“I’m coming—hang in there!”
“H-hurry… please… help me…”
When Yuzuru shouted, a weak, trembling voice came back.
Come to think of it, she had said she was afraid of the dark, he recalled.
For now, he headed to the changing area, relying on the light from his smartphone.
Then he spoke to Arisa through the bathroom’s glass door.
“Hey, Arisa. You alive in there?”
“Y-Yuzuru-san!! P-please help me… I-I can’t… I can’t handle dark, cramped spaces…”
Her voice sounded like she was on the verge of collapse.
“Calm down. Can you move on your own?”
“I-I can’t… p-please, hurry…”
“Well, even if you say help…”
This darkness was almost certainly due to a power outage.
There was no way he could fix that.
He wanted to help her, of course—but with her being completely naked in the bath, there wasn’t much he could do.
“…Can I come in?”
“Yes! Yes!! P-please, quickly! I-I can’t take it anymore…”
“Don’t give up. I’ll keep my eyes closed when I come in.”
With that, Yuzuru shut his eyes and opened the door.
He pointed his phone’s light roughly towards where he thought she was.
Then—
Something cool pressed against him.
“Yuzuru-san!!”
“Y-you idiot! Don’t cling to me when you’re soaking wet! Actually—don’t cling to me at all!”
He grabbed hold of her.
Her skin felt smooth—soft and slick beneath his hands.
He quickly pulled her away from his body, then took her hand and placed the phone in it.
“With this, you should manage, right?”
“Y-yes… thank you very much.”
“I’m keeping my eyes closed. Dry off and get changed.”
After saying that, Yuzuru stepped out of the changing area and sat down with his back to the door.
From time to time, Arisa called out—
“Yuzuru-san… are you still there?” “Please stay there!”
Each time, he answered, reassuring her.
After a while, the door slowly opened.
With only the phone’s light, it was hard to see clearly, but she appeared to be properly dressed in the tracksuit.
“S-sorry for causing such a fuss.”
“Well… you can’t help what you’re afraid of.”
He wanted to say “honestly…”—but he figured she wasn’t doing it on purpose, so he chose to comfort her instead.
At that moment, the power came back on.
Light returned to the entire flat.
Yuzuru let out a sigh.
“Talk about bad timing.”
“Y-yes…”
Worried the power might go out again, they decided to prepare for bed early.
That said, all they really had to do was take out the sleeping bag and lay it down.
However—
“Look, Arisa… sharing the same room is a bit…”
“B-but! If the power goes out again, it’ll be pitch black!”
Arisa insisted on sleeping in the same room.
“Honestly… aren’t you worried? Like I said, I’m a man. Thunder might be dangerous, but just being in the dark—”
“A power outage is dangerous. I think it’s safer for both of us to sleep in the same room.”
Her face was pale as she said it.
At this point, with her pleading so desperately, Yuzuru couldn’t really refuse.
…Though technically, she was the one forcing the issue.
“Is there… some reason? Why you’re so afraid of the dark?”
“That’s… well, it’s scary, but… when I was little…”
Whenever she made a mistake as a child, her adoptive mother would lock her in a closet.
It had happened many times.
That trauma still lingered, leaving her afraid of dark, enclosed spaces.
“…I really am sorry for causing you trouble, Yuzuru-san. But…”
“…Well, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped.”
Don’t worry about it, he told her.
“Come to think of it, I’ll be on the bed, and you’ll be on the floor in a sleeping bag. That’s not too dangerous… right?”
Sleeping side by side would be bad—but there was at least a height difference.
He decided, somewhat arbitrarily, that it was acceptable.
Bedtime.
At Arisa’s request, Yuzuru left the night light on.
(…It’s actually brighter than I expected.)
He didn’t usually use one, but it was fairly bright.
He might have trouble sleeping tonight, he thought with a quiet sigh.
Though it was Sunday tomorrow, so it wasn’t a big issue.
“I hope the power goes out while I’m asleep.”
Arisa looked up at the night light, still a little uneasy.
For her, who was used to sleeping with a light on, the brightness seemed just right.
“Well… if it does go out while you’re awake, wake me up. I’ll be here unless I’m going to the toilet.”
“Sorry for the trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it. …Good night.”
Yuzuru closed his eyes.
Arisa followed with a soft, “Good night.”
About ten minutes passed.
“…Um, Yuzuru-san.”
“Mm? What is it?”
“Ah… did I wake you?”
“No, I was still awake. What’s wrong?”
Was she going to the toilet?
It had been a while since the horror film incident—surely she could manage that on her own by now.
“Well… it’s just… my heart’s racing, and I can’t sleep.”
Yuzuru’s heart gave a sudden thump.
Of course, she probably didn’t mean anything by it.
It was likely just that unique, restless feeling—like on a school trip night.
Still, hearing a girl say “my heart’s racing and I can’t sleep” while staying over at a guy’s place—
It sounded undeniably cute.
And a little suggestive.
Enough to make him almost misunderstand.
“What about you, Yuzuru-san?”
“Well… I’m a bit nervous too.”
Though his “nervous” was slightly different from hers.
That said, he wasn’t entirely immune to the excitement of the situation either.
Forcing himself to sleep right away felt like a waste.
“Want to play shiritori?” A Japanese word game where each player says a word that begins with the final syllable of the previous word.
“That sounds nice. …Then I’ll start with ‘ri’. Ringo.” Ringo means apple
“Gorilla.”
“Rakkoon!” Raccoon
“Koala.”
“Ra… rakuda!” Camel
“‘Da’, huh… dakimakura.” Body pillow
“H-hey! You keep steering it back to ‘ra’! That’s not fair!”
“That’s how the game works.”
“Mmgh…”
About ten minutes passed.
“‘Ra’, ‘ra’, ‘ra’…”
Arisa, stuck on “ra,” muttered to herself—
But her voice gradually faded.
Soon, her soft, gentle breathing could be heard.
Pretending to turn over, Yuzuru glanced at her face.
She looked completely defenceless.
Fragile.
Adorably so.
Enough to make one want to reach out—
“Honestly…”
Yuzuru sighed.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
(…Come to think of it, is Arisa wearing underwear right now?)
That night, Yuzuru spent a long time unable to settle his thoughts.
