Walking alongside Arisa, Yuzuru realised something that had only just struck him—she really does stand out.
Admittedly, there aren’t that many rude people who stare openly, but plenty of men do take a second look, and some even glance over at us surreptitiously.
Given her striking looks and superb figure, it was only to be expected.
You might call it the price of beauty.
What’s interesting, though, is that it’s not just men—quite a few women are also looking at Arisa, their gazes tinged with a mixture of envy and jealousy.
“It must be hard being a beauty and standing out like that,—”
When Yuzuru said this half-jokingly, Arisa—for some reason—looked exasperated.
“…I think you’re also partly responsible, you know.”
“Well, no… not entirely, but…”
Yuzuru couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
After all, he was aware that his looks were indeed above average.
“Ah, Takasegawa-san. They’re renting out floats over there. I’d like to relax a bit, so I’m going to borrow one.”
Arisa said, pointing to a corner of the poolside, where floats of all shapes and sizes were displayed.
There were standard floats, as well as unusual ones shaped like killer whales.
“…There are ones for two people, what do you think?”
“Use common sense.”
Glared at with a deadpan look, Yuzuru shrugged his shoulders.
Of course, by ‘common sense’, she meant renting a single-person float.
It would be completely out of the question to rent a two-person float where there was a high chance of skin-to-skin contact, especially when they weren’t even a couple.
Arisa used her payment wristband to rent a single-person float.
“Is that alright with you, Takasegawa-san?”
“I’m down for a bit of swimming, actually.”
The two of them slowly lowered themselves into the water.
Arisa lay back, bobbing gently on the surface.
Meanwhile, Yuzuru held onto the strap of Arisa’s float and followed her.
“Mmm… this feels great.”
“Hmm… I suppose so. To be honest, I’m glad we came.”
Arisa nodded in agreement at Yuzuru’s words.
Though she usually maintained a cool demeanour, today she was squinting her eyes and looking thoroughly pleased.
That said, simply drifting along felt a bit boring, so Yuzuru decided to swim lightly whilst holding onto the strap of Arisa’s rubber ring.
“It feels like riding in a horse-drawn carriage.”
Surprisingly, Arisa was completely fine with this.
She was completely relaxed, letting Yuzuru pull her along. She didn’t seem to have much desire to move herself.
“If anything, it’s more like a dog sled, isn’t it?”
“Is that because you’re a big dog?”
The two of them were swimming along smoothly whilst exchanging banter like that—
But halfway around, they came to a halt.
They’d got caught up in a crowd.
For some reason, a large number of people were standing still in one spot, going against the current.
“A traffic jam? …I wonder if something’s going on.”
“I don’t know… what could it be? Shall we take a look from the poolside later? It’d be a nuisance to stop here.”
Yuzuru and Arisa were somewhat intrigued, but thinking that stopping in a lazy river would be a nuisance, they decided to move on straight away.
…But their luck was bad (or perhaps good).
“Whoa!”
“Eek!”
Yuzuru and Arisa let out a simultaneous scream.
Water poured down from above as if someone had tipped over a bucket.
Yuzuru wiped the water from his face with his hand.
“So this was what everyone was after… I’m surprised.”
Yuzuru said, looking up.
Above them was something resembling a giant bucket, into which water was being poured.
It seemed to be a contraption where—after a certain amount of time—water would pour down from above.
“I… I got caught off-guard. My heart’s racing.”
Arisa sat up from her reclining position and began swimming, clinging to her rubber ring.
Her two large breasts rested atop the ring.
You could see droplets of water trickling down into the cleavage.
“Takasegawa-san?”
“No, well, I was startled, but it was fun, wasn’t it?”
When Yuzuru said that—as if to cover up—Arisa gave a sweet smile.
“Who do you have me for? Did you think I hadn’t noticed?”
“I’m sorry.”
Just as they had completed a full lap of the lazy river, the two of them got out of the water.
“Actually, I’ve never been to a wave pool before. Would you mind showing me around?”
“It’s my first time too. I’ve been curious about it. Yeah, let’s go.”
True to its name, the wave pool was designed to resemble the sea.
Of course, there was no real beach—the poolside was simply coloured to resemble sand.
Yuzuru and Arisa got into the pool and tried to make their way to the far end, but…
Arisa—floating in her rubber ring—was carried away slightly every time a wave came, and seemed to be having trouble moving.
“Should I pull you along?”
“That would be appreciated.”
He grabbed Arisa’s rubber ring and pushed her along as they made their way to the far end.
As the waves receded, Arisa was carried along with them, and when the waves rolled in, she was swept in the opposite direction.
Whenever she drifted towards the edge, Yuzuru caught Arisa as she drifted towards him.
“Unlike the sea, there’s less danger, and it’s quite fun, isn’t it?”
“With a rubber floatie, you can ride the waves and have a good time.”
It wasn’t quite like surfing, but Arisa looked as though she was having a wonderful time being rocked up and down by the waves.
Of course, the change in Arisa’s expression was subtle… but with her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth turned up, it was clear at a glance that she was enjoying herself.
Yuzuru hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should borrow a rubber ring himself.
“Should we swap for a bit, then?”
“Is that alright with you?”
“I won’t hog it, I promise.”
With that, Arisa slipped out of the rubber ring.
She tried to hand it to Yuzuru, but…
“Eek!”
“Yukishiro!”
A huge wave hit her from behind, sweeping her violently forward.
Yuzuru rushed over in a panic, and, perhaps in her confusion, she clung to him as if clinging for dear life.
She looked as though she might go under, so Yuzuru supported her body, holding her close.
Arisas body was soft, warm, and surprisingly light.
“Are you all right?”
“Cough… I’ve swallowed some water.”
Arisa coughed lightly.
Then, realising she had been clinging to Yuzuru, she hurriedly pulled away.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
“I’m sorry. I think I’ve caused you some trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Yuzuru replied with a nonchalant expression, pretending not to have noticed.
Arisa, in turn, tried to cover it up with a flimsy excuse.
“Actually, I’m not really that good at swimming. Though I do like going to the pool regardless.”
“Oh, really? That’s surprising!”
Yuzuru had assumed that someone as athletically gifted as Arisa would be at least decent at swimming.
Arisa replied with a forced smile.
“I can’t swim twenty-five metres. I’m not very good at the breathing technique for that.”
“I see…”
(Well then, perhaps I could teach you next time I get the chance.)
Yuzuru hurriedly swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
About an hour and a half had passed since the two of them started swimming.
It was time for a break, so they got out of the pool.
“Ahh… I’m a bit tired now.”
Arisa said this as she brushed her wet hair aside.
The gesture was incredibly alluring and seductive.
“That makes sense. …It’s eleven o’clock now, after all. Shall we have a lunch break?”
Yuzuru averted his gaze from Arisa and said this, glancing at his waterproof watch.
He wanted to say it was a bit early for lunch… but surprisingly, just floating around had taken more energy than he’d expected, so he was feeling peckish.
“I’m down for that. …I’m pretty sure there’s a place where we can eat whilst still in our swimsuits, isn’t there?”
“You’re right. I think it’s this way.”
This waterpark has restaurants where you can eat in your swimwear, as well as snack bars selling food.
When they reached that area…
“Let’s go to that shop over there.”
“I’d prefer the one over there.”
“I don’t mind either way. Could you make up your minds quickly?”
A familiar voice rang out.
Yuzuru and Arisa panicked and turned their backs.
They tried to walk away as if nothing had happened, but…
“Hang on? Isn’t that Yuzuru over there?”
“Yuzuru-san, why are you running away?!”
“And isn’t that… Yukishiro-san next to him?”
They’d been spotted.
Yuzuru and Arisa both let out a sigh.
‘(W-what should we do?)’
‘(W-we’ll just have to make something up, right?)’
The pair steeled themselves and headed over to the group of three—Soichiro, Chiharu and Ayaka.
Yuzuru greeted the trio with a face that suggested nothing was amiss.
“What a coincidence, guys.”
“Oh, it sure is. Yuzuru. By the way…”
“That lovely girl over there is Yukishiro-san, isn’t she?”
“Hey, Yuzuru. Why are you two of all people hanging out at a spot so popular with couples?”
The three of them asked Yuzuru, grinning.
Arisa had shrunk back, almost hiding behind Yuzuru.
It seemed she intended to leave the explanation entirely up to him.
“Ah, well, you see…”
“You see?”
“We just happened to bump into each other by chance. I never expected to run into you lot as well. Coincidences really do tend to pile up, am I right?”
As Yuzuru said that…
The three exchanged glances.
“That’s a bit of a stretch”, “Yeah, right!”, “You’re dead on!”
He could not get them to be convinced.
