By the time evening rolled around, Megumi had already gone home as usual. Shizuka, on the other hand, decided to stay the night.
Her reason was simple.
She wanted to become "Informative Hiratsuka Shizuka."
No, not exactly... what she really wanted was to humbly ask Yukino and Utaha how they had managed to improve so much.
She had joked about it with Haru earlier, but he hadn't taken her seriously, choosing instead to tease her back.
The conversation had been pleasant enough, but she wasn't after jokes... she wanted real progress.
Yukino and Utaha's physical transformations were too striking, their progress too obvious for her to ignore.
So, that same night, she joined the two girls in their bedroom for a long talk.
Out of curiosity, and a bit of nosiness, Haru followed along at first.
"If you want to reach my level, Hiratsuka-sensei, you'll need a consistent workout routine," Yukino said with her usual patience. "Of course, you don't have to start at full intensity. You can build it up step by step."
Since she and Shizuka had always been close, she didn't hold back and shared her own experiences openly.
Utaha was happy to help too. She even pulled up the workout plan Haru had created for her and sent it directly to Shizuka's phone.
Haru, after a few minutes of "spectating," realized there was nothing entertaining to watch. Shrugging, he left them to their talk and went back to his games. Judging from how engaged they looked, he figured the three of them would probably chat until midnight.
And with Shizuka staying over, it was easy to guess the arrangements... Yukino would take the master bedroom, while the other two would use the guest rooms.
Haru smirked to himself. Maybe he could sneak into Yukino's room in the middle of the night, as long as he slipped back out before dawn.
His prediction turned out to be spot-on. The three women kept talking until half past twelve.
By then, Haru was stretched out on the couch, playing on his phone.
"Are you playing games?" Shizuka's voice came from behind him.
Haru's fingers flew, closing the screen in an instant. He had to... most of the Azur Lane skins he owned weren't exactly something he could show with a straight face.
"Mm. Just pulling on a gacha… Sensei, do you know what that means?" he asked casually.
"Of course I do. Don't treat me like some fossil," Shizuka said with a laugh, stepping closer to the couch.
Haru glanced up at her. She was wearing a loose bathrobe, one shoulder slipping open to reveal skin far too smooth and fair for her age. Then again, it made sense... she was eager to find a boyfriend, so she must have been meticulous about self-care. She'd quit smoking, worked out regularly… it was no wonder she still looked so good.
"Where exactly are those eyes of yours looking?"
Sharp as ever, Shizuka caught his wandering gaze instantly.
With a quick tug, she pulled her robe tighter, hiding away every last bit of exposed skin. Only then did she huff in mock annoyance. "You're getting more and more brazen, you know that?"
Haru shrugged. "It's just that I'd rather treat you as a friend than keep everything formal."
"That excuse works, I suppose. Not that I buy it."
She circled around and dropped onto the single sofa beside him. The robe tightened with her movement, showing off her smooth legs and the curve of her thighs.
Haru didn't linger on the sight. Instead, his [Perception] skill told him something else.... both Yukino and Utaha were still awake in their rooms. They probably didn't come out only because Shizuka was still around.
"You're not sleepy yet?" he asked, turning back to her.
"Not usually. And after learning so much today, my mind's too awake." She let out a small laugh.
"What's so funny?" Haru asked.
"Nothing. I just remembered what you called me earlier—'Informative Hiratsuka Shizuka.' Honestly, it fits. I do have some intel now," she said with a grin.
Haru gave her a sly look. "So are we going to see Informative Hiratsuka Shizuka vs. Healthy Yukino for real?"
"Ha! You really want me to spar with Yukino?"
"Not spar. I want to watch her wipe the floor with you. Then you'd come running to me for help, questioning your entire life. That'd be priceless."
"…That's your idea of fun?"
"Pretty much." Haru stretched and yawned, perfectly content with the image in his head.
Actually… Healthy Yukino doesn't sound right. She was never the sickly type. It should be 'Full-Power Yukino.'
Hiratsuka had no idea what he was thinking. She hesitated, then lowered her voice. "Thank you… for last time."
Haru blinked before realizing she meant the yoga session with Haruno. "You already thanked me. And I told you, it was nothing but a small favor."
Her cheeks warmed. "That day… you didn't see anything, did you?"
"If you mean your drunk antics, then yes... I saw all of it. Every embarrassing detail."
Her face burned even hotter. That wasn't what she meant at all.
That night she hadn't been wearing anything underneath her yoga outfit. Just the thought of how exposed she'd been in front of him... bent over, stretching... had left her unable to sleep for nights afterward.
She was sure Haru had noticed at least for a moment, even if he had been polite enough to avert his gaze.
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me," Haru said suddenly.
Shizuka turned away, whispering, "So now I've given you another secret to keep?"
"What's the big deal? You were just drunk and silly. Embarrassing, sure... but honestly? Kinda cute, too."
Cute?
Shizuka's cheeks flushed, and she felt even more embarrassed to continue the topic.
For a woman nearly thirty, being called "cute" by a younger man should have been flattering. And yet... because of everything that had happened between them, from the hot spring trip where they had stripped away all pretenses, to that night she'd pulled him into her bed... every memory overlapped in her mind, making her body burn and her throat dry.
She could no longer bring herself to keep talking.
Muttering an excuse about being tired, she hurried back to the guest room.
Haru, unfazed, went right back to his mobile game.
By the time he finally looked up, it was already half past one.
The living room lights had long since gone dark, leaving only the faint glow of his phone.
Not to disturb anyone's sleep, he slipped on his headphones and kept tapping away.
If nothing unexpected happened, he was sure to go to bed late again tonight.
After all, his need for sleep had been shrinking more and more lately.
Meanwhile, in the guest room....
Utaha, who had been lying on the bed with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them in the darkness.
She stayed still for a dozen seconds, listening carefully to the steady rhythm of Shizuka's breathing beside her. Once she was certain the woman was asleep, she slipped her hand under the pillow, pulled out her phone, and checked the time.
Because there were guests in the house today, she hadn't worn the camisole dress she usually kept here, but a robe instead.
Using the glow of her phone to guide her, she quietly rose from bed. She didn't even bother with slippers, letting her bare, pale feet tread silently across the floor as she slipped out of the room.
Not a sound escaped her movements.
But she had overlooked something.
Tonight had been overwhelming for Shizuka. And after chatting with Haru earlier, her mind was still filled with restless, shameful images—she hadn't really fallen asleep at all.
So the moment Utaha slipped out of the room, Shizuka opened her eyes.
What's she doing, sneaking out in the middle of the night?
Bathroom?
No… that careful, tiptoeing posture didn't look like someone heading for the bathroom at all.
Her head full of questions, Shhizuka decided not to get up immediately. She waited.
If Utaha didn't return within ten minutes, then she'd have no choice but to check for herself.
Meanwhile, out in the living room...
Even with headphones on, Haru heard the faint footsteps behind the sofa right away.
When he pulled them off and turned, he was greeted by Utaha standing there, makeup-free yet still breathtakingly beautiful.
"You… came for a midnight snack?" Haru set his phone aside and asked in surprise.
Utaha rolled her eyes. "Is your brain only filled with nonsense like that?"
She walked over, patted his leg, and only sat down once he shifted aside, pulling the blanket over herself as well.
"That hold you used earlier... what exactly was it?" she asked bluntly, not hiding the reason she'd come.
Haru understood immediately. "You want to use it when you spar with Yukino?"
"Something like that," Utaha admitted without hesitation. "Every time she throws a hold at me, I can't even resist. Honestly, it's infuriating."
She even clicked her tongue in frustration.
Haru chuckled. "That hold's nothing special, but even if I teach you, I doubt you'll beat Yukino with it."
Utaha fell silent.
She knew it herself... she wasn't good at fighting. She had never studied it properly.
Yukino, on the other hand, had long said she was well-versed in aikido, and the kind that worked in real combat.
Even so, Utaha wanted to learn something useful.
Just as she had seen Haru subdue those thugs earlier so swiftly and cleanly, she'd sensed the precision and power in his technique. She wanted that too.
At the very least, she didn't want to be left completely powerless the next time Yukino made a move on her.
"So you came to me in the middle of the night just to ask for lessons?" Haru teased, breathing in the alluring fragrance that lingered around her.
Utaha gave a soft "Mm."
But that wasn't the whole truth.
Because what she wanted wasn't only to learn.
There was also another hunger inside her.
She'd been busy these past weeks. Aside from her period, the last time she and Haru had been intimate was nearly half a month ago.
So tonight, she had come for two reasons.
And in the dead of night, progress was best made in pairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
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