"How did you know!?" Nishikata jumped up from the tatami mat, his face turning bright red.
Akira glanced at him briefly before turning back to his computer. "I guessed. Because even if you cared about that question, you wouldn't have asked it out loud."
"..."
Nishikata wanted to argue, but couldn't find the words. If it weren't for Takagi and the others asking him earlier, he really wouldn't have had the courage to bring it up.
Seeing him fall silent, Akira ignored him and focused back on the work on his screen.
"Then… when do you plan to confess to Nishimiya…?" Nishikata asked hesitantly, the soft clatter of Akira's keyboard echoing in the room.
Akira's eyes paused for a moment as if thinking it over. Nishikata waited eagerly, hoping to get a real answer this time.
"It's a secret." Akira smiled faintly and shrugged, then looked at him with a teasing glint.
"I should be asking you—when are you going to confess to Takagi-san? How many years have you been secretly in love?"
"Wh–wh–what confession!?" Nishikata waved his hands in panic, his voice rising. "When did I ever say I liked Takagi-san!?"
"..."
Akira watched the tips of his ears turn red faster than his cheeks and simply smiled without a word.
"Miyamura, I'm telling the truth!" Nishikata said anxiously when he saw Akira ignore him.
He scooted closer. "I really don't like Takagi-san, okay!"
"Alright, alright, I get it," Akira said, sounding mildly annoyed in the summer heat. "You don't like her."
"I can swear to the hea—"
"I know if Takagi-san likes you."
The quiet words made the whole room fall silent.
After a long pause, Nishikata spoke again, his voice softer this time.
"Okay… Actually, I do like Takagi-san. Just a little bit…"
To prove his honesty, he raised his right hand, pinching his fingers together to show a tiny space.
Akira smiled faintly and spread his hands. "Actually, I was just saying that randomly. I don't know either."
But deep down, he did. Anyone who hung around them could tell. The only one still oblivious was Nishikata himself.
Wasn't this the classic case of "the one involved is confused, the bystander sees clearly"?
"..."
"Miyamura! I'm gonna fight you!"
"Man, it's so noisy next door," Ayumi groaned, flopping lazily onto her futon like a tired seal.
"From the sound of it, Nishikata's probably begging for mercy again." Takagi smiled softly, glancing at Shouko, who was already fast asleep beside her.
The late July sun was still blazing, and by four in the afternoon, the beach was bleached white with heat.
The tide had receded, leaving stretches of wet sand where children ran with buckets, digging for clams. The ice cream vendor tilted her parasol back, and the salty breeze carried the scent of the sea.
"How do I look, Akira?" Shouko twirled lightly in front of him, her swimsuit fluttering. "Does it look good?"
"It looks perfect," Akira replied after a brief look. "Conservative, but still really cute."
She wore a light-blue one-piece with a short skirt hem that brushed mid-thigh, paired with a loose white T-shirt. The simple combination made her seem effortlessly charming.
Compared to her, Akira felt plain in his dark-blue shorts and white shirt.
"Of course it looks good! I spent ten minutes helping Shouko-chan pick it out," Ayumi said proudly, emerging from the changing room in her own swimsuit—a frilly white two-piece with ribbons and lace.
"Yours looks cute too," Akira said politely, averting his gaze.
They waited together by the wall until Takagi finally stepped out. Her soft ruffled one-piece made Nishikata freeze where he stood.
"H-how is it? Does it look okay?" she asked shyly, her voice barely above the sound of the waves.
Her nervous expression told Akira everything—she wanted to hear his reaction.
Seeing Nishikata too stunned to speak, Akira gave him a small push on the back.
Nishikata blinked, scratching his head awkwardly. "Y-yeah! It looks… really good!"
"Let's go! The sun's not so hot anymore—time to have fun!" Ayumi declared, grabbing Shouko's hand and running toward the sea.
"Come on," Akira said, patting Nishikata's shoulder before following them. Nishikata quickly ran after him.
The moment their slippers touched the sand, the heat stung their feet. Ayumi, brandishing her new neon-green water gun, charged into the waves with a cheer.
Akira's shorts were soon drenched, clinging to his knees as seawater dripped down his legs. Nearby, a group of high school students laughed as the tide knocked over their sandcastle.
"Look what I found!" Ayumi's voice rang out again. She held up half a fishing net like a trophy. "We can catch little crabs for dinner!"
The group eagerly joined in, crouching in the shallow water to scoop blindly.
Half an hour later, they stared at their haul—seaweed and a few tiny crabs.
"This is worse than catching nothing at all," Akira sighed, shaking the net.
Ayumi's enthusiasm quickly shifted to other games—stone skipping, beach treasure hunts, and burying people in sand.
By sunset, exhausted, they sat on the stone steps in front of the ice cream stand, watching a few kids smashing barnacles with toy shovels.
"I can't wait for the beach fireworks in two days," Ayumi murmured through a mouthful of melting ice cream.
"Is it any different from a regular fireworks show?" Shouko asked curiously, leaning her head on Akira's shoulder.
"It's just—"
"Are you all here for summer vacation?" the ice cream vendor interrupted cheerfully.
"Yes!" Shouko nodded with a smile.
The vendor began to excitedly explain the local fireworks event until new customers arrived, cutting him off.
"Test of Courage?" Nishikata mumbled, glancing at the vendor's back.
Before he could ask, Ayumi explained, "Yeah! It starts at eight on the night of the fireworks festival. Pairs have to complete spooky challenges, and the winners get a mysterious prize!"
She shrugged. "No one knows what the grand prize is—it changes every year."
As she spoke, she pointed toward the forest across from the beach. "They say that's where it's held—right in there, inside that forest."