Stepping out of the cool subway car, a rolling heat wave, laced with the salty smell of the sea, rushed to greet them. In an instant, beads of sweat as large as peas appeared like a downpour on Hitori Gotoh's forehead, who was dressed in her tracksuit. The wisp of a soul escaping her mouth was driven back by the intense heat.
"Ngh…"
Hitori Gotoh's consciousness finally returned. Jhin's strong arms were holding her firmly in his embrace. Her vision was filled with the azure sea horizon hanging over the yellow sand.
Seeing his girlfriend's soul return to her body, Jhin set her down from his arms.
"I'll go buy you guys some ice cream. What flavors do you want?"
"I want sea salt."
"Then, I want mint."
"Strawberry is fine for me."
"Bocchi-chan, what about you?"
"Original flavor is fine."
Hitori Gotoh's gaze shifted to the vast ocean. The azure water was like a magical spell capable of healing the heart, soothing her fear of school starting. The sea breeze whisked away the negative thoughts lingering in her mind, helping her untangle the jumbled mess of her thoughts.
How long has it been since I've been to the beach? Coming to the beach, the sea is so beautiful, so….
"Hey, ladies!" A frivolous, boisterous, and gruff male voice interrupted Hitori Gotoh's inner thoughts.
The face of an adult man with wheat-colored skin, wearing yellow-rimmed, star-shaped sunglasses and a goatee, burst into Hitori Gotoh's field of vision, blocking the view of the sea.
"If you're free, come eat at my stall!"
"Gwah!" Hitori Gotoh let out a strange cry, her body jerking back and slamming into the stainless steel guardrail behind her with a "clang."
It's a genuine beach pick-up artist!
"There's a discount for cute girls, you know. We can have a table for four ready right away."
This was the first time Hitori Gotoh had ever encountered such a flippant pick-up artist in real life.
Her body trembled, repeatedly hitting the guardrail and making a rapid "clang, clang, clang" sound.
The flippant man and his companion continued to stand in front of the four girls, chattering endlessly:
"Are you ladies in high school? Where are you from?"
One of his companions even reached out, preparing to forcibly grab Kita Ikuyo, who looked lively and cheerful and was dressed fashionably and cute.
"Come on, come on, come hang out with us."
A dark green ice cream cone exploded directly on the flippant man's head.
Jhin's face was grim, his blue eyes shooting out a sword-like glare, and his icy voice made the pick-up artists feel as if they'd been plunged into an ice cellar.
"Get lost! Stay away from my girlfriend and my friends."
Having a headful of cream thrown at him with an ice cream cone, the flippant man was furious.
He didn't quite hear what Jhin said and cursed,
"You little bastard, you're pretty full of yourself. Are all four of them your girlfriends?"
"I don't want to repeat myself. Either you get lost, or I'll send you to the hospital."
Jhin stood in front of the girls, separating them from the flippant men.
"Heh, you're still wet behind the ears and you're talking big? Watch me mess you up."
The flippant man, already enraged by his failed attempt to hit on them and the humiliation of having a head full of dark green cream, chose to get physical.
"Ah!"
"Jhin, be careful!"
Amidst the girls' screams, Jhin flicked his hand and caught a golden card.
"The World."
Gray ripples spread out from Jhin as the starting point, and the entire world lost its color.
In this black and white world, the flippant man's fist had just been raised. The muscles on his palm were bunched together, forming wrinkles in the shape of the character "川". The cream dripping from the tip of his hair hung suspended in mid-air in the shape of a droplet. Jhin could even see a piece of green onion hidden between the man's nicotine-stained yellow teeth.
"If I weren't still holding the ice cream, I couldn't even be bothered to use my Stand on you."
Jhin curled his lip. His Stand, "The World," controlled its strength and delivered a few punches to their kidneys.
After a moment's thought, he felt it wasn't satisfying enough, so he added a progeny-ending kick (light version) for each of them and, while he was at it, smeared the ice cream into their eyes.
Currently, Jhin could only stop time for two seconds, but that was more than enough.
"Time begins to move again."
The girls only felt that in the blink of an eye, all three flippant men were clutching their crotches, wailing and rolling on the ground.
They were astonished at how agile Jhin was.
Kita Ikuyo had heard plenty of rumors about Jhin at school, from him single-handedly taking on a dozen thugs to it later evolving into him single-handedly wiping out a gang. Only now did she witness for herself what Jhin was like when he really got into a fight. Although she didn't see how he moved at all, the three pick-up artists lying on the ground, with tears and snot streaming down their faces from the pain, had already proven to her just how painful it was when Jhin hit someone.
Kita Ikuyo showed not a shred of sympathy for the flippant men. If Jhin hadn't arrived in time, she had no idea where she would have been forcibly dragged off to.
"Sorry, I threw all the ice cream away."
"Ah, um…" Nijika was a bit dazed. It was the first time she had seen Jhin angry.
Seeing him apologize, she quickly came to her senses:
"It's okay. It's a good thing you came back in time."
"Let's go buy new ones together, so you don't run into this kind of situation again."
"Mhm." Kita Ikuyo raised both hands in agreement.
Ryo gave Jhin a thumbs-up in praise:
"Jhin, you were especially cool today."
"Don't praise me like that."
"So, what do you think about them saying we're all your girlfriends?"
"Hey! Ryo! Bocchi-chan is right here, I told you not to make those kinds of jokes!"
Jhin answered while comforting Hitori Gotoh, who had hidden in his embrace:
"You're all wonderful girls. I'm already very happy just being able to date Bocchi-chan."
"Whew~ What a textbook answer!" Nijika nudged Ryo with her elbow, telling her to stop bringing up such strange topics.
"Excellent boyfriend," Ryo praised, then said no more.
And just like that, their seaside summer memories ended before they had even begun.
The group ate their ice cream and left the beach and sea, which were filled with restlessness and youth.
They hadn't gone far when a shop wafting the aroma of octopus caught Ryo's attention.
As the one who initiated this outing, Jhin naturally treated them to this octopus senbei, which was said to be made by pressing an octopus with one ton of force.
Setting aside whether this octopus senbei was like a 'wife cake' (which contains no wife) and similarly contained no octopus, the flavor itself was actually quite good. The aroma of roasted garlic covered the fishy smell of the octopus, and the sauce further enhanced the 'umami' of the seafood. The crispy texture made you want to eat one bite after another.
Ryo praised herself:
"My perception of deliciousness is second to none!"
Kita Ikuyo, holding a selfie stick, thought this food was very suitable for photos:
"This is big and cute, so it's really photogenic. Everyone, let's take a group photo!"
"Everyone get ready, I'm taking the picture!"
"Click!"
In the photo Kita Ikuyo took, Jhin was stretching his neck to take a bite out of the octopus senbei in Hitori Gotoh's hand. Hitori Gotoh, meanwhile, was dumbfounded by her boyfriend taking a huge bite of her food, staring at the large gap in the senbei, looking incredibly comical.
Hitori Gotoh was puffing out her cheeks, playfully pounding on the roaringly laughing Jhin with one small fist.
Kita Ikuyo put her phone away, a complex emotion that she couldn't quite name or describe welling up inside her.
___
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