Before I knew it, evening had come. The sky became orange and the beach empty, yet we hadn’t moved anywhere yet.

While I stared emptily at the seemingly endless sea, she had her eye fixed on the screen of a portable console she kept avidly playing on. It certainly wasn’t the thing you would do on a beach at this time, but… she just was like that. Yeah, it was quite an odd situation.

Somewhat awkward, even. Well, there still were other people on the beach besides us, but I was certain that I would return home a bit too late, and my parents would scold me. It wasn’t like I didn’t have an explanation for that—I could tell that I was hanging out with my friends… which was partially true, right?

“Lumiya…?”

Nevertheless, I didn’t hate it. In fact, I loved the mild summer evening warmth that embraced my body and the pleasant noise of waves, which wasn’t obstructed by anything, unlike earlier.

“Human.”

Moreover, I was with her. The sun had begun to set and I was on the beach alone with a girl. Quite a romantic situation… but was it really a good thing? Well, I had said that it was a date, right…?

She responded without even bothering to look at me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t conscious of that I ever said something.

“Isn’t it getting a bit too late?”

“Right. But that’s good.”

“Good…?”

She didn’t mind me as she continued intently playing on the small console.

“…” disappointed, I sighed and returned to idly staring at the sea.

How did we end up staying here so long? I wasn’t sure myself—if I had to say, I just didn’t feel like leaving. In fact, if there was no anxiety and awkwardness reining me back, I wouldn’t mind staying here for the entire night… but thinking about it again, it would be boring as hell.

Nonetheless, I wanted to do one more thing with her before we left—walk along the shoreline.

Why? I just liked the idea—it was somewhat relaxing. All I had to do was ask her… well, it wasn’t easy, especially since she was in the mood to ignore me for some reason. Perhaps I should wait for her to stop playing?

“…”

I decided to suddenly stand up. With no reason in head, I hoped that she would show a reaction, because otherwise I would have to sit down again and pretend that nothing had ever happened… how awkward.

The light breeze made me feel my hair fluttering, along with the light clothes I had on myself.

“Human…?”

Luckily, she reacted! Now that I had her attention, I only had to word my suggestion.

“L-Lumiya, err…” I looked in the opposite direction as I spoke, so I had no idea if she was looking at me. Nonetheless, her voice didn’t sound idle like earlier.

“Yes, I’m listening…”

“Before we leave, would you like to… uh… t-take a short walk…?”

“…”

“…?” I took a glance at her, only to see that she was hiding her face. A few seconds had passed, yet she didn’t give a response. Had I made a mistake?

“V-very well…”

“R-really?”

“L-like I’m saying, I approve of this idea…” her voice stammered, so she was clearly embarrassed, just like me. It eased me a little.

“Thanks. Then…”

“Wait, I shall prepare myself… avert your stare for a moment, h-human.”

“Ah, right.”

Like she told me to, I turned around and looked at the shoreline we were going to be walking on soon. Behind me, I heard sounds of something rummaging around—perhaps she was changing her clothes. I waited like that for a moment until she spoke again.

“I’m done.”

She had put on the black coat with a hood with a pair of cat ears on top. Moreover, she had already packed everything, so we were ready to go.

“I see. Then…”

Promptly, she approached me. The look on her face that was covered by the unusual hood was unsteady, but I found it somewhat cute. Either way, I was embarrassed the entire day too.

“R-right. You should be honored to be accompanied by the almighty Lumiya…”

With that, we reached the shoreline. The waves brought the chilly water under my bare feet every now and then, which was a splendid feeling.

“So… how did you like today?”

“I-it wasn’t bad. Yes, I have to admit… it was fun…” she began clearly, but her voice grew lower in volume as she continued.

“R-really?”

“There were too many humans, but…”

Obviously, there was going to be a lot of people on the beach in the middle of summer break. There was no helping it, unless we found a desolated spot (which commuting to would take a few hours) or came at an unusual hour (like now)

“I was able to deal with it. It seems that… there won’t be any serious consequences.”

“I see. That’s… great, isn’t it?”

An otherworldly feeling filled my heart as the girl walked next to me, her thin clothes fluttering slightly along with the chilly sea breeze. Was it really real? I kept questioning myself. It felt just as though I were in a dream. Something that good couldn’t have possibly happened to me… yet it did.

In that case, it had to end soon—and then, it would hurt me more than it would have had I never come across her.

No. I didn’t want it to happen. I wanted this heavenly feeling to last as long as possible… forever, if possible.

“T-that’s right. But I was lucky. Taking no measures was dangerous. I-I can’t allow it to happen again…”

To other people, we must have seemed like a couple. Realizing that was embarrassing, but I couldn’t help it.

“You mean the mask? No, I think it’s better without it…”

As my feet slowly moved me forward, I did not stare at her even when I spoke. The reason for it was simple—it would make me way too uncomfortable. That’s why I looked at the soothing picture of the beach at the verge of dusk instead.

“Why?”

Her voice reached my ear. It was quiet, but I could hear it clearly. There was nothing obstructing it, and I was deeply focused on it. It could be said that I was immersed in it.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see her face at the moment, nor could I bring myself to take even a brief glance at it.

“W-why? Uh…”

At the mere thought of what I was going to say, my mouth refused to open, letting me utter only some incomprehensible noise.

“It’s because…”

Yes, I didn’t like when she had a mask on. It hid a large part of her face, which I found annoying. While I rarely looked at her—since it still was a difficult task to me—looking at her masked face was somewhat intimidating. Why would she hide her expressions from me, while I was left all open? No, it wouldn’t be solved if I put a mask on too. I just wanted to be able to see her face unconcealed.

Because…

“Y-you look better without it…”

I said it. It took me so much that it threw my pace off balance, but I kept walking on. My eyes weren’t fixed on anything in particular, they were just directed forward.

But what took me too long to realize was that she stopped.

“…?”

Anxious, I stopped and took a glance behind me carefully. She was standing there with a hand pulling at her unusual hood so that her face wasn’t visible.

I was too nervous to properly judge her behavior, but it looked more like she was embarrassed than angry.

“W-wrong. You’re wrong, human…”

The faltering voice that reached me was just as if on the verge of tears.

“L-Lumiya…?”

Hesitantly, I made steps towards her, although I couldn’t approach her too closely. At some point, she just turned around away from me—I was startled. Was she going to run? Were those words really enough to scare her that much? It took me a lot of courage to say it, and now I was going to regret it?

“F-fufu...”

Hearing her usual peculiar laughter was not comforting in the slightest—I heard that there was something wrong with it.

“Human…” she called out to me in an awkward voice, without turning around.

“Y-yes…!”

“I-is it true? D-do you really… think so…?”

Surprisingly, she asked me for confirmation. How was I going to answer? Even though it was obvious, there was a lot of hesitation inside me now. She faltered, but her turning around seemed to be a result of her embarrassment rather than preparation to run away.

“Y-yes. I do.”

“…”

She left it without response. A gentle wind scratched my cheek and made her light, black clothes sway in the air, and the chills I felt along with it told me that it was already time to head back.

“I-if you don’t mind telling me, what do you like about it…?”

Huh? I didn’t know the answer. It was just the overall image that I liked… it wasn’t like there were any particular elements. She didn’t even provide me reference as she remained turned with her back to me.

“Uh…”

But I couldn’t simply say “I don’t know”, could I? Let’s see… the most conspicuous element was obviously her eyepatch, but was mentioning it a good idea? If I said that I liked it, maybe she would never ever take it off?

Now that I think of it, it all started with her mentioning the mask—which meant that I had to mention something that would be hidden by it.

“Err… your cheeks, I guess” I scratched my own cheek as I said. How dumb… yet I couldn’t come up with anything better.

Or perhaps I was utterly dumb, and I realized that just after I said that. As if I couldn’t just say “all of it.”

“Cheeks…?”

“Y-yes! But… it’s not only about them. I like all of it… your face...” I used this chance to save myself from this awkward situation.

“…”

I heard no reply back from the figure mysteriously clad in black.

“T-that’s why I don’t like when you have a mask on. You shouldn’t hide it… there is no reason for that.”

“…”

My heart was throbbing. I felt as if I had just finished a long run. I wonder, what she was feeling? Even though I had known her long enough to be assured, there still was a slight, pointless worry in the back of my mind that she was merely making fun of me all along.

“A-are you telling the truth? For sure?”

“Y-yes, I am.”

She proceeded to slowly turn around, not letting go of her hood. For that reason, I still couldn’t see her face clearly, but I caught a glimpse of the eyepatch concealing her left eye and her right, blue eye. Her cheeks were flushed, and overall, her face displayed a troubled expression… but also somewhat contented.

“…”

Her hand let go of the hood as she looked to the side, uneasy. Unexpectedly, her lips formed a slight, although visible, smile.

“V-very well. I shall keep this in mind… human…”

“…” I sighed with relief upon seeing her face again. The pressure of embarrassment had decreased, too.

“W-what…?”

“Ah, nothing…!”

“…” “…”

Humiliated, I involuntarily looked at the sea. I could distinguish its blue color just barely… which was a bit different from her eye.

“N-now then, should we head back…?” I suggested, since there wasn’t really anything left to do on the beach. Moreover, it was getting late. My parents were going to scold me for sure.

“I agree…”

“So, where was the station again…” I took a look around and didn’t notice it even though it should be visible, which was a sign of my lightheadedness.

“…!” “…!”

Both of us suddenly jumped, shocked. A loud noise had reverberated through the entire beach, possibly all of the surrounding area.

“W-we’re under attack…?!”

The sound didn’t stop, but its source became clear to me as I took a look at the sky, befuddled. A huge, artificial star was present on the sky. Soon, another one appeared. Their colors began combining, creating a gorgeous image on the summer evening sky.

They were fireworks.

“Fireworks…” I muttered under my breath in awe.

Soon, it all became obvious to me. It was only to be expected—it was this time of the year. Summer festivals were taking place all over the country. I had attended one, but it was when I was still a little kid. That’s probably why I had forgotten about them.

“T-this is the power of humans? Commendable.”

“Yeah.”

Waves continuously washed our feet standing on the warm sand as we awestruck stared at and admired the fireworks that unexpectedly started appearing on the sky.

“Pretty, aren’t they?”

“Fufu. It is still incomparable with my own power.”

Could she fly into the sky like fireworks, or was she prettier than them? While the former was ridiculous, the latter was true, or at least I thought so…

“Yeah. You’re right.”

At that moment, she looked away from the fireworks to take a short glance at me—when I noticed it, she pretended that she had been looking at the sky all along.

“…” I sighed as I decided against bringing the topic up.

“Human”, soon, she called out to me.

“Yes?”

Her blonde hair flew through the air as she rapidly turned around to me—it was so sudden that her cat-ear hood had fallen off at some point. On her face, there was a smile depicted. Her cheeks were flushed, but she managed to say those short words without stuttering:

“Thank you.”

“H-huh…?!”

It made me involuntarily back down—I just barely saved myself from falling into the water and wetting my clothes. Caught up in embarrassment, I had to look away from her insanely adorable face that still managed to win over the immense humiliation that made it red.

“W-was it too weird?”

“N-no. It’s alright. It’s only my fault.”

The walking epitome of weirdness was worried that she was acting weird? Yeah, I understood that there was a difference. I wasn’t going to make fun of her no matter what she said.

“T-that’s right. You are a mere human, after all.”

She was a human too, by the way. She rejected that whenever possible, though.

“And you’re an alien.”

“Correct. That’s why I’m superior…” her cute and embarrassed voice didn’t match her words at all.

“Yes, yes. I know. I’m at your mercy all the time.”

“T-that’s good that you understand.”

With the fireworks occasionally paining the dark sky in colors, we proceeded towards the train station. I was a little bit anxious before coming home because it was too late, but… it was worth it, for sure.

And thus, our unusual day at the beach came to an end. I don’t think I had ever felt like living so much before, but that day would become unforgettable to me. The peculiar girl smiled and laughed a lot, but also went through a lot of distress—it was the case for me as well. It was something we simply couldn’t beat for the time being, but I was sure that, at some point, it would be finally gone.

And I couldn’t wait for that day.