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CHAPTER 52 – BEACHSIDE GIRL TALK [1]
After being dragged into the ocean, I returned to the sandy land to take off my parka. Since it’s heavy with water, making it tough to move in. As I did, the men from the bodyguard squad cheered, but I just ignored it. In exchange, I jumped at Kaori. If it was the past me, this would’ve been a drop kick instead.
「It’s close to noon.」
While I naturally don’t have a watch on me, I thought so since the sun is pretty high in the sky now. Forgetting the time when you’re playing is nothing unusual.
「Why are you all
 so energetic

」
「「Don’t underestimate the sports club.」」
Miyako, who tapped out early on after reaching her limits, grumbled so. But yeah, since Kaori and Harumi are members of the academy sports clubs, their stamina should be completely different than our just-going-home club member Miyako here.
「Kotone, why can you keep up with them

」
「I run in the mornings, you see.」
The bodyguards showed a pretty obvious frown hearing that. Are my jogs seriously that rough? It’s true that you do get really sweaty running at this time of the year, but that’s just it. Isn’t it pretty fun with some getting used to?
「On the contrary, you have too little stamina, Miyako. Why don’t you try jogging like me?」
「Can’t. It absolutely won’t continue for more than three days.」
「That’s what we thought back then too
」
With their first impressions of Kotone, it isn’t strange that they thought that way. But too bad for them. I’ve continued this for nearly half a year now.
「Say, Kotone. You’ve already built plenty enough strength, so could you stop training now?」
「My stamina is just going to deteriorate if I stop, so no.」
I immediately cut down Akira’s request. After all, while it takes plenty of time to build up, you lose stamina fairly quickly. Perseverance is power. And to you guys hanging your heads. You’ll have to keep up with me for the foreseeable future.
「What about lunch? Want to go eat at the beach hut?1」
「No, I prepared my own.」
I turned down Harumi’s invitation. It’s expensive, after all. Eating at the beach hut is nice and atmospheric but with their prices, I’m not buying this time. This is exactly why I brought a cooler-box.
「I asked Kotone to prepare some for me too.」
What I made was sandwiches. The bread I used was a leftover I got from the cafe yesterday, so Kaori’s request was no issue. Still, it’s not enough to make for four plus the parents, so it’s only for us.
「Still, it’s gone flabby now, huh.」
I kept it in the cooler, so I guess that’s just natural. It’s nice to have it cold in this heat, but the vegetables are a bit shrivelled up. I’ve messed up a bit here.
「It doesn’t have to be perfect, okay? So Harumi, Miyako, what about you two?」
「No choice but to go buy lunch for us. Come on, Miyako. Move
 already!」
「M’kay~」
She’s already exhausted herself this morning, what is she going to do for the afternoon? Something like sunbathing would be tough even if she puts sunscreen on. I sent a quick glance to the supervisor and she nodded. She must’ve read my intention.
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「How do I say this, you’re really attentive.」
「About what?」
While biting into my sandwich, I replied to Kaori. Hmm, like I thought, it’s not as good as when it’s fresh.
「Well, I know it’s a possible situation too, but
」
「I’d hate it if some weirdos come up and ruin the day, after all.」
「Harumi, Miyako, and I aren’t really interested in romance either. Getting picked up by guys will just be annoying.」
When speaking about the beach, there’s the usual cliche. More so in Harumi and Miyako’s case, since they don’t have guys around. Because of that, I had the bodyguards choose the scarier looking ones among them to stealthily follow behind the girls. Well I didn’t ask for that much, to be exact, but I guess the supervisor’s being playful.
「Come to think of it, Kotone, do you have any interest in romance?」
Why are you going with that topic, Miss Supervisor?
「Absolutely not. Rather, currently guys I’ve met are just mostly disappointing.」
If I had to choose, the president would be the most passable. The others have too many negatives that I’d rather not deal with them. And as for the principal, I just had no other choice but to help him out.
「How about you, Miss Supervisor?」
「I have a husband. He’s a stay-at-home dad and we already have two children.」
A winner in life, huh. Having a good life is a great thing. I’m not going to say “normies explode” or anything like that. After all, she seems to have gone through a lot because of a certain pair. I guess it’s just check and balance.
「Mrs. Supervisor, would you recommend romance for me?」
「Nah, that’s out of the question.」
And for some reason, Kaori immediately refuted. Though I do agree that it’s impossible for me, so I didn’t say anything. Lately, the “am I a guy or gal” thing is getting even fuzzier for me, so there are times I think otherwise. However, most of the guys I’ve encountered are of the disappointing type, so it’s definitely out of the question.
「May I ask why, Kaori?」
「I just can’t imagine Kotone dating with a guy at all.」
The fact that she specified “guy” really fuels some weird imaginations, though. Does she think that I’d go out with women? It’s probably not the case, I hope.
「That reminds me, Kishita told me that I might get confessions after summer break.」
「Any plans on accepting?」
「Absolutely none.」
I don’t mind confessions, but my answer is set from the start. I’mma crush ‘em all.
「Seeing how high the rejection count will go is going to be fun.」
「What about you Kaori, how many have you rejected?」
「I don’t keep count, but it shouldn’t have reached double digits yet.」
「Your reasons for rejecting?」
「I’m in the track club. There’s no way I can put aside time for dating when I’m already knee deep in practice.」
That’s a surprisingly proper reason. I’ve known that she’s serious about track and field. If it wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t be running every morning and doing club activities even during the holidays. After all, our academy should be pretty lenient when it comes to participation and all that.
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「Somehow or another, we really don’t have much guys in our lives.」
「We have someone with a male childhood friend, though.」
The guy right in front of my seat is Miyako’s childhood friend. I have no idea if it’ll develop to the point of romance though. Personally, I believe that childhood friends slowly growing into lovers just happen in stories.2
「Still, how it’ll progress is dependent on them.」
「I don’t think any effort will do much until Miyako becomes conscious of it, though.」
No matter how much we speculate, none of that romantic development will happen unless the people in question want it. Isami and I were the same. After all, regardless of what the people around us said, our relationship never changed.
「Kotone, don’t you have any childhood guy friends?」
「Not that I remember. If there was, wouldn’t he be my fiance by now?」
References
Lyly: æ”·ăźćź¶ I don’t know about other places, but it’s common in Japan to have a big hut/restaurant/eatery at the beachside where they sell cooked food.Lyly: B-but my childhood friend romance SoL