Ch.64Chapter 10. Mirror (4)

In truth, if we’re just talking about the existence of “the sea,” there’s also the sea in front of Tokyo.

Of course, being the sea, there are beaches. There must certainly be people who enjoy swimming there.

But… but still.

Everyone gathered here except me is from Tokyo, aren’t they? If you’re going on a trip during summer vacation, you naturally want to go somewhere a bit distant.

But going too far would be somewhat burdensome.

While Hanakawa High School is famous for wealthy students, and some might even travel abroad, the Sasaki siblings receive relatively little financial support despite their father being wealthy, so they work part-time jobs to make ends meet. Naturally, they’d prefer to save money rather than spend it on foreign travel.

So we decided to go to Kanagawa Prefecture, which is right next to western Tokyo.

It took about an hour and a half by subway and bus, making it quite close for a resort destination.

We arrived at a place called Isshiki Beach, but since I don’t carry a map of Japan in my head, I’m not exactly sure where it’s located. Well, even when I lived in Korea, I didn’t memorize the map of the Korean peninsula, so that’s only natural.

One thing is certain: the scenery here is truly beautiful.

I’m not sure how this place might have changed in the 2020s, but at least in 2004, where I’m currently living, it looks amazing.

Waves rolled over the wide sandy beach. The water near the shore was turquoise, gradually deepening to an eye-piercing blue further out.

It wasn’t just an endless ocean stretching before our eyes.

Like most beaches, the shoreline here curved inward toward the land, but it wasn’t just the beach—the entire landscape seemed to form that shape.

What we could see on the opposite side wasn’t the horizon but the land on the other side.

Black rocks were scattered throughout the sea, and beyond them—

“Mount Fuji?”

“Mount Fuji?”

Koko repeated my muttered words. She probably didn’t understand the exact meaning, nor why I was surprised.

While there are mountains in the middle of Seoul too, none of them are triangular like that one. Rather than a single large mountain, it’s more like a mountain range. It would be more appropriate to describe them as large, rugged rocks rather than pointed peaks.

Of course, the terrain visible from here was basically like that too.

But in the distance, among those rugged mountains, one particularly massive mountain stood out prominently.

It wasn’t the snow-covered image typically associated with “Mount Fuji.” Perhaps the snow had melted because it was summer? I couldn’t be certain since it wasn’t clearly visible from here.

“Nice view,” said Yuka, who had suddenly appeared beside me.

“…Yeah.”

It was hard to deny. This was my first time seeing a volcano in my life.

And in my hazy memories, Hallasan Mountain didn’t look triangular like this, so this was definitely an exotic sight for me.

There were plenty of other tourists besides us, but not so many that we couldn’t enter the water.

Hotels lined the coast, and ours was one of them. One single room and two triple rooms. Naturally, Yuka and I, being the tag-alongs, paid our own way.

Yuka seemed to want to cover my expenses too, but I’m not shameless enough to ask someone to pay for a hotel at a famous tourist destination during peak season.

If this had happened shortly after I arrived here, I might have seriously considered it, but I’d already received too much from Yuka and didn’t want to take advantage.

Fortunately, the money I’d saved while working came in handy.

…By the way, I’m terribly sorry, but we left Kuro at Yuka’s house.

“…”

Yuka opened her mouth as if to say something, then quickly closed it.

What was she going to say?

Probably something like “Is this your first time seeing Mount Fuji?”

Every place I go in this world is a first for me. It’s 2004, after all. Even if I were in Korea, it would be very different from the era I lived in.

“Senior!”

I heard Shii calling me from over there.

When I turned my head, Shii was enthusiastically waving at me, wearing a flowy white one-piece dress.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

When I said that, Yuka nodded.

I grabbed Koko’s wrist and pulled her along. Koko followed me without resistance.

She looked somewhat confused but grinning, making me wonder if she really understood the situation.

Well, what can I do if she doesn’t understand? I couldn’t leave Koko at Yuka’s house too.

And when school starts again, she’ll need to interact with people somehow.

She still showed some aversion to crowded places, but as long as we were nearby, nothing serious happened.

No, Koko hasn’t caused any major incidents on her own yet.

…While I don’t know what scale of trouble she might cause, I do know she can’t grow larger than her flesh allows. So, as long as she doesn’t get cut by a knife or something, nothing serious should happen.

I’ll leave her with Sasaki when the Raiju appears.

“This way, senior!” said Shii, still tirelessly waving and smiling at us.

As I walked toward her, I glanced up at the sky.

There wasn’t a single cloud. The sky was too clear for the predicted typhoon.

*

Since we left early in the morning, we had plenty of time after unpacking at the hotel and changing into swimwear.

“Kurosawa, let’s go!”

Yuka quickly pulled me along as I was thinking about sitting on the beach and relaxing.

Yuka seemed more excited than I had expected.

At first, when she accepted my suggestion, I thought she was coming along for my and Koko’s sake rather than for her own enjoyment, but now that we’d arrived, Yuka seemed more excited than I was.

…Come to think of it, Yuka probably didn’t have friends to go on trips like this with. I remember in the original story, when she was having fun at the beach and Sasaki said “You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” she blushed and said “Hmph!”

By the way, Yuka looked very excited when choosing a swimsuit. She was described as having “quite a good figure” even back then, so the figure I saw now was impressive.

I’d describe it as a well-toned body. Not exaggeratedly muscular, though.

Yuka chose a plain black bikini.

For reference, the swimsuit Yuka picked for me was a black one-piece with ruffle decorations on the shoulder in an off-shoulder style.

Initially, she recommended a bikini with lots of ruffles, but I didn’t want to expose my stomach, so in the end, clueless Koko ended up wearing it.

At least it makes it easy to tell us apart.

“Hey!”

As soon as we entered the water, Yuka splashed seawater at me.

Caught off guard, I got hit right in the face, tasting both saltiness and bitterness.

While spitting out the seawater that had entered my mouth, more water splashed on my face.

After wiping away the seawater with my hands, I saw Koko splashing water at me. She was probably imitating Yuka.

Wait, if you’re in the same situation as me, shouldn’t you be on my side?

I felt a bit dumbfounded, but well.

We’re at the beach, after all.

It’s not like a yokai is going to pop up today.

No one would mind if I enjoyed myself a little.

In the end, I played until my long hair was completely soaked.

As we splashed water at each other frantically, Shii soon joined in, followed by Nakahara, Sasaki’s childhood friend.

Finally, Sasaki joined, along with Hagiwara, who wore a somewhat aggrieved expression as she followed Sasaki. We were able to have a truly enjoyable time until lunchtime.

Thinking about it now, Hagiwara, true to her senior/big sister character, probably wanted to ask Sasaki to apply suntan oil for her, but ended up playing in the water with us because Sasaki was distracted by me, Yuka, and Koko playing.

A bit pitiful.

Not Hagiwara. Sasaki.

Honestly, isn’t that every guy’s fantasy?

*

I am an otaku.

Once you enter the path of an otaku, your preferences don’t change easily.

Even people who claim to have “outgrown” it with age rarely completely abandon animation or comics. Usually, they take a break and then return to lighter works, or their hobbies shift to movies or games.

I was like that too. Even after coming to this world, I couldn’t quite abandon my identity as an otaku.

That doesn’t mean I buy manga or light novels. Buying new books is quite expensive. And somehow, I didn’t want to buy used books. I’m an otaku, after all. I have a hard time compromising on certain things.

Instead, when I visited Akihabara, I occasionally stopped by used game shops and bought a few second-hand Super Famicom games.

Since these were considered “classic games” even by 2004 standards, especially the popular ones, I could buy them for almost nothing. Those games were quite helpful in my difficult life.

Sometimes, being able to focus on something without thinking too much is a good way to manage stress.

In that sense, I was quite interested in “events that frequently appear in manga” that I experienced in this world.

For example, “beach houses.”

In Japanese manga, light novels, and anime, when characters go to the beach, they often visit these places after saying “Wow, the sea!” Despite the fancy name, it’s just a simple temporary structure. A place that sells food with a shop attached.

There’s usually a wide terrace-like area covered with a roof where people can sit, and next to it is something resembling a restaurant.

In anime, the protagonists who come to the beach often buy things like yakisoba at such places—

“…”

“What’s wrong? Does it taste bad?”

Yuka asked with a slightly worried expression.

You see.

I prided myself on being able to eat almost any food with enjoyment. After coming to this world, hadn’t I eaten salt-sprinkled bread or bean sprouts for a while?

I’m someone who understands the value of food.

And as such a person, I deeply regretted paying that much money for this yakisoba.

Yuka, who knew that if I said something tasted bad, it really was bad, looked at me with concern, but the others seemed to take it in stride.

“That’s why I said you should just get cup ramen,” said Hagiwara leisurely, eating cup ramen that was more expensive than what you’d find at a convenience store.

No, even so, cup ramen at that price is a bit too much. That’s why I chose this, which at least resembled food.

It seems that seasonal businesses being expensive and tasteless is universal.

“Well, at places like this, you’re paying for the atmosphere,” Sasaki said with a slightly bitter smile.

“I’ve made reservations at a famous place nearby for dinner, so don’t worry!” Even his sister Shii tried to comfort me.

“Do you want some of mine?” Nakahara pushed her ramen toward me sympathetically, but I shook my head.

Just as everyone’s opinion was converging on the food being bad—

Slurp, slurp.

I heard the sound of someone enthusiastically slurping noodles beside me.

Koko preferred forks to chopsticks. While her appearance was somewhere between a middle and high school girl, her behavior was completely like an elementary school student.

Perhaps because of this, the others looked at Koko with a bit of pity.

It probably also helped that Koko appeared kind to the point of seeming a bit simple-minded.

She was actually kind. Even though she didn’t understand much, being selfish and being kind are separate matters.

“…”

I silently pushed my yakisoba toward Koko.

Koko’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at me, then at the yakisoba I had pushed toward her.

“Is that okay?”

“It’s okay.”

When I nodded, Koko smiled brightly, quickly finished her own dish, and enthusiastically ate the yakisoba I had given her.

…Well, Koko likes cat food too.

Maybe she thinks anything in the form of food tastes good?

Not being picky about food is a good thing, but I sometimes worried she might try to eat things that weren’t food.

Like hamsters, for example.

…I should be careful not to leave Koko alone with small animals.

As I was thinking this to myself, I felt strange gazes on me, so I turned my head to find everyone looking at me with complex expressions.

“…What?”

When I tilted my head in confusion, they all quickly averted their eyes.

“Wait a moment.”

Yuka stood up from her seat with a determined expression and quickly went to the shop.

In less than five minutes, Yuka returned with something in her hand and placed it in front of me.

One was a red bean bun, and the other was a ramune soda.

“I’m fine, really.”

“No. You played hard in the sea earlier. And we’ll play more in the afternoon. You definitely need to replenish your energy properly.”

“…Thank you.”

At Yuka’s words, I decided to just accept her kindness.

She’d already bought it, so what could I do?

As I was opening the plastic bag containing the bread, I felt a gaze on my hand.

Koko was looking at my bread.

“…”

I tore off a piece of bread with my hand and gave it to Koko.

“Is that okay?”

“It’s okay.”

At my words, Koko took the bread and ate it.

“Delicious!”

What wouldn’t taste good to you?

I thought this as I bit into the bread.

…And once again, I felt gazes directed at me and looked around.

The others who met my eyes quickly looked away. They awkwardly engaged in conversation with the person next to them or focused on the food in front of them, trying not to show that they had been staring intently at Koko and me.

…What’s going on?

Wondering if I had missed something, I looked around while slowly chewing my bread, but everyone avoided making eye contact with me.

Did I do something wrong?

In the end, I finished my meal with a puzzled expression, never figuring out the reason.

*

As I felt during swimming classes in summer, playing in water seems to consume much more energy than expected.

Even the kids who had played so enthusiastically in the water this morning were now subtly engaged in other activities.

For example, Nakahara, perhaps trying to score points with Shii, was absorbed in building a sand castle with her.

Considering that when we first arrived, he had made such suggestions to me because of the two heroines who were following Sasaki, his efforts seem quite successful.

Indeed, playing together is probably a better way to become close than just trying to be friendly.

By the way, Koko was also with those two.

Koko had her hair pulled back in a ponytail like Yuka.

The hair tie was similar in style to the one I was wearing, but it was red instead.

It was Yuka’s idea. Of course, Koko couldn’t style her hair like that on her own…

…

Well, actually, she probably could, but wouldn’t that hair tie be part of her “flesh”? After all, even her hair is technically stretched skin.

Hagiwara, the big sister character, seemed to think this was the perfect timing to ask someone to apply oil to her back, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the courage to say such things with us around.

If she were truly a big sister character, she should be more assertive.

As a result, the four of us sat in a row with slightly awkward expressions, blankly watching the scene.

“It’s peaceful,” Yuka murmured.

“Indeed,” Sasaki replied.

“This is my first time coming to the sea with so many people.”

“Really?”

Hmm.

Maybe because Yuka wasn’t particularly attracted to Sasaki, she didn’t show any tsundere-like aspects.

“Yes.”

Sasaki didn’t elaborate on his personal story.

There’s no need to talk about depressing things on a trip. Such stories will become known whether we want to know them or not as the story progresses.

“Actually, it’s my first time too,” said Yuka.

“Me too.”

Somehow feeling like I should say the same, I did.

The three of us looked at Hagiwara. Sitting next to Sasaki and waiting for the right moment, Hagiwara made a slightly awkward expression when Yuka and I looked at her.

Is she remembering what happened in Chiba last time?

“…Me too.”

“So it’s all of us,” said Sasaki.

Hearing his words, we sat leisurely on the sandy beach for a while.