Her True Smile

"It's still hot when I stand still."

"It is the middle of summer."

Minato got Airi back into her normal state and lined up for the water slide, which was the main attraction of the facility and had quite a few people lined up.

Moreover, it was the peak of summer, so they were sweating even if they stood still.

Although they weren't complaining about their decision for the ride, they were sick of the sunshine.

"Are you okay? Be careful of heat stroke."

"I know. Please be careful too, Minato-san."

"Of course… I was just wondering, is Airi's skin okay?"

Airi's skin was as white as snow, and she seemed to have no problem with tans.

Although he hadn't heard anything about tans or UV rays being bad, he was concerned, so he asked.

Hearing Minato's words, Airi smiled softly as if to tell him not to worry.

"My skin? I'm wearing UV protection, so I'm fine. I applied sunscreen in the changing room."

He thought that normally someone would apply sunscreen onto one's back, but he wondered if that was not the case.

Airi was wearing a one-piece type swimsuit, so it was true to say that the back side wasn't that necessary, but he was curious.

It wasn't that Minato didn't like tanned skin, but he thought it would be a shame to burn her blemish-free skin.

"Then that's fine. But how did you manage to apply it all by yourself?"

"I asked Shiori-san to paint the areas on my back that I couldn't reach."

"Airi's skin was so smooth and supple!"

"Hah~~"

Airi let out a sigh, raising her eyebrows in annoyance as she probably remembered the time she had been applied sunscreen in the changing room.

To be honest, Minato was surprised that she would be so blunt with someone other than him, but it was probably a sign that she had gotten to know Momose and was no longer so reserved.

However, Airi's sigh bothered him, so he stared at Momose.

"Momose, what did you do?"

"Eh? You want to hear it that badly?"

"Nope. You didn't do anything Airi wouldn't like, did you?"

"…I didn't. Right, Airi?"

"Wait, there was a little pause before you answered. Airi, is that true?"

"I told you to stop…"

Airi said with vacant eyes, so maybe she was forced into something after all.

When Minato looked at Momose with suspicion, she shook her head with an urgent look on her face.

"Wa-Wait. It was just too comfortable to touch, and I got carried away. I didn't have any bad intentions, I swear!"

"You… Airi, are you okay?"

"Well, it's not that I hated it, and I managed to be okay."

"That's good then."

"There's no one else who can apply sunscreen on her, so I will continue to apply it. Don't worry, next time, I won't do what I did today!"

"Honestly, I'd rather not go through that again…"

Airi's shoulders slumped and she became depressed as she imagined what would happen.

Minato didn't think she would take this kind of action if she really didn't want to, so she was probably just having trouble with excessive skinship.

Nevertheless, although Momose said everything would be fine, Airi's attitude made it clear that she didn't trust her very much.

Kazuma, who seemed to have lost his patience with Momose's confident comments, complained.

"Shiori, I know you know this, but just because you're both women doesn't mean you can do certain things, okay?"

"What, even Kazuma? If you're all going to say so much, why don't you just do it yourself next time?"

"Who else but Momose can do it? Just as long as you don't do anything unnecessary."

Although Minato and Kazuma complained, no one but Momose could apply sunscreen to Airi.

Also, Minato would rather do it than have Kazuma apply it on the off chance. It wasn't that he wanted to touch Airi's skin, but if anyone other than Momose was going to apply the sunscreen to her, it would have to be Minato.

However, he couldn't say or do that, so he warned Momose, who showed him a grin for a moment, then puffed out her cheeks as if she was sulking.

"Hmph, I don't know anymore. Just have Minato-kun apply it then."

"Minato-san!?"

Airi's cheeks were dyed red and she shouted in an indifferent voice.

Judging from the slight look on Momose's face, it was possible that she had done this on purpose.

However, he couldn't go along with Momose's plan.

Although Minato had thought earlier that he would do it rather than have Kazuma do it, now that he had cooled down, he realized that a man should not touch her skin.

"Momose, there's no way I can touch Airi. So, stop acting so weird–"

"Minato-san, you really don't want to touch me that bad, do you?"

Suddenly, Airi released a gloomy voice. The tone of her voice was unexpected from her expression until a moment ago.

When he looked at Airi, he saw that her eyes were cloudy and dull.

"…Why am I being blamed for this?"

"Because Minato-san doesn't seem to want to touch me."

"No, it's not that I don't want to touch you, but normally, I shouldn't. It's applying sunscreen, it's not comparable to patting your head, okay?"

"I know. But it's okay if it's Minato-san, you know?"

Airi looked up at Minato with a blush on her cheeks.

No matter how much she trusted him, Minato was still a member of the opposite sex, so he should draw a firm line.

As a matter of fact, Minato wasn't sure he could keep a composed mind if he were to do it, so he needed to stop himself.

"Airi, I'm a man."

"I know that. Of course you are."

"You don't want to be touched by a man, do you?"

"I'd rather die than be touched."

"Then–"

"But Minato-san is an exception. Therefore, please take care of me next time."

"..."

He couldn't argue with Airi, who was giggling and smiling seductively with her cheeks tinted.

"Hey Shiori, why are you adding fuel to the fire?"

"…Sorry, I didn't think it would burn up to this level."

Just as Airi was in a strangely good mood, it was Minato and the others' turn.

"Okay, next. If there are two of you, please choose who goes in front and who goes in the back."

The attendant asked since the water slide in this facility could be enjoyed by two people.

Since it was Airi's first time, she thought it would be better to be with someone else for the occasion, so she decided to go as two, but instead of Momose, Minato was the one with her.

"Hey Airi, is this really okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright, so which one do you want?"

"…I'd like the front, is that okay?"

"You've got a lot of nerve being in front for your first time. Well alright then, go ahead and sit down."

"Yes."

Then Airi finished her preparations and it was Minato's turn, but to be honest, he was troubled.

It was true that the two of them could slide together, and they had rented special floats for that purpose.

It wasn't too close to her, so it would be okay for sliding, but he might touch her skin at some point.

And to begin with, from the way Airi was sitting, her head would end up touching Minato's thighs.

When Minato froze and was unable to move, she raised an eyebrow.

"Minato-san, we're running out of time, so please hurry."

"…Don't get angry if we touch a little, okay?"

"I won't do that."

"Then excuse me."

He sat behind Airi, relieved that she had given him permission.

Minato's thighs were next to Airi's head, however, she didn't seem to mind.

After finishing their preparations, the attendant pushed Minato and Airi out.

"Well then, enjoy."

This water slide was the main attraction, so it was quite the distance.

The speed was quite fast and it was quite scary at first, but Airi didn't scream. And as they slid down, Minato called out to her.

"Are you not scared?"

"No, it's fun. It's pretty fast, isn't it?"

"That's good to hear. I was afraid you'd scream at the speed we're going."

"If that's more to Minato-san's liking, shall I scream?"

"No, as long as Airi enjoys it, that's all that matters."

" Fufu . thank you very much."

Although he couldn't see Airi's expression, her voice was lively.

Minato was enjoying himself too, but his attention was on Airi's head.

He had never been in a situation like this before, much less now in a swimsuit.

As they sped through the twisting turns, Airi's head often touched his inner thighs, which made him feel ticklish and mushy.

She was genuinely enjoying herself, so he tried his best not to think about anything else and desperately distracted himself from Airi's body until the end.

Then, they plunged into the pool with such force that their vision was filled with water.

When he emerged from the surface of the water, Airi did the same and gave him a beautiful but watery smile.

"Minato-san. It's really, really fun!"

Her innocent and childish smile, which he couldn't believe was that of an ice doll, must be her true smile.

Seeing such a smile, he realized once again how much he loved her.