COTE : Is Talent Everything? (Rewrite)

The summer vacation was about to end, and at such a time, I received two messages:

"Let's go to the pool."

"Let's go to the pool."

I received messages with the exact same content from Ryūen and Arisu, and they were sent at the same time. Honestly, I have no idea what might happen if I turn one of them down, and even if I refuse, I'll probably end up running into them eventually. I could choose not to go, but I also have a desire to try out the pool.

...What should I do?

I thought of a few options, but honestly, none of them seem to have a good outcome. And why did they send their messages at the same time? Could it be that their thought processes are similar?

For now, I decided to start getting ready and sent a reply.

.....

As I made my way to the meeting spot while trying to cope with the gradually increasing summer heat, I found that Ryūen, Alberto, Ishizaki, Shiina, and Ibuki were already there. When Shiina and Ishizaki spotted me, they waved excitedly in my direction.

"Sorry I'm late."

"No, we just arrived a little while ago too."