I Managed to Bring Down the Entire Family of That Impossible-To-Conquer S-Class Beauty, Completely Filling in Her Outer Moat
“The ocean! We’re here!!”
On our day off, Kouki and I had hopped trains to get to the sea.
Kouki’s eyes sparkled at the vast ocean stretching before us. He jumped up and down, rummaging noisily through his backpack.
“Hey, Nozomu! Let’s go catch a ton of fish, quick!”
“Yeah, yeah. Alright, let’s head over to the breakwater then.”
“Yeah! Yee-haw!!”
The sea breeze caressed our skin, sunlight streaming into our eyes. After walking a bit, we arrived at the breakwater.
There weren’t many people around, so it looked like we could do whatever we wanted.
“Alright, I’ll set up the rigs. You can go play on the sandy beach.”
“Whaaa!? If you’re going, I’m coming too! I can’t set up the rigs, so I’ll just sing the Heart Sutra next to you!”
“Why!? At least make it something funny!”
“Okay!”
The fishing rig.
Mainly involves attaching hooks, line, and weights to the fishing rod. Tying the hook is especially tricky, so I decided I’d handle it this time.
After rigging both rods, I handed one to Kouki.
“You put the bait on yourself, okay?”
“…Ugh, it’s squirming and gross~! AAAAH!? Nozomu, put it on for me~~!!”
“Stop acting like a girl! And don’t whine!”
“Eeek!!”
The bait was ragworms. Those ridged, earthworm-like things.
If I did the bait for him too, that would be taking care of him way too much, so I steeled my heart.
After glancing at Kouki whimpering on my left, I sat down on the simple folding chair I’d brought and let the fishing line dangle into the sea.
“Hey, hey, isn’t fishing supposed to be more like… whoosh! …and then you just fling it out?”
“That’s fine too, but for starters, I think we should aim for bottom fish.”
“Bottom fish? What’s that?”
“Fish that live in crevices between rocks on the seabed. Beginners should start with those to get used to the feel of fishing.”
“Got it! Alright, let’s fish~!”
After finally wrestling with the bait, Koki lowered his line just like mine.
The echoing ripples in my ears, the salty scent tickling my nostrils, the clear blue sky above devoid of power lines…
Honestly, even if I don’t catch anything, I personally think the best part of fishing is just soaking up this atmosphere.
As I was thinking that, my fishing rod jerked unnaturally.
“Huh? What’s this…”
As I reeled in, the old man fishing to my right tilted his head and started reeling too.
Looking at what surfaced from the water, I saw it was tangled with the old man’s line.
“Ah, sorry! it got tangled up…”
“Tangling” refers to the trouble of getting your line tangled with another angler’s.
I probably could have avoided it if I’d been more careful, but maybe I was just too spaced out.
“Hmph, well, it’s fine. So, fishing with a friend? Try not to cause too much trouble. I haven’t had the best memories with the young ones I’ve met.”
“Got it. By the way, caught anything good?”
“Nah, not yet. Just some decent-sized black porgy at best.”
He was an old man with gray hair and a somewhat sullen expression.
While untangling the fishing lines together, I started chatting with him.
“You a high schooler?”
“Yes, I’m a sophomore now!”
“Same age as my granddaughter? Lucky you. She doesn’t come fishing much…”
“Well, some people say it’s no fun if you don’t catch anything.”
“Plus, I hear sharks about a meter long show up around here.”
“Seriously!? I’d love to catch one, even just once.”
Finally, the tangled line was untangled. I lowered the line again, about to zone out.
Then, the old man next to me flipped up his shirt and showed me something attached to his belt loop.
“This? My granddaughter gave it to me. Pretty nice, huh?”
“That’s… a fish keychain? It’s cute.”
It was a somewhat awkward-looking fish. Did she make it back in elementary school?
His face beaming with pride made me smile too.
“She used to give me lots of gifts back in the day, but lately… well, not so much.”
“True, I used to give gifts on random days too, but lately… maybe not so much either.”
“Seems my granddaughter is… an S… an S-type… a beauty? …Well, I don’t really get it, but she’s popular for being an S.”
“Popular for being a sadist!? Really…? Your granddaughter seems to have evolved into something quite unique.”
Our high school has an untouchable S-class beauty, but this gentleman’s granddaughter seems to be a hardcore sadist.
Suddenly, I muttered, “Come to think of it…” and asked the old man.
“Um… Excuse me, what’s your name?”
“I’m Nabatame Toshizo. I don’t feel like getting too familiar, so you can forget it if you want.”
“I’m Watarai Nozomu. I won’t forget, Toshizo-san.”
“Nozomu.. That’s a nice name.”
I planned to keep chatting with the old man next to me—Toshizo-san, that is—while Koki struggled and I enjoyed some laid-back fishing.
But that peace shattered in an instant.
“Hey, hey~! Do you really catch anything here~?”
“No idea. But if we don’t catch anything, we can just take theirs, right? lol”
“Ahaha! True~♡”
The couple, dressed as if they’d come for a swim, had an atmosphere so sweet it made your chest hurt.
The other people fishing here sensed it too, glancing at them as if they were rare creatures.
(Those are exactly the kind of young people Toshizo-san would hate! N-no… it’s not good to judge by appearances yet, Nozomu! You have to figure it out…!!)
Even so, I’m not good with that type, so I really hope they don’t come bother us.
Perhaps because I muttered that to myself, it ended up becoming a flag…
Maiasa