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Over in Island City Kanai’s main building. The group finished checking in and then were assigned rooms on the top floor of the large building, where they went to rest.

Each room housed three people, so they had to figure out how to assign them. Miyuki wanted to be in the same room as Hinagiku, as they were both the same age, so Jade was moved to the Kudo’s room, as they had also known each other beforehand.

So in the end, there was one room with Kou, Sora, and Kasumi, then Akane, Hijiri, and Subaru in another, Ryunosuke, Sara, and Hisui, and then in the last room was Hinagiku, Kikyo, and Miyuki.

It was easy to assume that the adults would eventually gather in a single room to drink, while Hijiri and Subaru would go to Kou’s room.

First, they left their belongings in each of their rooms.

“Woah, this room is incredible.” Kou muttered that as she looked around the room.

They were in a suite, so everything was much more fancy than Kou was used to, and she walked around looking at everything in wonder, flipping every switch to see what it would do.

There was a living room too, with a low table and couches around it, and a large window further in, showing the beach and the sea in the distance.

Since the whole location had recently been built, everything was still pristine and clean, leaving a strong impression on Kou who had never stayed in a room like that before.

“Woahh…” She looked down at the blue ocean and white sand. There were already people who had gone to the beach to swim and have fun, making the scenery look even more lively.

“So what do you think? Will you be able to enjoy yourself?”
“Yes, mom. It’s incredible. I’ve never been in a room like this before!”
“Mhm, fair. Now that I think about it, you haven’t had many chances to travel before, so just enjoy yourself as much as you want.”

Amari watched Kou with a warm gaze, seeing her smiling a lot more than usual.

◇◇◇

Then Amari, Sora, and Akane lamented the fact that they had work and had to leave.

The other adults, or rather Hisui and Sara specifically, who wanted to have some time to kick back and relax from work the most, went to check out the hot springs. Kikyo joined them too, as she said that hanging out in the nude as women was the best way to hang out.

Ryunosuke stayed behind, watching over the younger ones who were still full of energy.

◇◇◇

““It’s the seaaa!!””

There were two lively shouts, coming from Miyuki who was wearing a light blue swimdress while being pulled ahead by Hinagiku, who wore a tankini with floral patterns.

That increased the child-like cuteness of them both, and everyone watching smiled warmly watching them run around the sand and playing with the incoming waves.

The main highlight of the facility, the AR beach, was still receiving the last finishing touches by Amari and the father of the twins who arrived on another ship, and it would only be showcased two days later.

So for the time being, the dome was set to the default Island City Kanai landscape.

That specific beach used the real ocean and the real sand, but was enclosed by the dome, making it more like an indoor pool.

The image projected by it was rather photorealistic, but the illumination was not the same as the glaring sunlight of summer, and had an unnatural and overpolished quality to it.

On the other hand, there were essentially no UV rays from the sun inside there, something that Kou in specific really appreciated. Protection from UV rays was also seen as something important overseas however, so such enclosed beaches were starting to become more common all over the world.

It also looked like the pools in outer space colonies from sci-fi anime, where large frames would blend the end of the pool and make it appear endless, which made them more appealing to people obsessed with such media.

Ryunosuke was there as their guardian too, watching them to make sure they were safe at all times.

“Man… They really stand out a lot.”
“Mm… It’s starting to make me feel a bit self conscious…”

He scowled a little, seeing how everyone was already starting to stare at the girls. In response, the girl next to him, Kasumi, mumbled with a bit of dejection, as she was the only average person there, for better or for worse.

“Hahah, don’t sweat it. It’s probably better to not compare yourself with them. You’re plenty cute yourself, I can guarantee that. So cheer up, will ya?”
“Aww… Thank you, Lycoris’ dad…”

After that, she sighed and tried to worry less about it while looking at those running along the sand again.

I feel like it’s impossible for Kou to not stand out though…

The only silver lining was that the place was not yet open to the public.

Basically all of the guests there were popular celebrities far above Ryunosuke’s standing, so there were no nasty people around, which brought him some peace of mind.

Meanwhile as far as Kou went… She had her uniquely white and almost translucent albino skin exposed without qualms, her hair glimmering under the artificial sun.

Her small body, which could almost pass for a child’s, was covered in a mint green attire, which made her look like she was a fairy that had stepped out of some fantasy world.

Kou could also feel that a lot of people were staring at her while she was wearing such thin clothes, something she was not used to, so her face was beet red.

Her eyes were starting to tear up from all of that, which also began to tickle either the motherly instincts of those watching, or their sadism, producing an even more overwhelming situation.

I guess this is how women like Helen of Troy are born…

Ryunosuke could not help but wonder, seeing how that girl attracted the attention of everyone, in both good and bad ways.

And it was not just Kou who was standing out. There was also the girl with flaxen hair holding Kou’s hand and guiding her along, Hijiri.

She was wearing a halter-top bikini with a pareo, which was white with blue lines, and while she usually wore modest clothes, now she was exposing her body without reservations.

She always had a rather striking figure, which looked more plump and defined compared to Kou, with the areas that needed to stand out doing so by a lot, while her waist was thin and highlighted the curve of her hips, giving her a more mature allure. She was maintaining the precarious balance between pure and seductive.

Both girls were hand-in-hand, walking along the beach like very close friends, so that made even more eyes focus on them.

Subaru was also following them, accompanying them to stop people from trying to hit on the girls. His outfit was selected to match Hijiri’s, and his body was unexpectedly toned, which gathered the attention of various female celebrities nearby, though he could feel way more antagonistic and jealous stares.

He was still doing his best to smile and look unbothered, but internally he was fearing for his life, and Ryunosuke felt quite a lot of sympathy for him.

That aside. The two youngest, Hinagiku and Miyuki, also looked like they had a promising future ahead of them.

I can tell how much love and care Miyuki’s parents put into raising her, she’s almost like an angel. And Hinagiku looks like she comes from a good family too.

Kasumi still felt that way, though Ryunosuke was right when he spoke earlier, if she put in a bit of effort, she would be able to shine too.

But it was also true that she had not been quite as genetically gifted as the rest of the friend group she had somehow ended up joining, making her feel self conscious when being together with them.

On the other hand, Ryunosuke felt like he had lucked out with Lua Cheia, as all the girls there were perfect for him to continue watching over as a producer.