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They went behind a rock, trying to avoid being seen by other people.

“Ahahah, it feels like the sand is being washed away from under my feet! Why does it feel so weird?!”

The waves passed by Kou’s feet, carrying away the grains of sand beneath her. The sensation tickled her feet, making her laugh as she held up the hem of her mint green dress and hopped around, splashing in the water.

“…Ow!” A short yelp behind her caught her attention. Kou quickly turned around and saw Hijiri with a drop of blood beading up on her finger.

“Ahahah… I’m sorry, I think I cut myself on a barnacle on this rock here.”

Looking at the rock, she noticed a barnacle sticking out at about hand height.

“It’s just a small prick, don’t worry.” Despite Hijiri’s reassurance, Kou moved closer, wanting to take a better look at the injury… “Wha-?! K-Kou?”

…And instinctively put Hijiri’s slender finger in her mouth. Hijiri let out a surprised gasp as Kou’s sudden action caught her off guard, but Kou began sucking mindlessly on Hijiri’s finger, slathering it with saliva.

“Ah… ahahah… Kou, that tickles!”

Hijiri started squirming in response to the sensation, laughing with tears in her eyes, but Kou paid no attention and continued sucking and licking her finger. The scene— a cute girl in a daze mindlessly sucking and licking the finger of another girl— bordered on something more suggestive when seen from afar.

According to Kou’s mother, Amari, the saliva of a Noble Red like them contained certain regenerative agents that could help heal wounds faster, lessening the burden on those they bit. That was one of the reasons Kou used to justify her actions.

The other reason was that she couldn’t control her impulses when she saw Hijiri’s red blood. Even if it was just a single drop, Kou wanted to taste and drink it, filling her stomach with warmth, rather than see it go to waste.

But that only made her impulses stronger, so Kou wanted to keep sucking out more blood when…

“What the hell are you up to in broad daylight?”
“Agha?!”

Subaru, who had left for a while, returned just in time to see what was happening and promptly struck Kou’s head with a karate chop, making her let out a short cry. She hadn’t been fully aware of what she was doing, so she just looked around in confusion.

“Here, Hijiri. I got some disinfectant, a bandage, and some waterproof film.”
“Th-Thank you…”

Hijiri was still in shock, taking deep breaths as she tried to process everything that had happened. Subaru carefully held her finger and began using the first aid kit he brought, rolling his eyes at Kou, who was trying to make sense of the situation.

“And Kou, don’t go licking wounds out in the open like that. It’s really unsanitary and it might upset your stomach.”
“Ah, umm… right, sorry.”

Subaru had brought up an important point, so Kou took it to heart. After applying the bandage to Hijiri’s finger, Subaru wrapped it with the waterproof film. Then, a suspicious glint appeared in his eyes as he grinned.

“Kou… do you know that story? There was a child once who hit his knee on a rock by the beach, and it kept hurting him for a few months. When his parents realized something was wrong, they took him to the hospital, and when they checked underneath his kneecap…”
“Stop, don’t remind me of that..!”

As Subaru told the story in an ominous voice, tears began to form in Kou’s eyes, and all the color drained from her face. She quickly interrupted him. Kou had heard that story before and had been unable to sleep for many nights afterward. Scientifically, it had been debunked as fake, but the possibility still terrified her.

And this time, she wasn’t the only victim.

“Wait, is that story real? I don’t think I can sleep tonight…”
“B-Body horror isn’t something I can handle too well either…”

Miyuki and Hinagiku, who had gotten close enough to overhear the story, were also visibly shaken. Kou glared at Subaru.

“Subaru, you shouldn’t traumatize young girls for fun, okay?”
“I was just… I mean… I’m sorry.”

Subaru couldn’t find an excuse for making the two young girls cry, so he apologized, feeling the judgmental stares from Kou and Hijiri.

“Just remember that it’s easy to get injured, so try not to run around too much while barefoot, got it?”
““Got ittt!””
“And also, try not to touch anything you don’t recognize. There can be some pretty dangerous sea creatures, so you have to be careful…”

The class president, who seemed accustomed to dealing with children, guided them away while offering some practical advice.

Kou decided to leave the two youngest to the class president. Then they all did some stretches together and finally plunged into the water.

The water was less cold than they had expected, more refreshing than anything, soothing their skin compared to the searing heat of the air outside.

“I actually wasn’t expecting that…”
“Hm? What happened, prez?”

Eventually, Kou joined the younger group to play volleyball with them. Kasumi sounded shocked, watching Kou dart behind the beach ball like a bullet, faster than anyone else there, and then swim back with the ball in her arms. Kou clearly heard the comment.

“I mean, Mitsuki, I didn’t think you’d be such a good swimmer, like, at all…”
“…I’m not really an athletic person though…”

She didn’t quite know how to feel about that comment, making her hug the ball while pouting.

“Ugh… But acting that way just makes you so cute it’s unfair!”
“…What? What’s wrong, prez?”

Kou was thoroughly confused, seeing the class president’s strange reaction. But it was all too much for Kasumi to handle. Her cheeks reddened, and she had to lightly slap them to recover.

“Nevermind. It’s been a while since we became friends, so it really shouldn’t surprise me so much to find out just how athletic you actually are…”

Saying that, she recalled how Kou could move in the water even while holding the ball, almost like an otter.

“It’s just… I guess it’s the vibes you give off? You look so frail and delicate, no one would expect you to be athletic at all. Though I already knew you’re kinda amazing at everything.”
“Ahahah… Sorry, Kou, but I think I’m going to side with Kasumi on this one. I really relate to how she’s feeling.”
“Yeah, it feels like a crime that you have so much energy in that little body of yours.”

Something similar had happened in the past when they played basketball at school.

Everyone in her class was worried that Kou would get crushed or sent flying by accident, only for her to turn those expectations on their head. She used her small frame to easily slip between other players, perfectly controlling her body in the air after jumping, performing feints, layups, and even alley-oops that seemed impossible for someone of her size.

That game was still fresh in all her classmates’ memories. Kou, having gotten carried away during the game, only realized what she had done when everyone started calling her the “white devil of the court.”

“Hrngh… Then how about we do a quick race to the outer barrier?”

Kou, always competitive, decided to challenge them to a race. The outer wall of the dome, which resembled an enormous screen, was quite far into the water. But Kou had already recovered her strength, so a total distance of 200 meters wouldn’t be much of a challenge. The wall was a bit further away than that, but if she took it a bit slower…

But she couldn’t finish planning before everyone chimed in.

“Nope nope, let’s not do that, okay?”
“Mhm, that wouldn’t be a good idea, Kou.”
“Yeah, I can’t see anything good coming out of that for me, so let’s not.”

Kasumi seemed terrified of the idea and noped out instantly, quickly followed by Hijiri and Subaru, who also decided to stop Kou. Kou was confused by their response until Subaru decided to speak for everyone.

“Your swimsuit. Look at it—it’s not something you should swim a lot in.”
“…Ah.”

It finally clicked. Kou looked at her own body and then at Kasumi’s bikini with its cutesy frills. Those were definitely made for swimming, but her own swimsuit? Not so much. No matter how much confidence she had in her physical ability, her swimsuit wouldn’t last long under the stress of serious swimming. Or to be more blunt, her clothes would likely fall off, dragged by the water.

“Make sure you have the proper attire for that next time, alright?”
“Ughh… Okay then.”

Kou had no option but to give up, but Hijiri still had to comfort her for a while.

“Though now that I think about it, I guess it makes sense that you’re so athletic, considering how strong you are in games.”
“Really? I’m not so sure…”

Kou didn’t sound convinced by the class president’s comment.

“I mean, in most full-dive games… especially Destiny Unchain Online, I feel like it’s the reverse. It’ll only hold you back if you have any sort of experience with sports or martial arts in real life.”
“Huh… Wait, why’s that?”

Kasumi was confused by Kou’s response.

“For example… Well, do you think you can run on water in real life, prez?”
“No… I mean, that’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. But what about inside Destiny Unchain Online?”
“That’s… no way, that’s impossible!”

Kasumi was still trying to grasp what Kou was getting at, but then…

“That’s the thing—you actually can. I’ve tried it, and you can do it if you get [Physical Strength] and [Dash] to 70.”
“Seriously? Wait, that seems like it’s actually really easy then?”

Kasumi was stunned, though also a bit amazed that the Ditzy Lord could do something like running on water.

“Players with martial arts experience like you, prez, are strong at first. You already know how to fight and move, after all.”

It was easy to see that someone with experience would fight better than a brand-new player. That even led some people to enroll in kendo or karate dojos in real life. But Kou questioned the effectiveness of those methods.

“But once your character gets to a certain point, that experience becomes more of a shackle.”
“Huh? So having experience isn’t good?”
“No. Since you already know how things work in real life, you unconsciously stop trying things that are actually possible, simply because you think it’s impossible.”

That was the drawback of knowing one’s limits in real life and being used to navigating within them.

“But in games like Destiny Unchain Online, there are far more mechanics and systems that allow us to move faster and with more power than in real life. And there’s hardly any penalty for trying something extreme beyond our capabilities.”
“So if I stop thinking about what would be impossible…”
“Mhm, your skills will improve a lot. As it is, you’re still confined to the comfortable boundaries of common sense.”
“Awww…”

Meanwhile, Hinagiku, who was listening from a distance, had already broken past those limitations a long time ago, at least as far as Kou had seen. So Kou felt it was better if Kasumi didn’t compare herself to Hinagiku.

“…I might have stolen the whole theory from Sorleon, though.”

Kou beamed a smile as she wrapped up with that comment, and Kasumi looked like she had just been made aware of a secret truth.

“Anyway, you’ll get a lot stronger once you manage to break free. I guarantee it.”
“Mm… Thank you, Mitsuki. I’ll do my best!”

By then, Kasumi’s face lit up with hope, and they both smiled together.