Chapter 4: The Growth in Each of Us

This summer vacation aboard a luxury cruise ship continued to be a valuable experience, and had already reached its halfway point.

The wallets of the students enjoying their remaining time to the fullest must be loosening up like never before. It may sound crazy to the students who were systematically working their way up, but there was nothing wrong with spending money on a short break. It would help refresh any accumulated fatigue, and at the same time, you would achieve a sense of euphoria and happiness. But that might sound like an excuse, since I was also using my meagre amount of private points.

I changed into my swimsuit and opened the door to see a large, empty pool. This luxury cruise ship had a large swimming pool facility that was open to everyone free of charge, but it was also equipped with another pool. You could call it a private pool, a pool that we could rent out and enjoy all to ourselves. It wasn't cheap at 20,000 points per 60 minute interval, but the time you could spend alone with your closest friends was more than worth the money. Moreover, the number of people who could use it was up to 40 people at a time, so if an entire class rented it out, you could use it for only 500 points per head.

Because of this, the private pool was surprisingly popular with students and was almost always fully booked from 8am to 8pm when it was open. While it was difficult to swim freely in a large swimming pool packed with people, the private pool was spacious enough to do whatever you wanted and enjoy it with no trouble.

"Wow, it's huge…"

Akito spoke with a hint of excitement after showing up at the poolside a little later than me. It was the same size as the pool that was open to the public for free, but it looked so big that I wondered if the scale could somehow change by reserving it.

"Where's Keisei?"

"He said he'd go to the bathroom first. The girls aren't ready yet, are they?"

There was no need to confirm that they wouldn't be able to change as quickly as us boys. For some reason, Akito picked up a menu that was sitting next to a beach chair.

"Oh…It's more expensive than the other one."

For the private pool, drinks were far more expensive than for the free pool; in fact, they were almost double the price. It shouldn't be that surprising when considering the number of orders that would be placed for this many people, but it was harsh. It meant that we would be relentlessly exploited here as well. The fact that bringing your own food and drink was prohibited was also well thought out.

Just then, the door to the changing room was opened slightly. We both looked back at the same time, but there was no sign of anyone coming out. Instead, the sound of voices reached my ears.

"Come on Airi, what are you doing? Hurry up and go."

"B-b-b-b-b-but, but! It's embarrassing Haruka-chan!"

"What's so embarrassing about it? You've been posting all kinds of embarrassing pictures onto the internet so you should be fine, right?"

"W-well it's not like they were looking at me directly!"

"For me, that's even more embarrassing. Come on, come on."

"Aah! Wait, wait!"

Such an indescribable conversation was going on between Haruka and Airi.

"How to say it? There's a certain invisible quality, right?" Akito said something completely unexpected. "What?"

"I was just thinking, you think about stuff like that too, huh Akito."

"You know…It's natural for guys right? I mean, it's not like I talk about it lightly on a daily basis like Ike and the others. You're the same, aren't you?"

He faced me with a somewhat dumbfounded look in his eyes, and at the same time, there was an air that didn't allow for any denial. I wasn't trying to read the atmosphere, but I could tell that Akito was trying to be brave in his own way. It wasn't a good idea to ignore him, so I decided to admit to it honestly.

"Well, I guess that's true."

Hearing my answer, Akito laughed a little as if he were relieved.

"If a girl hears, I know she'll just say I'm an idiot or something though."

Akito usually wore a calm poker face, but judging by how much he was talking, it was obvious that he was getting nervous. However, those two still seemed to be arguing and wouldn't come out easily.

"I'm so embarrassed!"

"You know what?! I feel the same way!"

"H-h…Haruka-chan, that's a very daring outfit isn't it?"

"That's because you promised to wear this in front of everyone!"

"Hyah!"

We were in something of a life or death situation, waiting for them to appear.

"Daring, she says."

"Sounds like it."

A sense of anticipation, accompanied by a feeling of embarrassment. Where should I look and what should I say when the girls come out?

"Impossible, it's impossible! I-I'm going to borrow something to cover myself with."

"No, you can't! Come on, don't run away!"

"Ugh, I'm still embarrassed in this kind of swimsuit after all, Haruka-chan!"

"You know that it's the same for me too, right? I had no choice but to go along with you!"

"I never asked you to do that!"

We were waiting for them to come out, but it looked like the struggle would continue a little while longer.

"Hey, Ayanokōji. What do you think of Airi?"

Akito had been looking towards the girls until now, but I realised he was now looking at me. I was sure he wasn't just speaking randomly.

"As in?"

I immediately understood what he was talking about, but I dared to feign ignorance.

"Mixed-gender groups can be a little complicated, right? It's not unusual for someone to end up liking someone else."

The question wasn't difficult to answer, but…

"How about you?"

When I asked back, Akito showed a somewhat troubled expression.

"Well, I guess so." After a few moments of silence, Akito spoke. "I'd be lying if I said I felt nothing like that whatsoever."

He answered in a way that acknowledged, not denied, the existence of such a possibility.

"But if it might destroy this group, I'm not gonna push it."

He meant to leave those feelings smouldering in his heart. I couldn't tell for sure if it was Haruka or Airi at this point, but… I wonder what the right answer would be here. Unlike math, it wasn't always possible to get a definitive answer after trying to figure it out.

"Kiyotaka, you…"

"Kyaah!"

Just as Akito was about to say something, the half-opened door swung open and Airi came flying out in front of me. I made eye contact with Akito again after looking at where the shouting came from.

"P-pushing me like that…you're awful Haruka-chan!"

"It's because you wouldn't hurry up and get out here."

Saying that, Haruka showed herself immediately after Airi's arrival.

"O-oh, come on…"

Akito looked shocked, but needless to say, I felt the same way. How could I put it? The two of them were wearing incredibly bold swimsuits. If this wasn't a private pool, they would have attracted a lot of attention from both men and women.

Haruka immediately looked up and saw us. I somehow felt like it was a crime to stare at them, so, at the same time as Akito, I turned to look in the appropriate direction. However, as if something immediately caught his curiosity, Akito spoke up, keeping his gaze elsewhere.

"Airi gives off a very different impression, doesn't she?"

I'd rather he didn't bring me into this, but I guess Akito must also be in a tight situation.

"I guess. She gives off a much more innocent feeling."

"That's it…that."

While we were describing our impressions of Airi, Haruka looked blatantly disappointed.

"Conventional. Mundane."

"Don't say that. No, I'm too surprised to get the words out."

I really hoped that Haruka would catch the part where my vocabulary was rapidly declining.

"…I'm gonna go for a little swim."

Perhaps the two of them were too stimulating for him, as, after saying that, Akito turned his back on them and jumped into the pool without doing any preparation. With a splash, he swam through the empty pool alone. I knew what it was like to be hit with the feeling of wanting to run away. Because the private pool was an environment that we would rarely be able to experience, when faced with the destructive power of the two people in front of us, escape was no longer possible.

To get rid of all kinds of worries, swimming away like that was the correct decision. Having said that, if two guys were to suddenly put their all into swimming, the atmosphere would obviously turn strange. I guess I'd just have to be the shield here and continue this confrontation.

What should I do…? Taking a look at the two of them, I could see that Airi was blushing uncomfortably. Seeing Airi like this, Haruka happily walked around to her back and grabbed her shoulders.

"Hyaa!"

"Hey, hey, Kiyopon, how's the reborn Airi?"

Saying that, she pushed Airi forward. The distance between us was so close that if we weren't careful, we'd end up touching each other skin-to-skin. Rather than that, it was like she actually was touching me. I retreated just enough for it to be unnoticeable and maintained a close distance.

"Whoa…"

Both of them were wearing swimsuits that exposed a lot of skin, so touching them easily was problematic behaviour. Unable to bear the situation, Airi opened her mouth to escape.

"I-I think I'll go swim in the pool too!"

"Wait, Airi…"

Haruka reached out her hand to try and catch her, but she failed to grab her arm in time. She then went to jump into the pool…or so I thought, but the way she held the stainless steel railing and gently entered the water was very Airi-esque.

"Damn it. Even though I'm so embarrassed too…"

That certainly would be the case. Aside from the emphasis on the breasts, the area of the swimsuit's lower half was clearly small. Even though they were tied together tightly with string, I was anxious that something might happen to them.

"Just so you know, it was Airi who chose this ridiculous swimsuit, okay?"

"I wasn't going to get into it, but how did that happen?"

Originally, Haruka wasn't the kind of student who liked to show her skin in public. However, the amount of emphasis she was putting on her breasts and lower body wasn't normal.

"How did it happen? How did it happen, hmm…?" For a moment, she showed a troubled face, but then she began to explain, choosing her words carefully. "I'm not sure how to say it? It's a form of going along with Airi?"

"What does that mean?"

There were so many choices, I couldn't even begin to understand.

"It means that she's desperately trying to change. And that's the same for me. I can't believe I'm saying this, but…there's a part of me that stands out a little more than others, right?" She said it in a muddled way, but it was without a doubt referring to that which I couldn't look at. "I know I shouldn't care, but the way people look at me makes me uncomfortable."

I could understand her distress, but from a male psychological perspective, ignoring it was extremely difficult. It was inevitable that our eyes would find themselves being drawn to them.

"I chose a slightly daring bathing suit for her to encourage her, and she replied that she would wear it if I wore one too."

That was a good reply. I could easily imagine Haruka refusing to wear a flashy swimsuit. If Haruka refused to wear it, she could say back to her that she wouldn't either.

"I can't let her stumble during the first step of the Airi remodelling project. It's called willpower." Now that she'd accepted the conditions that Airi herself set, Airi couldn't escape either. "Besides, even if Airi and I can't wear something like this in the open pool over there, if it's here…"

It seemed that because it was with three boys that they were close with, they managed to make it happen. Even so, it was easy even for a guy to imagine that there was quite a bit of shame involved.

"…You wanna see?" Haruka asked, looking embarrassed, or rather, hiding her disgust.

"Well, even if I've been told not to look, I have to admit there are some difficulties."

In the first place, they were in my line of sight when I was talking to her so there was no way around it. The only way to avoid seeing them was by looking directly above or below, or by turning my back.

"I see. I think I know the difference between a man and a woman, but I don't know anything about psychology."

The difference in curiosity about breasts, hips and lower abdomen wasn't something that men and women could understand. No, there was no way to know because each individual person had their own preferences; it wasn't just separated by men and women.

"Huh? By the way, where's Yukimuu?"

"Looks like he's going to be a little while longer."

I don't know if the stomach-ache was lingering, but he didn't seem to be coming out at all.

"Hmm?"

Perhaps not that interested in checking, Haruka's mind seemed to be elsewhere. The conversation stopped for a moment, and a brief silence fell.

"…Ah, no, I can't stop thinking about it."

"I'm sorry. I'm trying to be careful not to look."

If you couldn't help but look at the other person's face while talking to them, they would inevitably come into view.

"That's not what I mean. You really haven't done anything wrong, Kiyopon. I know I'm too self-conscious to begin with. I know that you're not looking because you like it."

Eh, no…it's not like I don't like what I see. I'll keep that part to myself.

"When something stands out it attracts attention. It's the same with anything, right? It's just, when I think it's me, I can't help but feel bad."

In Haruka's case, it wasn't just the boys' gaze. Even if it was a same-sex gathering, she wouldn't welcome attention being drawn to her breasts.

"I'm sorry, I think it's going to take me a little more time to calm down," she continued.

"It doesn't really matter. If you think it's impossible, you can just go back and get changed."

"I can't do that. As long as Airi is giving it her best, I don't want to break."

She called it the Airi remodelling project, didn't she? I could tell she was thinking about it.

"Let's change the subject. It may be a little late, but it seems you were just about safe in the uninhabited island exam."

I hadn't been able to get together with the Ayanokōji group for the past few days, so Haruka mentioned the topic to me rather late. It was a completely unrelated topic, which was probably a good thing right now.

"Well, we were just the same, so it's not something to laugh about."

"To be honest, it was pretty tough. I fought as hard as I could and that was the result. My bad."

"It's not bad at all. I mean, I'm a little relieved."

Exhaling slightly, Haruka watched Airi, who was clumsily trying to swim.

"Relieved? After those terrible results?"

"I mean, there were rumours that you were a jerk because of that math problem, Kiyopon. Won't this help everything calm down a little? You didn't like the weird pressure you were under, right?"

Apparently, she was thinking about my future.

"As I thought, you're more like a saint than the other boys, Kiyopon."

"What did you see that made you think that?"

I was doubtful because I thought she was overestimating me. I had just as much sexual desire and interest in the opposite sex as anyone else.

"Things like your facial expressions, your gaze…I feel like it's less of an issue with you than other boys."

I didn't know what to say about that. I was afraid I'd get a lot of flack for showing anything like that here. I was also grateful that another guy was playing the role of a panicked person. It must have a synergistic effect.

"Oh…"

As soon as Keisei, who had finished changing late, showed up, he let out a surprised voice. It was clear to the eye that this wasn't his reaction to seeing the rented private pool. He must've seen the daring figure of Haruka beside me.

"Whassup."

Perhaps to maintain a sense of normalcy, Haruka greeted Keisei with a silly face and voice.

"S-sup…"

He fixed his glasses, which had almost fallen off, and looked over towards her. I guess this meant that Keisei, who usually spent most of his time studying, was a fine boy. The fact that all the guys uniformly reacted and tried to escape in the same way showed the nature of this group. If it were a type like Ryūen or Kōenji, the reaction would probably be very different.

"Well then…I think I'll go swim a bit too."

He jumped into the pool to escape, joining Akito, who was swimming vigorously. Airi, who couldn't swim well and thus let her feet touch the bottom of the pool, waved at Haruka.

"Come over too, Haruka-chan~ It feels good~!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go. Give me a second."

Saying that she couldn't help it, she started to do her exercises next to me.

"I get the feeling you've become closer since fighting through the uninhabited island exam together."

"Well, that's true, isn't it? We've shared a lot of things from top to bottom."

"Waah! That's a bit embarrassing so don't say it!"

Airi, who was waiting at the edge of the pool watching us, hurriedly made a splashing sound. Top? Bottom? They were common keywords, but also very meaningful.

"I don't know, Airi is essentially helpless, but I can't leave her alone. Kind of like a best friend or little sister?"

A statement that was unthinkable when we first met. And that wasn't something limited to just Haruka. It was the same for Keisei, and, even if there were no major changes, it was also the same for Akito.