Chapter 63 - A Peaceful Summer Day (1)
The day after our trip to the beach.
When I woke up in the morning, my body was aching with muscle pain. After playing on the unfamiliar sandy shore and running around during beach volleyball yesterday, my entire body was protesting in pain.
Mai, on the other hand, despite running around like crazy, showed no sign of yesterday’s exhaustion and headed straight to her club activities. Watching her dash out of the house with so much energy, I thought, She really is one tough girl.
“Well then... I should get myself ready too.”
I pushed my sore body to start getting ready for the day.
Actually, I’ve been invited to Mashiro’s house again today. We had planned to spend some quiet time together, working on our summer homework. So I packed my bag with stationery, textbooks, and handouts for each subject, preparing to head over to Mashiro’s place.
I’ve been making the most of my summer break, what with the room camping and beach trips, but as a student, I still need to get my work done.
Having left my delinquent persona behind and now trying to act as a model student, I can’t afford to leave my summer homework unfinished.
Plus, doing homework with Mashiro gives me more time to spend with her, killing two birds with one stone. That’s why I was getting ready for what I like to call a “study session disguised as making summer memories.”
I brushed my teeth, washed my face, styled my hair, and found myself staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
“I can’t believe I got this tan from just one day at the beach.”
I hadn’t put on sunscreen during yesterday’s trip, and now I was looking at my newly tanned, bronze skin in the mirror. Fortunately, my skin is pretty resilient, so I didn’t peel or turn red—it was just a nice, even tan.
Mai, who had played too much at the beach, was also nicely tanned, sporting a healthy sun-kissed glow. She must have been so caught up in the fun that the sunscreen she’d applied earlier probably washed off.
She was having so much fun she forgot to reapply it, but seeing her so tanned is proof of just how much she enjoyed the beach, which, as her older brother, made me smile.
I wondered how Mashiro had fared as I finished changing and headed back to the living room.
“~♪”
The familiar sound of a message notification rang from my phone.
Thinking it might be from Mashiro, I checked, but I was wrong this time.
The sender was Kizaki Reo.
I’d heard that he was stuck at a training camp in the mountains for basketball practice, but it seemed the long camp had finally come to an end.
His message was to report just that, so I quickly tapped out a reply to him.
“I see. Sounds like the basketball camp was pretty rough.”
“Yeah. Now I understand why the seniors kept telling us freshmen, ‘Don’t think about running away.’ It was seriously tough. I thought I was gonna die.”
“And since it was in the mountains, there wasn’t any escape, huh? That’s brutal. But you made it through, right?”
“Of course. I’m a regular now, so there’s no way I could complain. Besides, Kyoya was working hard too, so I couldn’t look weak in front of him.”
“Yeah, he said he’s aiming to be a star player too. Well, I’m glad both of you gave it your all.”
While I was enjoying room camping and beach outings with Mashiro, it seemed Reo and Nishikawa were sweating it out in their club activities, living out the fresh and vibrant high school life we all know. His message made me think they’ll both have grown even more the next time I see them.
“By the way, Ryusuke. Now that the camp’s over, I’ve got a little more free time. Since it’s summer break, do you think we could all hang out together again?”
“Of course. Let me know when you and Nishikawa have a break from practice, and I’ll set aside some time. I’m sure Mashiro’s free too, so I’ll ask her to join.”
“Thanks. Let’s get Kyoya to come too, and we can all meet up. How about this Sunday? Would you and Mashiro be free?”
I had already made plans with Mashiro to go to the summer festival on Sunday.
We were planning to check out the stalls, and later in the evening, enjoy the fireworks display together, creating more summer memories.
If Reo and Nishikawa joined us, it would make the experience even more fun. A summer festival with friends—it would be like a dream come true. Since Mashiro gets along well with the two of them, I’m sure she’d be thrilled.
When I told Reo about it, he replied enthusiastically, “I’m all for going to the festival! If it’s okay, I’d love for us to join in.”
“I’m heading over to Mashiro’s house now, so I’ll ask her about you and Nishikawa. I’m sure it’ll be fine, so I’ll get back to you.”
“Got it, I’m looking forward to your message. Talk to you later.”
After wrapping up the conversation with Reo, I put my phone away and grabbed my bag, heading for the door.
Room camping, the beach—both were amazing memories. Thanks to Reo, it seems I’ll be able to make even more fun memories this summer.
Feeling happy about that, I headed towards Mashiro’s house.