Chapter 7: The Bikini Tan Line Disaster

Yuuto Kanda had made one fatal mistake.

He’d assumed the chaos had finally calmed down.

But at Sakuragaoka’s “relaxing beach trip,” peace was just a myth.

“Yuuto-kun!” Akari Shinozuka shouted from the sand, waving a bottle of sunscreen like a weapon. “You forgot to put this on! You’ll burn!”

Yuuto blinked. “Ah—it’s fine, I’m—”

Before he could finish, Akari pounced on him, forcing him to sit. “No excuses! You’re tutoring us, we can’t have you turning into a roasted tomato!”

“W-Wait! Akari-san—!”

Too late. She squirted a line of lotion down his back and started rubbing it in—vigorously.

Yuuto froze. Her hands are soft… too soft.

“Uhhh… Akari-san… you don’t have to—”

“Shhh! I’m being responsible!” she said cheerfully, completely oblivious to how red his face had turned.

Mizuki Onodera gasped from under the parasol, holding her book like a shield. “A-Akari-chan! You can’t just—rub Yuuto-kun like that in public!”

Akari blinked innocently. “Huh? Why not?”

Rika Hanabira sighed from her seat, adjusting her glasses. “Because it’s indecent, you idiot.”

Akari pouted. “You’re all overreacting! Fine, I’ll let Mizuki-chan do it next!”

“Eh?!” Mizuki squealed, dropping her book. “M-Me?! N-No way, I—”

But Akari shoved the bottle into her trembling hands, and before Yuuto could escape, Mizuki was kneeling behind him, fingers hesitating an inch above his shoulders.

“Y-Yuuto-kun… please don’t… move…” she whispered, blushing furiously.

He felt his heart hammering against his ribs. Why is this happening to me?

Her touch was feather-light, shy, and hesitant—but every movement sent goosebumps racing up his neck. When she brushed too close to his ear, he almost jumped out of his skin.

Akari grinned mischievously. “Aww~ you two look like a honeymoon couple!”

“Shut up, Akari!” they both shouted in unison, faces crimson.

Rika rolled her eyes. “Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.”

But as she watched them, she felt an unfamiliar warmth in her chest—a tiny pang of something she refused to name. She sighed, stood, and muttered, “At least one of us should stay rational.”

Unfortunately for her, that’s exactly when a crab decided to crawl up her ankle.

“Eek!”

It was a small, squeaky sound—so unlike Rika’s usual composed voice that all three heads turned.

“Rika-chan?” Akari blinked.

Rika stood frozen, eyes wide, staring down in horror at the tiny creature clinging to her foot. “It’s… touching me.”

“Don’t move!” Yuuto yelped, scrambling up. “I’ll get it off—”

He lunged forward, tripped on a sandcastle, and crashed right into Rika. Both of them tumbled onto the sand, rolling until Yuuto found himself above her, their faces inches apart.

Time froze.

Her glasses hung crookedly. Her hair, normally pristine, spilled loosely around her face.

And Yuuto realized—Rika Hanabira was stunning.

Her heartbeat was loud enough he could almost hear it. “Kanda… move.”

He blinked. “R-Right! Sorry!”

He scrambled up so fast he nearly fell again. Akari and Mizuki ran over, both blushing furiously.

Akari smirked. “Ooooh~ Yuuto-kun, you just tackled Rika-chan on the beach! Bold move!”

Rika’s face turned bright red. “Shut. Up.”

Before anyone could calm down, the crab scuttled over to Yuuto’s leg—followed by several more.

“Ahhh! They brought friends!” Akari screamed, leaping into Yuuto’s arms.

He staggered under her weight, and somehow Mizuki tripped into him too. Rika groaned, facepalming.

And that’s when Sensei Amamiya appeared—wearing a loose white beach dress and sunglasses.

“Well, well,” she said with a sly smile, “looks like my students are having… educational experiences.”

Yuuto nearly dropped Akari. “S-Sensei?! What are you doing here?!”

“Supervising,” she said, hands on hips. “And clearly, Kanda-kun, you need constant supervision.”

Rika muttered, “That’s an understatement.”

Amamiya’s gaze drifted to the sunscreen bottle still lying in the sand. “Ah, I see you’re… learning about skin protection. How responsible.”

Yuuto buried his face in his hands. “This is a nightmare…”

The rest of the afternoon only spiraled further into chaos. Akari tried to catch a beach ball and accidentally smacked Rika with it. Mizuki dropped her ice cream on Yuuto’s foot. Rika attempted to relax with a book, only for a stray frisbee to knock her glasses into the sand.

By sunset, everyone was sunburned, exhausted, and half-buried in laughter.

Yuuto sat on the sand, watching the orange waves shimmer as the girls chatted nearby. Despite all the embarrassment, he couldn’t help smiling.

Akari’s laughter rang bright like bells. Mizuki’s shy smile warmed his chest. Rika’s quiet sarcasm, though biting, had softened into something almost fond.

He sighed softly. “They’re… impossible.”

Sensei Amamiya, standing nearby with a drink, smirked. “And yet, Kanda-kun, you’re still here. Still blushing. Still trying.”

Yuuto turned red. “S-Sensei…”

She chuckled. “You’ll learn, Yuuto. Some lessons aren’t found in textbooks. Especially not the ones about… love.”

He glanced at the three girls laughing under the setting sun—and for the first time, didn’t try to fight the warmth spreading in his chest.

Maybe… just maybe… this chaos was worth it.