CH 23

The time for fun was short-lived.

We enjoyed ourselves until just before closing time, and then headed back to the hotel.

We had a two-person room, and my roommate was Tanaka……

“Well, you can’t use one hand. Wouldn’t you be happier if she could do it for you rather than me taking care of you?”

Tanaka said so and said he would switch rooms with Suzuka and stay in the same room with Kaneda-san.

I thought to myself, “You just want to flirt with Mr. Kaneda, don’t you?” and asked another guy “Are you going to allow Tanaka to flirt with him?”.

It pissed me off to let the sweet space unfold, but still, it was a trip nonetheless.

I was kind enough to let them get to know each other a little better, as lovers.

Well, well.

It seemed to apply to me and Suzuka as well, “There’s money at stake. Can’t we make love a little, lover to lover?” That’s why.

So we went to the hotel reception, got the keys, and went to our rooms.

In truth, I was to sleep with Suzuka in the room where I was supposed to sleep with Tanaka before.

In such a room, there are two beds.

One small desk.

It really is a normal hotel.

“I’m tired of walking!”

Suzuka collapsed on the bed with a thump.

She turned her face to me and whispered to me with a smile.

“Isn’t it exciting to stay overnight in a hotel?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Especially staying in the same hotel room with Yuki. I am very nervous.”

“Even though we’ve been spending time together in my room, this is the first time we’ve been outside in a room together like this.”

“Right? That’s why, Yuki. Can you tell me something so that things don’t get awkward?”

To meet her selfish request, I thought of a topic.

I started to tell Suzuka what came to my mind as soon as I thought of it.

“You were involved with a strange pick-up group today, right? That was it. What would you do if I was being hit on by a girl?”

“If you seem happy, I’ll charge you for cheating on me. If you are not properly seduced with a troubled and annoyed look on your face, I”ll be a good girl and take better care of Yuki. Tehee……, did I say something embarrassing?”

“Hey, you’re really honest and cute and cunning these days, aren’t you?”

“”I’m much more obedient to Yuki, yeap, so I’m going to say anything, aren’t I?”

After taking a breath, Suzuka looked me in the eyes.

“I like you, Yuki. I told you because I’m honest. Hehe?”

Until a little while ago, we were childhood friends.

Direct words from the person with whom I had been doing stupid things.

Please quit it already……. I’m dying of excitement…….

“Let me be honest with you. Suzuka, you’re really cute.”

“Really~. Can you say more?”

“Cute. Super cute.”

“Right? But right now, I’d rather be told that you like me than that you think I’m cute. Hey, hey, tell me you like me.”

She urges me to be affectionate.

Unlike Suzuka, however, I am a stubborn person.

I often say how cute she is, but I’m still not good at telling her that I like her or love her…….

“I…. I love you.”

I often say it awkwardly.

Knowing this, Suzuka still looks happy and smiles.

“I love you too. I also love the fact that you are not used to saying you love me yet!”

Suzuka picked herself up from the bed and hugged me tightly.

Although we had not crossed the line, we were getting closer and closer.

If we were normal, we would have crossed the line, but we didn’t, and that’s just the way it is.

“You’ve been hugging me a lot lately, haven’t you?”

“I used to naturally hug you when I was happy or something, right?”

Suzuka and I have a history of being friends.

The act of hugging and pleasing each other has been a thing we’ve been doing for a long time.

When we went to see the announcement of passing the high school entrance exam, when we won the sports festival, when we were relieved that we passed the entrance exam and were allowed at the school festival, we hugged each other more times than I can count.

“If you ask me, yes. We were rather happy to embrace each other.”

“Right? But it’s always me first, isn’t it~?”

She looks bored and deliberately slurps.

When I was happy, I never hugged Suzuka.

Basically, it was mostly or all of the time that Suzuka hugged me.

“What is it? Come on, get off me.”

“Yes.”

Suzuka moves away from me.

She turns away to take out the cord to charge her phone.

“Now you’re happy, aren’t you?”

I hugged her for the first time.

To be honest, I am super embarrassed.

I was almost burning up, thinking that she had done this to me without a care in the world.

“No way. I was beaten. I was sure you wouldn’t do it, but it’s not fair of you to do it out of the blue…….”

“I’m sorry.”

“I mean, you know. When we went on a double date with Miki and the others, they said we were a foolish couple, but now we’re a silly couple, aren’t we?”

“I guess so.”

The fact that we can’t laugh at Tanaka and the others is what makes us laugh.

After hugging Suzuka for a little while, Suzuka said to me in a sad tone.

“Today, I thought that everyone’s sense of money is beginning to be out of sync with ours.”

“I knew you thought so too…….”

Misalignment.

It was obvious that our sense of money had begun to shift.

“But, you know, the money we won is not enough to last us a lifetime if we don’t invest it, if we don’t live really modestly, right?”

“Well…”

“So, Yuki. Do you want to use the money carefully from now on? If we make a mistake, we might end up in a disastrous situation.”

“Why did you come to me for agreement?”

“If we continue like this, we will be together forever. It’s not right that I alone should decide how the money should be spent.”

“I agree with you. After this trip is over, we need to think about how we are going to deal with the money we won in the lottery.”

We are beginning to be able to think about the future together.　

I can see that we are communicating more with each other.

In short, me and Suzuka are …….

We are making slow but steady progress.

“We’re making good progress.”

“We’re making decent progress. We are.”

I was feeling ambiguity, not knowing whether we were making progress or not.

But it seemed to be my imagination.

“Now, Yuki. I’ll roll up the plastic bag on your hand. You want to take a shower soon, don’t you?”

“Yes, please.”

“Yes, you asked me to!”