Let the Lesson Begin

After he was finished with this, he'd never want to be near a pool for the rest of his life. He hoped that he had everything for their lesson. Standing alone in his school swimsuit, it was getting cold. They better be here soon.

"Arata, I'm here." Erina came running up to him, she was rather cheerful.

"You're looking pretty happy." She was wearing the school's girls swimwear. A simple blue one piece. It hugged her body tight, and he could tell she certainly wasn't lacking. "Seeing how you were about water, I didn't think you'd be so excited for this."

"True." She smiled, "But you're here, right? So I don't have to worry about drowning."

"I guess not…" He spotted the other two he was waiting for. Misei and Misao walked up to them. The school president wearing her swimsuit, while Misao was still in her school uniform.

Unlike Erina, Misei had more slender features. Though the way it fit her, didn't hide much for him. Except for the fact that she was wearing a ring float as well. Now that he was thinking of it, ever since he got blackmailed. He was spending a lot of time thinking about what other people looked like.

"Hello president, and vice president." He greeted them formally. Arata could tell from the look on Misei's face that she did not want to be here.

"Hello to you to, Kashimura." She greeted him back. "And just so you know, wearing a ring float is a perfectly fine thing to do when one does not know how to swim." He wasn't really going to mention it, or judge. Though he did have one problem with it.

"Well I don't have a problem with it…" He replied, not wanting to upset her. "But don't you think it might be a bit hard to swim with it on?"

"Well we just wanted to be safe." Said Misao, "did you have anything in mind?"

"Since you two aren't able to swim, I grabbed some old arm floaties I had from when I was a kid." He pulled out two pairs of deflated floaties from his bag.

"You can't honestly expect me to wear something designed for a child?!" She looked in horror at them.

"Sorry, but the only ones I have are the ones me and my sister had. My sister was really into magical girls back then." He held up the pink ones, designed with Sailor Moon characters on it. "I liked dragons, so I guess if want my old ones that's fine too."

"Fine, I'll… take the dragons."

"Then I'll take the other ones." Erina wasn't bothered by this. She thought that she looked cute wearing them. Something he wasn't denying. "Oh wow, I can't believe they fit me."

"What is this?" Misei looked at him with disdain. After blowing up her arm floaties, there were now wings sticking out now.

"Oh right, I forgot." He chuckled nervously at her. "I thought that those were so cool back then." At least this time he could understand her embarrassment.

"Is this some type of joke?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Oh come on Misei, let's have some fun with this." Erina gave her a pat on the back. Wanting her to relax a little. Arata could never understand how she acted so causally with those two. Every time he was in the same room as them, he could feel his heart rate jump up at least 50 beats.

"Fine… Let's just get started with this." She wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. Especially so no unwanted visitors showed up to watch her. "Will anyone else be here?" She asked.

"I asked the coach and he told me that I can take the place for the rest of the day. So I don't think anyone else is going to show up." He answered. Something that would prove to be a lie the moment he said it.

"So you guys are about to start swimming?" Yogi, along with the rest of the group showed up.

"W-what are you doing here?" Misei asked them, Clearly distraught about his appearance, she used her arms to cover herself as if she were naked. Erina, on the other hand reveled in this.

"Oh Yogi, what a surprise…" She spoke in a seductive tone. "What do you think?" She posed to show off herself to him.

"I, uh, guess it's nice." He complimented her, very clearly uncomfortable with this. Arata was sure it was tough saying this in front of the others.

"Anyway…" Arata said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well we just wanted to see how it was going." Akaki answered. "But the four of us are going to grab something to eat and do homework together." Arata thought that what he was doing was a good idea, take advantage of the rest of them doing this to get closer to Yogi for Akiba.

He looked at the girls going with them. Akiba would certainly be at an advantage over Yuriko, if only because she was going to have help. Then again, Yuriko was always on her own here. It's not like she had a chance, right?

Akiba noticed him looking at them. She gave him a smile in return… But something felt off about that smile. Like it was of obligation.

"So you're teaching them how to swim?" Yuriko spoke up. Since she wasn't there yesterday, she wasn't aware of this arrangement.

"Yeah that's what I'm doing. Say Yuriko, do you know how…"

"Yes I know how to swim. Kashimura." She said his name with emphasis. He was a little confused. When they said goodbye to each other last time, she said Arata. The rest of them shared in his bewilderment.

"Um, are the two of you not on a first name basis?" Asked Misei.

"Well he can if he wants." The reply came hasty, as if it had been rehearsed. "After all, if he's watching my sister. It's only convenient so he can separate the two of us!" It was pretty much the same response he gave them, they just assumed that she was going to refer to him by first name as well.

Either way, it wasn't a big deal. The more important thing right now was that Arata focus on trying to teach them the basics. At least then, he wouldn't have to worry about drownings in the future.

"Say, Arata. Can I speak to you for a moment." Erina pulled him away from the other two. Once they were sufficiently far enough from them. She spoke to him, very upset. "Why didn't you ask him to stay?!" He could tell from her loud, yet hushed voice, she was pretty mad.

"What? It's not like I could just get him to stay."

"Then what was the plan that you said you had in mind?"

"That? You really need to think of the long game here." He explained. "Not everything is about just spending time with him right here and now."

What was his plan? It turns out that the lady whose garden he tends, the one that taught them how to dance. She had an offer for him during their upcoming Summer break.

Her and the other elderly in the area always had annual trip to a large beach resort during the late Summer. Hine told him the last time he saw her, that he should come along and bring his friends.

All he had to do in return was help her and the rest of the older folks make their travel an easier one. He saw this as an opportunity to make some extra cash with classes out of the way, a nice vacation, and another chance for Erina.

He thought that helping the elderly made a lot of sense as an explanation, but what he didn't know was that Hine had other ideas in minds about this trip.

"So anyway, I just wanted to make sure that everyone was able to swim. After all, I think it might put a damper on things if someone got into trouble." The idea of being able to go to a beach as a vacation. She was overjoyed. Erina practically leaped on him, giving him a big hug.

"Oh thank you, thank you…" She said.

"A-ah, wait please." With her wearing just a swimsuit, he could feel her breasts pushing up on his bare chest. "Pl-please, this is embarrassing." He eyed over to the other two, who just looked on. Not understanding what was happening.

Once he pushed her off of him, he could return to the other two. There was enough delay, he would've liked to finish teaching them before this day was over. Unlike Hine, he didn't think there would be some weird way getting them to understand with minimal practice, aside from just doing it.

"All right you two. It's time for the lesson to begin."