The Sulfur Spring, 10:02 PM
"...My classmate's wedding was held in Asahikawa at noon."
"It's rare to come to Hokkaido, so I wanted to travel a bit before heading back."
After a heavy, awkward silence, Kojima Kana finally managed to string together an explanation for her presence. Then, her professional sternness slammed back into place. She glared at Kasumigaoka Touji, who was still standing frozen at the pool's edge. "This is clearly the women's bath, is it not? To brazenly come in here for a peep… you certainly have some nerve!"
Putting the bizarre coincidence aside for a moment, the situation as it appeared was this: she had caught a peeping tom red-handed, and said tom was a student from her own homeroom class.
Kojima Kana felt a profound, suffocating pressure building in her chest—!
She couldn't help but feel a wave of bewildered despair.Isn't Toyosaki Academy a prestigious private high school? Then what in the world is going on with my class?!
A mental roster of "special cases" flashed through her mind: the degenerate Anjima, the sleep-all-day Masahei, the inappropriate Takahashi Yako, the openly dating Akizuki Yuna, the academic cheater Inohara Miyako… and now, a peeping tom in Kasumigaoka Touji.
So many talents concentrated in a single class… Kojima Kana felt her future as an educator growing dimmer by the second. She didn't even dare to contemplate what other hidden "talents" might be lurking undiscovered.
For the first time, she felt the crushing weight of the teaching profession.Students in my day weren't like this…!It must be a generational problem, right?
"Kasumigaoka-san," she said, her voice thick with reproach. "Sensei is deeply disappointed in you."
The disappointment was etched plainly on her face. She was about to order him to leave immediately, but he spoke first.
"Wait, wait, wait—I mean, Time out!"
Kasumigaoka Touji raised a hand, cutting her off. His expression was one of utter disbelief.
"Sensei, shouldn't this be the men's bath right now? The one with the problem here is you! You're… you're overtime!"
"...Huh? What are you talking about?"
Kojima Kana was taken aback, her stern frown melting into one of genuine confusion.
"Didn't the staff at the inn tell you?" Kasumigaoka Touji asked, his tone growing increasingly incredulous. He gestured at the steamy pool she occupied. "Before 9:50 PM, the sulfur spring is for women. After 10:00 PM, it switches to men-only."
He pointed a dramatic finger at the starry sky. "It's ten o'clock. Right now, this is the men's bath."
"...Is… is that so?"
Kojima Kana's eyes widened into perfect circles of shock. A flicker of doubt crossed her face, but it was quickly followed by dawning, horrified realization.
"Didn't sensei know?" Touji-kun pressed, genuinely surprised by her ignorance. He mentally cursed the inn's staff for their negligence. Not informing guests about something this basic? His dissatisfaction with the Kitahara Inn reached a new peak.
"...I think… I may have heard the staff mention something like that," Kojima Kana admitted, her gaze shifting away awkwardly. "But I was… preoccupied with my own thoughts at the time and didn't pay close attention."
Hearing his reminder, a vague memory surfaced. Now that she thought about it, she had been the only woman left in the bath. There had been several others soaking earlier.
It really was her mistake.
The full weight of this realization crashed down on her. The fierce, teacherly aura that had surrounded her evaporated instantly. The man-eating tigress transformed into a thoroughly embarrassed, flustered kitten. A deep blush spread from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears.
So it was MY fault all along!
Touji-kun watched the dramatic shift in her demeanor, utterly speechless. After a moment of internal face-palming, he took a pragmatic approach.
"Sensei, let's get you out of here first. I'll stand guard to make sure no one else comes in."
"I… I would be very grateful!" Kojima Kana stammered, looking at him with newfound, immense gratitude. "It was sensei's mistake today. I… I'll treat you to a meal later to make up for it!"
To be honest, she was feeling rather panicked. The thought of walking out and potentially bumping into other men in this state was mortifying. Her student's calm, practical offer was an anchor in her sudden storm of embarrassment.
Kasumigaoka-san is really quite reliable in a pinch…Her favorability toward him ticked upwards significantly. And against her will, the memory of that New Year's omikuji fortune flickered again in her mind's eye…No! Absolutely not! Teacher and student is a line that must not be crossed!
"Let's go, then," Touji-kun said, not refusing the promised meal. Come to think of it, sensei had mentioned treating him and Utaha to something tasty just last night. Did this mean… two free meals? Not a bad deal, all things considered.
He turned and began walking back toward the entrance to the shower area. The small towel around his waist, knotted at the hip, resembled a short, minimalist sarong.
Kojima Kana glanced at his retreating back, then at her own similarly clad state. Taking a deep breath, she pressed one arm across her chest, used her other hand for support, and rose from the warm, embracing waters of the spring.
Splash.
****
At the Entrance to the Shower Room
Just as Touji-kun was about to push the door open, a sound from within made him freeze.
Splish-splash… pitter-patter…
The distinct sound of running water and someone washing themselves.
This is bad.
If the person inside hadn't undressed yet, or hadn't started showering, he could have—albeit awkwardly—asked them to step out for a moment. But now… they were mid-shower. It would be utterly unreasonable to barge in and ask them to leave.
A look of deep conflict settled on Touji-kun's face.
After a moment's thought, he formulated a new plan: he'd go fetch Kojima-sensei's clothes from the changing room, let her dress here in the bathing area, and then she could slip over to the women's side to finish rinsing off.
He turned, intending to discuss this new strategy with her.
But before he could speak, a slender, soft, and slightly damp hand landed on his shoulder.
Touji-kun froze. He hesitated for a split second before turning his head. He did his absolute best to keep his eyes locked on her face, but the periphery of his vision was unavoidably flooded with other… information. A sudden dizziness and dryness in his throat assaulted him.
"S-Sensei?"
"Mm," she nodded, her own gaze firmly fixed on a spot above his left ear. "I'll… I'll go hide behind the rockery over there. You stand guard for me."
"Ah, about that…" he began, forcing his voice to remain level. "I could… tell the person inside first, ask them to hold off on entering the pool for a few minutes. Then I'll run to the changing room to get your clothes. You can change here…"
It was a solid plan. It sacrificed a certain… scenic viewpoint, but it was the most logical and safest solution. In critical moments, Kasumigaoka Touji could indeed be very reliable.
"..."
Kojima Kana stared at his face, her gaze slightly rigid. (She was too embarrassed to let her eyes wander anywhere else.) It was undeniable that his suggestion was far superior to her own panicked idea of hiding. But…
"Don't… don't leave me here alone…" she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "And what if… what if you tell the person inside, and they… deliberately come over anyway?"
She didn't want to think the worst of people, but let's be honest: Japan had its fair share of perverts. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
As she spoke, her hand, which had been on his shoulder, slid down and wrapped around his wrist. Her grip wasn't tight, but it was insistent. She turned her head to the side, presenting him with a delicate, blushing profile, unable to meet his eyes directly.
Gulp.
Touji-kun stared at that profile—the elegant line of her jaw, the long lashes lowered against her crimson cheek, the way a single droplet of water traced a path from her temple down her neck—and he couldn't help but swallow hard.
What is this?Sensei, what's with this reaction?Why are you suddenly so… so cute?!
Oh no, oh no…My heart is doing somersaults!
It wasn't just that she was beautiful and had an incredible figure. It was the overwhelming, devastating sense of contrast. The usually stern, unsmiling, sharp-eyed Kojima Kana who made students tremble in their seats… was now showing him a side so shy, so vulnerable, so utterly girlish.
Kasumigaoka Touji felt his heartbeat thunder in his ears. (This had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she wasn't wearing any clothes… maybe…)
"In short," Kojima Kana said, her voice firmer now but her gaze still averted, "just… come over here with me first!"
Without waiting for further debate, she tightened her grip on his wrist and began pulling him, not toward the exit, but back toward the concealing mist and shadows of the hot spring pool itself…