Flipped Over

"You guys actually bought this thing?" Back on the beach, Ryuen had already organized the class to prepare for a barbecue party.

The reason Sawahara felt surprised was that he saw a jet ski by the sea. He had seen the price of this thing in the manual earlier, and it was by no means cheap.

"Hah, we're only playing at the beach for one day anyway, so we might as well enjoy it to the fullest." Ryuen lay on a beach chair, sipping juice. "Looks like things have been settled?"

"Yeah, it's been settled with Class A. I'll have Ishizaki and the others deliver the supplies in a bit." Sawahara handed the list to Ryuen.

"Tch, you sure know how to order people around." Ryuen clicked his tongue in annoyance, but he still got up to take the list.

As Ryuen went off to exchange for the supplies, Sawahara lay directly on the chair.

"Heh, if you're planning on sunbathing at the beach, you should probably change your clothes first." Ryuen realized what was happening and was speechless. He pulled little stunts just for this seat?

Besides, what kind of bird-brained behavior is it to sunbathe in a tracksuit? Are you afraid you aren't hot enough?

"That's true..." Only then did Sawahara remember he was still wearing his tracksuit. Had he become a bit too lax?

He got up from the lounge chair to go change, and by the time he returned, Ryuen was already lying on it, casting a provocative look his way.

"..." Acting just like a child, how boring. Sawahara felt speechless. He grabbed a soda from the nearby ice bucket, opened it, and headed toward the shore.

"Why are you sitting here all by yourself? Is there nothing you want to play with?" Sawahara walked under a coconut tree where Shiina was sitting, admiring the scenery, looking completely out of place amidst the lively atmosphere of the beach.

The class had found quite a few entertainment options: beach volleyball, jet skis, and so on. Ishizaki and the others had even traded for two decks of cards.

"Sawahara-kun... your clothes?" Shiina looked up and immediately noticed that the shirt Sawahara was wearing didn't have a single button left. The hem fluttered behind him in the sea breeze, leaving the skin on his chest completely exposed.

"Oh, this? I ripped the buttons off earlier." Sawahara didn't pay much attention to it. "But it's summer, so it doesn't really matter. Are there none among all these activities that you like?"

Every time he saw Shiina, she was always alone like this. Not integrating into the class like this wasn't a good sign.

"The weather is too hot, and I'm not very good at dealing with other people," Shiina said.

It was true; Shiina's skin was very fair, and she clearly wasn't the type to engage in outdoor activities often. It was likely she wasn't used to this kind of situation, and the weather was indeed very hot.

However, Shiina was actually lying. While it wasn't that she was bad at communicating with others, she simply didn't want to waste too much time on meaningless things.

Someone had invited her to play volleyball earlier, but she had refused.

Just as Sawahara always saw Shiina alone, she saw him the same way. Just like now, aside from communicating with Ryuen and the others regarding class affairs, no one had taken the initiative to come up and speak to Sawahara.

That was why she had declined the invitations from friends in the class and sat here alone, because she knew that Sawahara would definitely come over to ask.

"I see... do you want to go ride the jet ski together?" Sawahara thought for a moment; since it was too hot, they might as well go play in the water.

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

The two boys currently using the jet ski were Oda and Suzuki. Hearing that Sawahara wanted to play, the two of them handed it over without hesitation.

"Come to think of it, I've never played with this thing before. Suzuki, why don't you tell me how to operate it?" Sawahara smiled apologetically at Shiina. He had never played with this before, which was exactly why he was curious and wanted to try it out.

"Eh? Sawahara-kun, you don't know how?" Suzuki's face was full of surprise.

A hint of helplessness appeared on Sawahara's face. "I'm not some kind of monster; how could I possibly know how to do everything?"

Come to think of it, what kind of image did he even have in the class?

This was his first time at the beach, and it was his first time seeing a jet ski. If it were a motorcycle or a police car, he would know how to drive it.

Afterward, Suzuki introduced the operation method of the jet ski to him. It was generally similar to a motorcycle and not very difficult. As for the actual difficulty, he would only know once he tried.

He let Shiina sit behind him and wrap her arms around his waist. Sawahara took a deep breath and started the engine.

"I really didn't think there was anything Sawahara-kun couldn't do." On the shore, Suzuki and Oda were still chatting.

"Yeah, but this is more normal, right? And I feel like this version of Sawahara-kun is more real." Oda nodded. It was like the moon hanging in the sky, unreachable; only upon getting closer did one realize it was just a reflection. Even though it was still unreachable, it didn't seem so distant anymore.

Sawahara was unaware of their thoughts. At first, he didn't dare to drive too fast, only gradually accelerating once he got a feel for it.

Feeling the strong wind blowing past his ears and the waves splashing against his feet, this feeling of speeding along was truly refreshing... was this what "refreshing" felt like?

As the speed increased, the hands Shiina had loosely wrapped around him tightened, and her body pressed against Sawahara's back.

However, it was a pity that Sawahara couldn't feel any special sensation because, due to his unfamiliarity with the controls, they were both wearing life jackets to prevent any accidents.

Before he could feel disappointed about missing out on a moment of intimacy, the thrilling and exciting moment of flipping over arrived.

The previously calm sea began to churn. Sawahara failed to adjust the angle in time, and as a result, both of them fell into the water.

"Oh no." Suzuki and the other, who had been laughing and talking on the shore, were startled and immediately jumped into the water to swim over.

"Phew—"

Fortunately, they were wearing their life jackets properly; they had only choked on a bit of water.

"Sawahara-kun, Shiina-san, are you two okay?"

Seeing Suzuki and the other swimming over, Sawahara shook his head to indicate that they were fine.

Back on the shore, he wiped the water off his body with a towel and apologized to Shiina.

"Sorry, Shiina. I didn't manage the balance well and caused you to fall into the water with me."

"No, it's nothing." Shiina shook her head. After all, Sawahara had said earlier that it was his first time playing, so it was normal for there to be some mishaps, and she had agreed to it herself.

"But Sawahara-kun seems to be having fun."

"Do I?" Sawahara paused for a moment, then laughed. "Well, flipping over is a rare experience, after all."