Second Gear by R.T. Adams (best ereader for academics .txt) 📕

“Hey, look out Ika!” From that nickname, I know exactly who it was. I had no idea where I was touching, nor how I got involved, but I moved my hand up and felt clothes, so I grabbed it. “Hey, hey, stop, don’t tug on that!” She seemed to be panicking suddenly. I didn’t know what I was tugging on, nor did I want to know. I placed my other hand higher than my current hand and she started laughing. Was I touching the side of her stomach? I grabbed the clothes there and pulled. I really underestimated her weight, because she came at me like a bullet train. I collapsed and Niro ended up on top of me, still laughing. I let go of her shirt and heard the sound someone quickly getting dressed. I looked to the left of the figure on top of me and saw Sakura facing the door, her arms over her breasts. She turned around and starting pouting like a little kid. I don’t think she has changed in the time I was gone. I forced Niro off of me and stood up, walking over to Sakura.

“Don’t act like a kid anymore, Sakura, you’re an adult,” I told her curtly. I didn’t want to seem rude, but I guess those words are seem more rude than kind. However, it was the truth. She was an adult and she can’t reverse that.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she accepted it, but was still pouting, I could tell. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop her pouting. I walked to the door and pulled it’s handle.

“Hey, where are you going?” Niro asked.

“I’m going to my apartment,” I said.

“Can I come, can I?” she seemed really happy for some reason. Does she really want to come to my apartment that bad?

“Sure, if you want,” I said. I’m pretty sure that was a bad idea, considering how energetic she was. She would probably end up making a huge mess out of my apartment.

We walked through the community market, viewing the many different stores. Even though I was here a few months ago, I never really went to the market, so it’s been a while. Even when I did go to the market, it wasn’t with a group, let alone Sakura. Niro just seemed really excited, running around to each store she saw. She looked at the items, looked behind her, and the nran somewhere else, doing what she did again and again. Finally, we were out of the market area and into the apartment and hotel zone. When I looked around, I saw nothing but apartments and hotels in this area. Sakura’s father bought me an apartment room and got me a job that starts tomorrow at the music cafe. I know the apartment is on this street, and should be coming up soon. When I looked around, I saw it. It was a bit small of a building, but it looked like it held fairly sized rooms. We went up two stair sets and saw my room, Room 3-G. I unlocked and opened the door, looking inside. Boxes were already in here. Apparently, Sakura’s father got the need to put my things in boxes and put them in my room. I’m glad he did. So, apparently, I need to set up now. I walked in and it was really a good sized room. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room that felt so big before. It even had a balcony in the back. I walked outside and saw that a fancy small table for two was already set up. I looked out from the balcony and saw that the beach and ocean weren’t even a one minute walk away.

“Want to go to the beach?” I spoke without actually thinking. It was growing dark and I suddenly ask if they want to go to the beach.

“Sure,” Sakura replied, unexpectedly.

“Let’s go!” Niro seemed really excited to head to the beach. They were both happy to go. The only reason I wanted to go was to sit and watch the sun go down from the beach, although I could just do that here. I really need to set up my stuff too, but I guess I’ll wait until later. We walked out of my room and I locked my door, then we headed to the beach. Before I walked onto the beach’s sand, I took my shoes and socks off. I always liked the raw feeling of a beach’s sand. When I took a step on the sand, it was cold, almost as cold as ice. I took a seat on the sand and had my left leg propped up. It’s been a while since I went to the beach. Since it was night, there weren’t really any people here. There was a man with what seemed to be his girlfriend walking along the shore. The only other ones here were Sakura, Niro, and me. Sakura was walking over to me while Niro ran towards the sea, her arms spread out like a plane like a child. It was relaxing to be back here. Though, it wasn’t as lively. When I came back to reality from daydreaming about my past, I realized that Niro suddenly disappeared. I looked over and Sakura was also gone. Had I been daydreaming for so long they decided to leave me? No, Sakura’s not like that. She would have brought me back to reality if she was leaving. I looked at my watch and only three minutes had passed since we got here. Where could they have gone in three minutes? I stood up and walked over to the sea, looking out at it. It was dark, as if it was an endless pit. I sighed and started walking into the freezing cold water. Suddenly, I was waist-deep in the water before I knew it. When I looked down, I still only saw darkness. It was like I was floating in the darkness. Suddenly, I felt something grab my ankle and I yelped right before being forced under. I’m sure the couple looked over, wondering what happened. I quickly came back up, gasping for air and looking around. I saw Niro smiling like a child in front of me.

“Afraid of a little water, Ika?” she said, making a crying face at me. She really is childish.

“Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to be swimming at this hour?” I asked, but she had already went back under. Suddenly, I felt something tugging on my shorts. I grabbed it and kept it from taking off my shorts. “Hey, stop that, what are you doing!?” I shouted at the water, probably looking like an idiot. She let go and came back up.

“Aw, you’re no fun. I was going to make you walk home in your boxers!” she said, pouting. She really likes to tease people, doesn’t she? She’s a really troublesome person. Why would Sakura’s father hire such a person. From what I know of, they probably fell short on employees, so they ended up hiring her. I began walking back to the sand when I felt a body on my back, and a sudden change of gravity. As I had already expected, Niro had jumped onto me. Before I knew it, I was in the water again, struggling to get up as a body was on me. I flipped around on my back, and I was floating on the water. Floating in the darkness. It felt peaceful. It was like i was in space, but still being held to Earth by gravity. However, my daydreaming was soon interrupted by my shorts being stolen from me.

“H-Hey!” I shouted, but the figure that stole my shorts was already far gone. I don’t feel like going and searching for my shorts, nor do I feel like having to walk home in my boxers, so I stayed there, floating. I’ll go and search for my shorts soon. I’m sure she’d return them once she found out I wasn’t chasing her, nor was I going home in my boxers. She had her nose and eyes peaking out of the water, staring at me from a few feet away. She probably had my shorts with her.

“You going to get your shorts?” she said, child-like. She had a mischievous smile on her face, like she’d done the worst possible sin ever.

“I was going to ask politely if I could have them back,” I said, “but I don’t think you’ll give me my shorts.” From the look on her face, I was right. She wasn’t going to just give me my shorts back unless I went to chase her or until we went home. I noticed Sakura suddenly coming back from wherever she went. If she saw me without my shorts, she’d probably think something strange, so I stood up to where the lower half of my body wasn’t visible.

“Seiji, what are you doing out there?” she asked.

“Ah, oh. Here? I thought I’d, you know, have a little fun,” I said, a bit hesitant. She probably caught note of that and ignored it. When I looked over to find Niro, she was gone. Then, I felt something tug on my boxers. I grabbed my boxers and kept them around my waist. I was clearly struggling to do something, but Sakura had no idea.

“Seiji? What’s going on?” she asked politely.

“Ah, nothing,” I couldn’t come up with an excuse, just nothing. It looked way too strange to be just nothing.

“Don’t mind me, but, if you’re in the water, I’ll come over too,” that was bad. If she came over and noticed I didn’t have my shorts on and that something was tugging on my boxers, it’d seem weird. Quickly, I dove under the water and made Niro lose her grip. I swam over, grabbed my shorts, and quickly put them on underwater. I came back up and Sakura was already halfway over here. Did she see anything at all?

“There wasn’t really a need for you to come out here and get wet, was there?” I asked. She didn’t answer and kept walking over. She’d finally got over to me and smiled.

“Of course there was,” she said, “Anywhere you go is where I go.” So it was a matter of where I was. Well, if that was true, she would’ve come to America with me. Then again, her father stopped her from coming. When she got to me, she tripped and began falling forward. She ended up landing on me, then I was falling backwards and into the water. Today was just a day for me to fall, wasn’t it? We were in the water and my back was already on the ground. Sakura was floating on her back on the surface. I stood up and my top half emerged from the surface, next to Sakura. When I looked down to look at her floating body, I noticed my shirt was gone.

“Ah, uh,” I only uttered sounds, “What exactly happened?” I was clueless as to where my shirt went, but Niro wasn’t near us. In fact, she was about twenty meters away from us. When Sakura opened her eyes, she ended up blushing.

“Wh-Where’s your…” she stopped, then closed her eyes, trying to erase the image of my body. I don’t see why looking at the upper half of a man’s body would be so bad, but I guess that’s how Sakura’s always been. I began walking around in the water, looking for my shirt, but I couldn’t find it. I guess I’d be walking home shirtless.