After calling home to say they had arrived safely in Hawaii, the two followed the map to a Japanese-owned restaurant. Since there were many Japanese people here, they could pay in yen without exchanging money, which was convenient.
Of course, they could also pay by card.
Hayato ordered a large Hawaiian rice hamburger steak (loco moco), a local specialty made by placing a seared, fragrant, tender, juicy hamburger patty over steaming freshly cooked white rice, then pouring on a rich secret sauce and topping it with a soft-fried egg.
The hamburger steak could be made from all sorts of ingredients, and Hayato's used ground beef.
The thick, juicy beef paired with the sweet-and-sour sauce was incredibly appetizing. Once the fried egg was pierced, its yolk flowed out and mingled with the sauce, while the onions and mushrooms served as sides were richly fragrant as well.
Kiyoko ordered fried chicken coated in glutinous rice flour with macaroni.
Chicken thigh meat with the skin on was marinated in secret seasonings, coated in glutinous rice flour, deep-fried until golden, and sprinkled with white sesame seeds. One bite released a mouthful of juices, and the tender chicken carried a faint sweetness.
But since it was still hot inside, Kiyoko rather inelegantly blew on it as she ate.
"Kiyoko-senpai, yours looks really good too. Let me have a piece."
As he spoke, Hayato leaned over. They sat facing each other, and the table was not very large, so he could reach it with only a slight lean. Kiyoko picked up a piece of fried chicken with her chopsticks and held her hand beneath it.
This kind of intimate feeding did not draw attention here, especially since they did not know anyone. Kiyoko let herself relax.
After feeding Hayato, she had him use his spoon to let her taste the dish he had ordered.
After contentedly finishing the local food, they ordered an acai bowl and a small cup of shaved ice topped with colorful syrup, ice cream, and red beans.
Acai berries were fruits that grew on palm trees. They looked somewhat like grapes and were blackish-purple. Their flavor was quite distinctive. However, only a small amount had been added to the bowl as decoration; most of it consisted of common fruits like bananas, strawberries, and pineapple.
The shaved ice was pineapple-flavored, full of tropical flair.
After finishing dessert as well, the two rested in the restaurant for a while, paid the bill, and returned to their hotel room. Since they had come all this way, they naturally had to have a good time at the beach after eating.
They stayed in the hotel until the blazing midday sun had passed, only heading out in the afternoon.
With their swimsuits and a beach mat, they came to the shore. Hayato spent some money to rent a parasol, then changed into swim trunks and a rash guard in the changing room before coming out to wait for Kiyoko.
Even though he had seen it once before, Hayato was still captivated when Kiyoko appeared before him in her swimsuit again.
"Yeah, just as I thought. Kiyoko-senpai, you look amazing in that swimsuit."
"You already said that when I wore it for the first time that day."
"There's no harm in complimenting you again."
After finding a spot to spread out the mat and setting up the parasol, Hayato prepared to take Kiyoko into the sea. Since they had already applied sunscreen at the hotel, there was none of the usual beachside fanservice.
"Hayato, come over here and lie down."
Kiyoko took sunscreen from her bag and patted the beach mat, signaling for Hayato to come over. Yes, rather than there being a fanservice moment, Hayato had become the one getting lotion applied to him.
"Uh, Kiyoko-senpai, I don't need it, do I?"
"You'll get sunburned if you don't apply it. The afternoon sun is still very strong."
Unable to refuse Kiyoko, Hayato could only walk over and lie on the mat. He could apply sunscreen to the other places himself, so Kiyoko did not bother with those. After squeezing some into her palms and spreading it evenly, she gave him a warning before placing both hands on his shoulder blades.
"It's kind of cold."
Though he had known it was coming, Hayato still shivered the moment the sunscreen touched his skin. The cool lotion quickly warmed under the heat of Kiyoko's palms.
"Hayato, your back is so broad."
"Well, I do have a big frame."
Focused on applying the sunscreen, Kiyoko remarked on it with some feeling. Because of his height and training, Hayato's back was not only broad, but the contours of his muscles were also quite distinct. Then, feeling playful, Kiyoko mischievously poked his back with her fingertips.
"Um, Kiyoko-senpai, what are you doing?"
Caught making her little move, Kiyoko blushed slightly, then patted his lower back.
"Nothing. I was just a little curious about your back muscles. All right, I'm done. You can handle the rest yourself."
Hayato got up, picked up the sunscreen beside him, squeezed some onto his hand, and casually applied it.
"Be more serious. The sun is very strong right now. What if you get sunburned?"
Kiyoko flicked his forehead and lectured him in a tone that suggested she did not know what to do with him.
"Got it~~"
Drawing out his words like a child, Hayato made Kiyoko feel that no matter how old he got, perhaps he would always show this childish side around her.
At last, after finishing the sunscreen, the impatient Hayato pulled Kiyoko toward the sea. The seawater rose over their calves and felt wonderfully comfortable.
On such a crowded beach, a handsome boy and a beautiful girl like Hayato and Kiyoko naturally drew plenty of attention, especially Kiyoko with her Yamato Nadeshiko air.
But with Hayato beside her, no one who wanted to hit on Kiyoko dared approach. The blonde, blue-eyed girls, however, had no such reservations.
A beach volleyball rolled over to Hayato's side, and two curvy beauties with long blonde hair walked over. In English, they invited Hayato and his companion to come play with them.
Hayato politely declined. In flawless English, he said that he did not know how to play volleyball and that he still needed to accompany his girlfriend.
The two blonde beauties walked away in great disappointment. One of them even looked back at Hayato several times, clearly reluctant to leave. Kiyoko was no poor student either and understood what Hayato had said. Once they had gone farther away, she splashed water onto his chest.
"Somebody said it wasn't okay yet, so how could I be his girlfriend? And you said you couldn't play volleyball too. What a smooth talker."
Laughing as he dodged Kiyoko's continued attack, Hayato symbolically fought back as well. Naturally, he only splashed water onto her body.
"It'll be true someday. Mainly, if I hadn't said that, they wouldn't have let it go. But Kiyoko-senpai, they gave me an idea. How about going to the beach for our next training camp? Beach volleyball is great for training our players' lower-body strength."
"The idea is good, but our club budget is limited. What you're suggesting probably has no chance."
With one arm wrapped across her chest and the other supporting her chin, Kiyoko thought for a moment before shaking her head and rejecting Hayato's suggestion.
Mentioning the club budget reminded Hayato that they had needed donation posters just to go to Tokyo for their previous training camp. He realized that financial constraints really were a major problem.
"That's true. Our club budget can't support the whole team going to the beach for training camp."
After ending that topic, they played by the sea for a while longer and bought two cold drinks. Only when the sun began to set did they pack up and prepare to leave. Before they went, Kiyoko looked at the beautiful sunset with some reluctance.
"If you like it here, Kiyoko-senpai, we can come again next time."
"Don't talk nonsense. If we hadn't won the grand prize, how could two high school students possibly have enough money to come here?"
"That's why I mean after we both become adults, we can come."
Hayato's words made Kiyoko fall into thought as well. Gazing at the orange clouds, she smiled and turned to look at him.
"You're right. Let's come again if we get the chance."
On the beach beneath the sunset, Kiyoko stood in her swimsuit with her hands behind her back and her body leaning slightly forward, the brightest smile blooming across her face. Like an oil painting by a master artist, she was so beautiful that he could not look away.
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