"Oi~"
A soft girly voice spoke out.
"Mister weirdo~ Are you awake?"
I let out a slight groan in discomfort. The throbbing pain in my neck was beginning to feel quite familiar to me.
"Oh! You're awake."
I opened my eyes to see the face of quite a pretty and adorable girl looming over me. Of course I wasn't particularly happy because said girl was also the one who knocked me out.
However this time it was a completely warranted move, seeing a guy in his boxers come at you at full speed is probably traumatizing.
Still, being knocked out twice and in the same way is not a fun time at all, but it does make me wonder how many times it takes for something to become a cliché.
I moved around a bit and my eyes grew wide.
A soft sensation below my head?!
This is one of the few times being knocked out came with its perks. Waking up to the face of a beautiful girl? And there's a soft sensation below my head?! That can only mean one thing… a lap pi-
"Oya, are you feeling all better youngster?"
The face of an old man with a large nose began to look down as well, jump scaring me in the process and making me let out a ghastly shriek at the same time.
I sat up quickly only to realize that the girl had been standing all this time, so the soft sensation meant…
Damn it! It was a lap pillow from a random old man!
"He doesn't seem too happy to see you, Tanaka" the girl said to the older gentlemen with a grin on her face.
"It's quite hurting indeed" he replied while sniffing.
I began to look around and it seemed they had dragged me away from the shoreline.
"How long have I been out for?" I asked.
"Eh, not that long, maybe like 10 minutes?"
But before I could even say anything, she turned around to grab something, "For starters," she said as she dropped something next to me, "put some clothes on first."
This entire time I was being covered by a different coat, probably belonging to the old man that she called Tanaka.
After putting everything on in a swift manner, she once again directed herself at a me.
"Well let me start by apologizing for suddenly attacking you like that, but you can probably see where I was coming from"
Despite her apology, her gaze and demeanor still seemed wary and cautious of me. Understandably so.
"Yeah, no worries, I probably looked like a pervert from your perspective" I replied.
"Wait, so you aren't a pervert?" she asked bewildered.
"No!"
"So what were you doing earlier?" She said with unimpressed eyes, "I mean, taking off your clothes, rushing a vulnerable girl when it's nighttime and when there's no one else around… no I'm pretty sure you're a pervert. Tanaka is he a pervert?"
"He most definitely is." He replied in a simple manner.
"Like I said I'm not a pervert… I had a very good reason for my actions as crazy as they may seem"
"Hmmm~ Alright I wanna hear them" she said with curiosity.
"Listen I was trying to stop you from-" but I hesitated to finish my sentence and looked at old man Tanaka for a second, I wasn't sure if it's something I should say so carelessly, after all maybe it was a deep personal issue to this girl.
But this girl seemed to notice my concern, "If it's Tanaka you're worried about, then don't worry. I trust him wholeheartedly."
I let out a sigh, "Alright, well I was minding my own business when I heard you singing, I was like 'damn this girl is good' and so I stayed to watch for a bit. Then outta nowhere you stopped and began to slowly walk into the sea! I mean you didn't even flinch when the water touched, and you just kept going until you were completely under, and well I thought you were going to, you know…"
The girl very subtly twitched, and her expression shifted very quickly, going from the suspicious gaze from earlier, to a serious and more introspective one.
She seemed to be contemplating my words for a second with her eyes closed.
Meanwhile, old man Tanaka gave off a sorrowful look to the girl, but didn't say a word.
"Ha~ So that's what it was"
She said while letting out a sigh, and all her looks of suspicion went away immediately. Her posture became more relaxed, placing her hands on her hips, and giving a tender smile.
"Whatever it is you may be thinking, you got it completely wrong," she said while waving her hands side to side dismissingly.
"I do admit it's my bad for giving you the wrong impression, so for that I apologize"
The girl then proceeded to give a polite bow, and the old man also followed along.
"There's no need for apologies, had I known your grandpa was with you, this misunderstanding wouldn't have happened" I quickly tried to appease to them.
Both the old man and the girl gave each other confused glimpses, as if I had said something strange.
Then they both began to let out soft giggles.
"What? Did I say something strange, is he not your grandpa?" I asked confused.
The girl turned to me with an amused look, "It's something like that," she simply replied.
I didn't really want to ask any further questions. Besides, the old man didn't look like a bad person at all, instead he gave off a very innocent demeanor.
"Well now that we've cleared that up, let me make it up to you somehow." The girl said, turning to face the ocean once again, but this time she seemed livelier for some odd reason.
"Make it up? Why? I mean I didn't even do anything in the end." I answered.
"Perhaps" she said mischievously, "but the fact remains that I knocked you out does it not?"
She then turned her head looking at me with a gaze of amusement, "And besides, was it not your intention to save me?"
"Well yeah but-"
"Then that is more than enough reason to make it up to you."
This girl seemed quite set on her decision no matter what. I've come to understand that when you encounter a situation like this, there's no point in arguing back.
"Hah~ well sure" I replied defeatedly.
"Great, then how about two days from now, on Saturday?"
"Sounds good."
"Then give me your phone number" she said reaching out her hand expectantly.
Wow, this girl is quite forward.
Of course the very act of a girl asking for your phone number would have most of us excited or shaken up, after all it's not everyday a girl asks for your phone.
But me?
Well I'm not no different!
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Right now my contact list consists of 5 people, my family members and two sympathetic doofuses.
So the addition of a girl who seems normal after encountering all sorts of abnormalities is an opportunity that rarely comes.
I took out my phone, showing my Lime contact information as if it was served on a silver platter.
The girl smiled and in one swipe I received a notification showing that a new contact had been added successfully.
As I looked at my phone, and at the new contact, I was greeted with a profile picture of an old man doing a cute pose that girls usually do.
"Tanaka will contact you on my behalf" she said.
So it's the old man's phone number I'm getting!
"Hmmm~ You seem a bit dissatisfied, perhaps you were hoping for something different?"
She said with a cunning smile, as if she got a kick out of people's reactions.
"No" I replied, but I most definitely was.
It seems behind the innocent and naïve look she gave off, was a playful and prankish nature. I guess it was another case of never judging a book by its cover.
"Well then," she continued speaking, "I guess we will see each other soon"
The girl began to walk off and old man Tanaka gave a simple farewell bow.
As I watched them calmly walk off, I couldn't help but think how right my mother was when she said, 'Good done to others, is good done to oneself'.
Thanks to her wise teachings, now I would get a free happy meal... oh and I guess also a date with a pretty girl.
But as she got farther away, I came to realize something and as such I called out to her.
"Wait!" I exclaimed, "I just realized I never got your name"
The old man looked at the girl with a look of concern, but she smiled back at him as if to soothe his worries.
She then looked back to me and with a bright smile she answered.
"It's Seo, Seo Misaki."
She then went off on her way, and I went on mine. Afterall I still had groceries to buy.
But that whole experience felt like a fleeting dream…