Ch4 Intro
The Growth in Each of Us
This summer vacation life aboard a luxury cruise ship continues to be a valuable experience, and has already reached its halfway point.
The wallets of the students enjoying their remaining time to the fullest must be loosening up like never before. It may sound crazy to the students who are systematically working their way up, but there’s nothing wrong with spending money on a short break.
It will help you refresh any accumulated fatigue, and at the same time, you will achieve a sense of wellbeing.
But that might sound like an excuse, since I’m also using my meagre amount of private points.
I changed into my swimsuit and opened the door to see a large, empty pool. This luxury cruise ship has a large swimming pool facility that is open to everyone free of charge, but it’s also equipped with another pool. You could call it a private pool, a pool that we can rent out and enjoy all to ourselves. It’s not cheap at 20,000 points per 60 minute interval, but the time you can spend alone with your closest friends is more than worth the money. Moreover, the number of people who can use it is up to 40 people at a time, so if an entire class rents it out, you can use it for only 500 points per head.
Because of this, the private pool is surprisingly popular with students and is almost always fully booked from 8am to 8pm when it is open.
While it is difficult to swim freely in a large swimming pool packed with people, the private pool is spacious enough to do whatever you want and enjoy it with no trouble.
“Wow, it’s huge…”
Akito spoke with a hint of excitement after showing up at the poolside a little later than me. It’s the same size as the pool that’s open to the public for free, but it looked so big that I wondered if the scale could somehow change by reserving it.
“Where’s Keisei?”
“He said he’d go to the bathroom first. The girls aren’t ready yet, are they?”
There’s no need to confirm that they wouldn't be able to change as quickly as us boys.
Akito picked up the menu that was sitting next to a beach chair.
“Oh...It’s more expensive than the other one.”
For the private pool, drinks are far more expensive than for the free pool; in fact, they’re almost double the price. It shouldn't be that surprising when considering the number of orders that would be placed for this many people, but it’s harsh. It means that we will be relentlessly exploited here as well. The fact that bringing your own food and drink is prohibited is also well thought out. Just then, the door to the changing room was opened slightly.
We both looked back at the same time, but there was no sign of anyone coming out.
Instead, the sound of voices reached my ears.
“Come on Airi, what are you doing? Hurry up and go.”
“B-b-b-b-b-but, but! It’s embarrassing Haruka-chan!”
“What’s so embarrassing about it? You’ve been posting all kinds of embarrassing pictures onto the internet so you should be fine, right?”
“W-well it’s not like they were looking at me directly!”
“For me, that’s even more embarrassing. Come on, come on.”
“Aah! Wait, wait!”
Such an indescribable conversation was going on between Haruka and Airi.
“How to say it? There’s a certain invisible quality, right?
Akito said something completely unexpected.
“What is it?
“I was just thinking, you think about stuff like that too, huh Akito.”
“You know...It’s natural for boys right? I mean, it’s not like I talk about it lightly on a daily basis like Ike and the others. You’re the same, aren’t you?”
He looked at me with a somewhat dumbfounded look, and at the same time, there was an air that didn’t allow for any denial. I wasn’t trying to read the atmosphere, but I could tell that Akito was trying to be brave in his own way.
It’s not a good idea to ignore it, so I’ll admit to it honestly.
“Well, I guess that’s true.”
Hearing my answer, Akito laughed a little as if he were relieved.
“If a girl hears, I know she’ll just say I’m an idiot or something though.”
Usually, Akito wears a calm poker face, but judging by how much he was talking, it was obvious that he was getting nervous.
However, those two still seemed to be arguing and wouldn’t come out easily.
“I’m so embarrassed!”
“You know what?! I feel the same way!”
“H-h...Haruka-chan, that’s a very daring outfit isn’t it?”
“That’s because you promised to wear this in front of everyone!”
“Hyah!”
We were in something of a life or death situation, waiting for them to appear.
“Daring, she says.”
“Sounds like it.”
A sense of anticipation, accompanied by a feeling of embarrassment.
Where should I look and what should I say to the girls when they come out?
“Impossible, it’s impossible! I-I’m going to borrow something to cover myself with.”
“No, you can’t! Come on, don’t run away!”
“Ugh, I’m still embarrassed in this kind of swimsuit after all, Haruka-chan!”
“You know that it’s the same for me too, right? I had no choice but to go along with you!”
“I never asked you to do that!”
We were waiting for them to come out, but it looks like the struggle will continue a little while longer.
“Hey, Ayanokouji. What do you think of Airi?”
Akito had been looking towards the girls until now, but I realised he was now looking at me. I’m sure he wasn’t just speaking randomly.
“As in?”
I immediately understood what he was talking about, but I dared to feign ignorance.
“Mixed-gender groups can be a little complicated, right? It’s not unusual for someone to end up liking someone else.”
The question wasn’t difficult to answer, but…
“How about you?”
When I asked back, Akito showed a somewhat troubled expression.
“Well, I guess so.”
After a few moments of silence, Akito spoke.
“I’d be lying if I said I felt nothing like that whatsoever.”
He answered in a way that acknowledged, not denied, the existence of such a possibility.
“But if it might destroy this group, I’m not going to push it.”
He means to leave those feelings smouldering in his heart. I can't tell for sure if it's Haruka or Airi at this point, but… I wonder what the right answer would be here.
Unlike math, it’s not always possible to get a definitive answer after trying to figure it out.
“Kiyotaka, you…”
“Kyaah!”
Just as Akito was about to say something, the half-opened door swung open and Airi came flying out in front of me. I made eye contact with Akito again after looking at where the shouting came from.
“P-pushing me like that...you’re awful Haruka-chan!”
“It’s because you wouldn’t hurry up and get out here.”
Saying that, Haruka showed herself straight after Airi’s arrival.
“O-oh, come on…”
Akito looked shocked, but needless to say, I felt the same way.
How can I put this? The two of them were wearing incredibly bold swimsuits.
If this wasn’t a private pool, they would have attracted a lot of attention from both men and women.
Haruka immediately looked up and saw us.
I somehow felt like it was a crime to stare at them, so, at the same time as Akito, I turned to look in the appropriate direction.
However, as if something immediately caught his curiosity, Akito spoke up, keeping his gaze elsewhere.
“Airi gives off a very different impression, doesn’t she?”
I’d rather he didn’t bring me into this, but I guess Akito must also be in a tight situation.
“I guess. She gives off a much more innocent feeling.”
“That’s it...that.”
While we were describing our impressions of Airi, Haruka looked blatantly disappointed.
“You’re so conventional and mundane.”
“Don’t say that. No, I’m too surprised to get the words out.”
I really hope that Haruka catches the part where my vocabulary is rapidly declining.
“...I’m gonna go for a little swim.”
Perhaps the two of them were too stimulating for him, as, after saying that, Akito turned his back on them and jumped into the pool without doing any preparation. With a splash, he swam through the empty pool alone. I know what it’s like to be hit with the feeling of wanting to run away. Because the private pool is an environment that we would rarely be able to experience, when faced with the destructive power of the two people in front of us, escape was no longer possible.
To get rid of all kinds of worries, swimming away like that is the correct decision.
Having said that, if two guys were to suddenly put their all into swimming, the atmosphere would obviously turn strange. I guess I’ll just have to be the shield here and continue this confrontation.
What should I do...? Taking a look at the two of them, I could see that Airi was blushing uncomfortably. Seeing Airi like this, Haruka happily walked around to her back and grabbed her shoulders.
“Hyaa!”
“Hey, hey, Kiyopon, how’s the reborn Airi?”
Saying that, she pushed Airi forward. The distance between us is so close that if we’re not careful, we’ll end up touching each other skin-to-skin. Rather than that, it was like she actually was touching me. I retreated just enough for it to be unnoticeable and kept a close distance.
“Whoa…”
Both of them were wearing swimsuits that exposed a lot of skin, so touching them easily was problematic behaviour.
Unable to bear the situation, Airi opened her mouth to escape.
“I-I think I’ll go swim in the pool too!”
“Wait, Airi…”
Haruka reached out her hand to try and catch her, but she failed to grab her arm in time.
She then went to jump into the pool...or so I thought, but the way she held the stainless steel railing and gently entered the water was very Airi-esque.
“Damn it. Even though I’m so embarrassed too…”
That certainly would be the case.
Aside from the emphasis on the breasts, the area of the swimsuit’s lower half was clearly small.
Even though they were tied together tightly with string, I was anxious that something might happen to them.
“Just so you know, it was Airi who chose this ridiculous swimsuit, okay?”
“I wasn’t going to get into it, but how did that happen?”
Originally, Haruka was not the kind of student who liked to show her skin in public.
However, the amount of emphasis she was putting on her breasts and lower body was not normal.
“How did it happen? How did it happen hmm...?”
For a moment, she showed a troubled face, but then she began to explain, choosing her words carefully.
“I'm not sure how to say it? It’s a form of going along with Airi?”
“What does that mean?”
There were so many choices, I can’t even begin to understand.
“It means that she’s desperately trying to change. And that’s the same for me. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...there's a part of me that stands out a little more than others, right?”
She said it in a muddled way, but it was without a doubt referring to that which I couldn’t look at.
“I know I shouldn’t care, but the way people look at me makes me uncomfortable.”
I can understand her distress, but from a male psychological perspective, ignoring it is extremely difficult.
It is inevitable that our eyes will find themselves being drawn to them.
“I chose a slightly daring bathing suit for her to encourage her, and she replied that she would wear it if I wore one too.”
That’s a good reply. I can easily imagine Haruka refusing to wear a flashy swimsuit.
If Haruka refused to wear it, she could say back to her that she won’t either.
“I can’t let her stumble during the first step of the Airi remodelling project. It’s called willpower.”
Now that you’ve accepted the conditions that she herself set, Airi can’t escape either.
“Besides, even if Airi and I can’t wear something like this in the open pool over there, if it’s here...”
It seems that because it’s with 3 boys that they’re close with, they managed to make it happen.
Even so, it’s easy even for a guy to imagine that there's quite a bit of shame involved.
“...You wanna see?”
Haruka asked, looking embarrassed, or rather, hiding her disgust.
“Well, even if I’ve been told not to look, I have to admit there are some difficulties.”
In the first place, they are in my line of sight when I’m talking to her so there's no way around it.
The only way to avoid seeing them is by looking directly above or below, or by turning your back.
“I see. I think I know the difference between a man and a woman, but I don’t know anything about psychology.”
The difference in curiosity about breasts, hips and lower abdomen is not something that men and women can understand.
No, there’s no way to know because each individual person has their own preferences; it's not just separated by men and women.
“Huh? By the way, where’s Yukimuu?”
“Looks like it’s gonna be a little while longer.”
I don’t know if the stomachache is lingering, but it doesn’t seem to be coming out at all.
(TN: Honestly, the subject isn’t too clear here so he could be saying Keisei isn’t coming out, but I decided to go with the shit being a tough one. 一 向に is used to emphasize which made me think he’s most likely talking about the shit)
“Hmm?”
Perhaps not that interested in checking, Haruka responded while looking towards the day after tomorrow.
(TN: No clue what this means. 明後日の方向 translates to ‘direction of the day after tomorrow’, but this just doesn’t make sense to me at all. Maybe it’s some saying? If it is I’m sorry but I’m born and raised in England so I've got no idea)
The conversation stopped for a moment, and a brief silence fell.
“...Ah, no, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“I’m sorry. I’m trying to be careful not to look.”
If you can’t help but look at the other person’s face while talking to them, they inevitably come into view.
“That’s not what I mean. You really haven’t done anything wrong, Kiyopon. I know I’m too self-conscious to begin with. I know that you’re not looking because you like it.”
Eh, no...It’s not like I don’t like what I see.
I’ll keep that part to myself.
“When something stands out it attracts attention. It’s the same with anything, right? It’s just, when I think it’s me, I can’t help but feel bad.”
In Haruka’s case, it’s not just the boys’ gaze. Even if it’s a same-sex gathering, she doesn’t welcome attention being drawn to her breasts.
“I’m sorry, I think it’s going to take me a little more time to calm down.”
“It doesn’t really matter. If you think it’s impossible, you can just go back and get changed.”
“I can’t do that. As long as Airi is giving her best, I don’t want to break.”
She called it the Airi remodelling project, didn't she? I can tell she’s thinking about it.
“Let’s change the subject. It may be a little late, but it seems you were just about safe in the uninhabited island exam.”
I hadn’t been able to get together with the Ayanokouji group for the past few days, so Haruka mentioned the topic to me rather late.
It’s a completely unrelated topic, which is probably a good thing right now.
“Well, we were just the same, so it’s not something to laugh about.”
“To be honest, it was pretty tough. I fought as hard as I could and that was the result. My bad.”
“It’s not bad at all. I mean, I’m a little relieved.”
Exhaling slightly, Haruka watched Airi, who was clumsily trying to swim.
“Relieved? After those terrible results?”
“I mean, there were rumours that you were a jerk because of that math problem, Kiyopon. Won’t this help everything calm down a little? You don’t like the weird pressure you were under, right?”
Apparently, she was thinking about my future.
“As I thought, you're more like a saint than the other boys, Kiyopon.”
“What did you see that made you think that?”
I was doubtful because I thought she was overestimating me.
I have just as much sexual desire and interest in the opposite sex as anyone else.
“Things like your facial expressions, your gaze...I feel like it’s less of an issue with you than other boys.”
I don’t know what to say about that. I’m afraid I’d get a lot of flack for showing anything like that here. I’m also grateful that another guy is playing the role of a panicked person. It must have a synergistic effect.
“Oh…”
As soon as Keisei, who had finished changing late, showed up, he let out a surprised voice.
It was clear to the eye that this was not his reaction to seeing the rented private pool.
He must have seen the daring figure of Haruka standing next to me.
“Whassup.”
Perhaps to maintain a sense of normalcy, Haruka greeted Keisei with a silly face and voice.
“Y-yo…”
He fixed his glasses, which had almost fallen off, and looked over towards her.
I guess this means that Keisei, who usually spends most of his time studying, is a fine boy.
The fact that all the boys uniformly reacted and tried to escape in the same way shows the nature of this group.
If it were a type like Ryūen or Kōenji, the reaction would probably be very different.
“Well then...I think I’ll go swim for a little bit too.”
I jumped into the pool to escape, joining Akito, who was swimming vigorously.
Airi, who couldn’t swim well and thus let her feet touch the bottom of the pool, waved at Haruka.
“Come over too, Haruka-chan~. It feels good~!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll go. Give me a second.”
Saying that she couldn't help it, she started to do her exercises next to me.
“I get the feeling you’ve become closer since fighting through the uninhabited island exam together.”
“Well, that’s true, isn’t it? We’ve shared a lot of things from top to bottom.”
“Waah! That’s a bit embarrassing so don’t say it!”
Airi, who was waiting at the edge of the pool watching us, hurriedly made a splashing sound.
Top? Bottom? They're common keywords, but also very meaningful.
“I don’t know, Airi is essentially helpless, but I can’t leave her alone. Kind of like a best friend or little sister?”
A statement that was unthinkable when we first met. And that’s not something limited to just Haruka.
It’s the same for Keisei, and, even if there were no major changes, it’s also the same for Akito.
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