“Just how many pickup attempts are there…”

This was about the third time I had witnessed pickup attempts since coming to the game world. The first was Hibari. Hibari had kicked the pickup artist in the groin and driven him off herself. Next was Mahiro. That was a recent incident. I thought she could have driven him away herself too… but I ended up scaring him off with my intimidating face just to be safe.

And now the beautiful sisters Mahiro and Riina were being hit on.

Whether in the real world or the game world, it seemed the same that beautiful women and girls attracted pickup artists.

“Ahaha… if one is cute, you naturally get hit on, don’t you?”

“Being cute must be tough.”

“I get hit on sometimes too, but it’s hard to turn them down gently.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Yuito… got hit on? Oh, I see. Women must hit on him. Reverse pickup, right. What, did he misspeak?

“But I’m a guy, you know.”

Apparently perverts had been hitting on him.

Feeling like I had touched on something I shouldn’t have, I turned my gaze back to the beautiful sisters. The two men doing the pickup were well-built and dark-skinned.

“Come on, what’s the harm~”

“Just for 30 minutes, come hang out with us.”

“Sorry, but we’re waiting to meet someone.”

“…Just hurry up and go away”

Since we were far away, I could barely hear the conversation, but I could see that Mahiro, who seemed used to handling this, had stepped forward, while Riina was obviously annoyed behind her.

“Yuji-kun, we should hurry and help them, right!”

“Right.”

It would be a waste to use up our energy here when we were supposed to have fun at the pool.

Both Yuito and I got up from the bench…

“Wait, Yuito.”

“Huh?”

I grabbed the hand of Yuito, who had started walking ahead, and stopped him. Maybe there was no need for us to step in. I focused on a familiar figure behind Mahiro and Riina.

“H-hey you guys! You’ve got some nerve laying hands on our… our companions!”

“Hah?”

“Eek! Y-you guys don’t scare me…!”

The one who bravely confronted the pickup artists while trembling in his legs was… Tajima. One of the members playing with us today.

“Don’t get in our way.”

“N-no… well… we’re all going out to have fun…”

But by interfering, he had earned the anger of the dark-skinned men and was grabbed by the collar.

Tajima’s eyes were darting around frantically, but he didn’t seem like he was going to run away… Hmm, he had guts. This was indeed the guy who had been the first to suspect me of stealing the present money during the forest school trip.

“Yuito, let’s go. At this rate, Tajima’s in more danger. The two of us together are invincible.”

“Yeah! The two of us together are invincible!”

Yuito snorted through his nose, but he probably didn’t really understand what that meant.

The most fearsome combo of handsome Yuito and intimidating me had nothing to fear!!

While Tajima was drawing the attention of the two men, we approached from behind and tapped them on the shoulders.

“Hah? Now what—oh.”

The two men turned around with angry expressions, but they probably immediately realized they had picked the wrong opponents. They froze up.

“You guys, we understand that these two are cute, but… it’s not okay to keep hitting on them when they’re clearly uncomfortable, right?”

“We’re all going out to have fun together…! So please stop!”

After hearing mine and Yuito’s words, the men slowly looked at each other.

“H-hey, don’t tell me… we hit on these guys’ girlfriends…”

“Ah… we messed with the wrong people…”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“We’re leaving! We’re sorry!!”

They hurriedly left. They seemed to have some kind of misunderstanding in what they said… but oh well, it was fine now.

“Thank you for helping us, Yuito, Kasajima-kun. And you too.”

“I would have liked you to help a little sooner.”

“Well, Tajima charged in first.”

“Mahiro-san thanked me! I’m so happy!”

Tajima was really pleased. This was fine too.

“Well, it looks like everyone’s here now.”

Mahiro said while looking around at all of us.

“So Satoshima couldn’t make it after all.”

Originally, Satoshima, who was usually with Tajima, was supposed to come too…

“His family runs a restaurant, and this is their busiest season. He got called in to help in the end.”

“It’s unfortunate he can’t come, but helping his family is admirable. Let’s go eat there sometime, just us three guys, Yuito.”

“Yeah!”

“Hey, you two! Stop being all lovey-dovey~”

“How are we being lovey-dovey, Riina-san…”

She was probably jealous that Yuito was being taken away by us guys.

“I mean, originally it was just going to be me, my sister, and Yui-kun…”

“You knew this would happen when you told Yuito he could invite other people, Riina.”

“Well, I knew about Kasajima, but…”

“Was it wrong to invite Tajima-kun and the others too?”

“It wasn’t… it wasn’t wrong, okay?”

“Thank you, Riina-chan!”

Everyone was weak to Yuito. As expected, Yuito, the protagonist, was the strongest.

“Let’s all make fun summer memories together.”

“I’m going to be all lovey-dovey with Yui-kun ♪.”

“I’m looking forward to the pool~!”

“Beautiful girls in swimsuits, heh heh…”

Me, Yuito, Mahiro, Riina, and Tajima. The five of us headed to the pool. I hoped nothing would happen and we could just have fun.

(Flag)

◆

The pool at the amusement park was reachable with one transfer. The train was crowded during summer vacation, but people got off at each station, and seats gradually became available here and there. We had been holding onto the handrails. Suddenly, a man in front of us moved aside, creating space for about three people to sit. Of course, we let Yuito, Mahiro, and Riina take the seats.

While I was watching Yuito sandwiched between Mahiro and Riina talking…

“Hey, Kasajima.”

“Hm? What, Tajima?”

He had a serious expression.

“Why didn’t you…”

“?”

“Invite the maid!! Damn it!!”

“Why do you look so frustrated… The maid… oh, you mean Hibari. Well, it might have been awkward with this group…”

When we had the study group at my apartment, the members here had met Hibari, but… We were all high school students after all. Having her among us… no, but maybe it would have been surprisingly okay?

“You idiot! It’s Kasajima’s job to make sure it wouldn’t be awkward!!”

“Ugh… that’s true…”

“Besides, the maid is probably alone right now, right? Kasajima, don’t you feel bad about leaving the maid alone!”

“Ugh, well…”

I had told Hibari she could act freely during summer vacation, but… she was probably spending most of her time at my apartment.

“The maid must want to go to pools, beaches, and other events to refresh herself in summer too! But if you don’t invite her…”

“Tajima…”

I had thought he was the type who immediately fell for any beautiful girl or woman, but he was actually a good guy—

“We can’t see the maid in a swimsuit!”

“So that’s your real motive, hey.”

Tajima was still lacking in some ways. I think he’d be popular if he fixed various things—he could be a bright, good guy who cares about his friends. Actually, he had already broken up with his previous girlfriend, right? I hadn’t seen her since the forest school trip either… yeah. This matter was awkward in various ways, so I’d push it to the very back corner of my mind…

“With such a beautiful maid around, there should be more demand!”

“Don’t call it ‘demand’.”

“At home, you could have her give you lap pillows, clean your ears, and indulge in sweet play all you want!!”

“I don’t do ‘all I want’. I don’t ask her for those kinds of things.”

“What!? Are you even a man!”

“You’re just full of desires.”

Seriously… just because I was essentially living with a beautiful maid didn’t mean I could easily ask for such things…

‘Yuji-sama, you make that kind of expression too.’ 

‘Huh?’ ‘Your face is bright red.’ 

‘?!’

But… when she’d washed my back in the bath, I was a little happy, and I definitely got nervous…

“Kasajima, your face is red.”

“It’s because of the summer heat.”

“Be careful of heatstroke.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Remembering that made me feel a bit embarrassed.

Still, I wanted Hibari to enjoy summer too. Summer had just begun, and it would be nice if we could go to summer festivals or somewhere fun together personally.

We had time, so we could go, right?