Soon after, we spotted the three drifting along the flowing pool among the crowd.
There were many people in the pool, but due to Amami-san’s conspicuous appearance and Nozomu’s tall stature, we easily found them.
“Welcome back!~ Did you two have a good time?”
“Of course. We bought some shaved ice on our way here, let’s eat them together.”
“Yay~ I’m taking the strawberry one~”
And so, everyone took one shaved ice each. Amami-san took the strawberry one, Nozomu took the melon one and Nitta-san took the lemon one. We moved to a nearby resting area. There was a parasol set in the center of the table, so we could hide from the sun while we were eating.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Nozomu? You don’t look so good.”
“Huh? Ah… Don’t worry, it’s nothing really…”
After I sat down and took the shaved ice that Umi fed me, I called out to Nozomu.
I had noticed something was wrong with him when we met up. Well, I had an idea what was going on, but I decided to ask anyway.Amami-san then came forward and explained everything to me with a wry smile.
“Ahaha… Actually, just before you two came back, a group of people approached us. I think they said they were college students… Right, Ninacchi?”
“Yeah. They said that they’re alumni from our school. Maybe they came back to this town for vacation or something. One of them looked quite cute, but he’s too short for my taste, so I don’t really care about him.”
Ignoring Nitta-san’s pointless rambling, I managed to find out that when Nozomu was around, there were no guys trying to hit on them, but as soon as Nozomu went away, they started appearing.
Though, since Nitta-san was nearby, she was able to successfully brush them off.
‘This girl is with me, back off!’
When Nozomu got back, he shouted at them like that and made them run away quickly. Nitta-san recounted exactly what he said to them, word by word while chuckling.
“…Look, I know I should’ve come up with something better, but you know… It was my first time dealing with that kind of situation, so I let the blood rush to my head…”
His face reddened as he tried to explain himself while eating his dessert.
It was both Amami-san and Nitta-san who were being hit on, so what he said back then should be ‘those girls’ instead of ‘this girl’. But I guess he tunnel-visioned because his emotions went out of control and completely forgot about Nitta-san’s existence.
“I’m sorry, Amami-san… I said something outrageous just now, even though our relationship isn’t actually like that…”
“Jeez, I told you it’s fine already, Nozomu-kun! I understand that you were only trying to help us and nothing more. We’re all friends here, so it’s alright, okay?”
“Y-Yes… R-Right, we’re all friends here…”
Amami-san’s attempt to comfort him ended up doing more damage as he looked more hurt than before. I should comfort him later, poor guy…
“Anyway, Ninacchi, you should thank him! Stop teasing him already! You know he was trying to help us, right?”
“No, I mean… Fine. Good job, Seki. As a reward, hm… I’ll let you eat my shaved ice.”
“Ew no. How about you leave me alone as a reward?”
In any case, thanks to Nozomu, we were spared a lot of trouble. After that, we quickly ate our frozen treat as it started to melt.
I rarely ate shaved ice and I had a feeling that if I were to eat it by myself at home, it wouldn’t taste quite as good as eating it together with everyone like this.
If my past self were to see me right now, he would probably mock me for thinking about something cheesy.
Well, even if it was cheesy, I had no problems with it.
“What’s up, Maki? Why are you smiling?”
“Huh? Am I?”
“Mhm. Your cheeks are twitching a little. You only do that whenever you’re holding back a smile.”
“…You know me quite well, huh?”
“Of course, I’m your girlfriend after all… Actually, it was one of the things that your mom told me about you…”
‘One of the things’, meant there was more that mom told her.
She knew about my habits that I was unaware of… I guess I’d never be able to hide anything from her for the rest of my life.
“So, what are you smiling at?”
“Um… It isn’t anything important, really… I was just thinking that this kind of thing was actually quite fun…”
“I see…”
“Mhm.”
Of course, being together with everyone wasn’t all fun and games, but even so, the memories I made together with them were irreplaceable.
Thanks to them, I managed to learn that.
* * *
After playing in the pool, we went to the amusement park nearby and had a great time playing over there. By the time we finished going on all the rides, from roller coasters to the haunted house, the sun had already set.
Both my energy and wallet were drained, but it was worth it because I had a lot of fun.
I’d probably collapse as soon as I got home.
Rather, I could barely keep myself awake at this point. If I let my guard down, I might doze off and end up at a random station in the middle of nowhere.
We still had to wait for thirty minutes until we could get off at the next station. After that, I still had to escort Umi home… Ugh, so many things to do…
“Nn… Maki…”
Like me, Umi was also tired. She was leaning on me, muttering my name in her sleep. Actually, almost everyone in our group was asleep except for Amami-san and me.
“Hehe, she’s sleeping with her mouth open… Ah, she’s drooling on your sleeve, Maki-kun.”
“I’m used to it by now. Usually when we slept together like this, she would get her drool all over me… Anyway, you aren’t sleeping, Amami-san?”
“Well, I don’t feel that tired, that’s why… Also, I want to watch over Umi at times too, you know?”
She wiped the drool from Umi’s mouth with a handkerchief as she said that. It felt refreshing seeing this scene. Normally, it was Umi who was taking care of her.
“Umi is really cute nowadays~ Well, she was always cute, but ever since she became your girlfriend, she’d gotten even cuter. Did you know that she’d never let me see her sleeping face before?”
“Is that so? Since we’re on the topic, what was she like back in middle school? I heard stories, but aside from that, I don’t know anything about her.”
I was talking about before we met, back before she and Amami-san drifted apart.
All I knew about her past was from the stories Sora-san told me. She said that even though she wasn’t as pretty as Amami-san, people still looked up to her and she always became the center of the class because she had a knack for leading people. Aside from that, I didn’t know anything. Umi would always cut Sora-san’s stories short out of embarrassment.
“Back then, I always thought that Umi was a perfect girl. We were always together and she always knew about everything that I didn’t. I’d always wanted to be like her and so I looked up to her a lot…”
I knew the story of how they first met. If I were in Amami-san’s shoes I would have thought the same thing as her.
If only things went on well for them… Actually, if things went well for them, Umi and I would never have met each other as she’d still be in her old school instead of transferring out as soon as she graduated from middle school.
“I see.”
“Mhm! Ah, of course I still feel the same way about her! Also, I don’t blame you for bringing out the normally cool Umi’s childish side, so you don’t need to worry about that, Maki-kun!”
“The fact that you’re pointing that out makes me feel bad more than anything…”
It was true that she had been showing more of her childish side, but said childish side was what charmed Nakamura-san and the others. Also, thanks to that, she was able to make up with Amami-san.
That was why I personally thought that this was how everything should be.
I gently stroked Umi’s head. Her body moved a little as she rubbed her face against my arm.
I didn’t know what kind of dream she was having, but at least she looked happy.
“I’d seen her sleeping face a few times before, but I’d never seen her make such a childish expression… Is it because of your petting, Maki-kun?”
“I don’t know…”
Umi said that whenever she snuggled with me like this, it made her feel at ease.
Honestly, I felt the same way. I guess that made us compatible as a couple, huh?
“I see… Ah, I know! Try petting my head a little too, Maki-kun! Maybe I can sleep peacefully like her when you do it to me. Umi and I are best friends after all, so maybe you will have the same effect on me as you do with Umi.”
“What’s with that logic?”
Well, we wouldn’t know unless we tried. But still, even though she was Umi’s best friend, her relationship with me wasn’t that deep. Besides, I doubt that she’d feel anything from me.
I believe only Umi, who loved everything about me, would feel anything.
“C’mon~ Can you do it for me? I wanna find out~ You don’t need to do it for long, just a few seconds will do.”
“You won’t feel anything if it was that short…”
That said, if I were to refuse her strongly, the atmosphere between us would turn awkward. With the other three being asleep, it would be hard for us to recover from that. Should I just pat her a little? I mean, it didn’t matter anyway.
“Go ahead~”
“O-Okay…”
Following Amami-san’s urging, I brought my hand closer to her head.
Suddenly, a certain scene came to my mind.
“…Sorry, Amami-san, I don’t think I can do that.”
Just when my fingertips were about to touch her hair, I gave her my rejection and placed my hand on Umi’s head again.
I’d lost count of how many times I'd touched her hair. But it always felt so smooth in my hand.
I’d never touched other people’s hair, but I loved Umi’s hair the most. It felt really comfortable.
“Um, Maki-kun?”
“Sorry, Amami-san… I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to do that… No matter how close we are or even as a joke…”
The scene that flashed in my mind was what Umi said to me when we were alone at the pool.
‘When I saw you sticking close to Yuu… I felt really jealous…’
I imagined myself in Umi’s shoes.
Even if she knew that my action had no deeper meaning to it, somewhere in her heart, she’d still feel jealous because of it.
Whatever the reason was, I didn’t want to do anything to make Umi jealous.
“I see… I guess you’re right, Maki-kun… I’m sorry, I acted out of line again… Jeez, I’m such an idiot…”
“It isn’t your fault, Amami-san. I’m just too self-conscious about this kind of thing. You’re still one of my best friends, Amami-san.”
“No, no, you’re right, Maki-kun. Umi and Ninacchi always tell me that there’s a certain distance that has to be kept to someone of the opposite s*x… Ahaha…”
Amami-san let out a wry smile as she apologized to me. I guess that was her way to prevent the atmosphere between us from getting worse.
She’d probably think I’m overly self-conscious, but that was fine. A small price to pay for making Umi happy.
“Um, Amami-san.”
“Hm? Yes?~”
“Um… Thank you for inviting me out today. It was tiring, but I had fun playing around with Umi and everyone. It was really fun.”
“Y-Yes, don’t mention it.”
Even though I drew a clear line between us, I still felt grateful to Amami-san for everything. I hope that she lets me off with this and we’ll stay good friends in the future too. WIth that thought in mind, our summer vacation was gradually coming to an end.
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