“…Ayaka-san is in it again.”
Arisa muttered, sounding slightly sulky.
On the screen were two boys and one girl, about five years old—Yuzuru, Soichiro, and Ayaka.
The three of them were playing pretend.
Soichiro was being fed a mud dumpling by Ayaka, while Yuzuru watched in utter disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“Why is she there?”
“Because we’re childhood friends.”
“…I’m not in it.”
“We hadn’t met yet.”
“……”
“Don’t get upset over something that can’t be helped…”
“I’m not upset.”
Even as she said that, Arisa leaned against Yuzuru and lightly pushed her head towards him.
Yuzuru gently stroked her hair.
“I like your cooking more than Ayaka-chan’s mud dumplings.”
“Of course you do. You can’t even eat the latter.”
“…Soichiro is eating it, though.”
“…I feel sorry for him.”
It seemed the power dynamic between those two had already been established even back then.
Both Yuzuru and Arisa let out a small laugh.
Just as Arisa’s mood improved slightly, the scene changed.
The setting shifted to a familiar bathroom—
“W-wait! N-no, that’s not allowed!”
“Ow—!”
Arisa hurriedly covered Yuzuru’s eyes with her hand.
Though not very hard, it still made him flinch.
“What are you doing?!”
“Y-you’re not allowed to look!”
“It’s just a five-year-old—”
“No! Absolutely not! I’m skipping it!!”
She almost shouted.
After a moment, Yuzuru’s vision returned.
“You’re overreacting, don’t you think?”
“I am not! …Why are you bathing together in the first place?”
“Hmm… maybe because we got covered in mud from playing? Timeline-wise.”
In the previous scene, all three of them had been filthy with mud.
It was likely that after playing, their guardians had simply thrown them all into the bath together.
That was Yuzuru’s guess.
“Ugh… th-this is why childhood friends are…! H-how long were you bathing together?!”
“Hmm… I don’t even remember that earlier scene. That might’ve been the only time. Hard to say…”
At least, he had no memory of it.
Though, depending on what else they watched, more might surface.
“I see… then I’ll allow it.”
Arisa huffed lightly.
Yuzuru couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“If you’re that jealous, want to take a bath together later?”
He said it half-jokingly.
Arisa froze.
A moment later, her jade-green eyes widened.
“Ah—w-well, that was a jo—”
“…Do you want to?”
Before he could brush it off, Arisa asked, her cheeks faintly flushed.
Yuzuru paused, then nodded.
“…I do.”
“I see.”
“…What about you, Arisa?”
“I… wouldn’t be opposed.”
She looked up at him with slightly moist eyes.
At this point, there was no backing out.
And neither of them wanted to.
“Th-then… shall we?”
“Yes… let’s.”
She nodded firmly.
“……”
“……”
A brief silence followed.
“…We don’t have swimsuits, though. Is that okay?”
“…Yes. I understand.”
“I see…”
Yuzuru suddenly became aware of his racing heartbeat.
Even though he’d wanted this—
Now that it was right in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“I’ll go run the bath. …Can you wait here?”
“Yes.”
“What about cleaning—”
“The staff already took care of it.”
“I see.”
“So I just need to fill it. I’ll be back.”
Suppressing his excitement, Yuzuru headed to the bathroom.
Filling it was simple—just pressing a button.
After doing so, he returned.
Arisa was sitting properly, waiting.
“…It’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
He sat beside her, as if reminding both her and himself—
There was no turning back now.
“……”
“……”
Only the sound of the TV filled the room.
Yuzuru had no idea what to say.
Feeling restless, he glanced around aimlessly.
Of course, nothing caught his attention.
Eventually, he looked back at Arisa—
““Ah…””
Their eyes met.
They had to say something.
““Um…””
Their voices overlapped.
“Y-you go first…”
“Uh, well…”
Prompted by her, Yuzuru desperately searched for a topic.
But he’d been so focused on speaking, he hadn’t thought of what to say.
“About tomorrow’s prep school…”
He ended up repeating something they’d already discussed.
Arisa nodded along, just as vaguely.
Their conversation lacked substance—
Neither of them was really present.
“…By the way, Arisa?”
“M-me? Um… what is it?”
“You were about to say something earlier…”
“Ah—r-right! Um… let’s see…”
She, too, clearly hadn’t been thinking of anything.
Her eyes darted around.
“…What should we do after the bath?”
It was only 8 pM.
Even if they took their time, they’d be done by around 9.
Too early to sleep.
“We could continue the video… or play a game if we get bored.”
“Y-yes, that sounds good.”
She gave a stiff, awkward laugh.
Yuzuru forced a smile in return.
“……”
“……”
Silence again.
A minute—or two—or maybe longer.
Then Arisa suddenly stood.
“…Arisa?”
“I’ll go get a change of clothes and a towel.”
“I-I’ll get mine too.”
They both stood.
“…The bath should be ready by the time we wash up.”
“I see.”
“So we can probably go in right away.”
“Then… let’s meet in the bathroom.”
With that decided, they parted ways.
Yuzuru went to his room, grabbed his things, and headed to the changing area.
Not long after he arrived—
Arisa came as well.
“…Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No, I just got here.”
They looked at each other—
And slowly nodded.
—Let’s go in.
