Having defeated all his opponents in the strip game of rock-paper-scissors, Iori finally turned his attention to the new people who had appeared in the store. The first thing that caught his eye were three pretty girls. With the exception of the younger one, who was clearly still in middle school, the other two beauties could have captured the gaze of any normal man. However, the whole picture was spoiled by the guy around whom this couple was constantly hanging around.
After drinking another glass of beer and replenishing his courage, Iori decided to come up and introduce himself, but as soon as he got closer to them, that same guy stood in his way.
— Lost? — Silence asked with a grin as he approached. — I can show you the way if you need it.
— Don't bother me, damn handsome man. I want to meet beautiful ladies.
— Listen, man, — the dragon looked into his eyes, clouded with alcohol. Not noticing the expected lust for girls there, Sai decided to go easy on him, — you have no chance here, — he put his hand on his shoulder, and under the dragon's strength Iori instantly fell to his knees. From surprise, he was ready to fall on his back, but the strong grip of the palm did not allow him to move further. — So it's better to go back.
— Hey, hey, — two tall, strong and muscular guys immediately approached them. — Don't get angry, friend. Iori didn't mean any harm.
— Right. There is no need to use violence, he just wanted to get to know your beautiful girlfriends.
— I know, — letting go of the guy, allowing him to fall, the young man turned his gaze to the newcomers. — That's exactly why he got off so easily.
— Ha-ha-ha. What a protective type you are, though, — the blond said, helping Iori up. — How about having a drink with us as a peace offering?
— Yes! Let's have a competition! — the boy exclaimed, having already recovered from the dragon's warning. — Do you have enough courage to accept my challenge?
— Iori, calm down, — his friend tried to calm down his tipsy comrade. — You shouldn't anger a guy who has similar strength.
— Don't bother me, Kohei! For the sake of my pride, I must do this!
The two leaders of the diving club, who had already practically resolved the previous situation, looked at the enraged kohai with a wry smile.
— Please, don't pay attention to it, — said Shiji, one of the "giants". — We'll calm him down now.
— Oh, don't, — the dragon looked at the funny young man with a chuckle. He had already filled out his own questionnaire, and this situation would help pass the time. — I don't mind agreeing to this little dispute while our equipment is being prepared.
— So you came here to go underwater, huh? — He scratched his head with a slight chuckle. — Then we will be your instructors. I am Shiji Tokita, and this is my friend, — the guy pointed at the blond, — Ryujiro Kotobuki.
— Are you sure about your decision to drink? — asked Ryujiro. — Alcohol can have a bad effect on you during the dive.
— Ha! You don't have to worry about it, — Silence waved his hand. He had already tried all kinds of alcohol in his bar. Regular alcohol has almost no effect on the dragon's body; to get drunk, he would need to drink a huge amount of strong alcohol. — I am very tolerant of alcohol.
— It's your choice, — the giant shrugged his shoulders, — my job is to warn you.
— Iori, right? — Sai turned to his opponent. — I agree to your challenge, but let's decide everything quickly.
— Great! Let's go, — the guy went to the bar counter, where the purple-haired girl was sitting. — Azusa, can you be the judge in our dispute?
— Of course, — the girl, who had been watching the show before, immediately agreed. — Since you decided not to skimp, I will get you the most lethal drink, — with a cheerful smile, she took out three different bottles and glasses for them. — Russian vodka, whiskey and absinthe. Well, can you handle it, boys?
— Not a bad choice, — the dragon examined the labels with curiosity, — and where are his bottles?
— What? — the girl asked in bewilderment. — This is for the two of you.
— Weren't we going to solve all this quickly? — Sai asked skeptically. Taking a couple of bills from his wallet, he put them on the counter. — There's enough for two sets. If he can repeat it, then let him wait until I get back from sailing.
— What do you mean?..
— Ooh! — Azusa's words were drowned out by the general hum of admiration when Silence calmly opened the bottle and began to drink it in one gulp. The empty bottle of vodka fell onto the table. The same fate befell the whiskey. Iori watched in amazement at the miracle happening, while the other guys encouraged Sai. — The last one left! Go, boy! Good luck!
— Ha-ha! What a fuss over such a trifle, — he opened a bottle of absinthe, winked at his stunned drinking companion and emptied it in a matter of seconds. — Will you accept my challenge? — without waiting for an answer, the young man walked lightly to his group. — Ha-ha-ha!
— That was cool! — as soon as Silence returned, Komachi energetically jumped up to him. — How did you manage to drink all this and stay sober? Dad gets drunk after just a small cup of sake, and you drank ten times more, and the drinks were stronger.
— Ha! I just can't get drunk, — he tousled his accomplice's hair with a grin. — Is the equipment ready yet?
— We've been waiting for you, — Hachiman said with some irritation. — And stop petting my sister.
— Don't be jealous, I'm not making any claims, siscon.
The approach of the salesgirl prevented Hachiman from responding to the baseless slander.
— If you're ready, let's go to the back of the store, — the girl led them to a separate room where various diving goods were on the shelves, and wetsuits of all sizes and colors hung along the wall. — Now you'll need to put on a suit. You can leave your things in the drawers here, — she pointed to the metal containers. — If necessary, the changing room is in the corner on the right.
There were already five suits on a separate hanger, selected according to the sizes indicated in the questionnaire. The girls retired together to the changing room, while the guys calmly took off their outerwear and began to dress right there on the spot. The suits had been doused with water in advance so that they would fit tightly to the body. This caused some discomfort to Hachiman, and the girls behind the curtain did not even hide their discomfort and loudly discussed it among themselves.
— Tighten your jaw, — Silence commented good-naturedly, poking his friend in the side when the girls came out to them. Tight suits tightly wrapped their bodies, emphasizing their gorgeous figures, especially Hitori, who was actively covering her chest.
— I see you've already finished, — the two already known leaders of the club entered the room. In addition to them, two girls entered the room. Azusa and a young girl with short brown hair. — In addition to us, Azusa and Chisa will be accompanying you in this dive.
— How are you feeling after drinking, Silence? — the referee of his match asked the dragon. — Do you feel sick? Are you dizzy?
— Everything is fine. I need something more than this to feel drunk.
— Amazing, — the girl admired his composure. — Then it's time to go to the boat. We'll take you to the dive site. We'll be underwater for about thirty minutes.
— While we're swimming to the right place, we'll give you a briefing. The first thing I'll tell you about is gestures. And please, — Shiji said tiredly, — let's not remember the popular set of gestures from the anime JoJo. You can't even imagine how many times I've heard about it. Communication under water is very important and can help, facilitating the dive, and in some situations — save lives.
— Here we are, — their journey took only fifteen minutes. — As I said earlier: we arrived at one of the famous coral reefs of Okinawa, which grows over an area of more than one kilometer. The depth of this place is about ten meters — the greatest depth to which an untrained person can safely dive.
— I have a question, — Sai raised his hand, getting his attention. — I went down to a lower depth a couple of months ago, so I have experience in this, — he kept quiet about the fact that he did all this without the help of equipment, relying only on his dragon body. — Can I swim further than ten meters?
— Hmm-m-m... — Shiji looked at the guy very thoughtfully. — First, I want to take a look and make sure of your skills. If they suit me, then the two of us will go down a little further from the group. We are just not far from the slope.
— Excellent. Then shall we begin?
— Yes. Now we will help you put on the weights and air tanks.
The equipment did not take much time. The members of the diving club quickly and dexterously helped the newcomers with this. Having jumped off the boat, they made sure that the equipment was in good working order within a minute, and the long-awaited excursion into the underwater world began.
The dive was not fast. Following the instructions of the instructors, the group slowly sank to the bottom, hanging every few meters so that their bodies could get used to the water pressure. After a couple of minutes, they were already able to adapt and calmly move underwater.
The visibility around them was limited to fifteen meters, which allowed the teenagers to fully enjoy the amazing underwater world. Swimming a little to the side, they found themselves on the border between white sand and the flower world. The divers arrived in the most colorful underwater kingdom of Okinawa. A variety of corals of all possible colors and sizes stretched wherever the gaze was directed. Each such island had its own inhabitants. Small fish, the largest of which did not exceed the size of a palm, flashed among the branched trees of algae.
When people approached, the timid inhabitants quickly swam away and tried to keep their distance, but experienced divers already knew what to do. Having found small shells on the bottom, each of the instructors broke it and demonstratively began to pinch off a piece, throwing it next to themselves. Noticing the delicacy, the bravest of the underwater inhabitants headed forward, circling near the people at arm's length. After attracting the fish, the teenagers were given one shell each. They were given the opportunity to feed the sea creatures themselves.
After fifteen minutes, Shiji attracted the attention of Silence. The leader of the diving club agreed to go deeper, so the two of them separated from the main group. They slowly began to descend until they reached a steep cliff. Even with limited visibility, the landscape from such a cliff was picturesque, especially for a dragon with magical eyes. After swimming for a while on the edge, they were about to return, but Sai noticed a larger fish approaching. He gave the "danger" signal and pointed to the side. The diver followed the direction and, to his horror, discovered a shark. Having ordered to follow him, the guy threw off his weights and swam with all his might.
Initially, the predator was simply swimming in search of fish, not paying attention to people, but the sharp movements and frequent releases of bubbles due to constant inhalations attracted his attention. The shark aimed at the noisy prey, gradually reducing the distance. The rest of the group had already appeared in the line of sight, and they paid attention to the rapidly approaching figures that left a chain of bubbles behind them. After sweeping flaps, the remaining instructors began to panic and show everyone to surface. However, a person cannot match the speed of a sea predator. When Shiji warned the others, the shark almost caught up with them. Unlike his escort, Sai was not at all afraid of a big fish. Deciding to have a little fun, the young man set himself the goal of defeating the shark without the help of magic. Abruptly stopping, he turned to meet the approaching predator and attracted its attention by releasing a huge accumulation of air. The idea was a success, and the shark decided to attack him. Opening its mouth wide, it tried to bite its target, but the dragon simply grabbed the predator's nose with his hand, in an attempt to stop the shark. With no support under his feet, he was pushed back several meters, but managed to avoid being bitten.
While the dragon was trying to come up with a more realistic way to kill the shark, the divers surfaced. They were breathing frantically as they climbed onto their boat, calming their jangled nerves.
— Where's Silence? — Shiji was horrified to discover his charge was missing. — No! He's still in the water.
— No need, — Ophis pushed the man's huge body down with a light movement of her hand until he dove back into the water. — You can't help him anyway.
— How can you say that! — Chisa screamed angrily. — Your boyfriend is in danger, and you're so indifferent! He was left alone with a fucking shark!
— B-brother, I'm scared, — Komachi panicked, clinging to Hachiman, who, although worried, knew the true nature of his friend.
— Don't worry. He'll be fine.
— It's because he's my man that I know best that he's not in any danger.
— There's blood! — Azusa pointed to a small spot of blood on the surface of the sea, and in the next few seconds a fin emerged from the water. — A shark!
Before their imaginations could imagine the worst-case scenario, Silence surfaced next to the shark. There were no visible wounds on him, and a wide grin was on his face.
— Hey! Maybe someone could help me? — He raised his hand high, calling out to the frozen people. — I want to take the carcass of this fish with me. Surely there's a restaurant in town that can cook all sorts of dishes from shark for a small fee.
— Are you all right? — Shiji asked, helping him up. — You can't imagine how scared I was when I didn't find you nearby.
— Ha! What could happen to me? — the dragon answered carelessly. — It's just a big fish.
— H-how did you manage to do that? — Chisa asked in shock, looking at the shark being pulled on board. Once in the boat, everyone could see the many wounds on its face, and a piece of a metal carabiner was sticking out of its eye.
— Skill and a little luck. Ha-ha! — He looked at the result of his work with amusement. — With such an incentive in front of me, I simply had no choice. With the adrenaline rushing in, I broke the clasp of the carabiner. When it rushed to snack on me, I showed her the error of her ways, — Sai hurried them, seeing their shocked faces. — Let's not linger here. There's not much time left before the plane, and I still have to arrange for our dinner to be prepared.
(Ophis image)
(Hitori image)
(Oda image)
(Silence image)