kscans

Chapter 769 - The Time in Her Eyes

Evening. As we spent the day making a ruckus without a care in the world, the hours of our second day steadily ticked by. And, as was becoming routine, we took a short break for the hot springs before dinner.

Right now, the staff were likely in the boys' room—our designated hangout spot—preparing the meal. So as not to get in their way, Toshiki and I were killing time in the relaxation space near the large public bath, having sold our souls to a pair of massage chairs…

"—Ngh!"

"Whoa, what's wrong…"

My phone, tucked away in the pocket of my yukata, suddenly vibrated.

The sensation tickled my skin while I was completely zoned out, causing me to let out a strange yelp. Next to me, Toshiki, who had also been surrendering his consciousness to the devil's invention, jumped with a start.

"…What… …………………………………"

He jumped, mumbled, and then promptly passed out again. He often says it himself, but the basic formation of one guy to three girls must be pretty draining.

Even if one of them is your one and only partner, you still have to be considerate when they're the opposite sex. No matter how close you become as friends, when you're outnumbered, that's just how it is for guys.

It's a universal truth: girls are strong. Seriously strong—but anyway, that aside.

I decided to leave the groggy boy, who was clearly the type to suffer, in the care of the high-end massage chair (Critical Hit Course: 30 minutes) and pulled out my phone to tap the screen.

The lit-up display showed a notification window…

I'm waiting for you. Come at full speed.

Somehow, that nonsensical message was displayed on the screen. The sender's name was a dead-serious [Maid].

"………………"

Ignoring it seemed terrifying, so I tapped the notification again for more information.

The message app opened 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, in the middle of drying her lustrous hair, which still seemed to be damp.

Is that a voyeur shot? You should turn yourself in.

I typed out a brave, playful retort, and sure enough…

If you're not here in thirty seconds, you'd better be prepared♡.

Needless to say, after receiving that sudden, mysterious death sentence (?), I instantly threw off the devil's arms and dashed to answer the summons without a second thought.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Well then, please keep her company until dinner."

"I would like to earnestly plead for at least some minimum context, like your intention or an order, but ah, yes, I knew it, you have no intention of listening, do you? You're just skipping off—where are you going, Mai—Natsume-nee!"

And just like that…

Itsuki-san, who had met me with perfect timing just as I arrived, breathless, in front of the sisters' room, offered a sweet 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. She might live more on pure whim and energy than even my virtual self.

She seems to have a real aptitude for being a player. She'd shoot up the ranks in no time, no doubt about it.

"Hah… seriously."

Whatever. It's not like I can escape her grasp anyway, and the option to flee this place is long gone. The only way is forward.

The young lady—her younger sister—left behind in the room probably has no idea what's going on. I can't just leave my partner to feel lonely… so.

Using the key she'd skillfully slipped into my pocket as we passed, I let myself into the sisters' room, a place I had already been made to visit countless times.

Then, learning from my past mistakes, I closed the door and paused at the entrance.

"Uh… hmm… S-Sora-san?"

Instantly, as expected, a sound echoed from behind the fusuma, along with a palpable sense of surprise. Then, after a few seconds of silence—

"……………………"

"H-Hey."

The presence drew closer, the fusuma slid open with a gentle shhhh, and peeking out from the other side was the lovely face of a beautiful girl.

She was giving me a magnificent pout, her eyes half-lidded and cheeks puffed out. It was just plain adorable, but I knew for a fact it wasn't directed at me.

"Honestly… She's always playing pranks."

"She's a real handful, that maid…"

And so, we stood there, united in our complaints about a certain individual.

""………………""

We stood there, our eyes met, and naturally, we were reminded.

"W-…Will you, 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 here? and Sora was probably thinking, What am I supposed to do after I let him in?

"I-I… see. Then, um, please…"

"Ah, yes. Excuse me…"

But neither of us felt like turning away.

I was invited in by my partner, and Sora invited her partner in.

…Now, for some reason, we couldn't look each other in the eye. The simple solution to that was obvious: Just don't force ourselves to look at each other. In other words, we just needed to get into a position where our eyes wouldn't naturally meet. For example, if I were to sit cross-legged and have Sora-san sit on my lap facing the same direction, and I was entrusted with the great duty of drying her hair, that would be convenient—?????

"…………"

"………………"

"……………………"

"…………………………"

""……………………………………""

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 just trying to kill time and calm my heart, feel bored, and I just laughed it off like, 'Nah, 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—Wait, no, that's not right. It appears a critical bug has occurred in my memory banks.

"…, ……Um…"

"Gah…! Sorry, ah, d-did I hurt you…!?"

Her voice brought me back to reality, and I panicked pathetically. I thought I was handling the dryer and comb as I'd been lightly instructed, but there was no way I could perfectly execute such a high-stakes, extra-dimensional mission on my first try.

Her quiet voice made me jump, and I instantly stopped… and then,

"—Pfft, hehe… hehe, heh…………"

While I froze, the young lady of the global Yotsuya family let out a little laugh.

"Hehe… Um, I-I'm sorry. I just thought, you don't have to be so nervous… and, well… it struck me as a little funny."

She kept giggling. A young girl's laugh is nothing if not truly lovely, but… most regrettably, I did not find it amusing.

Oh, that's right. Not amusing at all.

—You little… What do you take a boy's pure heart for, 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. …Um, it's okay, you know? It didn't hurt or anyth—"

"—You're growing your hair out, aren't you."

"—ing… like that…………………… Huh?"

"You're growing out your hair."

"………………………………………………"

"I mean, I can't be sure. But probably, for about three months now. But I can't be sure."

"…………………………………………………………"

"It used to be, like, this long, right? But now it's, like, this long, isn't it?"

I gently tapped the hair around the nape of her neck with the handle of the comb, then followed up with a next hit a little above her shoulder blades. In other words, while it wasn't a dramatic change yet, it was definitely getting longer.

—Yeah, okay. I noticed. I've noticed for a long time.

"Three months ago, that was right around the time we went on our last trip, wasn't it?"

"Th-… …………"

"And on that last trip, everyone was getting all excited about my so-called 'preferences,' weren't they? What was it again? Uhm, let me think… Was it something like…?"

"U-Um…! Um, that's not—"

I'd noticed, but I'd been pretending not to.

Now, I was going to punt that compassion with all my might.

"—That apparently, I'm a huge fan of long black hair?"

"…………………………………………N-No… that's not…"

And for the next few minutes…

"…………It's not like that."

My counterattack, a suicidal charge that took us both down… naturally ended with nothing but the quiet hum of the hairdryer echoing through the surprisingly spacious two-person room.

Of course, with a spectacular double KO, there were two casualties. I continued to devotedly care for my partner's impossibly soft hair while, of course, also dying a noble death myself.

Of course I did. Give me a break.