Chapter 35: Arc 2, Ch.9: I can do this!!

“How about we all go to the slides first?”
Prez behaving as always, suggesting things for the benefit of the whole group, haha.

Well, this was a swimming pool. People wouldn’t stick together all the times, especially for slides, but it did make sense to say that we’d be roughly in the same area at least.

“Let’s do that!”
Kaoru grabbed Tarou’s arm and dragged. Out of us four, Tarou was the most likely to participate in the wild bullshit Kaoru always planned, so he’d definitely reserve him for going in groups.

I went onto a ring for three people with them once. 

Yuji shrugged and followed them, social butterfly Prez fell into line with him, making small-talk.

I trailed behind a bit, a head of black hair walking next to me. Mizuki had his arms crossed in front of his body, glaring at some guy whistling. It wasn’t a gesture of hiding his body, it was one of staying steady.

“Uncomfortable?”, I asked, rubbing my neck.
“Is fine. I wanted to come.”

We hadn't gone into so water yet so we were still dry, meaning I could watch his hair move with every step. It made him look softer, kinda, the way it moved. It shouldn't be any different than usual, but maybe it stood out from all the people whose wet hair was hanging down their heads.

Most people would take a quick shower before going into the pool, but it wasn’t obligatory. Most youths found it funnier to not do that: They’d go to the faster slides while being dry and enjoy the shock of slamming into the cold water without being adjusted to it.

Dirty joke: They were going in dry.

...Okay, that was inappropriate, but way too tempting.

The only nice thing about walking around the pool was that I had the excuse of not wanting to slip for staring mostly at the ground. Even if I looked up, I tried to glance mostly at girls, which was ironically what pretty much every guy did, making me fit in better.

It wasn’t really hard, even I appreciated the aesthetics of beautifully curved girls playing in the water. Even excluding everything sexual about it, it's still a nice thing to look at.

I glanced at one girl for a bit too long.
She was stretching herself at the edge of the water, her feet dangling down, looking very much like out of a movie. Can’t say it wasn’t nice to watch when she had the languid look of a lazy cat, making me half expect some butler to pass by any second to bring her a cocktail.

“Your type?”, asked Mizuki to my left.
I had a feeling his voice was dangerously nonchalant. Dangerous because his voice was usually calm or irritated, I hadn’t heard him inquire anything nonchalantly like that, ever.

“Uh, no. Not really.” Not lying here!

He didn’t respond to that, but I could feel his eyes move over to me with a short raise of his eyebrows.

“I appreciate beautiful people as much as everyone else. It’s normal to look for a while even if it’s not your type…”
I was awkward but I wanted to explain myself. That was a fact, everyone likes eye-candy. At least I wasn’t staring with a lustful gaze.

Mizuki hummed, his face darkening quite a bit.

What did I say wrong now?!

“You said before that I’m regarded as ‘beautiful’, generally.”

I didn’t like that he was going out of his way to inquire about this.
“Yes?” I had said so, no need to hide it. I couldn’t even tell what his problem was, so no way of avoiding it.

“The only time you stared at me was when I surprised you on the train.”

...Not true, that’s just the only time you noticed, but…
Uh, where are you going with this? I’m being stupid, I know, but I really don’t get it right now?

He probably realized I was completely missing his point after I just mutely tilted my head and looked at him blankly.

He frowned in obvious displeasure, different from his usual frown.
“Is your beauty standard different from everyone else?”

Jeopardy plays. Wheels turning. Elevator music. Please stand by...

...Wait, is he feeling offended cause he thinks I don’t like how he looks? That I’m not staring at him because he’s not visually attractive to me?
Nonsense, a crush is obviously a different standard! I can’t stare at you for more than a moment even if I want to or I’ll start drooling! 

I was amazingly grateful for the rest of our group walking a bit faster. This was not a conversation I wanted them to hear.

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Flustered, I shook my head. “That’s not it!”

His displeased look stayed, forcing me to explain. I’d rather be awkward than risk some stupid misunderstanding that might put me into a bad light.

“I agree with everyone else on your looks, it’s just-”
“Just?”

Just. Uh.

I don’t want to be rude by staring? Ridiculous, I just stared at other people.
I don’t want to be rude towards a friend? I wasn’t going to friendzone myself.
It’s cause you’re a guy? Even more destructive than the previous one.

...Now this is a great moment for you, system, cause I don’t know what to say here!

[(Please choose what to say.)

• “I usually wouldn’t stare at people like that.”
• “How do you know I’m not staring?”
• “I wasn’t even staring, I was distracted.”]

Uhmm I don’t like how the first one implies it’s because she’s not wearing much and the third one sounds like a lie. The second one is totally flirting…

But I mean, I guess I could allow myself that much with how things are going, since the other two are kinda bad anyway? I don’t even need to actively say it, I just need to choose it. And right now, no one’s close enough to hear.

Most of all, I was still trying to figure him out. There were so many things that were weird, like his relationship with Akihito, so I also felt like I had to probe him if I didn’t want to be stuck like this.

I pursed my lips and turned my face a bit away from him. When I said that sentence, my voice managed to stay surprisingly calm, though it sounded like I was pouting a bit.

“How do you know I’m not staring?”
“Eh?”

Except for that single sound, he didn’t say anything and only after three steps did I notice that the sound of walking from my left was missing. I glanced at the empty space with a confused expression and then turned at my waist to look back at where Mizuki wasn’t moving.

His eyes were widened and jaw down, making a cute picture of a stunned young man. I took the sight in happily, just cause it was rare.

Mizuki gave a jolt when he noticed I was looking at him, then abruptly tilted his head down to hide his face behind his fringe. He walked past me in quick, large steps.

“We’re falling behind.”

There was a soft, reddish blush blooming on his fair cheeks, the sight so entrancing I wanted nothing but drag him back by the arm and tilt his head up so I could get a better look.

That kind of adorable reaction, it should be forbidden for him.

Maybe he could tell I was staring at him from behind, but the tip of his ears began to brighten in colour. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep myself from foolishly grinning.

[(Please choose what to say.)

• “Your ears are red.”
• “Can you see where the rest are?”
• “So? How would you know?”]

Oh, another choice! The second one is the most neutral one and probably the sensible choice, since the rest of our group is really kinda gone from sight.

The first one… is a complete tease… I’m tempted, though!

The third one is more on the line of flirting again? Hmm, I guess this would still leave him open to snapping at me if he’s uncomfortable, if I take the first choice then I’d kinda push him in a corner?

Or maybe I should do exactly that.
Well, I don’t want to.

“So? How would you know?”

I took a larger step to walk closer to him and even though I didn’t dare look at him directly, I still peeked at him from the side of my eye.

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