“Sorry, Arisa. I ended up taking a bit longer.”
Changed and refreshed, Yuzuru stepped out of the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Arisa was sitting on the living room sofa—
for some reason, in seiza.
“…Arisa?”
“…Fweh—ah, Y-Yuzuru-san?!”
When he called out again, she responded in a flustered, high-pitched voice.
For some reason, her face was flushed.
“W-what is it?!”
“…No, I just got out of the bath. It’s your turn next, right?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
In a hurry, Arisa rushed towards the changing room.
Yuzuru grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Hey, Arisa.”
“Y-yes! Wh-what is it?!”
“…Your towel and clothes. You forgot them.”
Something similar had happened before, but fortunately this time he caught it before she got in.
Arisa nodded repeatedly.
“R-right. I’m sorry!”
She quickly prepared her clothes and towel, then disappeared into the changing room again.
Yuzuru tilted his head in confusion.
About forty minutes later—
“…I’m done.”
Arisa emerged, dressed in her nightwear.
It was a simple shirt-style pyjama set.
Her pale skin was faintly flushed from the bath, and her flaxen hair—thoroughly dried—flowed smoothly, seeming to shine even more than usual.
She sat neatly in front of Yuzuru.
For some reason, she looked slightly embarrassed, averting her gaze.
“So… what should we do now?”
“Huh? N-now?! A-are we doing something?!”
At his casual remark, Arisa grew visibly flustered, her eyes darting about.
Yuzuru gave a wry smile.
“…No, I meant what we should do for fun.”
“A-ah… I see.”
“…Did you have something else in mind?”
“…Not really.”
She replied curtly—yet her face remained red.
“Since it’s a special occasion, I thought we could do something other than video games. What do you think?”
“…That sounds nice. I’ve heard looking at screens before bed isn’t good. But what should we do?”
For card games, it’d be better to have at least three people.
Games for just two were surprisingly limited.
“Have you played mahjong, chess, go, or shogi?”
Arisa quietly shook her head.
As expected.
“What about Othello?”
“I’ve played Othello. …That sounds good. Let’s do that.”
Fortunately, she seemed interested.
They quickly set up the board and decided who would go first with rock-paper-scissors.
“Oh, right, Yuzuru-san.”
“What is it?”
“…This is a serious match, you know.”
“I know. …I want to win too.”
And so, they began their game.
Yuzuru won the first round.
Arisa won the second.
And then—the third match—
“Hmm…”
“Arisa, it’s about time…”
Yuzuru urged her as she sat frowning at the board.
She had already been thinking for five minutes.
“Just a little longer… just a little…”
She repeated herself, unable to decide.
Her competitiveness was both a strength and a weakness, Yuzuru thought with a sigh.
“Listen while you think.”
“Yes.”
“About tomorrow—are we still good to go to the pool like we planned?”
They had already roughly planned their Golden Week outings.
One of them was the pool—where Yuzuru would teach Arisa how to swim.
An indoor heated pool, of course.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Only then did Arisa finally place her piece.
It flipped several of Yuzuru’s pieces in a satisfying chain—
“Ah…”
She let out a small sound.
Then looked up at him with pleading eyes.
“…Can I redo that?”
“No.”
“…Please?”
“…Even if you ask cutely, no.”
“Yuzuru-san, you’re wonderful.”
“Flattery won’t work either.”
“…You’re stingy.”
Arisa puffed out her cheeks.
The third match ended with Yuzuru’s victory.
However, Arisa seemed dissatisfied.
“…If you hadn’t distracted me, I would’ve won.”
Her argument was that being spoken to mid-thought caused her mistake.
“You can say anything after the fact.”
Yuzuru, on the other hand, stood by the result.
“Hmph… then next time, I’ll distract you a lot!”
She huffed playfully, clearly trying to show she was annoyed.
Yuzuru poked her puffed cheek.
“H-hey… stop that.”
“Alright, my bad. I won’t distract you next time.”
“That’s not how someone who’s reflecting acts… honestly!”
And then, the two of them laughed softly.
When Yuzuru checked the time, it was already past ten.
Not particularly late for high school students—
but they had plans to swim tomorrow.
“…Shall we head to bed?”
At his casual suggestion, Arisa’s body gave a small jolt.
“Y-yes! Um… where should I sleep?”
“I set up a futon. …Though if you’d prefer the bed, I can take the futon.”
“N-no, the futon is fine.”
She nodded stiffly.
Since she had no objections, Yuzuru led her to the spare room.
As he was about to lay out the futon—
Arisa stopped him.
“Huh? …We’re sleeping here?”
“Huh? …Did you not want to?”
The spare room technically didn’t qualify as a proper living space under housing regulations—
but practically speaking, it was perfectly usable.
“N-no, it’s not that I don’t want to…”
Arisa hesitated, struggling to say it.
Yuzuru didn’t want her to hold back.
“If there’s something, just tell me.”
“…I thought we might sleep in the same room. Like last time.”
By “last time,” she meant when she had stayed over during a thunderstorm.
Back then, worried about a power outage, she had slept in the same room as him.
But this time, there was no such concern.
The spare room even had a night light.
“…Do you want to sleep together?”
“…Would you mind?”
Blushing, she asked him that.
Yuzuru looked away, scratching his cheek—
“…I don’t mind. Since it’s a special occasion… let’s sleep in the same room.”
“…Yes. Let’s.”
Together, they carried the futon.
“Just so you know—don’t do anything weird, alright?!”
“I-I know. …Trust me.”
“Hmm…”
