It turned out that Izumi had originally seen the little girl happily swimming in the river, but as he watched, he realized she was drifting uncontrollably downstream with the current.
In a panic, Izumi's mind filled with the thought of saving her. Without thinking much, he followed along, found a good angle, and jumped into the river to rescue her.
But halfway there, Izumi's leg suddenly cramped. The little girl saw her lifesaver in trouble and instinctively climbed out of her swim ring to try to save Izumi. The swim ring floated away.
Hmm, the little girl who originally couldn't swim suddenly knew how to swim. She propped Izumi up from the side and encouraged him: "Hang in there, big brother."
Izumi looked at the little girl swimming and holding him up, and let out a puzzled question: "You can swim?"
Little girl: "Huh?"
The little girl suddenly remembered she couldn't swim after all. She let go of Izumi and started struggling in the water again.
Hmm~ Very logical. Then Saiki arrived and jumped in to save them...
Even Saiki couldn't imagine someone being so unlucky while swimming that their leg would cramp at just the right (or wrong) moment.
...
"So that's what happened. Good thing everything turned out okay!"
After hearing the explanation, everyone understood: Izumi had run into another streak of bad luck, rushed off to save someone on his own without succeeding, and nearly dragged himself down too.
"But you can't do that again! Izumi-kun, why didn't you call us! If Saiki-kun hadn't followed you, you'd have been done for—do you realize that!!"
Shikimori scolded from the side.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Izumi sat properly on his knees while Shikimori lectured him sternly from nearby, like a child who had made a mistake listening to his mother.
(She's really laying into him!)
Saiki nodded in agreement.
Saiki actually could have saved him a few seconds earlier, but since Izumi hadn't said a word and went off alone to play hero—nearly causing a disaster—Saiki wanted to let the guy learn a lesson by swallowing a couple mouthfuls of water. Otherwise, this overly nice person would keep getting taken advantage of and acting on his own without regard for himself.
"Good thing everyone ended up fine in the end, or else..."
Inuzuka Shu: "Alright, alright, as long as everyone's okay in the end. But Izumi, you really can't do that again. Not taking the river seriously can actually kill you."
Nekozaki Kyo: "Exactly, exactly."
Hachimitsu Yui took out a first-aid kit: "Are you hurt? If you're injured, you have to say so!"
"Thanks, I'm fine."
Izumi scratched his head, rested for a while, then stood up.
[Since everyone's okay, let's head back first!]
"Yeah!!"
Just as the group was about to leave, a young woman leading the little girl who had nearly drowned came over to thank them.
"I'm so sorry, sorry, sorry..."
The young woman kept bowing deeply to Izumi in apology, tears welling in her eyes. After all, she hadn't kept a proper eye on her daughter and had nearly gotten someone else in trouble too.
"Auntie, it's okay!"
After seeing Izumi forgive her, the young woman walked over to Saiki's side and bowed deeply again in gratitude.
It almost looked like she wanted to fling her brain out from how vigorously she bowed: "Thank you, thank you, thank you for saving my daughter, thank you..."
(Ah(||๐_๐) So heavy, such a troublesome thank-you.)
[It's... it's fine. Everything turned out okay in the end.]
The little girl shyly walked up to Saiki to thank him.
"Thank you, big brother. Thank you for saving me!"
[No problem. Be more careful next time when you're out playing. Stay cautious near the river. It's best to read more of that "Wilderness Water Drowning First Aid Booklet: Children's Edition." It's really useful.]
Shikimori [I've heard that somewhere before?]
"Yeah, okay."
Even though the little girl didn't quite understand what kind of book Saiki was talking about, she just nodded along for now. She'd look it up properly when she got home anyway.
[Yeah, what a good kid.]
Saiki patted the little girl on the head.
(So innocent, kind, and obedient. Unlike some of the ones I've dealt with before.)
The little girl enjoyed the head pat. After Saiki took his hand away, she said: "Big brother, come closer. I have something to tell you!"
Saiki bent down to lean in. The next second—
"Chuu∽"
Saiki instinctively touched his now-wet cheek.
(Was that just a sneak attack?)
But since the other party was just a little kid, Saiki didn't mind too much. Shikimori, on the other hand, put on a shocked face.
(º Д º*)
Shikimori [So... so jealous.]
The little girl thanked Izumi in the same way, even though Izumi felt pretty embarrassed—because he hadn't actually helped much.
But the little girl didn't mind at all and said: "When we were drowning, big brother still held me up even though it meant swallowing water yourself to protect me. Thank you so much."
After saying that, the little girl and her mother left.
...
"Alright then, let's go back and keep playing!"
"Oh!!"
[I'm going back to fishing.]
The group returned to playing. Shikimori saw that even Izumi had come over to join in, but Saiki was still off fishing alone. She sneaked underwater and popped up right by Saiki's fishing rod.
She scooped up a handful of water and splashed it toward Saiki's face to perk him up and give him a surprise.
But Saiki seemed to have anticipated it and showed almost no change in expression.
Shikimori gave up helplessly. She tried her best to show off her swimsuit in front of Saiki until the very end, when she left. It seemed like Saiki had only just noticed, which dealt her a heavy blow.
...
After playing for a while, the group wandered nearby and stepped into a clothing store to browse.
They even picked out something for Izumi: a white shirt with "Famous Local Baron" written on it.
They tried to get something for Saiki too, but Saiki refused, saying he only wanted ordinary, plain clothes. In the end, Hachimitsu Yui picked out a white shirt for Saiki with the huge words "Plain" written on the front and "Ordinary" on the back, and had him change into it.
Hachimitsu Yui looked at Saiki in the new shirt and nodded in satisfaction: "Perfect."
[Where's the perfect part!]
"This seems even more attention-grabbing へ(゜∇,°)へ"
The group also tried out an ice cream shop with 20 different flavors.
Saiki walked out satisfied with his coffee jelly ice cream and saw the others sharing ice cream like little kids.
"Oh!! Saiki, you're out!"
Inuzuka Shu waved enthusiastically with a big smile and walked up to Saiki.
"Hey, what's that? Coffee jelly ice cream? I've never tried it!"
Inuzuka Shu suddenly sped up, pulled out a spoon, and tried to scoop a bite from Saiki's ice cream—but Saiki nimbly dodged.
[Yare yare daze. I know exactly what that little brain of yours is thinking. Too naive.]
"What? Damn it!"
Inuzuka Shu sped up his hand movements. The spoon in his hand moved like an afterimage, as if he'd grown extra hands in an attempt to scoop some of Saiki's ice cream.
One minute later...
Saiki sat leisurely on the back of Inuzuka Shu, who had collapsed to the ground, enjoying his ice cream.
"Hah~ hah~"
Inuzuka Shu rolled his eyes while looking up at Saiki and asked somewhat suspiciously: "Saiki, have you trained in something or what?"
[Trained in something? Not really. I practiced piano and calligraphy a bit when I was little.]
Saiki explained with a straight face and a very sincere tone. Whether the others believed him or not was another story.
And upon hearing Saiki's answer, everyone instantly pictured in their minds the scene of Saiki holding up a piano while practicing calligraphy.