Chapter 755 - A Walking Bubble for Two
And so, with our luggage unpacked, the time was just past one in the afternoon.
“Yo, the girls are heading out for lunch. We’ve been summoned as escorts and baggage carriers.”
Since we had all skipped lunch with the thought of “eating out on our trip anyway,” our next plan was naturally a given. Even without Toshiki calling out to me, I was already planning to—
“Alright, let’s go answer the call.”
“Alright, see you later.”
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
“What?”
“Hm?”
I stuffed my wallet and phone into my leg pouch for the walk and was about to head out, but my friend shot me a look that screamed, “What is this guy talking about?”
What’s with this move to naturally exclude me… My thought process, dulled by the recent storm of events, didn’t even bother to feign ignorance.
“...Look, you don’t have to be so obviously considerate.”
“Hah. On the contrary, I’m being considerate so I don’t have to be considerate.”
He was clearly, and clumsily, trying to give me and Sora some time alone.
So when I tried to protest, saying, “That just makes things more awkward,” Toshiki shook his head with a slightly irritating, smug look.
“As a team, we talked about letting you guys really relax in the latter half of the trip. But for the first half, today and tomorrow, we plan on having you hang out with us as friends.”
“Haaah…”
“Don’t you ‘haaah’ me, you lady-killer. Even we could tell on our first meeting, so there’s no way you haven’t noticed. …I’m guessing she’s been holding back, right?”
“…Ah, well.”
On the train, she had naturally settled in right beside me. Then, despite being surrounded by older people she had just met, she had fallen asleep with a look of complete trust on her face.
To top it off, instead of scolding her “sister” for her prank, she had taken my hand in public without a hint of hesitation—yeah, I guess anyone could see it.
“Well, see you later. Okay?”
“Yeah…”
It was painfully obvious that she was bursting at the seams, just waiting for a chance to be affectionate.
And so, after suffering a mysterious defeat at the hands of my friend, who clapped me on the shoulder with some kind of encouragement before leaving the room… I silently made excuses to no one in particular that I had fully intended to do all this properly even without his prodding.
Leaving the men’s room, I walked over to the adjacent door and knocked without hesitation.
◇◆◇◆◇
—In the end, I should probably be grateful he pushed me.
The reason why was perfectly clear.
“...You don’t have to hold on so tight. My arm isn’t going to sprout legs and run away.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about, indeed…”
Sora-san, who had my left arm firmly secured with both of her hands, was in an exceptionally good mood, her beaming smile never fading for a moment since I’d asked her on a date.
For the record, the maid’s face when she saw us off was also beaming, but that’s completely irrelevant, so I’ll kick that memory into the far corners of my mind.
In any case, we were on a trip, so the chances of seeing the people walking by a second time were one in a million. Plus, those “glasses” were working their mysterious power, so a perfect security system was active that prevented anyone but those I permitted from recognizing my face correctly.
Sora’s appearance was also drastically different from her virtual avatar, mainly her eye and hair color, so unless someone put them side by side, identifying her would be difficult.
In other words, the magic of travel was at work, making us less conscious of prying eyes than usual.
That should have been the case, but…
“……Make sure you keep your hat on properly.”
“Okay.”
There were just far, far too many.
Too many what? —The number of stares drawn by the sight of an angelic girl, who made everyone turn their heads, doting on me with undisguised affection.
I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about being recognized as long as I didn’t make a huge blunder, but we were getting so much attention that I couldn’t help but feel anxious and break into a cold sweat.
“Did I make the wrong call, I wonder…”
Maybe we should have avoided the crowded areas, even if we were going out. But this was a tourist spot, so there would be crowds everywhere we went, but still…
“Fufu… I think we’ll be fine as long as we’re careful about what we call each other. For what it’s worth, even my close friends at school have no idea.”
“Somehow that’s both surprising and not… You go by this name at school, right?”
“Yes. So I’m used to being called by either name. …So.”
Well, for my part, I was getting used to receiving stares after everything that had happened recently. As I deployed my mental defenses with the skills I was cultivating, Sora-san, who was clearly more experienced and accustomed to this than I… or rather…
“This is also ‘me,’ so please don’t hesitate to call me by my name. —Nozomi-san.”
“…Alright. As you wish, Lady Hinata.”
“You added something unnecessary. That’s forbidden here, too.”
“Hey, stop pinching me, that hurts, it hurts…!”
“Honestly… you’re always teasing me.”
“In this case, I wasn’t really teasing, it just sort of slipped out.”
The mysterious phrase “Ojou-sama”—for some reason, it just rolled off the tongue. Also, on another note…
“Anyway, this feels so weird. My back is getting itchy.”
“…You may have forgotten, but you used to call me ‘-san’ too, you know?”
“No, there’s no way I’d forget. I remember every single word, not just the words but the long, long time it took before I could finally commit to everything.”
“Ah, th-that’s fine. You don’t need to remember it…!”
“‘From now on, I want to be… an equal partner—’”
“Ngh, honestly—, honestly!!!”
“I’m sorry, it hurts, I got carried away, it hurts, please stop, I’m sorry… Ah! I’m starving! But I have no idea what any of these restaurants are like, what a predicament!!!”
“Hmph…!!”
And so, while bickering like we always do.
For the very first memory of our trip, a luxuriously extravagant event—a date with my cute partner—was peacefully and joyfully etched into time.
Indiscriminate terror attack currently underway in the hot spring tourist town.