Late at night, I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the office, gazing at the pitch-black night view, pondering an important question.
Was it possible that my willpower was not as firm as I had imagined?
Just because I indulged my eyes, hands, and mouth a little, I ended up letting that problem student who affected my work go home so easily!?
If it had not been for Mutsuki, how would I have stayed up this late, only barely finishing the documents that needed handling recently?
Thinking this, I let out a long sigh and took out my phone.
Me: Rin-chan, have you ever seen Kivotos at four in the morning?
Rin: Just finished overtime.
Rin: What do you think?
Me: It's nothing, thanks for your hard work.
Rin: You too.
Rin: [Image]
Rin: Also, how many times do I have to say it, who are you calling Rin-chan?
Nice picture, saved.
I returned to my seat and sat down. While appreciating my newly added favorite, I worried about my inability to fall asleep.
It was all Ako's fault for infecting me with vulgarity.
There was no choice. I could only try to seek help from an expert in this field.
Me: Hoshino Hoshino! Talk to me, talk to me!
Hoshino: Eh? What's wrong all of a sudden?
Almost an instant reply. As expected, she was still staying up late.
Me: I'm doing a cyber dorm check. Why aren't you asleep at this hour? Confess honestly!
The next moment, the ringtone sounded.
I answered Hoshino's video call, and the instant I saw the scene on the other end, my pupils shrank sharply.
"Hyoi∼"
On the screen, Hoshino fixed her phone in place, then held onto the edge of the bathtub with both hands and sank her body back into the hot water, letting out a satisfied sound. "Uhee∼ so comfortable∼ Taking a bath after night patrol really is the best. Feels like all the fatigue just flies away."
Perhaps because she had been soaking for a while, the bathroom around Hoshino was filled with steam, making it a bit hard to see clearly, but the flush on her face was unmistakable.
Off-screen, where she could not see, I adjusted the position of my waistband.
I thought for a moment. "Drink a bottle of milk afterward?"
"That's right! And it has to be chilled, and downed in one go to be perfect!" Hoshino waved her hand boldly, speaking in a strangely greasy tone. "Guhhehe, looks like you don't get it. Can't be helped, next time there's a chance, this oji-san will take you to bathe together!"
Was this person flirting with me?
Lamenting the decline of morals in my heart, I continued. "Cold milk isn't good for the stomach. Next time I'll treat you to warm milk, as much as you want."
I did not know what Hoshino misunderstood, but she hugged her knees, hid the lower half of her face behind them, and spat out sulkily.
"…Hmph, filthy."
I felt that the one who had no right to say that was the person who video-called someone while doing something like this.
"So, not sleeping in the middle of the night and calling this oji-san, did something happen?"
After steadying herself, Hoshino straightened her expression and looked at me with her heterochromatic gold-and-blue eyes. "Did you miss me?"
"Yeah, I missed you."
"Mm, I missed you too."
They were just simple, ordinary words, yet a warm current welled up in my chest, and a gentle smile appeared on my face without me noticing.
Ever since my relationship with Hoshino made a breakthrough, it felt like especially when we were alone together, the atmosphere always became a bit sticky and intimate.
"Then, want to meet?" Hoshino suddenly asked.
"When?"
"Now."
"Now?"
"Yeah, you're holding it in pretty hard, right?"
I hesitated for a moment. "Then should I head over now?"
Hoshino shook her head. "The sound of the Schale helicopter might be heard by Shiroko."
So she wanted to sneak around and eat alone, huh? Where did sisterly bonds go?
Grumbling inwardly, I asked again. "At this hour, the trains have already stopped running. How are you going to get here?"
"Bicycle."
"Bicycle!?"
Hoshino said confidently. "It's just this little distance, and I've got transportation. If I set off now and get serious, I'll be there pretty fast."
I was momentarily speechless.
"You can take a nap first," Hoshino added. "When I arrive, I'll wake you up with a good morning kiss."
Kiss where?
I cut off my imagination and hurriedly tried to dissuade her. "Forget it, it's already so late. We should just sleep early."
Hoshino readily agreed. "Sure. Then in that case, shouldn't you lead by example first?"
"No choice, I just finished work." I sighed. "Maybe because I stayed up too late, I can't fall asleep instead. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Oh dear, even if you can't sleep, you still have to sleep." Hoshino thought for a bit, then suggested. "You could try lying in bed and counting numbers?"
It seemed I would not be learning any advanced sleep techniques from Hoshino.
Thinking about it carefully, although Hoshino did give off the impression of being a heavy sleeper, at its core, it was just that she had spent years patrolling Abydos alone at night, severely sleep-deprived with a completely reversed biological clock, so she would get so sleepy during the day that she could fall asleep anytime.
In other words, although Hoshino was indeed a true master in the field of sleeping, she basically reached such a profound realm through instinct and talent alone.
I chatted with Hoshino for a bit longer before being urged to hang up and go rest.
Lying on the soft bed, I tried the method Hoshino suggested, only to sadly find it even harder to fall asleep.
Even Yuuka's love, which should have been infallible under normal circumstances, combined with the newly added Kodama, was almost completely ineffective.
Perhaps I really was suffering from insomnia.
After tossing and turning for a while longer, my mood grew increasingly irritable, and I could not wait any longer.
So I took out my phone again.
Corresponding to the free-spirited Hoshino, perhaps the academic type, who focused more on methods and techniques, could offer me some help.
Of course, I did not have high hopes of being able to contact her at this hour. I just planned to explain the situation first.
Me: Tsubaki, I want to ask you something.
Tsubaki: Mm? Good morning, Sensei.
Tsubaki: Did you wake up this early, or have you been working until now without having time to take a break?
She was actually awake. How rare.
Knowing that the 'taking a break' Tsubaki spoke of referred to sleeping, I changed how I phrased my question.
Me: I ran into difficulties during cultivation and just can't enter the zone, so I wanted to seek your guidance.
Tsubaki: Mm, I see.
Tsubaki: Cultivation is a long-term endeavor with no shortcuts. You must develop good daily habits, maintain physical and mental health, and pay attention to all aspects of everyday life…
Tsubaki: However, using suitable cultivation tools can also provide some help, but Sensei probably can't obtain them right now.
Tsubaki: As an emergency measure, there is still one method.
Tsubaki: But since it's my first time, I'm not very sure about the effect…
Me: Please explain in detail.
The phone rang. It was not a video call, just a normal call, and I did not know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
"Sensei, please hold the phone to your ear, close enough that I can hear your breathing."
I did as instructed.
"Are you ready?" Tsubaki asked on the other end.
"Yeah."
Then, from the phone's speaker, a sweet and gentle singing voice flowed out.
I could tell it was a lullaby meant to help one fall asleep.
Miraculously, I felt my taut nerves gradually relax, and my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
In the hazy moment before falling asleep, I seemed to hear a gentle blessing.
"Good night, Sensei. May you have sweet dreams."