章 62: Chapter 62: Is Diving Fun?
"This feeling..."
"Good, eh? How does the view look when you're almost entirely surrounded by water and marine life?" Toshio asked as he slowly strolled along the tunnel.
"Definitely something I didn't expect. The water is so...clear and unpolluted. So this is the view from underwater, huh?"
And I just realized. Grand Blue was both an anime and a shop for diving. I almost forgot about it since only about 1% was actually diving and the other 99%...well, spirytus and naked men.
If my interest in diving was at a 'meh' level before, it's definitely shooting past the roof now. To be fair, neither the manga nor the anime did justice to what the view underwater was. It was portrayed nicely, but it still pales in comparison to the actual thing.
"My store sells service for divers. So, what do you think? Are you interested in it now?"
"I was always interested since I want to try new things, but this," Pointing to the large number of fishes that were crowding my view, I continued, "This just made me more than just 'interested' in diving."
"So you're gonna be a permanent member? I'll give you a discount."
"Not yet." Smiling while scratching the back of my head awkwardly, I said, "I'm poor, so maybe a one-time thing would be nice, but I won't take the permanent membership for now."
"Hm...what a pity." Toshio didn't try to persuade me any further, nor did he try to lower his price. After all, he was still running a business in the end. Plus, we only met for the first time today, so it would be weirder if he lowered his price any further.
"Still, I think I'm going to enjoy it."
"I really hope you will enjoy your dive in the future as well."
∞
After touring the rest of the aquarium, it was already 2 plus. We had a quick lunch before returning back to the shop.
Opening the door, the scene from the morning remained - a bunch of naked men drinking happily. Even Suzuki joined in at some point while I was touring the aquarium.
Where was the "mature adult" who was supposed to "take care" of me? Where was the "experienced adult" who was supposed to be "responsible" for me?
"Kotegawa-san...are they frequent customers to your bar?"
"It's a diving shop...but yes. They are part of a club called Peek a Boo."
"Oh, Ojii-san! You're back! How's your tour?" A man noticed us, which was quite impressive, seeing that they were currently dead drunk.
"Nice! Now, I'm more interested in diving."
The moment I said the word 'diving', they all instantly stopped whatever they were doing and turned to look at me. Apart from Suzuki, who couldn't hold his liquor in and was making weird noises, the rest of the shop instantly became silent.
"W-What?"
God, this is terrifying. The boisterous shop suddenly had a pin-drop silence, and everybody had turned to look at me.
"Hehehe...Maruno, did you know?"
"Nope. It's a surprise, I guess."
"Unfortunately, he's too young."
"If only he was 7 years older."
"Wait, Tokki would be in the same generation as him, right?"
"Only for one year, though, before he graduates."
"He's in high school now, right?"
"Yeah. And Tokki's good at the piano too."
"Maruno!"
"Hai!"
"Recruit him!"
While they were "whispering" with one another, I managed to hear some words which included "Tokki", which I guess is one of the senpai in Grand Blue (anime), "recruit", and "good at the piano".
I don't think the last words actually matter too much to me, and while I don't mind meeting the "Tokki", the second word scared me slightly.
Senpais...I'm only in my first year of junior high school, so can you stop making plans for me 7 years into the future while boldly assuming I'm even coming here for university?
"Ano...can we not talk about recruiting me first? I mean, if I don't like diving after trying it out, all the plans would just flush down the drain, right?"
"What are you talking about? No one would hate diving after experiencing it first hand. The only ones who hate diving are the ones who haven't tried it out yet. So no plans of ours would ever go down the drain."
Sigh, this bunch of people might be rowdy and loud, but when it comes to diving, it seems that the system in their bodies automatically flushed out all the alcohol and immediately made them sober and concentrated. What a legendary body system; I wish I had something like that.
"Sigh, why don't you introduce me to your club first? What exactly do you do and stuff?"
"Peek a Boo is an intercollegiate diving club that uses the Grand Blue diving shop as our meeting point for club activities. The Grand Blue shop also acts as the main source for our equipment and services."
"Other than that, it's where we usually come after celebrations (which is every day)."
"Yep. After all, the scenery from here is just beautiful (the beer here tastes the best)."
"I can't agree more. The atmosphere around here (the always almost empty shop that we can use for ourselves) is really relaxing, after all!"
"No other shop can beat this place (no other shops would allow us to enter and use their place as our gathering point)."
I think I just heard some dangerous words mixed inside their speech. So they just come here to hang out because no other shop would take them in, huh? And Toshio was just kind enough to let them use his shop.
Poor Toshio...
"Anyway, before you dive, you need to learn some theory and pseudo-diving first. After all, we may joke around a lot, but diving is a dangerous sport if you're not careful, and we don't want to risk anything."
"Plus, you look kinda skinny, so hopefully, your tank will not drag your body all the way to the seabed in one moment."
"I might not look like it, but I'm actually pretty strong."
Even though I have no idea why. Maybe it was passed down from my old man.
"Hahaha, we'll see later. For now, take the rest of the day and read this up." Maruno tossed me a thick book, "We'll be getting into the water tomorrow, so you can join us for diving tomorrow if you prove to be a fast learner."
Easy enough. I have an eidetic memory, so this would be a cinch. Reading books is one of the things I do best, next to playing the piano.
"Alright!" Holding onto the book, I just realized something important.
"Etto...where am I supposed to sleep?"
Maruno froze at my question before an awkward laugh came out of his mouth, "Hahahahaha...I'msosorryI'mbusynowaskmelaterwillyou?"
Oh no, you're not running away from me.
Grabbing onto Maruno's waist, I lodged my heel into the floor as Maruno attempted to run away from the store.
"I'm so sorry! Bring the both of you here was just in the heat of the moment! I didn't actually have any plans for either for you!" Maruno yelled as he used even more strength to try and get out of the store.
Unfortunately for him, all our actions just showed (and proved) that my strength is at an acceptable level, being able to prevent a 24-year-old university athletic student from running away.
Granted, I might have used the floor to my advantage to add extra drag force, but if any other children were in my position, they would only be flying like a flag as they cling onto the running Maruno.
"Wow, he really does have some strength, doesn't he?"
"Being able to stop Maruno from running, can we even do that?" The one who spoke paused before everyone burst into laughter.
"Of course we can!" Their faces morphed into something between creepy, funny, and a titan as they turned towards the poor first year within their midst, "Since even Maruno managed to secure a future member, you're in charge of scouting freshmen from now on."
"What?! Hell no!"
"Then forget about your clothes. Maybe the incinerator would love a set of extra clothes to wear for the winter."
"Hey hey hey! Relax, senpai! I was just kidding!" The poor first year pounded his chest and assured, "Don't worry. I'll make sure to invite (drag) people into our club (whether they like it or not)!"
Once again, while I was trying to prevent Maruno from running, I think I heard some dangerous words that shouldn't be spoken out loud at all.
"Ma-ru-no-san, I'm not letting you go until I receive a suitable answer." Speaking each syllabus clearly and distinctly, I made sure that Maruno could hear me as I put all my strength into stopping him, "Because I don't plan to pitch a tent outside and sleep by the wave when you are sleeping comfortably in your own bed."
"I'm so sorry! But my house really has no more space for an extra person to sleep!"
"Then at least help me find a place to sleep in for the next two weeks."
Before Maruno could reply, Toshio's voice sounded, "Why don't you sleep at my store instead?"
"Eh? Are you sure?"
"Yeah. We have some extra space. No beds, though, only futons."
"It's fine. I just needed a shelter over my head." Hearing that I have a place to sleep now, I let go of Maruno abruptly, causing him to tumble forward from the sudden momentum.
"Thank you very much. I don't have much money, but I can help out around the store if you need help to pay you back."
"Hm..." Toshio took a closer look at my appearance, and I involuntarily stepped back. Hey, I'm not going to risk it; even if he has a daughter, I don't know much about him, much less his sexual orientation. Plus, he doesn't mind naked men in his shop. Or maybe he's just that used to it.
Poor thing.
"Well, if you say so. It'll be good to have an additional helping hand. But you'll be signing this later so that I don't get sued for underage employment." Toshio waved a piece of paper which had the big, bolded words of "contract".
"For now, take your luggage and follow me."
Come to think of it, where's my luggage? I turn to look at Maruno, who had already run away.
"OIIIII!"
∞
Phew...today was exhausting. Mainly because of Maruno, though. Seeing him run away at my mention about my luggage made me think that he had done something wrong, so I immediately chased after him in irritation.
It took me one whole hour to finally chase him down and tackling him to the beach, only to realize that he was just joking with me and had already delivered my luggage to Toshio way beforehand, which was right after we landed.
It turns out he had more important things to do as well, but he just didn't like doing them, so he made an excuse to not do it by pretending to have done something to my luggage.
I thought Maruno didn't know how to scheme, but in the end, it turns out he practically manipulated all of us to do his bidding.
How scary~.
Anyway! It's currently already nighttime, and I had just finished my dinner.
I was sweaty from running the entire afternoon (it's only for an hour), so I desperately wanted to take a shower. It didn't help that I smelled like a mixture of the beach, sea, and food from dinner.
Returning to my room, I placed the book on top of the rest of my luggage. After that, I took my towel and change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.
"Uesugi-kun? Are you going to take a bath now?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"Not really. We don't exactly have hot water, only warm, so I hope you don't mind it."
"I won't. If anything, I'm already grateful to be able to take a shower, unlike a certain someone (Maruno) who completely abandoned me and almost made me homeless for the night."
"Haha...you're a good kid. Go take your bath."
Without saying anything more, I headed straight to the bathroom and opened the door.
I've always thought that this world was very anime-like, but I have never just realized how much. The good old-fashioned cliché of walking into someone changing.
It might not be a busty onee-san, but...
"Who are you? Scratch that, first of all, can you leave now before I gouge out your eyes?"
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