2.33: Unsteady FootingThe sunlight hit us like we’d walked into a wall when we finally stepped out onto the sand.

  For a moment, all the noise dropped away. There was just the brightness of white sand and the gleaming of the ocean waves.

  …

  “Whoa—!”“Look at 2-B!”“Dude, check them out—!”

  The boys’ voices swelled again, louder this time. A few of them actually cpped, as if we were some kind of live attraction instead of their cssmates. Heat crawled up my neck. Embarrassing didn’t even begin to cover it.

  I wanted to curl up into a ball and roll straight into the ocean.

  But Aoi stood beside me like a pilr—calm, unbothered, and perfectly confident in a way I could only dream of being. Meanwhile, Pon-chan, now safely tethered by a tiny leash that some kind stranger with a toy dog had offered, probably out of pity for us, wriggled happily at my feet. The leash was looped snugly around my wrist.

  Aoi leaned in, her shoulder touching mine, her voice low just for me. “You’re doing great, Sumire-chan.”

  “I haven’t done anything yet,” I hissed.

  “Exactly. You’re not scurrying to hide. You’re not digging yourself a grave in the sand like you threatened to do. That’s a great pce to start.”

  I tugged the brim of my sunhat down a little lower, my cheeks burning as I did.

  The teacher’s whistles blew. Group leaders barked orders. The css divided into smaller clusters. Those rushing straight for the water, those staking out umbrel territory and some were already setting up a volleyball net.

  Our little unit: me, Aoi, Riko, and Yuna, cimed a spot near the middle of the beach, not too close to the crowd, not too far from the hostel. I dropped my towel onto the sand, still half dazed by the sunlight and the noise and the way my whole body felt exposed to the world.

  But one question nagged at me.

  I wondered why hadn’t I felt Riko and Yuna’s eyes on me in the changing room.

  After Pon-chan’s miniature crime spree, everything had dissolved into such chaos that I barely registered anything but embarrassment. Girls clutching at slipping straps, Aoi tackling Pon-chan with what felt like an almost military strategy, and me apologizing to people I had never spoken to in my life for his antics as one of his carers.

  But now, with the cool sea breeze brushing against my skin, it struck me that I hadn’t seen Riko or Yuna at all during that storm.

  Had they… somehow finished before us?

  My memory flickered back.

  We had taken a while to change, thanks to my meltdown.

  In the aftermath of Pon-chan’s rampage, Aoi finally snagged him. We held onto him for a while until someone came running in with the borrowed leash. We promptly secured him. It had taken a long minute for the changing room to calm down enough for people to regain their calm and tempers. Girls were retying their top and bottom ties, fixing their hair, shielding themselves with their towels.

  Riko and Yuna might have missed the spstick swimsuit disaster scene. I decided that they probably finished changing at lightning speed while I was flustering over my swimsuit. Maybe they were being sensitive about my anxiety.

  However they got their swimsuits on so quickly here on the beach ahead of us they were.

  Riko stood with one hand pnted on her hip, already dressed in one of the boldest swimsuits I’d seen all morning. It was a vivid hot-pink bikini, tied at the sides with elegant little bows that sat high on her hips. The top was a sharp, confident triangle cut that showed off far more skin than I’d ever expected her to be comfortable with, and yet she wore it with total confidence.

  Sunlight caught on her colrbone as she shifted her weight, her posture somehow both casual and deliberately striking. She looked extremely proud. Radiant, like someone who enjoyed being seen.

  Her eyes slid toward me, slowly and zily, evaluating me, curious and almost teasing, making my heart jerk in my chest.

  Urk…

  DOKI-DOKI BADUMP

  What’s with that look?!

  Yuna knelt a few steps away, sorting sunscreen bottles and cold packs calmly. Her swimsuit was a problem. A soft white halter bikini, delicate straps looping behind her neck, the fabric clinging in a way that was elegant and unfair at the same time. Whenever she leaned forward, the graceful curvature of her back drew my eye.

  Together, the two of them looked like they belonged on the glossy cover of some summer magazine. She looked effortlessly confident too. She was beautiful in completely different ways.

  I swallowed hard.

  DOKI-DOKI BADUMP

  Why does everyone look so good today…?

  Seeing them now, fully assembled in the sun, in swimsuits chosen with terrifying confidence, made a cold realization crawl up my spine.

  And now, on the beach, several people were very much looking at me, including my friends and girlfriend.

  The boys’ voices swelled again. A few cheered loudly and cpped. It was truly mortifying.

  I shook, but Aoi stepped just slightly in front of me. Whether it was a conscious choice or instinctive, I couldn’t tell. Pon-chan wriggled excitedly at my feet on his petite leash, completely oblivious to my impending cardiac arrest.

  Aoi’s voice dipped low enough only I could hear. “You’re doing okay.”

  I exhaled, slowly and shakily.

  “Wow,” Yuna murmured as she set her towel down and slid her medical sling bag beside it. “The sun’s stronger than it looked now that we’re out here on the sand. Make sure you all drink plenty of water, okay? I don’t want anyone burning out before noon.”

  “Sumire-chan,” Yuna said, resting her hands on her hips as she gave me an open, assessing look that somehow felt both clinical and affectionate. “Those colors suit you. The pastel shades go very well on you.”

  My brain locked. “Th-thank you…?”

  Aoi bristled almost imperceptibly beside me, her shoulder angling slightly in front of mine like she could physically intercept any further compliments.

  “Right!” Yuna cpped once, brisk and cheery. “But before fun, sunscreen.”

  She hoisted a rge bottle out of her sling bag and then, with the efficiency of a field surgeon, produced three more from hidden pockets. She id them out like ammunition before a battle. “Line up, my little UV-vulnerable ducklings.”

  “I already put some on,” I protested weakly.

  “Once is not enough,” she said, her tone firm but kind. “And you can’t apply it to your own back properly. Kurobane-san, would you assist?”

  Aoi’s hand shot up. “Gdly.”

  I froze as she guided me down to sit on the towel, her touch gentle but sure.Her hands were warm. My pulse was unsteady.

  “Um,” I managed as she uncapped the bottle. “I c-can do it myself…”

  “You can do the front… if you want,” Aoi said, winking as she squirted sunscreen into her palm. “Let me handle the rest.”

  The first cool touch of lotion on my shoulder bdes sent a shiver down my spine. Not from its temperature.

  It was because it was Aoi-chan touching me. I was in heaven, feeling her hands all over my body.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  “Is it too cold?” she solicitously murmured.

  “N-no, it’s fine,” I sputtered out, blushing so hard my ears felt like stovetops.If this had been a massage, I’d probably be in seventh heaven instead of just normal heaven.

  Her hands moved in slow circles. Careful, gentle, it felt so maddeningly good. Lotion spread cool sensations at first, melting under her fingertips as she smoothed it across my back, up over my shoulders, then down along the exposed sides of my ribs where the suit left a soft strip of skin bare for the sun to kiss.

  I had to struggle to suppress an urge to moan with pleasure.Wherever she touched, warmth blossomed.It was Aoi’s warmth, an impossible-to-ignore kind.

  My heartbeat thudded so loudly it drowned out the waves and the chatter around us. The entire beach faded into meaningless background noise.

  “Rex your shoulders,” she whispered, leaning in close enough that her breath tickled my ear. “You’re way too tense. Like you’re bracing for something to hit you.”

  “Th-that’s because…”I blushed even harder, if that was even possible, my voice dissolving into a strangled little sound dangerous too close to a moan.

  “Because I’m rubbing your sexy little back,” she said lightly, but there was a tiny smile sliding into her voice.

  I nodded, squirming, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

  Her thumbs pressed firmly into the muscles beside my spine, working without hesitation, chasing out tension I hadn’t even known I was holding. The relief hit me all at once, sharp and overwhelming, and a dreaded breathy sound tore out of me before I could swallow it back.

  “Ahnnn…”

  A massage! Thank Kami! Aoi’s a mind reader! She’s so unfair… making me whimper like this!

  I twitched and moaned, unable to stop myself. Each little noise I made just encouraged Aoi further.

  Oh no! I was absolutely going to lose it right here on the beach!

  “…Even better?” she asked.

  “N-no…” I breathed, twitching.

  I worried that the teacher's eyes might be on us over the weird noises that I was making.

  Dizzy, before I could register it, she’d flipped me over. Riko and Yuna watched with pink cheeks as she worked on my stomach and upwards to my chest, rubbing gently yet firmly.

  “N… noooooooooo!” I twitched to scurry away, but she was straddling me now, all her weight resting on my hips.

  “Ahhhhhnnnn…”

  When she finally reached my neck, I felt like jelly. She lingered for just one extra heartbeat, tracing her fingers along my colrbone, rising up to my too sensitive neck...

  —I thought I might evaporate on the spot.

  She’s covered every centimeter of my body with suntan lotion, far more coverage than ever.

  “Okay,” she said, her voice teasing, “my turn Princess.”

  She rolled off me to sit next to me, sweeping her hair over one shoulder as she turned her back to me. Her back was a long, elegant, slightly curved line, the bikini straps framed her like careful brushstrokes.

  DOKI-DOKI

  My brain stopped working as I stared at her.

  “Sumire?” she prompted, gncing back at me with a pleased little grin.

  “R-right,” I squeaked, jerking up and taking the bottle that she was using. “S-sunscreen. Okay….”

  My hands trembled as I squeezed lotion into my palm. Her skin looked so impossibly soft. A person needed a license for doing something like this. A license should be required to touch such perfection.

  Oh, Kami!

  “Don’t forget the shoulders,” she murmured. “And… anywhere else I can’t reach.” She winked very deliberately.

  Yuna was fidgeting and Riko’s face was filled with something approaching jealousy.

  She’s making this way sexier than she has to!

  I thought about where to start…. Aughhh… Too many possibilities. My thoughts sparked like crossed wires.

  But I pressed my hand to her back anyway to get started.

  She flinched just barely.

  “Um… is it c-cold?” I whispered.

  “Yes…” she said quickly, a tiny hitch in her breath betraying her composure. “A little chill. That’s welcome on a day like this, especially when it comes with your warm touches.”

  I gasped, heat rushing straight to my cheeks as if the sun had dropped directly onto my face. My fingers froze mid-stroke, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe entirely.

  I spread the lotion slowly over her shoulder bdes, along the subtle taper of her waist, tracing the dips and curves shaped by years of athletic practice. Doing this felt intimate in a way I hadn’t been braced for. The task was innocent, technically… yet every sweep of my hand made my heart flutter. I wanted to touch her everywhere, to map every inch of her with my fingertips.

  Her breathing changed… soft, barely audible, but unmistakably aroused.

  “Aoi?” I whispered.

  “Mm?”

  “Are you… okay?”

  “Perfectly. More…” she said.

  Her ears, however, were slightly pink. My fingers reached Aoi’s backside after rubbing down her legs carefully when Riko interrupted, “Sumire-chan. You two done making love yet?”

  I froze.

  Riko’s shadow slid neatly over us like a curtain closing.

  I jerked my hand back as if Aoi had suddenly burst into fmes. “Y-yes?!”

  “Shut up. She hasn't done my front yet!” Aoi growled.

  Front… I nearly passed out on the spot from how dizzy I felt.

  Riko stood up, ignoring Aoi. She was poised, cool and maddeningly composed, her arms folded beneath her breasts, emphasizing them in an unignorable way. I gasped and flushed. Her swimsuit fit her like she’d picked it specifically to make a point.A very confident point.A Riko point.

  “Sumire-chan, she can rub her own boobs,” she said lightly. “Since you seem to be so good at applying sunlotion, would you mind applying mine?”

  “Not as good as Aoi though…” I quivered at the memory. She knew exactly how to touch a girl.

  “Hey. Stop hitting on someone else’s girlfriend,” Aoi cut in a little too fast. “And since when are you on a first-name basis with her? Tachibana, go ask someone else.”

  Riko’s gaze slid past her and settled on me, cool and deliberate, undaunted.

  “Sumire-chan,” she said softly. “Please?”

  She resorted to begging me… and even using my first name like that…

  Her eyes bored into me in a way that made my heart nearly fizzle out.

  “R-Really? Me?!” I squeaked.

  Why am I not telling her to stop?!

  She gazed at me hopefully.

  “Yes.” Riko tilted her head, sunlight catching in her long bck hair. “I trust your hands more anyway.”

  Aoi’s gre sharpened instantly. “She’s mine!”

  I blushed so hard it hurt.

  Riko rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, don’t be so insecure, Kurobane!” she replied smoothly.

  “Since when did you NOT have designs on snatching my girlfriend?” Aoi-chan sat up, frowning, all hackles and possessiveness.

  “It’s just a little innocent sunscreen application. Since you don’t want to…” Riko muttered.

  “What about asking Yuna? I’m sure she’d be happy to help you,” Aoi-chan said, scowling.

  “Between you and me…” Riko leaned in conspiratorially. “All her medical gibberish kind of puts me on edge. Pretty please?”

  Yuna’s lips twisted at that, but she didn’t comment.

  Aoi-chan sighed dramatically and snatched the lotion from my hands.I blinked.

  “Just y your ass down on your towel, Tachibana. I’ll sther you with so much lotion people will think you were barbecue,” Aoi-chan said with a smirk.

  “You know… when you look at me like that, it makes me not want to trust you,” Riko compined. “You’d probably leave a few spots untouched just so I’d crisp up in the sun.”

  “You totally read my mind,” Aoi-chan replied, smirking wider.

  “Ugh… I’ll do it,” I said, quickly taking the lotion bottle back before things escated any further.

  Aoi-chan pouted instantly, as if I’d betrayed her in the most dramatic way possible. And honestly, given her mood, I wasn’t entirely confident she would have applied the sunscreen evenly herself.

  “…Fine. Just keep it chaste. I’ll soak up some sun,” she said, flopping onto her towel with exaggerated martyrdom and pointedly turning her face away.

  So jealous…

  “Thanks!” Riko grinned. “You saved me! That was cool, Sumire-chan. Anyway… you don’t own her, Kurobane.”

  Aoi practically bristled. She failed to keep ignoring us even for a full second. “Excuse me?”

  “Sharing is healthy in retionships,” Riko said calmly as she settled onto her towel with perfect, smug composure. She presented her back to me like there was nothing else to be said on the subject. “Sumire-chan, if it’s too much trouble, I might really ask Yuna… but…”

  “N-no, it’s fine,” I said quickly, my face burning. “I’ll… um… do my best.”

  “Oh?”

  Yuna finally spoke, “How about a sunscreen rotation?”

  “Yuna,” Aoi said darkly. “Don’t add fuel to the fire. Stay away from Sumire.”

  Yuna blinked innocently. “Why? Radiation. I look out for you at school all the time, and you begrudge me some sunscreen? Do you really wish me harm?”

  “She’s busy,” Aoi snapped, gesturing sharply toward Riko. “Tachibana.”

  “Obviously since Tachibana-san spoke up first, she goes first. Then me,” Yuna said brightly. “I’ll supervise to ensure even coverage.”

  “I—I wouldn’t fail to cover your backs,” I said, flustered.

  Yuna smiled in a quiet, unreadable way that made my heart flutter and my thoughts scatter.

  “I’m the only one that she services,” Aoi-chan said ftly.

  “I AM NOT A PUBLIC UTILITY!” I squeaked, far louder than I meant to.

  Riko gnced back over her shoulder, her lips quirking. “See? No service here. A total bckout, even. I’m getting a lifetime subscription.” She pouted, really pouting.

  “Well… well… well…” I wailed helplessly. The thought of touching them both the same way as Aoi made me blow a gasket.

  Yuna smiled with gentle warmth, completely unbothered by the chaos. “Sumire-chan is very diligent. I’ll repay her with extra stamina drinks ter.”

  “You’re making it sound like my girlfriend is working in a red-light district!” Aoi cried, half outrage, half panic.

  “You’re the one who turned this beach into one. You gonna build a sand love hotel next?” Riko murmured, her eyes glinting. “So possessive. Very, very dangerous.”

  Aoi and Riko locked eyes.A low-voltage storm crackled between them… pure rivalry, jealousy, and territorial energy rippling so sharply it felt like it might sizzle the sand around us.

  Yuna, entirely unfazed, pced another bottle into my already trembling hand.I now held two bottles of sunscreen.

  “How am I supposed to apply sunscreen now?!” I compined loudly, my voice cracking with despair.

  “You could use your chest and get double protection in the front at the same time,” Yuna said with a perfectly straight face.

  I gasped so loudly half the beach probably heard it.

  “Oh! Yes! I want to feel that!“ Riko hooted, immediately delighted. “Me first! I still haven’t gotten any sunscreen on me yet”

  “No. No boob sunscreen applications!” Aoi froze, almost fidgeting. “Well… me… But definitely not either of you two.”

  “The teachers wouldn’t put up with that.” Riko pointed out with a small sigh.

  Aoi actually looked crestfallen, nodding, as if denied some sacred dream come true.

  They all looked disappointed. I couldn’t help clutching at my chest protectively.

  Somehow through heatstroke-level embarrassment and the relentless circling of the three affectionate predators vying for my attention, I barely managed to stay upright.

  I was doomed. Completely, utterly doomed.

  The sand was hotter than I expected.

  It was soft at first touch, then quietly treacherous. It gave way under every step until it felt like the ground itself kept slipping away. Even standing still for more than a moment turned into a small workout.

  I wasn’t a stranger to beaches. I’d run on sand before. And yet the same truth returned every time, but now more than ever, now that I was consciously focusing on my bance in ways I never bothered to in the past.

  Moving with any kind of precision on sand was harder than it looked.I had an instinctive thought that training would be tougher here.

  “Perfect,” Aoi decred, with the merciless cheer of someone who genuinely enjoyed human suffering. “This is ideal training terrain.”

  “Can we at least pretend we’re on vacation?” I groaned.

  “Your training always comes first,” she replied evenly. “For the next hour or two. Then we can have some rexed fun.”

  She cpped her hands once. “Let’s start with stretches like usual. I don’t want you spraining your ankle the moment someone throws a ball at you.”

  “A ball?” I asked.

  “Yes. We’ll get to that ter. It’ll be part of your training today,” Aoi said, winking.

  I started putting two and two together. She had mentioned pying volleyball with the beach girls. I couldn’t suppress a small twinge at the thought that she might want to look at other girls on this trip.

  A far too likely outcome…

  “I haven’t sprained anything in a while,” I scowled at her.

  “True. I haven’t had to patch you up in a week or so,” Yuna nodded.

  Riko tilted her head. “Kurobane has a point. It’s different in the sand. Anyway, this is elementary gym-css stuff.” She recited it in a pitch-perfect imitation of Kurosawa-sensei’s relentlessly cheerful tone, “A proper warm-up reduces injury risk by up to sixty percent.”

  Yuna nodded, calm and unfppable. “Mock her all you want. She’s absolutely right. I brought bandages and ice packs, but I’d prefer not to have to use them.”

  I gasped. Yuna sometimes went too far when it came to supporting us during my training, and the readiness in her voice made it sound like she genuinely expected disasters to strike at any second.

  “Okay. I’ll try not to be as fragile as porcein anymore,” I muttered, “so you don’t have to worry so much.”

  “Good,” Yuna said, grinning.

  We drifted toward a quieter stretch of beach near a net that I’d noticed some of our cssmates were setting up. Aoi stepped onto the sand like it was a dojo floor, then swept out a rough training square with her heel.

  “Okay,” she said. “Get stretching.”

  We stretched for around twenty minutes with the waves crashing onto the nearby shore. Some of the other students stopped to watch us from a distance. I felt like we’d had eyes on us ever since we applied sunscreen on each other’s bodies. But not everyone had their eyes on us. There was too much going on on this beach for us to have suddenly become the center of the universe.

  Tourists and Japanese vacationers walked along the beach around us, coming and going.

  Aoi’s stretches focused mostly on our feet, ankles, and thighs, but we also worked our abs, arms, and necks.

  When we finished, she straightened.

  “Same fundamentals as always, Sumire,” she said. “Keep your center of gravity low by bending your knees and settling your weight downward instead of standing upright. Distribute your weight evenly between both feet. The sand is going to shift and try to knock you off bance, so don’t fight it. Let that instability guide how you adjust yourself.”

  She demonstrated first, taking a step and then another in a kata, smoothly transferring her weight from heel to toe instead of lifting her feet all at once. The sand dipped and shifted beneath her, but she adjusted without hesitation, flowing with the uneven surface so naturally that it almost looked as if the ground were moving with her.

  When I tried to copy her movements, it felt like almost someone had strapped rubber bands to every joint in my body. Every movement resisted me and my feet slid in the sand. Nothing went where I wanted it to.

  “You’re too stiff,” Aoi said, stepping forward until she was directly in front of me. “You’ve been fighting the ground instead of responding to how it shifts. Let it move under you as it will. Pay attention to how it flows, and let that tell you where your weight actually should go.”

  “How am I supposed to listen to dirt?” I compined.

  “Silicate,” she corrected patiently. “And more like this.”

  She stepped closer and pced her hands lightly on my hips.

  I loved this part. The feel of her hands sent my thoughts scattering even though she was only adjusting my stance.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  I froze in pce, my face heating instantly as my blush hit full force.Riko and Yuna giggled behind us.

  “You’re so sensitive,” Aoi-chan said, smiling like she genuinely found my reactions endearing.

  “I-it’s okay,” I squeaked, the heat in my cheeks fring even hotter. I wouldn’t have minded that kind of touch sting a little longer, but people were watching us.

  “Then…” she continued more softly, giving me a quick wink, her voice turning just a little shy, “I’ll keep guiding your movements. Shift your right foot forward, slowly, and pay attention to how your weight changes as you do.”

  Her hands guided the subtle rotation of my hips, the angle of my knees, and the loosening of my stance. Her touch stayed warm and precise, never demanding.

  “Don’t lock your joints,” she whispered. “You’re bracing against every tiny shift. That’ll tire you out faster. Bend a little more and ride the movement instead.”

  “That makes me sound like I was a surfing board,” I muttered.

  Aoi winked at me. “Should I treat you like one in your futon tonight?”

  I couldn’t help thinking about a movie where a girl y on her chest on a surfboard as she paddled along a wave and stood as it crested.

  “I… I don’t think that’s a good idea…” I flustered, the words slipping out unevenly.

  Riko and Yuna grinned.

  “Oh, it’s fine… Don’t worry. I won’t stand on you. I’d just y on you,” Aoi suggested.

  I went scarlet, my thoughts immediately betraying me. I hugged my spare pillow every night, imagining it was Aoi-chan, and the idea of her actually lying against me sent my brain straight into overload.

  “A cuddle puddle would be nice too,” Riko muttered.

  “No deal. Sumire’s all mine,” Aoi-chan said firmly.

  Riko pouted, and Yuna tilted her head. “Stingy!” Riko muttered.

  “If the teachers poked their noses into our room at the wrong time, they would definitely notice four people sharing our futons pushed up together,” Yuna giggled.

  I nearly melted down at the thought of being trapped under all three of them. That was way more than I could handle.

  “Anyway,” Aoi-chan said with a smile, setting the teasing aside for the moment, “let’s get back to work. Give it another try.”

  I swallowed, focused, and moved.

  Step. Sink. Shift.

  This time, when the sand shifted beneath my feet, I banced myself better, applying what Aoi told me to do. My ankle flexed, and the adjustment carried upward through my knee and hip instead of tipping me over.

  “That’s it,” Aoi encouraged. “You’re not there yet, so keep practicing the movement until you understand it more intuitively.”

  We repeated the exercise again and again, until the sun made my skin feel gzed and my calves burned like they’d been set over a low fme.

  Riko observed in silence, her arms folded, her sharp eyes flicking from my feet to my posture as if she were measuring angles in her head. She nodded approvingly, saying nothing.

  Yuna sat nearby on her towel with her knees tucked to her chest, wearing my sunhat. She watched us with a quiet attentiveness that felt half medical and half affection. I couldn’t help thinking that my hat probably suited her more than it did me.

  Pon-chan, tethered to the pole of a nearby beach parasol, rolled around in the sand like a blissful, fuzzy cinnamon bun. I couldn’t help giggling.

  “Focus less on the fuzzbutt and more on your training,” Aoi said sharply.

  “Yes!” I blushed.

  After what felt like an eternity, Aoi finally stepped back.

  “Okay. Let’s add some teral movement.”

  “Wow, two lessons in a single day? I didn’t think you had it in you!” I giggled, then added quickly, “Don’t forget that I’m prone to shattering at the faintest touch.”

  Riko and Yuna ughed together. Yuna lifted a hand to cover her mouth in that elegant way of hers, while Riko ughed out loud without the slightest hint of restraint.

  “You overdo it with how you treat her, Kurobane,” Riko said with a grin. “Sumire-chan is made of tougher stuff than you think.”

  “I know,” Aoi replied with crisp authority. “Sumire-chan is doing very well. I can’t help wanting to protect her from everything. The whole point of our training is to keep her safe so that I won’t have to be so protective of her anymore.”

  I nodded, suddenly serious, warmth spreading through my chest. It made me so happy knowing how much Aoi loved me, and how much she worried.

  “Anyway,” Aoi said as she turned back to me, “let’s build on it before your muscles get fbby.”

  “As though my muscles would turn into fat overnight!” I blushed.

  “They wouldn’t,” Yuna said calmly, then nodded once. “But she has a point. Keep working hard, Sumire-chan. I’ll keep supporting you.”

  Aoi moved to my side and demonstrated quick, controlled sideways steps, her weight shifting smoothly as the sand gave way beneath her. I followed a beat ter, wobbling, my arms filing uselessly as I realized too te that I should have been using them to help maintain my bance.

  “Keep your arms rexed,” she warned, echoing my thoughts. “They’re part of your bance too, so don’t windmill them around so much.”

  “I feel like a newborn baby giraffe, stumbling around,” I panted.

  “A very cute little giraffe,” Aoi said without a moment’s hesitation.

  I flushed.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  Kami, I love Aoi-chan so much… Those kind of comments make me feel so—

  Riko cleared her throat, immediately making things worse for me. “Very cute,” she chimed in. But then she spoke more seriously, “Anyway, heads up, Kurobane. Her left foot is dragging more than the right. She’ll trip if she has to pivot quickly.”

  Aoi shot her a look, frowning, then followed Riko’s gaze down to my legs. “Oh. I see it.” She nodded, then flushed faintly. “Good job spotting that. We’ll get her there.”

  Riko gnced at Aoi, mildly surprised. “Thanks.”

  “Any other useful observations you’d like to share?” Aoi asked, pouting.

  “She needs to lift her left foot a bit more,” Riko continued, completely unfazed. She looked directly at me. “And stop spreading your toes outward so much, Sumire. You’re overcompensating. You’ll move better and smoother if you keep them straighter.”

  I adjusted, correcting my pigeon-toed stance. The difference was immediately noticeable. My next few steps felt smoother, more controlled.

  “…Oh,” I said, blinking. “That really does help! Thanks, Tachibana-san!”

  Riko smiled faintly, just the slightest lift at the corner of her lips. “Yeah. I’ll be happy to help any time.”

  Aoi exhaled sharply through her nose. “I was going to get to that myself… eventually.”

  “So tsun-tsun!” I giggled and Aoi blushed, faintly annoyed.

  Yuna leaned back on her hands, smiling. “It’s nice, isn’t it, Shinohara-san? Seeing all your training start to pay off.”

  I realized she was right. Even though it felt like my progress was slow, I was improving, little by little, every time we trained.

  I was moving properly now. Somewhere along the way, I’d transitioned from a newborn giraffe into something closer to a mature gazelle, even on shifting sand. And I was doing it in a sexy swimsuit to boot, training under a sun that would have turned the old me into a melted popsicle in minutes.

  I was tired. I was embarrassed. I was sweaty and flushed, and acutely aware of my body.

  And I was incredibly happy.

  I felt alive.

  When Aoi finally called for a break, I dropped onto my towel, my limbs buzzing.

  “How do you not die doing stuff like this every day?” I groaned up at the sky.

  “Did you really think I go to the beach every day just to practice my footing on unsteady ground?” Aoi giggled. “You learn how to move, and then you hope you never forget.”

  “True,” I nodded.

  “You adapt quickly,” Aoi said cheerfully. “And your stamina’s way better than when we started, without a doubt. If we’d trained like this on day one, you would’ve fallen over after half an hour.”

  “You think so?” I asked.

  She nodded, serious for once. “Yup. We started about a month ago. You’d have been curled up on your towel begging for an ambunce by now.”

  “That’s pretty high praise,” I muttered. “You make me sound like I was a pathetic mess.”

  “Never,” she said immediately. “You were never that… even if I might have said something like that.” She hesitated, her cheeks pinkening, then went on more carefully. “You just need to be motivated sometimes. To be clear…” She looked at me intently. “I’ve always noticed how hard you work.”

  “Even though I haven’t joined a club since middle school?” I asked, blushing. “And this year all I really did after hours was take care of Pon-chan and cleaning. I don’t even have the grades to be on the student council. I’m pretty useless, really.”

  Aoi-chan looked away, smiling faintly. Then she added, almost like an afterthought, but heavy with sincerity, “I’m proud of you, Susu. You’ve changed a lot.”

  Something warm opened inside me, like a flower unfurling to bask in sunlight.

  I looked away, my eyes prickling with happy tears as I gazed toward the improvised volleyball court nearby. Other students, and a few strangers as well, were wrapping up a game.

  “Looks like they’re almost done pying,” Yuna observed, echoing my thoughts.

  “Hey, Kurobane-san!” a male student shouted. “We’re short on pyers! You want in?”

  Aoi straightened immediately. “Exactly what I was hoping for, although he’s a far cry from a beach girl.” She raised her voice and waved. “Obviously!”

  “Invite Sumire-chan too!” another boy called. “Come on! We need more boobs on the court—I mean, challenging targets!”

  I flinched. “M-me? But I’ll just drag everyone down…” I covered my chest self-consciously. Plus, I had zero experience pying volleyball.

  “Just copy what the others do, Sumire. We’ll direct you,” Aoi said, reading my body nguage perfectly. “Don’t worry about the pair of boobs already on the court.” She nodded toward the two guys who had invited us.

  “Honestly, it’s a perfect chance to practice and get some exercise at the same time. I doubt the other team will go easy on you, so do your best.” She gave me a quick, assessing look, then leaned in to whisper in my ear. “If all else fails, you can weaponize that body of yours to distract your opponent.” She winked. “With that body and those reflexes, you’ll be fine. Use what you learned today.”

  “Okay… but I probably won’t py as well as you hope,” I muttered.

  Riko stood, her expression sharpening with focus. “I’m curious to test my coordination. I have a feeling I’ll be better at volleyball today than ever. I’ll be a kickass blocker and spiker!”

  “Oh sure,” I giggled. “I wish I had that kind of self-confidence.”

  “We do need to work on that,” Aoi remarked. “When we’re done, I want you to be able to act without all that unnecessary modesty tripping you up. Lift your head and be proud.”

  I blushed and nodded, already feeling more confident than I had before.

  All four of us ran toward the volleyball court together.

  Despite my determination, a small part of me was certain that this could only end in disaster.

  Either that, or it would be some of the best chaos of my life.

  Relwing