A new day dawned.
Iori and his companion stood energetically by the sea in their snorkeling vests!
Though they missed the end of the banquet yesterday, they certainly wouldn't miss today's fishing trip!
"Eh? Shiro, what's wrong? Didn't sleep well last night?"
Azusa looked at Shiro with concern. Though Shiro was also wearing a snorkeling vest, he looked completely out of place next to the other two.
The dark circles under his eyes were practically supernatural.
"Haa~ Azusa nee, it's nothing. I just… foresaw a great calamity waiting for me when I get back, haha…"
Thinking of Kiyoko and Sakurako back home, Shiro's expression started to collapse.
His phone didn't stop buzzing the entire night—he was bombarded with messages from both women, and he didn't even dare to answer their calls.
He could already envision the kind of hell waiting for him upon return…
The problem was—
Who leaked the secret?!
He checked yesterday—neither Iori nor Kohei had said anything.
Which meant… the most suspicious person was…
Shiro turned his gaze to Azusa nee.
She was the most suspicious!
Meeting Shiro's stare, Azusa tilted her head in confusion, then as if something occurred to her, gave him a teasing wink.
"If Shiro wants a lap pillow, I'm available~"
Shing!
A murderous aura once again engulfed Shiro.
"..."
Shiro wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. These two were still so easily provoked.
Not that he cared about lap pillows anyway—when he got back, wouldn't he be able to rest on whichever lap he wanted?
Those two dummies wouldn't even notice!
Just thinking of this made Shiro feel a lot better. Even the murderous aura behind him felt kind of comforting.
Still, he couldn't let this slide!
Shiro's eyes sharpened. "Azusa-san, what were you doing last night?"
Though she didn't know why he was asking, Azusa answered truthfully. A subtle blush even appeared on her face.
"Last night, huh~"
"I had a really wonderful evening with Maya and Nanaka~"
"..."
Shiro and the other two fell silent, staring at Azusa. This perverted woman was truly beyond saving.
But that also drastically reduced his suspicion level.
If it wasn't Azusa, then who could it be?
Surely it wasn't some kind of magic mirror peeping on them?
At that moment, Shiro started to sense something creepy around him.
Shivering.jpg
"Azusa-san, you and Maya sama…"
Kohei hesitated, unsure whether to remind her.
But Azusa seemed to misunderstand his meaning. She nodded shyly.
"Yes, we… Ow! Who hit me?! Don't you know…"
She turned back angrily after getting a karate chop to the head—only to see her best friend Maya's dark face.
{{(°△°; "}}!
"You know… hitting with your hand hurts. Maya, next time just spank me instead, there's more padding~"
Azusa truly lived up to her name. Even caught red-handed, her face didn't change.
"Tch~"
Maya clicked her tongue. If it were any other time, she'd let it slide. But what if Shiro misunderstood and thought she liked girls?!
After clicking her tongue, she gave Shiro a shy glance.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Shiro was too busy shivering in fear to notice any beauty's charm.
"So, you guys are going snorkeling?"
Azusa finally broke the silence, drawing Shiro's attention back.
"Ah, yes. We didn't catch any fish yesterday, so Kitahara and the others decided to try again today."
"Right! I want to catch a fish myself and present it to Maya sama!"
Kohei brandished his spear, fired up and ready to go!
"Chisa said she'd come too…"
Iori looked toward a nearby tent, where their expected companion was supposed to be.
Unfortunately, that companion was feeling under the weather.
After getting soaked by the sea and not changing clothes quickly, Chisa had caught a cold and was now resting.
"She probably wanted to come," Shiro sighed and patted Iori on the shoulder with some regret. "It's all your fault."
"That's right, all your fault."
Kohei also patted Iori on the shoulder. He'd heard about yesterday's incident too.
??
!
"Why is it my fault?!"
Iori glared at the two of them. He was a victim too!
"Because you didn't resist temptation."
"You did something as scummy as peeping while someone was changing!"
Shiro and Kohei wore the expressions of disappointed dads who just found out their son visited a shady site.
(?°?д°?)
"Both of you get in the water now!"
Iori grabbed their arms and dragged them toward the sea. These two deserved to be shark bait!
Watching them interact, Azusa's eyes lit up—she thought of something super fun!
Then she turned to everyone and proposed, "Why don't we take a group photo of everyone jumping off the jetty together?"
"Eh?"
The three stopped goofing around. That actually sounded kind of fun.
"You mean those mid-air shots?"
Shiro asked. He remembered seeing photos like that on social media. They looked pretty joyful.
"Ahaha, of course not~"
Azusa waved her hand dismissively. As if she'd suggest something so boring. Her lips curled into a mischievous smile, like she was already seeing the future unfold.
"Of course I meant a shot of Nanaka's bra flying off from the splash impact!"
Seeing Azusa's perverted expression, the three were stunned.
"Such pure eyes…"
"Eyes filled only with lust!"
"Maya's still right here, you left her out!"
Stab!
Shiro's kidney took a critical hit. He turned to see Maya "smiling" at him.
She tugged at her swimsuit strap. "Shiro, my swimsuit can't be knocked off by water impact. But if you want to see something, we can go somewhere private~"
{{(°△°; "}}!
"N-No thanks, just a jumping photo sounds great…"
Sensing danger, Shiro quickly declined.
Otherwise, he might really get fed to the sharks…
"But Azusa nee, are you sure? Your bikini might get knocked off too."
Shiro looked at her swimsuit with concern. Hers and Nanaka's were the same style—bikinis.
"So what?"
Azusa not only wasn't shy—she even tilted Shiro's chin up like some domineering CEO.
"So manly!"
"Quick, go get Nanaka san! I can't wait any longer!"
Before Shiro could say anything, the two idiots beside him got excited and ran off with Azusa to ask Nanaka-senpai out.
Leaving Shiro a mess in the wind.
Wait, there was still Maya furiously poking at his waist.
Swoosh~
The sea breeze blew by.
With Azusa and the others gone, the place fell quiet again.
"What an enviable club, everyone is so full of life."
Maya tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled Shiro to sit down by the beach.
"Don't you find it noisy? Sometimes these guys can be pretty annoying."
Shiro, who was initially a little nervous being alone with Maya, gradually relaxed upon seeing her carefree expression.
He returned to his usual devil-may-care self.
"You must be pretty happy here, right?"
Maya leaned gently on Shiro's shoulder. At that moment, it felt like they were back at the bar, having that heart-to-heart talk.
Hearing Maya's words, Shiro stiffened slightly. He shook his head with a look of disdain.
"How could I be? I can't stand them. These people are either drinking or doing dumb stuff. I'm a normie, you know!"
"A normie who strips when drinking?"
(;?＿?)
"T-That was an uncontrollable force! It tastes better drinking without clothes…"
"A normie who sleeps in class?"
"All normies sleep in class!"
"A normie who's often half-naked in public?"
"…That's just a trick to attract older women—wait! How do you even know all this?!"
It was only after Maya had asked several questions that Shiro realized—hadn't they just reunited less than a day ago? How was she so familiar with him?
"Azusa-senpai told you?"
That was the only possibility he could think of. That girl Azusa always loved exposing him!
But to his surprise, Maya shook her finger, "Nope, not Azusa~"
(′｀;)?
"Then how do you know?"
Shiro scratched his head—did these people all have superpowers or something?!
Just like Kiyoko and Sakurako before!
Seeing Shiro's face full of existential crisis, Maya decided not to tease him further and gave him the answer directly.
"Of course, from this~"
She pulled out her phone, showing him the Izu University forum on the screen.
Seeing that, Shiro instantly understood. After all, he was somewhat of a celebrity at Izu University.
Whether it was for his looks or thanks to his two idiot brothers…
But wait, there wasn't any post about him going to the uninhabited island.
So how did Kiyoko Kamio and Sakurako know?
"Hmm, 'Hottest Freshman is Actually a Scumbag'—this one fits your image pretty well."
(;?＿?)
Shiro awkwardly looked away. "Ahaha, that's just slander from jealous people. It's that tennis club president you saw yesterday! He's my number one hater. Maya, don't fall for it!"
Maya nodded obediently. Just when Shiro thought the matter had passed, Maya swiped to another screen.
"A Certain High School Forum"
"You've got quite a lot of haters, huh, Shiro~"
Seeing that familiar forum name, Shiro's shock gradually turned into despair, and finally to acceptance.
Whatever?_?
Can't make up excuses anymore. Goodbye, beautiful world.
SPLASH!
Just as Shiro was about to throw himself into the sea, he suddenly felt himself being lifted?!
At some point, his good buddies Iori and Kohei had appeared behind him.
"Time for pictures!"
"We can't leave you out, Shiro!"
"Kitahara, Kohei…"
At that moment, Shiro's eyes grew misty. These were true bros—he felt alive again!
…
"AAAHHH!! Weren't we dancing with Azusa nee?! Why is it with you, senpai?!"
Splash!
"AAAAH, senpai, stop pulling my swim trunks!!"
Splash!
"Take this, senpai!!"
Splash!
"HAHAHAHA, I'm the Sea King! Watch my quintuple spin jump!"
Splash!
On the shore, Maya held Shiro's precious camera, the corners of her mouth twitching.
This is what he calls not having fun?
He's totally one of them already!
As expected, men are all big fat liars—not a single word can be trusted.
But…
Seeing Shiro's bright and happy smile, Maya couldn't help but smile too.
Click—
If only he could stay this happy forever… that wouldn't be so bad.