Episode 1: River Ride of the Mermaid Princess

With half of summer vacation already gone, we made the decision to venture out to an amusement park near where Hibiki lived. Our goal was to enjoy the pool together. Originally, we’d planned on going to the main park and riding all the rides, but with how stifling hot the past few days had been, we all agreed at the last minute that the pool in the water park section would be much more in our interest.

It was past lunchtime now, so the sun was already high overhead, glaring down at us mercilessly. I really wished it would take a break.

“So, this is what a water park is like...”

Rain covered her mouth with her hand politely as she stared agape at the huge dome building.

“Yeah, they close the dome roof on rainy days, but it’s sunny today, so they’ve got it opened.”

“I can’t believe they fill this entire building with water.”

“No, the water doesn’t go up to the roof... Well, you’ll see for yourself soon.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Rain replied with a contented grin.

If she was that happy about coming, then it was worth bringing her here.

“Rain and Fam finished two days’ worth of summer homework yesterday just for this.”

“Ugh... My head hurts...”

Shirley giggled as she watched Fam clutch her head and groan. Garnet stood next to her, carrying her belongings.

Summer homework, huh? I still had to do mine, too. I’d gotten caught between an organization of psychics and a family of mages, plus a world of spirits and a world of demons, right at the start of vacation. And after that, I went to Mio’s concert with Tsumiki and accompanied Harissa back to her hometown. I’d barely had any time for homework. I figured I’d just get Satsuki to help me out with it later like I did every year.

But even though I was behind on my homework, I’d managed to save a few stories over the summer, so at least some good had come from it. Like Chelsea and Hibiki being able to chat happily.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never been somewhere like this before. What about you, Hibiki?”

“This is actually my first time coming to a pool outside of school.”

“Huh... I bet you always have all the boys staring at you with a set like yours.”

“Wah! S-Stop, don’t poke them! Anyway, Chelsea, if we’re comparing chests, then yours is...”

They... sure seemed to be having fun. It was kind of embarrassing watching them.

I hadn’t seen Chelsea for a while after her story was resolved, but she’d just moved to Hibiki’s neighborhood recently. She was my point of contact with the Margaret family. I would deliver information about Aburaamu to her, and she would pass it on to them—that was the role assigned to her by Nartessia, the head of her family. In order to fulfill that role, she’d relocated her treasure hunting enterprise to Japan. And thanks to that, we were now able to invite her out like this whenever she was free.

“Whew, I’m really looking forward to Chelsea’s swimsuit...”

“You never change, do you?”

I sighed at R, who was doing somersaults in the air. For some reason, the girl from the future was already changed into a swimsuit. How enthusiastic.

“But Rekka, Chelsea wasn’t with us when we went to Berano. She still hasn’t shown off her swimsuit yet, unlike the other heroines.”

Hmm... It was true that we hadn’t been able to invite Chelsea to the beaches on Rain’s home planet. She was overseas at the time.

“You must be curious, too, no? Wondering how much those breasts being jostled around by Hibiki right now could be enhanced by a swimsuit...”

“I-I’m not curious!”

No, really, I wasn’t. I wasn’t staring at those bouncing lumps under her tank top. Not at all.

“Speaking of swimsuits we haven’t seen yet, those two will also be an interesting sample.”

With a wicked grin, R pointed her finger in a different direction.

“Ooh...”

“Aah...”

Lea and Corona were standing there with their arms linked, both of them staring up at the dome in awe. My conversation with R led my eyes downwards towards their chests. No, really. There was no other meaning behind it. It’s just that they jiggled every time the girls nodded excitedly, attracting my gaze unwillingly...

“Oh, Rekka...”

Suddenly, I heard several girls talking behind me. It was Satsuki, Iris, and Tsumiki, all three of which were glaring my way.

“And what might you be so fascinated by?” Satsuki asked.

“Rekka! I’ll have you know that mine won’t lose to those two!” Iris proclaimed.

“...You’re the worst,” Tsumiki sneered.

I felt extremely attacked right now. Except by Iris, really. But that was barely anything compared to the gloom hanging over the group standing next to us...

“If only mine were a little bigger...”

“At least yours show promise, Harissa. Mine are...”

“I hate this cutting-board figure...”

Harissa, Mio, and Tetra were like a fountain of negativity.

“Apologize, you! Tell Mio you’re sorry right now!” Tsumiki barked.

“Huh? O-Oh, sorry.”

I apologized on reflex, but... it seemed to make the mood even darker. Mio was our age, but she was also the top idol MIO. She had to shuffle her busy schedule around in order to be able to come today. I didn’t want to make her feel bad like this...

“Hmph! Breasts are just sacks of fat, anyway.”

“Mistress, use this to wipe your tears.”

“I’m not crying!”

Rosalind huffed and crossed her arms as her maid, Suzuran, tried to console her for some reason. The situation was getting rather complicated, and we hadn’t even made it to the pool yet...

“Rekka...!”

“Uwah!”

And in the middle of things, someone hugged me from behind. Something soft was pressing up against my back...

“T-Tokiwa! Please don’t jump on me like that!”

“It’s so hot here... Let’s go in...”

Tokiwa whined, panting in my ear rather deliberately. Her weak constitution made her more susceptible to the heat, so it was probably tough for her to be outside in this weather.

“Listen to Midori, problem child.”

The One-Eyed Student Council President—President Momone, who wore an eyepatch over her right eye—appeared next to Tokiwa and placed a straw sun hat on top of her head. It must have fallen off when she jumped me.

“Having twenty-odd people loitering at the entrance will cause trouble for the other visitors. If we’re all here, let’s go inside.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I obediently followed her suggestion and directed everyone to start moving towards the entrance.

▽

Inside the huge dome was a wide variety of water play areas. There was a river ride, a wave pool, a shallow pool for children with a waterslide, and a diving pool. The tallest diving board was nearly as high as our school building... Who would jump from that?

“It’s not that crowded.”

“Yeah, but it’s not as spacious as the beaches on Berano, though.”

At least we wouldn’t all be squished into a small public pool with barely any room to swim. We planned on meeting outside the changing area by the pool entrance after everyone got into their swimsuits, but we’d be splitting up into groups after that.

“The only problem would be... Lea and Corona, perhaps? They probably don’t know anything about places like this.”

On the one hand was the Strongest Beast, who’d been sealed away for millennia, and on the other hand was the Demon King, who had been sealed away in another world. There was no way either of them knew how to play in a pool. There were also aliens and mole people and vampires in our midst, but fortunately, we also had plenty of sensible people in the group who could look after them as long as we split up tactfully.

“Brother Rekka!”

As I was wondering how all this was going to go, an energetic girl came bounding out from the changing rooms. It was Fam.

“Huh? That headband...”

“Oh, this? I normally hide my horn with my bangs, but that’s a lot more difficult to do with wet hair, so Shirley told me to wear this for today,” she explained, tugging on the headband she used to wear from her days as a space pirate. As a gremlin, she had a horn that she needed to hide around others.

“Fam, don’t run around the pool.”

Shirley and Rain appeared next after the lively girl, followed by Garnet, who was carrying a waterproof purse.

“Aww, why not?”

“It’s dangerous to run around, both for you and the people around you. If you can’t understand that much, then you’ll always be a child.”

“Hmph...”

Unable to talk back to Shirley, Fam puffed her cheeks up and sulked.

“I was just in a hurry to show Brother Rekka my swimsuit!” Fam protested indignantly, then turned away.

For the record, both Fam and Rain were wearing one-piece swimsuits. They’d bought the same one in different colors to match each other. Fam’s was light green while Rain’s was pastel pink, complementing their respective hair colors.

“Rekka, what do you think?” Rain asked.

She was standing next to Fam, fidgeting with her hands behind her back as she looked up at me. She was obviously asking for an opinion on their swimsuits.

“Oh, you both look very nice,” I answered honestly.

Rain and Fam both smiled joyfully.

“Oh, my, I want to hear Rekka’s opinion of mine, as well. How is it?”

Shirley inserted herself into our conversation with a smooth pose. She didn’t seem too interested in swimming, as she was still wearing her glasses. Her pareo-style swimsuit was neither too fancy nor too simple, and it emphasized her charms tastefully.

“I think it’s really nice. It’s new, isn’t it?”

“We all bought ours through an intergalactic delivery service. They have water-repellent technology unavailable here on Earth... Wait, how did you know it was new?”

“Um, the tag’s still on your skirt.”

“Huh?”

Shirley looked down in a fluster. When she spotted the tag, she blushed and called Garnet over to cut it off. Her three companions didn’t have tags on their swimsuits, so it seemed Shirley was the only one who'd forgotten... Either that, or she cut the tags off for the other three and missed her own. Either way, Shirley was kind of cute when she was blushing furiously as Garnet took care of the tag for her.

“Come to think of it, we met Rain and the others on the ocean planet of Berano, but we never saw them wearing swimsuits. Rain and Fam went for a cute look appropriate for their age. Shirley normally doesn’t stand out, but looking at her now, you can really tell she has a slender and beautiful figure. Garnet has a functional and conservative style typical of an android...”

For some reason, R had started to give live commentary on everyone’s swimsuits, so I decided to ignore her. Just in time, too. I spotted some of the other girls coming out of the changing rooms.

“Hey, Satsuki! Over here!”

“...”

Huh? My childhood friend seemed to be in a bad mood. Her swimsuit was the same white two-piece bikini I saw her in at the beach last time. I couldn’t see anything wrong, so I had no idea why she was upset...

Huh? Harissa and Tetra also looked dismayed, though not nearly as much as Satsuki. Rosalind was even chewing on her nails in frustration. Suzuran stood next to her master with her eyes closed. It seemed like everything was normal apart from their sour moods... Had something happened in the changing rooms?

“Rekka! Thanks for waiting!”

“Hm?”

That was when Iris came running over with a beaming smile that rivaled Fam’s. And boy, did her chest bounce magnificently with every bounding step... It was too tempting to look at any more than that, so I turned my gaze away. But she walked right up to me so I could see her anyway, still grinning.

“Rekka, what do you think of this swimsuit?”

As always, Iris looked amazing in a bathing suit. I was about to say that when I came to my senses and stopped myself. Then, upon taking a second look at her, I noticed something.

“Is that a different swimsuit than the one you wore before on Berano?”

“Bingo!”

Iris must have been watching Earth quiz shows on TV. She made a chiming buzzer noise to confirm my guess. The swimsuit I’d seen her in the first time looked amazing on her, but this one was a knockout, too. Not to mention... the design was a little more daring this time...

“Yeah... I think it’s the perfect swimsuit for you.”

“Heehee! I’m happy to hear you think so!”

Iris seemed satisfied at the compliment. It seemed her good mood was attributable to her new swimsuit, but why were Satsuki and the others so upset? I still couldn’t figure it out.

“I forgot Iris was supposed to be a princess...” muttered Satsuki.

“Rekka just bought me new clothes the other day, so I couldn’t ask for more...” said Harissa.

“I’ve been sending most of my wages back home to the village...” mumbled Tetra.

“I can’t believe this little girl gained the upper hand over me...” said Rosalind.

The aforementioned quartet of girls had gathered to grumble together. Suzuran joined them silently, making for a rather strange lineup.

“Whoa, what happened here?” Hibiki asked as soon as she walked over and saw them.

“Um... It’s probably best to ignore them,” I said.

“Really?”

With a doubtful look on her face, Hibiki zipped up the front of her hoodie. But Chelsea snuck up behind her, yanked the zipper back down, and flung open her hoodie all in one go.

“Hey!”

“There’s no point if you hide it, you know? Especially with a figure as great as yours.”

“Ch-Chelsea!”

Hibiki’s hoodie was caught on her arms, so she struggled to get it zipped back up. As Chelsea held it in place like that, she shot me a wink over Hibiki’s shoulder.

“What do you think, Rekka? Of Hibiki’s swimsuit figure, I mean.”

“Well, I... Oh, did you get a new swimsuit, too, Hibiki?”

“H-Huh?” Hibiki’s jaw dropped at my observation.

“Hmph...” Iris’s proud expression suddenly disappeared.

The design of Hibiki’s swimsuit was definitely different from the one she’d worn on Berano. Decorative flowers were stitched on the right side of her chest, making it seem like a more fashion-oriented style of suit than before.

“Um, the swimsuit I wore on Berano was rather old and didn’t fit well anymore, so I got a new one when I went out shopping with Chelsea so she could get a swimsuit,” Hibiki stammered.

“The chest was too tight, right?”

“Chelsea! Why would you say that out loud?!”

“Hahaha!” Chelsea laughed happily as she teased a blushing Hibiki.

In comparison, the design of Chelsea’s swimsuit was a little more simple, but it was strapless. It was all probably being held together in the back... Wouldn’t it come off while she was swimming? Since Chelsea had a great figure, it made me feel all the more anxious... Or excited.

“Mine don’t lose to that, either!” Iris interrupted just as I was starting to get distracted.

“Wow, those three are quite the sight when they’re lined up... Perhaps I should say six rather than three.”

R crossed her arms and nodded in deep appreciation of the two lumps of delight attached to every female. True, a federation formed from these six would be like a mountain range... Wait, the girl from the future was leading me astray again. I shook my head to purge those thoughts from my head, when—once again—two huge, pillowy marshmallows pressed up against my back.

“T-T-Tokiwa! Please don’t hug me when you’re in a swimsuit!”

“So crowded... tired...”

Tokiwa, clad in a bikini and a sarong, muttered listlessly into my ear as she leaned on my back, pressing herself into me even more. The crowds of people seemed to have tired her out. The park wasn’t particularly busy today, but it was a lot to handle for her when her energy reserves were so low in the first place. But no rest for the weary. Everyone’s gazes on me were starting to feel more and more murderous, so I carefully peeled Tokiwa off of me and handed her to President Momone, who was wearing a sporty swimsuit with a line across her chest.

“Hey, Midori—pull yourself together.”

“Mm...”

“...!”

Tokiwa’s wriggling in President Momone’s arms pressed their chests together like two pieces of squishy mochi. I caught myself before I started staring and averted my eyes. After that, President Momone turned to everyone else.

“Wow, I’m pretty popular myself, but I’ve never hung out with this many people at once.”

“Yeah... I invited everyone I knew, and it kinda snowballed,” I said.

“The ratio of males to females is strange, too. It’s not a group date, so there’s no need for exact numbers, but I’d at least put a little more thought into that kind of thing if it were me.”

President Momone shook her head in exasperation. But she wasn’t wrong... I couldn’t deny that I was the only boy present.

“Could it be that the problem child has no male friends?”

“Huh?! N-No, it’s not that!”

Actually, now that I thought about it, I’d been dragged this way and that by these girls since the school year started, so I’d barely spoken to any of the guys in my class... W-Wait...

“Momone... you just touched on the one taboo for the main character in a harem.” R gulped with a solemn nod.

Really, this was serious.

“Well, whatever. Midori and Momone complement each other nicely. One is the soft indoor type, while the other is the well-toned sporty type. Though Midori’s chest easily wins over Momone’s, it’s hard to say who looks better in a swimsuit.”

Readily dismissing my dire situation, R resumed her commentary on the swimsuits. I could only sigh at her quick change of attitude, but it was also infuriating that her commentary was so pointlessly on point.

“Rekka...”

“Hm?”

A voice called out to me from below, so I looked down. Mio stared back up at me through her sun visor. Her swimsuit was a beautiful balance of purity and cuteness... and looked rather expensive, to put it bluntly. The embroidery was extremely detailed.

“Ah... This is something I wore for work once. They let me keep it afterward.”

“It’s really cute.”

“C-Cute?!”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t you be more comfortable without that hat?”

“This is to disguise myself...”

“Oh...”

Mio was a pop star, after all. Even though she wasn’t in her wig and outfit, she still had to be careful. I could understand that.

“Hey, you! Don’t you dare make Mio cry again!”

“I’m not.”

Though she was late to the scene, the first words out of Tsumiki’s mouth were an accusation hurled at me. Which I denied indifferently. She had mistaken the sight of Mio pulling her sun visor down over her eyes as a sign of me picking on her.

“You sure took your time changing, Tsumiki.”

For the record, Tsumiki’s swimsuit was the same orange one as before.

“I had to help Lea and Corona change. It was a lot more trouble than I expected.”

“I see.”

It was the first time they’d ever worn bathing suits, after all. But if Tsumiki was here now, it had to mean they weren’t far behind.

“Time for the last boss,” R muttered in an exaggeratedly dramatic voice.

But the last boss, huh? Considering their species, it seemed appropriate enough. And it wasn’t long after that that the last boss—as R described them—appeared.

“Eep...” someone squeaked. It was probably an indication of surprise.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“Is something wrong?”

Lea and Corona both looked down at themselves. They were wearing red and purple bikinis respectively, both of which were simple and without any extraneous decorations... I’d thought something similar when I saw Iris earlier, but swimsuits really could become lethal weapons depending on who was wearing them.

“Just what I expected from the top two heroines, I’d say. Those would probably float in the water.”

“Pfft!”

The image of Lea in the water flashed through my mind, and I had to hold back my laughter. Whew, that was close...

“Rekka? What’s wrong?”

“Young man, is there something weird about how I look?”

“Oof!”

The aura they had just by standing next to each other was overwhelming. Really and truly like a final boss...

“Don’t start causing trouble outside of school too, problem child,” President Momone leaned in and warned me.

As for what she meant...

“Hey, what’s with that unbelievable group over there...?”

“They’ve got everything... Busty and flat, little girls and older ladies...”

“They have nothing in common. What are they gathering for?”

“What’s with the guy?”

“Don’t tell me that guy is... But with that many girls, he has to be...”

“An escort?”

“No way, not at that age.”

“A harem god, then?”

“I want in on that religion.”

Yeah, wow, we were really gathering a lot of attention.

“O-Okay, everyone’s here now, so let’s get a move on.”

I urged everyone to change locations as I broke out in a nervous sweat.

▽

Several of us had brought along water-resistant phones, so we agreed to contact each other if anything came up before splitting into groups. No matter how large the water park was, it wasn’t like 20 some odd people could all hang out together. If we all got in the river ride at the same time, we’d stop the flow of water completely. So since we couldn’t do anything like that, we decided to split into groups to go do whatever we wanted. But for some reason, I was given two conditions: that I could never be alone and that I couldn’t go along with the same group twice in a row.

Of course, it was my intention to play with everyone as much as possible since we all came together, but I didn’t know why there had to be rules about it... I couldn’t understand what the girls were thinking. Oh, well.

“So, Rekka, who do you want to go with first?” R asked me.

“Let’s see...”

I leaned against a fence at the corner of one pool and considered my options carefully. Since everyone was splitting up anyway, they could have just assigned me to one of the groups from the start. I’d suggested it, but was immediately shot down because “the whole day would be wasted bickering about it.” Whatever that meant.

So there I was, standing alone by the corner of the pool. The girls had told me to wait here for five minutes after they left. However, as stipulated, I wasn’t allowed to be alone. I was strictly ordered to go find one of the groups as soon as I left.

“Well, considering how many of us there are, surely it can’t be that hard to bump into some of them.”

Even split into smaller groups, there were enough of us that there would probably be someone at nearly every attraction at any given time. Basically, I could go wherever I wanted and I would probably find someone. So my first destination? The wave pool.

One end of the pool was shallow while the other end was deep. There were fences lined along the very back, behind which were the wave machines pumping the water at a fixed rhythm. They called them waves, but they were more like swells. They were only about 20 centimeters in height. It was basically just a specialized pool for people to get the experience of bobbing up and down in open water.

“Hey! Brother Rekka!”

“Rekka!”

“Oh, Rekka!”

Playing right in the middle of the waves was Fam. In front of her, Rain and Tetra were enjoying the knee-deep water. The three of them all waved my way when they saw me. Shirley and Garnet were nearby too, apparently supervising the three younger girls.

“Oh my, did you come to us first?” Shirley asked.

“Hm? Yeah, I guess I did.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Everyone else will be so vexed.”

“Huh...?”

Puzzled by her comment, I tilted my head to the side. But Shirley just giggled.

“Aren’t you going to get in, Shirley?” I asked.

“It’s just nice to be out in the sun once in a while. I’ve been doing so much research these days.”

Shirley and the others lived in the house across the street from me. Apparently, she’d modified the basement into her own laboratory. She locked herself in there whenever Rain and Fam were out and about.

“Make sure you’re looking after yourself, okay?”

“There’s no such thing as a healthy scientist.” Shirley scoffed and looked up at the sunlight streaming in through the open roof of the dome. “But... it’s nice being able to hang out with you and my friends like this.”

“Yeah?”

I was glad she was having fun, but... Huh?

“Why did you single me out from your friends just now...?”

Before she could answer, Fam came over waving her arms around.

“Hey, Brother Rekka! Don’t just stand there! Let’s go to the deep end already!”

“All right, all right.”

As soon as I agreed, Fam began tugging on my arm as she dragged me away. She turned to ask Rain and Tetra, too.

“Hey, do you guys wanna come, too?”

“Yes!”

Tetra answered immediately, but...

“Huh? Rain? Aren’t you coming?”

“Um...” Rain’s eyes darted about as she hesitated to answer. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll pass.”

“Really?”

Well, if that’s what she wanted. No one was going to force her to come.

“All right, let’s go.”

“Yeah!”

Tetra, Fam, and I linked hands as we waded towards the deep end of the pool.

▽

We played in the waves for quite a while. When I realized how long it had been, we returned to Rain and Shirley on shore to rest a bit before I moved on.

“Where are you going to go next?”

“Hmm... Well, wherever I feel like, I guess.”

I let my feet lead the way and wandered around aimlessly for a bit, glancing at the attractions as I passed. And then...

“Rekka! Over here!”

I heard someone call my name. When I looked over, I saw Hibiki and Chelsea.

“Hey, what are you two up to?”

“I was going to have a race with Chelsea,” Hibiki said and pointed to the proper swimming pool next to her.

The six-lane pool was well maintained, but rather deserted in comparison to the wave pool and river ride.

“We went to the wave pool first, but there were so many people that we couldn’t swim freely,” Hibiki continued with a slight grimace.

“Actually, Hibiki was embarrassed about being seen and ran over here.”

“Ch-Chelsea!”

“Heh, you two sure get along.”

I laughed along with Chelsea as Hibiki let out a dejected sigh.

“Anyway, Rekka, do you want race with us?” she asked.

“Hm? Yeah, sure.”

I did some light stretches before lining up next to Hibiki and Chelsea at the starting blocks. I’d never done competitive swimming before, but I figured I could at least manage to dive in by mimicking what they did.

“Rekka, Rekka.”

“What?” I whispered back to R.

“Please turn to the side.”

“Huh?”

All I could see was Hibiki and Chelsea.

“You don’t want to miss the moment the two of them dive in, do you? There’s a chance something might slip out.”

“Bwuh!”

True, Hibiki was in a bikini, and Chelsea was in a strapless suit. There was definitely the possibility of an accident. And thanks to what R said, I couldn’t get my mind off of it. My focus was completely shot. I was practically swooning and couldn’t turn away.

“Hmm... Since it’s a race, should we have a prize on the line?” Chelsea suggested.

“A bet?” Hibiki asked.

“How about, like, the winner gets to pick something from that stall over there?”

“Fine by me... What do you think, Rekka?”

“Huh? Oh, s-sure.” I responded in a fluster and agreed without thinking.

“All right! Then, on your marks... Get set... Go!”

▽

Of course, I came last. Hibiki and Chelsea were both way faster than me, even though you’d think their... excess baggage... would be a handicap in terms of water resistance. But after the race, we headed to the square with shops and stalls to buy the two of them something to eat.

“Hmm, what would be good?”

“Have you had shaved ice before, Chelsea?” I asked.

“You mean Italian ice?” she replied.

“Italian ice?”

“They’re both pretty similar,” said Hibiki.

The three of us continued chatting as we inspected the various storefronts. Eventually, we came to one that seemed particularly crowded.

“What’s that over there?”

“Dunno. Judging from the smell, it’s a grilled corn stand.”

“Let’s check it out.”

“S-Sure!”

I was more than willing to go, so there was no need for Chelsea to pull me along. When she grabbed my arm like that, her chest...!

“Hmph... Hurry up, Rekka.”

“Don’t you push me from behind either, Hibiki!”

She could have just used her hands! There was no need for her to press up against me like that! Her chest, too...!

“Nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry!” R cheered.

My current situation was probably a real laugh from where she was sitting. But nevertheless, the thick crowd of people turned out to be all men, who happily stepped aside when Chelsea and her drop-dead gorgeous figure arrived on the scene. And what we saw on the other side of the crowd was...

“Lea?!”

“Hom nom... Oh, Rekka.”

Lea, who was munching on some grilled corn, turned when she heard my voice. A huge pile of corn cobs lay at her feet, which were surrounded by pale men on their knees, moaning in horror. This scene... It was my first time witnessing it in person, but I had heard of it before.

“Lea... Did you get all these people to buy food for you?”

“Y-Yes, I did. They said they’d pay, so I just...”

She seemed to have picked up on the serious tone of my voice and hesitated to answer. Which meant... she’d eaten the men hitting on her out of their wallets again.

“I told you to use your own money when there was something you wanted, didn’t I? That’s why you started your part-time job, after all.”

“But my next paycheck is still a ways off... and the money I had left, I spent buying this the other day,” Lea said, snapping the straps of her bikini.

The crowd around us stirred as her supersized chest bounced up and down. I had to stop her!

“J-Just quit it for now, okay? Come on, this way!”

“O-Okay...”

I grabbed Lea’s hand and slipped out of the crowd of people. Hibiki and Chelsea followed us.

“What? Wasn’t she going to hang out with whoever paid for her until she was satisfied?!”

“Is that supposed to be her boyfriend? They don’t suit each other at all...”

“Wait, are all those girls with him?!”

“Has that brat mastered hypnosis or something?!”

I was starting to get used to the death glares directed my way. And no! I hadn’t hypnotized anyone!

At any rate, I let go of Lea’s hand once we got far enough away from the grilled corn stand.

“Jeez! You need to be more careful. For some reason, they thought you were going to hang out with them for the whole day once you had your fill, you know?”

“Huh? I never said anything like that.”

“That’s what I figured, but...”

It was probably a crazy idea that had been started by the men who’d gathered, but it could have turned out rather badly.

“Well, she probably would have been fine anyway. I bet she still would have been hungry after emptying all of their wallets.”

Hibiki had a point. She definitely had a point, but...

“Just don’t do anything that would make me worried.”

“...All right.”

Lea threw away the last corn cob and nodded earnestly.

“Oh, I almost forgot about buying something for the two of you. Sorry.”

“If we go back there now, we’d just run into those men again. You can just get us something on the way home,” offered Hibiki.

“I’m fine with that, too,” agreed Chelsea.

After we made it a promise, the two of them went their own way, leaving me with Lea.

“Well, was there anywhere you wanted to go?” I asked.

“Hmm... that’s a tough choice.”

Just as Lea crossed her arms and began contemplating her options, I spied two familiar-looking girls on the other side of her: one with silver hair and one with purple hair.

“Found you, Rekka!”

“There you are, young man.”

Iris and Corona made their way over with smiles on their faces.

“Just in time. Iris, Corona, was there anywhere you wanted to go?”

I figured I’d take this chance to hang out with them, so we might as well do something they wanted to do.

“Let’s see... That!”

“Urk...”

I looked up and let out a small groan. She was pointing to a ridiculously high diving board...

▽

“So, do I take off from here?” asked Corona.

“No, you’re not supposed to fly,” explained Lea.

“You just jump off and aim for the pool below!” said Iris as she turned to me. “Right? Rekka.”

“Yeah...”

I’d jumped off plenty of things before, right? Like Bahamut’s back or the roof of a tall building... I’d even fallen out of the sky with a demon. This should have been nothing compared to all that, so why was it still so scary...?

“Hey! Only one person at a time allowed on the diving board!”

Oh, one of the lifeguards was angry. Iris had pushed me the whole way up, so I’d completely missed all the posted signs with the rules. My bad.

“What?” Corona asked, unfamiliar with the common sense of this world.

“Does he want us to jump down quickly?” Lea asked, just as confused.

“I see. In that case...”

Corona didn’t hesitate to jump off the diving board.

“Wait, Corona!”

I inched closer to the edge, worried about her well-being. But my fears were unfounded. I could see her taking a deep breath as she resurfaced after her graceful dive. Her physical abilities were typical of a Demon King. Her courage, too.

“Me next.”

“Lea?!”

Lea jumped and did one somersault in the air before landing in the water too. The other guests were clapping at her dive.

“Then it’s our turn next!”

“You can go first, Iris...”

“Aw, but I want to go together!”

Iris forcefully grabbed my arm before I could stop her. Me, on the other hand... My cowardly self was flailing.

“No, no, no! Two people at once is actually dangero—”

“Wheeeee!”

My panicked shouting and Iris’s screams of delight overlapped as we fell. After a surprisingly long time in the air, we made a grand splash into the pool.

▽

Once the lifeguard was done thoroughly lecturing us, Corona lent me her shoulder as I staggered away from the pool.

“Are you all right, Rekka?” she asked worriedly.

“Yeah... I will be,” I managed to answer.

It was just the two of us now. Iris and Lea had really gotten into diving, so they were still going at it.

“Do you want to rest somewhere?”

“Yeah... Take me to where the umbrellas are over there.”

“Leave it to me.”

Corona moved closer to me to help bear more of my weight as she shouldered me.

“...”

It was an act of goodwill on her part. I shouldn’t be having any dirty thoughts. And I must not lower my gaze at any cost...

“Rekka, now’s your chance. If you pretend to fall here, a special event will happen.”

Shut up, swimsuit-obsessed girl from the future.

I triumphed over my carnal desires and safely made it to the resting place with tables, chairs, and umbrellas. It was surprisingly crowded, so I was looking around for a place for us to sit when I spotted a familiar face.

“What’s the matter, problem child? Did you drown?”

“Something like that, President Momone.”

“I see.”

President Momone smiled in a rather unconcerned way and gestured to one of the chairs at her table. I gratefully took a seat. President Momone, Tokiwa, Rosalind, and Suzuran were already seated at the table for six, so Corona and I made a full house.

“Are you taking a break too, Tokiwa?”

“I’m looking after her. Midori has a weak constitution, after all,” President Momone answered for her.

“Mm...”

All Tokiwa could manage was a sound. She sat there, motionless and practically draped over the table.

“Oh, look, her chest is squished against the table, so—ow!”

R was running her mouth again, so I secretly flicked her on the forehead.

“What about you, Rosalind? Suzuran?”

“I don’t like flowing bodies of water,” Rosalind replied flatly.

Come to think of it, that was one of her quirks as a vampire. Just as I was thinking that, President Momone offered her own two cents...

“Hahaha! You sound just like a vampire saying stuff like that,” she laughed, assuming it was a joke.

My two upperclassmen were unaware of the superhuman and supernatural origins of some of the other girls. If only they had any idea...

“...!”

Tokiwa suddenly straightened up a little and shimmied over Rosalind... then suddenly clung to her.

“Gyah! Wh-What is it?”

“...”

Tokiwa was saying something to Rosalind, but her voice was too soft for me to hear.

“What? You mean to ask me if I am truly a vampire?”

Ah, of course. Tokiwa loved those kinds of stories.

“Bah! You’re tickling my ear! If you insist on knowing, I am a—!”

“Rosalind!”

I rushed to stop Rosalind from revealing her true nature by shooting a desperate, pleading look.

“...Human! A girl your age should know there’s no such thing as creatures of the night. Now let go of me already!”

“Oh...”

Rosalind pulled Tokiwa off of her and watched indignantly as Tokiwa dragged herself back to her seat.

“Wait, Tokiwa! Your swimsuit!”

I noticed something “wrong” with Tokiwa’s swimsuit and immediately covered my eyes with my hands.

“...?”

“Watch it, Midori. Shuffling like that pulled your swimsuit down.”

I heard President Momone exasperatedly explain the situation to her. I then waited patiently.

“You’re good now, problem child.”

“Thanks...”

Phew, that was close...

“Goodness, there’s no helping this girl,” Rosalind sighed in a tired voice.

“Mistress, would you like something to drink?” Suzuran asked her afterward.

But once more, President Momone interrupted.

“Using ‘mistress’ makes you sound like a maid.”

“...!”

Tokiwa’s eyes lit up once more at the mention of maids. Her body might be weak, but her curiosity couldn’t be beaten. After that, Corona’s identity as a Demon King was also nearly revealed too, but we continued spending some time together anyway.

▽

Before I knew it, it was three o’clock. The amusement park itself closed at 8:00 PM, but some of our group had curfews, so we decided we’d leave at around 6:30. Considering the time it took to get changed, that meant we had to head to the changing rooms at 6:00. But that was still three hours away. There was no point in rushing, so I leisurely headed towards my next destination.

“Where are you going now?” R asked.

“I haven’t been to the water slide or the river ride yet... I guess I’ll check out the slide first.”

I chose at random, and I turned left at the forked path accordingly. The water slide was one of the more popular attractions at the water park. Depending on how crowded it was, there might be a line. It wouldn’t be the best place to hang out with any of the girls, but I figured I should try it at least once before we left. And as I was standing in front of the elevator up to the water slide...

“Oh, Rekka.”

“Mio?”

I bumped into Mio, who was waiting in line, too. She seemed to be by herself.

“Is it just you, Mio?”

“Nope. I came with Tsumiki and the others, but we got separated.”

The water slide elevator only took three people up at a time. Only once those three had gone down the slide could the next three go up. Letting too many people go down the slide at once was dangerous, so limiting the number of riders was a safety precaution, but it had unfortunately meant that Mio had been separated from her friends.

“But I’m glad you’re here now, Rekka,” she said, smiling bashfully.

I was glad I arrived just in time to go up with her. We chatted about this and that until the elevator came back down and opened its doors with a ding.

“Next guests, please!”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

We went through the door held open by an attendant and rose up to the top of the water slide. It was actually pretty high up. A little higher than the high dive from earlier, even. The slide itself had many twists and turns, and it was the longest in the prefecture according to the attendant. That wasn’t a particularly impressive distinction considering how rural our prefecture was, but it certainly seemed to be worth giving a try.

“Do you want to slide first, Mio?”

“Ah, um...”

When I asked Mio that, she fearfully peered down...

“What’s wrong?”

“I-It’s higher than I imagined...”

Then she looked up at me with puppy-like eyes.

“If it’s all right with you... could we go down together?”

“Huh? Is that allowed?”

I asked the attendant, who nodded in response.

“It’s perfectly fine for younger children and their guardians. You’re siblings, right?”

“Um... Yes.”

It was a pretty blatant lie, but I didn’t want to have to leave the frightened Mio alone because the attendant changed their mind. So we prepared to go down together, with me holding on to her from behind.

“You have to hold on tighter, or we’ll get separated on the way down. It would be dangerous for the person in front, so make sure your arms are nice and snug around me.”

“Okay... You sure, Mio?”

“Y-Yeah,” she answered in a trembling voice.

Hmm... She didn’t sound so sure. Was this really okay? Flustered, I wrapped my arms around her waist and held on tight. She fit perfectly in my arms with her back pressed up against me, and her thighs had an awful lot of skin contact with mine...

“All right, I’m going to send you two down now,” said the attendant.

And then we started our descent.

“...Yah!”

Mio tensed up at each turn when the centrifugal force tossed us around. She was pressing herself against me reflexively, so I had to hold on tightly to make sure I didn’t let her go. But I had to make sure we had some fun, too!

“Mio! I’m gonna lean us back!”

“Huh? Huh?!”

“Here we go!”

“Kyah!”

I leaned back, pulling Mio back on top of me.

“Well? What do you think of the view?”

“Wah!”

The water slide had no top to it, so the blue sky was clearly visible. And now that we were lying down instead of sitting up, there wouldn’t be as much bouncing around since we didn’t have as much resistance. She could look up now instead of down, too, so it should be less scary this way.

“This is amazing, Rekka! We’re moving so fast!”

“Right?”

I supported Mio’s body to make sure she didn’t slip away from me in her excitement, and before long, the sensation of the slide against my back suddenly disappeared out from under me. We’d reached the small splash pool at the end of the slide. With all our momentum from the ride down, we went immediately underwater, but the pool was shallow enough to easily stand up in.

I took a deep breath, but Mio was coughing for air next to me.

“You okay?”

“I swallowed a little water... but I’m fine.”

“Here.”

I offered her my hand and helped her stand up. There wasn’t anyone lined up after us, but it wasn’t a good idea to hang around at the bottom of the slide. There was no telling when someone might come out. So I hurried out of the pool with Mio.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. I...” Mio blushed. “I felt a little nervous being o-on top of you, though.”

“Yeah, sorry I pulled on you out of the blue like that.”

Doing something like that would make anyone’s heart jump. Just as I was thinking that...

“Rekka!”

“Sir Rekka!”

“Y-You...!”

Satsuki, Harissa, and Tsumiki appeared from a nearby crowd and closed in on me. They’d probably been waiting for Mio to come down.

“Why do you two get to slide together?!”

“That’s unfair! That shouldn’t be allowed!”

“You had your grubby hands on Mio, didn’t you?! D-Doing that to an idol is unforgivable!”

“Uh, sorry?”

Why were the three of them so mad? I stood there in confusion as a bright red Satsuki furiously avoided eye contact with me.

“Next... Next is my turn!” she stammered.

Seriously, what was she so worked up over?

“Sorry, I think they only let you do that with smaller kids,” I said, recalling the attendant’s words.

“Then it should be fine for me! Now, Sir Rekka, let us go!”

“Hey! That’s sneaky of you, Harissa!”

“Yeah, real sneaky!”

This was starting to get out of hand. After that, I checked with the attendant to be sure, and it seemed you could still go down the slide two by two with adults if you asked. Apparently they got requests like that a lot. That being the case, I figured I’d suppress my embarrassment and go down the slide with Satsuki and Tsumiki, then with Iris and Rosalind who appeared after that... But why did it feel like the attendant was getting more and more annoyed?

▽

When all was said and done, I ended up going down the water slide with everyone more than once. It felt like the skin on my butt had rubbed off through my swimsuit... But at least I got to do something with each of the girls. I was relieved I had at least met my playtime quota.

We all split up after having our fun at the water slide, so once again, I found myself wandering around alone. That is, until I ran into Shirley.

“Oh, Rekka. Have you seen Rain?”

“Huh? Oh, no, not recently. Is she missing?”

“I haven’t seen her since we all split up at the water slide. She’s probably with someone, but I don’t know where she is, so please let me know if you see her.”

“All right.”

“Thanks,” Shirley said, and quickly disappeared into the crowd to keep looking on her own.

“Did she get lost?” R asked.

“Hmm... Well, she’s probably fine if she’s with someone.”

We had over 20 people in our group, after all. It was hard to think she’d gotten separated from everyone. She was probably off doing something with someone else.

“Shirley’s like a guardian to Rain and Fam, worrying and looking for her just in case like that...”

“Sure is. Well, where to next, Rekka?”

“I haven’t been to the river ride yet, so there, I guess.”

“I see. So you’re going to wait for a new heroine to come floating down the river à la the legend of Momotaro.”

“Hey, don’t jinx me. What if one really appears like that?”

The fact that I couldn’t completely write off the possibility was terrifying. Anyway... I eventually made it over to the river ride.

“I wonder if anyone’s around?”

The river ride had lots of bends, but it was basically just one giant elliptical loop. Because of that, it took up the most area in the dome. It’d be tough trying to find anyone in it.

“Eh, I’ll run into someone eventually if I float along long enough.”

“But if everyone flows down the river at the same speed, you’ll stay the same distance apart.”

Thank you, voice of reason... I guess that meant it’d be best to stand by the edge and wait for someone to float past.

Deciding to do just that, I found myself a spot where I could look left—upstream, where both the water and people were coming from. Just as I was wondering if anyone would float past, I spotted something eye-catching. Within the mass of people and swim rings approaching was an extremely familiar head of pink hair. It was Rain. And she was drowning!

“Rain!”

It was rude to dive into the river ride, but I didn’t have the time to worry about anything like that.

“I’m coming!”

I quickly swam over to the drowning mermaid princess and grabbed her with both hands, trying to calm her down.

“Listen! Hold on to me and you’ll be fine, okay?”

“O-Okay...”

I carefully swam back to the poolside with her, making sure her head stayed above the water. Then I lifted her up to the edge. Fortunately, she hadn’t swallowed much water and was fine after a bit of coughing.

“I’m sorry for the trouble...”

“Don’t worry about it. But... how did that happen? For a mermaid like you to drown...” I asked, whispering the last part so no one around us could hear.

“Um... It’s embarrassing to admit.”

“Yeah?”

“I... can’t swim.”

“...Huh?”

Apparently, this was how it went. On Rain’s home planet—the ocean planet of Berano—she used her mermaid tail to swim. She could take on a human form, but she always swam with her tail... meaning she’d never tried to swim with her legs before. But even then, she was still a mermaid. She hadn’t wanted to tell anyone that—despite the fact she was a water-dwelling creature—she couldn’t swim. That’s why she’d snuck away from Shirley to practice on her own. She’d come to the river ride because it was relatively shallow and she thought the artificial current might help her move naturally in the water.

“I think it’d be better to practice in a normal pool first,” I suggested.

“Y-You think so...?”

With her secret attempt to practice swimming gone completely awry, Rain hung her head in defeat. She was fidgeting quite a lot, so she must have been embarrassed that I saw it all happen.

“Hmm... Hey, I know. I’ll help you practice swimming.”

“Huh?”

I smiled at the apparently shocked Rain.

“Well, I’m not much of a teacher, but I can at least hold your hands while you learn to kick.”

“Oh... Okay!”

▽

“Here, you can stand in water this deep.”

Rain and I were in the shallowest lane of the regular swimming pool where I’d raced Hibiki and Chelsea earlier, but it seemed they’d moved on. There weren’t many people around at all. Just a middle-aged man quietly swimming laps in the far lane, probably trying to get some exercise in.

“So, how far have you gone with your human legs? Can you put your head underwater?”

“Um, I’m not particularly scared of diving in the water.”

“I figured you weren’t really scared of the water since you’re a mermaid and all... which means all you need to learn is how to swim.”

“That’s right. And how to breathe, too. I can breathe in the water as a mermaid, but my powers are halved in this human form, so I need to adjust to that.”

“All right. Then let’s start with kicking.”

“Right!”

I took Rain’s hands in mine. She squeezed my hands in return and slowly sank into the water, trying to lift her feet up behind her.

“Uh...”

But it didn’t seem to be going well. Despite her efforts to float, her midsection kept sinking, so her legs refused to come up.

“Straighten your body out a little more.”

“L-Like this?”

When she tried it, her legs slowly came floating up behind her until her heels were sticking out of the water.

“Just like that. Keep your knees straight, too.”

It seemed she was just having trouble getting a feel for how to control her legs in the water. Once she overcame that, the rest would be easy.

“Now relax. You just need to hold on to my hands. Like you’re giving me your weight.”

“O-Okay!”

For some reason, Rain blushed as she squeezed my hands tighter. For now, it seemed she’d gotten the hang of floating, so the next step was kicking.

Splish, splash, splish...

“Good, good. Well done.”

I matched Rain’s speed as I walked backwards with her in the water, still holding her hands and encouraging her at the same time. And just like that, we completed one lap of the pool, then two... By the time we got to five laps, she could keep an even keel and her form was looking good. She was a natural, but of course she was. She was a mermaid, after all. She was used to the water and swimming, so once she had her... sea legs... she’d have no trouble mastering freestyle and the other strokes. Though I bet she’d have the easiest time with the butterfly stroke. She certainly wouldn’t need my help with it...

Roughly half an hour had passed since we started practicing. Rain seemed to be getting the hang of it, so we decided to take a break. She stood up in the pool and took a deep breath.

“Well? Have you gotten used to your legs yet?”

“Yes... is what I want to say, but I’m still a little scared,” she said with a shy smile.

“You’ll be just fine with a little more practice.”

“...I wouldn’t mind practicing forever.”

“?”

“U-Um, Rekka...”

Rain balled her hands into fists and started to say something, when...

“Reeeeekkaaaaa!”

Wham!

A pillar of water rose into the air with a grand splashing sound, sending a powerful wave out from around it. I caught part of it directly to the face.

“Wuhbuh!”

I wiped my face off with one hand and tried to make sense of the situation in a panic. The spray of water droplets still hanging in the air reflected the sunlight like a shining fog. Rain was standing safely behind me, while the old man in the far lane had been washed up onto the poolside by the wave. As for the perpetrator behind the commotion...

“Rekka!”

Iris burst out of the water where the pillar had been and waded towards me at a ridiculous speed.

“Wh-What?”

“Why are you flirting with Rain?! That’s unfair!”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I informed Iris that I was helping Rain learn to swim.

“Then teach me how to swim, too!”

“You’re perfectly capable of swimming already.”

And much faster than me, for that matter.

“Ugh! That’s not the point!”

For some reason, Iris got mad at that. She slapped the water angrily. Lured in by that sound—or perhaps by the sight of the water pillar earlier—everyone from our group started to gather at the swimming pool.

“What are you doing, Rekka?” asked Satsuki.

“What was that water pillar just now?” asked President Momone.

More and more of the girls showed up until everyone was present.

“There you are, Rain...”

Of course, that included Shirley. She let out a sigh of relief when she finally saw Rain.

“I told you to tell me when you found her, Rekka.”

“Oh, sorry. I kinda forgot.”

“Jeez... So what were you two up to?”

“Um...”

I told Shirley what I’d just told Iris.

“Huh... So can you swim now, Rain?”

“No, not yet...” she said, shaking her head.

“I see. It might not be possible to master in a day, but like Rekka said, if you practice, you’ll get the hang of it in no time at all. If you’d like, I could help you out tomorrow...”

“U-Um...!” Rain shouted, cutting her off abruptly. “No! I-I want Rekka to be the one to teach me!”

Then she entwined her fingers with mine as though to make sure I couldn’t get away, and moved closer to me. Shirley looked shocked for a moment, but relaxed her shoulders soon after.

“And you’re all right with that, Rekka?”

“Huh? Well, yeah.”

Even though Shirley would probably make a better teacher. She probably knew some super scientific training method...

“Teehee...”

But Rain seemed rather pleased, so I decided against saying that out loud. If she was that happy to have me as her teacher, then I was happy to help.

“Jeez! I told you to teach me how to swim, too!”

“But you can already swim, Iris...”

“Sir Rekka! A-Actually, I’m not good at swimming, either...”

“You too, Harissa?”

Sploosh!

After that, it seemed that everyone had gotten their fill of the other attractions, so we all played in the swimming pool together. The old man from before had left, and the lap pool wasn’t popular to begin with, so we stayed there until it was time to leave. The wave pool and water slide were fun, but in the end, we had the most fun being together with each other. The more the merrier, after all.

Ah, this was the life...

That’s how I spent one day of my first summer vacation as a high schooler. No drama, no nothing. Just enjoying the sun and some good company.

—Fin—