kscans

Chapter 42 - The Foreigner

I arrived at the beach a little after 10 o’clock.

I had planned our departure time to arrive around this hour, and I was quite pleased that everything had gone according to schedule. From now until lunch, we’d have a good two hours to play our hearts out, then grab lunch at the beach house… perfect.

"Hmm? What’s the matter, Hikaru?"

Since there were young children with us, I thought smoking would be inappropriate, so I was sucking on a lollipop while waiting for the women to change. When I looked up, I noticed Hikaru staring intently at me.

"…No, I was just thinking how that outfit really suits you."

His expression was somewhere between impressed and exasperated.

My current attire consisted of flashy swim trunks, topped with an equally gaudy aloha shirt and sunglasses. Frivolous. That word described my fashion choice perfectly.

"Looking good, right~?"

"Y-yeah…"

Well, I understand the sentiment. What kind of middle-aged man pulls this look off, anyway? But I like this style, so it’s fine.

"Want a candy, Hikaru?"

"…Thank you."

We had been leisurely enjoying our lollipops for about ten minutes when the women arrived with energetic voices.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Waiting!" the twins echoed.

"I apologize for the delay."

Rika was wearing a two-piece swimsuit. The sporty style and her well-shaped navel were absolutely perfect.

The twins wore one-piece swimsuits in different colors. Cute.

As for Sarna, she was in a bikini, and… WHOA! HOT! That’s all I can say. Yes.

"You all look great~ I think I’m looking pretty good myself, don’t you think?"

"Uncle, you’re so cheeeeesy!" the twins sang in unison.

"Satou Hideo at your service, selling a perfectly balanced lightness of character!"

"Is this an election campaign?"

"More importantly, did you all put on sunscreen? You’ll seriously regret it if you forget."

"It’s fine, it’s fine. Right?"

"No problem."

"I put it on together with Ai!"

"I was tempted to get a weird tan pattern, but I resisted!"

Good, it seems everything’s in order.

"Hey, hey, Uncle! Can we go now? Can we go to the ocean now?!"

"Do your warm-up exercises first."

"Aww…"

"No complaining! Come on, let’s start!"

While the kids began their warm-up exercises, I started setting up our base. Well, "setting up" just meant sticking the beach umbrella in the sand and laying out the sheet.

"That should do it."

Having finished setting up, I lay down on the sheet. I’d love to have a beer right now, but that’s the hardship of being a chaperone.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" the twins screamed.

"Ah, wait, wait, Ai-chan! Midori-chan! Sarna-chan, let’s go too!"

"Y-yes!"

The twins raced past me after finishing their warm-ups, with Rika and Sarna chasing after them. Wow, Sarna is amazing. I could almost hear the bouncing sound effects.

"Aren’t you going too, Hikaru? I’ve got everything under surveillance, so feel free to enjoy yourself without worrying."

The ocean is fun but also dangerous. Since I’m responsible for children entrusted to me by their parents, I can’t allow even the slightest mishap. I’ve positioned replicated copies of my eyes in the air to respond immediately to any situation.

"I’m a bit tired, so I think I’ll rest before joining them."

"Ah, we were in the car for quite a while, after all."

"Aren’t you going swimming, Satou-san?"

"Later. I decided beforehand that I’d start with sand play."

"S-sand play…?"

"Yep."

Since the day we decided on this trip, I’d been thinking about what to do at the beach. After consideration, I thought it would be fun to seriously engage in sand play.

"How about it? Want to build a castle together, Hikaru? Not some flimsy thing, but something truly impressive."

"…Well, maybe just for a little while."

That face… you thought it would be fun, didn’t you? Not just simple child’s play, but seriously building a sand castle. Being a boy, you’re naturally drawn to this kind of thing.

"What kind should we build?"

"Let’s make a Japanese-style base, but super strong. The invincible Satou-maru… no, Satou-maru sounds silly. Let’s call it Akatsuki-maru." (t/n: 丸 -maru is usually a suffix to ship name, but in this context, it’s to make it sound grand and epic.)

"A-Akatsuki-maru? That’s a bit embarrassing…"

"But it sounds cooler than Satou, doesn’t it?"

"…Well, it might be strange for me to say, but I’ve always secretly thought Akatsuki is a cool surname."

"Akatsuki-maru it is, then. Alright, first let’s lay the foundation. We can’t cut corners, okay?"

"I understand. Without a solid foundation, a sturdy fortress is just a dream."

Two men, with renewed determination, began castle construction. We carried water to mix with the sand, careful not to mix it too much, patting down the base little by little. We worked seriously with minimal conversation, until—

"Hey, isn’t that Satou?"

"Playing in the sand at your age, man?"

Looking up at those voices, I saw two stereotypical flashy-looking foreigners gazing at me with exasperation.

"If it isn’t the Arima brothers. What are you two doing here?"

"Working, man, working. We’ve got part-time jobs at the beach house here."

"Really? I was planning to eat lunch at the beach house. Anything you recommend?"

"Nothing here is bad, but if I had to choose, probably the yakisoba? The sauce is different, man, the sauce."

Oh?

"Um, Satou-san… who are these people?"

"Hm? Ah, as you might have guessed, Hikaru, they’re from the ‘other side.’ They’re also part of the Mutual Aid Society."

"I’m Arima Yuichi. Nice to meetcha!"

"Arima Mao. Pleased to meet you."

"To add more detail, they’re from another world."

"What?! Another… world?!"

Moreover, these guys were a hero and a demon lord in their original world. In the brothers’ world, there was the classic conflict structure. Hero versus demon lord, humans versus demons. They were representatives of each side, fiercely battling each other, but…

"Actually, in our world, there was a mastermind behind the conflict structure."

"The widely worshipped god was actually an evil deity manipulating both humans and demons."

"After various events, this guy and I called a temporary truce, and humans and demons joined forces to defeat the evil god, but…"

The story didn’t end there. The deep divide from years of conflict? Well, that existed, but both sides had begun reconciling. However, these two couldn’t accept it.

"Rather than the human-demon issue, I just couldn’t stand this guy, so we tried to settle things… you understand, right?"

If the representatives of both humans and demons fought, it would ruin everything. Both camps desperately tried to persuade them, but they insisted it was "a personal matter" and wouldn’t listen…

"So the world basically exiled us, saying ‘just go somewhere else!’ Wahahaha!"

"Huh…?"

"And that’s when they washed up here and ran into me."

"We both got thrashed at the same time! Gyahahahaha!"

After hearing their circumstances and explaining our world to them, they realized they couldn’t cause trouble in another world and laid down their arms. With no way to return to their original world, they decided to join the Mutual Aid Society and live in Japan.

"…Despite all that, you seem to get along well. And you’re brothers?"

"Ah, they actually didn’t get along here at first either."

They tried to enjoy exploring this world, but kept running into each other everywhere. Though they were irritated at first…

"We eventually reconciled at a beef bowl restaurant."

"B-beef bowl…?"

"Food preferences are important, you know?"

They discovered they liked the same beef bowl restaurant. This became their starting point.

As fellow beef bowl lovers, they gradually began proper interaction. In the end, they hit it off so well they became legal brothers with forged family registers, leading to their current relationship.

"…Beef bowl… beef bowl…"

Hikaru held his head in his hands, muttering those words repeatedly. Well, I understand how he feels.