28 Camping with Everyone 2

Watching volleyball begin with Sharon, side by side, as Shu carefully inflated the beach ball.

"Lieutenant, inspection work on the orbit package starts the day after tomorrow, correct?"

"Difficult task."

"Still haven't drafted the plan yet..."

"Difficult task!"

Only one day of grace remains, excluding the overnight trip—yet he truly believes he's fine.

Rather, the timing of this invitation makes Jin feel genuine regret.

"It's fine, it's fine. If I put my mind to it, I can finish it in a day—no problem..."

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself too hard. Is it just me?"

"Knowing that and saying nothing—that's what being an adult means."

A disagreeable topic introduced right from the start.

"You were always careless with your personal life, never meddling in matters outside your jurisdiction. Yet you still pushed your own work forward ahead of schedule. What changed?"

"What changed... is that Lieutenant, you keep bringing trouble into my vicinity..."

"Sorry."

True enough. Jin has been steadily accumulating debts to Shirley lately. It feels like it might crack open at any moment.

"Did you see it earlier?"

"No."

At least not until Chi retrieves their ID and returns to the hotel.

Saying it was an accident would be ridiculous.

"Anyway, it's not urgent. I just asked my older sister about our family home. The Second Fleet branch seems to be doing well—profit margins have increased significantly."

"Is that enough to say congratulations?"

"Yes. It's a growth rate that warrants some suspicion, though."

Shirley apparently believed there was something hidden behind that.

It was a minor irony that the investigation into the corporation—what should have been the most difficult task—was progressing the most smoothly.

"Sorry to bother you during such a busy time."

"Not at all. It's a welcome distraction."

A fleeting glance toward Chi.

"There are men who try to use charm as a trap."

"Though no honey trap was set, I suppose..."

"Too trusting, Lieutenant! That's how you get caught."

"Whoa, you know a lot about honey traps?"

"Read it in a book."

"Ah, I see..."

I'd worried how to respond if she said she was knowledgeable—but it turned out to be unnecessary.

And simultaneously, her credibility became unmistakably negligible.

"Still, I've seen her come out of the bath with just a towel."

"Exactly! That's a full-blown trap!"

"Hardly flustered at all."

She resembles Rei only in appearance.

At close range, just seeing her face, one might register a slight awareness.

But when viewed in full, the movements are different.

It feels only like looking at a sister who is utterly unsuitable for Jin.

Technically, she’s a sister by adoption—failed attempt.

“…How was it for me?”

To that question,

Jin closes his mouth. Avoids an immediate answer.

The outcome could shift their relationship again.

The fragile status of Lieutenant and sergeant might collapse.

What comes after that. What he wants. Even Jin does not know.

They reached an understanding, but even so, Jin still remembers that moment.

Certainly.

“For you—”

Jin begins to speak, attempting to form the opening.

A beach ball strikes his face.

An inflatable object. Effectively no damage.

“Dad, you’re it!”

Looking over, they’re playing a game split by gender.

…The imbalance is severe. Two against five.

"Hey. Join in too, Mr. Higashi! It's too tough with just my brother!"

"Hey, Guard. You think I'm not enough?"

"But you're losing right now!"

"Ah. The boys are at a disadvantage."

Jin takes the beach ball and walks toward them.

The words he was about to say remain unspoken.

"If Daddy joins, then Mio joins too!"

"Wait, Mio-chan. This is a battle between men and women."

"That's right, Mio! We'll make you squeal!"

"Emissa-chan. You don't say 'gitan gitan' very often."

"Then how about the Instructor joining... uh, Sharon, what about you?"

"It's just a nickname... oh, well. I'll join too."

Now it's three versus six.

Sharon's participation in volleyball renders the earlier question ambiguous.

In a way, that's their answer.

They choose to maintain the status quo.

"Alright, guys—let's do this. If I handle three, and Sasamori trainee handles two, it'll be even."

"Damn, even a six-year-old knows that's reckless."

"Hey, don't underestimate our Instructor, Guard. He really can handle three."

The girls' team, in contrast, assessed the boys' overconfident calculation.

"First target: Guard. More precisely, the other two are a bit gorilla-like."

"Going after Tōyaku? That's pitiful..."

"Naive, Mio. Compassion has no place in battle..."

"You understand, don't you? Emissa, was it?"

"Likewise, May."

The red-haired pair, driven by their aggressive temperaments, had quickly bonded.

"But if we let Guard receive, then Sasamori or the Instructor will attack next."

"If we get hit by either of those two, none of us will be able to reach it..."

"Ah, about Lieutenant—don't worry."

Sharon, who had silently listened to the children’s plan, interjected.

“Even though he grumbles, he’s soft on kids—he’ll probably hold back just enough to barely make it.”

“Kou… well, he’ll give it his all against us.”

“There’s nothing we can do but try our best…”

Jin and Mio, resigned to the fact that Kou would give his full effort against their peers, encouraged each other with quiet resolve.

At least it was a beach ball—no real pain to worry about.

“Alright, let’s beat the boys and enjoy a delicious meal!”

“Yesss!”

The girls’ team had actually thought through strategy. One might say the boys were simply brute force.

And so the mini-game began.

As predicted, Jin and Kou adjusted their play to keep the game balanced.

“Why’s he always targeting me?!”

“Hitting you’s out, isn’t it?!”

“That’s dodgeball!”

One player remained oblivious to the rules.

Mio, her eyes wide with sudden realization after hearing the rules.

"Of course there was no audience... I wondered why."

"Of course it's dodgeball for Mio."

"I'll take you to the next volleyball match if I happen to have an extra ticket."

"Extra ticket? That's odd, Emissa."

"I still have one for Ya."

"Ah, yeah. Thanks."

"You're just shoving the leftover ticket at me!"

With that exchange, the game resumed.

Children playing by the water's edge. Jin considered the trip worthwhile, just for this.

Until the beast was thrown into the scene.

"Hey. Sharon. Jake's calling. Something's wrong with the machinery."

"Oh? Is that so. Sorry, I'll excuse myself."

Sharon, thinking of machinery.

With that logic, she withdrew from the group.

"Hmm. Then I shall take Sharon's place. No need to drag one's feet."

"Hey, idiot, stop. Someone's gonna die."

Only Jin knew he was a cyborg, so no one else shared that sense of urgency.

He was met only with suspicious glances, as if wondering what the fuss was about.

"Haha. No one dies from a volleyball match."

Saying that, Chi lightly served the ball.

Good. At least there was enough rationality to hold back, Jin thought, relieved, as he continued the game.

But as the intensity grew.

"Die!"

"That girl just said die!"

The ball, moving with surprising force—unlike a beach ball—split the surface of the water. Shu gasped in alarm.

"Just your imagination, boy. Oops, I must have overdone it."

"...Yeah..."

A murmur of confusion came from the male team.

Regardless of how one looks at it, the current spike was more intense than Kou’s full-force version.

“F-fine, we won.”

“Victory is hollow when held in the hand.”

“I don’t get it, but we won!”

Two redheads, certain of victory, despite no point resolution yet.

“Hey, Instructor. Who the hell is that guy?”

“Second Fleet’s cyborg squad.”

“His physical capabilities are beyond ours!”

“Cyborg!?! That’s awesome!”

Something seemed to strike a nerve with the defender, but that was beside the point.

“Not our profession, so we couldn’t pull off a spike like that.”

“It’s fine. Limits will come.”

“Will they? His stamina’s limitless, isn’t it?”

Kou looked at Jin with doubt.

But he forgot one thing. This was not an assault frame simulation. This was volleyball.

“Alright, next one. Wasn’t it out if you hit the ball?”

"Ah, this guy doesn’t get volleyball at all!"

The shocking revelation—Mio’s level of understanding—was followed by the next spike.

"First you! Higashiō Jin! Drop dead!"

"I said *drop dead* just now!"

A sharp retort from the defender.

Even after that, the ball did not come.

A pause. The participants’ eyes darted, searching for the ball.

"Didn’t I say it? Sasamori trainee."

Something fluttered in the air, dancing in the sunlight—suddenly transforming the scene into a fleeting, surreal image.

"Limitation is approaching."

The beach ball, unable to withstand the cybernetic strength, had disintegrated into fine fragments.