“Hm?”
Late at night, Yuzuru suddenly woke up.
His phone was making a sound.
Still half-asleep, he checked it… and saw a message from Arisa.
Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night. Could you come to the room I’m sleeping in?
That was what it said.
“…Hm. I feel like I told her to come to my room if she needed something…”
Did he forget to say it?
Tilting his head in confusion, Yuzuru headed to Arisa’s room anyway.
Careful not to wake his family, he walked quietly towards the guest room.
Arisa’s room was brightly lit.
When he opened the sliding door—
“Eep! Ah—Yuzuru-san…”
Arisa jolted.
Then she looked visibly relieved when she saw him.
“What’s wrong, Arisa? Did something happen?”
“Um… I really feel like asking something like this is… a bit inappropriate…”
Arisa’s cheeks flushed red as she fidgeted nervously.
Through the slightly loosened opening of her yukata, a glimpse of pale skin—and her underwear—was visible.
Yuzuru swallowed involuntarily.
“What is it?”
“Um… I was hoping… you could come with me to the bathroom…”
“The bathroom? …Didn’t I tell you where it was?”
He had definitely explained the location of the restroom near the guest room.
Maybe his explanation hadn’t been clear.
Or perhaps she had forgotten.
Yuzuru tilted his head again.
“N-No… I remember where you said it was…”
“Then?”
“Um… it’s just… I’m scared…”
Arisa lowered her eyes shyly as she admitted it.
“…I see.”
Since Arisa couldn’t even sleep without a night light on, going alone through the dark hallway to the bathroom would probably be difficult.
But then another question crossed Yuzuru’s mind.
(Couldn’t she just turn on the lights?)
Before he could ask, Arisa hurriedly added, as if making excuses.
“I-I wasn’t sure where the light switches were… and I thought turning on too many lights might bother everyone…”
“I see.”
Since she wasn’t familiar with the house—well, the building rather than the land—it would indeed be difficult for her to search for light switches in the dark.
She had probably messaged him because she couldn’t find her way to his room either.
That was Yuzuru’s oversight.
“Sorry about that. Though just so you know… this room is pretty far from the rest of our bedrooms, and there are multiple bathrooms. As long as you’re not shouting loudly, no one will notice.”
The room Arisa was using was a guest bedroom.
The Takasegawa estate had several guest rooms.
Naturally, there were also guest bathrooms.
“Ah… now that you mention it, that’s true. …I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I should’ve explained things better. Let’s go together.”
When Yuzuru said that, Arisa nodded slightly.
The two of them turned on lights as they walked towards the bathroom.
“…Thank you for coming with me.”
After finishing, Arisa bowed slightly to Yuzuru.
Now that it was over, embarrassment seemed to hit her all at once.
Her face was red all the way to her ears.
“Everyone has one or two things they’re bad with.”
Yuzuru tried to reassure her.
They began heading back the way they came, turning the lights off behind them.
Then—
Giii…
The hallway floor creaked softly.
“Eek!”
Arisa let out a strange cry and suddenly clung to Yuzuru.
She hugged him tightly, completely instinctively.
“H-Hey, Arisa…”
Now it was Yuzuru’s turn to be startled.
Something soft had suddenly pressed against his arm.
The dim lighting only heightened the sensation, making his imagination run wild.
“A-Actually… there’s another reason…”
“Another reason?”
“At first I thought I could manage on my own… but then the atmosphere here felt kind of… eerie, and suddenly I got really scared…”
“…The atmosphere?”
A question mark popped into Yuzuru’s mind.
Then he understood.
In other words, she thought the house felt like the kind of place where ghosts might appear.
“I didn’t mean to lie… I just thought saying something like that would be rude…”
Arisa hurriedly tried to explain, even though he hadn’t accused her of anything.
She never lied outright, but when it came to her true feelings, she sometimes withheld them out of consideration for others.
And now she was feeling guilty about it.
A troublesome personality.
“Atmosphere, huh. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I-I didn’t mean your house is—”
“But now that you say it… it does feel like the kind of place where something might appear. It’s an old house, after all.”
Yuzuru said it with a laugh.
He decided to treat this particular “lie” of hers as a joke.
Still, after hearing her say it, he couldn’t deny that the place did have that sort of feeling.
It was an old wooden mansion.
At night, it naturally carried that kind of atmosphere.
The creaking floors earlier proved that.
And in Japan’s belief in the yaoyorozu no kami The Shinto concept that countless spirits or deities inhabit all things, old objects were said to house spirits.
It wouldn’t be strange if there were a zashiki-warashi A childlike household spirit in Japanese folklore believed to live in old homes or two around.
“W-W-Wait… do they actually appear?!”
“I’ve never encountered one in my entire life, so I doubt it.”
“I-I see… that’s good then.”
Even so, she still seemed scared.
She gripped Yuzuru’s arm tightly and refused to let go.
(…This is bad. In several ways.)
The softness and warmth of Arisa’s body came through the thin fabric between them.
It stimulated Yuzuru’s instincts in a dangerous way.
Because it was dark, a wicked thought briefly crossed his mind—
(Would it be forgiven if I touched her a little by accident in this situation?)
But leaving Arisa alone while she was frightened felt cruel.
On the other hand, he obviously couldn’t spend the entire night with her either.
So—
“Arisa, since we’re up anyway… want to look at the moon before going back to sleep?”
“…Huh?”
Yuzuru guided Arisa to the engawa not far from the guest bedroom.
From there, they could see the garden.
And the pond.
As well as the moon reflected on its surface.
“Not a bad ‘atmosphere,’ right?”
“Yes… it’s beautiful.”
Arisa nodded softly.
The Takasegawa garden was constantly maintained by a professional gardener.
So the scenery was excellent.
“I didn’t notice it during the fireworks… but it’s quiet and elegant. Really beautiful.”
Arisa narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked out.
Her flaxen hair shimmered in the moonlight, almost appearing golden.
Arisa framed by fireworks had been beautiful.
But Arisa illuminated by moonlight was just as breathtaking.
Yuzuru felt his heart begin to beat faster.
Still… at least this probably eased her fear a little.
“I’m glad you like it.”
Yuzuru and Arisa smiled at each other.
Then, in the moonlight—
Yuzuru noticed Arisa’s chest.
He hurriedly averted his eyes.
Arisa tilted her head in confusion.
