"Chihiro, you're here."
Izumi Kotetsu was leaning against one side of the hot spring, seemingly having waited for a long time. Upon hearing footsteps, he immediately spoke.
"?"
Izumi Chihiro vaguely sensed something.
What followed was a rare heart-to-heart talk between father and son.
His father's words almost all hinted at something.
Sagiri is still young…
You are still young, don't be impulsive…
Now is not the time…
Become a true family…
He almost said it directly!
This was to express his stance: if the two were to enter that kind of relationship, as parents, they would not object.
To this, Izumi Chihiro could only say that he was still young and didn't understand what he was talking about.
"It's okay if you don't understand, I was just saying it casually."
Izumi Kotetsu just smiled knowingly, patted his shoulder, and continued, "Besides, you've spent more time with the young lady of Sawamura, haven't you?"
"That last sentence was completely unnecessary."
A few dark lines seemed to appear on his forehead.
He didn't know why this topic suddenly came up. How could his relationship with Sagiri be considered a romance?
This foresight was a bit too early.
A similarly awkward scene was unfolding on the other side.
It was easy to guess why Mrs. Izumi, as a mother, suddenly started explaining topics related to sexual knowledge to her daughter, and even specifically warned her about certain taboos.
However, this wasn't really a big deal.
The school could have taught this knowledge at her age anyway.
The girl's face was incredibly red at the moment, perhaps due to the steam, but more so because she had learned some knowledge about the human body.
Well, for an excellent artist, it's quite normal to understand the structure of the human body, isn't it?
...
Changing into a yukata, Izumi Chihiro returned to the room, only to find that Sagiri had not yet come back.
After waiting for a while, Sagiri pushed the door open and entered.
The lights in the room were not on because the window had a good position, allowing ample moonlight to shine in from outside, providing enough light for the surroundings.
"Ni-san."
Under the moonlight, Sagiri lightly rested one hand on the doorframe and clutched her collar with the other, her gaze directed to the side, a captivating blush on her face as she softly murmured.
"Mm, it's getting late, you can sleep now."
Izumi looked back for a moment, then quickly averted his gaze.
He wasn't so perverse as to lust after an elementary schooler.
Pulling the futon up to cover everything below her neck, the girl still couldn't fall asleep for a long time, even in that state.
"Ni-san, are you asleep?" Sagiri suddenly asked in a low voice.
"No."
If it weren't for the surrounding silence making her voice stand out, Izumi Chihiro would have had a hard time reacting.
Due to his work, he actually went to bed quite late, so he found it difficult to sleep at this hour, even feeling a bit energetic and wanting to take out his laptop to write.
But this wasn't his room alone; if he disturbed his sister's rest, he would feel bad.
"Ni-san, why can't you sleep?" Sagiri asked after hesitating for a few seconds.
"It's not my usual bedtime yet."
He explained the reason.
"I see."
Sagiri understood.
So Ni-san was being considerate of my feelings!
A few more minutes passed.
"Ni-san, I can't sleep either... It's perfect, I've always been curious about Ni-san's work, why don't you give me a demonstration?"
Sagiri finally spoke out.
"Really?" He confirmed.
"Ni-san, please!" Sagiri couldn't bear the difficulty of falling asleep any longer, so she actively got up from her futon and turned on the light.
"Alright then."
Izumi Chihiro also felt that just spacing out was quite boring, so he prepared to fulfill his sister's request.
He took out his laptop, placed it on the small table, and began typing on the keyboard, with one passage of text after another appearing before their eyes.
Sagiri's eyes were twinkling as she watched the scene before her; it was a scene that would be boring to others, but she found it incredibly interesting.
Is this how Ni-san usually works? He's so engrossed!
And the smoothness of his typing, she understood just how proficient her brother was.
However, after a while, Izumi Chihiro's fingers stopped again.
"Ni-san?" She couldn't help but ask.
"My train of thought got cut off..." Izumi Chihiro said with an awkward expression.
For him, who was already proficient in writing on a computer, his typing speed had increased from five hundred characters per hour to two thousand characters per hour.
This speed was quite good for a light novelist.
But the key factor in writing wasn't typing speed, but one's own ideas; if the ideas were interrupted, no matter how fast you typed, you couldn't write anything.
"Oh, that's a shame." Sagiri said with a regretful expression.
"However, it's almost time, it's nearly midnight." Izumi Chihiro looked down at the time on his phone.
"Is it already this late?" Sagiri suddenly realized.
Without further ado, the two returned to their futons.
This time, both quickly fell into a dream.
After an uneventful night.
"Sagiri and her brother's relationship is getting better and better ~" When they got up for breakfast in the morning, the two walked in side by side with normal expressions, only to be teased by their mother again.
Sagiri just blushed.
Soon after breakfast, they had their free time again.
"Ni-san, stay with me… I want to go out and look around."
Sagiri held her drawing board and tugged at his sleeve, pleading.
"I understand."
Izumi Chihiro nodded in agreement.
This was an unfamiliar place; although the chance of encountering danger was very low, he was still worried if his sister went alone, and he couldn't rest assured.
So, he acted as a bodyguard, accompanying Sagiri to wander around and observe the green mountains and clear waters of the area.
During the day, it was basically like this, and at night, he would write on his laptop.
These days passed much more fulfilling than usual.
This kind of time lasted for a week.
Everyone felt very satisfied.
Enjoying the beautiful rural scenery during the day, and at night, one could enjoy a hot spring…
Perhaps he could now understand the thoughts of those who wished to live in seclusion in the countryside.
Living at such a slow pace, compared to the fast-paced city life, it indeed had some allure.
Unfortunately, they couldn't stay there forever.
A week later, the Izumi family returned home.