CH 9

——She’s completely on alert.

As soon as Hoshimiya came out of the bath, she blatantly distanced herself from me.

No, it was the same before I got into the bath, but after I got out, she wouldn’t even make eye contact with me.

Rather, she seemed embarrassed to be seen by me and twisted her body around.

I felt guilty about being in the same space with her, so I hid in the bathroom for a while.

However, that time did not last long, and it was time to go to bed.

“……”

When I returned to the room, Hoshimiya was sitting on the bed.

Her pink pajamas were cute, and her hair was down, which felt fresh and different from her usual gal look.

While I was watching Hoshimiya like this, I noticed a change in the room.

“…Um, what’s this?”

“……”

I asked her, but she was silent.

Yes…A partition had been created in the room.

Small items were placed side by side across the center. A border?

“Um, you mean I’m not supposed to go in from here?”

“……”

Hoshimiya gave a small nod as she turned her face away from me.

“I know this is the right response, but why now?”

“……”

“I knew it, was it about today?”

“……”

“……”

I can’t…get a response!

Hoshimiya has her back to me and is playing with the sheets with her fingertips.

I don’t know, this is a great shock.

The fact that she suddenly became distant is very damaging.

“Sleeping face…”

“Eh?”

“I’m embarrassed……to be seen sleeping……”

“……”

You didn’t care about it before.

“It’s only when I sleep……”

“…I understand.”

I can’t go against the house owner.

I move across the small border to the area opposite the bed.

I leaned against the wall and sat down on the floor grasping my knees, feeling lonely.

“Hoshimiya. I’m really sorry about what happened today.”

“…Un.”

She responded, but still with her back turned.

…Can I cry?

“But if you’re afraid of me, be honest. I’ll leave.”

“N, no, that’s not it! That’s not what it is…!”

Hoshimiya, who had raised her voice, turned around vigorously. For some reason, her face was bright red.

“Hoshimiya?“

“U, um…I don’t really know myself…Ahaha.”

“No need to strain yourself. From today, I’ll sleep at the front door.”

As I stood up saying that, Hoshimiya said, “Wait!”, she leaned out of bed while screaming.

This movement caused Hoshimiya’s phone, which was on the edge of the bed, to bounce and fall on the floor.

It bounced further and went under the bed.

“Ah.”

Hoshimiya reaches under the bed to pick up her phone.

That place——This is bad.

“Wait, Hoshimiya!”

“…Eh? Is there anything besides my…phone?”

It was not a smartphone that Hoshimiya took out while tilting her head, but a book.

This book was the worst…This was the erotic book that Kado-san forced on me.

“…Wh, what is this…What is this, what is this!?”

“Ah, wa, that’s”

“No way! This is an erotic book! And the girl looks just like me!”

“Ah…”

Hoshimiya is astonished to see the cover. Even so, she does not avert her gaze from the book.

“This is Kuromine-kun’s, right!? You’re terrible!”

“N, no…It’s not mine. Listen to me.”

“Where are you hiding your erotic books!? Couldn’t you have found a better place!?”

“The best place to hide an erotic books is under the bed, right?”

“I can understand that a little! But isn’t it strange to hide it under the bed where a girl sleeps!?”

“You are right. But you know, I didn’t know what to do either…!”

I want you to imagine. Imagine the shock of being handed an erotic book out of the blue. Anyone would be nervous.

“It’s weird that you brought an erotic book in the first place!“

“Wait a minute! That’s not my erotic book!”

“Whose is it then!?”

""

“Kado-san’s.”

“…Sure, Chiharu draws that kind of manga, but…..but! No woman would give an erotic book to someone she just met!”

“I was there. You were in the next room……!”

I clenched my fists and appealed strongly.

She…Monmon is not normal…!

“I understand? Kuromine-kun is a boy too, and he is interested in this kind of thing…”

“Even if you understand, it was pushed to me by Kado-san.”

“Then you’re not interested? Can I throw it away now?”

“……”

I can’t help but shut up. Isn’t it a waste to throw it away?

“I, I see…I guess erotic books are still important to you…”

“Ah, no. I just have a spirit of taking care of things———”

“Please go to sleep at the entrance, dirty boy!”

◯

So this is how I ended up sleeping at the front door.

I was guilty of suddenly hugging her + possessing an erotic book.

I wonder if Hoshimiya hated me this time.

“Oh, great…!”

Uoooooo, Monmon, I hate you for this!

And I will hate myself for the rest of my life for not throwing away that erotic book yesterday!

I screamed out in desperation in my mind and lay down on the floor with a blanket.

Even though summer is approaching, it is a little chilly at the entrance.

“…Well, never mind.”

As expected, it was probably not cold enough to catch a cold.

I curled up and closed my eyelids.

……

………?

How long had I been asleep?

My body felt as if I had woken up in the middle of the night.

“…Kuromine-kun…”

“……?”

I hear Hoshimiya’s whispery little voice.

I felt a poke on my cheek.

“Um, I didn’t know how to treat you……I’m sorry. I couldn’t quite sort it out myself……To actually drive you out to the front door.”

It sounded like she was talking to me and to herself.

At least she wasn’t talking to me with the intention of waking me up.

""

Somehow I didn’t feel like responding and kept my eyes closed.

Actually, it’s cold.

I underestimated the front door at midnight. It chills me to the core.

“Kuromine-kun? Are you cold?”

“……”

I’m cold.

Okay, let’s wake up.

Then, let’s apologize to Hoshimiya and ask her to let us into her room.

With this in mind, just as I was about to put it in action, I felt a soft cloth being placed over my body.

“How is it? Do you still feel cold?”

“……”

I’m still a little cold.

Perhaps my thoughts were understood, Hoshimiya uttered a voice that seemed to hold determination, “Okay…”

I wonder what she’s going to do. Can I get a quilt?

Hoshimiya’s actions far exceeded my expectations.

“Th, this is not something I want to do….Yes, like saving lives.”

I hear what sounds like excuses.

Some kind of cloth was turned up, and I felt someone lay down next to me.

…This can’t be true..

“Th, this is what…Kuromine-kun said the other day, and it’s fine. Let’s sleep together in the entranceway…”

I said that as a joke. Don’t take it seriously.

In the first place, is Hoshimiya okay with it?

Aren’t you wary of me?

No…Maybe she’s wary of me, but she’s concerned about my well-being.

""

If so, what a kind girl.

If you think about it, Hoshimiya is a girl who cried just hearing about my situation.

There is no way that such a girl would feel nothing about letting someone sleep at her doorway.

“……”

Suu, suu, I can hear steady sleeping breaths right beside me.

Somehow, I’m getting sleepy.

The drowsiness is irresistible, and my dazed consciousness fades further.

Using Hoshimiya’s sleeping breath as a lullaby, I slowly fall into a dream world.