Beach.
Haruka laid lazily on the beach chair together with Minami and Ryouhei, and somehow she started to regret joining them since both of them didn't do anything besides relaxing in this place, though, she felt that it wasn't that bad either.
However her mood was quite bad since she knew that Haru was going to play with a lot of girls on the beach and she wasn't there.
"What's wrong, Haruka?"
"You've been in a bad mood for a while."
"N - Nothing!"
Haruka wouldn't tell them about such an embarrassing thing.
"You want to go with Kasugano-kun?"
"Now, that I remember he has invited you to the beach, but you've rejected it, right? You don't have to reject it."
Ryouhei and Minami thought that this girl had helplessly fallen for Haru.
"N - No! Who wants to go with him? I don't want to go with him!" Haruka immediately refuted both of them with a blush on her face.
"...."
Both of them wanted to say something, but they heard a familiar voice.
"Haruka, what a coincidence, you're also going to this beach?"
Haruka, Minami, and Ryouhei turned and saw someone that they didn't expect, but at the same time, they blinked their eyes in surprise when they saw him.
Haru, who didn't wear his glasses and shirt, gave various reactions to the three of them.
Ryouhei frowned then looked down on Haru's body and lower area that made him frown.
Because Haru's short had become wet, the shape of his anaconda was shown through his short seemed ready to eat all of the girls in this place.
"..."
Minami and Haruka didn't say anything for a while and opened their mouths wide looking at him. They understood why this guy was a lethal weapon for every female on the Babel.
"You shouldn't wear those ugly glasses to school every time."
Minami thought that it was such a shame to hide his face with those ugly glasses.
"Hahaha..."
Haru only laughed and didn't refute or agree. "Do you want to join us? Let's play together."
Ryouhei shook his head and said, "No, I'm going to relax in this place."
Minami thought for a while and shook her head. "I'm too lazy." She looked at Haru and said, "Haruka, you should go out and play."
"W - What? Why me?"
Haruka wanted to join Haru, but she was too embarrassed to say so.
"Why not? Don't you want to play with me?"
"I - I don't want to play with him!"
Haruka had a blush on her face and if there was a special effect added then her head would be full of smoke because of embarrassment.
Haru looked at Haruka for a while and knew how troublesome a tsundere girl was. He needed to be patient and needed to be the one who asked her out.
"But I want to play with you, Haruka."
Hearing his sincere's request, Haruka seemed very happy, but she couldn't show it. "T - Then, I will play with you! But remember that I decided to play with you because I don't want you to do something inappropriate on this beach that will cause Babel's name to be tarnished!
D - Don't get me wrong, alright?"
"...."
Ryouhai and Minami thought that Haruka was troublesome.
"Yes, but even so, I'm happy that you agree with my request." Haru took Haruka's hand and said, "Let's go."
"U - Umm...."
Haruka blushed but happily followed him.
"....."
Ryouhai sucked a deep breath and shook his head in amazement looking at Haru's smooth action. "That guy....." He started to understand why Haru had a harem and why he didn't have a girlfriend.
"He's dangerous."
Minami thought and she was sure that she couldn't handle him when she was being asked the same question, though, at the same time, she was jealous of Haruka who had been invited by him.
---
Haruka had joined their group, but it didn't really matter too much since Haruka had also come to visit them from time to time with an intention to oversee them or something.
Tsundere.
It was everyone's impression of Haruka, but no one said anything about it since it might cause her to get angry.
Everyone played together until they decided to get something to eat since they were a bit hungry, however, when they were about to grab something to eat, there was a large crowd that gathered together around the stage.
"What's that?"
"Is there a concert?"
"Event?"
"Close! But it's true that an event is about to happen soon."
Everyone turned and saw a blonde-haired young man.
"Sup!"
"Kaidou?"
"What are you doing here?"
Kaidou or the guy who had been punched by Haru during the Sleipnir event.
"I'm working, even though I may not look like it, but I work for a living."
"Haru, who is this?"
"Just a stranger, you don't need to think too much." Haru didn't think that he had that much interaction with this guy.
"How cruel!" Kaidou really wanted to cry at this moment.
"What work are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm the staff of this event."
Kaidou took out a poster from his pocket and showed it to everyone.
They saw a picture of a woman being chased by someone who wore a strange mask while screaming happily.
Haru who saw this poster knew that it might be a lewd event.
"Swimsuits on the beach playing tags 25th annual event."
"May it be the standout memory of your summer."
"What in the world is this odd event?" Haruka frowned.
"Haven't you heard of it?" Kaidou seemed surprised by their reaction and said, "It's a pretty famous event and they host it every year."
"It's even being broadcast on satellite TV. There's also a prize."
They looked at the prize and felt a bit surprised.
"Wow, it's real."
"How extravagant... and it says the entrance fee is free."
"Well then? Do all you wanna join?" Kaidou asked.
"I wanna join!" Myuu suddenly said that she wanted to grow up somehow.
"Eh? You wanna join such a strange event?" Shinobu was surprised.
"Then, I'll join you."
"Me too."
"Then, I'll go too."
Akatsuki, Kuzuha, and Izumi decided to join.
Kouha, Shinobu, and Kuroneko looked at Haru waiting for his response.
"I'll go."
Haru was somehow interested in this event.
"Then, let's go together!"
Haruka also reluctantly joined them since she had been playing with them for a while.
Everyone agreed to join the event and registered to the staff first. They received a number which they placed on their swimwear and went to the crowd to hear the announcement of the event.
"Sorry for the wait, everyone!"
"WOHOOOO!!!!"
Everyone was very excited since they had been waiting for the event.
The MC stood up excitedly on the stage to announce the event. "We'll now begin the Swimsuit Beach Tag Event! We have given all of you numbers to stick on your swimsuits. From this large pool of numbers, we'll choose just one runner by lottery.
One hour from now, the person who carries back the winning swimsuit will win."
"Eh?!"
The girls were complaining since they didn't want to be naked and their swimwear being taken from their body, though, some of them were excited.
"Please, don't panic. The runner will be chosen from the pool of men. So please have fun fighting over him!"
The MC explained to the participants and gave the cue to the staff to start the lottery.
"So now...."
The staff nodded and changed the large screen on the stage into a lottery count.
Everyone looked at the number which rolled very fast on the screen until it stopped on one of the numbers on the participants.
77!
"Who?!"
Everyone looked around until they saw the face of that person on the screen.
"Me?"
Haru was surprised, but he knew that it might have something to do with Kaidou since he remembered that guy was the staff of that event. He thought that he would steal a girl's swimsuit, but he didn't expect his swimwear to be targeted by everyone.
"Congratulations! Our runner has been chosen. Number 77!"
"Hehehe, Haru, I'll steal that short from you."
Akatsuki thought that it was time for revenge.
Haru also noticed the eyes of the girls on the surrounding started to become wild and excited at the same time, and he also noticed the eyes of some men were also very excited hearing that it was his number.
"...."
"Congratulations, Haru," Shinobu said with a smile.
"I don't think you should "congratulate" me in this situation..."
Haru was speechless.
"I will give you ten seconds now. The boundaries are all sand on the beach. Parts of the shop on the beach are also included. We at the event committee have all the safety precautions under control, so feel free to run freely!"
"..."
"Let the Swimsuit Beach Tag begin!" The MC shouted excitedly.
Haru started to regret joining this event, but he knew that there was one thing that he needed to do now. He raised his feet and started to run away from this place since he could see Izumi, Kuzuha, Kouha, Akatsuki, Kuroneko, and Shinobu decided to take off his shorts at that moment.