That was no wrestling.

"Whoa…," Masachika uttered unconsciously as he stood before the sand and

the vast blue sea. It was an approximately three-hour journey from the station

closest to school. After exiting the station, they had lunch and did some shopping

before hopping on a bus for another thirty-minute ride, and then it was a ten-minute

walk from the bus stop to the Kenzaki residence's vacation home. The walls of the

spacious, two-story stylish cottage were painted a brilliant white. You could invite

ten, even twenty people over and still have plenty of room to spare. But what was

most surprising of all was the private beach. All you had to do was open the sliding

glass door to the patio in the first-floor living room, and you were at the beach,

which was even more private than any of them had imagined. Why? Because the

entire area was surrounded by trees, blocking off the outside world, with the

exception of the beachside path right behind the cottage. Furthermore, the eightymeter-wide beach was sandwiched between two rocky terrains that were essentially

cliffs, which meant that nobody could just sneak in. Put simply, this beach, which

was eighty meters wide and fifteen meters long, was basically cut off from the

outside world by the surrounding woods and cliffsides. It was only natural for

Masachika to audibly gasp at their own secluded little world, especially since he'd

been expecting the beach to be connected to areas that any tourist could use.

"Our own private island… Well, I guess it's not an island, but still."

"Ha-ha. I know how you feel." Touya nodded as they took in the view. The guys had

already changed into their bathing suits and were waiting outside for the others. Incidentally,

there were two rooms for two and a room for three at the cottage. After some discussion,

it was decided that the two guys would stay in one of the doubles, while the second-year

girls would stay in the other, which left the triple for the three first-year female students.

Masachika was a little apprehensive about Alisa staying in the same room as their rivals,

Yuki and Ayano, but it was Alisa herself who'd requested to. (It was more about not having

to stay in the same room as Maria, though.)

"By the way, you really are muscular, huh?" Masachika noted in admiration as he

checked out Touya in his swimsuit. He'd always thought the president looked like he was

in shape, but Touya was even more chiseled than Masachika had imagined. He had ripped

pecs with thick arms and legs, to boot. That, coupled with the fact that he was over a hundred

eighty centimeters tall and was wearing disposable contact lensesinstead of his usual glasses,

made him look like a professional wrestler.

"I'm not as muscular as I look, though. I have big bones. They even used to call me

'tubby' back in the day," Touya said with a bashful smirk, noticing his schoolmate's

admiration.

"Big-boned, you say? Uh-huh…"

Thanks to his nerdy brain, Masachika was imagining his schoolmate's old self as a

badass-looking dwarf. Throughout Masachika'ssomewhat rude meandering thoughts, Touya

was checking him out as if he was impressed as well.

"You're actually in really good shape yourself. I can see you work out. Nice abs."

"Oh, thanks. I only do small, twenty-minute workouts every day, but I never have much

trouble getting abs if I want them," Masachika replied aloofly, despite being praised. After

joining the student council, which actually required a good deal of stamina, he noticed that

he was losing muscle mass and strength, so he'd started working out again a little over a

month ago. But he knew his muscles were nothing more than for show, which was why he

didn't know how to respond to the praise.

"…Oh, right. We should probably get the umbrellas and beach loungers all set up and

ready to go."

"Wait. You have beach loungers, too? Do we really need a beach umbrella when we

have the patio, though? Plenty of shade over there."

"I guess it really depends on what everyone's in the mood for. Anyway, give me a

second. I'm going to go look for the stuff."

"Oh… All right."

Touya promptly walked across the patio and went back inside. While Masachika

definitely wanted to help, he was hesitant to search someone else's house, so he decided to

wait for Touya to return without a clue of what to do with himself. But not even a minute

went by when the sliding glass door to the living room opened again. Standing there was

Yuki, wearing a pink checkered bikini. She almost immediately noticed Masachika standing

around, so after making sure the coast was clear, she rushed over to him, flip-flops clapping

against the sand.

"Big brother, big bwother, big bwothaaa," she rapidly repeated in a soft voice as she

approached him.

"What happened? Your voice software is even buggier than usual."

He wryly smirked until his sister suddenly stopped right in front of him with her face

twisted with fear.

"Monster… There's a monster inside…"

Her voice trembled.

"Huh? A monster?"

"A very powerful-looking creature… No Japanese person would ever stand a chance."

Just when he finally realized what she was referring to, the glass patio door opened once

more, revealing the monster herself. Her skin was brilliantly pale in the summer sunlight,

and her silver hair danced in the wind. The sky-blue lacy bikini held her ample breasts while

emphasizing her tiny waist like a work of art. A pareu was wrapped around her waist, but a

thin piece of cloth could hardly hide her seductive hips, nor could it do anything to contain

her plump thighs and bafflingly long legs peeking out from the slits.

"Jaw drops. Awooga! Hubba-hubba!"

"Ah yes, a classic."

"Sh-she looks like an hourglass with flesh on it!"

"Now you're being gross. I know what you mean, though."

"A body like that should be illegal. I mean, check out that curve from her lower back to

her ass. What do you eat and how do you train to get that way?"

"…It's hard to imagine you two are the same age."

"It's like she's from another planet. I refuse to believe there's a fifteen-year-old girl with

a pro-model body like that!"

"Dude, don't be so hard on yourself. You've got some really nice ribs on ya," he teased

while glancing down at his trembling sister.

"Right? But look more closely at Alya. You can kinda see her ribs, too. How can you

have tits that big and still have your ribs kind of poking out like that? Unbelievable. She

seriously only has fat in all the right places."

She snorted with a self-deprecating smirk.

"…I'm going to be real with you. I don't see the appeal in visible ribs. Not one bit."

The siblings continued their exchange until Alisa noticed their gazes and began to cross

the patio…when someone suddenly called out to her and stopped her from behind. When she

turned around, Chisaki and Maria emerged from the glass doorway to the living room.

"Sweet god! Check out those melons!"

"Quit it."

He glared at Yuki with disgust for her unhinged reaction to Maria's body, but he couldn't

help but empathize after giving Maria and Chisaki another look. Maria was wearing a ruffled

white bikini and had, in a way, a body that was even more incredible than hersister's. She had

the wicked figure of a bikini model with an almost contradicting innocent, youthful smile. If

you saw her in a magazine, you wouldn't feel she was out of place at all.

"Boom. Boom."

"Enough with the meaningless sound effects."

"Are those G-cups? No… H?"

"Stop. Come on."

"Hold on. We mustn't rush things. Relative grading isfine, but absolute grading isjust as

important. Hmm… At first glance, she is bigger in all the right places, but when you consider

the difference in height, Alya has mass, which—"

"Enough."

"Ouch!"

Masachika smacked the back of Yuki's head before she could continue her straightfaced, ridiculous analysis any further, but her leering gaze almost immediately found its way

back to the Kujou sisters as if she was unreformable.

"Mmm… But when you look at them side by side, Masha seems to have a little extra

meat around the waist…"

"She's more than skinny enough. Alya just has a really toned body. That's all."

"Heh. The fact that their body types slightly differ like this makes it even hotter," Yuki

mentioned with a pervy gaze, as if she were some creepy old man, before switching her

attention toward Chisaki.

"Those aren't words that should be coming out of a teenage girl's mouth."

"And this other lady… Snap… Crackle… Pop."

"Did you break something? …Did you seriously just check out her biceps, abs, then

thighs while making sound effects?"

His gaze slid to where Chisaki stood in a high-neck bikini, and his expression instantly

grew tense. She had a wonderful body as well but in a way far different from Maria. He could

tell even from a distance. It went beyond your average athlete. Her six-pack was more toned

than Masachika's. Her entire body was more ripped than it was "feminine" and soft—like

the body of a wild animal.

"…A warrior and a cleric?"

"…I know exactly what you mean."

They exchanged a nod while imagining the traditional party in an RPG…when all of

a sudden, Touya appeared behind the two ladies with a beach umbrella and some beach

loungers under his arms.

"Oh, look. The party's tank is here with his shield."

"…Wait. Is Alya the hero in this scenario?"

"Of course she is. Look at the president. Look at him. Do you think that guy could ever

get a harem? So Alya wins by default."

"Rude."

The four others on the patio exchanged words as the siblings continued their nerdy

conversation, but…

"Wow. Somehow, it's like Chisaki's the only one he can see, even with those two by

his side."

There was no way a man could avoid being captivated by their beauty. It didn't help that

these two extremely sexy sisters were standing on each side of Touya, either. And yet his

eyes were locked on Chisaki as if to say, "You're the only one for me." Masachika gained

even more respect for the man, while Yuki grumbled in admiration as well.

"Love is blind… Wait. Maybe he just likes small tits?"

"Now that was rude."

After softly chopping Yuki's head, Masachika suddenly decided to look around for the

final member…when he noticed Ayano was standing on the opposite side of him in complete

silence. Needless to say, he jumped.

"…How long have you been there?"

"…A while."

She stared up at him with her usual blank expression and her long black hair in a bun.

Exactly how long she had been standing there was a mystery.

"Oh, uh… That bathing suit looks really nice on you," he praised, sensing some slight

awkwardness.

"Thank you."

Masachika was being honest, though. Unlike the others, Ayano was actually wearing

a mature, one-piece swimsuit that emphasized her nice figure while still showing less skin.

Yuki, who was standing next to him, suddenly sauntered over to Ayano's side with a

mischievous smirk.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet, bro. Ayano, turn around."

"As you wish."

"Check it out. Sexyyy, right?" gushed Yuki as Ayano spun around. Masachika was quick

to see why as well. It wassexy. The back side of Ayano'sswimsuit was almost nonexistent. It

was a backless piece of swimwear with only some string tying the piece together, essentially

exposing every inch of her body from the nape of her neck to the top of her butt. There was

something strangely alluring about the fact that most of her body was covered in the front

yet so exposed in the rear. Yuki pointed at Ayano's beautiful back with a smug grin.

"Whaddaya think?"

Masachika quietly observed Ayano's exposed back, especially the intersecting

shoestring tied together.

"Reminds me of a whole smoked ham that—"

"Do you wanna die?"

"Oh, uh… She looks just like a Hollywood movie star? Yep."

Doom filled the air, and he immediately tried to smooth things over. Despite this, his

sister continued to glare at him like a hit man for the next few seconds until the others started

walking over, seemingly having finished their conversation. Yuki's scowl instantly curled

into a ladylike smile.

"At any rate, I will be emphasizing my stomach while Ayano will be competing with

her back, so we're counting on you."

"I have no idea what you two are counting on me to do, but knock yourselves out."

He parted with those words and rushed over to Touya to help him skewer the beach

umbrella into the ground. In the meantime, the others set up the beach loungers and sheets.

"Hmph! That should do it."

"Phew. That was a lot harder than I thought it'd be."

Masachika looked up, sweat dripping down his body after having just put up the

umbrella, when he suddenly made eye contact with Alisa, who seemed like she had something

on her mind. She, however, instantly looked away and began fidgeting with her hair as if to

say, "I was just watching you set up the umbrella. What's the problem?" Her body remained

facing in his direction, though, which was one of the reasons she was so easy to read.

"You look really cute, Alya," he complimented with a crooked smirk.

"…! I do? Thanks," she curtly replied without even glancing in his direction.

"Giggle. Awww.He said you looked cute, Alya."

Maria suddenly wrapped her arms around Alisa.

"Hey?! G-get off me!"

"Ah. ♪"

Alisa knocked her sister's arm away as though she was annoyed before immediately

creating some distance between them, but all Masachika could see was the unbelievable

amount of jiggling the force caused to a certain region of Maria's body. Could you really

blame him, though? There was only a small piece of string holding the bikini together in

the middle, which meant you could clearly see her cleavage… At least, that was the excuse

Masachika kept telling himself before he swiftly looked up and away from Alisa's iciclelike piercing gaze.

"You look really good, too, Masha."

"Giggle. ♪ Thank you. ♪"

Masachika was immediately overcome with guilt as Maria smiled innocently, making it

unclear whether she'd noticed his leering.

"Masachika, Masachika, Masachika."

A finger rapidly poked his thigh. When he looked down, Yuki was sitting on the beach

sheet with her back turned to him. She had her hands wrapped behind her head as she lifted

up her hair, exposing her bare back.

"Can you rub some lotion on me?" she asked with an inviting, sidelong glance.

"I'd rather die."

"Ouch."

She shrugged at his cold reply and briskly stood up.

"I'm kidding. I already put some sunscreen on before leaving the house."

"Then stop wasting my time."

"I was simply playing into the trope for you."

"Which loses all its excitement when it's you."

"Oh? Would it be more exciting for you if I were Alya, perhaps?"

"Huh?" grunted Alisa in surprise. Masachika reflexively looked back at her, and their

gazes met once more. However, this time, her eyes narrowed before she quickly crouched

and covered herself with both arms as if she was worried that he was going to do something

to her.

"Seriously? I'm not going to rub lotion on you… Can you even tan? I always kind of

thought Russians and the like would only get red but never actually tan."

"Yes, I can tan. A little. There are people who only turn red, though, but you would still

need to put on sunscreen, regardless."

"Oh… Right…"

In spite of his best efforts to change the subject, Alisa's wary gaze did not waver, so

Masachika decided to face Touya instead to escape the awkwardness.

"So, uh… Ready to do this?"

"Hold on… Before that…"

Touya's eyes wandered in a bashful way for a few moments as he hesitantly continued:

"…we might never get the chance to do this again, so how about we all run toward the

ocean together and yell, 'The beach!!'?"

"…What?"

Masachika was legitimately baffled by the random suggestion and frowned. Touya

immediately seemed depressed, so Chisaki spoke up hurriedly and stammered:

"Y-yeah, it wouldn't be a beach vacation without that. Let's do it. Timing everything

perfectly and synchronizing with one another would be a good way for the student council

to become closer."

"Uh-huh…"

Once everyone realized this was probably something Touya had always dreamed of

doing, they exchanged glances and compassionately decided to follow along.

"Hey, why not take a picture, too? We can use the timer. Hmm… Oh. How about we

put it over there on the patio table?" Yuki suggested, taking out her digital camera.

"Wait… Are you really going to take a picture?" Alisa asked somewhat timidly as she

covered her body with both arms.

"I simply want to capture this shared memory. I will not send pictures of anyone in their

bathing suit to anyone other than the people in the picture if requested."

"O-oh… I guess it's fine if that's the case…"

Alisa agreed to Yuki's idea, but there was something about how she phrased it that kind

of bothered Masachika. However, he left it alone. Once the camera was set up, everyone

took off their flip-flops and lined up straight on the sand, staying perfectly still until Touya

took the lead and…

"""The beach!!"""

"Th-the beach!"

"The beach."

Five shouted with glee in unison, one stuttered in their gallant attempt, and another

simply spoke in a monotone voice. An indescribable energy filled the air of the midsummer

beach as the camera shutter clicked in the background. Immediately, Alisa uncomfortably

drooped her shoulders, while Ayano curiously tilted her head with a blank expression.

"…Yep. Perfect. Let's do this!"

"Wait. Are we seriously not going to do anything about the awkward—?"

"Come on, Touya! Race me to that boulder!"

"Shall we join them, Ayano?"

"As you wish, Lady Yuki."

All four of them then rushed toward the sea as if to say, "Like hell I'm doing this any

longer!" ignoring Masachika's pleas. Those who were left were Masachika, the Kujou sisters,

and an awkward silence.

"So, uh… Ready to have some fun?"

"…"

He'd hesitantly asked Alisa, butshe continued to look away uneasily,so he had no choice

but to turn his focus to Maria for help…only to realize that she was already back under the

beach umbrella for some reason.

"Masha? You're not going to swim?"

"Don't worry about me. ♪ I'll be right over after I inflate this." She smiled comfortably

while taking a seat on the beach blanket. She then pulled a deflated swimming ring out of

her bag and began to unfold it as she cheerfully confessed:

"Actually, I can't swim."

"…?"

Masachika looked over at Alisa in clear shock.

"Uh… Oh. Do people not swim much in Russia? Because the water freezes?"

"Of course people in Russia swim. We even learn how to swim at school. We could

swim at the beach in the summer back when we lived in Vladivostok."

"…And yet she can't swim."

He almost added, "Despite having two natural floating devices attached to her?" but he

quickly swallowed his words before making that mistake. And yet Alisa still narrowed her

sharp, disgusted gaze at him as though she could somehow read his mind.

"…We never went swimming much as a family. That's all."

"O-oh, that makes sense. There are a lot of people in Japan who don't know how to

swim, either, now that I think about it. There are even things the great Masha can't do, huh! I

think that's really cool! It makes her unique!" he roared, trying to smooth things over before

immediately turning around to head into the ocean. But before he could utter, "See you two

there," somebody grabbed his wrist from behind.

"Uh… Alya?"

A bad feeling tugged at his organs as he timidly turned around, where he was met with

Alisa's stern gaze.

"You forgot to stretch."

"Yes, ma'am…"

Masachika freely swam through the calm sea, which was far clearer than he

ever imagined. It was so clear that he could see three meters deep with goggles on.

Whoa! That's a lot of fish. I could just sit here and watch this all day without ever getting

bored.

Slightly regretting that he hadn't brought a snorkel, he continued hisrelaxing swim while

taking in the view.

"Pfft! Ahhh."

After he started to tire a bit, he decided to go back to shore and began doing breaststrokes

toward the beach, but only after swimming for a few seconds…he noticed that and panicked.

All he could see was someone's backside gently rocking in the water along with the waves,

and it looked a hundred percent like a dead body—Ayano's dead body.

"What the…?! Ayano!!" He yelled out to her and swam using a freestyle stroke as

quickly as he could.

"…? Yes?"

But Ayano only lifted her head up as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. She then

brushed her hair back, took the snorkel out of her mouth, and curiously stared back at

Masachika.

"Oh, uh… Are you okay?"

"…? Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason…"

After her reaction made it obvious that she wasn't drowning, he smiled stiffly and asked:

"Are you having fun?"

"Yes, very much."

"…Good. Sorry I bothered you."

"You did not bother me at all."

"Anyway, I'm going to head back to land…"

"Very well."

She nodded slightly, then put her snorkel back on and began to float in the water once

more. She didn'tswim. She simply surrendered herself to the softly rocking waves. Although

puzzled by the unique way she amused herself, Masachika returned to shore, lay down, and

enjoyed the sensation of water and sand brushing against his body with the tide.

"Man, this feels amazing."

Even when he closed his eyes while facing the sky, his eyelids glowed red under the

brilliant sun. Although it was slowly burning his exposed skin, there was something that felt

so good about it when combined with the cold ocean beating against his legs and sides. Each

wave pushed his body a bit toward his head, splashing against his cheeks before drawing

back and dragging his body ever so slightly into the sand. He continued relishing the almost

indescribable sensation for a while after that until he suddenly heard the sound of water

splashing…and was immediately hit in the face with a huge load of water from above.

"Pffft! Peh! Ack!"

He promptly sat up and exhaled from his nose as hard as he could while he wiped his

face off with his hands. After somehow managing to prevent the salt water from going all

the way down his nose, he immediately looked in the direction of the sound when…

"Yo. Having fun, bro?"

"Tsk. Of course it was you."

It was Yuki, smugly smirking down at him.

"Are you sure you should be showing the real you outside like this?"

"Why not? Everyone else is way over there."

She then shifted her gaze toward the sea and tilted her head in wonder.

"More importantly, when'sthe giant octopus gonna show up? I've been waiting all day."

"Don't worry. There aren't going to be any giant octopus monsters."

"Impossible! It wouldn't be the beach without a giant octopus or jellyfish orsea anemone

emerging from the sea and doing a little tentacle erotica!"

"Maybe that's a thing in the smut world, but there would be mass panic if something

like that happened in the real world!"

"But…then…why the hell am I even here? What's the point of it all?"

"To swim?"

Masachika coldly glared at his sister, who dropped to the ground on all fours.

"Well…if there aren't going to be any erotic events, then we'll just have to focus on the

things we can do and knock those off the list… Come on. Let's do that thing." She sighed,

slowly standing to her feet.

"What thing?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you, you numbskull?! Everyone knows that when you're

at the beach, that thing means splashing water at each other!"

"How the hell was I supposed to guess that?! But I suppose it is kind of an unwritten

rule to do that at the beach!"

That is something you do, huh, thought Masachika while imagining various scenes like

that from anime and comics:

"Take this!"

"Ah! It's so cold! Now you've done it! Take this!"

Yuki wasted no time, quickly crouching down and sticking both hands into the water

before scooping a copious amount of water and hurling it at him.

"Wataaah!"

…Maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt that girls shouted far cuter things in

comics.

"Hmph…! Pfft!"

The splash flew right toward his face with perfect precision, but he swiftly turned his

head and softened the blow. His cheek twitching, he quickly faced her once more and

splashed as much water at her as he could with his right arm, creating an arch of destruction.

"Woooweeee!" Yuki cried bizarrely, covering her face with both hands and blocking

before immediately swinging her hands to counterattack. They went back and forth like this

for a while until they stopped taking turns and went full-blown relentless. The siblings then

continued to pummel each other in a half-sitting position at point-blank range.

"Do you really think you can defeat me like that?!"

"Mmmng?! Take this!"

"Hey?! You can't use your legs!"

"Mwa-ha-ha-ha!"

"Pfft! Ha-ha-ha!"

"Ha-ha…! Ha-ha-ha-ha…! …Sigh."

"Yuki…what's up?"

Masachika stopped splashing after noticing her brilliant smile had suddenly faded. The

instant their game stopped, the water droplets dripping from their hair and chins conveyed

a feeling of melancholy.

"It's just…this is a lot more boring than I thought it'd be."

"Don't say that when you're the one who wanted to do it. Now I feel awkward."

"I guess this is something only slow-witted couples with tiny brains can enjoy for more

than thirty seconds."

"Come on. Don't you think you could have phrased that a little more nicely?"

"Sorry. I guess you have to be some low-IQ, hillbilly couple to—"

"I'm asking you to be polite! Not change the phrasing to—"

"Shut up!"

"Huh?! Ah…!"

Yuki suddenly leaped at Masachika, so he naturally took a step back…when he slipped

in the sand as a wave came crashing in, causing him to fall backward. A fountain of water

burst into the air as he slammed onto the ground.

"Bff! Hack! Cough!"

Although the water wasn't even knee-high, you could still easily drown if you flipped

over. After Masachika placed his hands on the ground in a panic and lifted himself out, he

blew water out of his nose and glared at Yuki out of the corner of his eye…while she clung

to his neck.

"What is wrong with—?"

"Into the water with ya!"

"Huh?! Ah!"

Without his hands supporting him, he was easily pushed underwater again as his back

hit the ground once more.

"The hell?!"

The water got into his nose this time and burned. Fighting tears, he forced his way up

and fiercely pushed his sister away.

"Mn…! Heh… Heh-heh-heh! You've still got a lot to learn, my dear brother. Gravity

favors the one who's on top!"

"Feels like you're really struggling to me. Tsk! I think it's time you learn that a little

sister is never a match for an older brother!"

Masachika fought back, immaturely letting his size and strength advantage do the

talking. After a few tugs, he managed to completely sit up before he began to push Yuki

down. She clawed into the sand with her toes, desperately struggling to remain standing, but

retaliating after being pushed back this far proved to be difficult. Masachika smirked smugly,

confident of victory…when all of a sudden, Yuki screamed by his ear:

"Ayano! Now!"

"That's not going to work on—"

"Forgive me, Sir Masachika!"

"Where the hell did you come from?!"

Despite the fact that she'd been playing dead-body-in-the-water far away not too long

ago, he heard Ayano's voice coming from right behind while simultaneously being put into a

full nelson. But what made him panic the most were the soft mounds tightly pressing against

his bare back, with only a thin piece of cloth in between. A surprise beautiful-girl sandwich

—that's what this was. Well, the one in the front happened to be his sister, so that sucked,

but it was hard to remain calm when the one behind him was his childhood friend, and Yuki

capitalized on this brief moment of panic, pushing him down on his side.

"Gnnng!"

He scowled, feeling the water going into his ear after his shoulder was submerged.

"Ayano! Grab his right arm!"

"My apologies!"

"If you're going to apologize, then don't—"

They grabbed his arms and legs as they climbed on top of and pulled him—doing

everything they could to keep him down in the water. While it would be most guys' dream to

have two beautiful women in swimsuits clinging to them, the girls' behavior was uncivil and

wild, making it not fun at all. In fact, Masachika had to start fighting back rather seriously to

escape, which he actually managed to do a few minutes later. Ultimately he booked it to dry

land, where he immediately collapsed on all fours, frantically gasping for air.

"I didn't come…all the way to the beach…to wrestle, dammit…"

"Are you okay? I apologize. I went too far."

"You're fine, Ayano. Yuki's the problem. Hey, stop poking me."

After facing Ayano, who wassquatting by hisside and gently rubbing his back, he swiftly

turned a disgusted glare to his opposite side, where Yuki was squatting and poking his cheek

with a smug grin.

"That was no ordinary wrestling. You got to sumo-wrestle with two beautiful young

girls in their swimsuits."

"I worry about you sometimes."

Yuki, who was beaming with evident satisfaction, innocently raised an eyebrow at her

brother, water dripping off the ends of his hair.

"You say that, but I know ya liked rubbing up against our soft skin. I mean, look at ya.

You're blushing."

"I'm red because I wasn't getting enough oxygen," he calmly corrected, but Yuki

gracefully swept aside his complaint and stood up as if it was none of her concern.

"So now that my dear brother has had his fun, how about we go for another swim? Oh,

I think I saw a board-shaped float earlier. Why don't we inflate it?"

"But…"

"Ayano, go hang out with Yuki. Don't worry about me. I'm just going to rest here for

a bit longer."

"…As you wish."

After watching Yuki enthusiastically fly back to the cottage with Ayano hesitantly

following behind, Masachika sat on the sand and gazed at the ocean.

"Hmm? Where did Touya and Chisaki go?" he wondered aloud, only seeing the Kujou

sisters in the distance. He surveyed the boulder they'd apparently raced to earlier, but they

weren't there, either.

"…Well, if it's anyone who doesn't need searching for, it's them."

They weren't going to drown. Not them. And if they were enjoying a private date on the

otherside of the boulder, then obviously, Masachika wouldn't want to ruin that. After making

up his mind, he casually looked to his left—where Alisa was swimming—then shifted his

gaze toward the opposite direction, where he saw Maria gently floating in her swim ring

somewhat far away from shore. She continued to float…and float…and… Was she slowly

being pulled out to sea?

"…! Is she going to be okay?"

He thought back to how Maria had said she couldn't swim, then he started to make his

way toward her with a tinge of anxiety in his heart.

"Masha!"

"Oh, Kuze. Hey. I had no idea you were such a fast swimmer. ♪"

"Yeah, I… Forget about that. What about you? Are you okay? Because it looks like the

tide's pulling you out to sea," he asked while treading water, although he was somewhat

taken aback that she'd welcomed him with her usual bubbly smile.

"I thought that might be the case, but I wasn't sure," she replied, placing her right hand

on her cheek and tilting her head in a slightly troubled manner.

"So you are being pulled out to sea!"

"I tried to swim back to shore, but it only ended up making things worse forsome reason.

♪"

"This is no laughing matter, Masha."

"Hmm… But crying isn't going to help me, either. It'd just make the water sweet."

"What?"

"Oh, but if that happens, I guess I'd become kind of like a seal, so that would help, huh?"

"Masha."

"Alya would be so surprised, I bet."

"Masha! Why are you talking nonsense all of a sudden?!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Seeing her baffled expression, Masachika pinched the bridge of his nose and decided to

give up trying to understand her seemingly random gibberish.

"Anyway, Masha, you can't swim, so if your float flips over this far out, you're going

to die."

"Mmm… I don't know. I think someone would notice and come save me before that

happened." She smiled without even a smidgen of unease. Is she really going to be okay?

he thought, worried.

"Next time, please call for help a little earlier, okay?"

"I'm sorry. ♪ But you still came for me, Kuze."

"…You just got lucky I happened to see you."

"Giggle. Even then, I appreciate it. Thank you." Maria gently smiled as though she truly

did trust him with her life. Masachika blushed.

"Sigh… Whatever. As long as you're safe," he muttered as he swiftly looked away,

which made Maria smile even more. It was as if she was watching something heartwarming,

but at the same time, like her smile saw deep into his soul, making Masachika restless.

"Anyway, ready to go back to shore?"

"Yes, please. ♪"

"Uh…"

However, once he actually started thinking about how he was going to get Maria to shore,

he started to second-guess where he should grab. If this was a man he was dealing with, he

could simply stick his arm inside the swim ring and pull, but he was hesitant whether that'd

be appropriate with a woman. There wouldn't be a problem if the ring had strings attached

to it, but unfortunately, there was nothing like that in sight, either.

"I'm ready when you are. ♪"

"Oh, uh… Yeah…"

Maria held out her right hand, which he timidly grabbed. It was smaller than his and

soft—delicate to the point that it felt like it would shatter if he squeezed too tightly, yet it

was very comforting.

"Giggle."

"Wh-what?"

"Oh, nothing. ♪"

Masachika looked away from her meaningful smile and began to swim toward the shore.

He made sure to keep his leg movement to a minimum so that he wouldn't kick her while

swimming with only one arm and tugging her along.

"Wow. ♪ We're going so fast. ♪ You're so strong, Kuze. ♪"

He could feel his back suddenly start to flush as she yelled in admiration and excitement

from behind. Masachika was a boy, after all. Being showered with innocent compliments by

a cute girl would, of course, make him want to work twice as hard.

"Hmm…? Kuze, you have a bruise of some kind on your shoulder…," she suddenly

mentioned, a hint of worry in her tone.

"Huh…? Ah."

Oh, right. I completely forgot about that, he thought, glancing back.

"It's an old wound. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Really?"

Maria seemed to be worried, but it really didn't hurt, and it was on the back side of his

shoulder, so he usually just forgot about it.

"Did something happen? Was it some kind of accident?"

"It wasn't anything big. I just got bit by a dog. That's all."

But the instant he uttered those words and faced forward, he felt Maria's hand tighten

around his, making him panic a bit.

"Itseriously isn't a big deal. I wasjust being a show-off and didn't get it properly treated,

so it left a little mark…"

It happened a long time ago when he used to meet that girl in the park as a kid. One

day, when they were playing together, something excited a large-breed dog, and it suddenly

lunged at the girl. Masachika had instantly tackled the dog to protect her, but he ended up

getting bitten on the right shoulder while trying to overpower it. Fortunately, the owner made

it over in time and managed to pull the dog away using nothing but brute force, so the wound

didn't end up being that deep. Masachika, however, wanted to show off in front of the girl

and not worry her. Furthermore, he was worried that Gensei was going to blame his paternal

grandmother if he made a big deal out of the injury, so he only did the bare minimum to treat

the wound. The doctor back then said that the scar would slowly fade as he got older, but he

ended up being left with a light-purple scar. Masachika didn't really care anymore, though.

"Men are fine with a few scars anyway. My grandfather even laughed and said scars

were a man's badge of honor. Oh, I got it when I was trying to protect a friend, by the way."

"…Oh."

By the unusual, lowered tone of her voice, Masachika sensed that she was a bit

uncomfortable,so he continued to face forward and swim as hard as he could, even though his

arm was slowly running out of energy. The awkward silence continued until they were over

halfway back to shore. Right when he assumed his feet would be able to touch the ground,

Maria's hand suddenly tightened around his.

"…? Masha? Is everything okay?"

He turned around while switching to the backstroke, but Maria did not reply to his call

and instead continued to look over her shoulder at the water.

"Masha—"

"Eek!"

It was a tense but soft scream. She immediately let go of his hand and placed both of hers

on the swim ring, kicking her legs while trying to lift herself up out of the floating device.

"Wh-what are you doing?! That's extremely dangerous!" he warned in utter shock, but

it was too late. The weight of her upper body was already pushing forward down on the swim

ring, lifting the back side right up into the air before flipping Maria forward. There was a

massive splash as Maria wildly kicked her legs in the air until inevitably sinking into the

abyss.

"Huh?! A-are you—?!"

Two arms suddenly extended out from the water before wrapping themselves around

Masachika's neck. In the midst of his shock, Maria shot out of the water, her hair sticking to

her forehead and cheeks, and clung to him for dear life.

"Wh-what are you—?!"

Maria's cheek pressed up against his. Her squishy arms touched his neck and shoulders.

And most notable of all, his chest and stomach were met with the incredibly soft, bare skin

of her cleavage.

"...?!?!"

The extreme stimulation caused Masachika's body to instantly start burning from within,

but by then, the salt water was already rapidly approaching his mouth,so he started swimming

in place again in a panic.

"J-jellyfish!"

"…?! Th-there's a jellyfish?!"

After she screamed into his ear, his eyes darted around the water, where he did notice

something semicircular and white floating, and he froze…but when he looked at it closer, it

didn't seem to be swimming on its own. If anything, it was helplessly rocking with the sea.

"…Hmm? Masha, that's a plastic bag, not a jellyfish."

"Huh? I-it's just a plastic bag…?"

"Yeah…maybe…"

"Just 'maybe'?!"

The ambiguity of his phrasing caused Maria to tightly wrap her loosening arms around

him once more.

"Ack?! Definitely! That's definitely a plastic bag!"

"Ааа! Помогиии! Она меня ужалила!"

"Wow! She speaks in Russian when she's panicking!"

He was strangely impressed, unlike Maria, who was screaming in absolute horror.

Masachika was panicking for his own reasons as well, though. Honestly, who could blame

him?

Maria's bare skin felt extremely hot, even in the cool ocean water. Soft. Just so soft…

especially the mounds squished up against Masachika's chest. Although her scent was mixed

with the fragrance of suntan lotion, it filled his nostrils, which only made things harder.

O-oh, gosh… I'm going to drown, aren't I?!

Drowning in her sweetly curved swellings of motherly love…would be nice, but he was

genuinely talking about the ocean, which was slowly swallowing his body. The sense of

danger promptly urged him to search for the swim ring, but it was floating a few meters

away already and only continued to drift farther, perhaps due to Maria wildly kicking and

splashing the water.

"I-it's okay, Masha. Relax."

"Я боюсь медуз! Са-кун, помогиии!"

Masachika placed a hand on her back to calm her down as she continued to shout even

more. He desperately reached for the swim ring until eventually managing to reel it in, but

right as he let out a sigh of relief…

"What are you two doing?" a nearby voice questioned in a fed-up manner. He looked

over in the direction of the voice to find Chisaki, with goggles strapped around her forehead

and rolling her eyes…and once he remembered he was being tightly embraced by Maria, the

expression alone sent a chill down Masachika's spine.

"Oh! Uh… This is… There was a jellyfish."

"A jellyfish…? Oh."

Chisaki wore a skeptical gaze as she examined the water around them, then she slowly

reached out and picked something up.

"…You mean this?"

In her hand…was an actual jellyfish, not a plastic bag. A genuine jellyfish. Masachika

instinctively braced himself as Maria's arms around his neck tightened even more…which

made Chisaki's eyes roll even harder.

"You're making a really big deal over nothing. It's already dead."

"Huh? I-it's dead?"

It wasn't moving now thatshe'd mentioned it. It wasjust…there, like a drooping pancake

made out of jelly.

"I saw a few swimming nearby earlier and quickly disposed of them, but it looks like

one of their bodies found their way over here," she casually mentioned before indifferently

tossing the jellyfish's body to the side as if it were trash. What power.

"So? How long do you plan on hugging him, Masha?"

"Oh, u-uh…"

Maria awkwardly smiled, her eyes avoiding Chisaki's chilling gaze.

"I can't move my legs…"

"Did you pull a muscle?"

"Must have been a terrifying experience…"

Masachika's eyes narrowed, and he sighed as he handed Maria the swim ring. Once he

and Chisaki tugged the float back to shore together, Maria was finally able to walk on her

own two feet through the sand, although with unsteady steps.

"I'm really sorry, Kuze. Thank you."

"I'm just glad you're okay. Anyway, I'm going to swim a little longer."

He waved to Maria, who looked apologetic, then headed back to the deeper part of the

waters…because there was no way he could get completely out of the water right now. Just

use your imagination. He was a young, healthy teenager with urges like anyone his age.