“Haaa, I’m tired...”
In the end, it took two hours to explain everything.
Because of that, it was already 10:00 PM.
After the two of them, Riran and I finished our baths and were spending some relaxing time in the bedroom.
Ah, separately, of course? As expected, bathing together is still too high of a hurdle. Well, I think about it eventually... wait, if I say that, I’ll be called a closet pervert again!
Riran, sitting on the edge of the bed, was still fidgeting embarrassedly.
“R-Really. This is all Akito’s fault.”
“No, no matter how you look at it, it’s Riran’s fault.”
“I didn't think you would go that far. It was extremely ticklish.”
Riran puffed out her cheeks with a 'musuu' sound. She was cute. But I wouldn’t apologize. Riran was the one in the wrong. I wasn’t.
“Oh, by the way, those two are calling you, right? Aren't you going?”
“I’ll go soon. I might end up sleeping over there today, so you can go ahead and sleep.”
“Got it.”
Riran took her pillow and started to leave the room. Then, she peeked her head back in.
“What is it?”
“...Goodnight-veggies.”
Tetetetet...
...Did she peek her head in just to say that? I guess she’s just polite or something.
Listening to the sound of Riran walking quickly down the hallway, I lay down on the bed.
“...”
“No, she’s too cute.”
Lately, Riran has really been getting more calculating. If that’s Riran’s true self... damn, my heart can’t take it.
◆ Riran ◆
Ugh. Akito is an idiot...!
Ever since that tickling, I’ve been too embarrassed to even look him in the face properly. Idiot, dummy.
...Well, yeah. It’s true that I was happy to have some physical contact with Akito for the first time in a while. In fact, it felt good, or rather, I felt it quite a bit...
Speaking of which, I’ve heard this before. People who are very ticklish are said to have very sensitive bodies.
“~~~~~~~~!!”
Stomp, stomp, stomp! I unconsciously stomped my feet. But please understand this feeling.
But was I always this ticklish? Even when my sister tickled me, I shouldn't have been this weak.
Hmm...?
“Riran-tan, what were you doing in front of the room just now?”
“Hyah!? A... ahem. It’s nothing.”
Oh no, it seems I was lost in thought in front of the room for quite a while. I even let out a strange sound.
“Come on, Riran-tan, hurry up and get in!”
“Y-Yes.”
I was pulled into the room by Kotono-chan. There, bath towels were spread out on the bed, and many snacks were lined up on top of them.
“Ane-san, we’ve been waiting for you!”
“Now, now, Riran-tan, take a juice!”
“Eh? Ah, thank you.”
Whether they had bought them in advance or not, there were many cans of juice and tea in the refrigerator. I caught a glimpse of some convenience store sweets in there too.
“Well then, to celebrate the first girls’ night! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“C-Cheers... but eating snacks and drinking juice at this hour will make you fat, you know?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ane-san, in a girls’ night, if you care about that, you lose! Don't worry about calories!”
Gulp. Noa-chan chugged down the high-calorie fruit juice that’s been popular lately. I-Indeed, juice and high-calorie snacks at this hour... I can’t resist!
Gulp, gulp, gulp...!
“Puhah! So good...!”
“Mmm, macarons at this hour are devilishly delicious...!”
“I’ll have something salty!”
The sense of guilt combined with the taste makes my brain tingle...!
Kotono-chan, stuffing her cheeks with macarons, grinned and opened her mouth.
“Anyway, I can’t believe Riran-tan and Onii would start doing that in a place like that~”
“L-Like I said, that’s not it. It was just a bit of mischief, or rather, we were just tickling each other...”
“Is that reeeally true? Ane-san, you’re quite weak to tickling, aren’t you!”
“Kyaa!”
Wait, Noa-chan! Tickl—huh?
“...It’s not ticklish?”
“Eh? No way... but when Senpai was tickling you, you had such a melting face, you know?”
“Don’t call it a melting face.”
“Then an ahe—”
“Don’t say it.”
But it’s strange. When Akito tickled me, it was definitely incredibly ticklish.
“Ah, could it be... Riran-tan, are you only ticklish when it’s Onii?”
“Eh. Kotono, aren’t you thinking about it too much? Does it really change depending on the person?”
“But the fact is, it’s not ticklish now.”
The two of them tilted their heads and looked at me. Hmm...
“It’s possible.”
“Eh, does that happen?”
“Yes. Because Akito and I are connected by the Dark Scarlet Thread.”
““Kokihiro?””
Ah... come to think of it, I hadn’t explained it to those two yet. ...Since things have come this far, maybe it’s okay to explain. It’ll come out sooner or later anyway.
“The thread connecting Akito and me has an extremely rare color, even among red threads—”
A scarlet thread that combines the best parts of the peach and vermilion threads. When I explained that the Dark Scarlet Thread has compatibility dozens of times better than that, the two of them nodded with faces that showed they were very much convinced.
“I see. There’s absolutely no room for me to jump in then.”
“The reason their sense of distance is so unique is because of that too. Certainly, if they were always stuck together, it would turn into something sensitive.”
“Stop making those smirking faces.”
Well, it’s just as Kotono-chan says. Something sensitive... yeah, let's try not to think about that now.
“Ara ara~? Riran-tan, your face is bright red~?”
“Why is that~? Why is that~~?”
...I’m not thinking about it (pouts).