That evening, Kamiyā Yuu went to the hot spring bath alone. Apparently to avoid another awkward situation like last time, Uehara Etsuki had deliberately partitioned off a section of the hot spring area for male use. Thick wooden boards separated it from the women's bathing area on the other side, and a sign bearing the Japanese words "Men's Bath" hung at the entrance.
However, Kamiyā Yuu had barely stepped into the men's bathing area when an unexpected guest arrived right behind him.
Clack~
The sliding door of the bathing room closed. Busujima Murasaki, her mature, alluring body completely bare, slowly walked in carrying a towel. Upon seeing Kamiyā Yuu, she smiled gently. "Yuu, let me wash your back for you."
Sitting on a low stool, Kamiyā Yuu poured shampoo onto his hair and asked with a wry smile, "What about Sora and the others?"
"Fireworks have already been prepared in the backyard. They probably won't come to the hot spring until a while later." Busujima Murasaki came up behind Kamiyā Yuu. Through the hazy steam, the sight of her long, shapely legs made heat stir within him. She placed the towel she had soaked in hot water over Kamiyā Yuu's shoulder, then gently massaged his foam-covered hair with her soft hands. She had studied the skills required to serve others since childhood, and the comfortable pressure soon made Kamiyā Yuu abandon his "resistance" and simply enjoy himself.
"Don't worry. If Yuu doesn't do anything, neither will I. I know where to draw the line."
"Then don't leave the choice to me. Better yet, don't give me the choice in the first place. I'm not someone who can withstand temptation very well." Kamiyā Yuu pursed his lips in self-deprecation.
Busujima Murasaki chuckled softly. Her voluptuous body pressed closely against Kamiyā Yuu's back as she whispered beside his ear, "Yuu is my master, so I'm merely fulfilling my duties."
"I'd rather just enjoy the hot spring in peace. If my only day off turns into a battlefield of romantic drama, that would be a genuine disaster."
...
After a long hot spring excursion, this day off finally came to an end.
Before going to sleep, the faint sounds of the girls laughing and fooling around still seemed to linger in the air. Kamiyā Yuu lay alone on the futon prepared in his guest room. The room was typically Japanese in style, with nothing particularly noteworthy apart from the Japanese-style ceiling lamp overhead. The dim, silent atmosphere somehow made it difficult for Kamiyā Yuu to settle down. Elsewhere, Gogyo Ruri, Kamiyā Sora, and Yūki Chinatsu were sharing a guest room. The three of them had formed their own little circle at the company as well, so there was no need to worry about any problems.
Although Busujima Murasaki and Uehara Etsuki got along well with Kamiyā Sora and the others, theoretically speaking, they weren't people from the same world and didn't have many common topics to talk about. Thus, they hadn't joined this particular group sleepover.
"I can't calm down." Kamiyā Yuu patted his forehead and muttered helplessly. The desire Busujima Murasaki had stirred up in the hot spring was only growing stronger. Even when he tried to enter his consciousness space, he felt his awareness continuing to drift through reality. When he closed his eyes, he wasn't sleepy in the slightest.
He had no idea how long he lay there in the darkness with his thoughts running wild. Eventually, even the faint sounds of the girls playing around died away completely.
His emotions finally settled, and just as drowsiness began to overtake him, Kamiyā Yuu abruptly opened his eyes and frowned toward the corridor concealed behind the shoji. The footsteps were quiet, but there was no way they could escape his hearing or that mysterious sixth sense of his.
Judging by the footsteps, the visitor should be a woman, but her gait wasn't particularly steady. From the intervals between her steps, Kamiyā Yuu could even tell who was approaching.
Rustle~
The shoji slid open. What Kamiyā Yuu hadn't expected was that the visitor was neither Kamiyā Sora nor Busujima Murasaki, but the woman he had always treated with great respect—Uehara Etsuki.
"Kamiyā-kun, you're still awake after all." Uehara Etsuki chuckled softly. Even though an ordinary person shouldn't have been able to see her in the darkness, she somehow sensed Kamiyā Yuu's gaze.
Kamiyā Yuu sat up and reached for the Japanese-style ceiling lamp overhead.
"Kamiyā-kun, there's no need to turn on the light."
Kamiyā Yuu felt his heart skip a beat. He stiffly withdrew his right hand and asked somewhat helplessly, "Uh, Sensei, is there something you need from me at this hour?"
Rustle!
There was no answer, only the sound of clothes slipping to the floor. Then Kamiyā Yuu saw the hazy outline of a pale, beautiful body approaching him through the darkness. Uehara Etsuki gently wrapped her arms around his neck. As she pushed him down onto the futon, her lips claimed Kamiyā Yuu's.
Kamiyā Yuu's mind went blank, leaving him unable to react for a moment. He clumsily responded to Uehara Etsuki's movements, while his hands finally gave in and wrapped around the slender waist he had fantasized about for so long.
It felt just as he had imagined—slender, smooth, and delicate, yet possessing a subtle sensation entirely different from that of other women.
In the darkness, Kamiyā Yuu could feel Uehara Etsuki's loose black hair brushing across his cheeks. Her beautiful face, once always cool and serene, was now flushed with captivating charm.
"So Murasaki was right. It really is a very peculiar feeling." Uehara Etsuki swept back her long hair and gave Kamiyā Yuu a gentle smile. "Actually, there's something I need to explain to you, Kamiyā-kun. Although Murasaki has rarely had contact with men, because of her physical needs, she and I have always maintained a physical relationship. Exactly the kind of relationship you're imagining."
Kamiyā Yuu swallowed, unsure how to respond. "Uh..."
"Yuu wouldn't mind my age, would you? I wasn't very confident about it myself, but seeing you as this puts me much more at ease." Kamiyā Yuu's bewildered appearance brought a soft, seductive smile to Uehara Etsuki's face, completely unlike her usual expression.
"I'm having trouble processing this. What exactly is happening?" Kamiyā Yuu muttered between heavy breaths.
Uehara Etsuki covered her mouth and chuckled. Her hand moved away from Kamiyā Yuu's cheek as she sat up and straddled his waist. "Kamiyā-kun is the only man I've met so far whom I consider truly capable and outstanding, so having a physical relationship with Yuu doesn't make me feel uncomfortable. Murasaki once told me what it felt like to be with Yuu, so I became a little curious myself about how different it would be compared with being with Murasaki."
The faint light drifted across her mature figure, revealing breathtaking beauty.
"But..."
"Don't worry. It's only a physical relationship, and you could also consider it my way of making amends for what happened with Murasaki." Uehara Etsuki stopped Kamiyā Yuu from continuing. Leaning down, she kissed his neck and whispered, "This room is quite far from Sora's guest room. She won't be able to notice anything happening in here."
Holding that warm, smooth, mature body in his arms, Kamiyā Yuu finally stopped suppressing his physical urges. When he rolled over and pinned her beneath him, he seemed to transform into a wild beast freed from its reins.
Uehara Etsuki, who had approached the situation rather casually, sensed that things were taking an unexpected turn. Ripples spread through her formerly tranquil heart, and she too gradually lost herself in the strange sensations Kamiyā Yuu brought her, just as Busujima Murasaki had described. Less than an hour later, Uehara Etsuki, who had been struggling to endure it, tightly embraced Kamiyā Yuu's back. Her eyes hazy, she whispered, "Mm... Murasaki... Murasaki, come in."
Busujima Murasaki, who had been waiting behind the door for quite some time, entered with flushed cheeks and joined them.
"Yuu, may I?" Busujima Murasaki asked Kamiyā Yuu for permission after entering, only to find herself pulled into their entanglement by a powerful force.
The three gradually became entwined together. Busujima Murasaki felt an incomparable sense of release within her. All rational thought seemed to leave her, and all she wanted was to please the person who was both her present and former master.
...
Before dawn had even arrived, Kamiyā Yuu carried Uehara Etsuki and Busujima Murasaki back to their room.
After staying awake all night, Uehara Etsuki felt as though her entire body had been taken apart. The unprecedented experience had left her still unable to fully recover. She wrapped her arms around Kamiyā Yuu's neck to steady herself and spoke in a soft, languid voice. "Kamiyā-kun, I might not be able to go to the company today."
"Sorry." Kamiyā Yuu paused, apologetic.
Uehara Etsuki chuckled and shook her head. "I'm starting to envy Murasaki a little. I never expected being with Kamiyā-kun to be such a remarkable experience."
"Etsuki, when we're alone from now on, call me Yuu."
Uehara Etsuki froze for a moment, then reached out and stroked his face with a hint of reproach. "Does Kamiyā-kun want to maintain this kind of relationship with me? Greedy men aren't very likable."
After a brief pause, she leaned close to his ear and breathed softly against it.
"Yuu... I can't say I disliked what happened just now."
When they reached Uehara Etsuki's bedroom, Kamiyā Yuu gently placed her on the bed. Unable to resist, he kissed the lips he had coveted for so long, lingering there for quite some time. Everything wonderful that had happened tonight still seemed like a dream, and before waking, he wanted to make sure that dream had truly been real.
"Good night."
Their lips parted. Uehara Etsuki watched Kamiyā Yuu's retreating figure while touching her own lips. The strange fluttering in her heart hadn't stopped since earlier—or rather, from the moment she had first gone to Kamiyā Yuu's room with that intention, her heart had ceased to be calm.
Feeling the lingering sensations in her body, Uehara Etsuki couldn't help laughing at herself. "What am I even doing? One moment of impulse, and I gave myself to him, even though I've had no interest in men for more than thirty years."
"Is Kamiyā-kun... the exception?"
Uehara Etsuki was a mature woman, and she didn't handle relationships between men and women with the same hesitation as some other women. Kamiyā Yuu was simply the only man who had ever interested her. Her decision to enter into a physical relationship with him today hadn't really involved much romantic affection; it had been driven purely by physical curiosity and impulse.
But as the nature of their relationship changed, the invisible wall between them seemed to collapse in an instant. Uehara Etsuki didn't dislike the feeling of being with Kamiyā Yuu, so she simply decided to let things develop naturally.
And from what had happened just now, what she had initially believed would be nothing more than a one-time exchange to satisfy physical needs seemed to have become something subtly different...