Finally, the Beach!

The school rented out a lodge next to the beach for the students to sleep in. On one side of the building were the rooms the girls stayed in. The boys’ rooms were on the other side.

After a bit of instruction from the teachers, the students claimed their rooms and unpacked their belongings.

Lunch was in a couple hours, so the students were able to do whatever they wanted as long as they stayed nearby and didn’t break the rules.

Yuta sat on a wooden bench in the hall, reading the last few pages of his history textbook.

“U-Um... Yuta…”

He looked up from his textbook to see Shiori standing next to him with her hands behind her back. She was wearing the swimsuit Kurosawa gave her; It had a light pink design with red sparkles dotting the top piece. The bottom part looked like form-fitting shorts. A red ribbon was tied at the top of the swimsuit. Frills hung off of the top, covering her upper stomach.

“D-Does it suit me?” She shyly glanced away when she asked the question.

‘Kurosawa used to wear this? I expected something a little less girly…’ Yuta cleared his throat. “Yes, you look good in it, don’t worry.”

Her cheeks flushed. “T-Thanks… I wanted to know if you w-wanted to walk the s-shoreline with me…”

Closing his book, he stood up and faced Shiori. “Sure. If that’s what you want to do, we should have enough time.”

Shiori’s face lit up. “T-Then let’s go!”

Yuta followed Shiori out of the building and onto the beach. About a third of the students that came on the trip were currently on the beach. Some of them were swimming, some were playing beach volleyball, and some relaxed on the sand.

A number of guys stole glances at the bikini-clad girls fairly often. Kurosawa sat in a beach chair under an umbrella. It was hard to tell at first glance that it was her because she had her hair up and was wearing sunglasses.

Yuta had to hold in laughter upon seeing what she was wearing–her school swimsuit. ‘I know she’s wearing it to avoid being stared at the entire time, but… Is that the only thing she has!?’

The cold ocean water lapped at his toes. Shiori frolicked next to him, dipping her toes in the wet sand.

They walked in silence for a time. Shiori was enjoying herself so much, Yuta wasn’t sure if he should say anything. “...So, Shiori. You did well on the exam.”

She twirled on her toes. “Mhmm!”

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if you could do it. You’ve made a lot of progress these last couple months. So, I decided to reward you.” He turned his head to look at her. “What do you want? I can give you anything as long as it’s within my power.”

Shiori slowed to a stop. “A-Anything?”

He stopped next to her. “As long as it’s within my power.”

“U-Um… C-Can you give me a while to t-think of something?”

“Take as long as you need. I don’t want you to rush your decision.”

“T-Thank you, Yuta…”

“For what?”

“E-Everything… You’ve done so much for me… I’m s-sorry for taking so much of your time…”

“Nonsense. If it’s you, I don’t mind having less time to myself.” He resumed walking along the shoreline.

…

The smell of curry filled his nostrils the moment he stepped into the cafeteria. “Curry, huh? It’s been a while since I had that…”

Hitomura frowned. “I wonder if it’ll be very good. I don’t really like the school’s curry.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

He stood in the long line of hungry students with Hitomura behind him. Most people had changed into their normal clothes, or at least threw them on over their swimsuits. The cooks put plates on the counter for everyone in line. On each plate was curry, with a small roll of sushi on the side.

Once Yuta got his plate, he found Shiori and Kurosawa sitting at one of the front tables. He joined them, taking a seat next to Shiori. Hitomura sat on the other side of him.

Kurosawa leaned over the table. “Ozaki, I’m going to the convenience store after lunch. Want to come? I can buy you some ice cream.”

Shiori perked up at the mention of ice cream. She looked at Yuta out of the corner of her eye, silently asking for permission.

“You can go. I’ll be fine without you for a bit. Enjoy your ice cream with Kurosawa.”

Her eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically.

The sounds of chatter that filled the room died down when Mr. Sawajima raised his voice to get everyone’s attention.

Yuta looked behind him. Mr. Sawajima stood in front of the kitchen with the nurse, Ms. Sasaki, on his right. She looked irritated.

“Thank you all for coming and thank you all for doing your best on the exam. You are free to do whatever you want either inside the lodge or on the beach as long as it is within the rules until midnight. That’s your curfew. Now, Ms. Sasaki has a few announcements.” He stepped back to confirm that he finished what he had planned on saying.

Ms. Sasaki cleared her throat and scanned the crowd. “First off, if I catch any of you boys staring at any of the girls’ bodies…” A murderous aura surrounded her as she narrowed her eyes. “You’re dead.”

Most of the male students turned pale.

“Next on the list. At ten tonight, I will be hosting a test of courage unlike any you’ve ever seen. Make sure you wimps come prepared for the worst. Then, at eleven, there will be fireworks… If someone successfully completes the test of courage. You got that?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good. Then that is all. Go have fun. And remember. No staring at girls.”