Hayato had just emerged from the men's bath, clad in a bathrobe.
His hair was still soaking wet, and glistening beads of water clung to his face and neck.
He slowly approached, wiping his hair with a towel.
"... Oh no!"
Kobayashi Ayaka quickly covered her nose and averted her gaze.
Miyajima Tsubaki's legs also went weak, and she didn't look at him anymore.
"Lin-kun!"
Miyajima Sakura, holding a suitcase with one hand, dashed over to Hayato.
If she hadn't braked in time, Hayato truly feared she would have charged at him like a wild boar and sent him flying.
He leaned back slightly, somewhat apprehensive.
Miyajima Sakura's joy was visible to the naked eye, but she also noticed Hayato's small movement. She quickly put down her suitcase, bowed, and apologized:
"It's been a long time, and I'm truly ashamed for my lack of greetings. Meeting you today is a great surprise."
"... Speak normally."
"I'm so happy to see you," Miyajima Sakura looked up, beaming with a sweet smile.
"... Oh, oh-ho," Hayato nodded.
Then he numbly averted his gaze. Ayaka-senpai was too close, and she was smiling so genuinely and happily that Hayato felt embarrassed to step back further.
"You all..." Hayato asked.
"Prize..."
To prevent repeating the plot, after Hayato and Miyajima Sakura had such and such a conversation, he explained the reason for their visit clearly.
"What good luck," Hayato smiled.
"Yes, I didn't expect to run into Lin-kun here!" Miyajima Sakura nodded vigorously. The smile on her face, more mature than her peers, was many times purer than theirs, untainted by any pretense. Anyone who saw it would be charmed.
"But for some people, luck might not be so good, don't you think so, A~ya~~ka~?" Tsubaki said, smiling.
This voice, however, sounded to Kobayashi Ayaka like a devil from hell whispering.
Her mind raced, and when she looked up and saw Hayato, she finally understood the whole situation.
No wonder Aunt Tsubaki was acting like she caught a cat stealing fish. So that's how it was.
But Auntie, Sakura isn't even worried about this, so why are you? Could it be that you...
Kobayashi Ayaka suddenly gave Miyajima Tsubaki a sly smile.
"W-What?"
The smile, instead, made Tsubaki's heart flutter. It was a change of attack, so to speak.
Kobayashi Ayaka's smile widened. She had long had such a prediction (forgot which chapter), but only now was that idea confirmed.
At the same time, she realized something even more profoundly.
This guy's charm appeals to everyone from six to sixty. It's not shameful for her to be infatuated with such a person!
This brat.
Miyajima Tsubaki always felt Ayaka's smile was deeply meaningful, as if it were poking at the most sensitive part of her.
That's right, her heart.
Ayaka and Sakura had known each other since childhood, and Ayaka had frequently visited their home since kindergarten.
Miyajima Tsubaki's feelings for Ayaka were such that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she considered her a second daughter.
Her father, Kiichiro, also taught Ayaka as if she were a granddaughter, treating her equally in both life and kendo.
He even once said, "Ayaka's achievements in kendo will not be as good as Sakura's in the future, but this is definitely not due to my holding back or lack of talent, but rather her personality"—for Kiichiro, this was already an extremely high compliment.
So when Tsubaki learned that Ayaka was with Hayato at the hot spring inn, the reason for her indignation wasn't, 'How dare you try to steal...bah, how dare you try to steal a man from Sakura.'
Instead, it was, 'This brat actually snuck off!'
Sakura knew from beginning to end that Ayaka was working in Yaso Inaba, but Ayaka never told Sakura that Hayato was with her.
Not only did she sneak around like a cat, but she also dared to lie!
Honestly, Tsubaki truly wronged Ayaka. Given her timid mindset at the beginning, how could Ayaka dare to tell Sakura that Hayato was in the same small town as her?
Sakura might not mock her, but she definitely wouldn't understand her feelings.
If it were Sakura, with her personality, she would definitely go find Hayato immediately.
But Ayaka... couldn't do it.
Later, or rather, before meeting the Miyajima mother and daughter, Ayaka also had the idea of telling Sakura about this.
But, iP●ne, iP●ne, can't you get your act together?
Various coincidences created such a fateful encounter.
Tsubaki, seeing Ayaka's meaningful gaze, felt a bit embarrassed to talk to her further, so she began to subtly challenge Hayato with sarcastic remarks,
"Lin, I've never heard that you and Ayaka were so close. Are you two traveling together?"
"Huh? So Ayaka and Lin-kun came out to play together?"
Miyajima Sakura's belated realization made Tsubaki, as a mother, despair... What on earth are you thinking, Sakura!
Then Sakura's smile grew even more joyful, "I didn't expect you two to be so close~~ That's great~~"
Sakura! Have a little sense of crisis! Tsubaki continued to shout in her heart.
Immediately after, her voice-over seemed to reach her daughter.
Miyajima Sakura tilted her head and thought for a moment. Her smile gradually faded, and her expression began to show some confusion: "Then why... didn't you tell me...?"
"This," Ayaka quickly tried to explain.
Miyajima Sakura's radiant smile had completely vanished, her eyes were vacant and cold, and her entire being seemed to have lost all color:
"You didn't want to bring me along to play?"
"It's not like that, Sakura," Ayaka quickly said.
Hayato's reply was even more direct: "Ayaka, who is that?"
Tsubaki:?
Miyajima Sakura's vacant eyes gradually regained their sparkle, but her confusion deepened. She looked at Ayaka, puzzled.
"Hey..." Kobayashi Ayaka wanted to warn Hayato not to joke at a time like this.
The good news was that Hayato wasn't joking anymore.
The bad news was he was serious.
"Is this Senior Miyajima's friend?" Hayato looked at Kobayashi Ayaka and chuckled, "Unfortunately, I think she'll dislike me, so it's better not to get acquainted. Anyway, I'll help you take your luggage back to the room first."
"Okay, then we'll trouble Lin-kun," Miyajima Sakura nodded, then continued to look at Kobayashi Ayaka with confusion.
Hayato took the luggage and walked past Kobayashi Ayaka.
Tsubaki looked at the young man's back, then quietly asked the latter:
"...Did you two have a fight?"
Kobayashi Ayaka's lips moved, "N-No... I don't think so QAQ."
Now should be a more terrifying state than a fight.
She was being subjected to silent treatment.
But, if Heaven creates a calamity, one may live; if one creates a calamity oneself! One cannot live, Kobayashi Ayaka!
"Oh, Akane," Hayato called out to the girl who had just scurried out of the room.
"Huh, Kobayashi-chan, are you done bathing already? I accidentally forgot to bring my skin lotion, so I went back to get it. Ayaka-senpai... cough, cough, no, then I'll go take a bath now~~" Nanao Akane, upon meeting Hayato's gaze, decided to respect his pretense of not knowing Kobayashi Ayaka.
"Go help Senior Miyajima with her luggage first," Hayato said.
"Okay~~ Wait, Miyajima!?" Nanao Akane was startled.
...
...
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