Chapter 40: V1.5 Chapter 3: Bright Sun, Soft Sand, Cold Water – Part 1

I slowly walked towards the deep blue ocean. 

The salty air began filling my nostrils as I strolled along the sand. 

They said they were near the playground.

In the distance, I saw a very large group of people.

A girl began running over to me, hair swaying in the wind.

"Mizuhara-kun~"

"Hi Kinoshita-san, there are a lot of people here."

"Yeah, there are people from lots of different classes gathered here."

"Ah."

The two of us walked back over to the group as everyone was happily playing around. When we got back, the two of us were approached by Takeuchi-kun. 

"Ooh, are you two dating?" He suddenly commented.

A few students looked this way.

"No," I replied.

I glanced at Kinoshita-san whose face was bright red.

Takeuchi-kun slapped me in the back before pulling me into the group. Everyone was setting up food and other things on several picnic tables that our group seemed to have taken over. A few boys were over at the barbeque stations, heating them up.

I looked around; there seemed to be lots of people here who I'd only seen a few times around at school. In total there appeared to be around 50 people; it was really a big party. There was a group of people playing volleyball and another big group having a swim in the sea. It was definitely the biggest party I've ever been to.

Suddenly, Takeuchi-kun stopped in place and pointed at something.

"Look, Mizuhara-kun, Takagi and Riku-kun are dating now."

"Oh."

"Isn't that so annoying! When am I going to get a girlfriend?"

"I guess you have to put yourself out there."

"Why won't a girl confess to me..."

"I mean it's not that common."

He suddenly began whispering.

"...Mizuhara-kun, I think Kinoshita-san likes you."

"Ah, you think so?"

"...She definitely likes you, the moment she saw you in the distance, I saw her face light up. When will a girl be like that to me...?"

"Well, you could try talking to some of the girls around?"

"It's not that simple you know?!"

I guess I wasn't exactly a professional at socialising either.

I saw his eyes move in another direction.

"Ah, imagine going out with Fujiharu-san, she's so pretty..."

"That sure would be great."

"I know right?"

On a separate note, it seemed that Fujiharu-san was also here. I guess that was to be expected since she was so popular. Not only her, however, but I also managed to catch a glimpse of Tachibana-san as well. 

How did someone manage to plan such a grand event?

"Mizuhara-kun, do you have anyone you like?" Takeuchi-kun asked.

"Uh, not at the moment."

"Are you sure...? There isn't a single girl you have a crush on?"

"I guess."

"I can't tell whether you're lying or not."

"I'm really not."

"Ah, so you don't mind if I ask out Kinoshita-san?"

"Go ahead."

"Ah, so you really don't care."

I guess he was trying to catch me with a bluff. 

I honestly didn't care who he wants to ask out. 

It seemed that Takeuchi-kun's eyes were still glued to Fujiharu-san.

"Hey hey, Mizuhara-kun, do you think Fujiharu-san is a model?"

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"I don't know."

"You seem to talk to her a lot in class."

"Do I?"

"More than any of the other boys, although it seems you guys only started talking this semester. I thought she was dating another boy last semester."

"I guess it's just a coincidence."

"Perhaps, I want to talk to her more often but she's always surrounded by people."

"You could find a time when she's alone?"

"Yeah, but then I get all nervous."

Eh.

Okamoto-kun and Takagi-san made their way over to us.

"You actually came, Mizuhara-kun!"

"Yeah."

"Let's go over and play some beach soccer with them, apparently someone brought goals and a ball," Okamoto-kun suggested.

Takeuchi-kun seemed hesitant.

I actually wanted to play. 

Soccer was one of the only sports that I ever truly enjoyed—it was the only sport I played before my time in the Ideal Human Project. 

"I'll play."

"Okay! Mizuhara-kun's in, how about you Take-kun?"

"Eh... if Mizuhara's going I guess I'll also play."

"Alright! We've got two more players!"

We made our way over and joined the pack of around 15 boys. There was also a significant number of girls sitting around, acting as spectators. Everyone was pumped up as if they were about to play the most important match of their lives.

I guess this was a serious event...

A few of the boys started to talk to the group.

"How are we going to split the teams?"

"Let's do captains."

"Who are going to be the captains?"

"Okamoto-kun and Furukawa-kun should be the captains, they're definitely the best here."

"Hey! There's no way Okamoto-kun is better than me! I play club!" One of the boys shouted.

"You never pass the ball!"

"That's because you guys are all bad!"

"You always lose it because you're a ball hog; you're bad!"

The boy was now fuming with anger. 

I guess his ego was substantially hurt.

"I'm literally way better than Okamoto-kun! The only person here who's better than me is Furukawa-kun!"

"No you're not, Yamada-kun, you're terrible."

In this scene, it looked as if a fight was about to break out.

Finally, Okamoto-kun walked over.

"It's fine, if he wants to be a captain let him."

Okamoto-kun managed to convincingly resolve the situation. Begrudgingly, Yamada-kun was made one of the captains alongside Furukawa-kun. The rest of us got into a group as the two captains walked to the front.

"Alright, let's do rock paper sciss—" Before Yamada-kun could finish his sentence, Furukawa-kun offered the choice to him.

"You can pick first." 

"O-oh, okay... um, I pick Kimura-kun."

As Kimura-kun made his way over, Furukawa-kun named his choice.

"I'll take Okamoto-kun."

That continued for a little while until I was chosen by Furukawa-kun as well.

A few minutes later, the teams were somewhat evenly distributed. We had one less player but based on the reactions of most students, our team was definitely the stronger one. The teams split up and began sorting out the positions to some degree. After some group discussions, Okamoto-kun announced that the game would start.

Kick-off was given to them as Yamada-kun passed the ball to Kimura-kun. 

It was somewhat difficult to run in the sand but that also meant it was harder to both defend and attack. On their team, there wasn't a lot of passing as Yamada-kun began charging toward our goal.

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