CHAPTER 9

Something I'd come to learn in the meagre years I'd been watching anime for is that sports in animes were way more complicated in real life than what they made them seem.

"Yay!" Saki cheered, holding out her hands for a high five from Tatsuya and Wannabe.

"I can't believe we lost!" Hiro groaned. "And to Kazuya's brother scoring the last point too!"

Hinata forced a laugh, trying to stay as positive as he always was. "It's fine. It was just by a few points."

"No, d-don't say it," I cried, on my hands and knees. "You're lying! Please tell me I'm hearing things! There's no way I'm wasting my allowance on other people!"

Hinata and Hiro's eyes darted my way. Hinata breathed out, crouching down in front of me.

"Hoshino, it's okay," he said. "You lose sometimes."

"Lose?" I repeated with a whimper. "How even... Honestly I blanked out after that spike I made."

Hinata made a face. "The one where you missed the ball and tripped?"

"No, the good one."

"You slipped right after the good one and fell on your face," Hinata reminded me.

I held up a finger. "Yes that. After my celebration. I blanked out after that." I frowned. "Wait, then you and Hiro made us lose?"

"Hey don't say that after you did absolutely nothing," Hiro grumbled.

I opened my mouth to retort but closed it. They were right... "Ugh, this is like the time in gym class when I tried imitating the Generation of Miracles and sprained my ankle," I grumbled.

Saki snapping her fingers in my face woke me up from my depressive recollection.

"Hurry and get our drinks!" she ordered with a wide grin. I glowered in her direction.

In defeat, I rose to my feet. The smile coming from Tatsuya's in that moment was sly — something I expected. I then hissed at the look-alike beside him.

Wannabe flinched and sweatdropped. "H-Hoshino...?"

I clicked my tongue.

I was even doing errands for this Wannabe. Great.

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After arriving at the vending machine, the three of us contributed all the money we had, which wasn't much. Hinata started pushing buttons on the machine, getting the drinks they asked for. Wannabe and Tatsuya were a little confused when we asked what they wanted so we improvised. Nothing less to expect from boys from a top-class family.

Not before long, we gathered up our drinks and set out back to the beach. While we were walking, I wanted my drink so I reached out my hand past Hiro to pull out my drink from the bag Hinata held. The three of us had no choice to stop as I fiddled with the bag, and Hiro snapped before long.

"Hey, at least wait until we get there!"

I retreated my hand as I clasped my drink. Opening the can, I scoffed, "Don't be such a baby. Why does it even matter if I take it now or not anyways?"

"'Cause you didn't just 'take it'," he responded, using his fingers for emphasis. "You wasted so much time making us stop when you could've asked Hinata to pass it to you instead."

"I could've," I agreed. "But I didn't. Look, I already got my drink this way so stop complaining."

Hiro twitched. "I'm not complaining, I'm just saying—"

"Ugh, if you're going to be so grumpy about it, drink yours, okay?"

"I'm not grumpy!" he yelled.

I held up my arms in defence. "Whoa, down boy."

By the glower he wore, Hiro didn't find what I said amusing in the least.

"You do realize you're the one wasting even more time right now arguing about something so stupid," I pointed out for him. "Does that make any sense to you 'cause it doesn't to me, Hi-chan."

Hiro was flustered at first, trying fumble for the right words. Then, something clicked and he scowled at me. "You did not just call me Hi-chan."

"But I did," I chirped. A smirk grew on my face. "Hi-chan."

Hiro looked about ready to pounce at me if it wasn't for Hinata taking the initiative to calm down us down.

"Stop fighting you two. Let's just hand over the drinks to them alright?"

We both sighed in defeat, knowing how much of a peacemaker Hinata was, and continued walking towards the area on the beach we put our stuff down at. Once we came to a stop, I gulped down the remaining of my drink, hand to my hip like the way anime characters did.

"Yay! Drinks!" Saki cheered as she ran up to us, the rest following behind.

Everyone took their drink of choice and decided to go out and play again after they finished them. Considering I didn't want anything to do with them anymore and wanted to sit out, I took Yuji's drink to him. He was sitting far off in the beach with a book in hand and I trudged through the sand before finally arriving.

"Here."

Yuji glanced up at me, startled, and he reluctantly took the can I held out for him. "Oh, thanks," he said.

I flopped down onto the blanket beside him, watching as the rest of them hanged around in the water.

"Aren't you going to continue playing with them?" Yuji asked out of nowhere.

I made a face at the suggestion. "No, why would I ever want to do that? It's not like I was having fun."

"You're still saying that?" he said with a chuckle. "And I thought that you looked like you were enjoying yourself when you played beach volleyball."

I spat, "Please. I wasn't enjoying myself at all."

"You sure?" he prodded.

"Positive," I responded. "You've got to be kidding me. If anything, all you guys have been doing is getting me annoyed. You even brought me here against my will. And I even had to waste my precious allowance on these drinks since my siblings seriously took the time to find my wallet when they handed me to you."

"Now, now, don't be so sour." Yuji grinned. "Just because you lost—"

"Shut it."

"Anyways," Yuji started over with a cough, "I know you say that but I think they consider yourselves close and that's why they brought you here."

"Let them think what they want. I have never told them anything of the such. Besides, I could've been watching anime right about now you know. Playing volleyball reminded me of the Haikyuu episodes that I still have to watch."

He only chuckled at my words that I didn't find comical at all.

I frowned. "How about you? Instead of telling me to hang out with your friends, why don't you?"

Yuji paused at the question, briefly staring as they frolicked in the water. "Uh... I don't like the ocean," he hesitantly replied.

His words piqued my interests. The corners of my lips quirked upwards. "Don't like? It sounds to me like you're scared."

Yuji avoided eye-contact, a blush blossoming across his cheeks. "I'm not scared. It's just water, right?"

I blinked, taking this in. Wait... was I actually right? Well, this would be useful someday...

Cue the devilish smile.

"So... I'm guessing you also don't swim freestyle?" I said before a silence could settle in.

"I don't swim in general," he responded.

I shook my head at him to which he sent a puzzled look back.

"Hey! Come and join us!" Saki called out to us, disrupting our conversation.

Tatsuya waved his hands, hollering, "Yeah, join us, Miyu-neesama!"

Both looked sweet and innocent but as Saki's was meant in a friendly way, Tatsuya's calling was more like he wanted to drag me down to the pits of hell with him.

Scary.

"They're calling for you," Yuji coughed, flipping to the next page of his comic book. Yes, he had brought with him a comic book. But it wasn't a manga (sigh).

"No way, you're coming too," I said.

He gave me a deadpanned stare. "No I'm not."

"Why? Scared you'll fall into the water?"

"No!"

"Oh, c'mon," I prodded, "You didn't even eat a Devil Fruit so there's no reason why you can't swim. Luffy isn't even scared."

Yuji looked at me weird.

Seeing it, I sighed, "One Piece reference."

Seriously? He didn't get it? Jeez, One Piece was such an amazing masterpiece too...

I shook my head as Yuji cleared his throat, "I'm not afraid of water okay? I simply do not want to swim with them."

"Then don't swim," I said. I rose to my feet. "Just step into the water and I'll believe you."

Swallowing hard, Yuji considered it. After a while, he reluctantly heaved, dropping his book and standing up. "Fine," he relented. A sarcastic smile grew on his face. "I'll show you just how scared I am then."

Snorting, I gestured for him to proceed forward. With a deep breath, Yuji led the way. The rest of the club members had gone back to doing whatever they were doing in the water so when we reached the shore, only I was aware of Yuji's presence.

I stepped in first and when I didn't hear any splashes to follow, I glanced back. Yuji still stood there, and he honestly appeared so uncomfortable.

I smirked at him. "What's wrong, Mr I'm-Not-Afraid-Of-Water? Aren't you going to come in?"

"Well... that's..." he began as he stared long and hard at the ocean.

"See, you are scared." I rolled my eyes at the fact and continued to head deeper into the water. Without warning, I heard a splash behind me and my eyes widened.

He was robotically walking into the water, trembling with a horrified expression on his face. He immediately came to a halt as soon as he passed the shallow end and shut his eyes tight. "O-okay no! I-I can't do it! I'm going to drown! I'm gonna die! Why did I do this?"

"Yuji... you could step out now. I get it..." Guilt was gnawing at me at the pit of my stomach.

He flailed for help. Clenching my teeth, I swam towards him, grabbed his arm and and attempted to drag him towards the shore. He resisted, yelling that he was being taken away by sharks (his eyes were closed). Sick of it, I pushed him forward. He fell backwards onto the sand, and I fell on top of him. I rose up up quickly and he continued mumbling incoherent stuff under his breath. His eyes closed as his body went limp.

My eyes grew wide and my heart stopped. "Yuji!"

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"Ahh... At least he's breathing," Saki sighed of relief as Yuji lay on the sand and under the umbrella we had brought with us.

"Thank goodness," Hinata breathed.

"Jeez... Yuji shouldn't do something that could endanger his life," Wannabe pouted.

Tatsuya peered over to him. "Is Yuji-nii really alright?"

"What the heck, Yuji knows he can't swim and yet he still went into the water. I always knew he was an idiot," Hiro scoffed with a burst of anger.

As he continued to grumble things under his breath, I sat there, watching the guy.

"Did something happen, Mi-chan? You were with him, right?" Saki asked me and I stared up at them in surprise.

"Uh..."

"You two must've been fighting. I know it," Hiro accused.

I looked away, clicking my tongue. "I simply said he couldn't swim and he disagreed. Then he went into the water to prove it... Seriously, he is an idiot. If he was going to pass out from this, he shouldn't have lied from the start."

"Everyone has things they're afraid of. He couldn't help but hide it," Wannabe spoke up.

I gave him a look, but said nothing. In that moment, Yuji started to twitch and he groggily opened his eyelids.

"Yuji, you're finally awake!" Saki cried happily as the pulled his body upright.

"Huh? What happened...?" he questioned, glancing around.

"You failed at swimming, Mr. I'm-Not-Afraid-Of-Water," I puffed. Yuji met my gaze.

"Yuji! Never do that again!" Wannabe sobbed animatedly, latching onto him.

"Oh, uh... Sorry, I didn't mean to trouble you all."

"It's alright. At least you're fine," Hinata reassured him.

"So what if he is?" Hiro frowned. "If he tried to go any further, he would've drowned for sure."

Yuji ducked his head. "Yeah... Sorry."

Saki discreetly glanced at me and smiled mischievously as an idea dawned on her. "Okay! We all will go get Yuji some water!" she announced, grabbing Hinata, Hiro, and Wannabe's arms.

"Why? Go yourself," Hiro demanded.

She gave them a pressuring look.

"Let's all go get some water for Yuji alright? Tatsuya can come too!" She grinned and pulled them off at that, Tatsuya sauntering behind.

I followed the female with my eyes, slightly miffed. What did she think she could accomplish by doing this?

I peeked at Yuji and he looked just as dumbfounded as I was.

"I told you you couldn't swim. Why didn't you just agree if it was true?" I snapped and he stared at me, taken aback. Then, he smiled.

"It's embarrassing; not being able to swim; being afraid of the ocean. And I knew that you'd use it against me if you knew."

I smiled at his reasoning. "Was it that obvious? How else would it work? Did you expect me to never bring it up again?"

"That would've been the nicest thing to do."

I snorted. What a load of baloney. "I think it's worse to lie about something when you could instead tell what it is proudly. Or else, if people figure out the truth, things'll get messy." I sighed. "But I sort of understand why you tried to keep it a secret."

I used my hands to fake paddle.

"Ah~ I'm going to drown! I'm going to die! Why didn't I just agree with Miyuki and let it end!"

"J-just drop it okay!" he shouted, blushing. "And I'm pretty sure that I didn't say that last part!"

I laughed a little and nodded. "I guess you aren't that composed are you? Even you could be embarrassed."

"Of course," was his response.

It was awkward after that and I laid back on the sand.

"It's because my dad nearly drowned."

My eyelids shot up as if something had pierced me and I slowly turned my head towards him.

He had an impassive look on his face and he let out a breath. "I often went to a beach like this with my parents. Often they'd race each other in the water, teaching me tricks to swim, and things were always fun. But then... one day, a huge wind current and storm made the water suffocate the three of us. My step-mom grabbed me tightly so I wouldn't drift away, but we lost sign of my dad. A boat that was passing by noticed us so the people on it rescued us, but said my dad was most likely too deep to save...

"After the storm died down, they found his body. The hospital saved his life by getting all the water out of his lungs. But, ever since then, I've been too scared to step foot into the ocean..."

It was silent after that story and I couldn't muster anything to say.

"Then... that's reasonable to why you're scared." Swallowing hard, I balled my fists. "If that was the case, I wouldn't have challenged you..." In a low voice, I murmured, "Sorry."

"It's fine, Miyuki," he assured me. "It's not like I care about what happened anymore or rarely even think about it. My dad's as healthy as can be now too."

My eyes widened when he laughed.

"But to think that the great Hoshino Miyuki would apologize to me... What an honour!"

He heard that? My cheeks flushed in embarrassment and I stammered, "I-I never said anything like that. Don't let your imagination get the best of you!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're blushing~"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are." He poked at my cheeks. "And yeah you did. I heard it with my own two ears."

Fuming, I grounded my teeth. "How about you and how you cried like a baby?"

"That doesn't matter anymore because Miyuki has apologized! She has said the forbidden 's' word!"

"Stop it! No I didn't!"

Yuji laughed, tapping his ears. "It doesn't matter what you say, I still heard it."

I glared at him hard. Knowing that arguing was futile against him, I let out a breath, turning the other way.

Today was hella hectic. No matter how much I wanted to go to the beach in my lifetime, now that I know just how troublesome it is, I'd rather have stayed home instead.

This year's summer was already so tiring.