Ch.287If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (25)

In truth, Souta doesn’t have many good memories of summer vacation trips.

First of all, he has no memories from before middle school. While he had faint recollections from when he was very young, when his family was still together, they were so hazy that it felt embarrassing to even call them “memories,” making them extremely difficult to recall.

He thought he might have gone on trips with friends during middle school, but unfortunately, there were many problems when he lived alone with his father after the divorce.

His father had a very strict personality. Perhaps after seeing how his wife had betrayed him, he thought his children might do the same.

During middle school, Souta even went abroad with his father. Souta never fully adapted to life overseas. He went too late to grow up fully adjusted there, and the time wasn’t long enough to adapt properly. For those two years, Souta was almost completely alone.

Perhaps that’s why he couldn’t give up on Shii. He knew what it was like to have absolutely no one to rely on.

Maybe that’s why he couldn’t leave a child who was all alone.

After learning about Shii’s situation and taking her in, he fought with his father. His father, perhaps concerned about his social standing, couldn’t bring himself to throw his children out on the street. As a result, the Sasaki siblings ended up living in one of their father’s properties, almost like they were in exile.

His father seemed to think of it as a punishment.

Despite everything, Souta had relied heavily on his father during those two years abroad. However, this reliance wasn’t based on genuine trust, but rather because his father was the only familiar person in that distant place.

It doesn’t matter anymore now. Souta thought it was much better living with just Shii like this.

…Anyway, having lived that way, his first overnight trip with friends didn’t happen until high school.

And on that trip, Souta always got caught up in incidents. From the moment he entered high school, Souta’s life had become very distant from anything “normal.”

If asked whether everything he experienced during that trip was entirely bad, he wouldn’t necessarily say so, but being chased by yokai and fighting for his life certainly wasn’t “normal.”

In that sense, Souta figured this trip wouldn’t be entirely normal either.

“We’re going to my grandmother’s house. Due to some family circumstances, she’ll be away for a while, so I got permission for us to stay overnight. The house itself is nothing special, just an ordinary home, but it’s very close to the sea.”

Nanami said this with a smile, which was fine. Up to this point, it was just the expression of a girl excited about going on a trip.

But the problem was that all the kids here had become involved in extraordinary matters.

Fukuda was closer to ordinary life, but in some ways, she was more like an innocent victim.

Especially Kurosawa, who stood expressionless, blankly staring at the train station ceiling, didn’t feel ordinary at all with her unusual aura.

“…Hmm.”

Sasaki shook his head, wondering what he was thinking.

He had thought of Yuka as an ordinary girl many times, so there was no reason to consider the other kids unusual now.

After all, Souta himself was far from “ordinary.” Even setting aside his yokai-related bloodline, his past experiences weren’t particularly normal either.

“Sasaki?”

Yuka called out to Souta, who was lost in thought. Souta casually shrugged his shoulders.

Well, this should be fine.

Just because something happened last year doesn’t mean it will happen again this year. In fact, in some ways, they’d already gone through something similar during the festival, so maybe it would be okay?

With that thought, Souta followed behind Nanami, who was leading the way shouting, “Let’s go!”

*

Nanami’s grandmother’s house was indeed quite close to the sea.

The ocean was quite beautiful, and while there were a fair number of people around, it wasn’t as crowded as a famous beach would be, with people packed like sardines.

That was probably why Nanami had chosen this place for their trip.

“The sea—!”

As if she had been wanting to shout it out, Nanami called out energetically toward the ocean and then turned to look at Souta.

“Great, first we should get in the water! It’s much better to play around a lot and then eat, rather than going in right after a meal!”

It would be safer that way too.

Nanami looked quite excited, and Yuka also seemed rather thrilled—but Fukuda, Shii, and Kurosawa had somewhat different atmospheres.

Kurosawa was tilting her head as if she had never been to the beach before, while Fukuda had a somewhat subtle expression.

Was she perhaps concerned about Souta? Well, that thought did cross his mind. After all, Souta was the only male throughout the entire trip.

If he mentioned this to his male friends, they would probably give him jealous looks, but Souta realized he had never gone on a trip like this with any male friends.

With Nanami and Hagiwara staying overnight at his house, or Yuka suddenly calling him out, it happened so often that Souta hadn’t even been conscious of it, but it was a bit strange.

Being the only male in a group on an overnight trip.

“Um… I’ll go to the room and change.”

Souta said with a slightly awkward smile.

“Where should I change?”

“Oh, I’ll show you.”

Nanami quickly grabbed Souta’s wrist and pulled him toward the house.

“It would be more comfortable for you to have your own room, right? There’s a guest room, so you can use that.”

Souta thought this kind of consideration was usually given to girls, but he decided to follow along quietly.

*

It might be a bit strange to say this now, but Souta is male.

And not just any male—a normal teenage boy with properly functioning sexual characteristics.

Since his sexual orientation wasn’t directed toward the same sex, Souta naturally had more interest in girls than boys.

He would think pretty girls were pretty, and notice when someone wore clothes that suited them well. He would glance at girls in swimsuits during swimming class, or find himself staring at Yuka or Nanami’s napes when they wore yukatas at the last festival…

Anyway, that’s how it was. At a place like this, when the girls in his group were wearing swimsuits that suited them very well, Souta couldn’t help but look.

“Yahoo, Souta!”

Nanami waved her hand, wearing what could only be described as a “bikini.” The coverage couldn’t be called very small, but it couldn’t be called large either—a white bikini that showed quite a bit of skin.

And as for Yuka, who was slightly avoiding Souta’s gaze, she wore a red bikini. It had more fabric coverage than Nanami’s, but whether it was the vivid color or the ribbon-like ties at both sides of her hips, it somehow looked more provocative.

Both of them had excellent figures. If the boys from Souta’s class had seen them, they would have been delighted at the eye candy.

And for some reason, Souta found himself hoping those boys would never see these girls in such attire. Even though he had no right to think that way.

“…”

Both Fukuda and Kurosawa were silent.

Fukuda also wore a two-piece swimsuit like Yuka and Kotone, but hers covered a bit more.

Fukuda’s swimsuit was a tank top style with no decorations. But her healthy skin tone made the black swimsuit stand out even more, making it suit her very well.

Kurosawa and Shii wore one-piece swimsuits. Kurosawa’s was black, and Shii’s was blue, and both suited them very well. Perhaps it was because they were both rather small in stature.

“Souta, what are you doing?”

Nanami, who was already running ahead, waved to Souta.

She even had an inner tube on one arm, though when she had inflated it was anyone’s guess.

“Over here!”

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

As Souta said this and started walking, Fukuda sighed softly and followed.

Shii slipped her hand into Souta’s arm beside him. Even though she was his sister, this posture in such attire felt a bit embarrassing, but seeing Shii’s expression, he decided to go along with it quietly.

Perhaps because she was in an unfamiliar place, Shii seemed somewhat intimidated. At times like this, it was only natural for him to do his best as her brother right by her side.

Kurosawa, following at the very back, still had that dazed look on her face.

But Souta somehow felt that her gaze was fixed straight toward the sea.