Chapter 1 – Summer Vacation for the Ex-Hero and Ex-Witch

“So hot…”

The room was practically boiling.

The AC in my room broke down and it’d take two more days before they finished repairing it.

There was a limit on how much you could do to ward off the heat with just a fan. In the first place, the thing only blew the hot air around instead of making it cooler. It was like pouring water onto a boiling stone.

One week had passed since the final exam and I somehow managed to avoid any red marks again.

I wasn’t a member of any club, so I had no club activities to attend. Even though I had plenty of part-time jobs, I still had a lot of free time, for some reason.

But, I still didn’t have the will to drag my feet outside because it was too hot to do anything. Then again, my AC was dying, so staying inside my room was hell on earth too. Not to mention that they said that this summer was hotter than usual.

“I can’t take this anymore…”

I left the room, went to the living room and turned the AC on.

I shoulda been doing this from the start. To be fair, until a while ago, I’d been sleeping.

“I-I’m alive…”

The cold breeze cooled down the sweat that had been sticking closely to my skin.

Ah, it felt good. I should grab an ice cream or something to make it feel better.

And so I did, as there were some in the fridge. I turned on the TV to find out that there was a baseball game going on at Koshien. The rule was runner on second, bottom ninth inning. The score was three to two and it was currently the fourth inning. Things were heating up. As I was watching it while gulping on my ice cream, the bell rang.

“Jeez, what the hell. We were just getting to the good part…”

It was currently summer break, but mom was still working and dad was out of town.

In other words, I was alone at home and I was the only one who could answer the door.

When I opened the door, there was a beautiful girl with a familiar face standing there.

My childhood friend, Kirishima Hina.

“Hello, hello~ Am I bothering you?”

Hina looked at me as she waved her hand.

She was wearing a short sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts, so it showed a lot of skin. Her big breasts and meaty thighs were especially noticeable.

This appearance was poisonous to a healthy teenager like me, so I coughed and averted my gaze away.

“Yes you are, I’m busy with Koshien.”

“Since when are you part of a baseball team?”

“Busy watching. They were just getting to the good part.”

“Huh… I never knew you would be this excited about watching a sports match.”

Said Hina, disinterestedly.

I found sports matches interesting. They were the places where people could show off their skills and fight each other using their skills. Unlike war, there wouldn’t be any casualties, so they could fight to their heart’s content.

Though, if I were to tell her that, I doubt that she’d understand.

“You don’t have clubs today?”

“Nope. It’s too hot. We aren’t crazy enough to run in this heat.”

Hina barged into the house without any care while fanning her face with her hand.

When I looked at the TV, the game was already over.

Great, I missed everything.

It was over in the fourth inning too, so someone must’ve hit the homerun.

“Alright, I’ll be watching TV while you’re getting ready.”

Said Hina as she sat down on the sofa while operating the TV remote.

“What? Getting ready? For what?”

“Buying swimsuits. It’s about time you buy a new one, right?”

“Swimsuit?…”

When I tilted my head, Hina shrugged her shoulders in exasperation.

“Didn’t we plan to go to the pool? Tomorrow is the day…”

“…Ah, right.”

Right, we planned something like that. We originally planned to go to the beach, but because of financial problems, we settled with the pool instead.

By we, I meant the people who went to karaoke together at the time; Me, Shinji, Hina, Yuuka and Shiina.

Thinking about Shiina’s inclusion, I smiled. Was this what they called parental affection?

“Now that you mention it, I need a new swimsuit, yeah…”

My old swimsuit was too small for me to wear and wearing the school swimsuit for the occasion felt wrong.

“I knew it would be the case. That’s why I’ll be dragging you out with me!”

Said Hina with a big smile. She seemed especially happy today, good for her.

After changing my outfit and finishing getting ready, I went back to Hina and she pushed me from behind.

“Alright, let’s go. Time is of the essence!”

“Stop pushing me, the swimsuits won’t run elsewhere!”

“They will! People will buy them and they will disappear!”

“If that’s your concern, won’t the good ones be out of sale already since early summer?”

Come to think of it, it was rare for her to buy a swimsuit just before the D-day.

She was the kind of girl who’d finish preparing for everything a week before that.

“…The swimsuit I bought last year doesn’t fit me anymore.”

Seeing through my thoughts, Hina whispered to me with a slightly red face.

“Huh? You haven’t grown that much, though…”

After saying that, my gaze moved to her chest.

I didn’t need to touch them to know that they were at least a size bigger than last year.

“Where are you looking?!”

“T-Time! Violence is forbidden!”

Hina snorted and left the house ahead of me.

I put on my shoes and followed her behind.

“Woah, the heat is no joke…”

The protection of the AC was gone and I was scorched by the hot air.

Normally, I’d just go back inside after feeling this kind of heat.

“Just bear with it.”

“Oh, well.”

But since I was with Hina, I thought that enduring this kind of heat once in a while was fine.

* * *

We went to a nearby shopping mall.

It took ten minutes by bike to get there from our houses. Normally, we could get there easily, but in this scorching heat, it was practically a torture. Hina, who was in a good spirit when we left, looked a little vacant on the way. The heat even drained the energy out of the normally high tension track club member. This world was dangerous…

Once we got into the shopping mall, though, the AC made us feel alive again.

“Since we’re going to buy swimsuits, we need to go to the second floor, right?”

“Mhm… But I want to take a break first. Let’s go to a coffee shop.”

At Hina’s suggestion, we went to take a break at a coffee shop inside the mall.

I ordered an iced tea and Hina ordered a parfait.

When her parfait came, her eyes lit up immediately. She took out her phone and took pictures out of it.

“It looks so good!”

The clicking sound of her phone’s camera continued. Seriously, how many pictures did she want to take? After a while, she put her phone down with a satisfied look and began to eat the parfait with a spoon.

“Tasty~”

“You ate lunch before coming here, didn’t you? You’ll get fat if you eat too much.”

“I have a separate stomach for sweets! Besides, I’ll burn the calories at my club activities, so I’ll be fine!”

“Well, I can see you burning a lot of calories running under that kind of heat…”

“Today’s heat is just abnormal, though. I wonder if tomorrow will be this hot too?”

“You really are used to this by now, huh?”

They didn’t have their club activities today, but normally the track club would practice every day during the summer break.

“I’m not. I almost got a heat stroke the other day.”

“Are you okay? Practicing outside sounds more dangerous after hearing you say that.”

“I mean, it isn’t like practicing inside the gym is any better. They said it feels just the same.”

By the way, her skin looked darker than the last time I saw her.

Looking closely, I could see a tan line on her arm.

“What? Stop staring at me.”

“I’m just trying to appreciate your tan.”

“Ugh… I’m wearing sunscreen, but the sun is still too strong…”

Hina sighed.

When we were talking like that, my phone shook.

It was a RINE from Shiina.

[We’re going to the pool tomorrow, right?]

Ah, she remembered about it, it seemed. Unlike me.

[I don’t have a swimsuit and I don’t know what to do…]

That was the thing she sent me.

In short, she wanted me to help her pick a swimsuit for her.

I waited for her to send another text, but that was all of it.

As usual, a woman of few words.

Well, since we were at it, might as well.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hina, can I call Shiina here?”

When I asked, Hina blinked her eyes and asked me back,

“…Why?”

“That girl is having trouble choosing a swimsuit for herself.”

I showed her Shiina’s RINE message.

“Hahaha! Sure! Call her here.”

Since Hina gave her permission, I called Shiina here.

* * *

When I almost finished drinking my iced tea, Shiina arrived.

The girl had long hair and a cute face, cute enough that everyone who passed by her on the streets would inadvertently stare at her. But, her timid nature completely ruined her atmosphere.

She was wearing a white one piece.

An outfit that would never fit her previous life as a witch, but it completely suited her current appearance.

“H-Hello…”

Shiina, who was acting meek like a cat because Hina was here, greeted us in a low voice.

“Woah! You’re looking cute today too, Mai-chan! I love you!”

After saying that, Hina immediately hugged Shiina.

The girl being hugged flailed her hands around and turned her gaze toward me.

“Mmm! I knew it, Mai-chan smells nice~”

“Stop it. You’re bothering her.”

“Hehe, what, are you jealous? Only fellow girls are allowed to sexually harrass a cute girl like Mai-chan, you know?”

“A crime is still a crime, you know?”

I got up from my seat because if I were to leave them by themselves, they wouldn’t be stopping any time soon.

“Oi, let’s quickly finish what we’re here for.”

“Fine~”

Hina reluctantly moved away from Shiina.

In the meantime, I paid for our drinks. Seeing that, Hina widened her eyes in surprise.

“You’re paying for mine too? That is unusually thoughtful of you.”

“Unusual? You just never asked me to. I have plenty of money from my part-time jobs, you know?”

“Thank you then~”

Hina saluted me before dashing out of the store, leaving Shiina and I behind.

As I was about to tell her to not go on her own, Shiina suddenly started to speak.

“Did I get in your way or something?…”

I furrowed my brows for a moment, not understanding what she was talking about.

Did she think Hina and I were dating or what?

“Don’t think too much of it. Hina and I are just childhood friends, nothing more.”

Besides, we were the one who dragged her here. She didn’t have to feel bad about anything.

“I-I see… That’s a relief…”

For some reason, she looked happy.

What was she relieved about? The fact that she didn’t get in our way? It was probably that, right?

“We’ll lose sight of Kirishima-san, we should go after her quickly.”

Shiina grabbed the hem of my shirt and dragged me.

There was a soft smile on her face.

Lately, this girl has been smiling a lot.

Her smiles were really cute too… Wait, calm down, I shouldn’t let my thoughts wander like that!

I mean, I didn’t think of her that way. It was just the sight of her, who’d usually quarrel with me, smiling happily like this caught me off guard. There was nothing more to it.

“What’s wrong?”

Shiina tilted her head. For some reason, when I replied to her, my voice was a tone higher than usual.

“N-Nothing. L-Let’s go.”

I tried to keep myself calm, but there had been something that was bothering me.

She was too close to me!

I wanted to tell her about that, but seeing her humming happily next to me made me shut my mouth inadvertently. This wasn’t a new problem either. Ever since we became friends, she always kept an unusually close distance to me.

It felt troubling to me because, until recently, we were enemies.

In our previous life, we were a hero and a witch respectively. We always tried to kill each other everytime we met.

I always thought that, even though we became friends, there was no way that we’d become closer in a short period of time.

But Shiina seemed to be thinking differently.

Then again, she never had a friend before, so it was inevitable that she didn’t know that friends weren’t supposed to be this close.

Because of that, she seemed to be completely trusting me, her very first friend.

That was why she kept an unusually close distance to me. So close that I felt unusually nervous.

“Why are there so many people here?”

“It’s summer vacation. No one wants to stay outside in that kind of heat, I guess.”

Sometimes, our arms touched each other.

A sweet and soft scent tickled my nostrils.

Like Hina said, Shiina smelled nice.

This made me wonder if this girl realized that I was a man?

I won’t point it out though, since that’d make me sound like I’m conscious of her.

“Um… Do you think… I look weird?”

I wondered what she was talking about when she asked that question, then I realized that she was talking about her outfit.

Well, it was the kind of outfit she’d never used in her previous life.

She looked good in it though.

“Don’t worry, you don’t look weird at all.”

“Really? Shindou-san picked it for me the other day and I think it looks cute. I’ve been worried that it wouldn’t suit me, but since you said so, I don’t need to be worried then.”

What was the logic behind that? If I said it didn’t look weird then it didn’t look weird? What?

She patted her chest in relief.

In any case, it seemed like she had been getting along well with Yuuka and Hina.

“Oi! You two are too slow!”

Hina, who went on ahead, turned around and called to us. I walked toward her faster in response.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the swimsuit shop. There were a lot of people here, probably because it was summer. Though, the place itself was spacious, so their existence didn’t bother me that much.

Then, it came to me. How did I end up in this situation, having to pick up swimsuits for these two girls?

I didn’t mind if it was only Hina because we were childhood friends, but Shiina was a different story.

The first thing I saw in the shop was a mannequin wearing a revealing bikini.

I wonder if Shiina or the other girls would wear this? …A-Ahem.

“I won’t wear something like that.”

When I coughed, I could hear Hina’s cold voice in my ears.

I looked in her direction and saw both Hina and Shiina looking at me with disgusted gazes.

Shiina’s face was red though.

Did she realize that this was the kind of thing she’d wear in her previous life?

“I don’t know what you are even talking about. I’m going to buy my swimsuit first, see ya.”

I ran away to the men’s swimsuit section and took a simple looking swimsuit. It was a gray-colored one with a single line pattern on it. Well, this should do.

Honestly, men’s swimsuits all looked the same. I should be fine picking a safe looking one.

The only thing I needed to concern myself with was the size, but it looked like it’d fit me even if I didn’t try it on.

“You’re going to take that? That doesn’t look bad.”

Said Hina.

She was holding three or four swimsuits in her hands.

“What about you? You’re going to keep one of those?”

“Mhm. I’m going to try them out first, so help me pick one.”

She said with a big smile. Despite her light tone, doing it for her felt too stimulating for a healthy high school boy like me.

Despite what I felt inside, I nodded with a calm face. Calm yourself down, my evil desires!

On another hand, Shiina was still struggling to pick up a swimsuit of her own.

“T-This one is too flashy for my taste…”

“What are you on about? This is exactly the thing you’d use in your previous life.”

“T-That world and this world are different! B-Besides, this swimsuit is more revealing than the clothes I wore back then!”

Pleaded Shiina with a red face. At least, she was self-aware that her outfits in the previous life were outrageous…

“Unlike in my previous life… I’m not confident about how I look…”

“So it was because you were confident about how you looked that you flaunted your body around like that?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

An instant denial, but it didn’t sound convincing.

Just when I was thinking that I was going to treat her like a pervert from now on, Hina popped out from behind the curtain, followed by the sound of it being opened.

The first thing that caught my attention was her large chest that was held together by a white cloth. From there, I turned my gaze downward to her slim waist and the mini-skirt-like swimsuit. Whoops, I stared at her for too long.

“It looks good, doesn’t it? What do you think?”

Asked Hina, in which I replied,

“Not bad.”

Her thighs looked thick, probably because she worked out a lot as a member of the track team.

“…You look like you have something in mind, Godou.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

It had been a while since I heard Shiina’s cold tone. It made me both afraid and somewhat relieved.

“What do you think, Shiina?”

“I think she looks pretty.”

“Is that so? I’m glad you two think so! Well, since I brought the other swimsuits with me, might as well try them on too.”

After she said that, Hina closed the curtain again.

Almost immediately, Shiina dropped all pretense and glared at me.

“Your gaze was disgusting.”

“You misunderstood! Well, misunderstanding or not, it can’t be helped, okay? I’m a healthy high school boy!”

“Hah… Well, that means you have that kind of emotion at least. I’m relieved…”

“Do you think I’m an emotionless doll or what?”

As we were quarreling in a low voice like that, the curtain opened again.

Hina appeared with a pink swimsuit.

“Do you think this looks a little childish?”

“You still look good in it, nevertheless.”

Shiina said so, but it was true that she looked a little childish.

Normally, the clothes she wore would emphasize her beauty instead of her cute side like this. Though, the gap between the pretty and cute Hina emphasized her cute side even more.

“This looks like the one I used to wear, doesn’t it?”

Hina asked me.

“Ah, right, back in grade school, huh?”

“Mhm! Back when we were little, whenever we went to the pool together, I used to wear something like this, right?”

“Honestly, I barely even remember what you wore back then.”

“Hahaha, I knew you wouldn’t remember it. Well, to be fair, it was years ago…”

Hina laughed.

Honestly, I tend to forget my childhood memories.

Thanks to the memories of my previous life.

“…You two are childhood friends, huh?”

“I hate to admit it, but yes. We’ve known each other since pre-school, right?”

“Yeah.”

I’ve lived in Gunma all my life, so it wasn’t uncommon for me to have friends that I knew for a long time, but Hina was the only friend that I had since pre-school. At this point, I couldn’t imagine a life without her.

“Having to deal with this guy since pre-school… My condolences…”

“Finally, someone understands my pain! This guy is such a pain in the ass! He’s stubborn and the only thing he’s good at is moving his body around!”

“I know right? Not to mention he’s self-righteous, bossy and delusional.”

“Uh… I’m still here, you know? …Also, do you two really think of me like that?”

After I said that, both of them looked at me and laughed.

Oh well, as long as they were happy.

The routine of Hina trying out the swimsuit and me being scorned by both girls continued.

Then, Hina said, a little frustrated,

“Hm… I think I’ll take the first one. It’s a shame for the other ones… Well, whatever.”

Then, she closed the curtain after complaining that it was getting a little troublesome to change again.

Well, the first one fit her the most anyway.

“What about you? Have you decided which one you want?”

When I asked Shiina that question, she nodded and showed me a swimsuit.

It was a red bikini with frills on it and it looked quite flashy. I imagined her wearing this swimsuit… Nice. Yes.

“W-What do you think?”

“It doesn’t look bad. Gotta see you wearing it first to be sure though.”

“You want to see?…”

Asked Shiina with a smug look. I quickly shook my head in denial.

“Not really…”

“Is that so?…”

She muttered, looking slightly dejected. I don’t understand, what’s the right answer here?!

“It’s fine. I know that you don’t want to look at my unattractive body…”

Shiina showed me a dark smile.

Her complex about her current appearance was deeper than I thought.

‘You only realize the importance of someone when they are gone’, was that it?

Shiina sighed before saying,

“I guess I really shouldn’t go… I can’t swim anyway…”

“You can’t swim?”

When I asked that, she nodded while pouting. Well, I kinda expected that.

“I-I didn’t need to swim back in our previous life, okay?!”

“Yeah, but there is this thing called swimming class in this world, you know?”

“…I skipped them because I got scared.”

The famed Witch of Calamity was afraid of swimming pools?

“D-Don’t laugh at me!”

“I haven’t even started laughing yet.”

“You were about to!”

Scold me after I do the deed at least, please.

“I don’t care if I can’t swim or not! Besides, I’m just a normal high school girl now!”

“‘Normal high school girl’ normally should know how to swim, you know?”

When I said that, she slapped my back.

Well, I knew that she wasn’t athletic in the first place.

“If you can’t swim, why did you agree to go in the first place?”

If I were her, I wouldn’t even consider going to the vicinity of a swimming pool.

“…I mean, everyone went out their way to invite me. I didn’t want to turn them down.”

“You can always refuse, though, no one would complain.”

“I don’t wanna!”

“You don’t want to?!”

What a childish woman.

Why can’t she just be honest and say that she can’t swim instead of pushing herself like this?

“…I don’t want to be left out, okay? I want to play with everyone too!”

…Understandable.

I didn’t expect that answer though. Now, I didn’t know what to say to her.

I couldn’t see her expression from her because she hid her face, but I could see her ears reddening.

“I-I see…”

Suddenly acting meek like this, I didn’t know what to respond to her!

The air around us turned awkward and we fell into an uncomfortable silence that felt like it’d last forever.

Just as I was thinking about how to get away from here, Hina came out of the fitting room.

“What’s wrong, you two?”

“N-Nothing.”

Replying to the confused Hina, I pushed Shiina, who was still hiding her face.

“C’mon, you’re going to try on that swimsuit, right? Do it quickly.”

Shiina raised her face, nodded her head and stepped inside the fitting room with a determined look on her face.

…This kind of exchange wasn’t so bad. But, her recent meek responses made me kinda miss the old Shiina. I missed the days when she used to treat me coldly.

“…You two are getting along well lately.”

Whispered Hina. Her voice felt a little tense.

“Is that how it looks to you?”

Actually, I wasn’t so sure about her remarks. Ever since Shiina and I became friends, I had a lot of trouble adjusting to her sense of distance.

It was easier to communicate with her back when we were still enemies.

“Mai-chan looks really attached to you, you know?”

“Attached?…”

I tried to deny her words, but when I thought about it for a second, her words actually made sense.

Shiina probably had forgiven me for what I had done to her. I was just the one who was confused about this whole thing.

“Just a while ago, you two kept getting into arguments, but even then, you two looked like you were getting along well already. Right now, she acts meekly around you and you two seem to get even closer. So, what did you do to her?”

“Your question made it sound like I did something wrong to her…”

“Hehe, I was kidding~”

“…Well, if you’re wondering what happened, it’s just we finally became friends now.”

That was all there was to it.

I dragged her out of her comfort zone.

I became her friend and promised to her that I’d ease her suffering and make her happy.

After that, her attitude toward me softened.

“…Is it really all there is to it?”

“What do you mean?”

When I asked her that question, she just shook her head. What was she even thinking about?

“…Don’t mind it. I’ll keep it a secret from you, Godou.”

What the hell? Why can’t you just tell me?

I almost spit those words out, but I decided not to.

Because at the moment, Hina had an empty stare and her tone was unusually serious.

“U-Um… I’ve finished changing…”

Shiina peeked through a gap behind the curtain.

At that moment, Hina’s eyes sparkled.

“Let me see! Let me see!”

“N-No! I-I mean… W-Wait! W-Wait, please!”

Hina forcefully opened the curtain despite Shiina’s plea.

…Hina had her beaten completely in the chest area, but there was still plenty of meat there. Her body curved in the right places too. Meanwhile, her legs looked slender and smooth.

The deep red bikini covering the important parts of her body looked rather seductive on her.

She was hiding those important parts with her hands from my gaze.

Her gesture looked so cute, but it made me inadvertently turn my gaze away.

My guilty conscience couldn’t bear to look at her.

“D-Don’t look at me!”

Too late, I already looked toward the other side.

Still, if she didn’t want me to look at her, why did she even do this in the first place?

“Don’t be shy, Mai-chan! You’re cute!”

Hina snickered like an old man.

I couldn’t see what she was doing, but from their voices, I understood what was happening.

“Let’s see~ Your weak point is here!~”

“Ah! S-Stop touching me at weird places!”

Wait, what the hell were they doing?

We were still in a public place!

While I was struggling to decide whether I should jump in to stop their folly or not, Hina already stopped.

In any case, the swimsuit fitted Shiina perfectly.

“You sure you don’t want to look at her, Godou?”

“She said not to.”

“She’s just being shy! C’mon, take a look at this cutie~”

Hina grabbed me by the shoulders and forcefully turned my body around.

Suddenly, my eyes met with Shiina’s. She froze in place before panicking for a second, but she eventually settled down and placed both her hands on her back.

Her face was as red as tomato and she turned it away as if not to meet my gaze. Despite that, she showed me her swimsuit.

This uncharacteristic appearance of her made it hard for me to avert my gaze from her.

“…Say something.”

“…I-I think you’re cute.”

“…I-I see. I-I’m going to change back.”

She immediately closed the curtain again. My heart was beating loudly. What was going on?

I felt the urge to run away and go back home but, at the same time, I wanted to stay here.

…I should calm myself down.

I let out a deep breath and regained my composure immediately.

On the battlefield, keeping your emotions in check was a necessity.

Thanks to my training, I could regain my composure with a single deep breath.

My heartbeat started to slow down as well.

…Now that the adrenaline had subsided, a wave of embarrassment came rushing to me.

What the hell are we doing in this kind of place?

It was a good thing that there were no other people in our vicinity. If there were, it would be really embarrassing. Calling Shiina ‘cute’ was bad enough already, I didn’t need any more hits to my dignity…

I let out a sigh and turned my gaze to the side… Only to see Hina staring at me.

“W-What?”

“Nothing~”

Said Hina as she turned around.

After that, she just walked away from me. Since she was bringing her swimsuit around, she probably went to pay for it.

Not long after, Shiina came out of the fitting room and said that she’d be buying the red swimsuit after all.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at her, so I just nodded my head.

“What about you? Are you not going to try on yours?”

“No, it should be fine in my case.”

Unlike with women’s swimsuits where you’d need to consider the chest and waist size, men’s swimsuits were practically just shorts.

“It’s not fair, I want to see yours too…”

Muttered Shiina.

“I mean, you’ll see me wearing it tomorrow anyway…”

“Right… Now that I think about it, a lot of people will see me wearing that swimsuit…”

“…If you hate it, you don’t need to go, you know?”

Honestly, I didn’t want people to stare at her that much.

“It’s fine. Besides, I got to let you see it before anyone else…”

We had such a conversation as we stood in line and headed to the cash register.

…I wanted to ask what she meant by saying that, but I was too afraid to.

Lately, it was hard for me to say what was in my mind.

Talking to friends wasn’t supposed to be this hard, right?

While I was thinking of that, the cashier had finished counting everything.

“Hey~ Over here~”

Hina, who went ahead of us, waved at us.

“Look what I got~”

Even though we had finished what we came here for, it seemed like we’d still be staying for a while longer.

After that, Shiina was used as Hina’s dress-up doll for the rest of the day.

We only broke up after Shiina was exhausted.

* * *

The following day.

As planned, we went to the pool together.

There was a pool nearby that we could go to, but instead of going there, we went to the most famous one in the prefecture. To get there, we had to take a thirty minute train ride.

And so, we decided to meet up at Maebashi Station first at 9am.

Because my internal clock was a mess during the summer vacation, it was hard for me to wake up at nine. Though, that problem was resolved because Hina barged into my house and woke me up.

I got ready and went to the station.

“Are we too early?”

When we arrived, no one else was there.

If I knew this would be the case, I’d just go back to sleep instead.

“Better to be early than late. We have to fix that tardiness of yours.”

Said Hina. I couldn’t retort to her because I knew that she was right.

The station was deserted at this hour. The quiet atmosphere made it hard to believe that this was normally a bustling station. There was a McDonald’s nearby, so Hina and I went there to eat our breakfasts while waiting for the others.

The first one to appear was Yuuka.

As usual, she tied her black hair in a side tail. The simple short-sleeved shirts and long skirt matched her gentle-looking face and gave her a calm impression. Overall, her outfit fitted her personality perfectly.

“Good morning. It’s been a while, Godou. When was the last time we hung out together, again?”

“The last day of school, so it’s been a while. I heard you hung out with Hina a couple of times?”

“Mhm! She always called me whenever she wanted to go shopping. Why didn’t you join in?”

“Hina never invited me. Well, you guys probably hung out when I had a shift.”

“That’s one reason. But the real reason why I didn’t invite you is that you are always trying to find a reason to go home early.”

“Because you always take a long time to shop!”

I went shopping with Hina occasionally, but doing it with her was extremely tiring. I knew that girls normally took their time to shop, thanks to my mom’s guidance, but Hina’s shopping time easily doubles your average girl’s.

While I was getting fed up by the thoughts of accompanying Hina shopping, Shinji sent me a RINE.

I told him to go to McDonald’s and he sent a sticker of a bear chasing after butterflies. I didn’t know what he was trying to convey here.

I asked Yuuka, who was drinking her coffee.

“Why aren’t you with Shinji?”

“Why are you asking that? We aren’t always together, okay!”

Her lips twitched a bit in dissatisfaction.

At that moment, Shinji came over to our seats.

“We actually went together. She said that she doesn’t want you guys to get the wrong idea, so she made me hide in the toilet and went ahead to meet up with you guys.”

“S-Shinji!”

Yuuka blushed and tried to block Shinji’s mouth with her hands, but the latter parried her move well and sat down right next to her. Seeing her plan failing, Yuuka puffed her cheeks.

“You should just keep quiet, dude.”

Though, seeing the normally calm and composed Yuuka being this upset was quite something.

“I was going to, but the timing was just right.”

Shinji shrugged his shoulders as he let out his usual frivolous smile.

He was wearing a short sleeved blue shirt and black loose shorts. There was a silver necklace hanging by his neck and a watch on his wrist. He also wore cool-looking sandals.

Overall, he looked stylish and fashionable. The gap between his appearance and mine was like heaven and earth.

“Hehe, you two are as close as ever.”

“We are not! I brought him with me because I was afraid that he’d be late!”

“Sure, sure~”

Hina shrugged off Yuuka’s excuse..

“You’re such a handful.”

I said to Shinji.

“Look at yourself in the mirror. You’re as tardy as me.”

“For the record, I came here fifteen minutes earlier than you.”

“Only because Hina dragged you out of your bed earlier.”

Even without Hina, I knew that I was a better person than him.

“You both are the same.”

Muttered Yuuka as she stared at our quarrels.

And so, the four group of friends gathered inside the Maebashi Station’s McDonald’s in the early hour.

“Only Mai-chan left, right?” Hina asked.

I looked at my watch and noticed that it was already nine. It was unusual for her to be late. That girl was the kind of person who’d wait for an hour before the appointed time. Did something happen to her?

“I’ll give her a call.”

Just as I said that and opened my phone, Shiina called me.

{S-Sorry! I-I’m almost there… I think…}

I could hear her rough breathing over the phone. Is she running?

“Alright. What happened to you, though?”

Something big must have happened if Shiina, out of all people, was late.

{U-Um… I-I got lost…}

Her response broke my serious mood.

“Eh…”

Right, even back in her previous life, she had no sense of direction whatsoever.

{I-I haven’t used the train much, okay?! I-It’s a given that I’d be lost!}

Excuses.

Even though she hadn’t used the train much, how could she not know where the station was?

She had been living here since July, how could she not know about this?

“Whatever. We’re at the McDonald’s in the station, so come here quickly.”

Honestly, I didn’t understand what was going on in that head of hers. I had a premonition that something messy was about to happen today.

* * *

A few minutes later, we left the McDonald’s and met up with Shiina at the entrance.

She was wearing a white blouse and black shorts. Her long black hair was tied to a ponytail.

I saw her in her casual outfit just yesterday and today she wore a different style of outfit. For a clumsy girl like her, she was surprisingly stylish…

“Woah, Mai-chan in a ponytail! Cutie!”

When Shiina was still apologizing with teary eyes, Hina hugged her with a twinkle in her eyes.

“You’re only three minutes late, no need to apologize.”

“T-Thank you…”

When Yuuka smiled calmly at her, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Yuuka led the way and the rest of us followed behind her.

Honestly, I didn’t know the way to the pool, but Hina and Yuuka should know it.

Although the students were having their summer vacation, the adults were still working. Thanks to that, the train was empty. Everyone was sitting side by side. Shiina sat on my left.

…For some reason, she sat really close to me. Our arms even touched.

Shinji, who sat on the left side of Shiina, looked at me with bafflement. From his point of view it felt like Shiina was avoiding him.

“I-I’m so nervous…”

Whispered Shiina to me.

“Why?”

I should be the one who’s nervous here.

“I never went to the pool with my friends before…”

“Correction, it’s your first time hanging out with your friends.”

When I teased her like that, she retorted,

“The karaoke counts, okay?! A-Anyway, this is the first time I’m riding a train with everyone…”

I understood what she meant. Unlike back when we went karaoke together, today’s outing had a different feeling to it.

“W-What am I supposed to do in the pool?”

“Swim. If you can swim, it’ll be fun playing around in the pool.”

After I said that, I remembered that she told me that she couldn’t swim just the other day.

“…You’re going to teach me how to swim, right?”

When she looked at me with a nervous gaze, I turned my head away.

“I-I’ll do my best…”

With her physical abilities, it would be hard for her to be able to swim right away.

Still, she seemed to be bringing a float with her, so she’d be able to have fun on her own.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better if Hina or Yuuka were to teach you instead?”

When I asked her that, she tilted her head.

“…How so?”

“I mean, you know…”

If I were to teach her how to swim, I might accidentally touch her body or something…

Gradually, her face turned red as she understood what I was talking about.

“I-If it’s you… I-I don’t mind…”

She turned her head after muttering something like that.

…

No, wait, what the hell was that?!

You don’t mind? What?!

Seriously, she drove me crazy. She always said something like this nowadays, I couldn’t understand her anymore!

“…”

“…”

And so, we fell to silence.

The air between us turned awkward.

When I tried to look around, there were only empty seats around us. Shinji, who sat next to Shiina, was absorbed in his phone game. Hina and Yuuka were planning our schedule while looking at a pamphlet.

I couldn’t bring any of them to the conversation.

What should I do now?!

Unaware of my inner thoughts, Shiina smiled and said,

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“…Yeah, me too.”

I smiled wryly in response.

The former witch, Shiina Mai, managed to smile from the bottom of her heart. I didn’t want anything much. If I could be part of the reason behind that smile, that would be enough for me.

* * *

After riding the train for thirty minutes, we finally arrived at our destination, the swimming pool.

It was one of the largest swimming pools in the whole Kanto Region, located in Kiryu City. In the past, I went there once with my family and I remembered that the place was really large and it was fun playing around there. However, the place was quite crowded currently, most likely because it was summer vacation.

“Ugh, it’s so crowded…”

Said Hina while smiling wryly. To that, Shinji responded while fanning his face with his hand,

“Let’s get in quickly. I can’t stand the heat anymore.”

“Same.”

The heat was starting to eat our soul away.

“It’s great that this place is an indoor pool. If it was outdoor, I’d surely die of dehydration.”

“Straighten your back, Shinji, you look so disheveled.”

“This heat melted my spine, I can’t straighten it back.”

After checking on Shinji and Yuuka, who were talking to each other, I checked on Shiina.

“P-People… T-There are… T-Too many…”

She was about to faint. Not because of heatstroke, but because of the crowd.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t normally come to crowded places like this…”

She grabbed my sleeve as she said that. If it was any other girl who did it, I’d suspect that she was trying to seduce me somehow, but since it was Shiina, who wouldn’t even think of doing it, I just let her do whatever she wanted.

“Well, it’s only the entrance that’s this crowded. It should be better when we get inside.”

Shiina nodded after hearing my words.

* * *

After that, we bought our tickets, entered the facility and headed to the changing rooms.

Since the changing rooms were separated by gender, obviously, only Shinji went with me.

“Ah, I’m excited!”

“What for?”

“You know what I’m talking about, c’mon!”

He poked me on the shoulder.

I guess he was talking about the girls’ swimsuits. I saw Hina’s and Shiina’s just the other day.

Even so, I still felt nervous by the thought of them wearing their swimsuits somehow.

“Summer is all about swimsuits!”

“It’s about the beach or the pool. You’re too straightforward, dude.”

I retorted while changing my clothes. Hearing my response, he chided me and said, “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Look, ultimately, as long as we get to see the girls in their swimsuits, everything else shouldn’t matter.”

“That’s a little bit too far…”

“What? Are you still a man? Or have you turned into an ascetic already?”

“I don’t get why are you so hyped up about this? You’re used to seeing girls in nude, aren’t you? Why do swimsuits make you this excited?”

“Idiot! That is that and this is this!”

I left the changing room after changing my clothes, ignoring Shinji who started to rant about something irrelevant.

Rather than listening to his dumb speech, I’d rather meet up with the girls first.

Anyway, the inside of the facility was less crowded than the entrance.

Shiina would be able to play around in peace now, good for her.

“Oi oi, don’t leave me!”

Sadly, before I was reunited with the girls, Shinji caught up to me first.

Well, even after all those unnecessary chatters, we boys changed quicker than the girls, so this was a given, I guess.

“Oh, I sense a beautiful girl over there! Over there too! There’s an Onee-san in a bikini over there!”

“Stop that.”

This guy just turned into a full-blown pervert.

“Uwah…”

I heard a disappointed voice from behind, so I turned around. There, I found the three girls in their swimsuits. Yuuka was looking at Shinji with a disappointed gaze, Hina was giggling beside her and Shiina looked nervous because of the crowd.

“I regret bringing him with me.”

Said Yuuka. She was wearing a black bikini and it showed more skin than the other two did. Perhaps because she heard Shinji talking about an Onee-san in a bikini, she looked uncomfortable when looking at him.

“But, didn’t Shinji pick out your swimsuit for you?”

Hina tilted her head. In that instant, Yuuka’s face turned red.

“Don’t say anything unnecessary!”

“Ah, h-hey! Ahaha! S-Stop tickling me! H-Haha!”

Yuuka tickled Hina’s side, while the latter tried to escape from the former’s grasp.

…Hina’s chest shook wildly because of that. Gotta say, this was a nice sight.

“So, it was you who picked that swimsuit.”

“It fits her. She looks cute in it and with that kind of smooth skin, she can pull off the look easily.”

“But, it’s the swimming pool. People are going to stare at her, you know? Are you okay with that?”

Shinji thought for a moment before answering,

“I’ll let them off the hook for now.”

“…Why are YOU the one who decides that?”

Yuuka glared at Shinji as he said that, but her glare lacked the usual hostility behind it.

I noticed that Shiina had been silent for a while, so I glanced toward her direction… Only to find her touching her own chest. What the hell is she doing?

“S-Shiina?”

When I called out to her, she panicked and put her hands away.

“D-Don’t mind me!”

“W-What were you doing with your chest?…”

“I-I didn’t do anything! I-I was just… Jealous…”

She whispered before turning her gaze to Hina and Yuuka.

I see. Compared to her, Hina got an outrageously big chest and Yuuka got something close to that. If it was her previous body, Shiina might get a fighting chance, but with her current body, it was her complete defeat.

“…Boys like it bigger, don’t they?”

Shiina asked me with a look of despair. I gotta say something to her, quickly!

“W-Well, generally, yes?”

I turned my face away and answered her question.

“I see…”

She let out a deep sigh.

I continued,

“But, I personally don’t care much about it… Small chests have their own charm…”

I said that without thinking. Seriously, why the hell were we talking about this in the first place?!

“Really?”

She was probably staring at my face really hard now.

I wouldn’t know because I was trying really hard not to look at her. I felt her gaze on me, though.

“Why are you staring at me like this?”

“Because you won’t look me in the eye!”

I had no choice but to make eye contact with her.

She was as beautiful as ever today.

Objectively beautiful, okay? Not subjectively.

“Satisfied now?”

When I asked, Shiina nodded.

“Yes. Lately, you kept avoiding making eye contact with me…”

Shiina giggled as she said that. I couldn’t say anything to her.

“Let’s stop talking and have some fun!”

Said Yuuka with a cheerful voice. It seemed like she was done messing around with Hina.

Thank God, she didn’t hear our embarrassing conversation.

…Well, Shinji seemed to hear us, but I pretended not to notice him.

* * *

Before doing anything, we spread a sheet near the edge of the room and secured a place to sit on.

Yuuka and Hina prepared the area well. After we were done placing our luggages on the sheet, Hina held her hand to the sky and said energetically,

“Let’s go to the flowing pool!”

Everyone raised their hands in unison, including Shiina, though she wasn’t as energetic as the rest of us.

We then headed toward the flowing pool. Shiina had a float in her arm.

“What’s a flowing pool anyway?”

“Hm… It’s a donut-looking pool with a stream of water running through it.”

I didn’t know the details, but it sounded about right.

“Do you swim there?”

“If you want to. There’s a stream there, so it’s enough to just float around. The pool itself is shallow, so you can stand there. You don’t need to worry about drowning. If you’re still scared, you can just hold on to your float.”

“G-Got it…”

Shiina clenched her fists and placed them in front of her chest.

You don’t need that kind of determination to go there.

Meanwhile, Yuuka and Hina jumped into the water while screaming. Shinji followed along while sitting on a float while floating lazily inside the pool.

Shiina tried to get into the water, but got scared when her toe touched it. She then looked at me with teary eyes.

“If you don’t get in there quickly, everyone will leave you behind.”

“I-I know! It’s all gonna be okay… It’s okay…”

Her voice was trembling. Was she really okay?

I entered the water first and offered my hand to her. She took my hand as she slowly got into the water. What a troublesome woman.

When I let out a sigh, I felt a soft sensation on my right arm. Almost instantly, my heart started to beat faster.

“H-Hey! I-Idiot, why are you clinging to me?!”

“I-I’m scared, okay!”

“Calm down first! I told you the pool is shallow! You can stand in the water!”

After I said that, she noticed that her feet actually touched the bottom of the pool. Then, she immediately scurried away from me with a red face. I felt lukewarm gazes all around us. Help me…

“Here’s your float.”

I placed the float on her head and pulled it down to her waist. While scowling, Shiina grabbed the sides of the float and started to float away following the stream.

“W-Waah, I-I’m being swept away!”

“Let it be. You’ll get used to it quickly.”

I placed my hand on her float and floated next to her while occasionally dodging people around us. Shiina looked nervous for a while, but her expression gradually turned relaxed.

“It feels good.”

“Good for you. I feel tired already.”

When I said that while shrugging my shoulders, Shiina apologized,

“I’m sorry… I troubled you so much today…”

…C’mon, if you apologize earnestly like that, I’d feel bad.

It felt like I was guilt tripping her somehow.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re friends.”

When I said that, she beamed.

“Thank you.”

Right at that moment, someone came out of the water right in front of us.

“Pwah! Heya~ Doing good?”

She was wearing a pair of goggles, but I could tell that she was Hina.

“You’re too energetic, you know that? Take a look at Shinji, he’s enjoying life properly over there.”

I pointed at Shinji, who was floating lazily while gazing at the sky. Seriously, what the hell was he doing?

“Are you having fun, Mai-chan?”

“Yes, I’m having fun. Though, I was a little scared at first…”

Hina looked puzzled, so I explained to her,

“She can’t swim.”

“Eh?! Then, you didn’t need to force yourself to follow us!”

“No, it’s fine… If I don’t do this, I won’t be able to have fun with everyone…”

Perhaps she was moved by Shiina’s words, Hina’s eyes twinkled.

“Mai-chan! I love you!”

Then, she tackled Shiina and hugged her.

After that, came a big splash of water.

The float turned upside down. Not long after both of them came out from below it.

“Oi, don’t do that. She’ll drown.”

I warned, but Hina didn’t listen to me at all.

The two girls stared at each other and laughed soon after. I don’t understand those two.

Looking at her like this, Shiina looked like a normal high school girl.

“C’mon, you should join us too!”

“What are you doing?! It’s going to flip— Woah!”

Meanwhile in front of us, Yuuka forcibly pulled Shinji away from his float.

Soon after that, there was a big splash of water. Yuuka turned toward us and gave us a peace sign.

Then, Shinji appeared from the water, grabbed her shoulders and dragged her down into the water. Another big splash of water appeared as both Shiina and Hina laughed at the sight.

Everyone was having fun, good for them.

…By the way, both Yuuka and Shinji seemed to not mind touching each other. They were scuffling in the water, though from my position, they seemed to be hugging instead. How envious.

Meanwhile, I felt nervous whenever Shiina touched me.

“Everyone, let’s go to the slide!”

Taking Hina’s words as a cue, we left the flowing pool. Both Hina and Yuuka energetically went to the slide. Meanwhile Shiina…

“That… I don’t think I can…”

“Well, you can’t swim, so you shouldn’t push yourself.”

“No, I’m bad with things like that in the first place… I can’t even ride a roller coaster…”

“You flew with a broomstick back in your previous life. What are you so scared about?”

It wasn’t like she was afraid of heights. Shiina’s lips twitched as she spoke,

“I can control my broomstick, but I can’t control those!”

I see…

I don’t understand at all.

“Besides, I’m tired.”

“Alright, let’s just stay here until everyone comes back.”

“Mm… I’m going to the toilet first.”

She said before going to the toilet by herself. I sat down and enjoyed this quiet time by myself.

Then, suddenly Shinji came to me with a can of coffee in both arms. He threw one of them at me.

“You’re not going to the slide?”

I caught the can and opened it.

“Nope, not in the mood for it.”

He sat down next to me and wiped his hair with a towel.

“Shiina-san is so attached to you.”

“…You think so too, huh?”

I guess that was what it looked like from an outsider’s perspective.

“No matter how you look at it, you two look like an idiotic couple, flirting in front of everyone like that.”

“Ugh…”

His words stung my heart.

I had a feeling that we looked like that from everyone else’s perspective, but when someone actually pointed it out at me, it felt really embarrassing.

This all happened because Shiina didn’t have a sense of distance. I should teach her quickly about this. If she were to treat everyone like she treated me, people would be bound to misunderstand her.

“So, what are you going to do about this?”

I didn’t know what he meant by that question.

Even so, at least I knew that he was being serious.

Normally, he’d laugh carefreely in this kind of situation, but right now, he stared at me without any hint of being playful.

“…What do you mean?”

I thought about it, but I still couldn’t understand his question.

So, I asked back. Shinji placed his coffee down silently.

Silence enveloped us. After a while, he opened his mouth to speak,

“Looking at you two like that, it’s hurting Hina, don’t you know that?”

“…Are you sure she isn’t just sick or something?”

We’ve known each other since we were kids, so I knew that Hina had been forcing herself for a while now.

She always tried to act a little more cheerful whenever she was feeling down.

But, unlike the guy beside me, I wasn’t that perceptive, I didn’t know the reason why she was feeling down in the first place.

Shinji said that she was hurt, but I simply couldn’t understand why.

He stared at my troubled face. It seemed like he understood what was in my mind, so he told me,

“I know you’re dense and all, but before I’m telling you everything, you have to sort out your feelings first.”

…His answer only made me even more confused.

I trusted his words, though. Based on my experience, he was never wrong in this kind of situation.

“…Huh, Kudou-san is here too?”

At that moment, Shiina returned from the toilet.

“Yeah. I’m getting old, I get tired quickly.”

“…Aren’t we the same age?”

Shiina giggled at Shinji’s joke before sitting down next to me.

Lately, this girl has become more comfortable with our group of friends as she was able to talk with the others normally. Though, it didn’t seem like she’s going to drop the honorifics on everyone’s names.

“I’m an old man mentally.”

Both of us remained silent after hearing that joke. He was taken aback by our reaction. I mean, both of us had memories from our previous lives, so we didn’t find the joke funny.

…Rather, the fact that he was more mature than us was funnier than the joke.

I whispered to Shiina,

“…If we were to count our ages from our previous lives, we’d be over thirty right now.”

I felt like an old man now.

“N-No, that’s not how it works. We didn’t immediately remember our previous lives, so we can’t just add our total ages like that!”

Said Shiina in a trembling voice.

What she was saying was correct, but it wasn’t convincing because of her rapid fire speech.

“In the first place, Shiina Mai and Cerys Flores are two different people! You said so, didn’t you?!”

“Don’t use my inspirational speech to make yourself sound younger!”

“I’m not old! Don’t you dare call me old!”

While we were arguing, Shinji shrugged his shoulders.

“Stop flirting in front of me…”

“W-We are not!”

I glanced at Shiina while denying his claim. For some reason, her cheeks were flushed.

Seeing her like that made me feel embarrassed too.

After seeing us, Shinji held his forehead.

He probably didn’t know what to say to us.

* * *

A while later, Yuuka and Hina returned.

After that, everyone sat together on the sheet while resting and discussing what we should do next.

“What should we do? It’s still too early for lunch.”

I glanced at the clock and realized that Yuuka was right as it was still 10.30.

“I wanna go to the pool over there with Godou. It’s been a while since we’ve fought!”

Hina took on a stance.

Then, she lightly tapped my chest with her fist.

“Sure, but you should be aware that no matter how much you try, you’ll never defeat me.”

Hina had always tried to challenge me in all sorts of competitions, including but not limited to running and swimming.

But, no matter how much she tried, she could never defeat me except in studying. Gender differences aside, I was a hero in my previous life, my basic specs were ahead of your average joe to begin with.

“I’m going to win this time! Just wait and see!”

She pointed her finger at me before walking toward the pool.

It seemed like she had regained some of her vigor. I guess playing around in this place helped her with that.

I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but as long as she looked this cheerful, everything should be okay.

As I was thinking about this, I felt someone staring at me from the side.

It was Shiina.

“Ah… U-Um… Good luck?”

Why did she sound so unsure? Well, whatever. I nodded at her while making a strong fist.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now… But your muscles are something…”

She was staring at my body for some reason.

Well, I knew that my muscles were noticeable if I was dressed like this.

“It’s because I trained them well. There are no downsides to having more strength, you know?”

Even though I stopped trying to sacrifice my well-being for others, I still continued to help them. For that reason, having more strength would help.

After all, it was only with strength that I could choose whether I’d help someone or not.

If I were unable to help someone who was asking for my help, I’d never forgive myself.

Ever since I regained my memory, I had been training my muscles and I continued to do so.

Suddenly, Yuuka joined in between our conversations.

“Right! I didn’t notice it when you had your shirt on, but your muscles are quite something!”

She proceeded to touch my belly. It tickled.

Shinji was staring at me with an envious gaze. This isn’t my fault, stop staring at me like that!

Yuuka then proceeded to lecture Shinji while pointing at me.

“C’mon, Shinji, follow his example and start training your muscles!”

“I don’t want you to lump me together with him. Also, I have some muscles too, you know?”

“Lies.”

“At least I don’t have excess fat in my belly.”

“W-What?! H-Hey!”

Yuuka blushed and became angry as Shinji said something unnecessary again.

Shinji ran toward the pool and Yuuka chased after him.

They got along well, good for them.

On the other hand, Hina was busy warming up for our ‘fight’. Her atmosphere was completely serious.

“Godou! I’m risking my life here, why are you so relaxed?!”

“My bad, my bad. Alright, let’s do it.”

Hina called out to me, clearly frustrated. Since she was so eager, I decided to take her seriously.

We competed in 50-meter freestyle swimming.

Needless to know, I completely overwhelmed her.

“Ugh…”

She was frustrated with the outcome. This girl really hated to lose.

Well, the more time passes, the more pronounced the gender difference gets.

Aside from that, in her case specifically, she had to deal with the water resistance due to her massive… Ahem…

“…Your gaze is disgusting.”

“W-What do you mean by that?”

Hina glared at me as I whistled to avoid her glare.

Then, she let out a deep sigh before tilting her head in puzzlement.

“Where did Mai-chan go?”

I looked around.

I saw Shinji and Yuuka swimming, but I failed to see Shiina anywhere.

…But there was a big splash of water in the middle of the pool.

“Could it be…”

I had a bad feeling about it, so I immediately swam in that direction. When I got closer, I saw the idiot flailing her limbs around. I didn’t know how she got there, but she was clearly drowning!

I held her body and dragged her to the surface.

At this point, I stopped caring about touching her or whatnot.

She was in danger!

“Hey, are you okay?!”

“Cough …S-Sorry… The pool is deeper than I thought…”

Shiina then clung to me tightly. She looked frightened.

“Seriously, you…”

I let out a sigh of relief.

At least the water didn’t enter her lungs or something.

She only coughed a lot, but she didn’t seem to be in any serious danger.

As I felt relieved by that fact, I became conscious of the sensation of her clinging to my body.

“Are you okay, Mai-chan?!”

Hina asked when she caught up with me.

Shinji and Yuuka also came over after finding out that something wrong had happened.

In any case, I pulled Shiina out of the pool first. When we got out, she apologized with a sullen expression.

“…Sorry, I troubled everyone.”

“It’s fine, as long as you’re okay in the end.”

Hina patted her chest, relieved.

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. It’s Godou’s fault that he didn’t look over you properly even though he knows that you can’t swim.”

“…Why are you acting like you didn’t do anything wrong at all?”

Yuuka glared at Shinji, who was acting pompous like usual.

And so, both of them also ended up comforting the depressed looking Shiina.

Shiina, who was on the verge of tears earlier, looked at this scene with a dumbfounded look.

“…See? You don’t need to worry. No one blames you.”

When I whispered this to her, Shiina looked at me with a serious look.

“Everyone knows you’re an airhead, so don’t worry.”

I said that one loudly for everyone else to hear it. They laughed.

“Well, I know that you’re bad in P.E. and stuff…”

Said Shinji while shrugging.

“You’re always so fidgety too~”

Said Yuuka while giggling.

“You don’t need to worry though, your clumsiness is what makes you cute!”

Hina probably said that to make her feel better, but she didn’t deny that the girl was clumsy.

Everyone looked at Shiina with warm gazes.

See, Shiina? You don’t need to worry.

Everyone here is your friend.

Even if you don’t think so, they all think of you as their friend.

So, there’s no need to be afraid. You can be happy in this world.

Perhaps, our feelings reached her. She mustered her courage and shouted,

“I’m not an airhead!”

Though, the content of her shout wasn’t really convincing.

* * *

Before I noticed, the hand of the clock pointed at three.

“I’m tired…”

After eating our lunch, we went around the building to play.

A long time passed before we knew it.

I changed from my swimsuit and sat down at the break area on the second floor of the building.

The wall of the break area was made of glass, so I could see the pool from up here.

This place seemed like a perfect place for the parents to take a break while watching over their children playing inside the pool. In fact, almost everyone here looked older than me, there were barely any teenagers like me here. Thanks to that, the atmosphere was quiet and comfortable.

I licked the soft-serve I bought at the stand as I stared blankly at the pool.

Yuuka and Shinji were still playing there.

They really went all out today, huh? Well, Yuuka did, as Shinji was just being dragged around by her.

…Today was really fun. I hope that everyone also felt the same way.

Shiina seemed to be having fun too, even though she occasionally made a mess here and there.

When I was thinking like that, someone approached me from behind.

“Can I sit next to you?…”

I didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Shiina.

She sat beside me without waiting for my answer. Why the hell did she ask me in the first place then?

Also, that seat was Hina’s… Oh well…

“I’m so tired…”

“Wait, you can get tired?”

“I’m not a hero anymore, of course. No matter how much I work out, I still won’t be able to have endless stamina like before.”

When I said that, Shiina giggled and smiled at me.

After that, we fell into silence. A comfortable silence.

Suddenly, Shiina opened her mouth.

“…Do you remember what you said back before we became friends?”

“D-Don’t remind me of that… I said a lot of embarrassing lines…”

It made me roll around my bed whenever I tried to remember it. It was a black history of mine.

‘Be my friend.’

‘I’ll still be by your side. I’ll be the only one who loves you in this world. That’s why, I’ll remove both curses out of your heart and soul.’

‘I’ll save you! I’ll make you happy! So, be my friend and let yourself be saved by me! I’m the hero who has saved the other world, you know? I’m more than reliable enough to save you. So, rely on me. Don’t keep everything to yourself. Talk to me if you need help. That’s what friends are for, at least that’s what Hina told me.’

‘Also, if you were to be my friend… I can be your exclusive hero.’

Stop! My brain! Stop replaying those lines! Aaaaahh!!

As I was dying of cringe, Shiina said,

“You don’t need to be embarrassed about it. That day was the happiest day of my life. Thanks to your words, my curse has been lifted…”

Her gentle tone surprised me. I turned my gaze to her.

She was looking at me. Her gaze made it look like she was looking at something dear to her.

“I know this is a little early, but I want to thank you properly.”

I had been unable to look at her eyes for a while.

So, when I saw this expression of hers, it felt like I was being dragged in by those clear black eyes of hers.

“Thanks to you, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Her smile was akin to a flower blooming under the sunlight.

“You’ve saved me and you’ve made me happy, my exclusive hero. Thank you.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off that smile.

I wanted to burn this sight to my brain, but I couldn’t. For some reason, my sight started to blur.

“W-Why are you crying?”

“…Huh?”

After hearing Shiina’s panicked voice, I finally realized that it was my tears that clouded my sight.

A man shouldn’t cry like this, how pathetic. I tried to stop them from coming out, but it was futile. Instead, it flowed even harder than before.

“M-My bad…”

Why am I crying?

I don’t know. All I knew was that I’ve always wanted to hear those words.

Ever since I heard about her past.

I always wanted to see her smile. I always wanted her to learn about happiness.

That was why I was willing to become the enemy of the world.

“…I’m glad.”

From the bottom of my heart, I felt genuinely happy for her. I had never felt this much happiness before.

The curse that was bound to my heart had slowly been lifted.

Everyone in that world, even the witch herself kept telling me that my choice was a mistake. But Shiina thanked me for that. My choice wasn’t a mistake. I was finally rewarded for all my sacrifices.

“A-Anyway, use my handkerchief!”

I accepted the handkerchief from the panicking Shiina. After I wiped the tears off for a while, it finally stopped coming out of my eyes.

Shiina let out a sigh of relief after seeing that.

As I regained my composure, a wave of embarrassment came over me. I couldn’t believe that I started crying out of nowhere like that.

People around us were staring at us strangely.

Of course they would be. A high school boy suddenly crying at a public place like this…

I could hear some of them whispering something about love quarrels and stuff.

In any case, I succeeded in adding another page to my black history.

“Seriously, did you start crying because you felt that happy?…”

To Shiina’s teasing, I just nodded my head.

“Yeah…”

“Huh?”

“I’m really happy to hear that…”

When I told her my honest feelings, she went quiet.

I stared at her, who was hiding her beet red face.

When I saw this cute and lovely sight of her, I finally realized my feelings toward her.

Ah, I love her so much…

Suddenly, my heart started to race.

It was beating so loudly that I suspected Shiina was able to hear it from where she was.

…Actually, I noticed this feeling of mine earlier than this, but I always pretended not to notice it.

But, when I saw that smile, it was hard to fool myself anymore.

I loved Shiina Mai. Not as a friend, but as a woman.

I hated to admit it, but that was my true feelings.

“Shiina…”

When I finally admitted it, it felt better than I thought it would be.

I loved her, I wanted to hug her so badly.

“What is it?”

“I found something I want to do.”

I told her with a smile.

Ever since the day when Hina scolded me, I had been looking for a new goal to achieve.

Something that I wanted to do. I wanted to decide how to live my own life.

But it was difficult for me. After all, for the longest time, I had been living according to my heroic codes. Hell, I couldn’t even admit my own feelings until today. But now, I finally realized what I wanted to do.

I wanted to always stay by her side.

I wanted to get to know her better.

…I wanted to kiss her again.

“…I see.”

Shiina blinked her eyes before smiling happily.

“That’s great. Do you mind telling me about it?”

She asked that with an innocent smile on her face. Immediately after that, my face heated up.

What the hell was I doing? Of course, she would ask about it if I were to say it like that.

I didn’t even have the courage to confess yet. It hadn’t been an hour since I realized my feelings, it was too early to confess…

“I-It’s a secret!”

“Don’t give me that! Tell me!”

When I tried to hide it from her, she pressed me even more aggressively instead.

“I-I’ll tell you when the time is right!”

Eventually, I’ll tell her. Just not now.

I liked her and I wanted to get to know her better.

To do that, I have to confess to her and get into a relationship with her.

However, there was no need for me to rush things. After all, if she were to reject me, then everything would be over for me.

First of all, I should deepen our friendship first and make her look at me more favorably.

…As for how, I don’t know.

This was going to be difficult, wasn’t it?

Would this troublesome woman even fall in love with someone that easily in the first place?

Besides, we used to be enemies. We were friends now, but her starting affection points were in the negative, so this was trickier than normal. This was more difficult than I thought.

“W-Why do you look so down? You’re more expressive than usual today…”

Said Shiina with a confused look. Of course she would be confused.

I was confused by my own feelings too, let alone her.

“I can’t believe that you’re the man who never laughed back in your previous life.”

As Shiina said, I was a different man from my previous life.

Back then, I always tried to hide my emotions.

“…Well, my current self is better than back then at least.”

Nevertheless, we couldn’t be stuck in the past forever. We weren’t Grey Handlet and Cerys Flores anymore. We were Shiraishi Godou and Shiina Mai.

When I told her this, Shiina laughed.

“Yeah, it’s easier to guess what you’re thinking right now compared to back then. You were more scary back then…”

“Scary? How so?”

“It was hard to pick the conversation deck when I talked with you. I mean, I couldn’t read what was in your mind, after all…”

This girl actually prepared conversation decks to talk with me?

“Isn’t it just because you have no social skills whatsoever?”

“S-So what?! Humans are innately scary, you know?!”

Shiina started to make some absurd claims, so I tried to calm her down. As I was doing that, I heard footsteps approaching us.

I glanced over my shoulder to see an exhausted looking Yuuka and Shinji.

“I-I’m tired… I can’t believe I went around playing that much…”

“If you’re this tired, then think about how I feel… Huh, what’s wrong, you two? Did you two fight again?”

“We didn’t! This man just keeps abusing me!”

Shiina had become better at talking with everyone after the previous event at the pool. Now, she was able to talk with a normal tone with everyone other than me.

“Eh?! Why are you being so mean to her, Godou?!”

But, for some reason everyone always took her side whenever something happened. I hope that they’ll realize one day that everything that came out of this woman’s mouth was pure nonsense.

“Well, Godou is always a sinful man, we all know this.”

While Yuuka was standing firmly on Shiina’s side, Shinji started to insult me instead.

He ignored my hostile glare and looked around.

“By the way, where did Hina go?”

“Ah, come to think of it, she disappeared for a while now…”

Until a while ago, the place where Shiina sat was Hina’s.

Shiina came right after Hina went to the toilet.

But it had been more than ten minutes since she left, she was awfully late.

“She said she went to the toilet, but…”

“Maybe she has an upset stomach?…”

Muttered Yuuka. Then, I heard someone approaching us from behind.

Yuuka, who didn’t notice it, had her back hit by Hina’s chop.

“I was buying some snacks over there! What the hell are you saying?!”

Said Hina as she showed off her chocolates.

In response, Yuuka just sighed in relief.

…There was something about Hina’s behavior that made me curious, but I decided to shut my mouth.

* * *

After that, we left the pool and headed home.

While everyone was talking about how much fun they had, I was looking at the window while thinking about Hina’s strange behavior.

She said that she was buying some snacks, but was it really the case?

Because of my combat experience from my previous life, I could easily sense other people’s presence.

I didn’t know who it was, but there was someone who was staring at me and Shiina from a distance when we talked. I had a suspicion that it was Hina.

Though, I didn’t have the slightest idea why she was lying like that.

Probably, it was just my imagination.

‘I know you’re dense and all, but before I’m telling you everything, you have to sort out your feelings first.’

For some reason, Shinji’s words came to my mind.

* * *

Hina’s PoV

That was fun.

But it was also exhausting…

Did I manage to smile properly?

I was able to act like normal, right?

If it was Godou, he probably noticed that I wasn’t feeling well, but he wouldn’t know the reason why.

…Shinji seemed to notice what was going on, though. He gave me quite the stare.

“Hina?”

Godou, who was walking next to me, called out to me. He was probably worried about me.

We were walking home together after splitting up with everyone at the Maebashi Station.

“I’m fine. I’m just a little tired…”

I didn’t lie. I was really fine, I was just tired…

Godou let out a wry smile and continued walking.

The distance between us was closer than normal friends, but it wasn’t as close as lovers.

Ever since we were kids, we always managed this much distance between us.

I always thought that we’d be doing this for a while longer.

It wasn’t like I didn’t have the desire to close the distance between us.

I was just afraid that if I were to do that, I’d suddenly lose the position I was currently in. I was happy enough with the status quo after all.

…But, whenever the thought of him ending up with someone else pained me. Whenever I saw his happy face when he talked with Mai-chan, my chest started to hurt and it became hard for me to breathe.

I guess I liked him more than I thought.

After all this time, I only just realized that.

Though, it wasn’t like I wanted him to be mine. As long as he stayed by my side, it would be good enough for me.

All this time, I naively believed that because we had known each other ever since we were kids, even if we didn’t become lovers, I’d be able to stay by his side forever. I thought that even if one day, he suddenly found someone he liked, I’d still be able to stay by his side.

But, I realized that I couldn’t do that.

When I saw that scene, I couldn’t even think of getting in their way.

It was clear that those two loved each other.

I glanced at the man next to me.

Godou looked a little tired as he stared at the sunset.

It was hard to believe that this was the same man who cried earlier.

If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t even notice that his eyes were a little swollen.

Today was the first time I’ve seen him cry.

Even back when we were kids, I’ve never seen him cry even once.

No matter how absurd of a situation he faced, he always braved through it calmly.

It was unthinkable that he’d have that kind of silly face when he cried.

The fact that he showed that face of his to another girl made me feel jealous.

Even though this whole time, I was always by his side.

Before I knew it, he suddenly became close with a girl that suddenly appeared in our lives.

It was as if those two were bound by the red string of fate.

Godou, can you tell me?

Why do you only show your weak side to her?

Why do you care about her so much?

Why do you push yourself so hard for her?

…I need to stop thinking about it, or else, I’d start hating myself. Being jealous like this was the worst thing I could do.

Right now, I should get home quickly, get into my bed and try to forget everything that happened today.

…Though, I don’t think I could recover from this for a while.

ED: Dodo