CHAPTER 292: CHAPTER 290: RAISING LITTLE BAI FROM SCRATCH

The little invisible girl hesitated for a long time beside him before gently clenching her small fists and breaking the silence.

"Um... do you... does Shirakawa know how to swim?"

As soon as she said this, Miss Tachibana Tomoku regretted it a little. She was clearly trying to find a topic to chat with him, but ended up asking a silly question.

Shirakawa already said he would take her into the water to practice later, so how could he not know how to swim?

Now it’s over, Shirakawa will definitely think I’m strange... Can I take it back? Is it possible to retract a statement made within two minutes in real life?

Seemingly sensing the girl’s nervous attitude, Shirakawa Sawahei couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, "Of course I know how to swim, but I didn’t learn it at school."

"Where did you learn it then?"

"Well... probably by a small river. We kids of the same age used to play by the river. The water was shallow then, very safe, so I learned to swim there."

"Kids of the same age?" Miss Tachibana Tomoku’s eyes showed a hint of envy as she quietly said, "I didn’t really play with kids my age when I was little..."

"Did you grow up in the city, Tachibana?"

Tachibana Tomoku shook her head, "In the countryside, but I could only stay in the old house. My father often met with people and was very serious, so I didn’t dare ask him to take me out to play..."

Shirakawa Sawahei was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Miss Tachibana Tomoku to be lonely since childhood. By all accounts, with her looks, aside from her gentle personality, she should have been very popular. Yet she came through all that loneliness with no close friends, which was quite strange.

Is it the invisible girl trait? Or is there some other reason?

"Didn’t Tachibana have any childhood friends?"

"Nope."

"..."

The girl’s mood visibly dropped a notch, and Shirakawa Sawahei, upon seeing this, couldn’t tell whether he should comfort her or continue the conversation. So he said, "Actually, I don’t have any childhood friends either."

"Really?"

The little invisible girl’s eyes brightened slightly, softly asking, "So... does Shirakawa feel regretful?"

"Regretful?"

"Yes... after all... Department Director Tsukimi said... many boys would like a childhood friend around them..."

"Of course not." Shirakawa Sawahei said matter-of-factly, "The concept of beautiful childhood friends is mostly created by manga and novelists to satisfy the fantasies of readers, not all boys like that sort of thing."

It’s not that they like childhood friends; they like pretty, cute childhood friends who stick by their side. Basically, they’re just drooling over the bodies...

"And you? Tachibana, do you feel regretful for not having a childhood friend?"

"Ah... me?"

The little invisible girl watched Shirakawa Sawahei’s face while he spoke, noticing how his gaze was set on Tsukimi Sakurazawa and the others, as if he was just casually chatting.

"I don’t feel regretful either," the girl said softly, her gaze gently fixed on Shirakawa Sawahei’s profile.

Because... I’ve already met someone better than a childhood friend...

Shirakawa Sawahei watched the girls having a water fight by the seaside for a while and summed up the skirmish: Yingying Monster had a solo physical advantage, splashing two at once without losing ground. But with every splash, her swimsuit trembled, making it quite nerve-wracking to watch...

Hoping it falls, yet not wanting it to fall... In short, it’s very conflicting...

Of course, the swimsuit of the Idle Girl was trembling too, just not as impressively as the Yingying Monster’s, while Black Hearted Lolita, who was leisurely lounging on a swimming ring, got accidentally splashed by Yingying Monster and angrily joined the fight... The three girls were acting so childishly, just like elementary school students, which left Shirakawa Sawahei feeling exasperated.

He casually picked up the juice next to the beach chair, wanting to take a sip, but found it empty. As soon as he was puzzled, Miss Tachibana Tomoku handed her iced juice over.

"Is Shirakawa thirsty... I haven’t drunk this one..."

"Oh... thank you..."

Shirakawa Sawahei blankly accepted the juice, and just as he glanced towards where he put his sunglasses, Miss Tachibana Tomoku helped hand them over, prompting him to thank her again.

"Shirakawa... do you need a napkin?"

"Oh, do you want to adjust the beach chair, Shirakawa..."

Miss Tachibana Tomoku’s meticulous service left Shirakawa Sawahei with a strange feeling that his limbs were becoming atrophied from lying around...

This girl... is she planning to turn me into a couch potato on the beach chair?

Tachibana’s dutiful nature made Shirakawa Sawahei give up the idea of moving himself. After realizing she couldn’t find many things to help him with, Miss Tachibana Tomoku somehow looked a bit disappointed, which confused him.

Oh dear, if this girl gets a boyfriend in the future, she could turn him into a scumbag at any moment, fulfilling every request while being so obedient, yet feeling disappointed when she’s not troubled... Is she planning on practicing by nurturing me, her friend, into a waste as well?

Little Invisible Study Girl... do you perhaps have a hidden talent buried deep inside, called ’Starting from Zero to Raise a Pretty Boy’? But the lowkey system doesn’t have that clue either?

Before Shirakawa Sawahei could continue being doted on by Miss Tachibana, Idle Girl couldn’t withstand the pressure first. She ran over and shouted, "Shirakawa~ I’m back! Are there any iced juices to drink!"

"Why did you come back alone?" Shirakawa Sawahei poured a drink and handed it to Idle Girl with a curious expression.

"Ah! Well, of course, it’s to come back and recharge my power." Idle Girl exclaimed as she gulped down the juice, letting out a loud moan.

"So good... I feel like I’m revived..."

"What about Tsukimi and Asano?"

"Them? Kaori is still struggling against Sakurazawa, like heading towards the reefs... It’s quite suitable for a life-and-death battle there since there aren’t many people!"

"What about you?" Shirakawa Sawahei glanced at the cute little Ise Yu, "You wouldn’t have... surrendered because you saw you couldn’t win, would you?"

"Shirakawa! Why do you say it so harshly! It’s called a strategic retreat, preserving vital force! Ready to fight back when the time comes!"

"So much rhetoric, you just ditched Asano and surrendered."

"I... I didn’t surrender... can a beauty’s action be called surrendering... Anyway, I’ll go save Kaori! Let me rest for a bit~"

"Shirakawa~ move a little to the side, won’t you? I want to lay down on the beach chair for a bit too..."

"..."

The cute little Ise Yu unabashedly lay down beside Shirakawa Sawahei, having forgotten how she often imagined a bunch of vibrant, suggestive storylines. He stood up from the beach chair with a slight exasperation, "All yours, how about that."

"Hey~ I’m not that overbearing, Shirakawa, you can lie down too, as long as you don’t pretend to accidentally touch awkward spots~"

"Ah~ so comfortable... After playing in the sea, having a place to recover energy is so nice..."

"..."

Shirakawa Sawahei couldn’t be bothered with this old idler already laid out on the beach chair, so he looked towards the distant sea. The voices of Yingying Monster and Black Hearted Lolita seemed to have vanished behind the reef, whereabouts unknown.

Those two troublesome guys... could something happen to them?

He frowned, felt his worries were a bit unfounded yet not beyond the realm of possibility.

It feels as if some strange flag has been set up...

"I’ll go look for them a bit, make sure they don’t wander too far..."

Leaving that statement, Shirakawa Sawahei placed his light outerwear on the beach chair and started to slowly walk toward the sea.