Izu, Here We Go! (Part 1)

◆ Tsukasa

“Huh?! Enomoto-senpai and Haibara-senpai invited us to go to the beach with them?!”

Chiho exclaims with her signature squeak when Tae breaks us the news. We’re all hanging out in Chiho’s house, in her room, which is filled with posters belonging to limited box editions of several horror manga. The blonde, crossing her legs calmly as she sits on the edge of the bed, nods in response.

“Wow, that’s… something.” I say, trying to control the surge of giddiness within me. Because, Senpai just invited us—me included—to the beach. That’s not something he’d do out of random. There’s a reason, isn’t it, Senpai?

“Yeah, Enomoto-senpai was over the moon about it,” Tae says. “He was blushing the whole time like a shoujo manga heroine when he gave out the invitation. Yeah, it was probably his idea.”

“But don’t you think that’s weird, Kacchan, Tae?” Chiho asks. “I mean, we don’t exactly know them. And suddenly they invite us to the beach? That’s out of a serial killer plot.”

“Well, if they were suspicious I would have noticed, Chiho,” I say, trying to demote her of the idea. “And from the look on Tae’s face, I bet she agrees with me.”

“Well, Chiho’s not wrong,” Tae says. “But Rainbow-chan’s not 100% wrong either.” She crosses her arms, her flirty smile dropping for a second. “And honestly? I want to go. I need to see this Haibara-senpai in action for myself. Call it a big-sister inspection. I gotta make sure he's not some creep before I give my official approval for my darling Rainbow-chan.”

“Huh?” I blurt. Tae grins at me.

“You thought I didn’t notice, Rainbow-chan?” She asks, a smirk on her tanned gyaru face. “You want to go because the idea of seeing your man in swimming trunks appeals to you, doesn’t it?”

“W-w-what?!” I exclaim, feeling heat rush to my face. “Me? Wanting to see Senpai… in a wetsuit? Y-you’ve got it wrong…”

Actually, I do. Does she think it’s a problem I want to see my soulmate without a shirt on? And actually, now that I think about it, why were they invited? The only person who can see this glorious vision is me, the soulmate. Not even Chiho and Tae are allowed, even with their childhood-friend privileges. They can just stay with Enomoto-senpai somewhere else to not bother…

“Tae, stop killing her,” Chiho says with a heavy, impatient and uncharacteristic sigh. “If you keep going, I’ll charge you with psychological murder through systematic sympathetic nervous system triggering.”

“Systematic sympathetic what now?” Tae blurts. I laugh. Science has never been her forte. “Chiho-chan, the one who will be charged is you, for, uh, verbal murder through dictionary repetition!” She exclaims, what earns another round of laughter.

Yes, this is good. This is how a stable relationship works. Don’t question others’ thoughts and feelings, don’t press any triggers, and keep smiling even when you fall apart.

Or else everything will break before your eyes.

***

It takes half an hour before the discussion goes back to the beach trip. With a voting majority of two against one, we decide to accept the senpais’ offer.

“Someone got any of their numbers?” Tae asks.

“I thought YOU had at least one!” Chiho exclaims.

“Well, I don’t go around asking for boys’ numbers,” the other sighs impatiently. She turns to look at me. “What about you, Rainbow-chan?”

I sigh and stare at my shoes. “No.” But I’m working on that, though. It won’t be long before Senpai and I exchange numbers, at the rate I’m working.

Of course, after the negative reply, I don’t say any of that.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Tae says with a sigh. “Well, that’s an issue.”

Suddenly my phone buzzes. I look.

A call from an unknown number.

“What’s up?” Tae asks, getting up from the bed.

“Unknown number calling me,” I reply. “What do I do?”

“Dunno. Answer?”

I take a deep breath and pick up the call. “Hello?”

“Aishi-san?”

Wait.

WHAT?

“S-s-s-s-senpai?!” I stutter. “What— Where— How did you get my number?”

With the corner of my eye I see Chiho paling and Tae gasp silently. I don’t pay attention. All my five senses are concentrated on the person on the other side of the line.

“I found taped to Akasaka-kun, from the third year, ‘s notebook one of these days,” he replies. “I just nearly fainted from hearing your voice. To think the guy actually got your real phone number…” His voice is trembling with rage. And I’m trembling in happiness.

Because Senpai, he… he’s worrying about me! He’s trying to protect me from these creeps who are trying to prey on an innocent, first-year girl. He’s the knight in shining armor I’ve so longed for.

Oh, Senpai…

I try not to melt over the phone, saying, “It’s okay, Senpai,” I tell him. “But… thank you for worrying about me. That’s very kind of you.”

To my surprise, he starts to stutter. “Um, please don’t think I’m a creep who peeks into others’ stuff,” he says. “I was just… trying to keep you safe, Aishi-san.”

Oh, Senpai. You’re so adorable. I could never get enough of this.

I think but I don’t speak.

“So, Senpai, what did you call me for?” I ask, trying to leave it as polite as I can. I hear him take a deep breath over the phone.

“As you must know, Enomoto and I have invited you to go to Izu with us,” he says. “With the best of intentions, of course, at least on my part. Enomoto, though… I’m not so sure. He’s always been a bit of a skirt chaser, you know.” He sighs. “Especially about your gyaru friend. I suspect he might have a picture of her as his phone wallpaper.”

The balls on this guy, I swear…

“God, what a creep.” I sigh, before quickly realizing something. “Wait, Izu? That place with the very nice beaches?”

“Exactly. Enomoto and I pooled some money to get a nice lodge next to the beach. He says I donated the most money into the ‘cause’, but that’s probably him trying to get me to brag about myself. I’m not bragging, of course.”

Wow, how nice of Enomoto-senpai. Trying to turn a perfect angel into a proud, selfish brat.

Gross and sinful.

“How long is the trip again, Senpai?”

“We planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Have you decided if you’re going or not?”

“We’re going,” I reply. “The three of us. Tae and I were gung-ho about it, but Chiho… she wasn’t so sure. But the ‘go’ faction earned voting majority, so… we’re going.” I grin. “In fact, I think I’ll start packing today.”

“Good.” I know Senpai’s smiling just by the sound of his voice. “Then, please bring sunscreen, bathing suits and towels. And slippers. Oh, and hats would be good too, so you don’t burn your scalp. Enomoto says girls with thinner hair like the three of you are more likely to get burned there.”

“How does he know that?”

“He doesn’t admit it, but I found hair samples of the three of you in his bathroom in a sleepover one of these days.”

“Gross,” I say, but a small part of me feels a flicker of doubt. Enomoto-senpai is goofy and loud, but... would he really do something that creepy? The thought feels strange, but Senpai is the one telling me this, so it must be true. He's just looking out for me.

“Completely. I said he should admit it, but he doesn’t. He negated it to the bitter end.” Senpai sighs again. “The balls on that guy, I swear… Stealing bits of hair from his kouhais is absolutely horrifying. That’s why I’ll make sure it never happens again.” Now his tone is protective. “Especially to you, Aishi-san.”

I blush. “Senpai…”

“Now, please get ready. The less wardrobe malfunctions, the better. So please get your things packed as soon as possible to avoid embarrassing situations for both ladies and gentlemen.”

“GentleMAN, single,” I say. “Because Enomoto-senpai is a creep.”

“Yes indeed,” Senpai says. “Have a great day, Aishi-san.”

And the call clicks off.

As I turn to look at Tae and Chiho, both of them have weird looks on their faces.

“Kacchan, just… what were you two talking about?” Chiho asks, looking more disgusted than shocked or stumped.

“You’re going to have to explain yourself young lady.” Tae grabs my arm. “C’mon, let’s have a nice girls’ chat somewhere else.”

“Wait! Chiho-chan, help me!” I scream, futilely, as Chiho joins in, grabbing my other arm and dragging me down the stairs along with Tae.

***

The next day, a sunny and excited Thursday, I go with Chiho and Tae to the shopping mall to buy new swimsuits. Tae claimed that it’s necessary since her cleavage size has become too much for her bikini.

“And you two are going along!” She’d said, grinning, and we couldn’t say no.

Now, we’re in the Rienda swimsuit shop, looking around to find something for ourselves.

“Look, Chiho-chan!” Tae exclaims, holding out a moderately conservative black bikini with white and purple frills on the edges of the lower part. “This one fits you to a T!”

“Y-you think so?” Chiho asks hesitantly, her nose buried behind a manga, presumably to escape looking at so much cleavage.

“I agree with Tae!” I say, smiling. “This one just screams ‘Chiho, please buy me!’”

“Really?” She lights up a bit. “Okay, I guess… I’ll test it to check if it’s my size.”

She grabs the bikini and runs into one of the changing cabins. Meanwhile, Tae, still looking around, suddenly lets out an “Aha!” and swipes something from a bikini rack.

“This one would look good on you, Rainbow-chan,” she says, shoving the bikini, hanger and all, into my arms. I look at the piece of cloth. It’s a two-piece with a cleavage bigger than any other swimsuit I’ve wore before—and I’ve worn a tad bit more than the average girl my age—and it bears the seven colors of a rainbow on the frills. The rest is a pastel light lilac that strikes me as prismatic.

I can say no more about it.

“Seriously?” Is all I ask. “Rainbow. That’s… something to show.”

Tae grins. “It fits you to a T, like the other one fit Chiho. Don’t worry, it’s not as open as it looks. Go try it, okay?”

I sigh. “Fine.”

After shutting the door of the fitting room, I hesitate for a moment. Am I really doing this? I mean, trying on a bikini for a beach trip with Senpai and my friends? It all feels too manga-esque. Like a dream come true.

If someone is setting this up, they’re doing it well.

I check myself on the mirror. The bikini looks fantastic, as Tae predicted. And about the cleavage, well, a little bit more of skin out won’t kill me. Or Senpai, for the matter.

When I get out, Tae and Chiho are waiting for me. As I suspected, Chiho accepted buying the black-and-purple thingie, so we’re on our way to the register to pay.

Paychecks resolved, now it’s time to get home and get packing.

I can’t wait for the trip!