CH 9.4

“If Ryunosuke doesn’t ….hate ….it.”

Hinagata murmured in a mosquito-like voice.

If I don’t hate it….

I stopped at the entrance and took a glance at Hinagata.

“The way you say it, it sounds like you’re about to do something.”

I understand that you’re not proposing in that sense.

“I-I, I’m not! I’m not! I’m …. not ….going to….”

“I don’t want to either. I’m not even planning on it.”

But if not here, then where do we go?

I thought about it, but I couldn’t come up with an alternative.

I don’t think we’ll have enough money to pay for a cab, even if we both put our money together. I don’t know what time it starts, but I’ve heard that they charge extra for the night.

Drip-drops, the rain began to fall in drops.

The fact that we were going nowhere pushed me over the edge.

“….Well, shall we go in then?”

“Yes.”

We walked in through the automatic door and found no one there.

I thought there would be someone standing at the reception desk like at a hotel or inn, but apparently not.

“Will this be your first time, Ryunosuke?”

“Yes.”

“I’m glad. Me too.”

What do you mean by “I’m glad.”

一While Hinagata and I were wandering around the seemingly empty lobby, trying to figure out how to rent a room, we found a casing that looked like a ticket machine.

“Oh, that looks like it.”

“Maybe so.”

A few of the rooms were booked.

“……”

In these rooms that were booked already… s*x, is what people were doing… 

“Ryunosuke?”

“Oo, y-yes, w-what?”

“You’re not buying?”

You’re right, I said, shaking off my peach-colored paranoia and spending all the money we had, pressing the button for room 307.

With a snap, a piece of paper that looked like a receipt with a password on it fell into the receiving slot.

“I-I see. T-That’s how the s-system works.”

I felt even more embarrassed as I realized that my voice was slurring as I said it.

When Hinagata found the elevator, she pressed the button and we boarded it, heading for the room we were looking for.

“If you have a charger, you can call your mom and she can pick you up with it and you can go home right away.”

“Okay.”

As we walked down the quiet corridor, I naturally strained my ears to hear if voices were leaking from the sold-out room. Fortunately, I didn’t hear any charming voices and unlocked the electronic lock with the password I received. We entered room 307.

The room was more modest than I had expected. There was a two-seater leather sofa and a low glass table. On the table were a few lighters and an ashtray. The room was a little small for two people to lie down on, and there was a semi-double bed that was a little big for one person to sleep on, and a small TV across from it.

It was more like a business hotel than a love hotel.

“It was tiring right?”

Hinata chuckled and lay down on the bed.

“When did you wake up on the train?”

Unable to lie down on the bed as well, I sat down on the sofa a little further away.

Instead of answering my question, she rolled over and found something.

“I don’t see a charger.”

It seemed to be a guide to the facilities in the room, and she was looking through an A4 sheet of printout.

“There isn’t one?”

It seems that our extraordinary day is not over yet.

When Hinagata shifted around, I almost saw the inside of her skirt, so I quickly looked away.

I wasn’t too discouraged about the charger, probably because I wasn’t expecting it. Maybe I’m still…… somewhere in the middle of thinking that this is okay.

“I figured they’d have it, because they do, like, internet and stuff, but, well, they’re rundown. I guess they don’t offer that kind of service.”

“It’s pretty clean inside, though.”

If you ask me.

It’s in the middle of nowhere… Is it profitable?

“Hey, can I take a shower first?”

“Ehh, Ahh, yes. Go ahead, go ahead….”

Grabbing a couple of towels that were neatly folded in the corner of the bed, Hinata walked into the unit bath.

I didn’t mind much, but from the girls’ point of view, maybe they didn’t like the idea of spending the night in the station house.

I didn’t want to get tangled up with the delinquents who might hang out in front of the station at night.

I could hear the sound of the shower running.

I turned on the TV because the silence made me concentrate on that.

I was relieved to hear a familiar nighttime program on.

Even with the lights on, the room was somewhat dim. In between the sound of the TV, I could hear the rain and the sound of Hinagata’s shower.

“Why should I be embarrassed to face Hinagata…..”

It’s nothing, I tell myself.

In the past, I’ve taken baths right next to her, and even napped next to her during summer vacation in elementary school.

It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s nothing.

I took a shower, switching places with Hinagata who came out. I felt refreshed, as if all my thoughts had been washed away.

──Isn’t a student from another school.

As I wiped myself off inside, the information I had been told today suddenly crossed my mind.

“……”

I fill in the information one by one, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. There’s still a lot of potential for me to be the kind of person who likes Hinagata.

“No, not possible. I don’t think it’s that.”

What’s the point of this possibility? I muttered to myself and left the bathroom.

Hinagata was lying on the bed with her jacket off.

I thought she was already asleep, so I tried to go over to the couch──

“Here, come here.”

I heard a voice over my back.

“It’s too cramped for you lying there, Ryunosuke.”

“It’s fine. Just for a day.”

“Your body will be in pain.”

“It’s okay if it does. It’s not like it’s going to hurt much or anything.”

She shook her head.

“Not good. This spot is empty.”

The pouting Hinagata thumped the space for one next to her.

“Not because it’s empty or anything, but because …..what if I freak you out?”

“Freak me out?”

She tilted her head and asked me the other way around.

“No, I’m talking about if I woke you up ….I might forcefully attack you.”

Hmmm, Hinagata raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“I’ll be in trouble….But.”

But…?

I was waiting for the rest of the sentence, but then she turned away.

“You’re a wimp.”

It’s better if you don’t have that kind of determination.

“We used to take naps together during summer vacation in elementary school.”

She remembered the same thing.

It seemed like I was going to continue bumping around, so I had no choice but to go to bed. Once I was sure that Hinata was asleep, I could go back to the couch.

I lay down on the bed with my back facing her.

I heard the sound of clothes brushing and felt Hinagata’s body heat on my back.

“Just because Ryunosuke looks at me differently doesn’t mean I’ve changed at all.”

“You have changed. You’ve grown taller, more girlish, and more beautiful. That’s why people will look at you differently.”

I feel like I’ve said something embarrassing.

I turned around to see if I could get some kind of response.

“~~~!”

Hinata covered her face, which was probably red, with her hands and made a small fluttering movement with her legs.

I pretended I hadn’t seen it and turned back to face forward.

Since Hinagata seemed like she hadn’t been sleeping well, I turned the regulator linked to the light bulb, and dimmed the intensity of light.

“Have you changed…? The way you look at me.”

“…..No they haven’t. They were always and will always be the same.”

There was a definite disappointment in me that I hadn’t felt with the charging machine.

Before I became aware of it, it seems that I became more conscious of Hinagata as a member of the opposite gender before being my little childhood-friend, but perhaps for Hinagata, it seems like it’s nothing of that sort.

Oh, yeah. I asked her, and she replied curtly.

I turned my body around and saw Hinagata’s face in front of me.

Our eyes met and we were at a loss for words.

I grabbed her slender shoulders–

“N-…No…”

With a flushed and blazing face, Hinagata uttered a rejection.

“I think there is a… order for these things.”

I looked into her moist eyes and came to my senses.

“Ahh… I’m sorry ……No, that’s not what I mea–”.

As soon as I said that, I was pushed away from the face with a jerk.

“Ouchh! I got it. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to have my first kiss just for fun or in the mood.”

This time Hinagata turned her back to me.