After riding the bus for a while, Sajuna seemed less energetic, looking sleepy.
Akira adjusted his sitting posture. Sajuna, leaning back in her seat, had already closed her eyes, exuding a quiet and peaceful aura. So, he looked out the window.
The continuous rows of zelkova trees outside the window had disappeared at some point, gradually replaced by shorter buildings. Various signs appeared in his line of sight, and Akira suddenly thought of a scene from a novel or a youth film.
If he didn't wake Sajuna and they just kept riding the bus aimlessly, waiting until Sajuna woke up, then getting off at a place that looked appealing, and then exploring a small alley, it would feel like a youth art film…
The vehicle drove for a few more minutes, finally reaching their stop. So Akira gently patted Sajuna's shoulder, waking her from her sleep.
Sajuna rubbed her sleepy eyes, slowly coming to. She looked over Akira's shoulder at the scenery outside the window.
"Are we there yet?"
"We are."
Akira nodded, and then the two began to gather their belongings. Sajuna straightened her uniform, tugging her skirt down, then adjusted the height of her two over-the-knee socks to be even, and followed Akira off the bus.
Swiping cards, entering the subway station, finding the train they needed to take—it was a similar routine.
After all that, Sajuna was still low on energy. As soon as she got on the train, she leaned against Akira's shoulder and closed her eyes to rest.
The train's speed was much faster than the bus's, but the main reason was that the train had a shorter distance to travel.
So, after another ten minutes of travel, Akira and Sajuna got off the train together at the exit, immediately breathing in the salty, humid air from the sea.
The sun in the sky had not yet set, and its rays shimmered on the ocean's surface, as if countless fish were swimming freely below, their scales reflecting faint light.
The two exited the station and walked a few hundred meters, then saw a silver-white beach.
Akira stood on the steps leading down, observing that there were hardly any people near the beach.
"There aren't many people here."
Akira exclaimed.
"It seems this beach isn't open yet."
"That's why there aren't many people!" Sajuna said, skipping down the steps and onto the soft sand, leaving footprints.
"Aki-Kun, let's take some photos!"
"Be careful."
Akira quickly followed her. Although the steps weren't very high, Akira still didn't want any accidents to happen.
Seeing Sajuna safely step onto the beach, his worries vanished. Akira quickly caught up to Sajuna.
Sajuna had already pulled out her phone, ready to take pictures. Her gaze was level with her raised phone, looking at the shimmering sea opposite, and her whole being exuded an aura of happiness.
"Click, click."
Sajuna took several photos in a row before turning to ask Akira, who was beside her.
"It would have been nice to come earlier."
"It's not too late now."
Akira didn't have that thought. He just felt that as long as he was with Sajuna, it was never too late.
"That's true."
Seeing the sea, an excited Sajuna clearly became more lively, raising her phone and gesturing to Akira.
"Aki-Kun, let's take a selfie."
Seeing Akira nod, Sajuna ran behind Akira with her phone and gently poked his firm back.
"Aki-Kun, squat down."
Watching Akira squat down as she requested, a smile appeared on Sajuna's face. Then she reached out her hands and wrapped them around Akira's neck from both sides. Her small face then moved closer to Akira's cheek, so close that if Akira turned his head, he could kiss her profile.
Even at such close proximity, Akira could only see the blush on Sajuna's cheek, finding it difficult to spot any flaws on her face.
It was as if 'flawless jade' was a phrase designed for a wonderful girl like Sajuna.
"Aki-Kun, are you ready?"
Sajuna held out her phone, switching the camera to the front-facing one. Both their faces immediately appeared on the screen.
"Looking at this, I feel so ugly."
Akira gently tapped the screen, finding his reflection on the screen looked strange.
"Not at all. You look very handsome."
Sajuna leaned over to look at the screen, "Aki-Kun just likes to lie."
"Do you want to do a pose?"
Akira asked.
"Eh, Aki-Kun, do you want a pose?"
Sajuna asked, turning her head in confusion while holding her phone. This already looked intimate enough.
Akira suddenly turned his head and gently kissed Sajuna's cheek, then looked at Sajuna on the screen.
"How about taking a kissing photo like this?"
Akira observed Sajuna withdrawing one hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, then, with only a slight blush on her cheeks, she softly said,
"Okay."
Saying this, Sajuna leaned a little closer to Akira's body. Akira felt his back being softly pressed by her, and then Sajuna cleared her throat, as if she wanted to say something but it got stuck in her throat.
Feeling the touch on his back, Akira was slightly surprised, because previously he had only measured with his eyes, only able to roughly guess it was satisfactory. Now, he felt that what was pressing against his back seemed to have a slight tendency to flatten.
It turned out it wasn't just the tip of a lotus bud emerging, but rather, it was close enough to the waves not to hinder the painted boat's sway.
As if realizing her boldness, Sajuna quickly urged Akira to act.
"Aki-Kun, hurry up, I'm going to take the picture now."
Akira turned his head and kissed Sajuna's cheek, then heard the click of the camera.
After the shutter clicked, Akira started to pull his head back, but Sajuna's hand pushed him back.
"Aki-Kun, that wasn't a good shot! Let's take another one!"
"Eh, I saw Sajuna look at it for several seconds."
"Your face clearly showed satisfaction, didn't it?"
"It's precisely because I looked at it for a long time that I felt it wasn't good!"
Sajuna's argumentative voice came. Akira wasn't intentionally trying to argue with Sajuna, so he kissed Sajuna's cheek again.
"Aki-Kun, you need to smile."
"Aki-Kun, you need to open your eyes and look at me."
"Aki-Kun, close your eyes, and let's take another one."
Click, click, click, the sound of the shutter kept going. Akira felt his face was about to stiffen before he heard Sajuna's voice announcing the end.
"All done! I'll send them to Aki-Kun later."
Akira nodded, then turned to ask Sajuna.
"The photos we just took were of me kissing Sajuna. Is it Sajuna's turn to kiss me now?"
As he said this, Akira felt the body that had previously loosened behind him press against him again, her tone filled with joyous emotion.
"Okay!"