I Hope You’re Still Alive When Tomorrow Comes - 31

Chapter 31: Your Hands

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

By the time we reached the beach, the sun had completely set. The night was creeping in from beyond the sky. The scent of the sea, much stronger than when we were at the station and at the observatory, mingled with the wind. 

We walked all the way to the water’s edge, careful enough not to lend sand get into our shoes. We didn’t notice it when we were looking at the beach from above, but the beach was surprisingly littered with fine debris. It was quite dirty. In order to prevent our shoes from getting wet, we stopped just before the waves lapped at our feet. 

I thought Kiho, who had been walking alongside me, would stop there too, but…

“…Huh? Wai-!”

To my surprise, Kiho took another step forward to see, causing me to raise my voice in shock. 

“Kiho?”

Ignoring her sneakers that were getting dirty by the wet sand, she headed straight to the sea. Her footsteps were firm and resolute, causing my heart to pound loudly. At the same time, I could feel a shiver run down my spine. I instinctively reached my hand out to her. 

“Kiho!”

In my fervor, I grabbed her hand and pulled her to me. However, I was unable to control my strength and ended up pulling her rougher than I intended. 

“Whoa-?!”

Suddenly pulled backwards, Kiho’s feet got tangled up. Caught off guard, her body swayed toward me and fell. I quickly stepped forward to support her, but I couldn’t make it in time. Pulled by her weight, I ended up losing my balance too. 

“…Tsuchiya-kun? What are you doing?”

By the time I realized it, Kiho and I were sitting on the waves. We were both stunned from the fall. The dampness seeped through our uniforms, bringing a chilling sensation to our bodies. Kiho stared at me, puzzled. I still had her arm in my grasp. 

“You were trying to go into the sea.”

“I wasn’t trying to go into the sea per say. I just wanted to get a bit closer, that’s all.”

“Don’t confuse me like that!””

“Huh…?”

Confused, Kiho turned her head to look at me. I pulled her arm, helping her to stand up. It was too late though. Both of us were already soaked wet. Drop of seawater were dripping from Kiho’s soaked skirt. 

“I got wet…”

Looking down at the state of her uniform, Kiho murmured softly. 

“How troublesome… I don’t have any spare clothes with me.”

Despite her words, she sounded pretty nonchalant. 

“Not to mention, this is the only school uniform I have. We have school tomorrow too…”

“Sorry…”

Realizing I had made the situation worse, I apologized. But then, Kiho suddenly started walking. She stepped into the water complete with her sneakers on. She then walked along the shoreline. 

“Wai-!”

Startled again, I hurried to catch up with her. However, after just a few steps, Kiho turned her back to me. Our eyes met and I could see the mischievous, childlike smile on her face. 

Suddenly, she bent down. 

“Hiyah!”

She scooped water from under her feet and splashed it straight at me. 

“Whoa-!”

There wasn’t much water since we were in the shallow part of the waves, but the coldness of the water that wet my pants was hard to miss. 

“What are you doing, you idiot…”

Exasperated, I sighed, but Kiho burst into laughter instead. It was a very childish and innocent laugh. 

“Payback. I thought I’d get you wet too, Tsuchiya-kun.”

“I’m already plenty wet without that.”

“But you know, I’ve been wanting to do this sort of thing. Just like in tv dramas.”

Seemingly genuinely enjoying herself, Kiho bent down again to scoop more water. Sure, this might seem like something out of a drama. But in most dramas, the characters were splashing sea waters under the summer sun, not during autumn and most certainly not when the sun was already setting. Both the water and the wind were simply too cold for us. 

“No, stop it. How are we going to get home? Are you planning to take the train all soaked?”

I grabbed Kiho’s hand to prevent her from getting us wetter.

“On second thought, going back home seems like a hassle.”

She murmured absentmindedly. 

“What do you mean?”

“Going back…”

Kiho suddenly looked up at my face. She looked oddly refreshed. Then, with a beaming smile on her face, she exclaimed. 

“Should we just not go back today?”

“Huh?”

“Today. Let’s not go back home.”

Her voice sounded genuinely happy and I let her hand go. The wind blew against our wet bodies, steadily chipping our body warmth away. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel cold. The chill of my wet uniform clinging against my skin went unnoticed. Instead, I felt a gentle warmth spreading in my belly. The heat then rose up to my throat. 

“…Sure.”

I chuckled, finding the idea amusing. My own voice sounded almost as childish as Kiho’s. 

“Going back home does sound like a hassle.”

“I know, right? Let’s just stay the night here.”

“Sounds good. Let’s do that.”

We both felt weirdly excitedly. We laughed as we exchanged those words. With each sentence, laughter bubbled up from deep in our throats until eventually, we couldn’t stop laughing. 

“Do you think there’s a place around here that we can stay at?”

“Oh, look! That looks like a hotel.”

Kiho pointed at the castle-like building standing alone at the foot of the mountain. The building was garish and flashy. It stood out horribly conspicuous against the tranquil seaside town. 

“Isn’t that a love hotel?”

“That’s right!”

Kiho said, intertwining her hands with me. She sounded awfully cheerful as she responded to my question. I laughed again at her childlike voice. We both started walking along the shoreline together, our hands intertwined. 

After walking for a while, we finally regained our senses. 

“…Actually, we can’t. We don’t have any money after all.”

“True. We didn’t go to the café precisely because of that.”

“Let’s go. Next time.”

“Huh?”

“No, not to a love hotel. I mean, to Yuzushima. Let’s come here again next time.”

Seeing how surprised Kiho was, I added with more clarity to avoid any misunderstanding. 

“Next time, let’s plan ahead properly. We will bring enough money when we come here again. Let’s go to the café you wanted to visit too.”

Kiho stared at my face silently. After blinking a few times, she gasped a little, seemingly finally remembering something. Then, her face broke into a smile. She nodded vigorously. 

“Yes.”

For some reason, her innocent smile made me feel like crying. I held her hands tightly, determined not to let go. No, I absolutely wouldn’t let her hand go.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

T/N: And then, they caught a cold~