Now with them alone from the others for the time being. Kichi quickly got to work with striking a conversation with Aoi. Knowing Airi and Kougi, it was clear they weren’t going to allow him too much time away from them.

“It’s pretty nice here at the beach, isn’t it?” He started things off with a question. She had laid back onto her beach towel, using the umbrella to find shade away from the blazing sun. Meanwhile he had gotten a more open spot to take in all the rays. “You ever been to the beach before?”

“Once.” She answered plainly, putting on some sunglasses despite not needing them to protect her eyes from the sun. “Hated it back then like I do now.”

“I see.” That much was obvious from her apparent disdain for the trip. It was no secret Aoi was against this idea from the start. However, she didn’t want to be the one to get in everyone’s way of fun. Which is why she not only accepted and came along, but also had chosen to stay away from the others for now.

“You don’t want to go out to learn how to swim or something?”

“Not really.” He answered again in a short and dismissive nature. “You don’t need to worry about giving me attention. It’s not like I would get mad at you for going out and to have some fun with everyone.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with getting into the beach mood first.” He laid back flat onto the ground, putting his arms behind his head to fully get into a relaxed position. “I’m not really one for tanning, but I should get some sun in first before I get into the water.”

“You’re really getting to be like Airi, you know that?” She got up and glared at him annoyed. He clearly hadn’t gotten her subtle hints that he should get lost. Which to be fair, why would he think his girlfriend wants to be rid of him.

“What?” He didn’t get the meaning. All he had done was stick around her a little bit. Kichi knew he hadn’t gotten into the part where he actually acted like Airi. Not that most people could turn into that bundle of energy that girl was like. “I’m not doing anything weird.”

“I know what you’re trying to do.” She responded. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate you caring about me.” Aoi put up her knees to her face as she sat up. “But that’s what Airi does too. She always worries about the things I do. Thinking I’m not having fun like everyone else just because I’m not going deep into it.”

“You mean like me wanting you to swim?” He asked.

“It’s more than just that.” She thought about Kougi’s suggestion on getting a different swimsuit compared to the plain one she had one right now. Or the dismissiveness on wanting to keep her skin safe by putting on a lot of sunscreen. “Can’t you guys notice I don’t like being in public like this?”

“I think we already had an inkling of an idea.” He admitted it wasn’t as if they were ignorant of her plight. It was more so they wanted her to break out of her shell and be more like her sister. “Guess it’s kind of unfair of us anyway though.” She wasn’t Airi though, she was Aoi. Even if they think she might be better off being a bit more open, it wasn’t like she would feel the same way.

“I don’t like showing off my body.” She spoke quietly, admitting to him the truth. “My skin, it’s weird to have a bunch of people see me like this.” It was something she could never get into. Sure, it wasn’t like people were going to think she was ugly. At least, she hoped no one was judging her negatively. But even having some guys looking at her in a bit of a flirty way was more than enough to get her nervous.

“Yeah, I guess it must’ve made you real mad when I saw your panties.” When he said this. It prompted her to turn her head and give him a mean glare as her face got red in both embarrassment and rage. “I don’t mean to bring it up to make fun of you.”

“You better not.” She spoke in a threatening manner.

“I’m just saying that I guess it can be a bit weird when people see things you want to keep hidden.” She was a secretive type person. The kind of girl who was very reserved and held back to most things. Which would explain her constant desire to be reclusive in staying at home. “You know, I kind of owe you for making you come out here when you didn’t want to.”

“Oh yeah?” She was unimpressed. “And how do you plan on paying me back?”

“How about this?” He came up with what he believed to be a good suggestion. “I’ll be sure to drop by yours and Airi’s place and we can play some video games.” Not only did he keep her from doing it during this trip, but there was also the time when he got them over, thinking that they were going to play some games while at his house. Only to rope them in with the drama between him and Kougi. “Sounds good, right?”

“I can… Yeah, I like that.” It was about time he did something she wanted for once. The best part was he didn’t even need the coin to consult for suggestions. Of course, she was unaware that he didn’t have access to said coin and likely would’ve used it in this situation to pick between that or something else. “Anyway, I think you’ve been in the sun long enough. Maybe you should have some fun of your own.”

“But, aren’t you going to be bored all alone here?” He would feel bad if all she did was lay under the sun doing nothing but watch people.

“Who said I was going to be bored?” However, she surprised him by reaching into her bag and pulling out her trusty Mintendo Flip. He had no idea she would be bringing something so vulnerable to water and dirt to the beach. “I hoped you’d quicker leave so I could get some gaming done.”

“I see…” He was slightly disappointed in seeing her acting so detached from the beach part of their vacation. Though if she was having fun, then it really wouldn’t be a big problem. “Well, stay safe then.”

“Looks like you’re going to be the one worried about your own safety.” She pointed to something coming his way. It looked to be a strange tanned girl he hadn’t seen before, thought she looked quite familiar at the same time.

“Kichi are you going to sit here all day?” She immediately started pulling him on the arm and getting him to stand up. “Come on, we planned this so we could have fun. Aoi should be fine here.”

“Who are you!?” He ripped his arm from her grasp and took a step back in fear. How could someone just act so casual with him when they had never seen each other before. Not to mention she apparently knew who he was.

“W-what are you talking about?” She appeared hurt at his standoffish reaction to her.

“Kichi, you dolt.” Aoi got up and gave him a good bonk on the head to reprehend him. He couldn’t understand why she would be punishing him. It wasn’t like he was the one in the wrong, he thought. “That’s Airi.”

“What!?” He couldn’t believe what she said. But this was Aoi and she was not known for lying as a joke or prank. The two girls stood by each other to prove to him this was the case. When he got a side-by-side comparison. He took notice that the other girl looked like she would be the twin to Aoi. The only main difference being their skin tones didn’t come close to matching at all. It was a much larger difference than the simple shades lighter that she was compared to Airi when they saw all the sunscreen.

“I already told you about how sensitive we are to the sun.” This was what she had meant when she said she didn’t want to deal with the effects of the sun on them. He had originally assumed she just meant she didn’t want to get sunburned. Which was a fair thing to avoid, but this was an entirely different matter altogether.

“And I already said we don’t have anything to worry about with the sun.” Apparently they didn’t get sunburned at all, at least not easily. Just that their skin turned into a different tone rather quickly under the hot rays of the sun. It was seriously fast too, considering he was sure the last time he had seen Airi was only 15 minutes ago, max. “Now come on Kichi.” She once again took his arm. “They have surfboards to rent, we should go ride some waves!”

“Well that does sound like a good idea.” While he still felt a bit odd about seeing her in this state. Since it was still the same Airi he knew, it was no big deal. Not to mention he had always wanted to try surfing out for once.