georgi said:
Melting-Hot Summer at the Pool
My name is Oe Kintaro. 25 years old. Happy-go-lucky temp.
I’m currently working as an ice cream salesman at an open pool. The sun is hot, the breeze is cool, and gorgeous scenery brings happiness to the soul.
“Hey Mister, gimme a chocolate popsicle!
“Coming right up!” Kintaro handed the boy an ice cream. “That’ll be 200 yen.”
By the time he had finished saying yen, the boy was well on his way in running away. “Hey, wait up, you little squirt! You have to pay!” Kintaro jumped over his ice cream stand and ran after the pesky customer.
The boy was swift on his feet and deftly avoided the people crowding the side of the pool, while licking his ice cream as fast as possible. Kintaro, on the other hand, bumped into people, spilled lunches and trampled on towels, earning shouts and complaints directed at him. The boy finally stopped running, hiding behind a magnificent girl, wearing a T-shirt over what seemed to be e bikini, with neatly tied black hair covered by a cap and a whistle hanging by her neck.
“Big Sister! Big Sister! This strange man is trying to steal my ice cream!”
“Who is trying to steal your ice cream, kid, you are the one who didn’t pa... woah, woah, hello there, pretty girl! Haha, ha...”
The girl gave off a stern expression and looked over Kintaro from head to toe.
“And who might you be?”
He gave himself a dignified and serious look, and answered with a deeper than normal voice, while holding his chin.
“My... *ahem* My name is Oe Kintaro, student of life and apprentice of love.”
“Can’t you read?” The girl pointed at a sign behind her that read
No running at the pool.
His eyes bulged out for a second before he prostrated himself before what he now knew was the sexiest lifeguard he had seen.
“Please forgive me, miss, I’ll never do it again, I promise!”
The girl looked at the angry men and women assembled behind him. “You can have him.”
Sitting at his ice cream stand, Kintaro held an ice-pack at his black eye, drawing and taking notes in his notebook.
Unforgiving Girl. T-shirt hotter than a bikini. Big man with moustache angry when you spill his beer, has a strong left. Lesson of the day: ask for money first before giving ice cream to an athletic looking boy with a big sister working as a lifeguard.
For a short instant, Kintaro had a look towards the pool, and he noticed the same boy had climbed on the 10 meter tower and was preparing to dive. The boy jumped clumsily and his first contact with the water looked particularly painful. He wasn’t surfacing. Kintaro alarmingly looked around to see that none of the lifeguards were paying attention and that the boy’s sister was nowhere in sight. Wasting no time and fearing the worst, he jumped over his ice cream stand and ran, bumping into people, spilling lunches and trampling on towels, earning shouts and complaints directed at him. None of that mattered now.
Oe jumped into the pool. He looked around inside the water, and saw the boy sinking and stretching his hand toward him while holding his leg that had apparently gotten cramped. He took a hold of the boy who had already swallowed a lot of water, dragging him to the side of the pool. The boy, under shock, had lost consciousness, but was spitting out the water now at least. At that same instant, Oe’s favourite lifeguard of all came out of the bathroom, and taking a quick look around, she quickly figured out what was going on. She ran to Kintaro, who was getting out of the pool, smiling and happy with himself. Instead of the praise he expected, he got a slap straight across his face.
“How... How dare you!?” The girl was suppressing her tears. “Running again, and taking it out on an innocent boy, trying to drown him like that. You are the worst! Kick him out, before I call the police!”
“But, pretty girl, allow me to explain, I...”
Before he could say anything else, Kintaro was being dragged by the entrance guard and thrown out the door.
The boy was sent to the hospital, and his worried sister accompanied him. About an hour later, the boy regained consciousness, and looked around. He inquired in a weak voice,
“Big sister?”
“Yes, Nozomu, I’m here, everything is going to be all right.”
“Where is the nii-san with the ice cream...”
“You don’t have to worry about that scary, weird man any more. He should be far away by now.”
“But, big sister, I didn’t get to thank him for saving me, and I still haven’t apologized for that popsicle...”
“He... saved you?”
“When I jumped from the tower I hit the water bad and lost all my air; I also got a cramp. All I remember is seeing the nii-san stretching his hand toward me and carrying me to the side of the pool. And I’m sorry, sis, I’m sorry... that popsicle, I was the one at fault. I didn’t pay for it because I wanted to save up the money you gave me...”
“That’s enough, Nozomu, please rest up for now, you look worn out.” The lifeguard waited until her brother was asleep again before she went to the payphones to call the pool and ask about what had happened to Oe.
“That good for nothing? We made sure he wouldn’t come back again. We also deducted all the damages from his pay.”
“Oh... I see... Thank you for your hard work.”
She hung up and sighed, holding her palm against her breast, trying to contain her racing heart.
Oe Kintaro, I am sorry.
Oe Kintaro. 25 years old. Tokyo University Law School dropout. However, he completed all course work before leaving. Born May 5, 1967. Type A blood. Since then, he wandered through several jobs while a student of life. Favourite expression: “Embrace each morning as your last, so you may die in the evening free of regret.” Hobby: studying. Preferred type of woman: Jodie Foster or Sakurakirui Rei. Favourite novel: Tokyo Love Story. Favourite food: curry rice. Favourite ride: bicycle “Crescent Moon”. Body and mind extremely healthy. Future: the man who will save Japan – no – the World! maybe
Riding his bicycle down a hill, earphones in place, pedaling with all his might, he recited his trusty phrase “Study! Study! Study!” on his way to the next job.