"Ahh... At least he's breathing," Saki sighed of relief as Yuji lay on the sand and under the umbrella we had brought with us.

"Thank goodness," Hinata breathed.

"Jeez... Yuji shouldn't do something that could endanger his life." Wannabe pouted.

Tatsuya peered over to him. "Is Yuji-nii really alright?"

"What the heck, Yuji knows he can't swim and yet he still went into the water. I always knew he was an idiot," Hiro scoffed with a burst of anger.

As he continued to grumble things under his breath, I sat there, watching the guy.

"Did something happen, Mi-chan? You were with him, right?" Saki asked me and I stared up at them in surprise.

"Uh..."

"You two must've been fighting. I know it," Hiro accused.

I looked away, clicking my tongue. "I simply said he couldn't swim and he disagreed. Then he went into the water to prove it... Seriously, he is an idiot. If he was going to pass out from this, he shouldn't have lied from the start."

"Everyone has things they're afraid of. He couldn't help but hide it," Wannabe spoke up.

I gave him a look, but said nothing. At that moment, Yuji started to twitch and he groggily opened his eyelids.

"Yuji, you're finally awake!" Saki cried happily as she pulled his body upright.

"Huh? What happened...?" he questioned, glancing around.

"You failed at swimming, Mr. I'm-Not-Afraid-Of-Water," I puffed. Yuji met my gaze.

"Yuji! Never do that again!" Wannabe sobbed animatedly, latching onto him.

"Oh, uh... Sorry, I didn't mean to trouble you all."

"It's alright. At least you're fine," Hinata reassured him.

"So what if he is?" Hiro frowned. "If he tried to go any further, he would've drowned for sure."

Yuji ducked his head. "Yeah... Sorry."

Saki discreetly glanced at me and smiled mischievously as an idea dawned on her. "Okay! We all will go get Yuji some water!" she announced, grabbing Hinata, Hiro, and Wannabe's arms.

"Why? Go yourself," Hiro demanded.

She gave them a pressuring look.

"Let's all go get some water for Yuji alright? Tatsuya can come too!" She grinned and pulled them off at that, Tatsuya sauntering behind.

I followed the female with my eyes, slightly miffed. What did she think she could accomplish by doing this?

I peeked at Yuji and he looked just as dumbfounded as I was.

"I told you you couldn't swim. Why didn't you just agree if it was true?" I snapped and he stared at me, taken aback. Then, he smiled.

"It's embarrassing; not being able to swim; being afraid of the ocean. And I knew that you'd use it against me if you knew."

I smiled at his reasoning. "Was it that obvious? How else would it work? Did you expect me to never bring it up again?"

"That would've been the nicest thing to do."

I snorted. What a load of baloney. "I think it's worse to lie about something when you could instead tell what it is proudly. Or else, if people figure out the truth, things'll get messy." I sighed. "But I sort of understand why you tried to keep it a secret."

I used my hands to fake paddle.

"Ah~ I'm going to drown! I'm going to die! Why didn't I just agree with Miyuki and let it end!"

"J-just drop it okay!" he shouted, blushing. "And I'm pretty sure that I didn't say that last part!"

I laughed a little and nodded. "I guess you aren't that composed are you? Even you could be embarrassed."

"Of course," was his response.

It was awkward after that and I laid back on the sand.

"It's because my dad nearly drowned."

My eyelids shot up as if something had pierced me and I slowly turned my head towards him.

He had an impassive look on his face and he let out a breath. "I often went to a beach like this with my parents. Often they'd race each other in the water, teaching me tricks to swim, and things were always fun. But then... one day, a huge wind current and storm made the water suffocate the three of us. My step-mom grabbed me tightly so I wouldn't drift away, but we lost sign of my dad. A boat that was passing by noticed us so the people on it rescued us, but said my dad was most likely too deep to save...

"After the storm died down, they found his body. The hospital saved his life by getting all the water out of his lungs. But, ever since then, I've been too scared to step foot into the ocean..."

It was silent after that story and I couldn't muster anything to say.

"Then... that's reasonable to why you're scared." Swallowing hard, I balled my fists. "If that was the case, I wouldn't have challenged you..." In a low voice, I murmured, "Sorry."

"It's fine, Miyuki," he assured me. "It's not like I care about what happened anymore or rarely even think about it. My dad's as healthy as can be now too."

My eyes widened when he laughed.

"But to think that the great Miyuki Hoshino would apologize to me... What an honour!"

He heard that? My cheeks flushed in embarrassment and I stammered, "I-I never said anything like that. Don't let your imagination get the best of you!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're blushing~"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are." He poked at my cheeks. "And yeah you did. I heard it with my own two ears."

Fuming, I grounded my teeth. "How about you and how you cried like a baby?"

"That doesn't matter anymore because Miyuki has apologized! She has said the forbidden 's' word!"

"Stop it! No I didn't!"

Yuji laughed, tapping his ears. "It doesn't matter what you say, I still heard it."

I glared at him hard. Knowing that arguing was futile against him, I let out a breath, turning the other way.

Today was hella hectic. No matter how much I wanted to go to the beach in my lifetime, now that I know just how troublesome it is, I'd rather have stayed home instead.

This year's summer was already so tiring.