After that, we were able to regroup with everyone safely. It’s true that all the beach houses look similar, so once you step outside, it’s easy to forget which one was yours.

“What should we do next? Should we play beach volleyball again?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll just relax under the parasol for a bit.”

“Since we’re here, I wouldn’t mind swimming a little longer.”

It’s been a long time since I’ve come to the beach. I might as well enjoy it a little more.

“Oh, by the way, when I got lost and was walking around the beach earlier, I saw that a beach volleyball tournament was about to start. I was in a hurry, so I didn’t catch the details.”

“Oh, should we go check it out?”

“Sounds good. Tournaments like that are fun just to watch.”

“I’m in! Let’s at least take a look.”

A beach volleyball tournament, huh? That might be interesting to watch. Watching sports with everyone sounds fun. …Not that I’m interested in seeing female players in swimsuits or anything.

“A tournament for men only…?”

My voice overlapped with Abe’s. I completely understand his feelings.

The tournament being held on the beach was a two-on-two men’s competition. It was a small-scale event that allowed same-day registration, and the prize for first place was 30,000 yen, so there were quite a few participants.

“Wow, a lot of people are joining.”

“It’d be boring just to watch. Should we join? There’s no entry fee.”

“I-I think I’ll pass.”

“I’ll sit this one out too.”

Watanabe I could understand, but even Mogi was passing? When we played beach volleyball earlier, I got the feeling that he might not be very good at ball games.

“Then let’s team up and enter.”

“Yeah! Might as well aim for the championship!”

“Abe-kun, Tachihara-kun, good luck!”

“We’ll all be cheering for you!”

“Alright! Let’s do this, Tachihara!”

“Hey, Abe, the registration desk is this way!”

There isn’t a guy alive who wouldn’t be motivated by girls cheering him on. I won’t deny that I also thought this might be a chance to show off a little in front of Kawabata and Sayama.

Since this is just a casual tournament, it should be fine to stand out a little. That said, I need to be careful not to move too much and risk people realizing that the masked figure in those videos is actually me.

“Tweet!”

“Take that!”

Thwack!

Abe’s serve shot straight into the opponent’s court.

“Tweet! Point, Abe & Tachihara pair. With 21 points, the Abe & Tachihara pair wins.”

“Nice one, Abe!”

“Yeah! We cleared the first round!”

With the tournament underway, we won our first match. Since Abe is in a sports club, his athletic ability is pretty high. He’s always been good at all kinds of ball games in gym class.

As for me, I was holding back just enough to avoid standing out too much. This tournament is a one-set match to 21 points, and we won the first round with a decisive 21-8. The reason for that was…

“Man, we couldn’t keep up with you young high schoolers.”

“But it was fun. Thanks, boys.”

“Thanks a lot!”

“Thank you very much!”

Our first opponents were two old men. In fact, we gave up 8 points due to miscommunication, but I suppose that’s to be expected with a hastily formed pair.

“Abe-kun, Tachihara-kun, nice win!”

“You both looked so cool!”

“Thanks! But we still have room for improvement. We need to communicate better about who’s taking each shot.”

Most of the points we lost were due to hesitation between us or service errors.

“That part is tricky. But we gained experience from this match, so let’s adjust for the next one.”

Abe was getting serious, and I didn’t want to let him down. I’ll do my best too.

We managed to win our second and third matches as well. It seemed Abe had really good luck with the draw, as our opponents were middle schoolers and men in their forties. On the other side of the bracket, there were a lot of university students and guys in their twenties, so Abe’s luck was definitely a factor.

Now, we were heading into the fourth round. Winning this match would take us to the finals. At this point, I couldn’t help but think about winning the whole thing.

“Ah!?”

“Huh? You’re that guy from earlier.”

“Tch, the dude with the girl.”

“What’s wrong, Tachihara? You know these guys?”

Our semifinal opponents were none other than the blonde guy and the one with a nose piercing— the two who had harassed Sayama earlier.

“…No, I don’t know them.”

I hadn’t told anyone about them bothering Sayama. I didn’t want to ruin the fun atmosphere.

But I never expected to run into them here. They were glaring at me and Abe, probably bitter about us being at the beach with cute girls. …I completely understand how it feels to come to the beach with just guys, but I wish they wouldn’t take it out on us.

Good thing the competition is beach volleyball. If this were sumo or something, they’d probably try to punch me.

“Now, we will begin the semifinal match.”