Izumi watched the group happily splashing in the water on one side: "Looks like they're having a great time!"
[Don't mind it, don't mind it.]
Izumi squatted nearby watching Saiki fish. When Saiki reeled in another fish, Izumi clapped excitedly and asked.
"Saiki-kun, you're so amazing! Can you teach me how to fish?"
[So easy, no problem. I even brought an extra rod—it's in the bag back there. Go grab it and I'll teach you!]
"Oh! Got it!"
Izumi gave a thumbs-up, then happily turned and left.
Saiki looked at himself about to graduate to teaching someone else the skill. Recalling his own fishing process, he couldn't help sighing.
[Yare yare daze. Looks like all that hard practice—spending a bit of time every vacation to hone my fishing skills—can finally come in handy. But let me say upfront: I've never once used superpowers while fishing!]
On the other side, right after turning around and climbing over a rock, after just a few steps, Izumi spotted a little girl at the river's edge wearing a swim ring. The current was pulling her downstream.
"Pretty nice—even the kids are having so much fun."
The little girl was still playing happily, not yet realizing she couldn't swim back upstream. Her smiling expression gradually...
And the smile vanished from Izumi's face too (º Д º*): "She's being swept away!"
...
Saiki reeled in another fish, then looked around in slight confusion after putting the rod away.
[Why hasn't Izumi come back yet? It's taking so long!]
[Did something happen? But it's just the riverside. He was only going back to grab a fishing rod. A normal person shouldn't have any trouble... but this is Izumi...]
...
After being caught by Nekozaki Kyo, Shikimori blushed and said: "Huff huff∽ You... you're really persistent, chasing me for so long."
"Hehe, come on! Don't be shy. How long are you planning to hide? Are you really not going to show it off today?"
Shikimori knew that if she didn't reveal it soon, it'd be too late—no, it'd be a total waste. She then glanced toward where Saiki had been.
She saw Saiki reeling in his rod and sitting there with his head lowered in thought.
"Huff~"
Shikimori took a deep breath and, as if steeling herself, declared:
"I'm going to show it!"
"Oh! Nice, nice!"
Nekozaki Kyo clapped encouragingly from the side.
Shikimori slowly took off her white outer jacket, revealing a black swimsuit underneath.
"Oh! Sexy sexy—Mi-chan looks so good in it!"
"Everyone, look—this is Mi-chan's swimsuit!"
The others came over and praised her.
Hachimitsu Yui: "Oh! Really pretty, Shikimori."
Inuzuka Shu: "Yeah, it suits you well."
"Thanks!"
Shikimori shyly looked toward where Saiki had been fishing, but Saiki had already vanished without a trace. Only the bucket and fishing rod remained.
"Huh? Where is he!!"
Shikimori Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
...
Since both Izumi and Saiki had disappeared, the group started searching. They weren't too worried about Saiki, but Izumi...
For someone whose bad luck could sometimes escalate to the point of choking on water, they were quite concerned about him vanishing alone.
"Izumi-kun..."
"Saiki-kun..."
While searching, suddenly!! Inuzuka Shu seemed to spot something and alerted everyone.
"Quick, look—isn't that Izumi?"
Everyone followed Inuzuka Shu's pointing finger. They saw Izumi struggling in the water along with the little girl. It looked like they were drowning. Though Izumi was struggling himself, he was using all his strength to hold the little girl as high as possible so she wouldn't swallow water.
"It's definitely Izumi!!"
"Wh... What do we do!!! Should we... go call for help?"
Their distance was a bit far at the moment, and everyone started to panic.
By now Izumi could no longer hold on and was choking on water. He slowly sank into the river. Without Izumi supporting her, the little girl was still struggling on the surface, choking.
"Izumi!!!"
Izumi [It... it hurts so much. Am I going to die?]
Izumi felt breathing become difficult, a suffocating sensation that was unbearable. Water had entered his lungs, choking him almost to the point of passing out. But right at the moment he was about to faint, he saw a beam of light! A somewhat blurry figure in the water—it looked like Saiki reaching out toward him.
Izumi [Saiki... kun]
(Yare yare)
Saiki grabbed the drowning Izumi and swam upstream, breaking the surface.
Shikimori, who had been panicking and about to jump in to save him, saw Saiki pulling Izumi up. Her panicked expression vanished instantly.
"Saiki-kun!!"
"Saiki!!"
Saiki swam to the side and reached out toward the still-struggling little girl.
[Don't panic. Hold on to me first.]
After seeing someone arrive, the little girl instinctively wrapped both arms around Saiki's neck, coughed up some water, and calmed down a little. But her hands still clung tightly to Saiki's neck.
[It's okay.]
Saiki carried Izumi on his back and held the little girl with one arm as he swam toward the shore. The others rushed over to help.
"Saiki, are you okay?"
[I'm fine. Check on them first!]
Saiki lifted both of them onto the shore and set them down, then said in a "tired" voice.
Everyone checked their condition. After reaching the shore, the little girl coughed up a few mouthfuls of water. Her emotions stabilized, and her body didn't seem to have any major issues.
Izumi, however, lay on the ground sleeping very peacefully, showing no movement. Inuzuka Shu nervously patted Izumi's face from the side: "Izumi! Izumi!"
Seeing no response from Izumi, Inuzuka Shu looked panicked.
"What do we do? Saiki, next is CPR or mouth-to-mouth? Where do we press? Artificial..."
[Move aside!]
Saiki walked over, crouched down, placed his hand on Izumi's chest, and gently pressed.
"Pfft!!!"
Izumi sprayed a fountain-like stream of water from his mouth, sat bolt upright, eyes still somewhat exhausted. Drool leaked from the corner of his mouth as he gasped heavily for air.
"Huff~ huff~ huff"
Izumi stared blankly at the group surrounding him with worried expressions, then looked at Saiki sitting beside him.
"I'm not dead?"
[Yeah, what a shame. Almost there.]
"Wah... Thank you, Saiki-kun!"
Izumi looked at Saiki emotionally. He shifted from sitting to kneeling on both knees and bowed his head deeply toward Saiki in thanks.
[Don't kowtow—I'm still alive.]
Shikimori: "Izumi-kun, what happened? How did you end up drowning?"
Nekozaki Kyo: "Yeah! You and Saiki suddenly disappeared. When we found you, you were drowning. If Saiki hadn't been there, you'd have been done for."
(He wouldn't have been done for.)
Hachimitsu Yui: "Everyone was really worried about you..."
"Sorry, everyone. Sorry, Saiki-kun. I made you all worry."
Inuzuka Shu: "Saiki and Izumi he..."
[When I found him, he was already in the river about to drown, so I jumped in to save him. You guys arrived right after I jumped in, right!]
Izumi explained: He had originally planned to go back to the campsite to grab the fishing rod, but on the way he saw the little girl...