Miss Mitsuko called the group together.
“We’re moving into the dorms. I’ve got a list of stuff I have to read off to you, so pay attention!”
Akuto had lost his chance to talk to Hiroshi. The whole group started to follow Miss Mitsuko.
The narrow path that led away from the beach ended at a small three-story building. It looked like a Japanese inn, but the sign on it read “Constant Magical Academy Dorm.”
Akuto had been scanning the area as he walked, and he’d seen several houses lined with traditional Japanese tiles along the way. That must have been the village.
—I wonder if that’s where Hiroshi was born.
Akuto thought, but he didn’t feel like he could ask him directly. The fact that the houses seemed to be empty just made it harder to ask.
Once they were inside the dorm, Miss Mitsuko motioned for him to come with her. He followed, confused, only to find that he’d been given a personal room.
“Everyone else is sleeping in a big room together, right?” Akuto complained, but Miss Mitsuko just laughed.
“Just be happy you got to come at all, okay? And this lets you have some private time with your girls, too. Good luck.”
“Good luck with what?” Akuto sighed, but then he realized that Miss Mitsuko might know something about Hiroshi.
“So I heard that this is where Hiroshi was born...” he began. Miss Mitsuko frowned.
“That’s right. But he doesn’t seem to like it very much. I wonder if it’s just the usual teenage rebellious phase.”
“I don’t understand why someone would hate the place they were born, though.”
“That’s because you don’t have a home. Just remember that he doesn’t understand how you feel either. So just be kind to him.”
Miss Mitsuko smiled.
“You think so? I guess...” Akuto said, but honestly he didn’t understand what she meant.
“Since you’re here, though, forget about stuff and have some fun,” Miss Mitsuko said with a wink.
○
There were 30 students to a class, and classes A through F. All in all, about 180 students from first year had come to the retreat. That was a big group, but the beach was plenty large, so each of the students had room to go wherever they liked.
Akuto had set down his towel a distance away from everybody else under the shadow of some rocks, and was sitting down on it. Keena was next to him, lying down under a parasol.
She was wearing a two-piece bikini, and lying face down as her legs bounced up and down happily.
“This is kinda fun, isn’t it?” she said, smiling at him.
Akuto wasn’t sure how to respond. Keena had to take off her clothes when she used her invisibility magic, so if anything, he was more used to seeing her naked. But when she smiled at him in a revealing swimsuit, he wasn’t sure where he was supposed to look. As he sat there with a blank expression on his face, Keena tickled his knee.
“Uwah!”
“Come on, you need to have some fun. Or are you just too enamored by my swimsuit to speak?” Keena giggled.
He was used to jokes like that from Korone, but hearing them from Keena was different. He blushed.
“You’ve got the face and body of a child, though,” he said. Keena puffed out her cheeks.
“It’s okay! My face and body are still growing!”
“I hope your brain does too,” he laughed, and Keena laughed too.
“Are you sure? If I grow up, I’ll have you wrapped around my finger.”
She sounded like she was joking, but a cold shiver ran down Akuto’s spine. It didn’t matter what the other girls said, but when she said it, it sounded true.
—Keena really does feel different than the other girls...
Suddenly someone jumped on him from behind.
“Wh-What?”
He was shocked to feel bare flesh pressed against his own, and turned around. Korone had jumped on top of him.
“Would you please rub suntan lotion on me?”
“Huh?”
Akuto was completely caught off guard.
Korone had changed her swimsuit. For some reason, she was wearing a school swimsuit like the ones middle school girls wore. It fit her figure perfectly, but it felt out of place here. It even had the name “Korone” written across the chest.
Korone slipped herself between him and Keena and lay down.
“Would you please rub suntan lotion on me?” she repeated, and then she took the lotion out of the bag on her shoulder and handed it to Akuto.
“...Do Liradans get sunburnt?”
“Read the package carefully.”
The package read: “Suntan lotion for Liradans! Stops your coating from coming off in bright sunlight, and keeps the salt from getting into your body when you go into the ocean!”
“It sounds like car wax... But even if I wanted to, I don’t think I can when you’re wearing that swimsuit...” Akuto said.
“It’s fine,” Korone responded. “You’ll need to put the lotion on the part covered by the swimsuit, but that’s a simple matter of sticking your hand inside it. See? The swimsuit opens here. You can just stick it in.”
She flipped around so that she was facing up, and then grabbed the lower part of her swimsuit and lifted it. The front of it was open, and he could see beautiful alabaster skin underneath.
“No, wait a second. I-I can’t put my hand in there...”
Naturally, Akuto refused. He glanced at Keena, who seemed actually upset for once.
—Yeah, even she realizes that Korone is acting weird.
Korone suddenly sat up. She grabbed the swimsuit and pulled it to the side, then yanked it down to her waist.
“What are you doing?!”
For an instant, he saw her breasts. He quickly looked away, but Korone made no effort to hide herself.
“It’s cute how you get upset over a naked girl. I took my clothes off to make it easier to put the lotion on. Come on, touch my breasts.”
She grabbed his hands and tried to lead them to her chest.
“W-Wait a second...”
Akuto tried to resist. But since he didn’t want to get rough with her or push her away, all he could do was look away and try to keep his hands from moving.
“W-Wait...”
But before anything else happened, he was strangely rescued by a fierce blow hitting him in the back of the head.
“Wh-What are you doing, you pervert?!”
He turned around and saw Junko, her fists clenched and face red. She was wearing a simple one-piece swimsuit that looked like it might have been intended for a competition.
“Th-Thanks. You actually saved me this time.”
Akuto moved away from Korone.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Junko wasn’t sure why he was thanking her, but she knelt down in front of Korone and pulled her swimsuit back up. Korone calmly let her do it.
“Sheesh... how can you act like this with Keena watching? Anyway. I came to tell you that Miwa’s visiting his family.”
Once she was done dressing Korone, Junko stood up and turned to him to speak.
“I see. So that’s why he’s not here. He was acting kind of weird, I hope everything’s okay.”
“Miss Mitsuko was a little worried, so she asked me to tell you. Now, I’ll be on my way...”
Junko went to leave. Akuto grabbed her by the arm to stop her.
“Wait, want to go swimming together?”
He wanted to get away from Korone, and he figured it would be a good time to apologize for what happened on the bus.
“Huh...?” Junko smiled for a moment, but then she quickly scowled and looked away.
“Do you think you’ve got any right to ask me to go swimming with you? Do you think you can try to seduce every girl you see, and then only ask me to swim when it’s convenient for you?”
“If you’re mad about what’s happened on the bus, then I’m sorry. For the record, Korone has
been acting weird. But I think it’s partially my fault too. I’m sorry.”
Akuto lowed his head.
Junko seemed unable to stop herself from smiling.
“F-Fine. If you’re willing to apologize, then I suppose I can go swimming with you for a while. You’re probably lonely, since without Miwa you don’t have any friends.”
“Thanks. I’ve really never had a chance to do anything like this. It would really help me if you’d tell me what I was supposed to do,” Akuto said.
The serious look on his face seemed to be enough to convince Junko that he meant it. She burst out laughing and stared at him.
“What is the deal with you?” she asked. “Just enjoy yourself. Wait, maybe I’m not one to talk. I’m not great at enjoying myself either.”
She grabbed Keena, who’d been watching the two of them with a grin, and made her stand up.
“You come too. You can’t come this far and not get in the water.”
“Okay!” Keena nodded enthusiastically. Before she left, she took a glance back at Korone, but Korone seemed to have decided to let the three of them have fun by themselves. She was sitting on a towel and not moving.
The three of them went up to the water deep enough that the waves lashed against their ankles, but they paused as if waiting to see who was going in first.
“Being the first one to go into the water...”
“...takes some courage, doesn’t it?” Junko and Keena laughed.
“Maybe there’s some psychological resistance to getting wet,” Akuto said as he walked forward. He got waist-deep before turning around to see that Junko and Keena were still where they’d been.
“What’s wrong? You’re not coming with me?”
Keena just laughed in response.
“Ackie! This tickles!”
Keena pointed at her feet.
“The waves wash away the sand beneath your feet and it feels really weird.”
Junko’s legs were fidgeting.
Akuto laughed when he saw it.
“It’s kind of surprising to see you acting that way, Hattori.”
“Y-You dummy! What are you talking about? I’m perfectly calm!”
Junko shook her head, and began to walk into the ocean with big strides.
“Oh, Junko! Wait!” Keena called as she followed after her.
“This is your fault for asking me if I wanted to go swimming with that stern face of yours...”
Junko got close to Akuto, then scooped up the seawater with both hands and splashed it in his face.
“...You’re definitely overly excited!”
“Uwah!”
Akuto’s face was soaked. He shook his head, sending water spraying everywhere.
“I didn’t even splash water at people when I was a... kid!”
Akuto splashed back at her. Junko was soaked from head to toe, and the two of them laughed at each other.
“Oh, that’s not fair! You look like you’re having such fun!”
Keena leapt at both of them, knocking them into the sea.
“Uwah!”
He screamed as he fell, but Akuto felt a sense of fulfillment that he’d never felt before.
—I never thought I’d be able to have a normal school life like this... I’m glad I didn’t die in an unfortunate accident or something...
“What are you grinning at? It’s indecent!” Junko said jokingly as she dragged Akuto down underwater.
Usually when she said something like that, it would be followed by a full-power punch, but today the strength in her hands was gentle. Akuto struggled just a little for show, and when he found an opening he dove deeper into the water and swept Junko off her feet. Junko screamed as she sank too.
They played for a while before he heard Keena say, “Hey! Hey!”
They both stopped and turned to look at her.
“Hey, what’s this? There’s a whole bunch on the bottom of the sea!”
Keena grinned as she showed it to them.
It was brown and cylindrical, and just fit in the palm of her hand. It was slimy and wet, and it had spots like a snake.
“That’s a sea cucumber, right? I’ve seen them in encyclopedias and stuff,” Akuto said.
“Wow, so this is a sea slug, huh? It feels really weird, like it’s all slick!”
Keena laughed innocently and began to rub the cylindrical object up and down in her hands.
“I-I don’t think it’s a good idea to play with that... okay?”
Akuto laughed and looked at Junko, who seemed afraid of the object in Keena’s hand.
“K-Keep that away from me.”
“Hattori, you don’t like them?” Akuto asked. She nodded without looking back at him.
“Th-That’s right. I don’t like things that are all slick and wet, like frogs.”
She was still staring at the sea cucumber in Keena’s hands. She seemed worried that Keena might throw it at her. Akuto realized what she was doing and warned Keena.
“Hey, Hattori doesn’t like it, so don’t point it at her too much.”
Keena nodded.
“Okay, I won’t!”
But in that instant, she must have squeezed hard on it. Something white came spurting out of the tip. It looked sticky.
—That’s right. Sea cucumbers spit out their insides, don’t they? I guess that’s what this looks like...
But when he saw where the insides had gone, he realized that this wasn’t the time to ponder sea cucumber physiology.
The white sticky stuff had landed on Junko’s face.
“Hyaah! Kyaaah!”
Junko screamed and leapt out of the sea and into the sky with the agility of a ninja. In an instant, she was back on the beach.
“See? I told you,” Akuto said.
“Sorry!” said Keena. She didn’t seem to know what to do with the sea cucumber, so she just played with it in her hands.
“I’ll go after her,” Akuto said as he went back onto the beach himself.
He followed after Junko’s footsteps in the sand, and it didn’t take long to catch up on her. Junko was near some rocks, trying desperately to get the white stuff off her face.
“Hattori, are you okay?”
When Akuto approached, she ran up to him.
“G-Get it off me! It’s all sticky!”
She hugged him and held him tight. He looked at her face. It was normally sharp and well-defined, but now it a white, sticky mess.
“F-Fine. Don’t move.”
Akuto carefully ran his fingers down her face. The stuff seemed like long white fibers. He carefully plucked them off her little by little.
“I don’t think it’s poisonous or anything, so you should be fine. Yeah, your face isn’t swelled up or anything,” Akuto said, trying to make her feel better.
“R-Really? Just get them off me.”
Junko seemed to have forgotten herself, and was clinging to him tightly. It made it hard enough to move that it was bothering him, so with his free hand he touched her arm.
“I know you’re scared, okay? But just ease off a little.”
Junko’s face turned bright red as she slowly took her arms off of Akuto.
“D-Don’t get any stupid ideas.”
“I know. You were just scared, right?”
“Th-That’s not it either! You dummy! Even if I was scared, I’d never go to you for help.”
“I know that, too. But you know, I was a little relieved. When we were out in the water, it felt like the time I first met you. It was bothering me how composed you are at school,” Akuto said.
Junko began to fidget a little and looked at him critically.
“H-How could you say that? I’m so humiliated that I ended up in this state. You’re the only one I’ll let see me like this, okay? And it’s only because you’re such a weirdo anyway.”
“I’m not acting any differently than normal. It’s just that everyone around me acts strangely.”
“That just means you were weird from the
beginning.”
“Then there’s nothing I can do about it... there. Got it.”
Akuto took the last sticky white strand off her face.
For some reason, Junko looked disappointed. A moment ago she’d been trying to move away, but now she froze and looked up at him.
“What’s wrong?” Akuto asked. She shook her head as if embarrassed.
“N-No... I just realized I hadn’t thanked you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. It was Keena’s fault to begin with.”
“What Keena does isn’t your responsibility, is it?”
“That’s true, but I’ve just got this feeling that it’s my job to keep an eye on her,” Akuto laughed. Strangely, Junko looked serious now.
“Y-You call Keena by her first name, don’t you? We’re friends too. So why don’t you call me by my first name?”
She looked down at her feet.
“It’s because you just seem like you’re really prim and proper...”
Akuto felt something warm and strange rising up in his chest, and didn’t know how to react.
—But when I see how differently she acts around me, it definitely makes me feel like I should call her by her first name. I guess it’s the right thing to do...
“Jun... ko...”
He said, feeling a little embarrassed. Junko looked up at him and started to mumble.
“A-Aku...”
And then before she could finish, it happened. It was so sudden that Akuto didn’t have time to react, and it must’ve been even more inexplicable for Junko.
At some point, Korone had snuck up behind Junko. And with her usual lack of expression, she’d put her hand on Junko’s swimsuit, and suddenly yanked it down to her stomach.
“Huh?”
“What?”
Both Akuto and Junko lost the ability to speak. Neither of them moved for a moment. And because of that, Junko’s bare top was exposed to Akuto for a good three seconds.
“Uh...”
“Hya...”
Finally Junko figured out what had happened.
“Hyaaaah!”
She screamed and dropped to her knees.
“Wh-What the hell are you doing, Korone?!” Akuto screamed, but Korone was unfazed.
“I was attempting to add atmosphere.”
“Don’t lie to me. Why would you do something so mean?”
Korone didn’t seem to understand what he was saying.
Demon King Daimaou: Volume 3 Page 4
