At noon, with the help of Alice, Erina, and the others, plate after plate of seafood was brought to the table.
Most of Mrs. Nishikawa present were Japanese and naturally couldn't resist seafood. But Makoto personally preferred cooked food.
The Nakiri sisters knew his tastes well and had prepared most of the seafood in sour-spicy and sweet-spicy flavors, both of which suited Makoto's taste buds.
Ace sat in the middle of the table, a fork stuck in a piece of grilled sea fish. He hesitated for a while before lifting it.
Looking at the Four Gay Bros, who were wolfing down their food, he asked, "Is this seafood safe to eat? I heard this world used to dump sewage into the sea."
Yu slammed his fork onto the table with a crack. "What do you mean by that? I'm a citizen of Nishikawa Nation, and Nishikawa Nation never do such thing!"
The women were used to Yu's fanboy behavior of declaring his loyalty to Makoto anytime, anywhere.
Makoto took a bite of the garlic scallop and said casually, "Well, the USA is the one of the main contributor for that. A lot of their factory wastewater gets dumped directly into the ocean too. They just don't talk about it. With so many Anomaly in the world now, the US deserves a lot of the credit."
Anomaly are often born from strong obsessions. Whether human, plant, or animal, obsession can cause them to become strange. When the environment is destroyed, those plants and animals naturally harbor resentment, which leads to them becoming Anomaly.
"Not anymore," Kei said, her eyes full of admiration. "With Makoto-senpai here, things like that won't happen anymore, right?"
The Uzaki Family sat at the far end of the table, silently eating the food on their plates. Topics like this were far too remote for them.
'So this is what powerful people talk about?'
Around four in the afternoon, the light outside shifted from a blinding white to a soft gold.
Everyone began changing into swimsuits.
The diving shop was temporarily commandeered as a women's changing room, with the door locked from the inside.
Changing clothes was much simpler for the men. They simply walked out to the courtyard behind the back door and changed in just a few moments.
As Makoto unbuttoned his shirt, Kiri was taking off his T-shirt. Noticing Makoto's movements diagonally across from him, his gaze involuntarily drifted downwards. The next moment, his entire body froze.
'Holy crap, it actually can go that big?!'
The Teddy Devil leaned over, followed Kiri's gaze, and laughed. "Hahaha! No good, kid. Remember to exercise more often."
Kiri instantly turned red, insisting that he was still developing.
Yu unbuttoned his shirt, folded his change of clothes, and placed them on a rack nearby. "Wait a minute. You guys, come with me to the neighboring public beach."
Kiri, who had just put on his swim trunks, turned his head, his expression full of confusion. "Huh? Why? Didn't you just reserve a private beach?"
At lunch, Mrs. Yukinoshita had called the local authorities and reserved a beach for their use in just a few sentences. He was quite excited when he heard the news. He hadn't expected to get to experience a private beach in this lifetime.
Yu gave a cold smile. "Who do you think you are, kid?"
Kiri, remembering Yu's actions earlier, immediately cowered.
Ace walked over from behind and slapped Kiri on the back. "Don't be scared, kid. As long as you don't offend the Commander, this guy Ishigami isn't impossible to get along with."
Kiri rolled his eyes inwardly, 'You're not much older than me, who are you calling kid?'
The guys finished changing faster than the women inside.
Yu said to Makoto, "Senpai, I'll take them away now."
Makoto nodded, sitting alone on a public bench in front of the diving shop, waiting for the women to come out.
Before long, the first one to walk out was Kaguya.
Makoto's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Kaguya's swimsuit was an extremely daring, even spicy, red bikini, revealing over 90% of her fair skin.
Ai followed behind her, her swimsuit appearing much more modest in comparison. It was a black two-piece with white lace trim around the edges. As she walked past Makoto, her fingers tugged lightly at the lace below her collarbone, then she walked on as if nothing had happened.
The girls in the flat-chested group had put a lot of thought into their swimsuits.
The numerical freaks didn't need to think so much.
The moment Tsunade pushed open the door, the light at the entrance seemed to dim a degree. Her black two-piece swimsuit strained at the fabric over her chest, looking like it might burst apart at any moment.
She stood on the steps, stretched her neck, and swept her gaze over the sea. "Swimming... it's my first time."
Katsura followed closely behind. Her 102cm measurement put her swimsuit under pressure similar to Tsunade's. Her expression was still gentle, but with each step, she would gently press her hand against her chest, as if checking that the few thin straps were still intact.
Hinata, holding Hanabi's hand, followed behind Katsura. Her 101cm index was perfectly complemented by her pale pink swimsuit.
Hancock was the last to walk out of the shop. 111cm.
Kaguya, Eriri, and the others' faces grew darker and darker. They would rather have stayed home than come to the beach.
"Charge—!"
Chika charged out of the shop. Yotsuba followed close behind, and Hana also came chasing after them.
Chika and Yotsuba grabbed Makoto's arms, one on each side, and dragged him toward the sea.
Honestly, Makoto hadn't had high expectations for coming to the beach. He wasn't a Devil Fruit user... he had long gotten tired of going into the ocean back in the One Piece World.
When he didn't have anything to eat, he and Yu would dive into the sea to catch Sea Kings. More than swimming, he preferred lying on the beach watching the bouncing balls.
After quite a while, Makoto finally managed to break free from the encirclement of Yotsuba and the others, returned to the beach, and plopped down onto a lounge chair.
"U-um... please use this."
A nervous voice came from beside him. A hand offered a towel.
Makoto took it, draped it over his shoulder, and glanced sideways. It was Uzaki Tsuki.
"Won't you go play in the water, Mrs. Uzaki?"
Tsuki gave a somewhat embarrassed smile. Her swimsuit was a relatively modest one-piece, but even so, the neckline still revealed a vast chasm. Although not much skin was showing, paradoxically, it made her more likely to stir a man's possessiveness.
Noticing Makoto's fleeting glance, Tsuki shyly turned her head away. "I can't swim~ I'm fine just watching Hana-chan and the others play."
Makoto looked away, his gaze towards the sea. Hana was still playing around with Chika and the others, using a pre-prepared water gun to shoot non-stop.
"Your daughter is very outgoing," Makoto said. "She's the first person I've met who wasn't afraid of me upon first meeting."
Tsuki followed his gaze, the corner of her mouth curving slightly. "That child Hana... was very quiet until high school. I don't know why, but she suddenly became lively after entering university."
Makoto grunted in acknowledgment. Just as he was about to reply, his phone on the adjacent table lit up. He glanced down. It was an email from Yu.
"Senpai, we've run into an acquaintance over here. Do you want to come see?"
'Acquaintance?'
Makoto raised an eyebrow and stood up from the lounge chair.
"Mrs. Uzaki, you all go ahead and play."
Tsuki nodded. Her gaze unconsciously followed his standing motion and drifted downwards. The fabric of his swim trunks was stretched very tight, the sunlight highlighting an unimaginable contour.
Tsuki's face turned bright red. She lowered her head until her nose nearly touched her collarbone, squeezing out a soft "Mm" from her throat.