The schedule we had set was for 2 nights and 3 days.
Since it wasn’t that far from Tokyo, it took about 3 hours by boat. After all, Tokyo itself is a port city, so our travel time was mostly just the time spent on the boat.
We arrived just past noon, so 2 nights and 3 days wasn’t really that short of a time after all.
After having lunch, we could play at the beach for nearly five hours, and with this schedule, it’s not like we’d be sleeping late at night. It was a perfectly sufficient schedule for having fun.
The island… Honestly, I don’t really know if there are islands like this near Tokyo in the world I used to live in. However, it was bigger than I had imagined.
It was quite different from the “private, practically empty little island with a mansion” that often appears in mystery novels; there were lots of visible houses. It wasn’t a city by any means, but it looked like a rather famous tourist spot with well-kept facilities.
“Wow…!”
And the most amazing part was that the water quality at the coastal area was incredibly good.
The sea shimmered brightly. Rather than blue, it was much more transparent.
As soon as we reached our accommodation, we had lunch and quickly ran outside towards the beach.
“Wooah—!”
Koko shouted as she jumped and splashed into the sea with a splash.
For a moment, bubbles rose up from where Koko had sunk, and soon she burst out with a phew.
“It’s cold!”
She raised her arms high, looking very happy.
“Okay, then let’s go too!”
Kaoru shouted as if declaring a challenge and jumped into the sea.
Once again, a refreshing splash was heard.
The expressions on Kaoru and Izumi’s faces, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, looked as if they were ready to soar with a sense of liberation. I guess they had been studying at home throughout the holidays. They probably studied together too.
And both of them didn’t seem that tired of studying either.
Since Kaoru was in the track and field club, she seemed to be a good swimmer too. Just because one is good at running doesn’t mean they’re good at swimming, but somehow I believed that someone who was good at one sport could be good at others as well. Plus, both are aerobic exercises.
And indeed, she was swimming quite well.
On the other hand, it seemed Izumi couldn’t swim. She was floating around, clinging to a floating tube at her waist.
The Mako trio all knew how to swim. I knew that well from our swimming lessons.
However, none of them seemed interested in exercising by actually swimming here. They were just holding onto something and floating around.
Harumi was sitting on the tube with her butt in the hole, looking relaxed. Her beautiful tan skin and yellow hair, along with the sunglasses on her head, made her look stunning. That languid atmosphere was like a photo from a magazine.
Every time I saw Harumi in her swimsuit, I couldn’t help but admire. It wasn’t just because she had a large chest, but her body proportions were phenomenal. She could easily pass for a model.
And next to such Harumi was Yuuki, who also sported an impressive figure.
Instead of a donut-shaped tube, he was lying on a long, couch-shaped float. He too had a slightly dazed expression. Although they were just starting to have fun, they had been on the boat for over 3 hours and had just eaten lunch.
Mako was clinging to a different type of tube, one that could hold her arms and allow her to hang on.
“Hey, Koto Ne, wanna join?”
Mako asked kindly.
“Yeah.”
I grabbed onto the empty space next to her. Luckily, the tube didn’t sink or anything.
The sound of water-soaked rubber rubbing against skin made a squeak.
I could swim too. After all, that was part of my previous life’s job, so it wouldn’t make sense not to know how to swim.
But swimming continuously was a bit tough, you know? On top of that, with the waves coming in, I’d probably get exhausted and have to exit after just 10 minutes of swimming.
As I shifted my gaze, I spotted Tsuneda and Shii.
Both were on a tube too. Tsuneda had a slightly awkward expression but was floating alongside Shii while chatting.
From the effort they were putting into the conversation, it seemed like they already viewed me as a junior.
This year, there hadn’t been any new students admitted. It would be nice if a few more people joined, but I was also worried that the club would get too crowded.
I hoped that Shii would bring some friends next year.
While I was happily observing the two with Mako, my gaze suddenly shifted.
And then I locked eyes with Izumi.
When I stared at her intently,
“Eek.”
Feeling something eerie from my gaze, Izumi quickly paddled away from me.
But the real danger was behind her.
It was Kaoru and Koko.
Seeing Kaoru approach Izumi from behind, Koko, grinning, tiptoed over and pointed her finger in front of Kaoru, tilting her head in confusion.
And after watching Kaoru put her hand under Izumi’s tube, Koko decided to imitate her.
“Wait, wait, wait…!”
Izumi realized too late that her hand had entered under her own tube and quickly cried out, but at that point, Koko and Kaoru had already lifted one side of the tube.
“Wah!”
In the end, Izumi sank into the sea, leaving only those words behind.
“You guys!”
I jumped up from my spot and chased after them.
“Ha-ha-ha!”
Kaoru laughed gleefully as she ran away, and
“Wooah!”
Koko was off and running too. Honestly, it seemed like she didn’t even know why she was running, but whatever.
As I was laughing and watching the three of them—
“Eh!?”
I suddenly felt something lurking below my stomach, giving me a fright.
Before I could resist, I was already lifted up.
With a squeak my hands slipped off the tube.
“Koto Ne!?”
Mako shouted in surprise—
Splash.
My face went straight into the water.
No, it wasn’t just my face. My whole body sank into the water. For a moment, my vision was clouded by bubbles and the sounds I heard became muffled.
I quickly jumped up and chased after Yuka, who had already run a few steps ahead.
Yuka was running away, laughing just like Koko and Kaoru.
At first, I was doggedly pursuing her, but before I knew it, I was chuckling as well.
*
“…What are you staring at?”
When Yuuki came out after changing his clothes, I stared at him intently, and he slightly wrinkled his brows and asked.
“Oh, nothing.”
I replied.
“I was just thinking how easy it is to fall off that tube.”
“…”
Yuuki narrowed his eyes and glared at me.
“You’ve really changed a lot from when we first met to now, haven’t you?”
Have I?
I thought for a moment about Yuuki’s words.
Indeed, that seemed accurate. Looking back now, I was way too guarded back then. I was cautious even when saying a single word.
I had a lot of ellipses back then.
But slowly, like soaking into the water, I’ve become like this now.
I preferred the way I was now. Having come to live this life, it felt absurd not to enjoy it.
Moreover, we only had a year and a half left of our high school life. Perhaps because I had memories of already living as an adult, that remaining time felt even more precious.
“Do you dislike it?”
I asked casually.
Yuuki looked at me intently and then turned his gaze away while saying,
“…It’s not that I dislike it.”
“Well, that’s good.”
Saying that, I stood up.
Our accommodation wasn’t exactly like a hotel. If you had to classify it, it felt more like a guesthouse. However, it was much closer to a professional lodging establishment than a regular house rented out during the owner’s off time, or one where only part of a residential area was rented out.
It felt like a larger house had been remodeled into a multi-person lodging facility.
On the second floor, there were two rooms with two single beds each.
The first floor had no beds; instead, there was a room where you could lay out blankets to sleep. In my opinion, it was spacious enough for five people. It felt like they had packed in as many sleeping spots as possible within the house. Well, it worked out well for us.
Although it was a house by definition, it was much larger than a typical Japanese family home, and it even had a rather large bathtub in the bathroom.
The living room was also quite spacious, so there was enough space for all of us to be together. Even though the lodging costs were a bit expensive, it was a relief that it had everything we needed.
Others from our group were already gathering in the living room.
“Alright, I’ll tell you tomorrow’s schedule.”
Clearing his throat, Kaoru prepared to speak.
“Would’ve been nice if you had mentioned this on the boat first.”
Izumi grumbled toward Kaoru.
“What? You were the one who was having a blast on the boat just as much as I was. As the president, say something yourself!”
When Kaoru shyly said that, Izumi’s face also turned red.
It was true.
The two of them had been thrilled on the boat, playing around, looking out at the sea for nearly 3 hours straight.
They fed snacks to seagulls, took tons of photos, and seemed to be enjoying themselves so much that they completely forgot to announce anything to us.
The same thing happened when we arrived. They tossed their bags aside, ate, and then dashed right out to have fun.
For the record, the reason I had been in the room until a little while ago was to organize my luggage. It wasn’t that I had brought a lot of stuff, but I thought it would be good to take out some essentials.
“Anyway!”
Kaoru declared.
“I propose we grill some meat for dinner!”
It felt like we had just skipped the top part of the itinerary or something.
But it didn’t matter. After all, it probably just said something about “having fun at the beach.”
“After dinner, we’ll go for a brief walk and then gather to decide on the topic for the meeting. We can do serious writing at school, but on a day like today, we’re bound to have more ideas popping up. So jotting some stuff down ahead of time won’t hurt.”
Izumi added, reinforcing Kaoru’s words.
Are they talking about something like an essay? Well, travel writings count as writings too. A well-written travel article can be even more enjoyable to read than a novel.
“And, after we finish organizing, it’s free time again. We don’t care what you do inside the lodging, but just be careful if you’re going out. Make sure to tell someone when you leave, and absolutely don’t go out alone.”
At that, we all nodded.
And in fact, it was a story we didn’t really need to worry about.
When Mako goes out, Harumi or Yuuki will definitely follow her, and vice versa.
If I go out, Koko will definitely stick with me, and she probably wouldn’t think about going outside alone anyway.
The same goes for Izumi and Kaoru.
As for Tsuneda and Shii… well, just looking at them makes me anxious. Although they’re quite close in age to us, with only a year or two difference, age differences can feel significant at that point.
Both of them have reliable personalities, so I doubt they would ignore Kaoru’s words.
“Tomorrow, actually, for the morning and afternoon, there’s nothing on the schedule except for having fun like today. In the evening, we’ll all make a hotpot together. Did everyone bring the ingredients? Good.”
Kaoru nodded after looking around at us.
“And… right. Tomorrow, it’s that.”
Kaoru grinned with a mischievous expression.
“Courage training. It’s scheduled for tomorrow night, so everyone better get ready. There’s an unexpectedly spooky abandoned house on this island.”
“What if you frighten the kids too much?” Izumi poked Kaoru, complaining.
And then she looked toward us.
“We went there earlier to check it out. We got permission from the owner too. As long as we don’t take anything out, there won’t be any major issues.”
“Ezumi, it’s not good to spoil it like that.”
But Kaoru didn’t seem bothered about it.
“Umm…”
Tsuneda raised her hand slightly.
“Oh, the enthusiastic junior over there. Do you have a question or something?”
“Ah, yes.”
When Kaoru asked with a cheerful expression, Tsuneda timidly opened her mouth.
“What does it mean that we shouldn’t bring anything out from inside?”
“Oh, that’s because it’s a cursed place—cough.”
Kaoru was about to say something about it sounding all occult, but she was interrupted when Izumi poked her in the back of her head.
It didn’t seem painful; it was probably a playful jab on both sides.
“They’re simply private property. The things inside… well, for starters, they belong to that person.”
It’s such a common story.
Abandoned buildings become haunted places because of people wandering in, and then they get even more popular and deteriorate further because of that.
And the individuals who enter may take items as souvenirs, but the things inside actually still belong to the owner, legally speaking, no matter how abandoned or wrecked they become.
“Once again, I’ll say it, there’s really no need to worry. The landlady is also expected to come out.”
…Was she a local resident?
I wonder if she makes a living off of this kind of thing. I’m not sure if that’s legal or not.
“Is that so?”
Tsuneda seemed reassured and lowered her hand.
“Don’t worry!”
Koko shouted to Tsuneda.
That made everyone burst into laughter. Even Yuuki smiled slightly.
Well, even if there’s a ghost, I doubt Koko’s overflowing energy could let it disturb us.
And if it tries, a former exorcist will be waiting right behind.
Hmm.
If there really is a ghost in that abandoned house, I would like to express my condolences in advance.
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