My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 4 - Chapter 4

The Childhood Friends Go to the Pool

“Nice camouflage.”

There’s a certain undeniable fact that makes my hair stand on end whenever I recall it: I had a so-called girlfriend during a certain period of middle school. She was also my childhood friend, so dating her felt like an extension of that friendship.

It’s not that crazy a story when you think about it. We were neighbors and raised almost like we were siblings. I wasn’t supposed to have girls over, but she knew my parents, so she was an exception. It was a simple process of elimination that she was the girl I went out with.

I had no choice but to pick that red-flag psycho. That’s the only hand that fate dealt me. If we hadn’t been childhood friends, if we hadn’t been neighbors... Maybe things wouldn’t have ended up so shitty between us. But hindsight’s twenty-twenty, right?

Despite what we might’ve wished for, reality was different. She got attached to me, and I couldn’t bring myself to push her away. I had a bone to pick with my elementary school self. He could’ve been a little less concerned with the well-being of others.

I couldn’t remember the exact last time this happened or the nitty-gritty of it, but back when we were in elementary school, I went to the pool with A-chan—I mean, Akatsuki. We probably went with our parents; they wouldn’t have let us go alone.

Most people might’ve been there to have fun, but we sure weren’t. We were there for a very serious reason: to teach Akatsuki how to swim. That might be surprising, considering how athletic she was now, but she didn’t know how to swim back then, and we had a test in the middle of summer vacation to prepare for.

Being the nice guy with Buddha-like patience and godlike smarts that I was, I couldn’t help but take pity on my poor childhood friend. I decided to help her with her special training. Being the more experienced one, I got into the pool first and held out my hand. She stood at the poolside, nervously staring at the water.

“Come on, I got you,” I said, trying to calm her down. “Nothin’ to be scared of.”

“Okay...”

She slowly took my hand and dipped her toes into the water. Honestly, I’m still impressed by how admirable a person she used to be. Seriously. If I tried to teach her how to swim now, she’d step on my face.

“Can you touch the bottom?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

I was filled with pride as she clung to me. I was so young, mentally and physically, but hey, good for you, kid! Thanks to your stupid need to be validated, you unwittingly laid the foundation for our future hell!

I held her hand as we slowly eased into working on her getting used to putting her head underwater. The power of the internet meant even dumb kids like us knew the proper steps when learning how to swim. Kids can get serious about things when they want to.

“You’re okay. Don’t be so tense.”

But the fact that we were kids remained. I had no attention span. As I held her hand while she kicked her legs in the water, I was distracted by something. From the adult side of the pool, I heard a scream and then a loud splash. I’d gotten distracted by the waterslide. Akatsuki wasn’t stupid either—she could tell.

“Ko-kun, you can go if you want,” she said, water dripping off her face. “I can practice kicking by myself.”

“Don’t be stupid.” I grabbed her hand again and immediately followed up with, “Waterslides suck if you’re alone. You’re gonna learn to swim in no time! Then we can go together!”

“Oh...” Akatsuki looked up at me. Her eyes darted from side to side before she submerged half her face. “Thanks...”

“Don’t thank me. Course I’ll wait for you!”

Of course, Akatsuki didn’t learn how to swim in one day. We kept up the lessons for some time after. We’d practice staying submerged while taking baths together and I’d stay with her during swim class. By the time summer vacation ended, she was able to swim ten meters.

Needless to say, I didn’t get to go on the waterslide that summer despite really wanting to. But if I’d left her alone to go by myself, it would’ve resulted in another annoying problem. That much was guaranteed.

◇

The bus leaving Uji Station to go to Taiyogaoka was incredibly packed. Akatsuki used her size to her advantage and secured a seat, leaving me to stand and hold a pole next to her and fight against the swarm of passengers.

“Excuse me, young miss. Would you consider letting an old man sit?” I asked in a cool voice, filled with spite.

“Sorry,” she started, her voice sweet but filled with even more spite than mine. “I know your body’s the only thing you’ve got going for you. Must be so hard on you when those muscles are only for show.”

“Am I really being lectured by the person who trains her pecs in the hopes of supporting her nonexistent tits?”

“What do you mean ‘nonexistent’?! They’re light, fluffy, and bouncy!”

This poor girl. She’s delusional.

And with that, the two of us, sworn enemies who were also coincidentally childhood friends, endured the packed bus. Why? Because we were going out to have fun. We were going to enjoy our summer vacation like the young high schoolers we were. And where exactly were we going, you might ask? Why, the pool, of course.

With the Irido siblings on vacation, we were left with nothing to do. This outing was merely a way for us to kill time. In an attempt to continue ignoring our summer assignments, she’d invited me to the pool out of the blue.

“It’s hot. Let’s go to the pool. You can be my guy-repellent,” she’d said.

As much as I’d wanted to ask her what guys would want to hit on a shrimp like her, I knew that’d earn me a hard kick.

At any rate, I’d wanted a change of pace, so I’d decided against messing with her. Besides, I figured there’d be loads of couples to observe at the pool. And that’s how I ended up going with her. Real talk, I thought she’d invited other people, but in the end, it was just the two of us going on a pool date... A date, huh? There was something really weird about calling it that when it came to the two of us.

I stared off into the distance, waiting for Akatsuki outside of the women’s changing room. As I waited, girl after girl came out, passing me by. I was well aware that I’d have a psychogenic response if I felt any romantic feelings, but...I was a guy. I couldn’t not look at them.

At the very least, I wasn’t as thirsty as I had been in middle school. Even so, I still found my eyes drawn to their bouncy assets. There were other guys here who were presumably waiting for their girlfriends, but they were no different than I. They knew if they stared, they’d more than likely be labeled as some kind of pervert, so they did their best to sneak glances.

And then, out of all the youthful hotties in the changing room, came a ponytailed shrimp. She was practically invisible; nobody was looking at her. She was wearing a yellow bikini and had a waterproof pouch hanging off her neck, which had her phone in it. When she saw me, she leisurely walked over. She walks like an older girl, at least.

“Sorry for the wait.”

“You finished changing already? I guess I got so caught up in looking at the couples here in their bathing suits that I lost track of time.”

“Ew. Die.” As she verbally berated me, she gazed up at me as if she were waiting for something.

Let me say that I’m not Mizuto Irido. I knew exactly what I had to say and when. Akatsuki’s bikini was girly, the tube top covering her chest extremely frilly. They helped hide the certain curves that her body lacked, making her overall silhouette more appealing. The bottom half of her bikini was a kind of skirt, also adorned with short frills that showed off her very healthy thighs. Apparently, she was proud of her legs. Taking everything I saw into account, there was just one thing to say.

“Nice camouflage.”

“Tell me what exactly you think I’m camouflaging!”

“Gah!” Akatsuki’s small hands quickly wrapped around my neck and began choking me. Chill! Chill, you goddamn death-grip gnome!

Fortunately for me, it wasn’t long before she let go. She let out a short “hmph” and looked away. But then she glanced at my chest.

“What? You finally jealous of my chest?”

“Like hell, you moron! Forget it. I was just kinda thinking that it’s a waste that you don’t play sports.”

“Oho. Do my daily workout muscles really get you that hot?”

I might’ve not played any sports, but I made sure to do the bare minimum muscle training to keep me looking good. If Irido put on a little more muscle, he’d definitely be a good-looking guy. Now that’s a waste. Either way, though, Akatsuki definitely didn’t have any interest in my body anymore. Just as I was thinking that, I saw her look up at me.

“What if I said that they do?” she asked, almost as if she were sulking.

I felt my insides churning.

“Please stop...”

If my hives started acting up, I wouldn’t be able to hide them while wearing swimming trunks

“Then keep your stupid comments to yourself.” Then Akatsuki walked towards the pool, gesturing for me to follow.

Dammit. This is so unfair! All she had to do was give me an honest compliment, and I was put in a critical condition. I couldn’t accept this, so I came up with a plan to get her back.

“Wait up.”

“What?” she asked, turning around, her ponytail swinging with her.

“Your swimsuit looks really cute.”

“Huh...” Akatsuki froze for a second, her mouth wide open. In the next moment, she’d turned around. “I see...”

Crap. I messed up. I lightly rubbed my left arm. That hurt me too.

“Mm... More.”

“Are you sure? It won’t hurt?”

“I’ll be fine... Just do it harder... It still doesn’t feel good yet.”

“Okay, don’t come crying to me later. Get ready...” And with that, I put my entire body weight into the hand I was pressing against Akatsuki’s back. Her upper body almost folded in between her outstretched legs.

“How’re you so flexible? You an octopus or something?”

“Impressed? I’ve been praised by girls in the gymnastics club too—ow, ow, ow, ow! Too much! Too much!”

The satisfaction I got from Akatsuki screaming and desperately trying to tap out was immense, so I finally took my hand off her. That’s what you get for all the humiliation you’ve put me through.

Akatsuki sat up and stared at me. “You.”

“What?”

She suddenly pulled my hand and lay me facedown on the ground.

“You need to do your stretches too,” she said, mounting my back.

“Uh, this isn’t a stretch, it—ow, ow, ow, ow!” She pulled my arm from behind like she was trying to rip it out of my shoulder. This violent display has been brought to you by the letter U, which was coincidentally the unnatural shape my back was being bent into.

Her surprisingly thick thighs tightly locked my hips in place, giving me no room to escape. Shit, this hurts. My back is making a creaking noise!

“All right, let’s go again...” Ding! “Hm?” Akatsuki turned around and checked her phone. Did she get a message on LINE or something?

“It’s Yume-chan! Ehe heh heh!” Laughter reminiscent of that of a creepy old man rang out.

“Gross— Gah!” She smacked my head, still grinning mischievously. You’re always saying it! Why can’t I?!

Suddenly Akatsuki gasped and stopped breathing for a second. Her eyes widened and fixed on her phone, closely looking at a picture. Her body began to shake violently.

“What’s the matter? Did they accidentally send you a picture of them kissing or something?” I asked, secretly hoping that they had. There’s no way they’re capable of doing anything like YouTube couples, though.

“S-Swimsuit...” Akatsuki mumbled in a shaky voice.

“What? Did your top fall off or somethin’?”

I rotated my body in between her legs so I could sit up. As far as I could tell, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the strings or hooks of her bikini or anything. I tilted my head in confusion, but Akatsuki leaned into my chest.

“What... What should I do? I need to reply. All I can think about are things that’ll creep her out.”

“Not really sure what’s goin’ on, but why don’t you just tell her what you’re doin’ right now?” I suggested.

“That’s it!”

“Wah—”

Akatsuki shoved me out of the way and shot to her feet. “Wait a sec,” she said, before running off somewhere. After a few minutes, she came back with ice cream. Looks like mint chocolate chip.

“What’s with the ice cream? Where’s mine?”

“None for you. I’m trying to show off how I’m enjoying summer break just like the other girls.”

Why do you need to try to show that off? Aren’t you already in the middle of enjoying summer? Then again, Akatsuki was unironically not like the other girls.

She pulled her phone out of the waterproof pouch and shoved it against me. “Get a cute pic of me!”

“The subject of the picture’s gotta be cute first.”

“I’ll make myself cute then. Right now!” she declared. Akatsuki held her ice cream next to her face, made a peace sign with her other hand, and brightly grinned.

I don’t know what to say. I’m surprised she can change that quickly. It’s hard to believe that she’s the same person who was about to break my arms off.

“How do I look? Cute?”

“Uh-huh. You’re so cute. Super cute,” I said unenthusiastically.

“I mean it! Am I?”

“You’re so cute!” Any more than this, and it’d be torture. I wasn’t sure what was going on with her, but I knew I needed to take care of this sooner than later. I held up her phone, pointed it down at her, and pushed the shutter button.

“Done. This good?”

“Uh... Good enough! Send!” Akatsuki pressed some buttons on her phone after getting it back from me and then let out a relieved sigh before taking a lick of her ice cream.

“Another pic, another day of successfully protecting my normie-high-school-girl image.”

“Huh?” I snickered.

“What’re you laughin’ at?!” She aimed for my weak point, but I was able to barely evade her.

If you’re a real normie, then where’s your boyfriend? Ha ha... Wait. Boyfriend?! I thought back to the picture I took.

“Uh... Hey, so that picture... Did you already send it?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You sure you should’ve?”

“Why?”

“It’s pretty easy to tell that a guy took it from the angle. Also, you can see my shadow.”

Akatsuki froze. Her ice cream fell to the ground. It was like her brain had stopped functioning. Then she furiously began moving her fingers across her phone’s screen.

“Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete. That never happened! Aaagh!” Akatsuki suddenly fell to her knees.

She’s all over the place. You’re lucky this is a busy pool, otherwise someone’d definitely report you.

“Why, Yume-chan, why?!”

“What now?”

“I deleted the picture, but she took a screenshot!”

Wow, heads-up play, Irido-san. Good idea, keepin’ the evidence.

“Why are you so calm?!”

“Why should I care? It’s true that the two of us are here together. It’s not good to lie to your friends.”

“You don’t care that they know you’re here with me? They might think we’re dating.”

“Of course I care. But I don’t care enough to keep it a secret from my friends.”

“Oh, okay...”

This is kinda embarrassing. I looked away from her. We’d let a lot of things out into the open during the study camp. But it’s not like things had gone back to normal for either of us. My “allergies” hadn’t disappeared, for one. Honestly, I’d tilt my head in confusion if anyone asked me whether I liked Akatsuki. It was as if the very notion of romantic feelings had disappeared from me. But we were childhood friends. There was no denying that.

“Pfft.” Akatsuki suddenly did a spit take while looking at her phone.

“What happened?”

“Nothing!” Akatsuki frantically hid the phone against her chest as I tried to peek. Sure, I guess it’s a little rude to look at someone else’s phone without permission.

“What the heck is Higashira-san doing? Aha ha ha!”

Apparently, that big-boobed hindrance had done something incredibly stupid without realizing it again. I’m glad you’re getting such a good laugh out of this. Akatsuki was lonesome; she’d only really started making friends in high school. She probably hadn’t been able to interact with people before that. Previously, she had made superficial friends.

The only problem was that when she did open up to someone, it was to the extreme. She’d never fixed how dependent she became on others. I saw hell thanks to that, but at the very least, she seemed to be able to keep a safe distance from Irido-san and Higashira. That being said, I knew she was totally just one small push away from going full-on psycho chick for Irido-san, so I had to make sure to keep an eye on her. She’d gotten a lot better since middle school, though.

If she kept up this improvement, maybe she’d stop interfering with the Irido siblings. Oh god, that’d be great! With them all the way out in the boonies, there’s no way for Akatsuki or anyone to interfere. I could only imagine what kind of developments were happening between them.

“Hm?” Akatsuki furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Hey, Kawanami?”

“What, Minami?”

“Has Yume-chan called Irido-kun by his first name?”

“Huh? Well, yeah, they have the same last name, so...” Wait a second. Now that I actually thought about it, I’d only ever heard her refer to him as “that guy” or “my little brother.” “Wait, are you saying that she just did?!”

“I need to go on a little trip to see Yume-chan!”

“You’re not going anywhere! You don’t even know where they are!”

“I don’t care! I’m going!”

Approximate days until Akatsuki functioned like a normal human being: unknown.

I exhaled as I felt the sun drying the water off my body as I lay with my arms and legs outstretched. Akatsuki had challenged me to a race, saying that she wanted to blow off some steam. I was exhausted now. Slow down! This is a public pool, dumbass! Speaking of her, she was standing there as if she hadn’t broken a sweat. The water glistened on her body as she fixed her bikini’s bottom with her finger.

“Phew, I’m thirsty. Let’s get something.”

“Bring me something back?”

“What? You want me to go by myself? What’re you even here for?”

“To be your portable sandbag, right?”

“Guy-repellent!”

“Oh yeah, I’m worried about guys hitting on you.”

“Hm? Glad you understand.”

“I’d be so sad if this beautiful pool was stained by the blood of the guys you killed for hitting on you.”

“You should be worried about me!”

She gave me a light kick before asking me what I wanted to drink. I told her I wanted a Coke, and she walked off to find a vending machine or something. I shook my head and sat up.

The place didn’t seem to have any creepy guys who would hit on girls who looked like middle schoolers. Even if there were any, I was sure that she could shake them off. She might even send them flying. If Irido-san or Higashira were here, I’d be worried...especially about Higashira. If she came to the pool, she’d definitely draw attention with her proportions.

I began looking at the couples around the pool in an attempt to recover.

“Hey, you by yourself?” I heard someone ask.

And we’re off. There’s the summer pick-up attempts... Wait, that’s a girl’s voice. I turned around and standing there were two older girls in sexy swimsuits. They were looking right at me. Uh... Huh?

“You’re not here with friends? I’m surprised.”

“We’re by ourselves too. Kinda lonely.”

They leaned over in a way that made it seem that they were trying to flaunt their low-hanging “fruits.” One of them was fair-skinned and had black hair, while the other was tanned and had brown hair. Both of them had hourglass figures that were tastefully covered by their swimsuits. Wait, is this...? I gulped at the once-in-a-lifetime situation that’d just fallen in my lap.

“You’re...talking to me?” I asked them.

“Yep! You!”

“Girls hitting on a guy. Fun, isn’t it? Aha ha ha!”

This is a real thing?! I’d only ever heard of girls hitting on guys in stories. This was uncharted territory. As I desperately tried to think of the best way to deal with this, the two girls sat next to me, sealing off any escape.

“Whoa, now that I get a closer look, you got some muscle on ya.”

“Very toned. Play any sports?”

Pleasant fragrances wafted towards me as they started feeling up my arms.

“N-No, I just work out on my own...”

“Wow! Looks like your hard work’s paying off!”

“It’s a shame that you worked so hard for this body and yet you’re here all alone. Wanna hang with us?” the tanned girl practically whispered in my ear while pressing her chest against my upper arm. Then, at the same time, the other girl did the same with her even larger breasts. Oh my god! They really want me! I’m in the situation of a lifetime! Pinch me—I’m dreaming!

But all dreams had to come to an end, and my body was not allowing me to dream any longer. A chill ran up my spine, and I could feel my stomach churning. Their aromas and interest in me encircled my body, opening up old wounds.

“You’re down, right? Let’s have some fun!”

“We’ll treat you. Let’s swap digits.”

Oh, crap... I’d sensed romantic feelings from girls a lot of times since developing my “allergy,” but this situation was the absolute worst. I couldn’t even get out a response. It’d gotten to the point that I was really cursing my appearance. If I had to endure this because of my looks, then I’d rather be plain and unattractive. I had to find a way to turn them down or else they’d become acquainted with my lunch.

“How ’bout we go down that waterslide together?”

“Oh, fun! Let’s go!”

“Whatcha doin’?” A small girl’s shadow fell over the two girls next to me. She was holding a bottle and a can of Coke. It was Akatsuki Minami, looking straight down at me, making the two girls glance awkwardly from side to side.

“Uh...”

“You his little sister?”

Akatsuki leered at them, and said, as if it were completely natural, “I’m his girlfriend. Something wrong?”

Silence. It took a while to process what she’d said, but the girls quickly let go of me and moved away.

“Oh, what? You’re not by yourself?”

“If you’d said you had a girlfriend, we would’ve left immediately. For real!”

Then they apologized, said they’d leave, and that Akatsuki had a hot boyfriend before making themselves scarce. As they left, I heard them say “Ah, that sucks!” and “He was seriously my type!”

We were left in an uncomfortable silence as we looked at each other. At the very least, she saved me, right? The chills and nausea began fading away. I felt like I could talk again, so I opened my mouth.

“Sorry. You really sav—”

“That was a compleeeeete lie, though.”

“Huh?” What does that mean?

She sat down next to me. “I lied about being your girlfriend, and I’m not gonna act like one, okay? Chill out.” This came out so bluntly that all I could do was nod and accept my soda from her.

As I took the can from her, my lips curled into a smile. “Listen.”

“What?”

“You’re the only girl I’ll ever hang out with.”

“Heah?!” Akatsuki’s eyes darted around in confusion. “Huh? Huh?! Wh-Wha—What do you mean?”

“It’s simple. You’re the only girl I can physically hang out with. What other choice do I have?”

“O-Oh, I see...”

“I have no clue what’ll happen if someone confesses to me. I might die, seriously.” I pulled back the tab on the can, which made a hissing noise before I chugged the soda down. My chills and nausea felt like they washed away with each gulp.

Akatsuki hugged her knees and glanced at me. “Ew. You think you’re that popular?”

“Well, yeah. Didn’t you see what just happened?”

“You’re just an easy-to-target virgin.”

“I’m such a sinful man to even have my hooks in older women. Next year when I’m an upperclassman, I gotta be careful about the freshmen.”

“God, you’re so full of yourself!” Akatsuki twisted the cap off her drink and began gulping down her soda.

She never used to drink carbonated drinks. Her swimming, communication, and mental fortitude had all improved. I was honestly proud of the strides she’s made. She’d leave me in the dust someday.

“Don’t abandon me, chick-repellent.”

“Weren’t you the one having fun ogling their big tits?”

“I wasn’t ogling anything! Didn’t you see how hard I was trying not to throw up?!”

Despite how eventful the day was, we had a good time at the pool. We rode waves on inner tubes in the wave pool, had an underwater wrestling match, and...went on the waterslide together.

She may have had the same exact kind of body that she did when we practiced swimming, but there was a big difference between then and now.

We were at the top of the slide and Akatsuki was sitting in front of me in between my legs.

“Careful. You might get flung from the slide ’cause you’re so light.”

“I don’t need this right now!” Akatsuki put my hands around her stomach. “Hold on tight...okay?” she muttered.

“You got it.” Just as she asked, I gripped her thin waist so she wouldn’t fly into the sky on our way down. Fortunately, we reached the bottom without any incident. After all these years, we’d finally fulfilled the promise we made in elementary school.

Ah, if only it’d ended there. It would’ve made such a nice memory.

“H-Hey, look! O-Over there!”

“Hm? Oh, crap.”

My expression stiffened. It was getting late so we were heading to the showers before taking off. There were no lines, so we thought we were lucky, but we saw someone approaching from the pool—a classmate of ours.

I knew them. Worst of all, they’d come in a group of other girls and guys. Had they seen us? We wouldn’t be able to play things off like we had during the study camp if they caught us. We’d be dead in the water for sure.

“Crap, we need to hide!”

I’d said before that this wasn’t anything to be embarrassed of, but that heavily depended on what we were doing and who was around. They were coming towards the showers for something, meaning they’d see us soon. We need to hide, but where?!

“Just get in there! This way!”

“Wha—?”

Akatsuki decisively pulled me while I was lost in my thoughts. I had no clue where she was taking me at first, but then I saw her open a door to a shower. She threw me inside before coming in too. She shut the door behind us and let out a small sigh of relief.

“That was close...”

“What do you mean? We’re in an even worse situation now!” I hissed.

The shower we were in was about as cramped as a fitting room. We basically had to hug each other. Moving was pretty much out of the question.

“I-I didn’t have a choice! This was the only thing I could think of!”

“We could’ve gone into separate showers!”

“Uh...”

“Dumbass!”

Suddenly, we heard laughter from outside, forcing us to stop whispering. I had my back to the wall across from the door while Akatsuki had her cheek pressed against my chest. Even if I quieted my breathing, my heart was beating hard and fast. Akatsuki would surely notice.

“The shower... Turn it on.”

“R-Right.”

It would be weird if the stall was occupied without any water running. I reached behind me and twisted the knob, releasing water from the showerhead. The sound from it was loud enough that I could cover up my heartbeat.

Our dry bodies were once again wet by water. Akatsuki’s ponytail clung to her neck. The fingers I had around her waist began to stick to her skin. I was reminded of when I’d embrace her in the past. She’d been so small and frail, and I’d felt like I had to protect her. But when I gripped her tightly, I could feel how strong she was. I could feel her accepting me.

“Hey, so...who’re you after?”

“Huh? No one.”

We froze, hearing these voices right outside. I accidentally tensed up, pulling her wet body closer to mine until we touched.

“Ah—” Akatsuki let out a soft noise.

“Aw, don’t play me like that. You’re the one who said he wants to get a girlfriend over the summer.”

“Yeah, I did, but no need to rush.”

“This guy’s chickening out.”

Even if Akatsuki had made that noise, it’d been drowned out by the shower. Still, I was worried, so I pulled her head against my chest. Naturally, she was surprised and began to flail around, but she calmed down and wrapped her arms around my back.

My left leg slid in between her legs, and it was like she was sitting on my thighs. Though I could easily feel that she was lacking a certain part that differentiated her from being a guy, I chased any thoughts about that out of my mind. There was no way in hell that I was about to let Akatsuki notice the part of me that made me a guy.

Get in the shower already so we can leave! Just as I was trying to will them to do as I wanted, they changed topics.

“Oh, right, so you know how in those dirty manga, couples do all sorts of things in the shower.”

Akatsuki and I both jumped a little. We’re not doing anything in here! Wrong time, wrong place!

“Dumbass, there’s someone in there!”

“Sorry about our friend. He’s an idiot!”

Akatsuki fidgeted around in my arms. She didn’t want to look at me. If she did...I could only imagine what’d happen. I didn’t have any opportunity to respond to them. They laughed and then entered the showers.

We waited a little to make sure that they weren’t coming out, and then I loosened my grip on her. Akatsuki immediately pushed against me, letting go. Of course. No matter how sudden of a situation it was, the fact remained that I had embraced her. If we were dating, maybe it’d be okay, but we’d broken up. Plus, I had been the one that dumped her.

Akatsuki backed against the door and looked down as the hot water fell on us. I wanted to apologize, but before I could, her mouth began moving.

“S-Sorry...” She’d covered her mouth with her ponytail, meaning I couldn’t make out her expression. “I won’t be able to hold myself back anymore...” she said in a low voice before silently opening the door and leaving me there.

The sound of the water spewing out of the showerhead filled my ears. Hold herself back? From what?

“Ugh...” I looked at the ceiling and began gargling with the water. That’s my line, you goddamn idiot!

◇

It went without saying that the bus ride home wasn’t pleasant; it was awkward as hell. We didn’t even sit next to each other. We took seats so one of us was sitting in front of the other. We didn’t speak—all we did was listen to the sounds of people around us.

I’d thought that at this rate, we’d stay in this weird funk even after we parted for the day. But there’s a strange psychological phenomenon that happens to humans.

As soon as we sat down after transferring trains, Akatsuki began nodding off. I’d noticed her rubbing her eyes earlier, but it looked like she’d finally reached her limit. It only made sense after how hard she’d been swimming. At first, my plan was to sit across from her, but I changed my mind and sat next to her instead.

“Here. Use my shoulder.”

Akatsuki didn’t so much as look at me. “Mm... Thanks, Ko-kun...” she said in a sleepy voice before leaning her head on me.

The next moment, my ear was filled with the sound of her sleeping. If she hadn’t forced me to come with her to the pool, I might’ve had a relatively peaceful day lazing around at home. But, well... I couldn’t deny that spending the day with this handful of a childhood friend was a hell of a lot more fun. In the end, I guess I can’t abandon her either.