Chapter 5 (2/2)

Only if I could store wax like deep-sea animals

Is this how diving into a different world feels?

My near-nu

The bike already lefton the attack not too far ahead It won’t come back up, and will probably become the new homes or nests for fishes in the future Will it hate ht? Cuz she lied, right?

…… I started er nuins

“Pwah! Cough, cough!” Without hesitation, I spat out precious oxygen and changed stance

I turned, searching the source of light to face upward

Opening my eyes in the fumed and dirty water, I atte your eyes in the sea without goggles is not likely Still, I pushed on

Nothing else is du to live!

As ed close to spass that floated vertically onto the sea Seems like Erio’s already at the surface, so I don’t have to stay here anyht arm, and power-stroked with my left

For better or worse, en tranquilized my body Since there was a dearth of nutrient for fear, I was forced to maintain a calm state of mind I will live on without anxiety

My face easily pierced the surface, and I began floating Water expulsed fro as I puked water I didn't even have time to breathe

My te

The content may be water, but the sound effect was undoubtedly that of vo

Trying to play badass any ht even in front of a girl

Erio, who rose before I did, was still coughing, but it would appear she's done with getting rid of the sea water Breathing in too

For a while, we coughed incessantly, paying the price for our bravado

Assea that was colder than a just-opened swihtmy vision

To avoid the one of us fro washed away, I naturally held Erio's left hand

Erio's finger tips were the saible

“Oi, pretend-alien, how does the sea of Earth taste?”

“It tastes salty, and the service was terrible”

Head hung, she spouted the misplaced words of a food critic

She did, however, spoke in proper japanese

With fingers that I couldn't felt, I pull Erio closer and clamped her left hand:

“Anyhow, you sure sucked! Never mind space, you won't even make it to Enoshi+ma[6]”

“This is all the fault of the secretary: I have nothing to do with it”

“Haha! That doesn't change the fact that you failed! I ive a crap”

I laughed, and water once again filled my mouth Not only that, Erio even splashed water at ht hand

Siirl by the beach! It should have been Huess ere literally, but the realistic development was kind of off Is this how a victim of an elaborate scam feels?

“Well, I' schools and going to the beach and stuff My Youth-points are skyrocketing! The inflation is real!”

“How dare you talk like that, when you should be going for niche stuff like this with your guy friends”

So criteria Would this happen to be an international standard?

“Also, I'raduated from adolescence”

Erio corrected as she flicked her soaked hair unto her shoulders Even et, her hair still emitted particles; in my eyes, this was the most vibrant so far

“I don'tto the beach nor like this” I turned to scan around

The ocean diffused endlessly

Hard to iine that there are continents and islands in the horizon of the sea

The

It is both blue and endless

Erio pointed to the far horizon

“Let's go there!”

“Why? hell no, I don't like sharks”

“Lets find an island and live there together!” Her eyes were muddled; they scared me

“Screw that! I would hate a world with just you andto comproirls with bigger chests! I still have Ryuushi+-san and Maekawa-san!”

“Uwah~ He's not letting go of the flags[7] that are frailer than a Pcky[8] stick!”)

“And what makes you think you can shut down on?”

“I'm done with that”

Eriothe water away from her cheeks

The water on her face ept away, yet the droplets from her pal solution

Plight signifying her problems in life seemed to expand on Erio's face

“Also, what's theof this?”

Her purple lips treuine

“By that you mean?”

“For the cousin, what is thethis?”

On our linked hands, Erio's nails dug into h tooff:

“Must I provide so like a reason or motivation?”

“Of course”

She answered i me to hurry…

What a pain~ That's ht

Since I decided on a whim, I didn't care about ould happen afterward Even now, I still don't know my intention

Like choosing a future career, my impulsive youth was troubled with the direction of the future

I have to add in some motives that came later

If ht return to the sea — literally

What was it… Oh yeah, that The first time I met Ryuushi+-san

Just like this, toes tipped

“Get along with everyone~” Since I wasn't too confident in my cuteness, I left the 'oh~” in my heart

“Huh?”

Erio froze How rare, but how cute Both the value of this occasion or the cause for this reaction were satisfying

”Erio Froze How rare, but how cute”

“It's the huo for this first, so I don't have to worry about other things!”

“Sounds like bull~”

Erio's gave the look of sue out

“Yeah, right! Since I' Isn't it natural?” I kept thinking that I sounded more suspicious

The sound ofdrowned in the waves

“I'm an alien! I should kno to fly! No, I can definitely fly! Just a bit! Three miles! At least I a defeated me! Why? No, I knohy! I don't knohy!”

Erio pretended to be mental and in denial, and the lines I tossed out were,

“You deserve it… I will definitely be the bad guy if I say that”

Thus, I said nothing

If you're normal now, it's up to yourself! This ould be the only acceptable for her as well

“The fact that we've became friends is terrible! The relation between the different planets have been ruined by the cousin! My co is also in violation of several space agreement!”

Both outer space and Earth Miss Erio were conflicted, busily going back and forth between the stratosphere It's tiravity

But was ht I was just grinning

“There isn't a perfect relationshi+p in this world that would hurt no one from start to end!”

Because of sos are always paired with departure

“I don't get what you mean”

She callously pointed out Ms over with pretty words failed

“Anyway, nothing is final yet Cuz, this is our first dayeach other”

At the right tier to jab the oblivious Erio… Eh? I can'trebellious like its owner!

I don't need body language I'll use eniality!

This is the biggest weapon for those peace lovers ish for people to get along:

“Is this your second ti settlement pizza next time”

“…” A solemn face In other words, the stubborn expression that will explode into tears with the lightest touch

“I want to get along with the pretty girl who returned to Earth If you're worried about your amnesia, I will listen to your complaints too Today was to prepare for that”

Crossing such event (falling deeper) will pull the distance between the two hearts closer

Heheheh, this is indeed the suspension bridge effect[9]

Jokingly carry out the test would only result in actually falling froe

Who would blush fro like that?!

… Fine, I give up on any benefits Let's put an end to this!

To crawl back onto land, and let gravity torture me

“To get along, we have to understand each other first In short, self-introduction is vital!”

“Ah… I'm Touwa”

Hey, slon I'm not done yet

Helplessly, I gave the screen time to Erio Perhaps a bit shook up, she stuttered, unable to finish

Since the tears flowing into herher, it seemed my lines won't be omitted

Ok, then I'll say it!

“Hey, Earthling Give me your name”

“Touwa… Erio… Erio Touwa… Erio!”

“Good I'm Niwa Makoto, pleased to meet you”

Translator's notes and references

Ju to

Jump up↑ 自腹, literally 'self belly', means to use your own money It's probably a visual pun on Seppuku, 切腹

Ju of alien in the rainforest there

Jump up↑ a classical story, where a person lied about his fear for manju’s so he could eat them all

Jump up↑ Za Warudo

Juawa-ken

Jus

Jump up↑ Pocky sticks

Jump up↑ The phenomenon that the brain could misattribute different eer to elevated heart rate from exercise Look up misattribution of arousal and two factor theory