Sudden Beach Trip and Swimsuit Shopping
After defeating Sufle's memory and farming some pretty useful items from the now-open boss room, we headed straight back to Salenium. No sooner had we arrived than Reina suddenly gathered everyone, saying she had something to tell us all. Wondering what on earth it could be, I dragged my battered body out to see...
"Ufufufufu..."
"The sea, the sea!"
"The sea, the most primal force of nature..."
Every single one of them was acting downright weird.
"Reina."
"Yes?"
"Why is everyone like this?"
"Because it's the sea, duh?"
...Yeah. It was overly succinct, but I got the gist. Right. Of course. And here I was thinking it wasn't time for that yet.
"What's wrong, Adrian? You were the one who suggested it."
...Me?
...When?
"A while back!"
Come to think of it...
—How about we all go see the sea sometime? Build some camaraderie.
—Adrian, you kept saying no, but you've finally come around! I'll send someone right away to see if we can reserve the beach!
Ah, that. The camaraderie trip to the Wolfgang territory's coastline.
"That was..."
"Yep, that one! I asked my family, and they've approved renting out the beach!"
After Reina announced she'd ask her family about renting the sea. Whenever someone brought up the beach after that, Reina and a few others didn't even try to hide their excitement. Kalen never showed it outright, but his ears perked up every time the topic came up. Millije was thrilled at the idea of seeing the ocean for the first time in her life. Even Ebnis pretended not to care—"So when are we going? I've told you a bunch of times, I have territory duties, so if the dates clash, I can't make it"—but I spotted her scribbling notes on "3 Things You Must Do at the Beach" in her hand.
What an idiot.
But even so, no one could settle on a date for the trip. Group outings are always like that—the hardest part is just picking a schedule. So with permission already granted, they must've decided to nail it down... right now.
"How about next week?"
"Sorry, Miss Heilo, but next week I have heir lessons."
"What about two weeks from now?"
"Ah, that's when I have business and can't reserve the beach."
Obstacle after obstacle.
"...One question: does everyone else have clear schedules?"
Relbrian, Kalen, Millije, and Sufle all nodded.
"Three weeks is too late, and four weeks means vacation's basically over... So when's the best time? Ah...!"
Reina pondered with her chin in her hand, then her eyes lit up like a lightbulb.
"How about tomorrow? Let's just go!"
A bombshell declaration.
But.
"Sounds good. Tomorrow works for me too."
"The sooner the better for me."
Unanimous approval, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And so.
"Meet at the central district portal tomorrow morning, then. Oh, and I'm off to buy a swimsuit and some other stuff now—who's coming with?"
"Ah, R-Reina senior, I need a swimsuit too..."
"Me too."
"I'll get mine alone."
"Let's go together, Reina."
Whatever. They'll sort themselves out.
With that, Reina led her pack of girls off to the shopping district, declaring, "I'll contact the family for a carriage right away, and we need swimsuits too!" Ebnis wandered off alone to buy hers. That left just me and Kalen at the café.
I turned to the guy silently staring at his smoothie.
"Aren't you buying a swimsuit?"
"Ah, uh? W-well..."
Kalen started to say something, stopped, tried again, then hung his head and mumbled in a tiny voice.
"Um, Sir Adrian."
"What is it?"
"Th-that... W-would you... come swimsuit shopping with me? The, uh, men's section..."
What? What are you talking about? You're not a guy—you're a girl.
* * *
Of course, in the original game, you could bring Kalen Snowwhite on the major "Camaraderie Trip" event even if you were playing as the protagonist. But in first year, the destination was a valley, so you didn't see Kalen in a swimsuit until Erhan's second year—or her third.
Not that there was much to look forward to. He wore men's swim trunks anyway.
That's why I'd assumed Kalen already had one. But now he was suddenly asking me to go shopping together.
When I asked why.
"It's, um, a really weird reason, but... I'm kinda scared to go into the men's section alone."
I didn't say, Why would that scare you?
From his perspective, it'd feel like walking into a women's swimsuit store alone as a guy. Naturally mortifying, embarrassing, overwhelming—all those feelings crashing together. He had no idea I already knew his "secret," so I had to play along.
"Like when you're browsing clothes and a clerk comes up to you—kinda overwhelming, right?"
"Yes! Yes! Exactly that feeling!"
I gave him a plausible excuse, then nodded.
"All right, then. I need to pick one up anyway."
"Th-thank you so much..."
"No time like the present. Let's go."
"Y-yes? W-wait, I haven't mentally prepared..."
Mentally prepared for what? Anyway. I remembered the swimsuit set he wore most often in the "Beach" episodes when you brought him along with the party. If I just picked that one...
"Follow me."
"Eek..."
* * *
Kalen Snowwhite felt like her mind was about to shatter.
No. Men's swimsuits. And shopping for them with him.
I'm insane, insane, insane! What a shameless Kalen!
The "Hyrin" she'd locked away deep in her heart, the one that never usually surfaced, was screeching and wailing like a banshee.
She had no idea why she'd even said it. She didn't want to know. To monopolize him? Ridiculous! She was a "boy" right now! The whole world saw her as a boy without question!
She couldn't even glance at his face as they walked side by side through the shopping district.
"Here we are."
His low voice. Cooling her burning face with ice mana, Kalen looked up. They'd already arrived—he was holding the door open ahead of her.
The shopkeeper was a fellow student, as expected. "Looking for anything specific?"
"We'll browse and ask if we need to. Do what you need to."
"Got it."
The owner retreated to the counter, and he turned to Kalen. She couldn't meet his eyes looking up at him. Her heart pounded relentlessly. It felt like it would burst. Like it might leap right out of her chest toward him.
"Kalen."
"Y-yes, yes...?"
She glanced around—everything was bottoms! Were all men's swimsuits like this?!
"Any style you like?"
"R-run... aw..."
"Run away?"
"N-no, I, uh... Um. Ah..."
Kalen's eyes spun as she fumbled for words, steam practically puffing from her head.
"P-please... pick one for me, Sir Adrian!"
I'm crazy! Crazy! Kalen slapped a hand over her mouth with a gasp and looked up—to find him staring right at her.
What now? That was way too obvious...
...He couldn't have noticed, right? He absolutely couldn't. That curse on her—"triggered by her true identity being discovered"—could never be allowed to activate.
He made a subtle expression and asked,
"Hmm... You really don't care what? Fair warning: I'm not great at picking clothes."
"N-no, it's fine! Really!"
"All right, then..."
He started walking. She followed. Then he reached out first.
Clink.
"This set for top and bottom should work."
A tight black top and bottoms. N-no, not that!
"S-Sir Adrian..."
As she mustered the courage to speak—
A new item landed in her arms.
"And layer this over it. Windbreaker and pants. You don't seem to like form-fitting stuff, so baggy like this might suit you better."
Striped pants in white and blue, a white windbreaker. All loose-fitting, hiding the body—just what she wanted.
Once the swimsuit was sorted.
"Finally... yeah, this'll do."
He hesitated a moment, then handed her a white cap from the shelf.
"Changing room's over there. Want to try it on?"
"...Yes."
That thoughtful gesture, unspoken. She couldn't say a word.
* * *
What a hassle. I deliberately picked a size up to keep his body as covered as possible. Such a high-maintenance guy.
That set was the one he wore most in the "Beach" episodes anyway, so I went with it. Not entirely, though.
"Maybe adding the hat was overkill."
I'd picked the hat because it suited him. Oh well—if he didn't like it, I'd drop it clean.
Slide. The changing room door opened. I turned.
"S-Sir Adrian."
Baggy blue-and-white striped pants, white windbreaker, matching white cap.
"How's it look?"
He shrugged, holding the brim with one hand.
"Th-thank you. It matches exactly what I had in mind."
"It's not about matching—does it suit you?"
"Yes. Especially the hat. It... wasn't overreach after all."
He mumbled the end, but still said it. He heard me, huh.
"Don't tease people."
"Ahaha, I was changing, so..."
I see. Looked like my picks weren't off-base.
"Guess I'll grab the same set. Different color. Come on—change back to your uniform and let's go."
"Understood."
We bought the swimsuits and walked back to the dorms side by side. As we walked in silence, he spoke up.
"S-Sir Adrian."
"Yeah, go ahead."
"This might be rude, but... how did you know I like baggy clothes that don't show my body?"
Well.
"I've seen you more than anyone."
"Eh?"
"You always wear stuff like that. Gym clothes, uniform—everything."
He froze like ice. Why? I've seen him in the game all the time, and as roommates, I've seen him constantly. More than anyone, right? Isn't that obvious?