"Huh? Me and Shirou going to the hot springs alone…?"
At Alice's words, Aoko's cheeks instantly flushed bright red.
She fell silent and quietly stole a glance at the boy beside her.
Shirou, however, was staring seriously at Alice as he said, "The two hot spring vouchers I bought… ahem, the two I won were meant for you two to use in the first place."
Alice stared expressionlessly at the mirror lying across the table.
"I have to stay here and monitor the Bounded Field's support points. This is the most critical moment."
"Aoko, go soak in the hot springs with him."
Even Alice herself did not know why she had said that.
But the instant the words left her mouth, the girl's mood sank to rock bottom.
Shirou said, "Alice-san, you've been monitoring them for an entire week, haven't you?
"Touko won't attack during the day. If she does attack, it'll be at night.
"The hot spring vouchers are for a short trip, one day and one night. You'd only be away for a single night. I'll monitor things in your place…"
The black-haired girl suddenly raised her voice.
"Amamiya, I still don't fully trust you."
Shirou: "..."
Alice continued with an icy expression.
"I allowed you to live here, and even allowed you to move around the mansion, but that was all for Aoko's sake."
"Asking me to leave Misaki and the mansion in your care for an entire day and night? I'm sorry, but I can't do that…"
"Alice, that's going too far."
Aoko's expression turned stern as she stopped her housemate from continuing.
Those words might have been understandable during the first few days after Shirou moved in.
But Shirou had been living here for almost a week now.
While Aoko and Alice spent every day run ragged dealing with Touko Aozaki and her puppet army, Shirou had been quietly supporting them from behind.
Alice, too, ate the meals Shirou made every day with a pleased expression.
The mansion's garden had been trimmed neat and beautiful by Shirou.
Broken appliances had been brought back to life thanks to Shirou.
Aoko and Alice had seen everything Shirou had done for them.
If they truly could not trust him at all, if they could not even feel at ease leaving the house in his care, then they should have made the decision long ago to use the master's authority and send Shirou away.
Aoko simply could not understand why Alice would say something so harsh.
The black-haired girl fell silent.
A trace of regret welled up in her trembling black eyes.
Aoko tried to smooth things over.
"Listen, Shirou is only trying to help."
"I understand how you feel, not being able to trust Shirou from the bottom of your heart, but at a time like this, shouldn't we rely on each other?"
That is not it…
Alice bit her lip.
It is not that I cannot trust him.
It is just, just…
The girl was flustered by the words she had blurted out in anger and raised her head helplessly.
She glanced at Shirou with an almost pitiful look in her eyes.
"..."
But whether by chance or not, Shirou happened to turn his gaze toward Aoko at that exact moment.
Alice instantly felt as though a large piece of her chest had been torn away.
Aoko sat down on the sofa, thought for a moment, and said, "All right. It looks like we really do need to relax properly, just like Shirou said."
"!"
Hearing that, Alice looked at her housemate as if she had grabbed a lifeline.
Good job, Aoko! Keep going.
"This time, Shirou and I will go to the hot springs. Alice, you stay home and rest. If anything happens, remember to contact us. Don't act alone."
Alice's eyes widened.
Huh?
"And you too, Shirou. If you wanted to reward me and Alice, you should have done a little research beforehand."
"Didn't you know Alice doesn't care about baths at all? A hot spring trip doesn't count as rest for her."
Aoko remembered a conversation from before.
When they had talked about hot spring trips, Alice had once said, "That sounds like a lot of trouble."
At a time when they were already overwhelmed, being suddenly asked by "someone she was not close to" to do something she did not want to do, no wonder Alice had reacted so strongly.
Ever since Reien Girls' Academy began winter break, Alice had spent almost every day immersed in the life of a Magus, and she often stayed shut away in the library until dusk.
For Alice, staying at home would probably be more relaxing than going on a trip. That was what Aoko thought.
Shirou said, "Sorry. I'll keep that in mind next time."
Alice said quietly, "...I was at fault too. I shouldn't have said something so spiteful."
No.
That is not it! I am completely fine with a hot spring trip! Really! I am fine with it!
The girl took a deep breath, preparing to say what she truly felt, but…
Aoko had already pulled Shirou over and started discussing the details of the hot spring trip with him.
Looking at Aoko's smile from the heart, Alice felt inexplicably short of breath.
…This child belongs to Aoko. What exactly am I expecting?
Alice saw Aoko's beautiful face filled with excitement, almost like an elementary schooler before a field trip.
No, more like a high school girl going on her first trip with her boyfriend.
Shirou was not as excited as Aoko, but he also wore a faintly expectant look.
Even though he tried hard to suppress it, he could not hide it from the witch's eyes.
...
Early the next morning.
Shirou and Aoko had finished getting ready to leave for the hot springs.
Aoko's decisiveness went without saying. After finishing her patrol of the Bounded Field last night, she had come back and kept preparing until the middle of the night.
"Well then, Alice, Shirou and I are heading out, okay? We should be back by tomorrow morning. If anything happens, contact me immediately through the Mystic Code."
"..."
"Alice? Are you listening?"
"…I know."
The girl's low voice came from the sunroom. She was probably there drinking her morning tea.
"Give me a moment."
Before leaving, Shirou decided to say goodbye properly, then headed toward the sunroom.
Hearing the footsteps draw closer, Alice happily raised her head.
"Amamiya…"
The girl's expression froze.
It was not only Shirou who entered the sunroom. Aoko was with him.
Unlike Alice, who was still wearing her girls' school uniform even though winter break had begun, Aoko's outfit today was so beautiful it was almost hard to look straight at her.
The girl with long chestnut hair wore a white cashmere pullover. The close-fitting fabric outlined her well-developed figure, while the miniskirt below showed off the long legs she was so proud of. The pendant around her neck was also one Alice had never seen her wear before.
The white down jacket draped over her arm seemed perfect for keeping warm on a trip, and it did not look like some cheap roadside purchase. At the very least, it was not the sort of thing Aoko could afford with her part-time job.
"..."
Alice's mouth hung slightly open, but she could not say a word.
"Alice-san, Aoko and I are heading out."
"Mm."
Alice lowered her long lashes, avoiding Shirou's eyes.
"Stay home tonight if you can… If Touko Aozaki makes any moves, have your familiars handle it."
"With your familiars, Alice-san, getting through one night should be fine. We'll deal with the rest after Aoko and I come back."
"Mm."
She had thought her mood would improve after a single night, but it had not improved at all.
Not only that, by morning, Alice's mood had sunk all the way to the bottom.
An inexplicable restlessness filled her.
Alice could no longer hear what Shirou was saying. She only kept nodding along.
Would I be free once Aoko and Shirou leave?
The girl felt that was impossible.
She was certain that the next day and night would be spent in hell.
"Well then, we're going."
"Mm."
"Alice-san, I'll bring you back a souvenir."
The smile Shirou showed her at the very end made Alice, whose chest had felt painfully tight, suddenly breathe more easily.
"…Mm."
The witch nodded with a flushed face.
Shirou and Aoko headed toward the entrance hall.
Left alone in the sunroom, the black-haired witch opened the book in front of her.
She began looking forward to the gift Shirou would bring her.
...
That afternoon, Shirou and Aoko arrived at a hot spring inn on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Because of her sister's recent attack, Aoko had not been sleeping well at night. Shirou, who slept in Aoko's room, knew that better than anyone.
But that morning, she had finally had the chance to catch up on her sleep and slept soundly on the bus.
By the time they arrived at the inn, Aoko was full of energy, and Shirou felt that coming here had definitely been the right choice.
"Huh… Is this a room for two?"
Aoko stood frozen in front of the Japanese-style shoji door.
Shirou nodded and explained, "Yeah, because these two tickets were bought… ahem, won for you and Alice-san to use."
"Is there a problem, Aoko?"
"It's not exactly a problem…"
Aoko's face turned slightly pale, leaving Shirou thoroughly puzzled.
After all, he had been sleeping on the floor in Aoko's bedroom for almost a week. Was she really objecting to sharing the same room now?
"I see… Shirou, this is your first time going to a hot spring, isn't it?"
Aoko sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Then she said nothing more, slid open the shoji, and entered the Japanese-style room. Shirou followed her inside.
The hot spring inn's Japanese-style decor was not that different from the Amamiya residence, but because Shirou had been living in the Western-style Kuonji house lately, it actually felt fresh.
"Let's go take a look at the hot spring," Aoko suggested.
"Okay."
Shirou stood up from the tatami and was about to head toward the hallway, only to see Aoko slide open the paper door leading to the balcony.
Except it was not a balcony, but another semi-open room where they could enjoy the city night view.
And in the center of that elegantly decorated room stood a massive wooden fixture that made him think of a square sake ladle.
Shirou said, "Aoko, what is this?"
"This is the hot spring."
"W-wait a minute! Aren't hot springs supposed to be dug out of the ground? I've seen them on TV."
The corner of Aoko's mouth twitched. This child really did not know anything.
"Those are natural hot springs in the mountains. This inn uses an artificial hot spring so guests can experience hot spring culture…"
"Listen, you're not going to find the kind of hot spring you saw on TV in Tokyo."
"…"
The light vanished from Shirou's eyes.
I spent a hundred thousand yen and rode a bus all morning just to experience something written as "hot spring" and read as "bathtub"?
Tokyo is terrifying. I want to go back to Fuyuki…
Aoko took two sets of yukata from the closet and handed one to Shirou.
"Well, we're already here, so don't worry about the details. Let's enjoy ourselves today.
"If we don't have fun, we'd be letting down Alice, who's watching the house for us, right?"
"Okay."
Shirou took the yukata from Aoko and went to the next room to change.
The thought of getting a good look at Aoko in a yukata suddenly made the hundred thousand yen feel a little less like a loss.
As for mixed bathing… Haha, Aoko would not be that lacking in common sense, right?
...
With Shirou gone, Alice had no choice but to return to making her own food.
At noon, the girl reused last night's leftovers and made herself lunch.
Since Shirou's cooking had been good to begin with, it tasted fairly decent.
By evening, Alice had no choice but to pick up the phone and call the noodle shop she used to frequent.
The soba from outside was not as good as Shirou's, but it was still passable.
After finishing dinner, Alice came to the living room as usual.
"Ah, Aoko and Amamiya went out."
Because she had spent the day immersed in the library, Alice had completely forgotten that Shirou and Aoko had gone to the hot springs.
Now that she remembered, the girl was enveloped by a powerful sense of loneliness.
Alice had once believed that in this world, this city so wantonly altered by humans, she would never feel lonely as long as she still had this mansion.
But now, even though she was clearly inside the mansion, she felt lost for the first time.
Everywhere she looked, the mansion was filled with traces of someone.
The trimmed garden, the working heater…
All of those things remained, but that child was gone.
This time, he had only gone out overnight with Aoko, but still.
Once this incident was over, he would surely disappear from Alice's life forever.
After all, that child had belonged to Aoko from the very beginning.
And Alice was nothing more than Aoko's neighbor or friend. She had no right to do anything more with that child. Perhaps she was not even allowed to chat with him.
"..."
Alice sat back down on the sofa.
Just then, ripples spread across the "Second Ticket: Mirror of Slumber" on the table.
The girl switched the mirror from Misaki mode to mansion mode.
Near the mansion, countless writhing shadows appeared.
Those shadows had the monstrous forms Alice had grown used to seeing over the past few days. No skin, no clothes, and spherical joints that made them look as if they could move with great flexibility.
As luck would have it, Touko Aozaki had chosen the very day Shirou and Aoko were both out to attack the mansion.
...
Expensive things really were expensive for a reason.
Dinner at the hot spring inn was extremely luxurious, and Shirou ate lobster sashimi for the first time in his life.
Aoko in a yukata was also beautiful enough to take his breath away.
The glimpse of snow-white cleavage visible through her open collar left him unsure where to look.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill.
"Finally, the main event. I've been looking forward to this all day."
Aoko took Shirou's wrist, her expression shy.
"Shirou, let's go soak in the hot spring♡"