Something I'd come to learn in the meagre years I'd been watching anime for is that sports in animes were way more complicated in real life than what they made them seem.

"Yay!" Saki cheered, holding out her hands for a high five from Tatsuya and Wannabe.

"I can't believe we lost!" Hiro groaned. "And to Kazuya's brother scoring the last point too!"

Hinata forced a laugh, trying to stay as positive as he always was. "It's fine. It was just by a few points."

"No, d-don't say it," I cried, on my hands and knees. "You're lying! Please tell me I'm hearing things! There's no way I'm wasting my allowance on other people!"

Hinata and Hiro's eyes darted my way. Hinata breathed out, crouching down in front of me.

"Hoshino, it's okay," he said. "You lose sometimes."

"Lose?" I repeated with a whimper. "How even... Honestly I blanked out after that spike I made."

Hinata made a face. "The one where you missed the ball and tripped?"

"No, the good one."

"You slipped right after the good one and fell on your face," Hinata reminded me.

I held up a finger. "Yes that. After my celebration. I blanked out after that." I frowned. "Wait, then you and Hiro made us lose?"

"Hey don't say that after you did absolutely nothing," Hiro grumbled.

I opened my mouth to retort but closed it. They were right... "Ugh, this is like the time in gym class when I tried imitating the Generation of Miracles and sprained my ankle," I grumbled.

Saki snapping her fingers in my face woke me up from my depressive recollection.

"Hurry and get our drinks!" she ordered with a wide grin. I glowered in her direction.

In defeat, I rose to my feet. The smile coming from Tatsuya's in that moment was sly — something I expected. I then hissed at the look-alike beside him.

Wannabe flinched and sweatdropped. "H-Hoshino...?"

I clicked my tongue.

I was even doing errands for this Wannabe. Great.

——————————————————

After arriving at the vending machine, the three of us contributed all the money we had, which wasn't much. Hinata started pushing buttons on the machine, getting the drinks they asked for. Wannabe and Tatsuya were a little confused when we asked what they wanted so we improvised. Nothing less to expect from boys from a top-class family.

Not before long, we gathered up our drinks and set out back to the beach. While we were walking, I wanted my drink so I reached out my hand past Hiro to pull out my drink from the bag Hinata held. The three of us had no choice but to stop as I fiddled with the bag, and Hiro snapped before long.

"Hey, at least wait until we get there!"

I retreated my hand as I clasped my drink. Opening the can, I scoffed, "Don't be such a baby. Why does it even matter if I take it now or not anyways?"

"'Cause you didn't just 'take it'," he responded, using his fingers for emphasis. "You wasted so much time making us stop when you could've asked Hinata to pass it to you instead."

"I could've," I agreed. "But I didn't. Look, I already got my drink this way so stop complaining."

Hiro twitched. "I'm not complaining, I'm just saying—"

"Ugh, if you're going to be so grumpy about it, drink yours, okay?"

"I'm not grumpy!" he yelled.

I held up my arms in defence. "Whoa, down boy."

By the glower he wore, Hiro didn't find what I said amusing in the least.

"You do realize you're the one wasting even more time right now arguing about something so stupid," I pointed out for him. "Does that make any sense to you 'cause it doesn't to me, Hi-chan."

Hiro was flustered at first, trying to fumble for the right words. Then, something clicked and he scowled at me. "You did not just call me Hi-chan."

"But I did," I chirped. A smirk grew on my face. "Hi-chan."

Hiro looked about ready to pounce at me if it wasn't for Hinata taking the initiative to calm us down.

"Stop fighting you two. Let's just hand over the drinks to them alright?"

We both sighed in defeat, knowing how much of a peacemaker Hinata was, and continued walking towards the area on the beach we put our stuff down at. Once we came to a stop, I gulped down the remaining of my drink, hand to my hip like the way anime characters did.

"Yay! Drinks!" Saki cheered as she ran up to us, the rest following behind.

Everyone took their drink of choice and decided to go out and play again after they finished them. Considering I didn't want anything to do with them anymore and wanted to sit out, I took Yuji's drink to him. He was sitting far off in the beach with a book in hand and I trudged through the sand before finally arriving.

"Here."

Yuji glanced up at me, startled, and he reluctantly took the can I held out for him. "Oh, thanks," he said.

I flopped down onto the blanket beside him, watching as the rest of them hanged around in the water.

"Aren't you going to continue playing with them?" Yuji asked out of nowhere.

I made a face at the suggestion. "No, why would I ever want to do that? It's not like I was having fun."

"You're still saying that?" he said with a chuckle. "And I thought that you looked like you were enjoying yourself when you played beach volleyball."

I spat, "Please. I wasn't enjoying myself at all."

"You sure?" he prodded.

"Positive," I responded. "You've got to be kidding me. If anything, all you guys have been doing is getting me annoyed. You even brought me here against my will. And I even had to waste my precious allowance on these drinks since my siblings seriously took the time to find my wallet when they handed me to you."

"Now, now, don't be so sour." Yuji grinned. "Just because you lost—"

"Shut it."

"Anyways," Yuji started over with a cough, "I know you say that but I think they consider yourselves close and that's why they brought you here."

"Let them think what they want. I have never told them anything of the such. Besides, I could've been watching anime right about now you know. Playing volleyball reminded me of the Haikyuu episodes that I still have to watch."

He only chuckled at my words that I didn't find comical at all.

I frowned. "How about you? Instead of telling me to hang out with your friends, why don't you?"

Yuji paused at the question, briefly staring as they frolicked in the water. "Uh... I don't like the ocean," he hesitantly replied.

His words piqued my interests. The corners of my lips quirked upwards. "Don't like? It sounds to me like you're scared."

Yuji avoided eye-contact, a blush blossoming across his cheeks. "I'm not scared. It's just water, right?"

I blinked, taking this in. Wait... was I actually right? Well, this would be useful someday...

Cue the devilish smile.

"So... I'm guessing you also don't swim freestyle?" I said before a silence could settle in.

"I don't swim in general," he responded.

I shook my head at him to which he sent a puzzled look back.

"Hey! Come and join us!" Saki called out to us, disrupting our conversation.

Tatsuya waved his hands, hollering, "Yeah, join us, Miyu-neesama!"

Both looked sweet and innocent but as Saki's was meant in a friendly way, Tatsuya's calling was more like he wanted to drag me down to the pits of hell with him.

Scary.

"They're calling for you," Yuji coughed, flipping to the next page of his comic book. Yes, he had brought with him a comic book. But it wasn't a manga (sigh).

"No way, you're coming too," I said.

He gave me a deadpanned stare. "No I'm not."

"Why? Scared you'll fall into the water?"

"No!"

"Oh, c'mon," I prodded, "You didn't even eat a Devil Fruit so there's no reason why you can't swim. Luffy isn't even scared."

Yuji looked at me weird.

Seeing it, I sighed, "One Piece reference."

Seriously? He didn't get it? Jeez, One Piece was such an amazing masterpiece too...

I shook my head as Yuji cleared his throat, "I'm not afraid of water okay? I simply do not want to swim with them."

"Then don't swim," I said. I rose to my feet. "Just step into the water and I'll believe you."

Swallowing hard, Yuji considered it. After a while, he reluctantly heaved, dropping his book and standing up. "Fine," he relented. A sarcastic smile grew on his face. "I'll show you just how scared I am then."

Snorting, I gestured for him to proceed forward. With a deep breath, Yuji led the way. The rest of the club members had gone back to doing whatever they were doing in the water so when we reached the shore, only I was aware of Yuji's presence.

I stepped in first and when I didn't hear any splashes to follow, I glanced back. Yuji still stood there, and he honestly appeared so uncomfortable.

I smirked at him. "What's wrong, Mr I'm-Not-Afraid-Of-Water? Aren't you going to come in?"

"Well... that's..." he began as he stared long and hard at the ocean.

"See, you are scared." I rolled my eyes at the fact and continued to head deeper into the water. Without warning, I heard a splash behind me and my eyes widened.

He was robotically walking into the water, trembling with a horrified expression on his face. He immediately came to a halt as soon as he passed the shallow end and shut his eyes tight. "O-okay no! I-I can't do it! I'm going to drown! I'm gonna die! Why did I do this?"

"Yuji... you could step out now. I get it..." Guilt was gnawing at me at the pit of my stomach.

He flailed for help. Clenching my teeth, I swam towards him, grabbed his arm and attempted to drag him towards the shore. He resisted, yelling that he was being taken away by sharks (his eyes were closed). Sick of it, I pushed him forward. He fell backwards onto the sand, and I fell on top of him. I rose up quickly and he continued mumbling incoherent stuff under his breath. His eyes closed as his body went limp.

My eyes grew wide and my heart stopped. "Yuji!"