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From the perspective of Yuuji (or now Yuuri) Tachibana’s best friend,
POV: Satou Yuuta
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What started it all? I don’t even remember anymore. Anyway, the point is that in August, the four of us—me, Yuuki, and Yuuji, plus Hina-chan—ended up going to the beach together.
I think it was sometime around June, when Yuuki and I were hanging out at Yuuji’s place talking about dumb stuff? We started reminiscing about last summer, and how, being from an all-boys high school, of course we never had a girlfriend, or even the chance to meet girls. During those three years, we were too busy with exam prep, stressed out of our minds. So for some reason, Yuuki and I snapped and were like:
“Let’s go to the beach and pick up girls! We’ll totally get girlfriends!”
We charged in totally unprepared, went to the beach, and got completely wrecked. When we told Yuuji about it, he/she nearly died laughing, clutching his/her stomach and everything. Yuuki got mad at that and was like:
“Then this year, we’re making a comeback!”
And that’s how the beach trip got decided. Pretty sure that’s how it went.
Yuuji, who can’t swim, whined and grumbled the whole time, but it was all or nothing. We dragged him/her along whether he/she liked it or not.
Oh yeah, and his/her excuse was hilarious:
“It’s fine because it’s me, but don’t just invite a girl to the beach—or anywhere she has to wear revealing clothes—out of the blue, okay? If you’re not careful, she’ll end up hating you. Girls need prep time.”
Or something like that. What the hell is “prep time”? (LOL)
So then we decided to go around Obon in August. Right when that was settled, Hina-chan walked into Yuuji’s room and we had a bit of a scene.
Apparently, letting the current Yuuji wander around in public without a chaperone is just asking for trouble. So for the sake of avoiding any incidents, she insisted on tagging along too.
Since both Yuuki and I have our driver’s licenses, we were going by car. Adding one more person wouldn’t be a problem, so we agreed to let Hina-chan come with us.
Oh, right. That’s also when Yuuji said this:
“We’ve still got a month and a half until the beach trip. Yuuki, Yuuta—if you wanna attract girls, cosplay with muscles.”
Then he/she made us do sit-ups, back extensions, push-ups, and squats every single day.
Well, I figured I might as well go along with it. Not that I actually believed Yuuji’s dumb advice or anything, but hey—I’m a healthy, red-blooded Japanese male. What’s wrong with wanting to be popular with girls? What’s wrong with putting in some effort to get there?
And then, the day finally arrived.
Meeting time: 6:30 AM. Normally, it takes just over an hour to get from our hometown to a fairly popular beach spot, but considering summer traffic, we planned for about two hours.
We met up in front of Yuuji’s house. Not to pick him/her up or anything—we were there to get his/her little sister figure, Hina-chan. Yuuji just happened to come with her.
And then there was Yuuji’s outfit…
How do I put it… It was like a kid trying way too hard to dress like an adult. Completely tragic. Classic Yuuji. Still as hopeless as ever. I’ll say it as many times as I have to: this guy/girl has amazing raw material and keeps throwing it all away.
Yuuji is supposed to be 19 like the rest of us, officially passing him/herself off as a first-year high schooler at 16. But thanks to his/her baby face, he/she barely looks like a middle schooler.
So a more age-appropriate, cutesy outfit would probably suit him/her better…
Also, his/her clothes didn’t even fit right.
But when we pointed that out, that idiot just said:
“That ‘I’m totally trying to look grown-up’ vibe is what makes it good!”
With the most smug, self-satisfied grin you’ve ever seen. I mean it. The guy/girl looked so damn proud of him/herself, you could frame that face with a plaque: ‘This is the textbook definition of a smug face!’
It was in that moment—despite how different he/she looked—I was reminded that yep, this is still Yuuji.
Meanwhile, behind Yuuji, Hina-chan was shrinking into herself, looking genuinely sorry for what he/she was saying.
Now she’s a real girl, through and through. Unlike a certain idiot, she was dressed in something that actually suited her.
For the record, Hina-chan’s supposed to be 16 this year. But unlike Yuuji, she looks older than her actual age. You could say she’s the same age as us and no one would question it.
Honestly, her outfit was more college-girl chic than high schooler—elegant, yet fashionable.
Actually, now that I think about it… the clothes Yuuji’s wearing would probably look great on Hina-chan. Huh? Wait a sec—don’t tell me… Yuuji’s wearing something he/she pulled out of Hina-chan’s closet??
…Yuuji, you were seriously making that smug face while wearing your sister’s clothes…?
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We got to the beach around 8 a.m.—earlier than expected. But every parking lot was full. Come on, don’t you people have anything better to do? How long have you even been here!?
With no other choice, we drove around until we finally found a parking spot a bit farther away.
Meanwhile, in the back seat, Yuuji and Hina-chan were fast asleep.
Well, it was an early morning, and since Hina-chan and technically Yuuji are both girls now, they probably got up even earlier than us to do their hair and makeup or whatever. Can’t really blame them for knocking out on the ride.
Even after we arrived at the beach, we still had to wait.
Unlike us guys, who could just change on the spot, the two of them headed for the beach’s changing rooms. So we waited outside near the exit.
Also—Yuuji just casually walked straight into the women’s changing room like it was nothing.
“Agh, it’s hot…” Yuuki muttered beside me. It wasn’t even 9 a.m. yet, and it was already this bad. What the hell’s it gonna be like after noon?
“Sorry. Kept you waiting.”
“You’re late, Yuu—”
And then we saw Yuuji walk out of the changing room, and we both just stood there, completely speechless. Judging from Yuuki’s face, he was just as stunned.
“…Sorry I’m not curvy enough,” he/she said with a grimace.
Apparently, this idiot misunderstood our silence. Like, seriously, do you even have eyes?
Back when he was a guy, Yuuji hovered right on the line between average and handsome. If you squinted, you could probably call him a borderline pretty boy.
But Yuuji back then didn’t care at all about his appearance. His hair was always a mess, and his clothes were like, “As long as it’s clean and not flashy, whatever.” Even so, he still managed to fall somewhere on the lower end of the handsome spectrum. Well, when he wasn’t ruining it all with laziness and full-blown chuunibyou.
I once overheard some girls in middle school say, “If Tachibana-kun would just shut up and clean himself up, he’d totally be hot.”
And now that Yuuji’s become a girl, he/she has transformed into an absolute knockout.
Starting with the face. No celebrity could hope to compete. Maybe those “most beautiful girl in the world” types you see on TV or online could put up a fight—but even then, I’d bet Yuuji wins. Yeah, I might be biased since I know him/her, but I’m pretty confident in that take. Her face is just that insanely good.
And the figure? Practically illegal. Smooth, healthy skin, long limbs, well-balanced proportions. He/she complains about having no curves, but come on—those boobs and hips are more than enough in real life.
In fact, it’s because they’re realistically sized that they look so damn attractive.
Hey, Yuuji! What the hell do you mean you’ve got no waistline!? You clearly do!
Yuuji was wearing a two-piece swimsuit with one of those wrap skirts—apparently they’re called pareos—and a jacket over it. So compared to the other women around, he/she wasn’t showing much skin. But even so, he/she was attracting all the attention.
“Aah, guess I really do stand out with this face, huh? I mean, just like how non-Asians stand out in Japan, it can’t be helped.”
This dumbass really is Yuuji. Still completely missing the point.
“Yuuki, Yuuta—sorry if I disappointed you. But don’t worry. I brought someone amazing to make up for it.”
Disappointed!? Are you kidding me!? You’re a full-on surprise hit! And what do you mean, “make up for it”—
“Yuuki-nii, Yuuta-nii, sorry! The changing room was super crowded, so I’m late!”
The one who came out of the women’s changing room next… wasn’t Hina-chan as I remembered her.
See, I hadn’t seen Yuuji much over the past three years, and naturally that meant I hadn’t seen his/her little sister either. The Hina-chan I remembered was from around sixth grade—three years ago. Back then, she was about the same height as me, but definitely still had a kid’s body.
That was the Hina-chan in my memory. But the girl who stepped out now—
This isn’t Hina-chan anymore. This is Hina-san.
I glanced over at Yuuki, and his face said it all:
We’ve won.
No doubt about it. Last year on this beach, we were the pathetic losers. But this year is different. Even if one of them is the ever-unfortunate Yuuji on the inside and the other’s just a little sister, we’re walking down the sand with a goddess-tier beauty and a drop-dead gorgeous girl at our sides. No question about it—we’re this beach’s champions.
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