"Haaaaa....The beach is really the best place for me."
Not only could Kouki practice swimming, but he can enjoy his time and relax with his friends.
Being close to water calms him down and makes him feel different.
An ace of the swimming club would surely take full advantage of this trip. He was with most of the Drama Club members.
Originally, this was a plan just for them but Kouki begged them to join. Harue helped him and they all agreed. Although Kouki did not have any plan of coming with them in the first place, there was someone that compelled him to do so.
It was Harue.
He reached out to Kouki for some support upon the scheme he was devising.
That is confessing to Yuna, his crush.
He has finally accumulated the right amount of courage for this event. He won't let go of this opportunity.
Kouki stretched himself by lifting his arm and felt more relaxed under the sun.
Some teenage girls that were wandering on the beach, noticed Kouki and admired his well-sculptured body. He is a handsome guy, tall and athletic so his body is a dream for boys.
However, no one knows how many hardships he had to go through to obtain the privilege of getting this type of body.
Even so, Kouki put those moments back in his mind and continue doing as he does.
"Senpai!"
"Senpai!"
Even the few girls from the drama club flocked around him. He was accustomed to these types of situations so he did not mind it.
However, he was not interested in all of them, except in Yuna who was chatting with Seita.
He pondered on multiple cliched types of plan that were suitable for Harue. In all, it depends on how Harue execute them.
After some time, all of the drama club members gathered around Paro since they were all together.
She smiled at all of them.
"Since we have some time to ourselves, let's have fun!!!"
"""""Yeah!!!!!!!"""""
Each of them had their version of fun.
Some went swimming and raced. Some had fun with the sand and participated in some castle building competitions.
Whilst the others wandered to look for some interesting spot like a bar or good snack place.
Yuna was amongst the ones that walked along the beach. She did not want to go into the water right off the bat because her glasses would get wet constantly.
"What are you doing!? Go with them!"
Kouki ordered Harue who was still wondering what to do.
"O-Okay."
"Remember to be a bit pushy."
"Y-Yes!"
Harue with his dark blue trunk jogged towards the group that Yuna was in. It consisted of her, Daisuke, Kagome, the first year Fujita and Ike.
"Oh? Harue-senpai is coming here." Fujita announced the group and everyone veered their head to him.
Fujita finds it weird now that Harue is topless. Having a cute and girly face sitting on top of a man's body was rather uncomforting for him to see.
"H-Hey guys, let me come with you."
"Of course. Let's find a place where we could bring everyone to eat."
Harue casually walked alongside Yuna who was also next to Ike. Ike saw Harue's ear get red as time went by. He understood his intentions and he stayed silent.
Only Ike and Kouki know about the person who Harue loves. They are the ones rooting for a love relationship between them.
The others are ignorant to them.
Well, it is not their fault because Harue rarely gives away signs. And if he does, he shows it inconspicuously. But he could not escape from Ike's sight.
The group walked along the beach, searching and conversing simultaneously. Many children crowded the beach.
After a few seconds of walking, Harue noticed Kouki who was hiding behind a parasol.
He was a bit ahead of the group's path.
Their gazes met. Kouki nodded with determination. Harue was still unsure about his plan but he steeled his resolve.
Then Kouki grabbed a ball used for beach volleyball. He lifted it and threw it at great speed towards Yuna.
'Here it is!'
Harue's heart pounded faster as that time has come to become the protector of Yuna.
Daisuke noticed the ball in time and warned the rest.
"Everyone! Watch out!"
Everyone was not in the ball's trajectory so they didn't evade or anything. But it was still a heads-up from Daisuke.
However, that wasn't the case.
Yuna was the one that was in danger. Seita noticed this and worriedly called her out.
"Yuna-san! Watch out!"
"Eh?"
Yuna was late in reaction time so the ball arrived just in front of her face. It was at that moment that Harue reached for Yuna's shoulder and tried to get her out of the way.
That was the plan they came up with.
Yuna felt a hand grabbing her shoulders but she did not detect it because there was an imminent danger right in front of him.
'Pull her to you, now!!' Kouki inwardly instructed Harue.
Harue tried to pull Yuna to him but before he could act, the ball was stopped in its track.
""....Eh?""
Both Harue and Yuna were perplexed by the turn of events.
Ike single-handedly and casually blocked the ball.
"Are you okay?" He asked nonchalantly.
"Huh? U-Um, thank you very much, Ike-senpai!"
She was extremely grateful for him to avoid getting injured. Harue, who still had his hand on Yuna's shoulder, retracted from touching her.
Kouki facepalmed heavily and cursed Ike.
"Why is that guy interfering!!??!"
He gritted his teeth before going back into hiding.
The others asked Yuna for her well being and gathered around her.
"Are you okay?"
"Where the hell did that ball come from?"
"Nice catch, Ike-senpai!"
Some were worried about Yuna's safety while Fujita and Daisuke were amazed at Ike's fast reflexes.
He fended them off by saying it was by luck that he caught that off. After checking that everything was fine, the group marched and resumed their search.
Yuna again expressed her gratitude towards Ike.
She bowed slightly and said, "Thank you again for saving me, Ike-senpai!"
"It is nothing, Yuna-san." He shrugged it off with less importance.
However he side glanced and saw Harue's expression, which he found to be disappointment.
He was looking a bit down while walking next to Yuna.
'Huh, did something happen?'
Ike wondered what was wrong with Harue and Yuna had no knowledge that Harue even touched her.
"Oi Harue!! Ike-kun!! Come here you two."
Kouki from behind the group called out to the two people.
Ike was confused whilst Harue had an understanding of what is going to happen.
They both excused themselves from the rest. Harue told them to go without them. Ike, still confused, followed Harue.
Kouki, though he was smiling, inside, he was very....very annoyed.
They got to a secluded place where few people passed by.
"What's up, Kouki-kun?" Ike inquired.
"...You.....ruined it all!!!!"
"W-What? Ruined what?"
"That was a chance for Yuna-chan to look at Harue in a different light! You interrupted that moment!"
"What mome.....?"
Puzzled at Kouki, Ike reminisced about the recent events. Quickly, he concluded that ball incident. He understood their plans. He just did not know that it was one of them.
He turned to Harue immediately and bowed completely.
"I-I am so sorry, Harue-kun. If I knew then I would not have blocked it."
".....No, it is not your fault. We should have told you at least since you know about this."
Kouki was not having this. He rambled on in front Ike about his plan as a masterpiece, even though there are a lot of scenarios like these in dramas and movies.
"My foolproof plan is a fail because of you!!"
"I am so sorry again!!" Ike bowed 90°.
"O-Oi Kouki, stop that! Instead of boasting that shitty plan again, why don't you think of another one."
"T-That waa n-not shitty! What the hell!?! Don't you trust my plan?"
"Look at what that plan happened."
"He is a miscalculation!" Kouki pointed at Ike so confidently.
It made Ike's heart sting after hearing such a statement against him. He regretted ever touching that ball in his life.
So to compensate for being a nuisance to Harue's love story, he decided to take part in Kouki's plan.
"Please Kouki-kun! Rather than being a miscalculation, I want to increase the probability of success to your plan. I will support you two."
"Ike-kun...Thank you." Harue softly and gratefully thanked him for his actions.
Kouki barely forgave him and took his offer.
"Okay but, I don't want any mistake on your part."
"Yes Sir!!"
Kouki established a Captain-Cadet relationship between them. Is this okay? Harue wondered but he let it go since he wants to confess to Yuna so badly.
"Listen Ike-kun, we need to set up the atmosphere and mood before Harue confesses. Things like skinship, being protective towards her and as such will build up a good foundation."
"Yes. So we need to create those situations?"
"You catch on fast. I like that. So, here is one of the many plans."
Those three sat down. Kouki being the mastermind of the operation, put down a load of information for his master plan to go through.
He used a stick that he found nearby and drew some scenarios on the sand.
Strangely enough, with his bad drawing, Harue and Ike were able to comprehend.
"Now, let's go and commence this operation 'Harue is a wimp' yet again."
Those 3 stood up upon Kouki's signal.
"Um, can we change the name of the operation?" Harue stared at Kouki with a piercing glare.
"Let's go." He ignored him and started their plan.
There were some situations when Harue would make some casual skinship with Yuna but that was not enough.
Ike would deliberately bump into Harue so that he could go closer to Yuna. That happened a few times with either Ike or Kouki as the instigator.
But, doing this too much would arouse suspicions so they do it occasionally.
There was another plan that consisted of some fake actors.
Kouki paid some other teenage boys to act like an annoying playboy towards Yuna. In the end, they would make Harue shoo them away and Yuna would feel a sense of security from him.
Well, that got ruined because of Daisuke. Because of his angry face and fearful demeanour, those teenage actors got genuinely scared and ran off.
That one was a fail for sure.
Plans upon plans were orchestrated throughout the day. A few were alright but a lot was a bust.
The day went by and many things happened. The drama club members were having the time of their lives.
Only 3 people were stressed out the whole day.
In the end, when the sun started to set, Paro decided that there was a last thing that she wants to organise with all of them.
She and Hishimi went to a convenience store nearby and bought the stuff that they need for a final enjoyable time.
By the time those two girls returned to the beach, it was already becoming dark. Their friends saw Paro and Hishimi carrying multiple fireworks.
The group cheered as they were prepared to indulge in an explosive ending.
They put it in a box and went to another spot where there were no people. They all searched until they found a decent place.
There were some large rocks by the beach so they put the box at the bottom of it.
They then started to take each type of fireworks that they like. There were rocket ones, there were like a stick that sparkled like a blazing star upon ignition, popping ones that made a loud crack when thrown hard onto the ground and much more.
They were all having fun including Yuna. Yet 3 boys were dispirited. It was at the end of the day and Harue has not built a good foundation for a confession.
So Ike suggested, ".....Why.....don't we try it another day. There is always a next time."
Kouki was about to refute Ike but Harue determined himself.
"No! I won't! It will be right here, today itself. I will let my feelings out! I can't hold them in forever!!"
"Well-said, Harue! Then, I will set up a situation right away. Go to the box where they kept the fireworks in."
Brimming with a positive vibe, he supported him till the end.
"Okay. I will leave it to you."
Kouki then went to Yuna who was having fun with everyone else. Harue went to where Kouki requested him to go.
Ike went with Kouki to see what he was plotting.
Kouki just approached Yuna and said,
"Yuna-chan, can you go help Harue carry the rest of the fireworks. There are a bit too much so it would be easy for him to get a helping hand."
"Is that so, Kouki-senpai? Then, I'll go."
She jogged in the direction of where Harue is.
Kouki side glanced Ike by his side and with a smirk, ordered, "Let's go spy on them."
............
"Harue-senpai?"
"Yuna-san?"
"Kouki-senpai said that you needed help to carry the fireworks."
"O-Oh, yes."
Yuna approached the crouched Harue. She crouched next to him and started to grab as many fireworks as possible.
His heart was faster. It was louder in his ear. He could not hear his surroundings except his heartbeat and breathing.
Yuna's slender arm, her green bikini outfit, her glasses, her black her, her slender figure. It was all perfect in his point of view.
'Ah, I want to hug you so close.'
But he restrained himself. Because there was something he needs to do first.
"Yuna-san.....What do you view me as?"
"Huh? What is it, Senpai? Is there something wrong? Why are you asking these types of questions?"
Bombarded with questions, Harue struggled to keep his composure. But he pulled it off.
"I-I just want to know how everyone sees me as. Am I a nuisance or....."
"What are you saying senpai!? Who said that!!? To us, you are not a nuisance. I see you as a reliable senpai that helps people in need."
"....Is that....so...?"
Harue blushed and was content by her answer. It was time to get to the next level.
He opened his mouth, letting out the heaviest words that he had kept in whenever he was around Yuna.
"Yuna-san, in truth....."
He slowly crept closer to her and focused his eyes on hers. Yuna was a bit startled but she froze in place.
".....I....I lo-"
*Pow!!*