The Swimsuit Episode (Part 2)

The day after Kaiko and Nayuta made Miyako perform all sorts of shameless acts for their pleasure, Nayuta paid a visit to Itsuki’s apartment, shopping bag in hand.

“Whew!” she said as she entered, grabbing the fabric around her chest and flapping it up and down to fan herself down there. “It’s a hot one, huh, Itsuki?”

Itsuki casually turned his head away from the flashes of bra and cleavage that resulted. “Yeah. Nothing’s better in the summer than staying in an air-conditioned room all day.”

“You said it,” Nayuta said with a smile. “That’s why I brought something along to help you cool down.”

“Oh? Cool down…?”

As Itsuki puzzled over this, Nayuta thrust her hand into the bag she brought along and took something out.

“Ta-daa! A bathing suit!”

Spread out wide between her hands was a black swimsuit shaped like an upside-down triangle, albeit angled for maximum provocation. It was suited less for the beach and more for a bodybuilding competition.

“…And?” Itsuki coldly replied to Nayuta and her sparkling eyes.

“It’s a present for you!”

“I don’t need it! What were you thinking when you bought that for me?”

“I was thinking you’d wear it, of course. This was a little embarrassing for me to buy, even.”

“It embarrassed you, and you want me to wear it?!”

“I brought one for myself, too,” Nayuta countered, standing tall against this refusal. “A pretty bold one. Wanna wear them together?”

Itsuki took a breath, noticing Nayuta’s cheeks redden. “I… What am I gonna do in a swimsuit anyway? Are we going to a pool or something?”

“Oh, I would die in the pool. It’s going to be so packed in the summer! It’s the middle of the season in Okinawa, too, so count me out of that.”

“I can’t disagree with you on that…but why’d you buy a pair of swimsuits?”

“Because I just wanted to wear them to make out with you. Indoors.”

“Indoors…? Wow, I can feel myself getting dumber.”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s summertime.”

“The answer’s no, all right? I’m not gonna put up with your silly fantasies. Go do it yourself, if you’re that desperate,” Itsuki snapped back.

“…All right. I’ll go put this on real quick.”

“Huh?!”

Ignoring the astounded Itsuki, Nayuta took the shopping bag with her to the bathroom.

Is… Is she really gonna do it?

She had helped herself to Itsuki’s bathroom numerous times in the past. There were times when he’d wake up and she’d be next to him in bed, clad in nothing but her undergarments. He had even seen her naked, although it was just a quick glance. Swimwear, though, would be brand-new—and frankly, he had no interest. He had a creative interest in underwear, perhaps—Kaiko Mikuniyama’s influence had helped a great deal with how he depicted them in his novels—but the swimsuit descriptions in his novels were just as vague and slapdash as ever. He saw no need to give them special attention. If he slapped them on a character, they were bound to be taken off in short order anyway.

But even in Okinawa, Nayuta chose to goof around on the beach naked. No swimsuit. This might, he thought, be a really valuable experience. And it was a “pretty bold one.” How sexy could it be?

He could feel his heart racing, but instead he focused back on the novel he was writing on his computer, reminding nobody in particular in his mind that he definitely didn’t care about swimsuits.

And when Kazuma took Ichika by the hand, it was swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits sexy swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits sexy swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits swimsuits sexy swimsuits……

“All done!”

He whirled around in his chair at the unexpected sound of her voice. In another moment, his eyes—his heart—were all hers.

There was Nayuta, squirming a bit, her cheeks red. Nayuta had called it something “bold,” but that didn’t seem to be the right word. There were pleats everywhere on the two-piece suit, adorned with a fancy aqua-blue pattern. It was also pretty modest in what it covered up—more cute than sexy. For someone like Nayuta, well-developed but small and youthful, it matched well. Itsuki silently stared at her, mouth agape.

“Ummm, what do you think, Itsuki?” Nayuta nervously asked.

The question made him regain his senses. He instantly began to blush. “I… I think it’s nice,” he managed to gasp out before turning away. The show made Nayuta’s cheeks redden even more.

“Th-thanks for saying that…hee-hee…”

She bashfully held her head down as she toddled right past Itsuki and sat down on his bed.

“Nyah-hah-hah… This is kind of embarrassing me. Being here, in a swimsuit…”

“And whose fault is that?” replied Itsuki, taking a side glance at her.

“Eh-heh-heh…” Nayuta took on a chiding tone, hiding her embarrassment. “Is this turning you on, Itsuki?”

“……Yeah,” came the reply—that he kept locked within his closed mouth. But no matter how much he tried to lower his voice, Nayuta caught the sound. It set her cheeks on fire.

“Oh… Okay…”

She lay facedown on the bed, hiding her redness.

“Um, wearing a swimsuit indoors is pretty dumb, isn’t it? I’m gonna change!”

Then she stood up, carefully avoiding a peek at Itsuki’s face, and started changing in the bathroom. This swimsuit strategy paid off better than she expected—but it wound up exciting her so much that she couldn’t take it anymore.

This was a swimsuit she bought for herself while shopping for Miyako, but she had considered one of the more outlandish selections from that day as well. Now that she knew her feelings for Itsuki were reciprocal, however, going for all-out sex appeal in her advances just seemed embarrassing. She had intended to give Itsuki a treasure trove of self-made porn for her birthday but chickened out at the last minute, and she wouldn’t be able to go out in front of him in something too provocative.

Thus, for now, she opted for a typical, mature-looking swimsuit to stake her claim with. But even a “typical” swimsuit paid off big-time for her. It totally enthralled Itsuki’s mind.

“Nyaaa…”

Her suit was off now. Nayuta looked at her naked frame in the mirror, scowling and groaning to herself. She didn’t know what kind of distance she should take with Itsuki. Before she knew where his mind lay, she had no problem storming right up to him like an advancing army. Now, she was scared of going too far. Going too far and triggering some decisive change in their relationship. But at the same time, she didn’t want him to totally ignore her as a woman.

Nayuta Kani, author of countless tales of burning youth, seated at the pinnacle of the light novel industry, was at a very normal sort of impasse—one that any young woman might have. Love really is hard.