In Aina and Kohei's Room
BANG!
"Why is it like this?!"
Aina slammed her hand onto the soft bed, visibly distressed.
Back when they first saw this room, both of them had a mental breakdown.
Kohei even thought the owner had it out for him.
But after checking out the latest reviews for this place…
That thought vanished completely.
Replaced by—
How the hell is this place still in business?!
Unlike Kohei's thoughts, Aina's first concern was about Iori's room!
She had immediately rushed downstairs—
And just happened to witness that whole scene from earlier.
She even heard that obnoxious shopkeeper say things like:
"We don't have rooms like that here."
"No other rooms available."
BANG BANG BANG!!
Aina smashed her head into the bed in frustration.
The squeaking noises were way too… suggestive.
Bed: Don't be so rough~! I might break~!
(???)
Kohei: "Calm down. Isn't the real question why Kamishiro's editor is even here?"
BANG BANG BANG!
"Not important! That's not important at all!!"
"..."
Watching Aina completely immersed in her own dramatic spiral, Kohei suddenly felt a bit sorry for that girl named Kiyoko.
If he remembered correctly, Kiyoko had asked Aina to keep an eye on Kamishiro's whereabouts.
Well… it was pretty obvious now Kamishiro might also be here.
If the editor's here, the pigeon can't be far behind.
Kohei sighed, still not quite understanding why Aina was overreacting this much.
"Weren't they already living together before?"
If something was going to happen, it would've happened long ago. Nanaka san and the shop owner were always out buying supplies, after all.
"B-but still!"
Aina understood all that logically, but she just couldn't rest easy! A house and a hotel aren't the same thing!
"Then why don't you go check for yourself?"
"Check?"
________________
A few minutes later
The two of them were standing outside Iori and Chisa's room.
"Are you sure about this…?"
Aina whispered. For some reason… this situation felt oddly thrilling…
"Should we head back then?"
"..."
Aina didn't respond, not wanting to even look at Kohei.
Shouldn't a normal person at least give her an out here? Like say, "Well, we're already here…" or something?!
Aina pressed her head against the door, trying to listen carefully. Kohei also leaned in.
Unlike Aina, who was worried about the worst, Kohei was simply curious.
Was Kitahara sleeping on the floor tonight? Or maybe… the bathroom?
Chisa: "I do feel a little bad making Iori sleep outside…"
"..."
Upon hearing that, Aina let out a breath of relief.
Good—Kitahara's situation was even worse than Kohei imagined. He wasn't even inside the room.
She felt a little bad for Iori, but this result? Couldn't be better.
Iori: "When was this even decided…?"
Chisa: "If you're okay with the bathtub, that's also an option."
Iori: "Please… even a corner of the room is fine!"
"See? I told you, those two wouldn't do anything."
Kohei turned to Aina. If something had happened between them, Iori wouldn't be begging for a bed corner like this.
"You're right…"
Aina pulled her head away from the door, finally starting to believe their innocence.
________________
"Right? Right? So the most important thing now is our room—"
Before Kohei could finish his sentence, Iori's voice came from inside the room again.
"Iori: Anyway, we've already slept together before."
!!!
Just as the two of them were starting to lift their heads, they instantly pressed their ears back against the door.
They must have misheard, right? Definitely hallucinating!
"Chisa: That time was an accident..."
"Iori: We almost got forced into marriage by Nanaka san."
Pfft!!!
Aina spat out a mouthful of blood.
It wasn't a hallucination!
Chisa admitted it! And Nanaka-san tried to force a marriage… What the heck have they been doing at home?!
Unacceptable, totally unacceptable.
"Cakey!"
Seeing Aina collapse, Kohei quickly walked over and whispered, "It might be a misunderstanding again, like last time!"
They'd already had a similar misunderstanding before.
"And even if they slept together, it doesn't necessarily mean anything happened. Maybe Kitahara was just drunk and went into the wrong room!"
"R-Really…?"
Aina opened her eyes shakily. She couldn't take any more emotional damage.
"Of course!"
As Kohei gave his confident response, Iori's voice rang out from the room once more.
"Chisa: I remember it hurt for quite a while after that."
Kohei: "…"
Great. These two are definitely doing this on purpose.
Pfft pfft!!!
"Cakey!!!"
Aina spat out more blood.
That time? It hurt?
In a country where sex ed starts in kindergarten, Aina of course knew what kind of situation "the first time" involved.
What they just said matched that perfectly!
Aina stared blankly up at the unfamiliar ceiling.
"Goodbye… my youth…"
"Calm down! You've got to stay calm, monster girl! This has to be a misunderstanding!"
Kohei kept trying to comfort her.
Cakey was his irreplaceable partner—he couldn't let her collapse here!
And it definitely wasn't because she gave him a custom Maya sama alarm clock earlier today!
"(´Д`) But… tonight might actually be real…"
Aina had lost all hope. Her youth was slipping away!
"Don't worry! I'll take care of everything!"
Kohei dashed down the stairs. He was going to protect his best friend's youth!
________________
Ten minutes later
Aina and Kohei stood in front of the inn, carrying their luggage.
"As long as a room opens up, they'll have to sleep separately!"
"As expected of Kohei!"
Aina looked overjoyed—now she didn't have to worry about her youth drifting away!
Hooray!
"They should know, right?"
"Of course! I specifically asked the owner to inform them!"
"Nice work!"
Now Aina could finally relax!
"There's just one problem left."
"What problem?"
"We don't have anywhere to stay now."
Aina blinked. Then her mouth twitched. "Oh… right…"
Now they had to find a new place.
Aina looked around. There should be other inns nearby.
And then…
She spotted a street glowing with pink neon vibes.
Kohei, still staring at his phone, asked without looking up, "Found something?"
"…"
"Yeah… I did…"
But all the inns on this street were totally inappropriate!
So this inn was the only normal one on the whole street?
No… even this one was just an ordinary love hotel disguised as a normal inn!
"Forget this place, let's find another one."
Aina blushed furiously.
But Kohei didn't respond. He just stood there in a daze.
"Kohei?"
Still no reaction.
Just as Aina was about to pull him, suddenly Kohei spat a huge mouthful of blood all over his phone.
That blood loss looked worse than all of Aina's earlier combined!
"Kohei?!"
Aina shouted in alarm. What the heck—he suddenly turned into a human fountain?!
Thud!
Kohei collapsed, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"What happened?! What's going on?!"
"If I had known… I'd suffer this much heartbreak… I wish I'd been born as a flower or a blade of grass instead…"
!!!
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Why the sudden philosophical spiral?!
"What did you even see—"
Aina picked up Kohei's phone. The screen read:
"Breaking News! Kaya Mizuki reveals she's found someone she likes, she might announce her relationship soon?"
And below that:
"Breaking: Idol Ikegoshi and voice actress Yurika Muranaka set wedding date!"
???
That sudden, huh?!
Now Aina fully understood Kohei's extreme reaction. These two headlines together were basically a direct hit to his soul!
She had lost her youth. Kohei had lost his entire reason to live!
#twitch twitch
"Oh heavens… do you want me to die too…"
"…"
Aina's mouth twitched. Heaven definitely didn't want that, okay?
"I know you're feeling down right now, but get a grip. We need to find a place to sleep first."
But Kohei was beyond listening. He kept muttering:
"Just kill me already…"
"…"
At that moment, Aina had a strong urge to just leave this guy behind.
But thinking back on everything that had happened today… she couldn't.
She looked at the sign beside her.
"Until This Body Runs Dry~"
Then looked at the still-twitching Kohei on the ground…
After a few back-and-forths in her mind, Aina finally seemed to make up her mind.
She shouted:
"I'm really only doing this because I have no other choice, okay?!"
Blushing fiercely, she picked up the still-convulsing Kohei and headed toward "Until This Body Runs Dry~."
________________
Meanwhile, in Kamishiro's Room
Bang~
"Hanabi, peeking at someone in the bath isn't very polite, you know~"
At the bathroom door, Kamishiro stood in a yukata, flashing a wicked grin.
He knew it—his charm was irresistible!
Just earlier, when Kamishiro had finished his bath, he noticed the bathroom door cracked open with a tiny head peeking in.
Pretending not to notice, he decided to surprise Hanabi directly.
Seeing those startled, deer-in-headlights eyes, Kamishiro couldn't help but feel pleased.
Hanabi really is adorable~
"W-Who was peeking…?"
Hanabi averted her eyes and weakly tried to argue, "I just couldn't find you, so I wanted to see where you were, that's all. How was I supposed to know you'd suddenly open the door?"
Hearing this, Kamishiro just smiled and nodded. If he hadn't seen through the mirror that Hanabi had been peeking for quite a while already, he might've actually believed that excuse.
"Did you enjoy the view?"
"W-Wait, no! Enjoy what? With your skinny little frame, there's really nothing to look at, okay..."
Flustered and on the verge of exposure, Hanabi protested with a mix of shame and anger—though, of course, her words were far from sincere.
From the way she had been sneaking glances at Kamishiro's defined collarbones and the faint glimpse of his chest through the yukata…
It was definitely a nice view~
( ˙▿˙ )
"Hehe, Hanabi's such a tsundere. I'm not even charging you! Just say the word—look all you want, you can even touch~ It's an exclusive bonus for my editor!"
"..."
Using your looks to seduce your editor, huh?
What editor could resist that kind of temptation?
Hanabi couldn't help but sneak another glance. Yup!
She might not be able to resist that temptation after all…
But she couldn't lose face!
Forcing herself back into work mode, Hanabi said coldly, "Who wants to touch that? You're too full of yourself. Now that you're done bathing, get out already. Don't waste my time—I need to shower."
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
Kamishiro froze. Wait—did that mean he wasn't even allowed to stay in his own room?
"Hey hey hey, Hanabi, that's a serious lack of trust! I swear on my honor, I would never barge in!"
"…And conveniently leave out the part about peeking, right?"
"Ahem, how can you call that peeking? It's called appreciation!"
Yep, this damn pigeon was still as shameless as ever.
But it's fine. Hanabi hadn't actually planned to kick him out. That had just been her professional reflex talking.
If he really left, she wouldn't be able to carry out her domineering CEO plan later!
Thinking about what she had in hand, Hanabi ignored what he said and turned toward the bathroom.
However—
There was one thing she hadn't considered!
That was how familiar Kamishiro was with the thing in her hand!
Even though Hanabi had carefully covered up the text, some tiny edges still showed.
Kamishiro instantly recognized what it was.
She went out? And came back with a little umbrella?
Kamishiro's smile turned wicked and increasingly unhinged.
"Ah!"
With a surprised yelp from Hanabi, the two of them collapsed onto the bed.
They had ended up in exactly the pose Hanabi had imagined countless times in her head.
Except...
Now the pigeon was on top!
"Y-You damn pigeon…"
Before Hanabi could finish her sentence, Kamishiro pressed his index finger to her lips.
"Hanabi, you've been naughty~"
Then, while she was distracted, he quickly snatched the little umbrella from her hand.
!!!
Staring at the newly bought item in Kamishiro's hand and the teasing smile on his face, Hanabi's brain completely crashed.
She was doomed!
She had become the little lamb!
Hanabi tried to get up, but not only did she fail—she accidentally pulled open Kamishiro's yukata in the process.
It was almost like… she had done it on purpose.
The scene was beyond awkward.
Gripping the sash of the robe, Hanabi could feel Kamishiro's increasingly heavy breaths.
"U-Um… can I take a shower first?"
Hanabi tried to request a time-out to cool down in the shower and regroup.
Too bad~
The one on top refused!
"Let's talk about that shower in an hour~"
The pigeon had seized control!!
______________