Chapter 12: Sandy Bar

Accidentally, for the first time in his life, Ishi found himself shopping with a girl alone. A lot of boys his age would be excited for a moment like this. It would be considered a major step in a potential relationship with said girl. To him he felt… Well, it did feel a bit awkward for him. The boy lamented himself for not being immune to teenage hormones.

“Judging from the prices, this should be enough.” He handed Youna the money he promised.

“I’ll t-try not to spend too much of it.” She was grateful for his generosity. “And I promise to return the change.”

“Even if you went over the budget, I still got some extra I don’t mind giving you.” It wasn’t a big deal for him. It wasn’t as if he was interested in any potential souvenirs. Though he didn’t want to use up all his cash now. There was one place he could think of where this could be spent for himself. But that would be decided on later when he actually saw it.

“Thank you.” She bowed her head, not maintaining any eye contact. “I’ll just be looking for something over here…” The girl left him, which gave the boy the one thing he truly wanted. Some alone time. Unfortunately, it didn’t last as an employee approached him.

“I see you’re shopping with your girlfriend.” They teased him. It didn’t get Ishi flustered in any way since he already knew the truth.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He explained to them that their were on a field trip and that she needed a swimming suit to join the others. “I had some extra money, so I’m just helping her out.”

“I see, I see.” The worker nudged him in the arm. “Nice move.” Ishi sighed heavily. Even complete strangers didn’t leave him alone. “She’s real pretty, so maybe you can convince her to wear a super cute bikini.”

“I think we should let her choose what she wants to wear.” Obviously she wouldn’t do that, or else they wouldn’t be here in the first place. “Don’t you have some customers to be helping right now?”

“Not really.” They responded honestly. There weren’t any other people in here other than a couple of other employees. Ishi and Youna were their only customers during this slow day.

“Then go check your stock or something.” Ishi left the worker in search of Youna. At least he could live with her existing next to him. “Have you found anything yet?” He was getting impatient the longer they stayed here.

“W-well I did.” She hid behind of the racks, embarrassed that he surprised her coming up like this. “But the problem is… They don’t sell any one piece suits here.” Apparently she did give one of the options a try, which is why he could see her behind this rack. Not without a lack of trying though.

“What did you pick out then?” He tried leaning his head around to see her, but that only led her to move and try to avoid his gaze. “Can you not waste my time and let me see?”

“Okay…” She gingerly allowed herself to be seen by him. Unfortunately for her, was a yellow two-piece. However, the one she chose had a skirt wrapped around her waist which covered up her thighs. The bra also had frills that also covered up her breast the best they could. Which was working thanks to her gingerly covering her chest with her arms. “I look ridiculous, don’t I?”

“You look fine to me.” He didn’t any problem with it. “Now let’s go pay for it so we can get to the beach.”

“But the others…”

“I would say don’t care about what they think.” He informed her. “But I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t mind. For what it’s worth, it covers you a lot more than the one your mom got you.” Youna took one deep breath to calm her nerves. Ishi was right, and she didn’t want to be such a burden.

“Okay… I’ll try.” Finally, they were able to pay and leave the store. “I’m sorry.” She apologized when they got on the beach. “We ended up not finding a one-piece and I wasted your money.”

“It’s really not a problem.” Compared to most things that had happened to him, this was pretty low on the list of inconveniences. “But there is a way you could repay me.”

“Really? What would that be?”

“To leave me alone.” Immediately, he took a sharp turn and walked away from her.

“What?” She was in shock over his sudden move. “But, where are you going?” That got him to stop for a moment, which was spent to point over to a small little setup on the beach.

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“There’s some type of tiki bar.” He wasn’t entirely certain what it was supposed to be, but that’s what his phone told him. “And it looks like no one’s there right now. So I’d like a little bit of alone time. Try not to need me.” With that, he left without saying a farewell. Despite knowing of him for all these years, Youna couldn’t make much sense of him sometimes. Still, she had a small smile on her as he walked away.

“Thanks so much for helping someone like me.” It was time for her to rejoin the rest of her classmates. “I really don’t deserve it.”

As Ishi entered the empty bar, he was at peace with himself now finally alone. The only person here keeping him from being truly on his own would be the bartender, but for once, this was one person he wanted to see.

“What do you have on the menu?”

“Are you of age?” The man asked him.

“I’m just a just high schooler.” He answered. “Don’t worry, I only want some juice.”

“That’s surprisingly responsible of you.” The bartender began to create a drink for him. “And I’m taking it you’re with those kids over there.” He pointed over to his fellow schoolmates, to which Ishi nodded in response. “I see… One of those loner kids.” He muttered to himself as he shook together the pineapple juice with carbonated lemon-lime soda.

“That’s one way to describe me.” The man finished the nonalcoholic pina colada and slid it over to him. “You’d feel the same way if you knew what I have to deal with on a daily basis.” He took one nice gulp of the concoction. The liquid flowed down his throat smoothly. This was one refreshing drink. Almost enough to make him forget about his worries. Almost.

Without saying another word, he placed down a fair bit of the cash he still had on him on the counter. His silent request for more as needed. The bartender obliged and began to mix another one of his drinks. However, that didn’t keep him from talking more.

“So, you all here on a school field trip?”

“Yeah, I’m sure you get plenty of visitors thanks to the aquarium.” That was a fact, especially given that it had an agreement with multiple schools to aid in teaching the youth about understanding the sea that surrounded the country. “But business seems to be pretty slow today.”

“It usually is at around this time, but I’m not too worried about it.” That was due to the fact that things would begin to brighten up as the day got darker. Soon a lot of people would coming down to enjoy a little bit of a party, especially with that karaoke stage set up in the middle the bar. “And I’m certain those friends of yours are going to be coming over here soon enough.

“What makes you say that?” The bartender slid him another drink, then pointed over to Rinse. “The girl with the blue hair, you know that’s Rinse Hattori, right?”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.” It seemed that literally everyone but him knew who this girl was. “And I’m guessing you mean to say that she’ll probably sing at this spot right here because people will ask.”

“You’re a pretty bright kid.” Ishi sighed. So much for that peace and quiet he was searching for. Still, even he couldn’t deny that it would be interesting to see her perform. Especially for someone like him, who had not an inking of what she was like on stage.

He took the time now to focus simply on his thoughts, and the drink in front of him. Ever since this girl moved in, his life had been turned upside down. She was definitely the worst thing to happen to him in a long time, ever since his first year in high school.

He could hardly stand the girl. Every day, people would surround her and fawn over the idol. Meanwhile, she always had on that same look of happiness and joy to please them. Learned from her job as an idol no doubt.

But make no mistake, he was not in any way jealous of her fame. He couldn’t care less about how the students at his school cared about people. It was just because she sat next to him that was the breaking point. All these kids kept coming to their desks and talking to her, and for someone that wanted to be left alone, it was annoying.

“Maybe I really should just change seats.” He muttered to himself.

“What was that?” The bartender asked. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t put any alcohol in those drinks. So you better not have gotten drunk.”

“Sorry, just thinking.” Ishi replied. “Things have been pretty crazy for me this past week.” The murmurs of teenagers chatting among themselves began to grow in his ears. He shook his head in disappointment, staring at his reflection in the pina colada. “And they’re about to get crazier.”

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