Bet

"You're late." They got a scolding from Misei as soon as they arrived, the others had given them ample time to arrive. They weren't that late, he made sure of that when they rushed to the train.

"Sorry." He apologized. "We were just caught up in something." Was the explanation he gave them. Arata was certain they'd be jealous of the nice spa treatment the two just received. Though maybe not considering the mixed baths circumstance.

"Wait, Arata we forgot to get our swimsuits." Erina realized that they should've stopped at the hotel during their rush to get to the beach.

"Don't worry about that. We've brought them with us." Misao held up Erina's swimsuit, a two piece bikini. Akaki had Arata's, a basic pair of swimming trunks.

"Oh great, thanks." It was oddly nice of them. Making them go back to grab their swimwear would probably give them an advantage. Then again, Yogi would've just waited for them anyway, so that was probably the reason.

The two found a changing room, and got themselves changed into their swimming clothes. Erina was pretty happy with her outfit. The ribbon tied design, along with it's yellow polka dot pattern. She would definitely get second looks from men at the beach.

"So, what do you think?" This reminded him back at the ball, when she showed off that dress. Though unlike then, he was confident she didn't make this one.

"I'm sure Yogi will enjoy it." Even at this point, he was not qualified to speak for that boy. Still, he doubted he was wrong, even if Yogi wasn't open about it. "And if you want my opinion. I think you look… C-cute." he continued much more quietly.

"Y-you think I'm c-cute?" She repeated what he said slowly. Taking a step back, to turn her face away. "Th-thanks, I guess." It was hard for him to give a compliment to this girl, seemed that she took compliments about as well as he gave them.

"Anyway, let's get back with the others." He said, but when he turned around, she gave him a bop on the head.

"Wait! What about that so-called plan you said you had? That's the only reason I even went with you on that trip." He had completely forgotten about that. Not that he would tell her that. Instead, it was time to think fast.

"Right, well you see…" He paused, trying to stall for time.

"What? Don't tell me you don't actually have anything?"

"Hang on… Right, so I saw this in an anime once." That was literally the first thing that popped into his mind. Hopefully it would work.

"Are we really going to do something silly that you saw on TV once?" She was not impressed. He was just going to have to sell this as best he could.

"I think it'll work, just trust me and follow my lead." She followed him back to the others begrudgingly.

"Hey guys, now that you're here. We can finally get this beach trip started." Yogi greeted them again once they got back. Now was the time for Arata to spring into action.

"Hang on. Before we get started." He said. "How about we play a little game while we're there?"

"A game?" Akaki uneasily asked. "What do you have in mind?"

"Oh just a little bet is all." He explained to them how it was going to work. Whoever gave Yogi the best time, would get the chance to do whatever they wanted with him. The boy in question was going to be the judge.

"That sounds fun, but why me?" Yogi asked.

"Oh, um, I just picked you randomly."

"All right then." He really would buy any excuse, wouldn't he?

"Plus, I'm sure no one else will disagree with that choice, right?" The rest of them gave their approval. This was going well so far, the only problem with this plan would be the fact that it didn't exactly work out when he saw it in fiction. Hopefully real life wasn't going to imitate art here.

They got down to the beach. It was a rather peaceful day, the crowd wasn't too big, though there was still a fair amount of beach goers. Misao wasted no time in getting things started.

"Say, Yogi." She asked. "You know how Misei's skin gets in the sun. I think she could use some sunscreen."

"My skin's not that bad…" Misei quietly protested. Knowing what was about to come.

"You're right." He agreed with her. "Hey Misei, do you want me to get sunscreen on your back?" Arata saw how she was taking advantage of his good-nature. There were very few times he saw that boy actually reject someone asking for help. In some cases, said person didn't even ask for it.

"O-okay…" She shyly accepted. On the inside, she was really happy to have him with her at the start.

"Actually Shitara, do you need some sunscreen?" Arata was going to keep an eye on this. He had no plans on ruining any fun, that would be underhanded. Instead , this was just to see what he had to do to give Erina the win at the end of this.

"Uh, sure?" She allowed it. Since he had made sure to ask this in front of the others, his plan of giving her minimal chance to reject worked. However, she had the advantage of choosing where to do it. Therefore, she picked a place where they could see, but not hear the other two.

Despite using this as his plan, Arata was nervous about basically touching this girl. Coupled with trying to keep an eyes on the others, he was feeling the pressure on the inside.

"What's wrong, feeling like you bit off more than you could chew?" She taunted him. Misao was used to this game for a while now, hence her confidence that Misei was going to come out on top.

"No, I'm fine." He responded. Getting to work, getting sunscreen on her.

"So what makes you try so hard?" She asked him. "After all, is your reputation really all that worth it? There's not much in the first place." From her point-of-view, he clearly didn't have the devotion that she felt about her friend. Yet, his effort was something else entirely.

"Listen, my secret." He ignored her small insult. "I'd rather keep it that way. It would get in the way of what I want in life."

"And that being?"

"To be left alone, I thought that was pretty clear." If people knew, then the endless bullying was going to be hell for him. He did not want his high school life to consist of that.

"Then what will happen when this is all over?" They both knew that Yogi was eventually going to choose a girl, at least that was the plan. Otherwise, their high school lives will have felt like a waste. "I mean this, regardless of outcome."

"My plan is that I succeed, and Erina gets with him." He knew that the alternative meant the end for him. "I guess after that happens, I'll just go away from you guys."

"You really think it'll be that easy? Just going back to your old life?"

"I've done it before, it's not like rejecting Yogi's suggestions were that hard for me before." He explained. Of course, he knew that the whole Yuriko situation would be a bit harder. Perhaps he could just swallow that and accept it as part of the babysitting job.

"I think that's a shame." She said. "Being alone isn't fun…"

"Huh? Why do you say that?" He was surprised to see her sad about that. It was him they were talking about. She shouldn't care what happens with him, right?

"If that's the way you want to walk through life, then fine." She concluded her thoughts.

The way she said it, it reminded him of back on that hill he was climbing. When Hine told him to pay attention to the scenery, while he was pulling on the cart. Thinking about it now, made him a little upset that they made him do all that.

Except, he felt like she was trying to tell him something about that. If only she was a bit more direct, then at least he wouldn't have to do all this hard work.

Unless that's what she meant… After all, this scheme, all he was doing was pulling the others along this path. Yet just like how he didn't stop to appreciate the scenery, he was moving along this life. Not caring about the people around him, was that what she was trying to say to him?

He sighed, Wishing she would be less cryptic about the things she told him sometimes.

Spying over to the other two, Arata saw that Yogi had finished applying sunscreen to Misei. From the looks of it, he could tell that she was offering the same thing. However, the boy appeared uncomfortable with that. This was time to spring into action.

"Hey Yogi." He walked over to them. "You need someone to help with sunscreen?" He offered.

"I already asked." Misei looked at him in irritation.

"I just figured that since the two of us already have it in our hands, that we could just do it with each other?" He was hopeful that would be enough to convince him.

"Good point, yeah we can do that." Arata gave a smug smile to her, which she returned with a pout.

Once that was taken care of, Akaki came up to them. He asked Yogi if he wanted to join him and Akiba in a game of beach volleyball. Luckily for Arata, he didn't need to try and join in. Yogi did all that work for him.

"Say… Where's Erina?" Arata asked. He felt it was a bit odd that he hadn't seen her in a while. Given her personality, she should be more involved in this.

"Oh, I think that Erina is getting some surfing lessons right now." Akiba answered. She pointed over to a hut, with a row of surfboards lined up. There, he could see her getting some practice with someone.

"Oh, that's sounds fun." He realized that she was planning on taking Yogi surfing. That was a pretty good idea, he thought. Something like that would probably blow the water out of everything else. No pun intended.

"So how are the teams going to be set up?" Yogi asked.

"Oh." Arata made sure to speak up first. "Um, how about we're on the same team? After all, they were here first. So they should be a team."

Yet, as he said that. His heart, it felt something. Guilt? This reminded him of what Hine told him. The girl that stood across from him, she hated this. After all, they all knew they were rivals in some sense. Even if it wasn't him that was in love with Yogi.

What was the saying again? All's fair in love and war, that's right. If that's the case, then he was just going to have to live with this feeling. Not that the idea gave him any comfort.

"I guess you're right." Yogi agreed with him. "Let's get started then."

It was a simple game. Except for the fact that Arata had no experience with this. For starters, he had never seen that anime about volleyball, or any sports for that matter. Sports anime never appealed to him. More importantly, even if he did watch those shows. There was a difference between seeing, and actually doing it.

They were losing, pretty badly at that. Of course, the teams were a bit unbalanced. Given that Akaki was a highly talented athlete. Not that this fact gave Arata much comfort.

"Damn…" He spoke dejectedly as he missed another dig at the ball. "Sorry Yogi. I guess I'm not really good at this." He handed him the ball, now that it was their turn to serve.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Yogi tried to assure him "Here, just listen to me…" Yogi explained the plan. He was sure they'd return it normally. Giving them the chance to spike. He told him exactly where he was going to set it. From there, Arata just had to spike it as hard as he could.

"Are you sure I can do that?" He wasn't confident in his ability. "I think you should be the one attacking."

"No, I know you can do it. Just focus on hitting it as hard as you can. Don't worry about where you aim it." This boy had a lot of faith in him. Some feeling of determination was coming to him.

"All right, let's do it." They got into position. As expected, it was a safe return after Yogi's serve. The set up came exactly as planned, now was the time to act. Arata leaped up, winding up his arm as far as he could.

He slammed on the ball hard, no thoughts at all were given to technique. It flew over the net, hitting the ground with enough force to knock up the sand. A point for his team.

"You did it!" Yogi cheered for him. It felt good doing that, his heart was beating out of his chest from the excitement.

"Y-yeah, you're right. I did!" They were still losing, but getting his first point was a rush.

"See, I knew you could do it." Yogi put his arm over him. Messing up Arata's hair with his free hand. He felt like there was nothing that could stop him. Akiba balled up her hand tightly in a fist from seeing this.

The next turn, Akaki served it to them. A normal return, they prepared waiting for the spike. He was ready for it, the boy set it up. Then Akiba jumped up for the spike.

Arata stood firm, believing he could handle it. However, she hit the ball with a force much greater than his. Moving much faster, there was no time to react. The volleyball collided with his face, blasting him back out of the field.

"Arata?!" Yogi rushed up to his fallen friend. "Are you all right?"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Akiba said as she ran to him. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm." He struggled with his words. His head still spinning. "I'll be fine…"