scared of food poisoning?”

“It never hurts to be careful.”

One corner of Miyuki's mouth was curled up.

Seeing her amused expression, I figured her earlier nagging was at least half-filled with mischief.

“Is that so?”

“Right now is the perfect season for it to break out, so you should be careful too, Matsuda-kun.”

“Is there really anything for me to be careful about?”

“Be careful when eating seafood. Especially avoid things like raw oysters.”

“Got it.”

“Don't you want to go in the water?”

“Not really? If you're not going in, neither am I.”

Did she like that answer?

The corners of Miyuki's mouth rose into a bright smile.

Hiyori and Miho had moved into slightly deeper water and were floating on their swim tubes.

Staring intently at the two of them, Miyuki spoke.

“Asahina's rebellious phase seems a bit severe.”

“That's true.”

“You used to be like that too, Matsuda-kun. Though you still are.”

“I don't think so.”

“Of course you'd think so. Let's get up.”

“Where to?”

“To the ocean. If we leave them like that, I feel like they'll drift into deep water.”

“Wouldn't it be fine since Mitsushima is with her?”

“Mitsushima has a soft spot when it comes to Asahina. It's not that she gets swept up in Asahina's pace, but as long as she doesn't cross the line, she generously lets her get away with anything.”

Do birds of a feather flock together? She saw right through them.

“I wonder why?”

“I wouldn't know. Maybe Mitsushima owed Asahina a favor in the past?”

“A favor?”

“Like saving her from guys approaching her like today... something like that.”

“That's possible. Should I grab a swim tube?”

“No. I'll just watch from the shallows.”

As Miyuki and I headed to the sea, I saw Hiyori approaching us with a bright expression.

Probably because she had just dunked herself in the water, her completely soaked T-shirt clung to her skin, revealing the curves of her body.

Thinking it was incredibly erotic how her swimsuit—the same design as yesterday's—was clearly visible, I sneakily glanced at Miho next.

Just as I had thought yesterday, her chest was small, but her hips were incredibly sexy.

The way her T-shirt slightly dipped into her small, round belly button drove me absolutely crazy.

“Did you come to play?”

Hiyori asked, beaming with joy.

Snapping back to my senses, I shook my head.

“No.”

“Then?”

“How could you go in without warming up? Both of you, stand in front of me.”

“Oh, come on...! I worked out hard enough while we were fighting earlier, you know?”

“Stop making weird excuses and stand.”

“Haa... Annoying...”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Hiyori sauntered over and stood in front of me.

Propping up her swim tube and resting her arms on it, she stood crookedly—the exact opposite of the exemplary Miho. She looked so adorable that a laugh almost slipped out of me.

Grinning as I looked back and forth between her and Miho, I started with arm stretches to prepare for any possible danger.

*

The morning's water play ended without incident.

It was generally smooth, but it was especially encouraging that Miyuki and Hiyori didn't clash after going into the ocean.

It was a school trip meant for enjoyment, so I felt a bit wronged having to be so anxious.

I needed to heal by listening to Chinami's refreshing voice.

With that thought in mind, I returned to the lobby, sent the three girls—who all yawned at the exact same time without a word—back to their room, and called Chinami.

“Hello.”

An unfamiliar voice answered before the phone even rang for long.

My eyebrow twitched at that, and I asked.

“I called Master, so why is the President answering?”

“Because I felt like it.”

“What are you doing?”

“Why do you care?”

“You keep acting so defiant. Are you going to be able to handle the consequences when the trip is over?”

“So what? What can you even do?”

“There are plenty of things I can do. For example, on Master's chest...”

All sorts of diverse roleplays began spilling from my mouth.

As I explicitly mentioned not only her chest but also crucial body parts, Renka must have been struck by a massive wave of embarrassment, because she sharply gasped and yelled.

“S-stop it! You perverted bastard...!”

“You asked what I could do, so I answered. Anyway, hand the phone to Master.”

“I just heard such filthy words, do you think I'm crazy enough to hand it over? No.”

“You're really asking for punishment. You're at two warnings right now, right? I'm adding one more. Since you've accumulated three, look forward to it when the trip is over.”

“W-what...! I only got one warning, you idiot!”

“You even lied last time and got an extra warning, so you were at two.”

“Are you trying to play house with me right now? Drop the childish act, will you?”

For someone saying that, she definitely seemed fully immersed when I mentioned the warnings just now...

When would Renka ever be able to make her inner feelings match her outward attitude?

I missed the time she voluntarily told me she liked me.

“I suddenly want to see you. I should do it once while thinking about the President.”

“W-what? What are you going to do?”

“Jerk off.”

“What does that even mean!! What are you jerking!!!”

She knew exactly what it meant, yet she still pretended not to.

But why was blood rushing to my nether regions even though Renka was screeching at me?

I wondered if my sex drive had really reached that level.

“Should we do a video call?”

“...Why?”

Mmhmm. Our Renka was bursting with curiosity as always.

Chuckling to myself after hearing her furious voice change so drastically, I replied.

“Just because. To see your face.”

“A-are you really just going to look at my face?”

“Are you suspicious?”

“Of course I am...!”

“I'll make sure only my face shows, then. I'm in the lobby right now, so I'll head to my room and call the President's Cell Phone again.”

“N-no...! If you're doing a video call to see my face, what do you mean only your face will show... Hey...! Wait...”

Ignoring Renka as she babbled urgently, I hung up the phone, got up from the bench, and headed to my room.

If I asked her to talk dirty to me during the video call, what kind of reaction would Renka have?

I was both curious and excited.

I needed to do it right away.