My fears regarding whether my physical strength could hold out proved to be correct.
In the afternoon, we went to the pools we hadn’t played in yet but they were all packed with people. There were more people in the pool compared to this morning and it was terrible. I even got a little crowd sick. It was a good thing that Mei took breaks every now and then, otherwise I would have been in the relief tent by now.
After changing clothes, I left the men’s changing room. I feel so tired that I find it mysterious that I’m still standing.
「This is bad. I’m exhausted.」
「Where’s your physical strength?」
「I almost haven’t left the house recently. Staying under the hot sun all day aside, I’ve moved my body so much that I feel like I can’t take it anymore.」
「That’s not so much though.」
It might not be so much for Shinozaki, who always moves his body, but it’s hard for me who spends his summer vacation in an air conditioned house and only studying or playing the console I borrowed from Yuna.
「Let’s wait in the shade and eat some ice cream. I don’t think they’re coming out yet.」
「Maa, you’re right. It will take them time to dry their hair.」
Wakamiya-san’s hair is short but Mei’s hair is long and it will take a while for it to dry. I had been to the pool with Yuna a few years ago and I was forced to wait for her for around 30 minutes. Mei’s hair is as long as Yuna’s so she probably spends as much time.
「Did you have fun?」
「Well, yeah. But it was physically demanding. I mean, why are you asking me that? Did you pick up something strange or eat something bad?」
「You’re terrible. When we were deciding on what we wanted to do during summer vacation, you didn’t write anything so I was just asking how it went for you.」
Don’t say things like that, acting like a good guy. It suits your face well even though you are usually full of nonsense. If I were a girl, my heart would skip a beat. Luckily, I’m not.
「By the way, how’s your progress with the assignment? I’d like to start copying soon.」
「I finished all my assignments a long time ago but I won’t let you copy them.」
「That’s too early. It’s still the beginning of August.」
「It’s normal if you’re thinking about the exams. Mei was around 80% complete the other day.」
「….seriously? I thought Hirose-san was on this side.」
You’re rude. Iori-chan seemed to have influenced her so she’s been studying seriously. I was surprised too.
「How much progress have you made?」
「Not even a millimeter. To put it simply, complete blank.」
I was too dumbfounded to speak So I gave him a chop and said “Maybe you should make a CM(commercial) for a laundry detergent and you’ll probably make a killing.”. And why did you even use millimeters? Is that the distance of how much your pen moved while doing the assignment?
「Hey, areh?」
「What’s wrong?」
「Is that the two of them?」
It has only been ten minutes since we dressed up. That’s way too early.
I turned my attention to where Shinozaki is pointing, the entrance of the women’s changing room. Even though we still have half of our ice cream yet to be eaten. The two, who we are waiting for, emerged from the women’s changing room and cheerfully ran up to us.
「We have kept you waiting.」
「Sorry you two.」
No, seriously, you’re too early.
Their hairs were shining like jewels under the sunlight. I guess you could call them dripping wet women.
「See, I’m right.」
「That was fast. You didn’t take your time. Mei’s hair wasn’t dray at all.」
「No, I would feel bad if I have kept you waiting for me.」
「It’s not dark yet and I also need to rest a little because I’m already exhausted.」
「Mei-chan, why don’t we eat ice cream too?」
「Sounds great! What should we eat?」
The two of them bought some ice cream from the vending machine nearby and sat down on the bench. Wakamiya-san sat next to Shinozaki while Mei sat next to me.
「Don’t stare at me too much. I don’t have anything on my face.」
「Ah, yeah.」
I can’t tell because she doesn’t have her usual flashy makeup but looking at her closely, she’s not wearing any makeup at all. I wondered how much in a hurry she was. If it were me, I’d take my time as much as I need.
Mei’s long beautiful blonde hair was barely dry. If she stays like this, she might catch a cold. Thinking so, I brought out an unused towel from my bag.
「Eh, what?」
「Don’t worry, I haven’t used it yet. You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that.」
I gently wrap her hair which is down on her right shoulder making her shirt wet. I made it in a way that it will quickly absorb the water on her hair.
「Uh-huh.」
She turned red and almost ate half of her remaining ice cream in one go. Then, she started to use the tower to dry her hair.
「Hey, Kazuya-kun.」
「I know what you want to say. If it’s about his little sister, he will forget his exhaustion. Just think that what you’re currently seeing is a similar manifestation of Amane’s bug.」
「You mean, doing something at that levelcasually is only considered a bug? Then, are you okay with it, Mei-chan?」
「Souta is thick skinned. My hair is okay but my heart is not….」
By the time Mei’s hair became better, the sun was already beginning to set.