Wipeout

"You even bought one of these?" Back on the beach, Ryuen had already organized the class to prepare for a barbecue.

Sawahara was surprised because he'd spotted a jet ski by the shore. He'd seen its price in the handbook, and it certainly hadn't been cheap.

"Yeah. We're only here for one day, so we might as well make the most of it." Ryuen lounged in a beach chair, sipping juice. "Looks like you've worked things out?"

"Yeah, I've made a deal with Class A. I'll have Ishizaki and the others take the supplies over in a bit." Sawahara handed Ryuen the list.

"Tch, you sure know how to make people do your work." Ryuen clicked his tongue in annoyance, but still got up and took the list.

As Ryuen went to exchange the list for supplies, Sawahara stretched out in the chair.

"Heh, if you're planning to sunbathe, you should change first." Ryuen caught on and gave him a speechless look. Was he really pulling little tricks just to get this seat?

And sunbathing in a tracksuit? What kind of idiot did that? Was he trying to get even hotter?

"Seriously..." Only then did Sawahara remember he was still wearing his tracksuit. Had he been getting a little too careless?

He got up from the lounge chair and went to change. By the time he returned, Ryuen had already claimed the seat and was giving him a taunting look.

"..." What was he, a kid? How boring. Sawahara shook his head, took a bottle of soda from the ice bucket nearby, opened it, and headed for the shore.

"Why are you sitting here alone? Nothing you want to do?" Sawahara walked over to a palm tree, where Shiina sat admiring the view, completely out of place amid the lively beach.

The class had found plenty of things to do: beach volleyball, jet skiing, and more. Ishizaki and the others had even picked up two decks of cards.

"Sawahara... your shirt?" Shiina looked up and immediately noticed that Sawahara's shirt had no buttons. The hem fluttered in the sea breeze, leaving his chest completely exposed.

"Oh, this? I pulled all the buttons off earlier." Sawahara didn't think much of it. "It's summer, so it's not really a problem.

"Isn't there anything here you'd like to try?"

Whenever Sawahara saw Shiina, she was always alone. It couldn't be good for her to stay so detached from the class.

"It's too hot, and I'm not very good at interacting with people," Shiina said.

That was true. Shiina had fair skin and clearly wasn't the outdoorsy type, so she probably wasn't used to this sort of thing. And it really was hot.

But Shiina was actually lying. It wasn't that she was bad at talking to people; she just didn't want to waste too much time on things she considered meaningless.

Someone had invited her to play volleyball earlier, but she'd turned them down.

Just as Shiina always seemed alone whenever Sawahara saw her, he looked the same way to her. Aside from talking with Ryuen and the others about class matters, no one ever approached Sawahara to speak with him.

So she'd turned down her classmates' invitation and sat alone here, knowing Sawahara would come over and ask her about it.

"I see... Want to try the jet ski together?" Sawahara thought it over. If it was too hot, they could cool off in the water.

"Hm? Sure." A faint smile appeared on Shiina's face, and she agreed at once.

Two boys were using the jet ski. Sawahara remembered their names were Oda and Suzuki. As soon as they heard he wanted to try it, they gave it up without hesitation.

"I've never ridden one of these before. Suzuki, could you explain how to operate it?" Sawahara smiled sheepishly at Shiina. He'd never ridden one before, which was exactly why he was curious to try.

"Huh? Sawahara, you don't know how?" Suzuki looked utterly surprised.

Sawahara gave a helpless smile. "I'm not some kind of monster. How could I know how to do everything?"

What kind of impression did his classmates have of him, anyway?

This was his first time at the beach, and the first time he'd seen a jet ski. He could drive a motorcycle or a police car, though.

Suzuki explained how to operate it. It was mostly like a motorcycle, so it didn't seem too difficult. How hard it actually was, though, he'd only find out by trying.

With Shiina sitting behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist, Sawahara took a deep breath and started the engine.

"I really didn't think there was anything Sawahara couldn't do," Suzuki said, still chatting with Oda on shore.

"Yeah, but that's normal, right? Somehow, this makes Sawahara seem more real, too." Oda nodded. It was like seeing that the moon, which had seemed so far away in the sky, was only a reflection. It was still out of reach, but it didn't seem quite so distant anymore.

Sawahara had no idea what they were thinking. At first, he didn't dare go too fast. It was only after he got the hang of it that he gradually picked up speed.

The wind howled past his ears, and spray slapped against his legs. The rush of speeding across the water felt incredible... Was this what exhilaration felt like?

As they went faster, Shiina's arms, which had initially been loosely around him, tightened their grip, and she pressed her body against his back.

Unfortunately, Sawahara didn't feel anything special. Since he wasn't used to operating the jet ski, they were both wearing life jackets in case of an accident.

He didn't have time to feel disappointed about missing out on an intimate moment. Instead, they were in for a thrilling, nerve-racking wipeout.

The once-calm sea began to churn. Sawahara failed to adjust his angle in time, and they both fell into the water.

"Oh no!" Suzuki and Oda, who had been chatting on shore, jumped in alarm and immediately swam over.

"Phew—"

Thank goodness they'd put on their life jackets properly. They'd only swallowed a little water.

"Sawahara, Shiina, are you okay?"

When he saw Suzuki and Oda swimming over, Sawahara shook his head to show them that they were fine.

Back on shore, Sawahara dried himself off with a towel and apologized to Shiina.

"Sorry, Shiina. I couldn't keep my balance, and you fell in because of me."

"No, it's fine." Shiina shook her head. Sawahara had already told her it was his first time riding one, so a mishap was only to be expected. She'd agreed to go along with it, too.

"But you look like you're having fun, Sawahara."

"Do I?" Sawahara paused, then laughed. "Well, wiping out is a rare experience, after all."