"Haruno, change your position, get on my back."
Natsuki pointed to his back, signaling with his eyes.
Haruno was quite intelligent and quickly understood the meaning in Natsuki's eyes. She nodded quickly and climbed onto Natsuki's back.
She knew very well that wearing an oxygen mask would not free them from danger. There were still shark groups and the octopus anomaly in the sea. She couldn't even distinguish the sea surface from the sea bottom right now. The only way to escape was to rely on Natsuki.
She couldn't help with the escape, so she could only try her best not to cause trouble for Natsuki…
"Eh eh eh?"
After getting on Natsuki's back, Haruno quickly realized something was wrong.
To be precise, the pressure on her body felt off.
"Where's my bra?"
Haruno quickly lowered her head and looked at herself.
The light in the sea was dim, but she could barely see.
Haruno strained her eyes, looking carefully several times, but couldn't find any trace of her bra.
"It's gone… It must have been swept away by the waves just now, right?"
Haruno tried to think, but her mind was blank, only the panic from being swept away by the waves remained.
With such large waves, it was quite normal for her bra to be swept away.
"If it's gone, it's gone, as long as I'm okay…" Haruno quickly adjusted her heartbeat, no longer dwelling on the bra, but then quickly realized something was wrong, "Mmm… Hmm—!"
A low hum almost escaped her lips.
As Natsuki exerted force to swim towards the sea surface, Haruno immediately felt the clear muscle contours on the young man's back. Her pretty face involuntarily flushed rapidly, and she bit her lips tightly to prevent herself from making embarrassing sounds.
"Hold it in!"
"…Don't overthink it!"
Haruno tried hard to distract herself, but it was useless.
This was the bottom of the sea, ravaged by a hurricane, not a coffee shop with air conditioning and music. In an extremely dangerous environment, one's attention not only couldn't be diverted but would become exceptionally focused instead.
At the same time.
The seawater was quite murky, and even with wide-open eyes, she couldn't see anything clearly; everything was blurry.
After seawater entered her ears, her hearing also became muddled.
With both vision and hearing severely affected, her other senses naturally became exceptionally sharp.
"It, it's actually true…"
Haruno bit her lips tightly, not letting herself make a sound.
She used to occasionally read light novels when she was bored, and they often described an electric sensation during intimate contact between boys and girls.
Haruno had always scoffed at such descriptions.
Just like in many light novels, it's often said that a girl's sweat is either fragrant or sweet. However, girls are also human, and as humans, sweat only has one taste, which is salty. It cannot possibly be fragrant or sweet and sour.
Because of this, Haruno also held a negative view of the idea that intimate contact would cause an electric sensation, not believing it truly existed.
But at this very moment, only after Haruno experienced it herself did she finally realize her thinking had been one-sided.
"So… it, it really does feel like an electric shock…"
Splash!
Natsuki didn't have time to think so much. Carrying Haruno on his back, he resurfaced.
Wind and waves intertwined.
The wind was howling.
Not only that, but a black waterspout even appeared on the sea surface, connecting heaven and earth, looking terrifyingly powerful.
Facing the fierce might of the natural disaster, Haruno originally wanted to pull back a bit to avoid friction generating electricity, but under the intimidation of the waterspout, her body was exceptionally obedient. Her arms wrapped around Natsuki's neck even more tightly, unwilling to let go even a little.
"Whew…"
Natsuki exhaled, distinguishing the direction in the gaps between the wind and waves. Only then did he realize they were already dozens of meters from the shore.
"Haruno, hold on tight." Natsuki commanded in a deep voice.
"I, I know."
Haruno quickly nodded, holding Natsuki's neck even tighter with more force.
She hadn't awakened her memories yet; at this moment, she was just an ordinary university student. No matter how quirky she usually was, facing a natural disaster now, she was still well-behaved and exceptionally docile.
"Let's go back."
Natsuki waved his hand, and the two ran towards the cave, battling the wind and rain.
However, with the strong wind and heavy rain, Natsuki had no problem, but Haruno still had to cover her chest with her arms, which severely affected her balance. After just a few steps, she swayed precariously, looking as if she would be blown away by the wind.
"Na, Natsuki-kun… I can't do it anymore!"
Helpless, Haruno could only shout for help.
It's not shameful at all to ask for help when you're in trouble; only a fool would suffer for the sake of appearances.
Clearly, Haruno deeply understood the principle of adaptability.
Natsuki had no choice but to turn and come to Haruno's side, scooping Haruno up in a princess carry.
"Mm…"
Haruno let out a soft gasp and quickly wrapped her arms around Natsuki's neck to steady herself.
"Eh, wait a minute…!" Haruno quickly reacted, "This pose is too terrible!"
Her underwear had already disappeared in the sea, and now she was relying entirely on her arms for cover, so when she raised her arms to hug Natsuki, the result was naturally self-evident.
Although this Haruno liked to tease people and had the label of a 'mature big sister,' she actually had no dating experience whatsoever. At this moment, as she was being subjected to this embarrassing ordeal, a blush uncontrollably rose to her pretty face, and she quickly pulled back one arm to cover her chest.
And then…
She couldn't cover it!
One hand simply couldn't cover it!
The difference between people is vast; some can cover everything completely with one hand, while others can only barely block the vital parts, and with a little force, things will overflow from the edges of their arms.
"There's no other way…" Haruno sighed helplessly in her heart, "The situation is so urgent, Natsuki shouldn't be peeking, right?"
Haruno secretly raised her eyes and looked up, then immediately became speechless.
She saw Natsuki staring at her with wide eyes, his gaze neither dodging nor wavering.
"Natsuki-kun didn't peek… but he was looking openly, wasn't he?!"
Pervert!
How could you stare so directly?!
"Haruno…" Natsuki said loudly as he ran towards the cave, "Do you feel uncomfortable?"
Of course I do!
I'm already super embarrassed, and being stared at so directly by a boy, how could I possibly feel comfortable?!
Haruno turned her pretty face away, her earlobes tinged with crimson: "Natsuki-kun, you don't need to worry about me… Let's get back to the cave first."
"No." Natsuki reminded her loudly, "It looks like something is biting your chest."
"Eh?" Haruno widened her eyes and quickly looked down, only seeing a patch of pure white, and no terrifying foreign object, she asked in confusion, "Natsuki-kun, it doesn't look like there's anything?"
Natsuki shook his head and said:
"It's on the shadowed side, blocked by your line of sight."
Haruno: "…"
It's well known that people are not all the same.
Some people can lift their shirt and see their toes directly from the collar, while others can't see their shoelaces even when they bend over.
Although Haruno wasn't the type who couldn't see her shoelaces when bending over, she was quite well-endowed, so her line of sight would naturally be obstructed.
"Is there really something on me?"
Haruno bit her lip with her pearly teeth. To be honest, she wasn't feeling well at the moment. The strong wind and rain lashed against her body, and her skin was even aching faintly, so she hadn't noticed much unusual sensation.
However, Natsuki shouldn't be lying, because there was no need to lie at all.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Haruno took a deep breath, enduring her shame, and continued to wrap one arm around Natsuki's neck, raising her other hand to grope and check her body herself.
Before long, a cold, slimy, disgusting sensation was feedback from her fingertips.
"W-what is that?!"
Haruno was startled and pulled her hand away as if she had been electrocuted, her pretty face quickly turning pale uncontrollably.
Natsuki said loudly:
"I can't see it very clearly, it looks like a remora."
Remoras are known as the laziest fish in the world. They don't swim and rely entirely on attaching themselves to others to travel the world, coming in various sizes and species.
It's worth mentioning that a remora's sucker is a modified dorsal fin, not its belly.
This remora was probably flung over by the tornado and happened to attach itself to Haruno's body.
Haruno's pretty face turned pale, and she couldn't help but shout:
"Natsuki-kun, quickly take it off!"
A strange fish unknowingly attached to her body; no matter how she thought about it, it was too terrifying!
"Bear with it, we'll be at the cave soon." Natsuki replied loudly, "Remoras usually attach themselves extremely tightly, so it probably won't come off right away. We'll deal with it when we get to the cave."
As he spoke, the two had already arrived at the edge of the cliff.
"Haruno, hold me tight!"
Natsuki commanded in a deep voice.
Haruno couldn't worry about anything else and wrapped her arms tightly around Natsuki's neck.
The next second.
Natsuki didn't stop, leaping forward into the strong wind and heavy rain.
A strong sense of weightlessness surged over her, and with the fierce wind and rain in her face, she felt as if her entire body was about to be swept into the air. The intense thrill she had never experienced before made Haruno involuntarily let out a soft cry.
Bang!
Natsuki jumped off the cliff, landed steadily, splashing a plume of water on the ground, and then, without stopping, headed straight for the cave.
A moment later.
Natsuki arrived at the entrance of the cave, put Haruno down, and then pushed open the crude wooden door blocking the entrance with one hand.
This thing was made by the girls with their bare hands, crooked and unsightly, but unexpectedly, it actually came in handy.
"Natsuki-kun?"
Tsubame's cautious voice quickly sounded from inside the cave.
Natsuki responded:
"I'm back."
Tsubame breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked:
"Where's Haruno?"
"I'm here." Haruno forced a smile and said, "Just now by the sea, I accidentally encountered an offshore current and was directly swept back. Thanks to Natsuki, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to come back."
"It's good that you're alright." Tsubame quickly said, "You two, come in quickly, the wind and rain outside are too strong."
Natsuki led Haruno into the cave, then moved the crude wooden door to re-block the cave entrance.
Although the wooden door was simple, after blocking the entrance, it successfully blocked most of the wind and rain.
Natsuki turned his head and realized that the cave was pitch black, and couldn't help but say:
"Why didn't you light the fire?"
Tsubame replied softly:
"We couldn't. When we rushed back, all the firewood had already been soaked by the rain blowing in."
Natsuki nodded and said:
"Then light a candle."
"N-no need!" Tsubame quickly stopped him, "The wind blows in occasionally, the candle will definitely go out, let's wait until the wind and rain stop!"
The hurricane was truly too terrifying. On the way back, not only was Shoko's underwear blown away, but everyone else's underwear couldn't be saved either. In short, they couldn't be seen by others.
"Alright." Natsuki nodded, "Then we'll wait until the hurricane is over."
"Natsuki-kun…"
Haruno looked up pitifully and quietly tugged Natsuki's finger.
Of course, she didn't just sit and wait for help. On the way back, she tried to pull off the remora herself, but that thing was attached so tightly that it simply wouldn't come off, and she didn't dare to use too much force, worried about leaving scars or even more serious injuries, so she could only ask Natsuki for help.
Natsuki nodded gently, pulled Haruno to sit in the corner, and prepared to help remove the remora.
Because the light was dim, and he didn't want to take medicine for such a small matter, he could only lean in close to observe carefully.
So white.
The remora was so white!
Not only that, its shape was also quite beautiful. In short, it was quite good-looking.
"Haruno, it might hurt a little." Natsuki whispered, "Bear with it."
Haruno took a deep breath and whispered:
"I know… Natsuki-kun, hurry up."
Having a remora attached to her body, and it feeling cold and slimy, like a monster from a nightmare, she didn't want to wait another second!
"Leave it to me."
Natsuki nodded gently, preparing to pull off the remora.
After trying carefully a few times, he quickly found it wouldn't work.
"Haruno, I can't get a grip." Natsuki whispered, "I need to fix it first."
"Fix?" Haruno blinked. After adapting to the cave environment, her eyes could barely see. Seeing Natsuki's serious expression, she nodded gently, "Do whatever you want, Natsuki, just get it off quickly."
"Understood."
After getting permission, Natsuki quickly reached out and grasped.
No choice.
Some things bounce around, and if you don't fix them, it really affects subsequent actions.
"Ah…!"
Haruno thought he was fixing the remora, but she didn't expect him to be fixing something else. Caught off guard, she was attacked, and a soft gasp involuntarily escaped her lips.
"Natsuki-kun, what are you doing?"
Tsubame sensed something was wrong and couldn't help but ask suspiciously.
"Nothing…" Haruno raised her hand to cover her lips and quickly explained, "When I was in the sea earlier, I accidentally got some injuries, and I'm having Natsuki help me treat them. It hurt a bit just now when he touched the wound."
Natsuki silently gave a thumbs up in his heart.
As expected of a mature and alluring big sister, her voice didn't betray the slightest abnormality.
Composed in a crisis.
Excellent psychological fortitude.
If it were Shoko, she would definitely be too flustered to speak by now.
"Is that so." Tsubame didn't suspect anything and hesitated, "Then should I light the candle?"
"No need, it's just a small injury, it'll be over soon." Natsuki said nonchalantly, "I didn't ask earlier, has everyone returned?"
Tsubame said softly:
"Don't worry, Natsuki, everyone is back."
Natsuki shouted:
"Is Juju here?"
Juju snorted:
"I'm here."
Natsuki asked again:
"Where's Shoko?"
Juju: "Shoko is right next to me."
"Aoi?"
"Here, here."
"..."
After calling out names one by one, everyone was in the cave; no one was lost.
Tsubame let out a sigh of relief, her voice filled with worry: "The hurricane came too suddenly, without any warning at all. I wonder how Chika and Yukino-chan are doing."
Natsuki keenly noticed that when Yukino's name was mentioned, Haruno's body visibly tensed…