To suppress my inner desire, I decided to have lunch first.
The lunch consisted of appetizers that we brought from Shimizu Inn, some simmered dishes that Mizore-san and Sora-san had prepared for us and some bale-shaped onigiris.
All of them looked tasty and I was tempted to devour all of them. The only thing that stopped me from doing that was the fear of getting an upset stomach later. In the end, I decided to eat only half of them for now. After I'm done playing with Umi, I will finish the rest of them.
"The food is good, the scenery is good, now this is life."
"I know, right?"
The two of us snuggled as we ate our lunch. We splashed our bare feet on the surface of the gentle river. This atmosphere felt like a field trip.
Up until now, I was always alone on field or school trips and rather than enjoying the vibes of the places I visited, I always thought about the pain and the hassle of going to those places instead.
Now, everything was fun. And it was all thanks to my lovely girlfriend.
"Alright, now that we're done eating, let's play~"
"Got it. I'll turn around, so tell me when you're done changing."
"'Kay. Though, you don't really need to. I'm already wearing it, I only need to take my clothes off."
"I know, I'm just trying to restrain myself here…"
I pushed down my urges and turned around before changing into my swimsuit.
The river was shallow and there wasn't enough room for us to swim, so I thought about just leaving my shirt on, but the thought of how much of a hassle it would be if my shirt were to be totally drenched had me think otherwise.
When I put my clothes into the bag I brought, the '0.01' box came into view. I hastily tried to hide it beneath my towel.
No one saw that, right?
"I'm done, Maki."
"Mm."
This wouldn't be the first time I saw Umi's swimsuit since I saw it when we bought it. At that time I wasn't able to get a good look though, as I was too concerned about my surroundings. Because of that, I felt strangely nervous this time.
When I turned around, I saw Umi trying to evade my gaze. There was a slight tint of red on her face.
"Um… What do you think?"
"U-Um…"
She was wearing the swimsuit that she bought for playing with Amami-san and the others. It was a black two piece. The color gave it a cool atmosphere which fit Umi really well, but at the same time, the frills on the chest part made it look cute.
"Um… Your fashion sense is amazing as always. You look pretty, Umi. That swimsuit fits you really well…"
Pretty sure I said something similar back when we bought this one, but the right course of action here was to compliment her. It was embarrassing, but as long as she got the message, everything was good.
"I-Is that so? T-That's great then, my efforts paid off…"
"Umi, you're stuttering."
"S-So what?! You little… Eat this!"
"Woah!"
She scooped the water at her feet and splashed it directly onto my face.
My bangs were completely wet and it covered both my eyes. Seeing me like this, she let out a series of mischievous giggles.
"Hehe, perverts like you deserve something like this."
"…I see, so that's how it is. Fine, you're on!"
"Kyah, it's cold! Hehe, you ready to meet your maker? Huh?"
In the river surrounded by the quiet forest, the sound of Umi and me playing echoed.
We enjoyed our time in the water chasing each other around. We got totally drenched, but it felt satisfying because we didn't need to hold back.
Our laughter filled the place.
It was so much fun that we lost track of the time.
"C'mon, I'm over here, Maki~ Huh? Kyah!"
"Umi?!"
Suddenly, Umi lost her balance and almost fell down. Maybe she stepped on a mossy spot.
I quickly dove in, trying to save her and managed to catch her before falling.
With a violent splash, we fell down.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thank you. The water is a little deep here, so it would be okay even if I fell."
"I know, I did it by reflex…"
When Umi was by my side, I always tried to look out for her. If something were to happen to her, however small, my body would move to protect her.
I acted like a dog trying to protect its master, but I was fine with that.
"Your skin is smooth, isn't it? So if you get injured, it's very noticeable… That's why, as your boyfriend, I want to do my best to protect you…"
"Hm~"
"W-What's with that look?"
"Nothing~ It's just, you're getting more manly, aren't you, Maki?"
Saying so, Umi stroked my head and cheeks gently.
Her smooth skin rubbing on mine felt really good.
"Maki."
"What is it?"
"Do you want to know why I am wearing this swimsuit today?"
"Why?"
I was actually curious about that from the beginning. She bought two swimsuits the other day and I was expecting her to wear the other one.
It was more revealing than this one and she said she wanted to use it whenever we were alone.
That was why I felt really nervous earlier.
"I wanted to wear that one at first… I mean, it's a rare chance where we could be together alone like this and you'd probably be more excited if I wore that one… I was going to wear it when I changed my clothes back in our room, but…"
"But?"
So she brought both swimsuits, huh? Still, I wonder what made her change her mind.
"…Promise me you won't laugh?"
"Of course."
"Um…"
With an embarrassed look, she continued.
"It… Doesn't fit me anymore…"
"What?"
"The size… When I was trying it on, it felt so tight… Well, it felt pretty tight when I bought it, but it wasn't that tight, you know?"
"Uh… That means…"
"They got bigger…"
…Her hips, not her chest.
"…Pfft."
I kind of guessed that was the case and managed to endure it until she finished talking, but I laughed at her anyway.
"You laughed! You said you won't laugh!"
"My bad, my bad… It's just… You deserve it for being such a glutton… Pfft."
"You laughed again! Dummy! I hate you!"
Come to think of it, she ate a lot since the start of the trip.
The huge soft serve, the sushi at Mizore-san's house, a full course meal and extra desserts at the inn and snacks right before she slept last night. She was normally careful, but she really let her guard down this time.
She splashed more water onto my face.
"Anyway! It's getting a little chilly. Should we get out now?"
"Sure. We should finish the rest of our food too… What's with that face, Maki?"
"Nothing."
After that, we dried off with our towels, changed back to our clothes and ate the rest of our lunch.
Because of Umi's funny confession, we didn't get carried away and do something perverted, but honestly, the fact that we got to enjoy some time together like this made me feel satisfied already.
Besides, there should be plenty of opportunities for us to do it. We just needed to wait for them.
'Rikkun, wait for me! Jeez, I said wait!'
We went back the way we came and were about to park our bicycles to rest for a bit when we heard that voice.
"Maki, isn't that?'
"Shizuku-san and…"
Putting aside the reason why they were here in the first place, we immediately hid ourselves. Those two childhood friends whose relationship was quite delicate, Shizuku-san and Riku-san, were there.