In fact, Sota doesn’t have many good memories about summer vacation trips.
First of all, he has no recollection of them at all before middle school. There are faint memories from when he was very, very young, back when the family was still together, but calling that a ‘memory’ would be embarrassing since it’s so blurry that it’s incredibly hard to recall.
He wonders if he could have at least gone on a trip with friends during middle school, but unfortunately, there were many problems when living alone with his father after the divorce.
His father’s personality was very strict. Perhaps seeing his wife betray him made him think that his child could betray him too.
During middle school, Sota even followed his dad overseas. He never adapted there. It was too late for him to adapt and the time wasn’t long enough to adjust. For two years, Sota was mostly alone.
Maybe that’s why he couldn’t give up on Shii. He learned what it felt like to have no one to rely on.
So, he might have felt he couldn’t just leave someone isolated like her.
After realizing Shii’s situation and bringing her along, he had a fight with his father. It seemed that his father, being concerned about social status, couldn’t just leave his child on the street. Ultimately, the Sasaki siblings ended up living in one of their father’s properties like they were in exile.
It seemed like his father thought of it as punishment.
Still, during those two years overseas, Sota heavily relied on his father. Yet that reliance was more about having the only acquaintance in that isolated space rather than truly having someone trustworthy.
Now, it didn’t seem to matter anymore. Sota actually thought living just the two of them with Shii was much better.
… Anyway, having lived like that, the first time he stayed over at a friend’s place was during high school.
And during that trip, Sota was always embroiled in incidents. From the moment he entered high school, it was clear he was far from ‘ordinary life’.
If you ask whether everything that happened during that trip was just bad, he wouldn’t really answer that way, but being chased by yōkai and fighting for his life isn’t something you would call ‘ordinary’, right?
In that sense, Sota thought this trip wouldn’t be that normal either.
“The travel destination is my grandmother’s house. Due to family circumstances, it seems that she will be away for a while, so I got permission to stay for one night. The house itself isn’t anything special, just an ordinary house, but it’s really close to the sea.”
Saying this while laughing, Nanami was fine. Up to that point, she looked like an ordinary kid going on a trip enjoying herself.
However, the problem is that all the kids here are somehow related to the extraordinary.
Fukuda is somewhat closer to everyday life, but in some ways, he’s closer to being an outright victim.
Especially Kurosawa, who stood expressionlessly staring blankly at the ceiling of the train station, didn’t seem normal at all.
“… Um.”
Sasaki shook his head, wondering what he was thinking.
Though he had thought of Yuka as an ordinary kid several times, he saw now that he had no reason to claim the others were unusual.
From the start, even Sota himself was a bit far from being ‘ordinary’. Even if you exclude the bloodline related to yōkai, his past experiences weren’t really normal either.
“Sasaki?”
Seeing Sota lost in thought, Yuka spoke up. Sota shrugged his shoulders for no apparent reason.
Well, this is okay.
Just because it happened last year doesn’t guarantee it will be the same this year. Rather, in a way, they had already gone through something similar during the festival, so wouldn’t it be fine?
Thinking this way, Sota followed behind Nanami, who suddenly shouted, “Let’s go!”
*
Nanami’s grandmother’s house was indeed quite close to the sea.
The sea was pretty nice, and there were people around, but it wasn’t so crowded that you would be tripping over folks like a famous beach.
Perhaps that’s why Nanami chose this place as her travel destination.
“It’s the sea—!”
Nanami yelled excitedly as if she had been waiting to do that, turned to Sota and said, “Okay, first we have to get into the water! It’s much more enjoyable to play around for a while before eating than to jump in right after a meal!”
That’s also safer.
Nanami seemed to be in quite a happy mood, and Yuka looked somewhat excited too, but—Fukuda and Shii had a slightly different atmosphere.
Kurosawa looked like she had never been to the beach before, tilting her head in confusion, and Fukuda had a somewhat ambiguous expression.
Could it be that he was worried about Sota? Hmm, that thought crossed Sota’s mind. After all, he was the only guy in their group during the whole trip.
If he were to say something to his same-sex friends, they would probably give him jealous glances, but for now, Sota noticed that he had never really gone on a trip with only same-sex friends.
It was too common for Nanami and Hagiwara-senpai to stay over or for Yuka to suddenly call Sota out, so he hadn’t even been aware of it, but it was indeed kind of strange.
Going on a trip where there’s only one guy among the group after spending a night.
“Um… I’m going to go change in the room.”
Sota said with a slightly awkward smile.
“Where should I change?”
“Oh, I’ll show you.”
Nanami quickly grabbed Sota’s wrist and led him to the house.
“Regardless, you might feel more comfortable if you have a separate room, right? There’s a guest room, so use that.”
For some reason, Sota thought this kind of consideration was usually given to girls, but for now, he decided to just follow along.
*
It’s a bit strange to say this now, but Sota is a boy.
Moreover, he’s a perfectly normal boy with normal functioning in that department, a very vigorous teenage boy.
However, he wasn’t leaning towards any specific sexual orientation, so naturally, he was much more interested in girls than boys.
He sometimes thought girls were pretty when he saw them, or he would think a girl looked good in an outfit that suited her. He’d catch glimpses of girls in swimsuits during swimming lessons, or he would find himself staring at Yuka or Nanami’s neck unknowingly while they were wearing yukata during the last festival…
Anyway, that’s how it was. In a travel destination like this, if the girls in the group are wearing really cute swimsuits, it’s only natural for Sota to keep stealing glances.
“Hey, Sota!”
As she waved her hand, Nanami indeed wore a ‘bikini’. It wasn’t the smallest area you could imagine, but it wasn’t large either, showing quite a bit of skin with a white bikini.
Then there was Yuka, who seemed to be avoiding Sota’s gaze; she wore a red bikini. Though it covered slightly more than Nanami’s, it still looked strangely provocative due to the vibrant color or the ribbon tied at her hip.
Both girls had excellent figures. If Sota’s half friends saw them, they would probably be thrilled by the view.
And for some reason, Sota found himself wishing that he wouldn’t have to see them in such outfits. He didn’t even have the right to think that way.
“…”
Fukuda and Kurosawa were both silent.
Fukuda also wore a two-piece like Yuka and Koto Ne, but she covered a bit more than the two.
Fukuda’s swimsuit was a tank-top style without any decoration. But due to her healthy skin tone, that black swimsuit made her look amazing.
Kurosawa and Shii had one-piece swimsuits. Kurosawa wore black and Shii wore blue, and both suited them really well. Maybe because they were a bit on the smaller side.
“What are you doing, Sota?”
Nanami, already running ahead, waved and shouted at Sota.
One arm was already holding a tube that seemed to have been inflated sometime earlier.
“Over here!”
“Yeah, coming.”
As Sota said that and began to walk, Fukuda let out a small sigh and followed.
Shii gently clasped Sota’s arm as she walked beside him. He wondered if it felt a bit awkward even for a younger sister to be in such attire and pose, but seeing Shii’s expression, he decided to keep quiet.
Perhaps because it was their first time in a new place, Shii seemed a bit nervous. It would be normal for him to try to do his best as an older brother in this situation.
Kurosawa, trailing behind them, still had a blank expression on her face.
But Sota had a feeling that her gaze was directed completely at the sea.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.