NOVEL WEB Arc 2, Ch.11: Some peace, thank god
At least, with us having a fixed time for discussing that topic, we both obviously relaxed.
Do I have to tell you that I was pretty sure he knew why I invited him?
[Broach the topic of the cinema.]
You and your goddamn prompts. Still not happy?
Can’t you let us drink our cocktails in peace? Haven't I done enough for today? I'm actually really exhausted already!
My face scrunched a bit, unhappy, and Mizuki reacted immediately.
“Something wrong?”, he asked, well aware that the previous topic was finished and wouldn’t be playing into this situation anymore. It was nice that he noticed my face turning weird, but I think I would have liked it better hadn't he asked.
I laughed dryly.
“I was just… Well… Thinking that I’m surprised that Akihito came along to this.”
Hmmmyeah like that fit my face. That’s my problem, sure.
In a very welcomed decision, Mizuki played along and twirled his drink.
“He’s getting along with Tarou.”
Somehow. I don’t know how but yeah, somehow.
“...I think he came along because of you”, I mumbled, not very loudly. Let coincidence decide whether he hears me or not.
He didn't, but instead looked out to the water.
Then he said something I really didn't want to hear:
"He's not a bad person. Just exhausting."
...Scuse me, I would have preferred you staying at the level of 'we are not even friends' with him.
I controlled my face as best as possible and covered it up with my glass.
"He's quite close with you... Even before the project. I thought you said you weren't that well acquainted?"
I was pouting, yes. And it was probably audible, but he didn't seem to notice, so, good for me.
"Oh, he won't do that anymore", he simply said, still focused on other people coming out of the slide. I tilted my head at the weird way he phrased that, but didn't dare to directly ask about the cinema.
Either way, it sounded like he was rather certain that Prez wasn't going to get all touchy-feely anymore, so I should leave that statement hanging.
In truth, it really did seem like Prez had pulled back a bit? I'm biased cause I don't like him approaching Mizuki anyway, but thinking about it, it felt like that.
I fell into my thoughts, accompanying Mizuki in watching people get thrown out of the slide with happy squeals, then hurriedly climb out of the water and run up the stairs.
For the whole cocktails, we just sat in silence and enjoyed the tropical atmosphere of the corner.
Afterwards, we mutely began our climb back up the stairs to try other slides. Those were the most annoying, honestly.
We weren’t together the whole time. We went on solo rides or group-slides with the others and even went on the one that allowed 6 people at once in their ring. It was creepy because the ring kept on spinning, so sometimes you were riding backwards, but it’s fun enough when everyone is screaming.
One slide that constantly flashed in different lights and motives made me feel sick so I sat out for a few minutes before Kaoru suggested I go down the highspeed slide.
I did.
That was the end of me going on slides for that day.
Exhausted, we all wanted to gather for a small lunch.
Tarou had found Kaoru and dragged him out of the water, and the two had found me. Yuji had been standing with Mizuki, debating to go on another slide, but then come to us.
We needed to search for Prez a bit, since he had parted from the group towards the end to try some of the slides none of us were interested in.
I saw him come out of one, so I waved at him when he turned into my direction.
He jerked to a halt.
"Prez, we wanna go eat something, are you coming along?"
I shouted as I walked towards him and he suddenly broke out into a smile again, nodding.
"I'm hungry as well."
Honestly, the food was overly expensive, but we didn't come to the pool to watch our money so we just dug in while ignoring the prices, chewing on french fries and other snacks.
“I wanna try the pool with the huge waves later. It looks fun as heck.”
“That’s outdoor, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t look that cold, right? We don't need to stay out for long.”
Lively chatter accompanied us while eating. I had a feeling Prez was blending in well, though a good part of his attention still lay on an uninterested Mizuki.
“We should take a break right after eating or we’ll get cramps”, he suggested orderly, turning to all of us again. “How about resting for a bit?”
“Maybe in the whirlpools?”, Yuji said, pointing behind him where the design had placed the hot tubs, bubbling loudly.
A good choice, because the massage was very suitable for resting after a meal, it was comfortable, and I was cold.
“Sure”, I hurriedly answered, nodding. I didn’t mind the thought of relaxing for a few minutes, especially not if a free massage was added in. I guess it was kinda boring, but hey, we had been running up the stairs and down the slides for hours!
We all glanced around to make sure everyone had truly finished eating before we stood up, turning to the landscape of small tubs.
Kaoru was skipping forward as usual, like a lively kid.
“How late is it, anyway?”, Tarou asked, searching for the large clock. “Hmm, 2pm already. When do we wanna leave?”
“With showering, changing clothes and leaving, I wouldn’t go later than 4. We still have over an hour train ride in front of us.”
Some input here: Yeah, coming home at maybe 6pm isn’t late, but we were mostly a group of lazy gamers. What we liked was being home over the evening so that we could raid dungeons together, not be outside and do… exhausting stuff, as fun as it was.
“No complaints. I think I’ll have had enough of water by then”, Prez commented, pretty much summing up the general opinion.
Minus Kaoru, because he’d move into the pool if he could. He was the first to walk towards one of the completely empty whirlpools, hurrying in.
“Aaah, this is heaven”, he was purring inside the whirlpool, sinking deep into the hot water. I joined in with a very satisfied sigh.
The bubbles were massaging my untrained, strained muscles and the temperature relaxed any strain. With the six of us getting in, this whirlpool was full already, so we didn’t even have to share it.
“I wanna have a jacuzzi”, Tarou mumbled under his breath.
“Count me in”, Kaoru added wistfully.
“Let’s share the cost”, Yuji finished and I chuckled.
“We can think about that once we’re out of here alive, cause right now I think we are in lethal danger of drowning because we all fell asleep…”
“That’s a legit worry. Taizou, don’t nod off”, the president gently called, poking a Mizuki with closed eyes into the arm and then smiling when he groaned.
Something had definitely changed between them, but not necessarily to my disadvantage..?
We dragged ourselves out of the whirpool a few minutes later and spent another while just playing around before we tiredly entered the - thankfully separate - shower cabins and changed back into our clothes, wobbling our way towards the train station.
The worst part about going to the pool is and will always be the way back home.
