A Seaside Chat

The next morning, I woke up early, the sun just barely rising from the horizon. Telling Sato about the past was a mixed bag. At one end, it felt like a pressure lifted off my shoulders. On the other hand, though it felt last night that she took the news well, I still felt some unresolved thoughts pestering my mind.

Like, who in their right mind would have the same view of me after learning that? Beating up someone where they end up in the hospital for several weeks doesn’t scream ‘boyfriend material’ at all…or even ‘friend material.’

Yet she seemed quite understanding last night. Honestly, she was more upset with me storming out into the night, if anything.

I quietly let out a sigh, getting up from the living room futon. Everyone else probably won’t wake up for the next few hours, we were all up pretty late.

Making my way to the fridge, I got myself a glass of water to quench my thirst before I would lounge around for a few more hours.

As I filled my glass, I heard footsteps approaching from upstairs.

“Eh, Iwasaki-kun? You’re up early.”

I turned around. “Tachibana-senpai…same for you," I remembered last night how…inebriated she had gotten. “You seem pretty rested from last night.”

She giggled. “Did you think I’d be hungover from all the drinks? Well, my secret is–” she winked, “can’t be hungover if the drinking doesn’t stop!”

My face was frozen in shock. “Huh..”

She tried to keep herself together. “I’m joking, but you should see the look on your face.” I exhaled with annoyance, careful not to disturb Gotou in the other room.

Tachibana grabbed two bottles of tea from the fridge. “Want to take a walk outside with me?”

Figuring I would have been doing nothing otherwise, I took on her request and we headed out into the early Sunday morning, tracing the path back to the beachfront. The storm from yesterday had all but left, leaving a serene layer of sand, only touched by the ocean waves. 

“It’s always nice and peaceful the morning after some rain,” she nodded along, her pace a leisurely stroll.

“Sure is,” I replied, “particularly after that party last night.”

Once at the beachfront, we continued down the sidewalk along the shore, as birds fluttered by in the breeze.

“So you and Sato had a nice talk yesterday?” she chuckled. “The girls told me you went to find her when she got lost after your dramatic exit…”

“Yeah, I clarified the things Yoshino was saying about me. By the way, thanks for trying to help yesterday at the beach." 

“Mm, if only I could control the weather,” she shrugged, before steering the conversation back. “So, did any sparks fly during that talk?”

I glared at her sarcastically. “After making her upset from running out into the rain, you wanted me to be all romantic?”

She stifled a laugh. “I figured it’d go like that. But not a single thing?”

I was reminded of the hug on the beachfront…

“I suppose…I did ask her to watch fireworks next weekend–”

“That’s it!” she patted her hand on my back. “Smooth operator out here. Ooh…let me start planning. Next week? I’ll take the girls out to do some yukata shopping…”

As she rambled on about these ‘plans’ of hers, I took a long sip of my tea, feeling the coolness calm my mind once more.

“Anyways…again, I feel bad for the club because of these former classmates of mine .” My expression darkened, remembering what Yoshino scoffed at the end of our conversation. “Now I’m a part of it, it seems like they’re going to be a pain in our asses, and finances…”

“Well,” she sighed. “This was going to happen sooner or later, regardless of your…classmates coming along.’

I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Tachibana took another sip from her bottle. “The club’s always had a bigger budget than a lot would like, even though we do cater for the international students.” She paused. “Or…more like because we cater to them, there’s been some friction with the reps.” Her gaze lingered on the ocean waves, a hint of sadness surfacing. “The past few years have been pretty good since Shimada-senpai’s best friends with Yamada-senpai, the committee president.”

She waved her hand in the air, as if swatting some invisible spirit. “But they’re graduating this year, so once the next budget proposals come, we won’t be so fortunate.”

“I see...”

“Sorry for laying that on you, I guess I needed to vent about it too,” she stretched her arms. “But that’s a battle to fight another day. There’s still the rest of the trip to enjoy!” Her face brightened with the change of topic.

I nodded. “Thanks, Tachibana-senpai. Feels like you’ve been a big help to me and my peers.”

“Mm.. I could tell you weren’t the one to ask for help a lot,” she chuckled. “Every adventurer can use some guidance here and there. Sure..I’m only a grade above, but it means I remember being in your shoes much more clearly.”

Her perspective was an accurate one; asking for assistance was a rare occasion, while receiving said assistance was also a rarity.

“And what’s an adventure without someone to share the journey with, newcomers blazing a path forward?”

A mild blush crept up my face that I tried dearly to suppress, knowing Tachibana wouldn’t let me live it down.

“I’m talking about the party of four you’ve got. A good bunch of oddballs. Unless you were thinking of something else,” she giggled.

Not again with this…

“Though I have to say, Chloe surprised me quite a bit. It was like she was a completely different person; much more confident, bold, with a liberal use of swearing.”

I recalled a rambunctious Watson getting me to roll her gacha spins, then beating everyone in the karting game on Shimada’s console…

“Yeah…wasn’t expecting that.”

The misadventures of ChocoNyan and Ryuhiro remain a secret for now.

As our walk started winding down, curling around and setting back towards the house, I thought about the trip as a whole. Barring that evening storm, the rest of the day was a fun adventure.

“Say Tachibana-senpai.”

She turned around at the mention of her name, her curiosity piqued. “What is it, Iwasaki-kun?”

“If you need help with the budget down the line…” I took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t mind helping. This club has given me a lot of enjoyable memories, and I wouldn’t want it to stop because of some fabricated politics.”

Her face brightened as she excitedly leaped with newfound energy. “Really? You mean it? You want to help lead the club with me?”

“If that’s what it means..” I felt that her jumping several steps ahead was inevitable. “I’ll make a full decision on that later.”

As we arrived back at the house, the first floor was buzzing with activity, as several of them had woken up and started preparing breakfast for the group. As we joined them, time started moving at a quicker pace as the rest of the trip sailed by. Another few hours were spent at the beachside, with a nice lunch at one of the seaside restaurants. The day quickly but happily faded to evening, time for us to leave this beach town and head back to campus.

As we arrived at campus, we waved goodbye to our seniors, and the four of us headed back to the seventh floor of our dorm building, significantly more tanned and satisfied than when we left two days ago.

“That was so fun!” Sato cheered as the elevator stopped at our floor. “We should go again!”

“Again?” Lafon shook her head. “We just came back, and now you want to go again?”

“Of course! Summer break is soon. Or we don’t have to wait, how about two weeks from now?”

“Two weeks?” Watson giggled. “I assumed you were going to say next weekend.”

“Well…” Sato fidgeted for a moment. I guess I should bring it up.

“Well, this Saturday, we were thinking we could all go see the fireworks together.”