Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me - Volume 5 - Chapter 4.1

Chapter 4

The next morning, we went to Osaka. We all visited Osaka Castle together and then split into our usual groups to see other sights in the afternoon.

Our group’s plan was to go to the Namba district. There, after having lunch, we’d hang around Dōtonbori and Shinsaibashi, go look at Tsūtenkaku, and then make our way to our hotel.

Apparently, our teachers only really cared about visiting Kyoto during this trip. But for many of my fellow students, places like Osaka and Kobe were the destinations of choice. Of course, suggestions like going to a theme park had been rejected.

“Oh look, it’s the Glico running man!” exclaimed Runa.

“Runa, you’re making the ‘inochi’ kanji instead of doing the pose,” I said.

“Huh?!”

“You gotta raise your hands more, like this!” said Tanikita-san.

“Heh heh, I got that on camera. ‘Inochi Glico,’” Kurose-san teased.

“Stop that, Mariaaa! Take another pic!”

After we took photos of each other doing the obligatory pose at the Ebisubashi Bridge in Dōtonbori, we went into a nearby okonomiyaki place.

Sitting at a table with an iron plate, we were preoccupied with watching the chef cook okonomiyaki in front of us.

With the exception of two people in our group, that is.

“Hey, senpai, how long will you be here for?”

“Well, since I came all the way out here, I’ll stay for two more days. It’s a good change of pace too.”

“Seriously?! I’m so happy! Can you afford the hotel, though? You’ll still have to pay for the shinkansen ride back, and you’ve bought clothes and stuff...”

“I have a credit card, though my dad will get angry if I use it too much.”

“Wow, that’s amazing, you’re an adult and all! ♡”

We’d met up with Sekiya-san earlier today after we’d split up into groups. At one corner of our table, Yamana-san and Sekiya-san were off in their own little world. Yamana-san clung to his arm and didn’t so much as glance at the okonomiyaki.

I, however, was worried about Nisshi. He was currently watching the okonomiyaki cook together with Icchi, but there was no way Yamana-san wasn’t on his mind.

All eight of us were sitting together at a table for six. Frankly, it was rather cramped. This was a popular place that was full of people and you couldn’t reserve tables here. We’d figured we could squeeze together on the bench seats somehow, so when we’d found an unoccupied table, we’d gone for it, knowing it would be a tight squeeze.

“A-Are you okay, Runa...? Do you have enough room?” I asked, minding the eyes of my friends.

The two of us were sitting on one side with Icchi and Nisshi. Our bench must’ve been more cramped than the one on the other side of the table since three of the people sitting on that side were girls.

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay...” she replied, but then she drew near me. “Can I move closer?”

“S-Sure, of course...”

I faked calmness, but on the inside, my heart skipped a beat as our hips touched. Our arms brushed against each other every time we moved them too. Maybe I should’ve just moved closer to Icchi, but somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I sat still instead.

The okonomiyaki on the iron plate steadily approached completion. The batter was currently baking under a silver, dome-like lid.

My face was hot—I wasn’t sure if it was the heat from the iron plate or Runa’s warmth. Sneaking a peek beside me, I saw that Runa’s face was red too.

The sizzling okonomiyaki made me feel hotter. I could feel that half of the senses in my body were focused on Runa.

Trying to distract myself, I spoke up to Tanikita-san, who was sitting across from us. “B-By the way, this place is really nice. How did you find it?”

She was the one who’d brought us here, claiming the okonomiyaki here was good.

This place, with its narrow frontage, was lively and constantly full of customers. The chef looked the type to take pride in his work and skillfully moved his hands as he cooked silently. I had high hopes the food would be delicious.

“Oh, I came here a few times when I was in middle school,” Tanikita-san replied nonchalantly.

“What?! You went to Osaka in middle school?!”

“Akari was a fan of an idol group from Kansai,” said Runa.

“Yep! There were a lot of concerts and things they did only here, so I’d come on night buses.”

“Wow... Going that far as a middle schooler...” I said.

“Yeah, I was super into it. Practiced Kansai dialect real hard too.”

“So that’s why you use it every now and then,” said Kurose-san, looking like she’d found the answer to something she’d been wondering about.

“Oh yeah, I asked Akari about it too, so I already knew,” Runa said.

Then, she and Kurose-san looked at each other and smiled. These sisters were on great terms already.

“Your meal is ready,” said the chef once our okonomiyaki were done.

We’d ordered several different kinds, so we cut them into pieces and shared with each other.

“This is great! Like, seriously!” exclaimed Runa.

Tanikita-san looked proud of herself. “I know, right? The yam in it makes it melt in your mouth.”

“Senpai, say ‘ah.’ ♡” Yamana-san was trying to feed Sekiya-san.

“It’s too hot, it’s still hot!” he replied.

“Oh, sorryyy!” She hurriedly blew on the okonomiyaki and fed it to him afterward. “Now do the same for me too. ♡”

“Wow... You don’t mind doing this in front of your friends?”

“But we won’t be able to see each other after you go back to Tokyo, will we? They all understand.”

Seeing Yamana-san become dejected in an instant, Sekiya-san gave in and picked up a spatula—we were using them instead of chopsticks.

Yamana-san held her mouth open. “Aah.”

Sekiya-san started feeding her some okonomiyaki. While she obviously looked happy, Sekiya-san had a gentle look on his face. I never saw him look like that at cram school. The expression on his face was heartwarming and it kind of felt like I shouldn’t be seeing it, so I averted my eyes.

At that point, Runa’s profile entered my vision. She’d stopped eating for the moment and was looking at the two in front of her with envy and fascination in her eyes. Her mouth dangled open too.

I stopped my hand as I carried my food to my mouth.

“R-Runa?” I asked quietly.

She looked at me, appearing to have been caught off guard. “Huuh?!”

“W-Would you like to...do that too?” I asked hesitantly.

Runa’s face brightened up in an instant. “Y-Yeah!”

She happily turned toward me and opened her mouth. Her eyes glistened as she looked at me. Her mouth hung open in a silly way, but it just felt like it wanted something other than okonomiyaki...

I gulped involuntarily.

It was probably just my virgin mind and I had everything wrong—or at least that was what I’d been convincing myself of every time I’d had that thought... But Runa sure had been sexy lately.

Like that time at the movie theater and later on our way back, for instance, when the look on her face suddenly felt seductive.

Then again, it wasn’t like I could do anything weird here—we were smushed together on a seat for four at an okonomiyaki place. So, I simply carried the meal to Runa’s mouth.

“Deeelish! ♡” she said with a radiant smile.

Our bodies were still touching in places, and those parts started to feel hot again... I picked up a glass of water—damp with condensation due to the heat coming from the iron plate—and downed it in one go, including the partially melted ice in it.

We’d finished our meals and were talking about how to handle the bill.

“Oh, let me take that,” Sekiya-san said. “I showed up out of the blue and gave you stuff to worry about, so let me treat you at least once.”

Tanikita-san instantly erupted with joy. “What, seriously?! You rock, Sekiya-san!”

“Okay... I’ll take you up on that. Thank you.”

Grateful, we put away our wallets too. But at that point...

“I’ll pay. And...” Nisshi was the only one to put cash on the table—three thousand yen and some change. “This is my and Nicole’s share.”

Sekiya-san looked at him, going stiff for a bit.

“Your share is enough,” he said. He took two of the thousand-yen bills, added some change from his own wallet to the pile, and held the rest out to Nisshi.

Nisshi bit his lip as he took the returned money and put it back in his wallet.

As for Yamana-san, she didn’t see this exchange—she’d gone to the bathroom earlier.

***

And so, sightseeing that day ended without incident and we spent the night in Osaka.

The following morning, we set off from the hotel to go to Kobe and everyone on our school trip went to the Kitano-chō district together.

Kitano-chō had rows of mansions with a historic air to them that stood along a road with numerous slopes. All the other buildings here were fancy too. It was just the kind of area you’d expect girls to want to take photos in because “the background would look nice.”

“Senpai! Look how neat that house is!” Yamana-san was still clinging to Sekiya-san. “And man, these hills are such a pain!”

“It’s almost over. Want me to pull you?”

“Love ya. ♡”

The two lovebirds were starting to get on my nerves. It felt like they were even more all over each other now than they’d been at that aquarium. Mainly Yamana-san.

And Runa was looking at them...with her mouth half-open again. There was envy in her eyes, and it felt like drool could come out her mouth at any moment.

“R-Runa?” I couldn’t help but say something since she was being like that. “Is it too hilly? Do you want to hold my hand?”

Happiness spreading through her face, Runa nodded vigorously. “Yeah!” She looked so full of joy that if she were a dog, she’d surely be wagging her tail left and right.

I bashfully held out my hand, but it was only after Runa had taken it that I realized I’d offered her my right hand.

“Oh... S-Sorry,” I said.

“Hm?” Runa didn’t seem to catch on as she walked up the slope.

“That’s my right hand...”

She blushed at my words. It seemed that she hadn’t forgotten about the conversation we’d had the day before this school trip when we’d been on our way back from the movie theater.

“So, that means...” she began.

I released her hand and was about to pull mine away when, suddenly, Runa gripped it really tight. Looking over at her, I saw her hang her head. Her face was red like a tomato.

“It’s...okay...” she said, as if barely managing to get the words out.

“Wh...”

What...? Really...?!

If a girl is okay holding a guy’s right hand, knowing he uses it as an outlet for his lust... Never mind, I must be overthinking it. Why would this mean Runa has an interest in having sex with me?

Still blushing, she remained silent as we walked along the hilly road. Her grip on my right hand was strong. I couldn’t tell if her face was flushed because she was tired, embarrassed, or even...aroused.

With those thoughts going through my head, we reached the Uroko House at the top of a hill. It was a fancy, two-story Western-style house. As the name suggested, its exterior walls were covered in tiles that were shaped like scales—“uroko” in Japanese. Apparently, they were made from natural slate.

It had two beautiful round towers that particularly stood out, and their roofs looked like semispherical hats. There was a garden too, with well-maintained greenery. Behind the house was a mountain full of trees.

Runa looked around the garden and at the outside of the house. “Wow, this is amazing! I wish I could live in a place like this!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

While I found her innocence cute, I also felt apologetic.

“Well, it would be difficult for me to make that happen...” I said. “Sorry...”

“Huh?” Runa looked at me. She thought for a moment but then smiled broadly, appearing to have caught my drift. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I just felt like saying that.” She laughed and then smiled a bit bashfully. “What’s even more amazing to me...is to be with you, Ryuto.”

“Runa...”

As I got flustered, she drew a bit closer to me.

“I think I’d prefer a house that isn’t too big, since we can be closer that way,” she said with a mischievous smile.

Seeing that, I recalled how close we’d sat at that okonomiyaki place the day before. The sensation of Runa against my side came back to me, making my body heat up.

As my heart raced, we went inside the house and started looking around. And when we took the stairs to the second floor...

“Hey, check out this view, Runy!” exclaimed Tanikita-san as she turned around. She was standing by a window together with Kurose-san.

“Wow... This is amazing!” Runa said when she got to the window.

I followed her and stood beside her.

Considering how long we’d spent going up the hilly road to get here, the view from the window was thrilling. You could see the houses downhill, the high-rises in the direction of the port, and the sea behind them. It probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say you could see all of Kobe from here. And since the skies were clear this morning, the view was magnificent.

“It’s crazy! I didn’t realize this house was so high up!” Runa was in awe, glued to the window. “You can see all kinds of houses from up here. It feels so strange... We’re so far from Tokyo, but this kinda reminds me of it.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I replied.

“If I could really live in one of these houses, I’d go for that one! I’ve always had a room on the first or the second floor, so I’d want to live in a house where my room would have a view of the sea.” Runa had an innocent smile on her face as she pointed at a house with many stories near the port.

I was sure she wasn’t giving it much thought, but a multistory house in the vicinity of Tokyo with a view of the bay would probably cost a ton. I really did need to get into a good college and work hard to make money.

I suddenly remembered something. “By the way, what did you write on your career aspiration survey?” I asked.

We hadn’t met up much before the trip and I realized she’d never actually told me.

Looking at me for a bit, Runa directed her eyes at the scenery outside the window once again.

“I wrote that I was thinking about it. And that I won’t be going to college.” She smiled. “You know how I hate studying? It feels like, if I did go somewhere I could get into with no big goal in mind, it would just be an extension of high school. I’d be putting off making a choice about what to do with my life.”

“I see...”

“The other day, when you told me what Sekiya-san had said to you... It really hit home. That whole thing about just doing something first and looking for a different path if that doesn’t work.”

“Ah...”

Once again, I couldn’t help but think I should’ve told her that I’d come up with that myself.

“So, for now, I wanna do something.” Runa hung her head a bit, but there was a smile on her face. When her eyes met mine, she shyly averted hers. “And so there’s this thing I’ve been doing... Just started it, actually. I guess you could say it’s encouraged me even more.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“It’s a secret. You might find out really soon, though.”

Seeing her giggle mischievously, I figured this was about her part-time job at the cake shop.

“Okay.” I pretended not to have any idea of what she was talking about. “Looking forward to it.”

“Uh-huh! Please do!” Runa smiled happily. She then looked back at the picturesque scene outside the window with a relaxed expression on her face. “No matter what we end up like as adults...” she began, as if her mind was focusing on something far away, like the horizon beyond the sea. “I hope we can always be together while looking at something so wonderful.”

Our eyes met as she smiled bashfully.

“I hope so too,” I said. My heart was filled to the brim with gentle feelings.

More and more visitors kept coming into the house, and the other members of our group were here too—but for a moment, it felt like Runa and I were the only people in this world.

***

After that, we visited a few other houses in the area before heading elsewhere.

As we walked, Yamana-san was still all over Sekiya-san, clinging to his arm.

“Senpaaai! ♡ What did you wish for when you sat on Saturn’s Chair?” she asked him.

“To get into college next year—what else?”

“Ehh? That’s it?”

“Well, if I get in, then I can be with you,” he said.

“Oh, senpai! ♡ I love you! ♡”

But as Yamana-san started melting over her boyfriend’s unexpected display of affection...we ran into a male teacher from our school on the road.

“Yamana! Who is that boy?!” he called out.

Although the students had split into several different groups, that had only happened after we’d gotten to Kitano-chō, and almost all of the students on our trip were taking predetermined routes to wherever they were visiting. Apparently, some of our teachers were keeping watch in this area.

“Sorry, sensei!” replied Yamana-san.

“You run off from your group, you pick up boys, you break school rules in regards to your appearance... You’re such a problem student!”

Yamana-san stepped away from Sekiya-san in a hurry, but the teacher kept scolding her from behind us.

“Guess we gotta be on guard today...” Runa said fretfully to her friend, sensing the teacher’s gaze from far away. She also looked at Sekiya-san, who now walked ahead of us.

“This is really pissing me off!” grumbled Yamana-san, looking behind her. “I’ve never ‘picked anyone up’ to begin with. He’s just assuming that from my looks, ’cause I’m a gyaru... This is my boyfriend and all.”

And so, we left Kitano-chō and headed to Nankin-machi—Kobe’s Chinatown—to get lunch.

However...

“Yamana-san, who is that?! Don’t go picking up boys on a school trip!”

As we walked and ate meat buns, we ran into the teacher in charge of Class A who was on patrol. Yamana-san separated herself from Sekiya-san again, and once we got out of Nankin-machi, went right back to clinging to him once more.

“Seeenpai! ♡”

But then, as the girls walked through Kobe Harborland next to the sea, bubble tea in hand...

“Yamana-san from Class A?! What are you doing?! Are you picking up boys?!”

We ran into the head teacher for our grade.

“What a pain in the ass...”

Forced to separate from Sekiya-san for a third time, Yamana-san’s face looked like a zombie’s as she walked through the docks.

In front of us was the blue sea and a large white pleasure boat that had been moored there. The symbolic Port Tower and Ferris wheel made the area look fun, but with Yamana-san’s rare time together with Sekiya-san getting interrupted over and over, the sight seemed to bring her nothing but gloom.

“What the hell. Just kill me already...” she grumbled.

Runa went over to her friend. “Everyone’s visiting places around Sannomiya, so we’re on the same route as them. No wonder the teachers are here,” she said.

“Maybe we should’ve gone to Arima Onsen if things were going to be like this?” Kurose-san said.

“Well, it’s not like we knew Nikki’s senpai would come when we planned out our route, so what can you do?” added Tanikita-san.

The two of them were sipping at their bubble tea.

“And anyway, why’re they all assuming I’m the one picking someone up?! Even if, for the sake of the argument, somebody did pick somebody else up, what—they can’t imagine that I’d be the one on the receiving end?!”

“That’s because of your usual nonconformism, Nikki,” said Tanikita-san.

“I don’t wanna hear that from someone who gets scolded for her hair color all the time.”

“My ears aren’t pierced, at least. And I keep my nails and makeup to a minimum at school.”

“Well, we’re gyaru, so of course they’ll pin stuff on us when something happens,” Runa said with a cheerful smile, managing to salvage the mood.

Nonetheless, it didn’t change the fact that it had become difficult for Yamana-san to be with Sekiya-san.

“Anyway, Nikki, there’s a super good place for taking pics over there. Let’s go check it out,” Tanikita-san suggested.

“Sounds good! Let’s go, Nicole!” added Runa.

“There’s a monument over there too that would probably make a nice background.”

“Oh, thanks, Maria! Let’s go there too!”

As the girls tried to cheer up Yamana-san, I approached Sekiya-san.

Incidentally, Nisshi had been walking around with Icchi all day today. Icchi seemed glad about it too, since it let him avoid having to deal with Tanikita-san. The two were currently sitting on a bench in the shade near the docks. They were probably talking about KEN’s videos or something.

“Sorry, I guess, Ryuto,” Sekiya-san said once I had gotten close to him.

Seeing Sekiya-san being so unusually apologetic made me feel humble too. “I’m the one who should apologize...” I said. “You came all the way out here, but we couldn’t set you up on a date with Yamana-san...”

“Nah, I came here of my own accord. And it’s only natural that your teachers would get angry if they saw Yamana walking with an outsider at a school event.”

Sekiya-san seemed to be sorry about the mood of our group sinking since Yamana-san was feeling down.

“By the way, I wonder why they’re not yelling at me at all for talking to you,” I said.

The head teacher who’d scolded Yamana-san earlier was looking our way, but they didn’t seem to plan on saying anything else.

“Well, it’s probably mostly because of Yamana’s lifestyle,” Sekiya-san suggested. “Also maybe they think it’s sexual if it’s a boy and a girl, but if it’s two guys? They’ll think you’re simply getting to know the locals.”

“I guess Japanese society is still full of subconscious prejudices...”

We roamed the docks talking about that until the girls’d had their fill. We strolled about the former foreign settlement area for a bit until it got dark and finally went back to the hotel in Meriken Park.

***

The hotel’s restaurant had a view of the city at night. After having dinner there at an all-you-can-eat buffet, we split up by gender and were about to head back to our rooms.

Runa slyly called out to me. “Hey, Ryuto.”

“Hm?”

I had already been in the hallway, but I told Icchi to go on without me and returned to the restaurant’s entrance. There, I saw the four girls standing with serious looks on their faces as they had their eyes on me.

“We wondered if you’d do something for us, Ryuto...” Runa said as if representing the rest of the girls. She brought her hands together in a pleading manner.

“Wh-What is it?”

I started to get cold feet from the unusually serious mood, and Runa said something unbelievable.

“We want you to sleep in our room tonight.”

I needed a moment to process what she’d just said.

“Whaaat?!” I yelled. “Y-You can’t be serious, right? I-In a girls’ room...?”

“Keep it down, Kashima-kun!”

“Shut up!”

Kurose-san and Tanikita-san lashed out at me at the same time. Our classmates didn’t know what we were talking about—they looked at us with curiosity as our group stood around talking in a weird place before heading to their own rooms.

“We wanna let Nicole go to Sekiya-san’s room,” explained Runa, her voice significantly quieter now. “We felt so bad for her because of what happened earlier today... And this is the last night of the trip. Might as well take advantage of the fact Sekiya-san is staying in the same hotel...”

I recalled that Sekiya-san had just let me know he was staying here too since there had been rooms available.

“We want you to take Nikki’s place and sleep in her bed,” said Tanikita-san.

I was amazed. “Wh-Why me?!” I asked.

“Well, Nishina-kun would be the best option given his height and figure, but it’d be way too cruel to ask him to take Nikki’s place so she can spend the night with her boyfriend.”

“Yeah, that’s true...”

Wait, Tanikita-san already knows about Nisshi’s unrequited love? Then again, there’ve been several opportunities on this trip alone for her to notice it.

“And Ijichi-kun is too big, of course,” added Runa.

Tanikita-san covered her face and squealed. “There’s no way I could sleep in the same room with him! I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep!”

“Spending the night somewhere else is totally against the rules, so we can’t ask anyone from another group to help,” Kurose-san added with a brooding look on her face.

Technically, Nisshi wasn’t even part of our group, so I supposed the choices had been limited to me and Icchi from the start.

As for Yamana-san herself, she was hanging her head and blushing. Was she imagining her first night together with Sekiya-san, which would probably become reality if I accepted their request?

“B-But if I’m not in my room all night, wouldn’t the teachers on patrol of the boys’ rooms find out?”

Tanikita-san seemed completely unconcerned. “You can just put something under the blanket and make it look like someone’s sleeping there. Should be good enough, no?”

“Then why not do the same with Yamana-san’s bed?”

“The teachers have been strict with us after all the noise we made on the first night,” Kurose-san explained.

Tanikita-san nodded. “Exactly. They go over to everybody and point a flashlight at their face to make sure they’re really in bed. It wakes us up every time...”

That did seem to be more strict than we’d had it on the boys’ floor. I’d never noticed such patrols, though maybe I’d just been fast asleep after getting tired out during the day.

“And they’ll really have their eyes on Nikki after today, so they’ll probably be super strict tonight,” Tanikita-san added.

“But wait, if they point a flashlight at everyone’s faces, won’t they see that it’s me...?”

“It’ll probably be fine if you wear a wig and hide under the blanket a bit,” Runa said.

“I doubt they’d go so far as to pull your blanket away to check your face,” added Kurose-san.

“And it just so happens that one of the wigs I’ve brought with me looks like Nikki’s hair! The ends don’t have a different color, but I’m sure they won’t look that closely,” Tanikita-san said.

With all of them ganging up on me, I could no longer talk my way out of this.

“Please, Ryuto...”

Runa gazed at me with those upturned eyes like she was using a finishing move. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn’t say no.

“You know how she couldn’t spend much time with him today? And he’ll leave tomorrow. After that, they’ll barely see each other for another year ’cause he’ll be busy studying for his entrance exams. I want them to make some memories while they can.”

Runa’s eyes glistened with her love for her best friend. It looked so sexy...but this wasn’t the time or place to have such thoughts.

“Umm... So, is Sekiya-san okay with this...?” I asked as my final attempt at resistance.

“What do you mean?”

“Is he okay with Yamana-san spending the night in his room...?”

At the end of our double date, Sekiya-san had staunchly rejected Yamana-san’s forceful advances and had put distance between them because it would interfere with his studies. I could just imagine him sending her away coldly even if she went to his room.

“Oh, that won’t be a problem!” Tanikita-san said. “I paid him a visit earlier and got his approval.”

Well, that’s anticlimactic.

“R-Really?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s cool with it.”

“Okay...”

I remembered that time on the classroom balcony when she’d pressed me to tail Runa.

“So, are you coming or not?! DO IT!”

Perhaps Sekiya-san had ended up on the receiving end of that weirdly intense shout too.

“Anyway, he won’t mind,” she insisted. “So all we need is for you to come to our room.”

“I see...”

Three of the girls aimed their pleading gazes at me. Compared to theirs, Yamana-san’s was shy and apologetic, but it also suggested that she’d hit me if I turned them down.

After about ten seconds of deliberation...

“O-Okay.”

In the end, I had no choice but to accept.

***

I headed to their room shortly before lights-out. When I got there, Tanikita-san put a wig on me right away.

“Hey, you look more convincing than I thought!” she exclaimed.

Yamana-san had taken advantage of the girls’ hectic preparations for sleep long ago and had already sneaked out to Sekiya-san’s room.

“This is nice, Ryuto. You look cute!” Runa was happy to see me wearing the wig.

“Kashima-kun has a kind face, after all. He’s suited for cross-dressing, but I’m not sure his face has the right vibe to let him be Nikki’s double,” said Tanikita-san.

“How about we add some makeup, then?” Kurose-san suggested.

“Hey, that’s a good idea!”

“P-Please no...!”

I’m not into that kind of thing!

After I managed to avoid having them put makeup on me, they secured my wig so that it wouldn’t slip off even after I lay down. I slipped into the bed just before lights-out.

“Tanikita-san, are you sure you’re okay sleeping there?” I asked.

She was lying on the extra bed near the foot of mine.

This was a room designed for three and had a line of three single beds. A fourth smaller bed had been brought in, replacing a couch. Considering the “ladies first” principle, I figured that I was the one who would be sleeping in the extra bed...

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Tanikita-san said. “I’m small and all. And I don’t really care what kind of bed I have ’cause I sleep on a futon at home.”

She was simple in unexpected ways sometimes. It felt like this was something she had in common with Icchi.

Maybe it actually would go well if they started dating...

“Okay...” I replied as I lay back down. My voice was unintentionally shrill.

I couldn’t calm down at all. Especially considering that...

“Good night, Ryuto.”

Right in front of me, Runa was in her bed, smiling.