The sound of waves echoed clearly in my ears. Birds chirped everywhere. I sat by the beach, watching the sea shimmer under the setting sun — its light reflectin off the water like molten gold.
While I was lost in thought, I heard a commotion not far from where I was.
Initially, I intended to ignore them, but curiosity overcame my laziness.
I approached the source of the commotion, and—hey—someone was holding a street concert nearby. There was quite a crowd.
I approached them and saw a group of girls singing. It was so crowded that I couldn't hear their song very well.
However, if I listened closely, the song they were singing was quite familiar to me. Still, because of the crowd, I couldn't hear them clearly.
I decided to go to the convenience store to buy some food. I couldn't hear their music anyway, so why would I stay there?
While I was looking for food, I noticed there was only one onigiri left on the shelf. I wanted to take it, but just before I could—a girl also wanted it.
I felt bad for the girl, so I decided to give in and give her the last onigiri.
"E-eh? Oniisan, you take it. There's plenty of other food here besides onigiri."
The girl said nervously. Are the girls really like this?
"It's okay, just take the onigiri. I can find something else."
"T-Thank you!"
In the end, I only bought a few things, like dorayaki and nutrient jelly.
Even though I was hungry, I had to manage my finances.
I live alone in an apartment. My uncle is the only one who takes care of me, and even then, he only sends me pocket money.
I enjoyed the evening view by the beach, the breeze refreshing my body.
"E-Excuse me, oniisan."
The same girl from the convenience store approached me again. Was she trying to apologize for that?
"What's wrong? You seem to have something to say. Come—sit down."
She sat down next to me, though keeping a bit of distance.
"B-before that, let me introduce myself. My name is Aoyama Rika. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Hayashi Kaito, nice to meet you too."
The girl still looked shy. What did she want to talk to me about?
"Before that, thank you for the onigiri earlier—Hayashi-san."
"It's okay, I can still choose other food anyway."
"Etto, Hayashi-san—I've only seen you around here. Did you move?"
"Oh? Yes, I just moved here about a week ago."
"Why did you move here?"
"Because I wanted to. I don't feel comfortable living in the city. So I think living somewhere near the beach would be quite nice."
I also want to go to high school around here, so—let's just say I moved.
"Fun? What made it fun?"
"I really like the ocean view, I think it's really beautiful."
"Hmm, is that so? Then..."
We spent some time chatting casually. I thought it was quite enjoyable because besides his funny personality, he was also easy to talk to.
Finally, he was called by his friend, apparently coming to pick up Aoyama-san. Well, that's understandable, since we talked until late at night.
"I'll go first, Hayashi-san. Oh, yes. Thank you for today. I really enjoyed our time together."
"Me too, I hope we can meet again sometime—Aoyama-san."
He waved goodbye to me, then left with his friend.
Perhaps this was a good start for me. I quite enjoyed my time with Aoyama-san.