"Hiss!"
Tainaka Ritsu was standing in the doorway.
Her mouth was open wide enough to fit an egg, and her eyes were round with shock—she looked just like a startled rabbit.
"Th‑this is impossible…"
Her voice trembled, and her fingers clutched the doorframe.
"There was absolutely nothing here a moment ago!"
Tsumugi Kotobuki stroked the armrest of a leather sofa with practiced elegance, wonder gleaming in her eyes.
"Italian calfskin… This set must cost at least three million yen."
She lifted her gaze and surveyed the room.
"And the décor… It's the modern minimalist style that's all the rage right now."
Akiyama Mio kept her head down, unable to meet anyone's eyes.
She knew all of this was Rei Ao's "handiwork"—a house that had appeared out of nowhere in the depths of the mountains—but she had no idea how to explain it.
Rei Ao himself stood in the center of the living room.
Under a mess of black hair, iridescent eyes rested calmly on the four girls, the faintest smile at the corner of his lips.
"Mio…"
Tainaka Ritsu suddenly seized Akiyama Mio's wrist and spoke in an almost inaudible whisper.
"Your friend… he isn't a ghost, right?"
Her gaze darted repeatedly toward Rei Ao, then away again.
"How could a normal person conjure up a villa in the middle of the mountains?"
Akiyama Mio felt her cheeks grow hot.
"N‑no, Rei Ao isn't a ghost…"
Her voice grew softer and softer until it was nearly a murmur.
"What matters most right now is that we change clothes."
Unsure how else to respond, she hurriedly changed the subject.
Gently she shook the still‑dazed Hirasawa Yui.
"Yui, wake up. Let's take a hot bath first, or we'll catch a cold."
Hirasawa Yui blinked her large, confused eyes; when they fell on Rei Ao they suddenly lit up.
"Ah! You're… the person in the rain!"
She pointed at Rei Ao, her voice rising in surprise.
"I remember you!
"When you walked in the rain, the raindrops all avoided you!"
The living room fell silent at once.
Tainaka Ritsu and Tsumugi Kotobuki turned to Rei Ao simultaneously, their eyes full of shock and questions.
Rei Ao chuckled softly, shattering the silence.
"The bathroom's down the hall on the right. The hot water's ready."
He pointed upstairs.
"There are clothes that should fit you in the wardrobe on the second floor."
With that, he turned toward the sofa, picked up a magazine, and began flipping through it, as if the conversation had never happened.
Akiyama Mio felt as if a great weight had been lifted.
She quickly pulled Hirasawa Yui toward the bathroom.
Tainaka Ritsu and Tsumugi Kotobuki hesitated; only when Rei Ao, still not looking up, said, "Relax, I don't have a voyeurism fetish," did they follow.
…
A luxurious bathroom.
As soon as the door closed, the girls all exhaled in unison.
The room was absurdly large: in the center bubbled a round Jacuzzi big enough for six or seven people.
Beige marble tiles lined the walls, and soft lights from the ceiling created a warm, cozy atmosphere.
"Wow~"
Hirasawa Yui dashed over first, shed her wet clothes in a flash, and leapt into the tub.
"So comfy!"
She sank into the hot water until only her head remained above the surface.
Akiyama Mio, cheeks crimson, undressed slowly.
Her movements were stiff, her gaze wandering—clearly burdened with worry.
Tsumugi Kotobuki noticed but said nothing, gracefully unbuttoning her uniform.
Tainaka Ritsu, far less reserved, stripped while looking the bathroom over.
"This place is ridiculously fancy!"
"That Rei Ao guy—what's his story? Conjuring a villa in the middle of nowhere—that's beyond just being rich!"
One after another, the four girls slipped into the tub.
The hot water wrapped their chilled bodies, driving away the mountain rain's cold.
Hirasawa Yui closed her eyes in bliss, like a lazy cat.
Tainaka Ritsu leaned against the rim, enjoying the massage jets.
Tsumugi Kotobuki washed her golden hair with aristocratic poise.
Only Akiyama Mio seemed absent‑minded, mechanically scrubbing her arms, eyes drifting again and again toward the door.
"Mio."
Tsumugi suddenly spoke, her gentle voice leaving no room to dodge.
"That Rei Ao isn't just your 'friend,' is he?"
The atmosphere in the tub froze instantly.
Hirasawa Yui blinked curiously; Tainaka Ritsu sat straight, waiting for Mio's answer.
Under the water, Akiyama Mio twisted her fingers together.
"Well… I…"
"He appeared out of nowhere, then produced a house out of thin air,"
Tsumugi went on, her jewel‑like eyes fixed on Mio.
"That's hardly something an ordinary person could do."
"Exactly!"
Tainaka Ritsu nodded vigorously.
"And Yui said he walked through the rain without getting wet! Mio, is he really a ghost? Or… an alien?"
Her imagination galloped off.
"He's not!"
Akiyama Mio shook her head quickly.
"Rei Ao's neither a ghost nor an alien, but…"
Seeing there was no escaping the topic, she bit her lip and said, "He really isn't an ordinary person."
Not an ordinary person?!
Tainaka Ritsu and Tsumugi Kotobuki straightened at once.
"So what is he?"
Hirasawa Yui asked, a little rubber duck bobbing atop her head.
Akiyama Mio drew a deep breath.
"If you truly want to know… why not ask him yourselves?"
With that she suddenly stood.
Water streamed down her pale skin.
She snatched a towel, wrapped it around herself, and hurried out of the bathroom, leaving Tainaka Ritsu and Tsumugi Kotobuki staring at each other—and Hirasawa Yui blinking in bewilderment.
…
Akiyama Mio stood in the hallway.
Her heart hammered so hard it felt ready to burst from her chest.
Beneath the towel her body trembled slightly—
whether from leaving the hot water or from what lay ahead, she couldn't be sure.
She understood the terms of their bargain: the "right to use" her body.
Rei Ao had fulfilled his part.
Now it was time for her to keep her promise.
At the thought, her face burned even hotter, her ears reddening to their tips.
The second floor was silent.
Only her own footsteps echoed in the corridor.
At the far end was a closed door—surely Rei Ao's bedroom.
With every step her heartbeat quickened; her legs felt heavy as lead.
At last she stood before the door.
Akiyama Mio lifted her hand—yet could not bring herself to knock.
~~~
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