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After taking the pictures, Mahiru calmly stepped away again as though nothing had happened and continued photographing the scenery in the distance.
But anyone paying close attention would notice the faint blush that had spread to the tips of the angel's ears.
"We got several really nice photos." After a while, Mahiru put away her phone and looked at Blake expectantly. "Mr. Blake, shall we go down to the beach now?"
"Sure." Blake got back onto his bicycle. "Let's head out."
"..."
After coasting downhill for a while, the two of them soon arrived at a small seaside shop.
"That over there is the seawall." Blake pointed toward the long embankment in the distance. "Its main purpose is to protect against tsunamis. Never actually seen one myself, though. Mostly it's just full of people fishing every day."
Quite a few figures could be seen standing along the seawall with fishing rods in hand, most of them middle-aged men.
"We can leave the bikes outside the shop." Blake parked his bicycle and looked toward Mahiru. "It's pretty hot out. Want to grab a drink first?"
"Okay."
Mahiru nodded lightly and carefully parked her own bike.
The two walked into the shop together.
Blake turned to the angelic girl beside him. "Have you ever had ramune before?"
"No."
"Then you've gotta try it. It's basically a childhood memory for half the country, the king of summer drinks."
Naturally, the ramune he meant was the normal soda kind. Please do not go looking up Girl's Ramune out of curiosity.
"The most popular drink?" A trace of curiosity appeared on Mahiru's pretty face. "Then I'll have one too."
Blake casually bought two drinks and handed one of the ramune bottles to her.
"Here, give it a try."
Mahiru accepted the glass bottle with both hands and took a curious sip. The icy lemon flavor immediately made her caramel-colored eyes brighten.
"It tastes really good."
"Want to rent a straw hat too?" Blake pointed toward the nearby pedestrians. "The sun's brutal by the shore, and there's no shade. A lot of people wear straw hats here."
"Huh? You can rent straw hats?"
"Of course."
The seaside shop rented out pretty much everything imaginable: swim rings, small boats, fishing rods, bait, and more. That was why Blake had shown up empty-handed despite planning to fish.
Since this was Mahiru's first time coming to the beach, she obediently followed his lead.
"Then I'll wear one too."
"One sec."
Blake stepped back into the shop and quickly returned with two straw hats. He put one on himself, then casually placed the other onto Mahiru's head before instinctively patting her lightly.
"Mmph..."
Mahiru's cheeks flushed pink as she hurriedly grabbed the brim of the hat.
"Sorry." Blake quickly apologized. "Sagiri's been asking for head pats so often lately that I just did it without thinking."
"It's fine." Mahiru turned her face aside, then curiously looked toward a group of girls nearby. "What are they doing?"
"Probably collecting shells," Blake replied casually. "There are lots of pretty shells and sea snails around here. Girls and kids like taking them home as decorations..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly noticed an especially eager gaze fixed on him.
Looking down, he saw Mahiru holding onto the brim of her straw hat as she looked up at him, her caramel eyes sparkling brightly.
"I want to walk along the beach!"
Blake: "..."
Walking along the beach was just an excuse. You clearly wanted to collect shells.
"Alright, let's go." Naturally, Blake had no intention of refusing. He finished off the rest of his ramune in one gulp. "We'll take a stroll first. If we're lucky, maybe we'll even find an octopus girl sealed inside a bottle."
Mahiru hesitated slightly. "But Mr. Blake wanted to fish..."
"No rush. We've got the whole afternoon."
"..."
The two left the shop and headed toward the shore together. Before long, they stepped onto the soft sand.
"Mmm..."
After only a few steps, Mahiru's delicate brows furrowed.
"Sand got into your shoes?" Blake skillfully removed his sneakers. "The sand's too soft here. Shoes just fill up with sand. Take yours off too. I'll leave them over by those rocks."
Mahiru hesitated for two seconds before shyly removing her black leather shoes.
Today she was wearing black thigh-high stockings, her slender legs wrapped tightly in soft fabric. They were straight as chopsticks yet still graceful and feminine. In short, they looked ridiculously good.
Blake held out his right hand. "I'll carry your shoes."
"I-I can carry them myself..."
Mahiru quickly hid the shoes behind her back and shook her head shyly.
The weather was hot today, and after riding bikes for so long, even if her shoes didn't smell, they were definitely a little damp with sweat. There was no way she wanted Blake noticing that.
"Alright, then carry them yourself."
Blake led her to the shore and placed both pairs of shoes on a flat rock.
"You could take the stockings off too." His gaze drifted downward toward her slender legs wrapped in black fabric.
Mahiru's face immediately heated up. "D-Do I have to?"
Taking off her stockings in front of him just felt weirdly embarrassing.
"It's more comfortable without them, but it's your choice." Blake didn't push the issue. "Come on, let's go collect shells."
Mahiru's eyes wandered nervously as she stammered, "I-it's not like I wanted to collect shells or anything..."
Stop denying it already. It's written all over your face.
Crash.
White waves rolled across the beach, quickly washing over their feet.
"So cool..."
The sensation of seawater soaking her feet was completely new to her. Mahiru watched the retreating tide, and suddenly her eyes lit up.
"A colorful shell!"
Holding down her skirt with one hand and her straw hat with the other, she quickly bent down and picked up a brightly colored shell.
"Technically that's a sea snail," Blake corrected from beside her. "If you talk into it, you can hear your own voice echo back."
"Huh?"
Mahiru blinked, then lifted the tiny shell to her lips.
"Hello?"
...Wait, you actually believed that?
She looked mature on the surface, but in some ways she was unexpectedly childish.
"I don't hear any echo..."
Noticing the subtle amusement on Blake's face, Mahiru instantly realized she'd been tricked. Her cheeks puffed up in protest.
Honestly, once she dropped the perfect angel mask, Mahiru became even more real and adorable.
"You're so mean, Mr. Blake."
"Maybe your technique was wrong?"
"I'm not falling for that again!"
"..."
The two continued wandering along the shore. Before long, Mahiru had collected quite a few colorful shells and sea snails, while Blake himself only picked up a single nice-looking shell to bring home as a souvenir for Sagiri.
"Ah..."
A soft troubled sound suddenly reached his ears.
"What's wrong?"
Blake turned toward her.
"Something stabbed my foot just now..." Mahiru bit lightly on her lower lip, her brows tightly furrowed. "The bottom of my foot really hurts."
"....."