Chapter 769 - The Time in Her Eyes
Evening. As we continued to revel without a care, the second day steadily passed by. And, once again without fail, we took a break at the hot springs before dinner for a moment of peace.
Right now, the staff at the inn were probably preparing our meal in the boys’ room, which had become our hangout spot. Not wanting to get in their way, Toshiki and I were killing time in the relaxation space near the large public bath, selling our souls to the massage chairs…
“—Ngh!”
“Whoa! What was that…?”
Suddenly, the phone in my yukata pocket buzzed.
I’d been completely relaxed, and the vibration tickling my skin made me yelp in surprise. Next to me, Toshiki, who had also been surrendering his consciousness to the devil’s invention, jolted upwards.
“……Wha…………, ……………………………………”
He jumped, mumbled something, and then passed out again. He often says it himself, but being the one guy with three girls must be mentally exhausting.
Even with your one and only partner, you have to be considerate if they’re of the opposite sex. No matter how close you become as friends, when you’re outnumbered, that’s just how it is for a guy.
It’s a universal truth: girls are strong. Seriously—but that’s beside the point.
I left the groggy guy, who was clearly the type to worry too much, in the care of the high-end massage chair (Critical Hit Course: 30 minutes) and took out my phone, tapping the screen.
The lit-up LCD displayed a notification window…
I am waiting for you. Come at full speed.
Somehow, a completely nonsensical message was displayed. And the sender’s name was, with all seriousness, [Maid].
“………………”
Ignoring it seemed terrifying, so I tapped the notification again for more information.
The message app launched automatically, and on the chat screen, a single image was posted alongside the text.
“……, ………………………………”
What kind of image, or rather, photograph was it? …It was the back of a girl in a yukata, her lustrous hair still looking damp as she was in the middle of drying it.
Is this a secret photo? Please turn yourself in.
I sent back a bit of reckless banter, and what do you know.
If you’re not here in thirty seconds, you’d better be prepared♡
It goes without saying that after being abruptly issued a mysterious death sentence (?), I instantly shook off the devil’s embrace and dashed off to answer the summons.
◇◆◇◆◇
“—Well then, please keep her company until dinner.”
“Could I perhaps humbly request that you provide at least some minimal information, like your intent or an order, but ah, yes, I knew it, you have no intention of listening, do you, you’re even skipping away, where are you going, Mai—I mean, Natsume-neee!!!”
And so it went.
Just as I arrived, out of breath, in front of the sisters’ room, Itsuki-san met me with a smile and was gone in a mere five seconds.
I can’t say it out loud, but I’ll say it in my head as many times as I want: that woman is an idiot. I wonder if she lives more on whim and energy than even I do in the virtual world.
She seems to have a real aptitude for being a player. She’d be a top ranker in no time, no doubt about it.
“Hah… honestly.”
Whatever. It’s not like I can escape her grasp now anyway, and running away from here is no longer an option. The only way is forward.
The young lady and younger sister left behind in the room probably hasn’t been told anything, and I can’t just leave my partner to be lonely… so.
Using the key she’d deftly slipped into my pocket as we passed each other, I made my grand entrance into the sisters’ room, a place I’d already been invited—or rather, forced—into several times.
Then, as I closed the door, I remembered what happened last time and paused at the entrance.
“Uh… hmm… S-Sora-san?”
Instantly, as expected, a sound echoed from behind the fusuma, accompanied by a sense of unease. Then, after a few seconds of silence—
“……………………”
“H-hey.”
An aura drew near, the fusuma slid open with a soft shhhh, and peeking out from the other side was the lovely face of a beautiful girl.
She was sporting a top-tier pout, complete with half-lidded eyes and puffed-out cheeks. And while it was nothing but adorable, it was clear that it wasn’t directed at me.
“Honestly, honestly… She’s always playing tricks.”
“She’s a troublesome maid, isn’t she…”
And so, we complained about a certain person together.
““………………””
We complained, our eyes met, and naturally, we remembered.
“W-…Would you like to come in?”
“Yeah, well… I was instructed to keep you company, so.”
In the end, we could only look at each other for a few seconds. I was thinking, What am I supposed to do once I’m in? and Sora was probably thinking, What am I supposed to do after letting him in? but…
“I-I… see. Well, then, please, come in…”
“Ah, yes. Excuse me…”
Neither of us felt like leaving.
I was invited in by my partner, and Sora invited her partner in.
…Now what? We can’t seem to look at each other. The simple solution to that is, ‘Don’t force ourselves to look at each other.’
In other words, we just need to be in a position where our eyes don’t naturally meet. For example, if I were to sit cross-legged with Sora-san on my lap facing the same way, and I was given the great duty of drying her hair, that would be convenien—?????
“…………”
“………………”
“……………………”
“…………………………”
““……………………………………””
What is this.
No, I remember the process that led to this. Sora-san’s hair was still wet, so we talked about how she needed to dry it quickly, and then Sora got worried that she was making me, who was pretending to be bored while trying to calm my heart, feel left out, and I just laughed it off like, ‘Don’t worry about it at all, hahaha’—
And then before I knew it, a beautiful girl in a yukata with black hair was sitting on my lap—no, that’s not right. It seems my memory banks have suffered a critical error.
“……, …………U-um.”
“Ah…! Sorry, ah, d-did I hurt you…?!”
She spoke, and I panicked pathetically. I thought I was handling the hairdryer and comb as I’d been briefly taught, but there’s no way I could perfectly execute such an insanely high-level mission on my first try.
Her modest voice sent a genuine shiver down my spine, and I immediately stopped… and then…
“—Hee, hehe… hehe, heh……”
While I froze, the Yotsuya family’s own young lady let out a soft laugh.
“Hehe… Um, I-I’m sorry. I just thought, you don’t have to be so nervous… it just… struck me as a little funny.”
And so, she continued to giggle. A young girl’s laughter is truly nothing short of endearing, but… regrettably, I didn't find it amusing.
Oh, that's right. It wasn't amusing at all.
—You little… How dare you mock the pure heart of a boy who is on the verge of death after touching a girl’s hair for the first time in his life.
Fine, then. Time for a counterattack.
“Sora-san.”
“Y-yes. …Ah, um, it’s okay. It didn’t hurt or anything like tha—”
“—You’re growing your hair out, aren’t you.”
“at a—……………………Huh?”
“You’re growing it out, your hair.”
“………………………………………………”
“I mean, I can’t be sure. But probably… for the last three months. I mean, I can’t be sure.”
“…………………………………………………………”
“Before, it was about this long, right? But now, it’s about this long.”
I lightly tapped the hair around the nape of her neck with the handle of the comb, then delivered the next hit just above her shoulder blades. In other words, while it wasn’t a dramatic change, it was definitely getting longer.
—Yeah, right. I noticed. I’d noticed for a long time.
“Three months ago… that was right around our last trip, wasn’t it?”
“Tha… …………”
“And speaking of the last trip, everyone was getting all excited about my ‘type’ or whatever. What was it again? Uhm… if I remember correctly…?”
“U-um…! Um, that’s not—”
I had noticed, and I had pretended not to.
Now, I was going to kick that mercy to the curb with all my might.
“—Something about how I supposedly love long black hair?”
“…………………………………………I-it’s… not… like that.”
And for the next few minutes…
“…………It’s not.”
My counterattack, a desperate act of mutual self-destruction… it was only natural that the spacious room, which felt too big for just two people, was filled with nothing but the quiet hum of the hairdryer.
And with that brilliant double play, there were two casualties. As I continued to tenderly care for my partner’s unbelievably soft hair, I, of course, also died a noble death.
What did you expect? Give me a break.