Splash—
He turned on the showerhead, letting the hot water run over his body to rinse himself clean.
Wrapping a bath towel around his waist, Takumi stepped out of the bathroom and made his way to the hotel's large open-air hot spring on one side of the building.
Under the dim sky, steam rose from the hot spring, carrying a faintly ethereal air. Combined with the soft fluorescent lights lining both sides of the stone path, the scene took on a dreamlike quality.
By now, Takumi and Maki had already finished shopping and returned. The four of them had eaten dinner together at the hotel's upscale restaurant and then rested for a while.
"Phew… not bad…"
Submerging himself in the hot spring, Takumi let out a long breath and stretched lazily in the water.
He was the only one in the entire bath. Lifting his head, he looked toward the tall bamboo wall not far away. Thinking about what was on the other side of that wall, he felt an itch stir in the depths of his heart.
Right now, Chika and the others were probably enjoying themselves in the women's bath. Ah, how nice… I'd love to go over and soak with them. Though, come to think of it, my relationship with Kaguya isn't that close yet. If I manage to get along well with all three of them, then maybe someday something like a mixed bath wouldn't be out of the question.
Well, even if bathing together as a group of four isn't possible yet, at least bathing together with Chika alone shouldn't be a problem, right? Tonight probably won't work, but tomorrow I should be able to find a chance to try. And I've heard that girls with large chests float in the water—no idea if that's true, but I really want to see it for myself. Hmm, someone like Maki probably wouldn't float, though there's that saying that girls get a second growth spurt. But that depends on whether the guy measures up… I should count as the capable type, right…?
Lost in these wandering thoughts, the corners of Takumi's mouth curled slightly upward.
He nearly submerged himself entirely beneath the water, stretching out in the warm current, even beginning to swim leisurely within the pool.
Would this end up making other people dissatisfied or something? That was a completely unnecessary concern, because this hot spring hotel had in fact been fully booked out by Kaguya and the others. During these two days, no other guests would appear at all. And as a distinguished guest, Takumi could not only do something as trivial as go for a swim—even if he were to blow up the hot spring pool, the hotel's owner and staff would still have to rush over, bow deeply to him, and say something like, "Well blown up."
It could only be said that rich people really were different.
With that in mind, Takumi opened his eyes and looked up—only to see those pitch-black, eerie shadows floating in midair.
It seemed… there was no way to properly enjoy himself…
Takumi cast a subtle look toward those twisted, deformed figures that could only be described as utterly grotesque.
How should he put it? It was like placing a fresh lump of excrement and a fragrant grilled fish side by side in front of him, and having to eat the grilled fish while enduring the stench of the excrement. Or like just ordering an overly sweet milk tea, inserting the straw without even taking a sip yet, when the person at the neighboring seat suddenly vomited a rainbow all over the floor—and you could even see little black pearls mixed within that rainbow… Wait, why was he using such disgusting metaphors to torment himself?
After that mess of thoughts ran through his head, Takumi yawned. He soaked for a few more minutes, then felt it was truly too boring and simply got up and left.
While Takumi was feeling utterly bored on his side, over in the women's bath area, Kaguya and Maki's gazes were both in an extremely sharp state.
There was no doubt that the direction of their eyes was toward a certain pink-haired girl currently sitting in the hot spring, whose particular body part could be buoyed up by the water.
"Uwaa… hot springs are the best~"
Chika let out a satisfied moan.
At that moment, Kaguya remained silent.
"Hehe, I really want to come soak here every day."
Chika stretched lazily, her body swaying greatly.
Maki's pupils subtly constricted in response.
How could this be…
It had already felt impressive before, but why did it now seem as if it had become even bigger?
How could something change like that in just a few days? What exactly was going on?
Maki's mind had completely fallen into chaos.
Her figure had become even more voluptuous…
It was simply like a succubus from hell reincarnated as a human—born and raised solely to seduce men. Such a body, such a figure… Damn it, there was no way not to feel jealous. Just why had this girl developed so astonishingly?!
Kaguya tried to endure it, but in the end she could not suppress the resentment welling up within her.
"Fuaa… fuaa…"
As for Chika herself, she was completely unaware of the gazes from the other two at this moment, fully relaxing in the hot flow of the hot spring.
It felt like the pain in her body had eased a little.
A few days ago, she had been treated somewhat roughly by Takumi, and several places on her body had been squeezed until they swelled. Although the swelling had subsided over the past two days, there was still a faint lingering soreness. As expected, girls had to endure much more than boys the first time. Takumi, that idiot, should have been more careful and cherished her more… though, if he was a little rough, she actually liked it too…
Recalling those blush-inducing moments they had shared before, a faint flush could not help but rise to Chika's cheeks.
As for tonight… ugh, no, she had already decided before that she would leave the next time to Maki. Uwaa, how troubling. I actually like this kind of "way of playing." If Takumi were to notice, would he think I'm too lewd?
Chika felt slightly concerned and subconsciously pressed her legs together.
"I wonder if Takumi is feeling too bored over in the men's bath by himself."
In the next moment, Chika's gaze swept past Maki and Kaguya, and she suddenly spoke in a low voice.
"It's just soaking in a hot spring. What's there to be bored about?"
Maki was somewhat puzzled and at the same time very wary. She did not quite understand what Chika was trying to imply by suddenly bringing this up.
"It can't be helped. Takumi is a child who's very afraid of loneliness, you know. Maybe he's thinking right now that we should go over and keep him company."
Chika blinked and said this with a giggle, her expression becoming even more unfathomable.
"Don't make such jokes, Chika-san. Takumi has a strong sense of boundaries and self-control. He wouldn't let himself fall into this kind of idle fantasy."
Kaguya frowned slightly and cast a glance at Chika. Thinking of the time she had once slept in the same room with Takumi at the Shirakawa Apartments, she refuted her very seriously.
"Oh? So that's how you see it, Kaguya-san…"
For some reason, the look Chika sent over next carried a hint of pity.
"Well then, that's fine. By the way, what about little Maki—what do you think?"
Immediately after, Chika decisively shifted her gaze to Maki.
'Hey, hey—what's with just skipping over me like that? And what's with that expression, as if saying, "I haven't even found my lane yet"? What's that supposed to mean?'
Kaguya could not help clenching her fists, yet she did not know what she should say at this moment. Only now did she vaguely realize that Chika, whom she had always regarded as somewhat foolish and silly in the past, seemed to have surpassed her in certain aspects at some unknown point—so much so that Chika could now display such a perfunctory attitude toward her during conversation.
What exactly was it?
Where had she grown, and in what way, to undergo such a tremendous change?
Kaguya could not think of the answer.
"You're asking what I think? I don't even ca— no, I don't want to tell you at all. Even if I were to say something, I'd definitely tell Takumi-kun. Why would I have to tell you?"
Almost out of habit, Maki was about to utter her standard tsundere line. But having suffered losses at Chika's hands before, she reacted before finishing her sentence, hurriedly changing her words to deny what she had just said, and immediately raised her guard.
"Hehe, don't be shy. I want to hear it~"
"Uwaa, you—don't come any closer! Wait, wait—!"
Amid the splashing of water, the pink-haired girl giggling as she teased the brown-haired girl looked, in Kaguya's eyes, like a great demon king capturing a pure white little angel.
She somewhat wanted to step forward to help, but if she approached this clearly high-spirited Chika right now, she might end up becoming Chika's plaything as well. So, Maki—please, as the eldest daughter of the Shijō family, hold this girl off for me.
With that thought, Kaguya's expression returned to calm, and she simply remained soaking in the hot spring, watching as Maki let out cries under Chika's tugging.
Not long after, when the three of them finished soaking and came out, they saw that Takumi had already returned to the hall outside the hot spring pool. He was sitting on a long bench in the lobby, dozing off.
"Mm, you're out?"
Somewhat sleepy, Takumi yawned. Seeing the three girls not far away, dressed only in yukata, his eyes widened slightly before he stood up from his seat.
In the next moment, Chika directly jumped in front of Takumi and, as naturally as could be, wrapped an arm around his.
"Takumi, Takumi, the Tabletop Games Club designed a Monopoly-style game. Want to come try it out with me?"
The giggling girl spoke as she pulled Takumi toward the direction of the Residential Wing.
"Hey, you—don't just start hugging and cling—gh!?"
As expected, Maki, who had just been tormented by Chika moments ago, learned nothing from it. The moment she saw Chika pressed up against Takumi, she immediately rushed forward—only to be caught by Chika in one smooth motion. The two girls crashed together into Takumi's arms.
'At this moment, should I act proper and not move at all, or be straightforward and just wrap my arms around both of them?'
After hesitating for about 0.02 seconds, Takumi directly hugged the two of them together.
"Don't be in such a hurry. I'll invite little Maki to play too. Ah, right, right—Kaguya-san, you should come play as well."
Not paying attention to Maki, who was currently blushing and stiff all over while being held in Takumi's arms together with her, Chika struggled to free one hand and waved it toward Kaguya in the distance, making an inviting gesture.
As for Kaguya herself, she had once again fallen silent, standing motionless on the spot. Her brain, running at high speed, seemed to have blue-screened and entered a Windows 11 automatic restart in the face of the overly chaotic scene before her.
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