My mental age might technically be that of an adult, but there’s just something delightful about waking up late after sleeping in.
After losing my entire family, I nearly stopped feeling anything, but back when my life was still rolling along normally, it felt different. Occasionally, when I finally had a day off, I’d stay up way too late for no particular reason.
My routine was pretty much the same. These days, I’d binge-watch popular anime, read manga or novels, or play games that I had bought but never got around to.
When I thought that I wouldn’t have to be called anywhere the next day, I’d feel strangely at ease, glancing at the clock and staying up until it was technically dawn, only to finally succumb to sleep. I’d wake up late in the morning, check the calendar, and breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, working adults don’t really have the concept of vacation, so spending a few days like this was a kind of rebellion.
However, sleeping in too late felt like a waste of time.
Vacation was still quite far away anyway. I could easily get bored with staying up late and then sleeping in the next day. The day before coming here, I’d woken up to Kagami cooking at past 10 AM.
Since the schedule here was for two nights and three days, I thought it was a bit much to lose an entire day. If I woke up too late, it would be just like yesterday when we arrived on the island.
Rubbing my eyes and making ugh noises, I tried to get up from bed but realized my body felt a bit heavy.
It wasn’t a feeling of heaviness or anything like that. Something was actually weighing me down.
“…Ugh.”
I stretched my arms out in front of me and crawled out from underneath whatever was holding me down.
“……”
The culprits were none other than Yuka and Koko.
It seemed we had all ended up sleeping in the same room.
How did this happen?
Well, for now, I wasn’t the last person to fall asleep.
Alright then.
First, we grilled some meat.
Outside the building was set up for a barbecue party. Since the area was somewhat remote, I thought maybe there’d be someone who would feel uncomfortable about it, but it turned out that the neighboring buildings were all similar to ours, rented out to people, so we didn’t really have to be discreet.
Plus, our building jutted out a bit in front and was close to the beach.
As I unpacked, I took out the meat I had placed in the fridge and grilled a whole bunch. I hadn’t even thought about how much I bought. We had beef and pork… No one paid attention to the cuts because we were all just happily eating.
It was simply delicious.
As I grilled meat for Koko, Yuka and Yuuki grilled some for me. Koko gave the meat she grilled to Tsuneda, who was practicing her grilling skills with Shii.
Kaoru and Harumi, who had gotten quite close during the last semester, were shoulder to shoulder, chatting and laughing joyfully. Izumi and Mako watched them and laughed.
It was quite the picturesque scene. I could remember it vividly even after a night had passed.
Right. We took a ton of pictures.
Since it was nighttime, I brought a bright lens so I could take pictures even in low light. Carrying a large camera around my neck, the kids were fascinated and posed for me.
Not just Harumi and Kaoru, but even Tsuneda and Shii.
I got up from my spot, making sure not to step on the scattered kids, and carefully walked on the tips of my toes.
Fortunately, the door was sliding, so I didn’t have to worry about the kids spilling out if I opened it or vice versa.
“Um.”
…They didn’t spill out, but an arm did stick out.
Kaoru, who was wriggling right next to the door, had her arm extended outside.
Hmm, it looks like closing it again would be impossible.
Fortunately, the temperature between the outside and inside wasn’t drastically different. In fact, the inside was a bit warmer. The air conditioner in sleep mode was blowing slightly warmer air.
Focused on leaving the room, by the time I stepped into the living room, I was somewhat awake.
Should I wash up right away? I hesitated, and then suddenly noticed the camera on the table.
Oh, so that’s where it was.
Then, I hadn’t taken any pictures in the room? I guess not. There was really no need to bring the camera into the bedroom for sleeping anyway.
Since I had my phone, I could take pictures with it.
I walked over to the table, grabbed the camera, and flopped down on the sofa.
I then slowly browsed through the pictures from yesterday.
Ah, right. After eating, we had fireworks.
But when I say fireworks, it wasn’t really anything that shot up in the sky. You know those fireworks that you often see in anime in front of someone’s house? We did something like that.
Holding a stick that goes bang when you light it, or those kinds of firecrackers that look like they’re made of thread and drop if you don’t pay attention to them.
It wasn’t particularly flashy fireworks, but we repeatedly exclaimed how beautiful they were, capturing that twinkling in our eyes.
“Huh.”
As I flipped through the photos, I unconsciously made a silly sound.
One of the pictures was of Koko smiling widely with a firecracker in each hand. Even though the place was dark, her face shone brightly with the light from the fireworks.
The light creating a gentle orange gradient around her face gave the photo a somewhat dreamlike quality. It felt as if the sound effect “Wow!” would spontaneously play along with it. This had to be the best photo from yesterday.
I moved on to the next photo.
Before I knew it, we were back in the living room.
After eating the meat with enthusiasm, we ate again. Well, didn’t they say there’s always room for dessert? Everyone was at that age where they were still growing. After a hearty dinner, it wouldn’t be long before we’d feel hungry again.
We laid out the snacks everyone brought and chatted about this and that while eating.
Amidst all this chatter, surprisingly, there wasn’t even a hint of boyfriend talk. With all these cute girls gathered together, the fact that none of them had boyfriends was astonishing.
If it were Tsuneda, she’d at least have someone she was interested in, and as for Shii, she was head over heels for her older brother, but the rest had absolutely no interest in any guys at all.
We had the TV on and casually watched a movie that happened to be airing. It was a typical romance flick. The male and female leads kept exchanging glances but stubbornly didn’t kiss, making us all tug at our hair crying out “Not again!” several times.
In truth, Koko was nearly clueless about romantic relationships, so she was just mimicking our reactions. Maybe she was just enjoying it.
By the time I had almost finished going through the photos taken in the living room, I started to ponder why we had ended up sleeping in a tangled heap together.
“…It seems no one ended up going to the upper bunk.”
I muttered to myself with a slight chuckle.
Indeed.
The room was divided into two. The upper floor had two twin beds. The downstairs room had no beds at all.
Of course, the no-bed room was where we laid the blankets and slept. There was just about enough space for five people to sleep somewhat comfortably. That was possible only because they were high school girls; if they were slightly bigger boys, it might have been a bit packed with five.
After changing into pajamas each of us had brought, we gathered in the downstairs bedroom.
Though it was a bit cramped to lie down all together, we could fit and sit closely. The ones who went up to sleep were Izumi, Kaoru, Mako, and Harumi.
At first, we talked while sitting, but slowly everyone started lying down. No matter how lively high school girls are, once midnight rolls around, tiredness begins to creep in.
Leaning on each other’s shoulders and even laying on one another’s laps, I think I leaned on Yuka, while Koko probably leaned on me.
And just like that, we fell asleep.
“……”
That’s just how it is.
When you have ten high school girls sleeping in a room, it’s only natural for them to pile up like that.
I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the absurdity as I flipped through the photos on the camera and looked at the last photo.
“…Huh?”
And I muttered to myself.
I had secured the lens hood well, so there shouldn’t be much flaring from the lights. Plus, it was indoors. As long as I didn’t shoot directly at the fluorescent lights, there shouldn’t be any lens flare.
The camera was pointing outside.
Behind Koko who was sitting and flashing a bright smile making a V sign, something slightly hazy could be seen.
“……”
I stared silently at that hazy thing.
It didn’t look like it was captured just behind the window.
When you taken the house into account, the front door was to the south. If you turned left after entering, it led right into the living room, and logically, the windows faced south and west.
The southern windows faced the sunlight, and the western ones looked out at the sea.
Koko was by the southern window.
The closest thing to see was obviously the road. You could see the other houses across the street, which was all very ordinary.
But behind that, when the focus was on Koko’s face, that hazy thing was almost invisible. The contrast between the brightness inside and outside made it almost appear black.
But it didn’t seem like it was floating in the air.
I turned my body to try and look at the angle I had taken the picture from.
Outside was bright daylight, so it compared more or less to the setup inside the camera.
That hazy light was somewhere in the mountains.
…Didn’t they say the abandoned house was in the mountains?
I quickly turned off the camera and set it down on the table.
Then I got up and headed to the shower.
I poured cold water over my head to shake off the remaining sleep and tried to wash away the thoughts from earlier.
All the while, I tried not to close my eyes as much as possible.
I felt like if I closed them, I’d end up thinking of something strange.
*
Thank goodness, during our playtime, those thoughts didn’t come up much.
Especially when we were playing at the beach.
Playing in the water takes a lot of energy. Naturally, there wasn’t even a chance to think of anything else.
Yuka kept targeting me and jumping on me, and once I got hit, I chased after her to turn the tables.
Still, in a certain way, I’d call it cousinly camaraderie. Yuuki subtly supported me from the sidelines.
“That’s unfair, it’s 2 against 1!”
Yuka shouted, but she seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit.
“Wow!”
And jumping out from behind Yuka, Koko hugged her, pulling her into the water.
“Puhah!”
Yuka quickly got up and gasped for air.
Her ponytail that had been tied back was now drenched and flipped around, looking just like something out of a soda advertisement. Especially the way the water splashed in a circle.
Yuka was wearing a sports bikini. Thanks to her trim figure, it suited her exceptionally well.
Thinking back to when I first met Yuka, it was hard to imagine she’d be smiling this brightly. It was as if she had laid all her burdens down on her shoulders.
Am I smiling like that too?
“You let your guard down!”
While I was staring blankly at Yuka, she lunged at me.
“Wah!?”
With just that one exclamation, I was sunk into the ocean.
*
Even after all that water play, the kids still had tons of energy left.
Not every kid had that endless energy, though.
It seemed Tsuneda and Shii weren’t as energetic as Harumi, Yuka, and Kaoru. After playing in the water for a while, they came out and started playing with the dirt.
It wasn’t just childlike fun; they were building sandcastles quite seriously.
“Wow!”
Koko, who was interested in what Tsuneda was doing, sparkled her eyes at the impressive sandcastle the two had built. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she was going to destroy it but rather sat nearby to admire it.
Izumi also seemed interested in joining them, but before she knew it, she was pulled away by Kaoru.
“Koko, Koko!”
Yuka said with a big wave towards her.
“Let’s play beach volleyball!”
“Uuh?”
Koko tilted her head, seemingly unsure what beach volleyball was, but upon seeing Yuka raising her hand, she exclaimed, “Wow!” and jumped up to run over.
“Are you okay, Senpai?”
“I just came here to rest a little,” I said while stretching my legs out on the beach.
Over there, the setup was already happening. Kaoru, seeming to have prepared thoroughly, had even set up a net by now.
Kaoru, Harumi, and Mako made up one team.
And Yuka, Yuuki, and Koko made up the other.
Thank goodness, Izumi wasn’t on any team but had been called as a referee. Her relief was evident as she stood there with her expression.
The matches turned out to be more intense than expected. Both teams had so much energy that the power behind the ball was quite impressive.
Mako might not seem like she’s strong, but recalling how she handled herself in last year’s melee, she’s not lacking in athletic ability, and Yuuki, although he isn’t someone who usually enjoys sports, seemed to have inherited some vigor from his family line.
As for Koko, there’s really no need to mention her; she was overflowing with liveliness.
Seeing the girls jump around playing was like a painting in itself.
“Watermelon smashing.”
“Eh?”
As I was gazing absently at the artistic movement, a cautious voice came from beside me.
“Shall we smash some watermelon in a bit?”
It was Tsuneda’s voice.
“Watermelon smashing?”
Oh, come to think of it, there was one in the fridge. Did Tsuneda bring it?
We hadn’t gone grocery shopping since coming here, so I simply figured someone must’ve brought it. I was 100% thinking it was Kaoru.
“Is that a no?”
“No, not at all.” I responded with a laugh.
“But, did you bring a watermelon?”
At my question, Tsuneda blushed, looking a bit embarrassed.
Twisting her body slightly, she said, “I-I also brought some sticks…” as if confessing a crime.
I can now see why Koko thinks Tsuneda is cute.
After all, Tsuneda always seems to have so much.
Is it that she brings so much because she has a lot she wants to do?
The fireworks were brought by Kaoru and Izumi, but there were also Tsuneda’s.
It seems she’s truly here to enjoy her school days.
What a wonderful attitude!
“Alright. While everyone runs around like that, I’ll go get it.”
“Okay!”
Tsuneda and Shii both got up.
The sandcastle they had built was so impressive that “sandcastle” didn’t even do it justice.
…While I’m at it, I should grab the camera again. It’d be a crime not to document this.
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