Chapter 9. Boundaries and Walls (4)
Chapter 9. Boundaries and Walls (4)
It wasn't a micro bikini. I wasn't crazy enough to pick something like that.
But the red bikini Ria was wearing was definitely small. Small enough that it covered less than the swimsuit she'd confidently put on earlier before suggesting we call it a draw.
It did cover everything that needed covering, but honestly, at this point, swimming in underwear might have been less embarrassing.
And there I was, stuck in that cramped changing room with Ria, feeling like my face was about to explode. I might have even been redder than Ria, whose face was flushed.
First of all, the bikini itself was a very, very standard bikini. And precisely because of that, it suited Ria incredibly well.
To say it again, it wasn't a micro bikini. The bottom looked like proper women's underwear. But the part that always looks the most embarrassing in this kind of swimsuit is the top, isn't it?
The red triangles covered exactly the parts of Ria's chest that needed covering, and nothing more.
Thanks to that, a little bit above, beside, and below those triangles was visible. If the rest had been covered, it would've been an "underboob" swimsuit, but true to a standard bikini, her cleavage was fully visible, and of course her side boob was visible too.
......It suits her.
To make matters worse, Ria was standing with one hand near her hip, holding her head high, and that confident posture went perfectly with her confident chest.
How infuriating.
I didn't even know what exactly was infuriating, but it was. The thought that someone might see her like this made me incredibly angry.
So I ended up pointing it out for no good reason.
"Ria."
"What? You're not going to say something like let's just call it a draw now, are you?"
"I have absolutely no intention of doing that."
I answered with a growl and reached out to grab the necklace hanging near Ria's neck.
And then I realized—oh no.
The outside of my fingers lightly grazed the top of Ria's chest. It was really just barely, but I could clearly tell what that sensation was. At least it wasn't the feeling of touching her spine. It was definitely the sensation of brushing against soft, squishy fat.
Holding back the blush that was trying to rise to my face, I gave the necklace a slight tug, and Ria tilted her head toward me a little.
Our eyes got a bit closer.
"Why do you wear this around your neck?"
"Huh?"
"If you wear it around your neck while swimming, you could lose it."
I said, trying my best to look straight at Ria. Because it felt like the moment I let my focus slip even a little, my gaze would drop.
"You said it's a ring that can't exactly be called cheap, right? If you wanted to get it remade, you'd have to go all the way to the Gnome Region."
Honestly, this had been bothering me a little too.
No, whether she wore the friendship ring or not was Ria's choice. Since Ria swung a sword all the time, maybe she didn't wear it because it was uncomfortable.
The ring on my hand sparkled. Along with the ring hanging around Ria's neck. Since it had the Holy Power I'd personally infused into it, it was only natural for it to glow faintly.
"......."
For some reason, Ria couldn't manage an answer.
I slowly moved my hands and took the necklace off Ria's neck. Then I removed the ring from it and took Ria's hand.
After slipping the ring onto the fourth finger of her right hand, I looked up to find Ria's face flushed as if it were about to burst. Whatever composure she'd had moments ago had long since flown away.
When I grinned, Ria seemed to belatedly realize that fact.
"Y-you put yours on too."
Ria said that and thrust a swimsuit at me.
It was a swimsuit that looked a bit larger in coverage than the one I'd picked. Except—
"......Uh."
The sound escaped me the moment I saw it.
When I'd handed Ria her swimsuit earlier, I hadn't noticed. I'd had so many thoughts of my own that I hadn't properly seen what kind of swimsuit Ria had picked.
But now that I was looking—
"......Why is the color like this?"
When I asked in a dead serious voice, this time Ria grinned. Though her face was still burning bright red.
"Why? You picked mine to match my hair color, so I picked yours the same way."
"......."
I seriously considered it.
Had Ria ever actually watched porn?
Ah, well, even if she had watched porn, depending on her tastes, it might've been content she'd never have reason to see. Come to think of it, weren't the categories for women's and men's porn different from the start? Obviously, in men's porn the actress matters, and in women's porn the actor matters.
With countless videos like that pouring out every day, the content would all be different too.
So maybe my brain was just that rotten.
But still.
No matter how you looked at it, would anyone actually go to the beach in a gold bikini? What is this, the end of the century?
No matter how I thought about it, this was clearly cosplay wear—specifically, cosplay wear for doing that kind of thing between lovers. Though I had no idea why something like this was in a regular swimsuit selection.
"If you're picking something for a blonde, wouldn't you normally pick yellow instead of gold? Honestly, this is a bit too...... you know?"
"Why? Scared? Too afraid to wear it?"
"......."
I glared at Ria.
"......Fine. As if I couldn't wear it."
Come to think of it, the only people who'd be there were me and Ria.
Right. If I was embarrassed, then obviously Ria would be embarrassed too.
I snatched the swimsuit from Ria's hand.
I went to a different changing room, changed, and called for Ria. When Ria saw my swimsuit, she was momentarily at a loss for words.
Without even blushing from embarrassment, Ria just stared blankly at me for a moment, then nodded and said,
"......Let's just pick something else."
Apparently, she only came to her senses after seeing it.
*
In the end, picking out our swimsuits took a little over an hour. Enough that I was somewhat tired by the time we left the store.
But Ria apparently had no intention of wasting this rare outing, because she dragged me—who wanted nothing more than to go back to bed and lie down—off somewhere.
That place was the house of Ria's uncle, where she'd brought me last time. Though "uncle" just meant he was close with her dad.
Once again, there was no one inside.
"What kind of house has a swimming pool?"
"Plenty of houses overseas have pools, don't they?"
Well, sure.
I could imagine houses like that existing in Korea too. High-end apartments often had pools for residents, and it wouldn't be strange for a really big house to have a pool. Maybe somewhere out in the countryside there was a mansion with an infinity pool or something.
But the pool we were at now had a different feel from that.
It wasn't built for fun—it looked like something the city hall had built for citizens to use.
"You didn't even flinch when you saw the shooting range inside the house, so why are you surprised about a pool?"
"......No, I was surprised about the shooting range too."
Ria let out a short laugh at what I said.
Then we dropped our bags on the floor with a thud.
I was watching without any particular thought when Ria looked up at me and said,
"What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, we're at the pool, so we should change into our swimsuits."
"......."
Ah, right. Of course.
Ria had come to teach me how to swim. And since I didn't have a swimsuit...... Ria had insisted that swimsuits for swimming in a pool and swimsuits for playing around were different, but that was also about what other people would see.
I went over near Ria and pulled the swimsuit out of my bag. Then I headed to the changing room with Ria.
......Obviously, Ria and I changed as far apart from each other as possible.
I had no idea why a private residence had separate men's and women's changing rooms, or why the changing rooms themselves were big enough for a dozen people to change at once, but either way, I was grateful we could change without entering each other's line of sight.
*
The swimsuit I put on wasn't all that embarrassing, at least.
A yellow bikini.
Maybe Ria felt bad about trying to put me in the gold bikini, because she ended up picking a relatively normal bikini for me.
Her own bikini was the one I'd picked for her.
Thanks to that, I was incredibly embarrassed right now.
Both Ria and I were in the pool. The water came up to about chest height.
Like anyone learning to swim, I started by holding onto the rail and floating my body in the water.
Ria stood beside me, placing her hands on my stomach or waist to help me get into position.
"......."
On top of that touch, because of where the water level happened to be, I could see all too clearly the water flowing in and out between Ria's breasts.
And the sight of her wet skin above the waterline was strangely suggestive, too.
Really, as expected of a heroine.
Ria, who was helping me practice, was surprisingly serious about it, and that made me annoyed at myself all over again.
It felt like I was the only one constantly thinking about Ria. It wasn't that I disliked it, but I couldn't help feeling a little wronged.
If I was going to keep imagining possibilities by myself, it would've been nice if I could've gotten it out of my system in my Past Life.
Standing in front of a glass barrier with the other side clearly visible, I looked at the person beyond it, beyond the identical glass barrier.
Sometimes our eyes met, but I couldn't tell what kind of interest that person had in me when they looked at me.
That feeling was so suffocating that in the end, I kept my mouth firmly shut and focused on swimming practice.
I could only hope that, to Ria, I looked like someone absorbed in practice.