Yume Irido
It was now the evening of the third day of our school trip, and as soon as we entered our new hotel’s room, Akatsuki-san excitedly cried out in amazement. The room’s decor gave off a clean look, as all the wallpaper and furnishings were pure white, but there was one part that stood out in particular—the beds.
Like at our last hotel, there were four beds, but two of them were lofted, accessible by ladder, and two underneath. There was enough space for Akatsuki-san and Asuhain-san to stand on the bottom beds without hitting their heads. It was the kind of room I’ve dreamed about. I really had no qualms with staying here.
Akatsuki-san quickly climbed into the loft bed and peered down at us from up top, squealing excitedly. “This is so hype! Can I sleep up here?!”
“Anyone else want to?” I asked, looking at the other two. Higashira-san seemed a little restless as she looked at it. “Do you want the loft bed too, Higashira-san?”
“Huh? W-Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a look,” she said before shakily climbing the ladder into the bed.
I hope she doesn’t fall off... I worriedly watched as she got into the bed before I sat on the one underneath.
“Welcome!” Akatsuki-san said warmly.
“Oh! It’s like a secret fort!”
“Nobody’ll get in our way up here. You can be as loud as you want!”
“Eek!”
I could hear them energetically playing above me. Asuhain-san sat down on the other open bed, and our eyes met. It started to feel a little awkward, so I forced a smile.
“Sounds like they’re having fun up there,” I said.
“I suppose...”
Asuhain-san wasn’t used to having casual conversations yet, so she was still speaking stiffly. I told her she doesn’t have to be formal with me, but maybe it’s just a habit of hers at this point. At least she wasn’t like Higashira-san, who would always speak formally because she felt it was too troublesome to figure out who she should and shouldn’t speak casually with. Asuhain-san had much better reasons for her manner of speaking, surely.
In order to help her come out of her shell, I decided to tease her. “Should we get touchy-feely like them?” I asked.
“Huh?!” Asuhain-san’s face went bright red from surprise as if she’d just gotten out of the bath. “N-No, we don’t have that kind of flippant relationship, but also as student council members, we should refrain from such proclivities...”
“Aw, don’t be shy.” I got up from my bed and knelt on hers, grunting slightly as I pushed her down, eliciting a surprised scream from her.
“Let’s see...how’s this spot for you?”
“Mmnnf... Th-That’s... Ah...”
I embraced her body and began tickling her around her ribs, making her face go red. She trembled and began to let out soft, sweet moans.
She’s so cute! I totally get why Aso-senpai hugs her like a doll now! She’s so small and adorable; plus, her reactions are great. This is amazing! I wanna do this forever...
✦ ✦ ✦
“Uh...” Before I knew it, the two who’d been making a racket before had quieted down and had begun to whisper to each other. “They’re...”
“Indeed.”
“They’re doin’ it, huh?”
“There is no doubt that they are indeed doing it.”
“We aren’t!” I yelled back up to them.
Don’t make it sound like we’re the horny couple in the booth next door at an internet café!
When we went down for dinner, I met with Mizuto. There was still some time before the dinner buffet began, and since we hadn’t had much time to talk alone, I called out to him.
“You got a minute?” When I got his ear, I started telling him about everything that had happened with Asuhain-san earlier today. “So that’s about the gist of it.” I felt that, as Mizuto had put effort into my reconciliation with Asuhain-san, he deserved to know what had happened.
“I see... A romantic confession, huh?” Mizuto seemed to have really zeroed in on what Asuhain-san had seen at the pool. “Does seem like a good place to do that.”
“I know, right? I didn’t think other students would’ve had the same idea to go there to be alone with someone.”
“Maybe they didn’t. Maybe they just happened to enter it, got into the mood, and things went from there.”
True. That’s possible. Including myself, the people I knew had only ever asked someone else out after clearly setting up the situation to do so, so it was hard for me to imagine.
“Can I ask you something? Asuhain didn’t say anything about what time she and the person who did the asking out left the pool, did she?” Mizuto said, asking a strange question.
I tilted my head, trying to think back to my conversation with her, but I couldn’t remember her saying anything about that, so I shook my head. “No. All she said was how she went into the pool around eight thirty—nothing about when she left. Besides, she doesn’t wear a watch or anything, so it’s not like she could tell the time.”
“Right... Nobody has their phones either.”
Without a watch, the only way to check the time is by asking the group leader for the phone. Those who’d anticipated that situation had come with a watch—Yoshino-san being one of those people.
“By the way...” Mizuto said, suddenly changing the conversation. “Did Asuhain say anything? Like...about us living together?”
“Hm? Why? Are you worried about gossip all of a sudden? Have you always been such a delicate little flower?”
“It’s not that... Asuhain is the straitlaced type, so I was thinking that she might have some opinions on a guy and a girl living together, even if they’re family.”
“I feel like she would’ve brought that up a while ago. She knows we’re stepsiblings. Maybe I could even tell her that we’re dating...”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” he said quickly and firmly. Seeing my confusion, Mizuto continued on to smooth over what he said. “Sure, she might accept that we live together, but there’s no guarantee she’s okay with us dating.”
“That’s true... Um, did something happen?”
“Like what?”
He’s acting suspicious, but his poker face is way too good. I can’t catch him slipping up. “Anyway, we have to continue hiding our relationship from Asuhain-san, right?”
“Yeah, I think it’s for the best.”
“If you’re only keeping our relationship from her a secret so you can cheat on me with her, I’ll kill you.”
“Like I would do that...” Mizuto scoffed.
I know he wouldn’t, of course. As we chatted, the doors to the banquet hall opened. It wouldn’t be good to keep up this chummy conversation, so I waved goodbye and began to leave, but before I could, he stopped me as if he were Columbo.
“Just one more thing. If Yoshino talks to you, there’s something I want you to tell her for me.”
“To Yoshino-san?”
After hearing what he wanted me to tell her, I tilted my head even further in confusion.
“At any rate, just tell her that. It’ll be more than enough,” he said.
“For...what?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just focus on having fun with Asuhain. Isn’t that what’s most important?” He turned his back to me and began walking towards the banquet hall, leaving me with the following words: “I’ll clean everything up, so leave the rest to me.”
And now that the buffet had begun, an opportunity came to speak with Yoshino-san, as if it’d been fate.
“Oh, Yume-chan! I’m super-duper sorry about everything!”
As I was walking around the buffet, putting food on my tray, Yoshino-san came up next to me with a guilty look on her face. Today, she was wearing a baggy blouse that hid the lines of her torso, and black skinny jeans that showed off her long, slender legs. It was the kind of cool outfit a model would wear—one that showed off the wearer’s confidence. Right now, however, there wasn’t a hint of confidence on her face—only meekness.
“It was just supposed to be a little bit of fun we were having, but it sucks that you found out about it— No, that’s not right. I’m so sorry we snooped!”
“Oh... Are you talking about the guidebooks?”
The dots finally connected. They’d used the guidebooks to secretly communicate with each other to figure out who I was dating. I probably should’ve been more displeased, but I was so busy with Asuhain-san that I’d completely forgotten.
Seeing my reaction, a look of surprise filled Yoshino-san’s face. “You don’t seem too bothered. Wow, you’re so bighearted!”
“Oh, no, that’s not it. I just had my mind occupied by something else... Besides, it doesn’t seem like you really had any bad intentions, and it’s also partly my fault for turning it into a mystery.”
“No, no! If I were in your shoes, I’d be bragging just like you! I’d want people to know to back off if I were taken!”
“If anything, I feel more concerned about how the class was divided into two because of me...”
“Ah...don’t worry about that! As the representatives of the two sides, both Akatsuki-chan and I buried the hatchet! Like it never happened!”
But it did.
“It was kinda like we were havin’ fun playin’ spies, or at least that’s how we settled it. You don’t have to worry about a thing!”
“Well, that’s good...” She really thinks about other people. I’m pretty sure I’m right, and she’s not a bad person. She might be nosy, and a little flashy appearance-wise, but she’s not a bad person.