"Mmm~"
With a soft moan, Hanabi snuggled closer to the warmth beside her. That familiar scent and soft embrace gave her an overwhelming sense of peace.
She wished time could just stop here forever.
But after a moment—
Hanabi's eyes shot open!
Something was off!
Why did she feel unfamiliar sensations?
Opening her eyes, she came face-to-face with a perfect, manga-protagonist-like face, inches from her own.
Seeing that familiar face, her memories of the night before came flooding back—
The sweat, the moans, the shameful positions...
Eep!
She remembered!
Hanabi remembered everything!
Last night, she and the pigeon...
Aaaaaaah!!
So embarrassing! She had planned to be the dominant one, the CEO archetype—and she ended up as the innocent little bunny!
How was she supposed to maintain her editor dignity after this?!
Hanabi was about to sit up in a flustered panic, but…
Feeling the warmth beside her, she suddenly hesitated.
Maybe… just sleep a bit longer.
With that thought, Hanabi cuddled in a bit more and found a comfy spot before closing her eyes again.
Just this once…
Let's indulge this once!
...
An hour later—
Kamishiro came downstairs, yawning, followed by Hanabi, who was gripping his side with a slightly wobbly walk.
[○`3′○]
Hanabi was fuming!
How could someone be so shameless?! He'd already been awake, but still pretended to sleep just to watch her reaction!
And once he was satisfied, he rolled over and pinned her down again!
Unbelievable!
His energy levels were ridiculous.
Hanabi felt like she needed to reevaluate all the authors under her wing.
They were all pigeons with hidden talents!
"Ehehehe~"
???????‵?
At that moment, Kamishiro had a goofy, satisfied grin plastered on his face.
This wasn't just a win for one pigeon—it was a triumphant battle cry for all pigeons everywhere!
Smack!
"What are you grinning about?!"
Hanabi slapped him on the head, her face blushing.
"Ahem, I was just remembering something happy."
╭( ￣ ▽￣)╭
He even wrapped an arm around Hanabi's waist, "O~h, my dear editor-chan, how about we go diving again tomorrow?"
"..."
And today we just spend the entire day in the room, right?!
Hanabi rolled her eyes, "Don't even think about it. Let's go before we run into anyone else."
"Anyone else?"
Kamishiro looked confused. So what if they ran into someone? No one knew them here—they'd just look like a normal couple.
It's not like they'd run into Chisa and the others here of all places. That would be way too much of a coincidence!
At that moment—
Hanabi suddenly remembered what she forgot to tell Kamishiro yesterday.
She had meant to tell him as soon as they got back to the room, but got distracted by the eye candy…
And after that…
That guy didn't give her a single chance to talk!
Thinking back to last night, Hanabi's face flushed even deeper. She glared hard at that damn pigeon.
She opened her mouth, just about to spill the tea she'd meant to share last night—
When suddenly, two very familiar figures appeared in their line of sight.
Kamishiro: Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
Iori: {{(°△°; "}}!
Chisa: Σ(°△°|||)?
Hanabi: (⊙_⊙)
Great, now there's no need for her to share the gossip—it's coming to them directly.
Yep.
And there's no need to hide this damn pigeon anymore. She's been caught red-handed…
(っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)
Why hasn't the world ended already!!!
…
At the hotel lobby
Kamishiro looked at the two with suspicion.
"So... you're really in two separate rooms? Not sharing one bed?"
"Of course not. It was originally the same room, but then someone seemed to have canceled their reservation."
Iori explained with a calm face. He had a clear conscience—nothing to hide!
As long as the rumors didn't reach Nanaka-senpai, it was fine.
And besides… Chisa had come traveling with him. That alone probably meant Nanaka-senpai already knew.
So there was nothing to be afraid of!
"Maybe we got scammed…"
Chisa casually left a review on the store with her phone. She didn't understand why the owner claimed they had no negative reviews. Clearly, lots of people had said it was a scam!
"I thought it was fine. That old guy was alright. At least the hotel seemed to be doing decent business."
Kamishiro defended the old man. Although his car was awful, the room was actually pretty nice!
Especially the massage tub!
So comfy~
As for not having twin beds…
Isn't it common knowledge that some inns only offer King beds?
"..."
Chisa and Iori turned their gaze to Hanabi, who was behind Kamishiro and clearly avoiding their eyes.
Thinking of the things Hanabi bought yesterday, and Kamishiro suddenly showing up…
The two of them had figured it out.
Hanabi's "boyfriend"—was this scumbag!!!
Iori was practically exploding with jealousy!
He could accept being a virgin, but he couldn't accept people around him living such a great life!
He had known Kamishiro was living a more "passionate" life, but… he'd never caught him in the act.
So he never paid it much mind.
But this time was different!
Thinking about how he spent last night alone in a room, while that bastard Kamishiro might have been snuggling up with a beauty, exploring the mysteries of life together…
He couldn't help but cry jealous tears!
He grabbed Kamishiro and shook him violently. "You guys got two rooms yesterday too, right?! Tell me it was two!"
Even if they bought that item, it doesn't mean anything, right?!
(ﾉД`)
Clearly, Iori had entered full denial mode.
Next to them, Chisa glanced at Hanabi. Thinking about her awkward walking this morning, Chisa's face turned bright red.
T-this is still too soon for her!
"..."
Hanabi didn't want to say anything anymore. Her face was frozen in a broken smile.
Let the world end already. Maybe it's just not suitable for her anymore.
Aaaaaaah!!!
Why did she go out and buy those last night?!
∑(′△｀)?!
"Of course we shared a room. What's wrong with you guys?"
Kamishiro also noticed Hanabi acting weird. It felt like… everyone was hiding something from him?
Is this really that hard to accept?
"Hehehe…" Iori had a super awkward smile and kept glancing around like he was looking for something.
In the end, not finding any useful tools, he lunged at Kamishiro and grabbed him by the neck.
"You damn bastard, why aren't you dead yet?! Die, just die already!!"
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
"WTF, calm down! What the hell are you doing?!"
Kamishiro fought back. Every time it came to this kind of issue, Kitahara went full berserker mode.
Always breaking the limits of the human body?
"How am I supposed to stay calm, you lucky bastard?!"
"This is your own fault! Even the innkeeper tried to help you!"
"Huh?!"
"..."
Chisa and Hanabi looked at the two of them with eyes that clearly said "idiots."
Seriously, these two could start a fight anywhere.
"So you really aren't in that kind of relationship?"
Hanabi asked Chisa. She'd thought the two of them were kind of a good match.
An airhead girl and a dumb guy.
"..."
Chisa didn't say anything, but from the look on her face, Hanabi could tell.
It was a look of pure disdain!
Still, she couldn't help but feel like something was going on between them.
Would normal boys and girls travel together like this if nothing was up?
No way!
"By the way, should we really not stop them?"
"It's fine. This is just how they bond."
Upon hearing this,
Hanabi twitched as she looked at the two of them… picking each other's noses.
So…
Are they bonding by enlarging each other's nostrils?
The two who hadn't had a proper emotional exchange in a long time were now completely unhinged—using every dirty trick in the book!
"You bastards! Shouldn't the main priority be finding Kohei?!"
Kamishiro yelled. Now that they were exposed anyway, they might as well gather everyone together.
Then he could sneak away later!
"Kohei? What Kohei?"
Iori froze—clearly, he had no idea Kohei was here.
Opportunity!
Seeing Iori distracted, Kamishiro snuck in with a Thousand Years of Death attack!
"Ohhhhhhh!!!~"
And with Iori's strange scream, the utterly ridiculous battle came to an end.
"Phew…" Kamishiro stood up, feeling refreshed. That bastard attacked him while he was weak—so unfair!
Didn't he know he had cardio this morning?!
He rubbed his wrist and looked down victoriously at Iori, who was still clutching his butt in pain.
"Hey, it's Kohei and Aina—didn't you guys already run into them yesterday?"
Iori glared back, totally unconvinced. "You despicable scumbag! I never saw Kohei at all!"
At this point, he still thought this bastard was just lying to mess with him and win the fight.
"Huh?"
Seeing that Iori didn't look like he was faking it, Kamishiro froze. Wait… did he hallucinate yesterday?
"No way, I definitely saw it with my own eyes. Hanabi saw it too."
Hanabi nodded, "Yeah, it was definitely Yoshiwara san and Imamura san."
"Right? Chisa was even chatting with them. Then she suddenly ran off."
Kamishiro recounted his little espionage from yesterday. He almost misunderstood the situation at the time.
???
Seeing their reactions, Iori started to believe it might actually be true.
Kamishiro might lie to him, but that editor lady probably wouldn't.
Except… for last night…
He turned to Chisa, confused—why couldn't he remember this?
Hearing this, Chisa recalled something and quietly explained to Iori, "It was when I went back to the car to get medicine. Ikegoshi was injured."
"Oh, right…"
That made sense now. When Chisa came back to the car for the medical kit, he was changing clothes.
But she didn't say who it was for… Kohei, huh…
Wait—what?!
"Ikegoshi?!"
Iori looked dumbfoundedly at Chisa, then at Kamishiro.
Didn't they just say it was Kohei?
Why is it suddenly Ikegoshi?!
Crap, his brain hurts. He might actually start using it…
Chisa also turned to Kamishiro. "Umm, it was Ikegoshi at that time, right? He was with his fiancée…"
Kamishiro didn't say anything. He silently pulled out his phone and searched for a photo of Yukari Muramura.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ???
"Ikegoshi is cheating?!"
"..."
Chisa's reaction made Kamishiro fall silent. She'd rather believe that Ikegoshi cheated than believe that it was actually Kohei.
But, well, that was understandable. With the way Kohei looked at the time, plus Aina's makeup, even Kamishiro hadn't recognized him at first.
"It's true. I confirmed with Ikegoshi—that was Kohei!"
"Huh… Then why did those two lie to me back then?"
Chisa was confused. Was that something that needed to be hidden?
(???)
Kamishiro didn't answer. He just quietly looked at the two of them.
They're really slow on the uptake.
Iori, whose brain was finally developing, followed Kamishiro's gaze to look at himself and Chisa.
Then—!
He seemed to understand!
"They must have been eyeing my bonus and followed me all the way here, right?!"
With that thought, Iori looked at Kamishiro warily. "You're here for the bonus too, aren't you?!"
His fists clenched.
Kamishiro's fists hardened! Who the hell wants your bonus?! You're obviously a rich kid—why do you always act like you're barely scraping by?
That amount of money means nothing to me!
The next second—
Kamishiro appeared next to Iori with a flattering smile. "Hehe, Kitahara, since you won the lottery, don't you think it's time to settle that debt? You're a rich man now!"
(λ?_??)
Kamishiro proved with his actions that money really is good!
At the mention of debt, Iori's eyes dodged. "Um, let's hold off a bit on that… I don't have enough money left…"
???
"You stopped by Macau on your way here?"
"No, I came straight here."
"Then why are you out of money?!"
Iori helplessly spread his hands. "I couldn't help it. The prize was only 300,000 yen. I had to make choices."
"300,000?"
"Yeah."
"In dollars?"
"Of course in yen."
???
!!!
300,000 yen?! What kind of prize is that?! That's way too small!
So the "luckiest" lottery win that cost Kitahara his brain cells and lifespan… was only worth 300,000 yen?!
Unacceptable!
Totally unacceptable!
"Damn it! You bastard, you used my 300,000 yen to go on a trip!"
Iori: ???
Since when did it become your 300,000 yen?!
And besides, he definitely didn't owe that much—just how much interest did you tack on?!
Seeing the two "geniuses" about to start another "emotional exchange," Hanabi and Chisa quickly dragged them toward the door.
That shopkeeper's stare had been getting scarier and scarier since a while ago!
They couldn't keep disturbing someone's business!
Chisa: "Right now, what's most important is finding Imamura and Aina."
Hanabi: "They probably aren't staying far…"
From what she knew (and guessed), those two were also around here!
Don't ask how!
If you must know—it's because this entire area is full of love hotels, and in her mind, the relationship between Kohei and Aina was already not normal!
Kamishiro's mouth twitched. He couldn't agree.
Aina and Kohei?
No way that's happening!
They probably found a normal hotel.
"I'll call them."
Just as Kamishiro was about to make the call, everyone spotted two familiar figures walking out from the love hotel across the street.
Clatter—
Kamishiro's phone made intimate contact with the ground.
The three of them stared in horror at the pair.
Impossible!!! ×3