What method?"
Even though he already knew that he didn't have any good intentions, Hachiman still asked a question.
"Clang—Waiting-for-Husband Rock!"
Iori threw a stone that was a meter long on the ground.
"If you carry it on your back, you will receive the blessings of many married women living alone, and they will protect you so that you can remain calm and peaceful at the bottom of the sea."
"It's not that my heart is as still as water, it's that the temperature of my heart becomes as high as the sea! Are you trying to murder me?"
"How could that be, you bastard, go to hell, do you think I'm that kind of person?"
"Absolutely no doubt! She's said everything she was keeping to herself!"
"Kouhei, hold him down!"
"Although I don't know why, I understand now."
"Holy crap, Chisa, save me!"
"You three, stop fooling around."
Chapter Sixty-Six: Diving in Progress (Part 1)
I thought that the so-called psychological trauma was just a false excuse. What really made me not want to go deep into the ocean was my inner reluctance to do something well. Changing myself may be a good thing in itself, but if I am praised by others for this, it would be a great misfortune for me.
——Divider——
"We'll be going into the water in pairs. We'll only be allowed to dive to shallow water. We'll complete one lap of underwater swimming using the pre-set tow rope. If anything happens during the swim, you need to communicate with your teammates using hand signals. Also, Hachiman, your situation is a bit special. Remember, don't panic. You have a trustworthy partner."
In the divers' rest area, Shinji Tokita explained the arrangements for the upcoming dive, his expression serious and focused.
Real combat and simulation are completely different in nature. In the ocean, even a small mistake can lead to injury. To ensure the safety of those going into the water, it is necessary to take it seriously.
"Yes, I understand."
Upon hearing this, Hachiman replied, feeling a sense of urgency, the pressure of a mission that was about to be fulfilled by him.
He unconsciously pursed his lips; the dry, chapped area had a faint astringent taste, and biting it off made the taste even stronger.
"Now let's arrange the personnel. Iori, you'll be in my group, Kohei and Hisashi in another group, Yoshiwara and Nanaka in a third group, and as for Hachiman..."
Shinji Tokita was arranging the deployment for the upcoming mission. Since Azusa-senpai was absent today, the remaining personnel were assigned one by one.
"He was in my group."
Chisa said, raising her eyes to look at Hachiman with a soothing expression he had never seen before, as if she were stroking a stray, wary cat.
"Then, let's start preparing."
Shinji Tokita chuckled, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and pulled it off. Then, with lightning speed, he pulled down his pants, revealing a Truth-Seeking Ball about the size of his head.
"etc!"
Yoshihara Aina, who had been focused on the diving rules she had just been talking about and was slightly nervous, immediately covered her eyes and blushed when she saw this.
"What is going on?!"
"What for? To change into my swimsuit, of course."
Shinji Tokita scratched his head, and he and Ryujiro Kotobuki, who was also completely naked, looked at her in confusion.
"But didn't you not prepare swim trunks, senior?!"
"Ah, we don't need that."
"Huh?!?!"
Mana Yoshihara shouted, "What do you mean you don't need that? Do you want to wear wetsuits like this, naked? Or is this the correct way to wear a wetsuit?"
Just as she was falling into self-doubt, a pair of hands landed on her shoulders. She turned around and saw that it was Iori, who was also almost naked, wearing only a pair of underwear.
You'll get used to it.
"Oh no, no, no, how could I possibly get used to this?!"
Yoshihara Aina couldn't understand it. She turned her head and tried to find two normal women to discuss their audacious behavior, but to her surprise, Nanaka and Chisa took off their outer clothes right in front of her, revealing the bikinis they were wearing underneath.
Changing her swimsuit in front of a man?!
This club is even more youthful than she imagined!
Ignoring Yoshihara Aina, who was lying down with a gloomy expression, Hachiman also took off his shirt. Unlike the typical otaku who likes to stay at home all day playing games and watching videos, and ordering takeout when he's hungry, he was also categorized into this type of person. Because he went for a morning run every day, along with a healthy diet and occasional exercise, he also had some exercise marks, with four-pack abs and a V-line that could be roughly seen.
He took a deep breath and reached for his wetsuit.
At this moment, Chisa walked to his side. She looked at his bare upper body and spoke with a slightly teasing tone.
"I didn't know you were actually working out your abs."
"I've put in a little effort so that I don't get fat when I'm indulging myself."
In 'Grand Blue', while he doesn't eat fried noodles every day, he sees them more than half the time of the week. To avoid consuming too much fat every day and gaining weight before reaching middle age, he even bought a pair of barbells and placed them in his room, often picking them up to exercise his wrist strength.
Since he's been training his wrist strength, he'll also be training his waist and abdomen. As for his legs, he hasn't been training them much, relying only on his daily morning runs.
Speaking of which, his morning runs have become sporadic these days. Ever since Komachi and the others left, those two bastards and the seniors always drag him out for drinks, which often leaves him with a hangover.
Can I poke it?
Chisa bent over and looked up at him.
"...Can."
It's not like it's a private part of your body, and besides, isn't the point of training to let people touch you anyway? Of course, if you really want to touch me, then pretend I didn't say anything and refuse everyone except your friends.
"However, the older generation practiced even better."
"I'm just a little surprised that you have a hobby like working out." Chisa poked his stomach, and the moment her fingertips touched it, she could feel that he seemed to loosen his grip, and the soft flesh became hard. "After all, you seem like someone who hates trouble."
"Finding something to distract yourself makes things much easier."
Exercising helps him forget some of the bad emotions that surge up like a tide, although he seems to find it hard to be sad since coming here, because whenever this happens.
"What?! Hachiman has abs!"
Two more hands groped him without any politeness. Hachiman looked at Iori and Kohei, who were giving their comments, with dead fish eyes. The former was disdainfully talking about his past feat of having six abs, while the latter was reciting some lines from a visual novel, such as how cute male protagonists often have explosive bodies hidden under their clothes to create contrast and highlight their masculinity, with terms like eight-pack abs, V-line, V-shaped waist, and electric motor.
"Have you touched enough?"
He couldn't take it anymore and took a step back. If he didn't know that these two guys were straight, Ebina would have been knocked to death just by looking at their actions.
"Tsk, it's only four pieces, and the feel isn't quite there yet."
"Ha, a poor, nerdy guy."
Both of them expressed their disdain and returned to the table, picking up their diving suits.
Veins throbbed on his forehead. These two guys were shameless, but never this shameless. Iori was one thing, since he used to have six balls, though he'd gotten a beer belly lately. Kohei, you don't have a single ball, how dare you mock him?
"It's alright..."
"What?"
Hachiman looked at Chisa, who was whispering, and she rolled her eyes at him before tossing the diving suit into his arms: "Get ready, we're leaving soon."
"oh."
It's probably just an auditory hallucination.
He lowered his head, wearing a diving suit. A cool sea breeze passed by, kindly blowing and tidying up the stray hairs beside Chisa's ear. Underneath the wisps of hair, a slightly rosy ear was hidden.
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Dangers Under the Sea
"Then, we'll head down now."
Nanaka, already dressed in her diving suit, said to Chisa, put on her regulator, made a gesture indicating that she was diving, and then jumped into the sea with Mana.
"Now it's our turn."
Chisa looked at Hachiman; they were the last group.
"...oh oh."
"You still seem very nervous. Are you alright?" Chisa asked, tilting her head. Seeing her concerned gaze, Hachiman forced a smile. Rather than being nervous, he felt his legs were a little weak.
"No problem."
How could he back down at the very first step? He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and gave an OK sign.
"Then, once you're in the sea, you must stick close to me."
Although Chisa was somewhat worried about his superficial appearance, she knew she couldn't say "let it go" now, otherwise he would never be able to overcome the psychological trauma.
She put on her diving goggles and said to Hachiman, "You go down first."
"OK."
Hachiman put on the regulator, walked to the railing, gazed at the calm sea, closed his eyes and jumped in. He heard a loud splash, followed by a feeling of being completely immersed in darkness.
Has he gone into business?
Another shallow splash sounded, indicating that Chisa had come down as well. Where was she?
The sound of the flowing seawater enveloped his hearing. Hachiman turned his body blankly, still not opening his eyes. The dark space and oppressive heaviness made his body sink unconsciously, but he didn't realize it.
No, this can't be... He came here to change himself, he can't just leave in such a sorry state without doing anything.
His eyelids began to tremble violently. He could vaguely see a sliver of white light, but that light could not enter his eyes. After realizing that he could see things other than darkness, he became even more nervous and even began to wave his limbs wildly. His strength was rapidly draining away under the pressure.
Just as he was wondering what to do, a sound of rushing water rang out, and a small hand tightly grabbed his hand. As if grasping at a lifeline, Hachiman grabbed his other free hand as well, but was slapped away by the other person.
A tremendous sense of loss washed over him, as if his heart had been imprisoned. The person holding his hand gently stroked his cheek, as if soothing a crying child.
Chisa gazed at the boy before her, whose eyes were tightly closed and who dared not open them. For the first time, she felt his vulnerability. She took his hand and slowly swam toward the leash.
Upon reaching their destination, she grabbed his other hand and placed it on the leash, which proved to be an even better lifeline.
After confirming that the other person had placed their hands on the traction rope, Chisa checked the residual pressure of the other person's regulator and found that it was still within the range where they could continue to descend.
The equipment is fine, but there's a major problem: if the other person doesn't open their eyes, it's impossible to continue the diving trip.
Unfortunately, this was underwater, so she couldn't speak directly. Also, she was wearing a diving mask, so she couldn't pry open his eyes. But even if she did, he would probably close them immediately.
What a troublesome problem. Chisa looked at Hachiman, who seemed to be blind, and sighed inwardly. She knew that this journey would not be smooth sailing, but she did not expect to get stuck at the first step.
However, his courage to jump into the sea is commendable, so let's see what happens next.
Chisa swam to his side and gently pressed Hachiman's four white acupoints with her hands. This was a method her sister often used to help her relax; moderate massage can dull a person's emotions.
——Divider——
What is she doing?
Feeling the other person's delicate fingers gently pressing against the sides of his head, Hachiman's nerves calmed down a bit.
He gripped the rough rope tightly, the dull sound of the rushing water still buzzing in his ears, but with the other person's patient and considerate comfort, it didn't seem so deafening at the moment.
Was he hallucinating? It seemed like there was a sun underwater, and its light was shining on him, making him feel warm and comfortable.
His cheeks were cupped by the other person, and with a slight force, his head was no longer curled up like a turtle hiding in its shell.
Open your eyes, there's nothing to be afraid of.
Her soft whispers, like dandelion seeds carried by the wind, landed in his heart, and his tightly closed eyes trembled, actually slowly opening a tiny crack.
There was indeed light underwater. The warm sunlight refracted through the sea surface, displaying a rainbow-like array of colors. At that moment, he felt as if he were floating and dancing with the light, along with millions of eternal atoms.
The moment his gaze met the light, what caught his eye was a girl in the light. She had been watching him the whole time, and her delicate, jewel-like light brown eyes shone with the most dazzling brilliance the moment they met. This was a wealth that could not be represented by money.
Are you feeling any better?
The diving manual didn't explicitly mention the hand gesture for this information, so Chisa used a unique but simple way to express it: she raised her hand, tapped her head, and then made an "OK" sign.
[I'm feeling better, sorry.]
He blinked repeatedly, gave an OK sign, and then clasped his hands together to express his apology.
Chisa shook her head and gestured for them to continue forward.
[Can you walk?]
[It should be possible.]