join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories
"I'm going back!"
Recharge completed.
Fujiwara Chika covered herself with a bath towel and ran away.
Amamiya Natsuki, on the other hand, walked into the courtyard to continue soaking in the hot spring.
When he came out, he found a new text message on his phone.
Hanamori: "Senpai, Senpai, I'm here."
You're not coming over; you're clearly right next door!
Sending a message at this time, are you planning to wait until the Sheltered Ojou-sama falls asleep, then change identities and make a grand entrance?
Amamiya Natsuki picked up his phone: "Where are you, I'll pick you up."
Hanamori: "It's so hot outside, Senpai doesn't need to come over. Just tell Hanamori where you are, and Hanamori will come to meet you."
"It's your first time here, you're unfamiliar with the place, what if you get lost?"
"I have phone navigation!"
"It's not safe for a girl to be alone at night."
"Don't think one sentence can move Hanamori. Hanamori won't easily forgive Senpai's philandering ways!"
"..."
This Spy Maid ultimately didn't let Amamiya Natsuki go out to pick her up.
The reason was simple.
If he picked her up, she'd have to go to the train station first, which was too much hassle back and forth.
Amamiya Natsuki put away his phone and went out, planning to buy a drink.
As soon as he stepped out of the room, he saw a black-haired girl standing at the doorway, her pearly teeth gently biting her lower lip, her pretty face filled with a conflicted expression.
"Komi?"
Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow and called out.
Seeing Amamiya Natsuki open the door, Komi trembled slightly and quickly lowered her head to look at her toes.
"Do you need something?"
Amamiya Natsuki asked curiously.
Komi hesitated for two seconds, then pursed her pink lips and shook her head.
"You do have something." Amamiya Natsuki retorted, "You've been hesitating for three minutes."
Komi: "..."It wasn't long, only one or two seconds.
Amamiya Natsuki said, "If you have something to say, say it, or I'll bully you."
A pleasant voice suddenly sounded, but it was extremely soft; if the hallway hadn't been so quiet, it would have been inaudible:
"...You won't."
Amamiya Natsuki looked over in shock: "You actually spoke."
The black-haired girl's pretty face flushed, and she quickly lowered her head to look at her toes.
"Then I'll rephrase it." Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Speak quickly, or I'll bully Juju right in front of you. You don't want your good friend to be bullied, do you?"
Komi: "..."
Threatening her with Juju, how, how unfair!
Her rosy cheeks puffed out almost imperceptibly, and Komi took out her notebook and began to write.
Speaking was difficult, but communicating through writing was no problem at all.
"My bracelet...the one Mom gave me on my birthday, it's gone."
Amamiya Natsuki heard this and said,
"Have you checked all your rooms?"
"Yes."
"Was the bracelet still there during the day?"
"It was. I even saw it when I was taking a bath."
"Is it in the bathroom?"
"No."
"Understood."
With a series of questions and answers, Amamiya Natsuki quickly understood why Komi was standing at the door of his room.
Excluding other possibilities, the bracelet was likely lost while soaking in the hot spring, which is why Komi came over, wanting to find the bracelet, but she was too shy and hesitant to knock on the door.
If Amamiya Natsuki hadn't happened to come out, he wouldn't have known how long she would have been agonizing at the door.
"Come in." Amamiya Natsuki moved aside from the door. "The bracelet might have fallen into the hot spring. Go look for it."
Komi nodded gently, stepped inside, and then stood nervously in the room, not daring to move.
"Go to the hot spring and look for the bracelet, see if it's there." Amamiya Natsuki said as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back in about ten minutes... Is that enough time?"
Komi quickly nodded, saying it was enough, more than enough.
"Then that's settled."
Amamiya Natsuki waved his hand and left the room.
Amamiya Natsuki walked alone to the Convenience Store, bought a can of iced drink, and chatted with Succubus Girl via messages while drinking.
Image.
Image.
Image.
Kitagawa Marin sent several images in a row.
"I'm having a seafood feast with my dad. He even asked why you didn't come to eat with us."
Amamiya Natsuki: "I'm soaking in a hot spring with a girl."
"Hmph."
Succubus Girl sent an angry cat emoji, her anger came and went quickly, and in a flash, she sent another message.
Kitagawa Marin: "After dinner, I'm also going to soak in the hot spring, and I'm going to put on a volcanic mud mask."
Amamiya Natsuki: "Your skin is so good, I feel like you don't need a mask."
Kitagawa Marin: "No matter how good a girl's skin is, a mask is essential. Oh, right, how are we going back to Tokyo tomorrow?"
Amamiya Natsuki: "It's already decided. We'll take the Shinkansen back together at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
Kitagawa Marin: "That's good. After breakfast with my dad tomorrow, I'll come find you."
"..."
Ten minutes passed in an instant.
Amamiya Natsuki put away his phone and turned to return to the inn.
Click.
Pushing the door open and returning to his room, the room was quiet, and Komi was nowhere to be seen.
Amamiya Natsuki simply assumed she had left, took off his clothes, and began to shower.
The summer heat was intense, and it didn't get much cooler at night; after walking around for a bit, a layer of sweat appeared on his body.
After a quick shower in the bathroom, Amamiya Natsuki walked towards the backyard, preparing to soak in the hot spring again.
As soon as he reached the courtyard, he saw a girl standing in the hot spring under the cool, hazy moonlight, bending over, her black hair falling, and her perfect waist-to-hip curve glowing dazzlingly white in the moonlight.
So white.
Komi, hearing footsteps, suddenly stood up straight, her beautiful eyes widening in a daze when she saw Amamiya Natsuki approaching, then her pretty face instantly flushed red, almost dripping blood, and she covered her body with her arms, plunging into the hot spring.
Hey, hey, what exactly are you looking for?!
Such a small hot spring, you must have searched it thoroughly in ten minutes!
Amamiya Natsuki turned his body, preparing to leave, when he suddenly heard a splashing sound from behind him.
After taking two steps, the splashing sound from behind not only didn't disappear but grew louder.
"What's going on?"
Amamiya Natsuki hesitated, stopped, and turned his head to see the black-haired girl struggling and bobbing in the hot spring.
You're kidding me!
She's drowning!
Amamiya Natsuki was truly shocked.
A hot spring only one meter deep, and she's drowning? How bad is your body's balance?!
Amamiya Natsuki frowned, ran two steps to the edge of the hot spring, and pulled the black-haired girl out of the water.
Splash.
Water splashed.
Water droplets scattered and slid down the girl's fair and delicate skin.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Muffled coughs continuously sounded. Komi tightly hugged Amamiya Natsuki's arm, her eyes teary, and her face pale, clearly indicating that the feeling of choking on water was extremely unpleasant.
"It's alright." Amamiya Natsuki patted Komi's head as a gesture of comfort and reminded her, "Let go of me first."
During the struggle, the black-haired girl's bath towel had slipped off. It had to be said, the feeling of his arm being tightly embraced was quite comfortable.
But precisely because of this, Amamiya Natsuki had to speak up and remind her.
At night, impulse often triumphs over reason. If he couldn't resist transforming into a beast, there would be no room for regret in his life!
"..."
Komi blinked her eyes, finally realizing that her bathrobe had disappeared. Her pale, pretty face instantly flushed red, and she frantically covered her chest with her arms, quickly squatting into the water, with steam billowing from the top of her head.
"After all this time, you still haven't found your bracelet?"
Since they had already seen each other in such a state, Amamiya Natsuki was in no hurry to leave. He looked down at Komi, who was squatting in the water.
Komi quickly shook her head, hesitantly raised her right hand as if preparing to write, then quickly pulled her hand back when she realized the situation didn't allow it. Her pretty face was flushed, and she said in a barely audible voice:
"J-just now...there was a bug."
"What?"
Amamiya Natsuki didn't hear clearly and couldn't help but bend down and lean closer.
Komi took a deep breath, her voice extremely soft: "There was a moth."
It turned out that when Komi first arrived in the backyard, the light attracted a super-sized moth. Girls generally dislike such things, and Komi was no exception.
Blocked by the moth, she didn't dare to go to the hot spring. She waited for a while before finally mustering the courage to chase the moth away. The actual time she spent searching for the bracelet was not much, and she didn't have time to leave.
Amamiya Natsuki heard this and said,
"Have you searched the entire hot spring?"
"No."
Komi shook her head.
"I'll help... Never mind, I'll look." Amamiya Natsuki said, "You stay put and don't move."
Komi quickly shook her head: "I can find it myself."
Amamiya Natsuki sighed: "Let's not. If another drowning incident happens, it will cause trouble for the innkeeper."
"..."
Komi hugged her knees and squatted in the corner, trying to hide herself in the hot spring as much as possible, only revealing her eyes and nose.
While listening to her own rapidly beating heart, she secretly looked at the boy not far away, then shyly averted her gaze.
Amamiya Natsuki didn't know there was someone else in the hot spring and had only wrapped a towel around himself when he came over. As his physical fitness continued to improve, his abs and V-line had already appeared, and his muscle lines and contours were clear, making his physique quite good.
A moment later.
Amamiya Natsuki, who had been groping in the hot spring for a while, suddenly felt his fingers touch something hard at the bottom of the water. His eyes lit up slightly, and he picked up the item. Sure enough, it was a bracelet.
"Found it." Amamiya Natsuki let out a soft breath and turned to Komi. "Take a look, is this your bracelet?"
Komi's eyes brightened, and she quickly nodded happily.
"Here." Amamiya Natsuki handed over the bracelet. "I'll go up first."
"..."
The plan to soak in the hot spring fell through, but... it didn't seem like a loss.
Back in the room.
Amamiya Natsuki finished showering and called Komi in.
The black-haired girl was about to go out when a knock suddenly sounded.
Bang, bang, bang.
Amamiya Natsuki walked to the door and looked out through the peephole, seeing a small pink loli standing in the hallway.
"It's Juju."
Amamiya Natsuki turned to Komi and whispered.
Hearing this, Komi immediately panicked and quickly looked for a hiding place.
Amamiya Natsuki pointed to the bathroom, and after Komi hid inside, he calmly opened the door.
"Stupid Natsuki, Komi is gone!"
Juju, wearing a yukata and with her hair tied into a pink bun, spoke anxiously and directly as soon as the door opened.
She's not gone, she's hiding in the bathroom.
"Don't panic." Amamiya Natsuki said calmly, "How could Komi be gone?"
"I don't know either, she's really gone." Juju walked in anxiously. "I was just reading a manga, and after I finished, I noticed the room was very quiet. At first, I thought Komi was in the bathroom, but then I realized the bathroom light wasn't on."
"I sent her a message, and Komi's phone was charging in the room."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded:"The phone has been used all day, it really needs charging now."
"Listen to me!" Juju glared, "I've searched the entire room, the bathroom, the washroom, the hot spring, and I haven't seen Komi anywhere. She must be gone!"
In the washroom.
Komi, eavesdropping with her ears perked up, felt a pang of shame.
I'm sorry.
It's all my fault for making Juju so worried.
"Don't worry yet." Amamiya Natsuki pulled Juju, making Juju sit by the bed. "Komi is so well-behaved, she definitely wouldn't run off. She must have gone out for something."
"How could that be?" Juju frowned her delicate eyebrows. "If she went out, why didn't she tell me?"
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"Komi is a girl who values words like gold. Have you heard her say a single word today?"
Juju: "..."
"Even so, she should have written it down in her notebook and told me." Juju was still worried.
"Or there's a special reason she's embarrassed to tell you." Amamiya Natsuki analyzed seriously, "For example, going out to buy underwear. Anyway, she should be back very soon."
"Is that really true?"
Juju was skeptical.
"Don't worry." Amamiya Natsuki assured, "Wait ten more minutes. If Komi still hasn't returned, we'll all go out and look for her together."
Juju nodded slightly then.
Only ten minutes, she could wait a bit longer. Komi wasn't a child after all.
If it were a child who got lost, then not a minute could be wasted; they would have to go look immediately.
"Come here." Amamiya Natsuki beckoned, retreating to advance. "Let me replenish Juju's energy."
"What is that? I've never heard of it." Juju covered her chest, her eyes disdainful. "I'm going back to my room. If Komi comes back, I'll notify you immediately."
Plan successful.
Only by getting Juju to leave first could Komi come out.
Amamiya Natsuki extended his hand and said: "Let me replenish five minutes of Juju-sama energy."
"No."
"Three minutes."
"No."
"..."
Juju walked to the door, about to leave, when suddenly a knock sounded.
"Someone's here!"
Juju jumped, quickly retreating half a step, and said nervously, "I'll hide."
"No need to hide." Amamiya Natsuki stopped her. "We're upright and fear no shadows; we have a clear conscience."
"I do not have a clear conscience!"
Juju puffed out her cheeks.
Just now he wanted to hold her in his arms and replenish energy, yet he had the nerve to say he had a clear conscience. How could he say that!
Amamiya Natsuki pointed: "You hide on the bed."
"No."
Juju had her own choice. She pulled open the washroom door and hid inside.
The next second.
Juju's steps paused, her eyes widened, and she turned back in disbelief.
"You, you, you..."
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence: 9 Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories