"Alright, the target is that group of five women who look like college girls."
Asakura, now in a good mood, pointed ahead and said so.
We look beyond that.
There was a group of girls there with flashy hair colors and bikinis who seemed to be a little older than us.
They all have good looks, and I honestly doubt that high school kids like us would be taken seriously.
"...Let's go, guys!"
I couldn't say such a thing to Asakura, whose eyes were shining with excitement.
And we get closer to the girls.
However, before he could reach the girls, they were approached by two flirtatious, dark-skinned men.
"Ah~, sh*it!"
Asakura lamented, but the next moment the two men seem to have been turned down, and they immediately left.
I ask Asakura, who is doing a pose of guts when he sees it.
"... Hey, Asakura. I think there's a very good chance we'll end up like that, too?"
"What are you talking about, Tomoki? ......We have Ike-sensei over here, you know?"
That may be true, but I had one concern.
Without expressing any concern about this, Asakura addresses the group of girls.
"Hello, ladies, would you like to have a chat with us?"
Asakura smiles naturally.
If Asakura would act this proactive in his normal school life, he would have a girlfriend in no time.
Maybe the summer beach is making him more open, according to my analysis,
"Picking up again?"
"Isn't this getting a little annoying?"
"I mean, these kids are so young!"
"Are you guys in high school by any chance?"
Each of them mutters in a bored manner.
"Yes, I am a high school student. Are you girls college students?"
Perhaps happy to be responded to, Asakura asked.
"Yes, we are college students~"
"So, I'm not really interested in the kids, so please go back~."
They said, as in the case of the two men I mentioned earlier, we get an immediate rejection.
"...Hey, wait a minute. Aren't those two guys in the back ...... super nice?"
One of the girls said in a hushed voice, which reached my ears.
Then all eyes turned to Ike and Kai...
"Well~, I'm pretty much into younger boys~"
"Let's go play with us"
"Ya, you guys are pretty muscular! Wonderful"
"Are you active in any clubs?"
They are easily turned their hand.
Ike and Kai are surrounded by two college girls each, and it's like a flower in both hands situation.
"I play soccer, after all"
"I didn't do anything in particular."
Kai and Ike respond with puzzled expressions.
"What's with the bashfulness? He's quite cute♡"
Seeing that, the female college students was overjoyed.
And ... Asakura's expression of despair is inversely proportional to that.
My concerns were right.
Indeed, if good-looking guys like Ike and Kai were added into the pick-up operation, the girls would probably be more receptive...
It also comes with the risk of having all the favors taken away.
The fact is, Asakura and I are thus left alone and out of their sight.
I tried to comfort Asakura, but――
"I'm thirsty. Would you mind accompanying me to the stall over there for a minute?"
The last one who was not involved with Ike and Kai approached me.
Then she pulled me by the hand and started walking.
I'm agitated by the unexpected situation.
I had never thought that sunglasses would really work...
With this in mind, I looked at Asakura and saw a look of disappointment on his face as he turned to me.
...... I'm sorry, Asakura. You have my deepest apologies.
With this in mind, I walked next to her with my hand being pulled by hers.
☆
After a short distance from Ike and the others.
"You're not interested in picking up girls, right?"
She walked next to me and asked me a question.
"Eh. ...Well, yes."
I wasn't sure what to say, but seeing her surprisingly unconcerned, I answered honestly.
"Actually, I'm not really interested in picking up either."
"That's so"
With a cool expression, she says.
"That's why I feel like I was lucky to get out of that place?"
"Ah, I see."
No wonder.
I guess the reason she approached me, the tough-looking one, instead of Asakura, who was ready to pick up girls, was because she knew I wasn't interested in picking up girls.
So, this person used me as an excuse to get out of it.
"So thanks for that."
Then she turned her sidelong glance on me.
"No, it saved me too."
When I answered, she stopped.
Caught in the act, I stop in my tracks, too.
"What's wrong?"
At my words, she puts her index finger to her lips with a concerned expression on her face and then says.
"I don't think there' s a store over there, though."
When I ask her, with a tug on my hand, she gives me a mischievous smile before answering.
"Well, since we're here, why don't we talk in private, where no one else is around?"
Does she not want to go back there for a while?
I thought, well, I might as well hang out with her a little bit, and I was about to give my consent――
☆
"Ah, senpai, I finally found you!"
"Yuuji-kun, I've been looking for you!"
From behind me, a familiar voice reaches my ears and I turn around.
There they were, Kana in a swimsuit and Touka in a T-shirt over her swimsuit.
I don't think they knew I was going to the beach, so it must have been a coincidence.
……Hmm? But they also said something like they were looking for me. What does that mean?
As I was thinking this, they looked down at the hand I was holding with the unknown girl, then said in a firm tone of voice.
"Ahre, senpai? There is no way you would pick up a girl when you have a super beautiful girlfriend like me, right?"
"Hey, Yuuji-kun. I've told you many times, haven't I? If you're tired of Touka-chan, just call out to me?"
☆
"By the way, I have to ask, ...... who are these girls?"
Taking her eyes off Touka and Kana, who had suddenly appeared, and this time looking at me in a suspicious manner, the woman next to me asked.
Before I can answer,
"Almost his girlfriend!"
And after Kana said so,
"Over here is just a stalker, but I'm his girlfriend. ...... who are you, too?"
Touka said in a terribly cold tone of voice.
Aside from Kana's words and Touka's words for Kana.
There is no doubt that Touka is my girlfriend.
I nodded my head in agreement when she looked at me,
"... Uwwaa~, the worst"
She turned a straight face, quickly let go of my hand, and then walked briskly away.
She must have known that I had no intention of picking on her, but still, it would have been unforgivable for me to go along with my friend's pickup despite the fact that I had a girlfriend.
I ask after making sure her back has disappeared into the crowd.
"By the way, why are you two at the beach?"
"Rather than that, senpai, is there anything you would like to say to me?"
But without hearing the answer, Touka gives me a cold stare with a smile.
Even if I was a "fake" lover, she was probably uncomfortable with the idea of letting me go and talking to other girls.
I think of Touka's feelings and try to apologize...
"Yuuji-kun got tired of Touka-chan, so it can't be helped to have an affair, right?"
Kana fanned Touka with all her might.
Touka, who seemed to be annoyed,
"I don't want to be told by Natsuo-chan, who isn't even taken seriously by him, though?"
Touka's words, while making a blue streak on her temple, but Kana was different today.
After taking a deep breath and then ignoring those words, she looked me with upward glance and asked me.
"Yuuji-kun, you have something to say to me, too, don't you?"
Kana says with a bashful look on her face and her hands folded behind her back.
Unlike Touka, she no longer seems angry.
...... Well, I know what she is asking about.
I guess she wants a comment about her swimsuit.
Kana in a white bikini.
It fits her image perfectly and looks good on her.
Even so ... With a swimsuit, Kana's chest looks even more amazing.
"Yes~, there's nothing to say to Hasaki-senpai, right? Senpai?"
"Swimsuit, it looks good on you"
"Moーー!!!"
When I complimented Kana on her swimsuit, Touka glared at me resentfully and got angry.
"... T-Thank you. I didn't expect to get a straight compliment like that. I'm very ...... happy, I guess."
Ehehe, said Kana while smiling shyly.
"Senpai, leave this stalker alone now.... You also have something-to-tell-me-right !?"
Touka says in a strong tone.
...... I was going to apologize honestly, but when she was so adamant about it, I got a little pissed off too.
"That T-shirt looks good on you"
"Are you kidding me?"
Touka gives me a seriously irritated look.
"My bad. ...I didn't mean to cheat on you. I just couldn't refuse to go along with the pick-up because Asakura asked me to. I'm sorry."
I said this after taking off my sunglasses and bowed to Touka.
"... I don't think senpai, who has a beautiful girl girlfriend named me, would seriously pick on another woman, which is fine."
Touka muttered so.
After hearing my honest apology, her irritation seemed to subside considerably.
"Just, if you're going to the beach, ...... make sure you invite me, too."
While turning away from her face, Touka looked lonely and said so.
I'm sure she felt left out from the beginning, and that's probably why she was so angry.
"I'm sorry. ...... I'll ask you out properly next time."
"... If you understand it, then fine."
Touka mumbles to my words, then holds my hand before saying.
"Then, let's have a lot of fun now!"
With a bright expression on her face, Touka said, and now Kana too, after intertwining her arm with mine.
"Ah, Yuuji-kun! You'd better ask me out properly next time, too!"
Touka responded to Kana's words, and I made up my mind while listening to them arguing again.
――I can't let Asakura, who has zero life points after a failed pick-up attempt, see this situation coming, I thought.