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"We will arrive at Torishirojima shortly. The Torishiro Fishing Port."
The announcement repeats.
I take another long look at the island ahead of us.
There are rows of low mountains covered in greenery and a few houses sprinkled along the coast.
The island is small enough that you could probably see everything in just a few days.
Come to think of it, I didn't even know its name until now.
Torishirojima, huh?
It probably got that name since birds like to gather there... or something like that.
I squint my eyes as the ocean breeze starts blowing in my face.
For the moment, I'm...
A wounded migratory bird
A canary who's lost its song
A boxer with broken fists
A host who's forgotten how to flirt
"A wounded migratory bird, I guess."
"A canary who's lost its song, I suppose."
"Kind of like a boxer with broken fists..."
Not that it has anything to do with birds...
"A host who's forgoten how to flirt... maybe...?"
Not that it has anything to do with birds...
As I look out at the ocean, I quietly whisper those words,
which are caught up in a gust of wind and carried off into the distance.
"Come again?"
"Uwah!"
An old woman appears out of seemingly nowhere and looks at me strangely.
"Who's a wounded migratory bird, you say?"
"Who's a canary who's lost its song, you say?"
"Who's a boxer with broken fists, you say?"
"Who's a host who's forgotten how to flirt, you say?"
"Uh..."
"Me."
"You? How so?"
"Uh..."
"Because I'm hurt..."
"Where?"
"My heart."
"Hoh?"
"It's nothing."
I cut our conversation short and look at what lies ahead: our destination.
I notice a tiny white something waving about in the wind on the drab, gray concrete wharf.
It looks as though a clump of white clouds had fallen from the sky.
Something fluffy and white is fluttering there.
It's a girl...
The girl, wearing a white school uniform, is looking up aimlessly at the sky from the wharf.
Instinctively, I look up at the sky in search of what she's gazing at,
and find a flock of birds flying around.
The birds overtake the ship and fly towards the island.
I notice that two of the birds have fallen behind the rest of the flock.
The two of them fly along together, almost like they're trying to cheer each other on.
That's something you don't see every day.
Though, I wonder why...
I get the feeling that I've seen all of this somewhere.
The sea, the island... even the feel of the wind.
For some reason, it feels like I've lived through all this before...
But I'm certain this is the first time I've been to this island.
"I wonder why it feels so nostalgic."
"What'd you say?"
"Uwah!"
The old lady is once again staring at me.
"You said something about seeing this place for the first time?"
"Did I say that out loud?"
"You certainly did."
"This is my first time here, but something about the scenery feels nostalgic."
"You get that feeling sometimes, don't you?"
"Can't say I do."
"You don't?"
"Nope."
"You only feel nostalgic when you revisit a place you haven't been in a long time."
"I suppose so."
"If you feel that way the first time you visit a place, that's something else."
"What would that be?"
"Heja pu."
"Huh? Heja pu?"
"That's right, heja pu."
"Heja pu..."
Heja pu...
We're almost to the island.
The ship slows down as it approaches the pier.
I step off the ship after it finishes docking.
All I could smell on the ship was the sea salt, but here...
"It reeks."
As soon as I disembark, I'm attacked by yet another unique oder.
This is what it smells like at a fish market.
No, I guess it smells a bit fresher.
It's probably the mixture of the dying fish that are lying about and the bait that the fishermen are using.
As I glance around aimlessly, my eyes meet the gaze of a stray cat that's hungry for fish.
"......"
It feels like it's looking at me the way one would look at an outsider.
"Ah."
The old lady is trying to drag her suitcase off the ship.
"Do you need any help?"
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
I dash toward her and hold my hand out.
As I help carry the old lady's luggage off the boat, I take in the scenery around us.
Of the handful of us who are getting off, some look like they're locals, while others seem to be here for sightseeing.
Regardless, though, all of them start heading into town.
Here it's summer vacation, yet there don't seem to be that many visitors.
In my absentmindedness, I'm quickly left behind by everyone else.
I take a moment to look at my map.
I'm at the port, and the town hall is over there, so...
"Boy!"
"Huh?! Yeah?"
It's the old lady.
"Enjoy your time here."
She waves her hand back and forth.
"Oh..."
"Thank you!"
The old lady nods in response and starts to walk off.
That's when I remember...
"Oh yeah, ma'am!"
"Yes?"
"You meant deja vu just now, didn't you?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."
"Heja pu."
I watch the old lady as she walks away.
"Now then..."
I hang the duffel bag crammed full of my stuff off my shoulder.
The embankment is lined with a group of birds that seem to be resting their wings.
A small rural island where a lone migratory bird has come to rest his wings.
A paradise for birds who have forgotten how to fly.
"An oasis where one's sins are cleansed."
"......"
Time to get going.
I don't come across anyone as I walk along.
From high up in the blue sky, the sun shines down on the island.
I have to squinch my eyes as I walk down the road because of it.
It's ridiculously hot.
The sun has been beating down on me mercilessly, almost to the point that I could hear its beams.
And coupled with the chorus of cicadas, the heat has been several times more unbearable.
It's been about half an hour since I left the port.
Looking at the map doesn't really tell me how much further I need to go, but it seems my destination is still a ways off.
A bus passed by me earlier.
Maybe I should've gotten on that bus.
Too late now...
Well, I did tell them that I'd be there around evening.
......
I haven't come across that many people walking along the street.
Judging from the houses that sporadically line the streets, I can tell that folks here have quiet lifestyles.
This makes the cicadas' cries and the blazing, almost-audible sunlight all the more conspicuous.
I firmly grasp the bag stuffed full of items I'll need for the next few weeks.
I've given up on wiping the beads of sweat that are endlessly dripping from my forehead...
...and walk onward.
As I continue down the road, I slowly come across more and more houses.
I must be getting close to the residential area I saw on the map.
The house I'm heading to should be right around the center of this area.
"Katou... Katou..."
I'm on my way to the house my maternal grandmother used to live in.
I got a letter from my aunt Kyouko-san who is currently living there.
That said, I've never actually met her.
"This must be it."
I ring the doorbell.
"Hello?"
......
Nobody answers.
I did hear the bell ring inside, though.
I ring the bell once more, but it seems like nobody is home.
"......"
I don't think it would be a good idea to just stand here.
To be honest, it's way too hot out here.
I'll step inside.
The door is unlocked.
"Excuse me...?"
"Um, it's Takahara, your nephew."
......
"It's Takahara Hairi."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>. Is anyone home?"
"Pardon my intrusion."
......
It's an old, Japanese-style living room.
The sliding door has been left open, giving the room a nice airy feel.
I've never lived in a house like this.
Yet, for some reason, a sense of nostalgia washes over me.
I wonder where Kyouko-san is.
There's no one else here, either.
The wind passes through the room quietly.
Now that I'm inside, the cicadas' cries aren't as rough on the ears.
I step out into the inner courtyard and stroll around.
There's a shed.
And there are signs of someone inside.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes?"
A lady working inside turns toward me.
"......"
"......"
"U-Um..."
"Huh?"
"Hello."
"......"
"Oh... You must be Hairi-kun."
"Yeah."
Apparently the lady working in the shed is Kyouko-san.
"I thought you'd arrive around evening. I'm so sorry, I completely forgot."
"Oh, no. I just got here earlier than I expected."
She quickly gets up and walks toward me.
"I was going to come meet you at the docks."
"Um, did you already know... how to get here?"
"Yeah, I had a map."
"Oh, that's right."
"......"
"......"
She seems awkwardly hesitant.
She's my mother's younger sister, so that makes her my aunt. That should mean she's a lot older than me.
Yet I just can't see that.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
Kyouko-san sets a cup of barely tea down in front of me before taking a seat on the other side of the table.
That reminds me, I haven't had anything to drink.
I gulp down the cold barley tea in one go.
Seeing that, Kyouko-san chuckles a little and fills my cup again.
"Well... I suppose the house was left to me to take care of."
"You see, Grandma left behind all sorts of things."
"There's so much that it really kind of put me on the spot."
"Having you here will be a lot of help."
"Right."
"But since you're here, hopefully you'll also get to enjoy yourself some."
"Right..."
"That reminds me, Hairi-kun, can you ride a motorcycle?"
"I have a license."
"I heard that guys who can ride motorcycles are popular with girls."
"That's why I got mine."
I go to an all-boys school, though, so I don't see too many girls.
"There's one in the shed. Feel free to use it."
"A car just isn't worth the trouble. On the other hand, a motorcycle makes it a breeze to get around the island."
"Well, a bicycle should be more than enough most of the time, though."
"This'll be your room, Hairi-kun."
"I did some basic cleaning, but it still kind of smells like dust in here since it was used for storage for so long."
"That's okay."
"Well then, try to make yourself at home."
"Sure, I'll do that."
I sit my luggage down to unwind a little.
I peer out the window at the island's scenery. The ship I arrived on is still docked at the port.
"Oh yeah, there's one other guest staying here."
Kyouko-san, who was just about to walk out of the room, turns around.
"Is it a relative?"
"Yeah."
"Where are they?"
"I wonder."
"I guess we're the only ones home right now."
"I'll introduce the two of you later."
"Alright."
"This room hasn't been used for quite some time, so I'm sorry if it's a little dusty."
"It's not a problem."
"It kind of fits my state of mind right now."
"Pardon me?"
"......"
I open the window.
A nice breeze instantly blows into the room.
I take a deep breath of the fresh air.
Then, I lay down on the floor.
It smells like dust.
Yet it doesn't feel all that bad.
......
"Why don't you come to Torishirojima?"
It was mid-July, or just before summer vacation, when I got the letter from my aunt Kyouko-san.
My grandmother passed away last month.
She was my maternal grandmother, and supposedly she was a bit eccentric.
I say "supposedly" because I never actually met her.
I may have met her when I was little, but nothing comes to mind.
According to my mother, my grandparents always acted like newlyweds. They loved each over very much.
After my grandfather retired, the two of them traveled the world together.
The only impression I ever had of my grandmother were the exotic gifts and photos she sent us from overseas.
After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother lived quietly by herself amongst their countless mementos, as though reminiscing about their time together.
And finally, she quietly passed away last month.
In accordance with her wishes, our family held a small private funeral instead of a traditional funeral ceremony.
And with her passing, she left behind everything she owned.
Many of the personal effects she had collected throughout her eccentric life are still here inside her house.
As there may be family keepsakes among them, we couldn't leave it to just anyone to take care of.
That said, all the adults are busy.
That's why they asked the kids in the family who have spare time to help take care of all of it.
And that's where I come in.
I have lots of time to burn this summer vacation.
Up until last year, my summer vacations were in name only. I had spent each and every day at swim practice.
Yet I've been afraid to swim ever since I screwed up at an important swim meet...
Now, just being in water is enough to make me feel sick.
Thanks to that, I've distanced myself from the swim team, which leaves me with a lot of free time.
And so, I took up the timely offer.
Thus, I got on the boat and came all the way to this island.
"A wounded migratory bird, huh...?"
"A canary who's lost its song, huh...?"
"A boxer with broken fists, huh...?"
"A host who's forgoten how to flirt, huh...?"
It fits me perfectly.
"Mmm..."
I'm tired...
I've been traveling most of the day...
............
......
............
"............"
"......?"
I find myself in a pitch dark room when I open my eyes.
"Shoot... I fell asleep!"
I quickly leave the room.
"Did you have a good nap?"
"I'm sorry for dozing off like that after just getting here."
*Grumble*...
And then my stomach shamelessly decides to growl.
"S-Sorry."
"Er..."
Kyouko-san awkwardly scratches her nose.
"I wish I could make you dinner, but, well..."
"...my cooking isn't really something I should serve to others... Haha..."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh... It's okay."
"Don't worry. I've never actually cooked, either."
"Should I go buy something?"
"Well, we do have a few of those here..."
She pulls out an assortment of precooked meals.
"They're probably not good for someone who's still growing, though."
"Even if I wasn't still growing, I don't think it's healthy to have these every day."
Now I'm a little worried about the type of lifestyle she usually has.
"Oh, that's right. You walked up a slope on your way here, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did."
"There's a cafeteria right at the bottom of that hill."
"Now that you mention it, I did see one."
"Their food is really good."
"Okay, I guess I'll go there, then."
"The streets here are pretty dark, but I don't think you'll have trouble walking there."
"Okay."
"Oh yeah, here."
"What's this?"
"It's your allowance. Use it there."
"Eh?"
"I can't take it."
"It's fine. After all, you came here to help take care of Grandma's belongings."
"I can't really pay you much, but I can at least give you a little pocket money to spend."
"Well... if you insist..."
My hand fidgets in the air a little before taking the money.
"Thank you very much."
"Yep."
"Oh, and this."
Kyouko-san wheels something out of the garage.
"A motorcycle... A Cub, huh?"
It must be the one she mentioned this afternoon.
"It has... a pink license plate?"
I didn't know there were bikes like that.
"It's not in very good shape since no one has been around to take care of it."
"I don't mind."
"If anything, it's kind of relieving since it's just like me."
"Huh?"
"Never mind..."
"Well, I'll head out now."
"Be safe."
It doesn't look like the self-starter is doing its job.
I give it a kick-start.
I ride down the dark road.
The road gently slopes downwards.
I slowly make my way down the slope, retracing the path I took to get here.
It's just a straight road, so there's no way I could get lost.
No matter how far down the road I go, the landscape doesn't really change.
Despite the headlight illuminating the road ahead of me, I can't make out my surroundings that well.
This is my first time on a road completely devoid of streetlights.
Guess I'll have to keep relying on my gut feeling.
Despite how raucous the cicadas' cries were during the day, I can't even hear a single peep now.
Instead, I hear a mix of insect noises from the dark woods in their place.
I keep riding my motorcycle down the road, listening to the chorus of insects mixed among the low rumble of the engine.
......
I ride toward a lone, dimly-lit house.
That must be it.
"Hello."
"Welcome."
Seems I'm the only customer.
I quietly sit down at a table in the corner.
There are only four items listed on the yellowed, handwritten menu.
Which one should I choose?
Sashimi meal
Pork cutlet bowl
Custard bun meal
Happy meal
I've come all the way here... might as well try the fish.
It'll probably be some of the freshest fish I've ever had.
"Sashimi meal."
"Got it."
......
*Beep*
"......"
*Beep*
That almost sounded like a microwave oven.
"Here you go."
Feeling somewhat anxious... I take a bite of my meal.
"It's good."
It's really good, but... what was that sound a moment ago...?
"Um, about that sound I just heard..."
The old man smugly grins.
It's the brightest smile I've seen since I entered the restaurant.
"It's the latest model."
"What?"
What is?
I guess I won't dig any further into it.
The old man is clearly trying to boast about his appliances.
What was he microwaving to begin with...?
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
The pork cutlet bowl looks superb.
"......"
But why is the old man sitting in front of me and gazing at me?
"......"
"How is it?"
"It's good."
"I see."
"So, how's it going?"
"W-What do you mean...?"
"Is there a girl you like?"
"What?!"
"Just be honest."
"It'll be easier on you."
"What's going on here?"
"A pretend interrogation."
This...
...is a meal?
Just what even goes with a custard bun?
Stew, perhaps?
Now I want to try it.
"Here you go."
A bowl of miso soup is placed in front of me as if it's normal.
A custard bun, miso soup, and chilled tofu...
These just don't mesh.
Custard bun, miso soup, and chilled tofu served together...
Does it come with a toy?
"Here you go."
It's a chicken and egg bowl.
What's so happy about this?
"Um, this... is the happy meal?"
"Yeah."
"How so?"
"......"
"The parent and child are together, so they're happy."
"Ehhhh..."
......
I eat in silence.
It's very good.
It's quiet out at night.
I only hear the insects chirping in the bushes.
I wonder how long it's been since I've experienced something like this.
It's possible I've never been in a place like this before.
While I wouldn't call my hometown a big city,
I was always surrounded by some sort of noise there.
For example, the sound of cars speeding down the main roads...
"That reminds me, where am I?"
It seems I took a wrong turn while immersed in the quiet peacefulness.
I've clearly taken a road that I haven't taken before.
"Well, this is bad."
I can't make heads or tails of where I am, so obviously I have no idea where to go.
To think I'd end up in a situation like this just going out for dinner.
The countryside is one scary place.
......
"Hmm..."
It's completely dark here.
I figured I'd keep going and eventually everything would work itself out somehow, but I haven't come across a single house, let alone making it home safe.
This makes the sense of loneliness that much more conspicuous.
Just where am I?
I thought I'd eventually find the port if I kept going along the coast...
Was that too naive?
"It'll work out."
"............"
"Oh..."
What's this?
I can see a building ahead.
It's very narrow and tall...
Just like a tower.
A tower on an island...?
"That's a..."
Oh, right...
It's a lighthouse.
I suppose where there are docks, there are always lighthouses.
But the lighthouse isn't lit up despite it being nighttime.
What's the point of a lighthouse that's not lit up?
"It's kind of like me."
"......"
Why am I identifying with a lighthouse?
It's not like an unlit lighthouse will point me in the right direction.
No one here will point me in the right direction.
"......"
Now's not the time to let that sink in.
I better get moving.
......
A few minutes later.
"Hm?"
I can hear a faint sound among the insects' noises.
It's the sound of water splashing.
"W-What was that?"
I try to listen more carefully.
I can certainly make out the sound of something splashing.
Am I near a river?
But what would be making a splashing sound?
I slowly walk toward the source of that sound...
"It's a..."
I can faintly make out a school campus within the darkness.
Judging from its size, it's likely an elementary school.
Which would mean the sound of water splashing is...
It sounds like it's coming from the other side of the fence.
I see. The swimming pool.
Somebody is swimming here this late at night?
I have no idea what they're doing at the pool this late, but I should at least be able to ask them for directions.
There's a door in one corner of the fence.
The padlock's unlocked. Someone has clearly gone inside.
I head inside myself.
It's an elementary school pool, so naturally there aren't any floodlights.
But luckily the stars are out, so I can sort of make out my surroundings.
There are some tiny ripples in the pool.
The pool at my elementary school probably looked more or less like this.
I suppose the poolside looks the same no matter where you are.
This is the first time I've seen a pool with so few lanes, though.
Well, what was causing the sound that I heard a little bit ago?
Looking around, I can't see anyone.
To begin with, I doubt there'd be anyone swimming here this late at night.
In that case, what made that noise?
"......"
A shiver runs down my spine.
Taking a second look, schools are kind of creepy this late at night.
"?!"
There's a loud noise.
It sounded like something falling into the pool.
I spin around.
There shouldn't be anyone in the pool at this time of night,
yet there is what looks like a white statue in the middle of the pool.
It's almost like the pool's guardian deity has manifested itself.
Of course that's not the case, though.
"......"
"......"
A girl...?
It's a girl about the same age as me.
"............"
She looks at me from the pool.
To be more accurate, she's pretty much staring at me.
I'm...
This all happened so suddenly, so I'm standing here, dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.
"............"
"............"
We just stare at each other for about ten seconds or so.
"Um..."
"Who are you?"
A natural question.
What should I do?
Seeing as I've shown up out of nowhere, she's probably apprehensive.
Introduce yourself
Explain that you're not a bad person
Smile at her
Talk about the weather
"I'm..."
"...not a bad person."
I pound my chest and say with confidence.
"......"
"I know better than anyone else that I'm not a bad person."
"......"
That wasn't convincing in the slightest.
When it comes to communication, smiling is the most important factor there is.
But how should I smile at a time like this...?
"Fuh... heh."
I let out a strange chuckle.
"......"
That seems to have made her even more apprehensive.
"Well..."
I look up at the sky.
It's full of stars.
"What nice weather we have tonight."
"......"
She gives no response.
"Takahara Hairi."
"Taka...?"
She looks lost in thought.
She's probably trying to figure out which part is the first name, which part is the last name, and how you'd even write the name Takahara Hairi.
Most people try to figure that out when they hear my name.
"'Taka' as in eagle, 'hara' as in field, 'ha' like wings, 'i' for dependence, and 'ri' like a home village."
"......"
Now she looks confused.
Thanks to the "i" in Hairi, I can never explain to others how to write my name in kanji.
"I see."
"......"
"And how about you?"
"Eh?"
"Your name..."
"Ah..."
"Um..."
"Shiroha."
She's very quiet, but I manage to hear her name very clearly in the dead of night.
"Shiroha..."
The two of us introduce ourselves to each other, one of us in the pool, the other at the poolside.
"What are you doing?"
"............"
"I'm practicing..."
"Practicing swimming?"
"......"
She nods.
"No."
"Eh?"
"That's my line."
Her line? What is?
"Who... are you?"
"Takahara Hairi."
"Taka..."
She seems to be thinking about it once again. What a sinful name.
"Like I said, I don't care."
And she doesn't care about my name.
"I'm asking what you are doing here..."
"I'm on my way home after eating dinner."
"Yeah..."
"And I'm lost."
"Which way should I go to get to the Katou residence?"
"???"
"Not Sakahara-san?"
"Nope."
Not that that's my last name to begin with.
"I'm Takahara, okay?"
"S-Sakahara?"
"All right, I'll be Sakahara for now."
"I'm staying at Katou-san's place."
"If you're wondering why, that's because my grandma passed away."
"And Kyouko-san's pretty bad at cooking."
"......"
A question mark appears above the girl's head.
"Anyway, I don't know the way back."
"I was wondering which way I should go to get home."
"......"
For some reason, the girl just keeps staring at me.
"Sorry."
"I'm leaving now."
"Turn right once you leave the pool. Take a left when you reach the intersection."
"Huh?"
The girl blurts out quickly before submerging her mouth in the water.
"......"
"Thanks."
"By the way, what are you even doing here?"
"Nothing..."
I don't really think someone would be doing nothing in the pool at night.
The fact that she's been in the pool this whole time kind of bothers me, too.
"Are you hurt perhaps?"
"Not at all."
"You may think you're okay, but you could get a leg cramp."
"And since it's so dark, you might drown."
"It could be dangerous, you know...?"
"...koi."
"Eh?"
"Dosukoi!"
Dosukoi?!
What??
I don't really get what there is to "dosukoi" about, but I can tell she's mad from the look on her face.
"......"
And on top of being mad, I get the feeling that she's about to break into tears.
"Got it. Sorry! I'm going now!"
"Thanks for giving me those directions!"
"Bye!"
"......"
Practicing in the pool at night, huh?
Is that normal around here?
That really startled me.
"......"
I was so flustered that I couldn't look her in the face, but... something didn't seem right.
"......"
Something felt off to me.
......
I wonder what it was.
"I'm back."
"Ah."
"You were out for quite a while."
Kyouko-san says nonchalantly, obviously not worried about anything.
"Yeah, I took a stroll around."
"There's not much to see, is there?"
"You got that right."
I answer and vacantly shake my head.
"There was a girl, though."
"A girl? Well, I suppose there are some, of course."
"At the school pool."
"Huh?"
"There was a girl swimming there."
"Huh..."
Perhaps she thinks I'm kidding.
Or is that actually normal around here?
I guess the island's school isn't very strict with their pool policies.
"So I should probably start helping tomorrow..."
"Thanks, but since you're here, you should just do whatever you want and have fun."
"But what about taking care of the storage shed?"
"I'll have you help me bit by bit."
"Got it..."
Oh, that's right.
"Kyouko-san, what does 'dosukoi' mean?"
"Sumo?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"I guess it's really just sumo."
But it didn't seem like she was talking about that.
"Dosukoi... what was that supposed to mean?"
"That's annoying."
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just sumo, isn't it?"
"No. It's part of the island's dialect, and you use it when you're really annoyed or irritated."
"That's when you'd say 'dosukoi'."
"Well, it's mostly just the older people here who use it."
"I see..."
"You're really annoying!"
I see... That sounds about right.
"Also, it's a pretty harsh thing to say, so don't use it casually."
"I-Is it really that harsh?"
"At least that's what I've heard. What's the matter? You look kind of depressed."
"N-Nah, it's nothing..."
"You must be tired."
"Hairi-kun, why don't you take a bath?"
What's with this bathtub...?
There are all sorts of knobs and buttons on this thing.
It's low-tech, yet at the same time it feels high-tech.
How do you even use this?
It looks like it uses gas, so I probably just have to turn it on like a gas stove.
But since there are so many knobs, I have no idea which one turns it on.
It'd be terrible if it explodes because I picked the wrong one.
I consider asking how to use it, but I'm hesitant.
I don't want her to think, "You don't know how to use this even though you're from the city, hehe."
That being said...
"Argh, I can't figure it out."
I try putting my hand in the bathtub water, which is still steaming.
It's still pretty warm.
I guess somebody else just took a bath.
In that case, guess I'll just use the water already in the tub.
"Phew..."
Looking through the open window, the night sky is vast and clear.
A few stars are twinkling clearly in the sky.
I don't remember if there are any stars in the sky back at home.
To begin with, it wasn't something that I ever paid attention to.
My guess is there probably aren't.
Not that it matters.
I look at the water vapor.
"I can take a bath just fine..."
Well, that's probably because I know you don't swim in a bathtub.
That aside...
"Did somebody else take a bath?"
I have this feeling it was a girl.
It feels like there's a hint of sweetness to the smell.
It must be...
The aroma of milk
The aroma of avocado
The aroma of first love
It smells kinda milky.
Yeah, I know what this subtle aroma is.
It's that weird fruit.
Avocado.
Uh, or was that avogado?
Adogabo?
Agaboko...
I'm getting all confused over something that's rather pointless.
This must be what first love smells like.
It's sweet and soft.
......
When was my first love?
If I remember correctly, it was my kindergarten teacher...
What am I thinking about? This is stupid.
Kyouko-san said there was another relative here, didn't she?
That's probably who it was.
Which means it's a girl.
I mean, it would really bother me if a guy had such a floral fragrance to him.
Someone laid out a futon in my room while I was in the bath.
She looks pretty carefree, but it seems she's taking care of me even when I don't realize it.
......
Just like a mom.
Since I originally came here to help out, it makes me feel kind of guilty.
I'll take care of myself starting tomorrow.
What should I even do starting tomorrow?
"Have fun, huh?"
She told me I should do what I want here.
That kind of perplexes me.
I don't know what I should do.
Haven't I been living freely up until now?
"............"
Is this island that laidback?
"......"
"Guess I'll go to bed."
I fell asleep as soon as I turned off the light and laid down.
..................
............
......
Perhaps it was just my imagination,
but it felt like someone came into my room while I was asleep,
looked at me for a moment,
came up next to me, pulled the blanket over me,
and then quietly left the room.
"...ello...?"
"Please wake up."
"Hey."
"Hellooo?"
......
Someone's calling me.
It feels like I've heard this voice before.
"Mm..."
"......"
Huh?
A young girl is looking down at me.
"It's eight o'clock already."
It takes me a moment to piece everything together.
That's right.
This isn't my house.
It's summer vacation, and I took the opportunity to visit my grandma's house.
This girl...
Who is she?
"......"
If memory serves me right, this is...
Kyouko-san
Grandma
Mom
A childhood friend
"Kyouko-san?"
"Huh?"
"Kyouko-san, you've shrunk quite a bit in just one night..."
"Hah..."
"You know there's no way I could be Kyouko-san."
"Then you're...?"
"Um..."
"I'm Umi."
"Umi Kyouko..."
"I told you I'm not Kyouko-san!"
"Grandma... you're alive?"
"Eh?"
"Grandma? W-Where?"
"Could you please not scare me like that?"
"Grandma..."
"Oh. He's still dreaming."
"I'm not Grandma, okay?"
"Just five more minutes."
"But breakfast is ready. You should eat it while it's still hot."
"I don't need breakfast."
"Eh? You really should eat breakfast."
"Pack it up for me... I'll eat it during class."
"Geez, just how pathetic are you..."
"All right, get it together, okay? I am not your mother."
"Oh, shut up."
"Wha?"
"Each and every morning..."
"Who are you supposed to be? My wife?"
"......"
"Absolutely no way!"
"Eh... huh?"
My head finally starts to clear.
"Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Umi."
"Nice to meet you..."
"Umi?"
"It's my name."
"Ahh."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"Hello, Takahara-san."
"You should probably get up soon."
"Why?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Your breakfast's getting cold!"
I slowly get up from the futon.
"Does someone normally wake you up each morning, Takahara-san?"
"Eh...? Uh, yeah."
"My, my. That actually makes me kind of jealous."
"Jealous?"
"It's a guy."
"It's a guy?! Didn't you just call him your wife?!"
"It's just a joke between guys."
"That happens quite a lot at all-boys schools."
"All-boys schools sound disgusting!"
"Breakfast..."
A pleasant aroma drifts from the living room.
"Ohh!"
A plate of fried rice is sitting on the table.
"Ohh...?"
Fried rice... for breakfast?
"Where's Kyouko-san?"
"Apparently she has a meeting this morning."
"Is that so? That makes me feel kind of bad."
"I mean, she did say she couldn't cook yesterday."
"But fried rice is... well... not the first thing you'd think of for breakfast."
"......"
Umi-chan gives me a sour expression.
"I made that."
"Ehh?!"
"Oh, wow. That's amazing."
"......"
"It's not that big of a deal."
"Yeah, I guess not."
"What was that?!"
"Huh? Uh, sorry."
"Actually, it's quite impressive."
"You don't need to flatter me."
"Okay, I won't..."
"......"
This is kind of puzzling.
I was woken up by some young girl this morning,
and now the two of us are sitting at the dining table eating fried rice for breakfast.
Fried rice...
It's good, though, so whatever...
"Uh... Umi-chan?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing here, Umi-chan?"
"I'm here to help clean up the storage shed. I got a letter."
"Oh, the same as me."
"Is that so?"
Umi-chan must be the relative that Kyouko-san mentioned.
But still...
"You came here by yourself?"
"As you can see."
"Heh..."
"I'm surprised they let you."
"Eh?"
"W-Well, I mean... they trust me."
"Hmmm..."
"So, Takahara-san!"
"Yes?"
"As for what we'll do going forward..."
"Yeah?"
"If you want to play outside, I'll come with you."
"No one's talking about that."
"So you're not talking about what we'll do today?"
"That's not what I meant."
"I'm talking about the housework."
"O-Oh."
"I would like to split the housework so that we're not inconveniencing Kyouko-san."
"Is that clear?"
"Yes."
She's completely taken the initiative here.
Even though I'm older than her.
"I put together a list of house chores, and I would like to split these between us."
She shows me a handwritten list of chores.
Man, she's pretty mature.
"And so..."
"Rock, paper..."
"......"
"What are you spacing out for?"
"We're playing rock-paper-scissors!"
"Why?"
"Whoever wins gets to choose which chores they want to do."
"I see."
There's cleaning the bathtub and toilet, and then there are things like taking out the trash and getting groceries.
There's quite a huge difference between them.
"I'm going to get out of doing the laundry!"
"Do you hate doing laundry?"
"I don't like it."
"I don't want to have to wash and dry your underwear."
"Man, you're pretty blunt."
"I wouldn't mind washing your panties."
"I-Is that so? I guess I'd be kind of grateful... and also maybe not."
"Now I'm conflicted."
"Do you actually just want to wash my bra?"
"B-Bras are... uh... a little too extreme for me..."
"Why are you okay with washing panties yet bras make you all embarrassed?"
"W-Well... yeah..."
"Not that I'm wearing a bra, anyway."
"Eh? Ah, I guess I should've known."
"What do you mean by you should've known?!"
"Sorry."
"Geez."
Kids her age sure are a handful.
"Rock, paper..."
"Scissors!"
"Not again!"
"How come I haven't won yet?"
"You're cheating, aren't you?"
"How in the world would one cheat at rock-paper-scissors?"
"But it's so weird to lose to you so much!"
"All right, I'll tell you."
"So you were cheating!"
"I didn't cheat. It's written all over your face."
"When you throw rock, your face stiffens up like a rock."
"When you throw scissors, it shows on your face that you're throwing scissors. It's not hard to tell."
"I had such a weakness?!"
"Wait, doesn't that mean I'll win if I throw rock while having a paper face?"
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
"I lost?!"
"Grr... Did you read my mind?"
"In that case, maybe I should actually throw rock while having a rock face."
"Rock!"
"I lost again! Why??"
"To start with, that wasn't much of a rock face."
"My expression wasn't rock enough?"
"Rock~~"
"Rockkkkk..."
"Rock, paper, scissors... Rockkk!"
"That's just for show. It's scissors!"
"I won! I won!"
Yep, yep.
This puts a smile on my face.
"......"
"What are you grinning for? You lost."
"Eh?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Disgusting..."
How harsh.
And thus we divided the chores between ourselves.
I decide to start doing the laundry, one of the tasks I was assigned, right away.
Come to think of it, am I going to do Kyouko-san's laundry too...?
"......"
W-Well, it should be fine.
"I'm heading out."
Umi-chan says as she finishes her preparations and heads toward the front door.
"Where are you going?"
"The island."
Yeah, I kind of figured that...
"Be careful, okay?"
"Be careful of what?"
"Well..."
Cars
Sunburn
Summer romance
Chupacabras
"Be careful of cars."
"There aren't that many cars here, so I don't really need to worry about that."
"That's true."
"But you never know what'll happen."
"When you cross the street, look to your left and right..."
"See you later."
"The sun's pretty strong here, so you should probably put on some sunscreen."
"Haah... And why would you be worried about me putting on sunscreen, Takahara-san?"
"Well, sunburns can cause skin cancer."
"Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with girls getting a slight tan, but..."
"I've already put some sunscreen on."
"Is that so? That's surprising."
"Well, see you later."
"Be careful of falling in love this summer."
"......"
"Even if I'm careful, there's not much I can really do about it. I'm still going to fall in love when the time comes."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"That's what they say in TV dramas."
"Secondhand knowledge, huh?"
"You say that, Takahara-san, but do you have any firsthand experience yourself?"
"Nope."
"I've only read about it in some manga..."
"See you later."
"Watch out for chupacabras."
"There are chupacabras here?"
Oh, that really spooked her.
"To be honest, I don't know."
"Then please don't say something so weird!"
"S-Sorry..."
"That's so mean."
"Sorry."
"And so scary."
"Sorry."
Are chupacabras really that scary?
What are chupacabras even like?
And just like that, Umi-chan left the house cheerfully.
As always, the cicada's cries grow unbearably loud as soon as I step outside.
So... what should I do?
"There we go..."
I pay the storage shed behind the house a visit.
......
There are all sorts of things piled up inside.
This may be in part due to my grandmother being quite the collector,
but when I think of a couple of relatives cramming in here to decide what should be kept or thrown out,
it kind of gives this place the feeling of a cozy antique store.
Inside the storage shed, I find Kyouko-san already hard at work, moving a few bulky items.
It seems she's already back from her meeting.
"Good morning."
"Eh? O-Oh... good morning."
It seems I startled her. She was probably so focused on her work that she didn't notice me come in.
"You're here pretty early."
"Yeah, but I also go to bed pretty early."
Ah, that explains why I didn't see Kyouko-san around last night.
She had already gone to bed...
She returns to work after that response.
"......"
Kyouko-san continues to work in silence.
I can tell that my presence is making her nervous, though.
"Um... in the house..."
"Y-Yeah? What's the matter?"
"There was a girl."
"Eh? Ah, you mean Umi-chan? She got home late last night."
"She got back while you were out for dinner, so you two just missed each other."
"Ahh."
That's why we didn't see each other yesterday.
"By the way, is there anything I can do to help out?"
"Eh? Oh, you don't need to worry."
"R-Right..."
......
"Uh, but in that case, what did I come all the way here for?"
"Kyouko-san."
"Oh, Hairi-kun?"
"What's the matter?"
"I thought I'd help you sort through the storage shed."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about helping out quite yet."
"Eh?"
"Uh, but in that case, what did I come all the way here for?"
"Didn't you come to heal your wounded wings?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"So that I can fly once again."
"Didn't you come to find the song you'd forgotten?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"I'm here to find that song."
"Didn't you come to heal your broken fists?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"So that I can step into the ring once again... I'm going to..."
"Aren't you here to flirt with girls, what with how you used to be a host?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"With the way I am now, I'm nothing more than a playboy."
"Wait, what?!"
"What are you trying to get me to say?"
"That's so embarrassing!"
"I thought it was kind of embarrassing, too..."
"Old lady Kido-san stopped by earlier. She said you seemed to be having a hard time coping with things on the ship and asked me to watch over you."
"She told me everything she knew about you, Hairi-kun."
"T-That old lady..."
"It's a small island. Things spread like wildfire."
"Um..."
"About why I came to the island..."
"Well..."
"............"
"......"
"Well, let's talk about that some other time."
"Okay..."
"So... there are going to be things that I can't carry every now and then."
"There might also be things that belong to your mother."
"I'll ask for your help when I come across those things."
"Okay."
It seems there's not that much work to do here.
"In that case, I should..."
"You can go have fun outside."
"I could..."
Kyouko-san returns to her work.
I wonder how old she is.
She's probably at least thirty, but she kind of looks like she's in her twenties.
Why is she living here all by herself?
I probably shouldn't ask her about that.
I wouldn't like others asking about my past, either.
Everyone has a thing or two about their past that they don't want to talk about.
"Phew..."
"......"
(He seems kind of lost in thought...)
"Well, she did tell me to go have fun, but what should I do...?"
I still don't know that much about this island.
I guess I could just wander around.
"Hey, hanging in there today?"
I tap the motorcycle.
Until last night, no one had ridden her for a long time. Perhaps that's why she has kind of a lively look to her today.
I start the engine up, and she immediately lets out a nice purr.
I put on my helmet and get on the bike.
I put my hand on the throttle.
I'll just ride around for the time being.
Just by riding on the motorcycle, the stuffy summer air turns into a cool breeze.
It's not like I'm in any sort of rush.
It's just, each place I visit feels fresh.
It's almost like I'm on a nice little tour.
The cool breeze feels even cooler as I travel along the coast.
Enveloped by the scent of the sea breeze, I ride along with the seabirds that are flying off in the distance.
On a small fishing boat, a fisherman greets me by giving a thumbs up.
There probably was no meaning behind it, but it made me happy, so I reply by giving him a thumbs up as well.
I head to the pool I visited last night, but there's nobody there.
I thought there would at least be someone at school even though it's summer vacation, but it seems that's not the case here.
The school campus is dead quiet.
Still, the pool is filled with water probably so that kids can come swim whenever they want.
Over at the harbor, judging from the wake flowing along the water's surface, it seems the ferry has just taken off.
A few people, most likely sightseers, are waiting for the bus.
There are also a few people who seem to be waiting to catch the next ferry.
It seems they're planning to get on the ship with their bicycles, as their front baskets are loaded with their baggage.
To the islanders, the ferry must be what the bus or train is to me.
I continue to kill time with my aimless little tour.
Being able to burn time like this fills me with a strange sense of accomplishment.
Nothingness actually exists.
Those words come into my mind.
Just then...
"Hm...?"
Something caught my eye just now...
"I didn't just imagine that... did I?"
I turn the engine off and back up a few meters by foot.
I find the thing that caught my eye there lying on the ground.
No, I should say the person.
"She's just sleeping... right?"
A girl is sitting against a tree trunk with her eyes closed.
Perhaps she's not feeling well and passed out...
"Just to be safe..."
I get off my motorcycle and slowly walk over to the girl.
I slowly move my face closer.
"Zzz... Zzzz..."
She's breathing softly in her sleep.
Thank goodness.
It seems she's just taking a nap.
"Man, people are way too relaxed here in the countryside."
It's a small island, but should they really be this carefree?
"Hm...?"
Now that I'm closer, I also notice what seems to be an animal curled up next to the girl.
It has a long, fluffy tail and pointy ears.
"Is this a dog...?"
"Zzz... Zzzzz..."
"Mm... Mmmm..."
The girl's body suddenly starts to shift.
She's falling over.
"Look out...!"
I instinctively hold the girl's body to keep her from falling.
"Mm... Nn... nn~"
And as if on cue, the girl's eyes open slightly.
"Nn...?"
"Hm...?"
"......"
"......"
"??????!!!!!!"
"Uh, good morning?"
"A... A-A-Ah..."
"Uwaaaaahh?!"
It's so loud that I'd call it more of a shriek than a scream.
"W-What's going on?!"
"Who are you? Why are you holding me?"
"You aren't trying to violate me, are you?!"
"Please start out gentle!"
"So you're saying we can get rough towards the end?"
"Of course not!!"
"Get off me already!"
"Oh, sorry about that."
I take my hand off the girl and take a step back.
"Fuu! Fuuuh!"
"I didn't do anything, and I'm not going to do anything, so don't be so alarmed."
"Assuming that kind of hurts."
"I was just assaulted by a guy I don't know while I was asleep! Of course I'm alarmed!"
"Hey now, I wasn't assaulting you."
"So, who are you? Are you a sightseer?"
"Me?"
"My grandmother passed away recently. I'm here to take care of her things."
"Ahh... so I guess you're one of Granny Katou's relatives?"
"You knew my grandmother?"
"Well, it's a small island. Everyone here knows each other."
"I see."
"Uh, so that makes you Katou-kun?"
"Nah, she's my grandmother on my mother's side."
"I'm Takahara."
"And your given name?"
"Hairi."
"That's quite the weird name..."
"Yeah, tell my parents that."
"It kind of rings a bell, though."
"Huh? Have we met somewhere before?"
"If I remember correctly... it was back when I was still in grade school..."
"I think I learned about it in history class..."
"Oh?"
It should be obvious that this is my first time meeting her...
"It was way too cool for them, but there was this really cool-sounding organization during the Muromachi... no, the Kamakura Period."
"You mean the Rokuhara Tandai?"
"Yeah, that's right! Rokuhara Tandai!"
"That's what came to mind when I heard your name!"
"Takahara Hairi... Rokuhara Tandai... Takahara... Rokuhara..."
"That's not close at all."
"Take responsibility for what comes out of your mouth."
What a whimsical girl.
"Since you're here to take care of her belongings, that means you'll be here for a while, right?"
She suddenly changes the topic.
Okay, she's quite whimsical.
"Yeah, something like that."
"Ehh..."
"Hey now, don't look so obviously disgusted."
"I'm not that strong mentally, you know."
"Also, could you stop holding your shoulders and being so suspicious of me? Seriously."
"I was just assaulted in my sleep! You can't really blame me for being suspicious!"
"I wasn't assaulting you."
Rather, I was saving you.
"Anyway, if you see me sleeping somewhere, just leave me alone."
"If that's what you want, I don't mind, but..."
"...isn't that kind of dangerous?"
"I'll be fine."
"If it comes down to it, I think I'll be in good hands."
She says and looks down at the critter near her feet.
"It's sleeping, though?"
"I told you, if it comes down to it."
"Didn't you scream pretty loud just now?"
"........."
She freezes.
"H-Hmhmm, that's what you call playing possum."
"Even though it's a dog?"
"How rude! You can't recognize a fox when you see one?!"
"What?"
"Inari!"
The moment she says that name, the dog-like critter opens its eyes and looks up.
"Pon."
"A fox...?"
"What else does it look like?"
"I have absolutely no idea."
"Pon!"
"Eh? Ah, crap!"
Having heard the fox's cry, she looks up at the sky.
"It's two o'clock already! I'm late for work!"
"It's two?"
I look at my wristwatch. It is indeed 2PM.
"Let's go, Inari!"
"Pon!"
"Ah, wait..."
But before I can stop her, the girl and the fox (?) have already dashed off.
Their silhouettes grow smaller and smaller in the distance and soon disappear around the corner.
"Just what was all that...?"
She was taking a nap against a tree out in the open...
It started with a misunderstanding on her part, but then she suddenly changed the subject...
She also figured out the time without a watch...
A girl with a fox that howls like a raccoon dog.
"There's so many things wrong about that, I don't even know where to begin..."
I told her my name, but it was like I never even had the chance to ask for hers.
Well, we'll probably meet again.
It's a small island, after all.
"Phew..."
"Oh."
It's the ocean.
It seems I ended up at a beach.
It's quite different from the port where I got off the ship yesterday.
There are a few people swimming about in the water.
While they all go about their business... I just stand on this rocky stretch of the beach.
As the waves continuously crash against the rocks, I take a deep breath as I gaze out at the ocean.
I take it all in.
Which also includes the slight restlessness that I'm feeling.
I start holding my own body without realizing it.
"Hey there. What are you doing over there, son?"
"Eh? Oh, thanks again for last night."
"No problem."
"So, what are you doing? You cold?"
Seeing how I'm holding my own body, the old man looks puzzled.
"N-Nah, that's not really it."
"Or is it perhaps your heart that's freezing?"
"Haa..."
The old man gazes at the sea.
"......"
"......"
The old man and I just keep staring at the sea.
"Oh yeah."
He says as though he just remembered something.
"It's dangerous to stand over there."
"What do you mean?"
It's dangerous?
Just then, a huge wave crashes upon the rocks...
It completely drenches me before receding.
"Urgh..."
"See? I told you."
"The waves can get pretty big sometimes, so watch where you're standing."
"Thanks for the warning..."
I'm completely soaked.
It'd be weird to mill around while like this.
I lay my shirt on the rock face to dry.
"......"
The sun gradually grows stronger.
My wet hair dries before I know it,
but despite that, I just continue to lay there for a while.
......
"Guess I should get going..."
Huh...?
"Where's my shirt?!"
Did it get blown away by the wind? Even though it's wet?!
"Yeah!"
"Captain, I've discovered the hidden treasure! It's a t-shirt with a weird pattern!"
"Let's take it back with us for appraisal!"
"Yeah..."
A few kids are playing around with my shirt, which they currently have hanging on a wooden stick.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"It's the Guardian!"
"What?!"
"Who's after my treasure? Gigigigii!"
"Gigigi!"
"What's that supposed to be?"
"I think he's trying to mimic a longicorn."
"Oh, come on. This is exactly what a Guardian would do, right? I'm just going along with your shenanigans."
"It's the Guardian!"
"Run!"
"Wait up!!"
......
They didn't wait at all.
"Haa. Haah..."
They ended up running away with my shirt.
Guess I'll just head home for now.
I get on my motorcycle.
I suppose riding a motorcycle while shirtless would be, well... one wild ride.
......
"Huh?"
The engine won't start.
Did it break down?
There seems to be some gas in it still...
Well, guess I'll have to push it.
......
A half-naked guy pushing a motorcycle around is kind of wild, too, I guess.
I was a little concerned about having to drag my bike around town while shirtless, but I've hardly come across anyone.
There's no way this would have happened back in the city.
As I push my motorcycle along, I come across a shirtless guy who's sitting on a bench eating ice cream.
"......"
It's the first guy I've met on the island who's around the same age as me.
"Huh...?"
It would seem he's noticed me as well.
I guess it wouldn't be so bad if we were near the beach, but it feels kind of creepy to come across a half-naked guy in a residential area.
"Hah!"
I suddenly remember my own predicament.
I'm not wearing a shirt, either.
"......"
The other guy's also looking at me.
Two half-naked guys are about to cross paths in a residential area.
I have a bad feeling about this.
"Heh..."
He gives a friendly grin. It seems he's mistaken me as some kind of compatriot.
I guess I'll pick up my pace to get past him.
"Hey, got a minute?"
"I don't."
"You know, with the way you're dressed..."
"What about it? You're dressed the exact same way."
"It's dangerous."
It's dangerous?
Psshhh!
At that instant, the air around my ears suddenly bursts.
Huh? What was that?
"That bastard! She shot at us without warning!"
"S-Someone shot at us?"
"You exhibitionists over there. Taking off your clothes outside the beach areas is strictly prohibited. Put your shirts on and turn yourselves in immediately."
I look up at the steel tower high above our heads.
I found the source of the sound──four loudspeakers on the top of a tower pointed in all four directions.
"A PA system?"
Wizz! The air before my eyes is torn into halves.
It seems we've been shot at again.
"W-What's going on here?"
"It's a nude hunter."
"A nude hunter?!"
"Yeah."
"An anti-nude who hunts down men who live naked like you and me...!"
"No way..."
An... anti-nude...?
That's unforgiva...
"Hang on. I don't really live naked."
I wave my hand back and forth to refute.
"Is that so? Then why are you naked?"
"I have my reasons."
"That kind of excuse isn't going to work with her."
"There's no use trying to hide. Put your hands up and surrender."
"Tch!"
"Let's run for it! This way!"
"All right!"
Wizz!
"Dowaaaah!"
I don't really get what's going on, but there's one thing I'm sure of, and it's that we're being shot at.
"Haa... haah..."
"We should be fine here."
"Good."
"......"
"......"
Is this really fine?!
I'd rather be shot than have to hang around an empty place like this with some weird half-naked guy!
"So, who are you?"
"Takahara... Hairi."
"Doesn't ring a bell."
Yeah, I bet.
"Gwah!"
The guy groans and falls to the ground just as I hear an explosive sound.
He got shot?!
"When... did you..."
A tiny girl armed with what seems to be an overexaggerated rifle walks toward us.
Is that the girl who was shouting from the top of the tower?
"I could see everything from up there."
"Now, you pervs, what are you doing out in public?"
The tiny girl stands there prominently.
She's so short that I would've mistaken her for a kid if she wasn't wearing a uniform; however, that thing in her arms blows away any impression I currently have of her.
A rifle...?
"Die."
"W-Wa-Wait up!"
Psshhh!
"Gwaaah!"
*Thud*...
"To think I'd be defeated... in a place like this..."
"Hey, if he ever comes, tell him this."
"Who's he?"
"Tell him that Mitani Ryouichi fought bravely until the very end."
"........."
"Well, you didn't really do anything that could be called brave. All you did was run away..."
"......"
"Don't say that now... Gwah..."
"My goodness. How could you do that?"
"......"
The girl gives me a merciless look and shifts her rifle towards me.
"You can die as well..."
Psshhh!
"Guu!"
"Guaaah?"
"It's cold..."
Now that I see it in action, there's just a stream of water shooting out of the barrel of the girl's rifle.
"A water gun?"
"Stop roaming around half-naked in public."
"Heh. You say public, but there wasn't anyone around."
"That's not the problem."
"And you..."
She points her finger at me and frowns.
"Mmn?"
"You're the guy who's staying at Katou-san's..."
"It's Takahara."
"Yeah, yeah. I heard about you."
"If I remember correctly..."
The girl starts, then pauses for a moment.
"You came here to heal your broken wings..."
"You came here to find the canary song you lost."
"You came here to heal your broken fists."
"You came here to try to remember how to flirt with girls."
That granny?!
"Hold it right there."
"I know. It's just a metaphor."
"Things must have been tough on you."
The girl nods strongly as though she's trying to cheer me on.
"Uhh... Thanks."
"So what's with all this?"
I'm more worried about who this girl is rather than myself.
She's speaks with a haughty tone and is about as tall as a kid in grade school. And on top of that, that strange water gun she's holding...
"Yeah..."
The girl faces me once again and points the rifle's barrel at me.
"It's Hydro Gladiator KAI."
"What was that?"
"Hydro Gladiator KAI."
"I see."
Hm...
That's one hell of a name.
That must be a joke, right?
I heard that some girls would end up obsessed with such embarrassing world stories at certain ages. This must be one of them.
"Yeah, nice to meet you, Hydro Gladiator KAI."
"Y-Yeah..."
"I used to go by the moniker Water Soldier, too."
"What the heck's with that embarrassing name?"
"......"
Right back at you.
"So, Takahara Hairi."
"Just what are you doing half-naked?"
"Because it's comfortable that way, of course!"
"Is that so?!"
Hydro takes a few steps back.
"Of course not."
"My shirt was stolen by some kids."
"I see... Geez."
"Huh? You're not half-naked because you like it?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Don't encourage him. If you hang around this perv too much, you'll catch his idiocy."
"I'll overlook this today, but be careful with that from now on."
"It's easy to cut loose too much during summer vacations."
"And those are the times that you need to be extra careful about that."
"Yeah, that's right."
"That goes for you, too."
"Be careful with what you're doing from now on."
The girl, Hydro Gladia... uh... the hydro girl says and quickly walks away.
"Good grief. What a disaster."
I'm left alone with the half-naked guy once again.
I have a feeling this trouble is going to continue.
I should get out of here as soon as I can.
"I'm leaving..."
"So you're Takahara, right?"
"How old are you?"
"I'm 17."
"What's that?!"
"We're the same age!"
"I see, I see. We're contemporaries!"
"Heh."
What's he so happy about?
"If there's anything you don't know, just come and ask me."
"Why are you half-naked?"
"Hahhah!"
The guy laughs happily, brushes his hair up, and winks for some reason.
"I'll tell you all about it next time."
"Yeah, I don't think I want to know anymore."
"Hahhah!"
"Come on, don't say that. You're gonna be here for a while, right?"
"Let's get along now, shall we, Hairi?"
"......"
He's way too persistent.
"So, what's your blood type?"
This is starting to get to me.
This is probably the right time to use that word, right?
"Dosukoi!"
"Wha...?!"
"Dosukoi... How could..."
"I-I haven't done anything that repulsive, have I?"
"Well, uh... I guess not..."
"You were just being a little annoying."
"Even so, you didn't have to say that! It was like you were telling me to die!"
"Eh... uh... I'm sorry..."
"Uuh..."
"I went way too far..."
"Yeah, you did."
"That was hurtful."
"I'm going home."
......
So dosukoi is that bad, huh?
Just how much did that girl loathe me?
I go retrieve the bike that I abandoned and head home.
"I'm home."
"Welcome... kyaah!"
"Why are you hiding your face?"
"I could ask you the same. Why are you flashing me like that?!"
"I mixed a shriek into my 'welcome back' because of that!"
"It's a long story."
"Wasn't there another guy going around the island naked?"
"Is that the culture here?"
"No idea. Even if it is, I've got nothing to do with it."
"Oh, that reminds me."
"A few kids brought this here."
"So, why did they have your t-shirt, Takahara-san?"
"Oh, there's a handwritten price tag stuck on it."
"Appraisal result: 30 yen."
"......"
Is this their way of trying to piss me off?
"Oh, and your luggage is here."
"The delivery person was even kind enough to take it to your room."
My luggage finally arrived.
It's mostly just clothes and other items that I had sent here from back home.
I start unpacking.
"Oh, have you finished unpacking already?"
"Yeah."
"That said, it was mostly just books."
"Books?"
"What's this?"
"'Uri Geller Exposed'."
"'The Truth Behind The Lost Continent Mu'."
"'Mankind in Captivity'."
"'The Tragedy of Lion Island'."
"......"
"Well, okay..."
"They're pretty interesting, you know."
"What's this here...?"
"'Wild Strawberry 100%'."
"Ohh, uh..."
"That's uh... It's not..."
"My friends lent me that... and well... it got mixed in my stuff..."
"There's nothing wrong with reading romance manga."
"Besides, rather than worrying about that, why aren't you worried about being seen dressed like that?"
"Yeah, I guess I'll put on a shirt."
I quickly put on a clean shirt from my luggage.
"What's this...?"
A photo of a group of smiling students standing by a pool fell out.
"Are you on the swim team, Takahara-san?"
"Nope."
"What kind of club are you in, then?"
Swim trunks club
Water polo club
Synchronized swimming club
"I'm in the swim trunks club."
"There's no such thing."
"What, you haven't heard of it?"
"There's no way there's such a thing."
"Heh..."
"You can keep laughing like I have no idea. I still won't believe you."
"Well, if that's what you say, then sure."
"Just don't come crying to me if you join the swim trunks club in the future and have no idea what to do."
"There's no such thing. No way!"
"Haha, maybe you should just ask Kyouko-san."
"There's no way there's a club like that..."
"......"
Perhaps bothered by the thought, she heads to the living room to ask Kyouko-san.
......
"She looked very perturbed!"
"Um, Kyouko-san, do you know what they do in a swim trunks club?"
"Eh? U-Uhh..."
"What about swim trunks again?"
"A club for that."
"Eh? What?"
"Um... I don't really know much about what's popular these days..."
"I didn't know that swim trunks are so trendy among young people these days..."
"I'm sorry! It's all his fault!"
"You mean the one where they play handball in water?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, apparently there's a water polo club here on the island."
"Heh."
"It seems they put on some of the most intense water polo matches in Japan."
"I-Is that so?"
"I heard they're looking for members."
"How about I introduce you to them?"
"Absolutely not! Don't introduce me to some group of weirdos."
"I bet you were lying anyway."
"What you just said was a lie too, wasn't it?"
"Ehehe."
"Heh."
"That's a lie, isn't it?"
"Why would I?"
"Then can you name three synchronized swimming skills?"
"Eh...?"
"......"
"......"
"Kotani Mikako..."
"That's not a skill."
"So? What happened to your club activities, Mr. Swim Team Member?"
"I told you, you got it wrong."
"You don't have club activities during the summer?"
"I left the team."
"Hmm."
Umi-chan is running back and forth in the kitchen.
"Need any help?"
"It's my job to cook. You don't need to worry about it."
"How about you clean up the house instead?"
"Okay."
Oh yeah, that's right.
Even though I won most of our rock-paper-scissors matches, I ended up taking on most of the cleaning chores since I have no cooking skills.
"Also, while you are at it, could you also fill the bathtub?"
"Sure."
"Ah..."
"Actually, how does that thing work?"
"Didn't you take a bath last night?"
"I did, but I went in after somebody else."
"Eh..."
"Does that mean you went in after me?"
"Oh, I see. That scent was yours, huh?"
"Wait, scent?!"
"W-Why were you sniffing the bathwater?!"
"I didn't have much of a choice, you know."
"I-I don't smell that much!"
"......"
"What did it smell like?"
"Huh?"
"The bath..."
"Uhh..."
"It smelled like avocados."
"What is that supposed to mean? Do avocados even have a smell?"
"Hm, I guess they kind of do?"
"Do I smell like avocados...? *Sniff*"
"Oh, I know what you mean."
"R-Really?"
"I wonder why."
"I don't really eat that many avocados."
"Yeah, I wonder why."
"It smelled like first love."
"Uhyah!"
"That's a weird way to react..."
"What's first love supposed to smell like?"
"Are you trying to flirt with me?"
"Ahaha."
Instinctively, I blurt out laughing.
"What's that about?!"
"It smelled kind of like milk."
"Ehh?"
"Or I guess that's what babies smell like."
"Are you trying to say I'm like a kid?"
"N-Nah, I'm saying you're like a baby."
"That's even worse!"
"Is it that rude? Come on, shouldn't that be okay?"
"It's not okay!"
"Phew..."
It's already my second night here.
Is time going to fly by this quickly?
I don't think that's bad in itself, but at the same time, I'm struck with a sense of anxiety.
"......"
I need to figure out what to do.
Maybe I don't really have to do that.
The summer will still come to an end even if I don't do anything.
Since I was feeling somewhat restless just hanging around in my room, I decided to head outside.
Not that I have any destination in mind.
And besides, there's really nowhere to go this late at night, anyway.
......
Huh?
I can hear the water splashing.
Could that girl be at it again...?
She's probably practicing swimming again tonight.
She seemed kind of annoyed by me.
Though I should probably try to at least apologize.
"......"
"Okay."
I pass through the open fence and walk up to the poolside.
The girl from last night is indeed in the pool.
It so happens that she's swimming right now.
Her pale body cuts through the dark swimming pool.
Meanwhile, I keep watching her vacantly.
She's not that good at swimming.
No... I'd actually say she's pretty bad at it.
She can kick just fine, but she's barely moving forward.
"Hmm..."
I was going to leave before she notices me,
but I kind of want to give her some advice, even if it's not my place to do so.
"Phew."
The girl climbs out of the pool and flings her hair to shake off some water.
"That was kinda okay."
"What was okay about it?!"
I couldn't help but blurt out.
"?!"
She pulls back the moment she sees me.
"Why...?"
"G-Good evening."
"Are you lost again?"
"Not really..."
"Then why are you here?"
"......"
Well...
With the way things are going, she'll probably say dosukoi again.
"Um..."
"Stretch your arm straight out."
"Then pause for a moment when it's completely straight."
"You should be able to swim better if you pay attention to that."
"Eh...?"
"W-What?"
"Well, see ya!"
"......"
"............"
"Mm..."
......
It feels like... someone's here.
"Mm..."
"Ah..."
A young girl is looking down at me.
It takes me a moment to piece everything together.
That's right.
This isn't my house.
It's summer vacation, and I took the opportunity to visit my grandma's house.
This girl...
Who is she?
"......"
If memory serves me right, this is...
Kyouko-san
Grandma
Mom
A childhood friend
"Kyouko-san?"
"......?"
"Kyouko-san, you've shrunk quite a bit in just one night..."
"No..."
"I'm not Kyouko-san..."
"Grandma... you're alive?"
"Grandma...?"
"Isn't here anymore."
"Grandma..."
"Uhh~..."
"Just five more minutes."
"But... breakfast..."
"I don't need breakfast."
"But I made it..."
"Pack it up for me... I'll eat it during class."
"I'm not Mommy..."
"So lazy..."
"Oh, shut up."
"Hau..."
"Each and every morning..."
"Who are you supposed to be? My wife?"
"......"
"I'm... Mommy?"
Isn't that a bit much for a retort?
"Wait... huh?"
"Are you up?"
"Nice to meet you."
"Oh, nice to meet you..."
"Uh... who are you...?"
"Umi..."
"Umi? That's your name...?"
"Yep."
"I see. That makes you Umi-chan."
"Yep..."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"Yep."
"Breakfast."
"Hm?"
"I made some. Come."
"Oh, sure."
The smell of burnt food hangs the living room.
"This is..."
A pile of charcoal-colored grains sits on a plate.
"Fried rice."
"Huh? Fried rice?"
"It's breakfast."
"Ah... I see..."
Kyouko-san did say she can't cook yesterday. So this is what she meant, huh?
"I tried my best."
"............"
"Eh?"
"Did you make this, Umi-chan...?"
"Ehehe."
She smiles somewhat abashedly.
"Here, eat up."
"Uh... yeah..."
It's like I'm being tested...
"Ah... uh, where's Kyouko-san?"
"At a meeting."
"I see."
"Eat up."
"Uh... y-yeah..."
I was woken up by a young relative of mine this morning,
and now the two of us are sitting at the dining table eating breakfast.
"Uh... Umi-chan?"
"Mm?"
"What are you doing here, Umi-chan?"
"I got a letter from Kyouko-san."
"Oh, the same as me."
"Yep."
"You came here by yourself?"
"Yep."
"Heh..."
"I'm surprised they let you."
"Yep."
"............"
"............"
"It's yucky."
"Yeah, let's not eat this anymore."
"Umyu..."
"Um..."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"Hairi...-san?"
"Takahara-san...?"
"You don't need to be so formal."
"How do I call you...?"
"Hm, how about just Onii-chan?"
"Onii-chan...?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
"Mm..."
"I'm home."
"Welcome home."
"Welcome home!"
"My, looks like you two have already introduced yourselves to each other."
"Yeah."
"Have you had breakfast already?"
"Umi-chan said she'd cook."
"Au..."
"It didn't go all that well."
"Oh, is that so?"
"It's a good thing I bought something, then."
She takes out a few danishes and sandwiches and places them on the table.
"All right, let's eat."
"Time to dig in!"
"Well then, I'll start working in the storage shed. Take your time with the food."
Kyouko-san says and leaves the living room.
"This bread is pretty good."
"Yep, it's good."
Umi-chan nibbles on her bread, which she is holding with both hands.
After breakfast.
"I'm going out!"
"Where to?"
"Outside!"
Yeah, I kind of figured that...
"Be careful, okay?"
"Hm...? Of what?"
"Well..."
Cars
Sunburn
Summer romance
Chupacabras
"Be careful of cars."
"I'll be fine. There's not a lot of them."
"That's true."
"But you never know what'll happen."
"See ya!"
"The sun's pretty strong here, so you should probably put on some sunscreen."
"I have sunscreen."
"I also have a hat, so I'll be okay."
"My, you have everything taken care of."
"Okay, see ya!"
"Be careful of falling in love this summer."
"......"
"Love is unexpected."
"!!"
"Watch out, too, Onii-chan."
"Uh, yeah."
"Okay, see ya!"
My heart skipped a beat there...
"Watch out for chupacabras."
"Eh... they're here...?"
Oh, that really spooked her.
"To be honest, I don't know."
"But I can't say for sure there aren't any..."
"Eh... outside... is scary..."
"I haven't seen any before, though."
"I think it'll be fine."
"Really?"
"Really."
Actually, what are chupacabras even like?
"Okay, I'll play outside..."
"I'm home."
"Welcom... Ehh?"
"You went out without clothes...?"
"It's a long story."
"Another person walked around without clothes, too..."
"Are you friends?"
"Nah, we're not."
"Oh, yeah. Here."
"Isn't this my shirt...?"
"Other kids brought it here."
"Why?"
"Yeah, I wonder why..."
"Oh, there's a price tag."
"Appraisal result: 30 yen."
"......"
Is this their way of trying to piss me off?
"Your stuff is here, too."
"It's in your room... Onii-chan."
My luggage finally arrived.
It's mostly just clothes and other items that I had sent here from back home.
I start unpacking.
"Onii-chan, need help?"
"Mm?"
"Ah, it's mostly just books."
"Books? Manga?"
"They're scary books, like about the occult."
"Ueeh..."
She's put off by that...
"Are there manga?"
"I don't think there's any you'd like."
"That's too bad..."
"...? Is this... a photo...?"
A photo of a group of smiling students standing by a pool fell out.
"Onii-chan, you on the swim team?"
"Nah..."
"Do you like being naked, then?"
"Nope."
Swim trunks club
Water polo club
Synchronized swimming club
"I'm in the swim trunks club."
"Amazing!"
"Eh... huh?"
"What do you do?"
"Well... um..."
"Oh yeah! I'll ask Kyouko-san!"
"Ah! U-Umi-chan!"
She rushes out of the room happily.
......
"Onii-chan, you liar!!!"
"Kyouko-san, what do they do in swim trunks clubs?"
"Eh? U-Uhh..."
"What about swim trunks again?"
"It's the club Onii-chan is in."
"Eh? What?"
"Um... I don't really know much about what's popular these days..."
"I didn't know that swim trunks are so trendy among young people these days..."
"Fueh...? They don't have that...?"
"I heard of it!"
"Is that so? You know your stuff, Umi-chan."
"There's a water polo club on the island."
"Heh."
"The fishermen play it in the ocean."
"That sounds pretty intense."
"I'll tell them about you, Onii-chan!"
"Wait, I'm sorry. That was a lie."
"Fueh...? It's a lie...?"
"What you just said was a lie too, wasn't it?"
"......?"
"So it's real, huh...?"
"Amazing! That's cool!"
"Ah..."
"What skills can you do? Do it in the bathtub!"
"No... well..."
"So exciting... so exciting...!"
"......"
"I can... squeeze my nose and dive into the water..."
"That's it...?"
"That's it..."
"So you're actually on a swim team?"
"I was..."
"I left the team."
"Oh..."
Umi-chan is running back and forth in the kitchen.
"What are you up to?"
"Cooking."
"You're cooking?"
"I'll do my best."
"Uh... Good luck."
Perhaps she only botched breakfast by chance.
"It's ready!"
"What's this...?"
"Fried... rice?"
"The rice-scallion ratio is just about 50:50..."
"Scallion fried... rice?"
"Well, I hear scallions can help with fatigue and improve blood flow."
"Y-Yep..."
"............"
"............"
"Thanks for the food!"
"D-Digging in!"
Nom nom...
"It's grassy..."
"It's spicy..."
We couldn't manage to finish our meal once again.
"...ello...?"
"Wake up."
"Hey!"
"Hellooo?"
......
Someone's calling me.
It feels like I've heard this voice before.
"Mm..."
"......"
A young girl is looking down at me.
"It's eight o'clock."
It takes me a moment to piece everything together.
That's right.
This isn't my house.
It's summer vacation, and I took the opportunity to visit my grandma's house.
This girl...
Who is she?
"......"
If memory serves me right, this is...
Kyouko-san
Grandma
Mom
A childhood friend
"Kyouko-san?"
"Huh?"
"Kyouko-san, you've shrunk quite a bit in just one night..."
"Hah..."
"I can't be Kyouko-san now, can I?"
"Then you're...?"
"Um..."
"Umi."
"Umi Kyouko..."
"I'm not Kyouko-san."
"Grandma... you're alive?"
"Eh?"
"Grandma? W-Where?"
"Don't scare me like that."
"Grandma..."
"Are you still dreaming?"
"Just five more minutes."
"But breakfast's ready."
"I don't need breakfast."
"You should eat breakfast."
"Pack it up for me... I'll eat it during class."
"What a loser..."
"Come on, get it together. I'm not your mother."
"Oh, shut up."
"Wha?"
"Each and every morning..."
"Who are you supposed to be? My wife?"
"......"
"No way!"
"Eh... huh?"
"Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Umi."
"Nice to meet you..."
"Umi?"
"It's my name."
"Ahh."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"Hello, Hairi-san."
"You should get up soon."
"Why?"
"Breakfast's getting cold!"
I slowly get up from the futon.
"Do you normally have someone wake you up each morning, Hairi-san?"
"Eh...? Uh, yeah."
"Hmmm, that makes me a little jealous."
"Jealous?"
"It's a guy."
"A guy?! Didn't you call him your wife?!"
"It's just a joke between guys."
"That happens quite a lot at all-boys schools."
"All-boys schools sound gross!"
An appetizing aroma drifts from the living room.
"Ohh!"
A plate of fried rice is sitting on the table.
"Ohh...?"
Fried rice... for breakfast?
"Where's Kyouko-san?"
"She said she has a meeting this morning."
"Is that so? That makes me feel kind of bad."
"I mean, she did say she can't cook yesterday."
"But fried rice is... well... not the first thing you'd think of for breakfast."
"......"
Umi-chan gives me a sour expression.
"I made it."
"Ehh?!"
"Oh, wow. That's amazing."
"......"
"It's no big deal."
"Yeah, I guess not."
"What was that?!"
"Huh? Uh, sorry."
"Actually, it's quite impressive."
"No need to praise me."
"Okay, I won't..."
"......"
This is kind of puzzling.
I was woken up by a young relative of mine this morning,
and now the two of us are sitting at the dining table eating fried rice for breakfast.
Fried rice...
I wouldn't really call it good, but it'll do.
Which is unfortunate... It smelled so appetizing earlier.
"Uh... Umi-chan?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing here, Umi-chan?"
"To help clean up the storage. I got a letter."
"Oh, the same as me."
"Oh, that so?"
"You came here by yourself?"
"Yep."
"Heh..."
"I'm surprised they let you."
"Well, they trust me."
"Hmmm..."
"So, Hairi-san."
"Yes?"
"From here on out..."
"I would like to split the work so that we aren't troubling Kyouko-san."
"Is that okay?"
"Sure."
She's completely taken the initiative here.
"I made a list of chores. Let's split them between us."
She shows me a handwritten list of chores.
Man, she's pretty mature.
"And so..."
"Rock, paper..."
"......"
"Why are you spacing out?"
"It's rock-paper-scissors!"
"Why?"
"The winner gets to pick the chores they want."
"I see."
There's cleaning the bathtub and toilet, and then there are things like taking out the trash and getting groceries.
There's quite a huge difference between them.
"I'm gonna get out of doing the laundry!"
"Do you hate doing laundry?"
"I hate it."
"I don't want to have to wash and dry your underwear."
"Man, you're pretty blunt."
"I wouldn't mind washing your panties."
"You perv..."
"T-That's not what I meant! I didn't mean it like that!"
"Ehh..."
"Please believe me."
Kids her age sure are a handful.
"I'm heading out."
"Where to?"
"The island."
Yeah, I kind of figured that...
"Be careful, okay?"
"Hm...? Of what?"
"Well..."
Cars
Sunburn
Summer romance
Chupacabras
"Be careful of cars."
"I don't really need to. There aren't that many cars here."
"That's true."
"But you never know what'll happen."
"When you cross the street, look to your left and right..."
"See you later!"
"The sun's pretty strong here, so you should probably put on some sunscreen."
"Why would you be worried about me putting on sunscreen, Hairi-san?"
"Well, sunburns can cause skin cancer."
"Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with girls getting a slight tan, but..."
"I've put some sunscreen on."
"Is that so? That's surprising."
"Well, see you later."
"Be careful of falling in love this summer."
"......"
"Even if I'm careful, it won't change that much. I'm still going to fall in love when the time comes."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"That's what they say in TV dramas."
"Secondhand knowledge, huh?"
"You say that, but do you have any experience yourself, Hairi-san?"
"Nope."
"See ya later!"
It seems she's completely lost interest.
"Watch out for chupacabras."
"There's some here...?"
Oh, that really spooked her.
"To be honest, I don't know."
"Then don't say something so weird!"
"S-Sorry..."
"That's mean..."
"Sorry."
"And scary..."
"Sorry."
Are chupacabras really that scary?
Actually...
What are chupacabras even like?
"I'm home."
"Welcome back... Ehhh...?"
"Why aren't you wearing a shirt...?"
"It's a long story."
"There was another guy who was going around the island naked..."
"Is that the way it is here?"
"No idea. Even if it is, I've got nothing to do with it."
"Oh, that reminds me."
"Some kids brought dropped this off."
"Why did they have your t-shirt, Hairi-san?"
"Oh, there's a handwritten price tag stuck on it."
"Appraisal result: 30 yen."
"......"
Is this their way of trying to piss me off?
"Oh, your luggage is here, too."
"The delivery guy took it to your room."
My luggage mainly contains my clothes and some other items I sent here from back home.
I start unpacking.
"You're done unpacking already?"
"Yeah."
"That said, it was mostly just books."
"Books?"
"What's this?"
"'Wild Strawberry 100%'."
"Ohh, uh..."
"That's uh... It's not..."
"My friends lent me that... and well... it got mixed in my stuff..."
"Isn't this a romance manga?"
"Y-Yeah... That's right."
"Huh? What's this...?"
A photo of a group of smiling students standing by a pool fell out.
"Are you on the swim team, Hairi-san?"
"Nope."
"What kind of club are you in, then?"
Swim trunks club
Water polo club
Synchronized swimming club
"I'm in the swim trunks club."
"That doesn't exist."
"What, you haven't heard of it?"
"There's no way there's such a thing."
"Heh..."
"Eh... so... it's real?"
"You should go ask Kyouko-san."
"There's no way... a club like that is real..."
"......"
Perhaps bothered by the thought, she heads to the living room to ask Kyouko-san.
......
"Hairi-san, you idiot!!"
"Um, Kyouko-san, do you know what they do in a swim trunks club?"
"Eh? U-Uhh..."
"What about swim trunks again?"
"A club for that."
"Eh? What?"
"Um... I don't really know much about what's popular these days..."
"I didn't know that swim trunks are so trendy among young people these days..."
"I'm sorry! It's all his fault!"
"You mean the kind of handball you play in water?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, I think there's a water polo club here on the island."
"Heh."
"I heard it was formed by fishermen, and they're in some of the craziest water polo matches in Japan."
"I-Is that so?"
"I'll introduce you."
"Wait, sorry."
"Was that a lie?"
"What you just said was a lie too, wasn't it?"
"It's not a lie."
"I-I see..."
"Synchronized swimming skills."
"Eh...?"
"Name three of them."
"......"
"......"
"Kotani Mikako..."
"That's not a skill."
"You don't have any swim club activities during the summer?"
"I left the team."
"Hmm."
Umi-chan is running back and forth in the kitchen.
"Need any help?"
"It's my job to cook. Don't worry about it."
"Why don't you clean up the house instead?"
"Okay."
Oh yeah, that's right.
Even though I won most of our rock-paper-scissors matches, I ended up taking on most of the cleaning chores since I have no cooking skills.
"Oh, while you're at it, fill the bathtub, too."
"Okay."
"Ah..."
"Actually, how does that thing work?"
"Didn't you take a bath last night?"
"I did, but I went in after somebody else."
"Doesn't that mean... y-you went in after me...?"
"Oh, I see."
"That scent was yours, huh?"
"Wait, scent?!"
"Y-You perv..."
"Come on, there's no way I wouldn't have smelled it."
"......"
"What did it smell like?"
"Huh?"
"The bath..."
"Uhh..."
"It smelled like avocados."
"What do you mean, avocados? Do they even have a smell?"
"Hm, I guess they kind of do?"
"Do I smell like avocados...? *Sniff*"
"Oh, I get it."
"You get what I mean now?"
"Yeah."
"I don't really eat that many avocados, though."
"Yeah, that's kind of strange."
"It smelled like first love."
"You perv..."
"Why?!"
"You're flirting with me..."
"Ahaha."
Instinctively, I blurt out laughing.
"This is getting annoying..."
"It smelled kind of like milk."
"Ehh?"
"Or I guess that's what babies smell like."
"Are you saying I'm like a kid?"
"N-Nah, I'm saying you're like a baby."
"That's worse!"
"Is it really? Come on, shouldn't that be okay?"
"It's not okay!"
"Morning..."
"Good morning."
Umi-chan is preparing breakfast.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"Don't stress about it. It's how we divided our tasks."
"I kind of expected this, but... Kyouko-san's not home, is she?"
"She seems to get up really early."
"Not to mention... she seems to have a pretty unbalanced diet."
She says as she looks over at the sink.
There is a washed, empty cup udon container.
"That's what she had for breakfast?"
"I need to do something about that one of these days."
You can see the passion burning in her eyes.
So she says,
but the breakfast she prepared is once again fried rice.
"Not that ours is really any healthier... huh?"
The two of us eat breakfast together.
Now that I think about it, this feels rather strange.
I'm eating my meals with a girl whom I barely know.
I guess this must be what it feels like to have siblings.
Though there's quite an age difference between the two of us, so it doesn't really feel that way to me.
"Pass the soy sauce, Dad."
"Wha...?!"
"It's not like I'm that much older than you..."
"Hah!"
"I-I didn't mean to say that!"
Umi-chan hides her mouth with her hands; her face is beet red.
"Well, it happens."
"It's like calling your teacher Mom."
"Exactly!"
"It happens sometimes, right?"
"Yeah..."
I wonder if I've ever done that.
I head to the shed to check how everything is going. Kyouko-san just so happens to be coming outside, carrying a few things in her arms.
"Good morning."
"Ah, Hairi-kun. What are you planning on doing today?"
"Well, I haven't really decided yet."
"I see. Then why don't you..."
"Do you need any help? I'm available if you need anything."
Eager to work, I roll up my sleeves.
"All right, in that case, I do have something you can do."
"All right!"
"Could you go shopping for me?"
"Shopping?"
"We're out of soy sauce. Also, we need detergent and tissues as well."
"Well... Okay, I guess."
"Is everything going okay in the storage shed?"
"Well, I'll ask you to help eventually."
It seems that here, the things you order are delivered to the port regularly.
It's strange. It's kind of convenient, but at the same time, it also feels kind of inconvenient.
"Now then,"
"let's see if she's up for working today..."
I give my motorcycle a tap.
It stopped working while I was out ridding yesterday...
Oh, there we go.
It seems she's a moody one.
"All right. Let's head to the port."
I twist the throttle and depart.
I pull into the port.
Hm? That's...
A lone girl is standing still at the dock with her back to me.
"......"
She's in her uniform.
Is she on her way to school?
Is there even a school on this island?
There's an elementary school, but when I looked at the map, I didn't see any bigger schools.
That must mean they have to take the boat to get to school.
The girl looks at the ferry.
A few people are getting on the boat.
Yet she doesn't move an inch.
Soon enough, the ship leaves port.
"......"
The girl is just spending her time watching the ship sail away.
If she's not waiting for the ship,
then... what is she waiting for?
She hangs her head and starts walking this way.
Since she's looking down, she hasn't noticed me yet.
And just as she's about to walk past me...
"......?"
She looks up and stops in her tracks.
"Ah."
"Ah..."
"......"
"......"
I haven't done anything bad...
But I guess I'll go somewhere else before she gets mad again.
"S-See ya."
I start walking away.
"W-Wait."
"Eh?"
"Me?"
I point at myself and ask.
"Yeah..."
She nods.
"What is it?"
"......"
"......"
"Thanks."
"Eh?"
"Um. Yesterday, at the pool..."
"I did what you said, and I managed to swim a little better."
"I-Is that so?"
"Thanks for that."
"Ah..."
"It's nothing."
I didn't expect to be thanked for that.
But it makes me feel rather ecstatic.
Now, don't let it go to your head, Takahara Hairi.
"Um..."
"Why were you practicing there so late at night?"
"Eh...?"
"......"
"Nothing..."
"Eh?"
"It has nothing to do with you!"
"Right."
"See ya..."
Saying that, Shiroha hangs her head and briskly walks away.
Um...
What was she doing here in the first place?
"There we go..."
I finally return with the groceries that Kyouko-san asked for.
"Well... what should I do now?"
Umi-chan isn't home, probably having gone outside to play.
Kyouko-san is working in the storage shed.
And apparently it's not time for me to help out yet.
I'd probably just get in the way if I tried to help, so it's probably best to just do as she says and wait.
"There's nothing to do..."
Well, I should at least do something.
Do homework
Write a song
Work out
"I brought it with me, so I might as well take a quick look."
I lay out my summer homework on the table.
"Let's start with math..."
"............"
"Hah! I fell asleep way too quickly!"
"Yeah, math's out. It's way too boring when there's just numbers and symbols."
"Let's try English."
I close my math workbook and take out my English homework instead.
"All right...!"
"............"
"Hah! I fell asleep again!"
"Yeah, English's out, too. It's just a jumbled up mix of 26 letters..."
"Do I have anything that's more exciting?"
I start digging through my duffle bag.
"Geography fieldwork..."
"Could I write a report on what it's like to visit this island?"
I came by boat...
It has a radically different feel to it compared to any other place I've been...
It all feels so fresh, yet there's something that feels nostalgic about it all...
To the point that I might start to believe that I've lived here all my life.
I actually thought that nothingness does exist.
That's a very valuable experience.
Then there's also the people who live on this island...
"Dosukoi!"
"Zz... Zzz..."
"Heh..."
"It's Hydro Gladiator KAI."
"Fuuu..."
"Yeah, let's not."
I close my fieldwork textbook.
"I guess I might as well write a song."
"I can't write the music, but I can probably at least write some lyrics."
"I just need to go over everything I've seen and felt since arriving and write a poem..."
"Hm..."
"I think I can get some pretty good lyrics going."
I close my eyes...
While they're still fresh in my mind, I need to look back on the first impressions I had of this island...
...and turn them into words.
Riding the cradle called hope, let's fly away across the seas♪ (Fly away~♪)
Our destination is a seven-colored paradise~♪ (Heaven♪ Heaven♪)
A wave of blue passion splashing upon shining white skin♪ (My heat island♪)
A fascinating sigh everyone will look back on, heyy~♪ oowah~♪
My feelings are wavering due to your beaming radiance♪
I must cut straight to the point, we have only a short time to express our love~♪
Under this sky, the shining promise will be fulfilled one day♪
Let me hear those words one more time~♪
Just like clashing with sumo wrestlers at a moment's impulse~♪
Together with you, I can fall asleep anywhere~♪
Your tanned muscles are here to carry me away~♪
Aimed at my heart, your tears will shoot right through~♪ (Tear... tear...)
"Phew..."
"Well..."
It seems I don't have any talent for writing lyrics.
"Guess I'll get some muscle training in..."
Not like there's much else to do right now.
On the upside, not only will it help kill some time, but there are other benefits as well.
I've left the team, but for some reason I still work out frequently.
Perhaps that just shows how much of a sissy I am...
"No, working out is something you do for your health."
"All right! Muscles, muscles! Hustle!!"
I start doing some push-ups on the spot.
"100... And done!"
"Haa... I'm feeling the burn in my biceps."
"Next up, abs. Let's do it, Hairi!"
I encourage myself.
"100...! Bwah!"
"Haa... haah... My whole body feels so heavy..."
"Can't get enough of this..."
I start cracking up at the thought of that.
"All right! On to squats!"
"Phew...! Phew...! Phew...!"
"Phew...! Phew...! Phew...! Phew...!"
I'm getting pumped!
"Sei! Sei!"
"Sei! Sei!"
"Mm...?"
I suddenly get the feeling someone is watching me.
Watching me from outside...
It's an old man with a fine beard.
He's giving me a vehement look for some reason.
And then he gives me a thumbs up.
I don't really get it, but I also give him a thumbs up.
With a satisfied look, the old man nods and walks off.
"Who was that...?"
It seemed like he just walked into our front garden nonchalantly.
I guess that's just how things are here in the countryside.
I look at the clock.
"Hm..."
I managed to kill some time, but I find myself without anything to do once again.
I'll just end up feeling like a shut-in if I stay inside all day.
Guess I'll take a stroll around the island again.
"Now, let's see..."
I've been going around the island on a motorcycle these past few trips, so I guess I'll try going somewhere I can't go on a bike today.
I start walking toward the mountain.
It feels kind of strange to revisit the places that I've been to by motorcycle on foot.
I can quickly pick out things I missed due to how fast I was going.
"I should be able to climb up that hill there..."
I find a new path.
It kind of feels like I'm on an adventure.
Nature's fragrance grows stronger the further I go.
Simply traveling along a dirt road surrounded by trees makes the heat a lot more bearable.
"This must be what things were like a long time ago."
Paving roads made it far easier for cars and motorcycles to get around.
But, at the same time, I think we lost something because of that.
"The work of man, huh...?"
I dwell on that for a few moments.
As I'm walking, the woods suddenly open into a clearing.
"Woah..."
It's a shrine.
The altar itself is pretty small, but the grounds are quite expansive.
Even though the cicadas' cries can be heard coming from all directions, it feels rather quiet here.
I turn around and find a sweeping view overlooking the island.
Up here, I'm able to see people carrying on with their lives from afar.
It's a pretty mysterious feeling.
"Phew~..."
I take a deep breath.
The air here is crisp.
I spread my arms to soak in the nature with my entire body.
"It feels almost like my heart's being cleansed..."
I try to immerse myself in this feeling.
"*Stare*"
I'm being watched...
A group of three girls are staring at me.
They look to still be in elementary school, but with the fancy clothes they have on, I'd almost call them a group of little ladies.
While I'm sure they're from the island, they have an air of refinement to them.
"I haven't seen him around."
"I have not, either."
"Indeed."
"That must mean he's the man that everyone is talking about..."
"It seems so."
"......"
Good grief.
It seems this city boy is already being picked apart by the girls here.
"He must be the man in the rumors."
"The angel who lost his wings."
"......"
Granny...
Oh well.
They're just kids anyway. Kids say what they want.
"Lucifer."
"He's Lucifer."
"L-Lucifer...?"
"The fallen angel."
"......"
"Lucifer, huh?"
"If that's what you say, then let that be the case."
I go along with it.
"Lucifer..."
"How lame."
"You don't seem to have the sensibility befitting of city men."
"You're the ones calling me that."
"But according to Granny Kido, you called yourself Lucifer."
"Who are you?"
"Me?"
"I'm..."
"...the man who lost his wings."
"Lucifer."
"Lucifer..."
"That's not how it went at all!"
"Granny?! Why are you spreading this around with all this hyperbole?!"
Who am I going to be at the end of all this?!
"You sang rock songs, didn't you?"
"Eh?"
"I did say I'm a canary who's lost its song..."
Do canaries even sing rock songs...?
"According to Granny, you seemed pretty eager to rock out on the ship."
"What a suspicious fellow..."
"Anyway, what do you mean, eager? What does being eager to rock out even look like?"
"Granny said it was pretty eerie."
"Yeah, I bet."
"Are you are a rock 'n' roller?"
"Yeah, let's just go with that."
"A canary who sings rock."
"A Canarian Rocker."
"You were a champion, weren't you?"
"Eh?"
"Granny said you are a champion with broken fists whose title is being challenged."
G-Granny? That's kind of exaggerated now, isn't it?
"Nah... I never told her that much about my past."
"Then, what are you?"
"A-A champion is fine."
"So you are a champion."
Well, we're talking a whole different kind of sport, but I actually used to be a champion at one point.
"Phew..."
"He seems immersed in something."
"The champion is immersed in something."
"You go by... Shocking Taka, I believe?"
"What?"
"It's Shocking Taka."
"What's that?"
"We heard that's the name you go by as a host."
"Impossible."
And that's wrong in so many ways.
"You're the one who said so."
"I didn't. Where did you hear that from?"
"We heard it from Granny."
"The host who's forgotten how to flirt... his stage name, Shocking Taka."
"He introduced himself in a hollow tone, or so she said."
G-Granny... what kind of past memories did you mix together in order to come up with a name like that?
"Call me whatever..."
"You came from the city, didn't you?"
"Hm? Yeah, more city-like than here, at least."
It really isn't what I'd call a big city, but still.
"You certainly don't seem to be from the city, though."
"That's none of your business."
"That sounds like a lie."
"Show us some city tricks."
"Now you're just being unreasonable."
Well, I guess you can't really blame countryside kids for wanting to get a taste of what people do in the city.
I'll do just one thing to satisfy their curiosity.
Do the moonwalk
Check their fashion tastes
Talk in English
Talk about being acquainted with celebrities
If they want a trick that screams being from the city, there's just one trick that comes to mind.
I practiced it with my friends for our cultural festival performance.
And to think it'd come in handy here.
"Just this once, all right?"
I wink.
"That already feels kind of lame."
*Glide*...
*Glide*
"What's that?"
"It's moonwalking."
"Ehhhh."
They sound really dissatisfied.
"That's not how you do it."
One of the girls walks forward.
"This is how you do it."
*Glide* *glide* *glide*
The way she backs up is so smooth. It's almost like she's gliding.
"How are you so good at it?"
"T-That's really cool."
I genuinely admire her.
"I-Is that so?"
"How do you do it?"
"I-It's quite troubling... to have you look at me with that sparkle in your eyes..."
"Well, if you insist on it, I suppose I can teach you."
"Please teach me."
"Well, if you insist."
"I'll teach you since you're such an obedient Lucifer."
"By the way, you got the clothes you're wearing at Ooniqlo, right?"
"?!"
"You can tell with just a glance...? That's someone from the city for you."
"Does that mean you're an Ooniqlist, too?"
"I'm not."
Ooniqlist... I learned a new word today.
"My shirt is from Cap."
"?!"
"There's a Cap where you're from?!"
"That's not all. Check out these pants."
"They're from Yaji."
"?!"
"We have all of them at the station square."
"Ooniqlo, Cap, and Yaji all within walking distance from each other?"
"Where in Manhattan do you live?"
"I just live in your average town."
"All that for an average town...? How incredible..."
"You can at least speak English, can't you?"
"Huh? English? Why?"
"Cities are becoming more and more internationalized now, aren't they?"
"I suppose so."
I haven't seen that many foreigners where I live, though.
"In that case, shouldn't speaking English be a piece of cake for you?"
"Well, I can speak it... sort of."
Not that I really want others to know, but I've actually been in an English speech contest. They picked me at random, but still.
I just need to recall how I spoke at that speech contest and speak the same way.
*Chatter*...
"Your pronunciation isn't quite up to par."
"Something feels off about it."
"How would a kid like you know?"
"She used to live overseas and speaks fluent English."
"Ehh."
"If she's fluent in English at her age, wouldn't that make her Japanese strange...?"
"Show him what real English is like."
"Okay."
"Listen to how I pronounce it."
The girl says and points at her lips.
"Lucifer."
"R-Rooshefaa...?"
"Lu-cif-fer."
"Loo-cef-fa."
"That's right."
"Luu-ciff-er."
"Luu-cifr-ra."
"I've met some celebrities."
"Like who?"
"Hide."
"Really?! That Hide?!"
"Yep."
"You mean it?!"
"Oh my, what should we do?"
"My heart is beating really fast."
Seems like they took the bait.
That doesn't really mean I'm a big shot or anything, but their reaction does make me feel kind of giddy.
"Impressive."
"As expected of someone from the city."
"From now on, we'll call you the Lucifer who met Hide."
If they want a trick that screams being from the city, there's just one trick that comes to mind.
I practiced this with my friends for our cultural festival performance.
And to think it'd come in handy here.
"Just this once, all right?"
I wink.
"That already feels kind of lame."
*Glide*...
*Glide*
"What's that?"
"It's moonwalking."
"Ehhhh."
They sound really dissatisfied.
"That's not how you do it."
One of the girls walks forward.
"This is how you do it."
*Glide* *glide* *glide*
The way she backs up is so smooth. It's almost like she's gliding.
"How are you so good at it?"
"T-That's really cool."
I genuinely admire her.
"I-Is that so?"
"How do you do it?"
"I-It's quite troubling... to have you look at me with that sparkle in your eyes..."
"Well, if you insist on it, I suppose I can teach you."
"Please teach me."
"Well, if you insist."
"I'll teach you since you're such an obedient Canarian Rocker."
"By the way, you got the clothes you're wearing at Ooniqlo, right?"
"?!"
"You can tell with just a glance...? That's someone from the city for you."
"Does that mean you're an Ooniqlist, too?"
"I'm not."
Ooniqlist... I learned a new word today.
"My shirt is from Cap."
"?!"
"There's a Cap where you're from?!"
"That's not all. Check out these pants."
"They're from Yaji."
"?!"
"We have all of them at the station square."
"Ooniqlo, Cap, and Yaji all within walking distance from each other?"
"Where in Manhattan do you live?"
"I just live in your average town."
"All that for an average town...? How incredible..."
"You can at least speak English, can't you?"
"Huh? English? Why?"
"Cities are becoming more and more internationalized now, aren't they?"
"I suppose so."
I haven't seen that many foreigners where I live, though.
"In that case, shouldn't speaking English be a piece of cake for you?"
"Well, I can speak it... sort of."
Not that I really want others to know, but I've actually been in an English speech contest. They picked me at random, but still.
I just need to recall how I spoke at that speech contest and speak the same way.
*Chatter*...
"Your pronunciation isn't quite up to par."
"Something feels off about it."
"How would a kid like you know?"
"She used to live overseas and speaks fluent English."
"Ehh."
"If she's fluent in English at her age, wouldn't that make her Japanese strange...?"
"Show him what real English is like."
"Okay."
"Listen to how I pronounce it."
The girl says and points at her lips.
"Rock 'n' Roller."
"Rocke... Rorrer...?"
"Rock nnn Roll-er."
"Rockn Rolla."
"Yes."
"Rock 'n' Roller."
"Rock 'n' Roller."
"I've met some celebrities."
"Like who?"
"Hide."
"Really?! That Hide?!"
"Yep."
"You mean it?!"
"Oh my, what should we do?"
"My heart is beating really fast."
Seems like they took the bait.
That doesn't really mean I'm a big shot or anything, but their reaction does make me feel kind of giddy.
"Impressive."
"As expected from someone from the city."
"From now on, we'll call you the Canarian Rocker who met Hide."
If they want a trick that screams being from the city, there's just one trick that comes to mind.
I practiced this with my friends for our cultural festival performance.
And to think it'd come in handy here.
"Just this once, all right?"
I wink.
"That already feels kind of lame."
*Glide*...
*Glide*
"What's that?"
"It's moonwalking."
"Ehhhh."
They sound really dissatisfied.
"That's not how you do it."
One of the girls walks forward.
"This is how you do it."
*Glide* *glide* *glide*
The way she backs up is so smooth. It's almost like she's gliding.
"How are you so good at it?"
"T-That's really cool."
I genuinely admire her.
"I-Is that so?"
"How do you do it?"
"I-It's quite troubling... to have you look at me with that sparkle in your eyes..."
"Well, if you insist on it, I suppose I can teach you."
"Please teach me."
"Well, if you insist."
"I'll teach you since you're such an obedient champion."
"By the way, you got the clothes you're wearing at Ooniqlo, right?"
"?!"
"You can tell with just a glance...? That's someone from the city for you."
"Does that mean you are a Ooniqlist, too?"
"I'm not."
Ooniqlist... I learned a new word today.
"My shirt is from Cap."
"?!"
"There's a Cap where you're from?!"
"That's not all. Check out these pants."
"They're from Yaji."
"?!"
"We have all of them at the station square."
"Ooniqlo, Cap, and Yaji all within walking distance from each other?"
"Where in Manhattan do you live?"
"I just live in your average town."
"All that for an average town...? How incredible..."
"You can at least speak English, can't you?"
"Huh? English? Why?"
"Cities are becoming more and more internationalized now, aren't they?"
"I suppose so."
I haven't seen that many foreigners where I live, though.
"In that case, shouldn't speaking English be a piece of cake for you?"
"Well, I can speak it... sort of."
Not that I really want others to know, but I've actually been in an English speech contest. They picked me at random, but still.
I just need to recall how I spoke at that speech contest and speak the same way.
"*Chatter*, *Chatte~r*"
"Your pronunciation isn't quite up to par."
"Something feels off about it."
"How would a kid like you know?"
"She used to live overseas and speaks fluent English."
"Ehh."
"If she's fluent in English at her age, wouldn't that make her Japanese strange...?"
"Show him what real English is like."
"Okay."
"Listen to how I pronounce it."
The girl says and points at her lips.
"Champion."
"Pyon-chan...?"
"Cham-pi-on."
"Chan... pyon..."
"Yes."
"Champion."
"I'm champion!"
"I've met some celebrities."
"Like who?"
"Hide."
"Really?! That Hide?!"
"Yep."
"You mean it?!"
"Oh my, what should we do?"
"My heart is beating really fast."
Seems like they took the bait.
That doesn't really mean I'm a big shot or anything, but their reaction does make me feel kind of elated.
"Impressive."
"As expected of someone from the city."
"From now on, we'll call you the champion who met Hide."
If they want a trick that screams being from the city, there's just one trick that comes to mind.
I practiced this with my friends for our cultural festival performance.
And to think it'd come in handy here.
"Just this once, all right?"
I wink.
"That already feels kind of lame."
*Glide*...
*Glide*
"What's that?"
"It's moonwalking."
"Ehhhh."
They sound really dissatisfied.
"That's not how you do it."
One of the girls walks forward.
"This is how you do it."
*Glide* *glide* *glide*
The way she backs up is so smooth. It's almost like she's gliding.
"How are you so good at it?"
"T-That's really cool."
I genuinely admire her.
"I-Is that so?"
"How do you do it?"
"I-It's quite troubling... to have you look at me with that sparkle in your eyes..."
"Well, if you insist on it, I suppose I can teach you."
"Please teach me."
"Well, if you insist."
"I'll teach you since you're such an obedient Shocking Taka."
"By the way, you got the clothes you're wearing at Ooniqlo, right?"
"?!"
"You can tell with just a glance...? That's someone from the city for you."
"Does that mean you are a Ooniqlist, too?"
"I'm not."
Ooniqlist... I learned a new word today.
"My shirt is from Cap."
"?!"
"There's a Cap where you're from?!"
"That's not all. Check out these pants."
"They're from Yaji."
"?!"
"We have all of them at the station square."
"Ooniqlo, Cap, and Yaji all within walking distance from each other?"
"Where in Manhattan do you live?"
"I just live in your average town."
"All that for an average town...? How incredible..."
"You can at least speak English, can't you?"
"Huh? English? Why?"
"Cities are becoming more and more internationalized now, aren't they?"
"I suppose so."
I haven't seen that many foreigners where I live, though.
"In that case, shouldn't speaking English be a piece of cake for you?"
"Well, I can speak it... sort of."
Not that I really want others to know, but I've actually been in an English speech contest. They picked me at random, but still.
I just need to recall how I spoke at that speech contest and speak the same way.
*Chatter*...
"Your pronunciation isn't quite up to par."
"Something feels off about it."
"How would a kid like you know?"
"She used to live overseas and speaks fluent English."
"Ehh."
"If she's fluent in English at her age, wouldn't that make her Japanese strange...?"
"Show him what real English is like."
"Okay."
"Listen to how I pronounce it."
The girl says and points at her lips.
"Shocking Taka."
"Shockita...?"
"Shoc-king Ta-ka."
"Shoc-kin' Ta-kah..."
"Yes."
"Shocking Taka."
"Shocking Takah."
"I've met some celebrities."
"Like who?"
"Hide."
"Really?! That Hide?!"
"Yep."
"You mean it?!"
"Oh my, what should we do?"
"My heart is beating really fast."
Seems like they took the bait.
That doesn't really mean I'm a big shot or anything, but their reaction does make me feel kind of giddy.
"Impressive."
"As expected of someone from the city."
"From now on, we'll call you the Shocking Taka who met Hide."
"Well... fine, I guess."
They're just kids anyway.
I happen to glance out at the ocean and see that the ferry is entering the port at that very moment.
It's quite impressive that such a huge hunk of iron can dock at ports so easily.
It must be quite a scary sight at night.
"Ah... that reminds me."
"May I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"The island's lighthouse didn't light up yesterday. Is that okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"Aren't lighthouses supposed to help ships navigate?"
"That lighthouse isn't being used anymore."
"It's an abandoned lighthouse."
"An abandoned lighthouse, huh..."
A lighthouse that will never light up again.
A guide whose mission has been fulfilled...
Just like me...
Well, let's leave that aside for now.
"I think I'll go check it out..."
It's not like I have anything else to do.
I should check out things that I don't normally get to see.
I part ways with the girls and start walking in the direction of the lighthouse.
"Haa... haah... I-It's farther away than I thought..."
I thought it was pretty close when I was looking at it from the shrine, but it's actually quite far now that I started walking towards it.
To the point that I've thought about turning back a few times.
The sun is starting to set, too.
Then, just around the time the sky is dyed crimson...
"That was a ridiculously long walk..."
I've finally arrived.
I'm also completely drenched in sweat.
This really isn't what you'd call within walking distance.
I'll ride the motorcycle here next time.
Though, I doubt I'll come here again.
"Man... I'm thirsty..."
I want to drink something.
However, I doubt I'm going to find a vending machine or anything that convenient nearby.
"Does the lighthouse have a faucet?"
I walk up to the lighthouse, thinking that.
"~~~♪"
"Hm?"
Is someone... singing?
I can hear someone humming a song.
"~~~♪"
Is it coming from the other side of the lighthouse...?
No, it's coming from up above.
"~~~♪"
There's a girl up there.
"~~~♪"
Her appearance, the lighthouse, the sunset, and the song...
Together, they make me feel like I'm looking at a picture book.
"What's this song...?"
Is it a foreign folk song or nursery rhyme?
I've never heard it before, yet there's this kind of nostalgic feeling to it.
"~~~♪ ~~...?"
Her humming starts to fumble halfway through the song.
"......"
More importantly... isn't it kind of dangerous to be sitting there?
"Hey~..."
"Mugyu?!"
Mugyu...?
"What are you doing up there?"
"......"
"I'm searching for something!"
"What are you searching for?"
"Myself."
That never would have crossed my mind when she said she was searching for something.
"Oh, and may I add something else?"
"What is it?"
"I'm also looking for things that I want to do."
She's searching for herself and things she wants to do...
She climbed that high up for that...
I remember doing something like that, too.
She must be around the age when one does that.
"And you don't think it's dangerous to be doing that at such a high place?"
"Mugyu?"
It's "mugyu" again.
"It's not dangerous."
"You're sitting outside the railing. You're not going to fall, are you?"
"I won't fall."
"You're going to get hurt if you fall."
"I won't get hurt."
"You might even end up dead, you know?"
"I won't die."
"Are you... invincible?"
"I am invincible."
"That's amazing."
"I am humbled."
She sure is humble for someone who rated herself so highly.
"Even if you are invincible, you should climb back inside."
"It says here you can't go outside the railing."
"Why, part of me is still inside the railing."
"So it should just barely be okay."
"The railing is there so that you don't fall. If only part of you is inside, I think that defeats its purpose."
"......"
"I see."
"So that's what the railing is for."
"In that case, being outside the railing is against the rules, isn't it?"
"I am sorry."
"Yeah, so you should climb back inside carefully."
"Okay!"
"Mugyu..."
"Actually... I can't."
"What's the matter? Are you scared?"
"No, but if I try to climb over the railing, I'll need to raise my leg."
"And you will see my panties."
Her panties...
I want to see them.
I'm a guy, after all.
However, considering how she's fully aware of it, I can't say I have the courage to look at them so brazenly.
"I will look the other way."
"What a gentleman."
"I am humbled."
In any case, I just need to not look up.
"Mm... There."
"......"
Just how did she get to the top of the lighthouse?
Is there a way inside?
"Can I turn around yet?"
"Why, yes."
"Whoa?!"
She's right in front of me.
She already came all the way down?!
"Why, hello."
"Why, hello..."
"......"
She's flashing a peace sign...
I do the same in return.
"Um... Are you a good person?"
"Eh?"
"You don't know me, and yet you are worried about me and gave me a warning."
"I think you must be a really good person."
"Well, anyone would do that if they see someone hanging around such a dangerous place."
"So I'm just a normal guy."
"Why, is that so? Thank you very much."
"Nah, don't mention it."
"By the way, what are you doing here?"
"Hm, well, I kind of came here on a whim..."
"It's a lighthouse, but it's not lit up. That kind of piqued my interest a little."
"You came to an unlit lighthouse on a whim?"
"I thought you were a really good person, but it seems you are actually a really weird person."
I just got called a weirdo by a girl who was humming a song in such a dangerous location.
"Well, it's not much different than sightseeing."
"I haven't seen a lighthouse before."
"Mugyu? Are you not from this island?"
"Nah, I'm not."
"I see. In that case, I can understand."
"You say that, but what are you doing here?"
"You?"
She looks around.
Her twintails swing around like pellet drums.
"No, I meant you, ma'am."
"Ma'am?"
The pellet drums speed up.
"Uh, I am talking about the girl standing right in front of me."
"Mugyu...?"
"Is there someone between us...?"
"There isn't."
"I'm getting dizzy."
"Mugyu~~~..."
"Um..."
"I am not 'you' or 'ma'am'."
"I am Tsumugi."
"Tsumugi Wenders."
"Tsumugi Wenders..."
"I came from the other side of the ocean."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, um..."
"It's Takahara Hairi."
"Takahara Hairi-san... is it?"
"Takahara is my family name, and Hairi is my given name."
"Takahara... Hairi..."
"Ta~kaha~ra Hairi-sa~n♪"
"Takahara-san, is it? I'll remember that now."
"Yeah, thanks."
That's a unique way of memorizing things.
"I hope we'll get along from now on."
"Um, Wenders-san."
"Ah..."
"You mustn't call me that."
"In that case, Tsumugi?"
"......"
"Eh?"
"If you suddenly address me with my first name... it makes me feel embarrassed."
"Huh? Ah, I'm sorry!"
"Well, uh... Tsumugi-chan? Tsumugi-san...?"
"Please call me Tsumugi-san."
"Okay, Tsumugi-san it is."
"Right."
"Oh, and also."
"You did say that you hope we'll get along from now on."
"But actually, I have to go once the summer comes to an end."
"Which is why it'll only be a short friendship."
"If that is okay with you, I hope we'll get along, too."
"I also need to leave once my summer vacation's over, so I guess I'm kind of in the same boat."
"I'm only here to take care of my grandmother's belongings."
"So you can say we will both bounce away in no time."
"Ribbit."
"Mugyu?"
"Ah, never mind."
"More importantly, Takahara-san."
"It's getting pretty dark, so you should head home."
"Yeah, you're right. It took me forever and a day just to walk here."
"No, I meant that students shouldn't be out and about at night."
"You're so earnest, Tsumugi-san."
"Why, I've lived my life earnestly up until now."
"Also, there have been a lot of people who bang up their feet on the beaten up road by accident."
"I'd rather avoid that, so I'll leave now."
"Right."
"Oh, before that..."
"......?"
"Is there a vending machine around here? I'm kind of thirsty..."
"Please wait a moment..."
Tsumugi-san enters the lighthouse.
So it's unlocked, huh?
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"As a token of our friendship, please take this."
"Eh?"
It's a can of coffee.
"......"
"Tsumugi-san... are you a goddess?"
"I am a goddess."
She's a goddess, apparently.
"Wonderful..."
"I am humbled."
"Well then, good-bye, Takahara-san."
"Eh?"
Good-bye...?
She went inside the lighthouse.
Could it be that she actually lives here...?
She did bring me the can of coffee from inside.
Now I'm curious.
I knock on the door, but don't get a response.
Maybe she's actually a goddess or something.
The lighthouse's goddess...
And here I have in my hand the can of coffee the goddess bestowed upon me.
"It's lukewarm, but I guess I'll drink it."
Kachaa.
I drink it in one gulp.
"It's bitter..."
What's with this flavor?
It's way too bitter even for black coffee.
The sun has set quite a bit.
"Oh?"
I spot a few boys I've seen before crouched down next to the ditch.
"What'cha guys doing?"
"Oh, it's 30 Yen."
"30 Yen."
"Oh, shut it. So, what are you up to?"
"We're fishing for crawfish."
"Hmm..."
"Wanna try, 30 Yen?"
"Yeah."
Oh...
Ohhh...
I manage to catch crayfish after crayfish.
Is this really this easy?
"Amazing!"
"How are you doing that?"
"By sensing them."
"You can sense them?!"
"Amazing! Just who are you, Nii-chan?"
"I'm a wizard from the mainland."
"What's mainland supposed to mean?"
"The other side of the ocean."
"Okayama is on the other side of the ocean."
"Amazing! Okayama wizards are so cool!"
"Call me master."
"Master!"
"Heheh. That's right."
Just what am I doing?
First off, I have no idea how I'm catching all these crayfish.
It's actually starting to bother me.
What could it be? Do they like the way I smell?
Anything but that.
"Hm?"
"Takahara Hairi-kun."
"Eh?"
My name is suddenly called.
The voice belongs to that scary girl who called herself Hydro something yesterday.
"Takahara Hairi-kun, the boy who's been staying on the island these past two days, please come to the front of the town hall immediately."
"Huh? Me...?"
I'm being paged over the island's PA system.
It's almost like I'm at school.
This is incredibly embarrassing.
"You're being called, Takahara."
"What did you do this time, Takahara?"
"Oh, shut up."
In front of the town hall, she says... Where's that?
I've only been here for two days, so I wish they wouldn't call me out like this.
After wandering around a bit, I finally find the town hall.
The rifle girl I met yesterday is already waiting for me in front of the town hall, standing firmly.
"You're late."
"Right..."
"And, so? I'm not naked today."
"I can tell that much."
"Oh, you're finally here."
"Yeah..."
This guy's Mitani, right?
It's the guy who was going around without a shirt yesterday.
He seems to actually be wearing clothes today.
"There we go."
"Why did you take your shirt off?!"
"Because you're right here."
"That makes no sense, and you're getting too close!"
"Don't take them off."
"Ouch! Don't hit my nipples!"
"Like I'd touch them!"
"So, what is it?"
"We're having a get-together tonight."
"A get-together?"
"It's your welcoming party."
"You're doing that much for me?"
"I just happen to be visiting."
"That's true, but either way, Granny Kido always tells us to have one."
"And since you're Granny Katou's grandson, it's not like you don't have some sort of connection with the island."
"Well, I guess."
"Now, don't be so reserved. Torishirojima welcomes its visitors with open arms."
"Open arms, huh...?"
"We call travelers who stay on the island for a substantial period of time 'migratory folks'."
"Migratory...?"
"Well, anyway, we'll be welcoming you as part of the tradition here."
"Just shut up and let us welcome you."
"Is that so? Well, thanks."
"It's decided, then."
"Where's Tenzen?"
"If it's him, he's probably holing himself up on the mountain again."
A shut-in up on the mountain?
"Is that so?"
"Should we go get him?"
"Yeah. He probably wouldn't come down until nighttime otherwise. I don't quite have the time, though..."
"I have to get to my part-time job, too."
"......"
"You're free, right?"
"Can I count on you?"
It's my welcoming party, and yet they're making me run errands.
"Well, I don't mind."
"But who is this Tenzen guy? I don't know him."
"If you follow the map, you'll find a small hut."
"If you go there, you'll figure it out."
"Hmm..."
"How should I put it... Tenzen is... well..."
"Hm?"
"He's a strange guy and may talk to you about a lot of things... Just don't pay too much attention to him."
"E-Ehh... What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, he's not a bad person, but if you take him seriously... how should I put it..."
"It'll be troublesome."
Troublesome, huh?
"I'll head there once I'm finished with my errands."
"I'm counting on you."
He's a strange guy and he's troublesome?
She didn't explain anything, and, what's more, all she did was make me a bit leery.
I follow the map she gave me and walk up the mountain.
It's hot...
Perhaps it's because there's no breeze here, but even though the sun has almost set, it feels oddly stuffy in the forest.
Since they told me to go fetch this guy, I thought I'd get there pretty quickly.
Yet this is quite farther than I expected.
What's more, I'm in the mountains.
There's a trail to follow, but I could get in an accident if I happen to stray off path.
"All right, I'm taking a break here!"
"Haa~... I'm tired."
I sit down on a fallen tree to rest.
Just what am I doing here?
Well, I guess it's better than not having anything to do.
About ten minutes after I start walking again...
At last, I've arrived at the area marked on the map.
Looking around, I spot a house's roof through the gaps in the tree leaves.
Is that it...?
I find a small hut almost entombed by the trees.
It feels kind of like a storage shed that's been left to rot.
"Hello."
......
It doesn't look like anyone's here.
Is this the wrong place?
They did say I'd figure it out once I get there.
Still, there's all sorts of things here.
It's almost like... yeah, a secret base.
Just then...
Something falls on my cheek.
A waterdrop?
Is it raining?
I tilt my head up.
"?!"
"Hu."
"Huu..."
"......"
W-What in the world is that?
There's a guy exercising his abs while hanging upside down from the roof like a bagworm.
"Hu. Huu."
This is way too strange.
"Hah... fu... hooh!"
So that drop of water that just fell on me was actually his sweat!
Urgh, that's disgusting.
"Hey."
"Mm?"
"Who are you?"
"H-Hello."
"Hm?"
"What do you want?"
"I was asked to come get you."
"Me?"
"You're Tenzen, right?"
"Who told you to come get me...?"
What was that girl's name again...?
"Hydro Gladiator KAI told me to."
"What's that?"
"Yeah, I don't know, either."
"And Hydro Gladiator's calling for me?"
"Who is that? This is getting pretty scary."
"Yeah, that scariness set in just a moment ago for me."
"How long are you going to stay up there?"
"Hmm..."
"I don't really understand what's going on, but somebody's calling for me, right?"
He skillfully unties himself from the rope hanging from the ceiling and drops down.
"Pardon me."
"What are you even doing here?"
"What am I doing? It's just as you can see."
"I'm training!"
"......"
"T-That so?"
I wonder what he's training for. Maybe it's for kung fu or something.
"Hmpm. Are you interested?"
"Eh?! N-No, not really..."
I'm not entirely uninterested either, though.
"Actually, why don't you join me for a moment?"
"I'm not doing that kind of training."
"I'm not asking you to do that."
"I just want you to join me in a rally."
"A rally?"
Tenzen holds up a table tennis racket he had taken out from God knows where.
"Thanks, but I'll pass――"
"Here we go!"
"Eh? Wait...!"
He suddenly serves despite my refusal.
............
......
Holding a racket in one hand, I'm playing a rally with a guy I've only just met.
"You're training for table tennis here?"
"That's right."
"Why?"
"Why, you ask?"
"Because I'm in the table tennis club!"
"Got'cha."
That's fine and all, but does he really need to go that far with training his abs?
......
Our rally starts to gradually speed up.
"Oh...?"
"It looks like this isn't that new to you."
"Well, if anything, I'm new to this."
"Well, in that case, I suppose I can get a little more serious."
*Thunk*
He removes some rather heavy looking braces from his arms.
"Wha...?"
"You've been wearing those this whole time...?"
"Hmph..."
"I wonder how long it's been since I last took them off."
"My arms feel so light... It's almost like I can fly into the sky."
"Now, let's go!"
......
The rally gets even more intense.
I'm just barely managing to keep up with him.
"Hmm..."
"It seems I underestimated you."
"I shall now take you seriously."
"I wonder how long it's been..."
"...since I last took my glasses off."
"Wha..."
"Those eyes..."
"That's right, these eyes..."
"?!"
"How long do you plan on keeping this up?"
"You..."
"Hydro?"
"What do you mean, Hydro?"
"Well, you said it yourself."
"Tenzen, what's up with your eyes?"
"Hmph..."
"That's a secret."
"What secret...?"
Tenzen puts his glasses back on.
"How long have you been here?"
"Since about the time you took your braces off."
"I figured you'd make him practice with you."
"I was right to be worried."
"Hmm..."
"Now that you mention it, who is he?"
"You're only asking that now...?"
"We're holding a welcoming party for him. You're coming too, of course."
"A welcoming party, you say?"
"Sorry, but I'm not up for that at the moment. I cannot waste even a second of my time."
"Looking at him, I'd say his body is up to the challenge."
"He'd probably be the perfect person to practice with."
"......"
"Hmm..."
"?!"
"Why are you touching me?"
"You're pretty well built."
"Fine, I shall welcome you."
"?!"
"What am I being welcomed for?"
"Oh, don't worry about it."
They take me to the cafeteria I ate at the night I arrived here.
The old man is nowhere to be found, but an assortment of food is already laid out on the table.
And there are already two other people here.
"Welcome to Torishirojima!"
"Welcome to Torishirojima Island!"
Out of nowhere, I hear the loud popping noises of a few party poppers being pulled.
Then a shower of paper strips and confetti suddenly rains down upon me.
"W-Well... thanks."
It's a far warmer welcome than what I expected.
"Nice to meet you! Could you tell me what your name is?"
"Uh, yeah. My name is――"
"Huh...?"
"Hm?"
"Ah..."
"You――!!"
"Huh? What's this? Do you two know each other?"
"Well, we don't really know each other..."
"He laid his hands on me while I was asleep."
"Hoh."
"Nice going."
"Come on, I didn't do anything."
"But you were holding me in your arms, weren't you?"
"Hoh."
"Nice going."
"I mean, it did get kind of intense towards the end."
"Be gentle until the end!"
"Hoh."
"Nice going."
"That's not what happened!"
"That's not what happened!"
"You two are perfectly in sync."
"Yeah."
"It's almost like you two have been paired up with each other in mixed doubles for years."
"I don't really understand where you're going with that table tennis analogy..."
"Well, anyway, it doesn't look like you two need to be introduced."
"Well, actually... I don't know what her name is."
"Just a casual fling, huh?"
"Nice going."
"Uh, let's stop with the jokes."
"I remember your name."
"Your name is, uh..."
"Rokuhara Tandai, right?"
"What?"
"You know how to use it?"
"Eh? Use what?"
"Actually, never mind."
"Don't worry about it."
More importantly, why has this guy been holding a racket this whole time...?
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"You only got the 'hara' part right..."
"My name is <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"That's one weird name..."
"Why don't you tell my parents that?"
"But yeah, this kind of rings a bell."
"Eh? Have we met before?"
"If I remember correctly... it might have been back when I was still in grade school..."
"I think I learned about it in history class..."
"You're already off at that point."
"Sounds interesting, though. Let's hear him out."
"It was during the Kamakura... no, during the Heian period."
"I think there was something about heads flying, curses, and bringing down the empire..."
"What in the world is that? That's scary!"
"Taira no Masakado?"
"Yeah, that's right! Taira no Masakado!"
"Sorakado Ao... Taira no Masakado... Sorakado... Masakado..."
"They don't sound close at all."
"Take responsibility for what you just said!"
"All right. It sounds pretty close."
"It doesn't!"
"You know, it almost sounds like the two of you are married."
"The hell we are!"
"The hell we are!"
"No, seriously, you two are perfectly in sync..."
"Yeah."
"Uh, may I start yet?"
"Let us begin our welcoming party for Takahara Hairi-kun."
"Why, thank you."
"He's the grandson of Granny Katou, who passed away last month."
"And he's here to help Kyouko-san out."
"Is that so? I only ever see him wandering about not doing anything, though."
"For now, at least."
"I think we've all already met, but let's introduce ourselves again."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"Everyone calls me 'Nomiki'."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Aren't you Hydro?"
"Hydro?"
"Weren't you Hydro Gladiator something?"
"That's this guy's name. What about it?"
"A-Ah, I see."
It's the water gun's name... That makes sense, I guess.
"She's a really great girl, you know."
"Ehe."
"What do you mean by great?"
"It's just a joke. I'm not that big of a deal."
"I am one of the executives in charge of the youth association here, though."
"Exe... cutive...?"
"Well, in other words, she's like a prefect of the island."
"She's also a prefect at the school we go to."
"That's pretty amazing."
"Ehe."
"It's not amazing at all."
"Nah, I think it is."
"I-Is that so?"
"Ehe..."
"Um, we have Nomiki, Sorakado Ao..."
"Sorakado... uh, how do you write that?"
It's a strange family name. Well, I suppose my name isn't much better, though.
"You write Sorakado as heaven's door, and blue for Ao, like the blue vault of heaven."
"Vault?"
Vault? Like in gymnastics? I don't get it.
"Nice to meet you, Sorakado."
"Ao's fine."
"Okay, nice to meet you, Ao."
"And over here..."
"It's Mitani Ryouichi. You can call me Ryouichi, too."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>. You can call me whatever you want."
"All right, Kanou."
"........."
"Tenzen."
"........."
For someone who normally wears a poker face, he's not good at hiding what he thinks.
"Kanou Tenzen."
"......"
That got him riled up.
"Kanou-kun."
"......"
That's quite a painful expression. Guess he doesn't like it.
"Tenzen-dono."
"......"
His face's completely lit up!
"Hairi...-dono."
And now he's addressing me the same way and being all bashful about it for some reason!
"Hey now, are you finished toying with Tenzen yet?"
"Sorry."
"I was being toyed with?!"
"So, like I said earlier, we are the executives of the island's youth association."
"We may be executives, but there are hardly any other students our age."
"There are a few, though."
The same age...
This reminds me of the girl from last night.
"Shiroha..."
"Shiroha?"
"Do you mean Naruse?"
"I'm surprised you're using her first name."
"Do you know her already?"
"Well, I don't really know Shiroha..."
"And you're using her first name even though you don't really know her?"
"I don't know her family name."
"To be honest, I thought Shiroha was her family name."
"Shiroha is... well..."
"Simply put, she's not very sociable."
"In other words, she's shy."
"Don't you try to make a pass at her now."
"Eh?"
"What's with that, 'eh?'"
"Don't tell me that you've already..."
"I haven't done anything."
"I've only met her a few times."
"Hmm?"
"Is Shiroha not coming?"
"I did invite her, but..."
"Welcoming party?"
"For who?"
"One of Granny Katou's relatives came."
"Oh..."
"Don't tell me..."
"She seemed pretty conflicted."
"Thinking back... you two had already met, huh?"
"What did you do...?"
"I told you. We've only met a few times."
"Hmm?"
"All right, let's wrap things up here and call it a day."
"Takahara, there's nothing here, but make sure to enjoy your summer vacation here."
"I will."
"Thanks for doing all that for me today."
"Hehe."
"We just wanted a reason to hang out together."
"My, my, you aren't being honest."
"About what?"
"Ao was the one who suggested holding a welcoming party."
"Oh, come on!"
"Now then, I'm going to get back to it for a bit."
"Hey, go home already."
"Get back to what?"
"I'm going to buckle down at the table."
"For what? Mahjong?"
That interests me a little.
"Mahjong, you say?! You delinquent!"
"That's a city boy for you."
"Playing mahjong all night? That's terrifying."
"Ehh..."
Just what kind of an image do they have of mahjong?
"That's so lewd..."
And over here, she's obviously getting all the wrong ideas.
"When he said table, Tenzen obviously meant table tennis."
"Ehhhh..."
Two guys staying up in an abandoned hut all night, playing table tennis by themselves.
I try imagining it.
One of them is half-naked.
Just the thought of that is terrifying.
The ball bounces back and forth feverishly...
Ah... this isn't good...
"That just goes to show how close you two are. Hang in there, all right?"
I want nothing to do with that, so I keep my distance.
"Like I'd go along with him in that! I'm not going!"
"I'll do it alone."
"I am always alone."
He says and glances at me.
"Well, if you want to join in, I won't stop you..."
"Sorry, but I don't want to."
"I see..."
"Well, see ya."
"See ya."
"Phew..."
It goes quiet all of a sudden.
Even on an island this small, I should have expected there would be kids my age here.
And of course, they have quite a different vibe compared to my friends back in the city.
Are they special in some way?
"......"
That girl...
The girl I saw at the pool.
In the end, she didn't come.
Considering the way we met, she probably hates my guts.
The way we met...
"Takahara Hairi!"
You're always like this.
That's why people make fun of you for being from an all-boys school!
"Phew."
Calm down.
"Takahara Hairi!"
"......"
Eh?
"There you are!"
"!!"
"Geh."
"That's quite the greeting for someone you've just come across..."
"Hello..."
"......"
"......"
And we stand here in silence... Absolute silence.
Since she caught me yelling "there you are" with so much energy, she couldn't just walk away, either.
"Ahem."
"W-What are you up to?"
I was just going to talk to her casually, but that came out kind of weird.
"I have an errand to run at the cafeteria..."
"Eh?"
Does that mean...
"Were you going to go?"
"......"
"Hm...?"
"It just ended a few minutes ago, but they were, uh... well, holding a welcoming party for me there."
"......"
"So... I thought maybe you were here for that..."
"......"
"Um."
"Well..."
She freezes.
Guess not. We just ran into each other by chance.
"Yeah, that's right."
And she lied without hesitating!
"I'm glad you came."
"Now please get home safe."
She lightly bows.
"You know..."
"You totally thought it was a party for welcoming my trip home, didn't you?!"
"It wasn't?"
"No, it wasn't. I just got here."
"I totally thought you were finally going to leave."
"Finally?! So that's what you were hoping for, huh?!"
"Then the welcoming party was..."
"For welcoming me and hoping I enjoy my stay here."
"And so, let's try to get along while I'm here."
"......"
She's not trying to hide how repulsed she is at all.
"C-Can't you at least look a little more welcoming?"
"H-How?"
"Having a softer expression would do wonders."
"Softer...?"
"And try to be more cordial about it."
"Be cordial... and have a softer expression..."
"......"
"That's not soft at all..."
"It's..."
"It's too hard!"
"And I don't welcome you!"
......
She runs away.
And she even yelled out how she actually felt in the end.
"Morning..."
"Morn!"
Umi-chan is preparing breakfast this morning as well.
"Uh... is this fried rice?"
"I tried my best!"
"You tried your best, huh?"
I take a look in the sink.
The empty cup udon containers from dinner yesterday have been washed.
We might end up having those for breakfast again...
"I think it's done!"
"Why do you sound unsure about it?"
"So? Uh, what kind of fried rice is this?"
"Udon fried rice!"
"Heh..."
That's carbs piled upon carbs.
"The cup udon yesterday was good, so it's fine!"
"Hm?"
Since she said something quite unsettling, I take a look inside the frying pan.
"Uhh..."
Inside are small, broken up chunks of uncooked cup udon mixed with rice.
The two of us eat breakfast together.
It might be a bit late to point out, but this is a weird breakfast.
"*Munch*... *Crunch*... *Munch*... *Crunch*..."
The udon fried rice is basically a dissonance of soft rice and hard, freeze-dried noodle chunks.
"It's not good..."
Umi-chan seems disappointed by it, too.
"Wait a moment."
I go boil some water.
"What are ya doing?"
"I thought I'd at least turn the udon into something we can actually eat."
I pour the hot water into our bowls of fried rice.
At the same time, I also sprinkle the unused powdered soup packets on top.
Three minutes later...
"It's good!"
"It's kind of more like porridge now."
"Udon fried rice!"
"Onii-chan, you're amazing!"
"R-Really?"
That makes me kind of happy.
"Morning..."
"Morning."
Umi-chan is preparing breakfast this morning as well.
"Sorry 'bout that."
"This is how the tasks were divided."
"I kind of expected this, but... Kyouko-san's not home, is she?"
"She gets up pretty early."
"And she has a pretty unbalanced diet."
She says as she looks over at the sink.
There is a washed, empty cup udon container.
"That's what she had for breakfast?"
"I need to do something about that."
You can see the passion burning in her eyes.
So she says,
but the breakfast she prepared is once again fried rice.
It smells unnaturally sweet.
"Not that ours is really any healthier... huh?"
The two of us eat breakfast together.
Now that I think about it, this is kind of strange.
The fried rice is... very sweet.
"Pass the soy sauce, Dad."
"Wha...?!"
"Hah!"
"I-I said that by mistake!"
"Well, it happens."
"It's like calling your teacher Mom."
"Exactly!"
"It happens, right?"
"Yeah..."
I wonder if I've ever done that.
I eat my fried rice.
"Umi-chan, pass me the soy sauce, too."
"Mm..."
It's still around 7 o'clock.
I don't usually get up this early.
Back home, I'd often stay up late for any number of reasons, but there's not much to do at night here other than sleep.
"Fwaaah."
It might just turn me into someone who follows a pretty systematic lifestyle.
Well, that's not entirely a bad thing.
......?
I hear footsteps outside my room.
Someone is running around in the living room.
What's going on?
It's Umi-chan.
"You sure are restless for how early it is."
"They're going to start that thing today! I'm going to be late!"
She's running about frantically.
"What do you mean, 'that'?"
"Radio exercises!"
"Hmm."
I guess they have those just about anywhere.
"Are you not going, Takahara-san?"
"I'm not."
"Is that so?"
"We'll keep this between us, but there's gonna be some awesome prizes for people who keep a perfect attendance record."
"Awesome prizes, huh?"
"I bet it's probably stuff like hot springs bath salt or bear ornaments anyway."
"Oh, you're pretty close."
"I am?"
"It's basically a combination of those two things."
"A combination of those things..."
I try to imagine.
"Bear salt?"
"What in the world is that?"
"Hot springs ornament..."
"I can't imagine that, either."
"That's not it."
"It's bath salt from an exotic hot spring that no one's been in because there are bears."
"W-What kind of hot spring is that?"
It kind of piques my interest, though.
"Oh, I already cooked breakfast."
"Thanks."
"Be sure to clean up after you're done, okay?"
My breakfast is sitting on the table.
It's all wrapped up in plastic wrap.
What a dependable kid.
That said, it's fried rice.
......
I eat my breakfast by myself.
"......"
The cicadas and the sun are already blaring in full force despite how early it is.
It seems it'll be hot out again.
"Good morning."
"Ah, good morning."
"Are you not going to the radio exercises?"
"I'm not."
Kyouko-san looks surprised.
In turn, I find it pretty surprising Kyouko-san would be so surprised.
"Isn't that just for kids in elementary school?"
"I wonder. Most of the kids your age go."
"Is that so?"
In that case... maybe I should actually think about it.
"You're always up early, Kyouko-san."
"I'm an early bird."
"That reminds me. You go to bed pretty early, too."
"That's right. I'm more or less living the fisherman's life."
It's been bugging me for a while, so now's as good a time as ever...
"How old are you, Kyouko-san?"
"Eh?"
"Mm..."
"How old do you think I am?"
About 17
About 25
About 45
"About 17, I guess?"
There's no way she could be that young, of course.
It's kind of strange, but she doesn't feel like she's older than me when I talk to her.
I even get the feeling that we're about the same age sometimes.
"You mean Umi-chan?"
"I meant you."
"......"
"Hairi-kun."
"Get a grip on yourself."
"Well, that's just the impression I have of you."
"There's no impression to be had."
She says and takes out a uniform.
"What's this...? A school uniform?"
"Do you think I could wear this?"
"It would be a huge problem if I ever tried."
"I wonder about that. I kind of think it'll look good on you."
"Hairi-kun."
"Get a grip."
"S-Sorry."
"More importantly... where did you find that uniform?"
"In the storage shed."
The storage shed...
Which means it belonged to Grandma? What in the world was it for, Grandma?
"You can have it."
"No thanks. I wouldn't even know what to do with it if you gave it to me."
"I'm sure it'll look much better on you than me."
"I... kinda doubt that."
"About 25, I guess?"
"......"
She blushes.
"N-Not again. Even if you tease me, you won't get anything out of it."
"Geez."
"......"
"You can have this."
She hands me a wooden ornament that looks like... a fish?
"Eh?"
"Here you go."
"Thanks a lot."
"I guess...?"
"......"
"Heheh."
She lets out a dry laugh.
"If that's what you think, Hairi-kun, then that's the case."
"In your head, at least."
"Heheh."
"Well, I mean, that's about how old my mother is..."
"I thought... maybe you're around the same age, too."
"If that's what you think, Hairi-kun, then that's the case."
"In your head, at least."
"Heheh."
"You can have this."
She hands me a doll with a vacant expression.
"Um, what's this? It looks kinda... terrifying."
"You can have it."
"This isn't meant to be anything ominous now, is it? Hahahaa..."
"You can have it."
"Um..."
"You can have it."
Shoot...
It feels like it's going to strip away all my luck.
Okay, where should I go today?
I take my bike out to the street and give the starter a kick.
Huh?
The engine isn't starting again.
"What's the matter? Not feeling up to it today?"
"The weather's so nice today. It's the perfect weather to go for a ride."
"What's the matter?"
"O-Oh."
"Welcome home."
"I'm home."
It seems she's back from the morning radio exercises already.
"You were talking just now, weren't you?"
"Well..."
"Are you talking to yourself?"
"Nope. I'm talking to this."
"A motorcycle...?"
"You were talking to a bike?"
"T-That's not really..."
I mean, I was, but still.
"I'm talking to the person standing in front of the bike."
"Eh...?"
"But no one's there."
"Stop saying weird things already."
Right at that moment, the engine starts on its own.
"Whoa! What's going on?!"
It suddenly stops.
"Is there actually someone there...?"
"Relax. No one's here."
"Is that so...?"
She looks at it timidly before trotting her way inside.
I wonder what she normally does.
Well, I guess I don't really have any idea what I'm doing, either.
"The engine isn't starting?"
"It did start once, but it gave out."
I'm not really sure what got it going in the first place, though.
"I wonder if there's anyone around who can fix it."
"Are there any shops here I can take it?"
"I think there used to be one, but it's closed now."
"Which means..."
"We'll have to take the ferry and get it fixed off the island."
"I see..."
That's a huge pain.
"Ah, perhaps Kanou-kun can fix it for you."
"Kanou...?"
"You mean the table tennis freak?"
"Don't call him a table tennis freak."
"I'm sorry."
"He fixed a bicycle for us before. Maybe he can fix motorcycles, too."
"Why don't you ask him?"
"Okay."
......
Wait, where can I find him?
At that rundown shed?
Do I need to take this up the mountain?!
Oh well. It's not like I have anything else to do.
"This was a terrible idea."
I immediately regret this decision.
It probably goes without saying, but it's really tiring to push a motorcycle up a hill.
I sit down on a rock and take a break.
"Oh?"
"What's the matter?"
Tenzen walks up the slope.
"What are you pushing a motorcycle up here for?"
"Well, actually..."
"......"
Tenzen looks at the bike intently.
"Let me have that."
He probably noticed it's not working.
He takes the motorcycle from me and starts pushing.
"Ho... this..."
"Nuooooh!"
"Eh?"
"A-Amazing!"
"This is amazing!"
"R-Really?"
"What is?"
"Nuooooooh!"
"Haa... haahh..."
"Thanks for pushing it for me."
"No, I should thank you instead."
"That was a great workout."
"If possible, I would like to join you tomorrow as well."
"In this training regimen."
"......"
"I wasn't really training."
"Is that so?"
"What are you pushing something like that up the mountain for, if not training?"
"The engine won't start."
"Kyouko-san said you might be able to fix it."
"Ahh."
"My family runs a repair shop, you see. It's closed these days due to my dad's back pain, though."
"If you want, I can take a look."
"That would be great."
"Still, you didn't have to bring this all the way up here. You could have just called me."
"I suppose so."
"I wonder why I came all the way up here..."
"Heh, you're such a weird guy."
......
A weird guy just called me weird.
All in all, it took about half an hour to repair the bike.
"Thanks."
"How much do I owe you?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Just take good care of her."
"Thanks, man."
"Are you always hanging out here, Tenzen?"
"More or less."
"I do go home for a bath every other day, though."
So he basically lives here.
"You're welcome to visit whenever you're feeling up to it."
"Ryouichi comes pretty often, too."
"What does he come here for?"
"No idea. He's probably just bored."
"It's hot..."
With the constant assault of the cicadas' cries bombarding my ears, I walk down the road under the scorching summer sky, my shoulders drooped.
Although it was just fixed, I couldn't ride my motorcycle.
It's nothing big...
It's just that I forgot to bring my helmet...
That's all there is to it.
You can't ride a motorcycle without a helmet.
Safety comes first.
As for the motorcycle, Tenzen agreed to bring it down for me.
"Nah, it'll be a pain in the neck to drag it down the hill. I'll get my helmet and come back."
"Heh..."
"It's training!"
"Uh... okay."
I took him up on his offer.
It's training, so I guess there's nothing to worry about.
Still, it's really hot today.
I get the feeling that staying out in this blazing sun will give me heatstroke.
I want something to drink, but does this island even have any vending machines or other such conveniences?
"It's not like this place is removed from civilization. There should be one somewhere..."
I wander around the town aimlessly for a while.
And that's when I stumble across one.
However, the building that stands behind it piques my interest even more.
"Is this... a shop?"
There's no sign or anything that indicates the shop's name.
The only thing that makes it even look like a store are the sliding glass doors it has for an entrance.
The doors are open, giving it the feeling that anyone is welcome at any time.
I nervously take a peek through the open doors.
There's an assortment of snacks and candies on display inside the dimly lit shop.
"So this is a candy store?"
There are a wide range of snacks, yet they're all arranged in some orderly way.
They have your staple snacks like fish jerkies, Yummy Sticks, and Baby Stars...
Then you have things that could be used as side dishes during dinner, such as pickled kelp, pickled squid, sakura daikon, and plum jams...
And on top of that, they have fruit mochi, yogurt, Castella skewers, soy flour sticks, and candy slime...
I haven't seen most of these things before.
"This is amazing..."
I've seen similar snacks in supermarkets and shopping mall snack sections.
Unlike those, however, the snacks don't feel unnatural or like an afterthought in this shop.
"It's like I can feel the snacks' status and history."
"Welcome..."
"Hic...?!"
Someone suddenly calls out to me from inside the store.
It's an old lady. Probably the shop owner.
"It's hot today, isn't it?"
"Eh... Uh, yeah."
"Do you want some shaved ice?"
"What?"
"Shaved ice."
"Ah... Actually, sure, I'll have some."
"One million yen."
"Ohh..."
This must be one of those countryside gags.
"Okay, here."
I take out a 100 yen coin from my wallet and hand it to the old lady.
"You're still 999,900 yen short."
"Wha... it's really a million yen?!"
"It's a joke."
It's a double-layered joke, huh?
It would seem I underestimated countryside gags and lost...
"We have strawberry, melon, lemon, and Blue Hawaii. Which one would you like?"
"Blue Hawaii, please."
"They actually all taste the same."
It's triple-layered... How frustrating...
That aside, is that really the case? Do they have different colors yet all taste the same?
The old lady takes out an ice block from the freezer inside the shop.
Then she sets it down on a big ice shaving machine.
"Are you doing it by hand?"
"It tastes the best this way."
The old lady says and starts turning the handle to shave the ice block.
The sound of the ice block being shaved echoes throughout the shop.
Just hearing that sound makes my body feel strangely cooler.
"Blue Hawaii, is it?"
The old lady squirts a generous amount of blue syrup on top.
"Is this really 100 yen...?"
"Hm? Is it not enough?"
"No, I meant the opposite."
There's such a huge amount of ice that you could say she gave me way too much.
"You can eat it in that room there."
"Eh... you mean inside?"
"It's cool inside since there's a fan."
She says and disappears inside the store.
"Well, I guess I'll take you up on the offer."
I take my shoes off and slide the door open―
"Eh...?"
"Eh...?"
Inside, Ao is wearing nothing but her underwear.
"......"
"......"
The windchime in front of the store makes a comforting chime.
"......"
"......"
In no time, Ao's face turns beet red.
"Uhh―"
"Waaaaaaaah!!"
I start screaming the instant before Ao does.
And then the mountain-sized shaved ice goes flying out of my hand...
...towards Ao.
"Hyaaaaaaah?!"
"......"
"......"
"Hey..."
"........."
"Care to explain what happened?"
"Well... even if you ask me..."
Ao stands there firmly and interrogates me with her arms crossed, emphasizing her large breasts.
And here I am kneeling on the ground in front of her.
I do feel bad for what I did, so I try to look as sincere as I can.
I take a look inside the store, but the old lady who suggested going inside the room in the first place is nowhere to be found.
"That was... an accident."
"Heh?"
"So you're trying to say that opening the door to a room with a girl changing inside..."
"...and throwing your shaved ice at her was all an accident?"
"Well... that's not exactly what happened."
"Then, would you mind telling me what I got wrong?"
"The shaved ice..."
"Well..."
"I was surprised."
"Yep, I get that you were surprised."
"I mean, you opened a door, and there was a girl wearing nothing but her underwear!"
"Of course you'd be surprised."
"And...?"
"I thought it'd be bad if I didn't cover you up with something..."
"Ah, I see~..."
"My, you're such a gentleman."
"As if! What the heck were you thinking?!"
Ao is extremely pissed.
"Better yet, why were you wearing nothing but your underwear in the candy store?"
"Is that some kind of hobby?"
"Let me guess... you're not sorry about it the tiniest bit?"
"I am."
"But I want to get everything straight."
"There might be a small chance that I didn't actually do anything wrong."
"Yeah, you don't regret any of it..."
"I do."
"I work part-time here."
"I was changing."
"Then you came in."
"Okay?"
"Yeah, got it."
"There's no way that it wasn't my fault."
"And by the way..."
"You started screaming before me, didn't you?"
"What was that about?"
"It was almost like you were more shocked than I was even though I was the one who got peeked on."
"Well, it actually was pretty shocking..."
"I go to an all-boys school, you see."
"Okay, and?"
"I've never really been exposed to girls in that state of undress, so I have a bad reaction to it."
"Could you stop making it sound like I'm some sort of pervert?"
"Sorry about that."
"By the way..."
Help expose me
What about my shaved ice?
"I think this was all meant to happen..."
"What do you mean by it was meant to happen...?"
"So, would you help expose me to it?"
"........."
"Fwaaaah?!"
"W-What's that supposed to mean?"
"Are you... asking me to strip?!"
"You want me to strike poses where my private parts are barely covered just to inflame your sexual desires?!"
Huh? This is troubling.
Much to my surprise, she doesn't seem wholly against the idea...
"You want to get my clothes wet on purpose,"
"and then lick my entire body so suggestively that it's almost like kissing..."
"When I fall, you want me to fall over you..."
"...and you'll grasp my b-boobs...?"
"......"
"Well, I mean... it's not like I'm not interested in guys..."
It seems her head is full of worldly desires.
"But we only just met each other, you know...?"
I absolutely regret asking her so casually now.
"We should take these things one step at a time..."
"You know! We should start by taking baths together first!"
"You mean the people here start off with taking baths together...?"
She's getting way ahead of herself...
It's probably a good idea to put a stop to this topic.
"By the way."
"Yes...?!"
"You wouldn't mind getting me some shaved ice, would you?"
"Huh...?"
"Well, uh... I would like some shaved ice..."
"Huh? Shaved ice?"
Give me a new cup of shaved ice, please.
Please fling some shaved ice at me.
"Give me a new cup of shaved ice, please."
"Why...?"
"I didn't even get to eat any."
"You know..."
"I was pretty thirsty to begin with."
"Please."
"Haah... All right."
"It's a million yen."
"......"
I take a 100 yen coin out of my wallet and hand it to Ao.
"You're 999,900 yen short."
"Does this store always throw that joke at people?"
"It's pretty much obligatory."
"There's strawberry, melon, lemon, and Blue Hawaii. Which one do you want?"
"Blue Hawaii."
"They all taste the same, actually."
"Is that obligatory, too?"
"Just keeping it going."
"And they actually all do taste the same."
"You're kidding...?"
"There are some differences in the coloring and flavoring, but they all taste the same."
To think that I used to have so much trouble picking which flavor I wanted at those festival stalls when I was a kid...
"I'll make it right away, so hang tight."
Ao says and grinds the ice block in the shaved ice maker in the same way the old lady did.
*Shave* *shave* *shave* *shave*...
She returns with a huge cup of Blue Hawaii-flavored shaved ice.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Here."
"Thanks."
"Want condensed milk on top?"
"I'm not quite sure about putting condensed milk on Blue Hawaii, what with how it'll turn out looking."
"It normally costs 10 yen more, but I'll give it to you for free since it's your first time here."
"Awesome. Pile it on."
"You're so pragmatic..."
"Well, fine. Hold on a moment."
She takes the cap off the tube of condensed milk and tries to squeeze its contents out.
"Huh...? It's kinda stuck... Mm...!"
"That's weird. Did it dry up and clog the tip?"
"Need any help?"
"Don't... worry... about it..."
"Byaaaaah!"
The tube bursts the moment she puts all her strength into it.
"Npuah... Nn... wah... fwah... Urgh, my face's so sticky..."
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
Once again, the large cup of shaved ice goes flying from my hand...
...towards Ao.
"Hyaaaaaaah?!"
"Hey..."
"......"
"Why?"
"Well... even if you ask me..."
Once again, Ao stands there firmly and interrogates me with her arms crossed, emphasizing her large breasts.
And yet again, I'm kneeling on the ground in front of her.
Of course I feel bad for what I did, so I try to look as sincere as I possibly can.
"Cause that was pretty lewd..."
"Heh..."
"There was condensed milk all over your face and it looked pretty lewd..."
"I thought it'd be bad if I didn't cover it up..."
"Ah... I see~..."
"Man, you really are a gentleman."
"Seriously, what the heck?!"
Ao seems really, really pissed.
Well, now that it's come down to this, I guess we'll have to settle it the way Hammurabi did.
"Please fling some shaved ice at me..."
"Huh? What do you mean? What are you trying to get at?"
"Well, I meant like an eye for an eye..."
"And we'll call it even..."
"Heh, is that so?"
"So that's what it comes down to, huh?"
"All right. I'll splash it all over you."
"It'd be a waste, so let's skip the syrup."
"Okay."
"I'll give you that much more ice in return."
"That's very thoughtful of you, but that isn't what I'd call kindness."
*Shave* *shave* *shave* *shave*...
Ao returns with a colossal-sized cup of shaved ice.
"Isn't that a little too much?"
"It's on the house."
"Like I said, that's very thoughtful, but that isn't what I'd call kindness..."
"Okay, here I come now! Are you ready?"
"C-Come right at me!"
"Here I go...!"
*Splash*!
"Hyooooooh?!"
I shriek; the ice is far colder than I expected.
"Ahahahahahahaha!"
Ao looks at me and laughs.
I take a chunk of ice that's still on my body and fling it back at her.
*Splash*!
"Hyaaaaaaaaah?!"
"W-What?! Why?!"
"I-It's cause... it's way colder than I expected!"
"Y-You little... How is this even?!"
Now Ao is flinging ice at me again.
"Hyooooooooh?!"
And I throw even more back at her.
"Hyaaaaaaah?!"
"You don't regret it at all, do you?! What happened to your eye for an eye...?!"
"Hyoooooh! There's ice in my eye!!"
"Hyaaaaaaaah?!"
"Hyoooooh?!"
"Hyaaaaah?!"
"Haah... that was terrible..."
The chain of hatred lasted until all the ice had melted.
My shirt ended up completely drenched.
And with the way it's sticking to my body, it feels really disgusting.
"The sun's still high up in the sky. Guess I'll lay it out to dry."
I take my shirt off and hang it on a tree branch nearby.
It'll dry pretty quickly in this sunshine―
That next second, the air near my ear pops.
"Eek?!"
"T-That... Was that...?!"
I instinctively look around.
A voice calls out to me from the speakers on the top of a tower a short distance away.
"You exhibitionist there."
"Taking your clothes off outside the beach areas is strictly forbidden."
"Put your shirt on immediately."
S-She saw me again?
This time she blew a hole in the ground around my feet.
"The next one... wont miss."
"I-I'll put it on! I'll put it on right away!"
I hurriedly put my shirt back on and leave.
"Haa. Haa... haah..."
I guess I should be safe this far out.
"Phew."
It appears that the ferry is currently docked at the port in the distance.
A few people, likely sightseers, are walking my way with their large suitcases in tow.
I came here three days ago, much like them.
To a place where I don't know anyone...
An unfamiliar land.
How should I put it?
It almost feels like I got a fresh start.
I take a sip out of my bottle.
"Phew."
It appears that the ferry is currently docked at the port in the distance.
A few people, likely sightseers, are walking my way with their large suitcases in tow.
"Excuse me?"
"Eh?"
They call out to me as we're about to walk past each other.
It's a pair of girls.
"Where can we buy some Torishirojima manjuu?"
T-Torishirojima manjuu...?
"Ah, I'm not familiar with that."
"Is that so?"
"Sorry about that."
"Sorry."
It seems they took me as a local.
However, I'm not a local.
I had no real connection to anyone on this island three days ago...
A strange feeling washes over me as I think that.
How to describe it...
It's like I've been given a fresh start.
─Hairi.
"Eh?"
The thought takes me by surprise,
but it feels like someone just called out to me,
and with a friendly voice, at that.
As far as I know, I don't have any friends on this island.
At least, that's what I keep telling myself...
I turn around.
"......"
Behind me I find a girl sitting leisurely on her suitcase.
Is she talking to me?
"Hairi."
Yep, she is.
"......"
I look her over once again,
but I can't put a name to the face.
"Uh, how'd you know my name...?"
"I heard someone call you that."
"Ahh."
She must have heard me talking to somebody else.
That's probably how she learned my name.
Even so, I would rather her not call me by name all of a sudden.
The girl looks at me with a smile.
She's skillfully sitting atop a huge suitcase. My guess is she's taking a short break.
Is she a sightseer? That would mean she's not a local.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm tired."
"Well, it's pretty hot today."
"Yeah."
The girl keeps looking at me as she sits on her suitcase...
"Hey, hey."
At last, she waves me over.
"U-Uh, what's up?"
Flustered, I walk toward her.
"Would you help me push the suitcase?"
"Ahh... Eh?"
Did she just get here? The suitcase she has is pretty huge, so it's probably hard for a girl to drag around.
It's a pretty shameless request, but she's probably exhausted.
"Well, I guess I can."
"Thanks."
"Kushima Kamome."
"Hm?"
"It's my name. It'd be weird if only I knew your name, wouldn't it?"
"Kushima... Kamome..."
"Kamomine."
"I'd prefer you didn't stretch my name out like that."
"It makes me want to say it like that when I hear the name Kamome, though."
"Why?"
"Well, Kamome means gull, doesn't it? You know how they go, 'mine, mine'?"
"Only seagulls do that."
"Then what do other gulls sound like?"
"Eh?"
"Fugyah! Fugyahh! Like that...?"
"......"
"I'd prefer it if you didn't look at me like I'm crazy."
"It's pretty hard to sound like gulls, you know?"
"And they sound like what?"
"Fugyah! Fugyahh! Like that...?"
"......"
"That's enough already, isn't it? What are you trying to get me to do?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"You just want me to push the suitcase for you, right? Where do you want to push it to...?"
"It's not far."
The last few times I thought a place wasn't that far away...
"Hmm..."
"Ahh, never mind. Could you get off, then?"
"Push it with me on top."
"What??"
The girl looks at me with a bright smile and asks without any hesitation.
"I'm tired."
*Rattle*
"......"
Why am I pushing a suitcase with a girl... with Kamome sitting on top of it?
It's not all that heavy, but I'm worried that she might fall off.
"This feels nice."
She seems to be enjoying herself.
"Having a pretty good time now, aren't we?"
"It's not that easy to balance yourself on this, you know?"
"Want to try?"
"Ehh."
I can't deny that I'm kind of interested.
"Go ahead."
Kamome swiftly gets off her suitcase.
What does it feel like to sit on a suitcase and get pushed around?
"There we go."
Cautiously, I try sitting on it.
"It's not impossible... but it's pretty tough to balance on..."
"Okay, I'll push it now."
"Heave-ho."
"Woah!"
I almost fall off when the suitcase jolts a little bit.
"You know my pain now, don't you? It's not all fun and games to ride on top."
"Did you even have to ride on it? It's a pain both to sit on it and to push it."
"It's what you'd call a win-win situation, isn't it?"
"No, it's the exact opposite."
"But yeah, once you get the hang of it, balancing on this is probably a walk in the park."
"And it's kinda fun, too. It's like sitting on an exercise ball."
"By the way, I know I'm the one who suggested it, but I'm getting tired."
"Sorry, but give me just another minute. I think I'm getting the hang of it."
"Hnn..."
Once again, I'm pushing the suitcase with Kamome sitting atop it.
It's actually going pretty smooth now that we're on a paved road...
Kamome looks up at the sky, seemingly relaxed.
She kicks her slender legs in the air and starts humming a song.
"What's that song?"
"It kind of feels like I've heard it before."
"It's Midian Charlotte's 'with'."
Now that she mentions it, it does kind of ring a bell.
"That's an old song, isn't it?"
"Yep. It was pretty popular a long time ago."
"Is that so?"
......
"Look, we're about to go downhill."
"You should get off for a moment. It's dangerous..."
"Okay, let's try rolling down the hill!"
"What?!"
"You wanna go down the hill on your suitcase? That's too dangerous."
"We'll be fine."
"What do you mean, 'we'll be fine'? H-Hey!"
Before I could stop her, the girl already started rolling down the hill on her suitcase.
How audacious of her.
I chase after her in a fluster.
"Ohh!"
"Yeah, this needs some balancing."
She takes the curve with ease.
What's with that suitcase?
"Look ahead of you!"
"Eh?"
The suitcase speeds up.
"Wah!"
There's another curve straight ahead.
It's so sharp that there's no way she'll be able to make it.
"I-I'll be fine!"
"You mean that suitcase has brakes?!"
"It doesn't!"
"What are you gonna do?"
"I'll force my way through!!"
"You'll what?!"
The suitcase speeds through the gap between the guardrails.
At the same time, the girl sitting on top of it is sent flying into the air.
The ocean is on the other side of the guardrail.
Although they're still midair, both the suitcase and Kamome will shortly plunge into the water.
But instead, she suddenly sprouts a pair of wings from her back and takes flight.
Okay, that's wishful thinking. She falls into the ocean.
"Haa...!"
The sudden turn of events leaves me flabbergasted.
"H-Hey!"
This is no time to hesitate.
I dash over to dive in.
"......"
The rocking sea waves beneath cause me to hesitate.
But...
...this is no time to hesitate.
I can hear the starting signal.
This is where it all begins.
"*Gurgle*..."
Too bad...
Nothing began.
Not only that, but everything came to an end right there.
Unable to move my body as I want, the frigid water starts to seep into my heart.
I continue to sink further and further along with my guilt...
...into the abyss that one cannot return from.
I can't make my way back to the surface.
Not anymore...
......
Someone grabs my outstretched hand.
It's a tiny but warm hand.
So you can feel someone's warmth even underwater, huh...?
"*Gurgle*!"
"*Gurgle*"
"Where am I?"
I'm holding onto a suitcase that's floating out in the ocean.
"Haa... haah..."
The girl who's holding onto the same suitcase smiles at me.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah..."
"Somewhat."
"Pwah!"
"Haa..."
"Geez, why would you dive in?"
"I wasn't thinking..."
"Well, thanks."
"Eh?"
"You leaped out into the ocean even though you can't swim."
"Ah, no..."
It's not like I can't actually swim.
But oh well.
"This is one amazing suitcase."
It floats just fine even though both of us are holding onto it.
What is it made of?
"It was a custom order."
"A custom order, huh?"
On closer inspection, there are all sorts of stickers on the suitcase.
"What's this cat...?"
"It's the Catbeard Brigade's emblem."
"Catbeard Brigade?"
It feels like I've heard of that name before.
Something about this drawing makes it stand out.
I know I've seen this somewhere.
It was probably in an anime I watched when I was younger.
The girl is smiling brightly, seemingly enjoying herself.
We're completely soaked.
What's more, we're holding onto a suitcase out in the ocean.
Though, I somehow find myself enjoying this, too.
"Good grief. We're soaked."
"Yeah, we really are."
She takes her shawl off and wrings it.
Ack...
I can see her underwear through the gaps in her wet clothes.
In a fluster, I look the other way.
"......"
I look up at the sky.
It's very blue.
I'm not talking about her underwear...
It looked like her underwear was also blue, though.
Stop it, Takahara Hairi.
What's all this about underwear?
Underwear.
Blue underwear.
White clouds.
"Hm?"
"Is there something in the sky?"
Next to me, Kushima Kamome looks up at the sky in bewilderment.
"I just thought it was a pretty blue."
"Yeah..."
"......"
"......"
"It sure is blue."
"Yeah, it is."
"......"
The two of us continue to stare blankly at the sky for no reason.
The blue sky is turning redder by the moment.
Sadly, our clothes didn't dry off.
"I'm heading back."
"Thanks for helping me."
"Can you take it from here?"
"Yeah, I only got a little further to go."
"I see."
"Bye!"
"Bye..."
......
The girl walks away slowly.
From time to time, she turns around and waves at me.
The clattering of the wheels slowly fades away.
She's far too friendly for someone I've just met.
And I guess I approached her pretty casually, too, because of that.
I wonder if I've actually met her somewhere before...
Well, there's no way that could be the case.
That being said, she sure is pretty brazen for a girl.
Since she's staying on the island, we will probably end up meeting again.
And when we do, she'll probably have me completely under her thumb.
That's the kind of feeling I get.
"Achoo!"
It's heavy and having it stick to my body felt disgusting, so I kept my shirt off.
I should probably put it on soon, though.
"Ah."
"Oh."
It's Ryouichi. And as always, he's shirtless again for probably no good reason.
He smiles joyfully after spotting me.
More accurately, he's probably smiling because of how I look.
"Hoo..."
"Stop looking at my body so dubiously."
"So that's how it's going to be, huh?"
"Stop smiling at me like we're buddy-buddy."
"Let's take it slowly this time."
"Take what slowly?!"
"Hey, you two over there. How many times do I need to warn you?"
"Stop walking around naked in public!"
"Geh!"
She shoots bursts of water at us.
There's quite some distance between us. Just how powerfully is that Hydro whatever water gun?
"Let's run for it!"
"Y-Yeah!"
"Stop right there, you two!"
"Uaaargh! So this is how it's going to end up, huh?"
"You like this, too, don't you, Hairi?"
"I don't!"
"Haa... haah..."
I'm completely exhausted.
"Ah... my motorcycle's here."
It seems Tenzen actually brought it back here from the mountain.
I give my partner a few light taps and start heading inside... before stopping in my tracks.
Should I really go inside looking like this?
It'll probably shock Umi-chan again.
It'd be weird to go inside half-naked,
but my water-logged shirt feels heavier than ever in my hand.
What should I do?
Go inside without wearing the shirt
Put the shirt on and go inside
"Welcome home."
"I'm home."
"Dinner is ready."
"Thanks, I'm starving~"
"Be sure to wash your hands first."
......
"This fried rice is pretty good."
"Is that so?"
"Hey, Takahara-san! There's a grain of rice on your nipple!"
"Ah, sorry."
"How uncouth."
"Hey, what did you just get me to say? That's disgusting!"
"I nearly reached my hand out to brush away that grain of rice!"
"Ahn..."
"And don't make weird sounds like that!"
"Better yet, why are you naked?!"
"It sure took you a while to notice."
"I didn't notice because nothing seemed out of place."
"I fell into the ocean, you see."
"And just what were you doing that caused you to fall into the ocean?"
"Welcome home."
"Whoa, you are completely soaked. What happened?"
"It's raining."
"Eh?! I better get the clothes I hung out!"
......
"The sky's completely clear! Why'd you lie about that?!"
"Sorry, but I thought you'd get worried if I was wet for no reason."
"I'm not worried the tiniest bit, though."
"So what's the matter? Did you fall into the ocean?"
"Yeah."
"You actually did?! Just what in the world happened?"
"I'm not sure."
"We rode a suitcase and fell into the ocean."
"Ehh..."
"Geez, you're not a kid anymore."
"Sorry."
A live baseball broadcast is playing on the TV.
Kyouko-san is vaguely watching the broadcast.
"Which team are you rooting for?"
"The one that's losing. The red one."
"Ah, I'm with you there."
"The Red Machines have been leading the pennant, but currently they're having a rough time against the Seastars, who are in dead last."
Kyouko-san nods after hearing the announcer.
"I'm rooting for the blue team now."
"Sounds reasonable."
"Takahara-san."
......
"Takahara-san!"
"Eh?!"
"Me?!"
"There isn't another Takahara-san here other than you now, is there?"
"Yeah, I guess not."
"You can take your bath first today. I've already filled the bathtub."
"I'm good."
"You're good...? Doesn't it feel disgusting with your body all sticky like that?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."
Come to think of it, I just let it dry off.
"I completely forgot. Ahaha."
"Sheesh."
"All right, I'll go in first."
"Okay."
"Phew..."
I wash my sticky body.
Even though it was an emergency, to think I'd almost drown...
What a disgrace.
I probably shouldn't go near the ocean anymore.
I guess there's no way to avoid it now that I'm on an island, though.
"Why...?"
Why did I come here again?
It's because Kyouko-san asked me to.
But that was simply an opportunity I took.
I just wanted to go somewhere.
Anywhere would've been okay.
It didn't have to be this island.
But when I looked at the photos that Kyouko-san sent along with the letter...
When I saw the island's scenery in those photos...
I had the urge to come here.
I wonder why.
I take a walk through the courtyard after my bath to cool down.
There's a faint light coming from the storage shed.
It's pretty late already. Is Kyouko-san still working?
I slide open the door, and Kyouko-san looks up from the cardboard boxes that she's packing.
"Is it okay if I go out for a bit?"
"Hm. Where?"
"I just wanted to take a stroll around..."
"Hehe. Why not?"
She gives me a carefree smile.
"Are you still working even though it's this late, Kyouko-san?"
"Yep."
"It must be tiresome."
"I'm just doing what I like to do."
"Take a look at this."
It's a large china plate.
It's covered in soot, but the vibrant colors in the artwork drawn on it still shine through.
I don't know all that much about this stuff, but I can at least tell it's an antique from overseas.
"What's this?"
"Isn't it nice? It took me a day, but it's all nice and pretty now."
It seems she's been working on cleaning it.
"Um..."
"I'm sorry about all this."
"Hm?"
"It kind of feels like I haven't done anything to help."
"Hmm, well, I'll ask for your help soon."
"Soon, huh?"
"Yup."
"Okay, well, off I go."
"Okay."
I'm more or less used to driving this motorcycle at this point.
Just like on my first day here, I'm driving around on the island at night.
When I'm speeding down the road like this, even the muggy summer air feels nice and comfortable.
It's always nice to speed down a road like this.
You don't need to worry about all the difficult stuff.
After all, you can blow past everything in an instant.
I only wish I could do the same with time as well.
There are times when I just want to breeze through it all.
If only you could accelerate past each day like speeding down a road on a bike.
What's that...?
I spot something glowing in the distance. It's in the direction of the beach.
I wonder what it is.
Is the ocean glowing over at the beach?
From this distance, it looks like there's a pale blue light illuminating the waves beating upon the beach.
I head for the light on my motorcycle.
Huh?
The blue glow disappears without me noticing.
The dark, quiet beach simply extends endlessly before my eyes.
No, there's someone here.
And I can just barely make out who it is.
After all, in the short time I've been here, I've found her standing under the night sky, staring wistfully into the distance like that a number of times.
It's Shiroha.
What is she doing here this late at night?
"?"
She turns back, likely having heard the noise of my motorcycle.
"Yo."
"Ah..."
Her face stiffens a little.
"What are you doing...?"
"Just taking a ride."
"I see..."
"Um..."
"What are you doing here, Shiroha-san?"
"Eh?"
"How do you know my name's Shiroha...?"
"Didn't you introduce yourself back when we first met?!"
"Mm~..."
She thinks back.
"Ahh."
It seems she remembers now.
"You're..."
"Haibara Satoshi..."
"No."
"I'm <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON>."
"Sakahara..."
She gets it wrong again.
"So, uh, Shiroha-san..."
"My name."
"Ah, sorry 'bout that!"
Perhaps I'm acting a little too friendly by using her first name.
"It's weird... so don't add the '-san'."
"Eh??"
"Uh, okay."
It seems she wants to forego the formalities.
"So, what is it?"
"Eh?"
"You wanted to ask something."
"Ah, yeah."
"On my way here, I saw you from the deck of the boat, Shiroha-sa... Shiroha."
"Eh?"
She seems surprised.
Well, of course. I, too, would be perturbed if someone I didn't know told me they were watching me from afar.
"......"
And now she's more concerned than she was.
"I didn't really mean anything weird by that."
"I just saw you from the boat."
"Eh?"
"I saw you standing at the port."
"And you were looking up at the sky."
"What were you looking at?"
"I was... just looking at the birds."
"Looking at birds?"
"Yeah."
"Back then..."
Shiroha says as she looks up at the sky as though she's reminiscing about what she saw.
That's right. Back then, she was looking up at the sky just like that.
And on the boat, I saw her from afar.
And again, she's doing the same thing right before my eyes.
It's all pretty strange.
"There were two birds flying above the ocean."
Of course, there aren't any birds in the night sky right now.
Shiroha is simply trying to paint the picture of what she saw that day.
"There were two birds that fell a little behind the rest of the flock."
"It seemed like they were hurt with the way the two of them were flying."
"And... with the way they flew, it kind of felt like they were cheering each other on."
"It's not like it really had any special meaning to it..."
"I just thought it wasn't something you'd see every day."
"Yeah."
I nod naturally.
After all, I had the very same feeling when I looked at those birds on the boat.
......
For a while, the two of us continue gazing up at the sky.
Then, as though she noticed something, she lowers her head.
She's probably feeling embarrassed about something.
"S-So..."
"...what are you doing here?"
"On this island?"
"Well..."
"I'm here to help take care of my grandma's belongings."
"But I think I might've had some other motivation."
"?"
"I can't remember what it was, though."
"Can't remember what...?"
"Well..."
I think I can finally put it into words now.
The reason I came to this island.
That's right. I couldn't remember.
Back in the city, it almost felt like I was drowning or suffocating amid the passage of time.
I wanted to remember.
That's why I came here.
"I couldn't remember how to spend summer vacations..."
"???"
"Um."
"Well..."
How should I ask her?
"How long ago was the summer vacation you enjoyed the most?"
"Eh?"
"A summer vacation I enjoyed...?"
"......"
I asked her a weird question out of nowhere.
She lowers her head a little to think.
"Back when I was a kid... I guess?"
She answers my abrupt question, albeit timidly.
"I see."
"It was when you were a kid, huh? That makes sense."
Long ago.
When I was still young.
I ran about having fun during summers that felt like they'd last forever.
With my family.
With my friends.
No matter how much fun I had, I never ran out of things to do.
The sun simply kept shining down radiantly each and every day.
It's a scene that I had forgotten at some point.
Yet, it's one that I can still remember.
"Ever since I got here, all these fragments of my childhood have been coming back to me..."
"I wonder why."
"It's a little..."
"...exciting."
"......"
"If that's the case, I'm sure that's because..."
"Eh?"
I was more or less talking to myself.
Which is why I'm honestly surprised that I got a response.
"......"
"The island..."
"...may actually be a good fit for you."
"Eh...?"
That's an unexpected response.
"I see..."
The island's a good fit for me.
I guess that might just be it.
Just like how you can get along with people,
the same thing applies to towns and islands.
"I sure hope so."
"Yeah..."
......
Just like that, the two of us stand there for a while longer.
I can just make out some faint lights on the other side of the dark ocean.
They're the lights of a town.
That's where I came from...
"Um..."
"There's one thing I wanted to ask."
"?"
"Um."
"Y-Yeah?"
Whatever she's trying to say has caused her ears to turn red.
Nervous, I keep waiting for her to ask her question.
"Um."
"Yeah?"
"What does it mean that your wings are hurt?"
......
"Eh?"
"Granny said that... you came here to heal your wounded wings."
"Granny?!"
It seems she really did spread that all around the island.
"It's a metaphor."
"A metaphor for what?"
"It just means that a lot of things happened."
"A lot of things happened, so my wings are hurt."
"I can't take flight."
"What does it mean that you're a canary that can't sing?"
......
"Eh?"
"Granny said that... you're a canary who's lost its song."
"Granny?!"
It seems she really did spread that all around the island.
"It's a metaphor."
"A metaphor for what?"
"It just means that a lot of things happened."
"A lot of things happened, so... how should I put it..."
"So I can't sing."
"What does it mean that your fists are broken?"
......
"Eh?"
"Granny said that... you are a boxer who came here to heal your broken fists."
"Granny?!"
It seems she really did spread that all around the island.
"It's a metaphor."
"A metaphor for what?"
"It just means that a lot of things happened."
"A lot of things happened, so... how should I put it..."
That's right...
"I can't fight."
"Are you a host?"
......
"Eh?"
"Granny said that... you are a host who forgot how to flirt."
"Granny?!"
It seems she really did spread that all around the island.
"It's a metaphor."
"A metaphor for what?"
"It just means that a lot of things happened."
"Are you not a host?"
"I don't look like one, do I?"
"I don't know."
"Simply put, it means I'm no good."
"Something like that."
"Something like that...?"
"It's hard to understand, right?"
"......"
"No."
"Eh?"
"That must be tough, right?"
Something echoes faintly inside my head.
It's as though the smile of the girl in front of me and her words are resonating with something in my memories.
I know this moment... this scenery.
I wonder why.
All of this is happening for the very first time,
and yet the scenery around me all feels so nostalgic.
Lit by the moonlight above, the girl's profile strikes me with such a sense of nostalgia that it almost makes me tear up.
That must be...
"Heja pu..."
"...?"
"Heja pu?"
"It's nothing."
"Heja pu..."
"So weird."
One day...
...I will think back on this moment.
It's a really strange premonition.
Just like how one would reminisce about the past.
It's almost like I'm fondly reminiscing about a time that has yet to come.
I don't know how I'll feel when I look back on this,
but when that day comes,
I can more or less imagine how it'll go...
"There I was, on an island I had never visited before."
"The sun had long since sank below the horizon,"
"yet I was standing on the beach, chatting with a girl I barely knew."
"The conversation we had as we stared up at the sky was a silly one, but it's one I'll always fondly remember."
That's how I think it'll go.
And as I think that, it's as though I can see myself on the other side of this dark ocean.
Among the lights of the city, there I am, still embracing those memories.
I wake up a little earlier than usual.
Someone suddenly yells from the living room.
"I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late!"
Umi-chan...?
I head into the living room.
I find Umi-chan getting ready to go outside.
"Where are you going so early?"
"They're gonna have exercises!"
"What exercises?"
"Radio exercises!"
"Hmm."
I guess they have those just about anywhere.
"You going, Onii-chan?"
"Nah, I'll stay home."
"If you go every day, you'll get stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Uh... springs salt...?"
"Springs..."
"Oh, like hot springs bath salt?"
I'm not sure I'd want to use that in the bath durring the summer, though.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"Okay, I'm gonna go now."
"Be safe out there, okay?"
"Okay!"
I watch Umi-chan dash outside cheerfully.
"......"
The cicadas and the sun are already blaring in full force despite how early it is.
It seems it'll be hot out again.
"What you doing?"
"O-Oh."
"Welcome home."
"I'm home."
It seems she's back from the morning radio exercises already.
"Can you..."
"...talk to the bike?"
"Y-Yeah, I actually can."
"Amazing!"
Ah... she actually believed me.
"Give it an order!"
"A-An order...?"
"So exciting... so exciting!"
"L-Let's go, buddy!"
The engine starts all of a sudden!
"No way!"
"S-Stop!"
It stops...
"Waah! Amazing! Amaaazing!!"
"Onii-chan really knows how to talk to bikes!"
"Y-Yeah."
"I need to share this with Kyouko-san!"
"Now hold on. This is going to be a secret between you and me."
"If you let it spill, bad guys are going to take the bike and me away to some laboratory to be dissected."
"Eh... I don't want that..."
"Yeah, I don't either."
"That's why you need to keep this a secret."
"Okay, it's a secret."
Umi-chan nods with conviction.
She then hurries inside the house.
I wonder what she normally does.
Well, I guess I don't really have any idea what I'm doing, either.
"Haa... haah..."
I'm completely exhausted.
I stop in front of the door.
It'd be weird to go inside shirtless,
but my water-logged shirt feels heavier than ever in my hand.
What should I do?
Go inside without wearing the shirt
Put the shirt on and go inside
"Ohh! You're naked..."
"I'm home."
"Why are you naked?"
"I have my reasons."
"Are you at that age?"
"Well, something like that."
"I thought you fell into the ocean."
"Well, I actually did."
"Wow, you're all wet!"
"It started raining all of a sudden."
"Eh?! I gotta get the clothes!"
......
"It's not raining!"
"Liar!"
"Sorry, but I thought you'd get worried if I was wet for no reason."
"I'm only a little bit worried."
"A little bit, huh?"
"Did you fall into the ocean?!"
"Yeah, I did."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure."
"We rode a suitcase and fell into the ocean."
"I don't understand..."
"Yeah, I bet."
I don't really know what that was all about, either.
A live baseball broadcast is playing on the TV.
Kyouko-san is vaguely watching the broadcast.
"Which team are you rooting for?"
"The one that's losing. The red one."
"Ah, I'm with you there."
"The Red Machines have been leading the pennant, but currently they're having a rough time against the Seastars, who are in dead last."
Kyouko-san nods after hearing the announcer.
"I'm rooting for the blue team now."
"Sounds reasonable."
"Onii-chan, the bath's ready!"
"Go in first."
"Hm? You sure?"
"You fell into the ocean."
"Aren't you all sticky?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do feel all sticky."
"But hmm... Taking my bath first, huh...?"
Want to take a bath together?
Let's take it together!
You can take the bath first
"Want to go together?"
"A bath?"
"Hmm..."
"Just kidding~"
"Okay!"
"Wha?!"
"I'll get ready!"
"W-Wait up. That was just a joke."
"I'm at the age where one likes to take baths alone!"
"Is that so?"
"So, well..."
"Maybe next time."
"Mm, okay!"
"Let's take it together!"
"Eh...?"
"That way, we both get to go first."
"Hm, what should I do...?"
Keep asking
I'll just take it later
"Let's take it together!"
"Being the first one in the bath always feels the best!"
"Let's take it together!"
"It feels nice when you're the first person in the bath!"
"Let's take it~... together!"
"Let's――take――it――together!"
"Baths are nice, you know?"
"Let's take a bath together~~"
"Señorita, tomaría un baño conmigo?"
"Let's take a bath together!"
"Mmm..."
"Okay, I'll go."
"All right!"
"Hairi...-kun?"
"Don't worry, there's really no other reason."
"I'm just happy that Umi-chan gets to be the first person in the bath."
"Okay, I'll go get ready!"
And thus, I end up taking a bath with Umi-chan.
"Onii-chan!"
"Wash my hair!"
"I'll wash your back!"
"Hyah! It's in my eyes!"
"The bath felt nice!"
"That was a nice bath."
"Hairi-kun..."
"Yes?"
"You didn't do anything inappropriate, did you?"
"Of course not."
"I didn't have any indecent thoughts at all."
"My eyes were closed the entire time."
"Well..."
"To be honest, I think that's pretty indecent in itself."
"Sorry, that was rather inconsiderate of me. I'll try not to say things like that anymore."
I reflect on my actions.
For having actually squinted.
"Well, actually, I think I'll just take one later."
"I'll just take one later."
"Ehh..."
"I mean, you filled up the bathtub."
"You should get to go first."
"Uhh~..."
"But I filled it up for you, Onii-chan..."
"You won't take one now?"
"I want to watch TV."
"You can take yours first."
"Umyu..."
"Okay, I'll take one first."
Umi-chan heads toward the bathroom.
I watch her leave the room and then return to watching TV.
I wake up a little earlier than usual.
......?
I hear footsteps outside my room.
Someone is running around in the living room.
"Uhyaaah! I'm gonna be late!"
It's Umi-chan.
She's running about frantically.
"You sure are restless for how early it is."
"That thing starts today! I'm gonna be late!"
"What do you mean, 'that'?"
"Radio exercises!"
"Hmm."
I guess they have those just about anywhere.
"You're not going, Hairi-san?"
"I'm not."
"There's gonna be awesome prizes for those who keep a perfect attendance record, you know?"
"Awesome prizes, huh?"
"I bet it's probably stuff like hot springs bath salt or bear ornaments anyway."
"Oh, you're pretty close."
"I am?"
"It's like a combination of those two things."
"A combination of those things..."
I try to imagine.
"Bear salt?"
"What's that?"
"Hot springs ornament..."
"I can't imagine that, either."
"What is it, then?"
"It's bath salt from an exotic hot spring that no one's been in because there are bears."
"......"
It kind of piques my interest.
"Oh, I already made breakfast."
"Thanks."
"Clean up after you're done, okay?"
She says and leaves.
And just as she said, a plate of fried rice is sitting on the table.
It's all wrapped up in plastic wrap.
What a dependable kid.
......
I eat my breakfast by myself.
"It's sour..."
It's citrusy.
The cicadas and the sun are already blaring in full force despite how early it is.
It seems it'll be hot out again.
"What's wrong?"
"O-Oh."
"Welcome home."
"I'm home."
It seems she's back from the morning radio exercises already.
"You were talking, weren't you?"
"And with the bike at that..."
She heard me, huh...?
"Can you talk to the motorcycle?"
"T-That's not really..."
I mean, I was, but still.
"I'm talking to the person standing in front of the bike."
"Eh...?"
"There's no one there, right...?"
"Stop saying weird things."
Right at that moment, the engine starts on its own.
"Hyah! What's going on all of a sudden?!"
It suddenly stops.
"Is there someone here...?"
"Relax. No one's here."
"Yeah..."
She looks at it timidly before trotting her way inside.
I wonder what she normally does.
Well, I guess I don't really have any idea what I'm doing, either.
"Haa... haah..."
I'm completely exhausted.
I stop in front of the door.
It'd be weird to go inside shirtless,
but my water-logged shirt feels heavier than ever in my hand.
What should I do?
Go inside without wearing the shirt
Put the shirt on and go inside
"Welcome home."
"I'm home."
"Dinner's ready."
"Thanks, I'm starving~"
"Wash your hands first, okay?"
......
"This is pretty good."
"Really?"
"Hairi-san, there's a grain of rice on your nipple!"
"Ah, sorry."
"How unsightly."
"Hey, what did you just make me say? Disgusting!"
"I almost reached my hand out to brush away that grain of rice!"
"Ahn..."
"Don't make weird sounds like that!"
"And why are you naked?! You perv!"
"It sure took you a while to notice."
"I didn't notice it because nothing seemed wrong!"
"I fell into the ocean, you see."
"Just what were you doing to fall into the ocean...?"
"Welcome home!"
"Whoa, you're all wet! What happened?"
"It's raining."
"Eh?! I better get the clothes I hung out!"
......
"The sky's completely clear! Why'd you lie?!"
"Sorry, but I thought you'd get worried if I was wet for no reason."
"Worried about you? Why would I...?"
"Come on, at least be a little worried..."
"Haa... So what happened? Did you fall into the ocean?"
"Yeah."
"You actually did?! What happened?"
"I'm not sure."
"We rode a suitcase and fell into the ocean."
"I'm not sure I understand..."
"Yeah, I bet."
I don't really know what that was all about, either.
A live baseball broadcast is playing on the TV.
Kyouko-san is vaguely watching the broadcast.
"Which team are you rooting for?"
"The one that's losing. The red one."
"Ah, I'm with you there."
"The Red Machines have been leading the pennant, but currently they're having a rough time against the Seastars, who are in dead last."
Kyouko-san nods after hearing the announcer.
"I'm rooting for the blue team now."
"Sounds reasonable."
"Ah, Hairi-san, the bath's ready. You can go in first."
"I'm good."
"Didn't you fall into the ocean? Your body's all sticky, isn't it?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do feel all sticky."
"Well, go ahead."
"Thanks."
"Once you're done, be sure to drain the water, rinse the bathtub, and fill it up again."
"Geez, you were so nice just a moment ago and now I get this..."
"Morning..."
"Good morning."
"Today's breakfast is..."
There's a strangely appetizing smell in the air.
"This smell... It's crab!"
"It's crab fried rice."
"Ooh..."
"I do love crab... that's for sure."
"That's great."
I would have liked to eat it as something other than with fried rice.
"But where did you get a crab...?"
"Someone at the harbor gave it to me."
"You can catch crab around here?"
And people will just give you a crab?!
"We have one right here, so I suppose that means you can catch them here."
"If there's anything else you'd like, I'll try adding that into fried rice."
"It has to be fried rice, doesn't it?"
"Of course."
I put Umi-chan's special crab fried rice in my mouth.
The taste of the sea and the crab itself, as well as the fluffy eggs, are properly mixed in with the rice.
It's amazing crab fried rice.
"T-This is delicious."
"Hehe."
"Takahara-san, do you have any foods you like?"
"Hmm."
"Maybe... sasami."
"S-Sasami?"
"Never heard of it?"
"I know what it is. It's that dried out chicken breast."
"Yeah."
"You just don't hear many people say they like it, so I was confused."
"For a second I thought maybe you said sashimi."
"It's low in fats and high in protein, so it's perfect for bodybuilding."
"Wha―"
"Perfect for bodybuilding..."
"......"
"I don't know if it'll help your chest at all."
"?!"
"N-Nobody said anything about that!"
"Sorry, my bad."
After breakfast, Umi-chan jaunts out of the house.
So, what should I do?
For now...
"Um, Kyouko-san."
"I still have this under control."
That was straight to the point.
"I need to sort through a few more things and decide what to keep and what to get rid of."
"I see."
"Though, while you're here, you may as well enjoy Torishirojima."
"There are plenty of fun things to do that you won't find in the city."
"Okay, I'll take you up on that."
She refused my help.
"Maybe she's just being considerate."
Well, there are a number of places I haven't visited yet.
Guess I'll wander around again today.
"I'm back."
"Welcome back, cluck!"
"?!"
"U-Umi-chan?"
"Actually today, cluck!"
"......"
Umi-chan is broken.
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
"What happened?"
"This and that."
"Cluck!"
"Huh?"
There's something rustling around in the corner of the kitchen.
It's a chicken.
I see. That wasn't Umi-chan, it was the chicken.
I was worried that Umi-chan had snapped.
"Why is there a chicken in the house?"
"Cluck."
"It was given to me."
"For sasami."
"It's still in one piece..."
"What are we supposed to do with it?"
"......"
"What should we do?"
"I'd like to take the breast, but..."
"How do we do that?"
"Good question..."
The chicken is walking around the room.
"We could use scissors... on just the breast."
"D-Don't say something so terrifying, please."
"Takahara-san, you like grotesque things, so I'll leave it to you."
"Hold on. I like more mentally grotesque things."
"I don't want to hear about it."
"Huh? Why is there a chicken?"
"It was given to me."
"Are you going to cook it?"
"Eh?"
"You're going to cook it, aren't you?"
"Y-Yes."
"Let me see it."
*Crack*
"?!"
"?!"
"Okay, I'll get it ready over there."
"Would you like to help, Hairi-kun?"
"N-No."
"Then it'll be a little bit."
"......"
"......"
"Oh yeah."
"Umi-chan."
"What is it?"
"Well..."
"It would be best if you didn't get too involved with me."
"......"
"Continue..."
"It would be best if you didn't get too involved with me."
"Eh...?"
This'll do the exact opposite and make her more interested.
That's just how human psychology works.
"Okay, I won't."
"I had a feeling it would be better that way anyway."
"I'll avoid you as much as possible."
"......"
We end up having mortifyingly delicious sasami fried rice for dinner.
It's truly very delicious...
"So this... is what it means to take a life."
I've learned a lesson today.
Since I don't really have anything to do, I decide to just laze around the living room.
"Takahara-san, that bracelet..."
"Eh? Oh, I got it at the candy store."
"I see you've started, too, Takahara-san."
"You have one of these bracelets, too, don't you?"
"I'm a Fighter."
"What do you mean by 'Fighter'?"
"Don't tell me you've stepped onto this path without knowing?!"
"I just thought it would give me more chances to talk to you."
"I will show no mercy!"
"Huh? Did this actually ruin our relationship?"
"Though, it would be shameful to beat up an opponent who doesn't know anything."
"Beat up?!"
"Wearing that bracelet means that you're participating in the 'Islamon Battle.'"
"Once you're a member of the Islamon Battle, you catch the Islamon that inhabit this island and battle them."
"Like a real life Pekémon?"
"That's right."
"If you leave some bait out over night, you can catch them in the morning."
"If you're okay with using mine, I'll lend you a map of their feeding grounds."
"Islamon Battle, huh..."
Participate
Don't participate after all
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
"Please don't die."
"Eh? You mean I could die?"
This is more dangerous than I thought.
"You can obtain the bait you use to catch them at several places around the island."
"Please search around."
"Okay, I'll do my best."
"I'll share the bait I have with you."
"Okay, thanks."
"Huh? Did I just give you something outrageous?"
"What?"
"Panties..."
"Eh?"
"No, it's nothing! It was just my imagination!"
"I don't think I'll join after all."
"I see. I understand."
"You aren't going to stop me...?"
"I don't want anyone who's unmotivated being a part of the Islamon Battle."
"Islamon Battle is not a game."
She looks serious.
I walked around quite a bit today.
I haven't helped with organizing the storage shed even once yet,
but it feels like I'm truly enjoying my summer vacation.
"Fwaah..."
Time to go to sleep.
The sounds of the insects is soothing...
They provide a nice island summer ambiance up to the moment I fall asleep.
Is that the sound of waves I hear...?
Was the ocean that close?
Well, this is an island...
It is surrounded by the ocean...
But this sound...
It seems really distant...
It's nostalgic...
"Morning..."
"Mornin'."
"Today's breakfast is..."
"Eh?"
There's a crab on the table.
It's still moving.
"Crab fried rice."
"But the crab is still moving."
"Yeah, it's still alive."
"Someone at the harbor gave me it."
"But getting it ready is hard..."
"I guess you wouldn't be able to handle a live crab."
"......"
"Go ahead."
"Eh? 'Go ahead'?"
"It's fresh crab fried rice."
"No, like I said, the crab is still moving."
"Umyu..."
"Oh my, what a large crab."
"I'm not sure how to eat it."
"Can't you eat it like that?"
"Like that?!"
"Ah..."
Umi-chan walks away and into the kitchen. I wonder if she remembered something?
She comes back with a pair of scissors.
"That's dangerous, so I'll do it."
"Eh... what are you going to do?"
"This!"
*Chop* *Chop*
"Kyaaaaah!"
She's cutting the crab into pieces while it's still alive!
"Now we just grill it."
"What an extravagant start to the day."
"The people here... have some wild breakfasts..."
Charcoal... is sitting on the table.
"Eh? What's this?"
"Crab..."
"The Katous are terrible at cooking..."
That is... if you consider grilling cooking...
"Oh, the inside part is still a little white, so it should be edible."
"Thanks for the meal..."
Oh man...
Today's breakfast was pretty rough.
Kyouko-san heads out to the storage shed right after breakfast and closes herself in.
Umi-chan heads out to play.
Well, maybe I'll head to the storage shed, too.
"Kyouko-san, I'm here to help."
"I still have this under control."
That was straight to the point...
"I'm back."
"Welcome back."
"Hmm? What do you have there?"
"Cup udon."
"Tonight's dinner."
"It's tasty."
"Umi-chan..."
She's got an adorable little smile on her face.
It makes my chest tighten a little.
"Oh yeah."
"Umi-chan."
"Umyu?"
"Well..."
"It would be best if you didn't get too involved with me."
"......"
"Hmm?"
"It would be best if you didn't get too involved with me."
"Eh...?"
"Onii-chan... hates me."
"Well... I'm sorry..."
"Ah! Forgive me for saying something so weird!"
"I don't hate you! There's no way I could hate you, Umi-chan."
"*Sob*..."
"Come on, let's eat the cup udon."
"Okay..."
I'll pick my words carefully.
That's what I thought at least.
Cup udon for dinner.
One of Kyouko-san's recommendations.
It always tastes good, but... it's just the start of an unbalanced diet.
"It sure is good."
I'll make myself into a man who can cook one of these days.
Since I don't really have anything to do, I decide to just laze around the living room.
"Onii-chan, that bracelet..."
"Eh? Oh, I got it at the candy store."
"Onii-chan, are you going to do it, too?"
"You have one of these bracelets, too, don't you?"
"I'm a Fighter."
"What do you mean by 'Fighter'?"
"You don't know anything?!"
"I just thought it would give me more chances to talk to you."
"I won't hold back."
"Huh? Did this actually ruin our relationship?"
"But I will teach Onii-chan a warrior's pity."
"You mean warrior's mercy."
"That bracelet shows you're in the 'Islamon Battle.'"
"You catch Islamon that live on the island and fight them in the Islamon Battle."
"Like real life Pekémon?"
"Yeah, like that."
"If you put bait out at night, you can catch them in the morning."
"Want a map of where to catch them?"
"Islamon Battle, huh..."
Participate
Don't participate after all
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
"No dying."
"Eh? You mean I could die?"
This is more dangerous than I thought.
"You can get bait here and there."
"Have a look around."
"Okay, I'll do my best."
"I'll share my bait."
"Okay, thanks."
"This too."
"What's this?"
"My panties..."
"They're bait? For Islamon...?"
"They're super effective."
"Yeah, you're right. I definitely understand."
I grasp Umi-chan's panties tightly.
"Indeed, super effective..."
"But I don't want any Islamon that I can catch with these..."
"I don't think I'll join after all."
"Too bad."
"But oh well."
"You aren't going to stop me...?"
"If you don't want to, you don't have to."
"Islamon Battle isn't a game."
She looks serious.
"Morning..."
"Morning."
"Today's breakfast is..."
There's a strangely appetizing smell in the air.
"Crab fried rice."
"Ooh."
"I love crab."
"That's what's most important."
"But where did you get a crab...?"
"Someone at the harbor let me have it."
"You can catch crab around here?"
And people will just give you a crab?
"Eat it while it's hot."
"All right. Thanks for the meal."
I put Umi-chan's special crab fried rice in my mouth.
It's a bit oily.
And the unique flavor of the crab is also quite strong...
"How is it?"
"Oh... it's delicious."
"Hehe."
"There's plenty more, so don't hold back."
"Oh... okay..."
"You're not going to have any, Umi-chan?"
"I had enough while I was making it."
"So you can have all of it."
"Here... I... go..."
Oh man...
Today's breakfast was pretty rough.
I head out to the storage shed after breakfast to ask Kyouko-san about organizing it.
"Um, Kyouko-san, do you need any help organizing all this stuff yet...?"
"I still have this under control."
"I'm back."
"Welcome back."
"Hm? *Sniff*..."
"This smell..."
"You noticed?"
"I got another crab."
"You seemed to like the crab fried rice."
"Y-Yeah..."
"I see. You're so happy you're shaking."
"I'll make you a mountain of it."
"Oooo... ooo..."
Is my inability to say no due to kindness or cowardice...?
Either way, I'm sure it's not to my own benefit.
"Oh yeah."
"Umi-chan."
"What?"
"Well..."
"It would be best if you didn't get too involved with me."
"......"
"Go on..."
"It would be best if you didn't get too involved with me."
"Okay, got it."
She nods in agreement without a second thought.
"I'll call you when the food is ready."
"Other than that, I won't talk to you."
"......"
Dinner is the second coming of this morning's tragedy.
But this time Kyouko-san runs away without eating.
Since I don't really have anything to do, I decide to just laze around the living room.
"Hairi-san, that bracelet..."
"Eh? Oh, I got it at the candy store."
"Oh, so you've started, too, Hairi-san."
"You have one of these bracelets, too, don't you?"
"I'm a Fighter."
"What do you mean by 'Fighter'?"
"You mean you've taken this path without knowing?"
"I just thought it would give me more chances to talk to you."
"I won't show you mercy."
"Huh? Did this actually ruin our relationship?"
"But it might be shameful to beat up an opponent who doesn't know anything."
"Beat up?!"
"That bracelet shows that you're taking part in the 'Islamon Battle.'"
"Once you're part of the Islamon Battle, you catch the Islamon that inhabit this island and battle them."
"Like a real life Pekémon?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"If you lay out bait at night, you can catch them in the morning."
"If you're okay with it, I'll let you borrow a map of their feeding grounds."
"Islamon Battle, huh..."
Participate
Don't participate after all
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
"Don't die."
"Eh? You mean I could die?"
This is more dangerous than I thought.
"You can get the bait used to catch them at various places around the island."
"Try looking around."
"Okay, I'll do my best."
"I'll give you some of the bait I have."
"Okay, thanks."
"Hmm? It feels like I just gave you something outrageous..."
"What?"
"My panties..."
"Hahaha, no way. There's no way panties could be bait."
"That's true. It must have been my imagination."
"Hahahahaha."
"Ahahahaha."
(I-I've been given some dangerous bait...)
"I don't think I'll join after all."
"Okay, then that's that."
"You aren't going to stop me...?"
"If you're not motivated, then you shouldn't be a part of the Islamon Battle."
"Islamon Battle is not a game."
She looks serious.
The cicadas are really loud again this morning.
It's pretty disheartening.
"Morning."
"Good morning."
"Breakfast is ready."
"Thanks. And on today's menu..."
"Fried rice."
"Of course."
"But what's with this color?"
There's this orange tint to the whole thing.
And yet, there's no obvious ingredient that would make it that way.
"What kind of fried rice is this?"
"It's uni fried rice."
"Umi? Well, it is fried rice made by Umi-chan."
"Umi fried rice, huh? Umi-chan's special fried rice."
"How cute."
"Uni, like sea urchin! Not Umi. Who would put their own name on it?"
"U-Uni?"
"They just caught them this morning at the harbor. Isn't that great?"
"What do they normally catch at the harbor?"
"Seafood."
"That's rather vague."
"Uni, huh?"
"I don't like uni."
"They have these thorn-like things."
"Uni... Umi..."
"What's this feeling? I know what you're saying, but it still bothers me."
"Umi has certain quirks."
"And a foul mouth sometimes."
"Ah, you just said something about me."
"I'm Umi. Not uni."
"Not Umi, uni?"
"That's right."
"Wait, no it's not!"
"Not uni, Umi. Not Umi, uni? No, no... not uni."
"This is confusing."
"Don't tease me in weird ways, please."
"Sorry, my bad."
"Umi fried rice, right?"
"That's right."
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
The rich Umi... no, uni flavor makes the fried rice delicious.
"So... Umi-chan went out to play again today."
I'll head out somewhere, too.
"Takahara-san, can I have a minute?"
"What's up?"
"If you have any interesting manga, would you mind lending them to me?"
"Manga?"
"I've read all of what's in the house."
"I went to the bookstore, but they don't have much manga."
"I remembered that you brought quite a few volumes."
"Yeah, but mine are..."
"Oh, that's right."
"You only have ones that are scary or embarrassing."
"I like scary ones, but the embarrassing ones are just ones I got from friends at school..."
"You got them from friends at school? Why are you trying to make such an excuse?"
"I'm just trying to prove my innocence, you know..."
"So, which do you want?"
"I'll try reading one of the embarrassing ones."
"Here you go."
"Thank you."
She sits down and opens the manga.
"You're going to read here?"
"Yes."
"I don't want to be alone if I come across a dirty scene."
"So that's why."
I feel that it'll actually be more awkward if we're together.
"......"
"Hah..."
She seems to have read it all in one sitting.
"This is just my opinion as a woman."
"As a woman?"
"Is that a problem?"
"N-No."
"The main character is pathetic."
"Not being able to choose between two girls."
"That's just how boys are."
"Eh..."
"Takahara-san, have you had an experience like that, too?"
"Yes, I have."
"You don't want to hurt anyone, but you end up hurting everyone."
"Those kind of things happen."
"To adults."
"No way..."
"That's horrible."
"If that's what it means to be an adult..."
"I don't want to grow up!"
She yells.
"T-That was a lie."
"Eh?"
"I haven't had that kind of experience. I go to an all-boys school."
"Why would you tell such a weird lie?"
"I wanted to show off a little, I guess..."
"You're horrible."
"Adults are dirty."
"Sorry."
I end up apologizing profusely until Umi-chan's mood improves.
"Well... fwaaaah..."
I lay out my futon while I yawn.
It's time to hit the sack.
I turn off the light and plop down on my futon.
"......"
I glance over at the manga Umi-chan was reading.
"So it's pervy."
But the male students of the world envy you.
Probably.
"So that's an adult's love."
How nice.
The male students of the world have gotten courage from you.
Probably.
"That's just how boys are."
I... no, the male students of the world are definitely on your side.
Probably.
"I'm going to sleep."
"Oh..."
That's right, I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle...
What should I do?
"Morning."
"Mornin'."
"So... uh."
I look at the table.
"Uni...?"
"How do I make it into fried rice...?"
"Maybe it's not necessary to force it into fried rice?"
"It seems like it'd be difficult to prepare."
"Difficult..."
"But it's cute."
"What?"
"The uni is cute."
"That's..."
"A rather novel thing to say..."
As if in reaction to Umi-chan's words, the uni's spikes start twitching.
"Uni... are cute..."
"But..."
"They're also delicious."
"Those uni."
"?!"
"Don't look at me like I'm not worth believing."
"......"
"............"
"What should we do for breakfast?"
"Cup udon."
"If there's some left...?"
"Alright."
We end up having another unhealthy breakfast.
"Onii-chan, lend me manga."
"Manga?"
"The Wild Strawberry one is okay."
"Where'd you hear about that one?!"
"I saw it hidden in your bag."
"Umm... I'm going to tell you this now,"
"I borrowed that manga from a friend at school."
"Okay, let me see."
"I think it's a bit early for you, Umi-chan."
"Why don't I give you a different one?"
"It's okay, fun manga has no age limits."
"Well, I guess girls do mature quickly, so maybe it's okay."
"Thanks."
She sits down and opens the manga.
"Eh? You're going to read here?"
"Yep."
"Can I?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Haa... hawawawaaa..."
She slams it shut before even finishing a single volume.
"This manga..."
"Yeah?"
"It's pervy..."
"I-Is that so...?"
"Pervy! Onii-chan is pervy!"
"Hey, don't be so loud!"
"Pervy! Pervy!"
"Hairi-kun...? What did you do?"
"Kyouko-san! I-It's a misunderstanding!"
"Did you do something that could cause a misunderstanding?"
"Of course not!"
"Onii-chan is pervy."
"Ah! Umi-chan! Fix this misunderstanding before leaving!"
"Hairi-kun, care to explain what's going on?"
"Umm, she was just reading this manga."
"I'll investigate."
"Ha... hya... hwawa..."
"Umm... Kyouko-san...?"
"Hairi-kun... you are a boy, aren't you?"
"Y... You re... read this kind of... erotic manga."
"~~~~~~~..."
"Eeeh...? It isn't that erotic..."
"T-This... isn't erotic?!"
"Boys these days... sure are something..."
Her face goes completely red and she leaves the room.
She's... incredibly pure of heart.
"Morning."
"Morning."
"Breakfast's done."
"Thanks. And on today's menu..."
"Fried rice."
"Of course."
"What are these... Thorns?"
There are black, needle-like objects poking out all over.
"What kind of fried rice is this?"
"Uni fried rice."
"Umi fried rice...?"
"So you mean it's fried rice that reflects the current state of Umi-chan's heart..."
"How ominous..."
"What was that?"
"Who would put their own name on fried rice?"
"U-N-I fried rice."
"Oh, uni..."
"Uni..."
"Hold on, aren't you supposed to remove the shell when cooking it?"
"The shell's supposed to be a weapon that protects it from predators."
"It would have been a lot of work to remove it."
"So I thought we'd just eat it all together."
"You can't really eat the shell."
"Then, what should we do about breakfast?"
"Don't ask me..."
"......"
"......"
"There's still... cup udon."
"Alright."
It's a delicious, but unhealthy breakfast.
"Hairi-san, do you have a minute?"
"What's up?"
"Lend me some manga."
"Manga?"
"You brought several different ones, didn't you?"
"Like that romance manga...?"
"Umm... I'm going to tell you this now,"
"I borrowed that manga from a friend at school."
"Why are you making excuses?"
"I-I'm not sure."
"Anyway... here you go."
"Thanks."
She sits down and opens the manga.
"Eh? You're going to read here?"
"Yeah."
"Is that not okay?"
"Well, I guess it's fine."
"I borrowed that manga from a friend at school."
"You're so insistent."
"Hah..."
She seems to have read it all in one sitting.
"This manga..."
"Yeah?"
"It's interesting."
"Really?"
"I didn't think a girl would actually like it that much."
"I really got into it the more I read..."
"I just had to know who they'd end up with."
"So this is what they call adult love."
"Yeah, that's right."
"Hairi-san, have you had an experience like that, too?"
"Yes, I have."
"You don't want to hurt anyone, but you end up hurting everyone."
"Those kind of things happen."
"To adults."
"So cool..."
"Hairi-san, you're an adult, aren't you?"
She looks at me with sparkles in her eyes.
They're dazzling.
"I was lying..."
"Eh?"
"I haven't had that kind of experience. I go to an all-boys school."
"If I did..."
"That'd be a problem..."
"Why tell such a weird lie...?"
"I wanted to show off a little, I guess..."
"Lame..."
"So lame..."
"Don't say it twice..."
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
"Today's fried rice..."
"It tastes good, but it has this strange smell."
"It's fermented soybeans."
"Oh, that's it. That's the smell."
"I was given some home-made fermented soybeans."
"They make a lot of different things on this island, don't they?"
"Seems that way, doesn't it?"
"If there's something you'd like to eat, I'll prepare it."
"Something I want to eat, huh?"
"Bread, maybe."
"Bread fried rice?"
"Definitely not. Don't put it in fried rice."
"I normally eat bread in the morning. I always did at home."
"Bread?"
"Hmm. But..."
"Bread doesn't really go with miso soup, does it?"
"It certainly doesn't."
"Then what type of soup does it go well with?"
"Well, probably not something watery like miso."
"Something thicker would be better."
"Like corn potage."
"......"
"Potage, he says."
"Is potage and plain bread okay?"
"Bread is bread, but..."
"How about a croissant?"
"A croissant, he says."
"And to drink..."
"Yeah?"
"Cappuccino."
"Cappuccino, he says."
"Lastly."
"Fresh orange juice."
"Fresh orange juice, he says."
"Why are you repeating everything?"
"I can't not react to all of these unsuitable words pouring out of your mouth."
"Okay, okay, I'll do my best."
"Eh? You're going to get them?"
"You said you want to have them, didn't you?"
"That's true."
"But you don't need to force yourself."
"Oh, come on."
"Do you want to have them or not?"
"I-I do."
"Then I'll prepare them."
"T-Thanks."
I decide to walk around the island again after breakfast.
I see a lot of school uniforms today.
It's supposed to be summer vacation, but maybe there's something going on at the school?
It seems that all the island's students are on the boat.
"......"
A lone girl hops off just as the boat is about to leave.
It's...
"Yo."
"Eh?!"
She's really surprised.
So much that she jumps a few centimeters off the ground.
She must not have been expecting anyone to call out to her.
"Umm."
"Why?"
"Eh...?"
"Why did you get off the boat?"
"No reason..."
"Skipping?"
"If so, why did you get on in the first place?"
"......"
"I think I know what's going on here."
"You want to be able to tell someone that you went to school."
"And that someone is probably a family member."
"So you got on the boat to at least make that part true..."
"How..."
She's going to ask how I knew.
"Because I've done something similar."
"In the past."
"Well, I think everyone has done something like that."
......
"She's gone."
She's already walking off in the other direction.
When she said "How..." a second ago, she was already prepping to run away.
Honestly, there was something else I wanted to ask her.
Why was she looking at the boat with such regret?
But there's no way I can ask her that.
Also, I think I might understand how she feels.
"......"
I should get going, too.
"Takahara-saaan."
"?"
"Just so you know, the bath appears to be broken."
"It'll be fixed tomorrow."
"And the shower's not working, either?"
"No."
"Then I guess I won't take one today."
"That's not sanitary."
"You can't just skip bathing in the summer."
"Well, it's not like I can wash myself in the kitchen sink."
"Maybe I can take one in the elementary school pool's shower."
"It's night time. It'll be cold."
"That's true."
Though, someone else was there at night.
"I hear there's a public bath near the town hall."
"Let's go there."
"A public bath."
Sounds kind of interesting.
"But if it's near the town hall, that's a bit far to walk. And it's dark out."
"Takahara-san, you have a motorcycle, don't you?"
"You mean my Cub."
"I think I could ride on the back."
"But that's for luggage."
"But it does have footholds for riding with two people..."
"Okay, are you fine riding double with me?"
"Do you really need to fuss about the details?"
"This is an island."
"O-Okay..."
"So there's nothing to worry about since this is an island, huh?"
"Are you going to be okay, Umi-chan? You aren't scared?"
"I'll be fine."
"This sure feels nice."
"Doesn't it?"
"I'm going to get my license when I turn sixteen."
"Cool."
"Takahara-san, Takahara-san."
"Yeah?"
"Let's go all the way to the ocean."
"Eh?"
"I don't think you'll be able to see anything."
"It's fine."
"Let's go look."
"Yeah, okay."
After cruising along the coast a while, we stop and walk around the beach for a little.
Umi-chan is grinning from ear to ear, apparently pleased with the experience.
"Shall we head back?"
"But what about the bath?"
Though they may not be open anymore.
"Well, I suppose it's okay to skip one day, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Then let's go home."
"It doesn't look that hard to ride a motorcycle."
"I think even I could do it..."
"No."
"Fine."
We're in front of the public bath.
"It's a bit crowded, isn't it?"
"It sure is."
"Your house as well?"
"The water stopped coming out all of a sudden."
"Sounds like everyone is having the same problem."
"Maybe something happened at the water station."
Well, maybe I'll see someone I know here...
"Ah."
"?"
I turn around.
"Ah."
"......"
It's someone I know.
"......"
Shiroha gives a slight bow and heads inside.
I give a slight bow in return, although rather delayed.
"......"
"Did you hit puberty?"
"What?!"
"Phew."
That bath felt good.
But it seems the water isn't working anywhere, so it was excessively crowded.
I'm used to being surrounded by naked dudes, but it's not something I particularly enjoy.
......
"Umi-chan sure is taking her time."
It's not like I can go home without her.
"......"
"Oh, you sure took your time, Umi-cha..."
"......"
"It was pretty normal..."
"I think."
"Yeah, you're right."
"......"
She leaves.
How did I mistake those two?
On top of that, she had just gotten out of the bath...
"......"
"......"
"Uwah."
"There you are."
"Did you hit puberty?"
"What?!"
I'm laying on my futon, spacing out.
"So this is the last day of July..."
It feels like I haven't done anything since I've gotten here.
Maybe it'd be better to choose a goal and work towards that.
"But what...?"
No one can give me that answer.
Well, it'd actually be terrifying if someone suddenly responded.
"I'm going to sleep."
There's still a lot of summer vacation left.
There's no need to rush things and decide what I'm going to do right this minute...
"Oh..."
That's right, I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle...
This is the one thing I need to decide right now.
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
"The cup udon is delicious again today, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's yummy."
"But I want fried rice."
"It'd be nice if I could make it right."
"Onii-chan, is there something you want to eat?"
"Something I want to eat, huh?"
"Bread, maybe."
"Bread fried rice?"
"Normal bread."
"That's right..."
"Some elegant music plays as the scent of butter wafts up from a croissant."
"Enticing steam wafts off of the corn potage and cappuccino."
"Some fresh orange juice for dessert."
"Onii-chan, you're so cool."
"I want to have that, too."
"I'll look for it."
"Eh, you'll look for it?"
"Cooking is my job."
"Is it?"
"Yep."
"Then I'll be counting on you."
"Aye, aye, sir!"
I decide to walk around the island again after breakfast.
"Onii-chan."
"?"
"The bath is broken."
"And the shower's not working, either?"
"Nope, it's not."
"Then I guess I won't take one today."
"Eww... You've been sweating, so that's dirty."
"Well, it's not like I can wash myself in the kitchen sink."
"There's a bath house."
"Let's go."
"A bath house?"
Sounds kind of interesting.
"We may as well go given the situation."
"Onii-chan, motorcycle."
"You want to go on my motorcycle?"
"I want to ride on the back."
"That's fine, but it's actually a luggage rack."
"It's okay. OK."
"Really? Then, you wanna go?"
"Yeah."
I ask Kyouko-san where it is and we head there.
It's near the town hall.
"It's a bit crowded, isn't it?"
"It's packed tight."
"Your house as well?"
"The water stopped coming out all of a sudden."
"Sounds like something happened at the water station."
Well, maybe I'll see someone I know here...
"Ah."
"?"
I turn around.
"Ah."
"......"
It's someone I know.
"......"
Shiroha gives a slight bow and heads inside.
I give a slight bow in return, although rather delayed.
"......"
"Your lover?"
"No way!"
"Phew."
That bath felt good.
But it seems the water isn't working anywhere, so it was excessively crowded.
I'm used to being surrounded by naked dudes, but it's not something I particularly enjoy.
......
"Umi-chan sure is taking her time."
It's not like I can go home without her.
"......"
"Oh, you sure took your time, Umi-cha..."
"......"
"It was pretty normal..."
"I think."
"Yeah, you're right."
"......"
She leaves.
How did I mistake those two?
On top of that, she had just gotten out of the bath...
"......"
"......"
"Uwah."
"There you are."
"Your lover?"
"No way!"
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
"Today's fried rice..."
"Has a strange smell."
"I put fermented soybeans in."
"Okay."
"But this tastes more like you put fried rice in fermented soybeans."
"It's because I was given some home-made fermented soybeans."
"No... that's not what I meant..."
"If there's something you'd like to eat, I can get it."
"Something I want to eat, huh?"
"Bread, maybe."
"Bread fried rice?"
"Definitely not. Don't put it in fried rice."
"I normally eat bread in the morning. I always did at home."
"Eh... bread..."
"Bread doesn't go well with miso soup."
"It certainly doesn't."
"Then what kind of soup does it go well with?"
"Well, probably not something watery like miso."
"Something thicker would be better."
"Like corn potage."
"......"
"Potage?!"
"So potage and plain bread is okay?"
"Bread is bread, but..."
"How about a croissant?"
"A croissant?!"
"And to drink..."
"Yeah?"
"Cappuccino."
"Cappuccino?!"
"Lastly."
"Fresh orange juice."
"Fresh orange juice?!"
"Why are you surprised?"
"I couldn't hide my confusion with how stylish and out of character it all is."
"Well, I'll do my best."
"Eh? You're going to get them?"
"You said you want to have them, didn't you?"
"That's true."
"But you don't need to force yourself."
"Oh, come on."
"Do you want them? Or do you not?"
"I-I do."
"Then I'll get them."
"T-Thanks."
I decide to walk around the island again after breakfast.
"Hairi-san."
"?"
"The bath seems to be broken."
"And it won't be fixed until tomorrow."
"And the shower's not working, either?"
"Nope."
"Then I guess I won't take one today."
"Eww... No way... It's summer, you know?"
"Well, it's not like I can wash myself in the kitchen sink."
"Maybe I can take one in the elementary school pool's shower."
"It's night. It's cold."
"That's true."
Though, someone else was there at night.
"Apparently there's a public bath near the town hall."
"Let's go."
"A public bath."
Sounds kind of interesting.
"But if it's near the town hall, that's a bit far to walk. And it's dark out."
"Hairi-san, don't you have a motorcycle?"
"You mean my Cub."
"I could ride on the back."
"But that's a luggage rack."
"Don't sweat the small stuff."
"This is an island."
"O-Okay..."
"So there's nothing to worry about since this is an island, huh?"
"Are you going to be okay, Umi-chan? You aren't scared?"
"I'll be okay."
"This feels nice."
"Doesn't it?"
"I'm going to get a license when I turn sixteen."
"Cool."
We're in front of the public bath.
"It's a bit crowded, isn't it?"
"I wonder why?"
"Your house as well?"
"The water stopped coming out all of a sudden."
"It seems to be out everywhere."
"Maybe something happened at the water station."
Well, maybe I'll see someone I know here...
"Ah."
"?"
I turn around.
"Ah."
"......"
It's someone I know.
"......"
Shiroha gives a slight bow and heads inside.
I give a slight bow in return, although rather delayed.
"......"
"Puberty?"
"What?!"
"Phew."
That bath felt good.
But it seems the water isn't working anywhere, so it was excessively crowded.
I'm used to being surrounded by naked dudes, but it's not something I particularly enjoy.
......
"Umi-chan sure is taking her time."
It's not like I can go home without her.
"......"
"Oh, you sure took your time, Umi-cha..."
"......"
"It was pretty normal..."
"I think."
"Yeah, you're right."
"......"
She leaves.
How did I mistake those two?
On top of that, she had just gotten out of the bath...
"......"
"......"
"Uwah."
"There you are."
"Puberty?"
"What?!"
"Morning."
"Good morning."
"Fwaaah."
Huh?
There's nothing on the table.
"No breakfast today?"
"There is. Please wait a minute."
Umi-chan opens the fridge and pulls something out.
Just what kind of fried rice is it going to be today?
"Here you go."
"......"
There's a rectangular object in front of me.
"This is... a juice box?"
"What's with this?"
"I was able to fulfill your request."
"My request? What's this?"
"Please look."
"'Farm fresh coffee milk.'"
"It's cappuccino."
"Eh?"
"This isn't cappuccino."
"But it is coffee, isn't it? This cup of chino thing."
"I-I guess so."
She's not completely wrong.
"What's this?"
"It's potage."
"It's miso soup."
"Please look closely. There's corn in it."
"Putting corn in it doesn't make it potage."
"Oh, is that so?"
"I thought maybe potage was just adding corn to soup to make it thick."
What incredible perception.
"Well, for starters, this isn't even thick."
"Then how about I make it thick?"
"Please don't."
"So, what's this other thing?"
"Fresh orange juice."
"......"
I stare at the packaging.
"It's about to expire."
"Fresh is written in big letters."
"Yeah, it has the word fresh on it. It also states that it's only 3% juice."
So that's why there are three packs.
This is quite the spectacle.
"Sorry."
"I really did look, but there wasn't any for sale."
"No, it's okay. Thanks."
"It's delicious in its own way."
"But I really did want some bread..."
"Oh, that just finished cooking."
"Eh?"
She baked me some bread?
Am I getting a croissant?
There's no way it could be croissant juice, right?
"Here."
"Normal bread..."
"I'm sorry."
"I couldn't find any croissants."
"I looked all day yesterday."
"That long?!"
"I thought there might be some croissant juice, so I looked, but they didn't have that, either."
"Boy, am I glad they didn't."
"But you did all that?"
She searched everywhere in order to satisfy my selfishness.
"I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be."
"Anyone would get tired of eating fried rice over and over."
"Thank you."
I drink all of the juice packs as I eat my bread.
It's not bad.
It reminds me of a school lunch for some reason.
"......"
"What should we do going forward?"
"Should I prepare what I normally do?"
"Please don't do that."
"Then I'll expand my scope and search near the mountain today. Maybe I'll manage to find a croissant."
"Croissants don't grow in places like that!"
"You don't need to keep looking."
"Eh?"
"Well..."
"Fried rice is probably good enough."
I say as I scratch my nose.
Why am I embarrassed?
"Really?"
"For some reason, your fried rice gives me a lot of energy."
"Eh?"
"O-Of course it does."
"It gives you one hundred times more energy."
She seems happy.
I head out to the storage shed to ask Kyouko-san if she needs any help after breakfast.
"Huh? The door's closed...?"
That's surprising.
I was sure she'd have started organizing already.
Maybe she went to another island meeting and hasn't returned yet.
"Oh well, guess I'll go somewhere, too."
Unlike during the day, when night falls, I can hear the chorus of insects around me.
Why does hearing their cries here feel so refreshing?
It's the same summer insects, which makes it strange.
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
There's delicious looking fried rice on the table for dinner.
This is always more delicious than those Chinese restaurants.
"Nom, nom..."
Where did this girl learn so much about fried rice?
Her affection for fried rice runs deep.
"......"
"?"
"What is it?"
"Nothing..."
Crap, I was staring at her.
Does she not like being watched?
Maybe it really is true.
Stare
Don't stare
"......"
"Seriously, what is it?"
Keep staring
Stop staring
"......"
"It's bothering me, so could you please stop?"
"......"
"Grr~~~"
Stare even more
Stop already
"......"
"You pervert!"
"What's wrong with you?"
"Sorry!"
"I heard girls don't like being watched while they eat. I was wondering if it's true."
"It's not simply at the level of whether I like being watched or not..."
"It makes me want to murder you."
Conclusion:
Don't stare at girls while they're eating.
I'll stop.
I should show a little tact.
After dinner──
Umi-chan is sitting against a pillar, reading a manga that I brought.
It's none of my business, but I'm a bit curious.
"Don't you have any summer homework?"
"I do have some."
"Are you doing it?"
"What is this all of a sudden?"
"No reason, I was just wondering."
"It seems like you're always either outside playing or inside eating fried rice."
"I'm not living that simple of a life!"
"I'm progressing as planned."
"I'm not like you, Takahara-san."
"As far as I can tell, you haven't worked on any of your homework."
"I intended to do it, but..."
I either get tired as soon as I start or random thoughts distract me from it...
"I'm the type of person who does their best when their back is against the wall."
"Are you really the type of person who does their best when their back is against the wall?"
"Eh, why do you ask? That's when I do my best."
"Well, whatever you say."
"Oh, but there is this one item I'm worried about."
"You can ask me."
"Is it math? Or maybe Japanese?"
"I haven't decided what subject to do my free research on."
"Free research, huh?"
"You love making fried rice, so why not compile ways to make delicious fried rice?"
"That's a bit..."
"Doesn't that make me seem like a glutton?"
"That's how you are, so..."
"I am not!"
"I just love fried rice. I'm not a glutton."
She's at that age.
"Doing a report on morning glories might be simple enough... I think?"
"Morning glories... hmm."
"Isn't that something a kid in a younger grade would do?"
"I have an idea. It doesn't have to be morning glories."
"I should try growing green onions instead."
"Green onions?"
"I buy a lot of green onions at the supermarket everyday, so the old lady suggested that I should grow them myself."
"She has no business sense, does she?"
"I was thinking about trying it eventually."
"And if it's also for my research, that's two bird with one stone."
"Alright, I'm going to grow green onions."
"Ooh!"
"......"
I can imagine a mountain of green onions piled on the table.
I'll do my best to eat them.
It's cool out, so maybe I'll take a walk.
"This should be enough for now."
I put away the homework that I sort of made progress on.
I can't let Umi-chan see too much of my bad side.
But using my brain for too long gets exhausting.
Maybe it's about time I head to bed.
I lay out my futon.
"Fried rice research... I thought it was a good idea."
I think about Umi-chan's free research topic as I lay out my futon.
Well, maybe picking something is part of the assignment.
"Fwaaa~... ah..."
"Good night..."
I plop down on my futon.
For some reason, I seem to be exhausted from walking around today.
Drowsiness immediately assaults me...
"Oh... that's right..."
I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle...
But I'm tired...
What should I do?
"Morning."
"Mornin'"
"Fwaaah."
Huh?
There's nothing on the table.
"No breakfast today?"
"Hehehe."
Umi-chan opens the fridge and pulls something out.
"Here ya go."
"......"
There's a rectangular object in front of me.
"This is... a juice box?"
"What's with this?"
"I answered Onii-chan's request."
"My request? What's this?"
"You said it yesterday."
"Yesterday..."
"'Farm fresh coffee milk.'"
"It's cappuccino!"
"This is... miso soup with corn in it...?"
"It's corn potage!"
"Orange... juice?!"
"Fresh oranges!"
"It's only 3% juice and it's about to expire..."
"Which means the croissant..."
*Ding!*
"Oh, it's done."
"Eh?"
She baked me some bread?
Does that mean I'm actually getting one? A croissant?!
"H-Here you go..."
"Charcoal..."
"I overcooked it..."
"And if I had to guess, this was probably originally normal bread."
"I couldn't find any croissants."
"I looked a lot yesterday, but I couldn't find any."
"Thanks for doing this for me."
"No problem."
"Eat up."
"Yeah, let's eat together."
"But let's skip the bread."
"Yeah!"
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
Cup udon makes its return tonight.
It's tasty as always.
"Slurp... Slurp..."
"......"
"?"
"What's up?"
"Nothing..."
Crap, I was staring at her.
Does she not like being watched?
Maybe it really is true.
Stare
Don't stare
"......"
"?"
Keep staring
Stop staring
"......"
"Ngh~... Why are you staring at me...?"
"......"
"Ngh~~~"
Stare even more
Stop already
"......"
"A-Are you going to do something pervy...?"
"N-No way!"
"I heard girls don't like being watched while they eat. I was wondering if it's true."
"Yeah, I don't like it."
"I... really don't like it, so stop."
"Okay, sorry."
Conclusion:
Don't stare at girls while they're eating.
I'll stop.
I should show a little tact.
After dinner──
Umi-chan is sitting against a pillar, reading a manga that I brought.
It's none of my business, but I'm a bit curious.
"Don't you have any summer homework?"
"Hmm... I do."
"Are you doing it?"
"I am."
"That's amazing. You're always playing outside so I was worried that you hadn't started yet."
"I have a proper schedule."
"What about you, Onii-chan?"
"I've never seen you do it."
"I'm the type of person who does their best when their back is against the wall."
"Amazing!"
"Ah... your blind faith is dazzling..."
I head to my room after that...
"Umm... is this where I left off?"
I decide to do my homework.
I put my pen to the completely untouched assignment.
"Morning."
"Morning."
"Fwaaah."
Huh?
There's nothing on the table.
"No breakfast today?"
"There is. Hold on."
Umi-chan opens the fridge and pulls something out.
Just what kind of fried rice is it going to be today?
"Here."
"......"
There's a rectangular object in front of me.
"This is... a juice box?"
"What's with this?"
"I was able to find what you requested."
"My request? What's this?"
"Take a good look."
"'Farm fresh coffee milk.'"
"It's cappuccino."
"Eh?"
"This isn't cappuccino."
"But it is coffee, isn't it? This cup of chino thing."
"I-I guess so."
She's not completely wrong.
"What's this?"
"It's potage."
"It's miso soup."
"Look closely. There's corn in there."
"Putting corn in it doesn't make it potage."
"So, what's this other thing?"
"Fresh orange juice."
"......"
I stare at the packaging.
"It's about to expire."
"It says fresh in big letters."
"Yeah, it says fresh. And it also says that it's only 3% juice."
So that's why there are three packs.
This is quite the spectacle.
"All you do is complain..."
"No, it's okay. Thanks."
"But I really did want some bread..."
"Oh, that just finished cooking."
"Eh?"
She baked me some bread?
Am I getting a croissant?
"Here."
"Normal bread..."
"I couldn't find any croissants."
"I looked all day yesterday."
"That long?!"
She searched everywhere in order to satisfy my selfishness.
"Thank you."
"It's fine."
"We should eat things other than fried rice sometimes."
"I think it'll increase our appreciation of fried rice."
It seems that fried rice is the reason behind everything.
But...
"Thanks."
I drink all of the juice packs as I eat my bread.
It's not bad.
It reminds me of a school lunch for some reason.
"......"
"It's going to be fried rice tomorrow."
"I'll try to think up something special."
"Since I'm good at fried rice."
"............"
If fried rice is what she's good at, it might be dangerous to have her cook anything else.
"Okay, I'm looking forward to it."
"Leave it to me."
She seems happy.
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
And we're back to fried rice for dinner.
There's also the smell of miso wafting from the table.
Miso... fried rice.
"Nom, nom..."
Why is this girl so infatuated with fried rice...?
"......"
"?"
"What?"
"Nothing..."
Crap, I was staring at her.
Does she not like being watched?
Maybe it really is true.
Stare
Don't stare
"......"
"Seriously, what?"
Keep staring
Stop staring
"......"
"It's bothering me, so stop."
"......"
"Grr~~~"
Stare even more
Stop already
"......"
"You pervert!"
"Just what is it?"
"Sorry!"
"I heard girls don't like being watched while they eat. I was wondering if it's true."
"It's not at the level of if I like being watched or not..."
"It makes me want to kill you."
Conclusion:
Don't stare at girls while they're eating.
I'll stop.
I should show a little tact.
After dinner──
Umi-chan is sitting against a pillar, reading a manga that I brought.
It's none of my business, but I'm a bit curious.
"Don't you have any summer homework?"
"Yeah. Some."
"Are you doing it?"
"What's with you all of a sudden?"
"No reason, I was just wondering."
"It seems like you're always either outside playing or inside eating fried rice."
"That's not all I do~."
Huh? Did she take that as a compliment?
"I'm completing my homework on schedule."
"I'm not like you, Hairi-san."
"As far as I can tell, you haven't done any of your homework."
"I'm the type of person who does their best when their back is against the wall."
"Hmm..."
"Are you doubting me?"
"Well, you're free to say whatever you want."
"Oh, but there is this one item I'm kind of worried about."
"You can ask me."
"Is it math? Or maybe Japanese?"
"I haven't chosen the subject to do my free research on."
"Free research, huh?"
"You love making fried rice, so why not compile ways to make delicious fried rice?"
"That's..."
"It's impossible to do in one summer, so suggestion denied."
"How long would it take...?"
"Well, morning glories might make for an easy research project."
"Morning glories... hmm."
"That's something kids in younger grades do, isn't it?"
"I know. It doesn't have to be morning glories."
"I could try growing green onions instead."
"Green onions?"
"I could put them in the fried rice, too, so two birds with one stone."
"Alright, I'm going to grow green onions."
"Ooh!"
"......"
We circled back around to fried rice in the end.
I can already imagine the day when fried rice smelling of green onions is sitting on the table.
I'll do my best to eat it.
"Morning..."
There's nobody here...
The living room is quiet.
She's not back from radio exercises yet? Or did she go out to play somewhere?
At any rate, I'm hungry.
"Hmm..."
I head straight for the kitchen.
"Umm..."
"Oh, there it is."
I locate the cup udon.
"It's something I avoided back when I was a swimmer, but..."
It has totally put me under its spell these last few days.
There's nothing on the table.
She's not back from radio exercises yet? Or did she go out to play somewhere?
It doesn't seem like she prepared breakfast.
I thought it was strange to have fried rice every morning, but now that it's not here, it's actually kind of sad.
It feels like I'm being trained.
Well, whatever.
Maybe there are some leftovers...
None.
Well, guess I'll do without it for today.
What should I do?
"Kyouko-saaan."
"Yes, I'm coming."
She comes out from inside the storage shed.
"It seems that Umi-chan isn't here, so there's no breakfast..."
"Is there anything I could eat?"
"I see. I've got an idea."
"You'll make something?"
"You can have this."
It's cup udon.
"Where did you just pull that from...?"
"It's delicious."
"I'm sure it is, but..."
Having instant food in the morning...
I didn't really eat them that often back when I had club activities.
"Are there any restaurants that serve breakfast?"
"Hmm."
"I believe there's a cafeteria down the hill."
"So that place is open in the morning?"
"Yes. If I recall, they have a breakfast menu."
"A breakfast menu..."
"A morning set."
"That old guy at that place making a morning set..."
"I can't really imagine it, not to mention it sounds kind of scary."
"I wonder what they have on their menu."
I'm truly curious.
What should I do?
Eat cup udon
Go eat the morning set
I'm a bit scared, but I'm curious.
I'll go see what it's like.
The cafeteria certainly seems to be open.
The pointlessly fancy signboard is out front.
"Drink + bread and salad - 400 yen"
Perfectly reasonable.
"Welcome."
I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be empty, but there's no one else here.
"Please give me one morning set."
"Sure."
"Umm."
"?"
"About the drink..."
"Can I choose it?"
"No."
"Is it coffee?"
"No."
It's not coffee? And I can't choose?
"Then what is it...?"
"Green tea."
"Green tea?"
Green tea with a morning set...
Strange.
"Is it like a green tea latte?"
"It's normal green tea."
"Okay."
Guess not.
......
I wait a while.
*Beep*
"Here you go."
It's bread, scrambled eggs, and salad.
It's extremely orthodox.
The bread is a croissant that seems to be freshly baked.
So this is where you were, croissant.
What was the point of Umi-chan's hard work?
But the drink...
It is without a doubt green tea.
Couldn't they come up with something better than green tea?
It's the only thing out of place.
Well, I'll give the food a try.
"Nom."
"?!"
"This is..."
"Delicious!"
"Nom, nom."
"So good."
"This croissant is unusually delicious!"
"But I have to drink green tea with it!"
"What the heck."
"It's remarkably frustrating."
"Thanks for the meal..."
"......"
To think, I couldn't have coffee with such a delicious croissant.
But to have green tea of all things.
He wouldn't even give me water, so I had to drink the green tea.
The frustration...
"It could be addicting."
"Takahara."
"?!"
"You have the same strange feeling, huh?"
"Tenzen."
"Where it feels like you're being tested by the irrationality of the situation."
"It's somehow addicting."
"That it is."
"So you do get it."
"Phew..."
"It seems I've finally found a kindred spirit on this island."
"......"
I think back on things as I walk.
Now that I think about it calmly...
I won't be going back.
"I wonder if Tenzen is seriously addicted to that..."
"Guh."
"So frustrating."
"I can't get enough of this frustration."
"Guh."
Well, should I head somewhere else while I'm out?
"Cup udon."
"Time to eat..."
Skipping a meal isn't good for your stamina.
And it's the most important thing to combat the summer heat.
I put in hot water and wait three minutes.
"Well... time to eat."
I wait the required length of time and then open the lid.
"*Slurp*... *Sluuuurp*..."
"Wow! D-Delicious!"
"There are certainly things in here that aren't good for an athlete's body, but wow!"
"The mere action of daring to take in such things..."
"It's like practicing by tormenting my own body..."
"I can't get enough!"
"This... suddenly gives me the urge to go running to burn off the calories!"
It's a breakfast that leaves me speechless.
"Thanks for the meal."
I finish off the soup and take a deep breath.
Well, what should I do today...?
"Hairi-kuuun."
"Yes?"
"Your friend is here."
"My friend...? At this time of day?"
The one waiting at the entrance is...
"Yo."
"What do you want at this hour?"
"Want to go fishing?"
"Fishing?!"
"Night fishing."
"Heh."
I've never gone fishing at night.
It piques my interest.
"Sure."
"I'm heading out for a little."
"Okay."
"Oh, by the way..."
"?"
Something hasn't felt right since he showed up.
"Why are you wearing clothes?"
"Oops."
Ryouichi scratches his head, embarrassed.
"It really is weird, isn't it?"
"No, it's not strange, but it also kind of is. I'm not sure how to put it."
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's because it's cold at night."
That's a very straightforward reason.
I thought he might have had some policy about being half-naked, but that wasn't the case at all.
It really is too cold to walk around at night half-naked.
Maybe I should have worn another layer, like a jacket.
"So..."
"Guess I'll take it off after all."
"Why?!"
"Well..."
Ryouichi looks vacantly at the sky.
"The night sky... seems to be expecting it."
"The night sky..."
"You're crazy."
"Stop praising me."
What should I do?
I don't really care if this guy catches a cold, but I don't want to be associated with him.
"Oww!"
"What's wrong?"
"Something hit my nipple."
"Don't say nipple. It was probably just a bug."
"No, it's... a ball of paper?"
There's something written inside.
"It's nighttime, so I'll refrain from using the loudspeakers."
"But I'm watching."
We both look up at the steel tower soaring into the night sky.
"Could it be Nomiki?"
She shot a paper pellet from that distance?
I can faintly make out a silhouette.
She's there at this hour?
"She can see us even though it's night?"
"Must be her night vision scope."
"Her night vision scope?"
"Why does she have such a burning sense of duty?"
"Who knows."
"Maybe she's actually pretty lonely?"
"Gwah."
"So coooold."
It seems he was shot with cold water.
"There's no way she could hear us from there, is there?"
"What?"
......
"No way."
"Damn, I'm cold. She shot me with ice water."
"I'm going home."
He suddenly starts holding himself, disheartened, and starts to flee.
"H-Hey. What about night fishing...?"
"I'm leaving."
......
"He left."
I look at the steel tower...
I can sort of make out a small shadow.
I should head home before she shoots me, too...
Could she really hear us from there?
You're stupid
I love you
I can see your panties
Stay silent and strip
"You're..."
"Gwah?!"
She shoots water into my mouth before I can even finish my line.
"*Cough*"
She's too strong.
"I..."
"I was just going to say 'You left too soon, Grandma.'"
"Wasn't that cruel?"
"I just wanted to yell into the night sky as I thought about my dead grandma."
A ball of paper comes flying toward me.
I open it up.
"Sorry, I didn't know the circumstances."
"......"
I turn towards the steel tower.
"Well, you see..."
"I was lying."
*Splash*
"Gwah."
She shot me with ice water.
"So cold."
I'm going home.
The suddenness should surprise her.
"I."
"......"
Ahem.
"I-I lo..."
"*Cough*"
Even if it's a joke, I'm embarrassed.
"I lo... ve."
"Yo... u."
"~~~~~"
You're just messing around.
At least say it smoothly, Takahara Hairi, you wuss.
Oww.
A ball of paper flies toward me.
"You're being creepy, so hurry home."
"Sorry."
"Pan..."
"I can see your panties."
......
"Oww."
A ball of paper flies at me.
"I'm wearing pants right now."
"No way."
In that case...
I'll show you my ultimate technique.
"I can see your bra!"
"......"
I can see Nomiki fall over herself atop the steel tower in the distance.
Hehe.
Time for the finishing blow.
"I can see your pores!"
I got cocky.
Just a little.
"......"
"......"
"What did you say you can see?"
"Umm... her pores..."
"Fully enjoying your island life is what's most important."
"Sorry."
Nomiki seems to have something akin to a hatred for half-naked men.
Actually, though, I also have this feeling Ryouichi just gets on her nerves...
"......"
I feel like stirring things up.
I don't want to get shot with ice water, but...
I don't, but... I'm a little excited.
"Alright."
I take off my shirt.
There is nothing but skin underneath, of course.
My nipples are finally meeting the starry night sky.
I turn towards the steel tower, or maybe the sky, spread my arms, and puff my chest out.
"Bring it!"
"Bring it."
"Bring it on."
"......"
"?"
"......"
"?!"
"......"
"Bring it..."
"Dosukoi."
"Sorry."
"Dosukoi."
"You've got it wrong."
"Dosukoi."
"Forgive me."
"I was actually interested in night fishing..."
I thought I might discover something new and different.
But the ocean at night is kind of scary.
It's endlessly deep and dark...
It feels like it's going to pull you in...
"......"
I can't help but think back on unpleasant memories.
"I'm going to sleep..."
"Haa..."
I feel depressed.
I'll sleep to forget...
"Oh..."
That's right...
I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle...
What should I do...?
"Morning."
"Good morning."
Umi-chan is sprawled out across the table.
"What's wrong?"
"Catch a cold?"
"It doesn't seem so."
"But I feel kind of sluggish."
"Maybe it's heat exhaustion."
"Heat exhaustion... That's probably it."
"But because of this, I can't prepare breakfast. I'm sorry."
"That's fine."
"Though, you should probably eat something, Umi-chan."
"Ugh. I don't feel like eating."
"Alright."
"I'll look for something that'll revitalize you."
"Are you sure?"
"You should rest, Umi-chan."
"Thank you."
I went and said something cool, but...
But where can I find something revitalizing?
It seems that Umi-chan gets ingredients from the harbor when she's out doing radio exercises.
I'm at the harbor.
Is everyone done fishing already? There's barely anyone around.
"Hello."
"......"
The grim fishermen gives me a suspicious look.
......
It feels kind of ruthless around here.
Even the cat is staring daggers at me.
Umi-chan gets things from them every day, so I had imagined something a bit more friendly.
"Grr..."
"I'm not going to take yours."
"Nyah."
"How did Umi-chan get things...?"
Maybe she just said 'fish, please,' and got some.
I guess that's my only option.
"Fish, please."
"......"
"Go to the fish dealer."
"Okay."
I'll look for a fish dealer...
"Are you the kid who's staying at old lady Katou's place?"
"Oh, yes, I am."
"I see."
"......"
I can tell he's mulling over something as he stares at me.
"Heartbreak is tough, isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"Wait, what?!"
"You had your heart broken, didn't you?"
"That's why you came to this island."
"No, no. He's depressed because he failed to get into college, right?"
"I heard his beloved pet chihuahua died."
"Sure, let's go with one of those."
"Oh yeah, is the girl from your place not coming today?"
"Umi-chan seems to be feeling a bit under the weather."
"So I'm here in her place..."
"What?!"
"What happened?!"
"I think she's got heat exhaustion."
"This is great for heat exhaustion. Take it."
"That's... eel?!"
"Yeah."
"You can catch eel in the ocean?"
"Of course."
"It tastes different than river eel."
"Huh."
"Are you sure you want to give me something so expensive?"
"It's because you're taking care of that wonderful girl."
"That girl helped save my marriage."
"She fixed my stiff shoulders."
What in the world has Umi-chan been doing?
"Okay, I'll gladly take it."
"Alright."
The fishermen prepared the eel for me on the spot.
They even grilled it in their own special sauce.
This will definitely revitalize her.
"I'm back, Umi-chan."
"Huh? Umi-chan?"
"Umi-chaaan, I brought breakfast."
There's no response.
Is she not here?
Oh, there's a note on the table.
"Umm..."
"'I'm fine now, so I went out to play.'"
"I see..."
So she wasn't in as bad a shape as I thought.
"That's great."
"But..."
This freshly grilled eel is giving off such a wonderful smell.
"Time to dig in."
I eat it.
"D-Delicious..."
"Eel can be this soft and warm?"
"And that secret sauce... I might get addicted to it."
I thoroughly enjoy the eel.
I can beat the summer heat with this.
"Thanks for the meal."
"Now..."
"I guess I'll go somewhere, too."
"I'm back."
"Huh? Umi-chan?"
She usually comes to greet me.
"Oh, Hairi-kun."
"Umi-chan was tired, so she's taking a nap."
"Huh? Even though she said she was over her heat exhaustion?"
"Yes. It seems she's just exhausted from playing."
"Ehh?"
"That's right, she had heat exhaustion, didn't she?"
Then I shouldn't make to much noise and let her have some peace and quiet.
Though, I do need to eat dinner.
At times like these, when there's none of Umi-chan's fried rice, I have to go out.
I decide I'll eat out somewhere and leave.
Though, if I'm going to go somewhere, my only option is the cafeteria.
That's...
I can vaguely see a silhouette atop the steel tower.
It's probably Nomiki.
"Hey."
I can faintly tell that she's waving back.
"Do you want to get dinner?"
......
There's a pause.
A piece of paper comes flying toward me.
"Sure. Wait there."
Nomiki shows up after about ten minutes.
"What are you doing at this hour?"
She's got a sour look on her face.
"That's my line."
"I'm just keeping watch."
"Keeping watch...?"
"You're at an age when people are normally keeping an eye on you."
Not that I'm one to be talking.
"Your parents will worry."
"......"
Nomiki smiles faintly.
"No need to worry. I live alone."
"Eh?"
As usual, there are no other customers in the cafeteria.
Nomiki and I sit at a table and have a late dinner.
"My parents aren't dead or anything. They're alive and well."
"I'm from the mainland and am just staying here."
"Kind of like you, Takahara."
"I live alone in an apartment."
"There are apartments here?"
"Just one building."
"It was originally used as a dorm for the town hall, but nobody uses it anymore."
"So I'm the only person staying there."
"T-That's quite a unique situation."
"Aren't you lonely?"
"Eh..."
"Well, it is what it is."
Is she trying to say she's making the best of the situation?
Or that she's lonely?
On the way home...
"No matter what time it is, a number of the lights on the island are always on."
"I like looking at them from up on the steel tower."
"I see."
"Hmph..."
"Sorry for talking about something weird."
"No need to be."
......
"Look."
I point at the sky.
"The stars?"
"Yeah."
"The stars are twinkling so bright."
"Yet you're looking at the lights of the town."
"......"
"I suppose so."
"The stars are so far away."
"Yeah."
"But the lights in this town may not be all that close, either."
"True..."
"......"
"......"
"See ya."
"Yeah."
......
"......"
Now that I think about it, that was a pretty awkward conversation.
Well, whatever.
Looks like I have some time to waste.
Ryouichi was talking about night fishing yesterday...
Guess I'll head to the beach.
There's no one here.
It's also pitch black.
No one would be out fishing at this hour, would they?
"?"
Huh...? There's somebody sitting on the rock wall.
It's a tall girl with shoulder-length black hair.
She seems to be alone, staring out at the sea.
I'm not sure if she seems lonely or suspicious...
I'm curious.
I timidly approach her.
The closer I get, the more unnatural she seems.
Maybe it's my imagination, but her hair looks soaking wet.
It's kind of like something out of a horror movie.
I'm excited, but also a bit scared.
"Umm."
"?!"
When I suddenly call out to her, the girl's shoulders shake and she turns around.
And her head pops off.
"Hya!"
"What is it?"
Her voice is unexpectedly husky...
"Huh?"
"Tenzen?"
"That's right."
"What are you doing?"
"That's my line."
"Your head... or rather, your hair just popped off..."
"Oh, this? I see... Of course you'd be surprised."
As he says that, he picks up the thing I mistook for hair at his feet.
"This is seaweed."
"I see."
"Yeah..."
"That it is..."
I don't get it.
"I'm doing my night training."
"If you put seaweed on your head like this, it'll cool a hot head."
"It's perfect for when you're deep in thought."
"I-I see..."
I really don't get it.
"Why not give it a shot?"
He holds out the seaweed.
Refuse
Give it a shot
"I refuse."
I reply immediately.
"Hmph. I understand. If you ever feel like trying, let me know."
"Yeah, sure."
I aimlessly wandered around and ended up running into a complete weirdo.
I head home.
"I might be a little interested."
"Good to hear!"
Tenzen cracks a slight smile.
"I have some reserve seaweed."
"Reserve seaweed..."
The seaweed he gives me is slimy and wet.
I hesitate, but end up putting it on my head like Tenzen.
"......"
"......"
This is...
"It really does help clear your mind of various things."
It's fairly refreshing.
"Doesn't it?"
"......"
"......"
"So, what were you thinking about?"
"Me?"
"Nothing much."
"Just what kind of special training I'll do tomorrow."
"I see."
Something utterly meaningless.
Later that night...
"Zzz... Zzz..."
"Ngh~... fried ri~ce..."
"......"
Bu~~~zz...
Bu~~~zz...
"Where are you...?"
One of "them" is here for my blood.
I haven't been bitten yet, but if I let my guard down...
It'll get me.
"Only one way to end this."
I stick my arm out in front of me and hold up the soft inner part.
"Come on, bring it."
"When you come to feed, it'll be the last thing you ever do..."
I put forth the ultimate meal and wait.
Nothing.
"............"
"So you ran away?"
"I'm going to sleep."
"Phew..."
"Zzz... Zzz..."
Bu~~~zz...
"Uwaaaaaah!"
"If you're going to bite me, just do it!"
"Shit... What a dirty way to fight."
"Is your plan to wear me down mentally?"
"Why is the sound of you flying around near my ear so creepy?"
I turned on the lights, but there's no sign of it.
"............"
"Oh..."
That's right, I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle...
If I have time to fight a pointless battle with a mosquito, I can go out and do that.
Bu~~~zz...
"Ngaaaaaaaaaaah!"
In the end, it never did bite me, but it did chew up all my sleep time...
"Morning."
"Morning~..."
Umi-chan is sprawled out across the table.
"What's wrong?"
"Catch a cold?"
"No... my body feels heavy~..."
"Maybe it's heat exhaustion."
"Maybe~..."
"Don't push yourself."
"I'll try to find something that'll revitalize you."
"Onii-chan... really?"
"Go rest, Umi-chan."
"Okay... I will..."
I went and said something cool, but...
But where can I find something revitalizing?
It seems that Umi-chan gets ingredients from the harbor when she's out doing radio exercises.
I'm at the harbor.
Is everyone done fishing already? There's barely anyone around.
"Hello."
"......"
The grim fishermen gives me a suspicious look.
......
It feels kind of ruthless around here.
Even the cat is staring daggers at me.
Umi-chan gets things from them every day, so I had imagined something a bit more friendly.
"Grr..."
"I'm not going to take yours."
"Nyah."
"How did Umi-chan get things...?"
Maybe she just said 'fish, please,' and got some.
I guess that's my only option.
"Fish, please."
"......"
"Go to the fish dealer."
"Okay."
I'll look for a fish dealer...
"Are you the kid who's staying at old lady Kanou's place?"
"Oh, yes, I am."
"I see."
"......"
I can tell he's mulling over something as he stares at me.
"Heartbreak is tough, isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"Wait, what?!"
"You had your heart broken, didn't you?"
"That's why you came to this island."
"No, no. He's depressed because he failed to get into college, right?"
"I heard his beloved pet chihuahua died."
"Sure, let's go with one of those."
"Oh yeah, is the girl from your place not coming today?"
"Umi-chan seems to be feeling a bit under the weather."
"So I'm here in her place..."
"What?!"
"What happened?!"
"I think she's got heat exhaustion."
"This is great for heat exhaustion. Take it."
"That's... eel?!"
"Yeah."
"You can catch eel in the ocean?"
"Of course."
"It tastes different than river eel."
"Huh."
"Are you sure you want to give me something so expensive?"
"It's because you're taking care of that wonderful girl."
"That girl helped save my marriage."
"She fixed my stiff shoulders."
What in the world has Umi-chan been doing?
"Okay, I'll gladly take it."
"Alright."
The fishermen prepared the eel for me on the spot and I brought it home.
They even grilled it in their own special sauce.
This will definitely revitalize her.
"Ngh~... grilled eel in the morning..."
"Thinking about it, I suppose it is kind of a heavy meal, isn't it?"
It's not something you'd eat when you're already weak.
"No, I'll eat it..."
"There's no need to force yourself, okay?"
"Onii-chan went to the trouble of getting me it."
"Nom nom..."
"Yummy."
Umi-chan takes her time eating the grilled eel.
After she finishes, she finds a cool spot to lay down.
"Good night..."
"Yeah, enjoy your nap."
If I stay here, I might bother her, so I guess I'll go out.
"Morning."
"Morning~..."
Umi-chan is sprawled out across the table.
"What's wrong?"
"Catch a cold?"
"No... it's nothing like that..."
"I feel kind of sluggish..."
"Maybe it's heat exhaustion."
"Heat exhaustion..."
"But... I have to make breakfast..."
"Don't push yourself."
"I'll try to find something that'll revitalize you."
"Really...?"
"You should rest, Umi-chan."
"Alright, I will..."
I went and said something cool, but...
But where can I find something revitalizing?
It seems that Umi-chan gets ingredients from the harbor when she's out doing radio exercises.
I'm at the harbor.
Is everyone done fishing already? There's barely anyone around.
"Hello."
"......"
The grim fishermen gives me a suspicious look.
......
It feels kind of ruthless around here.
Even the cat is staring daggers at me.
Umi-chan gets things from them every day, so I had imagined something a bit more friendly.
"Grr..."
"I'm not going to take yours."
"Nyah."
"How did Umi-chan get things...?"
Maybe she just said 'fish, please,' and got some.
I guess that's my only option.
"Fish, please."
"......"
"Go to the fish dealer."
"Okay."
I'll look for a fish dealer...
"Are you the kid who's staying at old lady Kanou's place?"
"Oh, yes, I am."
"I see."
"......"
I can tell he's mulling over something as he stares at me.
"Heartbreak is tough, isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"Wait, what?!"
"You had your heart broken, didn't you?"
"That's why you came to this island."
"No, no. He's depressed because he failed to get into college, right?"
"I heard his beloved pet chihuahua died."
"Sure, let's go with one of those."
"Oh yeah, is the girl from your place not coming today?"
"Umi-chan seems to be feeling a bit under the weather."
"So I'm here in her place..."
"What?!"
"What happened?!"
"I think she's got heat exhaustion."
"This is great for heat exhaustion. Take it."
"That's... eel?!"
"Yeah."
"You can catch eel in the ocean?"
"Of course."
"It tastes different than river eel."
"Huh."
"Are you sure you want to give me something so expensive?"
"It's because you're taking care of that wonderful girl."
"That girl helped save my marriage."
"She fixed my stiff shoulders."
What in the world has Umi-chan been doing?
"Okay, I'll gladly take it."
"Alright."
The fishermen prepared the eel for me on the spot and I brought it home.
They even grilled it in their own special sauce.
This will definitely revitalize her.
"Grilled eel in the morning..."
"So heavy..."
"Yeah..."
It's not something you'd eat when you're already weak.
"Hairi-san, you can have it."
"I'm going to sleep a little more."
"Ah, okay. Enjoy your nap."
It'd be a waste to leave it as is, so I decide to eat it.
"Delicious..."
"The fat is so sweet and mouth-warming."
I feel really revitalized.
I can beat the summer heat with this.
"Thanks for the meal."
"Now..."
I should keep quiet since Umi-chan is sleeping.
"Guess I'll go somewhere."
"Ngh."
"It's chychy."
"Chychy."
Umi-chan has had her hand in her clothes and been whispering suspiciously for a while now.
"Cheery?"
"Don't ask if I'm cheery while I'm itching myself. Are you a pervert?"
"What's wrong?"
"It's chychy. Itchy. I got bitten by mosquitos."
"Ah."
"So you say chychy when you're itchy."
"First time I've heard it."
"D-Do you really need to worry about the details?"
"It seems there were mosquitoes last night."
"Yeah, there were."
"Are you okay, Takahara-san?"
"Yeah. They didn't bite me at all."
"Eh, no way."
"They got me here and here... I got bit all over."
"I don't have any bite marks."
"I guess they didn't come to bite me in the first place..."
"Eh?"
"They bite me almost every day."
"Come to think of it, I heard there are smells mosquitoes like, and they focus on people with those."
"They're focusing their attacks on me?!"
"Maybe you have delicious blood."
"Ngh... I don't like this one bit!"
"Ah, it's a mosquito."
It's buzzing around in a circle in the air.
It seems it's finally made up its mind and heads toward Umi-chan.
"It's coming!"
"Shoo, shoo."
"It's divebombing you."
*Buzz*
It continues to attack Umi-chan despite her efforts to swat it away.
This sight reminds me of...
"Look, it's El Dorado, the promised land we've been seeking."
"Onward, to the mosquito paradise!"
"Please don't compare people to weird things!"
"The mosquito seems pretty desperate, so I thought it might be something like that."
"Regardless, being liked isn't such a bad thing... probably."
"You just think this has nothing to do with you."
"What's not bad about being liked by mosquitoes?"
"You don't like it because you just see it as a mosquito."
"What are you talking about?"
"A mosquito is a mosquito."
"Think of it as a little vampire."
"Huh...?"
"Hmm..."
"A vampire?"
She seems to be thinking it over.
"A blond-haired German vampire."
"A blond-haired German vampire."
"And he can't get you out of his head."
"A blond-haired German who can't get me out of his head."
"He looks at you with enchanting eyes."
"A blond-haired German. Enchanting eyes. Can't get me out of his head..."
"He sneaks into your room at night and whispers in your ear."
"Gently whispers in my ear at night. Blond hair. Enchanting eyes."
"Umi-chan, you're beautiful. Let me suck your blood."
"......"
"Y-You're terrible..."
"Your word choice and your acting, they're all magnificently terrible."
"I-I thought they were fine."
"If you're going to keep building up the fact he's a blond-haired German, you need a little more of a certain something."
"What is this 'something'?"
"You know, more... like that."
"Like what?"
"......"
"......"
"Je t'aime..."
"Like that."
"Ha."
"Je t..."
"Please don't hold your stomach and laugh."
"Girls swoon when men are direct like that."
"For starters, je t'aime is French."
"D-Do you really need focus on the details?"
"Anyway, I'm sacrificing myself by attracting all the mosquitoes, so I would like it if you would be more grateful from now on."
"Sorry, sorry. Thank you."
"Please keep up the good work."
Per usual, I have some cup udon and take a break.
Per usual, I eat the morning fried rice (?) and take a break.
Per usual, I eat the morning fried rice and take a break.
I'm watching the news on TV.
"I'm heading out."
"I'm heading out."
"I'm heading out."
I hear Umi-chan's cheerful voice from the entrance.
Then...
*Pssshhh*
Sounds like she's putting on bug repellent.
*Pssshhh*
*Psshhh*...
*Psshhh*...
*Pssshhh*
That's a lot!
"Okay, I'm heading out."
"Okay, I'm heading out."
"Okay, I'm heading out."
*Pssshhh*
She sprays once more for good measure.
But no matter how many times she sprays it, it doesn't change how long it works.
"I guess I'll head out, too."
I turn off the TV and walk to the entrance.
The sun is beating down again today and the cicadas are loud.
"Alright."
*Pssshhh*
I put on some bug repellent like Umi-chan did.
"Phew."
"I feel cheery."
Umi-chan is feeling ecstatic as she feels up her own body.
"Chychy, huh?"
"Yep, chychy."
"I can't help but hear 'cheery'."
"Really?"
"Stop scratching."
"I know. But... but..."
"I can't help but scratch."
"Your insistence doesn't change anything."
"You've been feeling itchy all day, haven't you?"
"It's itched all day."
"Which means I probably have new bites."
"Bug repellent only works for so long."
"But you're turning red because you're scratching so much."
"That's true."
"You're a girl. Aren't you worried about getting scars?"
"Eh..."
"Why are you talking about me being a girl all of the sudden?"
"Wahaha."
"Now it's your face turning red."
"It is not!"
"What would you know about girls? You go to an all-boys school."
"Anyway, stop scratching."
"But whenever I start thinking about it, it just keeps itching."
"You could distract yourself with something else."
"Distract myself..."
"Takahara-san, do you have something interesting for me to do?"
"There's the unreasonable request."
"I want a story interesting enough to make me forget the itchiness."
"That's so sudden."
An interesting story...
"Here goes."
"Okay."
"So, the neighbors put a fence around their house."
"So you're going cliche."
"Thief Version."
"T-Thief version?"
"So, the neighbors put a fence around their house."
"Give me a break."
"O-Okay..."
"In other words, the thief's neighbors put up a fence around their house, so he couldn't sneak in and said 'give me a break.' Just because of a wall."
"I understand."
"The thief ended up unable to sneak into the neighbor's house."
"Would he even be that troubled because a wall was put up in the first place?"
"Well, it's a joke."
"But there are so many weird parts..."
She's thinking.
Unexpectedly, she seems to have forgotten about the itchiness.
"Thief Version Part 2."
"Part 2?"
"So, the neighbors put a fence around their house."
"There's a fence around my house, too."
"A big fence."
"I can't get out."
"Hahahaha."
"I understand what you said, but I don't get what's funny."
"Is this what they call an American joke?"
"Something like that."
"Sorry. I asked you to do something impossible."
"Hahahaha..."
"Oh, but the itchiness went away."
"It seems to have disappeared while I was thinking of all the ways to respond to your story."
"Yay. Thank you so much."
It's a quiet night.
I listen to the sounds of the insects.
And lay down on my futon.
I start thinking.
The room is dark with the lights off.
Putting the anti-itch medicine on Umi-chan...
I wanted to rub it on again...
I wanted to rub it on again...
I remember that day... when I took a bath with Umi-chan...
"Hey, hold on! Takahara Hairi!"
Calm down, I'm a normal, healthy high school boy!
I'm supposed to love big titties!
Don't lose sight of yourself! Umi-chan is a relative!
Huh? But if she's my cousin, couldn't we get married...?
No!
Calm down! Hairi!
I agonize into my futon...
If I'd rubbed it on her, Kyouko-san would have definitely made that phone call...
She'd tell them I was getting up to no good with a little kid.
With that hanging over me, I'd be forced to go home.
That would be beyond bad.
I need to restrain myself a little.
As I think about such things...
"Thief Version Parts 1 through 6..."
"What happened to them?"
I don't know.
Now I'm curious.
Even though I'm the one who said them.
Really... What happened to them...?
As I think about such things...
I can't sleep.
That was so frustrating.
She looked unfazed.
She kept a poker face the whole time.
"My... joke..."
"My... American joke..."
I did achieve my goal of making her forget her itchiness, but...
That's not quite how I wanted to pull it off.
"So frustrating."
I'll make her laugh one day.
As I think about such things...
I find myself falling asleep.
"Ha...!"
But I suddenly wake up.
I remember that I need to put out some Islamon Battle bait.
What should I do...?
"Ngh."
"It's itchy."
"Ngh~... So itchy~."
"What's wrong?"
"Mosquitoes bit me..."
"Onii-chan, are you okay...?"
"Yeah. They didn't bite me at all."
"Amaaazing."
"Eh? R-Really?"
"I got bit here and other spots."
"Hey, Umi-chan, don't lift up your clothes."
"You're a girl."
"But I can't put on the medicine."
"My hand won't reach some places."
"Onii-chan, put it on me."
"Ah, hey, don't turn your butt towards me."
"Ngh~... It's chychy~."
"Maybe Kyouko-san is in the storage shed..."
"Onii-chan, please~..."
"Uh..."
Put it on her
Make her do it herself
"Okay, turn and show me the itchy parts."
"Yaaaaay."
"Be sure to put the itchy parts in front of my face."
I should close my eyes.
Using my mind's eye... I rub the medicine on Umi-chan.
"Hyaaaa, that spot doesn't itch."
"S-Sorry. Around here?"
"Myaaaaah! Don't rub it on weird places!"
"J-Just where did I rub it?!"
"A little... lower..."
"Here... maybe?"
"Hyaa, t-that spot..."
"It feels cool and good, Onii-chan~."
"No, Umi-chan, you need to learn to do this yourself."
"Ngh~ That's so mean~."
"I'll do my best."
"That's the spirit."
"Then hold my clothes."
"Wait... what...?"
"Hurry."
"Ngh..."
This is the result of my own volition, so I have to help.
"L-Like this?"
"Hold it up a little higher."
"About here?"
"Go a little higher."
"About here?"
"Hairi-kun...?"
"Eh?"
"What... are you doing?"
"Onii-chan, more."
"More... what?"
"N-No! I was just..."
"Onii-chaaan."
"I need to call my sister..."
"Wait! Hold iiiit!"
It takes quite a while to clear up this misunderstanding...
"Onii-chan."
"What's wrong?"
"It itches."
"Did you get bitten some more?"
"Could you put some medicine on?"
"Hold on..."
I glance sideways and spot Kyouko-san.
"Please don't make me..."
Kyouko-san is looking at the phone.
This is dangerous...
"Umi-chan... have Kyouko-san put the medicine on."
"Okay."
She quickly agrees and heads over to Kyouko-san.
However unfortunate that may be...
"Ngh."
"Chychy~."
"Chychy."
Umi-chan has had her hand in her clothes and been whispering suspiciously for a while now.
"Cheery?"
"I'm not some pervert who feels cheery while itching herself."
"What's wrong?"
"It's chychy. Itchy. Mosquitoes bit me."
"Ah."
"So you say chychy when you're itchy."
"First time I've heard it."
"D-Don't worry about the details!"
"It seems there were mosquitoes last night."
"Yeah, there were."
"Are you okay, Hairi-san?"
"Yeah. They didn't bite me at all."
"Eh?! That's not fair..."
"They got me here and here... I've got bites all over."
"I don't have any bite marks."
"I guess they didn't come to bite me in the first place..."
"Cheater."
"I don't think you're using that word correctly."
"They come and bite me almost every day..."
"Come to think of it, I heard there are smells mosquitoes like, and they focus on people with those."
"They're focusing their attacks on me?!"
"Maybe you have delicious blood."
"Ngh... I don't like this..."
"Ah, it's a mosquito."
It's buzzing around in a circle in the air.
It seems it's finally made up its mind and heads toward Umi-chan.
"It's coming!"
"Shoo, shoo."
"It's divebombing you."
*Buzz*
It continues to attack Umi-chan despite her efforts to swat it away.
This sight reminds me of...
"Look, it's El Dorado, the promised land we've been seeking."
"Onward, to the mosquito paradise!"
"Don't compare people to weird things!"
"The mosquito seems pretty desperate, so I thought it might be something like that."
"Regardless, being liked isn't such a bad thing... probably."
"As if there's anything good about being liked by a mosquito!"
"You don't like it because you just see it as a mosquito."
"What are you saying?"
"A mosquito is a mosquito."
"Think of it as a little vampire."
"Vam...?"
"Hmm..."
"A vampire... huh?"
She seems to be thinking it over.
"A blond-haired German vampire."
"A blond-haired German vampire!"
"And he can't get you out of his head."
"A blond-haired German! Who can't get me out of his head!"
"He looks at you with enchanting eyes."
"A blond-haired German! With enchanting eyes and can't get me out of his head...!"
"He sneaks into your room at night and whispers in your ear."
"Gently whispers in my ear at night. Blond hair. Enchanting eyes..."
"Umi-chan, you're beautiful. Let me suck your blood."
"Wow..."
"Ah, your heart skipped a beat."
"I-It did not!"
"It wouldn't skip a beat over something like that!"
"Je t'aime~..."
"Wow..."
"Your heart skipped a beat."
"It did not!"
"Anyway, I'm sacrificing myself by attracting all the mosquitoes, so you need to be grateful from now on!"
"Okay, please keep up the good work."
"I really hate this!"
"Je t'aime."
"Wow..."
"Ngh~..."
"I feel cheery."
Umi-chan is feeling ecstatic as she feels up her own body.
"Chychy, huh?"
"Yeah, chychy."
"I can't help but hear 'cheery' when you say that."
"Pervert..."
"Stop scratching."
"I know. But... but..."
"How can I not scratch...?"
"Your insistence doesn't change anything."
"You've been itching all day, haven't you?"
"It's itched all day..."
"I definitely have new bites."
"That sucks."
"But you're turning red because you're scratching so much."
"You're a girl. Aren't you worried about getting scars?"
"Even if you say that..."
"Then what should I do?"
"You could distract yourself with something else."
"Distract myself..."
"Hairi-san, do you have something interesting for me to do?"
"There's the unreasonable request."
"Tell me a story interesting enough to make me forget the itchiness."
"That's so sudden."
"If you don't, I'll scratch."
"That's a novel threat."
An interesting story...
"Here goes."
"Go."
"So, the neighbors put a fence around their house."
"So you're going cliche."
"Thief Version Part 3."
"Part 3?"
What happened to parts 1 and 2?"
"You want to know?"
"I'm curious."
"Thief Version Part 4."
"Now part 3 is gone, too!"
"You wanted to know about it?"
"I'm curious!"
"Oh well, guess I've got no choice."
"Okay, Thief Version Part 6."
"Hold on a minute!"
"There was a 1 through 4, but you skipped 5?"
"How strange."
"This is confusing! It's actually making me mad!"
"What about your chychy?"
"My chychy... Huh?"
"The itchiness is gone."
"That's what's most important."
"Yay. Thanks."
"Morning..."
I walk into the living room with a yawn and find breakfast on the table.
"Oh, today's fried rice has plenty of vegetables."
It's more colorful than the usual fried rice.
The whole thing is vibrant and appears to be shining.
"Ehehe. I was given a lot of vegetables."
"It's a healthy breakfast."
"It's good to start the day with a healthy meal."
I sit at the table and immediately put some vegetable fried rice in my mouth.
"Mmm. Delicious."
"For your heart, too..."
"Eh, what?"
"I hope it makes your heart feel better, too."
"W-What? What are you talking about?"
"Takahara-san... I heard."
"It must have been hard."
"What now?"
"Chihuahuas sure are cute, aren't they?"
"Chihuahuas?"
"I heard about it when I was talking to the fisherman at the harbor yesterday."
"About the young man at your place..."
"Be kind to him."
"I hear his precious chihuahua passed."
"......"
Heartbreak, failed entrance exams, chihuahuas...
I said it didn't matter which...
So they landed on that one, huh?
"Does it look like I'd have a chihuahua?"
"I wonder."
"You do look like you might have a dog."
"And since you live in the city, that dog must be a chihuahua."
"Eh?"
What a ridiculous theory.
"In conclusion, Takahara-san has a chihuahua."
"I-I see."
"If your chihuahua died, you must be sad."
"......"
"Becky..."
"Uwaa."
She gave it a name, started imagining it, and started crying.
For now...
"*Sniff*... Becky..."
I decide to cry, too.
Umi-chan quickly heads out to play after breakfast, leaving me alone in the living room.
"I guess I'll go check on the storage shed situation..."
I'm enveloped by the cries of the cicada and stifling air as soon as I step outside.
Compared to my hometown that's covered in asphalt, the smell of earth is strong here.
But it seems nostalgic for some reason.
Even though it's a sensation I wouldn't have known before coming to this island.
It's strange.
"Huh...?"
There's no sound coming from the storage shed.
Is Kyouko-san not here?
She really isn't.
Is there an island meeting or did she head out somewhere?
"Either way, there really is a crazy amount of stuff in here."
I take the opportunity to have another look around the storage shed.
Everything seems quite old, and you can get a sense of how old from the wicker hampers laying around.
But how would you organize all of this?
Split it up into things you want and don't want?
Arrange it by how old it is?
Either way, it seems like a lot of work.
Is it really possible to finish this over summer vacation?
Well, that's why I was called here to help.
But I haven't touched a single item yet.
"I'm scared to touch anything without permission."
I'll just wait for Kyouko-san's instruction after all.
"I guess I'll go somewhere to kill time."
Walking around the island.
It seems to have become my normal routine since coming here.
"Takahara-san."
"What?"
"The last fight starts right at nine."
She says this and heads to the bath.
"What?"
The last fight starts at nine?!
Between me and Umi-chan?
Maybe she wants to play.
It's nine o'clock.
Umi-chan is idly reading manga.
Maybe she forgot about what she said earlier.
"Umi-chan."
"?"
"Hey."
"H-Hey."
"Bring it on."
"......"
"Hey."
"Hey."
"It seems you've lost your mind."
"I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep."
"Good night."
Huh?
What was that about?
"It's time for the last fight."
"Eh?"
"Oh, you remembered."
"Thank you."
She hurriedly grabs the remote and turns on the TV.
"That's right."
"There's a movie I want to watch."
"Movie?"
As the credits for "The Last Fight" roll, a bunch of brawny men appear on screen.
The middle-aged men, who have left their mafia life behind, are going to war with the mafia to avenge their friend or something.
"You like action movies?"
"Yes."
I don't especially have anything to do, so I casually watch beside her.
This is...
As it gets about half way through the film, as per usual... the main character and heroine start having adult time.
They're really going at it...
"......"
"......"
Still going at it.
It's rather overdone and maybe too long...
"......"
"......"
"Oh, I'm going to do the dishes."
I end up continuing alone.
"Phew."
Kyouko-san comes in and sits at the table.
"......"
She looks at the TV.
"......"
"......"
"Well then."
She immediately gets up and goes somewhere.
"......"
Damn, the adult scenes in this movie are long.
"Okay, it's time to head for the battlefield."
Hurry up and go.
"Don't go."
"Don't stop me."
"Don't go."
"Don't... stop... me."
They go at it.
It started again.
"It's time for me to head out."
"No. Don't leave."
"There are people who need me."
"I need you, too."
"What?"
"I need you, too."
They go at it.
It started again.
......
It finally returns to a normal scene.
Umi-chan is washing the dishes.
"It's over."
"What is?"
"Ah..."
"It started."
"What has?"
"The last fight."
"It started a while ago."
"Yeah."
"......"
"......"
Well, that was interesting.
That night...
I have a dream.
"Come here..."
"............"
"Ha...!"
I was going at it with my pillow.
It's because I watched that movie.
But...
Who was I dreaming about...?
I was going at it with my pillow, but there was someone in the dream.
I was going at it with them.
Remember...
Who was I going at it with...?
It was...
Shiroha...
Oh no, she's so amazingly pretty...
Ao...
Oh no, she's so amazingly cute...
Kamome...
Oh no, she looks so amazingly pure...
Tsumugi...
Oh no, she looks so amazingly sweet...
Nomiki...
Oh no, she looks so amazingly gallant...
Ryouichi and Tenzen...
Oh no, it wasn't just one person...
Umi-chan...
Oh no, I think I'm going to wake up...
This isn't good...
"I'm going to sleep..."
I gently close my eyes.
"Zzz... Zzz..."
"............"
"Come here..."
"Ha...?!"
I was having another inappropriate dream...
Or was I...?
Not good. I need to clear my head.
Come to think of it, I haven't put out bait for the Islamon Battle.
What should I do?
It's going to be a late night again tonight.
I start to fall asleep to the lullaby of insect calls.
The wind that blows in through the open window is cool and refreshing thanks to the greenery and soil.
Because of it, I'm able to completely forget about how hot it is during the day.
Honestly...
I'm starting to want to stay on this island forever.
"There's no way I could do that..."
I think about my hometown for a little.
"I"m going to sleep..."
I at least want to forget about all the bad things while I'm here.
"Oh..."
I remember something I mustn't forget and open my eyes.
Right now, I'm a Fighter.
I need to place bait for the Islamon Battle.
What should I do...?
"............"
There are vegetables on the table.
Carrots, cucumbers, daikon radishes, eggplant...
"Umi-chan, what's this?"
"Breakfast."
"Raw vegetables..."
"It's fresh."
"Well it's far healthier than cup udon."
"But couldn't you at least cut them up?"
"Eat them like that."
"Uncut?"
"Old lady Kido said they taste better that way."
"And that she just pulled them up this morning."
"Hmm."
"Well, I guess this is island life."
"Let's eat."
"Let's eat."
I take a big bite of cucumber.
"Mmmm! It's so fresh and yummy!"
"It really is. It's like the juiciness is exploding in my mouth."
"Nom, nom, these carrots are sweet!"
"Umi-chan, here. The radishes are sweet, too."
"If I made fried rice with these veggies, would it be yummy?"
"Well, it's better to eat these like this."
"Really?"
"You get the full nutritional value this way."
"Hmm, that's kind of sad."
It's a breakfast that makes me feel like the island is sharing its energy with me.
"Onii-chan."
"What?"
"The last fight is at nine."
"The last fight?"
"Yep, the last fight."
She says this and heads to the bath.
"What?"
The last fight starts at nine?!
Between me and Umi-chan?
Maybe she wants to play.
It's nine o'clock.
Umi-chan is...
"Zzz... Zzz..."
Sleeping.
"Should I wake her up...?"
"Onii-chan... hey, come on..."
"Well, she seems to be fighting in her dream."
In which case, maybe I should let her keep sleeping.
"Oh, Umi-chan is alseep."
"I think she's exhausted from playing."
"There's a movie I want to watch, so I suppose I'll keep the volume down."
"Well, it should be alright."
Kyouko-san turns on the TV.
"What movie?"
"An action film called 'The Last Fight'."
"'The Last Fight'..."
"By chance, did Umi-chan want to watch it, too...?"
In which case, I should wake her up...
As I think this...
"Okay, it's time to head for the battlefield."
"Don't go."
They go at it.
This is a pretty heavy love scene.
It's too soon for Umi-chan to be watching this.
I'm not going to wake her up.
"............"
"............"
I watch in silence with Kyouko-san.
This is still...
Pretty awkward.
"Morning..."
"So... what's this on the table?"
"Finely chopped... vegetables?"
"I was given a bunch of vegetables."
"So I made vegetable fried rice."
"Hold on..."
"This is..."
"Umm... this fried rice..."
"...has no rice."
"I used vegetables instead of rice. So what?"
"Normally I think you'd call that stir-fried vegetables."
"I made it as fried rice, so it's fried rice."
"I guess fried rice is actually more of a general concept to you, isn't it?"
"But whatever... let's eat."
"It looks like it'll be a healthy meal."
"For your heart, too..."
"Eh, what?"
"I hope it makes your heart feel better, too."
"W-What? What are you talking about?"
"Hairi-san... I heard."
"Must've been hard."
"What now?"
"Chihuahuas are cute, aren't they?"
"Chihuahuas?"
"The fisherman at the harbor told me."
"About the young man at your place..."
"Be kind to him."
"I hear his precious chihuahua passed."
"......"
Heartbreak, failed entrance exams, chihuahuas... I said it didn't matter which...
So they landed on that one, huh?
"Does it look like I'd have a chihuahua?"
"You seem like you'd have a dog over a cat."
"And if it's a dog in the city, it must be a chihuahua."
"Eh?"
"Chihuahua..."
"Becky..."
"Uwaa."
She gave it a name, started imagining it, and started crying.
"Umm..."
"Thank you for crying for Becky."
I think going along with it is the kind thing to do.
"Hairi-san."
"What?"
"The last fight starts at nine."
She says this and heads to the bath.
"What?"
The last fight starts at nine?!
Between me and Umi-chan?
Maybe she wants to play.
It's nine o'clock.
Umi-chan is idly reading manga.
Maybe she forgot about what she said earlier.
"Umi-chan."
"?"
"Hey."
"H-Hey."
"Bring it on."
"......"
"Hey."
"Hey!"
"Don't look at me..."
"Hey, hey!"
"So you've finally lost your mind..."
Huh? We aren't going to fight?
"I'm going to bed."
She takes her manga and heads to her room.
What was that about?
"Morning..."
"Takahara-san, Takahara-san."
Umi-chan comes trotting over to me.
"W-What's up?"
"Please look, I saved up a bunch of points."
She happily shows me a card with little stamps on it.
"A card from the local supermarket?"
"Non, non♪"
She's in high spirits.
"They're radio exercise points."
"Ah."
That's right, the radio exercises here have that kind of system.
The people who do it stamp the card around your neck with a seal.
"You should go, too, Takahara-san."
"No thanks."
"I have my own stretches that I do."
"I don't want to be tied down by the radio exercises."
"Ah."
"There was someone just like you."
"He was half-naked... and was doing his own exercises."
"Must be Ryouichi."
It's pretty easy to figure out.
"He said, 'I have my own way of doing things.'"
"When one person is doing something different during radio exercises it really catches the eye."
"The kids copy them."
"It's a bother to everyone."
"But what Ryouichi said isn't wrong."
"Everyone has their own way of building up their body."
"Every person has their own stretches."
"Radio exercises' only advantage might be the number of people."
"Y-You're kind of irritating."
That was rather harsh.
"So... what should I do today?"
Umi-chan went out to play and Kyouko-san is organizing the storage shed.
I'll...
Guess I'll walk around the island after all.
After dinner...
I'm laying down in the living room with the TV volume up a bit high.
For some reason, I can't hear the insects from outside.
The two are probably related, since I can vaguely hear them if I turn it down.
There's a sound...
...from the bath.
"Hmph..."
Umi-chan and Kyouko-san are currently taking a bath together.
I focus on the TV.
I have no ulterior motives.
But...
I'm a little curious.
The TV suddenly goes quiet.
"............"
A quiet seen just started in the show I'm watching.
But at that same time, the sound of splashing comes through the multiple walls.
I'd guess it was the noise of water falling out of the tub as the two of them got in.
"............"
I'm a healthy high school boy.
This is making my heart race.
I don't know how old Kyouko-san is, but...
She's my mom's younger sister, yet...
She looks so young.
Umi-chan is a relative, but...
Somehow she's just so cute...
"............"
Should I go...?
Head to the bath
Become like the wind
I turn off the TV and stand up.
This isn't the wrong choice.
It's fine!
I'm a young man!
A healthy young man!
I head toward the bathroom.
Etch this into your mind...
Make those summer memories!
"............"
"......"
"Phew..."
I, Takahara Hairi,
have had one hell of an experience this summer.
In return I'm seized by an unbelievable feeling of guilt.
And appreciation...
But enough remorse to fully conceal that.
However...
I really should say this.
"Thank you..."
To whom am I saying it?
Obviously... to this world.
I'm going to get rid of these wicked thoughts.
I have a partner who supports me.
She and I... will speed away!
"Calm down! Takahara Hairi!"
If I stay here, I'll end up thinking about bad things!
Don't blame your youth!
You can lose everything over a mistake made during the summer!
I grab the keys to my motorcycle and go outside.
"Yahooooooooooooooooo!"
I drive around the island at night.
I fly down the roads so fast that even the sounds of the insects are drowned out.
That way I can leave all of my worldly desires behind.
Then...
I run out of gasoline and have to push the motorcycle...
"Haa... Haa... It's so far..."
But...
Thanks to my reckless driving, all those lustful feelings have left me.
"Takahara-san."
"Hmm?"
"Why are you glued to the floor like some kind of slug?"
"Please take your bath soon. I want to clean up when you're done."
"Sorry, I'm tired..."
I'm splayed out on the floor and can't stand up.
I'm all out of energy, like I've spent way too long in the bath.
"I'm going to sleep here, like this..."
"No. You'll smell."
"I won't smell. I won't."
"Geez."
"Are you really that tired?"
"Yeah, I am..."
"Guess I've got no choice."
"W-What are you going to do?"
"What are you scared of?"
"I don't know, but I have this feeling that I might get removed."
"How would I go about removing you?"
"I'm going to remove your exhaustion."
"Remove my exhaustion?"
*Rub*
"Oh."
"This is..."
"It's a massage."
"Please stay like that and relax."
*Rub*
"Nefun."
"Uwah. You made a weird noise."
"You're good at this, Umi-chan."
"I only did a little."
"Could you do it again?"
"Eeh?"
"It felt amazing."
"Sure, but... are you properly washing your body?"
"Why would you ask that?! I wash it."
"Because you always take such short baths."
"It makes me look at you and wonder if you're properly washing yourself or not."
"So that's how you look at me..."
"If that's the case I would like to... refrain from touching you."
"I wash myself. Even if I didn't, I'm wearing clothes."
"It seems like something could come seeping through your clothes."
"Just how dirty do you think I am?"
"Well, you don't stink, so it's probably fine."
"Okay, please lay down over there."
"S-Sure."
I lie face down.
Umi-chan's slender fingers sink into the area around my hips...
*Step* *Step*
"?!"
This is...
*Step* *Step*
It feels... kind of good...
"Fuma."
"Seriously, could you please stop the weird noises?"
"But it feels so good."
*Step* *Step*
"Fuma."
"Oh geez..."
......
"Hm...?"
Where am I...?
Oh yeah.
I was getting a massage from Umi-chan in the living room.
It felt so good I fell asleep.
The lights have been turned off and there's a light blanket over me.
"Zzz... Zzz..."
Umi-chan is sleeping beside me.
I take the blanket that was on me and put it on Umi-chan.
I lay back down and fall asleep to the sound of Umi-chan's breathing.
I'm in my futon thinking...
Kyouko-san...
I get the feeling she's pretty suspicious of me.
Even though it's just been misunderstandings.
Nothing more than misunderstandings.
Well, I'll be more careful.
"I'm going to sleep..."
"Oh..."
That's right, I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle.
What should I do?
"Oh..."
That's right, I need to set out bait for the Islamon Battle.
What should I do?
"Morning..."
"Onii-chaaaan."
Umi-chan comes trotting over to me.
"What's up?"
"Here, look, I saved up a lot of points."
She happily shows me a card with little stamps on it.
"Radio exercises."
"Ah."
That's right, the radio exercises here have that kind of system.
The people who do it stamp the card around your neck with a seal.
"I'll get a prize, fast as possible."
She seems really happy.
"Ah, Kyouko-saaaan, look."
She's so happy she shows the card to Kyouko-san next.
I wonder if I used to be like that, too.
"Onii-chan, you should come, too."
"Well, we'll go together next time there's a chance."
"Next time..."
"Okay, got it."
I say that, but I don't know if I actually will.
Next time...
I can't promise I'll come to this island next year.
"Onii-chan."
"Hmm?"
"It's time for your bath."
"Bath..."
I overreact to the word.
How do I put it...?
I feel terrible...
I can't even look up at her.
"Sorry, I'm tired..."
I'm splayed out on the floor and can't stand up.
I'm all out of energy, like I've spent way too long in the bath.
"I'm going to sleep here, like this..."
"No. You've been sweating."
"It's fine, it's fine..."
"Nnn."
"Are you that tired?"
"Yeah, maybe I am."
"Hmm..."
"Oh, that's right."
Umi-chan goes around behind me.
"W-What are you doing?"
"I'm giving you a massage."
*Rub*
"Oh."
"This is..."
"Ngh, there we go."
*Rub*
"Nefun."
"Wow, a funny noise."
*Rub*
"Mafun."
"Funny!"
*Rub* *Rub* *Rub*
"Mufun, nufun, mohya."
"Ahahaha, weird noises."
"Umi-chan, could you do it harder?"
"Hmm, I'm doing it as hard as I can."
"Then could you try stepping on me?"
"With your weight, I think it would be perfect."
"Step on you? Like this?"
*Step* *Step*
"?!"
This is...
*Step* *Step*
It feels... kind of good...
"Fuma~... It feels so good..."
"Ehehe, am I good? Am I good?"
"Yeah, it feels amazing~."
*Step* *Step*
"Fumaa~~..."
"Umi-chan, step harder."
"Okay, take this, and this."
*Step* *Step*
"Haa~... So good~."
"Umi-chan~... step on me more~."
"Hairi-kun...?"
"Fweh~..."
"What are you... making Umi-chan do?"
"Onii-chan said it would feel good if I stepped on him."
"I need to... contact my sister..."
"No! It was a massage! It was just a normal step massage!"
I get the feeling that I should be worried about the way Kyouko-san has been looking at me recently...
"Morning..."
"Hairi-san, Hairi-san."
Umi-chan comes trotting over to me.
"W-What's up?"
"Look, look. I saved up a ton of points."
She happily shows me a card with little stamps on it.
"A card from the local supermarket?"
"Non, non♪"
She's in high spirits.
"They're radio exercise points."
"Ah."
That's right, the radio exercises here have that kind of system.
The people who do it stamp the card around your neck with a seal.
"You should go, too, Hairi-san."
"No thanks."
"I have my own stretches that I do."
"I don't want to be tied down by the radio exercises."
"Ah."
"There was another like you."
"He was half-naked... and doing his own exercises."
"Must be Ryouichi."
It's pretty easy to figure out.
"He said, 'I have my own way of doing things.'"
"When someone is doing something different during radio exercises they really stand out."
"The kids copy them."
"To put it bluntly, it's a bother."
"But what Ryouichi said isn't wrong."
"Everyone has their own way of building up their body."
"Every person has their own stretches."
"Radio exercises' only advantage might be the number of people."
"So annoying..."
"That's so mean..."
"By the way, does anything good happen if you collect enough points?"
"It does."
"If you collect fifteen points, you get a special, big stamp."
"A special stamp?"
"Only serious kids who keep attending get it. It's a stamp of honor."
"......"
"Ha."
"Why are you laughing?"
"No reason. That must make you happy, huh?"
"Hmm? You're pissing me off."
"Hairi-san."
"Hmm?"
"It's time for your bath. I want to clean up when you're done."
"Sorry, I'm tired..."
I'm splayed out on the floor and can't stand up.
I'm all out of energy, like I've spent way too long in the bath.
"I'm going to sleep here, like this..."
"No. You'll start to sink."
"I won't, I won't."
"Geez."
"Are you that exhausted?"
"I am."
"Guess I have no choice."
Umi-chan goes around behind me.
"W-What are you doing?"
"Slowly breathe out."
"?"
"Haah~~~..."
*Rub*
"Oh."
"This is..."
"A massage."
*Rub*
"Nefun."
"Uwah. Gross."
"I can't help it. You're really good at this."
"Then I guess I've got no choice."
*Rub*
"Mafun."
"Gross..."
"Could you do something about your voice?"
"But it feels good."
"I guess there's no stopping you."
"You can do it harder."
"Really?!"
"Then I'll step on you a bit."
"Step on me?"
*Step* *Step*
"?!"
This is...
*Step* *Step*
It feels... kind of good...
"Fuma."
"Yuuuck... Gross..."
"But it feels so good."
*Step* *Step*
"Fuma."
"Grooooss~..."
She voices her displeasure as she continues her step massage.
Before I realize it, I've fallen asleep.
"Hm...?"
Where am I...?
Oh yeah.
I was getting a massage from Umi-chan in the living room.
It felt so good I fell asleep.
The lights have been turned off and there's a light blanket over me.
"Zzz... Zzz..."
Umi-chan is sleeping beside me.
I take the blanket that was on me and put it on Umi-chan.
I lay back down and fall asleep to the sound of Umi-chan's breathing.
"Morning."
"You're up early today."
"Maybe my body is just adapting to my healthy lifestyle."
"What are you doing, Umi-chan?"
"I'm going to make breakfast real quick."
"Because I went to sleep so early."
"You really did. You instantly fell asleep."
"Sorry, my bad."
I ended up sleeping like that in the living room.
"You didn't end up taking a bath, did you?"
"Ahaha. Well, one day won't hurt, will it?"
"Geez. I get the feeling you've skipped before."
"Umi-chan, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to make breakfast real quick."
"Hmm."
"......"
"How about I make it?"
"Eh?"
"Just thinking about it makes me worry."
"Come on, leave it to me."
"Can you cook?"
"No, I can't."
"Eh?"
"But I'll give it a shot."
"Hmm... I'm worried, but I'll leave it to you."
I get started...
"......"
For some reason, it feels like someone is watching me.
"Why are you staring at my butt?"
"There's no way I'd be staring at your butt!"
"I'm watching you cook."
"I-I see. It felt like it was aimed right at my butt."
"Well, that is about how tall I am."
"I was watching in disbelief of how unsafe you're being."
"I'm fine."
"It seems so. It looks like you have plenty of experience."
"Yeah."
"Because I heard men who can cook are popular."
"So I read a lot."
"A lot of cooking manga."
"......"
"Eh...?"
"Well, look forward to it."
"Here you go."
I set the food I made on the table.
In all its blackness.
"This is..."
"Fried rice."
"......"
"What did you say?!"
"It's fried rice..."
"......"
She's mad.
"Cooking sure is hard."
"I thought fried rice was just frying some rice."
"That's how it went in the manga."
"............"
She's even angrier.
"It's not like I had any ill intent."
"This is just the extent of my fried rice making skills."
"Now that I've tried it, I understand how amazing you are."
"Eh?"
"You make different types of fried rice every morning."
"That's truly amazing."
"Fufu, that's the power of love."
"Yeah, I can feel the love."
"For me."
"It's love for fried rice, not you."
"Of course."
"I really do like eating your fried rice in the mornings after all."
"......"
"What am I to do with you..."
In her embarrassment, Umi-chan heads to the kitchen.
Umi-chan really lets her guard down...
...when I praise her and her fried rice.
Umi-chan's fried rice really is delicious.
Even though it was nothing special, just fried rice with egg.
Was that what they call golden fried rice?
"I'm going out."
I hear Umi-chan's cheery voice from the entrance.
Seriously, where is she always playing?
"Okay, I'll..."
It's probably pointless, but I guess I'll go...
"Kyouko-san."
"Oh, Hairi-kun?"
She comes out of the storage shed.
"I came to ask about organizing the storage shed."
"I'll probably be fine again today."
"Of course."
That's the response I was expecting.
"Okay, I'm going to go out for a while."
"Have fun."
So... I said I was going out, but where to...?
It's been like two weeks since I came to this island.
I've been pretty much everywhere...
I spent the day aimlessly walking around the island.
Just like yesterday and the day before that.
"Seriously, what did I come to this island for...?"
It was supposed to be to organize my grandma's stuff.
But Kyouko-san hasn't had me help at all.
In the end... I guess this isn't where I belong.
I'm not needed here.
I'm getting along well enough with the island people, but it's just well enough.
The fun times are fun, but there's a sort of transient feeling to it.
Either way, I'm going home once the summer is over.
"In which case, it'd be the same as if I went home now..."
I still have a lot of people I know in my hometown.
"Well... I did make some summer memories."
I close my eyes.
I'll tell Kyouko-san when I wake up.
That I'm going home...
I'm waiting for the ferry to come.
A flock of seabirds is flying about.
I saw them when I first arrived on this island, too.
That's why it feels almost like déjà vu.
"Heja pu, huh?"
It's like time is repeating on this island.
The same old sights, the same old smells, the same old sounds.
"Hairi-kun, are you sure you don't want to tell the others?"
"It'd be too gloomy..."
"I'm not good with those situations."
"I'm sorry to put this on you, Kyouko-san, but could you please tell them I went home on an urgent errand?"
"I see..."
"Do you... regret coming to this island?"
"Regret?"
"No..."
"I don't regret it."
"If I regret anything, it's my own carelessness..."
I definitely had a chance to change here.
But I didn't realize it.
No, I pretended not to realize it and let time pass me by.
"I just... let myself go with the flow..."
I say to no one in particular.
Maybe I'm just letting out the words that I want myself to hear...
As I think this, the ferry docks.
"Thank you for looking after me."
"No, I'm sorry for not being able to do much for you."
"............"
"If... I call for you again, will you come back to this island?"
"Yeah, I'll come..."
I answer.
Honestly I don't know what I'd do.
Even so, Kyouko-san gives a smile of relief.
"Okay then, I'll be going."
"Thanks for everything."
I bow and get on-board.
"This ferry is headed for Udo Port. Please watch your step when embarking."
The ferry sets sail.
It slowly pulls away from the island.
I hear the low hum of the engine that's vibrating the ferry and the sound of the waves.
I vacantly stare at Torishirojima as it shrinks into the distance.
"Hmm...?"
There's a familiar figure at the port.
"Shiroha...?"
There's no way she came to see me off.
But she's looking out to sea from the port the same way she was when I arrived.
Is she waiting for someone...?
Did she come to see someone off...?
I have no way of knowing.
But why does the déjà vu of this scene make my chest tighten?
The island fades into the distance.
The summer passes.
Goodbye... somebody whispers.
I challenged new things this summer.
"Onii-chan..."
"What's for breakfast...?"
"Well, at least I planned to..."
The two of us stare at the plates on the table... with charcoal on them.
"Can I eat it...?"
"No. This is something you shouldn't eat."
"But you went to the trouble of making it?"
"Umi-chan."
"Hmm?"
"Cooking is hard."
"Yeah..."
She gives a deep nod.
"Did she fail at making breakfast again today?"
"No, I made it today."
"Oh, is that so?"
"It would seem bad cooking really does run in the family."
"But my mom isn't like that."
"That's how hard she worked."
"If we try hard, we can make it taste good?"
"Yes, you can... Uh-huh."
"Ah... you averted your eyes."
"I'll do my best."
Umi-chan proudly puffs out her chest.
"For now, let's eat this for breakfast."
She sets down three cup udons.
"The usual, huh?"
"It's yummy, so it's okay."
The cup udon certainly was delicious.
But I really don't think it's good for you health to have it in the morning.
"I'm going out."
I hear Umi-chan's cheery voice from the entrance.
Seriously, where is she always playing?
"Morning."
"Morning."
Umi-chan is preparing to make breakfast again this morning.
"I feel kind of bad having you do this every morning."
"Its's my share of the work."
"You're gross..."
"Your first words of the day are like a dagger through the heart."
"It's because you kept making weird noises."
"I lost myself in how good it felt."
"You fell asleep like that."
"Sorry, my bad."
"You never took a bath."
"Well, one day won't hurt, will it?"
"You're sickening..."
"Ah, you know... that kind of hurts..."
"By the way, what are you doing?"
"I was about to make breakfast."
"Hmm."
"How about I make it?"
"Eh?"
"That just makes me worry."
"Come on, leave it to me."
"You can cook?"
"No, I can't."
"Eh?"
"But I'll give it a shot."
I get started...
"......"
For some reason, it feels like someone is watching me.
"Why are you staring at my butt?"
"I'm watching you cook."
"Thinking about how unsafe your hand movements are."
"I see. It felt like it was aimed right at my butt."
"That's how tall I am, so I can't help it."
"......"
Her gaze sure is intense.
Thinking about being watched is making my butt itch.
*Shake*
"?!"
......
*Shake*
"?!"
"Gross!"
"Why does your butt keep randomly shaking in a strangely cute way?"
"When it thinks it's being watched, it can't settle down."
"But why does it keep shaking?!"
"I don't know."
"I can't see my own butt."
"Anyway, try not to look at it so much."
"I will..."
"I'll go watch TV."
......
"Okay, it's done."
"Uwah..."
"It's so black..."
"I don't even know what to say..."
"Actually, I can say this, it's so black..."
"I'd like you to apologize to the ingredients."
"Hmph, I'd like you to at least acknowledge my effort."
"The look of accomplishment on your face is irritating..."
"Now that I've tried it, I understand."
"Making food so early in the morning is hard."
"Taste aside, you're amazing for doing it every day."
"Well, it's not that big of a deal."
"............"
"Wait, what was that?"
"Taste aside...?"
"Ah..."
"Are you saying my fried rice doesn't taste good?"
"Umm..."
"It's unique."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Yeah."
"In that case..."
"All right."
"Phew..."
"At any rate, it doesn't look like we can eat this."
"So I'll mix it into some fried rice."
"What now?"
"It'll be fine."
"Fried rice is all-purpose."
"Hold on, you have way too much faith in the potential of fried rice!"
"Fried rice is all-purpose."
"Don't make that your catchphrase!"
In the end,
the fried rice I made got mixed into the fried rice Umi-chan made,
and now there's grey fried rice on the table.
It's so bitter.
I neutralize the bitterness in my mouth with barley tea.
"I'm going out."
I hear Umi-chan's cheery voice from the entrance.
Seriously, where is she always playing?
Then it turns nine.
Umi-chan is idly reading manga.