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“Iri—Gah!”

“What’s wrong?”

Turns out Iris was a knockout in a swimsuit. It wasn’t that the swimsuit was amazing. She just looked amazing in it. The thin fabric made her seem even bouncier than usual. It was scary.

“Hm? Is there something weird with my suit?”

Iris saw my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish’s. She snapped the straps on her swimsuit as she inspected it, making her breasts jiggle.

“I-Iris... Don’t do that...”

“Why not?”

“It’s bad. For a lot of reasons.”

It was really bad. I felt like I was about to get a nosebleed. But yet again, the feeling was short-lived. Whatever remnants of the pleasant sensation I’d felt on my back were suddenly replaced with a cold chill up my spine.

“Rekka!”

“Rekka!”

“Sir Rekka!”

“Rekka!”

“Sir Namidare!”

The other girls were surrounding me with terrifying looks on their faces. Even Harissa and Suzuran looked mad.

Hold on a second. Was this my fault? Really?

“You certainly seem to be enjoying Iris’s swimsuit, Rekka.”

There was a mix of anger and frustration in Satsuki’s expression as she shot a quick glance towards Iris. Iris just stuck out her chest with a satisfied grin.

“Tch...!”

Satsuki’s fists were trembling as if she was trying to control her anger. For some reason, those tiny fists struck more fear into my heart than any dragon or demon ever had.

“P-Please forgive me...”

I got the feeling I was in mortal danger, so I figured it was best to get on my knees and beg for my life right then and there.

▽

It turned out that our beach day, which had begun with me getting on my knees and begging for mercy, was perfect for swimming. Before long, everyone was enjoying themselves, and the looming, murderous tension in the air dissipated. Except Rosalind and Suzuran, everyone took to a game of beach volleyball.

“I’ve got this one!” I yelled as I ran for the ball that had just sailed over my head. I gave it a firm pass.

“Uwah! It’s coming my way!” Harissa ran to the left and right, kicking up sand with each step as she went for the ball.

“Hmm... Harissa’s chest still has room to grow, but the pink swimsuit looks good, doesn’t it? The frills on the chest are very cute.”

They sure were. Harissa had actually just borrowed one of Satsuki’s old swimsuits, but the pink color looked great on her. Except... when R said that, it sounded kind of dirty. Maybe I just couldn’t get past her usual shenanigans.

“Got it!”

Hibiki leaped straight up into the air and tapped Harissa’s shaky pass. Out of all of us, she was the best player after Iris.

“Hibiki’s tight body and midriff are cute, too, huh? And then there’s the way her breasts bounce when she jumps.”

“Hmm...”

“Huh? W-Wait, Rekka! What are you staring at?”

Suddenly my eyes met Hibiki’s, and she scrambled to cover her chest and midriff.

“S-Sorry!”

I was staring at the bouncing, and I didn’t even realize it!

“What are you thinking?!”

“Gwah!”

Tsumiki spiked the ball straight into my face. Hard.

Maybe I imagined it, but the second I landed on my back, I thought I saw somebody giving me a thumbs-up.

“Good grief! We didn’t come to the beach just for you to sexually harass people!”

“No, um... I’m sorry.”

Part of it was R’s fault, but it was true I’d been staring at Hibiki’s chest, so I decided to just apologize. Tsumiki still gave me a dirty look anyway, but then she scoffed and turned away.

“So don’t you have anything to say to me?” she demanded.

“Huh? About what?” I asked.

“Don’t you feel like you should say something when you look at me?”

When I look at her? Did she mean her swimsuit? Um...

“It looks good on you. The orange is a cute color.”

“Of course it’s a cute color! That’s why I bought it!”

“S-Sure...”

Somehow I only managed to make her more angry. Wh-What in the world...?

“Rekka, there are other things you could compliment besides the color of her swimsuit, right? Like how sexy you think her legs look, or how much you love that peek of cleavage.”

No way. Tsumiki’d just gotten mad at me for staring at Hibiki. I couldn’t possibly compliment her breasts now.

But R sure was staring at everybody’s breasts a lot more than I was. Sometimes I really wondered if, deep down, R wasn’t actually an old man or something.

“Rekka, how do I look?” Tetra asked.

“You look good, too, Tetra. Wait, you lived underground, right? Where did you get a swimsuit? Did you go buy one?”

“Yes. I went with Tsumiki to purchase one on Friday.”

“I see. Yeah, it looks cute.”

“Th-Thank you.” Tetra put her hand to her cheek, a little embarrassed.

“A one-piece swimsuit, huh? It’s a little plain, but it really highlights how young she is. It makes her look more like a lol—hrmna hrmm hrmm.”

I could tell R was on the verge of saying something dangerous, so I put my hand over her mouth.

“O-Okay, let’s get back to the game, shall we?” I laughed nervously, tossing the ball up into the air again.

We’d knocked it back and forth five or six times when the wind caught the ball and blew it from Satsuki towards me.

“Oops!”

I stepped to the side to take a shot at it, but I suddenly heard Satsuki gasp in surprise.

“Whoops!”

She was right in front of me. We’d both been so focused on the ball that we didn’t see each other in time.

“Kyah!”

“Watch out!”

I tried to move out of Satsuki’s way, but I lost my balance. I grabbed on to her to try and keep her from falling over. It was a good plan. It just... didn’t work. I tumbled to the ground with Satsuki in my arms and landed on my back. Fortunately, we had the sand to cushion us.

“Ugh... Are you okay, Satsuki?”

“Y-Yeah...” she said in a voice that didn’t sound okay at all.

I’d thought I’d kept her from hitting the ground too hard, but maybe it wasn’t enough.

“What’s wrong? Did you sprain your ankle or something?”

“No, I’m okay...” Satsuki said in a voice that was barely a whisper as she curled up in my arms.

Why was she burying her face like that so I couldn’t see her expression?

I heard the other girls yell my name, but over the top of them all, I heard Iris scream, “How long are you going to keep holding her?!”

“Dgwah!”

For the second time today, I took a volleyball directly to the face.

▽

“Oww...”

I went back to the umbrella to take a break, cradling my stinging face in my hand. Iris’s spike was really something. The noise it made when it hit my face sounded more like a bowling ball than a volleyball.

“Welcome back, Sir Namidare,” said Suzuran, welcoming me with a cold can of soda from the cooler.

“Thanks, Suzuran.”

“You’re welcome.”

I sat down on the mat and held the cold can against my face.

“Oh... you’re back, Rekka?” Rosalind sat up on the mat.

“Yeah, I’m a little tired.”

“From the look of your forehead, that’s not the only reason.”

“Yeah, well...”

I guess it left a mark. It really was a hell of a hit.

“I see. Well, while you’re here, Rekka, can you put suntan lotion on my back?”

“Huh?”

What was this vampire saying?!

“The sun doesn’t bother me, but I do get a nasty burn,” Rosalind said, handing me a bottle of lotion.

Huh? She wanted me to put this on her? In other words, she wanted me to touch her?

“No, no, no! Just ask Suzuran to do it! And if you don’t want a tan, wear a swimsuit that covers more skin like Tetra did!”

I started to panic as I tried to back away from her.