This was finally the moment. Kouji had finally decided that they needed to end their current problem right here, right now. The other girls had been suffering long enough with this drama between the situation relating to their headmistress. And he knew just who to walk towards to begin fixing this situation.

“Himawari.” He spoke to her as she laid under her umbrella. A fancy looking red blanket under her while she wore the same red bikini she did the last time they were at this beach nearly one year ago. “We need to talk.” His demeanor had changed. The boy spoke with conviction in his voice.

“Oh?” She responded in a snooty manner. “So you’ve finally come to your senses and will reject our headmistress, right?”

“That’s not why I’m here.” He replied. “But I am here to resolve that.”

“And do what? Are you going to accept her then?” She said. “Be an idiot like you always have been and just ignore convention?”

“I get what you say when you take issue with her age, but I think-”

“Watch out!” A voice called out to him.

“Huh?” He turned his head towards the source of the sound. A major mistake as it earned him a volleyball to the face. It collided with him with such force that the boy ended up tumbling meters from the impact.

“Oh goodness, are you all right?” Himawari dropped the cold act upon seeing him get hurt. The cause of his pain this time was from Teru of all people. As stated earlier, she wanted to go play some sports. There were some people nearby who were playing some beach volleyball, so she joined in and after an errant strike. Accidentally ended up destroying his face.

“That’s not how I pictured this conversation.” He said, holding his throbbing head. The two girls near him came rushing in to ensure he was okay. They both held him up and checked for blood.

“Wow, this really is more exciting than I expected.” True to her word, Waa did grab some popcorn from one of the nearby vendors and found a good spot to watch this all unfold. Admittedly, he was a bit miffed she didn’t care about his potential injury enough to care to get up and check on him.

“Aye, you really gotta pay more attention to when I yell for you.” Teru complained as she threw the ball back to the people she was hanging around. That signaled the end of her playing on the beach for a while.

“And you need to be more careful where you hit those things.” He countered. “I’m surprised the two of you are here with me now.” Kouji would’ve expected them to have still been mad enough at him to just leave him lying on the ground in pain.

“Oh! Well...” Him mentioning it made the pair realize their actions. In response, and in embarrassment, they both let go of him at the same time. This resulted in him falling back onto the hot sand.

“Ow…” He grimaced, regretting having brought that up. On the bright side, at least it was soft sand he could rest his head on. “Anyway, maybe we should finish our conversation.

“Now?” Himawari replied. “In your condition?”

“I’m not about to die.” He said. Hopefully he didn’t get a concussion from that hit, which was unlikely anyway. “Besides, you’re the one who was ready the entire time to discuss our personal matters.”

“Does it matter either way?” She relented and agreed to continue on as if nothing happened. Though something did, so her tone was a bit softer than before. “I’m against it, just like Teru is.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go after someone who’s, you know, twice your age.”

“But, that’s not my only problem.” Himawari admitted. Teru looked at her strangely. To that girl, the age really was her only issue on the matter and why she sided with her of all people. “Do you even like her?”

That was a question that should’ve been asked at the start. The only reason why he talked with the girl about this was because isako lead the charge. That woman was the one who asked the girls if she could join. She was the one to confessed to Kouji that night and made a move towards him knowing the risks and consequences. “As much as you act about not wanting to hurt anyone, I know you have it in you to reject a girl too.”

That fact was also true. Himwari was aware he had rejected his old friend from his old school before moving here. Was it really just a matter of circumstance that led him to say no. Or was the true reason being he held no romantic feelings for that girl? “I can tell you don’t know yet how you feel about her, so why just have her come in like it’s no problem?”

“So that’s why you’ve been so mad at me.” He responded. Kouji couldn’t believe he didn’t notice sooner, but she really should’ve been more clear about her feelings on this matter. She was upset because just letting in the headmistress so easily when everyone else had to go through personal issues with him. They had fallen for him because of those moments, and chances were that he did the same. So was one drunken night apparently enough to sway his heart.

“I see her point.” Said Waa, who decided to join in the conversation. “I wanted to be fair to the headmistress, but after everything we’ve been through it seems wrong.”

“I guess we finally agree on something.” Said Himawari. “And I want to apologize for being so rude and disrespectful to you.”

“And I’m sorry too. I’ve been acting stupid trying to get back at you for it.” He was thankful those two were able to settle their differences now.

“Oh my, are you all right?” Isako showed up along with his uncle. The pair had stepped out for a bit to grab some food for everyone and had finally arrived. She practically dropped their lunch onto Himawari’s blanket and rushed right for him.

“What happened?” Asked Yokakura.

“Don’t worry, I just got hit by a ball.” Kouji answered. “And headmis… Isako, I think we need to do something important first.”