Translator: Haruto.
“Uh-oh. The line sure is long…”
Rina and I stop at the water slide’s stairs. The reason, of course, is that there’s a long line.
Right next to the stairs, a sign warns that you need to be at least 130cm tall to ride the slide. This park has a few other slides, but the one we’ve arrived at is the tallest and fastest here. You need to be at least as tall as a seventh-grade student or things can get dangerous.
“You and I are more than tall enough to ride it, huh,” I tell Rina.
It’s obvious most high school students can get on it, but I’m feeling bored just waiting in line so I decided to mention it.
“You’re still a few centimeters short when it comes to chest size, though…” Rina remarks.
“…Well, yeah, there’s no way my chest would be that big… I don’t even think yours is…”
“True. I do think it’s gone past the 100cm mark, but…”
“Wha—?!”
I can’t help but glance at Rina’s ample bosom. Hmm. Yeah, her chest does seem to be at least 100cm… What cup size would that be? I think it’s supposed to be from A to E, right? I wonder which is hers…
“You’re a perv, staring at me like that… But, I see… you do like boobs, too…” she says.
“Huh?! Ah, um… Yeah, my bad…” I offer her an honest apology.
Can you blame me, though? When you hear someone’s chest has surpassed the 100cm mark, you just can’t help but take a little peek, right?!
Rina also asked me if I liked boobs or something along those lines back when I was pulling her float around, but… You bet I do! I’m a man so of course I like boobs!
“It’s fine. I’m used to it,” Rina replies.
Used to it…
I glance around and notice that the attention of most (male) visitors is focused not on the water slide, but on Rina. Some are even trying to get a closer look…
In my opinion, beautiful girls with big chests are the best characters in video games, but this is reality. Staring at game characters through a monitor is one thing, but gawking at real girls is all sorts of wrong.
“People are staring at you, too, Kasashima.”
“That’s because of this intimidating face of mine, and the fact that people tend to see me as a depraved womanizer for some reason.”
Another day, another day of people staring at my intimidating appearance. I’ve grown used to it at this point, and to be honest, I like how useful it can be at times, especially when it comes to scaring skirt chasers away.
“We’re a bit similar, aren’t we?” Rina comments in a low voice.
“Yeah, we are. We’re both easily misunderstood because of our appearance… Wanna chat about all the different times people have gotten the wrong idea about us?”
“Yup.”
I made that suggestion just for the sake of it, but to my surprise, Rina got immediately on board with the idea.
“Alright, I’ll begin,” I say. “Even though I consider myself a virgin, people call me ‘sex-crazed’. They say I used to mess around with a bunch of girls downtown when I was in middle school.”
“My, what a bad man… I guess it’s my turn now. Girls think I’m a slut who steals her friends’ boyfriends.”
“Wow, what a terrible girl… My turn. According to rumors, I’m a drug dealer.”
“So, you’re not just debaucherous, but a criminal to boot? Maybe you should just turn yourself in, mister. Okay, my turn. It’s said that I’m a huge slut who’s slept with more than ten thousand guys!”
“Again with the slutty stuff? They could at least vary it up a little…”
Rina and I keep taking turns while cracking jokes here and there.
“I tried to return a lost wallet, but a cop stopped me and came real close to bringing me in for questioning under suspicion of extortion.”
“I saw a lost boy and decided to guide him to the reception desk so I took him by the hand, and just seeing me do that was enough to get the men around us weirdly excited.”
“The word in the street is that I’m amassing a national army of delinquents.”
“People swear I take guys’ virginities just by looking at them.”
We both get more and more excited as we keep talking. At some point, shameful expressions began to appear on the faces of the men around us.
By the end, we were just trying to one-up each other, and we both continued to bring up more and more stories about being misunderstood, turning our chat into a fun little mess.
“Haa, haa… I feel almost like I’ve just told you about all the times people have gotten the wrong idea about me…” I say.
“Same… Haa… Being misunderstood is such a pain in the butt…”
“…It’s kind of nice, though…”
“What, being misunderstood? Are you perhaps into that kind of stuff, Kasashima?”
“No!! I’m totally not the kind of guy who enjoys being misunderstood and glared at, okay?! That’s something that has brought me a lot of mental pain since the beginning!”
When my soul first took over this body, I experienced true despair and most people around thought the worst of me…
Changing their first impression of me is going to be close to impossible, but I can’t blame them for it either. We’re programmed to judge things by their appearance, at least to a certain degree.
However…
“…What I meant is that it’s nice how not everyone misjudged me. Some have actually seen and understood the person that I am on the inside… and meeting people like that is a blessing, don’t you think?”
I’m smiling.
I’m smiling because I’m happy.
I have Hibari, Yuito, Tajima, Satojima, and…
“Now I also get to interact with you and your sister like this, and that makes me really happy.”
“Uhh!”
Maybe I simply haven’t stepped on a landmine yet, but even the two fearsome sisters now talk to me like normal.
“I’m not exactly glad that I got this kind of face, but… I do feel luckier than most because I get to enjoy my time with you guys.”
And I would have never met them if I hadn’t become Kasashima Yuuji.
“Hmm… Hmmm…!”
“Huh? Is something wrong, Rina-san?”
Rina appears to be mumbling something under her breath, but—
“It’s nothing! Dummy! Idiot!!”
“Why, though?!”
How did my words lead her to blush and throw little insults at me?!
After waiting for a while, our turn to ride the water slide finally comes. The slide has three entrances, which means that Rina and I can use one each to get on it at the same time.
“Okay, hope you make it down alive,” she says.
“Can you not set up death flags at a place like this?”
Phweeeeeee!
A park worker blows his whistle. That’s the go sign.
I lay on my back and grab the edges of the slide to propel myself. As I begin to slide down at an incredible speed, I notice how pleasant the cold water feels flowing under my back.
“O-Oooooooohhhh!!”
Without my speed decreasing, I’m sent from left to right and vice versa, and the bright scenery I was just admiring suddenly turns pitch black. A second later, however, I’m surrounded by a myriad of colors. But that’s not all, there’s even a sudden drop around the middle of the slide.
Near the end, the slide’s irregular curves accelerate my descent, causing my back to lift a couple of centimeters from the surface before my field of view is flooded with light once again and I crash into the water.
Splash!!
“Pwahh! Haa, Haa… Aaah, that was sick!!!” I wipe the water off my face and naturally break into a smile.
Water slides are freaking awesome!
“Haa, Haa… So fast…” Rina also reaches the bottom at a remarkable speed.
She wipes her mouth with a slightly tired expression on her face.
Her movements and words seem a bit lewd to me but I’m sure that’s just because I’m a healthy teenage guy.
“Wanna go at it again?” I ask Rina.
“Yup, let’s do it. Not like I have anything better to do, anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”
We’re definitely talking about riding the water slide again, okay?! I don’t want to cause any misunderstandings!
My eyes then wander back to Rina who’s squeezing the water off her hair, and it’s at that moment that I notice…
I don’t know if it’s because of the water slide or the constant shaking of her chest, but the knot on her bikini top is starting to come loose.
“Uh-oh!!”
“Hyaa!”
I rapidly hold her bikini top up with my hands before it falls completely.
Thank goodness. That was a close one… The men around here couldn’t even peel their eyes off Rina when her bikini top was struggling to contain her chest, so if it had fallen off completely… I’m certain they would have erupted in cheers of joy.
“Phew…”
“…Kasashimaaa…!”
“Hm? Ah.”
Rina’s voice sounded both angry and embarrassed at the same time, which prompted me to drop my gaze, and… I then realized that when I jumped to hold her top up, I also ended up touching her chest.
In other words, I’m now grabbing Rina’s large breasts.
“Ah, shoot, umm…”
She’s going to flip her lid. I need to think of something good to say!
“I… I guess I like boobs more than I thought!!”
“Uhhh! Pervert!!”
“I’m sorr—Gwaaaah?!!”
She slaps me with all her might.
I feel so guilty that I just let the slap throw me off my feet and into the water…
Glub, glub, glub…
“…Get up,” Rina says.
“Okay…” I stand up.
It’s obvious she’s still a little mad.
“…Treat me to something later.”
“Y-You got it!”
I can’t complain. Buying her food is actually a pretty light punishment.
“What do you want to eat?”
“…Shaved ice.”
“Shaved ice?”
That’s surprising. I thought she’d ask for something more expensive.
“Come on, let’s go back to the top of the slide,” Rina says, blushing slightly.
Me touching her chest must have been pretty embarrassing for her too, huh? That makes sense. Yuito doing it is one thing, but I’m basically just a distant acquaintance to her.
***
Splaaaaaash!
Someone plunges into the water.
Yuuji and Rina are not the only ones enjoying the water slide.
“Pwaahh! Haha! This slide is super fun, right, Mahiro-chan?”
“It sure is, Yuito!”
At the same instant that Yuuji and Rina get in line for a second time, Yuito and Mahiro reach the end of the slide.
“I’d like to get on it one more time! Can we, Mahiro-chan?”
“Definitely. I’ll gladly ride it again with you, Yuito.”
“Yay! Thank you!!” Yuito smiles widely. One beat later, however, his eyes stray off Mahiro, and—
“This one was super nice, but it seems two people can ride the slide over there using the same pool float… I’d love to give it a try with Yuuji-kun.”
Yuito mentions Yuuji once again. His name has come up often in the time Mahiro and Yuuji have spent together this morning.
Mahiro smiles softly.
“You really love Kasashima-kun, don’t you, Yuito?”
She of course means “as a friend,” and thinks that there’s no need to even say it.
“Yes! I do!” Yuito exclaims with an even bigger smile than before.
“I see. That’s nice.”
“Yup. Now, let’s go, shall we?!”
Yuito walks forward with a smile, followed by Mahiro… whose expression turns dark for a brief second.