The girl that loves the beach and the boy that loves the ocean part 2

"Of course, you'd have a beach house..." And all I've got is a rundown house. Talk about the difference in social standing. Futoshi's head dropped into the palm of his hand. There wasn't anything else to call this but 'cliche.'

They had lived opposite lives-no, opposite worlds. It wouldn't be a stretch to say Rin had lived on an entirely new planet from the rest of them. 

Reina's eyes sparkled at what Rin had said, like they were imitating a star cluster.

"The beach arc is finally here!" Reina jumped as she said that, her petite arms extended as far as they could reach. In that moment, Futoshi placed a hand atop Reina's head. 

"We're not in some romcom anime, Oteina." 
"Did you seriously try to call me an Otaku?" 

Rin cocked her head at the two's interaction, before a wry smile appeared to tug at her lip.

"You're such good friends, aren't you?" 
"Yeah, they really are, aren't they?" Haruto scooched over next to Rin, watching the two. 

"Hey, Ojino-senpai, does that mean...-" 

"Of course you can, you're a valuable club member, Nakamura-kun." 

Haruto gripped his gakuran. Those words... were like Cupid shooting an arrow directly at his heart. 

"Someone looks happy."  

His eyes quivered, beginning to stream down his face; you could tell he wanted to be included.

"Haruto, stop being a crybaby!"

As usual, Reina's sharpened tone interjected. Practically halting the flow of tears in its tracks. When it came to Romance she couldn't just sit idly in a time of crisis. 

"Oh, right, Hajime-san, do you have a swimsuit?" Rin pushed a finger to her lip as she spoke. If Hajime didn't have-

"I-I've got one... but only my school one." Aoi's face was beet-red as she spoke. It wasn't unusual, but it wasn't common either. Usually by this time, people went out and bought their own swimsuits.

Just then, a grin that could only be labelled as 'mischievous' spread across Reina's face. Her gaze met Futoshi.

"No peeking, pervoshi! I know what you're like. If I even see you leering at me, I'll poke your eyes!"
As if I'd do that! Who does she take me for? 
Futoshi dropped his shoulders before letting out a sigh.
"Yeah, I got it, I wouldn't do that to YOU anyway." 

"Right, guys, enough, play times over." Rin clapped her hands, stopping the two from starting a full-on verbal war. 

"Reina, you  ok   going with Futoshi?" Rin asked as she flashed a thumbs-up in her direction. For what it's worth, they were almost always together, so the chance of them going with each other was already quite high.  

"I'll go just to keep an eye on his leering. You never know with him." Reina huffed as she pushed her fists into her sides. 

"Wouldn't it be easier if we just went swimsuit shopping together?" Haruto's hand rose. His words... as annoying as they were for Reina and Rin,  were quite logical. 

"Y-yeah, I agree." Aoi nodded in agreement

It was 2 against 3. Haruto's got a point. Plus, it means he can spend some quality time with Ojino-senpai.  

"Yeah, I'm in." 

With the scales leaning towards Haruto, Aoi, and Futoshi, the girls had to oblige. Their plan had been foiled before it even left the ground. 

"Reina, you coming with me to meet them then, I'm guessing?"

"Just because I've been over your house twice-"

"It's easier, plus you owe me a meal, remember?"  Futoshi smirked. If he could get a free meal out of it, it was all the more reason to push. 

"I-I... never mind. Fine, I'll go with you if you're that desperate!" Reina couldn't argue with that, after all, she was the one who told him that 'next time I'm cooking for you,'  so she couldn't exactly push back.

Setting their useless banter aside, Rin propped herself up from the table. 

"So we're all good for next Saturday?" Rin had a good head on her shoulders. 

Her ability to steer a conversation was always something worth praising; without her here, it's safe to say their conversations would spiral out of control. 

"Yeah, should be." A variety of voices spoke in unison, almost as if it were a conductor getting the attention of its bandmates. 

After this week, it was the start of a students' favourite time of year:

Summer vacation. 

Usually, I'd spend my time sitting in front of a TV with some new anime or some random game I happen to find. As much as I hate to admit it, it might be a nice change of pace for once.

"That settles that matter then." Rin clapped her hands. It wasn't every day you got to go to a rich person's beach house, let alone a girl's.

"Rin! How long will we be going for?" Reina had a twinkling gaze now that the conversation had been brought back to the beach. 

In the face of Reina's question, Rin wafted a hand in the air-almost as if to brush it off.

"I don't know, I can maybe set it aside for a week - Oh! Hajime-san, tell that boy that you like that he can come along too. He is a key player in our first 'operation' after all."

Aoi nodded, hiding her face behind her fists.

"Yeah... I'll do that...?"

Reina had leaned in, pushing her face up against Aoi's as a cat does to its owner. 

"Who is this guy you like, Hajime-san? Is it another bookwork or something?" 

This was another one of Reina's Romance-induced outbursts. For what it's worth, though, she hadn't exactly said the guy's name yet, so she had the right to ask questions.  

Aoi stood there idly twiddling her thumbs. Whoever she liked, she needed to get them on board before their ship could sail.

"Well... It's kinda embarrassing, but it's y-yamada-kun in the basketball club." Yamada? The guy from mine, Reina's, and Haruto's class? I guess it's true, opposites really do attract.

Reina, Haruto, and Futoshi locked eyes.  It was like they all understood what they had to do. 

Just then, a surprising voice broke the silence that had settled after that confession of love.

"I'll get Shuchin-kun to join at any cost."

Haruto?!