NOVEL NEXT chapter 27
27: The Battle of Summer
“Let’s go to the pool.”
Amidst the busyness, the days passed by unnoticed.
I had thought that just the other day, I was walking to school amidst fierce spring winds and cherry blossom petals. But somehow, the season had become the scorching summer with intensifying sunlight.
For me, who was overwhelmed with student council work and the role of being a teacher to Karina, the days leading up to the summer vacation, which was just one week away since becoming a sophomore, felt somewhat dreamlike. Although it was supposed to be the daily life I had lived, the sense of actually having lived it was extremely faint.
During such a time, when I was preoccupied with preparations for the cultural festival approaching in the second semester, Martin called out to me.
The pool… When the word is used in the context of “let’s go to have fun” in this school, it refers to a large swimming amusement facility located between the school and the train station.
The admission fee is not cheap, even with a student discount, and going there requires a bit of courage.
Furthermore, because it’s different from the public pool, I hesitate to go in the school-designated swimsuit. Considering the cost of the swimsuit, entrance ticket, and the expenses for food and drinks on the day, it is not a place where middle school students can easily go due to financial reasons.
Martin, who should also be aware of such circumstances, says, “Actually, I have tickets.” It seems that he has a relative who is a shareholder of the pool facility in question, and the tickets came from there. The relative apparently said, “Invite your girlfriend and go,” but Martin doesn’t have a girlfriend, so he ended up inviting me instead.
“Don’t you think so, Rex? You don’t need a girlfriend. We can get everything locally. You understand, right?”
But I have Karina, so… I muttered quietly. As expected, Martin took the bait, so I said with a suppressed grin. No, it’s not about having a girlfriend or anything. It’s just that I have a little personal relationship with a senior girl from the third year… We meet privately. It’s busy because of that relationship…
I couldn’t help but want to boast to Martin about having a personal relationship with a senior girl. Of course, she’s not my girlfriend. She’s not my girlfriend, but… I feel the urge to brag to my male classmates that I have a relationship with a senior girl.
I couldn’t suppress this urge, and since it was Martin, who I had a relationship with since nursery school, I calculated that even if I talked about it a little proudly, it wouldn’t create a hostile relationship, and I didn’t mind if it did.
However, Martin’s response was completely unexpected.
“Oh, I have that kind of thing too.”
You do?
I doubted it—of course, Martin spent time in that nursery school, so he had the experience of being taken care of by older brothers and sisters when he was one year old.
In this school, which has been an escalator system since nursery school, it is not uncommon for such relationships with “those who took care of you when you were one year old” to continue. However, Martin’s caregiver was supposed to be a man. I, who was taken care of by Anna and took care of Milim, was often envied by Martin, saying, “I wanted to be taken care of by a girl too.”
There is no such relationship with a girl, and there is no sign of any other woman in Martin, a thirteen-year-old boy.
So I thought I was ahead of Martin in various ways and in a position to be envied.
…And yet, Martin firmly insists that he has a “personal relationship with a girl.”
If that is true, it means I have misunderstood Martin.
I can’t leave it alone if I’m mistaken about someone close to me.
I said that. If you’re going to say that much, I’ll add two more tickets and bring our respective “partners.” If possible… I hoped that Martin would back down. However, Martin didn’t back down.
In that case, I also have to come up with a plan…
Since I mentioned Karina’s name, of course, I have to bring Karina.
But the problem is that Karina is of the darkness attribute.
She dislikes crowded places and dislikes exposing her skin… The pool during the summer vacation, when students are bustling about, is undoubtedly one of the spots that Karina dislikes the most.
How can I persuade Karina… Oh, isn’t this impossible? My rational side is telling me, “Give up. Withdraw now.” But Martin says, “Rex, you’re the one who said ‘no way.’ If you’re not lying, prove it!”
Sure, let’s do it.
I couldn’t back down.
A man has pride. Objectively, it may seem like a petty pride in the pursuit of “living,” but subjectively, it was sometimes a pride heavier than life itself.
Martin and I exchanged smirks, as if looking down on each other.
This was probably my first battle since birth.
A battle for a middle school second-year student’s pride, the summer campaign.