On the beachside stood a magnificent villa.
Matsuri and the others were stunned. They hadn't imagined Inori could afford to book a place like this — no searching for a guesthouse. The villa ran two full floors, more than enough space for the five of them, with classical Japanese décor, potted greenery filling the living room, painted folding screens that must have been worth a small fortune, and lacquered hardwood floors you could use as a mirror.
The group walked in and promptly lost the ability to speak. No one said a word, but every last one of them stepped out of their shoes at the entrance before setting foot inside.
"This is incredible! Did Inori book it? How much does it cost a night?"
Kanon set her bag down in a corner and drifted around the sitting room, taking in every detail, more impressed the longer she looked.
"A relative arranged it."
Inori smiled as she said it.
Matsuri shot her a skeptical, quietly worried glance — at most she assumed Inori had spent a great deal of money and was now making up a story so no one would feel guilty. That was just the kind of person Inori was.
—Inori really is so gentle~
In fact, this was a property provided by the Tennouzu Group. Now that Gai had hammered out a series of agreements with the Tennouzu patriarch, a villa of this caliber was nothing for their resources to cover.
The Funeral Parlor members themselves, naturally, had no such luxury — they were making do as usual, setting up temporary camp in the bug-infested forest like any other field operation. Shu, now a Funeral Parlor member in full standing, couldn't cross over to the student side where Inori's group was staying. He'd been recognized by everyone as a Funeral Parlor operative — a terrorist, in official terms. His showing up uninvited would only drag Inori into trouble, and she wasn't ready to let people, especially Matsuri, know about that side of her life yet.
"Let's hit the beach!"
"Shouldn't we unpack first?"
Souta Tamadate flung his bag onto the sofa with zero ceremony and threw both arms up in the air, already charged with excitement.
He was exactly that kind of person — dragging everyone else into his enthusiasm, constitutionally incapable of reading a room. If it weren't for the mission, Inori wouldn't have tolerated his presence for a second.
"We can do all that later! We're at a beach resort — the whole point is to have fun first!"
"Can we at least sort out who gets which room and put the bags away?"
Then again, Inori was glad she'd invited Yahiro. He wasn't like Shu — he wouldn't let Souta walk all over him. He spoke up immediately.
"I agree with Yahiro."
Matsuri echoed the sentiment.
Three against one. Even Souta couldn't hold out against that ratio, though just as the room division came up, he swung his gaze toward Inori at the back of the group, throat bobbing — clearly hoping she'd pick first so he could claim a room a little closer to hers.
"I want to room with Matsuri!"
Inori, of course, had noticed. She simply had no interest in indulging it. She wrapped herself around Matsuri's neck from behind, pressing close and murmuring in a sickeningly sweet, coquettish tone.
"Hey! Inori — don't — we don't sleep in the same room at home either."
Matsuri's face blazed scarlet as she caught the looks everyone else was giving them.
"Would you two please save the displays of affection for when we're not all watching?"
Kanon pinched the bridge of her glasses and frowned.
"You're one to talk, Kanon — you're secretly thrilled I invited Yahiro, aren't you?"
If she remembered correctly, Kanon had a quiet crush on Yahiro. He was, objectively, a good person — if Shu had half of Yahiro's decisiveness, the original Crown storyline wouldn't have been such a disaster. So Kanon actually had quite good taste, all things considered.
"Hm?! I — Inori, you can't just say things like that!"
The class representative was adorable when flustered — the tips of her ears practically steaming. Yahiro simply blinked once and looked at the floor, saying nothing.
Kanon, mid-embarrassment, shot Matsuri a sharp look. Matsuri, years of friendship having made her fluent in that particular language, immediately understood — she was being blamed for letting Inori find out about the Yahiro situation.
But Matsuri looked entirely innocent. She struggled free of Inori's arms, squirming bashfully as she turned back to her. "Inori, do you actually want to room with me?"
"Of course I was joking."
Much as she would have genuinely liked nothing better, the mission logistics made it inconvenient. She managed a strained smile.
"I'll take a room downstairs with Souta."
Yahiro said it calmly.
"We're both male — if something comes up, we can respond faster."
"I'll take a room downstairs too." Inori added the line without particular investment. "There's a large sitting area on the upper floor, so there are only two bedrooms up there — Matsuri, you and Kanon take the top floor."
It looked like thoughtful consideration of the female guests. Yahiro saw straight through it, eyes narrowing. Souta, meanwhile — who had been sulking barely ten seconds ago — immediately rallied back to full energy.
No one objected. Kanon would have loved a room near Yahiro, but there was no way she was voicing that out loud after being teased so recently. She accepted the arrangement with quiet dignity.
…
…
Once the chaos settled, what awaited them was open water, white sand, and swimsuit-clad beauties.
Ōshima was a well-known tourist destination, and the beach was already dotted with other visitors. Souta marched ahead carrying a camera, a tripod, and an assortment of equipment, practically vibrating. Yahiro quietly set up a beach umbrella and folding chairs. Kanon and Matsuri, changed into swimsuits, drifted after them at a more sedate pace.
Inori was looking forward to this — genuinely, unreservedly looking forward to it. She had been looking forward to this for such a long, long time. She finally had a chance to see Matsuri in a swimsuit, and being fellow girls meant she could lean into their closeness and get away with it all she liked.
"Inori, aren't you changing?"
But before any of that — Matsuri noticed.
The Inori in front of her was still wearing what she'd arrived in: a pale-green blouse and white shorts, shoes off, bare feet in the sand. Those legs were admittedly spectacular, but this was completely unfair.
For the girls, working up the courage to appear in a swimsuit at the beach was its own quiet challenge. And Inori was trying to skip out entirely?
"I… don't know how to swim. Never mind."
Inori waved the topic off with a helpless look.
She simply had no desire to wear a swimsuit. It felt like an unnecessary gift to the other people on this beach, and her body was hers alone.
"That's cheating, Inori!"
"Right, Inori — you have to change!"
Kanon seemed to be settling a score from the earlier teasing, and jumped in immediately.
"I didn't bring one~"
Inori let the words trail with a lazy lilt, gaze drifting elsewhere, entirely unbothered.
"Then I'm taking you to buy one right now!"
"Wow, look at that incredibly attractive person over there!"
Inori's eyes went wide. She pointed past both of them at something behind their backs and gasped in theatrical amazement.
Predictably, both girls spun around without thinking.
And Inori lunged.
One smooth motion — one hand per girl — she stripped the cover-ups right off their shoulders before either of them could react.
"Ah!"
"What are you doing?!"
They grabbed for themselves frantically, but it was already too late.
Matsuri had on a bold bikini — Inori's own strong suggestion — and in the afternoon sun, her pale skin seemed almost luminous, flawless as white jade. Her frame was small but unmistakably well-shaped, a softness to her thighs and arms and stomach that read as warmth rather than excess. In every way, spectacular.
Kanon had chosen a green skirted swimsuit. She wasn't quite in Matsuri's category, but she was hardly lacking — roughly comparable to Inori herself, which was no small thing.
"Hahaha~ Go forth and live your youth to the fullest, my dear girls~!"