Chapter 17

When the door to the bus opened, a wave of heat and sunlight hit Iyori so she had to squint her eyes when she stepped outside. For a second Iyori felt like she had been crazy to go on this trip in the first place, being outside under the blazing sun, but when a fresh breeze made its way past her, she instantly felt a little better and more refreshed. 

“Ugh I forgot how warm it was after sitting in a train and a bus for so long,” said Keiko who stepped out of the bus just after Iyori. She used her one hand to cover her eyes from the sun to be able to see where she was going. 

“Don’t worry, we just have to check in to the resort and then we can hurry to the beach and get cooled down in the sea,” said Mei who followed right behind Keiko. 

“Ah... sorry... just...” Noriko’s nervous voice could be heard stuttering behind them as she struggled to get out of the bus with all her bags. Luckily, Yusuke sneaked up behind her and grabbed the largest bag she was carrying which made Noriko look turn around to see who her rescuer was. 

“Y... Yusuke... thank you... I...” stuttered Noriko. 

“You can thank him later, let me get out of here,” said Shuya in an annoyed voice, standing in line behind both of them. Noriko quickly got a move on and the same did Yusuke, making way for Shuya who hurried out of the bus. 

“Air...” said Shuya in relief while the bus drove away behind them. 

“I didn’t know you were the type to get carsick,” said Yusuke and chuckled as he looked at Shuya. 

“I’m fine,” said Shuya and picked up his bags. “Let’s just get going.” 

Following behind Keiko, everyone walked up a hill and inside what felt like a forest with trees all around them, blocking the vision of the outside world. Not long after, the 6 friends spotted the small resort matching the picture Keiko had sent in their group chat. It didn’t look like it had been renovated in many years, but it was still in a good enough condition that even Shuya wouldn’t run away screaming. In fact, it gave of a sort of cozy atmosphere. 

After checking in, the host showed them to their rooms, one for the girls to share and one for the guys. 

“Man, I’m so glad you decided to come,” said Yusuke when he and Shuya had been left alone in their room to unpack and get ready to go to the beach. “It would have been so boring to sleep in this room all alone.” 

“I’m glad I can keep you company,” said Shuya who had finished changing into his swim shorts. There wasn’t anything special about them, just simple and plain black swim shorts. 

“That’s a nice color,” said Shuya and pointed at Yusuke’s swim shorts which were a light blue color with stripes on them. 

“Thanks,” said Yusuke. “I can’t wear anything too dark or my skin will look even paler.” 

Shuya didn’t normally think about it, but after Yusuke pointed it out himself, Shuya took a closer look and realized that Yusuke indeed was very pale. 

“But what’s wrong with that? Isn’t it ‘in’ right now to be pale?” asked Shuya and put on a dark blue t-shirt to wear down to the beach. 

“I don’t know if it’s ‘in’ or not, all I know is that my mom always said I looked sick because my skin was so pale in contrast to my sisters. So, I always try to wear colors that makes me look a little healthier.” 

“Well, I think you look good,” said Shuya and gave him a thumbs up. 

“Are you guys coming or not?” yelled Keiko from outside the room and Yusuke quickly put on a t-shirt and followed behind Shuya as the went out in the hallway to the girls. Keiko and Mei had changed into shorts and a t-shirt, while Noriko and Iyori were both wearing a light summer dress, but with completely different styles. Noriko’s dress was more of a cute style, while Iyori’s was a little plain, at least it was in contrast to the dresses she usually wore on dates, Shuya thought to himself. 

“Is everyone ready then?” asked Keiko and looked around, seeing everyone nodding along. “Fine, then let’s go.” 

The beach wasn’t very far from the resort and the ocean could be smelled in the air even before they could see it. 

“Woah, it’s so beautiful,” exclaimed Noriko when she saw the beach in the horizon. 

“But look at all those people,” said Mei when they got closer. They almost couldn’t see the sand for all the people gathered, enjoying the last bit of their summer holidays before they had to go back to school or work. 

“It’s gonna be hard to find a place where we can sit,” said Yusuke and sighed. 

“No, let’s not give up just yet,” said Keiko who was the only one who still had some fighting spirit in her. “Leave it to me.” With those words Keiko threw her bag to Mei and ran ahead of the rest. She disappeared into the mass of people, leaving behind the other 5, who didn't know what to do except keep moving forward. 

“Iyori!” said Noriko in a happy voice as she approached Iyori. “I’m so glad you were able to come, when you didn’t reply I thought you might not want to go.” Looking into the huge puppy eyes of Noriko, Iyori couldn’t help but feel bad about her actions. 

“I... I did want to come,” said Iyori in a low voice, hoping Shuya wouldn’t hear her. “I had some circumstances at home, but it worked itself out.” 

“Really? I’m so glad!” said Noriko. “Do you like the beach?” 

“It’s fine, I guess,” said Iyori and shrugged her shoulders. 

“What isn’t just ‘fine’ in your world?” asked Shuya, making Iyori turn her head and send him a glare. 

“I didn’t think you were so rude to be eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation,” spat Iyori. 

“You speak so loud it’s impossible not to overhear.” Iyori was about to make another feisty comment, when Mei spoke up. 

“Look, Keiko is waving at us from over there, maybe she’s found us a spot.” A momentarily ceasefire happened between Iyori and Shuya while they sped up their pace and followed the rest to where Keiko was. 

“I thought this place would work,” said Keiko, satisfied with her own achievement. 

“It’s great, let’s settle down here,” said Mei and reached into her bag to spread out the blanket. She started laying it out on the sand when Noriko quickly stepped in to help and got a hold of the other end of it. 

“It’s easier if we’re two,” said Noriko and both girls smiled at each other. 

It didn’t take long before 3 huge blankets had been placed on the sand and everyone started getting ready to go in the water. 

“Wow, that’s a really cute bikini, Noriko,” said Mei while she and the other girls all gathered around Noriko who quickly felt her cheeks turn red. Her bikini was light pink with a flowery pattern, and ruffles as a cute final touch. The look fit her perfectly with her small and slim body. 

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re making me all shy,” said Noriko and took a step back from the three girls, only to realize she was stepping closer to the guys, which make her jump forward again. 

“A... Anyway,” said Noriko, trying to forget about the stares from Shuya and Yusuke. “Why are you all still in your clothes, aren’t you going in?” Noriko’s comment made the rest of them get a move on and they quickly stripped down to their bathing suits. 

“Wow, that color suits you so well,” said Noriko when she saw Keiko’s orange bikini with white polka dots. Being tall and slim, the color made her appear even more mature and if she wasn’t standing in a group with the rest of them, one would imagine her to be a university student rather than a High School student. 

“Thank you,” said Keiko. 

“Keiko looks good in everything because she’s so tall,” said Mei and nudged Keiko in the side. “I always tell you that you could be a model if you wanted to.” 

“Stop it with the flatter,” said Keiko. “You look good too, your bathing suit looks really nice on you.” 

“I know it’s boring and I’m even wearing shorts,” said Mei. “But I just don’t feel comfortable in a bikini.” Mei’s bathing suit was dark blue and her swim shorts were black. 

“You should wear what makes you feel good,” said Noriko. 

“It looks good on you,” said Iyori who had stayed in the background for a while, but when she stepped forward, all eyes were on her. 

“Wow,” said Noriko. 

“You’re the one who looks good,” said Mei. 

“Who knew a babe was hiding inside you,” said Keiko and winked. 

Even if the black color of Iyori’s bikini was plain as day, it fit her really well, highlighting every curve of her body in the best way possible. 

“What’s going on? You’re all acting weird,” said Iyori and walked past the girls. 

“You’re so beautiful, Iyori,” said Noriko and when Iyori turned around she could swear she saw firework in her eyes. 

“Noriko is right, even the guys can’t stop staring,” said Keiko. Iyori looked at Yusuke and Shuya who indeed had their eyes on her and Keiko laughed when she saw them trying to divert their eyes in that same second. 

“It looks good on you,” said Yusuke while wishing he could make himself invisible. As a contrast, Shuya didn’t say anything. 

“Aren’t you going to say something?” said Iyori in a mocking tone and Shuya gulped. 

“It... It’s fine, I guess,” said Shuya while still looking down, but after speaking a few words, he finally pulled himself together and stood up straight. “I don’t know what the fuss is about, though. There’s nothing special about it, it’s just black.” 

“Your swim shorts are black too,” said Iyori and Shuya instantly regretted his comment. 

“I guess we’re both looking plain,” said Shuya and sighed. “Weren’t we going to swim?” Keiko and Mei both chuckled when they looked at Shuya’s sad attempt to avoid the subject, but with Noriko being as eager to swim as she was, they slowly started making their way to the ocean. 

“I’ll stay behind and watch our things,” said Yusuke and sat down on the blanket. 

“What?” yelled Noriko and surprised everyone, most of all herself. “I mean, that’s just sad... if you have to stay back alone.” 

“I don’t mind-” 

“No that won’t do,” said Noriko and turned right back. “I’ll stay behind with you, then we can go in later.” 

“Weren’t you looking forward to swimming the most?” asked Yusuke while looking at Noriko who had already sat down next to him. 

“It’s fine, I can wait a little longer.” 

After seeing the strange scene unfold, the other 4 continued onward, until they reached the seashore. 

“What was that about?” asked Shuya. 

“Never mind them, let’s just swim,” said Iyori and took a step into the ocean as the first. The water felt cold and refreshing on her skin, a feeling she had missed the last couple of weeks and she continued walking until the water reached her belly whereafter she took a big stroke and swam further out. 

“Iyori really is fearless,” said Mei and looked as Iyori continued swimming. 

“We should go too,” said Keiko and went into the water as well. Without looking back, Shuya took a step forward too, until he realized Mei wasn’t following. 

“Aren’t you coming?” asked Shuya and Mei looked at him a little startled. 

“N... No... I think I will just dip my toes in the water and stay here at the shore.” 

“Are you sure? If you’re scared, we can go in together.” 

“That’s okay, but thank you,” said Mei. “You should go in too, it looks like Iyori is waiting for you out there.” Shuya turned around and looked towards the horizon, but he couldn’t find Iyori anywhere, until he lowered his eyes a bit and saw the top of a head pop up from the water, dark eyes glaring at him from afar like some kind of sea monster, giving Shuya goosebumps on his entire body. 

“Would you stop glaring at me like that,” yelled Shuya towards Iyori. “You’re creeping me out.” Mei and Keiko both laughed as they watched Shuya and Iyori engage in their usual bickering. 

The day seemed to go by quickly with everyone playing and relaxing at the beach. Iyori and Shuya seemed to forget about both time and place as they kept arguing and racing each other to see who was fastest, while Keiko and Mei went up to switch places with the others, so the day wouldn’t end without Noriko even going into the water. 

After swallowing what felt like half a liter of water, both Iyori and Shuya seemed to have had enough, and they started moving towards the shore, but Yusuke grabbed Shuya’s arm before he could move very far. 

“No, I just got in, let’s swim a little more,” said Yusuke and looked at Shuya with a pleading look. 

“You boys have fun, I’m gonna go relax in the sun,” said Iyori and waved her hand in the air without looking back. 

Feeling the warm sand on her feet and the sun warming up her body, Iyori moved towards the others with a content feeling in her stomach. 

This must be what summer is supposed to feel like, she thought to herself as she tried to remember the last time she went to the beach with her friends. She could barely remember it, but in the end she reached the conclusion that it would have been back in her first year of High School. Back when she was still happy and full of hope and when she had just joined the Art Club. Multiple members of the club where first years, just like herself and they all got along so well. 

When Iyori looked around, the scene she saw strangely reminded her of that time. A melancholic smile appeared on her face as she kept reminiscing about the past. 

“Iyori?” the sound of Keiko’s voice made Iyori snap back to reality and she quickly walked all the way up to her and Mei. 

“Yes?” said Iyori and looked at both girls who suddenly got up. 

“We were thinking about buying some ice cream, can you look after our stuff while we’re gone?” asked Mei, and Iyori nodded. 

“Sure, but where are you gonna buy ice cream?” Iyori looked around and couldn’t see any shop nearby. 

“I saw an ice cream truck further down the beach when I was looking for a place where we could sit,” said Keiko. “It’ll take a little while, but the others aren’t back yet so I think it’ll be okay.” 

“Okay,” said Iyori and grabbed a towel out of her bag and laid down on it, Keiko and Mei already on their way down the beach. 

Lying flat on the sand, Iyori stared at the bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Her body was already mostly dry, but she felt much more comfortable in the sun now that she had been cooled down in the fresh water. Her body felt heavy, but heavy in a good way and she decided to close her eyes for a second, thinking about nothing but the feeling of the sun on her body. 

She quickly drifted away, the sound of the waves making for a calming background setting. She almost reached dreamland, but was brought back by the sound of footsteps nearing, feeling the presence of someone close to her. Keiko and Mei couldn’t be back yet, so it had to be one of the other three and Iyori slowly opened her eyes to see who was standing in front of her. The bright sun blinded her for a second and all she could make out was a silhouette of a young man. 

“Shuya?” said Iyori quietly while trying to focus her eyes, but to her surprise, the man in front of her wasn’t Shuya. It wasn’t Yusuke either. In fact, she had never seen this person before. 

“Ah sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” said the young man who was standing in front of her wearing nothing but swim shorts. 

“Who... are you?” asked Iyori while sitting up, suddenly feeling very bare, lying there in nothing but her bikini, with the man staring intensely at her. 

“Name’s Daisuke, I was just looking for a spot for me and my friends and I couldn’t help but notice you,” said the young man, apparently named Daisuke. “Are you here alone?” 

“No,” said Iyori, thinking it was a stupid question when you took into account the many bags and blankets lying around her. “My friends are just getting some ice cream.” 

“Girlfriends?” asked Daisuke and Iyori sent him another glare. 

“Why?” 

“Oh... no big deal...” said Daisuke and moved away a bit. Iyori thought he finally learned to take a hint, but it didn’t seem like he was giving up just like that. 

“Say, the beach is really packed today, what do you think about me and my friends joining you here? If we all scooch together, I think we could make it work.” 

“Um, I don’t think so,” said Iyori, trying to sound as firm as possible, but Daisuke didn’t back down. Instead, he moved closer to Iyori, making her stand up so she could take a step back. 

“Why not? We could get to know each other better.” 

“I don’t want that,” said Iyori, way past the fear of hurting his feelings. “I’m here with my friends, I’m not interested in getting to know you.” 

“Aw come on, it’s the last week of summer, you should have fun.” 

“I was having fun just fine without you bothering me.” 

“Who’s this?” Iyori and Daisuke both turned their heads to the sound of the male voice, and Iyori felt herself getting relieved when she saw Shuya standing behind Daisuke. 

“He’s no one, actually, he was just leaving,” said Iyori and Shuya walked up next to her. 

“Leaving? That’s too bad, here I thought we could be friends,” said Daisuke. 

“It seemed to me like you were hoping to be something a little more than just friends,” said Shuya and moved closer to Daisuke, standing between him and Iyori. 

“Wow, chill out dude,” said Daisuke and raised his hands while laughing. “You’re a feisty little one, aren’t you.” 

“Are you making fun of me?” 

“If you say so,” said Daisuke. “But to be honest, you aren’t even worth the time and effort.” Shuya took a step forward, his blood boiling in his veins and Iyori quickly noticed his balled fist and grabbed his hand. 

“Don’t, just let him be,” said Iyori in a low voice and Shuya looked into her eyes, feeling himself calm down a little. 

“Taking orders from a girl, some man you are,” said Daisuke and tilted a bit to the right so he could make eye contact with Iyori again. “When you get tired of this douche, come find me.” 

“That’s it!” yelled Shuya and lunged forward, slamming his fist into Daisuke’s cheek, making him fall backwards onto the hard sand. 

“You freak!” yelled Daisuke while holding his sore cheek. “You’re gonna regret that.” With the attention of every bystander, the two boys lunged at each other, hitting and wrestling, rolling around on the sand, while Iyori kept yelling, trying to get Shuya to get back to his senses. 

“What’s happening?” yelled Yusuke, who came running from the shore with Noriko right behind him. 

“I tried to make him calm down, but he wouldn’t listen!” yelled Iyori and Yusuke quickly pushed Noriko to Iyori's side, telling her to stay put. 

In one quick motion, Yusuke moved to the two boys and pulled Shuya away from him, while yelling loud and clear:

“Shuya, stop it!” Shuya tried his best to break free of Yusuke’s hands, but he was stronger than he looked and in the mean time, it seemed like Daisuke’s friends had appeared and was working hard to drag him away from Shuya as well. 

“What on earth is going on here?” said Keiko in a shocked voice. She only just arrived at the scene with Mei standing next to her with a frightened expression on her face. 

“This IDIOT thought it was a good idea to start a fight in the middle of the beach,” said Yusuke and hit Shuya at the back of his head. For the first time in a while, Shuya took a good look around him and saw all the concerned faces staring at him, least of all Iyori’s face that was filled with horror and shock. 

“I...” started Shuya, but no other words came after that one and all he could do was stare at Iyori. 

“How could... Why...” Iyori stumbled over the words, cutting her sentences short as if she didn’t really know what to say. Keiko watched and decided to step in when she noticed Iyori’s eyes flickering. 

“I hope at least you weren’t the one who started the fight,” said Keiko and Shuya immediately looked away. “You have got to be kidding me. He can press charges against you.” 

“Keiko is right, what you did was completely, utterly stupid!” said Yusuke and Shuya looked at him again, surprised by how serious a face he could make. 

“You need to go apologize,” said Iyori and Shuya’s eyes widened. 

“What? Are you being serious? I did this for you!” yelled Shuya and took a step closer to Iyori so they were only a few centimeters from each other. “You wanted him to go away.” 

“Yes I did, but that doesn’t mean I wanted you to hit him!” yelled Iyori right back at him. 

“Guys, let’s not raise our voices so much,” said Mei in a low voice, gesturing towards all the curious faces staring at them. 

“You’re right, let’s not talk about this now,” said Iyori and glared at Shuya. “Go apologize and we will talk about this later.” 

After being pushed by everyone, Shuya eventually went up to Daisuke and apologized. His arrogant personality almost made Shuya lash out again, but this time Yusuke and Keiko were by his side to prevent that from happening. It was also Keiko’s persuasion skills that came in handy when they had to convince Daisuke not to get the police involved, and in the end all of them could go back to the resort, tired and drained from all energy. 

Dinner was eaten mostly in silence, but when everyone had finished, Iyori looked at Shuya and stood up. 

“Let’s talk.” She said and without further elaboration she left the room and Shuya quickly followed along. 

After following Iyori into the room the girls were sleeping in, she gestured for him to sit down and she suddenly disappeared into the bathroom. Not long after, she returned with a small washing cloth in her hand. 

“What are you–” said Shuya, but was cut short when Iyori placed the cloth on his forehead and the cooling sensation hit him. 

“Just be quiet for a moment,” said Iyori with a sigh. “You didn’t even clean your wounds after returning. I’m supposed to be mad at you, why are you making me do this?” Shuya didn’t say anything. Instead he just stared at Iyori while she cleaned the wound on his forehead. Afterwards her eyes scanned over his entire body, as if to check if he was hurt anywhere else and she quickly noticed his bruised hand. 

“Goodness... how hard did you hit him?” she asked and reached out to Shuya’s hand whereafter she put the washing cloth on the wound. All the pain Shuya had felt earlier went away with a flash and all he could feel was his heart beating in his chest while his body slowly turned warmer by the second. 

“Why... Why did you do it?” asked Iyori, this time speaking in a low, almost fearful voice, as if she was scared to hear the answer. 

“I don’t know...” answered Shuya while diverting his eyes. “I just couldn’t help myself. He was provoking me.” After speaking, Shuya looked up again, but this time, it was Iyori who was looking away. A moment of silence passed and Iyori removed the cloth from Shuya’s hand. 

“Can I ask you something?” Shuya looked at Iyori and nodded, until he realized she still wasn’t looking at him and he replied instead. 

“Yes.” 

“A while back I heard these rumors about you. I didn’t believe it and almost forgot about it. But seeing you fighting today, made me think of it again.” Iyori finally regained her courage and looked up, into Shuya’s eyes. 

“Ah... I see...” said Shuya, understanding perfectly well what she was referring to. 

“Shuya,” said Iyori and took in a deep breath. “What happened at your old school?” 

Shuya slowly got up from the floor and walked around the room a little, taking a few minutes to figure out what he wanted to do. He walked up to the window and looked out, Iyori still sitting on the floor, eyes glued to him from behind. 

“It wasn’t unusual for me to get into fights,” said Shuya and began explaining. “I don’t know why I’m like that, I’ve always had a short temper. Whenever someone provoked me or caught me on a bad day, I just lashed out, but nothing ever came of it. When I look back it's clear that my dad would have made the school forget about it time and time again. I’m embarrassed thinking about the troubles I made him go through.” 

Shuya turned around and looked at Iyori while continuing. 

“But there are some situations even my dad can’t make go away. One day I got into a fight with the headmaster’s son. We both went at it and I ended up hitting him so hard I broke his nose.” 

Iyori held her hand in front of her mouth, having a hard time believing what she was hearing. 

“Of course I was expelled, there was nothing to do, and for the first time my dad was furious with me. He just kept yelling and yelling. In the end, he told me that if I ever did something to disgrace our family like that again, he would cut all ties with me, I would never be able to follow his footsteps and take over the family business.” 

“Then why would you get into a fight today, after everything that happened?” said Iyori. 

“I didn’t mean to, my brain just shut down and I acted on instinct. Some people just press my buttons, especially when they act like they’re better than everyone.” 

“But you act like that all the time.” The words came out fast and even Iyori seemed surprised about her blunt statement in this situation, but somehow, Shuya wasn’t bothered by it. Somehow, he almost anticipated it. 

“I know... I guess I’m just a hypocrite...” 

“No... that wasn’t–” This time Iyori was cut short, not by Shuya, but by her phone ringing. She quickly took out her phone and looked at the caller ID. 

“I’m sorry, it’s my mom, I’ll answer it real quick.” 

“Of course, go ahead.” 

Iyori got up and walked to the other end of the room while answering the call. Shuya tried not to overhear anything so he wouldn’t come off as rude, and instead he looked out of the window, staring at the beautiful sunset. Once he felt like Iyori was done talking, he turned around again, but when he did, Iyori’s face was as white as a sheet. 

“Wow, you look like you’ve seen a ghost, what’s happening?” 

“It’s Aiko... she’s going into labor... right now... and something doesn’t seem right... they’re rushing her to the hospital... right now...” 

“What? You have to go then, you should be there,” said Shuya. 

“But how? There aren’t any busses at this time.” 

“I’ll call a cap, just pack up your things and tell the others you’re leaving.” 

“But it will be really expensive if it has to drive me all the way back.” 

“Nevermind that, I’ll pay if it comes to that. But you need to go.” Iyori stayed still for a second, until she finally got back to her senses. 

“You’re right, yes... I need pack up right now.” 

While Iyori threw all her belonging into her bag, Shuya called a cap and they both went out to explain the situation to the others. Not long after, the cap was parked outside and Shuya helped her carry everything to the car. 

“I’m sure everything will be alright, but keep us updated, alright?” said Keiko, who was standing with the rest of the group. 

“I will...” said Iyori. “I will message in our group chat.” 

“Safe journey,” said Mei and waved. Iyori sent her a smile and got into the car. She was just about to close the door when she looked at Shuya. 

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier.” 

“Don’t worry about it, you didn’t say anything wrong.” 

“That doesn’t mean it was a nice thing to say,” said Iyori and Shuya looked at her in surprise. “Anyway, I believe you can learn to control your emotions, so promise me you will never get into a fight again.” 

“I don’t know if–” 

“Promise me!” said Iyori firmly. Shuya thought about it for a while and then said; 

“What will you do if I get into a fight after all?” 

“I will block you on the app!” Iyori’s firm and straight forward statement made Shuya chuckle and he put his hand on the car door, ready to close it. 

“I guess I will have to keep my cool then.” 

Hello everyone!

I initially cut out this entire beach chapter when I first wrote the story, but I just couldn't help but put it back in when I started editing it later. And I'm happy I did because it was such a fun chapter to write!

I hope you enjoyed reading it, what are your thoughts? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

I hope you're all doing well and are happy and healthy.

Love, Annalise~