The Carnivorous Beast Beauties Are Dying to Devour This Herbivorous Beast Me - 73

Chapter 73: An Ominous Day at the Beach – Part 8

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Arisa took a deep breath, held it, and dove into the sea. The distance from here to where Haruku was located was roughly around 500 meters. With a diving time of about 20 minutes… and the ability to move underwater at 60 km/h… for someone like Arisa, it was a distance she could cover in about 30 seconds.

Having already mapped out everything around her—including Haruku’s position—via echolocation, Arisa kicked off strongly in his direction.

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No, seriously, what should I do…? Even though I’m trying my best to swim, it feels like I’m getting farther and farther from the shore… I don’t have my phone, so I can’t call for help, and I’m pretty far out, so even yelling wouldn’t work. If I don’t return for a while, someone will probably notice… Maybe Sagisawa-san will find me…?

Realizing there was nothing I could do on my own, I decided to stay still on the boat to conserve my energy. I’d heard of incidents like this before, but I never thought I’d be the one it would happen to…

What am I going to do…?

Just thinking about it was making me super anxious…

Will I be able to make it back? What if I just keep drifting like this…

“…Huh?”

Off in the distance, someone just dove into the sea and headed this way—and without a doubt, it was Sumeragi-senpai. My eyesight was pretty good, so I was sure of it.

Even though senpai is a great swimmer, isn’t it kind of dangerous for her to be coming my way…?

But that thought only lasted a moment.

“Wha-…?”

Just a few seconds—barely over ten—after Sumeragi-senpai dove in, a splash of water, likely hers, broke the surface, and she had already closed half the distance to me.

Wait, isn’t she way too fast?

There were several hundred meters between us and at the rate she was swimming, she should be able to reach me in just 30 seconds or so. She could easily surpass any swimming world record!

“Puhah!”

“Uwaah!?”

Before I knew it, Sumeragi-senpai had surfaced right beside the boat, and I couldn’t help but yelp in surprise.

“Are you alright, Arisugawa-kun?”

“S-sorry, Senpai… I—”

“No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have taught you about rip currents and how to deal with them.”

“Rip currents…?”

“Precisely.”

A rip current was a current that flowed from the shore out to the open sea, and accidents where people were swept away by them happened fairly often. Because the current pulled away from the shore, swimming toward land didn’t get you anywhere. Instead, it just drained your strength and could cause panic… Which was how further accidents occurred. However, since the width of a rip current was only about 10–30 meters, the basic rule was to swim sideways first to escape the current instead of trying to go straight back to shore.

“However! Rushing in to save a friend who’s been swept away could get you caught too. In those situations, don’t panic and enter the water—instead, calmly contact a lifeguard.”

“…Who are you talking to?”

“Haha! I figured it’d be good to say it aloud.”

“…………”

“Don’t look so anxious. I’ll make sure to get you back to shore safely.”

“Ah, um… I just felt relieved when you showed up, Sumeragi-senpai…”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“I was seriously thinking ‘What if I drift away like this?’ and I got really scared…”

“Hmm…”

Apparently, I was more anxious than I realized, and those words just spilled out in front of Sumeragi-senpai. Without saying anything to comfort me, she hopped onto the boat and─

“There, there… Does this help calm you down a little?”

“Nnmph…!?”

Before I knew it, I was being held tightly, enveloped by her large frame. She had to be around 180 cm tall, with a bust rivaling even Seira-san’s, and through the single layer of her thin swimsuit I could feel her warmth and I was about to skip right past feeling reassured into full-blown panic.

And to top it off, she started patting my head. It kind of felt like I was being treated like a baby, and I might be awakening to a new kind of fetish entirely.

“Uh, um, Sumeragi-senpai!?”

“Hmm? I heard that if you do this to a man, all his anxiety and stress disappears.”

“I-I mean, you’re not wrong, but…! That’s not the point─”

“If it’s not wrong, then it’s fine, isn’t it? Don’t hold back. Part of my duty is to accept and soothe Arisugawa-kun’s anxiety like this.”

“W-wait… Mmmph!”

She hugged me even tighter, and my face was completely buried in her chest.

Drowning… I’m drowning… not in the ocean, but in her chest…!

I somehow managed to struggle free from the pressure of her breasts, gasping for air as I raised my head—only to meet Sumeragi-senpai’s smiling eyes looking down at me. My cheeks instantly went hot.

“A-a-anyway, SuMeragi-senpai!”

“What is it?”

Trying to distract myself, I brought up a question I’d always been curious about.

“Sumeragi-senpai, you’re a beastkin too, right? What kind of beastkin are you? That swimming speed was insane…”

“Oh? Ah, I hadn’t mentioned it? I’m an orca… You see, I take pride in being faster and better at swimming than anyone else.”

“An orca… I see.”

I’d kind of suspected it. If even someone like Seira-san, a snow leopard, was afraid of her, then she had to be a serious apex predator. And after seeing her swim like that… There was no way I wouldn’t believe it.

“Don’t worry. Just because you’re a squirrel doesn’t mean I plan to eat you.”

“If you did, I’d run for my life…”

“Ahaha! Do you really think you could escape from me in the sea?”

“Eep…!”

“I’m joking. Anyway, shall we head back? I’ll push the boat, so just rest, Arisugawa-kun.”

“Ah, thank you…”

With that, Sumeragi-senpai dove back into the sea and started pushing the boat. It advanced so swiftly that it made me want to ask what all my earlier efforts were even for. Realizing that not only her academics and athleticism, but even her biology outclassed mine completely, I decided to quietly do as I was told and let her take the lead.

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