After Takuto’s cryptic remarks, Seina patted my back right before class, saying,
“Nothing really happened, so it’s fine. Takuto was just trying to bluff. Cheer up.”
After being alone for a little while, I was able to regain my composure and properly accept those words.
Thinking about it carefully, if anything were actually going on between Hiyori and Takuto, Seina would be the first person to tell me, and I felt convinced by that.
After that, I ran into Takuto a few times, but a few days passed with nothing special happening.
I made plans to go to a love hotel with Hiyori again, and we were on our way. Today seems to be the spicy Asian fair.
Hiyori is walking while holding my arm as if it is the most natural thing in the world.
Today Hiyori is wearing an ivory blouse paired with a miniskirt. Her pure white legs are showing, and I am at a loss for where to look.
I feel like every passing guy is looking at Hiyori, and I start to feel a little annoyed.
Because this girl belongs to me now. To intimidate them, I pull Hiyori’s arm even tighter against me.
Since I do not usually pull her arm in like that, Hiyori’s eyes go wide in slight surprise.
But she immediately breaks into a smile.
While chatting about idle things, the love hotel for today comes into view.
If I were not doing these love hotel tours with Hiyori, I am sure I never would have known there were so many love hotels around this area.
Love hotels surprisingly pop up out of nowhere right in the middle of residential neighborhoods.
I was surprised at first, but since this is our third time, I am already getting used to it.
We quickly finish checking in and step inside the room.
Hiyori is always silent from check-in until we get into the room. Looking a little anxious, she hides behind my shadow and grabs my arm tightly.
It is not annoying at all; rather, it is so cute that I want her to keep doing it.
However, the moment we enter the room,
“Wow, Koto-senpai, look! The bed in today’s room looks like a seashell!”
She chatters excitedly and jumps onto the bed.
Hiyori orders the tropical dry curry, and I order the chilled tantan pasta.
As soon as she finishes ordering, Hiyori snuggles up and leans against me as I sit on the bed.
“Koto-senpai, your legs are long, aren’t they?”
Today, I am wearing shorts. Looking at the legs extending from my shorts, Hiyori mutters that in a small voice.
“Really? I’ve never really thought about it myself.”
“They’re pure white and slender, I’m so jealous…”
“Hiyori, you’re pure white and slender too. They’re way prettier than mine.”
I look at Hiyori’s legs extending from her skirt.
Hiyori’s legs are much whiter than mine, and with a slight pink tint, they look healthy.
If I were Hiyori’s lover, I wouldn’t get yelled at for touching these legs freely, I think to myself. Even now I want to touch them, but if a mere senior suddenly touches someone’s legs, it’s annoying, right?
Then Hiyori places her palm on my thigh.
It is just a little warmer than my own thigh.
“————…っ!?”
Because she touched me so suddenly, I gasp in a breath in surprise.
Hiyori pets my thigh just like that and mutters a quiet “Oh.”
“Wait, what are you doing!”
“Well, I was just thinking how smooth it is~!”
When I went to the first love hotel with Hiyori, I had laser hair removal done, so my skin condition right now is in top-notch shape.
Honestly, it was pretty expensive, so I thought it might have gone to waste, but hearing Hiyori say that made me feel for the first time that going was worth it.
Before I know it, Hiyori’s palm is gradually moving toward my knee.
Ah, wait, that way————!!
“———…fuhi.”
It tickles, and I accidentally let out a sound.
Then Hiyori gives a smug grin.
“I heard from Seina-senpai~, are you really ticklish, Koto-senpai~~?”
Hiyori, giggling with her hand over her mouth, is infuriating. Curse you, Seina, what kind of things are you teaching her?
“T-There’s no way that’s true, right? Seina is such a liar. Come on, let go.”
I shift sideways a little to put some distance between us. Then Hiyori clings right back to me.
“If it doesn’t tickle, then it’s fine if I touch you, rightー?”
As if to say “Now’s my chance!”, Hiyori clings to my body and starts poking and prodding my stomach, ribs, and legs all over.
Normally I would feel happy and embarrassed to be touched by Hiyori, but today is a different story.
Before I can even speak, fingers sneak toward my ribs. It tickles. Reflexively, my body jolts upward and laughter spills out.
“Ahaha…! No, not there…!”
I struggle desperately, but Hiyori shows no mercy. The tickling attack washes over me like waves. I can’t stop laughing. Tears well up in my eyes.
“Please, give me a break…!”
The tickling that felt fun at first gradually turns into agony. I can’t breathe from laughing too much. My heart is beating frantically.
It feels just like riding a roller coaster.
“I surrender, already…! Spare me…!”
When I finally manage to squeeze those words out, the tickling hands stop.
Panting heavily, I look at Hiyori. There is a satisfied smile on her face.
I stand up and plant myself right in front of Hiyori. Hiyori looks up at me with an anxious expression.
Then, lifting the corners of my mouth, I approach Hiyori with a smile.
“If you say that, Hiyori, you must be really ticklish too, right?”
At that, Hiyori retreats toward the upper part of the bed.
“I-I’m sorry for doing it… Can’t we stop here? Ah, look! Room service has probably arrived already! Let’s go check!”
I look like I’m hugging Hiyori… but suddenly change my posture.
When I slide my fingers toward Hiyori’s ribs, she lets out a startled voice a second too late.
“Now it’s my turnー!”
Fueled by the suffering and frustration from just moments before, I target Hiyori’s ribs.
“Eh, wait…!”
Ignoring Hiyori’s surprised voice, I launch a tickling attack. As payback for earlier, I tickle her thoroughly.
Hiyori rolls around laughing, desperately begging for mercy. But I don’t stop.
“Wait, Koto-senpai! That’s a foul!”
“Foul or not, you’re the one who started it first earlier, Hiyori.”
Saying that, I don’t stop my tickling hands.
Hiyori twists her body, tries to escape and fails, and ends up letting out giggles.
“S-Stop it already…, fufu!”
“Come on, come on, what’s wrong? It’s working, isn’t it?”
“It’s not working! Not at all…, ah, right there!”
Hiyori tries to grab my hands, but she seems too weak from laughing so hard and is easily brushed aside.
I find the sight so amusing that I get carried away.
“Alright, alright, do you surrender?”
“I won’t!”
When Hiyori says that and tries to change her posture to counterattack,
“「——Ah!?」”
We both tumble down onto the bed together.
So as not to crush Hiyori, I put my hands down on the bed.
The bed creaks, and before I know it, I am hovering right on top of Hiyori.
When I open my eyes, I find myself locked in a close-up gaze with a surprised Hiyori.
I have never looked at Hiyori this close before, and my heart leaps with a loud thump.
Hiyori’s scent, body temperature, and slightly ragged breathing hit me directly.
The laughing voices from just moments ago vanish like a lie, and silence falls.
My ears seem sensitive, and surrounding sounds echo with surprising clarity.
Suddenly, a sound reaches me from the other side of the wall. At first, I didn’t understand what kind of sound it was.
A muffled, low, raspy sound.
Realizing that the sound is a voice, I unconsciously hold my breath.
From just a wall away, alongside rhythmic creaking sounds, a sweet voice that seems impossible to hold back is clearly audible.
And then I remember.
That’s right, right now, we are in a love hotel.
Having come a few times, with nothing happening, I had gotten used to it and forgotten.
Since we are in a love hotel, it’s only natural, but the fact that we aren’t doing anything right now stands out strangely in contrast.
Hiyori seems to notice the sound too, her cheeks blushing slightly.
Hiyori’s gaze traces the outline of my face.
She looks anxious, and somewhere, expectant as well.
After letting her eyes flutter gently, she looks away to break the awkwardness and tightly purses her lips.
In the corner of my vision, I can see Hiyori gripping the sheets.
Hiyori meets my eyes once more, shifting her gaze back.
It looks like a signal granting permission for what should naturally be done here, and I swallow hard.
“Because Koto-senpai is my special person.”
The voice whispering those words seduces me.
Is it alright to interpret Hiyori’s “special” as the same “special” as mine?
Inside my head, reason and instinct are fighting a war.
———…Isn’t it fine to just let things happen because of the mood?
A voice whispers deep inside my ear.
———…There’s no way it’s okay to go that far. I don’t know what will happen from here on.
A louder voice overlaps.
Overlapping weight, a distance with nowhere to run.
Right now, I can still turn back.
Right now, I can stop at the boundary of playing around.
Even though I think that, I can’t look away.
My body reacts before I can think.
The sounds from the next room drag me in, inflating “what-ifs” on their own.
What if, right here.
What if, just like this.
Right now, I didn’t possess enough reason to stop it.
Right in front of me, the necklace I gave her sways.
I softly place my finger on the button of Hiyori’s blouse.
And right at that moment, Hiyori’s eyes waver widely.
Then I snap back to reality.
“———…Sorry, the food’s going to get cold.”
Before I could think, the words slipped out of my mouth.
Slowing down and putting distance between us, I pulled away from the bed.
No, this isn’t my role.
Even though I like Hiyori, Hiyori doesn’t like me.
Since sexual consent exists in this world.
Even though I haven’t done anything, I feel like I’ve already done something irreversible.
“——Koto… senpai…”
Behind me, Hiyori sits up and says that in a small voice.
However, the words beyond that are never spun.
I leave the room and return with the room service that has arrived.
I curse myself just a little bit for ordering chilled pasta.
I haven’t done anything.
Even so, only my heart is terribly unsettled.