Chapter 335 – Phone Call
“Kazumi, we’re actually going to the beach! I didn’t expect Teacher Ishiryu to actually agree to our vote. I heard that the scenery in the North Sea is beautiful…”
On the way home from school, the blond young man excitedly described his yearning for the upcoming semester-end trip to the girl beside him, clearly looking forward to it.
“Mmm…”
The girl shot a displeased glance at the useless dog beside her, idly scrolling through news on her phone as she walked alongside him.
It could only be said that this was indeed a top-tier high school in the country, as it even had regular recreational activities after the end of each semester. Such things were something the girl could never even dream of in her previous life, in that terrifying sea of high school textbooks.
[Are they children? Getting this excited just by going to the beach.]
While mentally complaining about the boy’s childish nature, Kazumi suddenly realized that in both her lives combined, she had never been to the beach before.
Well, that’s that.
“Kazumi, aren’t you happy? You might not like swimming, but the snacks in the North Sea are also amazing!”
Completely ignoring the girl’s indifference and disdain, the boy turned around and began listing things the girl might be interested in, counting them on his fingers.
“It’s okay…”
[Swimming?]
Giving a perfunctory response to the boy, Kazumi’s attention was drawn to the latter part of his words.
Indeed, as Sato Shinichi said, going to the beach definitely meant swimming, and even if she didn’t like swimming, she would still need to wear a swimsuit. However, compared to the shorts boys wore, girls’ swimsuits were a bit more troublesome.
As if thinking of something, the girl’s gaze, which had been fixed on her phone, could not help but shift to the boy beside her. Beneath his thin clothes, his well-defined muscles moved as the boy walked.
[I remember, his body seemed to be quite good…]
She couldn’t help but swallow, and the image of the boy’s bare upper body inexplicably appeared in her mind, but she quickly dispelled it with a blush.
[No, no, I can’t let my emotions get the better of me. Swimsuit! I need to think about the swimsuit.]
In fact, the girl was completely uninterested in the so-called beach trips, summer camps, or anything of that sort. However, since it was a class collective activity, being absent without reason didn’t seem like a good idea, so she had no choice but to make time for it.
It was absolutely not because she wanted to see Sato Shinichi’s body that she wanted to go!
How could the dignified Kazumi Shimizu be enticed by a man’s body? Impossible!
*Slurp*
“Kazumi, Kazumi, are you okay?”
The boy’s voice called out from beside her. The girl, jolted back to reality, found Sato Shinichi looking at her with concern.
“It’s nothing, I was just spacing out.”
Having regained her composure, the girl realized her somewhat awkward action, pushed the boy away with a blush, and continued to walk forward.
“Oh, oh, have you prepared your swimsuit? Do you want to go buy it together?”
The boy nodded, unfazed by the girl’s behavior. After all, his girlfriend always seemed to be deep in thought, and often spaced out during conversations, so he was already used to it.
“Ummmmm, no.”
Carefully recalling her memory, Kazumi realized that apart from the small one-piece swimsuit she received during junior high swimming class, she didn’t actually have a decent swimsuit in her wardrobe. For her previous self, who had no social life or hobbies, these were unnecessary items.
“Then shall we go browse the mall later? We can buy them together.”
“Mmh?”
The girl let out a few unclear vocalizations, her gaze towards Sato Shinichi now carrying a hint of unspoken emotion.
She couldn’t quite tell if this guy’s emotional intelligence had suddenly improved and he’d become cunning, or if he was just so foolish that he happened to hit on the right point. For a moment, Kazumi really couldn’t figure out if Sato Shinichi’s true intention was to care for her, or to take advantage of her.
Although their relationship was publicly quite good, in the girl’s eyes, accompanying one’s girlfriend to buy something like a swimsuit was still a rather intimate affair.
After all, buying clothes definitely involved trying them on. And if one had to show off such thin clothing to the opposite sex, it generally meant that the relationship had developed to a very deep level.
Moreover, the scenario of them buying swimsuits alone was either a pure romance slice-of-life or an NTR hentai – either way, the development felt quite unsettling.
“Next time. We still have plenty of time, and I think online shopping is also fine.”
Gently shaking her head, she rejected the boy’s eager request. The main reason was that Kazumi couldn’t quite grasp what he was up to.
It seemed like he genuinely wanted to accompany her to buy something, but if he really had ulterior motives, considering her current depleted ability, there was a real possibility that he could take considerable advantage of her.
It was truly terrifying.
“Hmm, okay. But Kazumi, you have to tell me what color you chose. I was originally planning to pick the same color swimsuit as you.”
Hearing the girl’s answer, the boy showed a hint of disappointment on his face, but quickly perked up and said to Kazumi beside him.
“……..”
[Are you some kind of pretentious little princess?! Wanting to pick matching couple colors for swimsuits is too terrifying!! These aren’t the thoughts a fifteen-year-old boy should have!!]
This move by the boy truly baffled Kazumi. She thought he was on the fifth level, but it turned out he was in the basement??
Such a thought was too childish. Moreover, wouldn’t wearing couple-themed swimsuits be strange?!
However, considering Sato Shinichi’s negative emotional intelligence and complete lack of relationship experience, this behavior could be acceptable? After all, it was just an innocent boy expressing his affection in his own way. If one were to truly count, her past self was much stupider than him.
“Beep beep beep—”
Just as Kazumi was about to say something to ease her awkward expression, the phone in the boy’s pocket emitted a crisp ringing sound. Sato Shinichi reached for his phone, his expression showing a hint of pleasant surprise.
“Hello, Auntie Ryuji, it’s me, Shinichi…”
“Mm-hmm, we just finished school and are on our way home. Kazumi is right beside me, I’m planning to take her home. Mm, we haven’t had dinner yet.”
“Should… it be okay, but I need to ask her first.”
After a brief exchange, the boy pressed the phone’s earpiece and turned to the girl beside him with a questioning expression, pointing at the phone in his right hand and asking.
“Kazumi, Auntie Ryuji invited us to have dinner together. Do you want to go?”
